prosperous age

Ever since Lu Bing threatened him with Wang Zhi's confession last time, Yan Shifan has been feeling uneasy.

Yes, he was a little scared in his heart.

In the past, when Jin Yiwei was coercing all the officials, Yan Shifan didn't take it seriously, because he knew very well that the thunder and rain depended on Xiyuan, and he was beyond the control of the governor of Lu Dadu.

However, when Lu Bing presented Wang Zhi's confession, bluntly stating that Hu Zongxian had forged the pardon edict, and even pointed out that the housekeeper of Yan's house had taken away the silver that Wang Zhi had seized, Yan Shifan felt fear for the first time.

After more than a year, Lu Bing could find out.

Hu Zongxian mentioned the edict in his letter to Yan Song, so Yan Shifan had no doubts that the confession was false. Jin Yiwei got a confession from a repeat criminal in prison, so it shouldn't be too simple.

Moreover, because Wang Zhi has already subdued the law, and now there is no proof of his death, it is impossible for Wang Zhi to retract his confession. Mentioning this matter can only be said to be murder.

Even though killing the king was the decision of the court and the final verdict made by the emperor, it would definitely turn out that their father and son pushed the matter in their mouths.

The point is, they did take the money, can Jin Yiwei investigate this matter?
After more than a month of deep thinking, Yan Shifan finally made a dangerous decision to kill Lu Bing.

He had discussed this matter with Yan Song privately, but the one who waited did repeatedly reprimanded him.

The relationship between Lu Bing and the emperor is extremely delicate. If Lu Bing is killed, God knows what Emperor Jiajing will do.

Yan Song was well aware of the power of it, and naturally chose to reprimand his son for this idea, asking him to completely dispel the idea.

It's a pity that he has forgotten that he is very different now than he was more than ten years ago.

Although Yan Song was old at that time, he still had energy and spirit, and he was naturally orderly and methodical in doing things, but now he needs his son's help to make suggestions everywhere, and he has long lost the majesty of the past.

Even in Yan Shifan's heart, if he hadn't been advising his father to find a way, he might have been dragged down from the throne of chief assistant by Xu Jie long ago.

Of course, these thoughts can only stay in his mind.

So Yan Shifan didn't take Yan Song's rejection and reprimand at all, but secretly started looking for allies, trying to find a way to kill Lu Bing without anyone noticing.

After all, Lu Bing is the Zuo Dudu of the post-military governor's mansion, and the commander of Jinyiwei, Tongzhi, is in charge of Jinyiwei's affairs. It's not easy to kill him secretly.

To kill such a boss, not only need to choose the right time and place, but also need the right people to handle the matter well, these are not easy to do.

However, Yan Shifan, as a ghost praised by Emperor Jiajing, did not stop him from this most difficult hurdle, but it was not easy for him to reach in there.

He couldn't find a helper there, but that doesn't mean there wasn't anyone else either.

Naturally, Yan Shifan's eyes shifted to his natural ally King Jing, and only His Highness King Jing could play tricks in it to achieve his goal.

Yan Shifan didn't think that His Royal Highness King Jing was a little white rabbit, who came out of the palace, or from the palace of the Jiajing Dynasty, so he was very clear about Gongdou.

The relationship in Emperor Jiajing's harem is quite complicated.

Emperor Jiajing canonized three queens, but all of them died unexpectedly.

Up to now, Emperor Jiajing no longer canonized the queen, and Concubine Wen Gui is in charge of the harem.

King Jing's biological mother, Concubine Lu Jing, was one of the "nine concubines" selected in March of the tenth year of Jiajing. After giving birth to Queen Jing, Concubine Jin Jing was one of the few concubines in the palace who were favored by Emperor Jiajing. His status is second only to Concubine Wen Gui.

And Concubine Kang, the mother of King Yu, had been gone as early as the 33rd year of Jiajing, and it was precisely because there was no support from the palace that King Yu suffered a lot in the secret fight with King Jing.

The conversation in the secret room continued. In Yan Shifan's eloquent words, Lu Bing had changed from a close minister "loyal" to Emperor Jiajing to a jester who had secretly turned to King Yu.

Naturally, King Jing was not easy to fool. Lu Bing had a special relationship with Emperor Jiajing, and King Jing naturally felt distrustful of Yan Shifan's words.

Even though drinking was a little bit hot, it didn't mean that King Jing was easy to fool, and there was only a moment of suspicion on his face, which was immediately disguised by him.

However, when Yan Shifan was describing Lu Bing's threat to King Jing, he kept his gaze fixed on King Jing, and the change in expression at that moment was naturally noticed by him.

"According to what I found out, the main reason why Lu Bing joined King Yu's family was because of Xu Jie, who has been investigating the cause of Xia Yan's death, and it was Governor Lu who gave Xia Yan a fatal blow.

He made up stories about Zeng Mi not reporting his defeat in the war, embezzling Mo's military salary, and bribing Xia Yan. He even spread rumors after Xia Yan dismissed from office and left Beijing, saying that Xia Yan complained and slandered Sejong before leaving, and then he secretly reported it to the emperor. In the end, the emperor was moved to kill. "

Seeing the shocked expression on King Jing's face, he continued: "The emperor is the one who can't be deceived the most. If the emperor knows about this, it's hard to say what he will do. Even if he is a compatriot, I'm afraid Lu Bing won't have a good time either."

"So, he asked my brother Wang to protect him and let Xu Jie stop? Or, is this the purpose of brother Wang and Xu Jie at all?"

When King Jing heard the reason why Lu Bing fell to King Yu, he couldn't help becoming vigilant.

In the past, he was quite at ease with Lu Bing, thinking that it was a knife in the hands of his father, but if the person holding the knife changed, it would be a different matter.

Before Yan Shifan could answer, King Jing suddenly became vigilant again, and then continued: "Where did Brother Donglou know about this matter? Now that you know the reason, why don't you just have a showdown with Lu Bing and let him be in Cao Ying?" Han, do your best for the lonely."

"There is no credible evidence. The news was overheard by my people in private. Xu Jie has something to prove Lu Bing's crime, but we don't have something in our hands. Who can he threaten? Empty words are useless."

Yan Shifan replied with a very regretful expression.

Although King Jing didn't fully believe Yan Shifan's words, he was deeply aware of Jin Yiwei's ability. In fact, the entire court was afraid of Jin Yiwei like a tiger.

Factory guards, factory guards, Dongchang is behind the former Jinyiwei, but now the Dongchang led by Huang Jin is dormant, and the Jinyiwei in charge of Lu Bing has risen again, becoming an existence that civil servants and gentlemen have turned pale.

It's really hard to say how many officials' criminal evidence Lu Bing has in his hands.

King Jing naturally didn't know whether those criminal evidences were secretly handed over to Emperor Jiajing, but he could roughly guess after a little thought. In all likelihood, they were still in Lu Bing's hands, and might be used at a critical moment.

"hiss"

Thinking of this, King Jing couldn't help gasping, it was too scary.

If Lu Bing is still loyal to Emperor Jiajing, then everything is fine, whether it is to King Yu or to him, it doesn't matter.

But Yan Shifan told him just now that Lu Bing has fallen for King Yu, and his brother Wang is naturally not an ignorant little white rabbit. A sudden attack caught him off guard.

King Jing has been away from the palace for many years, and he has already seen through the officialdom.

Sucks.

Those officials who took refuge in him, besides coveting the merits of the dragon, also had their own little calculations, and they did some shady things in private. They only hoped that he could come forward to intercede at critical times and help turn things around.

If those people have evidence in Lu Bing's hands, not only may they reveal some secrets between him and the Yan family, but they may even strike back at a critical moment. After all, Lu Bing is in charge of his wealth and life.

This person cannot stay.

At this time, King Jing and Yan Shifan had the same idea, and they could feel at ease only after Lu Bing died.

Of course, King Jing is not stupid. At this time, he already knows the purpose of Yan Shifan's secret talks with him, which should be to deal with Lu Bing. As for the desired result, besides letting him die, can there be other things?
Political struggles are fierce, and the struggles between civil servants should be controlled in moderation, that is, after one party goes to the field, there will generally be some kindness and will not kill them all.

However, now it is not a political struggle, but a battle for succession, which is much more tragic. The loser will not only ruin his official career, but it is also normal to lose his life.

In fact, this is also the reason why many established political families are unwilling to easily get involved in the battle for succession.

Keeping the status quo, they can always enjoy a good life, and once they are involved, it's okay if they win, maybe they can go to a higher level, but if they fail, the whole family will be completely driven into the endless abyss.

Those honorable families who lived with the country in the Ming Dynasty grasped this scale very well, and would not easily get involved in it without the emperor's will, so they were able to survive, even if their power expanded to the point that the emperor would have A little bit of fear can still guarantee the family's long-term prosperity.

They only listen to the emperor, and they also give outsiders a kind of ruffian that they are just waiting to die, making people think that they have no big ambitions.

Without big ambitions, naturally there would be no big ambitions, and the emperor would naturally be more at ease.

If he showed some lack of ability, the emperor would be more at ease.

"Brother Donglou, we smart people don't speak secretly, what do you want to do?"

After all, King Jing was not as sophisticated as Yan Shifan, so he couldn't hold back when he figured it out, so he asked directly.

"Thinking about it, His Highness also understands that Lu Bing cannot stay, but
Lu Bing has a special status. Whether it is poisoning or assassination, it will cause huge waves, so it is not advisable. "

Yan Shifan opened his mouth to answer.

"Then is there any way to prevent people from being suspicious and make him disappear without anyone noticing?"

King Jing frowned and asked.

He could think of the consequences of assassinating Lu Bing, but other than that, what else could be done to kill him?

He is Lu Bing, Lu Bing who is in charge of Jinyiwei.

"In addition to being in charge of Jinyiwei, Mr. Lu actually does one thing often."

Speaking of this, Yan Shifan paused on purpose to let King Jing have time to think, maybe he will think about it.

"What do you do often? Eat and sleep. I haven't heard that he likes to look for women outside. Otherwise, he will drink some medicine and let him die on a woman's belly. It is estimated that his family will hide it."

King Jing thought for a moment and then casually said that he couldn't think of it, and all he could think of was the nasty thing about the Fireworks and Willow Lane.

To be honest, Lu Bing's life style is quite decent, except for the hobby that everyone has, which is making money, he really can't find any other major problems.

As for the women in the mansion, well, there are quite a few beauties brought home by Lu Bing, but they are in Lu's mansion after all, and they can't get involved.

The Lu family is on strict guard, just kidding, that's what they do, so naturally they won't allow people to easily take advantage of their loopholes.

"Ha ha."

Hearing what King Jing said, Yan Shifan didn't think it was disrespectful at all, it was all his hobby, so he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with it.

After chuckling, Yan Shifan said: "Your Highness must have heard that Mr. Lu and the palace move around frequently, and almost every day he goes to the palace."

"I know, it's all Jin Yiwei's daily errands, to deliver news from the capital and outside to the emperor."

King Jing nodded to show that he knew that although he had never seen Emperor Jiajing, no matter whether it was the mother concubine or other people in the palace, they would provide him with information and let him know the emperor's recent situation.

The safety of Emperor Jiajing is not only related to the stability of the Great Ming Dynasty, but also related to the future of him and his brother Yu Wang, who will sit in that position, and who can only go to a small place to be a seemingly idle person but will be locked up the prince.

"Since that's the case, does Your Highness know that the time when Lu Bing entered the palace was mostly close to the time when Emperor Jiajing opened the furnace to make alchemy, those elixirs?"

"You mean to start while testing the medicine?"

Yan Shifan didn't finish his sentence, but King Jing had already guessed what he meant.

When Emperor Jiajing cultivated immortals, he also needed to practice elixirs, so he summoned so many wandering Taoist priests. They were all good at various aspects, so they were valued by the emperor and entrusted with important tasks.

Some were in charge of divination, some helped refine medicine, and some instructed Emperor Jiajing to practice Taoist secret arts. There were all kinds of strange things.

Among them, the refining of elixir is naturally the most special item, because Emperor Jiajing also knew about erysipelas, not every elixir refined can be taken with confidence, so after opening the furnace, one must be taken out to find someone to test the medicine He will only take it when it is safe.

The elixir refined by Emperor Jiajing was eaten by a servant who died a few years ago. In recent years, no such accident has happened.

When Lu Bing delivered the secret box, he would occasionally run into Emperor Jiajing who had finished refining the elixir, and when he opened the furnace to get the medicine, at this time Lu Bing would rush to try it out in order to show his loyalty to Emperor Jiajing. medicine.

King Jing blinked, Yan Shifan is very calculating.

If Lu Bing feels unwell after testing the medicine, can the emperor still hold him accountable?
To investigate, it is right to kill the Taoist priest who is in charge of dispensing the medicine.

Moreover, Emperor Jiajing should choose to help conceal such a thing. After all, because he practiced Taoism, he tried medicine and killed an important court official. If this is written into the history books
"However, I just know that a few years ago, there was a servant who died suddenly after taking the elixir. It hasn't happened again these years. Why is this medicine still available? You can't be sure to make that kind of medicine. It just so happens that Lu Bing Be there."

King Jing hesitated and said, Lu Bing had to be present to prepare a pair of poison.

To be honest, as long as there is a mistake in one link, maybe only one servant can be poisoned to death.

But once something unexpected happened, at least for a long time, Lu Bing would never dare to test the medicine for Emperor Jiajing again, and this method would be useless.

He doesn't care about the life and death of the servant, he only cares about the result, which seems difficult to operate.