Tang Ning was silent for a moment, then whispered: "Empress Lu holds information about an orphan of the He family. If anything happens to her, that person will die."
Cao Dejiang sat up straight abruptly: "The orphan of the He family?"
Tang Ning hummed softly, "If not for this, my brother would have exposed the matter between her and Prince Cheng long ago, and the Lu family would not have been able to get away so easily."
"If I hadn't been forced to do so today, I wouldn't have used this matter to divert His Majesty's attention, but this is the limit. Unless my brother comes back and can defeat the Lu family directly, I can't reveal this for the time being. Otherwise, once the He family is involved, the matter of the Southland can't be concealed."
Cao Dejiang looked at Tang Ning steadily: "Is Xiao Yan helping the He family?"
Tang Ning was silent for a moment, and did not answer Cao Dejiang's words. He just looked up at him and asked, "Lord Cao, do you think that the Crown Prince Li and the He family deserved to die?"
Seeing Cao Dejiang didn't speak, Tang Ning said quietly:
"I have heard that when the Crown Prince was in power, he admired Lord Cao very much. In addition to my grandfather and the He family, Lord Cao was also a person who strongly supported the Crown Prince in dismantling the aristocratic families and reforming the government."
"Mr. Tong told me about the past of the Crown Prince Li. He was such an upright and honest person who was devoted to the people. Does Lord Cao think he would really rebel?"
Cao Dejiang's palms were sweating, and he looked at Tang Ning expressionlessly: "Do you know what you are talking about?"
He tried his best to calm down: "What happened in the past is in the past. Bringing up the past will only cause bloodshed. You and Xiao Yan are so smart, you must know how serious this is."
Tang Ning's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he chuckled in a mocking tone: "Of course we know, but it's a thankless task. But my brother and I always feel that we can't know the truth and do nothing."
"The political situation has been decided, the past is gone, and the bloodline of the Crown Prince Li has been wiped out and it will be difficult for him to turn things around. However, there are still people in the He family. We can't let them lose even this little bloodline."
"Actually, I know I shouldn't tell these things to Lord Cao. After all, people's hearts are unpredictable, but I always feel that you are different from other people in the court."
"Perhaps, I can bet my life on your conscience."
After finishing the tea in the cup, Tang Ning stood up and bowed to Cao Dejiang.
"We can't touch Queen Lu. Prince Cheng's affairs won't hold the Lu family back for long. Lord Cao can guess that my brother is not in the capital, and Lu Chongyuan can probably guess it too. I have to go back to Jiyun Lane to prepare."
Cao Dejiang's face changed: "You can't stop Lu Chongyuan. If he goes directly to His Majesty and mentions that Xiao Yan is investigating the past, Xiao Yan will definitely die!"
Tang Ning smiled bitterly: "I know, but I have to stop it even if I can't. I'll just do my best and leave the rest to fate. I can't just do nothing."
"These are the best Lingyun teas. Mr. Cao can stay for a while. I'll leave first."
After she finished speaking, she nodded to Cao Dejiang, turned around and walked out.
Behind him in Shengningju, Cao Dejiang's expression kept changing as he watched the girl walking further and further away. But after Tang Ning left the yard of Shengningju, all the bitterness on her face disappeared.
Her expression was indifferent, and her clear eyes were particularly cold. There was no trace of the helplessness and necessity she had just now in Shengning Residence.
As he led Yue Jian and Cang Lang out, Tang Ning carefully recalled every word he had just said to Cao Dejiang, even every expression.
She was indeed gambling, but not on Cao Dejiang's conscience, but on his views on the He family and even Prince Li, and even on the stance of the Cao family and his faction after he learned about the old events in the South.
Tang Ning was not so naive as to think that with just a few words, or even that little "friendship", she could persuade this shrewd and scheming court official to stand up and protect her and her brother. However, the incident of twenty years ago was a rare opportunity for the reformist faction to deal with the aristocratic families, and even to gain the right to speak in the court.
Emperor An hates the aristocratic families, but he also protects them. An old case from twenty years ago makes Emperor An and the Lu family tied together tightly.
Only by uncovering the case from twenty years ago can they force Emperor An to severely punish the Lu family and completely "break" with the aristocratic families. If they are lucky, they can even replace him with an emperor who is close to the reformist faction. That would be a real chance for them, the court officials, to come to the fore.
Cao Dejiang will never let it go.
The premise of all this is to ensure Xiao Yan's safety.
Tang Ning lowered his eyes to look at the bracelet on his wrist and fiddled with the bell on it.
She wanted to pull Cao Dejiang onto their ship for her brother, and make Cao Dejiang willingly help her brother conceal his tracks and help them resist the Lu family's "offensive."
Tang Ning walked out of the academy while silently estimating the time.
When she was about to reach the main entrance of the academy after passing the side corridor, she heard someone hurriedly coming over and calling out to her, "Princess Xiangning, wait a minute."
…
Lu Chongyuan never expected that such a meticulous plan of the Zhao family would go wrong.
When he was summoned to the palace, he suppressed his palpitations and did not show any abnormality. However, after entering the palace, he stood in the sun for three full hours without seeing Emperor An.
It was not until dark that the palace eunuch came to inform the emperor that he had gone to bed and asked him to return home and be under house arrest. However, Lu Chongyuan's face, which had been exposed to the sun for the entire afternoon, was completely pale.
When Lu Chongyuan staggered out of the palace and saw the Lu family's carriage, he almost fell before he got close.
Xilin quickly stepped forward to support the man: "Master..."
"go back."
Lu Chongyuan didn't even have the strength to speak, and his lips were chapped from the sun.
Xilin quickly helped the man onto the carriage, and after handing him some water, Lu Chongyuan drank it in big gulps, relieving his thirst caused by lack of water.
Lu Chongyuan licked his cracked lips, leaned uncomfortably on the carriage, and closed his eyes to relieve the dizziness in his head.
Xilin asked anxiously, "Lord, did His Majesty attack you?"
Lu Chongyuan opened his eyes and said, "Let’s go."
He didn't even see Emperor An.
If he could meet the person, even if something went wrong with the Zhao family's arrangement, he would be confident that he could find out what happened and convince Emperor An to exonerate himself.
But Emperor An refused to see him and let him stand in the sun for several hours. Lu Chongyuan, who was already weak from illness, almost thought he would be sunburned to death.
I reached out and touched my forehead; it was burning hot.
Lu Chongyuan forced himself to fight against the dizziness and asked the person beside him, "What happened? What went wrong with the Zhao family? Didn't the palace send the imperial guards to Jiyun Lane? Why didn't Xiao Yan enter the palace? Instead, His Majesty seemed angry with the Lu family?"
Xilin's face looked a little ugly: "Your Majesty did ask Yu Yanfeng and Eunuch Feng to lead people to Jiyun Lane, but they met Song Tangning halfway."
He whispered to Lu Chongyuan what had happened. Song Tangning and the others stopped the imperial guards on the street, and there was a lot of noise on both sides. Madam Zhao did not hide anything when she spoke, so the news could not be concealed. It was easy for the Lu family to find out afterwards.
When Lu Chongyuan heard that Yu Yanfeng was stopped by Song Tangning and changed his route, taking her and Madam Zhao into the palace, his face became extremely ugly.
==============
You can read ahead to chapterr 470 (100+ extra chapters) here
Comments
Post a Comment