The second thing Li Jiangyao has to do is to try to find out the communication channels and common methods between Wei Zixuan and the Cheng family.
In order to avoid suspicion, and also to hide all his future conspiracies, Wei Zixuan, who is Shangshu Zuopushe, will definitely not contact Cheng Dong, Cheng Wen and the others directly. In this case, he must find a middleman to secretly help the two parties pass the news or reach an agreement.
This middleman will probably become the channel for handing over Lian Ji in the future.
Therefore, it is crucial to find him.
The task of finding out the middlemen is left to the Imperial City Branch of the Zhenjiang Army Intelligence Department. They are familiar with the people here and have many spies. As long as they monitor closely and analyze well, it should not be difficult to complete.
There is another thing that needs to be prepared in advance, and that is how to deal with the aftermath once Lian Ji is successfully rescued.
To be honest, Lian Ji had assassinated a high-ranking member of the imperial court after all, and she was carrying the blame, so she shouldn't have deliberately covered it up. However, firstly, her poor background made Li Jiangyao feel compassion. Secondly, she was also a powerful witness to Lao Jianhua's conspiracy to rebel, and she was relatively familiar with the other party's details, so she might be of great use in the future.
Therefore, it is also a choice that Li Jiangyao has to make to temporarily save Lian Ji and prevent her from becoming a victim of the rebels.
The question is, how to protect her next.
If the matter has been kept secret, then through the Intelligence Department and the White Robe Army, Lian Ji can be snatched back early, and it will be easier to deal with later. But if during this process, the Zhenguo Government or the Imperial Court's Third Law Department accidentally intervene, things will become a little difficult to handle.
Li Jiangyao is not afraid of what the court does or what the emperor does, but this matter is somewhat unreasonable. Once it is put on the table, it will easily be discussed by the government and the public, which will be detrimental to the entire Xinjiang Army.
Regarding this problem, he quickly came up with two plans, informing Princess Li Xi of Fenyang and Murong Xue who was far away on the front line respectively, so that they could make corresponding preparations.
After everything was arranged one by one, Li Jiangyao changed into the official uniform of a third-grade military general, ordered the white-robed troops to get into position, and lined up to the Buzhengfang. He wanted to visit the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion again.
Cheng Dong happened to be at home at this time. He received the news that the guardian had arrived and hurriedly walked out to greet him. When he saw the heavily armed and majestic white-robed army and cavalry, and then looked at Li Jiangyao's official purple robe and jade belt, Cheng Dong couldn't help but trembled in his heart:
The other party's posture may have bad intentions.
"The Protector-General's visit to our mansion has brought glory to our humble abode. Cheng Dong has missed his welcome from afar, so please forgive me."
Li Jiangyao jumped off his horse in a graceful manner and said with a smile: "I've taken the liberty to come to the door. It's fine if you don't blame me for being rude."
Cheng Dong quickly said a few polite words and immediately led Li Jiangyao into the house. The two of them walked side by side to the main reception hall and sat down one after another.
Cheng Dong waited for his servants to serve refreshments and asked with a smile: "Daduhu, I heard that after you met with the emperor, you were originally going to return to the front line. What? You haven't left yet?"
"Suddenly something got stuck," Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "The trip has been temporarily postponed. I estimate that I will have to stay in the imperial capital for a few days."
Cheng Dong nodded thoughtfully and said seriously: "Is there anything you need Cheng Dong's help for? The Protector must not go outside. If you have anything to do, just ask."
Li Jiangyao did not comment on this, but asked: "By the way, what happened to your sister's election of the queen?"
Cheng Dong was stunned for a moment, and then responded: "Well... isn't this something that happened with the two empresses, Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui? I heard that the court is still waiting for the Emperor's Holy Judgment. Only after a conclusion is reached, can there be a public discussion. . The Great Protector should know these things, right?"
The meaning of the other party's words was very clear: Wasn't it you who caused the farce in the court a few days ago? Now I still ask questions knowingly.
Li Jiangyao smiled narrowly and shook his head: "I really don't know very well. Young Master, to be honest, Li has always been unwilling to get involved in the post-election public discussion. Last time, it was just because he couldn't understand that some people wanted to just With my hands covering the sky, I couldn’t help but say a few words of justice.”
Cheng Dong, of course, knew who he was referring to, and said with an apologetic smile: "That's true. The rules of the court cannot be relaxed for a moment, and no matter who you are, you must act in accordance with the law."
No one can be offended by this ambiguous comment, which can be described as extremely smooth.
Li Jiangyao glanced at Cheng Dong meaningfully and suddenly asked: "Young Master, how is your relationship with the Left Prime Minister?"
"Um...I wonder what the friendship that the Protector-General refers to?" Cheng Dong was unsure of Li Jiangyao's intentions, so he could only delay it for a while while secretly thinking about how to respond.
Li Jiangyao smiled and said: "Friendship is friendship, what else can it mean?"
Cheng Dong covered up his embarrassment with a smile and responded: "I remember that Mr. Wei had dealt with my father when he was serving in the Taifu. First, my father was still serving as the chief manager of Huainan Road at that time. Therefore, it is indispensable to deal with the officials of the Taifu regarding tax matters; both of them, the money and salary rewards given by the imperial court to the Zhenguo Duke's office are also under the jurisdiction of the Taifu."
"What about you personally?" Li Jiangyao asked, "Are you familiar with Wei Zixuan?"
Cheng Dong hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "We can be considered acquaintances. Before the Turks invaded, we were all poetry friends of the Chang'an Poetry Society, and we occasionally drank and composed poems together. But at such gatherings, every time the participants There are many of them, so there is a lot of overlap.”
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly: "This time my sister was selected for the post-secondary position, the left prime minister must have helped a lot, right?"
Cheng Dong smiled calmly: "Master Wei is indeed one of the recommenders. To be honest, our whole family is very surprised by this."
Li Jiangyao ignored his explanation, and his tone suddenly became very solemn: "Young Master, I am a soldier. I like to be straightforward in everything I say and do. I say whatever I think and never beat around the bush. Please don't take it off."
Hearing this, Cheng Dong quickly raised his hands and said, "Please give me some advice, I'm all ears."
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly and said with a serious expression: "Let me tell you this, Wei Zixuan and I, as well as Murong Xue and Xu Youchang, have become incompatible with each other. If we go on, we will eventually end up with him and me, without me. His situation. If the young prince is willing to stand with Wei Zixuan and become the enemy of our three brothers, then Li can only express regret."
This move was like a frontal penetration tactic on the battlefield, which shocked Cheng Dong. He reacted and quickly waved his hands and said, "What are you talking about, the protector? Our Zhenguo Palace will never go with Wei Zixuan to fight with you." We are enemies. Cheng Dong has no official position in the court. Even if my sister is lucky enough to become the queen, we will still respect the achievements of the Grand Protector, General Murong and General Xu, and we will never offend Huwei."
Li Jiangyao smiled: "That's good. What I just mentioned is the first one, and there is a second one to tell you later. You know, our three brothers, together with Xie Guang, the rebel thief back then, and Lao Jianhua, the current rebel thief , it can be said that the forces are at odds. And Mr. Cheng, the Duke of Zhenguo, was conspired to death by Lao Jianhua. From this point of view, the Young Master should be like us and hate the Jiangnan rebels and Lao Jianhua very much, right? "
"Of course!" Cheng Dong said word by word: "Xie Guang's nephew Xie Biao, in order to seize the military power of the Long Sword Legion, cooperated with the assassins sent by Lao Jianhua, and killed my father. This great enemy, The Cheng family will never forget it!"
Li Jiangyao stared into the other person's eyes and said in a deep voice: "If I told you that Wei Zixuan secretly colluded with Lao Jianhua, or was even a traitor planted by Lao Jianhua, how would you react?"
Cheng Dongteng suddenly jumped up from his seat: "No way?! Protector, you can't talk nonsense!"
Li Jiangyao hugged his shoulders calmly: "What? You don't want to believe it, or you just don't believe it?"
Cheng Dong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head: "This doesn't make sense. Wei Zixuan is now serving as Minister Zuopushe, and he is a very popular minister. What reason does he have to join the rebels who are declining?"
"He didn't defect to the rebels just now, but rebelled long ago." Li Jiangyao sneered: "This may also be a big advantage for him, and he has to continue to work for Lao Jianhua."
Cheng Dong looked at Li Jiangyao in disbelief and waited for a while before asking: "Does the Protector-General have real evidence?"
Li Jiangyao shook his head gently: "If I had evidence, why would I tell you? The white-robed army had already bulldozed Zuo Xiang's Mansion."
Hearing this, Cheng Dong took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Protector, it's not that I don't want to believe you. This matter is too unbelievable, and I'm afraid it would be difficult for anyone else to accept it. You have no ironclad evidence, so Cheng Dong has to be suspicious. , the so-called traitor may just be... a tactic used to fight in court and frame opponents."
Unexpectedly, Li Jiangyao was not angry after hearing this, but said with satisfaction: "You have the courage to speak so bluntly to me, which makes me feel more relieved. Young Master, is Wei Zixuan a traitor? To you, to the court, and to the emperor." To put it bluntly, mountains of ironclad evidence are indeed needed to implement it. And I am not forcing you to believe this matter today, nor do I mean to frame or slander him. Li just hopes that before the dust settles, the Cheng family will not believe Wei Zixuan's words. Don’t even get involved in the struggle, because once we let go of the traitorous traitor, it will be a thunderous and indiscriminate attack!”
A thunderous indiscriminate strike!
This sentence came from the mouth of the Commander-in-Chief of the Zhenjiang Army. It was so heavy that even Emperor Li Bing couldn't help but feel nervous after hearing it.
This is a stern warning from the Zhenjiang Army, the Qinglong Army, and even the Shengtang Navy. The power of thunder it represents is enough to crush everything in the world!
The meaning of indiscriminate strikes is better understood: all forces involved with Wei Zixuan, no matter who they are, no matter how prominent their status is, no matter how many rich connections are entangled behind them, will become targets of the military. And it is very likely to be uprooted without mercy!
This is not a false threat, but a cruel reality.
Cheng Dong was stunned for more than a dozen times before he came back to his senses. He raised his hands in fear and said, "I have kept all the reminders from the Protector in mind, and I will never act recklessly."
