The news that Cheng Xi returned from the army to the Zhenguo Palace was immediately delivered to Li Jiangyao. According to the analysis of the Intelligence Department, Cheng Xi is likely to be the liaison between Wei Zixuan and the Cheng family, or in other words, an important link in the liaison process.
He has been serving in the White Tiger Legion for a long time and rarely participates in family affairs. He occasionally goes home to visit his mother, and no one would be surprised to see him. Even if I don't have time to go home, it is still normal for me to send my soldiers to and from the Zhenguo Palace.
Cheng Xi's boss, General Gong Chengze of the White Tiger Army, happens to be the core figure of Wei Zixuan's faction.
Li Jiangyao asked in a deep voice: "Did Cheng Xi do anything unusual?"
Shi Feng cupped his hands and responded: "Report to the Protector-General that Cheng Xi returned home immediately after receiving the order from the White Tiger Army to cancel the eastward advance. There was nothing abnormal during the process. However, we suspect that he should know about Miss Lian Ji. .”
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly when he heard the words: "I agree with your judgment. Among the entire Zhenguo Palace, the one who has the closest relationship with Wei Zixuan's family is the second young master Cheng Xi. He probably went to see Cheng Dong with the news about Lian Ji. .”
"Daduhu, you made a special trip to meet with their young prince this morning. Can Cheng Dong understand the situation clearly?" Shi Feng asked worriedly.
"I think it's hard." Li Jiangyao said lightly: "Cheng Dong may be afraid of the strength in our hands, but he is not the one who can make the decision in the Cheng family. Both Cheng Xi and Cheng Wen have reasons to completely turn to Wei Zixuan, go against us."
Shi Feng was a little confused: "Then why are you looking for him?"
Li Jiangyao smiled and said: "It may be useful to play a casual game and bury a conflict in the future. I will create differences and rifts between Cheng Dong and his younger brothers and sisters, so as to prevent the entire Cheng family from targeting us without any scruples. You know, In the court, the power of the Zhenguo Duke and the nobles behind him are still very scary, and they must be worried."
Shi Feng nodded sincerely and thought: "Dadu Protector, do you want Princess Fenyang to help?"
Li Jiangyao thought for a while and asked, "You have worked with the Seventh Princess for a while. What do you think of this person?"
"She is a ruthless character," Shi Feng replied: "Li Xi is different from ordinary royal ladies. She is ambitious, courageous, and quick-thinking, and sometimes she doesn't even care about the bottom line. Such a person, in her own camp, Fortunately, if you are an enemy, it will be a bit of a headache."
Li Jiangyao smiled: "What you said is quite appropriate. However, I don't plan to alarm Lian Ji for the time being. I will talk about it when necessary."
Shi Feng agreed and resigned.
Li Jiangyuan picked up the tea cup and made some calculations while drinking: It has been a few days since Lianji was kidnapped by the other party. If Lao Jianhua and Wei Zixuan planned to use her to win over the Cheng family, they should have brought her and hid her in the imperial capital at this time. nearby. There is a high probability that they will wait for Cheng Wen to be selected as the queen before dedicating Lian Ji to her.
At that time, if Li Jiangyao comes forward to protect and save people, he will inevitably have a head-on confrontation with the Queen, the Zhenguo Palace, and the traditional noble forces behind them, and this is what Lao Jianhua wants to see most.
Therefore, if you want to control the scope of the conflict to a minimum, avoid fierce conflicts within the Shengtang court over this matter, and give the Jiangnan rebels an opportunity to take advantage of it, you must quickly snatch Lian Ji back before there is a conclusion after the election.
According to the investigation and judgment of the Intelligence Department, the existing forces around Wei Zixuan did not directly participate in the Lanzhou operation. The person who attacked Lianji and was responsible for guarding her was the Huben Brigade sent by Lao Jianhua from Jiangnan.
Although these people have high martial arts skills, they are not familiar with the situation in the imperial capital, and they are not willing to expose Wei Zixuan's identity easily. Therefore, they definitely did not hide in the imperial capital, but chose a place not far from the city to temporarily hide and wait for Wei Zixuan to send them a handover. Lian Ji’s signal.
In other words, the key places to pay attention to should be outside the city. However, this range is too large. Spreading it out in any direction, such as east, west, north and south, is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
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Under the bright sun, the road leading to the imperial capital was busy with people and cars. A team of galloping horses marched at high speed, heading straight for the imperial capital without stopping.
"Madam, after traveling all night, are you okay? Do you want to stop for a while and take a rest?" the guard captain asked with concern.
Xiahou Ninghan, who was riding his horse at the front, was worried about Lian Ji's safety and had long forgotten about his hard work and exhaustion. She whipped her horsewhip hard and responded: "We'll be there in seven or eight miles. It won't be too late to rest after we enter the imperial capital!"
The guard captain knew that she was worried about Lian Ji, so he couldn't say anything more. He could only follow closely behind and urge his horse to run wildly.
In less than a meal, the cavalry arrived outside the imperial capital city. The white-robed army, which had been waiting here for a long time, saw the capital protector's wife and rushed forward to protect Xiahou Ninghan's smooth entry into the city. The group of people arrived at Hu's Mansion in Chengenfang without stopping.
Li Jiangyao came out of the house to welcome him, raised his hand to help Xiahou Ninghan get off his horse, and couldn't help but said distressedly: "You are fine in Xijiang, why bother to make this trip?"
"I am also responsible for Lianji's encounter with danger," Xiahou Ninghan said apologetically, "I failed to take good care of her, which caused you to be distracted."
Li Jiangyao smiled casually: "Look at what you said, how can it be that exaggerated? Firstly, Lian Ji fell into the enemy's trick by mistake, and it is not your responsibility; secondly, I have been fighting earth-shaking battles with internal and external enemies, and this is just one of them It’s just an interlude, don’t worry about it at all.”
"Have you figured out a way?" Xiahou Ninghan asked curiously as he walked.
"Absolutely," Li Jiangyao held her hand: "It's nothing more than the law of dealing with the enemy, which is blocked by soldiers and covered by water and soil. It never deviates from its original principles."
Xia Hou Ninghan said puzzledly: "Jiang Yao, you don't seem to be worried at all. You know, Lian Ji's own safety is in great danger. What's even more troublesome is that you have been sheltering and protecting her. Once the court gets a handle on it, , the crime can be big or small."
Li Jiangyao nodded: "Don't worry, you have a good rest first, and we will slowly discuss countermeasures."
The two came to the guest room in the side courtyard. Li Jiangyao first poured a cup of hot tea for Xia Hou Ninghan with his own hands, and then said softly: "You have lost weight. It must be very hard on the road."
Xiahou Ninghan smiled sweetly: "I am living a good life in Western Xinjiang, so I should have gained weight. But you, leading the army to fight, can't eat well or sleep well. This time I come, I don't plan to go back, just Stay with you."
Li Jiangyao smiled, then raised his hand to smooth Xia Hou Ninghan's hair: "She is still the same willful little girl as before."
Xia Hou Ninghan looked at Li Jiangyao quietly, as if he had returned to the beautiful time in the Flower Holy Land. In her mind, Li Jiangyao is not only a world-famous and unparalleled general, but also a person she deeply loves.
For him, he is willing to give everything.
"Have you received the previous letter?" Li Jiangyao's words brought Xiahou Ninghan back from his thoughts: "What do you think of the bloody massacre at Murong Xue and Li Xi's wedding?"
Xiahou Ninghan responded in a deep voice: "I agree with your judgment. Brother Shuxuan may have really escaped. Our assassination operation failed last time."
Li Jiangyao nodded without saying a word.
Xiahou Ninghan continued: "However, it would be unbelievable to say that the poisonous soldier assassin is the Turkic Khan Ashina Zhijin. There must be many things we don't know about it. Jiang Yao, I heard that the assassin is still The imperial court is in control and is using Senior Wu Rong’s antidote to detoxify him, what’s the situation now?”
"Li Bing attaches great importance to this matter," Li Jiangyao replied: "He neither handed it over to the Nilin Division, nor did he let the Dali Temple of the Ministry of Punishment take care of it, but a secret Forbidden Army force was in charge. Until now , we don’t know where the poison soldier assassin is being held, let alone whether he has regained consciousness.”
Xiahou Ninghan nodded slightly and analyzed: "If that person is really Ashina Zhijin, I'm worried that the emperor will have other plans for him."
Li Jiangyao asked curiously: "You have other plans? What do you mean?"
Xiahou Ninghan looked at each other: "Of course it's the west. Tanli and Hesijia returned to the Western Continent to compete with Gema Khan and other Turkic tribes for imperial power. Ashina Zhijin's influence is naturally self-evident. "
Hearing this, Li Jiangyao suddenly frowned: "I have never thought about this problem. If Ashina Zhijin died in the battle, Tanli and Hesijia would join forces to rule the entire Golden Clan. But if their father Khan had not died, the situation in the Turkic Empire would have become very complicated. Li Bing has both hatred and ambition towards the Turks. He might really use the so-called Ashi as you guessed. That person is plotting against the Western Continent."
"It is natural for Shengtang to counterattack the Turkic mainland. There will not be much opposition either in the court or among the people." Send an army to invade the Turkic Empire, forcing Hesijia and others to surrender. And in that case, the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang will definitely become the starting point of the Shengtang Dynasty's revenge."
Li Jiangyao sighed: "I hope it won't be like this. I originally thought that the rebellion would be put down earlier, the world would return to peace, and everyone would live a peaceful life. Whether it is Shengtang or Western Xinjiang, the people are really suffering. "
"The tree wants to be still but the wind doesn't stop," Xiahou Ninghan also sighed: "What you want is to relieve the people from hanging upside down as soon as possible, but some people think of great achievements."
Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "Well, let's not talk about these distant things for now. Let's talk about the current situation. My analysis is that Lian Ji was hidden near the imperial capital by the enemy, waiting for the queen to settle down, and then take it out as a A bargaining chip against us.”
With that said, he introduced the situation of Shangshu Zuopu shooting Wei Zixuan and Zhenguo Duke Cheng Wen to Xiahou Ninghan in detail. Xiahou Ninghan listened carefully and agreed: "You are right. The most critical issue now is the position of the queen. Once the Cheng family gets this opportunity, Lao Jianhua and the others will definitely launch an attack on you immediately."
