Xie Cang listened to Su Qi'an's words and turned his head to look out the window. Although the room was dark, there was some light outside. He didn't know what Xie Cang was thinking.
He said softly, "Brother Su, I can understand your caution, but this Dongshan Marquis Mansion is also your territory after all. The people here have been clearly investigated by Tong Zhan and Su Yong, but you But we remain vigilant against them. Could it be that there is an insider among these people?"
In the darkness, Su Qi'an's voice came, "Even if the review is clear, don't forget that this is Kyoto City after all. The emperor is under the feet, not one of our own, so it's better to be careful."
"Well, Brother Su is right, so what are Brother Su's plans next?"
"Then naturally we will start the plan we are preparing. Whether we can leave Kyoto City smoothly this time depends on how prepared you and the teacher are, Brother Xie."
Su Qi'an sat up. The faint light from the window shone on Su Qi'an's face, and a playful expression appeared on her face.
Su Qi'an returned to the Dongshan Marquis Mansion. This trip lasted three days. He did not leave the house for three whole days, and the news about Su Qi'an entering the imperial city for a banquet that night spread.
When the people in the city heard about this, they were all amazed. What surprised them was not that Su Qian was so drunk, but that he was able to resolve his grievances with the powerful courtiers who had grievances at the banquet.
This was quite difficult. The reason why it was resolved and the news spread was mainly due to Zheng Yuan's generosity, saying that personal grudges could be put aside in front of foreigners.
It was this sentence that invisibly raised Zheng Yuan's reputation to a higher level.
Many people admire Zheng Yuan's generosity.
"No wonder Zheng Guogong was able to take the position of prime minister. Now it seems that it is not unreasonable."
"No, I heard that the banquet that night was precisely because of Zheng Zaifu's personal appearance, which led other courtiers to resolve their grievances with Dongshan Hou. Zheng Zaifu's move was really admirable."
"That's right, Dongshan Hou and all the courtiers have reached a reconciliation and have reached an agreement with the outside world. I think the dispatch of troops this time will most likely be successful. We will just look forward to the day when Dongshan Hou sends troops and see him off."
Many people agreed and echoed their words. Except for a group of court officials, the people of Kyoto City did not know about Su Qi'an and Su Xuanyong's secret conversation and secret departure.
Many people were looking forward to seeing off Su Qian's troops and leaving Kyoto with great fanfare.
At this time, on the outskirts of Kyoto City, there was a top floor of a restaurant that could overlook half of the surrounding area.
Zheng Yuan, Zhao Cheng, and Sima Yue were sitting in a private room. Outside the private room, there was a group of guards wearing ordinary people's clothes walking around to protect the safety of the three people.
The three of them sat in the private room, drinking tea quietly without saying a word, while outside the window, bursts of noise could be heard from time to time.
You don't have to listen carefully to these noises to probably know what they are discussing. They are all about Su Qi'an's banquet in the imperial city that night.
After a moment of silence in the private room, Sima Yue spoke up. He smiled and said, "Haha, Zaifu's move is really wonderful. A simple banquet not only improved the outside world's attitude towards us, but also improved my Such a reputation, this move is really high."
"To be honest, what you did that night, Zaifu, really shocked us. I thought that Zaifu really planned to shake hands with Su Qi'an and make peace. I guess even Su Qi'an would be convinced by your acting skills."
"That would be great, but this person is Su Qian, and it's not that easy to deceive him."
Zheng Yuan did not take advantage of Sima Yue's compliments, he shook his head and said softly.
"That's right, old man Sima, Su Qian is not as simple as you think. There is no guarantee that he can be defeated until the last moment. I advise you to be cautious and be careful of capsizing."
Zhao Cheng on the side also silently reminded.
Compared to Sima Yue who was not familiar with Su Qi'an, Zheng Yuan and Zhao Cheng were very familiar with Su Qi'an and were truly old rivals.
He was able to defeat two state pastors one after another, and gained His Majesty's favor. He was willing to become His Majesty's pawn to fight against them, and now he has almost defeated the Ninth Princess. Such a person is very threatening and powerful.
If Su Qian really believed what he said
Reconciliation is not the Dongshan Hou he knows.
From the contact that night, Zheng Yuan knew very well that although he repeatedly expressed his goodwill and made many insidious remarks in the middle, he was perfectly followed by Su Qi'an.
That night, it seemed that Su Qi'an was talking to him, and there were flaws in what he said, but after careful consideration, there were no big flaws, and in the end, Su Qi'an was sent away.
Zheng Yuan had an idea in his mind. He was not drunk, but did it deliberately to cooperate with them in this play.
And according to the report of the coachman he arranged, Su Qi'an's return home was normal. He was just a drunkard. But the more he looked like this, the more Zheng Yuan was sure that Su Qi'an was not drunk that night.
Debating whether to be drunk or not is not the point. It is to test how prepared this person is. Now it seems that he is quite prepared.
Of course, Su Qi'an was prepared, and so were they. From Su Qi'an's arrival in Beijing, to the martial arts competitions and literary fights at the back, to the two verbal battles with courtiers, Zheng Yuan was silently observing as a man behind the scenes.
The purpose is to find Su Qi'an's flaws and formulate appropriate means to deal with him.
He has been waiting for so long, and is almost ready. The next step is to see how Su Qian takes the move.
While the three of them were talking, at this moment, a guard came in outside the private room, saluted to the three of them, and whispered.
"Lord Zaifu, according to the spies' report, Dongshan Hou rested in the mansion for three days after returning to the palace. Half an hour ago, he took a carriage to the Hanlin Academy. He said that before leaving, he wanted to pay a visit to the master."
"Did he go alone?" Zhao Cheng asked.
"No, there is a team of entourage guarding us. It looks like the formation is quite large." The guard shook his head.
"Is there any other news?" Zheng Yuan asked.
"Back to Sir Zaifu, the Dongshan Army and the Split Mountain Army stationed on the outskirts of Kyoto seem to be mobilizing and gathering. My subordinates have not investigated the news clearly and are not sure whether it is true or not."
"Well, I understand, go down." Zheng Yuan said softly.
The guard nodded, turned and left. As the guard left, Zheng Yuan looked at Zhao Cheng and Sima Yuedao.
"Tell me, what is Dongshan Hou's trick?"
Zhao Cheng pondered for a while and said softly, "If there hadn't been the true or false news later, when Su Qi'an went to visit Wen Xuan, I would have thought that he was stalling for time, and he might have appeared in major major schools in Kyoto City as before. Restaurant, taste delicious food."
"But if it is confirmed that the Dongshan Army and the Split Mountain Army on the outskirts of the city are mobilizing, it means that Su Qian is about to take action. His public visit is probably for the people of Kyoto and us to see."
"After all our attention was attracted, he started his plan to conceal the truth."
"I think Zhao Guogong is right. He keeps it secret from the public and still acts with great momentum, so that the people in the city become his cover. When all eyes are attracted, he can sneak away in troubled waters. This is a wonderful way to hide the truth. "
"I suggest that before Su Qi'an takes action, we should immediately insert spies into the crowd and replace all the guards at each city gate with our own people. Even if Su Qi'an is a monkey, there is no way he can escape with all our preparations."
Zheng Yuan agreed with their proposal, but his eyes flickered as if he wanted to say something, but he hesitated.
Sima Yue said, "What's wrong, Zheng Zaifu, could you see that Su Qi'an has other plans?"
Zheng Yuan shook his head, "That's not true. It's probably because I'm overthinking it. It doesn't matter. Even if Su Qi'an has a backup plan and escapes Kyoto, there will be some people waiting for him outside Kyoto."
"These people hate Su Qi'an deeply, and what we have to do is to find out Su Qi'an's whereabouts. As for what happens after leaving Kyoto City, we can just watch the show."
The two of them naturally knew the group of people Zheng Yuan was referring to. It was precisely because of this group of people that they were confident of taking action against Su Qi'an. To be more precise, they were providing information on their whereabouts, and as for taking action, they had nothing to do with them.
Even if they were to investigate afterwards, they wouldn't be able to be traced, because this group of people was not something they could mobilize, but the two princes went to discuss it in person.
With the two princes coming forward, a consensus was naturally reached smoothly.
Knowing, so there is a high chance of pursuing Su Qian this time.
They only used words like this, and finally hired a free thug, but they couldn't be traced afterwards. For such a good thing, Zheng Yuan and the others naturally spared no effort.
While the three of them were talking, Sima Yue seemed to have thought of something and asked.
"Lord Zaifu, do you think we should reveal some information to the people in Dongzhou? If Su Qi'an goes, it will definitely bring great changes to Dongzhou. If Dongzhou is really pacified, we are not afraid of being implicated. We are just afraid. If those two are found, Your Majesty will probably..."
Despite Sima Yue's worries, Zheng Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, we don't need to worry about this matter. Even if Su Qi'an stirs up chaos in Dongzhou, it won't affect the two princes."
"The two princes had already sent people to Dongzhou in advance when Su Qi'an had his first verbal battle with the courtiers. Think about it, those guys in Dongzhou have almost shut their mouths at this time."
"After enjoying the benefits of the two princes for so many years, it's time to set an example and sacrifice yourself to save the family. This deal is still a good deal."
Zheng Yuan's voice was very soft, and there was a bit of a smile on his face, but it was this smile that made Sima Yue, who had seen strong winds and waves, feel panicked.
What shocked him was not the premeditated ruthlessness of the two princes. He was also at this age, and he could be afraid of the position of a first-class prince. He had never seen any darkness.
What shocked him was that the person Zheng Yuan mentioned was the one who could be chosen by the two princes to take the blame. He had a very important position.
Thinking about the location of Dongzhou, Sima Yue quickly thought of a person. It would be really worthwhile for this person to take the blame.
But if the two princes really did this to this man, they wouldn't be called cruel, but a little bit crazy.
If they really do this, it can only be said that the two princes will attack the position of imperial power in advance, and the struggle between the two will begin in advance.
