In the opposite window, Li Rong was still looking at her, with a bit of curiosity in his eyes.
"What did the princess and the concubine say?" he asked.
Lin Yunyan said: "I told you something about your highness's maternal grandfather's family."
Li Rong was stunned for a moment, then asked again: "Grandpa, grandma, are they okay? My father's rebellion also affected them, right?"
"Your Highness," Lin Yunyan said softly, "If you are implicated, you will inevitably be implicated. What the princess wants right now is to be less implicated."
Li Rong nodded thoughtfully.
Lin Yunyan turned her head and looked inside the palace again.
She spoke without suppressing her voice, thinking that Princess Jin could hear these few words of conversation.
If Li Rong is really evil, what is more important between his son and his natal family depends on the choice of Princess Jin.
After washing her face, Princess Jin sat down under the window again.
Mother and son faced each other, and seeing Li Rong looking at her with concern, Princess Jin almost shed tears again.
"What's wrong with you?" Li Rong didn't dare to shout loudly. Fortunately, this Jingxin Hall is not big. Every word can be conveyed by opening his mouth.
A young boy with a childish look on his face.
Princess Jin hurriedly forced out a smile and responded: "It's okay, my concubine is okay, you take good care of yourself."
Just take care of your body.
Never have any treasonous thoughts.
If you really go astray...
When she thought about that possibility, it hurt even for Princess Jin to breathe.
She glanced towards the Buddhist hall.
Save suffering and save suffering, Guanshiyin Bodhisattva.
Princess Jin kept praying in her heart.
I don't know if Li Rong saw clearly the tangled look on Princess Jin's face. He rolled his eyes and laughed.
Half of his body was lying on the window edge, but the hand hanging inside the window was tightly clenched.
On the other side, Lin Yunyan returned to Cining Palace.
The Empress Dowager invited her to sit next to her and asked, "Have you told her everything?"
"I told you," Lin Yunyan replied, "The princess is very sad. It can be seen that she is in a dilemma."
"The Ai family doesn't want to embarrass her," the Empress Dowager sighed, "but who hasn't experienced a few embarrassing things in this life?
Fish and bear paws, palm and back of hand.
When it comes time to make a choice, I hope she can think it through on her own and not regret it.
The Ai family treated her with utmost benevolence and righteousness."
The love between mother and child is blood and nature.
In this big world, there are indeed mothers who do not care for their children, but Princess Jin is obviously not that kind.
"The world is difficult," the Empress Dowager said again. "It's already a mess. The Aijia thought that if there was less chaos, there would be less chaos. When gods fight, the common people will suffer in the end. In a few days, the Aijia will fight Derong again.
He said, "A wise man should not do foolish things."
At this point, the Queen Mother lowered her voice and asked Lin Yunyan: "The Ai family heard from the Holy One that Xu Jian was worried about Li Du joining forces with Gu Yue to launch an attack?"
Lin Yunyan nodded.
This matter is kept secret for now.
The Holy Father secretly issued a message urging the strengthening of defenses at several border passes, but he did not discuss it in the court. He was also worried that Li Du had a hidden line in the court.
Once the news spreads, it will only alert others.
Furthermore, Xu Jian wants to keep Su Chang's side as much as possible. At present, it seems that Su Chang has no signs of defecting again.
"Only Xiliang has caused so much trouble to Yumen," the Empress Dowager said solemnly, "If Gu Yue also comes to intervene..."
Resist or even fight back.
It’s not that the Empress Dowager doesn’t have that kind of confidence.
After these years of keeping a low profile, there is no shortage of troops and sufficient food and grass. As for the choice of general, as she said with emotion to Lin Yunyan a time ago, the veteran general can still carry the burden.
What she is more worried about is running out of money.
Li Duruo also raised his troops and moved here and there, making the situation volatile.
Lin Yunyan understood the Queen Mother's worries.
In her memory, Gu Yue did not join forces with Xiliang or attack Dashun.
However, Li Du's situation in his previous life was completely different from his current situation.
"There are both external troubles and internal worries," Lin Yunyan said. "My Lady, looking at it from another perspective, if we can get through it smoothly, the country will become more stable."
When the Queen Mother heard this, she laughed.
The next day.
In the morning, it was still you and me, each arguing.
Li Shao was reminded by the Holy Father yesterday, but today finally the words "hang Li Rong's head on the city gate" did not come up in public.
The Holy One urges all relevant yamen officials to do their jobs well.
The more you know about Li Du's surroundings, the more chance you have of catching someone as soon as possible.
Even if we are really looking for a needle in a haystack and we can only wait for Li Du to jump out on his own, we must chop off a few more of his arms before doing so to weaken his power.
Fortunately, the hard work these days has not been in vain.
Song Qianshi couldn't stand the interrogation and confessed that among the eunuchs around Li Du, the most effective eunuch was neither Eunuch Ye on the surface nor Eunuch Tong who had been hiding his identity, but another one named "Cheng Xi".
After Eunuch Cao gave him a meal of chicken legs and a meal of swill, Feng Chang knew that Li Du was "defeated" and named the other three insiders in the palace.
Xu Jian went to see Eunuch Sun with the confession of Song Qianshi.
This Eunuch Sun was far less loyal and strict-tongued than Eunuch Tong. In order to be able to carry his life on the road, he cried and described Cheng Xi's appearance, and also sold out Wang Jie who had killed Li Jun that night.
Li Rong looked at the portraits of Cheng Xi and Wang Jie, recalled them, and said, "I have never seen these two people in Zhuangzi. Maybe he didn't show up, or maybe he was hiding somewhere else."
The newly added pictures were plastered all over the capital and sent to other state capitals.
The people who followed the trace of the homing pigeon to Jinzhong have not yet received any news. The people who reviewed the accounts got a glimpse of the problem through the accounts of Chang Yuntang and others.
A team of people entered Guangde Temple to investigate the list of grants over the years.
Another team of people rushed to Jiangnan to investigate the financial problems of Jiangnan Shantang.
Ding Yuannian did not hold on, and explained everything one after another. Within two days, three more Beijing officials were arrested.
In the Jinluan Hall, Xu Jian respectfully reported the latest progress.
After Gu Heng heard this, his thoughts moved and he praised Xu Jian.
"young and promising."
"The rising star."
"The future of the country."
For a time, there were many voices of agreement.
Xu Jian glanced at Gu Heng.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Master Gu’s move is indeed a compliment, and it does have a deeper meaning.
Speaking of which, Mr. Gu showed his kindness several times, overtly and covertly...
Xu Jian glanced at Li Shao again.
Li Shao's expression was indifferent, but his eyes did not conceal his disdain for Gu Heng.
At this moment, Xu Jian did not want to cause unnecessary conflicts with Li Shao, so he bowed to the Holy Master and said: "I dare not take credit, but I also deeply feel that there are fewer young people in the court.
If only the noble disciples who followed Mr. Shan in the square outside the palace gate in the twelfth lunar month of last year could stand here..."
It's enough to make many officials look embarrassed.
The Duke of Fu is so great! If he compliments you, just accept it.
What do you do to expose someone's shortcomings?
Especially those who were lined up, their faces turned red and blue.
There are no children in the Gu family who would be embarrassed, but Gu Heng is not stupid, and he also knows that Duke Fu does not want to hear his praise.
Even though there are some conflicts and frictions between Duke Fu and His Highness, it is obvious that the two people are still on the same front now.
They want to win the Duke of Fu to their side, to win them over to His Highness the Fourth Prince...
Gu Heng thought, His Highness must be asked to "work hard" again.
Eunuch Cao announced his withdrawal from the court.
After the Holy Driver left, the tense atmosphere in the Jinluan Palace finally relaxed a little.
The security guard moved his swollen shoulders a little and was about to leave when he was stopped by Shan Shen.
"Master Hou, please take a step to speak."
The security guard looked around, then pulled Shan Shen out and walked down the long walk to the square.
"Has my unworthy grandson caused trouble for Master Shan again?" the security guard asked in a low voice.
No wonder he always suspected that Yu Chengan was causing trouble, it was actually what Duke Fu Guo said just now in the main hall that made his face particularly dull.
Throughout the year, he rarely had anything to do with Shuntian Mansion. If he did get into trouble with the Yamen, it was probably because of the playboy Yaosun.
"No," Shan Shen hurriedly explained, "it's for other things."
The two chatted about serious matters.
At the end, the security guard Hou blushed slightly and said: "I am really scared by Cheng'an. When Mr. Shan looks for me, I think he is causing trouble again!"
Shan Shenxin said: More than what is less than what is above is more than what is below.
He still said a few words of support and encouragement, and said: "You are still young, you need to sharpen your temper."
The security guard returned to the house holding back his anger.
Coincidentally, I met Yu Cheng'an head-on. He was a young man who looked like a decent man. The man behind him was holding a small bamboo basket in his hands.
When he saw him, he didn't bother to salute and hid the bamboo basket behind his back.
The security guard was very angry.
Wouldn’t you know if you didn’t look at him?
Not just a cricket!
"Shame on you!" the Marquis Baoan scolded him with a straight face, "I used to be a famous general and commanded thousands of armies. It would be better for you to just command crickets!"
Yu Chengan wanted to laugh but was too embarrassed to do so.
My own grandfather knows it.
He must have heard something again outside and got excited for a moment. At this time, he must not let the old man hold it in. Just listen to his instructions honestly.
"Tell yourself how old you are!"
"I was also very smart when I was young. When I met Duke Lao Fu outside, I felt proud. I can't compare to him, but my grandson is no worse than him."
"Look now, Xu Jian can speak well in front of the emperor, and he is neat and thorough in his work. He is a great contributor to the matter of Li Du's rebellion."
"You and he have known each other since childhood. We have competed in both civil and military affairs, but now we are beyond our reach."
"They even married the Empress Dowager's sweetheart, what about you?"
"You spend your days fighting cocks and crickets. I want your grandmother and mother to see a girl for you, but I'm afraid of hurting them!"
While listening, Yu Chengan suppressed laughter and turned to wink at his attendant.
The attendant was smart enough to go to the flower hall and fetch a cup of tea and hand it to the security guard.
The security guard took a sip.
Yu Chengan said: "That's not what you said when you mentioned Xu Jian two years ago. You said he went to the Jinluan Palace to have fun."
The security guard glared at Yu Chengan: "He has changed, why can't you change too?"
Yu Chengan had no choice but to shut up.
After listening to the training honestly, I can't fight the cricket today, so I can only go back to the house and stay there.
It was really boring to wait until the afternoon, so I went out again.
He followed him all the way and asked, "Master, where are we going?"
Yu Chengan found a tea stall and sat down, and said, "Go and find out, where is Xu Jian right now?"
"Are you looking for Duke Fu?" The attendant was stunned, "Don't you just want to fight with Duke Fu after hearing what the Marquis said? Young Master, this is not a fight!"
Yu Chengan said disgustedly: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
When he was a child, he couldn't beat Xu Jian, and the most we fought was a draw, and most of the time he was covered in bruises.
It is impossible for him to fight Xu Jian now. Xu Jian has a leg injury and cannot win with force. If he loses, it will be embarrassing.
When he found out that Xu Jian was in Shuntian Mansion at the moment, Yu Chengan took the initiative to look for him.
He personally brought two large boxes of snacks, saying they were for condolences, but Shan Shen was too embarrassed to turn them away.
I happened to be tired and hungry, so I stopped to rest my stomach.
Xu Jian also sat down to have tea and asked Yu Chengan, "A rare visitor, are you here to complain?"
Yu Chengan said: "I'm here to complain."
Where does suffering come from?
It comes from that training.
"It's a good time to have fun, but you are motivated and positive," Yu Cheng'an sighed, "You can change as you say, which will make a few brothers suffer. In other words, Qinglue is better. With the protection of the Holy One, no one in the family dares to say that he has been there all day long.
Have fun."
Xu Jian laughed heartily: "It's probably because we got married."
Yu Chengan was startled, frowned and said, "Isn't it true that you said something to my grandfather?"
"I'm busy catching rebels, and I don't have time to care about your crickets and fighting cocks," Xu Jian suggested, "How about you also marry a wife?"
Yu Chengan was quite disdainful.
Xu Jian slowly ate a piece of mung bean cake.
After all, they have known each other since they were children. Although they have not interacted with each other much these years, he generally knows Yu Chengan's temperament.
Just being scolded by the security guard, Yu Chengan would not have come to Shuntian Mansion to complain.
Xu Jian didn't rush, just waited for Yu Chengan to speak.
After a long while, Yu Chengan glanced at the officials walking outside the house, and asked Xu Jian in a low voice: "How does the Lord plan to arrange His Highness Li Rong?"
"The decision has not yet been made," Xu Jian said, "What do you think?"
Yu Chengan added: "I raised a cricket the year before last, and soon someone took a fancy to it and offered to buy it.
The buyer was the eunuch named 'Cheng Xi' in the portrait posted, and the cricket was later in the hands of His Highness Li Rong.
I recognize the crickets I raised myself and there is nothing wrong with them.
I asked His Highness where he got the crickets, and he said he found them interesting by watching the servants fight with them."
Xu Jian's eyebrows tightened slightly: "Isn't it cheap for you to sell crickets?"
"For you and me, it's definitely not expensive, but for a eunuch, it's still heartbreaking and distressing, even if he loses face again." Yu Cheng'an said.
Xu Jian nodded.
There is a way here.
Cheng Xi was Li Du's most capable person, but he was separated from the Jin Palace.
He was not on the roster of Prince Jin's Palace, and none of the stewards and maids brought back by the Palace mentioned him, nor did Princess Jin.
After the portrait came out, these people were also very unfamiliar with Cheng Xi.
Cheng Xi would not show up at the Jin Palace easily. If he wanted to fight crickets, he would also fight with the people in that house.
So, where did Li Rong get that cricket?
Li Rong said that he had not seen Cheng Xi and Wang Jie in Zhuangzi. Did he recognize Cheng Xi before that?
