Seeing that Lan Ling still didn't understand, Li Hong continued: "As the saying goes, a cannibal has a short mouth and a taker has short hands. If I accept those gifts, does it mean that I agree with the Xiao family? Isn't this the same as my father? Now the purpose of suppressing the Five Surnames and Seven Families is contradictory? To take it a step further, if I do anything in the future, my father, because of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, wouldn't this be an excuse for the discord between father and son? That and that. Moreover, the Lanling Xiao family did not spend a penny of their own money to get close to me. They took all the savings that Xiao Shufei had worked hard to accumulate. This became their reputation of caring about family ties and established a relationship with me that was different from that of ordinary courtiers. , people get the best of both worlds, what do we get, and what do you get from it?”
After coming back from Ci'en Temple last night, Li Hong thought about these words for half a night, and then he finally figured it out in a daze. This Lanling Xiao family is really a profiteer, doing everything possible, and really trying everything for profit. .
And Lan Ling also vaguely understood that the unspoken meaning of Li Hong's words was that he had already made plans to compete for the crown prince's position. It was not that he was unwilling to make friends with courtiers now, but that he had nothing to do with his father's suppression of the five surnames. The reasons given by the Qijia are actually just talk.
The main reason is that the Xiao family of Lanling cannot get into Li Hong's eyes, and their official positions are too low to play any effective role in his fight for the crown prince's position. The only one who is Zhongshu Sheng is Li Hong. Li Hong would not take him seriously yet. As for the governor and Sima, Li Hong would certainly not take him seriously.
Therefore, it is not so much that Li Hong is unwilling to accept the Lanling Xiao family's gift as that the bargaining chips and sincerity given to Li Hong by the Lanling Xiao family are far from satisfying Li Hong.
"Then you mean you won't help?" After Lan Ling understood the truth, he no longer forced Li Hong. He knew the royal affairs well, and Li Hong's future could be seen. As expected, the crown prince's position I'm afraid it's already in his pocket.
"Of course I want to help. But firstly, I helped because of Yiyang, Gao'an, and Li Sujie, and it has nothing to do with the Lanling Xiao family. Secondly, if the Lanling Xiao family wants me to think that they are sincere, at least I have to let my aunt live a worry-free life. Otherwise, I don’t think there is any reason to think that they are approaching me for Concubine Xiao Shu. Besides, what does the Lanling Xiao family have?”
"Lanling wine." Lanling said.
"Yes, Lanling is your fiefdom. Year by year, the profit share of Lanling Fine Wine has been increasing, but my aunt can only watch, and even asked her to unconditionally help them get close to me. It’s really too much of a petty thing, and it’s not decent.” Li Hong shook his head, looking like a scoundrel.
After listening to Li Hong's words, Lan Ling felt warm in his heart. The little guy still cared about him. He smiled and touched Li Hong's head and said, "Okay, aunt knows your feelings, but that's my own wine." , what does it have to do with me."
"In that case, this is barely half of their family affairs, so what does it have to do with you? I didn't let them speak out yesterday, and I already gave them enough face. How can they be involved in royal affairs? If they have recently I still don’t have any sincere gratitude to you, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you taking a few percent of their shares.” At the end of the sentence, Li Hong seemed to be a completely different person, as if the person talking to Lan Ling was a scheming adult. A person, not a child.
Lan Ling looked at the little person in front of her and didn't know what to say, but she knew in her heart that Li Hong was wholeheartedly good to her. I'm afraid that besides being his aunt, she didn't hesitate to take out the Linglong Tower and let him apologize. One thing also has a huge relationship.
"Hong'er, you can't do this blindly. The Lanling Xiao family is not as simple as you think. Even if you do something, you are not the only one who can shake it." Lanling reminded Li Hong in his arms. road.
"Don't worry. If they don't go to your house to thank you before I return to the palace, then don't blame me, Li Hong, for being unkind. Sooner or later, I will let their Lanling wine bear my aunt's surname!" Li Hong was pregnant in Lanling As Li said this, Lan Ling stiffened and felt a little scared.
Originally, her character was to live aloof from the world, and she was very indifferent to these external things, but she didn't expect that Li Hong would be willing to do such a thing for her.
Li Hong seemed to feel Lan Ling's body tightening, so he comforted Lan Ling's uneasy heart and said: "It's not because the profits of Lanling Xiao's wine make me jealous, but the way they do things makes me look down on it. Using you is bullying you, we must not let them continue like this, we must make them pay some price and let them remember it! "
"On behalf of the king, Mr. Liu is here to visit." Xia Zhi walked to the side of the two nephews and whispered.
"Let him come in." Li Hong stood up from Lan Ling's arms, and Lan Ling went to the backyard to see if there were any accessories in his workshop that he could take away.
Liu Rengui took out a few letters from his pocket, put them on Li Hong's desk, and said: "This morning, the court officials wanted to report this matter to His Majesty. Your Majesty said that this case is handled by you on behalf of the King. So I ask you to finish this case before returning to the palace."
Li Hong took several letters and read them. One of them was a handwritten letter from his father, and the others were letters collected from Liu Shuang's home and exchanged with Wei Ying. However, the letters did not mention anything between them. It was vaguely obvious that Liu Shuang used his position as Zhongshu Ling to open some convenient doors for Weiying.
Putting down the letter in his hand, since his father wanted to test the abilities of a four-year-old child, he couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
So Li Hong asked: "Master Liu, did you find anything out last night?"
"On behalf of the king, after I took away the relevant suspicious persons from Ci'en Temple last night, I interrogated them one by one with Mr. Duan, but there was nothing of value. I only got some answers from the people you mentioned who were imprisoned in the backyard, and then made some insinuations. The investigation revealed that they had been conducting human trafficking, but the specific woman named Yarou denied it," Liu Rengui said with a frown.
"We can make a breakthrough from Wang Jing. He should be the best interrogator among them. As for Liu Shuang, he will be detained for now without interrogation. That Weiying should know the cause and effect of everything, so it depends on your ability." Li Hong said thoughtfully.
"The king is smart, and I have the same plan. But there is one more thing. What should I do with that woman? I judge that this woman should have a high status. I am afraid she is not as simple as an ordinary woman."
"That's natural. It's impossible for an ordinary woman to let Zhongshu Ling of the Tang Dynasty become her guest. The status cannot be simple. To be on the safe side, you can't use torture or force. It's quite difficult." Li Hong himself laughed after saying this.
Liu Rengui laughed twice in agreement and said, "Li Yifu asked me about this case today. I wonder if I can let him...?"
"No, if people from the province are joining in, wouldn't it mess up the government?" Li Hong knew that Liu Rengui was testing the relationship between him and Li Yifu, and testing his dependence on Li Yifu. I just don’t know if this temptation also has my father’s intention.
"Then if this is the case, there is only one way left." Liu Rengui glanced at Li Hong's face with his exquisite eyes.
"What can we do?" Li Hong felt a hint of conspiracy.
"Then you can only interrogate the king personally. In this way, no matter how noble this woman's status is, can she still be as noble as yours? At that time, even if someone reaches out to ask for someone from Honglu Temple, or plans to intervene, we will It doesn’t insult this woman’s identity, does it?” Liu Rengui said.
Li Hong looked at Liu Rengui warily, with several thoughts flashing through his mind, and asked, "Whose idea was this? My father's? Or did someone give you the idea?"
"Haha, Dai Wang is really smart. I really admire it! Yes, it was indeed someone else's idea. I just don't know if you, Dai Wang, can guess who said this?" Liu Rengui said.
Li Hong laid his head on the desk, thinking about it. Not many people in the court knew him well. Shangguan Yi? Impossible, there is no way his father would let him know about this. Li Yifu? It's impossible, Liu Rengui's words just now have already vetoed Li Yifu.
Who else could it be, Father? My father asked me to interrogate him? It's also unlikely. My father is a little afraid of his misbehavior and won't let him interrogate him.
Then there is only one person, and this person is Xu Jingzong, the ancient Great Yin man. I am afraid that only he can come up with such a way to get the best of both worlds and make it impossible for anyone to criticize.
Li Hong did not tell Liu Rengui his guess. It was better to pretend to be confused about some things. As a child, if he was too scheming and understood the courtiers too well, it might not be to his benefit.
"Okay, I took the call. Where is the person now? Should I go over to interrogate him or do you bring him over?" Li Hong said, changing the subject.
Liu Rengui was stunned for a moment, then he cupped his hands to Li Hong and said, "I will send someone to your house this afternoon. I just hope that the king will be careful and don't let her escape from you. This case does not seem to be possible." "But I feel that after investigation, there must be a big secret behind it, and this woman is probably a key figure. I would like to ask the king to be careful and keep a close eye on her."
"Don't worry, just let Bai Lu, Xiao Xue, and Xiao Han keep a close watch on you. Besides, there are hundreds of thousands of cow guards outside and inside the mansion. They are not wooden people."
"Yes, that's what the king said. His Majesty ordered two hundred thousand oxen guards to guard Puwang's Mansion again. Logically speaking, it should be impregnable and unable to fly."
After Liu Rengui and Li Hong warned him again and again, they left Prince Pu's Mansion. Lanling also came back from the workshop in the backyard. He looked at Liu Rengui's leaving figure, then looked at Li Hong and asked, "Why did he come to you?" "
"Aunt, I want to ask you, do you have an affair with Monk Na Weiying... Ah... It hurts. That's wrong. It's friendship. No, it's... Stop pinching me. Listen to me." Li Hong's face was ashen with his ears covered. Lan Ling grabbed it and jumped in pain.
(End of chapter)