On the other side, the commander of the guards in charge of the Cui family had just returned to the mansion where the Cui family lived, and heard that Cui Lang had gone to the palace.
He asked a routine question: "Why did Cui Liulang go to the palace?"
"It is said that he went to find the prince to fight crickets."
"..." The guard leader asked, "Did you ask anyone to follow you?"
The guard nodded: "Don't worry, Commander."
The guard commander didn't think much about it. After giving a few instructions, he walked towards the inner courtyard.
On the way, he met several young members of the Cui family playing Cuju in the garden, some people fishing with their eyes closed by the pond, and one Cui family member over 30 years old was fanning himself and reciting poems to a maid, making the maid blush with shame.
The guard leader frowned, too lazy to pay attention, and walked away quickly.
Everything seemed to be the same as before, which was absurd but fit his stereotype of the Cui family.
Until a young man from the Cui family appeared in front of him and said that he had prepared a generous gift to be sent to the palace to present to the prince, but they could not lift it, so they asked him to come over to help.
The commander of the guards was puzzled. Just as Cui Liulang went to the palace, the Cui family was about to present gifts to King Fan Yang?
The commander of the guards remained calm and decided to go and see what the so-called generous gift was.
When I got there, I realized that it was actually a wooden statue of Buddha that was as tall as a person.
The guard leader had some impression of this. Among this group of Cui family members, there was one person who was very obsessed with wood carving. Perhaps the noble family did not support them in developing such a hobby. This time when they were away, this person started carving in revenge and often asked people to help them collect usable wood...
This wooden Buddha statue was created by this person.
The guard leader looked at the huge box beside him and said subconsciously: "If we pack the statue and send it to the palace, it might get bumped. It would be better to--"
However, before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt a pain at the back of his neck and head, and a muffled groan of pain escaped his mouth.
His body swayed, and he turned back with a buzzing in his head. He saw the plump young man named Cui Lingjie holding a thick stick in his hand, looking at him in horror, and said at a loss: "Why... why didn't you fall down!"
He clearly ate two extra bowls of rice at noon!
"..." The guard leader was about to curse when he was suddenly knocked to the ground from behind.
Then, a cotton towel covered his mouth and nose without any explanation, causing him to quickly lose consciousness.
“Fortunately, Liu Lang left some knockout drugs as a backup…” The middle-aged tribesman holding the cotton towel breathed a sigh of relief and urged, “Quick, carry him into the box!”
The box was not originally prepared for the wood carving.
Soon, people led by Li Yun, the Prince of Fanyang, were ordered to come and pick up the "gift". The box and the wooden sculpture were then loaded onto a mule cart and transported to the palace.
At this time, as the Huainan Road army in the west was approaching Luoyang City again, Duan Shiang had led his troops out of the city to investigate.
After being awakened by a pot of cold tea, the guard leader found himself tied up and forced to kneel before King Fan Yang.
This shocked him greatly. When the Cui family attacked him from behind, he was still thinking in his daze, could it be that the Cui family finally planned to escape? This was really crazy. He had given them so many chances but they didn't want to take them. They just wanted to knock him out with their own hands - the food must be cooked by yourself to be delicious, right!
However, at this moment, looking at the King of Fanyang sitting in front of him, he realized that the situation was far more serious than he had imagined before he fainted...
The King of Fanyang sitting there looked no different from usual, with a short and slightly bloated figure, and facial features that did not show any aggression or majesty. Even when he was not smiling, he often gave people the feeling that he was easy to talk to.
But the words spoken by King Fan Yang at this moment made the guard commander's heart tremble.
"I heard that you tried to let the Cui clan members go secretly without telling me..." King Fanyang's tone was not serious. He sighed and asked, "You are Shi Ang's subordinate, so you are naturally working for Shi Ang. I just don't know who Shi Ang is working for?"
Upon hearing this, the guard commander suddenly looked at Cui Lang who was standing beside him.
Seeing his look, Cui Lang smiled politely as usual.
The guard commander gritted his teeth secretly.
So Cui Lang had known that he intended to let the Cui family leave, but it would have been fine if they didn't leave, but they actually turned around and reported it to King Fanyang? What on earth does this mean! Seeing him staring at him intently, Cui Lang reminded him: "General Yu, wake up, the prince is asking you a question."
"I have never deceived Your Highness!" The guard leader said firmly, "If Your Highness trusts this smooth-talking person, it will hurt the relationship between you and General Duan!"
Cui Lang was surprised: "General Yu, you are still using General Duan to pressure the prince at this time, this is wrong of yours..."
The guard leader's face turned pale, and just as he was about to speak, King Fanyang sighed, "Whether it hurts the relationship or not, we must first find out whether the relationship is true or false... Otherwise, wouldn't it be that I am being too enthusiastic?"
As soon as King Fanyang finished speaking, two palace eunuchs came in and saluted.
"These two eunuchs are in charge of the punishment in the palace. Let them ask for me."
One of the older eunuchs asked hesitantly, "May I ask, Your Majesty, are you going to torture me here?"
"Let's just stay here..." King Fanyang turned his head and looked around, then patted the armrest of the chair and sighed, muttering, "I can't stay here for a few days anyway."
The guard leader looked anxiously at the wooden tray in the young eunuch's hand, on which were placed four or five different daggers.
Soon, the two eunuchs reached out and took off his outer robe and trousers without saying a word!
He tried to struggle, but the effect of the knockout drug had not yet completely worn off, and there were two other guards holding him tightly, so he could only ask in fear: "What are you doing..."
"Your Excellency may try the castration in the palace first." The old eunuch took a knife and said with a smile.
The so-called castration is to castrate the body.
The guard leader was horrified when he heard this, but his clothes were quickly stripped off, and he was pinned to the ground, and even his mouth was blocked.
The moment his mouth was blocked, it gave the person concerned a hint that he would not have the chance to speak again. On the verge of despair, the taut string in the guard commander's mind broke. He struggled with all his strength, and his posture changed from lying flat to lying prone. He did not care about the embarrassment of his naked lower body. He made vague sounds with his mouth and looked at King Fan Yang with pleading eyes.
King Fanyang raised his hand and signaled the eunuch to take out the cotton cloth stuffed in his mouth.
"Your subordinate..." The man who was pressed to the ground was out of breath, but he did not dare to hesitate and said: "Your subordinate is working for General Duan, and I also vaguely know that General Duan has close contacts with someone in secret! But your subordinate does not know who the other party is!"
He came from Fanyang Army and had always followed Duan Shiang. He often did some secret things for Duan Shiang, but he was just following orders.
In the process of carrying out his orders time and time again, he inevitably sensed the existence of some things, but he had no chance and did not dare to go into depth and explore them.
"Oh, he's just a half-confidant..." King Fanyang said, and raised his hand again: "It's useless to ask more questions..."
"Wait! Your Majesty!" The guard leader begged for mercy and said hurriedly, "Although I don't know, there is one person who definitely knows!... Deng Qingzai!"
He said a name.
This person is Duan Shiang's confidant, and all the correspondence between Duan Shiang and the outside world usually passes through his hands.
Taking advantage of the fact that Duan Shiang was not in the city, King Fanyang quickly summoned this man under the pretext of inquiring about the battle situation.
King Fan Yang felt that as an anxious and cowardly waste, it was reasonable for him to frequently ask about the battle situation.
While waiting, King Fanyang was pacing in the palace when he suddenly looked at Cui Lang: "...If I want to find a way to catch this person, I have to personally interrogate him. Is this the evidence you gave me? What kind of secrets are you telling me? Are you just talking nonsense?"
Cui Lang smiled and said, "...This is also to get you personally involved. If I bring the evidence directly to you, what if you suspect that I forged it? Wouldn't that cause trouble?"
King Fanyang snorted, "I think you are more calculating than anyone else... Now all the trouble has fallen on my head."
Not long after, Duan Shiang's confidant named Deng Qingzai came to the palace and met King Fan Yang.
King Fanyang asked about some matters related to the war, talked about Duan Shiang's injuries, and gave him a box of tonic medicine.
The man stepped forward to take it, bowed and was about to leave, but he found that the door of the study was suddenly closed from the outside.
As his expression suddenly changed, four or five guards had drawn their swords and quickly surrounded him.
Compared to the guard leader, although this man is not a military general, his mouth is much harder to pry open.
The castration knife in the old eunuch's hand, which he had been eager to use, finally came in handy.
Also used on this man were methods that were used in the palace to torture and interrogate eunuchs.
After such cruel interrogation, when it was getting dark, the anxious King Fan Yang finally heard the result and received a letter from the Prince Rong's Mansion in Yizhou, which Duan Shiang had not had time to read yet.
Duan Shiang was indeed working for Prince Rong Li Yin.
But the relationship between the two is not just a simple superior-subordinate relationship.
According to Deng Qingzai's confession, Duan Shiang's elder sister was the "wife" secretly kept by Prince Rong. She gave birth to a son for Prince Rong, and the son has grown up and is very much loved by Prince Rong.
Shortly after the rebellion, Duan Shiang secretly sent all his family members and children to Yizhou.
"This is troublesome..." King Fanyang sighed, "I thought I still had a chance to persuade Shiang to change his mind, but now it seems that I can't do that."
They are like a family, so who is he?
With this relationship, it is impossible for Duan Shiang to change his mind.
The current Prince Rong, Li Lu, is frail and sickly. If Prince Rong achieves great success, the child with Duan family blood will most likely become the crown prince. At that time, Duan Shiang will be the crown prince's only uncle, and Duan Shiang's descendants will also enjoy supreme honor and favor. This is a relationship of sharing weal and woe, who wouldn't work hard for it?
At this point, Prince Fanyang was very clear in his mind that Duan Shiang would never retreat, and Prince Rong would not allow him to retreat.
"What a trouble..." King Fan Yang stood under the window, looking at the lit palace lanterns with his eyes narrowed.
After a moment, he turned around and asked someone to keep an eye on whether Duan Shiang was returning to the city.
Seeing this, Cui Lang felt a little relieved. At this point, the matter was half done and his life was saved.
The King of Fanyang personally verified the matter and took action against Duan Shiang's men... If the King of Fanyang does not want to be eliminated by Duan Shiang after he notices the change, then the former must act as soon as possible!
Cui Lang's heart was inexplicably agitated, and he asked in a low voice tentatively: "What is your Majesty going to do? Do you need my help to advise you?"
King Fanyang looked at him and said with a half-smile, "Speaking of which, I am very curious about something."
"Cui Liulang doesn't even have any evidence, yet he dares to come to me and tell me about this..." King Fanyang asked, "Who told you about this? Do you trust that person so much?"
"You clearly had a chance to escape, but you chose to stay and take the risk of exposing this matter... What good will it do you if I get rid of Duan Shiang?" King Fanyang asked this, and then changed his tone: "Or I should ask, what good will it do for your Cui family if we get rid of King Rong's people? The Cui family has most likely turned against King Rong by now, so aren't you holding your family back by doing this?"
"Your Highness, you are wrong." Cui Lang said with a smile, "It is inevitable that Your Highness will see through the true face of the thief Duan and eliminate him. Without me, can this be done? In the final analysis, I am just staying here to take credit. The elders have the final say on family affairs. As a junior, why not take this opportunity to find another way out?"
King Fanyang raised his eyebrows and said, "I was shortsighted before. I didn't realize that Cui Liulang was a rare smart man..."
As he spoke, he nodded in agreement: "This way of survival for Chang Suining of Huainan Dao is indeed worth Cui Liulang's risk."
Cui Lang smiled modestly: "Compared to Your Majesty, I dare not claim to be smart."
"That's right." King Fanyang smiled and raised his hand and said, "Come here, arrest Cui Lang."
Cui Lang's smile faded and he quickly asked, "What does your Highness mean?"
"You are brave enough and quick-witted, but too young." King Fanyang waved his sleeves and said, "You eat my food, live in my house, and even rely on me to make merit before leaving... You can't fleece the sheep like this. Where in the world can you get such a good thing of eating and taking at the same time!"
Cui Lang screamed and begged for mercy.
Li Yun also pleaded for him: "Father, Cui Liulang's crime does not deserve death!"
Cui Lang was shocked. What do you mean by "not guilty of a crime punishable by death"? He was not guilty at all. What he did was a good deed! Will this guy beg for mercy? It would be better to fan the flames and cremate him in a hurry!
King Fan Yang was upset when he heard this and immediately had Cui Lang dragged away.
That night, King Fan Yang received news that Duan Shiang stayed in the army outside the city to command the war deployment and had no plans to return to the city for the time being.
This made King Fanyang feel relieved, but also worried. Not returning to the city was a good thing. In this way, Duan Shiang would not be able to pay attention to him for a while...
But if he wanted to be safe, he had to finish the matter before Duan Shiang returned to the city... But taking action in the army was obviously not an easy task.
King Fan Yang thought about it for a long time, and at noon the next day, he led his men out of Luoyang City and went to the army in person.
Although he often gives people the impression of being cowardly due to his fear of death, there are some things that he must do personally to avoid mistakes...even if this is a hundred times more risky than Cui Lang running to him to report Duan Shiang.
King Fanyang arrived at the army and waited restlessly in the tent for more than an hour before finally Duan Shiang arrived. (End of this chapter)
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