Jiang Songwen is a person who is easily pleased with himself.
He should also be proud, because his status is high because of his father. His father is successful in everything he does and is an even more important right-hand man to Emperor Longqing than Young Master Lin.
He had been defeated by Wei An and Shen Chen before, and almost got into trouble. That was his only setback.
This time, with the help of his father, he made Wei An and Shen Chen bleed without making any noise, which made him extremely proud.
When a person is proud, he will inevitably become even more proud. One day on his way to court, when he saw Du Ziling, a disciple of Censor Chen, kneeling at Zuoshunmen to plead for Chen, he sneered.
Immediately afterwards, Du Ziling was imprisoned.
The crime was pleading for mercy on behalf of a disloyal and unkind criminal like Censor Chen, which was disrespectful to the royal family.
Young Master Lin had no intention of taking Du Ziling's life.
It was obvious that Emperor Longqing did not have this idea at the beginning.
To him, although such people who begged for mercy were hateful, he would forget about them after they made their petitions. They were not worth his effort.
Generally speaking, Young Master Lin could deal with Du Ziling on his own by letting him stay in the imperial prison for a while, and then find a chance to release him when Emperor Longqing's anger subsided.
But this time something unexpected happened.
Du Ziling died. After being detained for more than a month, he died in the imperial prison. His death was very miserable. He was tortured to death by excessive torture.
The terrifying thing is that this matter was not instructed by Young Master Lin.
He had already given the order not to bother with Du Ziling, which was telling his subordinates his attitude.
But this time no one obeyed his orders, which only meant that the Jinyiwei was no longer under his control.
In fact, on the surface, it was because she pleaded for Censor Chen and angered the Emperor, but smart people have their own scale in their hearts and know that the crux of the matter is not here at all. It was because Du Ziling pleaded for Censor Chen and offended the father and son of Jiangjia, which led to this disaster.
After this incident, the power of the Jiang family reached a new level, and it seemed that those who go against me will perish, and those who follow me will prosper.
Even Young Master Lin couldn't compete with him, and everyone was extremely afraid of the father and son of the Jiang family.
The wife of the Marquis of Ping'an was very worried and could not sleep these days. After finally waiting for the Marquis of Ping'an to take a day off, she asked him in fear: "What should we do in the future? Seeing that the Wei family and the palace are... "
She slumped in the chair, her face tired and haggard: "I knew that His Majesty wanted to use the Linjiang Palace and was wary of it, but I didn't know that His Majesty would be so angry because of a Censor Chen..."
Her words were somewhat incoherent, but Ping An Hou understood what she meant. He held her arm and supported her. He shook his head gently: "Don't think too much. There is no other way to think except to stay calm."
The wife of the Marquis of Ping An could not agree with his statement. Women always feel less secure. She sobbed for a while, shook her head softly, and seemed to be talking to herself: "How can I not think more? Du Ziling got into trouble a few days ago... .. their family went everywhere to ask for help... .. you think about it, the Du family is still a well-off family, but there is actually nothing they can do. He is a disciple of the Censor Chen, and so many people couldn't save him. He has a daughter-in-law who is extremely beautiful... .. in the past, because Du Ziling was an official, there was nothing to worry about... .. but when Du Ziling got into trouble... .. then something else happened... .."
Ping'an Hou knew about this.
Du Ziling has a daughter-in-law who was born into a merchant family. She is extremely beautiful and well-known in the capital's circles. Beautiful women have always been the focus of men's pursuit. In the past, because Du Ziling was an official, although there were those who coveted her, she knew to restrain herself.
But once Du Ziling fell into trouble, it was useless to ask for help everywhere, and something bad happened.
Ping An Hou didn't want to hear these dirty things. He felt it was ominous after hearing them. He simply couldn't imagine how the elderly, weak, women and children in his family would be protected if he fell into the quagmire one day.
Seeing him fall silent, the wife of the Marquis of Ping An knew that what she said hit the mark of his mind, and could not help but say: "The Jiang family is pressing so hard and refusing to give in, but His Majesty is so fond of them. I heard in recent days that His Majesty has even rarely seen Young Master Lin, and only wants Prime Minister Jiang to accompany him, and even asks Prime Minister Jiang to rewrite Qingci for him... How can the Wei family compete with them? I am just afraid that if the Wei family falls, how good will our fate be? If we change sides now, will it..."
She also wanted to maintain her previous relationship with the Wei family. After all, in addition to the old friendship with Old Lady Wei, the rewards she received from her cooperation with the Wei family over the past few days were enough to satisfy her.
She even threw away her niece to be Wei Yangqing's concubine.
But now it concerns the life and death, honor and disgrace of their family. She really can't maintain her previous calmness and confidence. If nothing goes wrong, it will be fine. Once something happens, it will be the lives of the whole family. Just looking at Du Ziling's current fate, you can know to what extent the Jiang family father and son are wary of people like them.
They are much closer to the Wei family than Du Ziling is.
She really had to think about a way out for herself and her family.
Ping An Hou immediately realized what his wife meant, shook his head firmly, and said without hesitation: "This won't work. If we do this now, what kind of people will we be? The Jiangs might spare our lives, but our family's future will end here, and we will be ridiculed for the rest of our lives! Besides, have you forgotten? King Linjiang and Old Lady Wei, which one of them is easy to deal with? They both hold our handles and weaknesses in their hands. If we have any other intentions, they are not the Bodhisattvas in the temple without temper. When the time comes, we will fight to the death, and what can we get? It is not a good idea to betray the covenant at this time."
Mrs. Ping'an Marquis lowered her eyes, feeling extremely depressed.
Neither this nor that is good, she doesn't know how to get through the current difficulties.
The two of them were silent for a long time, and then she sighed deeply and frowned, saying, "It's really uncomfortable to be left hanging like this. I'm really scared. Is there no way for the Wei family and the Linjiang Prince to save the situation? If the Jiang family continues to do whatever they want, what good will happen to the Linjiang Prince's Mansion and the Wei family? Are the princess and the others so indifferent?"
Ping An Hou immediately shook his head, and with his hands behind his back, he looked at the honeysuckle outside the window, and said firmly: "That may not be the case. I don't think the princess is the kind of person who will easily accept her fate. It is impossible for her to admit defeat before the battle begins. There must be some reason behind it..." (To be continued)