1405 Circle, communication among equals

The news that the emperor was assassinated during the hunting trip in Yelan soon broke out, and the fact that Princess Anping risked her life to save the emperor was also revealed.

Everyone in the imperial city was talking about this matter, and the news that the Ninth Prince was heartbroken for Feng Qingchen was suppressed in an instant.

In teahouses, taverns, and inns, people gathered in groups of two or three to discuss the matter: "Who do you think could have done this?"

"I guess it's the abandoned crown prince of Xiling, he's here for revenge."

"I also think it's someone from Xiling, but not necessarily the deposed crown prince. Young Marshal Si beat Xiling to a pulp before, and they must be unwilling to give in, so they resorted to such a despicable trick."

"I think it's Nanling. You see, the civil strife in Nanling has been settled. Nanling has always been warlike. This must be Nanling's conspiracy. The purpose is to make Dongling fall into civil strife, and then they can take the opportunity to attack Dongling."

"You are all thinking wrong. Nanling and Xiling want to attack our Dongling. It is not easy to arrange assassins. Xiling is arguing over the issue of appointing a crown prince. Nanling just fought a battle with Beiling and was defeated. How dare they attack our Dongling?"

"That makes sense." Once this was said, most people agreed: "Brother, who do you think could have done this?"

The man said calmly: "I think it must be our own people who did it. Think about it, if something happens to the emperor, then it will be..."

"Pa..." Before the man could finish his words, he was slapped in the face by someone next to him: "You are looking for death, how dare you say such nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense. I'm telling the truth. Think about it, if the emperor is assassinated, who will benefit in the end? The crown prince is deposed, Prince Qing flees to the south of the Yangtze River, the seventh prince is imprisoned, the eighth prince is still young, and the second prince is also far away in his fiefdom. There is only the fifth prince, Prince Zhou, and he is the only one in the capital. He also has the support of Chu City. Who is he afraid of?" The man who spoke was very excited, and his face blushed as he shouted with the crowd.

"This is just your guess. Don't talk nonsense without evidence." Others kept persuading him, and the people around him also stepped back one by one, fearing that they would get into trouble. However, the man seemed to be unaware and argued loudly: "There is no evidence for this kind of thing. In the absence of solid evidence, we should look at who benefits the most from this matter. The person who benefits the most is naturally the most suspicious."

Everyone was silent, and then someone whispered in agreement: "That makes sense..."

"Could it be true..."

Everyone's eyes lit up and they began to discuss among themselves the possibility that King Zhou had killed his father. However, the man who had been talking nonsense quietly slipped away while everyone was not paying attention.

"Someone wants to destroy King Zhou." Wang Jinling and Feng Qingchen were sitting in a private room, accompanied by Cui Haoting. These three were from the circle of top families.

Feng Qingchen's identity as Feng Li's legitimate daughter can be kept secret from the royal family, but there is no need to hide it from these aristocratic families. The top aristocratic families have always been involved, and Feng Li's identity as the legitimate daughter is beneficial to Feng Qingchen's actions.

This is a problem of circles. No matter how good the relationship between Wang Jinling and Feng Qingchen was in the past, he would never pull Feng Qingchen into the aristocratic circle, which was very exclusive. But it is different now.

Feng Qingchen was already part of their circle, so naturally they had to make friends and build up good relationships to pave the way for each other in the future.

Now it seems that Wang Jinling and Cui Haoting are helping Feng Qingchen, but in fact, these two are investing. The benefits they can get in the future will definitely not be less than what they pay now.

"Guess who it is?" Feng Qingchen asked Cui Haoting and Wang Jinling.

Wang Jinling and Cui Haoting smiled at each other, knowing that the other had the answer, and said with a smile: "Then write it down."

"Okay." Wang Jinling dipped his fingers in water and wrote a word on the table. They both withdrew their hands at the same time, and when they saw the words written by each other, they laughed at the same time.

"You two are thinking the same thing." Feng Qingchen could understand some of Wang Jinling's guesses, but Cui Haoting...

I actually guessed it. It’s not easy.

"It's our turn to ask you this time. Why?" Wang Jinling was giving Feng Qingchen a chance to show her talent. The three of them were considered the heirs of the Cui, Wang, and Fengli families. When the three of them were friends, no one had to beg anyone else.

The three parties will benefit if they unite, but will suffer if they separate.

"Didn't the student just say that whoever benefits in the end will be the murderer? If what he said gets to the emperor's ears, he will be on guard against Prince Zhou even without evidence. Prince Zhou has already lost the emperor's favor, and with this added to the matter, Prince Zhou will have no chance of becoming emperor. The emperor doesn't have many sons he can use, so who will benefit the most from getting rid of Prince Zhou? It's the eighth prince." The three of them came here today to discuss a deal, but they didn't expect to hear something like this.

"Are you so sure that these words will reach the emperor's ears?" Cui Haoting asked with a smile.

"Would you like to make a bet?" Feng Qingchen took the opportunity to cheat, but Cui Haoting was not a fool: "Why would you bet when you know you will lose?"

"What a pity, you're trying to take advantage of your Cui family." Feng Qingchen shook his head with a look of pity, causing Cui Haoting and Wang Jinling to laugh. "It's not easy for you to take advantage of our two families. If you ask, we will definitely not refuse."

"Are you trying to trick me? I took advantage of you once, but I will suffer a lot in the future." It was Feng Liyou's idea to ask Wang Jinling to buy war horses and weapons, and it was also Feng Liyou's suggestion to her to contact the Cui family.

The three families had already had friendships in the previous dynasty, and they had intermarried before. They would be very happy to negotiate deals with these two families using Feng Li's status as the legitimate daughter.

"The person behind you is too cunning and not fun to play with." Cui Haoting pointed out directly that there was someone behind Feng Qingchen.

Although Feng Qingchen is smart, she was not brought up in aristocratic family. There are many twists and turns here that Feng Qingchen did not understand before, but now she is very shrewd and will not take advantage of her at all.

"Don't be so ungrateful. By the way... my cousin asked me to ask you, what exactly does your Cui family want to do?" Feng Qingchen looked serious and put away his playful expression.

"Qingchen, this is our Cui family's business." Cui Haoting's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes became even calmer. Wang Jinling knew that Cui Haoting was unwilling to talk more, but if this issue was not clarified, there would be some problems in the future cooperation between the two sides.

"Haoting, the relationship between the Cui and Wang families is extraordinary. You should understand that our Wang family will not get involved in that matter." Wang Jinling knew that the Cui family had descendants of the Lan family, so he naturally understood the Cui family's plan.

The Wang family never thought that it was not easy to be an emperor in that high position.

Cui Haoting looked deeply at Feng Qingchen and Wang Jinling, knowing that he could not fool them, so he lowered his voice and said, "The Cui family has never thought of taking that position."

"Then what do you want?" Feng Qingchen was relentless. If she didn't clarify the matter, she might end up making wedding dresses for others after all her busy work.

"Restore the glory of the nobles, just like you, but the method is different." Cui Haoting looked tired: "Qingchen, you grew up in the Feng family, you don't know how glorious the nobles were in the past. The noble families can't tolerate it anymore. If they continue to tolerate it, there will be no place for the noble families in this world."

"I know." Wang Jinling took over. He did not exaggerate. He only said one thing: "When the power of the noble families was at its peak, if the emperor issued an edict but did not respond, or the emperor was immoral, the noble families could write an edict to announce it to the world, deposing the emperor and appointing another one. This has happened more than once in the history of the previous dynasties."

This is not the Ming and Qing Dynasties, not the era when the imperial power was highly centralized and everything was decided by the emperor. In the Kyushu Continent, the imperial power was not strong enough to override everything. The emperor could enjoy the glory of the world, but he could not do whatever he wanted. The emperor had to govern the country with trepidation, and tyrants and incompetent rulers could not stay in that position for long.

This is one of the reasons why the Lan Dynasty was able to rule the Nine Continents for so long. The noble families rarely participated in government affairs, but they had the power of supervision. The emperor could not do whatever he wanted. This world was not the world of the royal family, but the world of the people...