There was noisy everywhere in the capital, and chaos inside and outside the court hall. On the contrary, it was extremely quiet inside the Lu family.
Lu Chongyuan was much older, his hair was dyed frosty white, and his formerly straight back was stooped. Only his figure lacked the high-spiritedness he had when he was a junior high school student. He was sitting on the bed in his underwear, coughing lightly from time to time.
Lu Jiuan stretched out his hand to calm him down, and when he looked up, under that almost identical figure, there was another face.
"Master Sir, there is another spy in the house."
"For whom?"
"It should be Erlangjun. I take care of the master's illness and go out early every day and come back late every day. Occasionally, I will stay at Qingpu Courtyard. But Erlangjun's eyes in the courtyard have not retreated. If I hadn't been familiar with Erlangjun's words and deeds, I would have With the same body shape as him, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hide it for a long time.”
Lu Chongyuan stopped coughing in his throat, but his face was extremely pale. He took the handkerchief handed to him by the person in front of him and wiped his mouth before saying in a hoarse voice:
"Xiao Yan, that eunuch, really wants revenge. I have given in so much and not interfered in the affairs of the capital, but he still keeps an eye on the Lu family, and Jiu'an. Jiu'an only exposed a little bit in front of him that day. , he just clung to it like a mad dog."
He hated Xiao Yan very much, but he was also afraid that he was too sharp, like a mad dog that would bite him if he made even the slightest mistake.
Lu Chongyuan thought of his dead eldest son, his exiled second son, and the current depressed state of his family, and the itch that had just been suppressed in his throat resurfaced.
He covered his mouth and coughed heavily, and his back bent further.
"Master Lang!"
Xilin, who plays Lu Jiu'an, is a son of the Lu family. He was also taught by Lu Chongyuan along with Lu Jiu'an. He has been hiding in the dark for many years. He quickly stood up and wanted to ask the doctor to come over, but Lu Chongyuan reached out to hold him back. When Lu Chongyuan stopped coughing, , the originally clean brocade handkerchief has turned scarlet.
"Master Lang, you..." Xilin's eyes turned red.
Lu Chongyuan looked at the dazzling red in his hand, but his expression was calm: "Why are you acting like this? I won't die for a while."
He wiped the blood from his mouth, rolled up the veil and threw it aside.
"Xiao Yan is a cunning person. Since he is targeting Jiu'an, I'm afraid you won't be able to hide it from him for long. Has Jiu'an replied to the letter? How is the matter?"
Xilin quickly whispered: "Erlangjun has sent a message back, saying that he has contacted the people in the clan and reactivated the connections you gave him. There are many vassal kings who are dissatisfied with your Majesty's accession to the throne in recent years. Erlangjun Finally, King Pingshan was chosen.”
Lu Chongyuan heard this and murmured: "King Pingshan has military power in his hands. He is rough and arrogant, but full of ambition..."
Lu Jiu'an wants the throne, but it is not easy for the Lu family alone to do it. The family is now divided. Cui Lin and the others have chosen the second prince. If the Lu family reveals their feelings, they will definitely become the target of public criticism. They need to put a target in front of others.
Compared with other vassal kings who are too shrewd or deep-minded, King Hirayama, who is arrogant but shallow-minded, is indeed the best choice.
"But there is one thing that is a bit strange." Xilin said: "When Mr. Erlang went south to contact those old people, he found that two of them had an accident."
Lu Chongyuan was startled: "Accident?"
"Yes, one is Sima Lou Yong'an of Shezhou. One and a half months ago, he and his family encountered bandits when they were out of the city. The whole family fell off a cliff and died. The other is Zhou Jungui, the chief minister of Shezhou Dudu Mansion. About half a month ago, After drinking with someone, he slipped and fell into the water and drowned."
Xilin whispered: "The official positions of these two people were not too high, and they died in an accident. After the people from the state government office checked and there were no problems, they just casually reported it to the court and then replaced the person who took office. If it weren't for They are on the list that Master Lang gave to Erlang Jun, and I am afraid that the capital will never know that something happened to them."
Lu Chongyuan frowned. Ever since Lu Jiuan showed his ambition and even persuaded him to seek that position, he had given him all the contacts that the Lu family had developed over the years.
The people who could be recorded and kept on paper by him were all those who could ensure their loyalty to the Lu family and had a stake in the Lu family. Now that two people suddenly died, and they almost had an accident with their front and rear legs, Lu Chongyuan subconsciously I felt like there was a problem.
Lou Yongan.
Zhou Jungui...
He thought carefully about their identities and felt a little vague about them. He motioned to Xilin to help him up and walked directly to the back of the bed, which was a block away from the wall.
Lu Chongyuan stretched out his hand and groped on the wall for a moment, then heard a "click" sound, and the front wall bounced open, revealing the secret pavilion inside.
There are many books, boxes and other things placed in the secret cabinet.
Xilin stepped aside and lowered his eyes, not daring to look further. Lu Chongyuan reached out and rummaged inside for a long time before taking out a book and looking for the names of Lou Yong'an and the two of them.
When he found them after a while, Lu Chongyuan's heart skipped a beat when he saw the small handwriting on them.
These two people were actually the ones who surrendered to the Lu family during the floods in the Southland twenty years ago?
Lu Chongyuan's palm trembled, how could it be such a coincidence? !
He rubbed the names on the paper and looked at the mark behind the two names. Lou Yongan was the magistrate of Changxin County under the jurisdiction of Shezhou at that time. When Prince Li took an official ship to escort disaster relief grain and grass to the south, he suddenly sank at the mouth of the Changxin River. Yes, the person responsible for salvage and autopsy at that time was the person brought by Lou Yongan.
As for the other man named Zhou Jungui, he was a military commander in Shezhou Prefecture. He was responsible for clearing up the "rebels" in the South. He helped Emperor An, who was still the fifth prince at the time, to quell the chaos in the South and gained a great reputation. After suppressing the rebellion, He was promoted several ranks and entered the Governor's Mansion.
After the disaster relief, in addition to those who openly supported Emperor An and later became prosperous, some people who secretly supported the Lu family also received a lot of benefits. Although Lu Chongyuan rarely contacted these people, in order to ensure that no one mentioned the incident again. These people are rarely used anymore, but they are indeed people on the Lu family's ship.
But now the two of them had accidents one after another...
Lu Chongyuan looked a little sad. If it was a coincidence, forget it, but if it wasn't, it meant that someone was interested in an old case from twenty years ago.
"Xilin, immediately send someone to send a message to Jiu'an, asking him to secretly send someone to keep an eye on these people."
Lu Chongyuan quickly rattled off a few names, all of which were related to the flood relief case twenty years ago like Lou Yong'an. After he finished speaking, he confessed in a deep voice.
"Let Jiuan be careful and don't expose himself. Just pay attention to whether there are any abnormalities around these people. Also, let him check whether there are people from the capital in the Rongjiang area under the jurisdiction of Shezhou recently, especially those close to the government. Strange face, ask him to reply as soon as possible!"
Xilin had never seen Lu Chongyuan with such a stern tone. He didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly agreed.
Lu Chongyuan grabbed the booklet in his hand and felt uneasy. He just hoped that he had guessed wrong, otherwise he would be in big trouble.
…
The Lu family has been in power for many years and has its own secrets. Even though Tang Ning had people guarding him tightly and even keeping an eye on everyone in the Lu family, the news about Lu Chongyuan was still sent out without human eyes.
After the news came out of Beijing, Lu Chongyuan, who had been lingering in the hospital bed before, forced himself to pay attention to the situation in Beijing. When he saw it, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.
The court was in chaos. The princes and courtiers were attacking each other. The reputation of the fourth prince was ruined. The second prince was also rejected by Emperor An. Cui Lin and others wanted to take the opportunity to fight for power. Qingliu could not hold back and began to impeach the prince. But the person who was supposed to be in the whirlpool was quietly hiding in Jiuyun Lane.
The capital is a mess, but the people in Jiuyun Lane seem to be independent of the world.
Lu Chongyuan held the news that was sent back one after another from below. The more he looked at it, the more something was wrong. He carefully paid attention to the side of Jiuyun Lane and found that everything was too normal. After waiting for seven or eight days, the news from Lu Jiuan was rushed back to the capital. , Lu Chongyuan listened to what Xilin said and suddenly threw the things in his hands on the case.
"What a great Xiao Yan, what a great Governor Xiao!!"
It turns out that he stirred up the muddy waters in Beijing just to divert attention.
He was actually checking up on Rong Jiang.
How could he know the secrets from twenty years ago? !
Lu Chongyuan's palms were trembling with anger, and his eyes were full of fear and anger. It was obvious that what happened back then had long been buried in the dust, and no one knew about the past. People who knew about it would never dare to speak. What happened to that mad dog Xiao Yan? knew?
etc……
Lu Chongyuan pinched his palms hard. If the Lingyun Temple incident was a sham, used to muddy the waters in the capital and prevent people from paying attention to external matters, then on the day Rongsheng Academy opened, Xiao Yan and Song Tangning were humiliated. If he angered Lu Qin, they would have already decided the situation.
They deliberately angered Lu Qin and provoked him to take action, and then allowed Emperor An to ride in Song Tangning's carriage.
During that time, Emperor An let the Lu family go because he was worried about the past, and because the Lu family treated Xiao Yan coldly, Xiao Yan deliberately played such a trick, which not only helped him save his life, but also made Emperor An feel guilty about him. , but with the eunuch Xiao Yan always shrewd, would he really be seriously injured and dying?
The more Lu Chongyuan thought about it, the angrier he became, and he violently knocked over things in front of him with his hand.
"You arrogant kid, how dare you plot against the Lu family like this!!"
His face turned red with anger and his body shook and trembled.
Xilin stepped forward quickly: "Master Lang!"
Lu Chongyuan gasped for breath, dizzy, and finally managed to steady himself by supporting the person next to him. He pinched his palms tightly and said in a cold voice: "You use serious injuries to deceive the emperor, plot against Qin'er, and even send people to the south of the Yangtze River to investigate those things without authorization. Old things, does he really think that he can dominate the capital with one hand?"
"I want to see how many lives this eunuch has!"
…
The accident happened unprepared. It was early August, the day of the monthly examination of Rongsheng Academy. Tang Ning had just come out of the academy after answering the papers. When he was talking to Mr. Tong who was guarding outside, he saw Yue Jian hurriedly coming out. Came over.
When they got closer, Tang Ning said with a smile: "Aru hasn't finished answering yet, we have to wait a while before returning home..."
"Girl, something happened!"
Tang Ning was stunned for a moment.
"The fourth prince's concubine is dead. The second lady Bai was also assassinated and fell off the corridor. She is now unconscious. The Zhao family is now in front of the Privy Council, saying that the fourth prince will pay for his life. The second prince's concubine has also entered the palace."
Total chaos.
