Chapter 177 Endless Troubles
"No, Your Majesty, Father has absolutely no such intention!"
Lu Linyi raised his head anxiously and defended the Marquis of Zhenbei: "Father is loyal to Your Majesty and Beiling, and has absolutely no intention of usurping the throne. Please understand, Father!"
Rebellion against the royal family is a serious crime that will punish nine generations of the clan!
The emperor is very suspicious and has always been afraid that the Marquis of Zhenbei might become too powerful to be trusted. If today's matter is not handled properly, the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion will be in trouble!
"No?" Emperor Beiling raised his lips and sneered, "I think he has had this intention for a long time!"
As soon as these words fell, Xiao Li's heart was filled with joy! This time, the Marquis of Zhenbei might not be able to escape this disaster!
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" The dragon robe shook, and everyone bowed their heads and kowtowed again.
Just when the whole place was silent, Jiang Xue's gentle voice floated over: "Your Majesty, Changle has something to say."
Emperor Beiling looked into her calm and deep eyes, and his mind couldn't help but recall her stunning appearance when she was dancing the Plum Blossom Dance. His anger couldn't help but subside a little, and the two faces slowly overlapped in his memory.
"Go ahead." He nodded, motioning Jiang Xue to continue.
When Xiao Zhan saw his father staring at Jiang Xue, alarm bells went off in his heart. This was clearly the look of a man showing affection to a woman!
Xiao Li also noticed the subtle changes in Emperor Beiling's attitude towards Jiang Xue. He began to feel suspicious and became even more wary of Jiang Xue.
"Changle, I dare you to let me see the General's Strategy in your hand."
Emperor Beiling handed the book to the young eunuch next to him, and the young eunuch quickly handed it to Jiang Xue.
Jiang Xue flipped through it and said, "Your Majesty, Changle has also read this "General's Strategy", but the content of the book he read is very different from the one in his hand. It seems that there is something fishy."
As soon as Jiang Xue finished speaking, "Impossible!" Marquis Anguo jumped up impatiently and refuted: "Princess Changle, please stop talking nonsense! How could you have read this "General's Strategy"? "
Xiao Zhan smiled lightly, opened his folding fan, and fanned it leisurely in front of his chest: "It's strange what An Guohou said. This book has been sold out for several rounds in Wanbaolou. It's very popular. The king also bought a copy. How could the princess not have read it? Could it be that An Guohou bought all the books?"
Only then did Marquis Anguo realize that he had been too impulsive and exposed himself. He was frightened by Xiao Li's stern look and quickly shut up.
"Fourth brother, many of you here haven't read it, so it's no wonder that Marquis Anguo thinks so." Xiao Li glanced at Xiao Zhan.
"Second brother, what you said makes sense."
Xiao Zhan put away his folding fan, nodded, and the topic was over.
"Changle, how big is the difference between the General's Strategy you read and this one?"
Emperor Beiling leaned back and changed into a comfortable position.
Jiang Xue looked back at Yue Bai and asked her to bring another copy of "General's Strategy": "Your Majesty, please take a look."
Emperor Beiling opened the book she handed over, looked at a few pages, and the anger on his face dissipated a little. Then he closed the book and carefully examined the cover. It was exactly the same as the previous one, and there was the seal of Wanbao Tower printed on the lower right corner of the spine.
Xiao Zhan looked at Jiang Xue, feeling secretly proud in his heart that the person he liked was indeed not a simple person.
As soon as he received the manuscript sent by Tianqing that day, he understood that Jiang Xue wanted him to print "The General's Strategy" according to the revised manuscript.
He immediately ordered the brothers in Linglong Pavilion to work overtime and produce tens of thousands of new books overnight, and even specially added the logo of Wanbao Tower.
Then, this batch of books was secretly sent to some idle people inside Wanbaolou, and were switched with the original stock without anyone noticing, and then circulated in the market.
Nowadays, except for a few trial copies in the hands of the Anguo Marquisate and the Censorate, which still retain their old appearance, all other copies of "General's Strategy" on the market have been replaced with the new version.
In this new version, the praise is no longer limited to the Marquis of Zhenbei, but instead the Xiao royal family is praised for their brilliant military and political guidance, and the generals' outstanding military exploits are directly linked to the emperor's wisdom.
When Emperor Beiling took a look at the new version, he felt so happy and his previous anger subsided a lot!
“Your Majesty, although the tablet in Changle’s hand also records the great achievements of the generals, its core is to praise the wise leadership of the emperor.
This version deliberately distorts the facts and sows discord between the emperor and his ministers. In my opinion, someone must have deliberately tampered with the content in an attempt to slander the Marquis of Zhenbei."
"Yes, Your Majesty! Someone must have framed my father. Please, Your Majesty, seek justice for my father!" Gu Lingyi knelt down and begged again.
"Miss Lu, rest assured. The emperor is wise and will not wrongly accuse the marquis, nor will he let go of those who spread rumors and cause trouble."
Jiang Xue comforted him softly, and glanced at Wang Changqing meaningfully as she spoke.
"Princess, you said that my version was tampered with. What evidence do you have?" Wang Changqing sneered. This book was controlled by him. If there was any possibility of tampering, it could only be Jiang Xue's copy!
"Princess, is it because you are a relative of the Marquis of Zhenbei that you changed the contents of the book to protect him?" Xiao Li followed up with sarcasm, his eyes full of malice. He had finally set up the plan, and he would not allow anyone to disrupt it!
Emperor Beiling's eyes flickered obscurely, and he also became interested: "Changle, what the prince said makes sense. The two books look the same, but the contents are very different. How can you prove that the one in your hand is the original?"
Wang Changqing raised his chin with pride, "Jiang Xue, let's see how you can justify yourself this time!" He had already arranged a backup plan for Lin Wenxing. As soon as Wanbaolou shipped the book, he disappeared from the world. No one will know the truth about this book from now on!
"Your Majesty, the person who compiled the book, Changle, has been found. If you want to verify it, just summon him." Jiang Xue responded calmly.
"Pass it on." Emperor Beiling threw two books on the table and instructed the eunuch standing beside him.
Not long after, Tieyi led people into the villa.
When the two men stepped into the hall, Wang Changqing's face suddenly turned as pale as paper!
Looking at the living Lin Wenxing behind Tieyi, Wang Changqing felt his mind was in chaos!
Hadn't he clearly instructed the people at Wanbao Tower to completely get rid of this guy who was causing endless trouble?
How come he was still fine and was even brought in by Prince Gong himself?
"Master Wang, you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"
Xiao Zhan's eyes were as sharp as torches, capturing every change on Wang Changqing's face. He asked with seemingly concern.
"Your Highness Prince Gong is really a joker. I am just old and I get tired after standing for a long time."
Wang Changqing responded with a forced smile.
"Oh? Really? But I noticed that Lord Wang seemed a little flustered after seeing this man, and I thought he was the one who made Lord Wang feel uncomfortable."
Xiao Zhan's words were like a heavy hammer, which not only shocked Wang Changqing's heart, but also made Emperor Beiling and Xiao Li who were present suspicious!
Emperor Beiling glanced at Wang Changqing in confusion, then shifted his gaze to Lin Wenxing who had just performed the ceremony.
"Are you the one who wrote "The General's Strategy"? " Emperor Beiling asked directly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com