In the Nuan Pavilion of the British Duke's Mansion, both Zhang Shi and Jiao Jing looked gloomy, and finally set their sights on Zhang Fu, who was in the third room.
After the British Duke left, the third master was in charge of all matters of the British Duke's government, and the decision to seek refuge with the Queen Mother was also made by him.
Now in this situation, he naturally has to make the decision.
Zhang Fu is not an indecisive person. After hearing the descriptions of his second brother and Jiao Jing, he pondered for a while and then said.
"On the second brother's side, the infiltration still has to continue. In addition to those from Prince Tan's Palace, there are also those eunuchs directly promoted from Jingyang Palace, and the other eunuchs who are now in charge of the palace. Try to win over them as much as possible, and don't be stingy with money.
Even if it cannot be used completely by us, it is still useful for inquiring about news in the palace."
"As for the matter of delivering news in the palace, if I remember correctly, the Holy Mother mentioned before that there are often maids and eunuchs in the palace who will privately bribe the guards to leave the palace and then send some property to the family members outside."
"Second brother, you are on duty in the Beijing Guards Command and Envoy Department. You can find a way to contact the Holy Mother and ask her to help find out who will be secretly involved. After you find out, you can take advantage of them and promise them huge profits.
It shouldn't be a problem to help us deliver some daily news."
Zhang Xi thought for a while, then nodded.
"This is not a difficult task. The Holy Mother is in the palace now and still has some people. After all, she has controlled the Sixth Palace for many years. It should not be difficult to find out the maids who are secretly involved in the palace."
However, Jiao Jing was still a little worried and said.
"The Third Master's method can be sustained for a while, but the risk is not low if these palace maids are secretly involved. If what we are planning is discovered, it will not be a trivial matter. Does the Third Master have a more reliable method?"
Zhang Fu took a sip of tea, frowned, and said after a moment.
"What the consort said makes sense. These people were brought in secretly. If they were discovered, they could easily leak information. Therefore, they can only maintain daily contact and pass on simple information about whether they are safe or not."
"Really important news must be delivered by someone we trust in person, both internally and externally."
"Since it is inconvenient for you, Prince Consort Jiao, to go in and out, then leave this matter to Xue Heng!"
"Xue Heng?"
Jiao Jing was a little confused at first, but then he understood and said hesitantly.
"Third Master, do you want the eldest princess of Changde to come forward?"
Xue Heng was born in the Yangwu Marquis Mansion and was the uncle of Xue Shen, the current Yangwu Marquis.
In the fifth year of Zhengtong's reign, Xue Heng was elected as the Prince Consort and Princess Shang Changde.
The eldest princess of Changde was none other than the sister of the Supreme Emperor's mother, and the biological daughter of the Supreme Empress Dowager.
After all, Jiao Jing was a relative, and his wife was the eldest princess of Qingdu, the daughter of Renzong. Unfortunately, the eldest princess of Qingdu passed away in the fifth year of Zhengtong.
Because of this, Jiao Jing was worried that his frequent visits to the palace these days would arouse criticism.
Zhang Fu nodded and said.
"Yes, until now, only the eldest princess of Changde can legitimately visit the palace regularly. After all, the Empress Dowager Shangsheng only has one daughter in the capital now. If she is summoned several times, she will not arouse suspicion."
Jiao Jing finally felt relieved and nodded.
"In that case, I will go to Yangwuhou Mansion soon and talk to Xue Hengfen about this matter."
"It just so happens that Queen Duanjing is said to be in poor health recently. Because she is worried about the Supreme Emperor every day, there seems to be something wrong with her eyes."
"Using this excuse, I took Xue Heng and Princess Changde to visit the palace, and handed over the matter in front of the Queen Mother."
The matter was finally settled, but Zhang Xi frowned and said with some dissatisfaction.
"Jiao Prince Consort, you should know that Dongchang and Jinyiwei have been keeping an eye on the Jingwei Command and Envoy Office very closely recently. My sudden departure from the Yamen will definitely attract their attention."
"You called me back in such a hurry, wouldn't it just be for such a non-urgent matter?"
You must know that the problem of communication within and outside the palace has been going on for some time. Although this is an important matter, it is not so urgent that a solution must be found immediately.
Therefore, Mr. Zhang couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied with Jiao Jing who called him back from the Yamen on duty.
But this time, before Jiao Jing could speak, Zhang Fu said next to him.
"Second brother, don't be anxious. It's my wish to send someone to call you. Prince Consort Jiao came here today to discuss matters of internal and external liaison. He was just passing by. The real matter is related to the clan that recently entered the capital."
Zhang Min frowned and asked with some doubts.
"The clan? What happened to those gang of drunkards and rice sacks again?"
He did know that a large number of clans had entered the capital recently.
They had speculated that the emperor's purpose in allowing the clan to come to the capital was simply to increase his presence in front of the clan and make them recognize the legitimacy of the current emperor.
However, although there are many clans, they are domineering in local areas.
But as far as Zhang Xi knew, they were still very peaceful after entering the capital.
After all, several generations of emperors in the Lao Zhu family were very enthusiastic about reducing the clan titles.
They don't want to accidentally let their family become the unlucky one who is thrown into Fengyang.
Zhang Fu glanced at Jiao Jing and said.
"This news was brought by the Prince Consort, so you should tell me."
Jiao Jing nodded, turned to Zhang Shi, and said.
"I wonder if the Second Master knows what happened at the gate of the city when Prince Min came to Beijing a few days ago?"
Zhang Xi nodded without much hesitation.
"Of course I know. There were many people surrounding the city gate at that time. Although they were far apart, this kind of thing would spread very quickly in the capital."
"It is said that the four sons of Prince Min had a huge quarrel at the gate of the city. King Guangtong even beat up King Zhennan and injured Shu Liang, the admiral of Dongchang who went to greet him."
As he spoke, Zhang Xi had a mocking smile on his lips and said disdainfully.
"Speaking of which, what happened in Prince Min's Mansion is really disgusting. We just need to put the words "brothers and brothers against each other" in the open!"
Compared with ordinary people, the families of relatives actually pay more attention to the respect between elders and younger ones, and respect between brothers and sisters.
After all, if a family wants to prosper, it cannot continue to fight among itself for a long time.
Although the three brothers in the British government had some minor frictions and conflicts, because the eldest brother Zhang Fu had deep authority, they got along quite peacefully.
Therefore, Zhang Xi looked down upon this behavior of throwing people at the city gate.
"But what does this have to do with us?"
After listening to Zhang Shi's words, Jiao Jing smiled bitterly and said.
"Second Master, it's not that we're just about to show it to the public, but we've already exposed it to the public!"
Amidst Zhang Xi's confused expression, Jiao Jing continued.
"To be honest with you, the reason why King Guangtong and King Yangzong came to Beijing this time and had such a fierce conflict with King Zhennan at the city gate was not because they acted impulsively."
"I only learned yesterday that the two of them have obtained detailed evidence and are now contacting the court officials. They plan to sue the king of Zhennan for bribing the envoys and falsely accusing the elders at the Zhengdan banquet in front of the clan officials.
Brother, the crime of plotting to seize the throne of the Crown Prince of Min is to avenge the Su family, the mother of these two brothers!"
This chapter has been completed!