In Chang 'an, the corner door of a mansion that used to belong to the Zheng family was open. Zheng Yu stood at the door with a few people. This mansion was now owned by the Liu family. In fact, it was still the Zheng family's property. However, after confirming that the Emperor would move the capital to Chang 'an, the main figures of the aristocratic families who were active in Chang' an all year round had left. Some of the properties had also been disposed of.
Wu Zetian was a vengeful person. They had obstructed and made things difficult for Wu Zetian when she was the Empress, the Emperor, and the implementation of the new policies. Wu Zetian was not such a forgetful person. Wu Zetian, who had always valued centralization of power, would not allow these aristocratic families to share her power.
Therefore, they were thorns in the Empress's eyes, both publicly and privately. Now that the Empress was moving the capital to Chang 'an, it would not be easy to live under the Empress's watch. Therefore, they had long avoided her.
A light carriage drove straight in and stopped beside a gorgeous flowering shrub. The butterflies and bees were not frightened and were still lingering in the flowers, just like Zheng Yu's mood at the moment. The door opened and Shen Mu, dressed in a light robe, slowly walked out. Zheng Yu forced a smile and greeted him.
"Brother Shen!"
"Brother Zheng!"
Shen Mu gave him a perfunctory cupped fist salute. Zheng Yu was unhappy in his heart, but it was not good for him to show it. He forced himself to maintain the smile on his face and said, "Brother Shen has worked hard. I have prepared everything and was just waiting for Brother Shen to come and take over. I have an emergency at home and need to rush back to deal with it. I can only leave Chang 'an to Brother Shen. "
"No problem! No problem! "
Shen Mu said lazily and rudely, "This mess will not be easy to clean up. Yang Fan's character was like a needle in silk. Using force would only produce the opposite of the desired result. This time, Yang Fan was attacked for no reason. The elders should have comforted him and helped him find the murderer and give him justice.
In the end, the aristocratic families only cared about their own interests and asked him to put the overall situation first. This inevitably made him disappointed. The matter has been messed up. Now that I am here, I can only do my best and leave the rest to fate. "
Zheng Yu said, "Brother Shen, I have already investigated this matter. The assassin's background is unknown. It was not some aristocratic family that took the initiative to attack..."
Shen Mu interrupted him and said, "You should explain this matter to Yang Fan. I don't care. However, I'm afraid it's useless to tell him about this. Can't you see it? The Empress is intentionally making use of this as a pretext to eliminate all the unstable and unreliable factors in the pass in preparation for her relocation of the capital! "
As Shen Mu spoke, he had already stepped into the hall. Zheng Yu followed closely behind and said nervously, "I naturally understand, but … is the situation really that serious?"
Shen Mu slowly sat down behind the table and said, "From the moment the emperor decided to move the capital, these things were already destined. Otherwise, why would the elders leave Chang 'an? Actually, they had already expected this. However … the Emperor's original method should have been very gentle. He did not necessarily have to use dismissal or slaughter to achieve his goal. It's a pity that the imperial envoy was assassinated. The Emperor's methods will certainly be a storm of thunder. "
This was originally the worst-case scenario that the aristocratic families were worried about, but now it seemed inevitable.
Zheng Yu secretly sighed and slowly took out a name list from his sleeve. If the situation was not so serious, he would not have taken out this name list no matter what.
Zheng Yu gently stroked the name list and cautiously pushed it in front of Shen Mu. He said, "Then, what Brother Shen needs to do is to do your best to ensure the safety of our people. The people on this name list must be protected. It's best if they can still stay in the pass. If not, it's okay to move them. If not, it's okay to demote them. Just don't lose your position or even … "
Shen Mu lowered his eyes and a hidden glint flashed in his eyes. Suppressing his excitement, he slowly took the name list and pretended to be indifferent as he opened it. There was a row of names written on it with their official titles at the back.
This was the official power that the aristocratic families had painstakingly cultivated and supported with their deep power, thousands of years of heritage, and their status as leaders of the scholarly community. The people on this name list were not all of the official power that the aristocratic families controlled, but they made up at least seventy percent.
Even with Shen Mu's composure, he could not help but be extremely excited when he received this name list. After all the trouble and racking his brains, he had finally obtained their trump card!
Shen Mu nodded and said, "I will do my best and not disappoint the elders!"
Zheng Yu placed his hands on his knees and nodded. "If so, I will leave everything to Brother Shen."
Shen Mu carefully folded the name list and slowly stuffed it into his sleeve.
Zheng Yu was still worried and worriedly asked, "Does Brother Shen have a foolproof plan?"
The corner of Shen Mu's mouth curled up and he said with some mockery, "When has there ever been a foolproof plan in this world?"
Zheng Yu appeared slightly embarrassed and said, "Then … how confident is Brother Shen?"
Shen Mu coldly said, "I can do my best to persuade Yang Fan. What he is worried about is not that he was assassinated, but that your reactions are too disappointing. I understand this feeling very well because I was once treated the same way. Ask yourselves, do you really think of him as the sect leader of Xian Clan? Do you really have the respect he deserves? Did you really give him power? Haha, you did not give him anything that Lu Binmi once had. You just think that using him is already a great favor and reward, so you've been looking down on him with a high and mighty attitude. "
Zheng Yu said uneasily, "We have already realized this point. As long as we can safely survive this crisis, we will definitely compensate him!"
Shen Mu said solemnly, "It's too late! The Imperial Court has already interfered, and the Emperor is furious. This matter is not up to us to decide. So I can only do my best. As for the result, it is up to the heavens! "
… …
Dugu Yu got off the carriage when he reached Long Qing Lake and slowly walked to the island in the middle of the lake. There were people on the island who quickly went in to report his arrival. Very quickly, he saw Yang Fan sitting with a smile on a patch of grass. Dugu Yu immediately cupped his fists and said, "Brother Yang, Little Brother was fortunate enough to not fail in his mission. Among the assassins who tried to assassinate Brother Yang on Ba, other than two who resisted stubbornly and died, the other four were all captured by me."
Dugu Yu waved his hand and someone behind him carried four people who were tied up tightly and barely breathing. It was Yan Suzhuan, Luo Jiahao, and the other two.
Yang Fan turned his head and said, "Xiaoting, take care of these people!"
Gu Zhuting nodded gracefully and waved her hand at the people in green robes before leading them out of the forest.
Yang Fan finally cupped his hands to Dugu Yu and said with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Dugu."
Dugu Yu said emotionally, "I do not deserve Brother Yang's thanks. It was Dugu Yu's fault that such a thing happened in Chang 'an. Now that I can capture them and hand them over to Brother Yang to deal with, I feel a little better! "
Dugu Yu said as he walked forward and naturally stood at Gu Zhuting's position. He pushed Yang Fan's wheelchair and slowly walked forward on the soft grass.
Yang Fan knew that Dugu Yu had mobilized a lot of manpower and material resources to capture the culprits. It was a disguised apology for Dugu Yu's intention to retreat when he was dying. Yang Fan did not say anything and only smiled slightly as he let Dugu Yu push the wheelchair.
Dugu Yu pushed the wheelchair and said slowly, "I heard that Miss Gongsun was asked to come here by someone and was accompanied by people from the aristocratic families in Shandong. But this lady is really not a good mediator. Now that both sides have completely fallen out, I'm afraid they will soon come to their senses. "
Yang Fan said, "As for Shen Mu's side, I'm sure he will pour another pot of bewitching wine on them and make them confused for a while. Even if Shen Mu did not make a move, it would be too late for them to come to their senses now. "
Dugu Yu frowned and said, "But since Brother Yang was assassinated, the imperial court has been greatly enraged. This has prompted our entire plan to speed up. Many of our original arrangements were very thorough, but now they are all useless. With the current situation, I'm afraid we will have to have a showdown with them immediately. What does Brother Yang plan to do?"
"Why should I do it?"
Yang Fan raised his eyebrows and casually plucked a wild flower along the way. He put it under his nose and sniffed it. He said leisurely, "Zhang Changzong is coming to replace Wu Yizong. Do you know about this?"
Dugu Yu nodded slightly. He then remembered that Yang Fan's back was facing him and he could not see his movements. He said, "I know. Zhang Changzong should be arriving in Chang 'an today."
Gu Zhuting walked to the side of the Longqing Pond and stood still with her hands behind her back. She calmly looked at the ripples on the clear water. She slightly raised her eyebrows and said in a low voice, "Sink the lake!"
Although Yan Suchuan, Luo Jiahao, and the others were barely breathing, they were still conscious. They had thought that after being caught, they would definitely be questioned about the mastermind behind the scenes. They were still thinking about how to "stutter and stutter" to make the victims feel that they had many secrets and were still useful. Who would have thought that they would be brought to the lake directly without saying a word?
As they were wondering, the young lady's words almost scared them out of their wits. "Sink the lake! This beautiful young lady didn't even ask a word and directly wanted to sink us into the lake! "
Yan Suchuan, Luo Jiahao, and the others immediately struggled desperately. In order to use the tip of their tongues to push the rags out of their mouths, their faces were swollen and purple. Unfortunately, all their struggles were to no avail. They were tied up so tightly that they could not struggle at all.
After receiving Gu Zhuting's order, those indifferent men in cyan robes immediately picked up a few stones from the ground, opened their chests, and violently stuffed them in. Then they grabbed the ropes that tied their hands upside down, lifted them horizontally, and threw them into the lake.
"Bang!"
Luo Jiahao smashed into the water like a crooked shrimp, splashing waves on the surface of the lake. He opened his eyes wide in horror and sank to the bottom of the lake in despair.
"Bang! Bang! "
Yan Suchuan and the other two were not afraid for long. Then they were thrown into the lake. The green lake quickly drowned their frightened eyes. Their hair rippled on the surface of the water like water plants, and then completely disappeared, leaving only a string of bubbles.
The surface of the water was soon restored to calmness. A gust of wind came, and the lake was still undulating, as if nothing had happened. And Miss Gu had already disappeared from the lakeside. Only those indifferent men in cyan robes were still standing there.
Yang Fan gently shook the wildflowers in his hand. Looking at Miss Gu, he smiled at Dugu Yu and said, "Yes, Zhang Changzong arrived today. He is really impatient. He was a man who never tired of showing off, and I never liked to go into battle unless I had to. In that case, why not let him be the villain? "
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
