Chapter 100: The Long Night of Bells and Drums (Fourth)

"Yes. Empress." After receiving Wei Zifu's order, Cui Yiyi didn't care about cleaning up and left.

"Wait a minute," Wei Zifu called Cui Yiyi back and said, "You will send someone to the generals, Prime Minister Gongsun, Censor-in-Chief Fan, Shangshu Ling, Lord Li Xi, Tingwei Zhang, Doctor-in-Chief Li Guang, Qimen Lang, Prince-in-Chief Li Gan, Prince-in-Chief Zhuang, Prince-in-Chief Shao Gong, Prince-in-Chief Shi, all of them come here."

"All... invite?"

"Yes, please come."

"Yes, I obey the order!" Cui Yiyi bowed and turned around and left.

"My mother, what should we do?" Liu Xin saw that everyone had left, so he leaned forward and asked, "Does your father really mean..."

"Xin'er!" Wei Zifu shouted, "Don't talk nonsense."

Liu Xin was immediately frightened and stopped.

After a while, Cui Yiyi walked in again and reported: "Empress, the eldest princess is asking for a meeting."

Wei Zifu smiled coldly and said, "She is coming quickly... Let her come in."

When Liu Jing walked into the Jiaofang Hall, she no longer had the decadent look she had in the mansion just now, and her carefully decorated face was as bright as ever. Behind her was a man with Wei Zifu's eyes, walking timidly.

"Zifu, something really happened this time." Liu Jing walked to Wei Zifu and said softly, looking very considerate.

"Xin'er has already told me that this is the prince of Huainan, right?" Wei Zifu smiled and said.

"My memory, Liu Jian, pays homage to the Empress!" Liu Jian said with politeness.

"Get up. I've heard from Princess Wei talk about you. You go down first." Before Liu Jian could speak, Wei Zifu blocked the words and signaled Cui Yiyi to take the person away.

For a moment, even Liu Jing was a little confused about her thoughts. But Liu Jing was just a little stunned and smiled and said, "Fu, look at this matter, what should we do?"

"Didn't my sister just say that this is a big deal. If Your Majesty is really assassinated, we will naturally have to visit him immediately and determine the current situation. However, you and I are just weak women trapped in the palace. This matter must be discussed with the important officials in the court." Wei Zifu said.

"Zifu's words are reasonable." Liu Jing could not understand her thoughts. She could only agree with a smile.

"People, I have sent someone to invite you. My sister is here for a while and we can discuss countermeasures together." Wei Zifu said softly, with a mysterious smile on his face, which shocked Liu Jing.

What did Zifu call the ministers in the court want to do? Did I say, am I wrong? She was not in a hurry to take Jier to the next level, but wanted to save Cheer sincerely? Liu Jing stared at Wei Zifu, constantly guessing in her heart.

Pepper Room Hall

"Empress do you think this is serious?" After a silence, Gongsun Hong took the lead in speaking.

"Yes." Wei Zifu nodded heavily, "Princess Yang Xin and I have confirmed this matter. Liu Jian did not seem to be lying."

"But... there has been no news from Ganquan Palace. Maybe, your Majesty is fine!" Shi Qing guessed nervously.

As soon as Shi Qing said this, there was another silence in the room. No one present except him would have made such a speculation.

Wei Zifu smiled slightly and said, "Young Master Fu's speculation is also possible. Your Majesty is a talented person, Xiao Xiaoben cannot hurt him. By the way, Lord Shangshu Ling, I heard that someone appeared in Beique yesterday and said that he was from Huainan. I don't know..."

When Li Xi heard Wei Zifu point his name, he stood up and bowed calmly and said, "Go back to the Empress, that man is one of the eight dukes in Huainan. The matter he reported is no different from that of the Huainan prince."

"Oh?" Wei Zifu's tone increased significantly, and everyone in the hall heard her dissatisfaction. "Why don't you report such a big deal immediately, but instead detain the person and send it to the Tingwei Mansion?"

"Empress, Xi did this because it was important. The court was thinking about using troops to Huainan, and this happened immediately. The person who came to report was still the capable person of the King of Huainan. I must be careful. Therefore, I sent the person to the Tingwei Mansion first. Lord Zhang Tang and Zhang were well versed in the way of torture, and he would definitely get a certain news from the mate's mouth." Li Xi expressed the words he had thought of just now one by one.

Wei Zifu stared at Li Xin for a while. Then he let out a sigh of relief and said, "In this way, Lord Li's idea is correct, but even the palace and the prime minister have never reported it. You have exceeded your authority after all."

"I hope the Empress forgives the crime." Li Xi lowered his head and said. He knew that although Wei Zifu believed it, he gave people the impression of being domineering and overstepping power, especially in the eyes of Prime Minister Gongsun Hong. Sure enough, he saw a slight disagreement in Gongsun Hong's eyes. In recent years, many things he was ordered to do have actually violated the authority of the Prime Minister. However, due to years of friendship, the two have been in good communication. But this time, even if it is concealed by Wei Zifu in private, it can be explained, but it is difficult to explain it without any reason. Except for one reason, after Li Xi was acting as the acting prime minister for so long, he began to want to undermine this old and exhausted real prime minister and replace it.

Forget it, it is better to balance the two evils. It is not appropriate to do this yourself. Unless you tell the truth to Mr. Gongsun, you will be misunderstood by him.

Wei Zifu glanced at Zhang Tang who had never spoken and asked, "Sir Tingwei, what did you find to have been examined by the quilt?"

Zhang Tang was also a personal sensual, so he immediately followed Li Xi's words, "After Lord Li sent someone yesterday, I interrogated him overnight and felt that what he said was nothing."

"Oh. So, everyone, how should we deal with this matter?" Wei Zifu nodded slightly, accepted his explanation, and then asked.

"Empress, according to my opinion, this matter is indeed as Lord Li said, and it should not be promoted more." Gongsun Hong stepped forward and said.

Wei Zifu looked down and found that many people in the field agreed, and said, "It is natural not to promote it. After all, if Huainan thinks they have really succeeded, their arrogance will be even more arrogant. However, the situation in Ganquan Palace is unclear, and the palace plans to go there in person."

Zhuang Qingzhai stepped forward and said, "Empress, I think it's not possible."

Wei Zifu secretly praised Zhuang Qingzhai for being aware of his knowledge, but he still asked in confusion: "What does this mean by Master Taifu?"

"The first thing at this time is to determine the situation on Your Majesty's side, but the Empress can just send her confidant people to go there. The emperor and the empress leave the capital one after another, and those who are ill-behaved will probably think they are planning to do so. Besides, I think that you and Your Highness should not leave the capital at this moment."

As soon as Zhuang Qingzhai finished speaking, many people in the field frowned unconsciously. The implication of his words was already very obvious, which was equivalent to persuading Wei Zifu to take the prince to ascend the throne in the capital. Although he noticed many dazzling gazes, Zhuang Qingzhai still said very freely: "I think that the more this time, as a minister, we should make the worst plan."

"My comments." After quieting for a while, Li Xi stepped forward and said. This is what he had to do. From the standpoint of the interests of the Shangshu Ling and from the standpoint of any minister loyal to the Han Dynasty, although Zhuang Qingzhai's suggestions were too bold and suspected of being clinging to each other, no one could object. This is a precautionary measure that must be taken for the smooth transition of the regime. Even if Liu Che returns, he will probably praise Zhuang Qingzhai for his proper handling. Therefore, Li Xi can only be the first person to agree.

Others in the field also said one after another: "It is indeed not appropriate for the Empress to leave the country, so it is better to send someone to inquire about His Majesty's situation."

Wei Qing's face changed slightly. He wanted to say something, but when he moved his lips, he still said nothing. He followed everyone and bowed, looking at Wei Zifu with disagreement.

Wei Zifu continued, as if he had not seen him, "Since that's the case, all the adults think so, then I will not leave the capital recklessly. But who should I send?" Her eyes swept across everyone, and then said, "All the ministers present are all pillars of the country that His Majesty trusts very much, so I assigned one person. Chen Zhan, you..."

"I'm waiting, I think it's not appropriate to send Chen Zhan to go." At this time, someone suddenly stopped him. Wei Zifu looked up and saw that it was the Censor's Department.

"What does Lord Fan mean?" Wei Zifu asked with a smile.

"Empress, Lord Zhuang just now said that he would make the worst plan, so I think it would be inappropriate to send Chen Zhan to the place. "The Fan Clan is an old man of fifty years. He has been trapped in the position of local prefect for decades. Because of his achievements in farming, he was promoted to the censor after Gongsun Hong became the prime minister. He always welcomed people with a smile and had an extremely good temper. He has never offended anyone in the past two years and has never had a good relationship with anyone. It seems that a silent shadow is hiding behind Gongsun Hong, just like Xue Ze, the Marquis of Pingji at that time.

"so what?"

"Empress, if something really happened to Your Majesty, why did there be no news from Ganquan Palace after so long? Have you ever thought about this?" The Chuangshi glanced at the people in the hall, and the coldness of the murderous eyes appeared for the first time. "I think that if that happens, it means that there is deliberately concealing the fact that Your Majesty was injured. No matter what the reason is, it is obvious that he has the intention of being disobedient and urged the emperor to respect himself. Therefore, I think that Chen Zhan, a scholar, is probably not enough to deal with this matter. It would be better to send a general and lead troops to prevent an accident."

Wei Zifu hesitated and said, "Ganquan Palace is the imperial palace after all, and it is the current imperial guard. It is inappropriate to do this..."
Chapter completed!