Zi'an told them what he and Murong Jie had just analyzed. After listening, the two looked at each other. Xiao Tuo was silent for a while and said, "Could it be that you are overthinking? You concluded that Chu Jing stayed with Emperor Kangping based on his back and movements? If he could escape, why would he take such a risk?"
Although Su Qing was a little drunk, her mind was always more delicate than others. She said, "Xiao Tuo, I'm afraid it's not that the princess is suspicious, but it's really possible. The most dangerous place in the world is the safest place. If he disguises himself as someone around Emperor Kangping, who would be suspicious of him? On the contrary, it would be dangerous if he escaped."
Zi'an said: "I have two doubts, but they are just my personal opinions. You may also discuss them."
"You say." Murong Jie narrowed his eyes.
Zi'an nodded, stretched out his hand to press down the mahogany coffee table, and said softly: "The rebellion of the Duke of Zhenguo was instigated by Old Lady Qin. Old Lady Qin said that the Qin family would support him, so the Duke of Zhenguo took people to the palace. But after the Duke of Zhenguo entered the palace, the people of the Qin family did not arrive. Why didn't he get suspicious at that time? Well, even if he got suspicious, it was inevitable at that time. He could only kill the emperor to gain great things, but the emperor actually died by hitting his sword. This sounds like... the plot of the storyteller at the banyan tree."
Zi settled down for a moment, and felt his throat was a little dry, so he drank a sip of water and continued, "Second point, General Long went to ask the old lady of the Qin family for marriage, but the old lady of the Qin family actually agreed to this marriage. Do you think it's strange?"
Murong Jie said lightly: "I also think this is inappropriate." After saying that, he looked at Zi'an with appreciation.
Xiao Tuo thought for a moment, "Maybe she is worried about Qin Zhou's marriage, and she doesn't know that Qin Zhou doesn't like men."
"No, a general lady who sees things so clearly would make such a principled mistake? If the Long family and the Qin family get married, will the emperor feel threatened? She must have thought of this, but she actually instigated General Long to ask for a marriage from the emperor. This is clearly a warning to the emperor. Su Qing, if you were the emperor, what would you do?"
Su Qing thought for a moment and said, "First of all, of course I don't agree with this marriage. The Qin family and the Long family hold military power. If they merge into one, the emperor will be powerless. Secondly, I will slowly find a way to disintegrate the military power in the hands of Qin Zhou and General Long. As an emperor, I have to concentrate the military power in my own hands to be safe. After all, we have reached a hundred years of peace with our Great Zhou, and some of the military generals in the court will be slowly delegated."
"If you can think of it, how could the old lady not have thought of it?" Zi'an asked back.
Su Qing's expression changed. "You mean, the person the old lady really supports is Chu Jing? But why did she instigate the prince of Zhenguo to attack the palace?"
Murong Jie said, "Because, some things can be hidden from the Duke of Zhenguo, but not from Qin Zhou. He died at the hands of the Duke of Zhenguo first, and then the Duke of Zhenguo provoked him to chop the body into pieces. Qin Zhou and Emperor Kangping will not slowly perform an autopsy."
"But, in the end, can't we hide it from the King?"
Zi'an said slowly, "Yes, it was impossible to hide it from the Duke of Zhenguo. They have been brothers for many years and must be very familiar with each other. The Duke of Zhenguo probably only found out after thinking about it carefully. Of course, part of the reason was that they prepared it very hastily."
"Qin Zhou started the rebellion at the last minute, so of course they responded hastily." Murong Jie said.
"But," Su Qing didn't understand, "If it's true, then why did Chu Jing stay in the palace? Could it be that he disguised himself as a eunuch so that he could influence Emperor Kangping's decision? He wouldn't want to kill Emperor Kangping, would he? Even if he killed Emperor Kangping, what would happen? The military power is in Qin Zhou's hands."
"If Qin Zhou dies, who will have the military power?" Murong Jie asked back.
Su Qing pondered for a moment, "If the emperor doesn't have time to take back the military power, then the military power will definitely fall into the hands of the old general or the old lady of the Qin family."
"If General Qin and the old lady are really Chu Jing's men, then who will the country finally return to? Will it not be Chu Jing? By then, not only will the country be returned, but the military power will also be returned."
"Is Chu Jing so sure that the old lady of the Qin family and the old general will always be loyal to him?" Xiao Tuo was really puzzled.
Zi'an said: "The Qin family has never rebelled. For so many years, they have always been the main force of the Chu family dynasty."
"In that case, didn't Qin Zhou get betrayed by her grandmother?" Su Qing was speechless.
"I'm afraid this plan was a spur-of-the-moment one. They knew they couldn't deal with Qin Zhou's rebellion, so they took advantage of him," Zi'an said.
Su Qing frowned, "If Chu Jing succeeds, I'm afraid the two countries will never see the day of peace."
Murong Jie said, "That's right. Moreover, if Chu Jing really turned into an eunuch beside Emperor Kangping, then this eunuch must have followed Emperor Kangping for many years. Queen Wang probably also believed in him. Otherwise, who told Queen Wang about Emperor Kangping's feelings for Qin Zhou? This is clearly to ask Queen Wang to provoke this marriage. If Emperor Kangping is alert, he will find a way to disintegrate Qin Zhou's military power, but if this plan fails, he will attack Qin Zhou. The prince is now in Nanjun, and probably Old Lady Qin has already sent a letter to Prince Luo. By then, with internal and external cooperation, won't the Northern Desert be theirs? All our efforts are in vain."
Xiao Tuo muttered, "Why do I feel like this is all a conspiracy? Could it be that the emperor just wants to take back the military power, so he took a risky move and deliberately killed the people to make Qin Zhou rebel, and then took it back in one fell swoop while they were relaxed?"
"It's too dangerous to do this. I'm afraid this might not be Chu Jing's original intention. He probably just wanted to invade our Great Zhou as soon as possible, so he killed the victims to cover up everything." Murong Jie said.
The more we analyze it, the more frightening it becomes.
Murong Jie pondered for a moment and said to Su Qing, "Qin Zhou and Emperor Kangping don't have many useful advisers around them. Su Qing, you and Lingli should go there and remind them not to ruin the hard-won peace."
Su Qing said: "Okay, I will pack my luggage and go back overnight."
As Su Qing walked out of the door, he saw the soldiers from the posthouse coming in, "Your Majesty, there is a Miss An who wants to see you."
Murong Jie and Zi'an looked at each other. Miss An? Could it be Princess An
"Please ask her to come in quickly." Zi'an said hurriedly.
The person who came was indeed Princess An. She was dressed in coarse cloth and her hair was tied into a neat bun, held in place by a jade hairpin.
There were several people who came with her, all of them were her secret guards.
They were all in a hurry, and it seemed that they had been traveling for days to catch up.
After they were invited in, Princess An asked someone to wait outside the door and said solemnly, "Fortunately you haven't arrived yet. Something has happened."
Everyone was shocked. Just as he finished speaking, Princess An arrived and said something had happened.
Zi'an asked her to sit down first and handed her a cup of tea. "Your lips are very dry. Drink some tea to moisten your throat first."
Princess An took it, said thank you, and drank the tea in one breath.
(End of this chapter)