The moment Qi Ning stood up, he knew that the Sima family would definitely target him in the future.
But he knew more clearly that if he was afraid today and allowed Sima to cause a major case, the consequences would be disastrous.
The next purge of the Sima clan will definitely be extremely bloody, and taking this opportunity, any force that poses any threat to the Sima clan will be subject to a bloody purge. Once everything goes as the Sima clan wishes, At that time, the Sima clan naturally followed his words in the court, and no one dared to disobey him.
Qi Ning understood even more that if no one stood up today, then the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty would definitely be silent on the Sima family, and the Sima family would inevitably become dominant.
Although standing up on his own would become a thorn in Sima's side, it would at least make it clear to the courtiers that after King Huainan, not everyone dared to resist Sima.
Qin Ning knew very well that his foundation in the court was still shallow. He saw the situation clearly today and knew that not all courtiers were willing to obey the Sima family. At least the ministers who had close contacts with the King of Huainan before had no interest in the Sima family. If you stand up with resentment in your heart, you will naturally make people like King Huainan regard you as their savior.
Qi Ning had just weighed it for a long time and knew that if he was too afraid to come out, he would lose a golden opportunity. If he wanted to fight against the Sima clan in the future, he would definitely have more than enough ambition but not enough power. But after he stood up, The more tit-for-tat with the Sima family, the more favor they will gain from the officials under the King of Huainan, and they will gain a lot of power.
Su Zhen stepped forward and confirmed Qining's suspicion.
The sacrificial ceremony lasted until noon. According to the previous plan, the emperor and officials were to stay at the imperial mausoleum overnight. However, such a major event happened today. After the sacrificial ceremony, Longtai immediately issued an order to return to the capital immediately.
The Black Knife Camp and the Black Scale Camp did not return to their respective camps. Instead, they followed Shengjia back to the capital. They did not arrive outside the capital until late at night. The two teams stayed outside the city. They only waited until Longjia entered the capital. Go separately.
The capital has been under a curfew since the emperor went to the imperial mausoleum yesterday, so when he entered the capital, the entire capital was silent. Chi Fengdian mobilized part of his troops to escort a group of prisoners to the prison, and then he and the officials escorted the emperor to enter. Imperial City.
After the ministers sent the emperor to the imperial city, they each returned. Qi Ning was about to return home when Chi Fengdian came over and said in a low voice: "Master Marquis, the emperor has a decree for you to enter the palace immediately."
Qi Ning knew what the little emperor was thinking, so he followed Chi Fengdian into the palace and arrived at the imperial study. Before he entered, he heard a crackling sound coming from inside. Qi Ning frowned slightly and cautiously put his head in. He only saw Long Tai grabbing the hand. The objects were smashed to the ground angrily.
Qi Ning sighed secretly in his heart, knowing that the little emperor had been holding back today, but he was still young after all. After enduring it until he returned to the palace, the anger in his heart poured out.
Longtai saw Qi Ning standing at the door, not saying anything, sitting down on the chair, his face cold and terrifying.
Qi Ning came closer. The little emperor glanced at him and gritted his teeth and said, "Qining, if the Black Scale Battalion hadn't arrived in time today, would that old thief Sima Lan have killed me?"
Qi Ning said softly: "Your Majesty, although Sima Lan is ambitious, he doesn't dare to do anything to you yet. Being able to get rid of King Huainan today is a great success for the Sima family."
"The King of Huainan is so stupid." Long Tai couldn't hide his anger: "He wanted to get rid of Sima Lan, but he was completely fooled by Sima Lan. This is asking for death." He stared at Qining and said: "You said you wanted to Let these two people restrain each other, but now that the Huainan King is gone, who else can resist Sima Lan? He is in charge of the government, and he also has the Black Knife Camp in his hands. I always thought Qian Raoshun was the Huainan King's man , I didn’t expect Qian Raoshun to bite the King of Huainan today...!"
Qi Ning sat down on the chair next to him, stared at Longtai, hesitated, and finally asked: "Your Majesty, forgive me for asking boldly, King Huainan attacked Sima Lan in the imperial mausoleum. Did you hear the news in advance? King Huainan secretly Chi Fengdian, is Chi Fengdian loyal or traitorous?"
Longtai was startled for a moment, his expression was solemn, he pondered for a moment, and then said: "I won't hide it from you, King Huainan wanted to use the Yulin Camp to deal with the Sima family, and Chi Fengdian did report it to me secretly."
Qi Ning sighed: "So the emperor is planning to use King Huainan to get rid of Sima Lan?"
"Sima Lan is deeply rooted in the court. Even without Qian Raoshun's rebellion, King Huainan would not be able to bring down Sima Lan with the Hu Bowen case." Long Tai said: "I just want to see how many tricks King Huainan can come up with, and What kind of means does Sima Lan have to fight back?" He clenched his fist and said, "In the final analysis, I overestimated King Huainan and underestimated Sima Lan."
Qi Ning said: "So, the emperor wanted to take this opportunity to see how powerful these two people are?"
Longtai said: "After Chi Fengdian secretly reported this matter, I didn't mention it to anyone. I ordered Chi Fengdian to be responsible for guarding the imperial mausoleum, just in case. As long as the Yulin camp is present, no matter whether it is the King of Huainan Even Sima Lan can't stir up a big storm, but I never thought that Sima Lan would be so bold as to secretly mobilize the Black Knife Battalion."
"Your Majesty was too hasty." Qi Ning said: "In the final analysis, Sima Lan is still too cunning."
"Before you went to the Eastern Qi Dynasty, Feng Ruohai, the Minister of Household Affairs, tried to impeach Sima Changshen, but he had no choice but to succeed. Instead, the Sima family produced evidence and was thrown into prison." Longtai frowned and said: "Since that incident, all officials in the court have been jailed. Knowing that the Sima family was secretly hidden, many people approached the Sima family. When you were on a mission to Dong Qi, the Sima family even asked people to impeach the people of the King of Huainan one after another, and the evidence was conclusive. Five or six court officials were impeached and dismissed by the Sima family, so those under King Huainan were worried day and night, lest they be targeted by the Sima family."
Qi Ning nodded slightly and said: "King Huainan was naturally anxious when he saw people on his side being overthrown one after another. Now it seems that the Sima family's continuous impeachment of people on King Huainan's intention was to make King Huainan angry. This angered King Huainan to take action. Sima Lan was afraid that King Huainan would not act rashly, so he deliberately set a trap in Sima Mansion and got rid of the commander of the palace guards. This last act of anger can be regarded as completely irritating King Huainan."
"It seems to be true." Longtai said angrily: "Sima Lan dug a big trap for King Huainan, leading King Huainan to step into it. Not only did King Huainan fall into Sima Lan's trap, but I didn't even look at it. It’s out of Sima Lan’s intentions.”
Qi Ning sighed: "Your Majesty, King Huainan's action was indeed too hasty, but he was indeed very careful before taking action. The assassins recruited by King Huainan are all shadow rats in the world, not reckless warriors in the world. This He was originally worried that the news would spread. But he did not calculate that the biggest omission was around him. Qian Raoshun was bribed by Sima Lan, and all the plans of King Huainan were under Sima Lan's control. They were doomed to fail from the beginning. "
"Shadow Mouse?" Long Tai looked at Qining: "Did you know that King Huainan recruited assassins? I didn't know in advance that King Huainan had colluded with Master Lingxu and planted assassins among the Taoist priests in Longhu Mountain."
Qi Ning shook his head: "I only knew that the Shadow Mouse was haunting the capital, but I didn't know that it was arranged by King Huainan. I have been investigating the whereabouts of the Shadow Mouse in the past few days, and I will not report it to the emperor until I have grasped their plan. And I I always thought that the target of these shadow rats was the Prince of Dong Qi, but I never expected that they would appear in the imperial mausoleum."
"So that's it." Longtai finally understood and pondered for a moment, then said: "You have done me a great favor by mobilizing the Black Scale Battalion today. If the Black Scale Battalion had not arrived in time, the Sima family would not have given in, and they would have If a major case is raised, it would be fine for him to cut off his dissidents. If a major case is raised at this time, our country will definitely be unstable, giving people an opportunity to take advantage of it."
"Your Majesty, Sima Lan will not let it go." Qi Ning said with a stern expression: "Today in the imperial mausoleum, he saw that the time had not come to start a major case, so he temporarily restrained himself a little, but this is by no means the end. Such a plan to eliminate dissidents How can the Sima family let go of this great opportunity?" After a pause, he said softly: "I'm only worried that the Sima family will become more aggressive from now on. Now Sima Lan is still in charge of the government. If you want to report to the emperor at that time, Make an unreasonable request...!"
"I will tolerate it." Long Tai sneered: "I want to see what he wants to get." He stared at Qining's eyes and said: "But Sima Lan wants to eliminate dissidents, and I will never let him succeed. If If he is allowed to act recklessly, it won't be long before the civil and military officials in the court are all his followers, and I will truly become his puppet."
Qi Ning nodded and said: "Yes, there are at least some officials in the court who do not want to succumb to the power of the Sima family. These people must be protected."
"Qining, I want you to do me a big favor." Long Tai's eyes were sharp and he whispered: "After the wedding, Sima Lan will definitely bring up the Huainan Wang Yudang case again. I can't let him succeed, so I have to strike first. .”
"Strike first to gain the upper hand?" Qining was stunned.
"That's right." Longtai said: "The Huainan King's rebellion will soon be spread. If I don't order a thorough investigation, others will use false accusations. So I will immediately issue an order to thoroughly investigate the case of the Huainan King's accomplices." , only in this way can we prevent the Sima family from misbehaving."
"Let...let me take charge of this case?" Qi Ning was greatly surprised.
"You are the most suitable candidate." Longtai said: "You have never had a close relationship with the King of Huainan, and you are not close to the Sima family. Therefore, if you are appointed, at least the people in the government and the public will not think that you are biased. My heart. Today I have dismissed Qian Raoshun, and the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment has become vacant. Sima Lan will definitely let his people take this position, how can I let him succeed."
Qi Ning understood and said: "The emperor wants me to seize the punishment department first to avoid falling into the hands of Sima Lan, and then try his best to prevent Sima Lan from eliminating dissidents."
"That's right." Longtai said: "A thorough investigation of the Huainan King case can only be pursued by the Criminal Department. As long as you hold the Criminal Department, the Sima family will not be able to influence this case."
Qi Ning thoughtfully said softly: "Your Majesty, I have no ability to punish people, and I have never done any errands in the Ministry of Punishments before. If I suddenly take that position, will people be dissatisfied?"
Longtai smiled coldly and said: "Back then, Sima Lan was granted the title of Marquis first and did not serve as a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel. Later, he became Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and became an official. There was no suitable candidate for the vacant position for a while. His father decreed that Sima Lan should hold the post temporarily. Sima Lan Since then, Lan has been sitting in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, with a chariot in front and a track in the back. I have ordered you to take charge of the Ministry of Punishments, but Sima Lan can't say anything."