"Plum blossom inner guards? Third uncle, are you kidding? We are the inner guards!"
"It's different, the Plum Blossom Internal Guard is completely subordinate to the Saint!"
"We are also affiliated with the Saints. We don't need to go through the three provinces of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for promotion!"
"Oh, why don't you understand that the Plum Blossom Internal Guard is used to monitor the officials, including us!"
When Qiu Ying couldn't explain it no matter how he explained it, and angrily told the truth, Qiu Shenji was stunned.
He was stunned for a while, then said in a trembling voice: "Is it the former Zhao Guogong's branch? Didn't the saint abolish the internal guards at that time more than ten years ago?"
Qiu Ying saw that only his uncle and nephew were there, so he gave up: "Not all of them have been abolished. There is still an inner guard left, who is responsible for monitoring the movements of the officials in the court, named Meihua inner guard."
Qiu Shenji was puzzled: "If Rong Niang is the inner guard of Meihua, she is one of our own, so why do you want to harm me? No, she is the key...could it be said..."
He couldn't speak anymore and his expression became frightened.
Qiu Ying's face was also very ugly: "This is difficult, why did you bring her directly to Qiu Mansion?"
Qiu Shenji cried sadly: "I thought she was a spy from an enemy country who sneaked into Chang'an and wanted to stir up relations with the upper class. I wanted to ask for some information first. Liu Lang also allowed me to take revenge. How did I know that she was affiliated with the Meihua Internal Guard? Third Uncle, I don't
Will he go to jail again?"
Qiu Ying was silent for a moment: "Probably... no!"
"Don't use such a suspicious pause!"
Qiu Shenji really cried.
Who can be worse than him!
Including the fact that he was imprisoned in Liangzhou Posthouse when the Tubo Nianzheng envoy died, he entered and exited three times immediately!
No, there may not be a third one yet!
Qiu Ying's heart was also very cold at this time.
He suddenly understood why when he learned that Qiu Shenji had gotten into trouble and went to the palace to see Li Zhi, he could not see the saint at all.
If the Plum Blossom Internal Guard was involved behind this matter, then the Saint would naturally be waiting for the matter to escalate.
And if Li Yan hadn't worked hard to protect Qiu's achievements, his nephew would have become a victim of the game!
Among the next generation of his Qiu family, Qiu Shenji is the only one who has achieved success!
Qiu Ying felt chills all over and his back became more and more stooped.
But looking at his nephew, his nose was red from crying, and he looked helpless, Qiu Ying forced himself to cheer up, stood up, and straightened his back: "Let's go and see the plum blossom guard.
"
In the woodshed in the backyard, Rong Niang was using her strength to heal her wounds. After hearing the footsteps, she opened her eyes, looked at Qiu Ying with gray hair on her temples, and said coldly: "Master Qiu Pavilion, please forgive me for not being able to salute!"
Qiu Ying walked forward and looked at the mark on her arm. The plum blossoms were soaked in blood and became more and more sad and beautiful. He sighed, took it himself and untied the rope, then raised his hands and bowed heavily: "I
My nephew is impulsive and does bad things, please forgive me, madam!"
Rong Niang fell to the ground and snorted arrogantly, but the wound was touched again, the corners of her lips curled up, and she stared at Qiu Shenji with hatred.
But after a moment, she said: "Qiu Shenji, I did put you in jail. Today I fell into your hands and received these three whips. I have paid it off. You and I owe nothing to each other!"
Qiu Shenji felt as if he had been granted amnesty and said quickly: "Yes! Yes!"
Qiu Ying also didn't expect Rong Niang to be easy to talk to, so she bowed her hands and said, "Thank you!"
Rong Niang raised her head, walked out slowly, and disappeared through the back door of Qiu Mansion.
Seeing her back, Qiu Shenji was inexplicably envious.
This is much more majestic than the inner guard.
However, when he thought that this kind of plum blossom inner guard was completely invisible to the public, and once exposed, it would trigger unanimous rejection by all officials, Qiu Shenji gave up his thoughts.
Qiu Ying looked at the blood on the ground and sighed: "The result is finally there, let's go back!"
Qiu Shenji nodded and suddenly said: "No, how can I explain to Liu Lang?"
He told Qiu Ying the whole process of arresting Rong Niang, and said with a mournful face: "Liu Lang also sent Wang Xiaojie to help me arrest people for revenge. How can I explain to him now?"
"Yuanfang treats you well and is willing to give you this opportunity to make meritorious deeds. Others will not care whether you want revenge or not. It's a pity... alas!"
Qiu Ying thought about his nephew's bad luck and sighed again: "Let's go and explain to Yuanfang that my body is getting more and more useless. You should follow him well in the future and don't be half-hearted. With Yuanfang's
I am a loyal person and will never abandon you."
Qiu Shenji actually thought this way. He almost gave up on Qiu Ying in Liangzhou, but he didn't expect to give Qiu Ying a chance to regain his strength later.
Looking at Qiu Ying's white hair at this time, he nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, Third Uncle, go and explain it clearly to Liu Lang, and he will give me a chance next time!"
…
"Uncle Qiu, why are you here in person? If you need anything, just send someone to tell me."
Li Yan welcomed Qiu Ying out of the Duke of Wei's mansion and met Qiu Ying in the waiting room. The two of them walked to the mansion.
"It's okay if you're not asleep. I have something I want to tell you."
The two came to the reception room and saw Li Yanping withdrawing from the others. Qiu Ying slowly recounted what had just happened.
"Plum blossom inner guard?!"
Although Li Yan had some guesses in his mind, his expression changed after hearing this.
This organization was not born during the Wu Zhou period, but existed during the Gaozong period?
His first reaction was that it was fortunate that Duke Wei's government had declined.
The ones that the Plum Blossom Internal Guards want to target are either powerful relatives like the Duke of Zhou, or prominent families like the Dou family. Li Derjian, who is about to die of old age, and several idle sixth-grade men in the Duke of Wei will not look down on them at all.
It's really a blessing in disguise.
But after you have him, you need to pay attention to the comings and goings of everyone in the house.
After getting rid of some fear, Li Yan began to ask: "The reason why the saint left the plum blossom guard is to worry about someone imitating the story of the former Zhao Guogong. Wu Minzhi is also a relative, and he is surly and crazy, cultivating party members. The saint has already prepared to attack him.
?”
Qiu Ying nodded: "Yes, this is also related to the Queen's promotion to Wu Minzhi. She wants Wu Minzhi to lead the Twelve Guards General to inspect the Yulin soldiers and slowly control the North Gate Forbidden Army. This is something that a saint cannot allow.
of."
Li Yan frowned: "Does it need to be so troublesome? He is a saint. With just one order, Wu Minzhi can take it down without hesitation?"
Qiu Ying smiled bitterly: "Yuanfang, you don't know much about political affairs. Wu Minzhi is the nephew of the Queen of Heaven. He continues Wu's incense and is the only relative. And the power of the Queen of Heaven to participate in government affairs is given by the saint. If he directly confronts
If Wu Min takes action, it is equivalent to cutting off his own arm, and the officials will take advantage of him."
In fact, as soon as Li Yan asked the question, he knew that his words were childish.
Is the emperor supreme?
Of course, but it must be operated under the feudal system that has been passed down for thousands of years before it can be supreme.
Without the halo given by the system, he is just an ordinary person. If he is cut off with a knife, his life will still be lost.
Since it operates within the system, the emperor's power seems to be omnipotent, but in fact there are many constraints.
Especially in the Tang Dynasty, where the power of the high-ranking gentry was still very deep-rooted, ministers from various major surnames were secretly competing for power with the emperor all the time.
How to subtly suppress the ministers within the rules and maximize the influence of the imperial power is what a monarch needs to do.
If Li Zhi wants to capture Wu Minzhi, he must have an honest reason.
But Li Yan still doesn't understand something.
When the former Crown Princess Yang committed suicide by jumping into the lake, Li Zhi should have seen how audacious this son was.
With Wu Minzhi's surly character, leaving him would be a disaster sooner or later. It was completely logical to get rid of him at that time. Why wait until now?
He looked at Qiu Ying and whispered: "Uncle Qiu, I have something of great importance and I want to ask you..."
Qiu Ying said: "Don't worry, there are no outsiders here, and I've told you everything about the Meihua inner guards, so what else do you have to worry about?"
Li Yandao: "When I was at Duke Zhou's mansion, when Wu Minzhi finally went crazy, he said some nonsense. I didn't believe it at first. Later, when the prince came to visit and shouted at me harshly, I thought it was probably true. It was about the former prince."
Concubine Yang’s…”
After listening to Li Yan's story, Qiu Ying also took a breath of cold air and felt incredible: "There is such a thing? Wu Minzhi is simply crazy, even the crown prince dares to..."
"He is really crazy now~"
Li Yan was deeply satisfied with his masterpiece, and then asked: "Wu Minzhi was already a relative at that time, and he committed such evil things. Why didn't the saint do it? Mrs. Rong Guo certainly couldn't stop him!"
Qiu Ying thought for a moment, turned pale, and whispered: "Just because Wu Minzhi committed such a mortal sin, the saint will keep him..."
Li Yan's pupils suddenly shrank, thinking of the day and night when he visited Duke Zhou's mansion and Wu Minzhi's proud appearance giving orders, it was like waking up from a dream.
Yes, Wu Minzhi has been dead since he committed that crime. The only difference is that he dies earlier and dies later.
In Li Zhi's eyes, such a person who can legitimately control his life and death is the most suitable relative.
But Wu Minzhi thought that thanks to Mrs. Rongguo's favor, he saw that the former crown princess was safe and sound despite being insulted and forced to death, so he became more and more unscrupulous, but he did not know that he was a lamb to be slaughtered.
When his power expanded to a dangerous level, Li Zhi felt that he could no longer keep him, so he cleared up the old accounts and dealt with them logically.
"I understand the incident of the palace being haunted. What is the last truth that I haven't seen through yet!"
"Ming Chongyan!"
"Ming Chongyan is the inner guard of Meihua. He is basically Li Zhi's man!"
I still remember that in the palace of Duke Zhou, Ming Chongyan cooperated with him in the discussion and seemed not afraid of offending Wu Minzhi at all. Li Yan felt a little strange at that time.
Because the Taoist priest he knew had a history of following people's influence and was not a serious person at all. How come he was here like an immortal and not afraid of power?
Later, Kumarajiva was overtaken and attacked by Ming Chongyan, and he was seriously injured. Li Yan thought he was sent by the prince to kill people and silence him. Only then did he realize that Ming Chongyan was also secretly watching the Duke of Zhou's palace, so he could follow him all the way and perform sudden attacks.
Tricky.
Of course, this is the influence exerted by Li Yan.
If he had not entered Chang'an, Ming Chongyan would have been ordered by Li Zhi to cooperate with the prince to summon the souls of the Yang family, recount the injustices of the past, and expose the scandal.
At the same time, the Meihua inner guards are looking for some enemies to cause trouble for Wu Minzhi. Anyway, the evil slaves under his command are causing trouble all day long. Qiu Shenji's encounter will not be the first one, let alone the last one. It may be the trigger. It just depends on which one is killed.
Just detonate it.
When the time comes, Li Zhi will naturally deal with Wu Minzhi.
Not to mention taking charge of the North Gate Imperial Army, he was directly sent to Lingnan and strangled to death with a horse rope!
As for his party members, those who were willing to join him wholeheartedly were also found to have a handle, and those who were half-hearted were sentenced together and sentenced to death. The Second Saint actually gained the reputation of exterminating relatives for righteousness.
This is the original process.
The one who wanted to kill Wu Minzhi was the Emperor from beginning to end!
Li Yan figured out the truth, and Qiu Ying saw that his face was getting more and more ugly, and he regretted a little, and whispered: "Yuanfang, a saint is a saint after all..."
Li Yan knew that Qiu Ying's loyalty to the emperor was always deep-rooted in his heart, so he reluctantly held back and nodded: "The source of this matter is that the former Duke of Zhao was a relative who controlled the government and made the saints fearful for a long time, which led to this."
These words touched Qiu Ying's heart, and he suddenly showed a look of extreme disgust: "Yes, Changsun Wuji did not act as a minister, and that's why he pushed the originally pure and filial saint to where he is today!"
Li Yan was really unwilling to say such things against his will, so he chatted with Qiu Ying for a few more words, promised not to pay attention to the matter of Meihua's inner guard, and sent him away.
When he returned to the backyard, Li Yan looked towards the Daming Palace to the north.
In the Shaoyang courtyard, the prince was cheering up and preparing to fight to the end with Empress Wu to seek justice for the Yang family and his daughter who died unjustly.
In the Zichen Hall, there was a figure in a yellow robe and a figure in a high bun. The two saints were sitting upright, looking high up, as if they could overlook all living beings.
"Pooh!!"
Thinking of the so-called love these parents had for the sick and frail prince in the past, Li Yan spat hard on the ground.