"These people are all rebels who follow Cai Xianqing..."
The people from Guoxiang walked to the lobby of Dali Temple and heard Lan Yuan talking in the back room. He opened the door a little and looked through it. He saw him holding a list and pointing to the name on it.
"Are you going to continue killing people?" the clerk standing in front of him asked with a trembling voice.
"Of course," Lan Yuan put down the list, "Rebels must be eradicated. Go and catch them!"
"yes……"
The clerk went out after receiving the order, and happened to bump into the Hunan man, who hurriedly saluted. The Hunan man just told him to go about his business, watched him leave, and went straight to see Lan Yuan.
Lan Yuan raised his head, smiled, and pulled out a chair: "If the good prince doesn't discuss with the ministers and submit a letter, what's the point of returning here?"
"It seems that you are happy here with me and don't plan to leave..." Xiangren joked, sat down and said, "But in return, you have to help us with something."
"Tell me." Lan Yuan agreed happily.
"As you serve in the East Palace, you should be able to use the convenience of access to get in touch with a few officers, right? For example, the newly promoted Si Jin Zhuang Zhang, how are they?"
Lan Yuan heard that his question was strange, but he answered honestly: "This person has always been Shi Xiu Shen's confidant, and he is straightforward and unambiguous in his work. Just a sudden rise in position will inevitably lead to extravagance, and all his thoughts will be focused on pleasure." . I heard that he also sought financial bribes in many ways, but I don’t know whether it’s true or not.”
"Then can you... bring him to our side?" Guoxiang's eyes lit up.
"Him?" Lan Yuan sneered, "A rough guy who only knows how to practice martial arts, what use is he!"
"You can't think like that," Xiangren continued to advise, "wasn't Shi Xiu Shen also used very well by Ye Yongjia back then? Now if he follows his old wisdom, he won't be wrong."
Lan Yuan was dubious: "What are you going to ask him to do?"
"It's very simple. Since Shi Xiushen has a good relationship with Ye Yongjia, one or two of his subordinates must have been under the influence of Ye Yongjia. If they can work together with him to set up a game, they will report Ye Yongjia's "external border troops and internal bans" Wei', isn't this a clever plan?"
Lan Yuan suddenly realized: "The good prince is indeed shrewd! I am still responsible for handling counter-cases. It is not unusual to find another accomplice. No one will doubt it. It's just..." At this point, he asked doubtfully, "Are you going to ignore the dismantling of the new army?"
"How can you ignore it?" Xiang people laughed loudly, "This is all the same thing! It seems that we are fishing. We must first have a fishing line before we can tie the hook."
"It seems that Zhuang Sijin is the bait." Lan Yuan caught his words and the two looked at each other and smiled.
Lan Yuan temporarily got rid of the errand of handling the case and returned to the East Palace. In order to avoid making the emperor suspicious, he did not often meet Zhuang Zhang. He only invited him to drink with him at palace banquets and took the opportunity to chat, and gradually he got to know this person's character. After he got acquainted with him, he invited him to sit at his residence and specially reserved a lunch.
"Look at the tea." Lan Yuan waved his hand slightly, and the servants quickly removed the dishes and replaced them with two bowls of hot tea.
Seeing how kind he was, Zhuang Zhang felt a little embarrassed. He stood up and declined, saying, "No, I'm still busy with official duties, so I won't bother Lan Shidu. I'll come back another day."
Lan Yuan smiled and said, "Is your official business more important than my affairs here?"
Zhuang Zhang didn't understand yet, but he had put a big cloth bag on the table, opened it, and saw a lot of silver rolling out of it, piled up like snowflakes, which was hard to count at the moment.
"Sir, if you have anything to do, just give me your orders, why do you need to do this!" Zhuang Zhang was dumbfounded and hurriedly bowed and bowed.
"A total of a thousand taels of silver," Lan Yuan picked up a piece of silver and played with it in his hand, "If you help me accomplish this, it will all belong to you: pick out a subordinate from the military camp who is loyal to the Ye Party and ask him to go Correspondence with them. If there is even the slightest sign of suspicion, you will report to me the conspiracy. Do you understand?"
Zhuang Zhang's eyes wandered uncertainly, and he said for a long time: "I probably understand... but I really don't understand what 'heart to the Ye Party' means? We and other imperial guards are all warriors, and I don't know a few words in Douda. Not to interfere in government affairs, but to be loyal to the emperor."
"Don't pretend to be confused here," Lan Yuan put the money back, his face slightly gloomy, "Do you really think no one knows what kind of soldiers your former master raised?"
"But..." Zhuang Zhang had followed Shi Xiu Shen for many years and had a deep affection for him. Furthermore, he was entrusted by him to get the position of Imperial Guard. He really couldn't bear it. However, he looked at the table full of silver and felt guilty. Itchy, I thought to myself: "Master Shi is disheartened and has retired. I'm afraid he no longer cares about the affairs of the court." If he doesn't care, I can't bear the reputation of being ungrateful, so what's the point? '
So he took a step closer and replied: "The traitor Ye is a traitor to the country. How can we allow him to get involved in the forbidden area? It would be better if we use a trick to lure those hawks and dogs into the trap."
Lan Yuan was overjoyed: "Thank you for knowing the current affairs. Come, I will tell you the strategy." Then he whispered in his ear for a while, and the latter accepted it one by one.
Zhuang Zhang rode through several palace gates and returned to the camp in a short while. He tied up his horse, looked at the sun, and thought that today's court meeting was about to begin, so he summoned four of his confidants into the central hall, claiming to discuss secret matters.
The four people walked in together and saw Zhuang Zhang facing the wall, stroking a silver helmet, looking completely forlorn.
They were shocked and asked: "The general has just been promoted to the rank of superior, and he is full of ambition. Why is he so melancholy?"
Zhuang Zhang turned around, patted the helmet and sighed: "This is a relic left by Mr. Shi. I can't inherit his ambition. Every time I see it, I feel guilty." After saying this, he burst into tears.
The four people asked: "Why do you say that?"
"You must all know that Mr. Shi has been on good terms with Ye Yongjia for the most part in his life. However, Mr. Ye has become more and more embarrassed recently. The new army he finally formed is about to be disbanded. But I can only sit on the sidelines and have no plan to rescue him. Mr. Shi If you find out, what will you think of me?" Zhuang Zhang's eyes were filled with helplessness.
All three of them were silent. Only a captain surnamed Song loudly reported: "I don't think this matter can be saved! When Mr. Shi was here before, he often sent me to the Ministry of Punishment to see Mr. Ye. I have a close relationship with Ming Hui." Not bad, we can strike up a conversation. General, why don’t you send me to find out their situation first, so that I can prescribe the right medicine."
Zhuang Zhang immediately glanced at him, then calmed down his emotions, patted his shoulder and said: "Old Captain, I'll leave everything to you..."
Ming Huiguang stood in front of the mirror and tied his official hat tightly. He was about to straighten his messy beard when he suddenly noticed a clerk walking behind him and asked, "Who sent you here? What are you doing?"
"Master Cui asked me to ask what Minister Ming plans to say when the meeting comes."
"What do I say, what does it have to do with him?"
"But this is Cui after all..."
"That's enough!" Minghui glared and roared, but when he saw the official's panic, he felt that he had lost his words and helplessly calmed down his anger: "I... I'll tell him personally." When he said this, he stared at himself in the mirror, and his temples seemed paler than before.
