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Li Beichen has never made up his mind on how to confront Chen Xiang.

The question he asked himself most these days was, if he were a treasonous person, should he continue to lurk or take the next action as soon as possible, and how to take action.

The conclusion drawn is that if he is a treasonous person, then from the assassination that night, there will be no turning back, and he can no longer lurk. If he cannot take advantage of the chaos to launch a second assassination or coup, then Emperor Li Beichen He will soon follow the clues and destroy the situation he has carefully laid out in one fell swoop, killing all the people involved.

As for the next time to take action, if it is the third brother King Wei, the best time is before the sixth brother King Jin takes over the vassal state. The most efficient and reliable way is to hold a banquet and poison the siege. The focus is to eliminate the root cause and leave no future troubles. ;

If it is one of the two prime ministers, then the best time is after the King of Jin has entered the vassal state and before the Queen Mother's birthday banquet.During this time, the palace people were busy preparing for the birthday banquet, and their defenses were at their weakest.The other prime minister was sent to other places on official business, and the power of tit-for-tat confrontation between the DPRK and China was reduced.The key is to get to the top in one fell swoop, and to eliminate the roots slowly.

If it is the emperor's uncle who has been entrusted to other places, then the best time is to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. When everyone is defeated and the battle is fierce, the emperor's uncle can lead troops to the capital in the name of clearing out the rebellious ministers and traitors and protecting the royal family. .

If there are multiple forces, then the other two forces will sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers and tigers, and then wait until both sides are hurt, and then take advantage of the situation.According to the above speculation, it is best to unite the two prime ministers.Avoid being ambushed by them in the decisive battle with the King of Wei, and be attacked from both sides.

But from what Li Beichen knew about Chen Xiang, his personality was completely different from Meng Xiang's.

He does not have the heroic spirit of Meng Xiang who is willing to admit defeat and who knows the current affairs to be a hero.

Chen Xiang's personality is too tactful and tends to be feminine and introverted. He will be as modest and polite as ever, pretending to be confused as always, good at Tai Chi, pushing all responsibilities outward if he can, and refusing to admit all accusations unless The irrefutable evidence slaps you in the face.

Although Li Beichen had already deduced that Prime Minister Chen secretly controlled the former crown prince's posthumous son, and after attempting to launch a coup, he would control the young posthumous son as a puppet and monopolize power himself.But the inference is just an inference, and there is no direct evidence of Chen Xiang's rebellion.

There is no way that Prime Minister Chen would admit to committing such a serious crime as treason.

Although they can be killed directly and secretly, now is the time to employ people, and it is also the time to stabilize the government situation as much as possible.Killing them hastily can easily cause unpredictable turmoil.

You can also throw existing evidence into his face, but that means completely tearing off the fig leaf.

Therefore, Li Beichen did not expect Chen Xiang to plead guilty. All he needed was for him not to stab himself in the back when fighting other parties.

After thinking about it again and again, Li Beichen decided to pick up a peripheral issue and talk about it.

"Xiang Chen has been in charge of the household department. Yesterday Murong Chi told me that he had cleaned up the accounts of the household department and found that a large amount of money had been misappropriated for unknown reasons starting five years ago, resulting in a large deficit. This deficit occurs every year They are all being repaired, but the hole is getting bigger and bigger, and it has not been repaired yet. What do you think of this matter, Mr. Chen?"

Chen Xiang broke into a cold sweat when asked.

He was not sure how much the emperor knew and how much Murong Chi, the newly appointed Minister of Household Affairs, had found out.How many people who participated have been secretly caught by the emperor and confessed.Not many people can resist the professional torture experts of Dali Temple.

But luckily there was a scapegoat, and he was already dead.The mouth of the dead is the tightest and the belly is the largest. No matter how unjustly accused, he will not refute.

Prime Minister Chen did not hesitate to blame Zhang Cheng for the deficit in the account of the Ministry of Accounts, insisting that he had made oversights, reported corruption truthfully, turned over corrupt money, and had not committed any other crimes.

"The Dali Temple said that the Minister of Hubu, your student, Lin Sitian, confessed after interrogation that you and the Zhang family also made peace. The reason why he has always disowned Zhang Cheng's second son is because his second son is more like Chen Xiang. "

Li Beichen analyzed that Lin Sitian was initially willing to cover up for Chen Xiang, firstly because he had indeed communicated with Zhang many times; secondly, Chen Xiang was his mentor and leader in charge, and he had the kindness of knowing him and being a teacher and student; Third, if Chen Xiang does not fall, he can still be hidden. If Chen falls, the tree will fall and the hozens will scatter, and he will not end well. Fourth, if only Lin Sitian is found, then the most he can be is guilty of adultery, and the crime will not lead to death. Not to mention killing the nine tribes.If Chen Xiang is found, he may pull out the carrot and bring out the mud, which may lead to the execution of the nine tribes.

Lin Sitian retracted his confession yesterday because Li Beichen authorized Dali Temple to deceive Lin Sitian, claiming to have evidence of Prime Minister Chen, and was arrested and secretly detained.If he can be frank and lenient and take the initiative to confess, his personal death penalty will inevitably be avoided, but he can avoid the execution of the nine clans and bring harm to his family.

However, Lin Sitian not only helped cover up Zhang Cheng’s misappropriation of public funds for the princelings during the internal fight between the prince and the concubine’s fifth prince, but also covered up Prime Minister Chen’s secret rape of Zhang’s family many times while Zhang Cheng was drunk during a banquet in the Chen Mansion. Apart from the fact that it caused Zhang's pregnancy, he didn't know anything else. "Your Majesty, Lin Sitian is talking nonsense! It's pure slander! I am an honest and upright man. I have already been promoted to prime minister, how could I be so shameless and have an affair with a married woman? Let me confront him face to face. I am not such a shameless student who falsely accuses my teacher!"

Xiang Chen's eyes widened angrily, his face turned red, and his beard stood up in anger.

It seemed extremely insulted.

Chen Xiang suddenly shook his head sadly and sighed, "Your Majesty, there are many cruel officials in Dali Temple. In order to close the case and extract confessions, they often use severe torture. Lin Sitian may have been tortured and made up nonsense under the pain. Lin Sitian is my student, and I know him well." , he is smart and diligent. Although he had an affair with a woman, Mr. Zhang was dissolute by nature. Lin Sitian's crime would not lead to death, so he asked the emperor to be merciful and spare Lin Sitian's life."

Li Beichen sneered in his heart. He is a debauched person. Is it because Mr. Zhang had an affair with you and Lin Sitian at the same time, so he doesn't know whose child it is?
"I understand." Li Beichen said quietly, drinking tea slowly.

The moment he put down the tea cup, a smile appeared on his face, "Mr. Chen, Concubine Jing just confirmed her pregnancy today. It's been two months and she hasn't had time to tell you yet. You are going to be a maternal grandfather soon."

Chen Xiang, like Meng Xiang, had a scheming and calm face until this moment.

There are huge differences between people, but the instinctive love for their children is no different.

Chen Xiang stared at Li Beichen's face in shock, his eyes bright with joy, as if he couldn't believe the news.

"Concubine Jing is in bed to raise her fetus. I just went to the Yongshou Palace to see her. If the Prime Minister wants to see her, we can arrange a meeting before the Prime Minister leaves, and we can talk as usual."

Chen Xiang asked worriedly, "Thank you for your grace, is Tingyu okay? I'm so happy, is your body still adapting?"

Li Beichen was very calm, "She is still the same, has the same bad temper, and shouts and kills at every turn, so she had fetal gas today. I have arranged for Sun Simiao's descendants to take special care of her, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

"I am guilty of neglecting to discipline my children." Chen Xiang knelt on the ground and said quickly.

Li Beichen nodded slightly, with a solemn expression, "Xiang Chen is right, he is indeed neglectful of discipline."

If you dare, just slap my beloved concubine's ear directly.

Li Beichen thought for a while and said in a warm voice, "Prime Minister Chen should be strong and strong, and imitate Prime Minister Meng and have more sons. The west is not as good as the south of the Yangtze River, with a dry climate, lack of food and clothing, and is quite poor. I give you two concubines, Let’s go to the northwest to provide disaster relief together to comfort our hard work.”

"I don't feel it's hard to share the emperor's worries."

"National affairs are important, and the succession of descendants is equally important. It's just a little bit of my thoughts."

"I... obey the order." Chen Xiang agreed bravely.

I have no idea what kind of medicine the emperor is selling in his gourd.

At this time, his mind was full of thoughts on how to help his daughter give birth to the prince safely.

Chen Xiang knew his daughter too well and was worried that because of his bad temper, he would accidentally lose the child he had finally obtained with great difficulty.