Chapter 82: The Wasted Chess Is Doomed
The next day, Cheng Xianzhi set off for Tanzhou, and Lu Tingwan also returned to Jinhua Palace. She wanted to test the Queen Mother Jiang's words to find out whether the Lu family would stay or go, but she knew that the Queen Mother would not give her any response. If she wanted to keep her life and continue the investigation, she could not reveal her true identity in front of the Queen Mother.
After Cheng Xianzhi left, Lu Tingwan secretly investigated and learned that Lu Mingqian had framed the Minister of Revenue Han Zhangling and protected the Liu family from making money on the border. Although the clues and evidence were not much, they were enough to overthrow the Lu family, and these evidences would definitely be in the hands of Queen Mother Jiang.
The Jiang family has already lost Liu Qiyuan. If they lose another one, it will be even more difficult for them to take a step in the court in the future. Unless she has no other choice, she will not give up Lu Mingqian as her wing.
After Liu Qiyuan's death, Lu Mingqian was highly valued by the emperor. In addition, he began to feel uneasy because of what Lu Tingwan said that night.
Lu Mingqian was a cautious man. He secretly bribed the officials of Guangling Palace and monitored Li Tingfeng's every move on a daily basis, hoping to confirm whether Liu Qiyuan had revealed the Lu family's involvement in the conspiracy.
Whether Li Tingfeng noticed or not, Queen Mother Jiang was already working on how to get rid of this pawn of the Lu family. Otherwise, she would end up in trouble. Inside Jinhua Palace, Li Tingfeng dined with Queen Mother Jiang, a scene of loving mother and filial son in the eyes of the palace attendants.
Hong Zhanggong and Lu Tingwan stood on each side.
Li Tingfeng's complexion had improved recently. He glanced at Lu Tingwan from the corner of his eye and said in a more relaxed tone, "Lord Cheng went to Tanzhou. He even asked for permission to bring his family with him. Why didn't you go?"
Lu Tingwan first glanced at the Empress Dowager, who appeared calm and composed with a kind smile. She stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I have recently returned to the capital from Tanzhou, where I narrowly escaped death. I do not wish to revisit the old place. Furthermore, Your Majesty has shown me great care and grace, granting me the title of Protector and Governor. As a token of my gratitude, I wish only to serve the Empress Dowager at this time. That is all I am willing to do."
Upon hearing this, Li Tingfeng glanced at the Queen Mother and after a moment couldn't help but chuckle: "I thought that Cheng Aiqing would ask for permission to take you to Tanzhou."
Lu Tingwan recalled their last conversation in the study. She begged Cheng Xianzhi to put pressure on Lu Mingqian to confess his guilt so that he could be forgiven by the emperor and avoid implicating the entire Lu family.
But he refused. It's not that he didn't want to go to Tanzhou with him, but Lu Tingwan didn't want to go with him.
She gave a bitter laugh, her brows and eyes looking worried: "He probably wouldn't want to take me with him. Master Cheng and the Madam are deeply in love, and I don't want to be an eyesore."
Then she stepped back and stood with Hong Zhanggong.
Queen Mother Jiang glanced at Palace Master Hong, who understood and took Lu Tingwan out of the main hall.
After everyone left, Queen Mother Jiang resumed her usual dignity and solemnity, and this aura was no less than Li Tingfeng's imperial majesty.
"The Liu family case has been settled. I intend to transfer Jiang Qingsheng to the northwest to take up Liu Qiyuan's former position. What do you think, Queen Mother?"
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor was killing the chicken to scare the monkeys by arresting the Liu family. What the Liu family had done was punishable by death, but they were able to amass wealth in the northwest for a long time. Only Liu Baiqi from the Ministry of Revenue was not enough to conceal the truth.
It is possible that there is not a single relevant memorial submitted to Hanzhang Palace across the thousands of miles between the northwest and Kyoto, with dozens of cities of all sizes. Looking across Dalan, Li Tingfeng could not think of anyone else except the Jiang family who could dominate Kyoto and the northwest.
Queen Mother Jiang looked normal, and the colored lines at the corners of her eyes made her facial features look even more charming.
In Li Tingfeng's eyes, the empress dowager, the mother he had fostered since childhood, still looked the same as when the late emperor was alive. Time had left no traces on her face. It was just that her voice, which was once gentle and graceful, and approachable, now carried an invisible pressure and respect that prohibited any objection.
Li Tingfeng admired her. Queen Mother Jiang was more decisive than him, the emperor, in terms of strategy, character, courage, and even the way she handled things.
In comparison, Li Tingfeng is better at forbearance and restraint, thus disguising himself and conserving his energy.
He was humble, studious, and good at making use of talented people, which is why he had the wholehearted assistance of ministers such as Cheng Xianzhi and Gongsun Yin. In this way, he gradually took back the power that was originally in the hands of Queen Mother Jiang, bit by bit, without making a sound.
Queen Mother Jiang was not afraid of him, and even when she looked at Li Tingfeng, there was a sense of awe in her eyes. When Li Tingfeng was young, he thought this look was pity. It was not until he succeeded to the throne that he suddenly realized that all this was not out of kindness, but pity and regret.
She cherished all the good qualities of Li Tingfeng, but it was a pity that he had been weak since childhood and the imperial physician said that he would hardly live to the age of twenty. However, when he lived to the age of twenty, he consolidated and eliminated the chaotic and diverse factions in the court, eventually leading to the existence of the two forces of imperial power and foreign relatives.
He respected Queen Mother Jiang, but he did not approve of the Jiang family's unscrupulous efforts to consolidate their position, excluding dissidents and even connecting with foreign enemies, leaving no room for maneuver.
She learned how to protect herself from the late emperor, and was entrusted with an important task by her family, to use her supreme honor to protect the Jiang family for generations.
"Although Qingsheng has little experience, he has a lot of military achievements. He is a rare young general in Dalan who has achieved fame. The Duke has taken him under his wing and trained him for over twenty years. If the Emperor wants him to go to the northwest, it is a great honor. The Jiang family should be grateful."
"Furthermore, with Liu Qiyuan executed, the Turkic people's relationship with the northwest will inevitably break down. War will rage again in the northwest. The Jiang family has enjoyed the respect of Dalan's subjects and people for decades, so they should be defending Dalan from foreign enemies."
Li Tingfeng eliminated Liu Qiyuan and reused the Jiang family. It was undoubtedly a slap in the face and a reward, and Queen Mother Jiang had to greet it with a smile and accept it with pleasure.
No one said a word, but they all knew it in their hearts.
"Then I will draft an edict today to confer the title of third-rank General of the Northwest Cavalry on Jiang Qingsheng, and station him in the northwest." Li Tingfeng's imperial power poured out at this moment.
Empress Dowager Jiang's brow remained unchanged as she spoke softly, "Although the Dali Temple has concluded the case of Liu Qiyuan, I have one thing I would like to remind Your Majesty. Liu Qiyuan was able to cover up everything with his own strength. It would be unlikely if the six ministries had no clues. Just because the Dali Temple hasn't found any accomplices doesn't mean there aren't any. If you want peace in the northwest and the capital, Your Majesty must work harder."
Li Tingfeng didn't know what she intended to do. He secretly clenched his palms inside the sleeves of his dragon robe, but his expression remained normal.
"But the confessions and evidence presented by the Dali Temple do not show any other accomplices. Even if there are, we have to find evidence to catch them all in one fell swoop!" Li Tingfeng emphasized the phrase "catch them all in one fell swoop" very strongly, and his eyes never moved away, falling directly on the shoulder of Empress Dowager Jiang.
Queen Mother Jiang sat firmly on the bench, a hint of a cold smile flashing across her expression.
"Cheng Xianzhi was able to uncover Liu Qiyuan's scheme when the Ministry of War sent out its baggage. Does that mean the six ministries are now clean?" Queen Mother Jiang took a leisurely sip of her tea. "Whether it's Minister Cheng or Lu Pushe, they both failed to oversee the six ministries. Your Majesty, in consideration of Minister Cheng's efforts to recruit bandits and provide clues in the Liu Qiyuan case, allowed the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation, thus ensuring the prosperity of Dalan."
"Your Majesty values this person, and I have nothing to say. What about others?" The phoenix eyes condensed into icy silk, and Li Tingfeng seemed to understand but not quite.
The Empress Dowager Jiang's intention was to imply that it was Lu Mingqian's fault in supervising the six ministries that allowed the supplies and military pay allocated by the Ministry of Revenue to be smoothly delivered to the northwest. The accounts were too huge to be concealed from Lu Pushe, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue at the time, unless he had deliberately falsified them.
"I don't understand the Queen Mother's intention." Li Tingfeng spit out eight words.
"Since Your Majesty wants to conduct a thorough investigation, why not do it more thoroughly?" Empress Dowager Jiang stood up, the jewels on her bosom colliding with the sound of a spring. "I don't know whether the Dali Temple has made any findings, but Your Majesty, the late Emperor once told me that when he was still alive, the powerful should be crushed and completely eliminated."
And this annihilation certainly did not include her Jiang family. She was able to signal to Li Tingfeng to investigate Lu Mingqian thoroughly, which meant that she was intentionally using this chess piece. Li Tingfeng did not understand her intention of cutting off her own arm. He only felt that this woman who was less than forty years old was unfathomable.
The simplest guess is that they sacrificed the rook to protect the king, and sacrificed the land to protect the ginger.
Cheng Xianzhi's methods were real, but Liu Qiyuan's mouth wasn't reliable enough, so how could the Dali Temple not find out more? Rather than letting the emperor investigate the Jiang family, it would be better for the Jiang family to come forward and help Li Tingfeng.
Li Tingfeng knew at this time that Queen Mother Jiang had surrendered and shown goodwill, and he was determined to get Lu Mingqian. However, the time had not come yet for the Jiang family. If several ministers in the court fell overnight, it would be detrimental to the country. This was one of the reasons why Cheng Xianzhi asked the emperor to conceal the evidence of the Lu family's crimes after Liu Qiyuan revealed the information.
Lu Mingqian is doomed.
Half a month later, Lu Tingwan took a leave of absence from the palace and returned to the Cheng Mansion. She was the only female master in the Cheng Mansion now, as the lady and the master were not there. She rested in Yansheng Hall, thinking hard but to no avail. If Lu Mingqian refused to plead guilty, she could only wait for the emperor to take action, and she had to make plans for herself.
Her mind was in a mess. She took out the blueprint of the Sunset Bow and studied it again. The current version was not Xie Zhao's original blueprint, but a copy made by Lu Tingwan based on the original.
She had more time in the palace than Xie Zhao. In her spare time, she asked the empress dowager for an imperial decree, which allowed her to move freely in the palace's library. Every time she went to the library, she only stayed on the fourth floor. Most of the books stored on the fourth floor were about Qi Men Dun Jia and mechanical devices.
Qi Men Dun Jia was too profound for her. Although she had some exposure to it, her knowledge was very superficial and she knew very little.
Her only purpose in entering this library was to find information about the forging and design of the Sunset Bow in the classics.
Even Xie Zhao found it difficult to figure it out. She had to read through ancient books before she made some progress. The ingenuity on the drawing was more than ten steps more sophisticated than the original manuscript she had received at the beginning.
Xie Zhao was full of praise when he saw her drawing. Lu Tingwan neatly stacked the ancient books that she had brought back from the Collection Pavilion under the grape trellis in the courtyard.
It was a new summer again, and the grape vines had grown new branches, forming a shade. She took shelter under the vines and concentrated on her research.
The ground was covered with discarded old papers, some crumpled into balls, some torn in two, and the wind blew them all over the yard.
Feng Xin came out of the side hall and saw the mess in the courtyard, and fell silent.
My sight then moved to the distance, and within the bamboo frame of the grape vines, a clear shadow swayed in the wind, but was mostly obscured.
Feng Xin shook his head and walked around the side hall.
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