Xicheng was a very active man. When he finally made up his mind, he did not waste any time and immediately took Qian Lai to Zhanyuan where the seventh prince Zhu Hejian lived temporarily.
And just as Xicheng rushed to Zhanyuan with Qian Lai, Zhu Hejian was busy with an important matter.
That is to actively win over Qianhu Li Yong, the Jin Yiwei Qianhu who holds the imperial edict, and Leng Ling, the deputy Qianhu.
Before this, Zhu Hejian had always known that Emperor Deqing must have arranged spies around him or in Nanjing City to monitor and investigate his every move.
However, Zhu Hejian had no idea that the eyes and ears arranged by Emperor Deqing would actually be Li Yong, a member of the Jinyi Guard Qianhu, and Leng Ling, a deputy Qianhu, who were responsible for escorting him.
Because these two people were the escorts of Emperor Deqing, everyone knew that they were only loyal to Emperor Deqing and were the true confidants of Emperor Deqing.
If we follow common sense, these two people must be the eyes and ears arranged by Emperor Deqing.
But precisely because of this, when Zhu Hejian secretly speculated who the emperor's eyes and ears were, he immediately ruled out the suspicion of Li Yong and Leng Ling.
After all, Emperor Deqing has always been well versed in the emperor's mind. The identities of the spies he arranged can never be directly guessed, and his layout can never be so consistent with common sense.
In Zhu Hejian's view, Li Yong and Leng Ling were most likely just a cover-up for Emperor Deqing, and the real eyes and ears of Emperor Deqing must be someone else.
It must be said that Zhu Hejian did understand Emperor Deqing's behavior very well, but it was a pity that he had not noticed the various doubts about Bao Wenjie yet, so when he saw the secret edict held by Li Yong, the Qianhu of Jin Yiwei, he
I had no choice but to admit that I thought things were too complicated at first, and my cleverness was mistaken for my cleverness.
Maybe Emperor Deqing didn't think too much when arranging his eyes and ears, maybe Emperor Deqing deliberately did the opposite...
All in all, Zhu Hejian has now completely overturned his previous judgment, and has regarded Li Yong and Leng Ling as the real eyes and ears of Emperor Deqing.
In this case, Zhu Hejian was glad that he had not deliberately neglected Li Yong and Leng Ling in the past. Naturally, he also tried his best to win over them. He hoped that when these two people returned to the capital to report to Emperor Deqing, they could avoid the seriousness and be gentle, at least.
Don't focus on your doubts.
Therefore, in the early morning of this day, Zhu Hejian chose a quiet room in Zhanyuan, sent someone to arrange a table of breakfast that was not rich but was extremely exquisite, and warmly invited Li Yong and Leng Ling to join them.
Meal.
Faced with Zhu Hejian's warm invitation, Li Yong and Leng Ling did not dare to refuse, but they both adhered to the principle of respect and inferiority. After entering the room, they stood by the dining table with their hands lowered, no matter what.
I don't want to dine at the same table with Zhu Hejian.
Seeing the behavior of Li Yong and Leng Ling, Zhu Hejian deliberately showed his dissatisfaction and said: "What? My prince's words are of no use? I invite you two to dine together because you hold the secret decree of my father.
As my father’s secret envoy, I, the prince, should be closer to you both emotionally and logically! Are you unwilling to dine at the same table with me, are you deliberately alienating me? Or do you think your status is humble, even as a father?
Even the Emperor's secret envoy is still not qualified to dine at the same table with this prince?"
Although Zhu Hejian intends to win over the two of them, he will not be overly humble. If the traces of trying to please are too obvious, it will appear that he has other agendas. Therefore, Zhu Hejian calls himself "the prince" at this time, deliberately pretending to be a prince.
shelf.
Hearing Zhu Hejian's statement, Li Yong and Leng Ling looked at each other and finally accepted the order in a deep voice, carefully sitting on the left and right sides of Zhu Hejian.
Zhu Hejian nodded with satisfaction: "That's right! You two don't have to be restrained. In fact, I have already guessed that the trip to Nanjing was a test arranged by my father, and there must have been spies around me to take the opportunity to test
My methods and temperament, and you two are my father's bodyguards, so the spies my father placed around me are most likely the two of you...
But I have a clear conscience, so even though I have already guessed the true responsibilities of you two, I pretended not to know and had no intention of revealing the truth. I just let you spy on me secretly! However, you have now revealed your father's secret decree. If I
I am still pretending not to know the truth, but it seems too hypocritical, so I will take the opportunity of today's breakfast to have a heart-to-heart talk with you and discuss how to handle the subsequent situation."
As he spoke, Zhu Hejian's self-identification changed from "this prince" to "I", trying to get closer to Li Yong and Leng Ling.
Li Yong has a lean and strong build with dark and rough skin. He looks like an ordinary middle-aged farmer. He is inconspicuous. Moreover, his character is as taciturn as an ordinary farmer. He can't fight even with eight poles.
What a fart, after hearing Zhu Hejian's statement, he still lowered his head and remained silent.
In comparison, Deputy Qianhu Leng Ling was from a lower-class noble family. Not only did he have a better image and appearance, but he was also much smoother in his dealings with others. He immediately smiled and said: "His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince really looks up to these two low-ranking people!
Your Majesty gave us the secret edict not to let the two humble men spy on you, but because he was worried that the situation in Nanjing would get out of control, so he wanted the two humble men to move out the secret edict in time to protect His Highness the Seventh Prince, so the two humble men also
He is definitely not His Majesty's secret envoy... As for how to handle the subsequent situation, His Highness the Seventh Prince does not need to consider the opinions of these two subordinates, you can just make your own decision!"
However, as soon as Leng Ling finished speaking, Li Yong, who had always been taciturn, suddenly raised his head and said: "Other matters should of course be decided by you, Your Highness, but the prisoners who kidnapped His Highness must be handed over to the prisoners.
The two of us must be escorted back to the capital as soon as possible to be interrogated by His Majesty himself!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Hearing Li Yong’s statement, Leng Ling couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed, but his stance was equally firm, and he further explained: “I hope His Highness will learn from these ruthless bandits.
Tian's kidnapping of His Highness the Seventh Prince is serious enough, but it can still be explained as an accident. However, during the interrogation of the three halls yesterday, some unknown people actually wanted to set these gangsters on fire... Apparently it was these
The origins and identities of the gangsters are extraordinary, and they hide key secrets!
From this, it can be inferred that their kidnapping of the Seventh Prince may not have been just an accident! It was precisely considering this situation that the two humble men finally made up their mind yesterday, directly carried out His Majesty's imperial edict, and quickly controlled the situation in Zhanyuan!
Those ruthless bandits are of great importance, we must escort them to the capital as soon as possible and hand them over to His Majesty for personal trial. This matter is not negotiable, and please forgive me, His Highness the Seventh Prince!"
Seeing that Li Yong and Leng Ling insisted on taking the captured "Chaofeng" dead soldiers to the capital, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but flash a hint of horrifying murderous intent in the depths of his eyes.
But on the surface, Zhu Hejian had no objections and nodded: "Brother Li and Brother Leng don't have to speak out about this matter. I also think that those ruthless bandits should be escorted to the capital as soon as possible... The situation in Nanjing is too chaotic, and the forces with ulterior motives are also
Too many! I heard that Zhao Gechen also rushed to Nanjing yesterday, and his attitude was extremely domineering after arriving in Nanjing. He immediately kidnapped a large number of prisoners from the Yingtian Mansion Prison. It seemed that he wanted to conceal something, and the changes in Nanjing were also caused by this.
And more and more!"
Speaking of this, Zhu Hejian secretly observed the changes in the expressions of Li Yong and Leng Ling, but was surprised to find that the two people had no mood swings after hearing this, as if they didn't care.
It stands to reason that Li Yong and Leng Ling, as the eyes and ears of Emperor Deqing, would definitely be deeply interested after hearing this kind of key information!
However, Li Yong and Leng Ling acted as if they were just passively executing orders without any active decision-making power. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why these two people were so cold and lacked initiative.
After noticing this suspicion, Zhu Hejian's eyes flickered.
But Zhu Hejian did not show his doubts. Instead, while urging Li Yong and Leng Ling to have a meal, he explained the relevant information about the situation in Nanjing to them in detail. On the one hand, he tried to influence their thinking and judgment.
On the other hand, I also want to ask the two of them for their opinions.
As a result, Li Yong and Leng Ling remained unconcerned about the changes in the situation in Nanjing, and did not provide any useful advice to Zhu Hejian. They only stated that they would resolutely follow Zhu Hejian's orders and that Zhu Hejian would only tell them anything.
The reactions of Li Yong and Leng Ling made Zhu Hejian even more suspicious.
Later, Zhu Hejian inadvertently changed the topic and talked about the background and military experience of Li Yong and Leng Ling, taking the opportunity to test their temperaments and minds.
Faced with Zhu Hejian's probing, Li Yong and Leng Ling still answered everything and truthfully explained their respective situations.
In the end, Zhu Hejian finally determined one thing, that is, both Li Yong and Leng Ling are extremely pure Jinyiwei. They have no ideas and positions of their own at all. They only know how to execute orders to the letter. They are virtues.
Although the knife in Emperor Qing's hand was extremely sharp and easy to use,... the knife itself did not determine its own use.
Not only is this true for the taciturn Li Yong, but even Leng Ling, who seems to have a smooth personality, is actually like this!
Perhaps, it was precisely because these two men were the purest royal guards that Emperor Deqing could rest assured that they would accompany him all year round and regard them as confidants.
But...the question arises, how could Emperor Deqing give them the power to make decisions on the fly, with characters like Li Yong and Leng Ling who only knew how to execute orders but were completely inflexible?
For a moment, Zhu Hejian once again doubted his previous judgment.
Are Li Yong and Leng Ling really the eyes and ears placed by Emperor Deqing around him?
While Zhu Hejian was thinking like this, his eunuch Jia Lun stood outside the room and reported: "Your Highness, our family has finally invited Doctor Zhang from Dongyuan to Zhanyuan! He has already rushed there now.
Brother Hu’s room, we are diagnosing and treating Brother Hu’s condition.”
Yesterday in Zhanyuan, Huo Zhengyuan thought of taking advantage of the chaos to snatch Hu Xiao away, but the noise was so loud that he woke up from a coma due to severe injuries. Then Hu Xiao kept struggling and shouting. Although Hu Xiao was seriously injured at the time, regardless of whether
Neither the shouting nor the struggle was particularly intense, but it still delayed Huo Zhengyuan's plan and attracted the attention of Li Yong, who had already controlled the situation in Zhanyuan at that time. Finally, after Zhu Hejian returned to Zhanyuan in time, Huo Zhengyuan wanted to take advantage of the chaos.
The plan to remove Hu Xiao completely failed, and Hu Xiao still remained in Zhu Hejian's hands.
However, after this ordeal, Hu Xiao's physical condition worsened. He had a high fever last night, and Hu Xiao's existence was regarded as a bargaining chip by Zhu Hejian. Naturally, he would not sit back and watch Hu Xiao die, so he
He immediately sent people to the Song family in Dongyuan and invited the miracle doctor Zhang Decheng to come to Zhanyuan to diagnose and treat Hu Xiao. Unfortunately, Zhang Decheng was busy diagnosing and treating Zhou Shangjing at the time and had delayed arriving to Zhanyuan until now.
At this time, after hearing the report, Zhu Hejian asked seemingly casually: "What did Dr. Zhang say about Brother Hu's condition? By the way, Dr. Zhang came alone? If Dr. Zhang doesn't have helpers around, then what can we do?"
We can't let Divine Doctor Zhang work alone, we should have a few smart people to help him!"
Jia Lun and Zhu Hejian had an excellent tacit understanding and immediately replied: "After Doctor Zhang diagnosed Brother Hu's condition, he found that we had given Brother Hu a lot of tonic medicine. He was immediately furious and kept scolding us for our nonsense, saying that Brother Hu had been bullied
The bandit cut off half of his arm, and it was already extremely difficult to stop the bleeding. At this time, he is most exhausted, so our family finally persuaded Doctor Zhang to calm down his anger... However, seeing that Doctor Zhang was still in the mood to get angry and curse,
We should be sure to save Brother Hu."
Later, Jia Lun also seemingly casually added: "As for sending people to help Divine Doctor Zhang, there is no need... Because the Song family in Dongyuan was extremely nervous, Divine Doctor Zhang sent several people to follow. It should be
Just in case we take the opportunity to find out about Zhou Shoufu, and... Doctor Zhang is accompanied by an apprentice named Qin Lang."
After hearing this, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but laugh.
After Zhou Shangjing arrived in Nanjing, the reason why his stomach problems worsened rapidly was that Zhu Hejian sent people to secretly poison him.
The specific person who poisoned him was Qin Lang, the apprentice next to the miracle doctor Zhang Decheng!
However, since Zhou Shangjing's stomach disease worsened, Dongyuan has been heavily guarded, and Zhu Hejian has tried his best to get in touch with Qin Lang again.
Therefore, there are many key things that Zhu Hejian has never known, such as whether his poisoning plan went smoothly, what is Zhou Shangjing's real physical condition, and... why Zhou Shangjing's rapidly worsening stomach disease was suddenly under control
!
But now, taking advantage of the opportunity to invite Zhang Decheng to come to Zhanyuan to diagnose and treat Hu Xiao, Zhu Hejian finally contacted Qin Lang, the insider!
At the same time, Zhu Hejian was also secretly observing the reactions of Li Yong and Leng Ling.
Jia Lun directly mentioned Hu Xiao's matter in front of the two of them because Zhu Hejian wanted to take the opportunity to test whether they had noticed the secret of Hu Xiao.