Compared with what was lost, what was gained would obviously be more. King Qing then started to do things to add insult to injury.
Not to mention King Xiang. He had long regarded Shen Ao as a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh. Now that he had an opportunity to kill him in an honest and fair manner, he spared no effort to call all the courtiers belonging to his faction over and openly clamored that this time he would be punished. Kill Shen Ao and avoid future troubles.
The fifth prince, Tang Jun, was worried that Shen Ao was so powerful that he would help his sixth brother seize the throne. Now that he had such a good opportunity, he would not stand idly by. After secretly discussing with his grandfather's right servant She Bailigui, he made the same move. Shen Ao, decided to put him to death.
The sixth prince, Tang Jia, had a difficult attitude at first. He even thought about saving Shen Ao. He was thinking that if he helped out at this time, the other party would definitely be grateful to him. In this way, he might do something for himself. Used.
However, as soon as this idea was mentioned to the attendant Kong Fu, he was stopped.
"Your Highness, you have already tested it before, but the loyal Duke did not seize the opportunity. But now, even if we intercede on his behalf, will he be used by Your Highness out of gratitude? I think that is not necessarily the case. Not only that, Since everyone thinks that Duke Zhongguo will definitely support His Highness, his existence will only make His Highness's situation more worrying and even make everyone on guard. But in fact, Duke Zhongguo cannot be used by us. We just have this name for nothing and can't get any benefits. Then we might as well take this opportunity for His Highness to express his high moral integrity in extinguishing relatives. This way we can leave a deep and good impression in front of His Majesty, and at the same time, we can Let others no longer be wary of us, and then we just need to develop silently, watch others fight, and wait for the opportunity."
Kong Fu's idea was nothing more than to stay out of the situation and watch the tigers fight from the top of a mountain.
After hearing this, Tang Jia did not make a decision immediately, but fell into deep thought.
His mother-in-law is the aunt of Duke Zhongguo, which is known to the world. When something happened to Shen Ao, even if he did nothing, he couldn't stay out of it. Only according to what Kong Fu said, first Only by standing on the opposite side of Shen Ao can we clarify ourselves and prevent others from taking this opportunity to attack us.
Tang Jia has always been a solipsist. That is, in his eyes, he only has his own interests, and for this, even if he sacrifices everyone, it is worth it. At this point, he is in conflict with his father. Emperor Wen is very similar.
Such a person is destined to only do things that are icing on the cake, such as providing help in times of need, which will definitely not work for him.
"Okay." Tang Jia said reluctantly, pretending to be understood. He behaved like this just because he didn't want to give others the impression that he was too ungrateful. Because he soon revealed his true nature. His face said, "This cousin of mine is very rich. Haha, shouldn't we squeeze him a little more at this time?"
"What do you mean by your highness?" Kong Fu understood somewhat and had to admire Tang Jia's idea. Of course, in the eyes of others, this kind of praise was definitely the behavior of a villain.
"In this case, you go to Duke Zhong's mansion and say that I will try my best to help Duke Zhong get out of crime. But these operations require a lot of money, so let them come up with some first." Tang Jia showed a sinister expression. smile.
"No." Kong Fu chuckled and expressed his agreement.
He praised Tang Jia's idea. In his opinion, Zhong Guozheng was in prison at this time. If anyone was willing to help, they would grab it as a life-saving straw. Now come to ask for it, or ask for it. Speaking of extortion, there won't be any problem at all. On the contrary, I'm afraid the people from the Chunguo Government will thank them.
With strong self-confidence, Kong Fu went to the Zhongguo Palace and met the temporary person in charge, Shen Xing.
As the old housekeeper of the Zhongguo Palace, and the right-hand man left by Shen Yuntian to Shen Ao, Shen Xing's seniority can be said to be unrivaled by anyone except Zhongcheng Hou. Now Shen Ao is sent to the cell. , he naturally has to stand up and take charge.
As the temporary person in charge, Han Ce would naturally explain some of Shen Ao's instructions before he went in, so that Shen Xing would not be thrown into chaos, at least he would know what to do next.
Kong Fu's sudden visit did not surprise Shen Xing. This was originally one of the things Shen Ao entrusted to Han Ce. But the other party's appearance so quickly still made Shen Xing a little disappointed, even a little angry. The Sixth Prince The trick of adding insult to injury is too quick.
Kong Fu naturally didn't know this. When he came to the Duke Zhongguo's mansion this time, he came with his chest raised and his head raised like a savior. He believed that as long as he showed the slightest intention to save Duke Zhongguo, the people in the mansion would naturally When you obey your own words, that's when your own words will come true.
The idea was beautiful, but the reality was very cruel. When Shen Xing appeared in front of Kong Fu with a straight face, he gave him a bad feeling.
Hasn't Shen Ao been caught in a cell? The Zhongguo Palace should be in chaos now. Anyone who can help should be regarded as a benefactor? Why such a lukewarm attitude?
Kong Fu couldn't understand, so he simply stopped thinking about it and even skipped the polite part. He bluntly said that the Sixth Prince was very anxious after hearing about Duke Zhongguo and was willing to contribute to this matter. He just wanted to take care of everyone. In the end, a lot of silver taels needed to be paid, so it was proposed that the Zhongguo Duke's government should first spend 10 million taels. With this money, preliminary operations could be carried out. As for the subsequent additions, it would depend on the seriousness of the situation. It all depends on the situation.
He asked for ten million taels. It was obvious that the Sixth Prince had taken advantage of the Zhongguo Palace and thought that this place was the treasury and the second Daqian Bank, which they could take whatever they wanted.
Seeing Kong Fu pretending to be superior to others, Shen Xing poured cold water on the other person's head. "Kong Shidu, Duke Zhongguo was completely victimized by an adulterer this time and did nothing wrong. How can I talk about it? Besides, even if my young master breaks the law, he will have to be convicted by the emperor himself. His Highness the Sixth Prince is still in his prime, and I am afraid that even if he says something, he will not get into trouble. Does it work?"
"This..." Kong Fu didn't expect that Shen Xing would answer him like this. And he said it so clearly. He clearly looked down on the sixth prince and believed that his abilities and influence were limited.
Although this is a fact, how could Kong Fu admit it? Seeing Shen Xing not knowing how to take money and making fun of himself, he said angrily, "Steward Shen, don't be ignorant, this time His Highness the Sixth Prince wanted to help because of his blood relationship with Duke Zhongguo. It’s a pity that his good intentions were misunderstood.”
"Are you really kind-hearted? Haha, I think Kong Shidu knows it best. Well, although I have a humble position, I still have a lot of things to do. It's not like Shidu, who just thinks about how to turn things upside down when he has nothing to do. Black and white, blackmailing people everywhere, I won't accompany him." Shen Xing stood up first and ignored Kong Fu, not even willing to do basic hospitality etiquette.
By the way, Shen Xing knows Shen Ao's true identity. He is the fourth prince. In terms of status, he is more noble than the sixth prince. So how can he be threatened and blackmailed by him?
Shen Xing just left like this, leaving Kong Fu sitting alone in the hall with a confused and shocked face. He really couldn't imagine how this could be the result? He didn't understand what made the butler Shen Xing behave like this. With confidence, could it be said that he really didn't care about Shen Ao's life or death?
Kong Fu, who came with confidence but was humiliated, left angrily. This young man in his early twenties was obviously not very good at hiding his emotions. Waiting for him to meet the sixth prince Tang Jia At that time, he was vomiting bitterness, and told how arrogant and domineering Shen Xing was, and even added jealousy to say how the other party looked down on His Highness, etc.
This result was also beyond Tang Jia's expectation. He originally thought that he could take this opportunity to make a large sum of money and lay the foundation for strengthening his own strength. But now it seems that he has thought too much.
But why is the attitude of the Zhongguo Government so tough? Do they really think that Shen Ao will be released from prison without incident this time?
Even though the people in the Zhongguo Palace were so ignorant of praise, Tang Jia gave up the idea of luring money. He decided to impeach Shen Ao together with others. As long as Shen Ao died, the huge Zhongguo Palace industry would still be possible in the end. It will fall into his own hands. After all, with the relationship of mother and concubine, he should be able to get more when he gets the benefits.
It didn't take long before a memorial that could be said to add insult to injury appeared on Emperor Qianwen's Dragon Case.
The sixth prince Tang Jia expressed his attitude with an awe-inspiring look of righteousness and annihilation of relatives, that is, anyone who does anything that harms the state of Daqian should be severely punished, even if this person is his cousin, he will not There is no hint of cover-up.
When the memorial was placed in front of Emperor Qianwen, it was quickly thrown out. "Go, send this memorial to Concubine Zhao and see what kind of good son she has raised for me."
Emperor Qianwen was indeed very angry, and he also had reasons to be angry. He even betrayed his cousin when he said he was betrayed. If one day he is also weak, will he step on him too?
As the old saying goes, if you peek at a spot, you will see the whole leopard; if you see a leaf, you will know the depth of autumn.
Through this memorial, Emperor Qianwen was completely disappointed with Tang Xiu. He had long recognized that his prince was ambitious, capable, and extremely lusty for power. But he never expected that in order to achieve his goal, he would even sacrifice family ties. It means abandoning it, abandoning it. If the country is handed over to such a person in the future, I am afraid that no one in the Tang clan will end up with a bad end.
