When Prince Li Bing heard Shan Tingxian tell the identity of the suspect behind the scenes, he couldn't help but raise his eyes and stare at Murong Xue not far away in front of him, but it was still Shan Tingxian who asked: "Tingxian, how did you determine that Is Nangong Yuping a serious suspect?"
Shan Tingxian replied loudly: "Your Majesty, Weichen found some friends in the world of Luoyi to inquire about the case. They told Weichen that just a few days before and after you went to Baima Temple to offer incense, you saw someone near Luoyi. Looking at Nangong Yuping's figure and the exquisite crossbow at the scene, Wei Chen initially concluded that this matter is most likely related to the Nangong family of Xishu, or to Nangong Yuping."
Murong Xue couldn't help but retorted: "Impossible! Nangong Yuping has an indifferent mind. He has been tired of the world since he was a child, and he has no intention of taking over the Nangong family. Therefore, he has rarely left Shuzhong since he was a child, and he will never set foot in the Central Plains. Where did your friends go to see him?"
Shan Tingxian smiled slightly: "Lord Zhan Shi, please don't rush to excuse Nangong Yuping. Even in my humble position, I was worried that my friends in the world would recognize the wrong person. However, it happened that one of them was once a disciple of the Nangong family. , so it is absolutely impossible that he cannot recognize his young master."
Hearing what he said, Murong Xue immediately understood that the other party had been fully prepared and was not afraid of witness confrontation, so she said in a deep voice: "Since you asked for this clue, did you directly find Nangong himself?"
"Not yet, but it will be soon." Shan Tingxian looked very confident: "Unless Nangong Yuping escapes immediately after the assassination, he will definitely not be able to escape my dragnet."
Murong Xue sneered secretly: The White Horse Temple operation was obviously done by Tao Yuan and others from the Luoyi branch of the Nilin Division, but for some reason, Shan Tingxian insisted on grabbing Young Master Yu Ping of the Nangong family for no reason. What is Nangong Yu talking about now? The screen couldn't jump out of his palm, which was simply inexplicable.
However, Nangong Yuping was indeed a close friend of Murong Xue, and was involved in the White Horse Temple case for no reason. No matter how you looked at it, everyone knew that Shan Tingxian and Xie Guanglao Jianhua behind him had no good intentions, so Murong Xue did not dare to If you are not careless at all, you can only guess the other party's true intentions and deal with it carefully.
He thought for a while and asked: "So, Master Shan has already started to deploy the search operation?"
Shan Tingxian did not answer him, but turned to Li Bing and said with cupped hands: "Your Highness, the ministers, together with the governor of Yuzhou and the order of Luoyi, have arranged for officers and soldiers to conduct searches inside and outside the city. Checkpoints have also been set up at all important roads to conduct inspections. Pedestrians passing by must try to find Nangong Yuping. But..."
"But what?" Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Li Bing asked in a deep voice.
Shan Tingxian replied calmly: "However, there is another place that is closely related to Nangong Yuping. We have not searched yet. We still need to ask His Highness for permission."
As soon as these words came out, everyone present realized that the place Shan Tingxian mentioned related to Nangong Yuping was naturally referring to Murong Xue's residence. Because it was his residence, he had to pass by His Highness the Crown Prince. Only with the approval can we take action.
There was no expression on Li Bing's face. He just turned his gaze to Murong Xue and still asked: "The place Ting Xian mentioned actually requires an edict from this palace?"
Shan Tingxian cupped his hands and said: "That's right. It involves officials from the East Palace, and His Highness's consent must be obtained."
Speaking of which, it was very obvious that Murong Xue could not pretend to be confused in front of everyone, not to mention that with his character and temper, he would never be able to do it. He took a deep breath and said loudly: "Your Highness, when Master Shan said that the East Palace officials were involved, he must be referring to the ministers. He may think that Nangong Yuping, as my friend, was hidden by me. Master Shan, Is it right?"
Shan Tingxian smiled slightly: "Lord Zhan Shi is right. His humble position is to suspect that Nangong Yuping is in your mansion."
Murong Xue raised her eyebrows: "Then you don't have to ask His Highness for orders, just go to the door and search for people!"
Shan Tingxian seemed to be deliberately teasing Murong Xue: "We still have to follow the rules. Searching Zhan Shi's residence is related to the reputation of the East Palace, so we must be cautious."
Murong Xue rolled her eyes at him angrily, then turned to Li Bing and said, "Your Highness, Wei Chen has proven his innocence. Please issue an order to inspect Wei Chen's home."
This issue is no small matter. According to the laws of the Shengtang Dynasty, searching the residences of imperial officials requires strict procedures, especially for an important position like Prince Zhan Shi, which even Li Bing cannot easily decide.
He pondered for a moment and said to Murong Xue: "Ai Qing, are you sure you want to do this?"
Murong Xue felt pity in her heart. The prince seemed to be asking for his opinion, but in fact he had already doubted him. The reason why he still asked this question was simply to put the problem entirely on him, the person involved. Then no matter what the result was, it would have nothing to do with His Highness the prince. .
Murong Xue nodded solemnly: "Wei Chen behaves upright, sits upright, and is not afraid of anyone searching. Please give me the order, Your Highness."
"Okay, since Aiqing insists on doing this, then this is the only way." Li Bing ordered in a deep voice: "Tingxian, take people to Murong Xue's home to check now. Remember, you are only allowed to look, not search, and more You cannot disturb Murong Zhan’s family members. Inner Palace Supervisor, you also send two capable people to go with Master Shan to witness."
Shan Tingxian and the head chamberlain quickly accepted the order and left together.
Seeing that the two of them were gone, Prince Li Bing could not sit there and wait, so while waiting for Shan Tingxian's results, he discussed government affairs with the ministers.
"Master, I have already read the memorial you submitted yesterday." Li Bing seemed to have completely forgotten what happened just now, and turned to Xie Guang and said, "The suggestions you made are all very good. Look, I really did not misjudge the person who came to this palace. In this case, the edict on the management of the main road of Jinhe will be printed and published. "
"Old minister, I obey—" Xie Guang responded with a proud look on his face and cupped his hands.
Upon seeing this, the other officials also agreed with their hands and showed approval. Murong Xue was in a daze because of Shan Tingxian's affairs. At this moment, she suddenly woke up. While shouting "obey the decree" along with everyone else, she kept beating the drum in her heart: What kind of memorial is the prince talking about? What suggestions did Xie Guang make? What content is involved in the edict governing the main road of Jinhe River? I don't know any of these things.
Before he could react, Li Bing continued: "As for the selection of the leader of the Long Sword Legion, it seems to be quite troublesome at the moment. You don't agree with the list given by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of War, Taifu. But what should I do?"
"Your Highness, you have disgraced the old minister," Xie Guang heard the words and bowed: "When the imperial court selects generals to command the army, is it that the veteran minister is qualified to choose him or not? It's just that based on his many years of experience in leading troops, I rely on I just want to make a few pertinent comments about my understanding of those generals. The final arrangement depends entirely on His Highness’s Holy Judgment.”
Li Bing smiled helplessly: "I, the governor of the country, do have the right to decide on the appointment and dismissal of court officials according to my responsibilities, but the position of commander of the Long Sword Army involves military affairs after all. Who should replace Feng The decision to lead Yiwei should be made by His Majesty himself. Now His Majesty leaves it to someone like me who is not familiar with military affairs to make the decision, which is really embarrassing."
As he said that, he glanced at Murong Xue with a hint of complaint.
"Your Highness must not say that," Lao Jianhua said: "Civil, political and military affairs are all things that His Highness needs to be familiar with before he can ascend to the throne. Now that Mr. Xie is assisting him, it is a good opportunity for His Highness to gain experience."
Li Bing nodded slightly: "What Lao Aiqing said makes sense. However, Tutor, the other two generals you recommended to me are Xie Biao, the deputy general of the Long Sword Army, and the other is the deputy general of the Xuanjia Army. Ye Rongcheng is really a bit of a philanthropist and not shying away from relatives."
Xie Guang laughed when he heard this: "Your Highness clearly knows that this old minister's move is indeed out of public motives. Although one of the two men is my nephew and the other is my subordinate, they are both fierce generals who have led the army for many years. Not only have they made great achievements in battle, And he is loyal to His Highness. The old minister has great trust in them, and if he hands over the 150,000 long sword army to any one of them, His Highness can rest easy."
After hearing this, Murong Xue suddenly realized that he had been absent from the imperial court meetings in the past few days, and Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua had actually played new tricks. They saw that the prince was determined to replace Feng Yiwei, so they planned to give up this chess piece and instead recommend a more capable confidant to take over.
No wonder the prince felt quite embarrassed.
Xie Guang used this strategy of retreating to advance. Coupled with his absolute authority in Shengtang's military affairs, he could put Prince Li Bing in a dilemma regarding the selection of generals with just a few words.
No matter which general the court selected, or whether Li Bing valued a certain general, Xie Guang could find a lot of faults, and he could also make the prince speechless. And what he was talking about just now about having peace of mind, I'm afraid he was not referring to the prince, but to Xie Guang himself, who was having peace of mind.
At this moment, Murong Xue finally understood why Prince Li Bing had such a complaining look towards him just now.
The failure of the White Horse Temple operation made Li Bing highly alert on the spot. In view of Murong Xue's previous series of abnormal actions, Li Bing mistakenly believed that Murong Xue might have some ulterior conspiracy and that it was against him.
Under such circumstances, as long as the whole story of the assassination case was not fully understood, he would definitely not be able to allow Murong Xue to participate in the Council meeting. But because of this, Li Bing lost a force that could restrain Xie Guang in military affairs. .
Murong Xue once again felt regretful for Baima Temple's reckless actions, but it was not too late to make amends. At present, the candidate for the general has not yet been determined, and the whole situation still has a chance to fight.
The only embarrassing thing is that until now, Murong Xue only knew that there were two candidates, Xie Biao and Ye Rongcheng, but he had no idea who the Ministry of Personnel and Military Affairs had nominated.
Under such circumstances, how could he argue with reason and help the prince implement checks and balances?
