Xue Shu's words reminded Yin Chengyu of his previous life.

In his previous life, he was reinstated as the crown prince, but his foundation was far from being as stable as it is now. During the five years he was imprisoned, Yin Chengzhang and Yin Chengjing each won over many court officials. Interest binding is always the most stable relationship. Even though he is the crown prince and has a legitimate right to succeed the throne, for their own interests, those court officials would not immediately turn against him.

He spent a lot of time and effort to eliminate the followers of Yin Chengzhang and Yin Chengjing.

But when the two men died one after another, he held great power, but he still had Emperor Longfeng to pressure him.

Emperor Longfeng made no contribution to his family or country in his lifetime. Instead, he left a lot of harm to his descendants because of his short-sightedness and selfishness.

It is said that the evil will last for a thousand years, and Emperor Longfeng has taken this saying to its extreme. Even though he took pills every day, his mind was confused, and his body was hollowed out, he just held on to his breath and did not die.

Yin Chengyu was so impatient waiting that he wished he could personally send him off.

But Xue Shu acted faster than him and poisoned Emperor Longfeng himself, removing the mountain that was pressing on his head, and then he successfully ascended the throne and became emperor.

On the night when Emperor Longfeng died, Xue Shu brought Master Ziyuan to look for him. His expression was as calm as ever, and there was no sign that he had just murdered the emperor.

"Yesterday, I suddenly felt like refining the elixir for the late emperor, so I asked Master Ziyuan to teach me. But I was careless when refining it and failed to control the dosage, so the late emperor passed away after taking the elixir." He said casually, "I was afraid that Your Highness would be sad, so I specially brought Master Ziyuan here to help Your Highness vent his anger."

At that time, Yin Chengyu was very prejudiced against him. He thought that this man was extremely arrogant and would kill the king and commit treason without blinking an eye.

But now thinking back carefully, I feel like he was deliberately handing the evidence to me.

Although he did not use this leverage later.

Yin Chengyu raised his eyes and looked at Xue Shu: "Why did you tell me?" He stretched out a finger and gently stroked Xue Shu's neck, his voice was a little cold: "Regicide and treason is a capital crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of the clan."

The slightly cold fingertips passed over his neck vaguely, and Xue Shu's Adam's apple rolled, and his voice became deeper: "Your Highness said that he doesn't like people around him to have secrets."

"Cunning." Yin Chengyu sneered: "If you really have no secrets, why are you reporting to me now?"

Although he said this, his tone did not show anger, but a hint of smile.

Seeing that he was not angry, Xue Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

It was his own decision to let Master Ziyuan give the Rejuvenating Pill to Emperor Longfeng. He couldn't stand others bullying His Highness.

Although His Highness was not close to Emperor Longfeng, the fact that he killed someone is another matter.

So when Xue Shu confessed, he felt a little nervous, which was rare.

Seeing that Yin Chengyu was not angry, his anxiety turned into joy. He secretly felt that His Highness was on the same side as him.

The relationship between him and His Highness is closer than that between a father and son.

Xue Shu's courage grew again, and the desire suppressed in his heart was ready to act. He pressed the issue further and asked, "So can I be considered to have done something meritorious this time?"

He grew taller quickly, and before he knew it, he was already half a head taller than Yin Chengyu. When he stared at Yin Chengyu, his head lowered slightly, the emotions in his eyes were revealed without reservation, like a wolfhound wagging its tail vigorously to seek reward.

Yin Chengyu narrowed his eyes and looked at him for a while, raised his hand and touched his chin, and said with a smile: "Then I'll give you a credit."

Xue Shu's Adam's apple moved and he pursed his lips unwillingly.

He wanted something else.

Unfortunately, Yin Chengyu did not give him a chance to ask for it, and asked something else: "What news did Master Ziyuan send back?"

Speaking of business, Xue Shu had to calm down and said, "There are two things. One is that your Majesty heard a few days ago that the danger of the epidemic in Zhili has been resolved, so he asked Master Ziyuan to tell him when it would be appropriate to return to the capital."

It was inconvenient to communicate information between the two places, and Master Ziyuan had no time to inform him. He only calculated a later date in September.

If Emperor Longfeng returns to the capital, he will be subject to more restrictions in his actions.

But now that the epidemic is no longer a threat, there is no other good reason to prevent Emperor Longfeng from returning to Beijing.

Yin Chengyu frowned: "How long will it take for the rejuvenation pill to take effect?"

"It's hard to say." Xue Shu said, "Master Ziyuan said it depends on one's constitution. For most people, it will take at least a year and a half for the medicine to work. If it's faster, it will arouse suspicion."

Seeing Yin Chengyu frowning after hearing this, he continued, "But the second piece of news from Master Ziyuan is that Lady Xiao has been very much in the favor of His Majesty recently and has been promoted to a concubine. Concubine Wen was given a share of the favor and was unwilling to accept it, so she also found some unconventional ways."

Concubine Xiao was arranged by Concubine De.

When accompanying Emperor Longfeng to Nanjing, Concubine Wen Gui became resentful of Concubine De and her son because of Yin Chengjing's trap for Yin Chengzhang. She could not do anything to Yin Chengjing for the time being, but she had plenty of ways to deal with Concubine De, who was lower in rank than herself and less favored.

Defei endured it for a while, but after Concubine Xiao won the favor of Emperor Longfeng and was promoted to the position of concubine, she could no longer swallow her anger, and with the help of Concubine Xiao's pillow talk, she put a lot of pressure on Concubine Wen and her son.

The two sides fought and won and lost. Concubine Wen was unwilling to be divided into two parts, so she asked people to find some unconventional methods from the south to entangle Emperor Longfeng.

"This is how the Second Prince got his job this time." Xue Shu said disdainfully.

The Marquis Anyuan, who accompanied Yin Chengzhang to Shandong to quell the rebellion this time, was Yin Chengzhang's future father-in-law.

Although the title of Marquis Anyuan was inherited from his ancestors, he was also quite capable and had made many contributions in suppressing rebellions and bandits in the early years. Concubine Wen Gui tried every means to get Marquis Anyuan to accompany her, just to let the future father-in-law protect his son-in-law and let Yin Chengzhang gain some merits.

After listening to this, Yin Chengyu pondered for a while and said, "Let them fight among themselves first. It's not us who will suffer the consequences."

Emperor Longfeng has now received three doses of medicine, and he still thinks he is radiant and vigorous, but he doesn't know that he is just a tool to fight for favor and power in the harem.

"As for the rest, there is no rush, so we should take our time."

Anyway, no matter what the situation is, it will not be worse than the previous life.

Two days later, Yin Chengzhang and Marquis Anyuan led 5,000 imperial troops to Shandong.

Half a month later, the imperial troops who came to suppress the rebellion arrived in Dayidu.

Yin Chengzhang mobilized soldiers from Qingzhou Guards and launched a surprise attack at night together with 5,000 imperial guards, catching the rebels off guard and capturing a small rebel leader alive.

When the good news came back, there was praise from all walks of life.

Even Emperor Longfeng, who was far away in Nanjing, praised the news highly.

The joy lasted only ten days before news came back from Shandong, and this time it was bad news.

After the first battle was a success, the captured leader gave away a path to Xiashizhai. The path was narrow and steep, but it led directly to the interior of Xiashizhai.

Now that the rebels have not been wiped out for a long time, they are occupying the geographical advantage of Xishizhai.

Yin Chengzhang and An Yuanhou were afraid that it was a scam at first, so they sent someone to take the little leader to investigate. After confirming that what he said was true, they took their troops to take a detour through the small road at night, preparing for another night attack.

Little did they know that the rebels had already planned this and had prepared rolling stones and hot oil. When the imperial soldiers passed by, rolling stones and hot oil fell from both sides, killing and wounding countless soldiers.

In this battle, the imperial guards and the garrison soldiers lost more than 5,000 men. The second prince Yin Chengzhang slipped and fell into the mountains during the retreat and his whereabouts are unknown.

The rebels were arrogant and looted government offices and granaries in Qingzhou again. Their numbers had quickly expanded to 30,000.

People from all over Shandong heard the news and responded to the Red Army's call. In just two months, there were already more than a dozen uprising teams.

The messengers sent back by Marquis Anyuan were to report news and to ask for help.

The army suffered heavy losses in suppressing the rebellion, and the whereabouts of the second prince were unknown, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead. The court was greatly humiliated.

Under the current situation, it is impossible to recruit them. Immediately, some court officials strongly proposed to send more troops to suppress the rebellion. We must not let the rebellion become a powerful force and disrupt the country.

But who to send next still needs to be discussed.

The second prince was originally the commander-in-chief, leading troops to suppress the rebellion. However, the rebellion was not extinguished, but he himself got into trouble first. This was a loss of face for the Great Yan royal family.

To get it back, only someone from the royal family can step in.

Among the candidates for suppressing the rebellion, some court officials suggested that the crown prince should go to Shandong in person to suppress the rebellion.

But there are also many people who oppose it. Now that Emperor Longfeng is not in the capital, the crown prince is in charge of the country. The Shandong rebels are rampant, and the second prince has already been in trouble. If something happens to the crown prince again, the country will be unstable.

The court officials were arguing endlessly, but Yin Chengyu, who was at the center of the argument, remained quiet this time and said nothing.

When Yu Huaian arrived at Ciqing Palace, he saw Yin Chengyu sitting alone in the pavilion, playing a game of chess.

Zheng Duobao, who was leading the way, quietly waved away the serving palace maids, personally served tea to Yu Huaian, then retreated and stood guard three steps away.

Yu Huaian sat down opposite Yin Chengyu. Seeing that he was motionless, he stroked his beard and said, "It seems that the prince has already figured it out."

He had originally noticed something strange in the undercurrent and wanted to give a warning. But seeing Yin Chengyu's confident look, he felt that his action was unnecessary.

Yin Chengyu finished placing the last piece of the game and raised his eyes slowly: "Grandfather, besides reminding me, you also want to persuade me not to go, right?"

The defeat of the rebel army was expected. Although Yin Chengzhang was a decent fighter, he had no brains.

Marquis Anyuan was under him and obeyed his orders. Even if he had some abilities, it would be difficult for him to achieve anything.

The only strange thing was that something happened to Yin Chengzhang.

Given the prudent Concubine Wen, before letting Yin Chengzhang out, she specially arranged for Marquis Anyuan to escort him. Marquis Anyuan would never let Yin Chengzhang rush in front of something as dangerous as taking a shortcut and attacking at night. Even if Marquis Anyuan got into trouble, Yin Chengzhang would not get into trouble.

Moreover, the timing of sending the letter was somewhat strange. From Shandong to Wangjing, the messenger changed fast horses along the way, and the trip only took two or three days.

The imperial army was badly defeated, and Yin Chengzhang's whereabouts were unknown. However, the news came back four or five days later.

It's really abnormal.

In addition, a court official suddenly suggested that the prince go to Shandong in person to quell the rebellion, which made Yin Chengyu alert.

Shandong was in chaos at the moment, and it was reasonable for him to be defeated and killed by the rebels if he went there in person to quell the rebellion.

"If it is really a trap, Shandong must have already laid a net of heaven and earth, just waiting for Your Highness to go in." Yu Huaian said: "The son of a rich man should not sit in the hall."

Yin Chengyu, however, had a different view. He poured another cup of tea for Yu Huaian and said coldly, "But there is another saying: You can't get a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den."

Based on his understanding of Yin Chengzhang, Yin Chengzhang certainly didn't have such a brain. The one who came up with this idea was either Concubine Wen Gui or Marquis An Yuan.

They wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to kill him, and he was trying to take advantage of the situation and make the fake become real.

Not only can we get rid of an opponent, but we can also quell the unrest in Shandong.

Seeing that Yu Huaian wanted to persuade him again, Yin Chengyu said in a deep voice: "I understand my grandfather's worries. But I am not here to quell the rebellion, but only for the people of Shandong."

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Gou Gou: Your Highness and I are a family (secretly happy)

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