Lei Yue Longmen

Li Jingchen was silent.

These two choices are actually one for public and one for private.If she was with the Tu family, she would be able to ascend the throne, but it would damage Yu Rui's long-term interests.And if she is allowed to give up the protective umbrella of the Tu family, she will lose her own interests in the future!

Which is more important, public or private, it is really difficult to decide!

She asked herself that she had never been a kind person who sacrificed herself for others.The open and covert struggle between the royal family and the four borders was not a noble act in the first place, but it was just that one side wanted to centralize power, and the other side refused to hand over power!Everyone yearns for power, including the emperor. No one is willing to try the situation of "man is the knife, I am the fish".In the struggle for power, only people are not for themselves, and heaven and earth will perish!

However, in this matter, even if she is for herself, she can't get any benefits.It is a reality that has to be considered. If she relies on the strength of the Tu family to ascend to the throne in the future, and the Tu family will rely on the support of the support, the power will surely rise to a higher level.She still has to face the problem that Li Pinghong is facing now.At that time, will she alone be able to deal with such a complicated situation?Still unknown.

Tan Xuanjing knew that she was hesitating, which was expected.She is only 25 years old, at least in the first 12 years of her political/political career, she has not experienced real ups and downs. She just succumbed to the human instinct of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and has been switching back and forth between the imperial court, northern Xinjiang and the reserve.

If it was Li Pinghong earlier, she would definitely choose to stand with the court without hesitation.But now the emperor has shown his intention to abolish the reserve. If she supports the imperial court again, it will be equivalent to giving up her reserve.

For the public and private, for others and for oneself, it is indeed necessary to carefully consider.

Seeing her contemplating for a long time, Tan Xuanjing still hesitated, stroked her beard, and said: "...the other princes are too young to pose a threat to His Highness, only King Dun and King Cheng. Your Highness thinks that these two are the most important ones for your Majesty." Who do you prefer?"

"Of course it's King Cheng!" Li Jingchen helplessly looked up at him.

"That's right, King Cheng joined the Shenwu Army at a young age, and now he has worshiped Pan Suiyong, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, as his teacher and took over the southern border army. His power is no longer the same. If His Royal Highness and the Holy Majesty are not on good terms in the future, the Emperor prefers to establish a heir. It must be King Cheng! However, King Dun is not without a chance."

Tan Xuanjing knocked on the table, "I rashly guessed that His Highness came back from Wolf Mountain with ironclad evidence in hand, and did not take action against King Dun's family because of this consideration."

"Teacher's expectations are good."

Tan Xuanjing suddenly looked at Li Jingchen with a vigilant look, "Then, I have the courage to ask, if the two tigers fight as they wish, who will win?"

"Naturally he is favored by the Sacred Heart, Cheng Wang Sheng!"

After finishing speaking, Li Jingchen had mixed feelings in his heart. In fact, the princes quarreled and fought back and forth just to please one person.Excluding special circumstances such as wars, coups, and subjugation, the emperor is very close to ordinary people in choosing heirs.Except for the eldest son who has the absolute legal right of succession, the other sons are nothing more than the emperor's favorite child, and it is useless for others to fight for the throne.

It's just that the emperor's favor can be brought about by the mother's favor and birth.It can also be distinguished by acquired efforts.You can also play tricks and tricks to please the emperor.Forbearance for a while will benefit you for life.

Taking herself as an example, she clearly knows that if it weren't for Li Pinghong's love for her mother and extended to her children, she would not be where she is today.The so-called "virtuous and capable are better than other scholars", in fact, the standard is not so uniform.Wisdom and wisdom are virtuous, calm and prudent are virtuous, extraordinary literary talents are virtuous, and brave and good at fighting are also virtuous... How? The ability to pick the most sage out of all sages often depends on nothing else but the person who holds the power of life and death. Selfishness and partiality.

However, this selfishness and partiality sometimes change with people's hearts.Especially the emperor's heart is unpredictable. Whoever one chooses today may not necessarily always choose one.

From the current point of view, the one most favored by the Sacred Heart is King Cheng.With Li Pinghong's secret support, it's hard for him not to win.That's why Li Jingchen answered like this.

Tan Xuanjing asked again of course: "Then, if King Cheng wins in the future and the Sacred Heart is displaced, can His Highness be sure to get rid of him?"

Li Jingchen's expression froze slightly, and he looked down at the faint "sincerity" on the table, his eyes gradually dimmed, "I don't want to do this."

The horizontal lines on Tan Xuanjing's face were tense, and her eyes were full of hidden worries. Just as she was about to say something, she heard her say in a low voice: "But if the Sacred Heart must be deflected... that's another matter. , no one will sit still. Even if they are flesh and blood brothers, Gu will not be merciful!"

Tan Xuanjing's brows and eyes relaxed for a moment.

"It's best if your Highness has this determination. With this determination, half of the problem is solved."

"Actually, Your Highness doesn't have to be too pessimistic about the future. Although King Cheng is making an astonishing rise, he is still only 15 years old and has not yet matured. Most of the other concubine princes are mediocre and far less intelligent than His Highness. Even if there is no Tu family in the future, They are definitely not His Highness's opponents. Unless..."

He pondered for a while, "...the emperor is as determined to support other princes as he was when he supported His Highness!"

Li Jingchen's heart sank, he knew that this was definitely not alarmist talk.She was full of grievances and incomprehensions in her heart, and she couldn't explain it to outsiders.

But Tan Xuanjing immediately said: "Actually, the old minister has a heartfelt statement that has been smoldering in his heart for a long time. If he said it, he might offend His Highness, so he never dared to say it."

"Teacher, it's okay to say, I wish to hear the details."

"Back then, the emperor appointed His Highness as the heir, and the old minister was in charge of drafting the edict in front of the imperial couch. I can still vividly remember the situation of that day. The emperor treated His Highness with a deep affection, which is by no means comparable to any prince and daughter. Even if I recall it now, the old minister is also sad. A lot of tears."

Li Jing's eye sockets were sore.

"But since he recovered from his serious illness, the Holy Majesty treats His Royal Highness differently. The reason for the twists and turns, the old official can't understand. But the old official firmly believes that the emperor's care for His Highness was absolutely sincere. Even now, the Emperor still loves Princess Kant even more. , it can be seen that there is always nostalgia for the late empress. But I don't know why? This nostalgia has not extended to His Highness?"

"Perhaps it was the old minister who proposed marriage between the East Palace and the Tu family, which caused the Holy Majesty and His Highness to lose peace with his father and daughter. Even though the old minister is dead, he cannot escape the blame."

"...Teacher's words are serious. Father and Emperor's dislike of separation can be seen from before the marriage. Otherwise, Taifu would not have made such a proposal."

"What your Highness said is absolutely correct. But if it's not the old man's problem, then, has Your Highness ever thought about what he has done to make His Majesty unhappy?"

"But I can't." Li Jing's eyes were full of indescribable complexity and embarrassment, "I didn't intend to excuse myself."

"However, thinking about it, I am alone as the heir apparent as a woman. My younger brothers were still young when my father was seriously ill. Of course, this expedient measure can be taken. But after recovering, I finally remembered that women cannot inherit the ancestral family law of the ancestral temple and the country. , unwilling to entrust the Li family to a daughter with a foreign surname."

There is an element of anger in her words.

"Your Highness still doesn't understand the old minister's meaning!" Tan Xuanjing raised the sleeves of his robe, leaned on the table with two withered hands, and said plainly, "The old minister always believes that the emperor cares for His Highness. It can be proved by Tuo Gu before. However, because of the relationship between His Highness and the Tu family later, the emperor hindered the process of eradicating the Tu family. According to the observation of the veterans for many years, the emperor did not really dislike His Highness, but aimed at the Tu family. Now only... ..."

"The Grand Tutor wants me to show my heart to the emperor, not to join forces with the Tu family, so as to beg for His Majesty's favor and mercy?...Why?"

For the first time, Li Jingyu felt that Tan Xuanjing was also innocent.Whether it's real disgust or fake disgust, other people can't feel it, but the person involved knows it clearly.

"Instead of doing useless work on this, it is better to find out why the father became like this. The Taifu said that the father's change is indeed alarming. You might as well tell the Taifu that Gu has been suspicious more than once. Is the one on the dragon chair really the father? One year before my brother was assassinated, he told me that he was privately investigating the cause of his mother’s death. I asked him if his mother died of illness. He shook his head and said, “Two days before my mother died. The Heavenly Father once visited her, and she was fine at that time. Later, after the father left, the mother's condition began to deteriorate, and the medicine was useless. A little maid once told him that when the father entered the palace, she had personally heard I heard heart-piercing cries coming from the bedroom of Fuyi Palace. Mother seemed to be yelling frantically to someone: You demon! You demon!"

"I don't know why my mother yelled like that! But I have seen how my mother treats my father. She would never be so rude to my father! But at that time, only my father was in the hall. So, who did she treat? Why is she shouting? Why did she shout like that? Whenever I think of my mother’s state of mind at that time, what kind of fear and despair does one have when facing demons?”

Tan Xuanjing was fascinated by what he heard, his mouth was slightly opened, his face was full of surprise and disbelief.

"Later, my brother was assassinated before finishing the investigation. When I was young, I didn't put the two things together. Now that I think about it, I can't help but feel shocked... It has been 12 years since that incident, and the murderer who assassinated the prince turned out to be No clues were found. What kind of person can hide such a big murder case? The Ministry of Criminal Justice, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple jointly dispatched, but failed to bring the mastermind behind it to justice. He should have How deep is the protective wall to do that?"

When Tan Xuanjing heard the shock, his beard trembled unavoidably, "Your Highness, be careful, this matter is not credible just based on the one-sided words of a little maid."

"One-sided words are not to be believed, but so many coincidences are connected together, but I have to believe it. The Tai Tuo said that the father had cared for me before, and I believed it, but I can also feel that the current emperor, He is no longer the emperor father I knew. There is no nostalgia in his eyes, only obvious impatience and deep disgust."

"So, I will not stand on this side. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. I would rather not help each other and stay out of the matter. I will not repeat the mistakes of my brother."