Wei Shutong stood beside Qi Ning and said softly: "Does the Marquis have any other instructions?"
Qi Ning glanced at Wei Shutong and then whispered: "Master Wei, Li Yuan was assassinated. Is it really not you who sent someone?"
Wei Shutong was startled and immediately said: "Master Hou, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with this official."
"I believe you, but Li Hongxin may not believe it." Qining sighed: "Master Wei, I am leaving Chengdu today, but... I can't worry about you."
"Is the Marquis worried that Li Hongxin will be unfavorable to his subordinates?"
Qi Ning said: "When Li Hongxin left just now, he was full of resentment. He left too quickly, which made this matter troublesome. You are the governor of Xichuan, and the imperial court in Xichuan relies on you, Mr. Wei...!" There was a pause. After a pause, he sighed: "If Li Hongxin really wants to be detrimental to Mr. Wei...!"
Wei Shutong showed a trace of gratitude and said: "Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your concern. Lord Hou, don't worry. Over the years that Xiaguan has been in Xichuan, he has long considered that someone would assassinate him, so there are some experts around him. It is not easy to assassinate Xiaguan." thing. Moreover, Xiaguan and Li Hongxin just had a dispute, and everyone in the Shenhou Mansion saw it. With this feud, Li Hongxin did not dare to take action against Xiaguan."
Qi Ning smiled and said: "You mean if he takes action now, everyone will doubt him?"
"That's right." Wei Shutong sneered: "Li Hongxin is a cautious person. He doesn't have the capital to rebel yet. If he deals with lower officials, it would be rebellion, and the court will not ignore it. Even if Li Hongxin is given ten courages now, He doesn't dare to do anything to his subordinates."
"Be careful with the ten thousand year ship." Qining said softly: "Master Wei, Xichuan cannot live without you. I am only worried that as time goes by, this person will keep plotting against you."
Wei Shutong frowned.
In fact, he knew very well that Li Hongxin had a strong foundation in Xichuan. If he was really staring at him and plotting against him day and night, it would be really dangerous.
"Master Wei, there is only one way to solve this problem." Qining whispered.
Wei Shutong immediately said: "Please give me some advice from Lord Marquis."
"Find the evidence and put Li Hongxin to death." Qi Ning whispered: "If Li Hongxin is not eliminated, he will always be a threat to Mr. Wei."
"Get rid of him?"
Qi Ning nodded slightly and lowered his voice: "Master Wei knows very well that Li Hongxin has always been a scourge in the eyes of the court. To be honest, Master Wei has not solved this scourge for the court for so many years in Xichuan. The court may not No dissatisfaction.”
Wei Shutong frowned.
"The late emperor passed away and the new emperor succeeded to the throne." Qi Ning said: "This is really a great opportunity for Lord Wei to make a contribution." He looked at Wei Shutong and whispered: "Master Wei, you and I can be considered friends now, Your Majesty In fact, we are also inspecting the ministers, looking for some loyal and reliable talents to entrust with important tasks. Let me tell you the truth, if you can make a great contribution at this time and solve this problem for the emperor, do you think the emperor can treat you badly, Mr. Wei? Even if you have some The emperor and the court will definitely not care about things that cannot be known to anyone, and I, on the emperor's side, will definitely do my best to excuse you."
Wei Shutong calmed down, cupped his hands and said, "I'd like to thank Lord Marquis here first." He came closer and whispered: "Master Hou, although I also want to find evidence of Li Hongxin's crime, but... this person is too much. Be careful, it’s not easy to find strong evidence.”
"Master Wei, Master Wei, let me tell you what you are good at." Qi Ning sighed, "There is living evidence of crime right under your nose, can't you just not see it?"
Wei Shutong frowned slightly, but before he could react, he said softly: "What did the Marquis say...?"
"The donated temples." Qi Ning chuckled and said, "Master Wei, we already said last night that the location selection of the temples donated and built by Li Hongxin was very problematic."
Wei Shutong squinted his eyes, thought for a moment, seemed to understand something, and whispered: "Did the Marquis want to make a fuss in those temples?"
"Maybe there is a lot of news in the temple." Qi Ning sneered: "You, Mr. Wei, are the governor of Xichuan. Li Hongxin's foundation in Xichuan is indeed deeper than yours. I don't deny this, but you have been in Xichuan for so many years. Naturally, there are connections, and the most important thing is that the real power of Xichuan is now in your hands." After a pause, he said: "A piece of paper, even if it is clean, if Mr. Wei draws a stroke on it, it will be It became unclean.”
Wei Shutong's brows suddenly widened, his eyes flashed slightly, and he said, "What the Marquis said is absolutely true. The low-ranking servant is dull."
Qi Ning chuckled and said: "Master Wei, to tell you the truth, you and Li Hongxin are already enemies of life and death. Our Jinyi Qi family and the Xichuan Li family are also at odds with each other. If we have the chance to uproot the Xichuan Li family, I Of course I will fully assist you, Lord Wei. If you really find evidence of Li Hongxin's crime, and even kill him first and report later, I hereby assure you that not only will you not bear any responsibility, but you will definitely be promoted to a higher position." He smiled faintly: " Do you understand what I mean?"
"Xiaguan understands." Wei Shutong became bright and cheerful: "Master Hou, there are still some useful people under Xiaguan. It's not troublesome to handle some things."
Qi Ning smiled and said: "That's very good." He added: "But you must be careful. Li Hongxin's intention today has revealed that he may make some moves."
Wei Shutong immediately said: "Master Hou means that he wants me to come to Beijing?"
"Master Wei, have you noticed?"
Wei Shutong sneered and said: "Although Xiaguan is dull, he is not as stupid as Li Hongxin thought. This person took advantage of Li Yuan's death to drag Xiaguan to Beijing. It seems to be for his son's sake. Death, but Xiaguan also guessed a little bit of what was in his heart." He looked around to make sure no one was there, then lowered his voice and said, "I am in Xichuan, so he doesn't dare to act rashly, but once Xiaguan leaves Xichuan , then it’s impossible to tell, and Xiaguan can be sure that Li Hongxin will never dare to enter the capital. If Xiaguan agrees to follow him out of Xichuan, he will definitely find a way to return to Xichuan before reaching the capital."
Qi Ning chuckled and said: "Master Wei has seen through his trick, I feel relieved." Suddenly asked: "Master Wei, the long history next to Li Hongxin is called Ximen Hengye. Do you know the origin of this person?"
Wei Shutong shook his head and said: "A few years ago, the former chief historian of the King of Shu suddenly died suddenly. Li Hongxin promoted Ximen Hengye to be the new chief historian of the Prince of Shu's Palace. It is said that this person was a retainer of the Prince of Shu's Palace before, but he was unknown and was demoted. I have never heard of it. After this man became the chief historian of the Shu Palace, he took care of many things in the Shu Palace. Last year, when Li Yuan, the Crown Prince of Shu, went to the capital, Ximen Hengye accompanied him." He frowned and said: "Master Hou, having said this, Xiaguan boldly reminds the Marquis that Li Hongxin often sends people to the capital. As far as Xianguan knows, every time he goes there, he is actually sending money. Many officials have been bribed by Li Hongxin, and he is also very well-connected in the court."
Qi Ning nodded and said: "I know a little bit about this matter. Yes, Mr. Wei, do you know who Li Hongxin has the deepest contacts in the capital?"
Wei Shutong shook his head and said: "This subordinate is really not sure. The situation in Xichuan is special. The late emperor had warned me that when I go to Xichuan, I will be like a nail stuck here. Unless it is a last resort and there is no imperial edict, You must not enter the capital without permission. In fact, from the time Li Hongxin surrendered to Xiaguan, he was the third governor of Xichuan. For three consecutive terms, he almost never dared to leave Xichuan for a day."
"The late emperor was wise." Qi Ning said: "The late emperor knew that Li Hongxin was an old fox and might be ready to act once he had the opportunity. Therefore, several governors kept a close eye on him and did not give him any chance."
Wei Shutong sneered: "Li Hongxin knew that the imperial court had always wanted to get rid of him, so he spent a lot of money every year to send away many important officials of the imperial court. He just hoped that these bribed officials would speak for him in the court and keep him safe in Xichuan. Something." He snorted coldly and said: "But because of this, the official understands that this person has ambitions. If he was honest, the court would not touch him, and he would not have to spend so much money in the capital. , He spent so much money, it can only prove that this person is determined to be evil and will take action sooner or later."
Qi Ning thought that Li Hongxin was not an easy person to deal with. Now it seems that Wei Shutong is also a shrewd person. It is no wonder that the late emperor sent him here.
The fact that things have developed to this point is exactly what Qi Ning wants.
Eve was assassinated in Jianjia Hall, and Qining guessed at that time that it was closely related to Li Hongxin.
Qining's purpose in life has always been to make others even less happy if they don't make him happy.
Originally, Qi Ning did not feel too deeply about the feud between the Jinyi Qi family and the Li family in Xichuan. He did his best in Xichuan, not to help the Jinyi Qi family seek revenge on the Li family, but to help the little emperor as much as possible.
However, Jianjiaguan's stab made the Xichuan Li family and Qining personally have a life-or-death feud.
Qin Ning has never been soft-hearted towards his enemies, and has always wanted to kill them all.
Sneaking into Wu's house to assassinate Li Yuan was of course done by Qi Ning, and Wu Sun's testimony was of course written down word by word by Qi Ning. Ning had more than twenty ways to do it, and Wu Sun's performance did not disappoint Qi Ning.
Although Qi Ning had long seen the ambiguous relationship between Wei Shutong and Li Hongxin, he did not expect that Wei Shutong was actually used as a threat to kill his wife by Li Hongxin.
However, he took advantage of Li Yuan's death to make Wei Shutong and Li Hongxin form a mortal enemy.
Killing Li Yuan can not only avenge Eve's assassination, but also create incompatibility between the two giants in Xichuan. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Qi Ning also knew very well that both Wei Shutong and Li Hongxin were cunning and cunning characters. Such characters had a huge weakness, which was suspicion.
He used Li Yuan's death as an opportunity to provoke. In fact, he also thought that it might not really lead to a break between the two, but as long as the two were suspicious, it would at least create a rift between the two. However, the final result was obviously better than he imagined. .
Wei Shutong was caught and held hostage by Li Hongxin for killing his wife. Although he had no choice but to cooperate in many matters, he obviously hated Li Hongxin in his heart. This time he expressed his support for Wei Shutong. Wei Shutong had the confidence to back him up, so he naturally dared to fight with Li Hongxin. Li Hongxin's tit-for-tat confrontation, and Li Hongxin's questioning in the restaurant directly caused the two of them to quarrel with each other, and it was hard to tolerate each other.
Qi Ning knew very well that at this point, the good days of the Xichuan Li family had come to an end.
Wei Shutong must fight to the death with Li Hongxin next. If Wei Shutong wins and gets evidence of his crime, the Li family of Xichuan will naturally be killed. And if Li Hongxin really kills Wei Shutong, then the court will also wait and see. After finding out the name of the Xichuan Li family for treason, no matter what the outcome, Li Hongxin had been set up by Qining and entered a dead end.