Chapter 190: Diverting the trouble
What does Li Yanchang want to do?
They had already gotten the same guess from each other's eyes.
"Li Yanchang wants to force the emperor to abdicate." Xie Tingzhou gave the answer.
Chen Yu nodded and said, "Defu is also his man. He pointed me out to Li Yanchang, saying that I entered the palace that night with ill intentions. Now Defu is serving His Majesty, and Jiang An is in control of the Forbidden City. This means that the lifeblood of Emperor Tongxu is in their hands. I'm afraid they will harm His Majesty and the Crown Prince."
"He probably won't be in a hurry to kill Emperor Tongxu." Xie Tingzhou said, "He wants a legitimate reason to ascend to that position."
There are too many reasons and ways, such as issuing an imperial decree to change the crown prince, or the crown prince dying suddenly.
If one could force Emperor Tongxu to change the crown prince and legitimately sit on the throne, who would want to be a traitor?
Chen Yu stared at the flickering candlelight in silence. "The prince died unjustly. It would not cost such a large sum of money to build a palace. I had doubts in my mind before. When I saw him act extravagantly, I thought he was indulging in pleasure and squandering money. Now I think, could it be that he used the money to bribe officials?"
Xie Tingzhou did not respond, but stared at a certain spot in the void in a daze.
"Stop the boat?" Chen Yu called out to him.
"Hmm." Xie Tingzhou glanced at her sideways, "Maybe we should think more deeply about this."
"What are you thinking about?"
Xie Tingzhou said: "Bribing officials is not a terrible thing, what is terrible is raising private soldiers."
When Shen Yu heard this, her heart trembled.
"Controlling the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Palace is equivalent to holding Emperor Tongxu, but it is not a foolproof plan. Once there is a turmoil in the capital, the princes and garrisons from all over the country can go to the capital to defend the emperor. If he does not have real military power in his hands, how dare he act rashly? But this is just my guess." Xie Tingzhou said: "If I were to set up this game, I would definitely dare to act if I had military power in my hands."
The more Chen Yu thought about it, the more she found this idea credible. "The money from the Ministry of Revenue and the grain are enough to support private soldiers. Maybe the grain that Gui Xiong and his men transported was not sold at all, but transported to various places to support soldiers."
Xie Tingzhou's eyes became colder and colder. "Do you still remember where Gui Xiong and the others transported the food?"
"I only remember one or two places." Chen Yu said, "But there is a stack of spare confessions in the study at home, which should have detailed records. Are you planning to send someone to investigate?"
"It may not be in time."
Zhou suddenly smiled and said, "Li Yanchang is so good at scheming, but he doesn't use it in the right way."
Shen Yu thought for a moment, "You can't mobilize the Qingyun Guard."
Xie Tingzhou glanced at her and asked, "Are you the roundworm in my stomach?"
Chen Yu had no time to joke with him at the moment, and said seriously: "Assuming that he really has private soldiers, if you mobilize the Qingyun Guards, the garrisons in various places will not go to the capital to defend the king, but will encircle and suppress Beilin, because in their eyes, the Qingyun Guards are far more terrifying than private soldiers."
"I see." Xie Tingzhou curled his lips, "That's why I said he is good at scheming. If Qingyun Guards make a move, wouldn't that make him succeed in his trick of diverting trouble?"
"But what about the palace?"
Xie Tingzhou said: "Now that I want to enter the palace, I guess..."
"You can't enter the palace." Chen Yu grabbed Xie Tingzhou's hand tightly and interrupted him.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Yu recalled the nightmare that had repeated countless times. The place where he fell was right inside the palace gate.
Xie Tingzhou came closer, put his hand on her forehead, and said, "I know what you are worried about. I will not go to the palace. Let Li Jifeng go."
Shen Yu nodded, "You should be careful outside, and my brother..."
Xie Tingzhou interrupted her and said, "I've already been to your brother's place. Don't worry, he won't do anything rash."
It sounds simple, but we almost got into a fight when we met before.
"It's about time. I have to go." Xie Tingzhou said.
Chen Yu: “Okay.”
Although she said that, when Xie Tingzhou lowered his head, he saw that she was holding on to the corner of his clothes and refused to let go.
That gentle pull felt like a thousand pounds to Xie Tingzhou, making him unable to lift his legs and leave.
"Ayu." Xie Tingzhou squeezed her hand and coaxed her gently, "It'll be okay."
Shen Yu slowly loosened her fingers, "You must be careful."
"Well, eat well and sleep well." Xie Tingzhou touched her face with his fingertips and walked out of the prison. He didn't dare to look back, for fear of seeing her eager eyes looking at him.
"The wooden bed is too hard. Change it because it smells like hay. She doesn't like it and is too lazy to lie down on it." Xie Tingzhou said to the jailer.
The jailer said quickly, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Lord Zuo has already given instructions in advance. He will be brought in as soon as the Dali Temple gate opens tomorrow morning."
"Zuo Zong?" Xie Tingzhou thought about it and suddenly laughed.
The jailer asked, "Your Highness?"
"Nothing." Xie Tingzhou looked into the distance, "I just remembered something interesting."
At that time, the Dali Temple sent people to bring Chen Yu in for questioning, and the leader was Zuo Zong. At that time, Xie Tingzhou gave him a warning, and Zuo Zong had never expressed anything. However, at this moment when the storm suddenly arose and everyone was busy taking sides, he showed goodwill to him.
interesting.
Xie Tingzhou stood at the prison door, half turned his head and said: "She is here, you are here, if anything happens to her, you will bring her head to me, understand?"
"Understood, understood." The jailer said quickly, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Lord Zuo also gave similar instructions."
Xie Tingzhou walked out of the Dali Temple, thinking about Chen Yu and how to break the situation.
With the chaos outside like this, he felt more at ease with her in prison.
The night wind was hot and humid, with a faint sign of a rainstorm approaching.
This summer has been rainy, especially in the south. Some places may be hit by floods. It is really hard to find a peaceful place.
"Your Highness."
Xie Tingzhou: “Yeah.”
Xifeng lifted the carriage curtain and whispered, "Defu is dead."
Xie Tingzhou leaned against the wall of the carriage and half closed his eyes. After a while, he said, "Well done. Was it the order from the Crown Prince?"
Defu pointed at Chen Yu. Such a biting servant naturally could not be kept any longer.
"Yes." Xifeng said, "We left no trace. The eunuch who tasted the food was poisoned to death when he was testing the medicine for the emperor. The prince was furious and beat Defu to death on the spot."
Xie Tingzhou said slowly: "Li Zhaonian just doesn't want to fight, but he is not a fool. He will not let go of such a good opportunity to get rid of Defu."
"Then we can place our people around the emperor."
"It's impossible to place him there." Xie Tingzhou said, "Li Zhaonian will only place his own people around Emperor Tongxu, but he seems to be a friend rather than an enemy, so don't worry about him."
Xi Feng said: "Then go back and rest first, Your Highness has been running all day."
Xie Tingzhou was physically tired, but his mind was extremely clear.
"Oh, right." Xifeng added, "Changliu reported that Pei Chunli had been waiting in the palace for half a day. He wanted to see Shiyu."
Xie Tingzhou pointed his index finger at his knee and said, "Find someone to ask Ah Yu. If she wants to see him, let her see him. This will prevent her from getting bored and having wild thoughts."
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