Fairy, please let me explain.

Chapter 800 Before the Storm

The sky was still gray. Last night's battle resulted in the destruction of many blocks in the city. No one knew how many casualties there were among the people of both armies. Fortunately, before the war spread, the commanders of both armies called back their troops. After a night of heavy snow, all the scars in Di'an City were covered by the snow, but it was only temporary.

The armies belonging to the imperial prime minister are still entrenched in the huge Di'an City. The war has stopped, but the confrontation has just begun.

With Tianshui Street as the horizontal axis, the entire city was divided into two parts: the royal family in the north and the prime minister's residence in the south. Both sides retreated two miles on this horizontal axis and began to set up checkpoints and build forts.

The palace city located on the top of Jiulong Mountain was completely occupied by the Black Scale Army in the war last night, but under military orders, the Black Scale Army did not go deep into this royal forbidden area. Most of them were active on the periphery, guarding the northern palace wall, overlooking the royal guards further north and the Wugui Army left behind by Prince Yuan.

The Prime Minister's Mansion, which was the focus of the royal attack last night, was now in ruins. The administrative center, Moying Pavilion, was completely burned down. No one proposed to rebuild it at this critical moment, but some people suggested moving directly to the Golden Palace. Xu Yuan temporarily ignored these voices and set the meeting place in the underground Black Prison.

The situation in Di'an was temporarily stuck here.

The emperor and the prime minister had many contacts, but due to various practical factors, the meeting process was basically stopped halfway through and could not proceed further.

Many people in the Prime Minister's Mansion are dissatisfied with the current situation. They are dissatisfied with Xu Yuan and the empress in the north of the city who is about to ascend the throne.

When Di An raised his army and went to war with the Li family, they were all prepared to either succeed and become the emperor's followers, or fail and become the traitors. However, the attitude of the top leaders became ambiguous again at this time.

of course,

This is only the opinion of a small number of people in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Most people are still dissatisfied with Li Qingyan.

They were not blinded by their success.

They were well aware of the power of the royal family and the clan alliance, and they also knew that now was not the time to rebel. The secret resources brought back by the young master did give the Prime Minister's Mansion the qualifications to break free from the shackles of the royal family, but it would take time to convert the resources into actual combat power.

From the beginning to the end, the purpose of overthrowing Li Zhaoyuan was to support an emperor who was closer to the Prime Minister's Office to ascend the throne in order to gain this period of time. However, after Li Qingyan came to power, the edict announced to the world somewhat angered the ministers of the Prime Minister's Office.

According to their idea, the empress who was supported by the prince to ascend the throne should have characterized Li Zhaoyuan as a traitor who forged an imperial edict to ascend the throne, but in the end they only received an ambiguous characterization.

Prince Yuan died of illness.

This is too perfunctory, and the meaning of procrastination is obvious.

In addition, the impact of the mutiny that night, which could already be characterized as a rebellion, continued to ferment within the prime minister's residence.

Four days had passed since the night of the mutiny. Two old men with white beards walked side by side in the deep tunnel. As they walked towards the depths of the Black Prison, they chatted about some trivial matters of the recent days:

"Old Hua, how is the transfer of things from your Tianan Chamber of Commerce going?"

Hua Hong pondered for a moment, then replied slowly:

"Everything is under control, and the problems we encounter are commonplace."

Jiang He smiled softly upon hearing this:
"Take this opportunity to settle the account?"

"Don't you have any in your Gewuyuan?"

"Yes, and quite a lot. Nearly one-fifth of the money and grain allocated by the Prime Minister back then was divided among those insects. To be honest, if it weren't for the young master's check during the organized transfer, I, an old man, would still be kept in the dark."

Hua Hong was not surprised and chuckled:
"You don't have much control over these things, so this number is within an acceptable range."

"I'm not going to say that. I want to say that the young master has arranged for his eunuch to work as an accountant in my Gewuyuan."

"The one with the surname Su?"

"That person was taken away by Lou Ji. It was the one with the surname Luo."

"Luo?"

Hua Hong was stunned for a moment, then took a long time to react and then laughed: "Luo Xiran? He is not the young master's eunuch, but just a guest official, who can be regarded as a direct descendant that the young master found outside."

Jiang He curled his lips, his tone somewhat dissatisfied:
"Aren't they all the same?"

Hua Hong was silent for a moment and whispered:
"Old Jiang, we have worked together for decades. I am not saying anything bad about you. The direction that the young master is leading is now determined. If you, the Huairou faction, want to have a good ending, you'd better follow the young master closely."

Speaking of which,
Hua Hong paused for a moment and whispered:
"Jiang He, you should also be thankful that the young master arranged for Luo Xiran to enter your Institute of Gewu. She is a person with extremely high attainments in formations and elixirs. At least there won't be a situation where an amateur leads the experts. And this is the excuse you gave to the young master."

Jiang He was silent for a long time, then asked quietly:

"Alas, the Prime Minister's Mansion is now completely dancing on a tightrope. Will these actions of yours truly lead the Prime Minister's Mansion to destruction?"

"Shut up. If you say anything more, don't blame me for being rude."

"."

Whether it is the prime minister's party in the court or the eunuchs of the Xu family, there are a group of opponents who oppose the open rebellion. After all, this world is the world of Dayan, and the prime minister's office was originally dependent on the power of Dayan's royal family, and their thoughts have been more or less influenced.

They had no objection to opposing the Zongmeng, but opposing Li Yantianxia was questionable.

The two old men walked away in silence.

The underground black prison is very large. In addition to those parts that were quietly moved out of the city, various institutions within the Xu family have divided their administrative areas within it.

At the boundary between Tianan Chamber of Commerce and Gewuyuan.

Jiang He suddenly spoke again and asked in a low voice:
"I heard that the young master released the old man from your Feng family, and that he and Feng Jiuxuan fought a great battle with the two saints in the palace that night?"

Hua Hong's face instantly turned gloomy when he heard this:

"Why do you ask that?"

Jiang He just sighed:
"You don't have to be so wary of me. Although I don't want to see the young master rebel, the only disciple of this old man is his sister. At most, I will just say a few words behind his back.

“I say this just to remind you,

"Without the pressure from the Prime Minister, those old officials of your Feng family who are dissatisfied with the young master have begun to behave dishonestly."

Hua Hong stared at Jiang He gloomily:

"Which people?"

"There are too many people down there to mention, but two of them are about the same height as you and me."

After all,

Jiang He shook his head, sighed, then turned and left.

Hua Hong stood there for a long time, and ultimately did not go towards the administrative area of ​​the Tianan Chamber of Commerce, but went straight to the deepest part.

"Sir, what on earth are you thinking about?!"

When Hua Hong was still considering his words, a deep and powerful roar from the deepest secret room of the Black Prison interrupted his thoughts:

"Would you like to see what the empress you supported has been doing in the past two days?

“It’s true that you asked the group of people who survived the underground palace to take down Qinlong Pass, but there are more than one pass from the northern border to the capital area!

"In the past four days, more than 100,000 Beifeng troops have entered the capital by taking a detour through Jingbei Prefecture!
"As for this secret decree, you should have known about it a long time ago, right? Why did you keep it hidden from us?!
"You asked our Black Scale Army to rebel, and we have already decided to do so. Why are you hesitating now?!!

"The Black Scale Army needs a clear order now!!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled sound was heard from the secret room.

That was the sound of someone banging the table.

Hearing these words and that familiar voice, Hua Hong frowned unconsciously and quickened his pace, but he was still a step too late.

When he reached the door of the secret room, he happened to run into the giant man who was like an iron tower and was about to slam the door open.

Hua Hong, dressed in a Confucian robe, looked at Zong Qingsheng who walked out angrily, and subconsciously wanted to ask him something, but the other party just glared at him and quickly left.

Looking at the direction the other person left,
A hint of worry inevitably flashed across Hua Hong's eyes. At this moment, a calm voice came from the secret room:

"Since Mr. Hua is here, please come in first."

Walking into the secret room, a handsome young man in a blood-stained shirt was sitting on the main seat. The desk in front of him was smashed into two pieces, and the broken wood chips were flying all over the room.

The person on the main seat seemed very calm about all this. He held an unknown book in his hand and laughed softly while browsing through it:
"It seems that there are indeed some serious problems within our Xiangfu."

Hua Hong bowed and replied in a low voice:

"No matter which force kills a prince on the eve of his enthronement, they will face great problems."

Xu Yuan put away the scroll in his hand and said with a smile:

"I'll ask Zong Qingsheng to wait for another seven days. If Li Qingyan doesn't give me a reply after seven days, maybe our Xiangfu will really have to be called the Xu Family in the future."

Hua Hong's heart sank when he heard this.

Xu Yuanze just opened the topic softly and asked slowly:

"Mr. Hua, you came just in time. How are the various transfer matters in Di'an City going?"

Hua Hong walked up to Xu Yuan and bowed his head and said:
"More than 80% of the various documents, internal references, and confidential drawings have been transferred. It should be completely completed in another seven days, but."

Halfway through his words, Hua Hong suddenly fell silent.

When he lowered his eyes, he saw the imperial edict lying among the wood chips on the desk.

[The envoys of the imperial clan alliance were summoned to the court to watch the coronation ceremony]

Hua Hong raised his eyes subconsciously, his eyes were full of hesitation and astonishment:
"Sir, what is this?"

Xu Yuan answered casually:

"Li Qingyan sent a secret decree to the Zongmeng after Li Zhaoyuan's death. According to the time, the Zongmeng envoys should have secretly entered the capital."

Hua Hong's breath was caught in his throat. This imperial decree represented a very serious situation. He spoke faster:
"Why haven't I received any news?"

"Because I have suppressed it, you don't have to worry about it, Mr. Hua. I have already made up my mind."

Xu Yuan said, sighing: "I just don't know who secretly told Zong Qingsheng about this."

Hua Hong's mind raced for a moment, and finally he followed the Master's words and whispered:

"There should only be the Black Scale Guards and Wenshu Monastery."

The former is the source of this information, and the latter is equivalent to the internal minister of the Xu family, responsible for receiving this information.

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered:
"Oh? In Elder Hua's opinion, should this be the Black Scale Guards or the Wenshu Monastery?"

Hua Hong opened his mouth and tried to speak several times, but swallowed the words back.

Xu Yuan was not in a hurry and just waited quietly.

finally,
Hua Hong still spoke in a low voice:

"It should be Wenshu Monastery."

".Zhou Xianlin."

The dim light in Xu Yuan's secret room made his expression look uncertain:

"What do you think is his reason? Is it because I wanted to place Bai Muxi in Wenshu Temple, or because of my recent policies, or because of his loyalty to the Feng family?"

Hua Hong was silent.

Xu Yuan sighed and stood up, looking at the other party sincerely:

"Mr. Hua, you are all the precious treasures my father left me. If I could, I really don't want to touch him, and I don't want to build power by killing him, but at this juncture I really have no choice."

Hua Hong took a deep breath, sighed in his heart, and said without hesitation:
"Sir, let me do it."

Xu Yuan looked back and smiled, then shook his head and said:

"There are people who are more suitable."

"Who?" Hua Hong hesitated.

Xu Yuan glanced at the figure sitting in the corner of the secret room:
"Grandpa, you should have heard it."

Hua Hong then noticed the familiar black shadow in the corner. His pupils suddenly shrank, and he took a half step back, muttering subconsciously:
"The head of the family"

"Fuck the master."

Feng Yuanqin did not stand up, dragging her chin and said slowly: "Hua boy, you should be careful with your words and actions. The current head of the Feng family is Jiuxuan, not me."

The fear of the Feng family's former tyrant deep in his memory made Hua Hong subconsciously salute:

".yes."

Feng Yuanqin found this a little funny, rubbed her brows and said:
"No matter how old you are, you are still afraid. I have seen it clearly in the decades I have been imprisoned. I just didn't expect that there are still people outside who miss me. You are very good, and Zhou kid is also very good, but my grandson wants to kill him, so I, an old man, can only do it."

Hua Hong said under pressure:

"That's perfect. I think your statement will immediately silence those voices."

Xu Yuan had never expected that his grandfather, who was so kind and almost doting, still had such a terrifying prestige in the hearts of the old officials of the Feng family after decades. Seeing the uncomfortable look of old man Hua, he did not intend to embarrass him any further:
"Mr. Hua, please go down first. I still have something to discuss with Grandpa."

"Yes, son."

After Hua Hong left quickly, the grandfather and grandson were the only ones left in the secret room.

Feng Yuanqin stood up and picked up the secret decree from the broken wood chips on the desk, brushed off the wood chips, and spoke slowly:

"Grandson, do you trust that girl from the Li family so much?"

Xu Yuan was silent for a moment before he asked:
"You say that position is so corrupting?"

"This question should not be asked to me."

Feng Yuanqin shook her head, handed the secret decree back to Xu Yuan, and lowered her voice slightly:
"But realistically speaking, the girl from the Li family has no reason to cooperate with you. You should know how much impact killing Zhou Xianlin's family will have on the Prime Minister's Mansion. If she wants to cooperate with you, she will have to kill far more than just the imperial party."

This is exactly the same prophecy that Li Zhaoyuan made before his death.

But after he finished speaking, Feng Yuanqin's old face showed a smile again:
"Of course, you don't have to care.
"After all, I was a tyrant in the past. I was imprisoned for decades because I didn't understand the ideals your parents talked about."

"."

Xu Yuan took the secret decree in silence and whispered:

"You are right. Since what she is doing now can be explained in two ways, I will be prepared for both situations. If she disappoints me in the end, then the Great Yan Xiangfu will be completely renamed the Xu Family."

While talking,

Xu Yuan casually burned the secret decree and sat back on the main seat, staring at the north with eyes hidden in the shadows:

"The last seven days, I will wait for you for seven more days at most.

"I really don't have any more time. I hope you can understand what I meant that night. Li Qingyan."

(End of this chapter)