The night banquet in Qi Mansion didn't last too long.
Because of Zhongli Ruoshui's illness, the atmosphere at the night banquet was not very relaxed and cheerful.
Of course Duke Qi knew that Mrs. Fan must have asked the emperor for medicine, but since Zhongli Ruoshui was still in danger, it was obvious that the emperor did not give the medicine.
This illustrates a problem——
Today's Dingguohou Mansion is comparable to the Shangchehou Mansion back then. Perhaps Jitai's slander aroused the emperor's suspicion.
But this is not impossible.
The emperor loves the eldest son who has been missing for twenty years and loves the house as much as the bird. Then the emperor definitely does not want to see the eldest son of the emperor grieve because of the death of his lover, or even leave again.
So after the dinner was over and they bid farewell to Li Chenan and Zhongli Ruoshui, Qi Guogong and Cheng Guogong drank tea for a long time.
Chatted about a topic:
"...Do you think this child is similar to Queen Lu?"
Cheng Guogong grinned: "You old guy, are you still doubting? That boy is very similar to Queen Lu!"
Duke Guo of Qi pondered for a moment, "It would be a lie to say that I have no doubts. What happened is too strange."
"In addition, this kind of thing should be evidenced by tokens, even if what happened that night in the winter of the third year of Zhaohua was very sudden... Think about it, after the emperor's eldest son was born, he should have a golden book and a jade plate!"
"Even if the golden book and jade plate cannot be taken away, he should still wear a jade pendant with a cloud pattern!"
"Ten thousand steps back, the emperor's eldest son will be one month old at that time, and the clothes he is wearing are not ordinary people's clothes. They should have the royal seal!"
"Li Chunfu took the child away. In order to prove the child's identity in the future, he will leave evidence no matter what..."
When Qi Guogong said this, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Cheng Guogong:
"So, you went to Guangling City in March this year just to see him?"
Cheng Guogong's long gray eyebrows raised slightly:
"You old guy seems to be still confused. I went to Guangling City for two things."
Cheng Guogong picked up the tea cup and took a sip. His expression became serious. He also looked into Qi Guogong's expectant eyes:
"First, discuss with Zhongli Su and let Zhongli Qiuyang prepare to take over the post of admiral of the Guangling Navy!"
"The Guangling Navy is extremely important. It can reach Kyoto at the top and the Yangtze River estuary at the bottom."
"The second thing is to visit Mr. Chunfu's grave."
Duke Guo of Qi was startled, "I can still understand this. I heard that your granddaughter Princess Yunchen also went to Linshui Port. This is a good thing."
"But shouldn't you go and have a look inside the Li Mansion in Guangling City? What are you going to see in front of Li Chunfu's grave?"
"See if there is a big-leaf banyan tree planted in front of his grave."
"……Yes or no?"
Cheng Guogong shook his head, "No, there is nothing except green grass and red flowers."
Duke Qi leaned back slightly and pondered for a long time, "So... Li Chenan is not the eldest son of the emperor?!"
Cheng Guogong stroked his long beard:
"But he is indeed very similar to Queen Lu!"
"Besides, the broken tree doesn't explain the problem. Don't we have a lot of big-leafed banyan trees in Kyoto?"
"Besides... does it matter whether he is the eldest son of Emperor Ning Guo now?"
"The important thing is that you, me, Mrs. Fan, the grandson Jinghong, and even the emperor, we all think that he is the emperor's eldest son, that's enough!"
"In addition, everyone in Ji Tai's family believes that he is the eldest son of the emperor, which is enough!"
"..." Qi Guogong was speechless.
"How many things have you, old man, hidden from me?"
Cheng Guogong grinned: "I don't hide anything from you. It's you, old man, who thinks too much!"
"But this involves the inheritance of the throne after all!"
"The Emperor is not in a hurry, why are you, this old guy, so anxious? Besides...I have not denied that he is the eldest son of the Emperor without a single word!"
After saying this, Cheng Guogong stood up, looked out the window at the night, and listened to the gurgling water of the Jade Belt River.
"Do you still remember Wei San?"
"The old eunuch next to Queen Lu?"
"Well, I died. I died on the Mid-Autumn Festival night."
"Do you still remember Sun Tiexian?"
Qi Guogong was stunned again: "Dr. Sun, the chief physician of the Imperial Hospital back then?"
"Well, he died too, and he also died on the Mid-Autumn Night."
Duke Cheng Guo walked towards the door, "Wei San is dead, Sun Tiexian is dead, and Li Chunfu died long ago... Therefore, it is difficult to find evidence for this matter."
"So, just because Li Chenan is sixty-nine similar to Queen Lu, he must be the eldest son of the emperor!"
…
…
Yihong Building.
Liang Manman finally sent the third prince Ning Zhiyuan out of the building.
She felt a little disappointed because the third prince said that he invited Li Chenan to come tonight, but he didn't come.
She was originally worried that the third prince would be angry, but unexpectedly, the third prince did not show the slightest anger on his face after waiting all night.
He drinks alone.
Drink a lot of wine.
When leaving, not only was he given an extra hundred taels of silver, but he also said something -
"Actually, I'm just curious about the sixteenth poem that my eldest brother composed on the Mid-Autumn Festival night."
In fact, Liang Manman also wanted to know what the sixteenth poem was like.
She returned to the small building that belonged to her near the Yudai River in the backyard of Yihong Building.
A lamp was lit.
Only then did I suddenly realize that there was a person sitting in the room——
Yang Sixian!
She looked at Yang Sixian, but was not surprised. Instead, she sat opposite Yang Sixian with a lamp in her hand, and suddenly asked:
"Is he really the eldest son of the emperor?"
Yang Sixian bowed his hands and said, "I went to Guangling City in June, and I visited the Li Mansion!"
"His mother's name is Ding Xiao'e...she is Queen Lu's personal maid!"
"Of course, she wasn't called this name before, but...Siqin!"
"My subordinate also asked Huo Chuan of the Huo family to take Li Chenan's household registration. The reason is that Li Chenan was the helmsman of the Fish and Dragon Society at the time. I need to know more about Li Chenan."
"The household registration shows that Li Chenan was born on the 13th day of the winter lunar month in the fifth year of Zhaohua, and he was about to turn 18... There is only a year difference between the birth time of the emperor's eldest son!"
Liang Manman frowned, "This alliance leader never gave you this task!"
"Return to the alliance leader, Jitai has given it to me."
"...So Ji Tai also knew that he was the eldest son of the emperor?"
"No, my subordinate didn't tell Ji Tai the truth."
"Why?"
"The White Clothes Alliance has enmity with the Imperial City Division, but not with the royal family. Besides...it would be a pity if Queen Lu's only son was killed by Ji Tai!"
Liang Manman pondered for a moment, "But on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I asked you to send him to the Tenth Bridge, but you had someone send him to the residence of the Second Prince of the Twelfth Bridge. Why is this?!"
"Back to the leader, because his identity has actually been revealed, but his subordinates can't lose Ji Tai's trust yet... Therefore, he was sent to the second prince's residence. One is not to arouse Ji Tai's suspicion of his subordinates, and the other is to not arouse Ji Tai's suspicion of his subordinates. Two...since he dared to attack the headquarters of the Fish and Dragon Society at night, he should have the ability to retreat unscathed from the Second Prince."
Liang Manman looked at Yang Sixian suspiciously, "Now that he has become the deputy director of the Imperial City Division, tell me what the White Clothes Alliance should do next?!"
At this moment, the door creaked open again.
An old man came in.
Liang Manman was startled and suddenly stood up, with incredible joy on his face——
"grandfather!"
"Where have you been in the past three years?"
The old man who came in was exactly the old man that the Imperial City Division had been looking for when Li Chenan released him from the Yulonghui Water Prison on the Mid-Autumn Festival night.
The Imperial City Secretary said that his name was Liang Shukang.
In fact, his name is Liang Shukang.
"Hide that old Sun Jinghong...granddaughter, next, the White Clothes Alliance should go all out to kill Li Chenan!"
