Chapter 398: Forcing Cao Dejiang to Stand
Tang Ning was silent for a moment before whispering, "Empress Lu holds information about an orphan of the He family. If anything happens to her, that person will die."
Cao Dejiang sat up straight abruptly: "The orphan of the He family?"
Tang Ning hummed softly, "If it weren't for this, my brother would have exposed the affair between her and Prince Cheng long ago, and the Lu family wouldn't have been able to get away with it so easily."
"If I hadn't been forced to do so today, I wouldn't have used this matter to divert His Majesty's attention. But this is all I can do. Unless my brother comes back and can directly defeat the Lu family, I can't expose this matter for the time being. Otherwise, once the He family is involved, the matter of the Southland will be unconcealed."
Cao Dejiang looked at Tang Ning intently: "Is Xiao Yan helping the He family?"
Tang Ning was silent for a moment, and did not respond to Cao Dejiang's words. He just looked up at him and asked, "Lord Cao, do you think that Prince Li and the He family deserved to die back then?"
Seeing Cao Dejiang remained silent, Tang Ning said quietly:
"I've heard that when Crown Prince Li was in power, he greatly admired Lord Cao. Besides my grandfather and the He family, Lord Cao was also one of the people who strongly supported the Crown Prince in dismantling the aristocratic families and reforming the government."
"Mr. Tong told me about the past of Crown Prince Li. He was such a righteous man, dedicated to the people. Does Lord Cao really think he would rebel?"
Cao Dejiang's palms were sweating, and he looked at Tang Ning expressionlessly: "Do you know what you are talking about?"
He tried his best to calm himself. "What happened back then is in the past. Bringing it up again will only lead to bloodshed. You and Xiao Yan are both so smart, you must know the pros and cons of this."
Tang Ning's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she chuckled mockingly, "Of course we know, it's just a thankless task. But my brother and I always feel that we can't know the truth and do nothing."
"The political situation has been decided, the past is gone, and the bloodline of the Crown Prince Li has been completely wiped out and it will be difficult for him to turn the tide. However, there are still people in the He family. We can't let them lose even this little bloodline."
"Actually, I know I shouldn't tell these things to Lord Cao. After all, people's hearts are unpredictable, but I always feel that you are different from other people in the court."
"Perhaps, I can bet my life on your conscience."
After finishing the tea in the cup, Tang Ning stood up and bowed to Cao Dejiang.
"We can't touch Queen Lu. Prince Cheng's affairs won't hold the Lu family back for long. Lord Cao can guess that my brother is not in the capital, and I'm afraid Lu Chongyuan can guess it too. I have to go back to Jiyun Lane to prepare."
Cao Dejiang's expression changed. "You can't stop Lu Chongyuan. If he goes directly to His Majesty and mentions that Xiao Yan is investigating the past, Xiao Yan will surely die!"
Tang Ning smiled bitterly: "I know, but I have to stop it even if I can't. I'll just do my best and leave the rest to fate. I can't just do nothing."
"These are the best Lingyun teas. Mr. Cao can stay for a while. I'll be leaving first."
After she finished speaking, she nodded to Cao Dejiang, turned around and walked out.
Behind him in Shengningju, Cao Dejiang watched the girl walking further and further away with his expression changing constantly. After Tang Ning left the yard of Shengningju, the bitterness on her face disappeared.
Her expression was indifferent, and her clear eyes were particularly cold. There was no trace of the helplessness and necessity she had just now in Shengningju.
As he led Yuejian and Canglang out, Tang Ning carefully recalled every word he had just said to Cao Dejiang, even every expression.
She was indeed gambling, but not on Cao Dejiang's conscience, but on his views on the He family and even Prince Li, and even on the stance of the Cao family and the Qingliu faction after he learned about the old events in the South.
Tang Ning was not so naive as to think that with just a few words, or even that little "friendship", she could persuade this shrewd and scheming court official to stand up for her and her brother. However, the incident twenty years ago was a rare opportunity for the Qingliu faction to deal with the aristocratic families and even gain the right to speak in the court.
Emperor An hates the aristocratic families, but he also protects them. An old case from twenty years ago makes Emperor An and the Lu family tightly tied together.
Only by uncovering the case of twenty years ago can they force Emperor An to severely punish the Lu family and completely "break" with the aristocratic families. If they are lucky, they can even replace him with an emperor who is close to the Qingliu faction. That will be a real chance for them, the court officials, to come to the fore.
Cao Dejiang will never let it go.
The premise of all this is to ensure Xiao Yan's safety.
Tang Ning lowered his eyes to look at the bracelet on his wrist and fiddled with the bell on it.
She wanted to bring Cao Dejiang onto their ship for her brother, and make Cao Dejiang willingly help her brother conceal his tracks and help them resist the Lu family's "offensive."
As Tang Ning walked out of the academy, he silently estimated the time in his mind.
When she was about to reach the main entrance of the academy after passing the side corridor, she heard someone hurriedly coming up behind her and calling out, "Princess Xiangning, wait a minute."
…
Lu Chongyuan never thought that the Zhao family's meticulous plan would go wrong.
When he was summoned to the palace, he suppressed his palpitations and did not show any abnormality. However, after entering the palace, he stood in the sun for three hours without seeing Emperor An.
It was not until dusk that the palace eunuchs came to inform the emperor that he had gone to bed and asked him to return home and stay at home. Lu Chongyuan's face, which had been exposed to the sun for the whole afternoon, was completely pale.
When Lu Chongyuan stumbled out of the palace and saw the Lu family's carriage, he almost fell before he even got close.
Xilin quickly stepped forward to support the man: "Master..."
"go back."
Lu Chongyuan didn't even have the strength to speak, and his lips were chapped from the sun.
Xilin quickly helped the man onto the carriage, and after handing him some water, Lu Chongyuan drank it in big gulps, relieving his thirst caused by lack of water.
Lu Chongyuan licked his cracked lips, leaned uncomfortably against the carriage, and closed his eyes to relieve the dizziness in his head.
Xilin asked anxiously, "My Lord, did His Majesty attack you?"
Lu Chongyuan opened his eyes and said, "Just do it."
He didn't even see Emperor An.
If he could meet the person, even if something went wrong with the Zhao family's arrangement, he would be confident that he could find out what happened and persuade Emperor An to exonerate him.
But Emperor An refused to see him and let him stand in the sun for several hours. Lu Chongyuan, who was already weak from illness, almost thought he would be sunburned to death.
I reached out and touched my forehead; it was burning hot.
Lu Chongyuan, despite feeling dizzy, asked the person beside him, "What's going on? What went wrong with the Zhao family? Didn't the palace send the imperial guards to Jiyun Lane? Why didn't Xiao Yan enter the palace? Instead, His Majesty seems angry with the Lu family."
Xilin's face turned grim. "Your Majesty did ask Yu Yanfeng and Feng Lai to lead people to Jiyun Lane, but they ran into Song Tangning on the way."
He whispered to Lu Chongyuan what had happened. Song Tangning and the others were on the street when they stopped the imperial guards. There was a lot of noise on both sides, and Madam Zhao did not hide anything when she spoke. Naturally, the news could not be concealed, and it was easy for the Lu family to find out later.
When Lu Chongyuan heard that Yu Yanfeng was stopped by Song Tangning and changed his route, taking her and Madam Zhao into the palace, his face became extremely ugly.
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