Chapter 878 The Power of Women
Liang Guangyi remembered the young lady of the Cui family.
When Cui Lin committed the crime, Xiao Yan, who had not yet revealed her true identity, confronted Cui Lin face to face in the court. The situation was not favorable to Cui Lin at that time, and the Cui family was about to be implicated. It was Madam Cui who directly abandoned Cui Lin to protect the Cui family, but because of this, she was hated by Cui Qi, the eldest son of the Cui family and her husband.
She used her dowry to help the Cui family quell the rebellion of that day, hoping only for the well-being of the Cui family, but she did not expect to be resented and mistreated by Cui Lin and his son.
Later, the Cui family fell into chaos. Cui Lin and his son died after accidentally taking poisonous mushrooms. The second son of the Cui family was also killed without a burial place for murdering his loved ones. The power of the entire Cui family fell into the hands of the young but capable young lady who gave birth to the eldest grandson of the Cui family.
Liang Guangyi also lamented that Cui Lin and his son were blind and never treated such a resourceful and decisive woman well. Since then, the Cui family has gradually faded out among the aristocratic families, and Madam Cui has also been extremely low-key in her actions. No one expected that she would be Beiling's spy left in Wei.
Cao Dejiang frowned: "What about the Bai family?"
Tang Ning didn't say anything, but Yue Jian, who had already sorted out the whole story, stepped forward and said, "To reply to Prime Minister Cao, the Bai family should have been unaware of this in the early years."
"In his early years?" Cao Dejiang was puzzled.
Yue Jian said, "The Seventh Lady of the Bai Family that Ming Ke replaced was kidnapped at the age of three and then murdered. Xia Hou Ling sent Ming Ke back, falsely claiming she was eight years old. Because the birthmark and tokens on her body belonged to the Seventh Lady of the Bai Family, the Bai Family recognized her and, because of her childhood, treated her with extra care."
"In the early years of the Bai family, a man married the legitimate daughter of Duke Feng'an of Southern Qi, and their child even married into the Southern Qi royal family. Xiahou Ling originally sent Mingke to the Bai family for Southern Qi, but unexpectedly, Mingke met Cui Qi, who was visiting his maternal grandfather's family in Linzhou to celebrate his birthday."
"Perhaps they felt that marrying into the Cui family would bring greater benefits, or perhaps Xiahou Ling had already been ambitious and prepared for a rainy day. Mingke led Cui Qi to fall in love with her, and the Bai family's family background was icing on the cake for the Cui family at the time. Later, the two families decided on a marriage, and Mingke married into the capital as the Bai family's seventh daughter."
Yue Jian spoke in a low voice, telling the story slowly and leisurely.
"After arriving in the capital, Bai Shi was quite favored by Cui Qi. Furthermore, the aristocratic family was very powerful at the time. As a wife of the Cui family, she was not only able to easily make friends with the women of other families, but also easily befriended the ladies of the court and the concubines in the harem."
People often look down on women in the inner chambers, but they don’t know that many things are much easier for women to do than for men.
Ming Ke has been married in Beijing for more than ten years, like a trickle of water that has silently invaded the backyards of various families. A man can command power in the court, but in the end he has to return to the backyard to sleep with his wives and concubines.
What Ming Ke did was to inconspicuously use the mouths of beautiful or delicate women to find out the secrets of the court, instigate the ambitions of some people, stir up trouble, and then plant spies in Beiling to erode the Wei Dynasty bit by bit.
Mingke's people could be found in the late emperor's harem, the mansions of powerful officials in the court, and even in the backyards of the major aristocratic families. The most shocking thing was that following Mingke's story, they found out that the reason why the late emperor was so wary of the crown prince and resented Xiao Yan and his son was largely due to the slander of the favorite concubine in the harem.
Emperor Taizu's preference for the prince had already caught the attention of the late emperor. If someone kept telling him how good the prince was, how he intimidated the court officials and how much Emperor Taizu valued the prince, it seemed that the prince would one day surpass the emperor to take the throne.
The late emperor's already dissatisfied heart was filled with fear and resentment, which accumulated over time and led to the rift between father and son.
Yue Jian slowly spoke about Ming Ke:
"The Bai family probably didn't know about Mingke's affairs in the early years, at least not before Mingke married into the Cui family. They were just favored and indulged by Lady Bai Qi, but they had no intention of rebelling against the court. Later, after Mingke entered the capital, she borrowed a lot of the Bai family's influence and used it to do things that endangered the court. The Bai family made one mistake after another, and by the time they realized something was wrong, they were already deeply mired in it."
The entire Bai family was simply dragged into the vortex by Ming Ke. They had already betrayed the court without knowing it and were forced to become Beiling's "pawns". Even if they later discovered that Ming Ke's identity was different, it was too late to extricate themselves.
"Over the years, Mingke has gathered countless intelligence from the Wei Kingdom. It was through this that Xiahou Ling was able to secure victory against the Wei Kingdom several times, even though Beiling should have been defeated. As a result, he achieved remarkable feats and his power in Beiling grew."
"Fortunately, when Emperor Taizu was still alive, he was wary of any potential upheaval in the imperial court and kept the Zhen'an Army and the Dragon Court Guards separate from the imperial court. Furthermore, the late emperor and the deposed emperor lost the tokens that allowed them to mobilize troops when they plotted to murder the crown prince, so the Zhen'an Army and the Dragon Court Guards were no longer under the imperial court's control. Otherwise, with Ming Ke constantly sending out defense maps and news from the imperial court and the military, Luoyan Pass would have been breached long ago, and the Beiling Iron Cavalry would have crushed the Wei Dynasty."
Tang Ning waited until Yue Jian finished speaking before speaking: "A few years ago, the Beiling army fought against the Zhen'an army. On several occasions, they were able to counterattack in critical moments, and some of their sneak attacks were surprisingly accurate."
"Di Shuangcheng and his men have been leading troops for many years and are very cautious. They had long noticed that the border defense map had been leaked. Since then, every time they changed positions, they would not only be on guard against spies in Fengcheng, but also in the capital."
It was precisely because of this, and the fact that the deposed emperor and his men did not have the Dragon Jade Order and did not dare to ask too many questions out of guilt, that the Zhen'an Army became almost "autonomous", and it was difficult for the capital to get any news about them, and no one could be sent in, so Luoyan Pass was able to be defended for so many years.
Otherwise, with Mingke, a chess piece buried so deeply, Beiling would have already led his troops south.
The expressions of the people in the imperial study changed as Tang Ning and his servant spoke. They naturally understood the danger. Who could have thought that a mere spy could almost destroy the Great Wei.
Qian Baokun couldn't help but ask, "What about the Mingke people?"
Tang Ning said: "Dead, she is a Beiling spy, and after being exposed, there is only death."
Qian Baokun opened his mouth. How could he die? He was still thinking that after catching the man, he might be able to get some other information out of him.
Tang Ning seemed to see through his thoughts and said, "Ming Ke is very stubborn and has deep feelings for Bei Ling. Not only that, but she has stayed in Wei for so many years. Xia Hou Ling must have been on guard against her in case she could not withstand the torture after being captured, so he would not tell her too much about Bei Ling."
"This time, I only sought her out to pass on some information to Beiling through her hand, and to deliver the half of the Dragon Jade Token to Xiahou Ling. As for anything else, I never thought I could pry her open. Besides, although Ming Ke is dead, I have captured someone better."
"With him here, perhaps we can find out more."
Cao Dejiang's eyes widened. "Your Majesty, are you talking about the person who has been hiding in the dark and stirring up trouble recently?"
Tang Ning nodded: "Come to think of it, that person is an old acquaintance of Liang Xiang."
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