The Dali Temple Minister looked at the bronze talisman over and over again and handed it to Lou Yunchun.
Lou Yunchun recognized it at a glance. It was engraved with the Liu family crest.
"What do you think of this matter, my dear ministers?"
The Minister of War bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Beiting Protectorate has not only been closely associated with the Kyoto nobility over the past two years, but has also been secretly communicating with Ashina Doji. Years ago, General Xin even intercepted several carts of weapons that Guo Yuanzhen was sending to the Turks. Their rebellious intentions are clear."
The Grand Tutor said in a deep voice, "Guo Yuanzhen has been lurking in the Northern Court for many years. Now he's frequently interacting with various parties. This must be related to the recent decline in the influence of the aristocratic families in the court."
Ever since the rebel king was executed and the Jiang family was eradicated, the imperial court has been trying to divide the gentry to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Eventually, the previous emperor reformed the imperial examination system, abolished the recommendation system, and vigorously promoted children from poor families in order to suppress the power of the gentry.
This move was very effective. Since the reform of the imperial examination system, the number of people from the aristocratic families in the court has been reduced by half. In addition, many old ministers have been fired by the previous emperor, and now the court is even more neglected. There are very few talents available. It is no wonder that they are anxious.
"He's also implicated in the imperial examination cheating case," the Supreme Court official said. "But he's far away in Beiting, supporting his own army. It's not easy to investigate him."
According to the laws of the Dasheng Dynasty, princes from all over the country had to return to the capital to pay homage and report on their work every three years. However, Guo Yuanzhen had not left Beiting for four years. Whenever an imperial edict was issued, he would find excuses to refuse. Later, he simply ignored the imperial edict.
In the past two years, there have been reports of him stationing troops. Fortunately, the two towns of Hexi and Anxi have restrained him, preventing him from acting rashly.
The Shangshu Ling sighed, "Even if he is found to have cheated in the imperial examination, it would be difficult to harm him in the slightest."
The old master's eyes were deep, "But keeping him here will always be a hazard, not to mention that Prince Ying is involved now."
One king, one general, one inside, one outside, plus the nobles they've won over, it's clear what they're up to. We can't just sit back and watch him gain power. Whether he succeeds or not, it will damage the foundation of Dasheng.
The saint touched the secret letter on the table, his thoughts in a tizzy, this was the younger brother he had been dating since childhood.
"Although the imperial examination cheating case cannot harm Guo Yuanzhen, it can control the gentry in Beijing. Moreover, we have the list provided by Jiang Gu. As long as we cut off his contacts, conceal his eyes and ears, spread false information, lure him into a trap, and we may be able to kill him." Lou Yunchun's few words were understated, but they were full of murderous intent.
There are pros and cons for both the imperial court and Guo Yuanzhen. As long as we use our advantages to overcome his disadvantages, we can cut off his path of rebellion. Moreover, the current situation is favorable to the imperial court, and they have a great chance of winning.
Lou Yunchun's opinion resonated deeply with the Saint, who immediately slammed the table and said, "Lou Shaoqing, please stay and discuss this in detail later."
Lou Yunchun bowed in response.
He stared at the sun's shadow falling on the hall, Xu Jiang's smiling face flashed through his mind, and he thought to himself: I wonder if she has returned.
It was past noon when Xu Jiang and the guards returned to Yonghefang.
Both of them were thirsty from the sun. Xu Jiang asked the guard to return the donkey to Manager Wang's house, while she went back to the bookstore to make tea.
The stubborn donkey was wilting from the heat, and its dark brown fur was hot to the touch.
Xu Jiang came to the shade of the tree in front of the bookstore and felt a cool breeze, which made her feel refreshed.
She landed, took off the saddlebag from the donkey and carried it into the bookstore. As soon as she entered, she saw several people standing inside.
Because she was dizzy from being exposed to the sun for a long time, she couldn't see the head and face clearly for a moment, and thought it was Liang Mo who was entertaining guests, so she wanted to turn around and lead the donkey in through the corner gate.
A voice called her, "Sixth sister."
The sound of "Sixth Sister" was like a basin of blood that doused Xu Jiang from head to toe. She slowly raised her head, her eyes finally adjusting to the darkness, allowing her to clearly see the people inside.
"Xudang."
Xu Jiang looked at Xu Twelve who was cowering behind Xu Dang, and understood how this man came.
"Should I call you Ma Twelve now, or should I still call you Xu Twelve?"
Xu Twelve hid from the sharp gazes of the guards beside him and forced an unpleasant smile, "My master redeemed me back to the Xu family." Then he whispered with a hint of satisfaction, "If you had redeemed me back then, I wouldn't be in this situation today."
Xu Jiang looked at him coldly.
Ever since the two arrived, Liang Mo and guard Zhu kept a close eye on them. If they hadn't claimed to be members of the Xu Jiang clan, he wouldn't have let them in.
Now that Xu Jiang had returned, he hurried forward and asked, "Boss, are they really your clansmen?"
"Family members?" Xu Jiang felt the extinguished embers begin to spark again. "No, they are my enemies."
"You liar!" He started asking all sorts of questions as soon as he entered the door. His eyes looked like they were almost filled with abacus. He looked cunning and was definitely not a good person!
Liang Mo rolled up his sleeves and called to Guard Zhu, "Brother Zhu, throw them out!"
"Okay!" Guard Zhu immediately grabbed Xu Twelve and Xu Dang like two featherless chickens.
Xu Dang grabbed Guard Zhu's hand and anxiously shouted to Xu Jiang, "Sixth sister, Fifth Brother came all the way to find you, just to see if you were doing well. Why are you so heartless?"
Xu Jiang stepped aside expressionlessly, "I see, you can get out of here now."
Liang Mo stepped forward and together with guard Zhu, they pulled the two men out of the door and threw them to the ground.
The throw landed right in front of the stubborn donkey. The stubborn donkey was already holding his urine, and was frightened by this, so he immediately released urine, soaking the two men's heads.
Xu Dang jumped up and wiped his face with his sleeves. Xu Twelve was light and was thrown to the ground. He couldn't get up for a while and took advantage of the rest.
Guard Xue, returning from returning the donkey, saw this bizarre scene and asked, "What kind of folk remedy is this? Could it be that our donkey urine can cure tuberculosis?"
The stubborn donkey was so scared that he peed his pants. He was so angry that he kicked Xu Twelve hard twice, making him roll on the ground.
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