Yue Jiang saw that the signature was indeed that of Prime Minister Zhao Zuo. If Jing Lu wanted to coordinate from the inside out, he was looking for Prime Minister Zhao Zuo.
However, in the past two years, Prime Minister Zhao has been quite troubled by Jing Shuo.
Yue Jiang hesitated slightly: "You should present the secret letter directly to Father Emperor. Why are you showing it to me?"
A murderous intent slowly rose on Jing Shuo's face. He still remembered his hatred: "If I give it to Father, Father will suppress Jing Lu. If he runs away and finds a place to establish himself, how long will it take for my great revenge to be satisfied?"
Yue Jiang reacted instantly: "You want Jing Lu to come in and trap you like a turtle in a jar?"
Jing Shuo scoffed, "Sister-in-law, it's rare for Jing Lu to make such a big blunder. I really wonder if his brain was damaged during the war, that he dared to come back with only 10,000 men."
Yue Jiang: "..."
She didn't realize that Jinglu had lost his mind, and revealed the little information she knew: "His Highness's provisions are in trouble, and I'm sending people to deliver provisions to His Highness."
"If Jinglu's return is related to the shortage of food supplies for His Highness, I will never let him go."
"Don't underestimate him. At least Jing Lu has been able to keep his schemes hidden all these years. Perhaps he has a backup plan. Don't let a letter lead you astray."
"What if he anticipates that you will intercept the letter out of enmity, and deliberately do so, underestimating your enemy and releasing the person, only to find out later that he has more than 10,000 men? Wouldn't that turn a trap into an opportunity to let the thief in?"
Jing Lu led a rebellion with only ten thousand men, which seemed unbelievable to everyone.
First, with a population of 10,000, no one knows that Jing Yan is temporarily unable to return due to food shortages, and no information has been sent back to Pingkang City.
Secondly, the rumor that Jing Lu was rebelling was first spread by Jing Shuo, but he still rushed to Pingkang City at will, and did not see Jing Lu committing any evil deeds or occupying the city along the way.
Instead of conquering city by city, the rebels head straight for the capital, which undoubtedly gives them a chance to prove their innocence.
Yue Jiang secretly felt that Jing Lu might still be in a hurry.
The time it takes for Jingyan to run out of food and be dragged down by Anguo is crucial, because once Jingyan runs out of food, Anguo will seize the opportunity to plunder, and the smoke of war will always spread the world the fastest.
Yue Jiang affirmed, "This letter is very likely fake, intended to lure you into letting him into the city, but it also proves that Jing Lu will be back in the next day or two."
Jing Lu could lead his soldiers to roam freely through various cities, but when he arrived in Pingkang City, he should still send his soldiers back to their camp and enter the city alone to meet the emperor.
A secret letter, supposedly requiring no disarmament, has been sent into the city, but it has fallen into Jing Shuo's hands. Jing Shuo is just hoping that Jing Lu will rebel and be executed.
The best approach is to make Jing Shuo arrogantly believe that Jing Lu's 10,000 soldiers cannot cause any losses.
They could let him in to solidify his rebellious ambitions, but no one knows if the ten thousand is really only ten thousand.
Yue Jiang rationally said, "If he wants to rebel, his first targets will be the Crown Prince and Father. If His Highness doesn't come back, Zhang'er will smoothly become the next heir."
“But Zhang’er is gone, and the Emperor was forced to write the abdication edict. You were his accomplice who let him in. After he succeeds, he can kill you to shirk responsibility for the rebellion.”
“Jingshuo, I don’t care what personal grudges you have with Jinglu. His Highness’s safety is unknown, and Zhang’er must not be harmed. If you harm Zhang’er, I will not let you off the hook.”
The sound of Empress Dowager Cheng chanting sutras suddenly stopped, and she spoke up: "Shuo'er, you are always so impulsive when it comes to Jing Lu. The Crown Princess is right, don't be fooled by Jing Lu again."
Jing Shuo was unwilling, but cold sweat was pouring down his face. Fortunately, his grandmother found his sister-in-law, otherwise he would have given in to Jing Lu's wishes.
He then gave up in despair: "What can I do? If I don't let him go, will he not enter the city?"
After calming down, Yue Jiang offered a suggestion: "Jing Lu has been away for more than two years. The fact that he could use a letter to plot against your hatred of him when he first returned can only mean that Jing Lu is not sure if he still has any confidants in the court."
"Besides your hatred, Jing Lu still has Empress Dowager Zheng's affection for him, and Empress Dowager Zheng has been very worried about Jing Lu lately."
“I happen to have a way to get Empress Dowager Zheng to lure Jing Lu out. Even if Jing Lu doesn’t trust others, he will trust Empress Dowager Zheng to some extent.”
...
Yue Jiang returned to the East Palace and searched for the secret letters sent by the Yue Kingdom. Among the letters were several receipts for Jing Yan's people buying grain in the Yue Kingdom.
She took the certificate to the Longevity Palace. Empress Dowager Zheng was worried about Jinglu's safety when she suddenly heard that Yuejiang had arrived, which surprised her greatly.
After Yue Jiang entered, she curtsied to Empress Dowager Zheng, who waved her hand and told her to sit down as she pleased. Then, she deliberately inquired, "Why has the Crown Princess come? Have you heard any news about the Crown Prince lately?"
Yue Jiang smiled faintly and nodded: "It's not a good thing, though. I don't know how Jing Lu will explain it when he comes back."
Empress Dowager Zheng's face darkened, and she straightened her posture slightly. Her eyes widened anxiously: "What do you mean the Crown Prince is bad? Jing Lu needs to explain?"
Without saying much, Yue Jiang took out the grain purchase vouchers she had brought and stood up to place them one by one in front of Empress Dowager Zheng.
"This is the receipt for the grain Your Highness purchased in the Moon Kingdom. It bears Your Highness's seal. The grain required is enormous. The Moon Kingdom merchants said that Your Highness needs far more than what is on the list."
“Winter food is scarce, so Your Highness’s army prepares food for the winter in advance, but these vouchers are from more than two months ago.”
“If you count the days, didn’t Brother Jinglu just return from Jing Kingdom after traveling there for more than two months? Jing Kingdom is short of food, and An Kingdom is just waiting for them to come to them without leaving.”
"Is Brother Jinglu afraid of starving to death, or is he afraid that Anguo will attack Jingguo's soldiers, or is he going to take advantage of Your Highness's inability to move an inch to return and rebel?"
“I am very worried about Your Highness. I think that Your Highness must be worried about your younger brother, seeing that the predicament is difficult to resolve.”
“If we wanted to protect my younger brother and let him return first, we should have written a written order. Why did we let my younger brother Jinglu return with the late emperor’s decree of immunity from death?”
"Your granddaughter-in-law always thinks that Jinglu's younger brother has come back to rebel. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
As Empress Dowager Zheng listened to the words and looked at the grain lists, she belatedly realized that nothing good ever came from getting involved with Anguo.
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