Rong Qing's anger finally subsided. He sat up listlessly and ordered others to warm the ginseng soup again, but he only drank a few sips absentmindedly. He really had no appetite, so he shared it with everyone else and drank it all.
When he saw Youshi, Liu Zhennian couldn't sit still. Just as he was about to send someone to rush him, he saw Rong Qing, already wearing white clothes and robes, coming to the front of the hall and making a weak bow.
"Are you feeling better?" Liu Zhennian asked, holding his head high.
Rong Qing was still sick, so he covered his heart and said, "Thanks to Mr. Liu's love, I can take care of my subordinates much better."
"I think you are still not feeling well, so I specially prepared a carriage and left it outside the palace gate. It's getting late, so please come."
"Please." Rong Qing forced a smile and asked Zhennian to leave first.
Time was getting tighter, and Cunzhao spent the whole night thinking hard at home. He almost broke his head with worry, but only ended up in a dilemma where he was helpless. The more panicked he became, the more confused he became, and then he simply couldn't calm down, so he had no choice but to give up his alone meditation and summon a few trusted personal guards to discuss strategies together.
"It's easy. Wouldn't it be convenient if you burned all the letters between you and the prince?" Everyone proposed this method to him at the beginning.
"That's not appropriate," Cun Zhao said. "Most of the documentary evidence is in the hands of the emperor's uncle. This matter requires his consent. But my uncle is old after all and cannot understand my intentions. I will have to persuade him." If you refuse to listen and even scold me, your original plan will be ruined."
After everyone listened, they were silent for a long time.
"How about this," a confidant stretched out a finger and gestured on the table, "send someone to write down all the things about Rong Qing's rebellion in the name of delivering family letters, and never mention the prince. If there is any The Liu Party searched for evidence, but there was no danger that it would affect the prince." After hearing this, everyone felt that it was full of loopholes and was just talk on paper, which was not trustworthy.
Cunzhao curled his lips and was about to refuse, but for some reason, these words suddenly stimulated some of his thoughts, and he hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the man's arm: "There is something in your words, but you have to think about it." Be more thorough.”
Seeing everyone's astonishment, Cun Zhao sat down and said in detail: "Although the Dongying under the jurisdiction of my uncle accompanied His Majesty on his eastward tour, there are still a few people left to guard the capital. These people are loyal and have no hidden dangers of leaking information. Bipai Everyone must be suitable. If you order a letter from home, there will be no danger. In order to prevent my uncle from receiving the letter and burning it, another person should go directly to the bank to report the change, so that there is no chance for him to respond. The evidence cannot be empty talk, and more efforts should be made to Some forged official documents were made to look like the real ones. We’ll talk about this later.”
He continued: "In this case, the crime of regicide can only be concentrated on my uncle, and the Liu Party will not be able to implicate us for a while. After my uncle is sacrificed, I will persuade him to destroy the evidence - behead first and report later. , there is nothing to worry about.”
"Yes, as long as the old uncle doesn't have to worry about family ties, the rest will be much easier to handle..." The man just now praised, "Your Excellency is still wise!"
"But we still have some doubts." Everyone behind him looked at each other and smiled at him.
"Say it happily."
"If the sergeant who went to deliver the message had not run away, but was captured by the willow thief, and he felt resentful towards you, and confessed all your actions, wouldn't you be dissatisfied that you had lost everything?"
"Then send someone to pretend to be a sergeant who fled west, and first go to my cousin's house to report the rebellion. His family will be frightened, so they will definitely entrust the forbidden soldiers to rescue him. However, this disguised task requires a bold and careful person. competent."
"I'll go if it's a big deal!" One person volunteered, pushing away the crowd.
"Okay!" Cun Zhao saw that he was very courageous and stood up immediately, "Come with me to the back room. I will discuss this matter with you in secret."
The military man followed him and walked into the back room. He only heard a few people shouting behind him: "Master Si Jin! Master Si Jin! How to deal with the forgery of official documents!"
Cunzhao turned around and said, "I have my own arrangements."
After the discussion that day, it was almost evening, and the military man entered the camp surrounded by many colleagues. They all asked what the commander had said. The former only shook his head: "Si Jin asked me to keep it secret and not to spread it outside."
As soon as these words came out, they aroused their curiosity even more. They asked him repeatedly and forced him to say a few words: "This mission is very important. It is not a joke. If you tell me, your head will fall off!"
Tai Su, who was sitting in the official office and reading a book by candlelight, heard the noise outside getting farther and farther away.
"See you, uncle." Cunzhao walked in casually, closed the door and saluted.
"Cun Zhao," Tai Su put down his book and moved his chair, "There was a mess in the camp just now. What happened?"
"Oh, it's okay. It's not usually this lively." Cun Zhao said one word to prevaricate, but the emperor's uncle didn't care.
"It's almost your shift. If you don't go on night patrol, what are you doing here?"
"Junior has been exchanged with Mr. Shi, and he will be mine until the first watch." Cun Zhao's eyes were looking around, as if he was looking for something.
"What are you looking for?" Tai Su frowned.
Cun Zhao hurriedly lowered his head: "Junior, I'm thinking...whether my uncle's seal was stored here before?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"This junior wants to save my uncle, so I am looking for a seal, which may be useful in times of crisis." Cun Zhao had to make up a temporary excuse.
"Rong Qing's official seal is kept in the Dongjun camp, but there is a private seal here. To save convenience, he wrote family letters here at my place."
After hearing this, Cun Zhao's eyes lit up: "That's okay, that's okay too! Please take it out, please."
Tai Su took out a small seal from a cabinet and said, "This is it."
Cun Zhao held it in his hand and saw that Rong Qing's nickname was engraved on it. The font was elegant and lively, which was extremely interesting.
"Then did the junior bring it back?" He asked unconfidently for fear of being suspected by Tai Su.
"Okay, okay." Taisu waved his hand, signaling for him to retreat.
The weather in Dengzhou is getting hotter, and although the two of them are enjoying the sea breeze, they can clearly feel the warmth. Rong Qing could no longer pretend to be sick, so he just used the excuse that "the weather is getting warmer and the illness will dissipate", so he stopped pretending to act.
However, the smoldering fear in his heart completely covered up this so-called "sickness", making his spirit more and more depressed, and his complexion continued to turn yellow. Liu Zhennian could not tell whether he was getting better or not.
The two walked into the Dengzhou lobby together and saw the prefect holding a stained document and looking at it carefully.
"Hey, isn't this the emperor's younger brother!" The magistrate hurriedly laughed, "Are you here too?"
"Well, the emperor asked me to come and take a look at the case, with a view to settling it as soon as possible..." Rong Qing secretly glanced at the document, "Is that document... a confession from the trial?"
"Yes," the prefect picked it up and read: "Zhang Longlu has embezzled 8,000 yuan..."
"Oh, it's so boring to read this," Liu Zhennian smiled gloomily and held down his arm, "Without further ado, it's time to take those out."
