Chapter 400: A cornered beast will jump over the wall
"His Majesty has gone to bed, please return, Lu Langling."
In front of the second gate, a eunuch came to answer.
Lu Chongyuan's expression was almost unbearable: "This old minister has something very important to ask Your Majesty, and there is no time to delay..."
The eunuch standing before him simply lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty has ordered that you do not see anyone."
"But……"
"Lu Langling, please go back."
Lu Chongyuan opened his mouth and wanted to say that his Majesty's safety was at stake and he wanted to force his way into the palace as he had done before. However, when he looked up and saw the guards with swords and heavy armor standing behind the eunuch, all his words died in his throat.
The dimly lit palace was like a giant beast with its mouth wide open to devour people's hearts, and the heavily guarded Forbidden Palace was no longer something he could enter as he wished.
He was no longer the powerful Minister of the Central Secretariat who could enter the palace to meet the emperor without an imperial edict. Emperor An's cold treatment of him made the people in the palace follow suit and flatter the powerful and bully the weak.
Now that the emperor is not around, anyone who dares to trespass will probably be killed on the spot.
The eunuch remembered Eunuch Feng's instructions and turned back to the palace after delivering the message. Lu Chongyuan watched through the palace gate as the figure in the corridor inside disappeared, and then he led Xilin, who was holding a lantern and seemed to be hesitant to speak, away.
"My dear, didn't we come to see His Majesty? Why are we just leaving like this?" Xilin asked in a low voice.
Lu Chongyuan said awkwardly, "Feng Lai will stay by your Majesty's side. You won't be able to see your Majesty tonight."
How could he forget that the eunuch Feng who served the emperor personally led people to Jiyun Lane. Logically, he should have known that Xiao Yan was not in the capital, but until now no news has been heard, and Emperor An was completely unaware of it. It was obvious that someone was covering it up.
He always thought that he had thought highly enough of Xiao Yan, but he never expected that he could even bribe the people in front of the emperor. When the palace was purged earlier, the Lu family's spies were wiped out, and those who were sent into the palace with great difficulty later could not get close to Emperor An at all.
Xilin was shocked: "What should we do now?"
Lu Chongyuan looked at the night and whispered, "Go back first and wait for the court tomorrow morning."
Feng Lai could stop him, but he could not stop all the court officials.
He didn't believe that Emperor An would be able to sit still after knowing what Xiao Yan was doing outside the capital!
Lu Chongyuan was ordered by Emperor An to be under house arrest and unable to attend court. He wrote letters overnight and had them delivered to the residences of several court officials, asking them to ask to see Emperor An the next day to help him pass on the message. However, his plan was well planned, but during the next morning court session, news came from the palace that Emperor An had a headache and would not attend court for three days.
The affairs of the court were temporarily handed over to Grand Tutor Liang and other old ministers such as Cao Dejiang. Emperor An was recuperating in the Imperial Dragon Terrace. Not only could Lu Chongyuan not see Emperor An, even the ministers' requests for an audience were rejected by the palace.
Lu Chongyuan had no choice but to find Master Liang, but the letter he sent was returned unopened.
Lu Chongyuan held the letter in his hand and said, "You said that Grand Tutor Liang didn't see you?"
The servant who delivered the letter lowered his head very low. "No, I went there and asked to see the Grand Tutor. I explained my purpose. The Liang family welcomed me into the mansion, but only said that Grand Tutor Liang was entertaining guests and would see me later."
"I was waiting outside, but who would have thought that someone from the Liang family would come out not long after and return the letter that the Master had sent unopened. They also said that Grand Tutor Liang was busy with important matters today and really couldn't spare the time. They said that they would find time to come over to visit the Master after he was done with his work."
Lu Chongyuan's face was extremely ugly. He didn't write anything important in the letter. He just wanted to ask Grand Tutor Liang to find a way to let him meet Emperor An. Now Emperor An had a headache and would not see anyone. Only Grand Tutor Liang and Cao Dejiang could occasionally come to the palace to answer his questions.
Grand Tutor Liang had always relied on him in the past, and he cared the most about the interests of the aristocratic family. He shouldn't have refused such a simple matter.
But now...
Seeing that the letter was crumpled into a ball by Lu Chongyuan, the servant whispered, "I felt something was wrong at the time. After leaving the Liang family, I didn't return directly. I hid outside the Liang family and waited for a while. Then I saw Cao Gong coming out of the Liang family."
Among all the ministers in the court, only Cao Dejiang could be called "Duke Cao".
Lu Chongyuan's forehead was bulging with veins: "That old bastard Cao Dejiang!"
Seeing Lu Chongyuan's anger, Xilin quickly waved his hand to dismiss everyone in the room. When only the two of them were left, he couldn't help but get anxious: "Master, Cao Dejiang has always been at odds with people from aristocratic families. How could he get involved with the Liang family?"
"For what else? That old bastard surnamed Cao is actually helping Xiao Yan!"
Lu Chongyuan no longer had his usual composure. He was filled with rage and smashed the things on the table to the ground.
His eyes were red like a trapped beast, and he was gasping for breath as he stood in front of the table with his hands on his shoulders.
"Cao Dejiang has always prided himself on being noble and aboveboard, believing himself to be above all else. He always complains that the aristocratic families are clumsy and prioritize profit over profit, with officials protecting each other and colluding with each other. But now, he, a Royal Censor, is actually colluding with that eunuch Xiao Yan, helping him deceive his superiors and subordinates."
"What a shameless old man, you pretentious old man!"
Lu Chongyuan was so angry that he wanted to tear Xiao Yan apart. When did he become so powerful that he not only won over Feng Lai, but even Cao Dejiang, who never got involved in these matters, was secretly protecting him!
It was obvious that as long as he met Emperor An, he could expose the fact that Xiao Yan was not in the capital, and use Emperor An's power to kill Xiao Yan without a burial place, but everyone was against him.
For three whole days, he was trapped in the Lu family and couldn't go anywhere. People from Jingzhao Prefecture, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple went in and out of the Lu family every day in the name of investigating cases. The people who mixed in with them kept a close eye on them, and Xiao Yan must have received the news and rushed back to the capital.
If he doesn't take action now, when he returns to the capital, not to mention the old affairs in the South, even the case of Queen Lu alone will make the Lu family annihilate without a burial place!
"We can't just sit there and wait for death."
Lu Chongyuan gritted his teeth and paced back and forth like a trapped animal. After a while, he suddenly stopped and said, "Go call Nighthawk over!"
"Master?" Xilin was shocked.
Lu Chongyuan clutched the corner of the table tightly. "Since they won't let me see His Majesty, then I'll force His Majesty to see me. As long as I can reveal that Xiao Yan isn't in the capital and let His Majesty know that he went to the South, His Majesty won't forgive him!"
Emperor An can understand everything he does now before the events in the South.
…
The sun sets, but the sunset glow does not go away, and the sky gradually darkens.
Tang Ning has not been to the academy these days, and has been staying in Heli Hall every day.
Xue Ru already knew that Xiao Yan was not in the capital. When her elder sister left the academy early that day, she instructed Hang Li and others to let her lie to the academy teacher. Later, someone from the palace came to ask when her elder sister left the academy, and Xue Ru realized that something was wrong.
After returning home and seeing the worried Rong Yue and Gu Helian, and hearing about what was happening outside, the intelligent Xue Ru guessed the truth.
She brought the dinner to the Yueli Terrace and saw Tang Ning curled up on the chaise longue, lost in thought. She said softly:
"Sister."
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