conspiracy
It was already late at night. Fortunately, the mansion Zhou bought was right next to the Lin Mansion. Zhou Ningning did not go through the main gate, as she would be discovered by her mother, so she climbed over the wall and left.
Zhou Ningning walked quietly to the gate of the Lin Mansion. The gatekeeper was drowsy, but when he saw Zhou Ningning, he immediately became alert and asked, "Miss Zhong, is there anything wrong?"
Zhou Ningning said "hush" and said, "I'm looking for my sister, no need to make any noise."
The servant opened the door for her without asking any questions.
Zhou Ningning ran to Lin Yan's yard, not caring whether Lin Yan was asleep or not, and went straight into Lin Yan's bedroom.
Lin Yan woke up the moment Zhou Ningning opened the door. Seeing that it was Zhou Ningning, he immediately stood up and asked in confusion: "Why are you looking for me so late?"
There was no candle lit in the room, and it was pitch black. The moment Zhou Ningning heard Lin Yan's voice, her panicked heart was finally comforted. She ran over and hugged Lin Yan tightly, almost falling down, and burst into tears.
Lin Yan was confused and hurriedly hugged Zhou Ningning tightly, patted her back, and whispered to comfort her: "Don't cry, no matter what happened, sister is here, don't be afraid."
After Zhou Ningning had cried enough, she sat on Lin Yan's bed, sobbing and telling him everything her uncle and mother had said.
After listening to this, Lin Yan thought for a while and knew what Zhou Ningning was afraid of. "You are afraid that the matter will be exposed, the Zhou family will be raided, and your mother and uncle will die, right?"
Zhong Ningning nodded and said, "I don't want them to die, but my grandfather killed the late crown prince. His Majesty will definitely not let the Zhou family go."
Lin Yan thought for a moment and said, "Didn't your grandfather save His Majesty? If he hadn't given you that medicine, His Majesty might have died.
He was powerless to prevent the death of the late Crown Prince. He was wrong to kill the late Crown Prince, but the person behind the scenes was the real murderer, and the Empress Dowager was the one who deserved to die. If the Zhou family testifies against the Empress Dowager, His Majesty will certainly give them a lighter sentence. Moreover, with your elder brother Xie mediating, the Zhou family will be fine."
Zhou Ningning felt much more at ease and nodded, not quite understanding, "So now I want to persuade my uncle to tell the truth to His Majesty instead of avoiding it."
"A Ning is so smart," Lin Yan touched Zhou Ningning's head, "Okay, let's discuss this with A Yi and the others tomorrow."
"I want to sleep with you tonight," Zhong Ningning said, still feeling a little uneasy.
"Okay, go to sleep. But if your mother finds out you're not here tomorrow morning, she will definitely be suspicious," Lin Yan reminded.
"I will go and persuade her tomorrow."
The two of them fell asleep together. Listening to Zhou Ningning's steady breathing, Lin Yan opened his eyes and thought about Aning's words.
Concubine Wan's mother's family was raided, and it was the Empress Dowager who did it. Song Xuan also said that there was something strange about his mother's death, so Concubine Wan's death was also related to the Empress Dowager.
What is the relationship between Gu Shi and Concubine Wan? The villain mentioned by Zhong Yuxi is related to Prince Jing. But judging from Zhong Yuxi's expression, Gu Shi did not appear in the story she told.
The relationship between them is not clear at the moment, but one thing is certain, they are all related to Prince Jing, so they have a common goal, which is rebellion.
Zhou did not sleep all night, and went to look for Zhou Ningning at dawn, but the maid in Ningning's yard told her that Ningning had gone to look for her last night and had not come back.
Zhou's face turned pale. She went to see her last night. Didn't she hear...
Just at this time Zhou Qi came and asked what happened. Zhou said, "Aning must have heard our conversation last night. I don't know where she is now."
Zhou Qi frowned and comforted her, "Ningning is a thoughtful person and will definitely not do anything stupid."
Lin Mansion
Zhou Ningning woke up and prepared to go back home to persuade her mother and uncle, but was stopped by Lin Yan:
"I think we need to discuss this a little bit at this point, so don't go back yet."
Lin Yan ordered someone to call Song Yizhou to the Lin Mansion and went to find Lin Yi. Tang Yuelin was also there, and she did not avoid them. Everyone gathered together, and Lin Yan directly asked Aning to tell them everything he had said to her.
Lin Yi raised his eyebrows, "This Empress Dowager is really not a simple person. She killed Concubine Wan, framed Concubine Wan's mother's family and had them exterminated, and poisoned the late Crown Prince. She has been hiding deeply over the years."
Tang Yuelin remained silent. She didn't expect that Lin Yan would know the true identity of the Empress Dowager so quickly. In her previous life, it was not until her death that what the Empress Dowager had done was made known to the world.
Lin Yi took a sip of tea and said, "Let me think about it, the Queen Mother did this for only one reason, and that was for her son, Prince Jing.
If Concubine Wan falls, Prince An will not be able to become emperor. If the crown prince dies, her son will most likely be named crown prince.
Unfortunately, she didn't anticipate that the Crown Princess would be pregnant with Xiao Jing. She wanted to kill Xiao Jing, but she didn't expect that Doctor Zhou would change his mind. Yi Zhou brought people to kill her, and the Empress Dowager's chance came to an abrupt end.
Lin Yan: "So the Queen Mother's plan failed, the late Emperor passed the throne to Song Jing, and her son, Prince Jing, had no choice but to rebel.
In the end, Prince Jing's rebellion failed, and the Queen Mother, in order to protect herself, exposed her son's lair, making the world think that she was a good mother who sacrificed her own relatives for the sake of justice.
"Now that that force is rising, it may be related to the Empress Dowager. What else does the Empress Dowager want to do? Rebellion? Is it for someone?" Tang Yuelin was amazed that they had sorted out everything in an instant. Now all they needed to do was to find out that Gu Shi was Song Ting, so she brought the topic here.
"She wants to rebel. Is there a possibility that her grandson Song Ting is still alive?" Lin Yan threw out a thunder.
Lin Yi was surprised. He had never thought that Prince Jing’s son was still alive. “Didn’t he die of illness?”
"Faking death and escaping is easy"
Tang Yuelin was not surprised that this person was still alive, but was surprised that Lin Yan knew that Song Ting was still alive. She clenched her palms, "Could it be that Lin Yan also..."
But on second thought, it was impossible. If Lin Yan was reborn, she would probably pick up the sword and chop Zhong Yuxi and Gu Shi to death right now.
Tang Yuelin was immersed in her own world and did not notice the puzzled look Lin Yan gave her. Lin Yan always felt that Tang Yuelin was not surprised that Song Ting was alive, but was surprised that she knew.
"Is it an illusion?" Lin Yan thought.
Lin Yi asked: "Did you find out anything?"
Lin Yan shook her head. She had some guesses. Since Zhong Yuxi said that the villain had an extraordinary identity and that he would be the one to rebel in the future, it was almost certain that the so-called villain was Song Ting. However, she didn't know who this person was.
She never thought it was Gu Shi. She was more inclined to believe that Gu Shi was a subordinate of the Empress Dowager. After all, if Gu Shi was Song Ting, Zhong Yuxi should know it.
Zhong Ningning was puzzled, "Since you know that the Queen Mother is planning a rebellion, why don't you just arrest her?"
"The Empress Dowager sacrificed her own family for the greater good. In the eyes of the people of the capital, she is a truly kind person. In addition, she has been generous and charitable over the years, which has won her great popularity. I don't know how many people in the court are her followers, Prince Jing's followers.
If we don't produce evidence, it won't be easy to bring her down. Furthermore, the power behind the Empress Dowager is unpredictable, and there's no guarantee she won't fight to the death with us."
"Then why not just arrest her and torture her to find out what happened, or sneak into the Empress Dowager's room to collect evidence?" Zhong Ningning asked.
Song Yizhou, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up, "It's not that simple. Because she sacrificed her own family for the greater good and was able to capture Prince Jing, I never suspected the Empress Dowager of Prince Jing's rebellion.
After Prince Jing died, she asked to leave the palace and worshipped Buddha in a palace outside the capital. Song Jing was raised by the Empress Dowager from birth until she was ten years old. She respected and loved her very much and allowed her to leave the palace without too much resistance or supervision.
"It was not until Madam Zhou divorced and learned that Zhonglou was the Empress Dowager's ally that we realized that during the years of political turmoil, the Empress Dowager had been secretly colluding with court officials to expand her power."
"Yesterday I went to the Empress Dowager's palace to explore a bit. The palace is tightly guarded. It is not easy for our people to go in and investigate. If we want to collect information quietly, it is extremely difficult."
Lin Yi frowned after hearing this, "If they really break the fishing net and rebel, the Song Dynasty will be severely damaged. The neighboring country, the Great Xiongnu, will take advantage of the Song Dynasty's weakness to attack. By then, the Song Dynasty will be in danger."
"So we need to know how many people are behind the Empress Dowager," Lin Yan said.
"Then we're back to the beginning. If we want to know these things, we need to sneak into the Empress Dowager's Palace. Ordinary people can't enter there at all." Zhong Ningning felt a headache.
Lin Yan: "In the eyes of the Empress Dowager, the Zhou family is tied to the same boat as her. Although the Empress Dowager knows that Aning is on our side, she would never have thought that Zhou Qi would disregard the lives of dozens of Zhou family members and tell us the truth about the death of the late Crown Prince. Therefore, the Zhou family is a breakthrough point."
"My uncle said that the Empress Dowager wants the Zhou family to hand over a hostage. That person must be a direct descendant of the Zhou family, and his medical skills must be the strongest in the Zhou family. Isn't this referring to me? I can be a spy." Zhou Ningning slapped his forehead and thought it was okay.
Lin Yan couldn't help but slapped Zhong Ningning on the head, "Are you stupid? Doesn't the Empress Dowager know which side you are on?"
"What should we do? There is no one with superb medical skills in the Zhou family. No one can get in," Zhou Ningning rubbed his head and muttered.
Everyone fell into deep thought, and after a morning, they came up with the best candidate.
After Zhou Ningning returned home, she was stopped by her mother and uncle. Zhou Qi asked nervously: "Ningning, have you told Lin Yi about this?"
"I told my sister, and she said she would come to our house for a visit at noon," Zhou Ningning answered truthfully.
Zhou was okay, she trusted Lin Yan, but Zhou Qi was different. He had never met Lin Yan, and he almost fainted when he heard Zhou Ningning say that.
"Ningning, you are confused. Who is your elder sister? She is Lin Yi's sister. How could she not tell Lin Yi? If Lin Yi knew, the Regent would know too. Do you want to kill the Zhou family?"
Zhou Ningning knew that her uncle didn't believe her elder sister at this time, but since her elder sister wanted to come in person, she must have her own ideas. Zhou Ningning did not argue with her uncle, but turned to her mother and said, "My elder sister will come to visit us at noon, I will go and prepare."
Zhou sighed. As a mother, she saw how good Lin Yan was to her daughter. She was sure that Miss Lin would never hurt Ningning. Zhou persuaded her brother: "Miss Lin is an extraordinary person. She will not do anything to the Zhou family."
Zhou Qi sighed helplessly as he watched these two people trust an outsider so much, and his sorrow deepened.
At noon, the Zhou family prepared lunch and waited for Lin Yan to arrive.
To their surprise, Lin Yi also came. Zhou Qi stood up suddenly and said, "Isn't it only Miss Lin who came?"
Lin Yi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I just come here to have a meal."
Zhou Ningning pulled her uncle down and said, "Uncle, sit down. You can talk first."
Zhou also hurriedly asked them to sit down.
Lin Yi went straight to the point: "Lord Zhou must know why we are here. You don't have to be nervous. We are here to trade with you today."
"What deal?" Zhou Qi asked cautiously.
"I will protect your Zhou family, and you just have to cooperate with me in everything," Lin Yi said.
"Why do you think that you, a Shaoqing of Dali Temple, can protect me?" Zhou Qi said in a sarcastic tone, obviously not believing it.
"As the leader of Nanshan Sect, I am more than capable of guaranteeing your Zhou family." Lin Yan did not use Song Yizhou as a guarantor, and Zhou Qi obviously did not trust the royal family.
"Nanshan Sect, who are you to Lin Jiumen?" The Zhou family has not been in the court in recent years, but they will not leave their medical skills in vain, so they have been in the martial arts world for these years and know everything about it.
"My dad"
"Master"
If it was any other sect, Zhou Qi would definitely not trust it, but not the Nanshan Sect.
The Nanshan Sect has more than one hundred people, all of whom are extremely powerful. The former leader, Lin Jiumen, is the best in the martial arts world and is feared by everyone in the martial arts world. Therefore, the Nanshan Sect has some ways to protect the Zhou family's safety.
Zhou Qi: "How do you prove your identity?"
Lin Yan drew out the sword at his side and said, "I wonder if you recognize this sword."
Although Zhou Qi had never seen the sword of the leader of the Nanshan Sect, he had heard of it. The sword was shining coldly and had the word "Nan" printed on it, so it was almost certain.
Seeing that Zhou Qi was still hesitant, Lin Yan threw out another thunder, "My master's best friend is Aning's master, Zhao Mengshen from the Divine Doctor Valley."
"What?" Zhou Qi stood up in shock.
Zhou explained to him, "Aning was lost as a child and was rescued by Miss Lin. Since then, she has traveled around the world with her. Aning has a talent for medicine, and Doctor Zhao accepted her as his apprentice, so Miss Lin and the others are very trustworthy."
What kind of person is Doctor Zhao? Zhou Qi's father often talks about this miracle doctor. He actually accepted Aning as his apprentice. He thought that no one in the Zhou family could have the talent of Mr. Zhou in his generation, but he didn't expect that Aning had such ability.
"What do you want me to do?" Zhou Qi's heart has gradually leaned towards Lin Yan.
Lin Yi: "We want you to completely surrender to the Queen Mother and make her trust you. You help us find evidence that the Queen Mother killed Concubine Wan's family and the former Crown Prince."
"How can the Empress Dowager trust me? In her eyes, Ningning is already yours," Zhou Qi said.
Lin Yan: "We need you to cooperate with us in a play"
Zhou Qi: "What play?"
"We want you to recommend someone to the Queen Mother, a child with superb poison skills."
"A child with superb poison skills" Zhou Qi was puzzled.
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