Chapter 212 A White Piece, Pei Yuan Asks About the Child
Pei Yuan chuckled, "What I think is not important; what matters is what Father Emperor thinks."
Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the land, all people are subjects of the king.
Whether they are court officials or common people, they are all, in the final analysis, subjects of the emperor.
"What Father Emperor deems should be done, then it should be done."
This statement clearly pleased the Longqing Emperor greatly; he stroked his beard and smiled.
"I thought you would speak up for Chen Chu. After all, you've spent more than a month together and handled a case together. You must have some feelings for each other, right?"
Pei Yuan looked up and said earnestly, "Your subject always keeps in mind Father's teachings. As the commander of the Flying Eagle Guard, I treat all court officials equally."
Furthermore, I will not support anything that Father Emperor is unwilling or disapproves of.
Emperor Longqing placed a chess piece with a smile. The black and white pieces each occupied half of the chessboard, and the battle was at a stalemate.
"Sixth Prince, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. Entrusting the Flying Eagle Guard to you was the right decision."
"Thank you for the compliment, Father Emperor."
Emperor Longqing: "It's rare for you to say such sweet words to me. Why are you being so sweet-talking today?"
Speaking of sweetness, Pei Yuan suddenly remembered the little bit of red bean paste on Shen Chu's lips, and his hand holding the chess piece paused.
"Sixth Brother? What are you thinking about?"
Pei Yuan put down the chess piece. "Perhaps it was because I was on the verge of death several times on the way back from Changsha that I had some insights."
"If I don't say these things now, I'm afraid I won't have time to tell Father Emperor later."
"Hanging by a thread?" Emperor Longqing's expression changed slightly. "What happened? Are you in danger?"
"On my way back from Changsha, I was attacked several times."
If it weren't for Shen Chu's quick thinking and separating from me, I'm afraid even the witnesses and evidence might not have reached the capital safely.
The Longqing Emperor frowned. "Who dares to be so bold?"
Pei Yuan shook his head. "One group of people are specially trained assassins whose purpose is to break prisoners. If they fail, they will immediately commit suicide by poisoning themselves."
"Your Majesty, I have ordered an investigation. This group of assassins appears to be from the Feng family. As for the other group... we haven't found any information about them."
Emperor Longqing frowned deeply. "There are people that even the Flying Eagle Guard couldn't find?"
Pei Yuan nodded, "The Flying Eagle Guards aren't omnipotent; naturally, there are blind spots they can't reach, such as Jianghu organizations or foreign organizations."
The Longqing Emperor seemed to be deep in thought.
Pei Yuan placed a piece and suddenly said, "Father, you have lost."
The Longqing Emperor stared intently at it.
The previously close battle on the chessboard has changed without anyone noticing.
Unbeknownst to him, Pei Yuan's white piece silently penetrated deep into the heart of the black pieces, causing his entire strategy to collapse.
This single white piece disrupted the original balance, leaving the black pieces utterly powerless.
Pei Yuan picked up the white piece and said with a smile:
"It was your son who played a trick. While Father was focused on making arrangements and balancing the situation, he secretly planted a spy to expand his power."
The Longqing Emperor stared at the chessboard, remaining silent.
Pei Yuan stood up. "Father, I have come to take my leave. My salt inspection duties are finished, and I wish to return to the capital to take charge of the Flying Eagle Guard."
Emperor Longqing snapped out of his reverie and waved his hand, "Alright, you can go back to the capital first."
Pei Yuan took his leave.
Emperor Longqing stared at the chessboard for a long time before asking Cai Chong, "Has the latest intelligence from the Flying Eagle Guard arrived?"
Cai Chong took out the intelligence and handed it over.
"Commander Sun delivered it around noon, but His Majesty was resting, so I put it away first."
The Longqing Emperor read it through from beginning to end.
These are all the latest developments of the court officials after he left the capital to escape the summer heat.
After reading it, his brows furrowed even more.
Cai Chong asked, "Is something wrong?"
The Longqing Emperor asked, "How could there be no crown prince?"
"No?" Cai Chong peeked out, then quickly looked away.
"This servant thinks there is a page inside."
The Longqing Emperor picked up that page and said, "This page records which court officials the Crown Prince met while overseeing state affairs."
That's not what I want to see. What I want to know is what the Crown Prince has been doing in private.
Especially their actions after learning of Feng Guojiu's arrest.
Cai Chong shrank back, not daring to reply.
The more the Longqing Emperor thought about it, the darker his expression became.
"Old Liu just said that among the people who tried to assassinate him, there was a group whose identities could not be found at all."
Cai Chong said, "This...it's probably because time was too tight and the Flying Eagle Guards haven't had time to investigate yet. Your Majesty, please don't worry too much."
The Longqing Emperor paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, then glared at him upon hearing this.
“Fool, of course there’s a problem. This means there’s a mysterious force in the capital, a force that even the Flying Eagle Guards can’t detect.”
Cai Chong's expression changed slightly. "Could it be that His Majesty suspects that it is the...?"
He suddenly covered his mouth, his eyes darting around twice before he asked in a low voice, "There might be some misunderstanding here."
The Longqing Emperor became increasingly certain of his judgment.
"Since this mysterious force can assassinate the sixth prince and prevent the Flying Eagle Guards from finding any information about him, they can naturally also protect the information about the Eastern Palace like an iron barrel, only revealing some superficial information."
Cai Chong said, "But as the Sixth Prince just said, one group of assassins was sent by the Feng family. Does Your Highness really need to send another group?"
The Longqing Emperor shook his head. "The more it is done this way, the less it will arouse suspicion."
For him, the fact that the Feng family had assassins was not scary.
After all, they are the Crown Prince's maternal relatives. The Crown Prince has loyal bodyguards, so giving a few to the Feng family wouldn't be a problem.
But the thought that the Crown Prince might possess a mysterious power made Emperor Longqing restless.
"The fact that the Crown Prince could send assassins to kill the Sixth Prince and Shen Chu shows that he is well-informed and at least has people who are dedicated to passing on intelligence to him."
No wonder the Empress came to apologize in plain clothes as soon as the Sixth Prince and Shen Chu arrived at the palace. It seems the Crown Prince has been secretly cultivating quite a bit of power behind my back.
Regarding the Feng family matter, I had already decided not to implicate the Empress and the Crown Prince. What exactly is the Crown Prince trying to achieve by jumping around and causing such a commotion?
The more the Longqing Emperor thought about it, the angrier he became, and he swept the memorials off the table.
"Does he intend to usurp my throne?"
Cai Chong didn't dare to reply.
After a long silence, the Longqing Emperor gave the following instructions:
"Go quietly to find Chen Chu and tell him to come see me tonight. Do not disturb anyone, especially the Empress."
-----
Chen Chu rubbed his temples hard, his head throbbing with pain.
"You're awake."
The sudden sound startled her.
He was startled awake from his drunken stupor as he lay dying.
When she looked up and saw Pei Yuan sitting in front of the bed, her first reaction was to look down at her clothes.
call.
The clothes are still there.
I was terrified; I thought he had done something inappropriate while drunk.
"Why is Your Highness in my room?"
Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Where did you get a room? I just arrived at Qinghe Palace this morning, and the Imperial Household Department arranged a room for you?"
Well.
No.
Chen Chu rubbed her head, belatedly realizing what had happened.
She got drunk in Pei Yuan's room and slept there.
The aftereffects of wines from the Western Regions are really strong.
I can't drink it anymore.
"How did I end up on the bed? Did Your Highness help me?"
"Otherwise what? Did you fly here yourself?"
Pei Yuan didn't say that he had carried the child over himself. He raised an eyebrow and snorted softly, then pointed to the hangover soup placed by the bedside.
"Jinbao made you some hangover soup, drink it."
Shen Chu picked up the hangover soup, and had just taken a sip when she heard Pei Yuan ask:
"When you were drunk, you kept yelling, 'Don't jostle the child!' Where did the child come from?"
puff.
Shen Chu spat out the entire bowl of hangover soup.
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