The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Would an old fox like Yan Song do such a thing?

Wei Guangde didn't believe it in his heart.

If the news spreads that Lu Bing was poisoned to death, the Yan family will naturally be looked at differently by everyone.

This is definitely not a good look.

There are still many taboos in fighting in the officialdom. When fighting, you will use all possible means, but using methods such as assassination is not acceptable. Also, after you surrender and become an official, you will generally not continue to make things difficult for others and kill them all.

The so-called cutting the grass without eradicating the roots, and the spring breeze will bring new growth is not suitable for official struggle.

It is not just a casual statement that scholar-bureaucrats cannot be punished.

Of course, if the emperor wanted to kill him, that would be a different matter.

Having said that, even if Yan Song was convinced that Emperor Jiajing would not pursue the matter afterwards, people would always get older. If in the end, he was going to retire and the emperor no longer needed him to manage the affairs of the government, would it be possible to settle old scores?

·It always feels wrong, but Wei Guangde can't think of other forces that might be involved in this matter.

In his opinion, Prince Jing was not singled out to speak out. After all, Prince Jing's Palace was only so powerful. Without Yan Song's support, it would not be able to compete with Prince Yu's Palace.

Even though King Jing was from the palace, without the Yan family's nod, they would not have committed the crime of assassinating Lu Bing. After all, Lu Bing was the Yan family's enemy, but he had never been disrespectful to King Jing.

Just when Wei Guangde was thinking about something, Chen Ju's voice continued to sound.

"My godfather heard about this, and he thought the same thing as you. That's the only person in the world who would do something like this."

Hearing this, Wei Guangde raised his head and glanced at Chen Ju, then fell silent.

“Although I don’t know why and how the Yan family took action this time, what is certain is that once this is started, it will be difficult to control it later.

I told you before that although the emperor has not said who he will appoint, from the perspective of his style, Prince Yu has undoubtedly the greatest chance.

Since the Yan family dares to use assassination methods against their enemies, there is no guarantee that Prince Jing’s Mansion will not follow suit, so you people in Prince Yu’s Mansion must be careful. "

Wei Guangde nodded when he heard this.

Previously, I thought Lu Bing's death was just an accident, but now listening to Chen Ju, it is obvious that Lu Bing died in a well-planned conspiracy.

"What's the reaction from His Majesty?"

Wei Guangde asked carefully.

"Your Majesty must have known about it, but I didn't see anything different from the past when I was serving His Majesty."

Chen Ju shook his head and replied.

Yes, Huang Jin has been serving Emperor Jiajing, and he has plenty of opportunities to report the matter when no one is around.

Emperor Jiajing had been an emperor for many years, and he had already developed the ability to keep his emotions and anger hidden.

"Eunuch Gao also thinks it might be the Yan family who did this?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask cautiously.

"How many people are there in the current government who are qualified to be the rivals of Governor Lu?"

Chen Ju replied disdainfully at this time, after all, they are factory guards, and they all obey the emperor's orders. Naturally, they look down upon the self-proclaimed ministers in the court, even people like Yan Song, but It's just that I can't show it usually.

"Let me tell you another private thing. I only heard about it after returning to the court."

Having said this, Chen Ju suddenly became cautious and approached Wei Guangde. The smell of the sachet he carried made Wei Guangde feel suffocated.

However, Wei Guangde still controlled his expression very well and did not show any signs of it.

When their relationship with Chen Ju was still normal, they had never been so close together. Although Wei Guangde had smelled the scent of the sachet on Chen Ju's body, it was not as pungent as it is now.

"You know that the emperor ordered Guo Xiyan to be beheaded? I heard that the day before the execution, the emperor summoned Governor Lu alone, and the two of them secretly spied in the Yongshou Palace for a while. At that time, even Eunuch Huang was arrested When I rushed outside the temple, I didn't know what was said inside.

I heard that it might have something to do with King Jing’s decision to ignite the feudal clan. It is said that a young chamberlain standing at the window accidentally overheard one or two words, “Just to join the vassal clan” or something like that. "

"Have you found the little chamberlain?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise, "This is important. If you know which prince is arranged to become a feudal lord, everything will be settled."

Chen Ju looked at Wei Guangde and then shook his head, but his eyes were very unfriendly.

Wei Guangde understood that Chen Ju had not found anyone, and the look in his eyes clearly showed that he was looking at an idiot.

Thinking about it, if it really came to the feudal king's ceremony, Chen Ju would probably go directly to the other side, and he would not come here to say these things.

But by this time, Wei Guangde somewhat understood why Emperor Jiajing asked the Jin Yiwei to investigate the elixir secretly.

Of course, there was a more important reason that he still didn't know, and that was that Emperor Jiajing himself was quite proficient in medicinal materials and alchemy, but the outer court didn't know about it.

But even if Wei Guangde knew about it, he would just sneer at it. After all, no one has ever heard of elixir being developed despite the advanced technology in later generations, perhaps because of the lack of experimental samples and related parameters.

Cultivation of immortality only exists in novels and film and television works in later generations, and does not exist in the real world at all.

Immediately, Wei Guangde became serious again. He discovered an issue that he had ignored before, that is, when it came to "fighting the vassal state".

No matter who is the vassal, if Chen Ju's words are correct, Emperor Jiajing should have been considering sending away a son, instead of letting him stay in the capital because the child was still young. This shows that Guo Xiyan's blood does not seem to be in vain. Flow.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but become suspicious.

He did not suspect that Guo Xiyan was not dead and was manipulated by Lu Bing into killing Li Daitao, but that Guo Xiyan was actually murdered and silenced.

What is the purpose of suppressing the public, that is, to prevent others from making noises about King Jing's appointment as a vassal?

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel shocked. He felt that he seemed to understand Emperor Jiajing's thoughts.

Perhaps, in the old man's heart, he had already made arrangements for King Jing to leave the capital and join the feudal vassal, but he had not yet made up his mind to send him away.

Guo Xiyan's memorial obviously disrupted Emperor Jiajing's plan.

He was worried that after dismissing the memorial, Guo Xiyan would continue to struggle with the issue of establishing a governor for his own selfish interests. After all, this was a common problem among literati and officials in this era, so he might as well just kill people without doing anything else.

And Lu Bing was poisoned to death in the palace, "hiss"

Wei Guangde suddenly took a breath of cold air, and his hair stood on end.

Seeing Wei Guangde's instant change, Chen Ju frowned slightly, and then asked, "What's wrong?"

"nothing."

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly, and then noticed the unswerving expression on Chen Ju's face. He knew that Chen Ju might think he was perfunctory, so he had no choice but to say: "Tell me, is it possible that this matter was King Jing's unilateral idea?"

Before, Wei Guangde didn't know that there was still such trouble in the palace. Emperor Jiajing might have discussed the matter of vassalage with Lu Bing, otherwise King Jing would never be missed.

"King Jing?"

Chen Ju turned his head and thought about it, and then denied it: "His Royal Highness King Jing cannot have the courage. He may be able to arrange this, but he did not kill Lu Bing."

At this point, Chen Ju stopped. He also realized that there seemed to be a possibility that King Jing might kill Lu Bing with poison.

Of course Chen Ju didn't know how the news spread in Yongshou Palace. He was not in the capital at that time.

A few days later, something happened to Lu Bing in Yongshou Palace. The two may not be really unrelated.

"But being able to control all of this is not an easy task, unless it is Yan Song and Yan Shifan's idea to let King Jing do it.

Lu Bing tested medicine for the emperor. Not much was known about this matter, except for a few adults in the court who might have known about it.

Even Mr. Xu Ge has trouble mobilizing the servants in the palace. Mr. Yan Ge may have such ability, and King Jing may have it, but he can't say for sure. "

Chen Ju frowned and did not relax, thinking quickly in his mind.

"Does King Yu have this ability?"

I really didn't want to, but Wei Guangde on the side suddenly interrupted with a question.

"Prince Yu can't do it. His mother and queen are gone. Now he has almost no one to talk to in the palace."

Chen Ju replied without thinking.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, it would be better if he wasn't King Yu.

When Wei Guangde was in Nanjing, he had already made up his mind to return to the capital to test Lu Bing. If he was willing, he might as well bring him closer to King Yu's camp.

Lu Bing is a smart man. It is impossible for him not to consider the future of his family.

Like him, he was already a very popular minister in the Jiajing Dynasty. If he could not handle the relationship with the future monarch carefully, he would never end well after the throne changed.

But I didn't expect that it was too late in the end, and Wei Guangde died before he returned to Beijing.

Interrupted by Wei Guangde, Chen Ju also came to his senses. The purpose of his trip was to remind Wei Guangde to be careful. After all, the Yan family used some taboo methods to attack political opponents.

It is speculated that the real culprit behind Lu Bing's death seems to have nothing to do with them. The job has been handed over to Dongchang by Emperor Jiajing.

It's only a matter of time to find out the real culprit behind the scenes, but finding out is one thing, and whether he will be punished is another.

"It seems we are far apart."

At this time, Chen Ju opened his mouth and smiled, his smile a little forced.

The city of Beijing has entered a night ban mode, but even at this time, it can only stop ordinary people who have no power, but it is of no use to the huge group of officials and palace people in the capital.

"Squeaky"

The harsh sound of the door opening sounded, and it was heard far away. Not long after, a man wrapped in black robes came out of the door and quickly disappeared into the night.

Two heads popped out of the door, looking left and right. After observing for a while, they withdrew, and then there was the harsh sound of the wooden door closing again.

"Master, there shouldn't be anyone outside."

Zhao Hu whispered the report in front of Wei Guangde.

"It's late at night, you should rest."

Wei Guangde nodded and asked them to go back to rest. He turned around and walked inside, back to the inner courtyard.

Chen Ju's arrival tonight was sudden, and the news he brought was shocking. He never thought it would be like this before.

To be honest, Wei Guangde is really worried now.

Although he had some doubts about what Chen Ju said later, that is, Lu Bing's death was related to the establishment of the crown prince.

The interval between Guo Xiyan's execution and Lu Bing's death was very short. In just a few days, Wei Guangde felt that it was unlikely that the murderer had killed Lu Bing because of this. Otherwise, it could only be said that the murderer was really powerful.

But from what Chen Ju said, it seemed that he felt that this was the main reason for getting rid of Lu Bing.

Forget it, I was thinking as I walked, I have to remind Gao Gong when I meet him tomorrow.

As Chen Ju said, using clandestine means to attack political opponents, once this hole is opened, will probably be used again and again, which makes it really dangerous for those who are close to Prince Yu's Mansion.

Wei Guangde was not worried that Chen Ju would lie to him. Chen Ju was a sensible person. He was betting that Prince Yu would become the crown prince, so he said so much to him, and even came to report the news at this time.

There is definitely no time to send a message today, and there is no need.

Regardless of whether it was caused by the Yan family or King Jing, they probably already knew that their actions were noticed by Emperor Jiajing at this time.

Wei Guangde didn't need to guess, and with his limited knowledge of investigating cases, he could guess that any chamberlain who had the opportunity to come into contact with the elixir after it was refined would have been taken to Dongchang to drink tea by this time.

Of course, he didn't care whether they had tea in Dongchang, but he knew that the people behind the scenes should not dare to make any big noise at this time, and it was even too late to silence them now.

When meeting Gao Gong tomorrow, do you want to make an appointment with Yin Shizhen and Chen Yiqin and tell them everything about this matter?

After thinking about it, Wei Guangde went to the backyard and knocked on the door. Soon there was movement inside the door.

"who?"

The inner courtyard door has been locked from the inside, after all, it is very late at night.

"it's me."

Wei Guangde replied, and then he heard the sound of unlocking from behind the door, and soon the inner courtyard door opened.

Glancing at the healthy woman who opened the door, Wei Guangde just asked casually: "Has Madam gone to bed?"

It's a bit nonsense. Xu Jianglan usually goes to bed at this time. When asked this question, Wei Guangde mainly considered whether to go back to the bedroom to sleep or go to the study to rest.

"Madam is still in the house and has not rested."

An unexpected answer appeared in Wei Guangde's ears, "Huh? Got it."

Xu Jianglan didn't rest. Wei Guangde shook his head gently and walked towards the bedroom.

When he got closer, he knew that the strong woman was right. There was light on the window, and it was obvious that the room was lit.

Wei Guangde stepped slightly in front of the door and then pushed the door open and entered.

There were only Xu Jianglan and her personal maid in the room, and no other maids were seen.

"It's so late, why haven't you rested yet?"

Wei Guangde asked casually.

"You go out and watch."

Xu Jianglan smiled brightly at Wei Guangde, first stood up and saluted Wei Guangde, and then gave instructions to the maid.

After everyone left the house, Xu Jianglan came over to help Wei Guangde change, and asked in a low voice: "Eunuch Chen suddenly came to visit tonight. Did something happen?"

It turned out to be because of this.

Wei Guangde knew in his heart that Xu Jianglan stayed up so late probably because of Chen Ju's visit, which made her guess something, but he didn't know whether it was good or bad.

"nothing."

Wei Guangde pretended not to care.

"Don't lie to me, official. If it were the past, it would be nothing. But when Eunuch Chen comes here today, he still doesn't want anyone to call you back. He must have something important to tell you."

Xu Jianglan was certainly not stupid. She had already figured this out before in the room, so she pouted and said.