In the palace, there must be no one but Wang Shoushi who can have such energy to escape under heavy supervision... In the end, he underestimated and despised this eunuch. As His Majesty's secret supervisor who controls the dead soldiers, on the surface You may not be able to cause any trouble, but you can't guard against such sneaky privacy tactics.
And simply for the understanding of Taiji Palace, there is indeed no one in the world who can compare with Wang Shoushi...
He must rush to the prince's side and come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible.
…
"What?!"
After hearing the news, Li Ji and Li Xiaogong came to the prince's residence and looked at each other in astonishment. They were a little surprised and shocked by the sudden disappearance of the King of Jin. They immediately thought of the consequences that were about to happen and felt helpless. They were prepared to take precautions for fear that a massacre would break out in Chang'an. In order to fight, the King of Jin was placed under house arrest and even summoned Yuchi Gong into the palace, but in the end, these two people escaped.
The Taiji Palace is heavily guarded and well-defended, but there are still such big loopholes and such an unforgivable mistake...
Li Xiaogong had a bitter look on his face and hesitated for a long time. After standing up, he knelt on the ground again and said with a sigh: "The dog neglected his duty and deserved death. I apologize, and I hope His Highness will punish you. I will never complain."
After saying this, he paused with his head.
This is the etiquette for ministers to meet the king on formal occasions...
Before, he was still hesitant about which prince to support, and wanted to wait until His Majesty's edict appeared before making a decision. He was not afraid of offending either the prince or the king of Jin because of this. After all, his past achievements were solid and he was the leader within the clan. His prestige is that he is the second person under His Majesty. Whoever ascends the throne will need to rely on him to control the clan to avoid chaos.
But now the situation has taken a turn for the worse.
The King of Jin absconded, and war was almost inevitable. Once the battle for the heir broke out, Li Chongzhen would be the most directly responsible... The most critical question is, how would the prince view the King of Jin absconding under Li Chongzhen's nose?
How will the ruling and opposition parties view Li Xiaogong's stance?
On the surface, they promised to abide by His Majesty's decree and try their best to avoid the occurrence of war. However, in the end, the war was born in the hands of their father and son...
The King of Jin will not take kindly to the Hejian County Prince's Palace, because Li Chongzhen was under house arrest under the orders of the Crown Prince to supervise the King of Jin. The reason why the King of Jin absconded was because he had mastered a method that others did not know, rather than being protected by Li Chongzhen. When the King of Jin ascended the throne, how could he not Holding a grudge and seeking revenge?
The prince will not tolerate the Hejian County Prince's Mansion. The King of Jin absconded under Li Chongzhen's nose. Even if Li Chongzhen really didn't let go...who would believe it?
Failure due to taking sides is actually not the worst result, but being cheated is...
Li Chengqian quickly stood up, took two steps forward, leaned over and held Li Xiaogong's shoulders with both hands, and said in a sincere tone: "Uncle Wang is the pillar of the royal family and the stone of the empire. His achievements are illustrious and prestige is high. My father always mentioned that the stability of the royal family is due to Uncle Wang's contribution, and the country can be stable because of it." Solid, and repeatedly taught the orphans to rely on Uncle Wang, and to consult him from time to time on internal and external matters, so that he could not neglect anything, and the military and government would be worry-free... Although Li Chongzhen made mistakes in today's affairs, he was not guilty of dereliction of duty. Not to mention that Uncle Wang is not involved in this at all? Uncle Wang can rest assured that although Gu does not dare to claim to be wise, he is not a fool, and he will not be involved randomly and make things out of nothing."
Li Xiaogong looked ashamed, and was helped up by Li Chengqian. He suggested: "Right now, we should quickly go to the Prince Jin's Mansion. While searching the whole mansion to see if there is any trace of Prince Jin, we will send people to the Youhouwei barracks outside the city to try to win over the right guards." General Su Jia of the Houwei can promise to grant him the position of taking over the position of General of the Right Houwei and give him a title of one rank. No matter what conditions he pays, he must appease the Right Houwei."
Once Yuchi Gong escapes from the city and returns to the Youhou Guards, coupled with the prestige of the King of Jin, it is very likely that he will raise his troops tonight.
Of course, the Youhou Guards have been managed by Yuchi Gong for many years. In the past, they relied on His Majesty Li Er's favor to fight against the lieutenant colonel and the general. The entire army was deployed with loyalty, and Su Jia was Yuchi Gong's wife. Disciples, it is as difficult as going to heaven to win over them...
Fang Jun added: "We must also summon Lu Guogong immediately and ask him about the details of the capital's defense to ensure that nothing goes wrong."
Li Ji, who had been silent all this time, raised his head and glanced at Fang Jun, but still didn't speak.
The so-called inquiry about the defense of the capital... is simply nonsense. This is to summon Cheng Yaojin into the palace and place him under house arrest. If Cheng Yaojin agrees to stand on the side of the East Palace, he will live in Taiji Palace and send letters to command the Zuowu guards. On the contrary, they would put Cheng Yaojin under house arrest and deprive him of military power, and then find a way to separate the Zuowu Guards. At the worst, they could threaten Cheng Yaojin and command the Zuowu Guards to fight.
Otherwise, once Cheng Yaojin rebels and besieges Taiji Palace, the situation will be bad for the East Palace.
There is nothing better than this...
Li Chengqian was refreshed and quickly said to the officials of the East Palace outside: "Immediately rush to the army with the solitary order and summon Duke Lu into the palace to discuss important matters."
Yu Zhining agreed outside and turned around to make arrangements. He and many East Palace civil servants had long supported the prince to take the initiative to defend the throne, but the prince had been passive under Fang Jun's instigation, which made them, the civil servants, quite disappointed. However, Now that His Majesty has passed away, there is no need to fight for the crown prince's throne, and he can take the initiative to deal with the Jin Palace and his family. However, there is not much excitement in his expression.
When he came outside, he sent someone to convey Prince Jun's order to Cheng Yaojin, and then he found Lu Deming himself. The two of them gathered at a corner, quite speechless.
Who would have thought that things would develop like this?
If I had known this, why bother...
After a while, Lu Deming said in a deep voice: "Now that the matter has come to this, how can there be any room for recovery? It is still wrong now. If we continue to treat Qin, Mu and Chu with half-hearted intentions, I am afraid that neither party will be able to tolerate us."
Yu Zhining shook his head repeatedly and sighed, but he also knew that what Lu Deming said was right.
After a long time, he sighed heavily: "That's it."
There is no turning back when the bow is drawn, so how can they be allowed to change again and again?
Lu Deming said: "I will go to Duke Lu in person and explain the pros and cons to him. I hope that he will understand the justice and not make the wrong move."
Yu Zhining shook his head and said, "What's the use of you going? Cheng Yaojin may seem rough and vulgar, but in fact he is the most slippery. It will be difficult to persuade him with simple words. Someone has already come to persuade him and made him irresistible conditions. "
Lu Deming's face instantly darkened. He didn't know that Yu Zhining was still hiding such a trick, and he was obviously guarding against him.
From this point of view, it can hardly be called a wise move for me to choose to associate with these remnants of the Guanlong clan...
*****
The Zuowuwei camp was set up everywhere in the city. Once an emergency occurred, it could quickly seize key passes in the city and control the entire city. The Chinese military tent was set up not far from the East Market.
At that time, the night was as dark as ink and it was raining lightly. Cheng Yaojin was drinking tea and talking with an old man in his seventies with white hair and beard in the Chinese military tent.
Cheng Yaojin poured tea for him with his own hands and asked with a smile: "It's raining heavily tonight and my father-in-law is not resting in the house. Why do you come here in the rain? If you have something to do, just let someone know. My son-in-law will do his best to handle it. Why do you need me?" Make this trip yourself."
The old man is Cheng Yaojin's father-in-law. Cui Xin, who was a former governor of Qizhou during the Sui Dynasty, did not enter the Tang Dynasty as an official, but lived in the mansion to take care of his life. He did not usually have foreign guests. Today, he came to the house rashly or went to the army in person. Obviously, there must be a reason...
Cui Xin took out the tea cup and took a sip. As if he didn't hear Cheng Yaojin's words, he said casually: "This tea has an endless sweetness and stimulates saliva in the mouth. It must be the best quality. It is worth a lot of money, and it is the best in the market."
Even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it. The Cui family of Qinghe is known as a hairpin family and a Confucian family, but it is not a blessing to enjoy it."
Cheng Yaojin was stunned: "This tea is indeed rare in the market, but I sent some to my home during the Qingming Festival. Although it is not much, it is enough for my father-in-law to enjoy, right? I will send some to you later.
If you go, there is no need to say such resentful words."
He still respects the father-in-law in front of him quite a lot.
When his first wife died of illness, he heard that the eldest daughter of Cui family in Qinghe was widowed, so his lover went to find a matchmaker. He thought it was just a wishful thinking, but unexpectedly it came true, making the marriage a sensation.
As the head of the "Five Surnames and Seven Sects", the Cui family of Qinghe has a noble family and a clan with hairpins. It is the leader of the Shandong family and is famous all over the world. Even if the eldest daughter of the family is widowed and remarried, she is still admired and asked to marry.
I don't know how many ordinary people are more popular than the royal princess. Logically speaking, it is definitely not his turn, Cheng Yaojin. It was the father-in-law who persuaded the opponents in the clan to marry his legitimate daughter to him, despite all the opposition.
This is marriage, a proper gift of knowing someone.
What's more, before the marriage, Cheng Yaojin had been assisted by the Cui family of Qinghe, so he was able to make great achievements in the chaotic land of Shandong in the late Sui Dynasty...
It's just that in recent years, I have grown up, and I am not willing to get too close to the Shandong family with unsatisfactory desires, so I have drifted away from him, so I feel apologetic towards my father-in-law.
Cui Xin raised his eyelids and glanced at him, and said calmly: "How to ask for help from others instead of asking for yourself? This tea business not only makes money every day, but also can be passed down to family members. It's a pity that the best tea gardens in Jiangnan are now under Fang Jun's name.
, I think it won’t take a few generations for the Fang family to become a wealthy family on par with the Cui family, the Lu family and other famous families."
Cheng Yaojin clicked his tongue and became speechless.