After Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi were convinced by their cousin, Zhang Tongxiu, they would visit the Liang Estate every time they left the palace.
The Zhang brothers were a rising power in the court, but they had already shown great power. Their close relationship with King Liang immediately attracted the attention of some people. All the officials in the court were trying to find out the reason behind this move, especially the King of Wei, Wu Chengsi.
Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi had been fighting for many years. Both sides had their fair share of victories and defeats, but their overall strength had always been balanced. Now that the Zhang brothers and Wu Sansi were acting so friendly, Wu Chengsi couldn't help but suspect that they had formed some sort of alliance. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find out what kind of insider trading the Zhang brothers and Wu Sansi had.
Lai Junchen was also very concerned about this, but he wasn't as anxious as Wu Chengsi, so he didn't pay too much attention to this matter. However, even though he didn't pay too much attention, he found out something that even Wu Chengsi hadn't heard. "The emperor has decided to appoint an heir!"
The news that Lai Junchen received was that the Empress had decided to make Prince of Liang, Wu Sansi, the Crown Prince. However, this was a matter of great importance, so it was kept a secret and only made preparations in secret. Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi were the Empress's bedmates, so they knew this big secret.
Lai Junchen finally understood. "Wu Sansi will be the future emperor. The Zhang brothers are clearly looking for a way out for themselves by being so close to him."
Lai Junchen could understand why the empress had kept this a secret. After all, the people of the world still had a very high opinion of Li Tang. If the court suddenly announced that the Wu clan would inherit the throne, it might cause a huge political upheaval. In particular, Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi had always been competing fiercely. If Wu Chengsi learned of this, he would also mobilize his forces to oppose it.
Therefore, just like when she had ascended to the throne, the empress needed to first settle all the obstacles and lay out everything. Only then would she announce her decision to replace the crown prince. To ensure that this information was accurate, Lai Junchen even used his connections in the palace.
When he was the Deputy Imperial Censor, Lai Junchen had bribed a few servants in the palace to act as his eyes and ears. Later on, he was demoted to Tongzhou, so he lost contact with these servants. After Lai Junchen returned to the capital, he immediately restored his relationship with these people. The news that Ji Xu had come to the capital to complain about him was passed on to him by these young eunuchs.
Some of these eunuchs were still ordinary eunuchs, and some were already small eunuchs, so they could gather more information. Through these spies in the palace, Lai Junchen quickly confirmed the information he had received. The information was correct. The Emperor was indeed changing the crown prince, and the new candidate was Wu Sansi.
Since the information was correct, Lai Junchen immediately prepared a generous gift and went to the Liang Household to pay his respects. There was nothing wrong with currying favor with the future Son of Heaven. In the end, when Lai Junchen excitedly rushed over to the Liang Household, the door was slammed in his face.
Lai Junchen has always been close to the Prince of Wei, Wu Chengsi, but his relationship with the Prince of Liang, Wu Sansi, is not very harmonious.
Back when Yang Fan was imprisoned, Wu Sansi came to the Censorate with a ceremonial carriage. Lai Junchen hummed along and did not give him much face. Later, in some political turmoil, Lai Junchen and Wu Chengsi also exchanged glances with each other. After Lai Junchen was demoted to Tongzhou, the one who sent the gifts was also Wu Chengsi. From start to finish, he did not establish any contact with Wu Sansi.
Now, Wu Sansi is on good terms with the Zhang brothers. When Wu Sansi heard that Lai Junchen and the Zhang brothers were at odds in the Dragon's Gate, how could he accept him and make the Zhang brothers unhappy?
Lai Junchen hit a snag and dejectedly moved the gifts back home. He then found a group of trusted aides to discuss important matters.
Lai Junchen did not have any trusted aides. These so-called trusted aides were only two: Li Jing in the civil field and Wei Suizhong in the military field. Now that this was a political matter, he naturally had to listen to Li Jing's opinion. In Lai Junchen's view, although Li Jing was only a military supervisor, he was knowledgeable and had worked for the Luoyang government for many years. His eyes were still very sharp.
There was no great general in Sichuan, so Lai Junchen could only seek help from this pair of stinky cobblers.
After listening to Lai Junchen's explanation, Wei Suizhong carefully said, "King Liang is not willing to receive you. One reason is because the magistrate was too close to King Wei in the past, which made him unhappy. The other reason is because of the two Zhang brothers. In my opinion, the magistrate might as well send a generous gift to the two Zhang brothers first to appease their anger, then pay a visit to King Liang. If the first time doesn't work, you can go again. You will definitely … be able to open the door. "
Lai Junchen was not at the point where he had no other way out. He was very unwilling to be submissive like this. He rolled his eyes at Wei Suizhong and turned back to Li Jing. In Lai Junchen's opinion, Wei Suizhong could be beaten or scolded. Rolling his eyes at him was already a very light reprimand. However, Wei Suizhong was already certain that Lai Junchen would not spare him. A mere eye roll was enough to make him feel a little uneasy.
Li Jing stroked his beard and pretended to be deep in thought. After a while, he slowly said, "There is no need for the magistrate to pay any attention to the Zhang brothers!"
Lai Junchen hurriedly asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Jing smiled and said, "The Zhang brothers are also trying to curry favor with King Liang in advance. Why should the magistrate curry favor with them? To put it bluntly, once King Liang ascends to the throne, someone like the magistrate will be of great use to the new emperor. But what use will the Zhang brothers be then? Is the new emperor going to leave two male concubines in the palace to be the laughingstock of the world? "
Lai Junchen nodded repeatedly. "That makes sense! That makes sense! But King Liang is not willing to accept me. What should I do? "
Li Jing said, "King Liang is not willing to accept the magistrate for his own reasons, but also because of the Zhang brothers. As for the second Zhang brother, it is because King Liang has not yet ascended to the throne, and he still needs the Zhang brothers to speak on his behalf in front of the emperor. That is why King Liang does not want to offend them because of you. As for his own reason, it is because the magistrate has been too far away from him in the past. "
Lai Junchen anxiously said, "That's right! I also understand this logic. The problem is, what should we do now? "
Li Jing's eyes turned and he smiled slyly. "If the magistrate makes a great contribution to King Liang, he will gladly accept you and place you in an important position."
Lai Junchen's expression tightened. He asked hurriedly, "How can I make a great contribution to King Liang?"
Li Jing asked in return, "Who is King Liang most afraid of? The empress has already made a decision about the crown prince, but has kept it a secret. Who is it for? "
Lai Junchen lowered his head and thought for a moment. He slowly said, "King Wei?"
Li Jing said, "Correct!"
Lai Junchen's eyes wavered. "What do you mean?"
Li Jing said, "During the era of Emperor Wu of Han, there was a concubine called Gou Gezi."
Wei Suizhong was an ignorant and incompetent person. When he heard Li Jing's story, he could not help but be surprised.
Lai Junchen had never heard of this person before. He did not know why Li Jing was telling this story, but he knew that it must be related to the answer he wanted. He said, "Continue!"
Li Jing said, "In the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, someone secretly reported that someone in the palace had cursed the Emperor with witchcraft. Empress Wei Zifu, Crown Prince Liu Ju, and the others died because they were framed. Emperor Wu intended to make Lady Gou Gezi's son, Liu Fuling, the crown prince, but he was already old. He was worried that Lady Gou Gezi would interfere with court politics after his death. So before making Liu Fuling the crown prince, he ordered Lady Gou Gezi to die! "
Lai Junchen thought for a moment and said, "I understand what you mean. You are saying that since the emperor is determined to make King Liang the crown prince, he will remove all obstacles for him in advance to ensure the smooth succession of the throne?"
Li Jing hurriedly said, "I do not dare to speak carelessly about the emperor's plans. However, the current crown prince is but a bird in a cage. The prince of Fang Province can be killed with a single edict and two lines of words. King Liang's only enemy is King Wei!"
Lai Junchen frowned. "They are both nephews of the emperor. Will the emperor kill one nephew just to ensure the succession of the throne?"
Li Jing smiled sinisterly and said, "The fathers of the emperor's nephews were both killed by the emperor. Even these two nephews were exiled to the desolate border by the emperor and changed their surname to Wei. The emperor values the Wu clansmen because the Wu clansmen support her the most. The reason why she wants to pass the throne to the Wu clansmen is because only the Wu clansmen will allow the Zhou Dynasty she created to continue. If we are talking about closeness, the emperor's closeness to these two nephews is far less than Emperor Wu's closeness to Lady Gou Gezi! "
Lai Junchen slightly narrowed his eyes.
Li Jing did not miss the opportunity to add, "If you can make such a great contribution, not only will King Liang be grateful to the prefectural magistrate, but even the emperor will be overjoyed that the prefectural magistrate has solved a big problem for her!"
Lai Junchen slowly paced around the room while Wei Suizhong, who was at the side, listened with trepidation. He had followed Lai Junchen by his side and saw with his own eyes the people Lai Junchen had dealt with. It wasn't that there wasn't someone of Wei Wang's level. Lai Junchen had killed prime ministers and generals, princes and dukes, but those princes were after all from the Li Clan.
Lai Junchen clasped his hands behind his back and only took a step forward after a long time. He paced around the room for a full hour before he slowly stood up and ordered in a deep voice, "We will discuss this matter later. Keep your mouths shut. Do not reveal a single word to anyone! "
Wei Suizhong's heart trembled. Based on his years of experience following Lai Junchen, he knew that Lai Junchen was determined to become the murderous Emperor Wu of Han …
Not telling anyone usually meant that you could only tell someone who was absolutely close to you. Wei Suizhong now told Jiuniang everything that was on his mind so that he could sleep soundly. Therefore, when he and Jiuniang were hugging each other, Wei Suizhong sighed and whispered Lai Junchen's plan to his woman.
Su Jiuniang immediately sat up after hearing it. Her naked body was not conscious at all. She only said to Wei Suizhong in a pleasant surprise, "Langjun, your chance is here!"
Wei Suizhong said weakly, "What chance? I think he is crazy. He really has no one to bite. Even the people around the emperor have started to attack. If I am not careful, I will be implicated before he kills me …"
Before she could finish her sentence, Wei Suizhong suddenly sat up with his eyes wide open. "Jiuniang, what do you mean?"
Su Jiuniang nodded vigorously, "Yes! Isn't this a good chance for you to get rid of Lai Junchen's control? "
Wei Suizhong looked at her in surprise at first, but gradually, his eyes lit up …
…
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