In the Wei Palace, a young man was standing in the palace with neither humility nor arrogance. Although he did not show any joy, it was easy to feel the excitement hidden under the indifferent expression.
Facing the young man's inner excitement, the female prime minister smiled contemptuously and said lightly: "General Meng is really a loyal and patriotic man. It is a blessing for your country to have such a loyal minister as General Meng."
The young man smiled slightly, bowed respectfully, and replied: "Prime Minister Wei, I'm sorry. I only did what all ministers should do in order to be loyal to the emperor by eating the emperor's salary."
This person is none other than Meng Yong's younger brother Meng Yan, who is also the person Meng Yong trusts the most.
"Master Meng, what do you mean by coming to Wei?" The female prime minister asked directly without any further compliments.
"In response to Prime Minister Wei, Meng came here this time just to have a talk with the Prime Minister." Meng Yan always spoke with a sense of calmness and confidence.
"Talk? Sir, what can we talk about with the truth?"
"What is there to talk about? Of course there is something to talk about! For example, Zhou Chen and I have business dealings with the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Northern Wei caravan's route via Luodu's three passes and two ports..."
The female prime minister looked at Meng Yan with interest, but did not make any response.
Seeing that the female prime minister didn't seem to have any reaction to his proposal, Meng Yan's expression gradually became serious, and he said without hesitation: "Prime Minister Yang promised you, and my brother can also promise, not to mention that the prince is the eldest son of the late emperor. , He truly deserves his title as heir to the throne, how can he be as unfair as the little prince?"
After listening to Meng Yan's generous statement, the female Prime Minister's smile became even stronger. She slowly walked down the steps and came to Meng Yan's side.
Faced with the sudden approach of the female prime minister, no matter how calm Meng Yan was, he couldn't help but feel out of breath.
The female prime minister walked around Meng Yan and then returned to her seat. She smiled and asked, "Does Master Meng represent General Meng or His Royal Highness?"
As the female prime minister left, the sense of oppression suddenly dissipated from around Meng Yan, and clear thoughts returned to his mind. He said calmly: "Meng is neither representing the prince nor his brother during this trip. "
"Oh?" The female prime minister felt surprised and continued to ask: "That means..."
"On behalf of Zhou Chen——"
The female prime minister was silent for a moment, and then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha--"
Facing the female prime minister's sudden laughter, Meng Yan felt uneasy for a while. This time he came to Daliang alone and had a heavy responsibility, but he had always been full of confidence because he believed that the conditions in his hands were tempting enough, and the female prime minister was definitely not willing to accept the offer. She would try her best to save a young prince who had lost the support of the central government - I believe Qin Jingqing could confirm this after witnessing the tragic situation of Prime Minister Feng and his gang - so the female prime minister could only choose their Meng family. But in the short period of face-to-face confrontation with the female Prime Minister, Meng Yan found that the woman in front of him was even more difficult to deal with than he imagined. He felt like walking in the dark night, not knowing whether the next step he was treading was the road or the road. null.
Facing the female Prime Minister's laughter, Meng Yan calmed down and asked, "Why is Prime Minister Wei laughing?"
"Come here, please let Mr. Meng go down and have a rest, Haosheng will entertain you——"
"Prime Minister! This -"
The female prime minister looked at Meng Yan with a smile and said, "I will consider the matter that your Excellency mentioned. Today is the day of the meeting. You may as well wait one more day. It will not be too late for us to discuss it tomorrow."
Although the female prime minister's words were polite, her tone carried an irresistible aura.
Meng Yan wanted to say something more, but the Prime Minister left the palace without giving him any chance to speak, leaving only the two palace maids standing respectfully behind him, waiting quietly for him to follow them.
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Recalling everything he had seen in the prison in the past few days, Qin Jingqing's stomach still turned upside down. The horrific scene and the disgusting smell were like lingering flies.
To be honest, Qin Jingqing even regretted why he went to that prison, why didn't he just ask Meng Yong to drag him up and take a look. At first, he only saw the silent little prince and Concubine Feng, and then he was taken to the dirty and dark prison. Before he could enter the prison, a pungent stench wafted out from inside. Qin Jingqing endured the discomfort and entered the prison. The sight in front of him completely shocked him——
The people in the cell were still wearing clothes made of silk and satin, but compared to their usual splendor and splendor, their clothes were now covered with dirt and filth. The toilets in the cells were all full, but the soldiers inside didn't seem to have any intention of cleaning them for the ministers. They just let them sit in the cell and emit a stinky smell. Some ministers couldn't stand such a harsh environment and fainted in the cells. , knocking the toilet over violently, and the feces, water and urine inside flowed all over the floor, even covering his hair and face.
What made Qin Jingqing even more unbearable was that some ministers couldn't bear the hunger and even picked up things from the leftover bones on the ground and put them in their mouths, regardless of the mosquitoes, flies and cockroaches crawling on them.
Qin Jingqing held his breath, then picked up his trousers and tiptoed towards the depths of the cell. When he reached the innermost part, he saw a person lying on the messy straw. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, I'm afraid he'll think the man is dead.
The soldier opened the cell door and walked in, kicking the man mercilessly. The man turned around like a puddle of mud, and a bloody face came into Qin Jingqing's eyes. Looking at the horrific scars on this man's face that were as deep as ravines, Qin Jingqing asked tremblingly who this man was? Meng Yong replied in a very calm tone: This is the current uncle Feng Prime Minister.
Even though Qin Jingqing felt disgusted, he still couldn't help but widen his eyes and leaned forward to look at the 'Prime Minister Feng' in Meng Yong's mouth - at this time, all the teeth in Prime Minister Feng's mouth had been pulled out and his ears had been cut off. There wasn't much left, and both eyes had obviously been stabbed blind. I'm afraid that only the nose of Prime Minister Feng's face remained untortured.
Qin Jingqing covered her mouth and escaped from the prison, while Meng Yong followed him out slowly. Seeing Qin Jingqing's frightened appearance, Meng Yong seemed to be quite amused. Qin Jingqing quickly told Meng Yong what Ji Si told him, which was the place and time to meet Meng Yong one day later. After hearing this, Meng Yong just smiled contemptuously and left Qin Jingqing as if to escape.
Today is the day when Ji Si summons Meng Yong. The meeting place is in a villa outside Luodu City. The owner of the villa is a wealthy man worthy of Zhou Chen, but Meng Yong never expected that Ji Si would choose this place. at.
Qin Jingqing rubbed his hands and paced back and forth. The suffering of these days had made Qin Jingqing a lot haggard and even had a few gray hairs. However, after today, he would be able to fly back to Chang'an to resume his life. This trip to Zhouchen was worthy of his mission. Qin Jingqing waited anxiously for the appearance of Ji Si, Meng Yong and others, hoping that time would pass faster.
The sound of horse hooves came from a distance. Looking along the sound, I saw dust rising in the sky. Qin Jingqing looked up and saw a cavalry team of about a hundred people marching quickly towards the other courtyard, and arrived at the entrance of the courtyard in a short time.
Meng Yong sat on the back of a tall war horse and looked down at Qin Jingqing. In front of him was the frightened little prince. The little prince was only ten years old, about the same age as Qin Jingqing's daughter. Looking at the little prince's immature face and helpless expression, Qin Jingqing suddenly felt distressed. After all, this little prince was just a child, but he was fighting in this fight. It seems that it is really not easy for the child of the emperor's family to become a pawn and tool for the two factions to fight for power.
"Where is Your Highness?" Meng Yong had no intention of dismounting and remained aloof.
"His Royal Highness is already in the courtyard. General, just go in."
Meng Yong looked into the courtyard, then got off his horse, hugged the little prince down, put him on the ground, held his hand and walked inside.
The soldiers behind Meng Yong saw their general walking towards the other courtyard and followed him. Qin Jingqing quickly reached out to block them.
"Huh? Looking for death!?" Meng Yong's personal soldiers are all strong practitioners who are at least above the Jingzhe realm. They naturally put on a ferocious look when faced with Qin Jingqing, who has no power to bind a chicken.
Meng Yong stopped when he heard the noise. He turned back to look at Qin Jingqing, his expression obviously unhappy.
"General Meng, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that only you and the young prince are allowed to enter." Faced with Meng Yong's displeasure, Qin Jingqing became tough for once.
Meng Yong frowned, but seeing Qin Jingqing's determination, he finally chose to compromise. He shook his head, and the soldiers snorted and retreated obediently.
Qin Jingqing also put down his open hands. He walked to Meng Yong and the young prince and pushed the door open for them, and then said: "Your Highness, General Meng, please—"
Meng Yong pulled the little prince and followed Qin Jingqing. After passing through rooms and doors, he finally came to a very secret house.
Qin Jingqing knocked on the door rhythmically a few times, as if conveying some secret signal to the people inside. After a while, the door was opened.
Qin Jingqing stood at the door and motioned for the young prince and Meng Yong to go in first. Meng Yong was not polite and pulled the little prince into the house.
As soon as he entered the door, Meng Yong saw a dozen warriors with high levels of cultivation neatly arranged on both sides. They held their heads high, their eyes were majestic, and they exuded an intimidating aura. In the middle of them, a young man sat on the throne calmly and calmly, with a detached temperament that towered over everyone present.
"Your Highness! I am too late to save you! I deserve death! I hope Your Highness will forgive me——"
After seeing the young man's appearance clearly, Meng Yong immediately let go of the little prince's hand, knelt on the ground with a plop, and apologized to the young man with tears in his eyes.
Ji Si put down the tea cup in his hand slowly, then stood up and walked to Meng Yong, stretched out his arms to help him up, and said: "The general is out! Get up quickly!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Meng Yong stood up and said.
