Detective in the Red Chamber

If he hadn't been dragged into the pirate ship by King Zhongshun, it's really hard to say whether he can continue to be loyal to an emperor who has no 'future'.

Even King Zhongshun, if it weren't for his uneasiness, how could he return the vain money to Brother Cheap?

And the reason why Qiu Taiwei turned white overnight, I am afraid that it is inseparable from the wavering and fear in his heart!

If I really want to calm down this turmoil for the time being, I'm afraid the only thing I can do is to take the slant of the sword and take the risk of the soldiers!

The words are divided into two parts.

Not to mention how Sun Shaozong rushed to the prince's mansion non-stop when he was ordered in danger.

But in the secret room in the backyard of a luxurious mansion, two middle-aged men in fine clothes are celebrating wantonly.

"Hahaha……"

Nearly half of the 60-year Zhuangyuan red wine was spilled amidst the maniacal laughter. The wine dripped down his beard and wet his chest. Falling down, he shouted loudly, "It's a joy, it's a joy! I'm afraid that Hunjun would never have imagined that he would end up in such a situation!"

"Of course he couldn't think of it."

The other person was much more elegant, took a sip from the wine cup from the official kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty, twirled it gently in the palm of his hand, and said with a sneer, "What kind of family trick did he play, and he deliberately flattered the group of people in the Rongguo Mansion?" He's a coward, thinking he can fool us, but who knows that we've seen through his heart and dog lungs long ago!"

Speaking of this, the man couldn't help showing some complacency on his face, "The sky also has eyes, but when we were about to do something, there was a vision of a dog swallowing the sun-now I want to see if he still has eyes." What method can save the defeat!"

The unrestrained middle-aged man smacked his lips, shook his head and said, "To be honest, if you hadn't spent a lot of money to buy the servant of the imperial study, I really would not have thought that he would have been so sluggish on weekdays that he would have been holding back to kill us." The four kings and eight males have been wiped out!"

Having said that, he couldn't help feeling anxious again, moved his body closer to the elegant man, and said in a low voice, "Brother, after all, that stupid king has been preparing for so many years, if we really fight to the death, will we... "

The following words were really unlucky, so he stopped and did not continue.

However, the refined man had already heard what he was worried about, so he put the wine cup on the table in a hurry, and said with a snort, "That's why I chose to launch this matter in the nearest place—then The Hunjun was blinded by Prince Yizhong's firearms, and he focused on holding the Shenji Battalion in his hands, so he mobilized many people from the city defense camp and patrol camp to go there."

"Nowadays in the city defense battalion and the patrol battalion, the noble sons who are close to the Supreme Emperor have the upper hand, but the Shenji Battalion has not had many new firearms available for a while - in this way, even if he wants to turn against the Supreme Emperor , where can I get enough money?"

"It's not that there is still the Huben Camp..."

"Hahaha……"

When the elegant middle-aged man heard the word 'Hu Ben Ying', he couldn't help laughing out loud, shaking his head while laughing and said, "It's because he was clever but was misunderstood by his cleverness, because the Huben Ying was responsible for defending the imperial palace, and it was the only one in the capital. One is a field elite, so he specially selected the mature and prudent Qiu Ying to sit in the guard, so as not to be drawn in by others."

"But precisely because Qiu Ying has always sought stability, and when his actions are not clear enough, he will never help that stupid king deal with the Supreme Emperor—of course, the opposite is also true. If the Supreme Emperor wants to attack this stupid king, Qiu Ying will not be obedient. Take orders."

"However, since this stupid king has lost his heir, and the sky is warning him, why does the Supreme Emperor need to resort to force? As long as he promotes the public opinion in the court and the public, force the stupid king to choose one of several princes or grandsons to inherit the throne, that is, gone."

"The King Zhongshun has no children and has always been notorious, so he is not in the consideration of being a crown prince."

"Not to mention Prince Yizhong, even if we didn't use his name to act this time, he would have a hard time making a comeback."

"As for the remaining King Zhongxin and King Yishun, one is your brother-in-law and the other is your son and daughter's in-laws-you say there is nothing to worry about!"

Saying that, the elegant middle-aged man filled another glass of wine, held it high and said, "Come, let's have a drink for our family and Guo Xianxiu!"

Chapter 440 Chess Player

The Prince's Mansion is also located in the northwest of the inner city, just a few streets away from the Sun family.

Because this time he was investigating the case as the Dragon Guard Qianhu, Sun Shaozong went home and changed into a five-striped ink dragon swallowing cloud robe, and then he took Yang Licai and others to investigate the prince's "strange matter"

However, when he arrived at the Prince's Mansion, the first thing he had to do was not to investigate the truth, but to meet Xu Furen, a scholar of the cabinet. Naturally, such a heinous case should be handled by important officials in the court, and Sun Shaozong could at most be regarded as an assistant investigator.

In fact, in terms of official position alone, his ranking in the task force may not even be able to squeeze into the top five.

Therefore, after Sun Shaozong got his name, he waited outside for a full quarter of an hour before he was able to see Xu Ge's face.

uh~

The complexion on this old Xu Ge's "respectful face" seems to be worse than that of Qiu Taiwei. If it weren't for his pair of eyes that were still piercing, it would be more appropriate to describe him as dying and dying.

But it's no wonder that the occurrence of a 'solar eclipse', which is considered to be a vision of divine punishment, inevitably requires one or two current ministers to take the blame and resign.

Originally there were six people in the cabinet, and Mr. Xu Ge was only one of the candidates, so he might not be the one who took the blame—but now that the crown prince had an accident, Mr. Xu Ge was the first to bear the brunt. Who told him to still be the crown prince? What about the title of Taifu?

It is estimated that the impeachment of him for his incompetence in teaching, which caused the prince to be ashamed of his virtue, has long been piled up on Emperor Guangde's imperial case.

Compared with his high-spirited appearance a few months ago when he presided over Chunwei Guangnao's disciples, people really have to feel the unpredictable power of heaven and the impermanence of the world.

Although Mr. Xu Ge may fall at any time, but Sun Shaozong did not dare to show any disrespect at the moment, he stepped up and bowed his hands in a polite manner, "Xiaguan Beizhen Fusi Inspector Qianhu, and Sun Shaozong, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, met Mr. Xu Ge. "

Before seeing the ceremony, Mr. Xu Ge had been carefully looking at Sun Shaozong, but after Sun Shaozong stepped forward to meet the ceremony, he lowered his gaze again, rubbed the back of his own bawdy hand, and said softly, "If the old man remembers correctly, Sun Shaozong Your Excellency is only 22 years old now, right? At 22 years old, you are already holding important positions in the military and government, and it is not easy, really not easy, to gain such a great reputation."

"When I was 22 years old, what was I doing? Did I study with Mr. Qingtian, or did I live in my husband's house, begging for a job title?"

"Sigh, most of Mr. Tian's disciples are successful young people, but the old man wasted his life until he was 28 years old before he managed to win the Juren."

This old man rambled on about bitterness and sweetness, could it be that he had completely resigned to his fate?

Slandering in his heart, Sun Shaozong bowed again and said, "If the old man doesn't sing, he will become a blockbuster. In the past, those young people who achieved their ambitions in the past are now out of reach without looking at you."

"Ha ha……"

Elder Xu Ge raised his hand and pointed at Sun Shaozong, and said with a smile, "You are really good at talking. No wonder His Majesty favors you so much, and even intends to transfer you to the prince's side, and train you as a future assistant minister."

Did Emperor Guangde still have such thoughts?

No wonder King Zhongshun asked about training Qiu Yunfei a few times back then—feeling that he was examining himself for the emperor, whether he had the ability to supervise the poor boy to make progress!

"It's a pity, if you had been transferred to the prince's side earlier, perhaps today's disaster would not have happened."

hehe~

This sounded good, but if he was transferred to the Prince's side and failed to avoid the disaster of 'cutting the root', Sun Shaozong might be the first one to take the blame!

"correct."

Xu Ge seemed to have thought of something suddenly, and asked with a frown, "I heard that when you just came back from Qianxiang Kingdom, you had a conflict with Bo Yongyi?"

Because of Niu Yongxin's assassination case, Niu Jizong, the Yongyi Bo, once wanted to put Sun Shaozong to death, but later hit a soft nail in front of the emperor, and he died down.

But why did Xu Ge bring up the Niu family at this time?

Suspicious in his heart, Sun Shaozong briefly explained what happened at the beginning.

"I see."

After hearing this, Mr. Xu Ge nodded first, then shook his head regretfully and said, "It's a pity, it's a pity!"

With these futile sighs, Sun Shaozong's appetite was successfully whetted, but he suddenly said seriously, "Master Sun is known as a 'divine judgement', how to thoroughly investigate this case, I don't think I need to make a lot of noise—" — Come on, someone!"

After asking this greeting, a sixth-rank official in a light blue official robe immediately bowed and came in from the outside to listen to the order.

Elder Xu Ge pointed at this person, and said, "This person is Liu Luanwei, the Chancellor of Zhan Shifu. He takes care of all the affairs of the Prince's Mansion on weekdays. If you have any questions, just ask him." .”

Logically speaking, this Zhan Shifu is a yamen dedicated to assisting the Prince of the Eastern Palace. The highest Zhan Shi is a third-rank official position, and even ranks higher than Shuntian Fu Yin in terms of Qinggui.

However, because the princes of the Great Zhou Dynasty did not have any real power before ascending the throne, the official positions of Zhan Shifu were generally awarded to the courtiers as honorary titles, and there was only a mere sixth-rank Fu Cheng who was really responsible for assisting the prince.

This Liu Luanwei was about thirty or so years old, as his name suggests, he was a majestic man with a dignified appearance, if he wanted to shake his prestige on weekdays, he was not inferior to Zhou Mo who was loyal to the palace.

But now that the crown prince is 'assassinated' at home, he has been implicated and reduced to a scapegoat, so naturally he has lost a bit of prestige and increased a bit of flattery.

No, as soon as he came out of the hall, he bowed his waist and said with a smile on his face, "I have heard about Mr. Sun's reputation for being a godsend for a long time. Today I can see her true face. It is really..."

"Liu Fucheng doesn't need to be polite to me."

Sun Shaozong waved his hand, pulled him into a corner, and said in a low voice, "To tell you the truth, I have offended Uncle Yong Yi a lot, and now I feel very nervous."

As he spoke, he fixed his eyes on Liu Luanwei's reaction.

Xu Furen was vague at first, then turned his face and called Liu Luanwei in again, and he didn't mention investigating the case, he just said that he had something to ask, even if he asked Liu Luanwei-this is obviously because some things are inconvenient to speak out, and he wanted to borrow Liu Luanwei Then wake yourself up.

Therefore, after Sun Shaozong went out, he used the grievances between himself and the Niu family to test Liu Luanwei.

But Liu Luanwei was taken aback for a moment, and then there was a little sympathy on his face.

Seeing this expression, Sun Shaozong's heart sank. Liu Luanwei is now a guilty body, and he will be dismissed from office, or even exiled into the army.

But when he heard that he had an old grievance with the Niu family, he even showed sympathy for him. Doesn't this mean that his current situation is actually more dangerous than his? !

For a while, Sun Shaozong couldn't care less about insinuations, and hurriedly said, "Looking at Liu Fucheng's meaning, does it mean that the one who will inherit the Datong in the future must be the King of Loyalty and Faith?"

"The humble job didn't say that!"

Liu Luanwei was taken aback, shaking his head like a rattle, but then he thought that his future was bleak anyway, so there was no need to be cautious, so he lowered his voice and said, "My lord only knows that King Zhongxin married Yong Yibo's younger sister, but he is afraid I don't know that Prince Yishun's son is marrying Uncle Yong Yi's own niece!"

"how can that be?!"

Sun Shaozong's eyes widened immediately. When he and his elder brother deduced yesterday, he thought it would be the most beneficial situation for the Sun family if King Yishun's eldest son could successfully inherit the heir. Got involved?

He couldn't help questioning, "Isn't the son of Prince Yishun married the daughter of the General Secretary Zuo Tongzheng Qi's family? How could it be Uncle Yong Yi's own niece?"

"That's what you don't know."

Liu Luanwei spread his hands "More than 40 years ago, the previous head of the Qi family followed Grandpa Niu on an expedition to Mobei. As a result, he lost his heir, so Grandpa Niu adopted his own grandson, Uncle Yongyi's younger brother, to the same mother and brother. Qi family."

After a pause, he continued, "You can't blame my lord for being ignorant. If I hadn't heard Mr. Ge mention this incident before, I would never have thought that the Qi family and the Niu family have such a relationship."

Damn, damn, damn!

Doesn't this mean that no matter whether Emperor Guangde chose King Zhongxin or King Yishun in the end, the Niu family would always win without losing? !

Sun Shaozong couldn't help being frantic, but immediately tried to calm down and carefully considered the current predicament.

First of all, Xu Ge probably already suspected the Niu family, otherwise it would be completely unnecessary, and he told himself about the relationship between the Niu family and King Yishun.

And his purpose of doing this should be to force himself to kill the Niu family, to 'discover' the 'evidence' that the Niu family planned the Long Gen case behind the scenes...

wrong!

Even if it is found out that it was the Niu family's work, for Elder Xu Ge, there may not be much practical benefit. Even if the matter is revealed and the Niu family fails to be put to death, the Niu family will be summoned to take desperate revenge.

At that time, waiting for Xu Ge's old age may not be as simple as taking the blame and resigning.

Then why did he do such thankless things?

Could it be...

Is this from Emperor Guangde's instruction? !

What Emperor Guangde meant, did he really want to fight with the Niu family, and even with the Queen Mother and the Supreme Emperor, or did he want to use some "unfounded" excuses to force the Supreme Emperor to make concessions?

If it's the former, it's still worth it to kill Niu's family, and maybe you can win a meritorious deed from the dragon.

But if it's the latter, if the two families reach a compromise, I'm afraid I will become a pawn who crosses the river. If the Niu family gets angry at that time, Emperor Guangde may not come forward to save him...

Motherfucker!

This battle in the court is really a headache, especially these big bosses, who want to force others to be pawns, but refuse to speak clearly!

That's it!

Left and right have reached this point, why not just follow your own ideas and come up with a surprise victory!

Even if he fails in the end, he can still be regarded as one of the chess players, not a chess piece at the mercy of others!

Thinking in this way, Sun Shaozong immediately asked Liu Luanwei, "Liu Fucheng, but I don't know if Mrs. Li is still safe now?"

Liu Luanwei was obviously not used to this jumpy way of speaking, he was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly said, "Then Mrs. Li was locked up in the backyard. When the crown prince woke up in the morning, he ordered her to be killed to vent his anger, but Xu The elder Ge stopped him."

"Then can you take me to meet her?"

"Yes, yes! Since your lord is one of the investigators hand-picked, naturally you can see whoever you want!"

As Liu Luanwei spoke, he led Sun Shaozong all the way to the backyard.

It is said to be locked in the backyard, but in fact it is in a secret room surrounded by a rockery in the back garden.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw several eunuchs gathered around a square table, discussing something frowningly.

Seeing Liu Luanwei leading Sun Shaozong in, these eunuchs didn't mean to stand up to greet him, but instead scolded impatiently, "Liu Fucheng, why did you bring someone here again? Are you back?"

It seems that these eunuchs are not the servants of the Prince's Mansion, otherwise they would not have such an attitude towards Liu Luanwei - even if he is guilty, he is still the chief executive of the mansion. Not a problem.

Sure enough, facing the scolding of those eunuchs, Liu Luanwei stepped forward and said with a smile, "Everyone, this gentleman is no better than the previous ones, but Sun Zhizhong of Shuntian Mansion handpicked by His Majesty..."

"what?!"

Sun Shaozong's name is much more useful than Liu Luanwei's. The eunuchs got up and looked at him curiously, and said in amazement, "I heard that there is a 'Sun Shenduan' in Shuntian Mansion. How many of us today?" This is really catching up, anyway, let's see what kind of 'divine judgment' method you have."

If it was normal, Sun Shaozong might have to make a fuss with them, but now that it involves the struggle for the imperial lineage, the small boat of the Sun family may capsize at any time, so why is he so impatient to talk to a few young eunuchs?

Therefore, his face sank, and he shouted bluntly, "Bold! This officer is investigating the case by order, who are you waiting for? How dare you interfere with this officer's investigation of the case without my permission?!"

Seeing his attitude, the eunuchs all blushed and raised their voices, ready to argue with Sun Shaozong.

However, Sun Shaozong didn't wait for them to open his mouth, and said, "I now live in Qianhu, Fusi, Beizhen. If you have any dissatisfaction, you can complain to Commander Dai after returning to the palace!"

In a word, those little eunuchs suddenly died down.