"Master, we've found information that says Miss Xu gave birth to a son. Calculating by the month, your father, the Emperor, was still on the throne at that time. What do you think her intention was in leaving the capital?"
Lu Hexin closed his eyes and thought about Xu Yiyan. He didn't know her very well, except that he had been saved once by her shadow guard after receiving her favor. At that time, he had believed that the shadow guard must have been given to him by his seventh brother, but various events later, including Bai Yu's departure from Beijing, made him realize that this was not the case.
There are so many mysteries surrounding this Second Miss Xu. Could it be that the Bai family trained a group of shadow guards for someone they have no blood relationship with? And how could she have captivated the Seventh Brother so deeply? Could she be some kind of demon?
"Qiu Zhi, when you go back, have someone check on the people around Xu Yiyan. She has quite a few experts around her."
"What happens after we find out?"
"Kill without mercy." Lu Hexin stretched out two fingers and pinched his eyebrows. In the past, he and his seventh brother had all kinds of treaties and alliances, and even had to lose Fan Shi. Now he is the emperor. Even if he doesn't touch Lu Anyuan, does that mean he can't touch the people around Xu Yiyan?
Moreover, he still remembered that when Lu Chiyan kidnapped him, the reinforcements that rushed in from the window were more than just the one who died. If he kept such a group of people, he would probably not be able to sleep or eat well.
"Yes, but I think if those people are under the protection of Old Seven, it would be difficult to kill them..."
"It's okay, I'm just guarding." Lu Hexin thought about when Fan Shi died. No matter how heartbroken he was, he still resisted the pressure and showed goodwill to him. Now it's the other way around, what's wrong with that?
Fortunately, Lu Anyuan didn't know about this, otherwise he would have retaliated without hesitation. Lu Hexin thought he knew his brother's character very well and thought he could endure it just like himself, but he didn't know that times have changed and the barefoot are always not afraid of wearing shoes.
Xu Yixing had already dismissed the shadow guards, so even though Qiu Zhi searched everywhere around her, he couldn't find the masters that the emperor mentioned, and had to return empty-handed.
"Yes. The master has also visited this garden today. Do you have any other instructions?" Qiu Zhi's meaning was obvious. The dead should be dead, let alone someone who would endanger the throne.
Lu Hexin shook his head to stop Qiu Zhi's thoughts: "Since he is so useless and indulges in the love between his children, such a person is not a threat and there is no need to pay attention to him." Lu Hexin said this lightly, his tone full of disdain, but the deeper reason was only known to him.
When his seventh brother brought the Emperor's Sword and a letter from the grassland asking him to take the throne, although he was shocked, he set off for the capital without hesitation. After entering the palace, the empress dowager was critically ill, the queen committed suicide, and then the body of the late emperor was brought to the capital. He then smoothly ascended to the position he had once dreamed of.
To put it bluntly, the throne was obtained unfairly, but it was legitimate, and he really didn't want to care about it. Was it that he owed his seventh brother a favor, or was it that his seventh brother was plotting against him?
"Alas!" Qiu Zhi sighed, knowing that the emperor's words were tacit approval of the late emperor's faked death and allowing him to go unpunished. "If that's the case, then we must keep a close eye on Qinan and Qibei and make sure they don't cause any trouble."
"Of course." Lu Hexin had already sent his confidants to Qinanqibei, and decided to give the fiefdom to the eldest prince as soon as he turned fifteen, and let his son manage it. By then, it would be too late for the seventh brother to accomplish anything.
Lu Hexin walked around the room, paying special attention to the child's clothes and crib. When he was about to leave, he found a familiar object on the dressing table.
He walked forward and took a look in the moonlight. It was a jade token exactly the same as his own, with the word "Yuan" engraved on it. It seemed that he had left it there on purpose.
"Alas, since he's dead, there's no point in keeping this thing with me. I'd better take it back and enshrine it in the imperial mausoleum." He picked up the jade token and stuffed it into his arms. Knowing his seventh brother's intention, he inexplicably felt a mixture of joy and guilt. After all, he had given in to him in this life.
Lu Hexin came and went in a hurry. When the sun rose again, a years-long campaign to rectify the officialdom in the south of the Yangtze River had quietly begun, but the people involved were still unaware of it.
Lu Anyuan was walking on the official road to Suzhou with his wife and son when he received a carrier pigeon from Xia Xiao. Sure enough, Lu Hexin took his jade pendant, which seemed to mean he accepted his peace talks.
"What? The emperor is gone?" Xu Yixing was holding Xiaobao, sweating profusely. The weather was too terrible!
"The emperor just arrived, why are you leaving now?" Lu Anyuan looked at her flushed face, picked up his handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat off her head. They had chosen to travel in the morning and evening when it was not hot, but he did not expect that things would still be so unlucky.
"Oh! It's all his fault, otherwise I would be lying at home right now, enjoying the breeze and using ice cream. It's so annoying!"
"Okay, okay, let's not leave once we get to Suzhou. Let's find a house to stay in and wait until autumn comes and the weather gets cooler before we hit the road again. How about that?"
"Alas!" Xu Yixing nodded. This was the only way. "Has the Emperor decided to let you go?"
Lu Anyuan felt that the word “let go” was not used correctly, but he did not correct it: “I guess so. You can rest assured from now on.”
"How did you do that?"
"Speaking of which, it was your family's story that inspired me. You remember you once told me that your father didn't dare touch your mother's dowry because he thought Commander Bai had someone planted around him, right?"
"Yes, but later the Xu Mansion was gone, and I don't know who is from our Bai Mansion."
Lu Anyuan smiled mysteriously: "Then maybe there is no such person at all?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, sometimes it doesn't really matter whether this person exists or not. What matters is that your father believes that this person exists, which is why he's always so worried."
"This..." Xu Yixing suddenly realized. Right, who says there has to be a specific person? Even if there is, over time, due to aging, sickness, death, or even betrayal, this person will be useless. It's really better to keep a shadow of him for a longer time. This way, whenever Dad fails in something, he will suspect that it was some obstacle left by Grandfather. Brilliant!
"So how many potential spies have you left for the new emperor?"
"That's about right. Anyway, it just makes him cautious."
"Aren't you afraid that he might become cruel and replace everyone in the palace?"
"So what? As long as he's convinced that I have the ability to infiltrate a spy around him, he won't be completely at ease even if I change people ten times. That's enough."
"Great!" Xu Yixing smiled and looked outside the car, just in time to hear the sound of a bell coming from somewhere. "It's a bell. There should be a temple nearby. Why don't we go there and rest?"
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