Chapter 540: Lu Zhinian is also in Beiling? !
Cao Dejiang came in full of worry and left cursing. When he walked out of Heli Hall, he saw the young couple behind him whispering to each other and couldn't help but laugh and curse.
"This little bastard!"
He really doesn't look like his father at all.
It's just a pity for this old guy. I still have to help him clean up his mess at his age.
"My lord, what's wrong?" An, the close attendant, came forward when he saw him cursing.
Cao Dejiang shook his head: "Nothing, I remember Li Wenchang and Fan Yan came to see me before?"
Cong'an said, "That's what happened. The Crown Prince has been on a killing spree lately. He has members of both the Fan and Li families in his clutches. Although they're not the main branch, it would be troublesome to investigate further. Lord Li and his men came to you at the time, but you found an excuse to turn them away."
"Send a letter and tell them that I'm free today and invite them to come over for a chat."
Cong An was surprised: "You want to meet someone from aristocratic family?"
Cao Dejiang walked out calmly: "Why, you can't see me?"
"No, but didn't you say before that you wouldn't interfere in the prince's affairs?"
"I will not interfere with the prince in the palace."
"Ah?" Cong An was stunned.
Cao Dejiang did not explain to him. Although Cong'an was his close follower and had served him for some years, he only knew some of the details about Xu Yu's identity and Xiao Yan's affairs.
He only knew that Xiao Yan was an orphan of the He family and Xu Yu was an old servant of the He family. As for the other things, Cao Dejiang never mentioned them to him, and Cong'an never asked much.
As Cao Dejiang walked out, he said to Cong'an, "When you meet Li Wenchang and the others, remember to tell them that Liang Guangyi has asked me to meet Xiao Yan. Also, hint that the two of them had an argument. Other than that, don't say anything else."
Cong An nodded, seemingly understanding: "I understand."
As Cao Dejiang got on the carriage, he was still thinking that he had to use his strength to push Liang Guangyi and get the 800,000 gold into Xiao Yan's hands as soon as possible and put it in his pocket. He also had to find someone to inform about the book collection matter first, so that the old man Liang Guangyi would not go back and think about it carefully and find something wrong, causing more trouble.
The two fence-sitters from the Li and Fan families are the least courageous, and their subordinates are controlled by the prince. It would be most appropriate to scare them a little and let them step forward to tear open the gap in the aristocratic families. Moreover, they have to force the Cui family to bleed heavily, as Liang Guangyi is too "weak" alone.
They have been colleagues for many years and have been friends for decades. How can he stand idly by?
Cao Dejiang put his hands on his knees, looking emotional.
"A gentleman does good for the sake of righteousness..."
Is there anyone else in the world as broad-minded as him?
…
After Cao Dejiang left, Tang Ning took the medicine and came over to change Xiao Yan's medicine. Seeing his raised eyebrows, she chuckled.
"Why did you deliberately scare Cao Gong just now? He really thought that A Ru and I were going to steal the book."
Xiao Yan's throat trembled with laughter. "He's not that easily frightened. If you two really have the guts to steal the book, then this old man can provide you with a ladder and cover for you."
"No way?"
Tang Ning raised his eyebrows. Cao Gong doesn’t seem like that kind of person.
Xiao Yan laughed and said, "Do you think he's a decent person? He's much darker than us. Besides, he's been coveting the wealth of the aristocratic families for a long time. If he can find an opportunity to poach them, he'd be so eager to pick up a hoe and do it himself."
"Do you believe that once he leaves Heli Hall, he should think about how to make the people from the aristocratic family spit out the gold as soon as possible?"
Although Tang Ning found it a little hard to believe, when she thought about how Cao Dejiang had hidden Shi Changan and Xu Yu before, and how he had clearly known about their actions but still deliberately frightened her, she felt that the old man that Xiao Yan mentioned could really do it.
She gently unwrapped the white cloth on Xiao Yan's shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the wound on the back of her shoulder had healed.
"As expected, this wound still needs to be stitched up, and Sister Qin's medicine is effective in order to heal well. However, I still can't move too much in the next few days to avoid tearing it again."
Xiao Yan nodded. Seeing Tang Ning clean the area around his wound with a handkerchief and then bandage it again, he said, "I'm going to the palace later to see the Crown Prince."
"Will the prince let those people from the noble families go?"
"It's not up to him."
Xiao Yan put on his clothes with Tang Ning's help, saying, "I haven't paid much attention to him recently. He's been in charge of the court, and he's been so focused on fighting for power and eliminating dissidents that he doesn't have time to pay attention to other things. I need to wake him up."
"Fu Yue and his men from the Dragon Court Guards should be leading their men back to the northwest in a few days. After the Xiao Guards, who were previously monitoring officials in various prefectures, were withdrawn, their men captured forty or fifty people who were delivering messages to the court in just two weeks. Besides the unrest within the court, they even managed to uncover who the Crown Prince favored at night."
His underwear was stripped off, but the idiot prince didn't even notice it and was just busy secretly trying to steal his girl.
Tang Ning couldn't help but shake his head at the prince's character: "Where are those things sent to?"
"Some were sent to various vassal kings, some were sent to the South, and a few were sent to Fengcheng."
"Fengcheng?"
Tang Ning frowned. The Dragon Court Guards were still in the capital, and Shang Qin was dead. The Zhen'an Army wouldn't secretly seek information from the capital. They had never stopped Di Tao from sending messages to Di Shuangcheng to inform him of the situation in the capital, but news was still secretly sent to Fengcheng...
"I'm afraid this news was not sent to Fengcheng, but to Beiling."
Xiao Yan hummed, "I thought so too. It seems we're not the only ones planning to dismantle Beiling from within and send people to disrupt their court. Beiling's spies are also well-entrenched in the capital. Jinyun and his men just intercepted the letter, and the messenger is already dead, completely cutting off the source."
This kind of ability is not for ordinary people.
Tang Ning's face showed worry: "Since this letter was sent to Fengcheng, does it mean that there are also spies from Beiling in Fengcheng?"
Xiao Yan said, "I've sent a message to Di Shuangcheng, asking him to conduct a thorough investigation of the Zhen'an Army and Fengcheng. After a while, the Longting Guards will return, and Hang Li and the others will follow. Tu Bai, Zhang Bin, and the others are also hiding in Beiling. With their cooperation, we will be able to catch the perpetrators."
He paused.
"By the way, Song Jinxiu has already entered Beiling. He was taken in as an attendant by Xiahou Ling and brought to the Imperial Master's Mansion. Moreover, Tu Bai also met someone in the Beiling Imperial City."
"who?"
"Lu Zhinian."
Song Tangning looked up suddenly, a look of surprise on his face.
Lu Zhinian?
How did he end up in Beiling?
Xiao Yan was also somewhat surprised. "After he offended you, he suddenly disappeared. The Black Armor Guards searched the entire capital but couldn't find any trace of him. I thought he was secretly dealt with by the Lu family, but I didn't expect the letter Tu Bai sent back saying that he met someone in Beiling Imperial City who looked very similar to Lu Zhinian."
"That man is the consort of Princess Chuyun of Beiling, and a favorite of the new Beiling Emperor. His name is Ji Rongqing. He appears gentle, but his methods are extremely ruthless. Even Xiahou Ling almost suffered a loss at his hands due to his carelessness earlier."
"Tu Bai had met Lu Zhinian before and said they looked 80% to 90% alike, but Ji Rongqing seemed to be suffering from a hidden illness that kept flaring up. Princess Chuyun's mansion had over ten doctors, but none of them could diagnose the specific cause of his illness. All they knew was that Princess Chuyun had issued notices seeking famous doctors and effective remedies for him."
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