The prince is very fierce

Dong dong dong——

Dusk drums and thunder intertwined, and dark clouds covered the sky in Chang'an City, making the entire city look solemn and depressing.

Countless Royal Guards and Wolf Guards walked directly through thousands of streets and hundreds of squares, closed the gates and started a curfew; the streets and alleys were deserted, and not even a prince's carriage could be seen on Kuishou Street, the most prestigious street.

"It's going to rain..."

In the old wine shop in Qingshi Lane, the old shopkeeper, with a towel on his shoulders, looked at the gloomy sky, murmured something softly, and then fell silent. It's not that shopkeeper Sun has gotten rid of his chatterbox problem, it's just that the only drinker in the old wine shop doesn't want to listen now.

The storm is swaying and the building is about to collapse.

Song Ji, who was wearing a scholar's robe, was sitting at the wine table next to the alley. There were two wine bottles in front of him, and his face was already a bit drunk.

Song Ji is a thoughtful person and knows the truth behind drunkenness. He has never drank too much since he can remember. In the more than ten years since he succeeded to the throne, the only time he has made any personal mistakes was when he was obsessed with playing chess many years ago and delayed his time to go to court.

Sitting at the table where the three brothers drank together, but only a single figure was left, Song Jie kept thinking about why this happened, reviewing all the past actions and trying to find the reason.

There are many problems that have been accumulated since the founding of Dayue, and there are many reasons for the current situation. But after careful review, it seems that he has done nothing wrong. This will happen sooner or later if he does not cut down the vassal, and it will happen if he does not suppress the general. If the rivers and lakes are not cleared up, this will happen. The world would not be at peace. If we were to find a reason, it might just be that he, the emperor, was walking half a step too fast.

Now that the matter has come to this, investigating the cause is just for peace of mind. What really needs to be thought about is how to deal with this situation.

Song Ji held the wine bowl and looked at the cloudy sky in Chang'an City, thinking about how to revive this dead chess game. But looking back, I saw that there was not a single piece left under my hand, not even a chess piece. How could I survive on a checkmate board?

swish swish——

The drizzle of rain fell from the sky, hitting the cornices and yellowed wine flags.

Shopkeeper Sun warmed another pot of wine and placed it on the wine table.

Song Ji finished the wine in the bowl and did not open the wine jar again. He just sighed softly, took out a couple of silver coins from his sleeve, put them on the table, stood up and walked out of the wine shop.

The only remaining dead soldier, C, held an oil-paper umbrella and escorted Song Ji away.

Shopkeeper Sun stood under the awning, watching the two figures disappear into the darkness, his eyes complicated, he had been thinking for a long time, but he never said anything...

--------

At the same time, Kuishou Street.

There was a curfew at night, and the princes, generals and ministers all stayed at their houses.

The doors of each house were tightly closed, and wolf guards and imperial guards stood outside, guarding them with all their might. It was said to prevent assassins from murdering important court officials, but the implications were something that civil and military courtiers who had worked hard in the court for many years could not figure it out.

Next door to the Xiao Mansion, the imperial censor Cui Huailu's residence also had wolf guards standing at the door; and as the head of the dynasty, Song Ji seemed to have given him special treatment, sending two more teams of wolf guards to carefully guard the back door.

Cui Huailu was a close confidant of Song Ji. He had assisted Song Ji since he came to power. In the past, he must have been involved in making plans. At this moment, the only person left who could enter the imperial study room to discuss matters was Taiwei Guan Hongye. Cui Huailu went there as usual at first, but before he could enter, Song Ji said, "Mr. Cui is old and has been resting at home recently. There is no need to worry about political affairs."

With such straightforward words, how could Cui Huailu not understand the meaning? He was already jealous of Song Ji.

In the back garden of Cui Mansion, the gray-haired Cui Huailu sat in the tea pavilion with a teacup in hand, frowning and thinking hard, wondering what went wrong with him.

Mrs. Cui was sitting in front of her. She also knew that her husband had been ignored by the Holy Master these days. She hesitated for a moment, turned away the maids on the left and right, and said:

"Ms. sir, could it be that you made a crooked idea and was discovered by the Holy One?"

Cui Huailu's thoughts were interrupted by the words, and his face darkened: "What kind of crooked idea? I just thought about it, didn't I have time to plan it, and the Holy Spirit doesn't know how to observe the mind, how could he discover it?"

Mrs. Cui thought for a while: "The Holy Emperor must have known about Xiaowan. Do you think the Holy One will send someone to harm Xiaowan?"

When Cui Huailu heard this, he became very angry: "If you, a stupid woman, hadn't hidden it from me, how could it be like this? After so many years, I was not even allowed to enter the imperial study. The wolf guard at the door was better than Xiao. There are so many families, it’s just…”

"Now that things have come to this, what's the use of scolding me? Your Majesty is suspicious by nature. Didn't you hide Xiaowan's matter after you found out about it? Now that His Majesty is jealous of you, who can you blame?"

"Last time, you stopped me from confessing to the Holy One. Who do you blame?"

Mrs. Cui sighed: "There is no turning back from this matter. If the Holy Emperor continues to be in power, you will never be able to turn around again in your life..."

"Hey!" Cui Huailu quickly glared at Mrs. Cui: "Tired of living with you? Your Wang family wants to confiscate and exterminate their family, so don't hold my Cui family back."

"Which Wang family and Cui family, I married into the Cui family..."

Mrs. Cui sighed, sat a little closer, raised her hand and pointed to the house next door:

"You are already jealous of the Holy One, and you are still on the ship. Even if the Holy One suppresses this storm, you will not get any credit. If the ship sinks, you will definitely be the first one. If you want me to know, you can ask Xiao Lu What the two families mean. Think about it, Xiao Xiang’s sister is the imperial concubine, and you are Xiaowan’s father. If they were on the same boat, Xiao Xiang would have to call you uncle..."

"You... how can you treat a woman's view of court affairs like such a trivial matter!"

Cui Huailu glared at Mrs. Cui and wanted to say a few more words, but felt that talking to a woman about political affairs was a waste of time, so he stood up and walked out with a flick of his sleeves.

Mrs. Cui stood up and said, "Ms. sir, where are you going?"

"Go and visit next door."

"There are wolf guards outside and they have a lot of spies. Let's talk on the way to court tomorrow."

"..."

Cui Huailu paused and walked into the bedroom...

————

The mansion next door is the residence of Xiao Chuyang, the prime minister of the current dynasty.

The Xiao family is frugal in style, and the lights are sparse at night. There are only a few Xiao family students reading at night by burning lights in the window.

There were no lights in the study room in the main courtyard, and the light was dim so that people and things could not be seen clearly.

Xiao Chuyang was sitting on the couch, and next to him was Lu Cheng'an, the big farmer who had just slipped out of the tunnel. There was a small case between the two of them with tea brewing on it.

Both the Xiao and Lu families have a long history, and there have been tit-for-tat confrontations with each other in history. However, on the big chessboard of the world, there have never been any enemies. As long as the interests are consistent, they are allies; and judging from the current situation, the Xiao and Lu families are obviously On a boat.

Lu Chengan was Lu Hongluan's uncle. He leaned on the tea table with his left hand and said softly:

"The Holy Emperor has been behaving abnormally recently. He forced the Xiliang army to return to defend Suzhou and Xu Buling to garrison Nanyang. He didn't spare any face. It seemed like he was forcing the Xu family to rebel. Xiao Xiang felt that Xu Buling would endure this. Bad temper?"

Xiao Chuyang put his left hand on his knee and gently tapped the tea table with his right hand:

"Based on the current situation, the Xu family rebelled and occupied Guanzhong at most. They had to face the princes outside Guanzhong and Jiang Nu, the left prince of Northern Qi. Even if they could hold on, they would still be establishing a small country in a small area of ​​​​Guanzhong. It would not last long. It can be said that There are hundreds of harms but no benefit; but if we don't fight back, Xu Bu Ling's efforts to attack Nanyang and Xiangyang will all be in vain.

Lu Chengan thought for a moment: "The Holy Spirit laid out this battle, almost tacitly admitting that Xu Buling will rebel, and is already turning the table on his head; Xu Buling will go back to Suzhou if he doesn't rebel. If he rebels, he will make enemies on all sides and it will be difficult to last long. Two roads They are all detrimental to the Xu family, so no matter what Xu Buling does at this time, the Holy One will never give in and give Xu Buling a third way..."

At this point, Lu Chengan turned his head and looked at Xiao Chuyang: "Have the Xu family ever let Mr. Xiao know the truth? If they are determined to rebel..."

Xiao Chuyang frowned, quite dissatisfied with these cliche words:

"I am the prime minister of Dayue, not the prime minister of the Xu family. What is the difference between him telling me everything and directly pointing out the rebellion?"

Lu Chengan smiled: "That's just not sure. Judging from the current situation, it's better for the Xu family not to rebel. Otherwise, it would be normal for the big Yue to be divided into more than a dozen pieces, which would cause too much damage. But the Xu family can't just be like this. How does Xiao Xiang think Xu Buling will respond to this obvious loss?"

Xiao Chuyang shook his head: "The Xiliang infantry have withdrawn, but Xu Buling has no intention of accepting the order honestly. He is expected to return to Chang'an in two days and ask the Holy One for justice. Then we will see what he says and what the Holy One does Say, I just stand on the word 'reason'."

Lu Chengan thought for a moment and sighed: "The Holy One expected that the Xu family would rebel, but there was no basis for it, and it was definitely unreasonable. I'm afraid this matter will be difficult..."

…

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The following chapters are relatively long, with two transitional chapters...

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