After staying in Longzhou City for one day, Wei Changtian and his party continued their journey back to Shuzhou early the next morning.
Nothing happened on the first day. When everyone rushed to Lingzhou the next day, they heard the news that the Dafeng army had arrived in Yuanzhou.
Such a situation is undoubtedly very unfavorable to the Daning court, but it has nothing to do with Wei Changtian...at least for the time being.
Right now, he only cares about how to destroy the Liu family.
As for Ning Yongnian...
"Sir, the emperor has returned to Beijing."
On the carriage, Chu Xianping put away the "code book" and truthfully reported the news that had just come from the same boat meeting: "I came back last night, but I didn't go to the morning court today, and only a few people in the court knew about it."
"Huh? Are you back in Beijing?"
Wei Changtian was stunned, wondering why Ning Yongnian would return to the capital at this juncture.
The battle in Jizhou has just begun. Yuanzhou is encountering foreign enemies again, and a war may start at any time.
At this time, Ning Yongnian returned to the capital from the front line, which only meant that there was a more important matter waiting for him to deal with in the capital.
What could it be?
Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping looked at each other, and after thinking for a moment, the same idea came to their minds.
"Send an order to the fellow boaters to be more vigilant. Unless there is particularly important information in the past five days, they are not allowed to contact other people!"
Wei Changtian frowned and said, "Especially Ning Wenyu, if nothing else happens... Ning Yongnian will definitely test him."
"He is our most senior servant in the palace, so it is best to keep him."
"But if it really can't be saved..."
"..."
Wei Changtian suddenly lowered his voice and whispered a few words.
When Chu Xianping heard this, his expression moved slightly, and he nodded immediately.
"Young master, I understand. I will send the order right away."
...
...
That night.
Imperial Palace, Shiqu Pavilion.
Standing next to the carved stone pillars were two rows of sword-wielding warriors dressed in black. They were the Hualing Guards who had been incorporated into the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
In front of the desk at the end of the stone pillar, Ning Yongnian looked at the four people in front of him, his expression gloomy to the extreme.
The eldest prince, Ning Wenjun.
The second prince, Ning Wenyu.
General Zhenguo, Han Zhao.
Taifu, Pu Siyi.
Except for Xiang Shiyuan, the Minister of War, who was killed in Tianlao, these four people are the only remaining insiders of this important piece of information.
In fact, Ning Yongnian originally only suspected Xiang Shiyuan from the beginning to the end. He chose to tell the information to five people at the same time to avoid Xiang Shiyuan's suspicion.
Yes, Xiang Shiyuan did not have any suspicion in the end, and was indeed found out by himself.
But the plan to take Jizhou City directly failed.
So this means that among these four people, there is also Xiao Zuo...
Two of them are his sons, one is a famous general who has assisted the two emperors of Daning, and the other is his teacher.
Looking across everyone's faces, Ning Yongnian really couldn't believe that one of these four people would betray him and the Ning family.
But that's the truth.
Thinking of Xu Chengwen who was hung high on the city wall by Wei Yanyu, Ning Yongnian took a deep breath, his eyes unconsciously lingered on Ning Wenjun and Ning Wenyu for a while, and then he slowly said:
"You all know what happened in Jizhou."
"The soldiers of Daning are still fighting on the front line with the rebels, but I chose to return to Beijing at this time."
"You must have guessed the reason... I want to hear what you think."
"Tell me everything."
"..."
After Ning Yongnian finished speaking, Shiqu Pavilion fell into a brief silence.
Until Pu Siyi, who was both a cabinet bachelor and a tutor, coughed dryly and was the first to answer:
"Ahem, Your Majesty."
"I feel that this matter cannot be judged without judgment."
"The reason why Xu Chengwen was exposed may be because he acted carelessly."
"As for whether anyone tipped off the news in advance..."
"I believe in your two highnesses, I believe in the general, and I believe in my loyalty to the emperor. I would never do something like this!"
Pu Siyi was originally a well-known good man in the court, and no one could be offended by these few words.
Of course, what he said is not unreasonable. After all, it is indeed possible that Xu Chengwen himself was accidentally exposed.
But Ning Yongnian didn't think so, and knew in his heart that someone must have leaked the secret.
The reason for such a judgment does not mean that he has any key evidence. In fact, it is just a feeling.
But Ning Yongnian was extremely certain of this feeling.
"Teacher, you can't say that."
Shaking his head, Ning Yongnian sighed softly.
"The Xiang family has assisted my Ning family for five generations, but isn't Xiang Shiyuan still rebelling?"
"Besides, Xu Chengwen, this guy is not a stupid person. He knows that if he is not careful, he will end up with his body and head missing."
"I don't think he would make a mistake in something so life-threatening."
"General Han..."
Ning Yongnian paused and looked at Han Zhao again.
"You are a general who leads troops to fight, so you should know this truth best."
"..."
Han Zhao, who was suddenly cueed, was stunned and knew that Ning Yongnian wanted to speak on his own.
He pondered for a moment, then clasped his fists and replied in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the general is just a rough man who doesn't understand any profound principles, is clumsy in speech, and doesn't know how to defend himself."
"I only know one sentence."
"If the father wants the son to die, the son has to die; if the king wants his minister to die, the minister has to die."
"Even if someone really leaks the news about Jizhou, that person is definitely not the last general."
"I hope the emperor will understand clearly!"
"..."
Unlike Pu Siyi, Han Zhao took an aboveboard route.
No matter what, I definitely didn't do this anyway. You can check it as you like.
"I understand."
Ning Yongnian glanced at Han Zhao, whose expression remained unchanged, and said nothing more, because he knew that the probability of Han Zhao and Pu Siyi betraying him was indeed very low.
One of them is the Tutor and the other is the General. Both of them have already occupied positions below one person and above ten thousand people.
What's more important is that the two of them are already old, and it is simply not worth taking such a big risk for the illusory further power.
"Teacher, General, please go back first."
Turning his back, Ning Yongnian said calmly: "I want to talk to Jun'er and Yu'er alone."
"Yes, Wei Chen resigns."
Pu Siyi and Han Zhao looked at each other with complicated expressions and then retreated in unison.
And leaving behind them were the two rows of Hualing Guards with knives.
"Wow, wow, wow~"
The friction of the armor made bursts of noise, and the flower feathers hanging on the handle of the knife swayed up and down with the steps.
"General Han..."
Pu Siyi looked back at the closed door of Shiqu Pavilion, lowered his voice and said to Han Zhao beside him: "I am afraid that one of the two highnesses will not be able to go to court tomorrow."
"Master Pu, I don't understand what you are talking about."
Han Zhao stopped and glanced at Pu Siyi, his tone unceremonious: "Han still has something to do, so I'll take the first step!"
"you!"
Seeing Han Zhao leaving in a hurry, Pu Siyi thought that he did not want to get involved in the fight for the reserve position, so he cursed "reckless man" behind his back.
Han Zhao had already walked more than ten feet away at this time, so he probably couldn't hear this complaint.
The cold wind was biting, and the chilling atmosphere in the Shiqu Pavilion behind him was almost bone-chilling.
He walked neither fast nor slowly in the night, with a calm expression, but he was holding something tightly in his palm hidden in his sleeve.
It was a small copper coin, with a small boat carved on the back and only two words on the front -