Records of the King of Xin'an County

After two or three days of interrogation, it was confirmed that all the women had nothing new to say, so Li Hui decided to select several personal servants and send them to the palace to serve Cheng Qing.Of course, that little maidservant named "A Ping" was also among them, taking the opportunity to quietly throw a sachet to send a message.The rest of the servants didn't slow down, their faces were pale, and they staggered, so they didn't have the energy to notice anything unusual about her.

When Cheng Qing, who was resting under the eaves of the palace, saw them, he deliberately looked at them carefully for a moment, and curled his lips: "Xuan Qi is really a caring person, I am very relieved to entrust them to you. Until now After the matter is over, I invite you to drink with me another day, which is also a thank you this time, how about it?" Although the faces of these beautiful maidservants are a bit ugly, it seems that they have never been injured by torture, and this nephew's temperament has changed. It is very gentle.

Li Hui looked at him who was smiling, and felt more and more incomprehensible about the many actions of this uncle: "Since my uncle asked me, my nephew will of course come to the appointment on time." According to the silk letter A Ping stuffed in his sachet, he clearly knew that A Ping Ping is a meticulous worker, but he still brings her by his side and treats her like a trusted servant girl.By teasing her on weekdays, she would reveal some specious news from time to time, which didn't seem like it was just a temptation.

Could it be that he is really interested in Aping's owner?Have the heart of cooperation?Or, he just wanted to use this to find out the person who opposed Princess Anxing?Relying on this kind of credit to win greater trust in front of Princess Anxing?After all, he is the son-in-law of Princess Anxing, and when he got married, he was doomed to both prosperity and loss.

The eyes of the two met in the air, both of them had some intention of exploring, but they had their own thoughts.Li Hui cupped his hands, said goodbye and left.

Cheng Qing looked at his back, and suddenly said slowly: "I heard that Xuan Qi, the maids around you are all eleven or twelve-year-old girls? Tsk, your mother Fu is really negligent, she doesn't know how to secretly care for you Can I arrange one or two for you? Sigh, your grandfather and brother are far away in Luoyang, and you are busy on weekdays, no wonder no one teaches you. As an uncle, let me teach you—the older one , the style is attractive enough."

The king of Xin'an was startled, and his face darkened in an instant: he said it was uncle and nephew, but the two of them were at best strangers who were familiar with each other. Don't you find it strange to bring up such a topic? !Or, this Prince Consort of Anxing knows everyone so well?Without even asking if he is interested, just imparting this "secret" on his own?

"Look, how about my maidservants?" Cheng Qing seemed to think that his changed face was just shyness, and pointed to the maidservants standing silently beside him, "I haven't had time to enjoy it yet. If you like it , just pick two at random, and treat them as gifts from your uncle."

"Thank you uncle for your kindness." Prince Xin'an squeezed a few words through his teeth, turned and left.

Cheng Qing laughed loudly, and after laughing, he glanced at the beautiful maidservants beside him: "Tsk, look, what a good opportunity you have missed. This Xin'an County King has always been kind, and he is not fond of flowers. The troublemaker is also quite popular with saints and has a bright future. If you can follow him, he will marry a wife and have children in the future, and it will definitely not be short of your food and clothing."

The beautiful maidservants were not moved, they knelt down on the ground hurriedly, scrambling to tell how loyal they were.Although the king of Xin'an County was young and handsome, his appearance was outstanding enough to make people's hearts flutter, but after all, he was the one who exposed them to the scorching sun for a few days, and he seemed to have no compassion at all.They have been frightened by the county king, how dare they think about it?

Cheng Qing took a sip of iced peach syrup, and changed his posture lazily: "Well, what kind of interrogation method did he use to scare you like this? Besides, what have you confessed these days? That said, I also know that you guys can’t say anything, so you won’t blame me.”

The maidservants looked at each other for a while.They originally wanted to pretend that nothing happened and completely forget the torture they had suffered in the past few days, but they still couldn't avoid it.After someone boldly said a few words, Cheng Qing just laughed and said nothing, and all the maidservants immediately attacked Xin'an County King.A-Ping hesitated for a moment, and finally followed up with a few words in a soft voice, playing up her timid temperament to the fullest.

Cheng Qing looked at her, and smiled suddenly: "Ping, why did you suddenly wear a sachet instead? The sachet from before smells better."

A Ping almost broke out in a cold sweat, and immediately showed a look of grievance: "The past two days I have been kneeling in a daze, and I don't know where I threw the sachet before. Just make some incense powder with the previous incense cakes." Seeing this, the other servants also took the opportunity to complain that they had lost their jade pendants, gold and silver hairpins and so on.

Cheng Qing didn't care what other people said, but looked at the little maid meaningfully, and replied: "It's okay, no matter what you have lost or lacked, just go and make up for it when the time comes."

Not to mention how Prince Cheng "pityed" these beautiful maidservants, after Xin'an County King left this side hall, he went straight to see the saint.He reported all the important news obtained from the interrogation in the past few days one by one.Just to put it bluntly, these so-called "important news" are actually nothing.After all, Prince Cheng didn't care about things at first, and the trusted servants around him only knew how to serve their master, and lived the same life almost every day.

After hearing this, the sage stroked his short mustache and smiled: "It's really hard for you, Xuan Qi. I have also read the records of the parents who were short-sighted by the palace servants. From these news, you can pick out more than a dozen that are worth reporting. , It's not easy." He seemed to be smiling as usual, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, and there was a hint of anxiety.

Li Hui guessed that perhaps King Jing's interrogation was also very unsuccessful, and the "opportunity" he wanted was not obtained for a long time, so the sage was so anxious.If he can't hit it with one blow, he will definitely be attacked by Princess Anxing and his followers, and they may even pay a heavy price.

As for the heavy price, it depends on the influence of Princess Anxing and her party members in the clan, and whether they can get their hands on the military power and so on.If we say that framing, framing, and assassination are small ways, then blatant rebellion and military uprisings are enough to endanger the country and society—even like the previous dynasties, the flames of war broke out in an instant and changed the world.Therefore, we must act carefully at all times and never advance rashly.

It has been more than three years since the saint ascended the throne, but the power is still not fully gathered.In court affairs, Wu Guogong Qin An supported him through the most difficult period, and then retreated bravely, leaving enough room for him to install cronies.But even so, the court is still full of important officials promoted by the late emperor, and the team he personally selected has not reached the most important positions.

More importantly, he has not had time to completely take over the military power to himself in the future.Not to mention that the generals of the sixteen guards in Beijing were almost all important ministers of the late emperor, and the governors and governors who guarded far away in the frontier could not act arbitrarily at all.Emperor Taizong was able to subdue countless heroes by relying on his illustrious military exploits, but what he relied on was only the friendship of these important ministers to the late emperor, which was not secure enough.Moreover, even if he was as strong as Taizong, there were two or three cases of rebellion when he was ruling the world.How can he think that the world is peaceful now, and he can sit back and relax from now on?

At present, the prestige in the army of the three remote clans, the King of Yong'an, the King of Hejian, and the King of Jiangxia, far surpassed him.If they have any different intentions, the society will inevitably be in turmoil.That's why he cared so much about the clan's movements.A mere Princess Anxing is not important. Even if he cares about his reputation and cannot find an excuse to execute her, he can still put her under house arrest.But what he cares about is the person behind her, and what he cares about is the clan that intends to plot rebellion.

Who is that person? !If it wasn't for something to rely on, why would Princess Anxing be so crazy?But if there is no evidence, and he accuses a clan indiscriminately, then he will definitely become the target of public criticism, and he will no longer be able to stay on the throne in peace.The clan, not only his family, is his reliance, but also the object that he must guard against carefully.

The uncle and nephew didn't say much, and the sage let the nephew go.Li Hui turned around and went to Anren Hall again to greet Empress Du.

Empress Du's mother and daughter also felt the atmosphere of the wind and rain, so they couldn't help asking about the trial: "Recently, the saint's mood has been a little unstable, and the palace has more or less noticed something. However, when I went to visit Princess Anxing, she was as carefree as usual."

"Don't worry, Auntie, it's just that the trial didn't go well for a while." Li Hui said in relief, "If we really can't find any evidence, we can send her back to the Princess Mansion and give her a big reward to comfort her. As long as we send her back to the princess sooner If the reputation of being a sage is impartial and selfless spreads out, even if some people want to spread rumors, not many will believe it. After all, everyone understands that a sage doesn’t need to embarrass a concubine.” In the eyes of many high-ranking officials and nobles, Duke Huai had already Since the death of Princess Anxing, there is no threat, so why does the saint need to deal with her?

Empress Du nodded slightly: "It's good that you didn't mess up your hands and feet because of this. But next time, you must not be so reckless. Since the minions are still immature, don't try to catch any big prey. If you are careless for a while, you will be caught instead." If the prey is bitten, the loss outweighs the gain."

Li Hui was taught with an open mind, and Princess Changning also frowned and said, "It's all because we thought too simply. If we really found Imperial Doctor Yao and his family, it would prove that the concubines and concubines who used methods to deal with him back then All the nobles have contacts with Princess Anxing, and then choose a good time to make a move..."

"Yue Niang, we don't have that much time to make perfect preparations. After we find out everything, Princess Anxing might have gotten the news and completely destroyed the witnesses and evidence. When we started the case , she came out again and complained that we were slanderous and unfilial—" Li Hui sighed, "When we went to the imperial hospital, we didn't think about covering up our whereabouts. It was a bit careless." In the future, all their actions must be carried out in secret ,in case.

Princess Changning responded sullenly, and her mood became more and more depressed.She managed to use this incident to get out of the depression, but who would have expected that she would return in vain?So, she returned to her previous sleepy state.

Li Hui didn't have time to comfort her anymore, so he bid farewell to Empress Du and her daughter, and then returned to Dali Temple.At night, he offered Aping's sachet to the prince.Wang Zixian was about to open the sachet to look at the letter written on the silk with eyebrows, when Li Hui said that Cheng Qing was going to give him a maid - so, after King Peng, Prince Cheng also became a king One of the goals of the head.