"Mr. Qi, don't panic, His Highness Prince Heng asked me to come to you."
The person who came was none other than Chang Mao, the son of King Kaiping, who was severely beaten by Zhu Yunxuan in the court that day, and was deposed as a duke and demoted to a marquis.
"Nonsense!"
Qitai scolded sharply.
"As the queen of Kaiping, you are a noble military commander and a general in charge of the army. Do you know what a serious crime it is to secretly make friends with the court ministers?"
"Why don't you leave quickly? I'll just pretend I've never seen you."
Chang Mao giggled.
"Mr. Qi, as the left minister of the Ministry of War, why should you be afraid?"
"Don't worry, Chang acted very cautiously. Just now he specially disguised himself as a servant, mingled with the convoy, and then quietly got into the car without anyone noticing."
Qitai looked up and down and realized that his attire was completely different from usual.
He has no fancy clothes, but is dressed in common clothes, which is extremely ordinary.
Qitai's face softened slightly.
Huang Zicheng is currently in prison. As his best friend, he has been worried that he has been targeted for a long time.
Jin Yiwei is almost omnipresent in Jinling City.
If he was focused on by Jin Yiwei, it would be hard to say that there were no Jin Yiwei's eyes and ears around him, so he was so nervous.
"Why did His Highness Prince Heng ask you to come here?"
Qitai asked in a deep voice.
Although Zhu Yunwen is Prince Heng, since the last time he was poisoned, His Highness Taisun has replaced all the eunuchs and maids around him on the grounds of safety, which is actually equivalent to putting him under house arrest.
That is to say, after that, Qi Tai could no longer discuss things with Zhu Yunwen.
This time Zhu Yunwen did not come to him directly, but asked Chang Mao, a military commander and noble general, to come to deliver the message. Obviously it was also inconvenient.
"Your Majesty left the capital and went to Yangshan to recuperate. Here is our chance to overthrow the grandson."
Chang Mao's eyes flickered, and a sinister look passed through his eyes.
As the son of Kaiping King Chang Yuchun, he has been pampered since he was a child, and all the young masters around him are extremely flattering to him. How has he ever been so humiliated?
Chang Mao has always remembered the slap he received in the court that day.
Especially after that, he became a laughing stock in the eyes of the distinguished disciples in the capital because he asked for mercy.
The princes and buddies who used to flatter him were ashamed to associate with him.
The New Army became famous in one battle, wiped out Japanese pirates, and gained a great reputation, which made his doubts that day even more ridiculous.
But Chang Mao not only did not reflect on his own mistakes, but also hated Zhu Yunzhen even more.
Qi Tai said: "Your Majesty has left Beijing, and all major affairs of the government have been entrusted to His Highness Taisun. He has more power, so where is the chance?"
Chang Mao disagreed, smiled deeply, and said: "Since ancient times, the Heavenly Family has no selfish feelings. As long as the prince, he always acts cautiously and is cautious in everything, lest he be jealous. Why?"
"Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, so many princes have been deposed, and why?"
Qitai responded silently.
The prince is the only legal heir to the throne.
In other words, even if the prince kills the emperor, he can still legally inherit the throne, and no one can hold him accountable for his crimes.
Because of this, throughout the dynasties, emperors were very wary of their princes.
Normally, the prince should be the person closest to the emperor, but the affairs of the heavenly family do not care about the close relatives of flesh and blood.
"The current sage is different from the ancient kings. He has great trust in the prince."
After a while, Qitai spoke.
Chang Mao sneered: "Even so, it cannot be generalized."
"In terms of closeness, isn't my brother-in-law close to His Majesty?"
"But in the past, when my brother-in-law was alive, he was always cautious, lest he arouse His Majesty's suspicion."
His brother-in-law was the original prince Zhu Biao.
The corners of Chang Mao's lips raised slightly, and he continued: "Since ancient times, the prince has acted with no taboos like him. I have read through the history books and I have never seen him."
"Your Majesty loves him and is willing to support him, so he protects him in every way."
"Secondly, he is only seven years old, has no foundation in the court, and is not the slightest threat to the imperial power. It is appropriate to trust him."
"But now the situation has changed, and it is completely different from before. He has a new army in his hands, and he has the power of being a god among the people. His power is no longer the same. Mr. Qi thought that His Majesty took it seriously and had no doubt about it. Doesn’t he guard against him?”
Qi Tai mused: "Your Majesty did not stop his move to confer a god. Instead, he followed the trend and made him the True Monarch of Blessing Saints. He also announced the sweet potato incident in public to increase his momentum. He even left the city to recuperate and entrusted him with government affairs, but there was no such thing. There is no sign of doubting that he is guarding against him.”
Chang Mao said with a sneer: "I tell Zuo Shilang with all my heart and soul, why should Zuo Shilang pretend to be confused?"
He had always called Qi Tai Mr. Qi before, but now he addressed him as Zuo Shilang. It was obvious that he was a little dissatisfied with Qi Tai's words.
"Before you take something, you must give it first. You and I both understand this truth. How could your Majesty not know this?"
"He led the troops on the expedition and achieved great military exploits. If your Majesty doesn't reward him, can you punish him?"
"But in my opinion, I'm afraid your Majesty's heart is filled with resentment."
"This time Your Majesty left the palace to recuperate outside the city. You all know that His Majesty intended to lure out those in the court who were against the grandson and kill him while he was still alive, so as to prevent him from passing away one day and the ministers bullying him when he was young. So that it cannot control the power of the government."
"But on the other hand, who would dare to treat him as a seven-year-old and bully him to this day?"
"Perhaps the person your Majesty really wants to test is actually Zhu Yunzhen?"
At the end of Chang Mao's speech, he no longer called Taisun, but called him by his first name.
Qitai's pupils shrank slightly.
What Chang Mao said, I have to say, makes sense.
In the past, His Majesty's departure from the city could be understood as "leading the snake out of its hole" to see if the young Zhu Yunxuan could control the government after he left.
If there are any problems, they can be solved while they are still alive without leaving any hidden dangers.
But after experiencing so many things, Zhu Yunxuan has completely established a firm foothold in the court.
The common people regard him as a god, he holds the new army in his hands, and all the civil and military officials are manipulated by him.
Who dares to bully him when he is young?
Why does Your Majesty need to do this more?
It would make sense if he went out of the city to recuperate to test Zhu Yunzhen...
Qitai's breathing suddenly became heavier.
"What can you do?"
Chang Mao's eyes flashed with a murderous look, and he said: "He is like a fish in water in the court. Of course it is because of his talent and intelligence, but the most important thing is His Majesty's trust and support for him."
"Now that His Majesty is suspicious of him and on guard against him, this is our opportunity."
Speaking of this, Chang Mao's voice lowered a lot.
"Previously, all the armies in the capital found excuses to deliberately delay the annihilation of the Songjiang Japanese pirates. Mr. Qi serves in the Ministry of War, so he should know this."
Qitai nodded slightly.
Zhu Yunxu attacked Chang Mao, killed Li Jinglong, and imposed additional business taxes. Many military officers and nobles were dissatisfied with him.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of the expedition, delaying the time, deliberately embarrassing him.
But he didn't expect that Zhu Yunzhen defeated the Japanese pirates in one fell swoop with only a few hundred new troops.
Their delay only made his new army famous.
But the matter doesn't end there.
After Zhu Yunzhen returned from victory, Lao Zhu still killed Xu Dongjiang who refused to open the gate of Jiaxing City. This is the best example.
Huang Zicheng is still in prison.
Taisun may not investigate the previous crime of delay.
The generals were inevitably uneasy.
Chang Mao said: "The Japanese pirates' stronghold on the sea was burned down by him. However, the Japanese pirate leader Luqian Inukai also had a younger brother named Luqian Shushan. He hated his grandson deeply."
Qi Tai's eyes changed drastically and he said sternly: "Colluding with Japanese pirates is a crime of conspiracy. Chang Mao, what do you want to do?"
"Why should Mr. Qi be so excited? I don't know any Japanese pirates. It wasn't my good nephew His Highness Prince Heng's idea."
"He...he...he..." Qi Tai looked in disbelief and shook his head: "The emperor's eldest grandson has always been honest, honest, benevolent and kind. There is no way he could collude with the Japanese pirates."
"Honest? Benevolent and righteous?" Chang Mao showed a trace of disdain and sarcasm on his face: "If I don't do this, how can I please His Majesty?"
"Now that the dagger has appeared, he has no choice but to fight to the death."
Qi Tai said coldly: "What do you want to do? Qi has been studying since he was a child, and he still has etiquette, justice and shame. There is no way he would collude with the Japanese pirates and do something treacherous. You should leave quickly. If not, don't blame Qi. Be ruthless."
"Good intentions have gone assholes." Chang Mao said: "Now that Huang Zicheng's whole family is in jail, he has committed a lot of crimes. You are his best friend, do you think you can stay out of it? If you don't give it a try, are you really going to kill him?"
Qi Tai was righteous and awe-inspiring: "Qi would rather be cut into pieces than do anything treacherous and unethical."
Snapped!
Snapped!
Snapped!
Chang Mao clapped his hands and praised, saying: "Mr. Qi has such a strong character, Chang Mou admires him very much. However, if Mr. Qi doesn't think about himself, shouldn't he also think about your family? I heard that Mr. Qi just gave birth to his youngest son this year... …”
"No need to say more!" Qi Tai said coldly: "The Qi family is full of loyal people, why should we fear death?"
"Pedantry, ridiculous!" Chang Mao sighed leisurely: "We don't want to rebel, so where does Mr. Qi want to go?"
"I am the Queen of Kaiping. How much contribution did my father make to conquering the Ming Dynasty?"
"The Chang family is a member of the imperial family and is close to the country. How can they rebel?"
Qitai's tone softened slightly and said, "Then what do you want to do?"
Chang Mao said with a smile: "Of course it is to charge our talented and arrogant His Highness the Grand Sun with rebellion."
"As long as Lu Qian Shushan is allowed to sneak attack His Majesty's chariot in Yangshan...with the cooperation of the armies near the capital..."
His voice became lower and lower.
Qi Tai listened, the expression on his face changing again and again.
"If this plan succeeds, the crown prince's position will be abolished."
"Mr. Qi only needs to cooperate a little bit. For other matters, Chang will deal with it secretly."
Qitai didn't reply immediately and sat there, thoughtfully.
Chang Mao was not in a hurry, and sat quietly, letting the carriage clatter forward.
"That's all."
After a long time, Qi Taifang said: "Qi will do it this time. However, you have to promise me that the Japanese pirates will not harm His Majesty."
Chang Mao laughed loudly: "Don't worry, Mr. Qi. If your Majesty really makes a mistake, wouldn't it be an advantage to Zhu Yunzhen?"
"He is the crown prince now. If anything happens to His Majesty, he can naturally ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. How could Chang do such a stupid thing?"
Qi Tai nodded slightly, his expression returning to normal.
"Then just do it, Qi will make it easier for you."
Chang Mao's eyes flashed with murderous intent: "Okay!"
(End of chapter)
