Thief Emperor

Chapter 486 Zhou Luoyunqi
Capital city, Cui Mansion.

Prime Minister Cui Yuan, who was on sick leave at home, was sitting on a recliner in the backyard, covered with a thick fur coat, silently watching the snowflakes falling from the sky.

It was snowing in the capital city, and the snow was quite heavy. In just one day and one night, the entire city was covered in white.

A servant of the Cui family came forward cautiously and whispered, "Master, it's cold outside. There's a stove in the house. Please come in and warm up."

Cui Xianggong still stared blankly at the sky, watching the snowflakes floating down from the sky. After a long time, he sighed deeply: "It's cold everywhere, it's cold everywhere."

He turned around to look at the servant and asked, "Did you send someone to invite Pei Sanlang over?"

The servant bowed his head and said hurriedly: "I have sent someone to invite Pei's family. If everything goes well, they should be here soon."

Cui Xianggong closed his eyes and hummed, then said, "Go get some of my Yangxian tea, and when the guests arrive, make some tea for them."

The servant responded quickly, feeling somewhat surprised.

That was the tea that my husband had treasured for a long time. He might not even be willing to drink it on normal days, unless an old friend of many years or a distinguished person came to visit, otherwise he would never serve it to entertain others.

And that Pei Sanlang is not only one generation younger than my husband. If you look closely, it's not wrong to say that he is two generations younger.

Although he had doubts in his heart, he did not dare to ask too much and just went about preparing honestly.

After a long while, Pei Huang, dressed in a black robe, was brought by the Cui family to the old master's study in the backyard. At this moment, Master Cui had already entered the study and was sitting in the main seat reading a book, as if waiting for him to come.

Pei Huang did not dare to neglect him, and hurried forward and bowed his head and said, "Junior greets the old prime minister."

Cui Yuan shook his head slightly. He supported himself with his hands and stood up from the chair. Then he looked at the tea table in the room and said slowly, "Sit down and talk."

Pei Huang responded and sat face to face with Prime Minister Cui.

There was an exquisite small stove in the middle of the tea table, which had been lit. There was a kettle on the stove, which was already bubbling.

As a descendant of an aristocratic family, knowing how to drink and taste tea is the most basic etiquette. Pei Huang skillfully took the tea leaves from the side, then picked up the teapot and brewed two cups of tea smoothly.

Cui Xianggong looked at the young man in front of him silently. He put down the teacup only after he took the first sip of tea. He sighed and said, "Prince Dai..."

Pei Huang's movements froze for a moment, and he put down the teapot in his hand, smiling bitterly, "Old Prime Minister, this matter... I really don't know, and it has nothing to do with me."

Cui Xianggong lowered his head to drink tea and asked, "I haven't been out for a long time, and I don't know much about the news outside. What is the explanation of Jingzhao Prefecture?"

Pei Huang let out a breath of turbid air silently and said, "It is said that a group of masked men broke into the house in the middle of the night and killed the entire Dai Wang family. Afterwards, these masked men seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, and no trace could be found at all."

"Now, because of this incident, all the wealthy families in the capital are worried about their safety and have all stayed indoors."

“People are in a state of panic.”

Mr. Cui continued to drink tea. When he finished his cup of tea, Pei Huang quickly picked up the teapot and poured him another cup of tea.

The old husband looked at Pei Huang, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Has Sanlang been to the palace recently?"

"No, no."

Pei Huang lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "Originally, I could often go to the palace, but after the incident with the Dai Wang family, those people refused to let me enter the palace. Now, I have no position in the court, and I can't see His Majesty, so I have immediately become an idler."

"It seems"

Cui Xianggong said silently: "Those three..."

He stopped talking here and looked at Pei Huang and asked, "Master Pei, were the Dai Wang family really killed by someone?"

"The Jingzhao Prefecture went to investigate and found that everyone had knife wounds on their bodies. There's no doubt about it."

Pei Huang whispered, "This incident has caused a big stir. In just a few days, the news has spread beyond the capital and Guanzhong."

Cui Xiang narrowed his eyes and said softly, "That means someone prepared it in advance, and when it happened, the news spread immediately."

In this era, news spreads extremely slowly.

Moreover, for something as extremely sensitive as this, if Wei Quanzhong and others reacted quickly enough, they could block the news.

At least if it is blocked for a while, it won’t be a problem.

And now, this news has spread so quickly, which means that someone had already made preparations before the incident.

Cui Xianggong looked at Pei Huang silently. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Mr. Pei, if you do this, it is very likely that you will force them into a corner."

“By then, even if they can’t continue to occupy the capital and Guanzhong, no one can prevent them from venting their anger before leaving.”

"It really wasn't done by the juniors."

Pei Huang was also a little anxious. He looked around and whispered, "Mr. Cui, I'm telling you the truth. Some time ago, someone came up with this idea, but I only said it in my house. I never mentioned it to His Majesty. This matter..."

Having said this, he suddenly stopped talking.

Mr. Cui looked at him silently with an extremely calm expression.

Pei Huang sat on the chair and felt a chill on his back.

If we follow this line of thought, the emperor also had spies in his home, and they heard his conversation with Pei Zhang and reported it to the emperor.

What this means is that the emperor has been sending people to monitor the Pei family, and there has never been complete trust between the emperor and his subject.

Pei Huang was stunned for a long time, and he didn't say anything. After an unknown amount of time, when he was about to speak, there was a hurried knock on the door: "Master, General Wei has brought people here."

Cui Yuan looked calm and said lightly: "Take Master Pei away." The servant at the door answered yes, then opened the door and led Pei Huang out of Cui's house through the path in the back garden.

Mr. Cui was still waiting in his study. After a while, Wei Quanzhong, dressed in a green robe, walked in. He first saluted Cui Yuan with his fists clasped, and then looked at the tea table in the study calmly.

Two cups.

General Wei looked at Prime Minister Cui and said with a smile, "Mr. Cui looks much better. I think he has recovered from his illness. There are so many things in the court waiting for Mr. Cui to return and take charge."

Cui Yuan shook his head slightly and said, "General, I am already terminally ill and cannot go back to serve as a director."

Wei Quanzhong frowned and looked at Cui Yuan.

Cui Xianggong looked at him and continued, "General, I am very ill now and cannot stand being frightened. The look you give me may kill me."

There was a threat in these words.

What he meant was that after Du Ting died in the court, the reputation of the three military governors became worse and worse. If even he, the prime minister, died at home after Wei Quanzhong came, General Wei's reputation would be ruined.

General Wei said in a deep voice with a cold face: "Listening to what Lord Cui said, it seems that from Shangshu Du Ting to Dai Wang Wu She, they were all written by you, Lord Cui!"

"If the general thinks so, I have no choice but to wait here and wait for his death."

Wei Quanzhong was so furious that he almost drew his sword and attacked someone.

But he still held back, angrily patted the pillar beside him, and shouted: "You scholars, in order to drive me away, your hearts are as evil as each other, and your hands are more vicious than each other!"

"The dangers here are even worse than war!"

Cui Xianggong said calmly: "If there is no matter about the daughter of the Zhu family, how can there be any matter about the King of Dai?"

General Wei sat down in the place where Pei Huang had sat originally, picked up the tea on the table, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

He put down the teacup and sneered, "To put it bluntly, the benefits are still not enough!"

"Mr. Cui, I don't care who did this, you have to come forward and cover it up."

"Afterwards, whatever the Cui family wants, as long as the surname Wei can afford it, they will not give a penny less!"

Prime Minister Cui shook his head and said, "At this moment, no matter who comes forward to help you, they will be cursed for eternity. I have been the prime minister for so many years, and now I am old, do I still want to seek wealth and glory?"

He looked at Wei Quanzhong, lowered his eyebrows and said: "If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place? If you could cultivate some virtues, why are you so unpopular today?"

"Cui Yuan!"

General Wei sneered, "Don't provoke us. If you do, it will only result in a change of emperor and court officials!"

"By then, the Great Zhou will still be the Great Zhou!"

Cui Yuan shook his head and said, "By then, you will be nothing more than another Wang Junping, and your so-called imperial court will be nothing more than another pseudo-Qi."

Wei Quanzhong’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t know how to win people’s hearts, or rather, he is too arrogant and disdains to win people’s hearts.

As a result, all kinds of people in the capital attacked him in various ways, even at the cost of their entire families' lives.

Under the current circumstances, if he continues to stay in the capital, it won't be long before he will be attacked by all the princes in the world.

But the problem is that no matter how he explains it, it will be of no use at this moment. Even if he enters the palace with a sword in hand and forces the emperor to admit the matter, forces the emperor to issue an edict of repentance and announce it to the world.

No one in the world would think that the emperor did this.

If yellow mud falls into the crotch of your pants, it's shit if not shit.

General Wei looked at Cui Yuan fiercely, and after standing up, he said in a cold voice: "Mr. Cui, remember this, I, Wei, have never been a person who suffers losses!"

"This matter is not over yet."

After saying this, he stood up, waved his sleeves and left, actually picking up the sword and heading towards the imperial city.

……

Just when the capital was in chaos, Li Yun personally left Jinling and went halfway to meet Tao Wenyuan and a group of students from Lizheng Academy.

After seeing Tao Wenyuan, Li Yun stepped forward, bowed and spoke seriously.

"Since you have arrived safely in Jiangnan, the culture of Guanzhong has finally not fallen into the hands of thieves."

Upon hearing this, Tao Wenyuan looked at Li Yun in surprise, and then sighed.

"I lost a lot of books during this journey, but thanks to your blessing, I was able to save some of them."

Li Yun pointed to the dozen or so carriages that had been prepared behind him and said, "Mr. Wenyuan, please get on the carriages with the students. I have prepared a welcoming banquet for you in Jinling City."

At this point, he paused, then smiled and said, "The Jinling Literary Association will be held soon. Since Mr. Wenyuan has arrived in Jiangnan, he can help me check it out at that time."

"Jinling Literary Society?"

Tao Wenyuan was stunned and asked, "Sir, what kind of literary gathering is this?"

Li Yun chuckled.

"Then you will know, sir."

(End of this chapter)