Lu Ying has been staying in Beiguan City for these years and has never returned to the capital, but he has his own channel of news. From these years of observation, he has come to the conclusion that although the emperor seems to be addicted to drinking and sex, his physical condition is close to the day of his death. It is still far away, and from various signs, it can be guessed that he did not appoint a crown prince because he could not balance the two factions in the court. Forces are always in balance.
To put it bluntly, if he does not make a decision on the issue of Li Chu, the forces on both sides must follow his command and act for a day, lest he fall to the other side. At the same time, because the two forces kept pinching each other, each suffered losses from time to time. Today, the two parties are unknowingly not as strong as when the emperor ascended the throne, but the neutral forces are gradually rising.
The neutral force is headed by Bai Changshan, the second assistant of the cabinet. He has profound qualifications. Although he was born as the number one scholar, he holds the position of a cabinet scholar. The only two sons also served in the army. Unfortunately, a few years ago, because of the treacherous officials collaborating with the enemy, they were ambushed by the enemy army and sacrificed their lives for the country. When they died, they were both under thirty. But Bai Changshan's branch is also unique because of this.
Bai Changshan has a very high reputation in the circle of civil servants and generals. From the first emperor to the current emperor, they also trust him very much. However, after experiencing the pain of bereavement, he began to hide his strength and bide his time, lost the vigor of the past, rarely took the initiative to intervene in major affairs of the court, and stood by, neither accepting the Mao family's solicitation nor paying attention to the Xia family's selling.
If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have the strong family background of Mao and Xia, his power today would probably still be above these two. It is also because he is already alone, except for Gao Tang, his wife and children have passed away one after another, and the rest of his relatives are only family relatives, and the forces on both sides can't find a place to start to win him over.
Slowly, a large number of neutral factions gathered around him. Most of these people were officials who were not sure of the emperor's will and did not dare to rashly participate in the struggle between the two factions. , as the battle between the two factions became more intense, the strength of the neutral faction, Bai Changshan, gradually grew, becoming the third force after the Mao family and the Xia family in the DPRK.
On the surface, the force represented by Bai Changshan was only loyal to the emperor. They would be loyal to the prince who the emperor said he wanted to be the prince. So at present, the Mao family and Xia family dare not offend Bai Changshan easily, and only wait for the prince they support to ascend the throne in the future to accept his influence.
Lu Ying once thought that if the emperor and Bai Changshan join forces, it is absolutely possible to suppress either the Xia family or the Mao family. The point is, after hitting one of them, the vitality of the own family will inevitably be severely damaged, and the rest will benefit at that time. family.
And by the same token, if the Xia family and the Mao family fight to the death, and when one family falls, the emperor instructs Bai Changshan to take action against the other family, then the power of the Mao family and the Xia family can be completely wiped out, and the imperial power can be regained. Will no longer be dominated by these two.
At that time, the emperor relied on the Mao family and the Xia family to join forces to defeat several other princes and then push them to the dragon chair. These two families took the opportunity to seize power and gradually lifted the emperor. In the fight for the crown prince, I am afraid that the imperial court has already become the world of these two families.
From this point of view, the first prince and the second prince are most likely just pawns in the hands of the emperor, and the position of the prince is a bait hanging in front of the two factions. The emperor will close the net when the two of them are beaten to death. time!
If the emperor had never planned for one of these two sons to inherit the throne, which one would he prefer
Lu Ying recalled the conversation with the emperor before, he mentioned Yang Heng several times, could it be really him? Bai Fuling also once told him that Bai Pingzi said that Yang Heng was the prime minister of the king, and the combination of the two, he was almost certain that Yang Heng was the prince candidate in the emperor's mind.
I have to say that the emperor concealed it really well. Yang Heng, like the other princes, has always existed like a shadow. When Qi Guo mentions the position of prince, he only thinks of the eldest prince and the second prince, the sixth prince... Nineteen people who often talk about him are famous ladies and courtesans in Beijing.
I'm afraid the first prince and the second prince will never understand until they die. It turns out that from the very beginning, they have no hope at all, just because their mother clan is too powerful, and the emperor is absolutely unwilling to sit back and watch the Yang family become Mao. Or someone surnamed Xia.
The more Lu Ying thought about it, the more likely it was. When he returned to Beijing at this time, he ran right into the hands of the emperor. The emperor has transferred his subordinates to serve in the Imperial Forest Army through various channels over the years. I am afraid that he has been preparing for this day, and he does not know where the emperor is. The confidence he came from, he was sure that he would not fall to the two princes.
But since the emperor has ordered him to take over the Imperial Forest Army in the West Camp, it means that the time for the emperor to launch it will not be too far away...
Thinking that Bai Fuling and her adoptive father and adoptive mother were both in Beijing at this time, Lu Ying suddenly felt a headache, and hoped that the launch time in the emperor's mind was after they left Beijing.
But just now the emperor mentioned Bai Fuling at the end, was it a lure or a warning? Lu Ying felt that it was necessary for her to meet with the three members of the Bai family beforehand, but it seemed that the soonest the emperor would announce his entry into Beijing would be.
In the early morning of the next day, the palace sent a commander of the Imperial Forest Army to take Lu Ying to the West Day Camp. This commander was called Puhuang, and he had known Lu Ying for many years. It was a joy when they met. Lu Ying simply stated that she had to report to her adoptive father's family that she was safe, lest they worry about it. Pu Huang grinned and said, "The emperor said that Princess Antai is a family friend with Duke Zhong's mansion, and he will personally bring the news for you."
The emperor even thought of this, Lu Ying could only smile wryly.
Pu Huang suddenly thought of something, couldn't help but patted Lu Ying on the shoulder and said, "Brother, your adoptive father's family is very familiar with Duke Zhong's mansion? Have you ever met Miss Sun from the Duke's mansion? Tsk tsk, I heard she is beautiful. You have to be like a fairy, there is no lady in the whole capital who can compare to her..."
Knowing that he was talking about Bai Fuling, Lu Ying changed the topic and said, "I just arrived in the capital yesterday, so I don't know what's going on in Xidaying now?"
He said this intentionally to mislead Puhuang, and sure enough, Puhuang was very disappointed. He only arrived yesterday, so he didn't have the chance to go to the Duke's mansion to meet the most beautiful woman in the capital. But since Lu Ying asked something serious, he didn't dare Neglect, take care to explain the current situation of the Imperial Forest Army one by one.
Bai Fuling got up early in the morning, and heard that there was no news from Lu Ying, her heart fluttered like fifteen buckets, and the Bai couple also felt very uneasy. meeting.
When their family arrived in the capital, they originally wanted Bai Fuling to pay a visit to Princess Antai. It happened that she was leaving the capital on business, so they only left a message to invite them to the mansion after returning to Beijing. Unexpectedly, she came back today. Catch up with this time.
Bai Fuling said irritably, "I'm not in the mood to entertain people, can I go another day?"
Mu Peilan's heart moved, and she persuaded: "Yunmei, she might have news about Lu Ying. Even if she doesn't have news for a while, you can ask her to inquire on her behalf. She can enter and leave the palace freely, and she is the sister of the emperor's mother. Lu Ying wants to If there is anything, she can help."
Yunmei is Princess Antai's boudoir name, she and Mu Peilan are close friends in boudoir, and their relationship is unusual, so they call each other boudoir names regardless of their identities.
Bai Fuling thought about it, so she asked her mother to go with her. Mu Peilan was also very moved when she thought of the handkerchief that she hadn't seen for many years, and after she was destroyed that day, Princess Antai had already seen her, so it was nothing. But taboo, was finally persuaded to go out with her.
Princess Antai's mansion is very close to the imperial palace, starting from Duke Zhong's mansion by horse-drawn carriage, it's only a meal. The Princess Mansion originally had very strict rules, but Princess Antai knew Mu Peilan's situation well, so she ordered the people below that the carriage from the Duke's Mansion would go straight into the Princess Mansion, and someone would pick it up in the backyard to meet you, and the idlers would be sent back together. .
The two mother and daughter were taken to a flower hall. After the maid served tea, they all retreated. Princess Antai turned out from behind the bead curtain when she saw that everyone had left, and rushed to Mu Peilan in a few steps. He held her with one hand in front of him and said, "Sister Peilan, let me see you! I thought you would never come back after you left..."
Bai Fuling looked at her from the side, and felt that the princess in front of her was younger than she imagined, with a heroic look in her eyes that was completely different from that of ordinary women. She was born with a handsome and neutral face, and she seemed to be only 30 years old. less than age. If he were dressed in men's clothing, he would look like a handsome young man full of heroism.
Mu Peilan was also very excited when she saw her, the two women got together and talked about their old relationship for a while, Princess Antai stretched out her hand and pulled Bai Fuling to her side to look at it carefully for a while, and thoughtfully said: "This daughter was born at least as close as you were back then. Very similar, hey! I once said that I couldn’t imagine what a woman more beautiful than you would look like, but today I don’t have to think about it, I really saw it. No wonder people outside said that Ms. A beauty."
Bai Fuling returned her shy smile habitually, not expecting Princess Antai to frown, turned her head to Mu Peilan and said unceremoniously: "How did you teach your daughter to act like those ladies in Beijing?"
Mu Peilan reached out her hand to touch Bai Fuling's long hair, and said with a smile, "It's my fault, boy, the princess is not an outsider, so there is no need to pretend in front of her... Yunmei, just don't let her scare you. The little overlord of my family."
Bai Fuling muttered embarrassingly, "I should have said it earlier."
"So what if we said it earlier?" Princess Antai joked with a smile.
Bai Fuling raised her eyebrows and said, "The niece praises Auntie for her vision!"
Princess Antai couldn't help laughing, she patted her on the shoulder and said, "Sure enough, she is my sister Peilan's good daughter. I am tired of seeing the pretentious behavior of those young ladies in Beijing."
Bai Fuling sighed: "There are too many dignitaries in the capital, and it's not easy to do whatever you want!" This is her sincere words, and if you want to play with your personality, it also depends on your strength.