lady, please calm down

March 19th, at 10:00 p.m.

At this time of day, Tokyo is bustling with lights and colorful decorations, but today, due to the curfew, the wide streets are empty.

In the dining room of the third courtyard of the Chu Palace on Sui Mian Street, Chen Chu sat at the same table with Cai Yuan and the Chen brothers. Li Ke, who was sitting next to them, reported in detail all the events that had taken place in and outside the palace that afternoon, as well as the reactions of all parties.

". Pei Weishu from Anfeng was particularly active, jumping up and down. After the incident today, Pei Weishu first went to the inn where the students of Liuhuai Academy were temporarily staying, and then went to Yulin Lane after leaving the inn."

The Xiangfu and the Chen family both lived in Yulin Lane. Cai Yuan and the Chen brothers stopped eating at the same time. Li Ke paused for a moment and continued, "Pei Weishu sent a visiting card to the Chen Mansion, but Chen Sheren happened to be back home, so he refused the invitation."

Chen Jingan's chopsticks, which had been suspended in mid-air, finally reached into the plate, and Chen Jingyan let out a long sigh.

At this sensitive moment, it is basic political ethics not to meet with those who have ulterior motives, but people are in panic at this time. Moreover, Chen Yingjun does not know the true situation of Chen Chu, and the two elders are detained in the palace. In such a chaotic situation, it is not impossible that Chen Yingjun misjudged the situation and really met some people he should not have met.

Fortunately, Chen Yingjun did not make such a low-level mistake.

Chen Chu, who hadn't eaten well all day, scooped the porridge and rice at the bottom of the bowl into his mouth and said, "Go on."

Li Ke raised his eyes slightly, glanced at the Chen brothers, and continued: "Preliminary investigation shows that the rumor circulating in the city today about the connection between the Chen family and General Xin came from among the students who stayed in Huai. The specific source remains to be investigated."

Chen Jingyan, who was sitting there, tried his best to act natural, but his eating movements were extremely stiff.

Chen Chu put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "The incident happened at 9:00 pm, and by the evening it had spread all over the city. I don't believe this rumor unless someone spread it on purpose. There are more than a thousand students in Liuhuai Academy, and it's not surprising that there are a few people from the Lin'an Dynasty and Jiangnan noble families among them."

When Chen Jingyan heard Chen Chu characterize the matter of 'Chen family colluding with Xin Shuai' as a 'rumor', his eyes became hot and he almost cried on the spot.

This kind of strategy of alienation has been common since ancient times, but it also has a very high success rate.
Even though Chen Chu kept the two of them in the mansion for protection, the Chen brothers were still worried about whether Chen Chu would take advantage of this incident to severely suppress the Chen family.

The cunning rabbit dies, the running dog cooks.

Now, the only dynasty left in the world is the Lin'an Dynasty, which is struggling to survive. Among the bureaucratic system around Chen Chu, the Chen family is the most powerful. If the former takes advantage of this rumor and cleans up the Chen family in the officialdom, how many positions can be freed up to arrange people who obey his orders?

"Indeed, if it weren't for early preparation, the rumor wouldn't have spread so quickly."

On this side, Li Ke heard Chen Chu's conclusion and immediately used the word "rumor". He then said, "This evening, Hebei Tuanlian Envoy Pan Xiong almost had a conflict with General Qin at the government gate."

Chen Chu nodded, indicating that he already knew about this matter. Li Ke then continued, "In the third year of Xuanqing, Pan Xiong's prison troops followed the prince's army into Huainan. His subordinates, the Wang brothers, had committed one of the 'three murders', rape, in Changfeng County and were captured and executed by the Jinyi. Today, he was outside the mansion under the pretext of visiting them, and his words were disrespectful to the princess and Madam Cai."

Pan Xiong rose from Hebei, and his subordinates consisted of death row prisoners, jailers, and various desperate criminals who had committed serious crimes and changed their identities and joined him.

After joining the Huaibei Army to fight against the Jin army, it was organized into a separate army with a relatively independent structure.

However, these people dared to fight the enemy to their lives on the battlefield, but once they left the battlefield, they treated the common people as grass.

This led to the Huainan Incident in the third year of Xuanqing. Chen Chu killed two guards, and the prison troops became much more restrained.

Li Ke brought up the old account at this time, naturally to remind Chen Chu to be careful of this person.

Then, Li Ke said, "There is one more thing, I don't know whether I should tell you or not."

"When did you become so fussy? Just say it if you have something to say!"

"Back in Hebei, it was Mr. Chen, the son of Mr. Liuchuan, who recommended Pan Xiong to serve in our army." Li Ke looked down and calmly stated this fact.

It’s related to the Chen family again!

Chen Jingyan's heart, which had just relaxed, could not help but become tense again. He wanted to explain to his son-in-law that the war situation in Hebei was urgent at that time, and it would not be a big problem to unite all the forces that could be united to fight against the Jin army. Pan Xiong's nonsense today was definitely not instructed by his family.

But when he glanced at his second brother, he saw that he was still eating porridge slowly and had no intention of defending himself. After a moment's hesitation, Chen Jingyan swallowed the words that were on his lips.

On the other side, Chen Chu looked at Li Ke seriously and asked, "What do you think of the Juye?"

Chen Jingyan couldn't help but feel his heart in his throat. Li Ke was born with the support of Cai Huan and was deeply trusted by Chen Chu!

At such a sensitive moment, it is hard to say that his views will not affect Chen Chu's views.
Li Ke's face was calm and he said without any emotion: "I think someone must be stirring up trouble behind the scenes!"

Chen Chu said: "Go on."

"At this time, the outside world still doesn't know the real situation of the prince. The people behind the scenes must be thinking that if the prince is seriously injured, the rumors will make Xin Shuai uneasy. Peng Shuai and Zhou Shuai will also be wary of Xin Shuai, which will be beneficial for some people with ulterior motives to fish in troubled waters. It's hard to guarantee safety."

Li Ke paused and glanced at the Chen brothers. "It's possible that some people are using Lord Chen's name to kill their master and seize power. Even if the prince is fine, now all these incidents are related to Lord Chen's family. The person behind this can also use this to make the prince and Lord Chen alienated and betrayed."

Cai Yuan, who had not spoken a word from beginning to end, concluded leisurely: "When Yuanzhang was seriously injured, he encouraged the generals to seize power; when Yuanzhang was fine, he persuaded Yuanzhang to purge the third brother's lineage in the court. It was like taking advantage of everything, which was too much in line with the nature of literati."

Chen Jingyan, who was waiting for trial, did not expect that his elder brother, with whom he had been fighting openly and secretly for years, would speak a fair word at this moment. At this moment, he did not care about his elder brother's ridicule of the literati, and bowed to Cai Yuan in gratitude.

Cai Yuan took a sip of tea slowly, and then said: "If Yuanzhang fulfills their wish, they will have no time to march south in the next three or two years."

This sentence not only cleared the Chen family of suspicion, but also directly pointed the finger at the Lin'an Dynasty!
The situation is now clear. After the King of Chu ascends the throne, he will definitely head south.

Huaibei fought twice with the Lin'an Dynasty, and the latter had almost no ability to fight back.

Since they could not win on the battlefield, they could only use such conspiracy and trickery to cause the Huaibei faction to fall apart or delay the Huaibei army's southward advance.

Nowadays, there are many members of the Chen family serving as officials in the court and local governments. If Chen Chu becomes suspicious of his family because of the assassination, the entire administrative system will indeed need a major and devastating purge.

Not only will the Huaibei clique need a lot of time to rebuild its system and have no time to look south, but among the large number of officials urgently needed to fill vacancies, there may be some people who were planted in from Jiangnan.

Li Ke and Cai Yuan helped the Chen family clear their suspicions one after another. Chen Jing'an, the person involved, then asked, "Yuan Zhang, have you gotten a confession from the descendants of the Xu family who are detained in the Dali Temple?"

Chen Chu shook his head and said, "The women and children of the Xu family are completely unaware of the inside story. Although Xu Derang's second son Xu Yi was immediately decapitated by the great sword, he has been gritting his teeth and refusing to speak."

"Isn't Commander He of the Jinyi Uniform Service also in Tokyo?" Chen Jingyan said anxiously.

The descendants of the Xu family confessed the mastermind behind the scenes, and the Chen family was finally clean, so they naturally thought of the number one cruel official in Huaibei.
"He personally examined it."

After Chen Chu finished speaking, Chen Jingyan couldn't help but feel disappointed. He Bei was a figure who could stop children from crying at night in Huaibei. He personally went there but couldn't get Xu Yi to speak. It was highly likely that he wouldn't be able to get anything out of the latter.

Li Ke next to him suddenly said, "Your Highness, everyone has weaknesses. Xu Yi has a son and a daughter. Why not let Commander He bring his children to Xu Yi and torture them? I don't believe Xu Yi can bear it."

"."

After being stunned, the crowd fell silent. No one pleaded for the Xu family. According to the Qi Tong Xing, assassinating the king was a serious crime of exterminating the entire clan. Zhang Shi did not consider his children and grandchildren before he acted. How could others have sympathy for him?

Secondly, the Xu family is willing to be a scapegoat. If this succeeds, I don’t know how much damage it will cause to the Huaibei faction. It is really annoying.

"absurd!"

Unexpectedly, Chen Chu refuted Li Ke in person, saying, "Why should I bother two innocent children of six or seven years old when I am doing this? The mastermind behind this, if I say it is Qin Huizhi, then it is Qin Huizhi. If I say it is Lin'an Chao, then it is Lin'an Chao. Whether there is a confession or not, what does it matter?"

Xu Shi two quarters.

Several people filed out of the dining room. Chen Chu went to the back house, and the Chen brothers said goodbye to Cai Yuan and went to the courtyard where they would stay for the night.

On the way, Chen Jingyan couldn't help but sigh that today Li Ke and Cai Yuan spoke up for justice and did not add insult to injury.

Chen Jing'an remained silent until the two of them walked back to the courtyard, then he whispered, "Brother, you are wrong! That Li may have some impartiality, but what really affects him is Yuanzhang's attitude! I conclude that Li must have prepared two sets of arguments tonight."

Chen Jingyan was not stupid. It was just that the incident happened suddenly, and he was confused by the news that was unfavorable to his family. He reacted immediately after hearing it. "Shouqian said that if Yuanzhang showed any intention to suppress my family, Li would come up with another set of unfavorable statements to my family?"

Chen Jing'an nodded and said, "When Yuanzhang summoned Li Zhushi today, he deliberately had you and me present. I think Li Zhushi had guessed Yuanzhang's attitude. Then Yuanzhang defined the rumor as 'rumors', so Li Zhushi said the following."

Chen Jingyan thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed the case!
At the beginning, Li Ke had no bias when reporting the matter, but after Yuanzhang's "rumor", Li Ke began to take the initiative to defend the Chen family.

Even the old fox Cai Yuan spoke up for the Chen family in the end.

Chen Jingyan, who realized it late, couldn't help but feel frustrated and ashamed that everyone else was smart and he was the only fool. His face flushed and he looked around and said, "Fortunately, Yuanzhang is here. He knows what kind of people you and I are."

Having said that, seeing that his brother still didn't fully understand, Chen Jing'an looked at Chen Jingyan in surprise and asked in confusion: "Brother, you still don't fully understand it?"

"Ah? What do you understand?"

"What I just said is just one of the reasons."

"Shouqian, just say what you want to say!"

Chen Jingyan said with a slightly unhappy tone, but Chen Jingan sighed silently, stood up and closed the door, and then said: "Brother, it is true that Yuanzhang protects my family, but if he only wants to protect my family, why did he let Li Zhushi report this matter in front of you and me?"

Chen Jingyan, who was always a step behind today, was stunned after understanding what was said, but he still didn't quite believe it and said, "Brother, are you saying that Yuanzhang is using this to warn you and me? Are you overthinking it?"

"Haha." Chen Jing'an smiled bitterly, "Yuan Zhang had plenty of opportunities to listen to Li's report in private, but he chose to let you and me be present to hear it with our own ears. To put it bluntly, he is telling you and me that even outsiders know that my family is a big name in the court."

Chen Jingyan wanted to say something, but Chen Jingan raised his hand to stop him, "Brother, I want to ask you a question sincerely. When Yuanzhang unifies the north and the south, with your achievements, can you become the prime minister?"

"Brother, I am not talented enough to be a prime minister."

Chen Jingyan habitually made a hypocritical and polite remark, but when he looked up and saw his second brother's burning gaze, he couldn't help but smile awkwardly and said: "Yuan Zhang started the rebellion in Tongshan, and I brought my entire family to help him. I'm telling you a big word, my family's support for Yuan Zhang is better than that of the Cai family. Cai Yuan can be a prime minister, and I can do it too."

Seeing that his brother spoke his true feelings, Chen Jingan nodded and asked again: "In your opinion, can I be the prime minister of the new dynasty?"

"Shou Qian can do it naturally!"

This time, Chen Jingyan was even more determined than when he affirmed himself.

Indeed, as Chen Chu's first aide, Chen Jing'an has been serving Chen Chu faithfully over the years, organizing food and fodder for the Huaibei Army during wartime and governing the local area for Chen Chu in peacetime.

In addition, he had been the prime minister of Anfeng when he was in Huainan. If a new dynasty was established, there would be no reason to demote Chen Jing'an, who had worked hard and made great contributions.

If he were to become prime minister, it would be justified.

Chen Jing'an asked in rapid succession, "If Jiangnan surrenders, what position will Chen Bokang hold?"

"Chen Bokang"

In his early years, Chen Bokang had secret dealings with Huaibei, and now he is a thorn in the side of the Lin'an Dynasty from Huaibei. If Jiangnan surrenders, the most cost-effective way to appease the gentry in Jiangnan is to keep Chen Bokang in office.

But Chen Jingyan, who subconsciously wanted to say "Chen Bokang can be the prime minister", couldn't say it out loud.

Even if the new dynasty establishes three prime ministers according to the old system. Oh, could it be that you, Chen, want to bring all three prime ministers into one family?
Crazy!
Chen Jingan couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, even if Yao and Shun were reborn, they would not allow one family to dominate to this extent."

Chen Jingyan seemed to have only just realized this problem, and hurriedly asked, "From Shouqian's point of view, what should we do?"

"."

The eldest brother's confused question made Chen Jing'an think for a moment that his brother really hadn't thought about this matter.

But, although my elder brother is not as knowledgeable as me, he is always cunning. How could he suddenly become so stupid?

Chen Jingan thought for a moment and said directly: "In order not to make colleagues jealous and not to embarrass Yuanzhang, my family must also step back appropriately."

Chen Jingyan frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "That's right."

Chen Jing'an has been a talented person in his family since he was young. He has won the third place in the imperial examination and has left a great name in the scholarly community for his many years of academic research. Although he never says it, he always has the arrogance of "who else but me" in his heart.

His life resume is many times more impressive than that of his brother who was still the magistrate of Tongshan when he was nearly 40 years old.

Seeing that his brother was still pretending to be confused, Chen Jing'an simply retreated by advancing: "Brother is the eldest son of the family, and I should be the one to retreat. After the Jiangnan matter is over, I will resign from Yuanzhang, return to my hometown to study, and not be involved in government affairs. On the one hand, it can avoid Yuanzhang's fear, and on the other hand, it can also make way for the younger generations such as Yingjun and Yinglang to be promoted."

He said he was resigning, but actually he was trying to persuade his brother!

You even said that you should give way to the "younger generations". This is exactly the responsibility you should shoulder as the patriarch of my Chen family!
However, Chen Jing'an still underestimated the shamelessness of his 'official-obsessed' brother!
Chen Jingyan seemed to be afraid that his brother would go back on his word, so he quickly said, "Alas, this is the only way now. In the future, Shouqian can just focus on studying in his hometown. With my brother and Ayu here, we will surely lead our Chen family to prosperity!"

"Big brother."

"Don't worry, Shouqian! When you return home, I will build you a big and beautiful academy next to the old house. Well, you have fulfilled your wish, but you can concentrate on studying, while I still have to be trapped in worldly affairs and work on papers all day long. However, as the eldest son of the Chen family, it is my responsibility to prosper the family!"

"."

Chen Jingan stared at his elder brother, unable to utter a word.

I am not stupid at all!
I was careless. (End of this chapter)