Seeing that Murong Yan saw through his tactics, Liu Zhang smiled unabashedly, "Your humble servant simply enjoys negotiating deals with intelligent people. How did Your Highness see that?"
"You forgot that I was monitoring Miss Xu. The day before Ye Qingshan was poisoned, you went to see Miss Xu, and then Miss Xu went to Dali Temple Prison, and Ye Qingshan was poisoned to death.
I suspect you first told Commander Ye that there was a way to get him out, and that he only needed to identify his accomplices. Then you persuaded Miss Xu to go to the prison to gather information and persuade Commander Ye to take the blame.
By then, Miss Xu will inevitably have a dispute with Ye Qingshan. Given Miss Xu's temperament and means, she will definitely be fearless and kill Ye Qingshan directly in the Dali Temple.
I'm just curious. Ye Qingshan was so defensive and his martial arts skills were so high. How did Miss Xu poison him to death? So it had to be you, right?
Liu Zhang smiled without saying anything, as if saying, "Is the truth that important? Anyway, once he dies, everyone's goal will be achieved and everyone will be happy."
Murong Yan looked at Liu Zhang's expression and felt that this person's thoughts were unfathomable. He frowned slightly and said, "Master Liu is marrying A Rao. Does he really have other motives?"
"No, it's purely for the sake of beauty."
"Coveting beauty? How can this word be used to describe Lord Liu?"
Liu Zhang said without disguising, "I am a man, a man with a strong desire to win."
Murong Yan spread his hands, acting nonchalant, "Okay, how are you going to deal with Ye Fan?"
"Didn't you forbid us from touching him?"
"You won't move if I tell you not to. It doesn't seem like you have the audacity to seek revenge."
"I will be a married man from now on, so I must behave more innocently and kindly in front of Miss Jiang Rao. I must not scare my little wife away again."
"You can't fake it simply." Murong Yan said lazily, "If Miss A Rao knew that it was you who stabbed her prince, she would be able to twist your head off with her bare hands."
Liu Zhang's lips were always smiling. "So, I took this blow, which can be regarded as repaying the prince a favor. Your Highness, don't worry, I want to marry Miss Jiang Rao, and my purpose is really pure love. Besides, I have already confessed to her about stabbing the prince.
From now on, there will be no more burden on our relationship."
"Lord Liu is truly amazing in his steps. You were able to even walk back like this. No wonder you can melt even icebergs."
Liu Zhang remained silent. His game was not over yet. How could he stop halfway without killing every enemy?
After a long silence, he slowly said, "Your Highness, I have staked my life on you. You must fight for your dignity."
Murong Yan was slightly surprised. After thinking for a while, he said, "So you've been eyeing me for a long time? They are your father, elders, and cousins."
Liu Zhang opened his mouth and said slowly: "But what I am betting on is the future of Yanyang Country.
I want a future that can change the old system, a future where scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are all equal.
A military general does not draw his sword to kill ants, and a scholar does not deceive the people when he writes.
My cousin is unable to realize such a future for me. Therefore, I place all my life's learning and the honor and disgrace of generations of famous officials on Your Highness. I hope Your Highness will not disappoint me.
Murong Yan's expression grew serious. He was silent for a long time, then suddenly realized something. He lowered his head and smiled faintly, "So that's how it is. Lord Liu is really persistent."
"Your Highness, it's tacitly understood. It's worth it."
......
Minister Liu was eventually removed from his post as Minister for instructing several officials of the Liu family to embezzle public funds for personal gain. He was exiled to the barren land of the Western Wilderness to serve as a poverty alleviation official. Without major achievements, there was almost no possibility of him being promoted back to the capital.
Prime Minister Liu's disciples protested by boycotting the court, but the emperor simply ignored them. Taking advantage of Prime Minister Liu's illness, the emperor decisively sentenced some troublesome officials, thus suppressing the relegation incident.
Due to the assassination of Liu Zhang, the affairs of the Dali Temple were temporarily handed over to Murong Yan. After another operation of being vague and concealing details, Murong Yan personally covered up the case of Liu Zhang's assassination by downplaying it.
Uncle Ling had already set off for the northwest negotiations. Before leaving, he only reminded Murong Yan to be diligent and cautious.
After listening to Xu Wanrong's advice, Murong Yao quickly persuaded Jiang Yulou and Ye Fan to follow him to the northwest to deploy the assassination of the Lord of Xiling City.
He agreed to Ye Fan's conditions that if he succeeded in assassinating the Lord of Xiling City, he would marry his half-sister Ye Xueruo. At that time, the general's mansion would still be honored and Ye Qingshan would be posthumously honored.
However, Murong Yao immediately told Concubine Liu that he wanted to marry Princess Lin and asked her to help him ask the Emperor to grant the marriage. Since Minister Liu had just been demoted, Concubine Liu knew that the timing was not right, so she asked him to find a way to get close to Princess Lin first and then propose the marriage when the time was right.
This made Murong Yao anxious. Lin Fuxue lived in the Marquis' Mansion and was often in the company of Master Shen. He was the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Master Shen, so how could he let him get close to her again? This left him at a loss.
Madam Fu has been living in the Marquis's mansion for a few days. Every day, she and Marquis Shen spend time together under the moonlight, showing their intimacy and affection.
It was heard that Princess Lin was a good friend of Shen Xu and had come all the way from the northwest to visit their daughters and had kept them in her mansion for several days.
In addition, Murong Yan came to visit every now and then, which made the Marquis' Mansion a lot more lively.
However, Fu Yi was sent back to the southern border to replace his mother in handling all the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce. Since Jiang Yu's invention inspired him, he began to recruit talents, set up workshops to study the devices created by Jiang Yu, and invested a lot of manpower and material resources.
He would often sneak back to visit Jiang Yu and his sisters, but he had to avoid his parents in fear.
He often brought gifts back from the southern border for his younger brothers and sisters. With his investment, Jiang Yu had a brand new workshop with all the necessary workers, assistants, facilities and equipment.
Several people changed their stereotype of him as a cruel and ruthless devil, and soon called him Brother Yi very intimately and talked to him about everything.
A Rao would go to the Liu Mansion to visit Liu Zhang almost every day, but was basically blocked outside the door by Liu Qingqian. Even though it was A Rao's mother who saved Liu Zhang, Miss Liu still treated A Rao very badly, with the arrogance of a daughter of a noble family.
However, A Rao was not at all discouraged by Miss Liu's harsh words, and she came to deliver things to Liu Zhang every day.
Basically, they were all her favorite foods, such as the osmanthus cake from Zhihezhai, the candied haws from Yunlai Restaurant, the lotus root starch and persimmon cakes from Beishi, and the sugar-fried chestnuts from Nanjie. These were all very famous snacks in Beijing, and one often had to queue up to buy them.
Since Liu Zhang was seriously injured and bedridden, he could only rely on Wushuang to pass messages between them.
He looked forward to A Rao coming to see him every day, and he felt very comfortable when he saw the cakes and candied fruits that A Rao brought him.
Finally, there was a beloved girl who was willing to queue up every day to sell cakes for him, and the injuries on his body suddenly didn't hurt at all.
Liu Zhang savored the fragrant sweet-scented osmanthus cake, which was soft, sticky, and sweet. He missed that lovely person even more, whose lips were also so soft, sticky, and sweet.
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