Jiuxi

Chapter 846: 844 [Waves Rising]

Pingkangfang, Shangshufu.

Inside the courtyard where a vegetable garden was specially opened up.

Li Shizhi stood by the railing, his usually calm and composed face now showing a gloomy look which was quite rare.

There was another person in the pavilion. Cui Yu, who was over 40 years old, looked drowsy and was sitting slanting beside the railing. He held a wine bag in his left hand, which was naturally filled with Dihuayun, which was unique to the Jinlin Li family.

He took a sip of wine, then said with a half-smile, "Ever since you came out of the palace the day before yesterday, you have been in such a miserable state. I have never seen you so depressed in all these years. It seems that the response of the Duke of Qin was beyond your expectations."

"It's really surprising."

Li Shizhi did not deny it, and said calmly: "In fact, I expected that he might be on guard, but I didn't expect that he actually learned this trick, pretending to be a loyal minister and filial son to suppress others with great power. It's no wonder that Your Majesty feels aggrieved, and even I feel a little depressed. But then again, my bad mood has nothing to do with this matter."

Cui Yu asked with interest: "Why is that?"

Li Shizhi walked to the stone table and sat down, groaning, "I don't quite understand Lu Chen's thoughts. Is it true that my father has such a great influence on him? Just because the old man helped him and defeated Pei Fangyuan in the Beijing inspection incident, he is willing to retreat again and again and swallow his anger just to return to Dingzhou as soon as possible?"

"That's strange."

Cui Yu took another sip of wine and said with a smile: "There are actually people in this world that you can't see through, brother."

Li Shizhi ignored the teasing in his tone and said calmly: "Although Lu Chen is young, he is very talented and has been trained by the late emperor, my father, Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun. His father Lu Tong is also an unfathomable figure. After so many years of experience, Lu Chen is no longer an ordinary young noble. What's so strange about me not being able to see through him?"

Cui Yu shrugged. Perhaps this was why he felt that this cousin was boring. The other party could always look at anyone and anything without any emotion.

"When Lu Chen just returned to the capital, everything went according to my expectations. I knew that His Majesty wanted to re-employ Han Zhongjie because Han Zhongjie could help him gain control of the Beijing army. So I privately suggested that His Majesty host a banquet for Lu Chen and take the opportunity to induce Lu Chen to agree to let Han Zhongjie stand in the court again."

Li Shizhi did not look pleased. He looked at the vegetable field in front of him and said, "This is a plan that kills two birds with one stone. If Lu Chen agrees, it will definitely affect the views of the border soldiers on him. If he does not agree, the conflict between the monarch and his subjects will quickly intensify. The final result was as I expected. Lu Chen did not give His Majesty face, and the two of them parted unhappily."

This was the first time Cui Yu heard him speak his mind. He sat up straight and continued, "So you took the initiative to give up the position of right prime minister that was within your grasp, and even wanted to bring Xue Nanting in, just to continue to encourage the emperor to use Han Zhongjie and cause a complete rift between the emperor and his subjects? It's a pity that there are many heroes in the world. Xiao Wangzhi saw the crisis at a glance and decisively helped Lu Chen to fight back. Otherwise, with the temper of Duke Qin, he would probably have made a scene at that time."

Li Shizhi nodded and said, "You are right. I cannot underestimate others. Xiao Wangzhi's coming forward has compromised my plan, but this cannot affect the overall situation. After all, the seeds of conflict have been planted, and it is not so easy to pull them out."

Cui Yu smiled and asked, "What about the Beijing Inspection Incident? Was it also within your expectations?"

"Unexpected."

Li Shizhi admitted it frankly, and then said: "My father is old and strong, and he must have some hidden power. He and Lu Chen tacitly cooperated with each other, which did cause me a lot of losses, but it is not all bad. At least through the Beijing inspection incident, I concluded that Lu Chen and Su Yunqing have a close personal relationship, otherwise he would not have made such a big move."

He didn't say why he didn't tell the emperor about the relationship between Lu and Su, and Cui Yu didn't ask any further.

Li Shizhi suddenly sighed and said slowly: "What really surprised me is that Lu Chen was able to keep his composure and not reveal the truth about Gui Qiuliang's death."

Cui Yu narrowed his eyes and whispered, "You forced Gui Qiuliang to death, and asked me to put the letter on Gui Qiuliang's desk. How could you be sure that Lu Chen would appear at the scene?"

"Lu Chen has long suspected the role played by Your Majesty and Han Zhongjie in the rebellion in the capital. People's suspicions will continue to grow. In addition, Lü Shizhou died inexplicably, and Gui Qiuliang died on the day he returned to the capital. How could he not investigate? And Your Majesty has a clear conscience. He has never done anything to the late emperor. Of course, he will not reject Lu Chen as soon as they meet."

Li Shizhi sighed and shook his head, "Until now, I have doubted my own judgment. Could it be that Lu Chen has been pretending all these years? In fact, he does not appreciate the kindness of the late emperor at all? Otherwise, why would he remain indifferent when the doubts about the late emperor's illness appeared? If he is really pretending, his scheming is too terrible."

"Brother, I think you may have hit a dead end."

Cui Yu looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "Perhaps it's just because Lu Chen saw through that this is a trap. Your layout is indeed not bad, but I have said long ago that there is a fatal flaw in it - the emperor has no need to murder the late emperor. Even before the rebellion in the capital, his hope of becoming the crown prince was very high, otherwise the late emperor would not have acquiesced to Lu Chen's friendship with him. Based on this, unless the emperor was insane, why would he risk a strange trap to murder the late emperor? Besides, did he have the strength to do so at that time?"

Li Shizhi could not help but remain silent.

Cui Yu glanced at him and said in a slow tone, "Even if Lu Chen guessed the true meaning of the code, unless he was so hot-blooded that he didn't care, there would be a possibility of a split between the monarch and his subjects. As long as he wasn't so impulsive and thought a little calmer, he would be able to find the loopholes. In hindsight, Lu Chen appears to be arrogant and domineering, but in fact he is very scheming. He is not the reckless military hero that people imagine."

After a moment of silence, Li Shizhi nodded and said, "That makes sense."

"It seems to me that why do you bother so much?"

Cui Yu still looked calm, but his eyes were sharp: "If you really regard Lu Chen as a thorn in your side, I will kill him for you. Right now, Yuchi Gui is with Xiao Wangzhi, and Lu Chen is surrounded by many experts and guards, but as long as I wait patiently, I will always find an opportunity to take action."

This is not conceited.

The second person on the Jianghu Martial Arts List, just after Lin Jie, is Cui Yu, who defeated countless masters with a long sword.

Li Shizhi forced a smile and said slowly, "It's not time to kill him yet."

“That’s the question I’ve never been able to figure out.”

Cui Yu looked at him steadily and asked, "Watching you plot these years, it seems that you are trying to force Lu Chen to death and weaken the border army, so that the Jiangnan nobles can continue to control the court. But everything you do always seems to be circling the edge, and you are never willing to get to the point. Maybe you want to kill Lu Chen with the help of the emperor, but you put the blame of poisoning the previous emperor on the emperor. Brother, what do you want to do?"

Li Shizhi met his gaze and asked seriously, "Do you really want to know?"

"Forget it. I know you better than anyone. Since you didn't want to say it in the beginning, you were just looking for an excuse to fool me."

Cui Yu laughed at himself, and then asked: "Now I just want to know what you are going to do next. According to your original plan, from the day Lu Chen arrived in the capital, you have been intensifying the conflict between him and the emperor. The court meeting the day before yesterday should have been your focus, but it was easily resolved by Lu Chen with the word filial piety. I wonder what you will do next?" "Lu Chen's response really prevented the fire from burning more vigorously."

Li Shizhi brushed his sleeves and said calmly: "But this is just an episode. Since I have made arrangements in advance, I will never pin all my hopes on one thing."

Cui Yu immediately became interested, but the next moment he saw his figure flash and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Li Shizhi was not surprised by this. He looked up into the distance and saw Li Jinshan's figure appearing, walking quickly towards the pavilion.

"Your Excellency."

Li Jinshan bowed and said hastily, "The angel from the palace has arrived. His Majesty urgently summons me to the palace."

"understood."

Li Shizhi stood up calmly and walked towards him slowly.

When they arrived at the Chongzheng Hall of the Imperial Palace, more than a dozen important ministers were already there, but the emperor was nowhere to be seen.

Li Shizhi first greeted the two prime ministers, then shifted his gaze to the other side of the military merit row, and did not see Lu Chen who had not yet left Beijing.

Not long after, more than ten important ministers hurried into the Chongzheng Hall. Li Shizhi made a rough calculation and found that basically all the heads of various departments in the court had arrived. This scene was not very common and usually meant that something very important had happened.

He couldn't help but feel at ease.

Lu Chen was the last one to arrive. He walked straight behind Xiao Wangzhi without even looking at the distant mountains and steep cliffs.

All I heard was the eunuchs shouting that the emperor had arrived.

The ministers performed the formalities, and when they stood up, they found that the emperor's face looked unhappy, with a hint of coldness in his anger.

Li Zongben didn't waste any words and ordered, "Bring the person up."

The ministers were very curious, and after a while they saw a dusty low-ranking civil servant following the eunuch into the hall.

Li Zongben seemed to be trying to calm down the boiling emotion in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Repeat the incident in front of all the officials in the court."

"The minister obeys the order."

The civil servant trembled and agreed, then under the gaze of dozens of important officials, he said with difficulty: "Your Majesty, I followed Governor Ding to Dingzhou to take up my post. At first, everything went well. When we just entered Gushu City in Dingzhou, Governor Ding did not want to disturb the local officials and people, so we stayed overnight in an inn in the city. Who knew that a thief poisoned Governor Ding's subordinates and guards that night, and I was among them. The thief took this opportunity to murder Governor Ding!"

"What did you say?!"

The face of the then Right Prime Minister Xu Zuo changed drastically, but his stern voice still could not suppress the uproar in the hall.

The Governor is a high-ranking official and an important minister of the country. He represents the face of the emperor and the court. How could he be murdered within the territory of Da Qi?
What is even more strange is why Ding Hui had been safe all along the way, but encountered such a thing as soon as he entered Dingzhou?
Li Shizhi also showed shock and anger on his face, but he was secretly relieved that finally nothing went wrong. However, before he could think about how to respond, he heard the voice of the civil servant again.

"Your Majesty, fortunately Governor Ding was lucky enough to escape the thieves' attack. Although Governor Ding was seriously injured, his life is safe. He is just unconscious. He should have gone to Ruyin City to seek treatment from a famous doctor. This is a serious matter. Liao Changshi ordered me to ride back to the capital as fast as possible to report. Your Majesty, please make your decision on how to deal with this matter in the future."

The noisy movement subsided a little in an instant.

Although this matter is still extremely serious and must be investigated thoroughly, the nature of it is different as long as Ding Hui is not dead.

If Ding Hui died on the way to his post, the imperial court would certainly turn the Dingzhou officialdom upside down, and who knows how many people would have lost their heads. Now at least the case can be investigated rationally.

But no matter what, this matter is likely to involve the young Duke.

No one paid attention to Li Shizhi, and no one noticed that after he heard the messenger's next words, his face suddenly changed and his limbs became almost cold.

Ding Hui is not dead?

At this moment, Li Shizhi was in a state of panic. His men not taking action and not killing Ding Hui were two different things. The chain reaction that the latter would trigger was unimaginable.

Now he is not clear about the specific situation in Dingzhou. If there is any mistake, Ding will know that it was him who arranged the attack and will definitely turn against him.

Although Li Shizhi never told all his secrets to any of his confidants, Ding Hui had followed him for too long, and even the secrets he knew so far were enough to ruin Li Shizhi's reputation.

Li Shizhi used up almost all his strength to barely suppress the uneasiness in his heart, and then subconsciously looked at the military hero opposite him.

Just at this moment, Lu Chen looked at him as if he understood his thoughts.

Although the young Duke had a blank expression on his face, Li Shizhi felt that there was a smile on his face.

Full of sarcasm.

An ominous premonition turned into a shudder that instantly overwhelmed Li Shizhi.

(End of this chapter)