Sad announcement, I have been working overtime for several days in a row, and I have to work overtime tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so I really don’t have time to write. After posting this article, I will suspend it for two days on the weekend. I will post on Monday. I hope I will have time to write by then.
In the sixth month of the twenty-fifth year of Wude's reign in the Great Yong Dynasty, the emperor thought that the prince had lost his virtue and ordered Taizong to offer sacrifices to him in Chang'an.
——"Yong Shi·The Chronicles of Taizong"
King Yong Li Zhi's mind was filled with thoughts. How could he not know that Fengyi Clan Master was showing his favor to him and was also showing off his cards for the last time? Although he knew very well that if he got Fengyi Clan Master's hand, his reserve position would be guaranteed.
But after thinking about it, he couldn't be willing to be an emperor. If he compromised this time, he would definitely let Fengyi Sect infiltrate his own influence.
Naturally, he could refuse his daughter as his disciple, but Fengyi Sect Master wants to accept Rou Lan as his disciple. Although Fengyi Sect Master is already their primary enemy, it cannot be denied that Fan Huiyao is still one of the three great masters.
One of them, and most likely in the chief position, it is Roulan's honor that such a person wants to accept Roulan as his disciple. If he categorically refuses, what will Jiang Zhe think? Thinking of this, he raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Zhe.
My heart is also in turmoil. I don’t even think about asking Roulan to become her teacher. Both Roulan’s biological parents and I hope that she will live a happy life. I just hope that she can have enough food and clothing and marry a good man.
Jun, let's grow old together. Even I don't plan to let Roulan marry into a rich family, lest those wealthy children with three wives and four concubines and self-proclaimed romantics will delay her. How can I let her learn any sword? Xiao Shunzi will teach her in the future.
Roulan can just use some light kung fu to defend herself. Of course, if she really likes martial arts, I will admit it, but I will never let her become the sect of the female tyrant. But the master of Fengyi sect is obviously asking for peace with His Highness King Yong. If
If I flatly refuse, will King Yong be dissatisfied?
King Yong and I looked at each other with worries, but it was rare that we did not reach a consensus. I smiled bitterly in my heart. The master of Fengyi Sect was really extraordinary. With a simple sentence, we were out of control, and the monarch and his ministers were alienated.
At this time, I suddenly remembered Xiao Shunzi's voice beside me: "No..." The words were interrupted before I finished speaking. I looked up and saw a faint mockery in the eyes of the master of Fengyi Sect, and the rest of his eyes
Guang even saw Xiao Shunzi sweating profusely and looking ashamed and angry. I knew in my heart that the rumors about Xiao Shunzi must have been blocked by Fengyi Sect Master, but I always knew that Xiao Shunzi was better than me in observing words and adapting to situations.
, as soon as I opened my mind, I figured out the dilemma of King Yong, so I raised my voice and said: "The master of the sect is so kind to me, Zhe should have thanked me on behalf of my daughter, but my daughter has been lonely since she was a child, and our father and daughter depend on each other for life. We really can't bear to separate, and even more
What's more, the little girl is too stubborn to learn swordsmanship. Zhe only hopes that she will live a safe and prosperous life, but does not want her to excel."
Sure enough, as soon as I finished speaking, I heard King Yong take a breath.
Fengyi Sect Master's eyes flashed with a hint of gloom, and he said: "I see that Jiang Sima's poems are unique, but I didn't expect that he is also such a pedantic man. He doesn't like to see women getting ahead, right?"
I said respectfully: "The master of the sect has misunderstood. Zhe didn't mean this. He just wanted to be superior to others, and the effort he put in must be a hundred times that of others. Zhe only wanted his children to have mediocre qualifications, not to be prominent among the princes, but to be favored by his subordinates.
Don’t seek great achievements, just cultivate and educate your family. When the country is in trouble, you should do your best to save it. When the country is safe, you should be an obedient citizen of the country."
Fengyi Sect Master's eyes flashed with sarcasm, and he said: "If everyone is like this, who else can help the country? Jiang Sima is too independent."
I smiled slightly and said: "It is said that times create heroes. There are countless people with great ambitions in the world. But if there are no ordinary people, who can control the world? If everyone wants to be a hero, then wouldn't it mean that the world is in chaos? I
Although I am unfortunate enough to be in troubled times and have no choice but to be imprisoned, I will never approve of my children working as hard as I did."
The master of the Fengyi Sect was silent for a moment and said: "We don't agree with each other. Your Highness, King Yong, what do you think?"
Everyone knew what she meant by this person. King Yong smiled lightly and said: "Xiao Wang also feels that Rou Lan is not suitable for learning martial arts. If the master of the sect can see His Highness the Crown Prince, please send his greetings to Xiao Wang.
I will definitely protect you, and please Your Highness the Crown Prince to calm down and take good rest."
Fengyi Sect Master sighed slightly, and we were all confused. We felt that her sigh was full of compassion and regret. But Li Zhi and I were unmoved. When Fengyi Sect Master saw this, he said coldly:
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince is your eldest brother. Now he is in prison. I wonder if Your Highness is going to add insult to injury or just wait and see what happens?"
She asked this, and King Yong smiled bitterly in his heart. Although he and the prince were already in a life-and-death relationship, how could he say this in public? His words were like wind. No matter what, the prince was his king and his.
Eldest brother, you can naturally regard the prince as your mortal enemy in private, but in front of so many people, if you say it yourself, it won't be long before it reaches your father's ears, that is, no one in the palace is cheating.
, Fengyi Sect Master will not keep secrets, but if he said that he would just wait and see what happens, then no matter what, he cannot launch a large-scale attack on the prince this time. When he was in a dilemma, Fengyi Sect Master was again
He smiled faintly and said: "The prince fell out of love with His Majesty because of the Hubu case and the Jinxiu League case. I don't know what His Highness King Yong thinks. I think His Highness King Yong is very aware of this matter."
Li Zhi raised his eyebrows. Although he didn't know much about these two things, he knew very well who instigated them. He didn't expect these things to remain secret. But it would be no wonder if the master of Fengyi Sect spoke without evidence.
He was rude. He said calmly: "Who in the world doesn't know these two things clearly? It's just that they don't dare to say it openly due to their lustful power."
Fengyi Sect Master smiled coldly, with a hint of ridicule in her laughter, and she said slowly: "As for the evidence, I naturally have nothing to offer, but Your Highness should understand that if this matter is spread, it will only
I’m afraid the evidence will be there.”
Li Zhi frowned. He naturally knew that if Li Yuan became suspicious and investigated carefully, although no actual evidence could be found, some circumstantial evidence might still be obtained. This would be very detrimental to him, but he bowed down like this.
, he was unwilling to give in, the anger in his heart became more and more fierce, and his eyes looked at Fengyi Sect Master like a sharp sword.
At this time, I was confident and said: "Don't worry, Master, my Highness just doesn't want to express his merits. In fact, His Highness has already prepared to submit a memorial. After many years of brotherly love and years of loyalty between monarch and minister, His Highness King Yong is a trustworthy person.
If you are not completely benevolent and righteous, you will never engage in war."
The Master of Fengyi Sect heard Jiang Zhe's hidden words, but didn't care. He smiled and said, "Then I will thank His Highness Prince Yong on behalf of the Crown Prince. It's getting late, and I want to go visit some old friends.
I'll take my leave now. If we have the chance, we will meet again." After saying that, her eyes fell to the distance. I don't know when there was a commoner monk there. She paid a slight greeting with her eyes, but she didn't see any action. Her figure was like
Like light smoke, it disappeared in a blink of an eye. At this time, all of us here really breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Zhi smiled bitterly and said: "I suddenly feel that the pressure has doubled. Master Fengyi has taken action personally. There is no hope this time."
I said calmly: "Your Highness, don't worry, we won't achieve our goal immediately this time." Then I looked at Xiao Shunzi and asked with concern: "Are you okay?"
Xiao Shunzi's eyes were a little shy and angry, and she said: "Am I not her opponent?"
I heard the words and said with a smile: "What nonsense are you talking about? How old are you? How can you compare with other masters at the master level? Besides, Master Cizhen said that you have a bright future. Do you need to be so sad about your failure?"
Xiao Shunzi's expression softened a lot and he remained silent. I saw that he had returned to normal, and I felt relieved. At this time, Master Cizhen had disappeared. Strange people are strange people. Li Zhi looked at me with a smile and said, "Okay,
Suiyun, stop hiding it and tell me what you have planned."
I was about to answer when Chang En, the manager from afar, hurriedly ran over and said, "Your Highness, there is a decree from the palace."
We didn't bother to talk at this time, so we gathered around King Yong and went to the front hall. The envoy in red took the yellow silk edict and said loudly: "I ordered King Yong Zhi to carry the Chang'an sacrifice on behalf of the crown prince. I admire this."
King Yong felt ecstatic in his heart, but he kept his expression. He stepped forward to receive the imperial edict. After thanking him, he asked, "May I ask the imperial envoy if I can enter the palace to express my gratitude?"
The eunuch said sharply: "Your Majesty has already set off to Huangling in advance and ordered His Majesty to discuss the ceremony with Prime Minister Wei and Zheng Shizhong. However, as far as we know, although the time is a little rushed, fasting is still unavoidable. Your Majesty has issued an order."
Ask His Highness to come to Zhai Palace immediately, I think, Shizhong Zheng will be arriving soon."
Before he could finish speaking, someone had already reported: "Your Highness, Shizhong Zheng has come with an order and asks Your Highness to follow him into the palace to fast."
Li Zhi said in a deep voice: "Please wait a moment, Mr. Zheng. After I change my clothes, I will follow him into the palace." After seeing off the imperial envoy delivering the order, Li Zhi said with some worry: "Suiyun, do you think there is any fraud?"
My eyes flashed and I said: "Your Highness, although there is no problem in theory, your Highness enters the palace alone, so I can't rest assured. Xiao Shunzi's martial arts is not bad. Let him accompany His Highness into the palace. I don't think Zheng Shizhong will say anything?"
"
Xiao Shunzi turned his face aside and blurted out: "Master, your safety..."
I closed the folding fan in my hand and said calmly: "Please pass the order to His Highness. Until His Highness returns to the mansion, Zhe will be in charge of all matters in the mansion."
Li Zhi immediately said: "The gold medal is in your hand, even if I am here personally. If anyone dares to disobey your orders, you can kill them immediately. Xiao Shunzi, this time I will lend you a favor. Don't worry, Master Cizhen is here."
My house will definitely protect Suiyun’s safety.”
Xiao Shunzi glanced at me and said: "Li Shun obeys the order. Your Highness and Young Master please rest assured. Even if the master of Fengyi Sect takes action himself, Xiao Shunzi will risk his life to protect His Highness's safety."
Seeing everyone's serious expressions, I chuckled and said, "Don't worry so much. We're not doing anything rebellious, it's just to prevent someone from jumping over the wall in a hurry. And since Fengyi Sect Master is here, he won't let go at this time."
Shi Wei, after all, the Emperor and clan are still here in Dayong."
Everyone was slightly relieved. When King Yong went to the front to see Zheng Shizhong, Zheng Xia did not express any surprise at Xiao Shunzi's entourage. It was only natural that King Yong was so cautious. He quickly invited King Yong to enter the Zhai Palace, fast and take a bath.
King Yong never had a moment to give advice on etiquette. He was busy here, but it made everyone in the prince's family anxious. Everyone knew that the prince and King Yong were sworn enemies.
Since then, King Yong has stopped offering sacrifices to the Taimiao, and has even been busy consolidating his power in Youzhou. Now that King Yong has replaced the prince to accompany the sacrifice, it is self-evident what it symbolizes. People from the prince's line are naturally talking about it, and the backbone among them has since
He also refused to let go.
But after all, Li Yuan was the overlord of his generation, so he would not have thought of this problem. When he left Beijing this time, he handed over the imperial army to Qin Qing. Li Hanyou was from the prince's lineage, so naturally he would not let King Yong harm the prince, and Qin
Although Qing was young and reckless, General Qin was unambiguous and left his trusted lieutenant Qin Yong to supervise Qin Qing. In this way, the prince would not take the opportunity to harm King Yong. Besides, Xiang Wei and Zheng Shizhong were the leaders of the civil servants.
With them in charge, it was natural that nothing would go wrong. For safety reasons, Zheng Shizhong personally managed the Zhai Palace where King Yong was fasting, and the Jin'an Palace where the prince was under house arrest was proposed by Wei Guan and sent his son Wei Ying to take care of it. Although Wei Ying is now a member of the staff
The minister is a good son-in-law in the eyes of the emperor, and he is neutral. With him protecting the prince, there is no need to worry about someone plotting against the prince, or worrying about the prince communicating with outsiders. Everyone knows about Zheng Xia's impartiality.
In this way, both the prince and King Yong were put under house arrest. On the contrary, the King of Qi was relatively free and went to Qiaoshan to worship without being involved in this political storm.
In this case, the arrangement of both sides is very important. They must not disturb the civil servants and military officers left by Emperor Yong to guard Chang'an, but also need to maintain the situation and not allow their own monarch to overthrow. Therefore, the Prince's Palace and Prince Yong's Palace jointly requested Chang'an
Wei Guan could only agree to martial law. After that, Qin Qing quickly detained the suspected unknown persons and drove them out of Chang'an. The Prince Yong's Mansion did not show weakness, and the three outstanding figures under Prince Yong were
, Guan Xiu was responsible for the internal affairs of Prince Yong's Mansion, Gou Lian was responsible for coordinating with Wei Guan and others, while Dong Zhi took Jing Chi back to the Guards stationed outside Chang'an City to prepare for war, and Sima Xiong took the guards of Prince Yong's Mansion.
Wei is always at your command. Jiang Zhe, Jiang Suiyun, who directs all this, never leaves Hanyuan, and Master Cizhen never leaves his side. Although Pei Yun has lost absolute control of the Forbidden Army's North Camp, he still controls most of the power.
, with him in charge, Xiahou Yuanfeng cannot mobilize this part of the forbidden army at will, and can only try to mobilize the imperial guards. In this way, the forces of both sides are intertwined, and no one dares to take action first, not to mention everyone knows that the master of Fengyi Sect
Already arrived in Chang'an.
However, in the storm, there is one person who is leisurely and at ease, and that is me. Although I stay in the cold garden every day and am careful not to go out, I have not done anything important. I read through the daily information and file it away.
They were left to plan various contingency measures on their own, and I was only responsible for issuing a few orders. Strangely enough, my behavior could be said to be irresponsible, but it effectively calmed everyone down. It seemed to be the impression I gave them on weekdays.
It was so good that they automatically believed me.
In fact, there was no need to worry. For me, the only goal this time is to see the power of the prince. I know very well that this is not an opportunity once and for all. If Emperor Yong was really completely disappointed with the prince, he would have been abolished long ago.
Instead of imprisoning him, Emperor Yong wanted to test King Yong this time. If we want to get rid of the prince in a hurry this time, Emperor Yong will definitely think that His Highness is vicious. If he is unprepared, it will make him
Emperor Yong felt that we were too pretentious, so I was tight on the outside and loose on the inside. This would not only frighten the prince's power and prevent them from taking advantage of the opportunity to make changes, but also let Emperor Yong understand that His Highness has no rebellious intentions. Besides, the crown prince's throne is already in danger.
If we add fuel to the fire, we are afraid that it will arouse Emperor Yong's sympathy and pity. As long as we are impartial, then the way Fengyi Clan jumps up and down to look after the prince will be seen clearly. No kindness can suppress people for a lifetime. This time Fengyi Clan Master can rely on
I want to persuade Emperor Yong to restore the honor of the prince based on past kindness, so next time, besides, the prince has lost the hearts of the people. Although he is powerful, he is already a paper tiger, so my goal is to get through this matter safely. The next step
, you can start planning the real plan to seize the heir.
But just when I was leisurely and contented, I got an unexpected news. It was just a small thing, but it made me regret it. Today, the Crown Princess arranged the funeral of Xiu Chun, a close maid, and Xiu Chun
Chun hanged herself. It is said that she was several months pregnant before her death. This news makes me very regretful. Originally, I didn't care about Xia Jinyi's personal affairs, but this woman actually died of love. I didn't kill Boren, and Boren was because of me.
He died, sighed, and decided to send a message to Xia Jinyi, letting him know that there was a woman who loved him so much, but it was a pity for the unborn child.
At the same moment, in the Grand Nei Zhai Palace, Li Zhi was concentrating on reciting scriptures. Xiao Shunzi, who was sitting in the corner of the room practicing silently, opened his eyes, with a hint of admiration in his eyes. Although he followed Jiang Zhe to seek refuge with King Yong.
, but he has always been hostile to King Yong. One reason is that King Yong once wanted to kill Jiang Zhe, and the other reason is because Jiang Zhe was not only almost assassinated to death in order to serve King Yong,
Moreover, he had to force his sick body to plan for him. So although he was very grateful to King Yong for his love for Jiang Zhe, Xiao Shunzi was still reluctant to pay attention to King Yong. But today, Xiao Shunzi really admired this prince.
Xiao Shunzi is not an idiot. He knows his abilities and status. He is willing to be Jiang Zhe's slave, but this does not mean that he does not understand his own worth. Ask yourself, if he were King Yong, he would definitely not be able to help recruiting such a person.
Master, even if he doesn't expect his full allegiance, gaining his favor is worth the money. He also thought that this time when he was alone with King Yong in the Zhai Palace, King Yong might use some means to recruit him, but to his surprise, from beginning to end,
, King Yong just concentrated on learning etiquette and immersed himself in chanting sutras. Although he was polite to him, he had no intention of bribery. Xiao Shunzi had been in King Yong's Mansion for many years and had seen King Yong's treatment of others more than once. To be fair, if Yong was
When the king used him, he found it difficult to treat him as normal, but King Yong did not say a single extra word to him.
Xiao Shunzi understood that it was not that King Yong looked down on him, but that in King Yong's heart, he was a loyal person. This kind of respect made Xiao Shunzi really accept King Yong as Jiang Zhe's master.
For Li Zhi, it is not that he has never thought of buying Xiao Shunzi. After all, such a martial arts master is really worth keeping by his side. However, King Yong is not a person who wants to have the world's heroes in his hands. In his opinion, Xiao Shunzi is loyal to
Jiang Zhe, then as long as he catches Jiang Zhe, he doesn't have to worry about Xiao Shunzi's problem. Moreover, how could he use bribes to humiliate such a magnanimous and noble person? At this time, Li Zhi definitely did not expect that,
Because of this, Xiao Shunzi finally eliminated his hostility towards him.