"You!" Li Qitian was choked by Pang Xiao's words. Although these reasons were obvious, and he understood them in his heart. But when Pang Xiao said it like this, it still made him seem unreasonable.
Li Qitian felt that his dignity as an emperor had been violated. He strode forward angrily, grabbed Pang Xiao's collar, leaned close to his ear, and questioned harshly:
"Pang Xiao! Are you trying to rebel?! "
Pang Xiao calmly looked straight at Li Qitian and said in a deep voice: "If I was annoyed, I wouldn't have fallen to the point where I have to take the blame for someone else's kidnapping."
"What do you mean?!"
Li Qitian glared at him. Pang Xiao was clearly telling him that if he had the intention to rebel, Li Qitian wouldn't even have the chance to sit on the throne now!
These were indeed disgraceful words. But what was even more abominable was that these words were the truth. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that. When Pang Xiao said these words, all the servants in the room and the two old ministers heard it clearly.
Pang Xiao was slapping him in the face!
Li Qitian was so angry that his face turned red. His hand that grabbed Pang Xiao's collar couldn't help but tremble. For a long time, he couldn't say a word.
Pang Xiao said sadly: "Big brother, you and I are sworn brothers. Don't you know what I'm thinking? I accepted the Qin Clan without caring about the hatred of my father's murder because I love her. If I didn't really love her, how could I let the enemy's daughter marry into my family and take the enemy as my father-in-law?
"These are all in the past. I don't want to care about it anymore. I've been with big brother for so many years. Now that I finally have a stable life, I also want to live a stable life. But who would have thought that just after we got married, the Qin Clan was taken away? Now that Si Qin, that bastard, is inexplicably saying that the Qin Clan is the murderer of A Nari!
"What's with his mouth and white teeth? Is everything he says the truth? I don't believe it! I don't accept it! "
Pang Xiao looked like a helpless child who had been bullied. He sat down weakly on the ground, his eyes red, as if he was about to cry.
Li Qitian was stunned by his behavior.
He was usually a domineering and cold person who killed countless enemies on the battlefield. Everyone called him "evil spirit". But now, he looked like a helpless child. Such a strong contrast made Li Qitian not know what to do for a while. It seemed that if he continued to blame Pang Xiao, it would seem that he, as a monarch, was too ruthless.
At this time, Pang Xiao's weakness stunned Li Guanwen and the others who were kneeling on the ground. They couldn't help but sigh that even heroes had a weakness for the charms of beautiful women. The Prince Zhongshun was a domineering figure, but now he had a weak heroic spirit.
Qin Huaiyuan glanced at his aggrieved son-in-law from the corner of his eye, and then looked at Li Qitian. He couldn't help laughing in his heart, but he didn't show any clues on his face.
Pang Xiao had always been like this. Sometimes, he would make a scene, swear in front of Li Qitian, and stubbornly resist the imperial edict. However, when he provoked Li Qitian so much that he wanted to kill him, he could still show his weakest side at the right time, making people sympathize with him. Li Qitian couldn't punish him heavily for the sake of his reputation.
Only by having such a balance between tension and relaxation could he maximize his own benefits.
Qin Huaiyuan kowtowed at the right time and said sincerely, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Prince Zhongshun was too worried these days. He was too angry and spoke a little impulsively. Your Majesty, for the sake of his infatuation, please don't care about his childish temper. "
Li Qitian gnashed his teeth.
Childish temper? He was already in his twenties. Among the common people, a man of this age would already be the father of a few children. How could he have the nerve to say that he was childish?
However, if he were to argue with Pang Xiao now, wouldn't he be the one arguing with a child? In the hearts of the ministers, they would definitely think that he wasn't a mature person.
Moreover, after losing his temper, Li Qitian had calmed down.
He couldn't hold Pang Xiao accountable at this time. After all, he was a wise ruler, not a fatuous one. He couldn't disregard his reputation. Moreover, Tatan's current behavior was very obvious that they wanted to invade the south. Who knew when they would need to use Pang Xiao to kill the enemy?
Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu, these two great generals, were the Great Zhou Dynasty's stabilizing force. With them around, he had more confidence. Otherwise, in a large imperial court, where the court officials were divided into several factions, the treasury was empty, and the treasures were not found, if there was no one in the military who could compete with Siqin, how could he sit on the throne in the future?
Moreover, even if he didn't like Pang Xiao and wanted him dead, he wouldn't let others see through his intentions. Otherwise, he would be judged as murdering a meritorious official. He had thousands of ways to take Pang Xiao's life. The wisest choice was to do it when no one else knew.
Thinking of this, Li Qitian supported Pang Xiao with both hands and pulled him up. Then, he said to Qin Huaiyuan and Minister Lu, "You may all rise. We were too anxious for a moment. Li Guanwen, take a seat. "
”
"Yes."
The palace servants hurried over and quickly arranged the chairs in an orderly manner. Then, they helped the trembling Minister Lu up and sit down.
Pang Xiao also sat down at the head of the table. His head was lowered, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Li Qitian said, "Right now, regardless of whether or not there really was an assassination attempt, Siqin's publicity is already very unfavorable to the Great Zhou Dynasty in the outside world. We believe that Si Qin has an ulterior motive. "
"Your Majesty is wise." Qin Huaiyuan stood up and bowed. "In my humble opinion, Prince Zhongshun's analysis is reasonable. Si Qin is most likely trying to divert the trouble and stir up conflict. His ambitions aren't limited to Tatan. "
Li Qitian nodded.
Thinking back on Si Qin's journey, it seemed that he had relied on his own schemes to reach his current position. He had used A Nari as a springboard to climb to the top. Finally, he removed the springboard and sat on the highest seat.
Perhaps Lu Heng and Qin Yining just happened to be there and took the blame.
Even if they hadn't been caught, Si Qin might have found a way to frame Da Zhou and stir up conflict. He had used them to take the blame for him, and the bad things were done by others. Not only could he become the Khan, but he could also earn a good reputation as a man who cherished his wife.
This man was truly brilliant. Li Qitian couldn't help but admire him.
"Then, in your opinion, what should we do now?" Li Qitian looked at Qin Huaiyuan.
Qin Huaiyuan lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "For the time being, regardless of who killed A Nari Khan, Si Qin's dirty water has already been exposed to us. This old subject believes that now is the time to prepare the next step of our plan to deal with Si Qin. This old subject feels that Prince Zhongshun's analysis is reasonable. Si Qin might take this opportunity to invade the south. Da Zhou has two gods of war, so naturally we aren't afraid of Si Qin. However, this old subject knows that Your Majesty is pitiful for the common people. "
Li Qitian immediately nodded.
Qin Huaiyuan's suggestion was exactly what he was thinking.
It wasn't just because he felt sorry for the common people. More importantly, they didn't have the money to fight!
Da Zhou was now a shining city on the surface. In reality, it was very empty inside. If they wanted to fight a war, how could they not need money? But where would they find the money?
If they could find the treasure, then they wouldn't have to worry about it. The problem was that no one knew where the treasure was at the moment.
Li Qitian was thinking about the treasure and worried about the war. For a moment, he forgot about blaming Lu Heng and Qin Yining. He held a discussion with Qin Huaiyuan, Minister Lu, and Pang Xiao until late at night before letting them go back. After they left, he immediately ordered Li Guanwen, "Go and ask Prince Consort Ji to come to the palace."
At the moment, Li Qitian trusted Ji Zeyu the most.
Outside the palace gates, Minister Lu was directly carried into the carriage.
Qin Huaiyuan and Pang Xiao politely sent off Minister Lu's carriage before returning to their own.
Pang Xiao took the opportunity to whisper, "Father-in-law, we have to think of a way to save Sister Yi. I think Your Majesty wants to push all the blame to Sister Yi and Lu Heng once the assassination attempt starts. Sacrificing two people and paying less compensation is much more thrifty than starting a war. "
"I think so too. Unfortunately, after Jing Zeyu and the others returned to the capital, they were placed under surveillance along with the other spies. I don't have anyone I can use for now. "
"Father-in-law, what do you think? I have people I can use. All 100 Jinghu Wei are my die-hard supporters. They are trustworthy. "
Qin Huaiyuan said, "Then I'll have to trouble your men to go to Tatan and find Sister Yi to protect her. But we can't let them return to Da Zhou. We'll wait in Tatan for a while and see what happens. "
"Okay. We'll do as Father-in-law says. "Pang Xiao nodded, then said sadly," If possible, I really want to go myself. I don't feel at ease letting anyone else go. "
Qin Huaiyuan patted Pang Xiao's shoulder, "Stay calm. The more critical the situation, the more we can't panic. If we all panic, then Sister Yi will be in trouble. Standing outside, Sister Yi was at a loss for what to do. Don't you think so? "
Pang Xiao nodded and said, "Father-in-law is right."
The two got into their respective carriages and didn't dare to leave together. Instead, they went in separate directions.
Qin Huaiyuan had just returned to Qin Manor when he went to visit the sickly matriarch in the upper room.
"Mother." Qin Huaiyuan bowed.
The matriarch leaned against a large, soft pillow and ate a mouthful of tremella soup that Mammy Qin fed her to moisten her throat. Then she said, "You're back. Do you have official business to attend to? "
"It's nothing serious. Is mother feeling better? "
"Yes. I'm much better. " The matriarch smiled and nodded, "The imperial physician invited this time is very skilled. Meng Ge 'er, you have to thank him properly when you return."
"Your son knows." Qin Huaiyuan smiled and nodded.
Second Furen and Han Second Young Mistress, who were attending to the matriarch, laughed and teased, "The matriarch's illness is half cured after seeing eldest uncle. With the imperial physician's examination, she'll naturally be completely cured."
"You two shrewish monkeys." The matriarch was amused and laughed. She turned to look at Qin Huining and Qin Baoning, who were attending to her. She said, "Sister Hui and Eighth Girl, go rest. Don't follow me here. You'll get sick again."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
