A traitor

At night, Mei Liusheng stood in front of a laurel tree.

Cheng Ying followed him, holding a long sword in his hand, and his black robe seemed to blend into the darkness.

His expression was silent and cold, the broken hair on his forehead fluttered slightly in the wind, and there was a frightening chill all over his body.

Pei Yan was still wearing a black cloak, walked along the corridor, walked behind them, and saluted Mei Liusheng: "Your Highness..."

Hearing his voice, Mei Liusheng didn't turn around, but ordered lightly: "Chengying, go out and watch, no one is allowed to come near this place without my king's permission."

Hearing this, Chengying turned and left. When passing by Mr. Pei, he didn't even give him a look, and walked straight out of the courtyard.

Knowing that this young man was ignored by everyone except Mei Liusheng, Pei Yan didn't take it seriously either, so he only glanced in the direction he left, and then looked away.

"Your Highness, the affairs of the Ministry of Punishment were due to the negligence of the veterans. I never thought that Qin Jian and Su Qinglang would make such a move on the spur of the moment, let alone that the emperor would agree to their request."

Mei Liusheng smiled lightly, and said indifferently: "The matter of the Ministry of Punishment, this king has already predicted it before. Cai Jun, he is a good person, and the seat was given to him by this king."

Pei Yan was puzzled and said: "But Cai Jun is not from our side, His Highness did this, why?"

Hearing this, Mei Liusheng turned around and looked at him. The original handsome face had long since lost the warmth of the past, replaced by the fierceness and majesty of the waves.

His tone was light, and he seemed to ask casually: "Pei Xiangye thinks, what kind of people are on our side?"

Pei Yan was shocked, and heard him say again: "Is Liu Zaiyuan like that, marionettes, wine bags and rice bags, are useless and can't do anything except to be loyal to us?"

After a pause, he said again: "Still, Master Pei wants such subordinates, even the master, the king, must be obedient and obedient, so that you can control everything in your hands."

Hearing what he said, Pei Yan was immediately terrified, knelt on the ground with a plop, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, the old minister is loyal to His Highness and has no second thoughts!"

Mei Liusheng was silent and looked down at him, without responding for a long time.

Silence spread quietly between the two of them, and in this silence, uneasiness, like a shadow, slowly pressed down on Pei Yan's heart.

He raised his head cautiously, but saw that Mei Liusheng was still looking at him with the same indifferent expression as before, and there was a profound coolness in his deep eyes.

After a while, Mei Liusheng leaned down, helped Pei Yan up, and said: "Pei Xiangye is the pillar of the country, the mainstay, and also an important reliance of this king. Your loyalty, this king naturally knows, just now I made a slip of the tongue, please forgive me." Don't take it to heart, Mr. Pei."

Although the words were spoken casually, Xiangye Pei didn't feel at all relaxed in his heart.

What Mei Liusheng said just now was a slip of the tongue, but it was actually testing his attitude, and it was also a warning to him.

Some people want to stand up and become masters, so naturally they can't keep those trash who only know how to obey. What he needs are people who can really do things for him.

In today's planning, in the future grand plans, all he thinks of is from the perspective of a king, not a rebel who intends to rebel.

After figuring this out, a little cold sweat oozes from Pei Yan's forehead, but because of Mei Liusheng's presence, he dare not wipe it off, so he can only stand dryly, obeying his orders.

He also heard Mei Liusheng say: "Let's forget about Liu Zaiyuan's affairs. In the future, we must be more careful in employing people. There are thousands of ways to make a person do things for us. It doesn't have to be that he becomes our talent.

Now that Liu Zaiyuan was lost, Zhao E who was beside Qin Jian was also lost, and Cai Jun, who was able to do things, was replaced, so we made a profit. "

Pei Yan sighed, but saw that Mei Liusheng seemed to be thinking, and after a while, he suddenly asked: "What do you think of Su Qinglang?"

Pei Yan was taken aback for a moment, obviously he didn't expect why he would be interested in Su Qinglang.

After thinking about it, I could only answer honestly: "This... this old minister has lived in Chang'an for several years, and this kid can be regarded as growing up under the old minister's nose. Talent, it's just that he... is a wicked evildoer, His Highness should be more cautious when dealing with him."

"Is it……"

Mei Liusheng was even more thoughtful: "When I was young, I met him once. He was still a child at that time, and he was indeed pampered and lawless. Not only Mr. Su, but also my uncle like very much.

Now ten years have passed, and everything has changed. No wonder he doesn't remember me. It's just that I didn't expect that the former proud son of heaven would become what he is now. "

"Before I approached this person, I just wanted to use his hand to eradicate Qin Jian's favorites, but I didn't expect that after getting along with each other these days, I found that this person has a good-natured personality, and he is a rare second-to-none."

He frowned, and seemed to be talking to himself, with a somewhat uncertain tone: "Everyone says that he is a wicked evildoer, but is that really the case?"

Pei Yan was confused by what he said, and he didn't know what kind of plans Mei Liusheng had, but he still reminded: "This person is extremely cunning, even Song Hongru was kept in the dark by him back then, Your Highness, don't be deceived by his appearance, everything Think more about General Zhen Guo."

Zhen Guo General Xie Yuan, several generations of his ancestors are military generals with great military exploits, he accompanied the emperors of all dynasties from the battlefield, and once led 30 soldiers to defend the border.

However, it was such a high-ranking person who was charged with unwarranted charges five years ago, and his family of 180 people were destroyed in the conspiracy case.

Xie Yuan's son Xie Yu, one of Su Qinglang's classmates, the well-known Major General of the Xie family, is imposing and talented.

Once won the champion of martial arts in one fell swoop, and half a year later, he was admitted to the second place in the Chinese examination. Together with two other classmates, Xu Hanwen, the son of the former Minister of the Household Department, and Liu Jingzhi, the only son of the Dushui envoy, set a record under the old Mr. Song Hongru. The grand occasion of the third son's entrance examination.

This was a great event in the imperial court at that time. Even the emperor personally ordered the celebration. Which of the officials and ministers in the court did not look at the figures of the three of them with envious eyes?

These three people, together with Su Qinglang, the current minister of the Ministry of Rites, also known as the four sons in Chang'an City, are like four bright and bright stars, shining in everyone's heart.

At a young age, with outstanding abilities, coupled with his enthusiasm for serving the imperial court, a person who should have a bright future died in a bloody catastrophe.

So far, even Xiangye Pei can still remember the scene of the pampered master, wife, young master and miss, and a group of hundreds of people escorted to the execution ground in the original mansion.

Mr. Su raised the knife in his hand, and the blood flowed across the long street, staining the bluestone pavement red, and the crows hovered in mid-air, their crows became more and more miserable.

In the next half month, people in Chang'an City could smell the disgusting blood when they passed by Caishi Street where the execution was carried out. This was also the most serious execution since the beginning of the dynasty.

Mei Liusheng closed his eyes, and slowly said: "When the execution was carried out, this king was still in the border town, dealing with the people of Xuanguo. Otherwise, the matter would not have developed to this point."

Pei Yan continued: "Misfortune and fortune are determined by the sky, everything is fate, who would have thought that a wealthy and prominent family of officials would be ruined by a letter once they were defeated?

It can only be said that it is fortunate that His Highness was not in the imperial city at the time, otherwise, if you expose your whereabouts and let the emperor know that you are still alive, I am afraid that our business will be in vain. "

After a pause, he cupped his hands again and said: "It is precisely because of this incident that many ministers in the court realized the emperor's cruelty, completely chilled him, and secretly took refuge in His Highness's command. a good thing."

Mei Liusheng sneered: "No matter how serious the case of treason is, it will not be pursued to such an extent. However, this king's uncle has always been the one who kills everything. If he threatens, he will definitely eradicate the weeds, if he is not so vicious, the king's great cause must be delayed for a few years."

Pei Yan nodded in agreement, and said: "The old minister brought up this matter with His Highness, in the hope that His Highness can recognize Su Qinglang's true nature. Although this son is talented, he has no benevolence or righteousness at all. To approach him is just to take advantage of his power and profit. Heart, so as to eradicate Qin Jian's right-hand man, His Highness should stick to his heart, and don't be fooled by him."

"This king just sees that he seems to have a heart of repentance, thinking that he might be pulled back and let him help us. After all, he has been by Qin Jian's side for many years, and he knows this person's weaknesses best."

Mei Liusheng paused, stopped talking, looked at the laurel tree in front of him, and after a while, slowly stretched out his hand and plucked off a leaf: "However, now that I think about it, if this king is him and makes such a big mistake, I'm afraid You can't turn back, can you?"

Pei Yan nodded, and said half with emotion: "Anyone, even a heinous and treacherous gangster, can't remain calm in the face of hundreds of lives, right? What's more, those people were once his closest relatives, Su Qinglang may feel remorse now, maybe this case was not what he wanted from the very beginning.

But the mistake has already been made, with such deep hatred and serious crimes, how many people want to take his life, even if he wants to turn back, no one will give him this chance. "

Mei Liusheng remained silent, for some reason, like a boat that lost its direction, and felt lost.

He also heard Pei Yan say: "However, this person has another use. Now, the people of the whole country hate him to the bone. If His Highness revolts in the future, if he can kill this person, he will definitely gain more support from his subjects. .”

Mei Liusheng was stunned for a moment, but didn't hear clearly, turned around and looked at him: "What?"

Pei Yan was a little puzzled, after all, when he was discussing matters with Mei Liusheng, he seldom made such a gaffe.

So he explained: "What Wei Chen means is that if His Highness is planning to cause trouble in the future, Qin Jian will be an obstacle, and after he is removed, this Su Qinglang must also be removed.

Although the emperor is stupid, there are still not enough subjects on His Highness's side. If we kill Su Qinglang, we will definitely win the hearts of the people in the world, and then naturally we will get twice the result with half the effort. "