As for Prince An's Mansion, the reason why Pei Che's people didn't notice any unusual movements was because their people in the dark never entered or left the mansion in public. When the previous emperor was still alive, there was a secret passage under Prince An's Mansion.
This secret passage leads to another street adjacent to Prince An's Mansion. There is a courtyard on that street, which is where a wealthy businessman hides his mistress. Even he himself did not know that the side yard in this courtyard, which was sealed off because of the death of a concubine and was haunted, would become a secret passage for others to enter and exit.
The first thing Prince An did after returning home that day was to write a letter and ask someone to rush to Chaoyang to deliver the letter to Cheng Kaihua, asking him to handle the matter properly.
In the past few days, Prince An has been unable to sleep or eat well. He can't muster the energy to do anything. His temper has also become very bad, and he gets angry easily. People in the palace are trembling with fear, and they are always on guard when doing things, for fear that one mistake will anger the prince.
His concerns are justified.
Because when Emperor Liang Ping's troops were on the road, they would change horses every time they arrived at a post station, so their daily travel speed was much faster than that of Prince An's troops who dared not make a sound.
When they were about to reach Chaoyang, in order not to alert the enemy, they abandoned their horses and crossed the mountains to Chaoyang City for investigation. This investigation actually revealed some clues.
Cheng Kaihua, who was sent back to his hometown by the emperor, had a huge influence in the city, and even the government had to give him some respect. Because the "heroes" in the eighteen villages in the mountains outside Chaoyang City all admired Cheng Kaihua's character. Anyone who was unfavorable to him would surely die after a while.
Guan Lianyun also took people to investigate the details of these bandits. They found that the weapons used by these people were very sophisticated, not inferior to those in the military camp, and even the training methods were somewhat like those taught by people from the military camp. Their words and deeds did not seem like a group of guerrillas, but more like specially trained soldiers.
This discovery shocked them greatly. There were actually such people in Daliang's territory. They clearly wanted to rebel! He gave the half of the military token that the emperor had personally handed to him before he left to his confidant. He asked him to take the military token and quickly go to the gathering place of Qianjiang Camp, which was more than 100 miles away from Chaoyang, to mobilize troops.
He and other brothers stayed near Cheng Kaihua and secretly searched for clues.
When the troops sent by King An entered Chaoyang City, they were the first to know. At the same time, the man who was dispatching troops also stationed his troops thirty miles outside the city.
At Guan Lianyun's command, his subordinates rushed towards Prince An's troops and intercepted Prince An's token and a handwritten letter on the spot.
After getting the letter, they tied up Prince An's men together, and then found a stranger to bring the token and the handwritten letter into Cheng Kaihua's mansion.
Cheng Kaihua was fooled, and when he heard that someone was looking for the whereabouts of the ironware, he was terrified. He immediately found the evidence in the mansion and prepared to destroy it.
Seeing this, the boy who was disguised as Prince An's men smashed the cup to the ground, sending a signal. Then, a group of imperial guards descended from the sky, surrounded the people in Cheng Kaihua's mansion, and started fighting.
These people were no match for the highly skilled imperial guards and were captured on the spot.
Cheng Kaihua knew he was being tricked, and thought that people outside the city would rush in to rescue him once they got the news. But he didn't know that the soldiers on the mountain who were disguised as bandits were also beaten by the regular army of Qianjiang Camp and fled in all directions.
The Chaoyang issue is a foregone conclusion.
One day, Prince An, who was far away in Liangjing, felt his heart skip a beat and a sense of panic surged into his heart. When he comforted himself that he was just worrying too much, the eunuch sent by Emperor Ping of Liang to announce the decree was already waiting outside the door.
When the news of Prince An broke out, the whole city was shocked. No one expected that Prince An, who had not made any unusual moves for so many years, would actually plan a big event in private.
The continuous investigation of major cases such as secretly purchasing weapons, winning over bandits, and bribing court officials made the people of Liangjing shake their heads.
As a prisoner, why do you do all these things instead of staying still? Now that you have been arrested, there is no other ancestral precept that can forgive such a stubborn person.
In addition, there is another case that makes people amazed. That is the murder of Pei Shijie and his wife, the son of the Duke of Zhongguo, ten years ago.
When the two of them were killed, the people of Liangjing felt sorry for them. No one thought that they would be killed in an accident. They thought that it was probably God's jealousy of talents. However, officials generally believed that it was the current emperor, the former third prince, who did it.
When the truth was revealed, they realized that Pei Shijie and his wife were murdered by his best friend. Although he did not intend to kill anyone, he was the one who caused the final result.
At the same time, the people also learned that the reason why Prince An was arrested was because Pei Shijie's son, now Pei Shizi, found out about it when he was investigating the case of his parents falling off the cliff. It makes people sigh: It is really the justice of heaven and the retribution will come.
If it weren't for the sins committed back then, how could there be the bad consequences today
When Prince An was in prison, Pei Che went to see him once.
Prince An, who had argued with him in the hall before, is now a real prisoner.
Prince An raised his head woodenly and looked at Pei Che with lifeless eyes: "Regret? What do I have to regret?"
He became excited: "If he hadn't betrayed me, how could I have come to this point today! He is obviously capable of helping me ascend to the throne, but he wanted to stay out of it. How can I let him leave like this!"
"And you. When the big mistake had already been made, I once thought of wiping them out completely, but because you were still young, I spared your life. If I had known that you would lead to failure, I should have let you go to hell to accompany them!"
"What I regret most is that I was too soft-hearted!"
Pei Che looked at him quietly. As expected, it was impossible to expect such a wicked person to repent.
He ignored the shouting of the person in front of him and turned to walk out. The sun was shining brightly outside, completely different from the gloomy and cold inside.
It is winter again. The earth-shaking case that happened in the court a few months ago has gradually been forgotten by people in the long river of time. The scene of blood flowing like a river outside the Meridian Gate has also disappeared with the washing away of basins of water.
The most talked about thing on the streets recently is the annual Puling Temple Buddhist meeting. It is said that the emperor will go there in person this year.
Emperor Liang Ping didn't know if it was because of the heavy killing this year, but he always felt uneasy when he went to bed at night. It happened that the Buddhist meeting was about to start, so he went to the temple to stay for a few days and chat with the abbot. He thought the situation would be much better.
As soon as the news came out, the number of people going to Puling Temple reached a record high. No matter they were high-ranking officials or common people, they all wanted to join in the fun.
On the 17th day of the winter month, the carriages of each family stopped at the foot of the mountain of Puling Temple and went up the mountain one by one. The common people were stopped far away by the imperial guards and looked inside excitedly.
When Jiang Miao got off the carriage, he looked back and immediately smiled.
"I still remember that a few years ago, I was also in that group of people. When I heard that the fourth young master of Liang Jing got off the carriage, I wanted to squeeze over to take a look."
Pei Che also laughed: "At that time, I was full of impatience and didn't notice that you were involved."
"Even if you noticed, you wouldn't recognize me. I'm just a small vendor selling buns, how could I catch the eyes of a young master from one of your noble families?" Jiang Miao said. Now that he thought about it, fate was really amazing. They were two people who had nothing in common, but were tied together by a red thread.
Pei Che was about to defend himself. He had clearly been impressed by Jiang Miao the first time he saw him. A peddler, yet he was so articulate. He should not be able to read or write, but his words were convincing.
"Hey, do you know what I was thinking when I was setting up the stall here?" Jiang Miao didn't notice his expression and thought of another thing.
"What are you thinking about?" Pei Che followed up his question.
"I thought at the time that next time I come here, I can't just set up a stall to sell things. I have finally come here, so I have to go to the mountains to take a look at the scenery that you rich people see and enjoy it too..."
"Now that your wish has come true, how do you feel?"
“This road up the mountain is too long…”
"Shall I carry you up there?"
"Don't embarrass yourself, there are so many people here..."
"Then stretch out your hand and I'll lead you up. My sleeves are wide so they can't see..."
"OK… "
The hand I stretched out was firmly held in the palm of another hand. The winter sun shone through the branches, warming my body, and then my heart...
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End of the article—
(End of this chapter)