When Li Wei returned to Wuyang, rumors about Prime Minister Yan Ze'an were already flying all over the State of Cai, saying all kinds of things.
At the beginning, everyone said that Prime Minister Yan Ze'an sent troops because he accepted bribes from the Kong family.
Then everyone said that the prime minister was too stupid and was fooled by the Kong family, resulting in heavy casualties.
Soon there were rumors that the prime minister was extremely stupid. He was not satisfied with being played with once, so he tried to be played with again.
Finally, some people began to suspect: The prime minister is not stupid, is he losing on purpose? !
In the end, the rumors had become gossip and were completely out of context; some people even said that the prime minister was a spy for the Great Xia Kingdom; and then someone got the "evidence" from somewhere, which actually proved that the prime minister's ancestors were once dignitaries of the Great Xia Kingdom.
In the end, when the rumors became more and more rampant and when the families of the dead and injured were clamoring for the prime minister to be tortured to death, the Emperor of Cai finally had to "follow public opinion" and placed the prime minister's entire family, young and old, under house arrest.
It was called house arrest, but it was actually very cruel. There was no food or water in the house! However, the imperial edict clearly stated that it would be "house arrest until the prime minister is proven to be white." You can't even imagine that by the time the prime minister was proven to be white, the whole family would have starved to death!
Some people also spoke up for Prime Minister Yan Ze'an, but under the search by the Royal Guards and groups of experts, some of the "dissatisfied" voices quickly disappeared.
When Li Wei set off for Anyang, the news from the State of Cai also reached Li Xian. Needless to say, Li Xian called everyone together to discuss the situation.
Xu Ren was the most confident, gently waving his feather fan, "Master, the opportunity has come. This prime minister is a real talent, we have to poach him."
Li Xian was confused: "Sir, are you saying that we should rescue the previous enemy?"
Xu Ren shook his head gently: "No, no, Master, your idea is biased. Master, the one who is truly against us is not the Prime Minister, but the State of Cai and the Emperor of Cai. Master, if Anyang suddenly attacks Luliang County now, others will think it was your intention, not mine or anyone else's."
"But we got the news that it was the prime minister who took the initiative to ask for permission to attack us! And the person the Kong family contacted was also the prime minister Yan Ze'an." Needless to say, Li Xian was very vindictive. Li Xian never portrayed himself as a gentleman - if you dare to bite me, I will kill you and stew you in soup! And Yan Ze'an was on Li Xian's mind!
Seeing Li Xian's expression, Xu Ren was speechless: "Master, the prime minister only serves the emperor, just like the relationship between you and me. The one who really wants to attack Daxia is not the prime minister, but the emperor of Cai."
"Um... okay. But how do we save them? Break the prison?"
"Negotiation, young master. Didn't you say earlier that you wanted to negotiate with the State of Cai?"
"But that was based on General Fu Minghui's victory in the Northern Expedition. Now that the Northern Expedition has failed, how can we negotiate?" Li Xian has been very distressed recently because of this. He originally wanted to open up the dumping market of the State of Cai through negotiations, but now everything has gone down the drain.
Xu Ren analyzed seriously, "Master, this is the time when we cannot relax! The Prime Minister of Cai State is Huang Fu. He has political skills, but he lacks long-term vision. He likes to fight among himself and exclude dissidents. We should continue to attack the border of Cai State and send the newly researched Floating Cloud Island and artillery to attack and oppress Cai State. In fact, Cai State is also internally empty and restless. This negotiation will surely succeed. In addition, we will go directly to Cai State. On the one hand, we must express our willingness to negotiate in a tough manner, and on the other hand, we must openly express that we will bring back the Prime Minister's family and behead them. If we contact Huang Fu secretly and promise him some benefits, he will surely be able to send the Prime Minister's family to us!"