The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Walking back holding Princess Zhaoyang's hand, Jia Lian sat down on the armchair, while Princess Zhaoyang leaned against the table.

In the past, when they met privately, Princess Zhaoyang would sit in his arms and talk to him from the bottom of her heart.

He also knew that although Princess Zhaoyang said she didn't care, she actually did care in her heart.

Jia Lian didn't say anything. Some things still have to be decided by time.

"Erlang, why are you calling me here so urgently? Is there something urgent?"

Princess Zhaoyang was very observant and knew what Jia Lian was thinking just by looking at his expression. Feeling a little embarrassed, she went straight to the point.

Jia Lian's expression became serious. He stared at Princess Zhaoyang for a while and then spoke slowly:
"I want to help His Majesty the Fourth Prince ascend to the throne."

As soon as he opened his mouth, he said something earth-shattering, which froze the calm woman's expression.

Princess Zhaoyang stared at Jia Lian blankly, as if trying to confirm whether he was joking.

But she soon realized that Jia Lian would not joke about such things.

So she fell silent.

Jia Lian did not urge her, as he knew that he needed to give Princess Zhaoyang some time to think.

The tent was very quiet for a while, but Princess Zhaoyang did not let the silence last too long.

"What's Jiro's reason?"

Princess Zhaoyang was a little confused.

She knew what kind of person her brother was better than anyone else, and she believed that Jia Lian must know him too.

He cannot be said to be a waste, but at least, he is definitely not a qualified candidate for the emperor.

Letting an unsuitable person, or even someone who has never thought of becoming an emperor, become emperor is obviously not a good thing either for him personally or for the country.

Princess Zhaoyang believed that Jia Lian would know this truth.

For a moment, Princess Zhaoyang couldn't help but wonder if power could really bewitch people's hearts, causing such an outstanding Erlang to become ambitious due to the series of events in Tiewang Mountain.

But she quickly sorted out her thoughts and asked Jia Lian for the reason.

After all, she and Jia Lian are not ordinary lovers. They have experienced too many things along the way that seem fantastic to ordinary people.

Their friendship is established between life and death, and is a true understanding and spiritual friendship.

Jia Lian did not despise her because she was a girl and was willing to entrust her with important tasks. She also did not mind being a woman who silently contributed to him as a princess.

Perhaps it was because of this trust that Jia Lian was so open and straightforward in revealing his "ambition" to her.

Therefore, she could also believe that Jia Lian must have sufficient reasons for making such an important proposal, and it was not just a whim.

"The Crown Prince did not die in the chaos of the army, but was deliberately killed by the Third Prince. Is this a valid reason?"

Princess Zhaoyang is one of Jia Lian's political allies and also the most special one. Jia Lian has his own way of talking to her.

If Jia Lian told Princess Zhaoyang that he was going to deal with the third prince, Princess Zhaoyang would probably object and persuade him.

So he chose to go a step further and throw the Fourth Prince out. This could not only clarify his own determination, but also inspire Princess Zhaoyang to have other ideas, causing her to think in a chain and saving her the trouble.

Sure enough, Princess Zhaoyang was distracted by the two questions raised by Jia Lian, and she stood up directly.

"Where did Ji Lang's news come from? Is it true?"

"It's absolutely true." Jia Lian said solemnly.

Princess Zhaoyang's expression changed visibly.

As a royal princess, she grew up carefree. But as she grew up and matured, she began to realize that the world around her was not as beautiful as she thought when she was a child.

It was not until she herself was drawn into those whirlpools that she realized more deeply the significance of the light-hearted sentence "There is no family affection in the royal family" in unofficial historical books.

She knew that her eldest brother and third brother had been fighting for many years.

In her eyes, it didn’t matter whether the Crown Prince or the Third Prince succeeded or failed, or what their final fate was, because that was their destiny.

Therefore, she could accept the outcome that the Crown Prince made a mistake, lost his life, and finally the Third Prince took the throne.

However, she could not accept the fact that the Crown Prince died at the hands of the Third Prince, and even when the Crown Prince was obviously defeated, the Third Prince deliberately caught up with him and killed him.

After all, the eldest royal brother is the eldest brother of all the princes and princesses.

How could the third brother, who has always been known as a wise king, be so cruel?
She had long accepted the fact that no dynasty had been able to avoid the power struggle within the royal family since ancient times.

But accepting it doesn't mean she agrees with it.

So, when the situation on the mountain became tense and she decided to help her father, she first asked about her father's attitude towards the Emperor.

After receiving the promise that no harm would be done, she was very relieved, so she did her best to help Emperor Ning Kang quell the rebellion.

The reason was that she wanted to calm the situation down as soon as possible and kill as few people as possible? Most importantly, she wanted to prevent her loved ones from being killed.
On this point, her father's ideas were somewhat consistent with hers, so the father and daughter naturally took a stand without any discussion or planning.

With such a premise, one can imagine how shocked Princess Zhaoyang was when she heard that the Crown Prince was deliberately killed by the Third Prince.

She didn't think about the possibility that Jia Lian was deceiving her.

She felt very lost.

Because of this incident, not only did the third brother who had always been gentle and caring towards her in her heart become gloomy and unfamiliar, but it also ruthlessly tore apart the beautiful fantasy that she had tried hard to preserve for the royal family.

While feeling disappointed, she also began to understand why Jia Lian made that suggestion.

Being as proud as he is, it would probably be difficult for him to accept such a vicious villain as his monarch.

Princess Zhaoyang sighed and said, "Even with our help, I'm afraid Ling'er won't be a match for the Third Brother. Ling'er..."

Princess Zhaoyang shook her head, as if she was filled with infinite denial when she thought of her unfortunate brother.

When Jia Lian heard what Princess Zhaoyang said, he felt relieved, knowing that Princess Zhaoyang had agreed to help him.

Yes, on one side is a hypocritical villain who killed his elder brother, and on the other side is his own brother, who was born of the same mother. It is not difficult to make a choice.

The difficult part is how to make it happen after making the choice.

He took Princess Zhaoyang's hand and said softly, "You are actually too harsh on the Fourth Prince. Although the Fourth Prince is a little playful and childish, he is a wise man. He is confused about small things, but he always knows right from wrong in big things.

In fact, in my opinion, although the Fourth Prince is less domineering than the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, he has more of the demeanor of an emperor and a benevolent person than them. "

Princess Zhaoyang blinked her eyes, surprised that Jia Lian, who seldom praised others, had such a high opinion of her silly brother.

Seeing this, Jia Lian smiled mysteriously.

What kind of emperor's demeanor, benevolent demeanor, everyone can have it as long as they are willing to say it. At least, the fourth prince is a harmless person, so there is no need to worry too much about him crossing the river and destroying the bridge in the future.

“Moreover, after this incident and the death of the crown prince, the political situation in the future will definitely be difficult to stabilize.

To be honest, under such circumstances, it is difficult for Your Majesty to truly trust any of the princes.

If one day in the future, His Majesty uses the Fourth Prince to train the Third Prince as he did before, even if the Fourth Prince wants to retreat, given the Third Prince's decisiveness and ruthlessness, the Fourth Prince may not be able to escape unscathed from him.

So, instead of leaving your fate in the hands of an unpredictable person, it is better to take the initiative and control your own destiny. "

Jia Lian said seductively.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Princess Zhaoyang listened and suddenly asked, "Erlang is so impressive, but what has he achieved?"

"It's not considered a success, but I have some ideas..."

Just as Jia Lian was about to explain, Zhang Yong's voice came from outside the tent, saying that Zhou Er and Tian Liang wanted to see him.

Jia Lian patted Princess Zhaoyang's hand and said, "These two are the ones who leaked the information to me."

As he said this, he stood up, asked Princess Zhaoyang to sit down, and stood aside.

In front of outsiders, he had to give Princess Zhaoyang some face. Moreover, wouldn't it be more legitimate to let Princess Zhaoyang, his biological sister, seek justice for her eldest brother?

Princess Zhaoyang noticed the details and found it funny and touching.

But she quickly put all this aside, sat up straight, and looked solemn.

There was one thing Jia Lian said that really touched Princess Zhaoyang's heart. That is, if the Third Prince was really that vicious and cruel, if the Fourth Prince were to confront him one day in the future, with the methods used by her foolish brother, it would be very difficult for her to survive in the hands of the Third Prince.

In this world, apart from her grandmother, the person closest to her is this silly brother, and no one can hurt him.

……

After Emperor Ning Kang woke up, he took some time to recuperate and then summoned all his ministers to discuss matters.

As the situation on the mountain became clearer, the ministers who had accompanied the emperor to the mountain could naturally come before Emperor Ning Kang to receive his orders, and Emperor Ning Kang no longer had to command only a few nervous people as he did at the beginning.

With the help of these ministers, the mountain became obviously orderly.

But the internal troubles were temporarily put off, while the external troubles came one after another.

"Your Majesty, news has come from down the mountain that Chang'an Jiedushi Yun Guang is leading a large army to Tiewang Mountain. This is the second Jiedushi to come after Guanning Jiedushi Tao Ran. They both have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses.

At present, both armies are being held back by the Beijing camp 20 miles outside the mountain, and the two armies seem to be planning to join forces.”

As the news spread in the palace, all the ministers began to talk about it.

Emperor Ning Kang couldn't help but frown. He didn't expect that after so many years, his father still had such a high appeal in the army. He actually summoned several armies to come to his defense in one day.

An old minister anxiously suggested: "Your Majesty, the situation on the mountain is critical now. Please leave early and return to the capital. Only in this way can everything be fine."

Many others seconded the motion.

In fact, as soon as Emperor Ning Kang woke up, someone suggested returning to Beijing as soon as possible.

After all, the capital city is high and deep, and it is not a threat from ordinary rebels. In addition, there are still a large number of soldiers and personnel available in the capital, so as long as they return to the capital, they will naturally be completely safe.

However, Emperor Ning Kang was not willing to flee back to the capital in a sickly state because he was weak and had just defeated his father.

That's not necessary.

Not to mention that he still has tens of thousands of elite troops at his disposal. Now that the emperor is in his hands, he doesn't believe that those "rebels" dare to attack him without the emperor's authorization.

The fact was just as Emperor Ning Kang had expected. Although Guanning Jiedushi Tao Ran arrived at the foot of Tiewang Mountain early, he had not received any message from the retired emperor. When he was under high alert from the Beijing camp, especially when the other party took out Emperor Ning Kang's handwritten edict claiming that the rebellion on the mountain had been quelled, he did not dare to move forward.

Of course, he was not stupid enough to do as the imperial edict said and abandon the army and go to Tiewang Mountain alone to "pay homage to the emperor."

Tao Ran didn't dare to act rashly, but he couldn't be sure that there might be some foolish guy behind him.

Therefore, Emperor Ning Kang now actually plans to return to Beijing as soon as possible.

"Report!"

"Urgent news from Juyong Pass! The commander of nine provinces, Wang Ziteng, is leading tens of thousands of troops on a rapid march and is less than eighty miles away from the city gate!"

This piece of news caused countless people in the hall to panic instantly.

Border troops, the emperor actually mobilized all the border troops here!
Although these ministers in the court usually ignored the border troops and repeatedly withheld their rations.

But when they heard that the border troops might enter the capital, few were not afraid. After all, everyone knew that the army that had survived the bitter cold of the border was incomparable to the rich soldiers in the capital in terms of murderous aura and combat effectiveness.

Emperor Ning Kang's expression instantly turned gloomy.

Unexpectedly, his father actually mobilized the border troops. Sending the border troops to Beijing was not something a mature emperor should do.

It seems that this attempt to force the emperor to abdicate has completely angered his father. His father also wants to take this opportunity to clean up the government and the country, at least to wash away all his achievements in the past seven years!
Fortunately, after he had taken control of the situation on the mountain, he immediately sent his confidant to take charge of Juyong Pass, the closest pass to Beijing. Otherwise, if the border troops were to march straight in, it would be a real problem.

Seeing that many people sitting in the hall were in disarray, Emperor Ning Kang slammed the table.

"Why panic!"

"Feng Sheng, you will personally lead 10,000 soldiers to support Juyong Pass. Remember, if Wang Ziteng does not force his way through the city, you can only appease him, do not provoke him, and just keep him out of the pass."

Too many soldiers have died in this battle on Tiewang Mountain.

If the Imperial Guards were to fight with the border troops again, it would truly shake the foundation of the country.

Therefore, Feng Sheng was given several imperial edicts to deal with Wang Ziteng. It would be best if Wang Ziteng could "lay down his arms", but even if he couldn't, he could just keep him stable first.

Now these foreign troops who came to protect the emperor on the orders of the retired emperor are still confused about the situation. He just needs to delay it for a while, and it will be much easier for him to appease them after the situation becomes clear. (End of this chapter)