While speaking, except for a hint of self-mockery, Lu De's expression and attitude were generally calm and collected.
However, Lu Ping and Lu De have known each other since childhood, and they are most familiar with Lu De's emotional changes, but it is possible to see the panic hidden under Lu De's calm appearance.
Obviously, Lu De has chosen the path for the future, but he cannot predict whether the end of this road will be good or bad.
After hesitating for a moment, Lu Ping did not expose Lu De's true emotions, but couldn't help but ask: "Is it worth it?"
Lu De shrugged and said with a smile: "To be honest, if I think about it carefully, I think it's not worth it at all! But I have reached this point after being impulsive, what else can I do? It's the end!"
While speaking, Lu De lowered his head and played with the bronze medal in his hand. He changed the subject and waved his hand: "Let's go to the Shiji Teahouse on Chongming Street in the east of the city... to explore the family background and secrets of His Highness the Seventh Prince.
, let’s see if he is worth our investment!”
After saying that, Lu De had already stepped towards his carriage, and Lu Ping shook his head slightly and quickly followed.
*
At the same time, Zhu Hejian stood on a high attic in the front courtyard of Zhanyuan, silently watching Lu De's leaving figure, his expression also uncertain.
Zhu Hejian completely inherited the suspicious nature of Emperor Deqing, and he was always better than his master. He was never willing to trust anyone easily.
Just like what Lu De said, under normal circumstances, after he joins Zhu Hejian's sect, even if he has been working hard and loyally, it will take at least three to five years of observation and investigation, as well as various...
Only after overt or covert testing can one have the opportunity to win Zhu Hejian's initial trust, and only then can one have the right to have a little access to some of Zhu Hejian's secrets.
For example, the existence of the "Chaofeng" dead warrior.
The existence of the "Chaofeng" dead soldier is undoubtedly one of Zhu Hejian's core secrets. He has been ordered to carry out Zhu Hejian's secret operations many times - such as the tragic death of Zhao Shancai's mentor, the former crown prince and grand master He Ming.
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But now, forced by the complicated situation in Southern Zhili and the deep fear of Zhou Shangjing's follow-up plan, Lu De has to replace Zhu Hejian to shoulder all the controversy and infamy, and he has given away his important information.
, so Zhu Hejian had no choice but to let Lu De directly contact the "Chaofeng" dead soldier.
This situation seriously violated Zhu Hejian's suspicious nature and made Zhu Hejian very uncomfortable. He always felt uneasy and extremely awkward.
With Lu De's intelligence, after contacting the "Chaofeng" dead soldier, he would surely be able to spy on many of Zhu Hejian's secrets.
Therefore, after watching Lu De leave, Zhu Hejian immediately wanted to send someone to give orders to the "Shaofeng" dead soldiers, asking them to keep their mouths shut when they came into contact with Lu De, and never reveal any unnecessary information to Lu De
News, by the way, we monitor closely and wait for opportunities to test.
However, when he thought of this, Zhu Hejian suddenly discovered that there was no qualified candidate around him who could handle this task!
A smart person like Lu De must use clever methods when monitoring and testing, otherwise he will only see traces and it will be counterproductive.
Because of his suspicious nature, Zhu Hejian had only a few true confidants. The only confidantes who came to Nanjing with him were the eunuch Jia Lun and the leader of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers Guo Shouzhong. Only these two had the ability.
perform this task.
Now, Jia Lun is secretly contacting Xi Cheng, the eunuch guarding Nanjing, and Guo Shouzhong has also been ordered to leave to carry out his mission. Therefore, Zhu Hejian was unable to find a reliable candidate in a short time to carry out the task of monitoring and testing Lu De.
After discovering this, Zhu Hejian became increasingly depressed, and thought to himself: "It only took me half a year to go from behind the scenes to the stage. My background is too shallow. In addition, I am always too cautious when choosing my confidants.
Reliable helpers are naturally few and far between, and there is always a shortage of people to employ...
From this point of view, although it is very risky to directly recruit this Lu De as a confidant, after all, he has mastered his key handle, which can be regarded as a confidence in his heart. As long as he is careful when using it, it may be a good thing...
"
After so consoling himself, Zhu Hejian took a long breath, then turned back to the study, and quickly wrote a secret letter, instructing Guo Shouzhong to pay attention to Lu De and "Chaofeng" while performing the current task.
"Contact status of deceased soldiers.
After writing the secret letter, Zhu Hejian summoned a guard and explained: "Immediately find Guo Shouzhong and give him this secret letter... and then go find out about the crown prince and grand master Wang Baoren. I am obviously at the same time."
I summoned him and Lu De to meet, but now Lu De has left, but Taishi Wang still hasn't shown up yet to find out what's going on! Doesn't this Taishi Wang also want to avoid me? "
After the guard took the secret message into his arms, he quickly reported: "I was just about to report to His Highness. When we sent people to the residence of Grand Master Wang to deliver the message to Grand Master Wang, we found that Grand Master Wang had already left his residence.
Therefore, it is impossible to convey the news to him in time, but I have already asked people to stay outside Grand Master Wang's residence due to my humble position. Once Grand Master Wang returns, I will immediately convey to him the intention of His Highness's summons."
Zhu Hejian was slightly stunned and asked: "Master Wang is not in his mansion? Where has he gone?"
After a slight hesitation, the guard replied: "The people in Grand Master Wang's palace are not willing to reveal more information to us, but there is a piece of news that is not sure whether it is true or not, saying that Grand Master Wang's sedan chair was found outside the East Garden!"
Wang Baoren went to Dongyuan!
After hearing the news, Zhu Hejian's eyes flashed immediately.
Like Zhanyuan, Dongyuan is also one of the famous gardens in Nanjing.
Decades ago, the Song family, a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River, spent a lot of money to buy Dongyuan as a residence for the Song family members in Nanjing.
After Zhou Shangjing arrived in Nanjing, he chose Dongyuan as his temporary residence.
Therefore, Wang Baoren went to Dongyuan most likely to visit Zhou Shangjing secretly!
The private meeting between these two old foxes will undoubtedly directly affect the subsequent direction of the situation in South Zhili.
Before the rise of Zhao Junchen, Wang Baoren was the political opponent who had the best chance of challenging Zhou Shangjing's status in the temple. The two men had never stopped fighting openly and secretly for decades, scheming against each other. It can be said that they had deep grudges and it was impossible to resolve their feud.
At the same time, Wang Baoren currently only has one identity, that is, the fictitious title of Crown Prince and Grand Master, so his only mission is to assist the left and teach the Crown Prince and Crown Prince. Only with the Crown Prince and Crown Prince as the fulcrum and starting point, can Wang Baoren find opportunities
Return to the core of the temple.
Therefore, after hearing the news about Wang Baoren's secret visit to Zhou Shangjing, Zhu Hejian was not worried that Wang Baoren would betray him and chose to conspire with Zhou Shangjing.
After just thinking for a moment, Zhu Hejian roughly guessed Wang Baoren's true intention of meeting Zhou Shangjing.
After Zhou Shangjing arrived in Nanjing, he was relatively active at first and frequently contacted people from all walks of life in South Zhili. However, after Zhu Hejian secretly poisoned him again, Zhou Shangjing's stomach disease quickly showed signs of worsening.
Especially in the past few days, Zhou Shangjing has been hibernating in the East Garden. Not only has he never appeared in public again, he has also declined all visits from guests.
At the same time, Zhou Shangjing's friend Song Chengren, the old head of the Song family in the south of the Yangtze River, sent people to secretly purchase various precious medicinal materials. Several famous doctors in Nanjing were also summoned to the East Garden and have not left until now.
As for the members of the Song family who live in Dongyuan, they are all very secretive about Zhou Shangjing's situation and always remain silent when faced with inquiries from various forces.
Three days ago, a young member of the Song family accidentally leaked some news, saying that he was very worried about Zhou Shangjing's physical condition, which soon triggered various speculations and discussions.
But on the next day, before all parties could further inquire into the situation, all the Song family members living in Dongyuan were implicated and were collectively banned by Song Chengren.
Combined with these signs, various forces in Nanjing began to speculate that Zhou Shangjing must be seriously ill, otherwise he would not have gone into such a big fight anyway, so he took the matter seriously.
However, because Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren strictly blocked all news, although everyone speculated that Zhou Shangjing's physical condition must be extremely poor, how much truth is this guess, and to what extent Zhou Shangjing's physical condition has deteriorated.
, but no one knows the details.
Under such circumstances, Wang Baoren secretly visited Zhou Shangjing, obviously to verify with his own eyes the true situation of Zhou Shangjing.
After thinking about this, a sneer appeared on Zhu Hejian's pale face, and he nodded: "This is a good thing! Wang Taishi took the initiative to visit Zhou Shangjing, which means that he is no longer just a spectator, and is ready to take action personally.
! And once he decides to die personally, he can only choose to fully support me, which is undoubtedly a big help to me!
Speaking of which, news came from the capital not long ago that the father had issued a decree to put the third brother under house arrest, and was not even willing to summon the third brother to listen to his explanation... This old guy has obviously been waiting for this news, and he must
He will wait until the crown prince’s dethronement is completely confirmed before taking action, he is really cautious!”
*
At the same time that Zhu Hejian commented like this, the prince and grand master Wang Baoren finally saw Zhou Shangjing with his own eyes after waiting for a long time.
Zhou Shangjing has been refusing to meet guests during this period. A few days ago, even the seventh prince Zhu Hejian was refused a personal visit. It was not easy to meet him.
Although Wang Baoren was the crown prince and an old rival of Zhou Shangjing, he still waited in the East Garden for more than half an hour and repeatedly emphasized his firm attitude that he must meet Zhou Shangjing. It can be said that he was stalking him.
Finally got the chance to meet Zhou Shangjing.
The meeting place between Zhou Shangjing and Wang Baoren was a hidden study in the East Garden.
When Wang Baoren was brought into the study, he immediately raised his head and carefully looked at Zhou Shangjing's situation.
But the image and complexion shown by Zhou Shangjing at this time made Wang Baoren shocked in his heart!