Chapter 215 I Don’t Want to Be a Loyal Servant!
The emperor sent people to bring Cao Jing into the palace in a daze, and then made him kneel before the emperor, who threw the confessions of his spies in his face.
Cao Jing was horrified when he saw the contents of the confessions, and he immediately cried out, "Your Majesty, I am innocent. I have never done these things. I have always been by your side and I know that this is a time of crisis for the country. How could I instigate infighting among the princes?"
Cao Jing was deeply trusted by the emperor, so how could he not know where the emperor's minefields were? Not to mention instigating the princes to fight for the throne, he had hardly any contact with the princes.
But the emperor had already become suspicious of him.
It was not only because of the confessions of these spies, but also because he realized that the power of Beichang seemed to be too great, and Cao Jing's power seemed to be too great.
Even if these instigations were not done by Cao Jing, the emperor found that if Cao Jing really wanted to do so, he could do it. The extent of Beichang's infiltration into the imperial palace and the prince's residence frightened the emperor.
This power should have been in the hands of the emperor himself, but when he found that he trusted Cao Jing too much and Cao Jing also had the authority to control this power, he began to feel uneasy.
The emperor is a suspicious political creature. After he no longer trusts Cao Jing, it will be of no use even if Cao Jing can prove his innocence. But if he still trusts Cao Jing, no amount of confessions can kill Cao Jing.
Considering the current situation, the emperor did not do anything to Cao Jing, but promoted several people from the Northern Factory to share Cao Jing's power.
Among them was Cao Jing’s adopted son Cao Jiarong.
The emperor discovered that as Cao Jing's right-hand man, if Cao Jiarong stayed by Cao Jing's side forever, it would be difficult for him to promote other people to defeat Cao Jing. So he simply promoted Cao Jiarong to fight against Cao Jing.
As for whether Cao Jiarong would have a deep affection for Cao Jing and be unwilling to fight with Cao Jing, the emperor would not give Cao Jiarong such a choice.
After the emperor chose Cao Jiarong as Cao Jing's political opponent, even if Cao Jiarong didn't want to fight, he would be forced to fight, and Cao Jing would no longer trust Cao Jiarong, his adopted son.
After all, he is just an adopted son, not a biological son. Cao Jing has so many adopted sons, and even if Cao Jiarong is the most useful one, the father-son relationship is not so deep that he is willing to give up the power in his hands.
The emperor knew how to balance power.
The power in Cao Jing's hands was divided, and he knew that he had attracted the emperor's attention at this time, so he needed to keep a low profile and not dare to have any opinions.
Cao Jiarong took advantage of the situation, which was exactly the result of his calculation. He took the opportunity to contact Cao Jing privately, saying that he was willing to pretend to be fighting with his adoptive father in public for the emperor to see, but in fact he would still follow his adoptive father's lead.
It doesn’t matter whether Cao Jing believes it or not. Now he can only believe Cao Jiarong to reduce his losses.
At least the two of them have the status and affection of adoptive father and adopted son. To put it bluntly, if Cao Jing loses the power struggle in the future, if he loses to someone else, he may have no choice but to die in the imperial prison. But if he loses to Cao Jiarong, his adopted son, Cao Jiarong will have to spare his life for the sake of his own reputation and take good care of him in his old age. Unless Cao Jiarong wants to be criticized and cursed by thousands of people, he will not dare to kill his adoptive father who has failed in the political struggle.
Rather than giving power to outsiders, Cao Jing would certainly prefer to give it to his adopted son. Anyway, the emperor is now suspicious of him, and he cannot keep these powers.
Cao Jiarong took advantage of both sides and made money from both, and suddenly became Eunuch Rong who could compete with Cao Jing.
The news that Cao Jing's power was divided made the court officials very happy and excited. After all, the divided Beichang would be much easier to deal with as the Beichang was united.
Just like before, why could a mere Beichang compete with all the civil and military officials in the court? One reason was that Beichang had the emperor’s support. If the emperor took sides, what could the court officials do? The second reason was that there were also factional struggles among the civil and military officials. They were not united enough, and the Northern Factory would pick some of them and beat some of them, which resulted in the court officials not having much advantage when facing the Northern Factory.
Now there are party disputes and serious internal struggles in Beichang, so who is afraid of whom? They are very good at political struggles!
As a result, the fight between court officials and the Northern Factory became more and more intense. Add to that the dispute over the throne that had not been completely put out before, and even the emperor, who was a master of balancing things, couldn't keep it fair and could not grasp the balance.
Infighting was rampant in the court, and Lin Shu was quite satisfied after receiving the news from the spies.
This was very helpful to Lin Shu as Cao Jiarong could complete the tasks assigned by him while seeking a higher position and making the water even more muddy.
Lin Shu also began to appreciate Cao Jiarong even more.
So Lin Shu ordered his men to treat the master and his son a little better.
Although this father and son are Cao Jiarong's leverage, they are also Cao Jiarong's only remaining relatives. Moreover, in the future, the father and son of the Yu family may become his gifts to Cao Jiarong, so of course they must be taken good care of.
Lin Shu personally expressed his commendation and praise for Cao Jiarong, and encouraged Cao Jiarong to keep up the good work and make the situation in the capital even more muddy.
After Cao Jiarong learned the attitude of the person behind the scenes through his own gardener, he felt more and more that he had done the right thing. He gradually became proud of the power he had just gained.
In the past, Cao Jiarong was in power, but the power he held was borrowed from Cao Jing, but now he holds power that truly belongs to him.
Although there is an emperor above him, the emperor is currently overwhelmed by the infighting among the princes and cannot control him for the time being, so he can be said to be in sole control of the power.
Cao Jing is in charge of dealing with the other second-in-command of the Beichang who was promoted by the emperor to fight for power. Cao Jiarong is temporarily separated from the two of them. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the person with the most power and the highest degree of freedom in the Beichang.
Cao Jiarong, who holds the resources of the North Factory, could not help but send people to investigate the whereabouts of the Yu family's father and son. If he could find this handle on himself, the person behind the scenes would not be able to catch him, and then he would be qualified to negotiate fairly with the person behind the scenes.
Cao Jiarong no longer has Cao Jing to pressure him, so when he looks for the Yu father and son, he is not afraid of being reported to Cao Jing and exposing his identity as Wen Jiarong.
Lin Shu originally sent people to break into the imperial prison to rescue the father and son of the Yu family, but he did not take them away from the capital. Instead, he hid them in a private residence in the capital, living in seclusion in the city.
In order to keep their identities from being exposed, Lin Shu even sent one of his subordinates who had learned disguise to disguise the two.
Logically speaking, as long as the father and son of the Yu family stayed quietly in the residence arranged for them by Lin Shu and behaved well and didn't run around, their identities would not be discovered.
But unfortunately, these two people are not smart people who will settle down.
Not only are they restless, they are also very stupid. They think they are very important and want to negotiate terms with the person behind the scenes who saved them.
Lin Shu ignored their request to negotiate terms and only used the father and son as a handle to threaten Cao Jiarong. He didn't care about them at all.
But it was precisely because of this contempt and indifference towards the two that they were given the opportunity to do stupid things.
The son of the head of the Yu family ran out and showed his face, and happened to be discovered by a spy from the Beichang. This spy from the Beichang happened to be a subordinate of Cao Jiarong. The whereabouts of the Yu father and son were thus exposed to Cao Jiarong.
The spy under Lin Shu who was in charge of guarding the father and son of the Yu family, abandoned them and ran away without hesitation when he learned that the two idiots had exposed his whereabouts.
Lin Shu had already given him orders that if he encountered danger he should ignore the father and son of the Yu family and focus on protecting himself.
After all, these spies were trained by Lin Shu with a lot of time, energy and money. Each of them has unique skills and is very precious. He would be heartbroken if he lost one of them.
The father and son of the Yu family were just a handle to threaten Cao Jiarong, so he would not feel sad if they were lost. After all, even if the father and son of the Yu family were gone, the handle of Cao Jiarong's life experience was still in Lin Shu's hand, and he could report it to the emperor at any time. Perhaps because there were no father and son of the Yu family as witnesses, the credibility would not be that high, but seeing that the emperor could so easily suspect Cao Jing, his confidant, we could see how suspicious the emperor was.
By then, as long as the emperor had doubts about Cao Jiarong's background, he would no longer be able to use Cao Jiarong, a remnant of the Wen family who might assassinate him to avenge his family.
Lin Shu received news from spies in the capital and learned that the Yu father and son were rescued by Cao Jiarong's men. He scratched his head, completely confused.
No, are his men so useless? How could Cao Jiarong find the Yu father and son so easily?
He carefully read the details of how the Yu father and son were exposed and then rescued, and he couldn't believe it after reading it.
Because there are two words written throughout the article - coincidence!
Coincidentally, other strongholds in the capital needed support at that time, so only one person was left to guard the Yu father and son, and the others who were guarding the Yu father and son were not there.
By coincidence, the head of the Yu family and his son were smart. The head of the Yu family attracted the attention of the spy who stayed behind, and his son quietly ran out to inquire about the news. Then, he accidentally damaged the mask on his face, revealing his true face. Finally, by coincidence, a young eunuch from the North Factory nearby recognized him...
Lin Shu was filled with question marks. Is there anything wrong? Other strongholds need support, so only one person is left to guard the Yu father and son? Why did those spies he trained suddenly seem to have their intelligence reduced?
And the disguise mask cannot be removed without special potions, so how could it be damaged so easily and taken off by the son of the Yu family head, revealing his true appearance? Could it be that his subordinates used counterfeit and shoddy products?
Lin Shu was puzzled. Si Yuan, who was passing by, saw his shocked expression that was almost petrified on the spot, so he came over to take a look at the secret letter in his hand. After reading it, he patted Lin Shu's shoulder comfortingly and said, "This is not your fault, nor is it the fault of your subordinates."
This is the male protagonist’s halo’s fault!
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