Ever since the army left the camp, the journey was extremely smooth. Originally, it would take five days to travel from the capital to Chengde, but in less than four days, they arrived at Luanping County, which was 120 miles away from Chengde. This made Li Qing very happy.
The reason why Li Qing chose Luanping County as the base of the army was because of its strategic location. It was the northern gate of the capital. To return to the capital from outside the pass, one had to pass through Luanping. Secondly, Luanping was very close to Chengde, and could be reached in six hours on a fast horse!
"Your Highness, why did we choose to take the path of Chengde and provoke the fragile nerves of the Rehe Palace?”
Li Qing looked at Baoyun, who was riding over, and smiled.""This king is just trying to scare the tiger. Otherwise, when we are at the northeast border, what if some ignorant cats and dogs deliberately find trouble?”
Baoyun was enlightened. "So Your Highness is here to give them the demon-dispelling medicine. Once the army passes, he will get rid of the inner demons of those who have ill intentions!”
After saying that, the two of them looked at each other and smiled. When the two of them arrived at Luanping County under the escort of 800 personal guards, they saw three men in official robes leading the clerk to look around at the city gate, as if they were waiting for something.
When he saw Li Qing and his group, the leading official jogged a few steps and knelt down to welcome them,""This humble official, the magistrate of Luanping County, has brought the county's chief clerk and official to pay his respects to His Highness the Gong Prince!”
"Get up!" Li Qing casually said and walked in. Seeing this, the Luanping County Magistrate quickly followed and asked with a smile,"Your Highness, do you have any orders for coming to our county?”
As Li Qing walked, he said," Go down and organize the commoners to prepare some clean water, fodder, and meat. Send them to the camp of Prince Gong's army two miles away. When they arrive, someone will naturally pay for them. Oh right, find a large courtyard in the county and prepare some food for my personal guards!”
......
In Rehe Palace, Xianfeng, who was already weak, fell sick again. Although it didn't delay his meeting with important officials, he couldn't bear the heavy burden of the court meeting.
In a courtyard at the back of the bedroom.
Although the coldest days had passed, there were still four to five stoves in the house. The person on the bed was draped in a brocade blanket. He looked at the few important officials kneeling on the ground and asked weakly,"Tell me everything! The Gong Prince is leading his army through Cheng De. You guys discuss whether or not zhen wants to summon the Gong Prince.”
"Emperor, this subject believes that he should be summoned. The Gong Prince is His Majesty's younger brother, and this time he has been ordered to go on an expedition, so he should be summoned!”Peng Yunzhang straightened his body and said in a strong voice.
Xianfeng was expressionless after hearing this. He looked at Sushun at the side. After the last lesson, Sushun had become more disciplined than before.
When Su Shun saw this, he respectfully kowtowed and said,"This official believes that the Gong Prince's march through Cheng De is to intimidate the Emperor. If the Emperor does not summon him, it is equivalent to expressing the Emperor's cowardice to the world!”
"How dare you criticize me?”Xian Feng's pale face flushed with anger.
"I am loyal and honest," Su Shun bowed and wept."I hope Your Majesty will understand.”
Xian Feng looked at the crying Su Shun and his anger calmed down. "Cao Yuying, tell me!"
As a newly favored official, Cao Yuying naturally had a unique set of official principles. "Emperor, this matter first has to be separated into the pros and cons. If the pros outweigh the cons, it will work.”
Xian Feng nodded and leaned forward to ask anxiously,"Then zhen asks you, is this matter beneficial or harmful?”
"This lowly official does not dare to speak nonsense. This official has opinions, but the decision is still in your emperor's hands.”
Xian Feng nodded.
Seeing this, Cao Yuying continued,"Reporting to the emperor, this subject thinks that the benefits of summoning the Gong Prince are obvious. That is to gain the status of righteousness. Does it let the world know that the Gong Prince went to the northeast to resist the Russian Empire because of the emperor's holy will? As for the disadvantages, to put it bluntly, it was to prevent the Gong Prince from taking the opportunity to cause chaos!”
"Minister Cao, is there any way to resolve this problem?" Xianfeng frowned.”
"This isn't impossible. As long as we control the number of personal guards the Gong Prince brings and strengthen the palace's defenses, the drawbacks of this matter can be greatly reduced!”
As soon as Cao Yuying finished speaking, Xianfeng smiled happily and said,"Minister Cao is worthy of being my loyal subject. How about this, I will trouble Minister Cao to go to Luanping later and read out my decree to the Gong Prince and order him to see me tomorrow!”
"This lowly subject receives the decree! I won't let down the emperor's high hopes." Cao Yuying bent over and shouted.
......
After everyone left, the ministers who had just gathered were immediately divided into two factions. The Qingliu ministers were on one side, and the princes and ministers led by Su Shun were on the other.
At Sushun Manor, Du Han, Jing Shou, and Mu Yin were already waiting in the living room. When Su Shun and Kuang Yuan returned, they walked into the study together.
As soon as everyone sat down, Du Han said,"Lord Sushun, have you really decided to assassinate the Gong Prince?”
"This, I haven't thought about it yet. However, if this person isn't eliminated, I'm afraid that none of you here will ever be able to stand out!”Su Shun said seriously.
"However, the Gong Prince has twenty thousand soldiers under him. If we fail, even the emperor won't be able to save us!”
"What Mu Yin said makes sense. The atmosphere in the Palace these few days isn't quite right. There are all kinds of unfavorable news circulating in the open and in the dark, saying that Lord Su Shun sent people to spread the news that the Gong Prince wanted to rebel. I think that the Gong Prince must have noticed such a huge commotion! Assassination is definitely not easy." Jing Shou muttered.
"Nonsense, this lord is upright and upright. When did I send someone to spread such words? Someone must be spreading rumors!”Su Shun said angrily.
"What is it? You didn't spread this news." Kuang Yuan asked in surprise.
"Yes, I am!"
Du Han looked at Su Shun's expression and frowned."If that's the case, it seems that someone is behind this!”
"Humph! It must be Imperial Consort Yi, that witch. I only reduced their salary, but she has always hated me. She has incited the Empress to go to the Emperor's side several times to speak ill of me!”Su Shun said hatefully.
"Then what should we do? Things have already reached this stage. If Imperial Consort Yi deliberately sends people to assassinate the Gong Prince, regardless of success or failure, the Gong Prince will definitely suspect and hate us!”
At this moment, although Su Shun wanted to kill the Gong Prince with a knife, he was unwilling to be used by Imperial Consort Yi for no reason!
After pondering for a moment, he said,"Jingshou, send a reliable person to Luanping later to write 'Be careful tomorrow!'Take the opportunity to pass the note to the Gong Prince."
......
In the backyard of Luanping County.
"Wangye, are you really going to meet the emperor tomorrow?”Baoyun said in surprise.
Li Qing nodded. At this moment, a few guards standing at the door exclaimed," There's an assassin!”
Immediately after, Li Qing heard a whoosh and an arrow was shot over!”
Li Qing was shocked and quickly pulled Bao Yun to hide behind the screen.
Just as Li Qing ran out of the house, another arrow was shot. However, compared to the speed and ruthlessness of the previous arrow, this arrow was clearly not meant for assassination, because Li Qing saw that there seemed to be a letter stuck in front of the arrow.
Seeing this, the guards were furious and prepared to chase after him. Li Qing quickly stopped them and shouted,"Stop chasing!"
He looked at the assassin who had walked away until he disappeared. Li Qing then looked down at the arrow in his hand. There was a short message stuck in the arrow. Li Qing opened the letter and saw only one sentence: " Be careful tomorrow!"”
Li Qing frowned and thought,"Will I be in danger if I go to Chengde tomorrow?"
At this moment, a bailiff rushed past the door and shouted,""Wangye, there's an imperial edict outside!"
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。