In the dead of night, with the solitary lamp flickering, Qi Ning stood up and poured a glass of water for the old minister. He placed his hands in front of the old minister. The old minister nodded slightly and said, "Lu Xiaochao's father fought with the old prince Jin Dao and was injured on the battlefield. Later, the old marquis arranged for him to work in the Ministry of War, and when he had the highest official position, he was just a clerk in the Ministry of War. This man was upright and honest, so his family was not very well off. After his death, the Lu family once borrowed money to make a living. It was Lu Xiao who knew the situation. Later, he helped the Lu family through the difficulties, but the interaction ended there. After that, Lu Xiaochao entered the Tiger God Camp and had no contact with Lu Xiao or even the Tantai family. However, because his roots were here , so if we really talk about Lu Xiaochao’s connections in the court, they can only be from Jin Dao Tantai’s network.”
Qi Ning said: "If Lu Xiaochao is really Lu Xiao's person, and he takes over the Tiger God Camp, the people who will benefit from it will naturally be the Golden Sword series, but... If Lu Xiaochao does not agree that he is Lu Xiao's person, then of course he will benefit this time Not the Ministry of War and the Tantai family." He leaned forward slightly with a solemn expression: "Who Lu Xiaochao belongs to is very important."
"Lu Xiaochao was recommended by the Ministry of War." The old minister said: "Based on this alone, Lu Xiaochao may be grateful to Lu Xiao."
"But if this position was already determined to fall into the hands of Lu Xiaochao before Lu Xiao recommended it, how could Lu Xiaochao be grateful to Lu Xiao?" Qining's eyes were like stars, shining brightly: "If some people assassinated Xue Lingfeng for this reason, Lu Xiaochao paved the way, and Lu Xiaochao also knows the truth, so how can Lu Xiaochao care about Lu Xiao's recommendation?"
Old Shangshu's face changed slightly, and his old hands began to tremble.
He stretched out his hand to hold the teacup on the table, barely steadying his trembling hands, and pondered for a moment before slowly saying: "You mean, someone planned for Lu Xiaochao to succeed Xue Lingfeng, but instead used Lu Xiao to make Man Man Chao Wenwu thinks Lu Xiaochao sat in that chair because of the recommendation from the Ministry of War?"
"Of the three deputy commanders of the Tiger God Camp, the one who is most likely to become the commander is Lu Xiaochao." Qining said: "In addition, Lu Xiao thinks that Lu Xiaochao is his man, so it is natural to recommend Lu Xiaochao in the name of the Ministry of War, and some People are waiting for Lu Xiao's recommendation details. As long as the person recommended by Lu Xiao is in line with their wishes, they will agree to it. In this way, since Lu Xiaochao controls the Tiger God Camp and has the ability to control the capital, and at the same time does not reveal his whereabouts, no Make anyone suspicious.”
The old minister frowned and said, "Who are some of the people you mentioned?"
Qi Ning thought for a long time before saying: "The Black Scale Battalion was transferred and directly incorporated into the Black Blade Battalion, under the control of Qu Yanzhi. Several generals of the Black Scale Battalion were all transferred to the East China Sea, but...!" He looked at him. There was a stern look in the middle: "Old Minister may not know that Zhao Wushang, a total of five people who were transferred to the East China Sea, were attacked on the way to the East China Sea, and all five of them were killed."
The old minister was shaken and lost his voice: "Is this... actually happening? There is no news in the court."
"It's absolutely true, but this matter has not been made public." Qi Ning said calmly: "In other words, someone not only organized the Black Scale Camp into the Black Sword Camp, but also directly killed them all, completely destroying the Black Scale Camp. ." After a moment of silence, he said: "Actually, someone wants to kill all the Jinyi Qi family, but this is definitely not the emperor's intention."
The old minister sighed: "The purpose of the emperor's rebuilding of the Black Scale Camp was to check and balance the Black Sword Camp. I also feel that there is no need for the emperor to destroy the Black Scale Camp." After a pause, he continued: "Qu Xiaocang was granted the title He was the Divine Marquis, but Ximen Divine Marquis did not appear that day. This was very strange. Logically speaking, since Ximen Divine Marquis was about to resign, he should go to court and personally hand over the Divine Marquis Order to Qu Xiaocang. Ximen Divine Marquis took over that year. At the time of the Divine Marquis, it was the previous Divine Marquis who handed over the Divine Marquis Order to him in front of all the officials. In addition... something must have happened in the palace. Fan Dehai suddenly disappeared, and a eunuch named Guihe suddenly appeared. I I have never heard of this person before, but there are thousands of internal prisoners in the inner palace. It is not surprising that I don’t know him. What is strange is that the emperor has always trusted Fan Dehai. Why did he suddenly replace Fan Dehai and let someone who had not done it before? Guihe is known to be the eunuch in charge of ceremonies?"
Qi Ning sighed: "The biggest thing that happened in the palace is not this. It has long been concluded that Xiao Zhang rebelled in the imperial mausoleum, but now he has been cleared of his charges and has become a loyal minister of Chu. Old Minister doesn't think this is the case. The weirdest thing?”
"Not just you, many people in the court find it incredible." The old minister said: "But Xiao Shaozong, the prince of Huainan, took out the secret decree left by the late emperor to Xiao Zhang, and it was archived in the imperial archives. It was confirmed to be correct. Xiao Shaozong had ironclad evidence. With it in hand, no one can tell anything wrong.”
"Just because there is an archive in the imperial archives does not mean that the secret edict is true." Qining said: "If Xiao Shaozong had sent someone to put the archive in the imperial archives in advance, we would naturally be able to find it."
"The imperial palace is a forbidden area in the palace and is heavily guarded." Lao Shangshu said: "No one dares to break into the imperial palace without the emperor's will. Anyone who comes close to the imperial palace will be punished by death. The guards who guard the imperial palace You can kill first and then play."
"Since the Yulin camp can get the secret order to kill the junior, it is not difficult to come up with an order to enter the imperial palace." Qi Ning said seriously: "Old minister, I have never been able to determine what happened in the capital before, let alone what happened in the capital. What happened in the palace, but now I am 70% sure that the emperor... was beyond his control!"
"I can't help myself?" Old Shangshu frowned and said, "Are you saying that the emperor is being held hostage?"
"Otherwise, these things that have happened recently cannot be explained at all." Qi Ning said: "Old Shangshu is a veteran of three dynasties. He is well-informed and will never think that all this is reasonable."
"You said that the emperor was held hostage, but who held the emperor hostage?"
"Xiao Shaozong!"
The corners of Lao Shangshu's eyes twitched, but his expression did not change. He just said: "Xiao Shaozong has been under house arrest in the palace, and the emperor is in the palace. It is impossible for the two of them to meet before. How can Xiao Shaozong hold the emperor hostage?"
"Old Minister is wrong." Qi Ning sighed: "In fact, Xiao Shaozong has always had the opportunity to enter the palace, and he still got the emperor's permission, but... not many people know about this." Before Old Minister Yuan could speak, , then continued: "Sima Lan was executed during the Autumn Hunting, and the plan was thorough. The mastermind behind all this was actually Xiao Shaozong."
The old minister's body was shaken, and Qi Ning continued: "Sima Lan was in power at that time and had too much power. The emperor knew that he must not be negligent in dealing with such a person. Moreover, there were not many people around the emperor at that time. So we secretly summoned Xiao Shaozong to the palace to discuss countermeasures."
"Sima Lan's eyes were all over the palace and outside the palace at that time. Why didn't Sima Lan notice at all when Xiao Shaozong entered the palace?" The old minister couldn't believe it: "If Sima Lan knew that Xiao Shaozong entered the palace, he would be wary. I'm afraid Xiao Shaozong will not survive until now."
Qi Ning was silent for a moment and then said: "There is a secret passage into the palace. Not many people know about it, but Xiao Shaozong happens to be one of the people who knows about this secret passage."
The old minister was even more horrified and asked: "Is there a secret way into the palace?" His lips moved, as if he wanted to ask more, but in the end he failed to ask, and his expression became solemn: "According to what you said, Xiao Shaozong used that A secret passage entered the palace and controlled the emperor in the palace, so these strange things happened."
"Although I can't provide conclusive evidence, this should be the truth."
"The emperor went to court not long ago. He didn't seem to look very good at that time, and... his voice when he spoke was also a little different from before." Lao Shangshu said: "At that time, everyone thought that the emperor was not feeling well, so his voice changed a little when he spoke... !”
"If I'm not wrong, the one who went to court is not the emperor at all." Qi Ning sighed: "Since Xiao Shaozong controls the emperor, he will never dare to let the emperor show up in front of the ministers. What you see is probably a substitute."
"Substitute?" Old Shangshu narrowed his eyes: "Xiao Shaozong replaced the emperor with a substitute and then controlled the government?"
"Xiao Shaozong is a very cautious person, and he is very scheming." Qi Ning said: "This person has been showing weakness for many years, making people ignore his existence, but what he did this time was definitely not a spur of the moment, it must have been planned for a long time. Every step has been carefully planned in advance." Staring into the eyes of the old minister, he said: "Perhaps all this began to be planned many years ago. He has been hiding his strength, waiting to see the changes, and planning secretly. When the time comes, he takes action quickly. Of course, the emperor's stand-in has been prepared for a long time. Xiao Shaozong can get close to the emperor and has a deep understanding of the emperor's words and deeds. He trains the stand-in according to the emperor's behavior in order to achieve the purpose of making the fake look like the real one. ." He sighed softly: "With Xiao Shaozong's strength, it is not difficult to find a substitute who looks exactly like the emperor."
The old minister leaned on his chair and remained silent. After a long time, he said, "If it is according to what you said, Xiao Shaozong has already taken control of the palace?"
"Now it's far more than just controlling the palace." Qi Ning said: "Xue Lingfeng was killed, and Lu Xiaochao took control of the Tiger God Camp. If all this was arranged by Xiao Shaozong, then the entire capital is now under Xiao Shaozong's control."
The old minister said in shock: "Is Lu Xiaochao a member of Xiao Shaozong?"
"Maybe it's not such a bad situation." Qi Ning said: "But if what I say is true, Lu Xiaochao is indeed Xiao Shaozong's pawn planted in the Tiger God Camp, then everything is already under Xiao Shaozong's control, and our Great Chu Empire has also arrived. A life or death moment.”
"Lu Xiaochao is from Xiao Shaozong...!" Old Shangshu muttered and repeated, and suddenly felt a chill on his back.
If everything is true as Qi Ning said, Xiao Shaozong took control of the palace, and even used the recommendation of the Ministry of War to allow Lu Xiaochao to successfully control the Tiger God Camp, then the dwarf-like Prince Huainan's deep scheming and insidious methods are really terrifying.