Chapter 896 Planning
Xiahou Ling's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Because of Ming Ke's news, he naturally knew that the Emperor of Wei intended to eliminate the aristocratic families and reform the court after he came to power. He had also heard about the imperial examination a long time ago.
The Emperor of Wei wanted to promote people from humble backgrounds and use those students to enrich the court. It was no easy task to seize and divide the power of the prominent families. Moreover, the imperial examination process was complicated and could not be completed overnight. The Great Wei had chosen this time to prepare for it...
Xiahou Ling became more and more certain that something was really wrong in Wei, and he also believed that Lu Zhinian did have other sources of information.
Xiahou Ling asked in a deep voice, "Where is the Queen of Wei now?"
Lu Zhinian shook his head: "I don't know."
Seeing Xiahou Ling looking up at him, Lu Zhinian said, "You don't have to look at me like that. Since I'm willing to cooperate with you, there's no need for me to lie to you about this."
"After the turmoil in the Wei capital that day, I lost contact with Lu Jiuan. The assassins who had previously infiltrated the Wei capital through the influence of the noble families were all killed. If I hadn't left others hiding elsewhere earlier, I might not know as much as the Imperial Master."
Xiahou Ling narrowed his eyes slightly: "Could he have been captured..."
"Won't."
Lu Zhinian said without hesitation: "Lu Jiuan is the Dark Lord carefully cultivated by the Lu family. He is more familiar with the capital of Wei than anyone else. If the Queen of Wei falls into his hands, even if he cannot bring her back to Beiling, he will never fall into the hands of others easily. It is not difficult for him to save his life."
"Besides, if the Wei Dynasty had truly captured Lu Jiuan, they wouldn't have sent out all the Black Armor Guards, nor would they have organized the imperial examinations at this time, or even mobilized tens of thousands of troops to leave the capital under the pretext of transporting food and fodder."
Xiahou Ling frowned and said, "Are you saying that the Wei Dynasty has mobilized troops from the capital?"
"yes."
Lu Zhinian said, "The Imperial Master should know the current situation in the Wei Kingdom. The Wei Emperor is trapped in Southern Qi, and the Empress is struggling alone. If she didn't have the Black Armor Guards and the troops in the capital, she would have been unable to suppress those old foxes in the court."
"If the Queen is thoughtful, she would never mobilize troops out of the capital at this time. Moreover, the aristocratic families and the Qingliu faction in the Wei Dynasty are at war to the death. The two sides have been fighting each other for a long time. They will wipe out the other side at the slightest opportunity."
"But my people say that after that guy Rishi and Prince Hui Xie Zhuo forced the emperor to abdicate, only half of them were convicted. People like Liang Guangyi, pillars of the aristocratic families involved, were able to protect the two major aristocratic families close to him without any harm, and even remained in the court."
"The Imperial Master should understand what this means."
Xiahou Ling's eyes darkened. He knew the situation in Wei very well, so he naturally knew who Liang Guangyi was and understood the meaning of Lu Zhinian's words.
Liang Guangyi was innocent, but the Qingliu faction allowed him to stay in the court, just like after he defeated Lu Zhinian, they had enough things in their hands to kill him, but they did not kill him, but allowed him to escape with the princess's mansion and stay in the Beiling royal court to fight against him.
How could those upright officials of the Wei Dynasty be so stupid?
Lu Zhinian said, "And since the Imperial Master came to see me today, not only does he know Lu Jiuan's identity, he's even certain that the Queen of Wei is in his hands. So, surely he wouldn't be completely clueless, right?"
Xiahou Ling didn't hide it after hearing this: "I've also lost contact with Mingke, but before Mingke disappeared, he sent a trusted confidant back to Beiling."
Lu Zhinian suddenly realized: "No wonder..."
It turned out that someone had escaped back. That person must have met Lu Jiuan, Song Tangning and others, otherwise Xiahou Ling would not be so sure that he was the one who took advantage of the situation.
Xiahou Ling's gaze fell on Lu Zhinian's face. He hesitated for a moment before pulling out the half Dragon Jade Token from his sleeve. "That man not only brought back the news from that night, he also brought back this thing."
Lu Zhinian looked at him doubtfully: "This is..."
"Dragon Jade Order."
"What did you say?!"
Lu Zhinian was stunned for a moment, then he sat up straight, his eyes full of surprise.
Xiahou Ling said, "The Dragon Jade Token is the imperial talisman used by the Wei royal family to mobilize the Zhen'an Army and the Dragon Court Guard. Ming Ke painstakingly obtained this item from the Empress of Wei. My men were even hunted down by Lu Jiuan in an attempt to retrieve it."
"I asked him just now. That night, Mingke threatened Lu Jiuan with the life of the Queen of Wei and the possibility of dying together with her in exchange for letting him go. But after he left, both Mingke and the Queen of Wei fell into Lu Jiuan's hands."
When Lu Zhinian heard this, his expression kept changing.
He had indeed ordered Lu Jiuan to bring Song Tangning back to Beiling at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing other things, he must keep Song Tangning alive.
That woman had accompanied him throughout his youth, allowing him to experience the truest love in the world, and she was also the person he thought would stay by his side forever.
To him, Song Tangning was an obsession, love and hate, and a nightmare that haunted him every night, whether it was from past lives, present lives, or fantasies. The "past" that appeared in his dreams every day made him feel so painful that he could hardly live whenever he thought of this name.
He had Lu Jiuan in his grasp, so naturally, Lu Jiuan would obey his orders to save his life. It wasn't impossible for him to let Ming Ke's men escape to protect Song Tangning, but Ming Ke had actually gotten the Dragon Jade Token...
Lu Zhinian frowned as he looked at the object in Xiahou Ling's hand: "Are you sure this is really the Dragon Jade Token?"
Xia Hou Ling said: "I'm not sure."
"This item originally belonged to the Wei royal family. It was the seal passed down by Emperor Taizu of Wei to command the Zhen'an Army. This kind of token is never revealed to outsiders. Even the deposed emperor of Wei had never seen it before. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for Xiao Yan to use this item to bribe the Wei army and seize power and usurp the throne."
"But I believe in Mingke."
Since he intends to cooperate with Lu Zhinian, and if he wants to use the Dragon Jade Order to plot against Wei Chao next, he needs the cooperation of the Beiling Army.
If he didn't persuade Lu Zhinian to join him, once Lu Zhinian made some tricks in his actions, not only would his plan fail, but he would also lose money. Xiahou Ling naturally would not do such a stupid thing.
"Ming Ke has been dormant for many years and is extremely cautious. If she wasn't absolutely sure, she would never have had this item returned. Besides, you know the situation in the Wei Dynasty. The emperor and empress of the Wei Dynasty were very affectionate. When Xiao Yan led his troops to the Southern Qi Dynasty, for the sake of political stability, his wife was able to control the court and protect her. It's not impossible that he left half of the Dragon Jade Order to her."
"And I don't know if you're aware that Wei Emperor Xiao Yan has disappeared in Southern Qi, and the Wei general stationed at Mu'nan Pass has rebelled. Even if the Wei Dynasty is suppressing the news and appearing calm, it's probably in chaos internally, with no time to care about the northwest."
"Di Shuangcheng is a shrewd man, and the Zhen'an Army is a faction of its own. Rather than wasting time using the news of the disappearance of the Wei Emperor and Empress to disrupt their morale, it would be better to use this Dragon Jade Order. If planned well, we might be able to break through the northwest gate of the Wei Dynasty in one fell swoop."
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