Later, I became the prince of the group

Before the autumn hunt, the court was still arguing endlessly about the disposal method of the king of Pingcheng County. It was not until Chu Yan proposed at the court that "there is no need to attack at all, just bring the people back, and the rest of the matter will be considered by the emperor." calm.

At that time, the truth about Chu Yan's poisoning had already come to light, but Emperor Chengxing could not convict the Zhu family just because of the one-sided remarks of a court lady. After all, no one saw Chu He or the imperial concubine personally hand over the poison to Yue Ya.

He wanted to see something more authentic and take down the Zhu family in one fell swoop.

After Chu Yan said "Father has his own considerations", Emperor Chengxing felt that this son might have seen something, so he secretly summoned Chu Yan and Li Pingrui, and chatted for a whole night.

At that time, Li Pingrui did not mention that he had received an anonymous letter to report, but only said that he found that something was wrong with Li Chongyi, and after an investigation, he found out that Li Chongyi was in contact with strangers in a private house, and Cheng Guogong's wet nurse's family was suspected to have been monitoring them.

Chu Yan: "No matter what the reason is, Cheng Guogong clearly knew that Li Chongyi was acting sneaky, but he didn't tell his father, there must be something wrong. But since Cheng Guogong sent a nanny to spy on Li Chongyi, the two should not be together , I guess Cheng Guogong probably just wanted to hold onto Li Chongyi...or Li Xiang."

Li Pingrui: "Your Highness is right, so tell me, does Duke Cheng know about the rebellion that the Prince of Pingcheng wants to rebel?"

Chu Yan: "It's hard to say, father, what did the spies find in Li Chongyi's secret house?"

Emperor Chengxing asked Chu Yan to come here, in fact, he just wanted to hear if he would come up with the right suggestion again, and didn't want him to know too much, but at this point, Emperor Chengxing felt that it might be possible for him to know more There would be a surprise, so he winked at Li Pingrui, and Li Pingrui took out a letter from his sleeve.

It was written in Li Pingrui's own handwriting!It was the content of the tip-off to Prince Rui.

Chu Yan was a little surprised: "Is this copied by Li Chongyi? Is he also related to Sixth Uncle's conspiracy?"

Li Pingrui nodded, and he took out his own handwriting first, and asked Chu Yan to compare it. The handwriting is obviously the same, but the force at some turning points is slightly different. If Li Xiang hadn't pointed it out to him, After further explanation, Chu Yan really couldn't see the difference.

After comparing the handwriting, Li Xiang said again: "Your Majesty found out that Prince Rui was going to rebel, and it happened that Marquis Liu was returning to the capital, so he sent Marquis Liu and his people to guard secretly outside the city, while Duke Jin led the troops into the city, preparing for a pincer attack from inside and outside. Li Chongyi drafted this letter, to remind him, he specially used my handwriting, I think it was my handwriting that he used when he contacted Prince Rui for the first time, which made Prince Rui believe some rumors to be true."

Chu Yan wisely didn't ask what kind of rumor it was, the rumor that allowed Prince Rui to raise troops secretly to plan a rebellion... It must have something to do with his father!Wouldn't it be cool to mention this in front of his father?

Chu Yan just said: "Father, this person provoked the two princes to rebel one after another. Didn't you find that Southern Jin spy named Li Liang at the Prince of Pingcheng this time? I think this Li Chongyi is also very likely It's the Southern Jin spies."

Li Liang joined the army under the command of General Hussars. Generals Hussars ordered him to pay the pension, but he left the army halfway, brought a group of troops from the Southern Jin Dynasty, deliberately put on the badge of Generals Hussars, and assassinated King Liang .

General Hussars is the cousin of King Pingcheng, but he is more loyal to His Majesty. Even he sent someone to kill his father. Naturally, King Pingcheng felt that the emperor really wanted to kill him, so he secretly prepared to plot a rebellion.

If Li Chongyi was also a spy of the Southern Jin Dynasty, then one of them delivered a letter to King Pingcheng in the name of Li Pingrui in the capital, telling him that the emperor wanted to kill you, and the other assassinated King Liang in Liangzhou, so that King Pingcheng felt that the letter said What is true is true, and it makes sense if the inside should cooperate with the outside.

Seeing Emperor Chengxing looking at him with encouraging eyes, Chu Yan continued: "Father, it is of no use for the two kings to conspire against Duke Cheng. If they become successful, of course they will not be able to accommodate the former noble concubine's natal family. If they failed, the rebellion may cause you to take back your military power to prevent civil strife. This matter can only be a conspiracy of the Southern Jin Dynasty, they want the Northern Qi to fall into internal strife and consume the Northern Qi's military strength!"

Emperor Chengxing sighed: "Your analysis is good. What I am most afraid of is fulfilling their wishes. Those people in the court shouted 'send troops' and 'send troops' every day, but they should first settle down when they are outside. , how can I send troops to the Southern Jin Dynasty with peace of mind... I called you this time because you always have some weird ideas, what do you think of this matter?"

Chu Yan thought carefully for a while, and Emperor Chengxing did not urge him, but waited quietly.

What does the emperor want?

The Zhu family grew stronger day by day in the court. This is something that no emperor would like to see. It's not that Emperor Chengxing didn't want to send troops to the Southern Jin Dynasty, but the matter of the Southern Jin Dynasty can still be slowed down. On the contrary, it is this hidden danger around him that makes him Difficulty sleeping at times.

As soon as the poisoning was found out, it touched Emperor Chengxing's bottom line.The emperor should now be determined to eradicate the Zhu family, but he is afraid that the Zhu family will turn around and rebel and support the second prince.

It seems that Emperor Chengxing didn't want to go to this point for a while, otherwise, it would be enough to charge Zhu Jia'an with poisoning alone. Isn't home simple?

Then what Emperor Chengxing was really worried about...was the imperial concubine and Chu He.

One is the imperial concubine whom he has loved for many years, how could he have no feelings, and even if the other does not please him, he is still his own son.

Emperor Chengxing wanted to deal with the Zhu family, but he wanted to keep these two alive, but once the Zhu family supported Chu He, according to the ancestral system, these two people must not be kept.

Therefore, Emperor Chengxing wanted to give Zhu Jiaan a crime that did not involve the concubine and the second prince, but also did not want them to have the opportunity to rebel.

Before Chu Yan opened his mouth, he was humble: "My son is just thinking about it, but I don't know whether it is feasible or not. I have to ask my father to help me decide."

As soon as Emperor Chengxing heard it, he knew that he really had an idea, and said with a smile, "Let's talk."

"Father, this idea depends on the situation. There may be three situations in Zhu Ting. The first is the simplest. As I said just now, he only knows about Li Xiang and does not report it. Everything is just for profit. Fighting, eliminating dissidents, and having no intention of rebelling."

"The second is that Zhu Ting really has the intention of treason. Although he has [-] soldiers and horses in his hands, he temporarily trains with Jin and his uncle's soldiers and horses in the camp on the outskirts of Beijing. It's too eye-catching to want to use it. So I thought he might have private soldiers in his hands."

Emperor Chengxing couldn't help interrupting him: "I have checked, and there is no problem with the accounts of the Zhu family and its relatives and in-laws, and no corruption has been discovered. It costs too much money to raise private soldiers. What did you say?" This situation is unreliable.”

Chu Yan said: "Then this is the third situation that I want to talk about. Zhu Ting is rebellious, but someone else is raising private soldiers for him. For example... the Southern Jin Dynasty, but it is not the same as Li Chongyi. That’s all.”

Emperor Chengxing was silent: "You dare to think...so what is your idea?"

Chu Yan not only dared to think, but also dared to say: "The first idea is to send Zhu Ting a charge of fabricating evidence to falsely accuse important court officials."

Emperor Chengxing: "..."

Emperor Chengxing: "I see that you are now planning to fabricate evidence to falsely accuse important court officials."

Chu Yan: "Father, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to frame Zhu Guogong, but to lure him into the bait. Isn't the autographed letter copied by Li Chongyi with us? We can ask Li Xiang to write a few more letters, each of which must be There is a subtle gap, and an inconspicuous special small seal is left in the corner. One of them must be specially packed in an envelope, and the rest will be discarded on the ground as waste paper. Two more people will be sent, one of them will sneak into Li Chongyi Zhu Ting's house played himself, and another person disguised himself and stuffed the letter under the door, this process must be seen by Zhu Ting's wet nurse's family."

"They will definitely be curious about the letters sent by strangers, and they will most likely sneak into the house to investigate. As long as they see these letters, they will know that Li Chongyi is imitating Li Xiang's words. There are two possibilities here. First, Zhu Ting had discovered the original of this letter a long time ago, and asked someone to copy it as a backup, but when he found a new letter, Zhu Ting would definitely feel that the version he had asked someone to copy before was not perfect, and he would copy the copy of the letter. Second, Zhu Ting saw this letter for the first time, so if so many copied letters are put together, he will also take back a copy."

Li Xiang stroked his beard: "Your Highness wants to say that after all this is done, find another courtier, pretend to find Li Chongyi's weirdness, and report to His Majesty. Your Majesty can send Zhu Ting to track it down. Zhu Ting will naturally go with the flow." We tracked down that mansion. And we retrieved all the letters in advance without leaving a single one. Cheng Guogong could not find that letter. Knowing this, Cheng Guogong would think it was a letter and destroy it after I found it, or It was destroyed by Li Chongyi himself. When the time comes when he is riding a tiger, he will probably make up an excuse and take out the copy in his hand."

Chu Yan nodded and said, "That's exactly what I mean."

Emperor Chengxing asked: "Then have you thought about it, what if Zhu Ting is cautious and worried that Li Chongyi will find out when he comes back? Wouldn't you want to do that?"

Chu Yan said: "My son, remember, is the time of autumn hunting coming soon in previous years?"

"Oh?"

"Father, why don't you leave the capital, leave the court to Prime Minister Zuo, and call Zhu Ting to stay? As soon as you leave, Prime Minister Li will bring Li Chongyi with him when he goes to the autumn hunt. The three of them are not in the capital. A long time is enough for Zhu Ting to leave no trace, and you may be able to expose them to other things if you leave Beijing for a long time."

Li Bingrui: "But Your Highness, what if Zhu Ting is overly cautious and doesn't take the letter away? As for the other things you mentioned, what if there is nothing at all?"

Chu Yan spread his hands: "Then the method of luring the snake out of the hole is useless. Let's find another plan. On the father's side, you can play with peace of mind for a few days. Just take a break. It's good for your health and not bad."

Li Pingrui was stunned, and his train of thought was quickly diverted: Okay, it seems like it's not a loss...

Seeing that Li Pingrui was choked by Chu Yan's words, Emperor Chengxing couldn't help laughing, and quickly put on a straight face: "As a prince, you can't do what you say without being sure. You have to correct this problem."

Chu Yan let out a muffled "Oh": "My son knows."

But this matter was settled later. The emperor made the itinerary of autumn hunting when many things were pending, which made the ministers puzzled. They could only guess that the emperor wanted to express his attitude-even if such a big event happened Do not want to attack the Southern Jin Dynasty.

Cheng Guogong's faction thought more, thinking that the emperor was determined to take back the military power from the Zhu family, and naturally wanted to let his own people gain a firm foothold before Emperor Chengxing actually gave the order.

Therefore, Cheng Guogong, who stayed in Beijing, began to prepare the evidence to overthrow Li Xiang, but he didn't simply drop the letter, but directly caught one of the people who had contacted Li Chongyi, pretending to find out that he was a spy of the Southern Jin Dynasty, They tortured and asked Li Chongyi's name.

Then it was played to Emperor Chengxing.

At this time in the court hall, Liang Ye took out two letters that were almost indistinguishable at first glance, but the small seal on the lower left corner of one of them was unique. The printed one is indeed the one we found, I remember Xiaoyin."

Emperor Chengxing announced that the people waiting outside came to the hall, and after a while, one person was escorted up, and Lu Shangshu immediately recognized that the letter he found was exactly the person who handed it to him.

Jin He stepped forward and asked, "Say it again, who told you to stuff the letter in the crack of the wall?"

The man did not know what torture had been used, trembling all over, he said intermittently, "It's... beside the Duke of the Zhu Mansion... the big housekeeper."

This person is exactly Zhu Ting's person in the Ministry of Punishment. When he found out that the letter was missing, he immediately asked someone to report the letter to the Duke's Mansion. The letter was found in the cracks, and later Lu Shangshu asked Li Chongyi about the letter from his home. Li Chongyi wanted to drag his master into the water, so he naturally said that there was such a thing, so no one doubted the authenticity of the letter.

At this time, Jin He said in a timely manner: "The minister sued Zhu Tingzhi, Zhu Ting raised private soldiers and murdered the prince."

Zhu Ting is bolder than Chu Yan imagined. He has been used to covering the sky with one hand these years, and he probably really thought that he could walk sideways in the capital, especially when the emperor was away. When he sent people to arrest the people who had connected with Li Chongyi, he was not particularly cautious. .

Then Emperor Chengxing's secret guards discovered that the people around Zhu Ting spoke a few words of Southern Jin official dialect when talking with the arrested man.

Just such a little information is enough to make Emperor Chengxing's suspicion hard to dispel.

There are people from Southern Jin around Zhu Ting, so has he already colluded with Southern Jin?Since he has something to do with the Southern Jin Dynasty, is it true that as Chu Yan said, a certain force in the Southern Jin Dynasty raised private soldiers for him?

Therefore, Emperor Chengxing resorted to tricks and put Li Xiang in prison. Firstly, he diverted Zhu Ting's attention to Li Xiang, and secondly, he dug out more ministers of Zhu Ting's party.

Sure enough, Zhu Ting united with the ministers and wanted to overthrow the right minister in one fell swoop. His attention was on the court, but Emperor Chengxing's attention was on the group of private soldiers who did not know where they were hiding and the Liangzhou army.The private soldiers were to be found out, and the Liangzhou army was to be called back to perform a play.

Just a few days later, Chu Yan brought up the "long trip" with him again.

Emperor Chengxing immediately thought of his second idea: to draw out private soldiers.

Chu Yan didn't go into details, but Emperor Chengxing knew what he meant when he thought about it. It was nothing more than letting himself be the bait, but the bait of "King An" was not very tempting. It was Chu Rui who was really suitable to be the bait .

Naturally, Chu Yan did not dare to directly mention Chu Rui's name, but after Emperor Chengxing agreed to Chu Yan's "far journey", after much deliberation, he decided to use this method.

"Prisoned" Li Pingrui was immediately escorted and traveled thousands of miles to Liangzhou to negotiate with the king of Pingcheng County, manage his own shops along the road, and decide on the camp where Jin Su led troops to station... "The verdict has been pronounced, but the family members named "Flee" were secretly protected by Emperor Chengxing, and the third prince was sent out of Beijing.

Zhu Ting's lineage can be said to have won a complete victory, and their morale is high.

The emperor originally planned to let the Liangzhou army pretend to escape and rob Pingcheng County King, and let others make a scene on the way to show their loyalty to the County King. The private soldiers went to find the whereabouts of the Pingcheng County King, so that they could discuss cooperation with the County King and win over the County King's old troops for their own use. However, the County King is actually surrounded by the emperor's people, which will naturally expose Cheng Guogong's wolfish ambitions.

Even if Chu Yan went to Liangzhou, and the emperor secretly sent Jin Su and Lu Yuncheng to protect him, the original plan would not change, it was just postponed, and if the assassination of the enemy was really successful, it would be a different situation up.

A few days before Chu Yan's departure, Emperor Chengxing called Chu He over on purpose, and sighed with him: You and Chu Rui are not worry-free. Don't let me down if you think too much.

But for Chu Rui, without courtiers and vassals, he also has the support of Emperor Chengxing, and it is impossible for Chu He to have no courtiers and vassals.

He thought to himself: Father is full of words not to let him down, but he insists on breaking his way out!What do you mean don't think too much?They are all princes, why can't they fight?Chu Rui wanted to ensure that Li Xiang's father, who was in collusion with the Southern Jin Dynasty, would allow him to spoil him so much. Could it be that if he didn't get rid of him for a day, his father would never think about himself?

Therefore, Chu He single-handedly facilitated the assassination.

In fact, Emperor Chengxing knew very well that Zhu Ting would not take the risk of assassinating Chu Rui unless Chu He was sent out together.Chu He went to Liangzhou together, and made another bitter plan, so that no matter how the third prince died, no one would suspect Chu He.

But Emperor Chengxing kept Chu He in the capital and provoked him with words, because Emperor Chengxing wanted to give him one last chance amid repeated disappointments.

Zhu Ting would not send troops to assassinate, but Chu He might not.

If Chu He still has reason and the bottom line in his heart, he is willing to keep Chu He alive and healthy.But if Chu He was really full of malice and attacked his brothers recklessly, no matter how sad Emperor Chengxing was, he would not be able to keep him.

Above the court hall, Chu Rui listened to the whole story, and Mao Sai suddenly understood.

His eldest brother was walking around the city and looking at the scenery on the road, in fact, it was to delay time. If he really went and returned quickly, it was very likely that Zhu Ting would only do it when he returned alone. After Chu Yan delayed the time, Zhu Ting did not dare Drag along with him, after all, the Prince of Pingcheng may not know when he will be captured, so he can only do it when he is crossing a dangerous place.

Chu Yan expected this, and asked Lu Yuncheng and Jin Su to replace him and Liu Qi a few days in advance. According to Emperor Chengxing's idea, Chu Yan should also be replaced as a substitute, but Chu Yan took the wolf cub Xiaoba on the road after all. Xiaoba is a wolf, but it has a dog's nose. If it can't smell the owner, it will definitely growl. Was transferred.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that all of this was the scheme of his father, eldest brother and Li Xiang, but he thought he was smart and wanted to win over the courtiers who were close to Li Xiang, and exposed all his pettiness under the eyes of his father...

By the way, there was that time with the sixth younger sister... He went to the palace and had a big fight. The elder brother asked him if anyone had tempted him to open the city gate, and he said no.But Li Chongyi happened to be in the meeting that day at the prime minister's mansion. Is it possible that Li Chongyi had talked about this matter with several other people beforehand, and the other people were hinted at it, which made him think that the elder brother was trying to fight for merit, so he refused to let him go? Uncle Jin Guo from outside the city came in to help?

If the eldest brother really opened the city gate unprepared, what would happen to the sixth younger sister... was taken away from the capital, and became a pawn used by others to threaten the emperor?What will happen behind this?Never see the light of day, no one will know that there is a spy from the Southern Jin Dynasty and a Zhufu with evil intentions by his side?

Chu Rui couldn't help crying, he realized how stupid he was.

Emperor Chengxing stood up and said, "Jin He, let's talk about the fourth crime."

Jin He turned around and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have searched Cheng Guogong's mansion for several days, and forced him to find out that Cheng Guogong used his caravan to communicate with the Southern Jin Dynasty for him. I have already controlled the steward of the caravan. But the steward said that he only knew that he wanted to send a letter to a tavern in the Southern Jin Dynasty, but he was not clear to whom the letter was addressed to. Your Majesty, please investigate this matter thoroughly."

At the same time, the suburbs of Beijing have been stalemate for several days in an atmosphere of explosive tension.

Emperor Chengxing was so angry that he sent Cheng Guogong directly to prison, which was actually very risky. The generals who surrounded Cheng Guogong knew that if something happened to Cheng Guogong, he would not be able to please him. In addition to the part of the capital, Cheng Guogong still has several old ministries on the border, all of which are ready to go.

The [-] troops in the suburbs of Beijing were taken away by Lord Liu, and the Jin family's [-] troops were outside. Those who were left were not enough to suppress Cheng Guogong. Fortunately, Cheng Guogong's former department believed that His Majesty was just guessing that Cheng Guogong did it, and there was no real evidence. , did not act rashly.

Now that the Liangzhou army has returned and directly merged into Jin He's command, they have an advantage in numbers, but if they want to disarm so many troops, they must use real swords and guns.

Before the meeting was over, the gate of the city was already closed. Someone rushed back to report the news. Jin Su looked at the old army of Cheng Guogong not far away, who was still calm and could not see anything unusual, and said to the deputy general next to him: "Father asked me to follow you. The younger generation boldly suggested to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to strike first."

The lieutenant general said: "Your Majesty's intention is to recruit as much as possible to surrender without conflict."

Jin Sudao: "When the news of Cheng Guogong's death comes out, there will be no conflicts. We may not be able to stabilize at that time. Why don't I lead a small team to take the head of the other side's lieutenant? Those people don’t all want to be traitors, as long as the general’s head falls, they will be like grass.”

The deputy general was speechless: "Young man, dare to think and dare to do."

Jin Su suspected that he really wanted to say "I don't know the heights of the sky and the earth", but he smiled indifferently: "There are role models."

More than ten days later, a letter from Beijing arrived in Pingcheng.

At this time, Chu Yan was already able to jump on the ground by himself. He leaned against the pillar and watched people hang lanterns on the veranda and paste window grilles cut out of vermilion paper.

This was originally the mansion of Prince Liang. After the family of King Liang was escorted back to Beijing, the servants in the mansion were dismissed, and the plaques of Prince Liang’s mansion were also taken down. Fortunately, the new Zhizhou had a lot of work to do, and there was a shortage of manpower everywhere, so he didn’t take care of it Copy the house.After hearing that King An was coming, Zhizhou immediately asked someone to take some servants in for King An, and then counted the women's belongings and personal belongings that were inconvenient to leave in the mansion, and kept the rest in the mansion. inside.

As the end of the new year was approaching, Liu Qi went out of Beijing for the first time, and happily took Chang Xi Chang Le out to buy new year's goods in person, giving this unpopular new home a taste of the new year.

When he and Lu Yuncheng were in the house worrying about the couplets on the ground, the messenger arrived at the new palace, and the new housekeeper handed the letter to Chu Yan. Chu Yan read halfway through the letter, and suddenly felt his eyes. Both of them were looking at him eagerly.

Chu Yan looked at the couplet where a word was not written, then looked at the two of them, and finally pointed to himself: "I wrote it?"

Lu Yuncheng and Liu Qi vividly recalled Chu Yan's children's fonts of varying sizes, and shook their heads together.

His Royal Highness Wang An can learn everything quickly, but this handwriting is not good at practice. If you really want to practice calligraphy, you still have to accumulate it over time.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "Let's leave it to Doctor Wang to write."

Only then did Liu Qi see the letter in his hand: "From the capital?"

Chu Yan nodded, walked over slowly, put the opened letter in his hand, and hugged him to read it from the beginning.

On the day when the truth was revealed, Cheng Guogong was directly ordered to beheaded. Jin Su led a small team outside the city to raid the enemy camp in broad daylight. The two lieutenants raised their heads and announced loudly in the camp that the army responded outside, and after receiving the signal, they surrounded the camp in one fell swoop.

The rest of the little chiefs were worried about their family members. When they saw that the two lieutenants were dead, their morale was shattered, and they surrendered soon.

The rebellion that Emperor Chengxing was always worried about was solved by a young man who had only experienced on the battlefield a few times, and no one was injured, which made Emperor Chengxing very happy.Originally, Emperor Chengxing blamed Jin Su for not fulfilling his responsibility for Chu Yan's injury, but now he was so happy that he wanted to make him a military officer.

Unexpectedly, Jin Su refused in court, saying that he wanted to take the imperial examination, and Jin Guogong was so angry that he almost kicked him in front of the emperor.

Emperor Chengxing was very happy, saying that the spring of the next year would be Chunwei, and asked him to go back and prepare for the exam.

This letter was written by Jin Su. In the letter, he expressed his joy in hundreds of words. He said that if he had known that he would be able to make a military exploit, His Majesty would have given him the opportunity to prepare for the exam. He had long ago begged his father to lead the army himself. up!It's fine now, Uncle Jin Guo dare not let him read again!

Not long after Cheng Guogong's death, his family members were also exiled, the left minister was dismissed and executed, the old ministry was purged, countless people's heads fell to the ground, and countless people were sent to the frontier.

After all, Emperor Chengxing was nostalgic for the past, and the imperial concubine in the palace was just thrown into the cold palace, but after hearing that the second prince was demoted to a commoner by Emperor Chengxing, and one of his legs was cut off and imprisoned in the palace, he couldn't bear the blow and used A white damask ends life.

Emperor Chengxing did not go to see her for the last time, but still buried her as a concubine.

Beijing is about to spend a bloody year.

But there is also vitality.

There are countless courtiers that Zhu Ting wooed and colluded with, plus those who worked abroad, there may be more than a thousand people involved, not counting those who have received money from Zhu's house for one or two things.This number in front of the courtiers is all shocking.

Emperor Chengxing did not intend to wipe them all out, otherwise the foundation of the imperial court would be too shaken.

As soon as these people step down, there will be vacancies. Many courtiers think that some people from the Rightist faction will be promoted, but Jin Su heard from his father that according to His Majesty's intention, some pure ministers may be promoted. Some positions that are not so urgent will be vacated. Generally speaking, those who have supported the third prince in the Rightist faction are unlikely to have a chance to move forward unless they make great contributions.

Jin Su listed several positions that have been changed, and added: "It's a good thing that the same batch of candidates caught up with the auspicious year."

Isn't it just an auspicious year? There are so many vacancies in the court, just waiting for them. Once they are on the list, their careers will definitely be much smoother than before.

Liu Qi looked through the list and found that Chunwei's chief examiner was Li Xiang.

This letter probably wasn't written in a day, and later on it suddenly mentioned that Chu Rui asked Emperor Chengxing for orders at the court meeting, and wanted to go to the palace to study hard for a year, and Emperor Chengxing directly agreed to let him go after the new year.

It is conceivable that the courtiers will have different speculations again, and those who are interested have already smelled a little change in the situation: I am afraid that your majesty thinks that the third prince is useless, and he wants to train other princes. Prepare to retreat and bide your time.

On the last page of the letter, Jin Su also carefully talked about the situation of the queen and the Liu family, and even sent a few words for Chou Sheng and Chen Su.

Chu Yan closed the letter and asked, "Will you miss home?"

Liu Qi shook his head: "How long has it been since I came out? I used to be at home, but every day I wanted to go somewhere else to play, and now I finally got my wish."

Chu Yan said ashamedly: "The first year you spent with me was so deserted and shabby."

Liu Qi smiled and rubbed his hands: "But I'm in charge."

Chu Yan: "Well..."

Liu Qi narrowed his eyes and put on a threatening expression: "Why, you don't want to listen to me?"

Chu Yan smiled and said: "I want to listen, of course I will listen to you."

Liu Qi said seriously: "Then you have to finish the chicken soup I made today."

Chu Yan blinked: "Okay, I'll finish drinking secretly."

Lu Yuncheng on the side looked at him with horrified eyes.

Chu Yan raised his eyelids and glanced at him: "Why haven't you left yet?"

Lu Yuncheng: "..."

When Liu Qi arrived at the new palace, he began to learn how to make tonic soup from the chef brought by the capital. Lu Yuncheng was lucky enough to taste it, and was almost forced to spit it out by the sour, salty and astringent taste.

Chu Yan dared to drink, but was caught on the spot by Royal Physician Wang, who strictly ordered him not to drink such salty things while he was recuperating.

Liu Qi got the right words, so he went to the kitchen to toss, and after a long time, he brought back a big bowl of soup.

He tasted it beforehand this time, and it was a bit bland, but there was no strange smell, and the meat was cooked through, so it should be drinkable.

Sure enough, Chu Yan finished a large bowl of soup, looked at Liu Qi's expectant eyes, and praised: "It's delicious."

Liu Qi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, I will be in charge of cooking in the future, and I will definitely not starve you to death!"

Chu Yan laughed: "It's not that I don't have money. Wouldn't it be good to hire another cook over there?"

Liu Qi looked serious: "But I want you to taste the taste of hometown."

Chu Yan looked down at the bowl of chicken soup that he couldn't taste at all, and he didn't have the nerve to hit Liu Qi's confidence.

On New Year's Eve of this year, Master Liu Hou came from Huizhou to catch up with a family reunion.

After the third day of junior high school, the whole palace quietly packed up their things, and Liu Wen sent them to the pier.

A simple and unremarkable merchant ship was docked by the pier, and there were people coming and going on the ship. After Chu Yan got off the carriage, he gave Xin Qing a wink. Go to the side and count the soldiers disguised as laborers.

Lord Liu Hou looked at Liu Qi, and sighed: "You have grown up, and the grown-up children really want to go out and venture out by themselves... In fact, His Highness is protecting you, so I don't worry about it. After thinking about it, I can only tell you In a word, take care of... no, assist His Royal Highness King An."

Liu Qi's heart trembled slightly.

When my father spoke like this, he didn't regard him as King An's concubine, but as a courtier of King An, a man who could stand upright by himself.

Liu Wen looked around to make sure that no one was disturbing nearby, and then looked at Chu Yan: "Your Highness, I dare to ask you, how much power do you have in the court—I know what you know."

Chu Yan paused, and said cautiously: "My biggest reliance is actually the father. If I guess correctly, the father should be disappointed in Chu Rui this time, and I have only revealed it to this extent. The father should start to think about it." I."

Liu Wen nodded.

Chu Yan said again: "My father sent Lu Yuncheng to be my soldier, which is equivalent to tying the Lu family and me together. The intention of the Jin family is unknown. Both Chu Rui and I are the nephews of Duke Pei. In my opinion, Unless the emperor's royal decree comes down, he doesn't want to favor any one, so as to avoid enmity."

Liu Wen stroked his chin: "The Lu family has both literature and martial arts. The literary part was previously implicated in the matter of the county concubine Lu's, and lost a bit. But now that His Majesty is urgently employing people, he may pay more attention to the Lu family... But I and The hussar generals are all generals, so the civil servants are a bit thinner, in the court, after all, it is the civil servants who do things conveniently."

Chu Yan rubbed his nose: "That..." He moved closer to Liu Wen's ear and said a word.

Liu Wen was startled, looked at him in disbelief, and then laughed out of relief after a while: "Actually, when I saw you in Xiaozhuang Mountain that day, I should have known that you were not a thing in the pool—very few people can be dead like that. In the scene of the wild, there is such a calm and sober. I have been cautious all these years, and I have never dared to get involved with any prince. The palace chose a companion for the prince. I bribed my father-in-law to let the two sons lose the election. Look at the girl, and be careful to avoid people who are related to the natal families of the concubines. When His Majesty proposed marriage for you and Xiaoqi alone, I did not resist to the end."

"Thinking about it, it's because I've vaguely identified you in my heart, but I haven't dared to admit it." Liu Wen said, and even bowed to him, "But now, I'd like to take a bet."

Chu Yan stretched out his hand to help: "Father-in-law can rest assured."

Liu Wen nodded: "Your Highness, please rest assured. Your Majesty asked me to take my cronies to Huizhou to guard the border. I must believe that I can protect you. I will not let Your Highness make mistakes. Your Highness, take care." .”

The merchant ship set off overnight, heading south along the frozen canal.

Standing on the deck, Chu Yan didn't turn his eyes to the calm water until Liu Hou and his party who saw him off became tiny dots.

Li Pingrui said that there were two figures in the Southern Jin Dynasty, the old prime minister who controlled the government was the first, and the new emperor's uncle was the second.

I don't know which one of them is trying to instigate civil strife in Northern Qi, and which one is colluding with Cheng Guogong.

The source of the anonymous letter Li Pingrui received has not yet been found, so could it be from the Southern Jin Dynasty?

And...the person behind Yingmei...

Before Chu Yan left, he asked someone to help him continue to investigate the matter, but Emperor Chengxing directly detained Cheng Guogong's family, and later directly gave them to death, leaving no chance for others to take advantage of the loopholes. If it really is Cheng Guogong's family If you do, then you will definitely not be able to ask.

But it doesn't matter if this matter can't be found out, the important thing is, who will Lu Mingzhi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment be?

It seems that the person who really stays out of the matter is not himself...

The sleeve was pulled, and when he turned around, he saw Liu Qi looking at him with a smile: "That's my father, not yours, I'm not that reluctant."

Chu Yan knew he was joking, so he just smiled.

Liu Qi seemed to see what was on his mind: "Don't think about it. If you leave Northern Qi, then don't think about Northern Qi. It's time to think about Southern Jin. I'm so cold, let's go in?"

He said he was cold, but stretched out his hand to tighten the cloak for Chu Yan.

Chu Yan blinked, in a trance on the lonely water, smelling the smoke and fire in the world.

The author has something to say: yesterday's update + today's two updates!

Although today is not New Year's Day, it is also New Year's Day!