"Your Highness, I can only ask you to be aggrieved now. Let's avoid the limelight here for the time being and wait for the opportunity."
In Qunmaling, north of Bianzhou City, there is a summer manor for dignitaries. This place is not far from Hejin Ferry, and it only takes half a day's journey by horse.
Di Xian, who was ordered to seal off the area where the Huaiyang King died, was leisurely drinking tea in the pavilion of the manor. Sitting opposite him was the Huaiyang King Li Kuang who should have been beheaded!
Li Kuang smiled slightly and said sadly: "It doesn't matter. Compared with the great cause of the country, what is this grievance? It's just a pity that the substitute I have raised for many years has no choice but to leave it in Hejin In the grove of crossing."
Di Xian laughed along with him: "His Highness has great ambitions and has already made plans many years ago. I really admire him. As for the substitute, of course he must play a role at such a critical moment."
Li Kuang nodded slightly and asked Di Xian, "How is Lord Lao's plan going? Has Xie Guang taken the bait?"
"Not only did Xie Guang take the bait, but Li Bing also took the bait." Di Xian laughed loudly: "Yesterday, during the meeting at the River Affairs Office, Li Bing heard that the King of Huaiyang had been killed. He was so frightened that he lost his composure on the spot and even personally ordered the news to be blocked. At the same time, Xie Guang finally accepted Lord Lao's suggestion and decided to secretly recruit Xie Biao's Changdao Army and Twelve Prefecture Army soldiers to mobilize and assemble in the Bianzhou area. Wait until your subordinates successfully return to the imperial capital and report the attack. The imperial court, we will immediately publicize the news of Xie Guang's rebellion through the internal response of the imperial court. At that time..."
"At that time, my father must be shocked and angry." Li Kuang chuckled and said: "The imperial court can't bear it anymore, why don't you immediately send troops to quell the rebellion? When the imperial capital and Li Bing Xie Guang are both killed, it will be my turn to appear. ,a ha ha ha."
Seeing that he was happy, Di Xian quickly added a few compliments, and then said lightly: "Your Highness, I have a very difficult matter at the moment. I'm afraid I have to ask for your support."
"Oh? Why is General Di so polite?" Li Kuang said carelessly: "You are my man, so if you have something to say, you can just say it."
Di Xian glanced at the guards around him and lowered his voice and said: "Your Highness, you don't know something. The Eastern Palace issued a special order before, asking Wei Chen to lead troops to seal off a large area nearby to search and arrest those who attacked King Huaiyang's convoy. Assassins. Currently, within a radius of a hundred miles, there are Xuanjia troops and local soldiers everywhere. They are searching for clues all over the mountains and plains, so..."
Li Kuang didn't understand the meaning of Di Xian's words for a while, but still smiled: "Why?"
Di Xian looked troubled: "Therefore, the 5,000 guards who are responsible for secretly protecting His Highness' safety following you here are really making this humble position a bit difficult."
King Huaiyang was slightly stunned: "Then what do you mean?"
"What I mean is very simple." Di Xian responded calmly: "Your Highness, all I need to do here is to send trusted soldiers and horses to guard this place, which is enough to ensure that Your Highness is safe. And your royal soldiers, in order to avoid being accidentally discovered , it’s better to leave here, it will be safer.”
Hearing this, Li Kuang rolled his eyes, and then waved his hands repeatedly: "Hey, this is wrong. General Di, it's not that I can't trust you. These five thousand guards are all private soldiers trained secretly by the king. They follow you. Over the years, I have become very comfortable in using it. I am in the territory of Xie Guangxuanjia's army. Without them guarding my side, I would not dare to stay for even a moment. General, don't worry, this manor is located deep in Qunma Ridge. It is the king's property, but it has nothing to do with the Huaiyang Palace to the outside world. Moreover, there is a dense forest canyon in the back mountain. It is extremely secretive from the outside. There is no problem in hiding thousands of troops and horses, and they will never be noticed, hahaha .”
Di Xian knew that Li Kuang had said so much, but he was still worried about him. He couldn't help but secretly scolded the King of Huaiyang for being as cunning as a fox and as timid as a mouse. Seeing that it was difficult to convince the other party, he had to give up temporarily and said with a faint smile: "In that case, then listen to His Highness. But again, the more important things are to be expected, the more cautious you must be. I hope Your Highness will be calm and don't be impatient. Good whereabouts, waiting for our good news here.”
-
"Your Highness, everything has been investigated clearly." As soon as Di Xian said goodbye and left, Li Kuang's confidant, Guanglu doctor Xiao Shao, quickly walked into the pavilion, cupped his hands and said: "The royal palace officer Zhao Jing was captured by mistake, and all his subordinates were captured." He was detained in the Yanshifu Yamen, and he himself asked Li Bing to be taken to Bianzhou. According to the informant report, that bastard Zhao Jing has fully confessed, saying that you ordered him to ambush the prince. Xie Guang's memorial, now My son has also been sent to the Imperial Capital, and he will probably arrive tomorrow at the latest!"
When Li Kuang heard this, he slapped the table and said fiercely: "Zhao Jing wants to die! It's in vain that I still trust him so much, but he is so coward that he will rebel against you!"
Xiao Shao comforted him: "Your Highness, there is no need to be angry, and there is no need to be angry with such a villain. Fortunately, you were prepared in advance and had a hand in advance. When the royal family left the imperial capital, Your Highness specially found someone to disguise himself as Zhao Jing. He pretended to be frightened, collided with the guard of honor, and was scolded by you with twenty military sticks in public. All the ministers of the DPRK and China who came to see you off saw it with their own eyes, which is enough to prove that Zhao Jing did not attack at all. The time when the prince committed the crime. Therefore, he is not afraid of betraying him. We can definitely say that Zhao Jing was kidnapped by the Xuanjia Army later. After being beaten, he deliberately framed and framed His Highness in order to save his life. "
Li Kuang nodded proudly: "Huh, if you want to play with me, they are still far away. The only trouble is the four hundred soldiers brought by Zhao Jing. We must find a way to solve them as soon as possible."
Xiao Shao said: "Your Highness, please rest assured. The four hundred soldiers are all our secretly trained troops. On the surface, they have nothing to do with the palace. In addition, Captain Zhechong of Yanshi Palace happens to be the sworn brother of the princess's younger brother Luo Linyuan. He has already defected to the palace." Our sect. As soon as Wei Chen got the news, he immediately asked General Luo to go to Yanshi in person. By then, all it would take is an unexpected fire to shut all the mouths."
"Okay, that's great!" Li Kuang put his hands on his hands and laughed: "Thank you for your hard work, Lao Xiao, you did this beautifully!"
When Xiao Shao received the compliment from the King of Huaiyang, he immediately beamed with joy and said flatteringly: "This is all a great blessing from your highness. As long as the imperial court and the East Palace fight together, we can sit back and watch the tiger, and the fishermen will benefit!"
Li Kuang felt happy when he heard this. He laughed a few times and then ordered: "Old Xiao, I think it is not suitable to stay here for a long time. Those two guys Lao Jianhua and Di Xian are not kind to Xie Guang, and they are not good to me." Why not? Just now, Di Xian planned to deceive me and promised to let his people replace our guards. He really had ulterior motives. So, you go contact the leader of the Jinhe Gang quickly, and I will secretly move to their territory tonight Go up, and the guards are still on guard here, everything is as usual. I want to see what kind of medicine Lao Jianhua and the others are selling in the gourd? "
-
Murong Xue took advantage of Xie Guang and others' absence to bring up the matter of King Huaiyang again, hoping to persuade Prince Li Bing to change his mind.
After the discussion ended yesterday, Murong Xue has been feeling uneasy about the measures taken so far. Although he could understand Li Bing's embarrassment, concealing such a major event as the assassination of King Huaiyang was a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. If investigated afterwards, no one would be able to escape his involvement.
Moreover, doesn't such a secretive approach just prove that the prince is a serious suspect in this matter?
Why bother to cause this shame for no reason?
Li Bing actually understood what was wrong with this move, but he could do nothing about it.
If he refuses to report, once the emperor and his uncle are investigated, he will definitely be blamed; however, if the report is made truthfully, the imperial court will definitely send the Three Law Division to investigate the case. According to the law, he and Xie Guang will naturally be temporarily deprived of all their rights.
The so-called lesser of two evils.
Li Bing thought about it and felt that it was better to keep the matter under wraps and investigate as soon as possible. If he can prove his innocence, the court investigation will not take away his power to supervise the country and Xie Guang's military power, and everything can remain as it is.
Otherwise, according to his judgment of Xie Guang, that guy would definitely choose to fall out with the court again and directly rebel in order to keep the Xuanjia Army in his hands.
But this time it was completely different from the original "Imperial Capital Incident". The King of Huaiyang, Li Kuang, was a member of the royal family, and he died in an unexplained death on his territory. If he and Xie Guang launched a mutiny because they resisted the imperial investigation, they would be immediately convicted of the crime of treason, and the Holy Cult Covenant would also Invalid immediately.
At that time, looking at the whole world, only ghosts are willing to stand up and support him.
Because of this, in order to avoid the worst situation, Li Bing refused to nod no matter how much Murong Xue tried to persuade him.
He pondered for a long time and sighed: "Murong Xue, I understand all the principles you said, but I can't do anything about it. Instead of trying to persuade me to report to the imperial capital, it is better to use my brain quickly to find out the real culprit behind the scenes. So that Taifu Xie and I can stay out of the matter. I wonder if you have thought carefully about the assassination of King Huaiyang, and there are two people who are very suspicious."
Murong Xue frowned: "Who does Your Highness suspect? Xie Guang?"
Li Bing shook his head: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. Killing Li Kuang will not do any good to the Taifu. When the palace is attacked, he will of course take the opportunity to launch an attack. The purpose is to exchange for some benefits. Therefore, the target of the attack is the imperial court. , not Li Kuang. After all, Xie Guang is not that stupid."
"That's true." Murong Xue agreed: "Although Xie Guang was angry before, he didn't mess up. His plan to detain King Huaiyang under house arrest was actually just to threaten the imperial capital."
Li Bing nodded slightly: "That's right. Therefore, the two people I mentioned do not include Taifu Xie. Murong Xue, do you know Shen Lie?"
Murong Xue's heart skipped a beat and she quickly responded: "When we were in the imperial capital, I had dealt with him, and we are... familiar with him."
Li Bing glanced at Murong Xue meaningfully: "So, do you think this was done by Ni Linsi?"
"Probably not," Murong Xue replied carefully: "Your Highness, although Shen Lie's methods are a bit ruthless, based on my understanding of him, Ni Lin Changshi still acts in a measured manner. To attack the royal family, unless Obtaining the emperor's will is absolutely impossible otherwise. Besides, he is in a similar situation to Xie Guang, so there is no benefit in doing so."
Li Bing was silent for a moment and nodded gently: "Well, there is some truth, but it is still not enough to prove Shen Lie's innocence. Let's not talk about him for now and talk about another person."
Murong Xue was a little curious: "Excuse me for being stupid. I really can't guess who else wants to kill King Huaiyang?"
Li Bing sneered: "Tell me, could it be the King of Huaiyang himself?"
