Chapter 1158 Speculation
Bai Shan looked at the envelope, which had his and Manbao's names written on it. He handed the letter, which was obviously written by Bai Erlang, to Manbao, and sat cross-legged on the kang to open the other letter.
This is the letter Yin Huo wrote to them, which is five pages long. However, it is still far less than Bai Erlang's, because Bai Erlang's is a thick stack, which is still very thick when unfolded. Manbao counted them and found that there are twelve pages.
She unfolded the letter and looked at it for a long time without finishing it. Seeing Bai Shan finished reading another letter and fell into deep thought, she put Bai Erlang's letter aside and asked, "Who wrote this?"
Bai Shan handed her the letter and said, "It was written by Yin Huo. He said that in July, because his three sisters blocked us on the street and sent people to Jishitang to cause trouble, an imperial censor impeached his father. Within two days, his father was sent out on patrol."
Bai Shan said, "He suspected his father was going to mobilize troops."
Manbao's eyes widened.
For fear that there might be ears on the other side of the wall, Bai Shan lowered his voice so low that even Xiang Chao, who was standing next to him, could hardly hear what they were saying.
But seeing that they were whispering after opening the letter, I knew that they were on guard against other people in the prison, so although I was anxious to know, I didn't say anything.
Bai Shan lowered his voice and said, "He said that his sisters and brothers-in-law had gotten into trouble before. Although the censors did impeach them, they mostly blamed my brothers-in-law. Even if my father was scolded, at most he could file a memorial to defend himself. After a month or two, the matter would most likely be dropped. It's not a big deal."
"But this is the first time the emperor has directly sent his father out on an inspection tour like he did in July," Bai Shan whispered. "Last night, he had Changshou secretly visit the servant who had been delivering safety letters to the family recently. He found out that his father had been sending letters home every ten days without interruption. Upon inquiry, he found out that they were all sent from Youzhou."
Manbao blinked and asked in a low voice, "Are they going to transfer troops from Youzhou?"
Bai Shan shook his head. He thought carefully and said, "Yin Huo's statement is probably misleading. I agree. If the emperor really did send Yin Li to mobilize troops early, they should have been mobilized from Minzhou or Songzhou, which are more convenient than Youzhou."
Bai Shan pondered for a moment and said, "However, Songzhou is too close to Maozhou. Since the King of Yizhou has already taken control of Suizhou, he should also have Songzhou. If I were the emperor, I would transfer troops from Minzhou. That would be safer."
Manbao: "They left in July, so they should have arrived in August. Even if they march slowly, they should have reached Yizhou by early September."
Bai Shan whispered, "The Minzhou troops still have to be on guard against Tubo. They must make all necessary arrangements before leaving. Moreover, the march requires food and fodder. It would be difficult for the Emperor to avoid the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. Moreover, September is the Empress Dowager's birthday. I think the Emperor still wants to give her a good birthday."
He said, "Wasn't he in no hurry at all when we first arrived in Beijing? It was only when the Third Prince and the Crown Prince started fighting that he tried to divert the blame."
Bai Shan said, "I guess he originally wanted to start in October or November."
Man Bao thought about it and understood. "The King of Yizhou should have left the capital to return to Yizhou at that time, but he didn't. He didn't get any information along the way, so he directly cut off the King of Yizhou's retreat. As soon as he entered Yizhou City, he ran into the hands of Yin Li. Moreover, Yin Li could capture the King of Yizhou in Yizhou City, or even execute him. The Queen Mother was out of reach, so the resistance was much smaller."
Bai Shan nodded and whispered, "We will be much safer. Besides, it will snow in Tibet in October and November. The relationship between the two sides has been good in the past two years. It's cold and there shouldn't be any war. It won't be a big problem to tighten the border outside and relax the border inside for a month or two."
Manbao gritted his teeth and said, "It was all caused by the Crown Prince and the Third Prince."
Bai Shan said, "While the Prince of Yizhou may have been the instigator, it's also true that the Third Prince is extremely ambitious. From what I've heard from his classmates at the Imperial Academy, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince have been fighting quite a bit over the past two years. They share the same mother, yet their relationship has always been strained."
Manbao was curious: "What about two years ago?"
"The relationship used to be good. Although the Crown Prince was strict, he treated his brothers and sisters well. However, the Crown Prince had been married for many years but had no children, not even a daughter. Two years ago, the Third Prince gave birth to his eldest son. Originally, he should have been sent to a fiefdom after the marriage, but the Emperor loved him and never let him go. At first, the Crown Prince didn't think it was a big deal, but..."
Bai Shan raised his eyes to look at Man Bao and whispered, "People's hearts are fickle, you know?"
After all, she had read many history books and also read many unofficial history books that Koko found for her, so of course she knew it and she quickly found the crux of the problem.
"The Crown Prince has low self-esteem and lost his composure first. The Third Prince is too ambitious and betrayed his own elder brother, parents, and us as well. And then the Emperor loves this and that. As the Emperor, how can he expect to treat everyone equally?"
Bai Shan nodded. "That's right. He's the emperor. How can he treat everyone equally? Does he want to divide the world into equal parts for his legitimate son?"
Manbao gritted his teeth for a while, but this was the business of the superiors. Although they were affected, there was nothing they could do even if they knew about it.
Manbao looked at Baishan, "So what should we do?"
"Now we are all in prison. It depends on how fast Yin Li can move. If he can move quickly, not only us, but also the two of them should be able to get out of prison and spend the winter."
The two of them took a look at the letter written by Yin Li and took it to the stove to burn it. There were too many things written on it, and the speculations were too confidential, so it could not be leaked.
Xiang Chao saw it and asked quickly, "Whose letter is this and what does it say?"
Manbao fished out Bai Erlang's letter again and read it. Bai Shan replied, "It's from our friend. It tells us about the situation at court. He wanted to help, but we were afraid it would get out and cause trouble for his father and brother, so we burned it."
Manbao nodded.
Bai Erlang wrote a lot of things in the letter. He originally wanted to come in person, but his family stopped him.
His great-aunt said that it was useless for him to go. Xiang Chang wanted to check on the situation of the Xiang brothers to comfort the Xiang family. After all, the three families were now allied, and each family could only send one person.
So someone from the Zhou family had to go too, to see with his own eyes that Manbao was safe.
On the Bai family's side, my great-aunt felt that Daji was more reliable than Bai Erlang, and could also focus on the environment in the prison, so she suppressed Bai Erlang both times.
They were even unwilling to deliver the letter to him. Bai Erlang was not stupid. He directly packed up the books for Bai Shan and the others and put the letter in between.
Bai Erlang said that he had put away all the calligraphy in Bai Shan's study, and he would also take care of Manbao's flowers and plants. He had also asked for leave from Jishidiang, and he could no longer go to school. Even his eldest brother could not go because a stranger had been wandering outside their house since this morning.
However, Bai Erlang did not do nothing. He planned to work with Yin Huo to connect their good classmates in school. Once the evidence was confirmed, they would go to Kong Jijiu and ask him to get the person out of prison.
See you at four o'clock in the afternoon
I recommend a new book, Gu Wanyin's "The Coroner of the Tang Dynasty". This book has been participated in from the main line to the outline, and then to the beginning. It is not a palace fight, but the heroine's journey of solving the autopsy case in the Tang Dynasty.
(End of this chapter)
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