Chapter 440 Chess Player
The Prince's Mansion is also located in the northwest of the inner city, just a few streets away from the Sun family.
Because he was investigating the case as a captain of the Dragon Guards this time, Sun Shaozong went home to change into a five-bar Mo Jiao Swallowing Cloud Robe, and then took Yang Licai and others to investigate the prince's "hanging case".
However, after arriving at the Prince's Mansion, the first thing he did was not to investigate the truth, but to pay a visit to the Cabinet Grand Secretary Xu Furen - such a heinous case naturally had to be handled by important officials in the court, and Sun Shaozong could only be an assistant investigator at best.
In fact, if we only consider his official position, he may not even be among the top five in the task force.
Therefore, after Sun Shaozong gave his name, he waited outside for a full half a quarter of an hour before he was able to meet Lord Xu.
Uh~
The complexion of Lord Xu seemed to be even worse than that of General Qiu. If it were not for his bright eyes, it would be most appropriate to describe him as being in his twilight years or dying.
But this is not surprising. When a solar eclipse, which is considered a divine punishment, occurs, one or two prime ministers will inevitably resign.
Originally, there were six people in the cabinet, and Lord Xu was just one of the candidates, so he might not become the scapegoat - but now that the crown prince is in trouble, Lord Xu is the first to bear the brunt of it. After all, he also holds the title of the crown prince's tutor.
It is estimated that memorials impeaching him for his poor teaching, which caused the prince to have a moral character that is not to be trusted, had already piled up on Emperor Guangde's desk.
Compared with the high-spirited look he showed a few months ago when he presided over the Spring Examination to recruit students, it really makes people sigh that the power of heaven is unpredictable and the world is unpredictable.
Although Lord Xu could fall at any time, Sun Shaozong did not dare to show any disrespect at the moment. He stepped forward and bowed politely, saying, "I am Sun Shaozong, the inspector of the Northern Pacification Division and the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. I am honored to meet Lord Xu."
Before the greeting, Lord Xu had been sizing up Sun Shaozong, but when Sun Shaozong stepped forward to greet him, he lowered his gaze, rubbed his wrinkled hands, and said gently, "If I remember correctly, Lord Sun is only 22 years old now, right? At the age of 22, he already holds important military and political positions, and has made such a great reputation. It's not easy, it's really not easy."
"When I was 22, what was I doing? Was I studying with Mr. Qingtian, or was I living with my father-in-law, trying to get the title of a juren without success?"
"Alas, most of Mr. Qingtian's disciples were successful at a young age, but I wasted my time until I was 28 before I barely passed the imperial examination."
This old man keeps talking about the good and bad times, could it be that he has completely accepted his fate?
While secretly complaining, Sun Shaozong bowed and said, "Your Excellency, if you don't make a name for yourself, you will be a great success. Those young people who achieved success in the past are now far behind you."
"hehe……"
Elder Xu raised his hand and pointed at Sun Shaozong, laughing and saying, "You are really good at talking. No wonder His Majesty favors you so much and even wants to transfer you to the side of the Crown Prince to be trained as a future assistant minister."
Emperor Guangde actually has such an idea?
No wonder Prince Zhongshun had asked about the training of Qiu Yunfei several times - it turned out that he was examining himself on behalf of the emperor to see if he had the ability to guide a naughty boy to improve himself!
"What a pity! If you had been transferred to the prince's side earlier, perhaps there wouldn't be such a disaster today."
Hehe~
This sounds good, but if he is transferred to the side of the crown prince and cannot avoid the disaster of "cutting off the roots", I'm afraid Sun Shaozong will be the first to take the blame!
"That's right."
Elder Xu seemed to have suddenly thought of something, frowned and asked, "I heard that when you just came back from Qianxiang Country, you had a conflict with Earl Yongyi?"
Because of the assassination of Niu Yongxin, Niu Jizon, the Earl of Yongyi, once wanted to kill Sun Shaozong, but later he was rejected by the emperor and stopped the plan.
But why did Lord Xu mention the Niu family at this time?
Sun Shaozong was suspicious, so he briefly recounted what had happened.
"I see."
After listening to this, Lord Xu nodded first, then shook his head and said with regret: "What a pity, what a pity!"
With these irrelevant sighs, Sun Shaozong's appetite was successfully whetted. He suddenly said seriously: "Lord Sun is known for his 'divine judgment'. How to thoroughly investigate this case, I don't think there is any need for me to talk nonsense - someone come!"
As soon as he asked this question, a sixth-rank official in a light blue official robe came in from outside, bowed his head, and listened to instructions.
Elder Xu pointed at the man and said, "This man is Liu Luanwei, the chancellor of the Zhanshi Mansion. He is in charge of all matters of the Crown Prince's Mansion. If you have any questions, just ask him."
In theory, the Zhanshi Mansion was an office dedicated to assisting the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. The highest-ranking Zhanshi was a third-rank official, and in terms of nobility, he was even higher than the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.
However, because the crown prince of the Zhou Dynasty had no real power before he ascended the throne, the official position of the Zhanshi Mansion was generally awarded to ministers as an honorary title, and the person truly responsible for assisting the crown prince was only a mere sixth-rank chancellor.
Liu Luanwei is about thirty years old. As his name suggests, he is a handsome and tall man. I think he is as powerful as Zhou Mo of Prince Zhongshun's Palace.
But now that the prince was 'assassinated' at home, he was implicated and became a criminal, so naturally he became less majestic and more flattering.
As soon as he came out of the hall, he bent his back and smiled: "I have heard of Lord Sun's reputation for being a wise judge. Today I get to see his true face. It's really..."
"Prime Minister Liu, you don't have to be polite to me."
Sun Shaozong waved his hand, pulled him to a corner, and said in a low voice: "To be honest, I have severely offended Earl Yongyi, and now I am very nervous."
As he said this, he looked closely at Liu Luanwei's reaction.
Xu Furen was vague at first, then turned around and called Liu Luanwei in. He did not mention investigating the case, but only said that if there was anything he wanted to ask, he could just ask Liu Luanwei - it was obvious that there were some things he could not say directly, and he wanted to use Liu Luanwei's mouth to wake himself up.
Therefore, after Sun Shaozong left, he used the grudge between himself and the Niu family to test Liu Luanwei. After all, this was no secret, and it would not be a big deal even if he expressed his feelings in the wrong way.
But Liu Luanwei was stunned for a moment, and then a look of sympathy appeared on his face.
Seeing this look, Sun Shaozong's heart sank. Liu Luanwei was now a criminal and might be dismissed from office or even exiled in the blink of an eye.
But when he heard that I had an old grudge with the Niu family, he actually showed sympathy for me. Doesn't this mean that my current situation is actually more dangerous than his? !
For a moment, Sun Shaozong could no longer bother to attack from the side, and hurriedly asked, "From what Liu Fucheng means, does he think that the future successor will be Prince Zhongxin?"
"I didn't say that!"
Liu Luanwei was startled and shook his head like a rattle, but then he thought that his future was bleak anyway, so there was no need to be so cautious, so he lowered his voice and said, "Your Excellency only knows that Prince Zhongxin married Earl Yongyi's sister, but I'm afraid you don't know that Prince Yishun married Earl Yongyi's niece!"
"How is this possible?!"
Sun Shaozong's eyes suddenly widened. When he and his elder brother were discussing yesterday, they felt that if the lineage of King Yishun could succeed smoothly, it would be the most favorable situation for the Sun family. How come it was related to the Niu family in the blink of an eye?
He couldn't help but question, "Isn't the one Prince Yishun married the daughter of the Zuo Tongzheng Qi family of the Tongzhengsi? How could she be the niece of Earl Yongyi?"
"That is something you don't know."
Liu Luanwei spread his hands and said, "More than 40 years ago, the previous head of the Qi family followed Master Niu on an expedition to Mobei. As a result, he was injured and had no offspring. Master Niu then adopted his own grandson, who was also Earl Yongyi 's half-brother, to the Qi family."
After a pause, he continued, "Your Excellency cannot be blamed for being ignorant. If I hadn't heard the elder mention this past event before, I would never have thought that the Qi family and the Niu family had such a deep connection."
Damn, damn, damn!
Doesn't this mean that no matter whether Emperor Guangde chooses Prince Zhongxin or Prince Yishun in the end, the Niu family will definitely win? !
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but feel a little agitated, but he immediately tried to calm down and carefully considered the current dilemma.
First of all, Lord Xu has probably already suspected the Niu family, otherwise there would be no need for him to tell him indirectly about the relationship between the Niu family and Prince Yishun.
The purpose of his doing this should be to force himself to bite the Niu family to death and "find out" the "evidence" that the Niu family was behind the Long Gen case...
wrong!
Even if it is found out that the Niu family was responsible, it will not bring much practical benefit to Lord Xu. In fact, if the matter is exposed and the Niu family is not killed, it will even bring about revenge from the Niu family.
By then, what awaits Lord Xu may not be as simple as just resigning.
Then why would he do such a thankless task?
Could it be...
Was this an order from Emperor Guangde? !
So, does Emperor Guangde really want to fight to the death with the Niu family, or even with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, or does he want to find some "groundless" evidence to force the Emperor to make concessions?
If it is the former, it would be worth it for me to stick to the Niu family. Maybe I can even get the credit of following the dragon.
But if it is the latter, if the two families reach a compromise, I am afraid that this pawn will become a discarded pawn. If the Niu family gets angry, Emperor Guangde may not come forward to protect him...
Damn it!
The struggle in the court is really a headache, especially these big guys who want to force others to be pawns in the river, but refuse to speak clearly!
That’s all!
Since things have come to this, why not just follow my own ideas and achieve a surprise victory!
Even if I fail in the end, at least I am one of the players, not a chess piece at the mercy of others!
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong immediately asked Liu Luanwei, "Prime Minister Liu, I wonder if Li is doing well now?"
Liu Luanwei was obviously not used to this jumping way of speaking. He was stunned for a moment before he quickly said, "Then Li was locked up in the backyard. When the prince woke up in the morning, he ordered to kill her to vent his anger, but was stopped by Lord Xu."
"Then can you take me to see her?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Since you are one of the chosen investigators, you can meet whoever you want!"
As Liu Luanwei spoke, he led Sun Shaozong all the way to the backyard.
It was said that he was locked in the backyard, but in fact he was in a secret room surrounded by a rockery in the back garden.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw several eunuchs gathered around a square table, discussing something with worried looks on their faces.
Seeing Liu Luanwei leading Sun Shaozong in, the eunuchs did not stand up to greet them. Instead, they scolded them impatiently: "Liu Fucheng, why did you bring someone here again? This has happened five or six times, right?"
It seems that these eunuchs are not the eunuchs of the Prince's Mansion, otherwise they would not have such an attitude towards Liu Luanwei - even if he is guilty, he is still the chief steward of this mansion, and it should not be a problem for him to deal with a few eunuchs on the spot.
As expected, facing the eunuchs' scolding, Liu Luanwei stepped forward and said with a smile: "Everyone, this gentleman is different from the previous ones. He is Sun Zhizhong of Shuntian Prefecture appointed by His Majesty..."
“Huh?!”
Sun Shaozong's name was much more useful than Liu Luanwei's. The eunuchs stood up and looked at him curiously, saying in amazement: "I've heard that there is a 'Sun Shen Judgment' in Shuntian Prefecture. Today we have finally caught up with him. Well, let's see what kind of 'divine judgment' you have."
If it were any other time, Sun Shaozong might have pretended to be nice to them, but now that it involves the struggle for the imperial succession, the Sun family's small boat could capsize at any time. How could he still have the patience to waste time talking to a few little eunuchs?
So he frowned and shouted rudely, "How dare you! I am here to investigate the case by order of the emperor. Who are you? How dare you interfere with my investigation without my permission?!"
When the eunuchs saw his attitude, their faces turned red and they were ready to argue with Sun Shaozong in shrill voices.
However, Sun Shaozong did not wait for them to speak, and continued: "I have now been appointed as a thousand households of the Northern Pacification Division. If you have any dissatisfaction, you can go to Commander Dai to complain after returning to the palace!"
With just one word, the eunuchs immediately stopped their actions.
To be able to be sent to the Prince's Mansion to guard prisoners at this time, they are certainly not without connections. But no matter how many connections they have, can they compare to Dai Quan, the eunuch in charge of Daming Palace?
After hearing Sun Shaozong mention Dai Quan, they looked at each other for a few seconds and then walked out with their heads down.
Liu Luanwei was a sensible man. Seeing Sun Shaozong's attitude, it was obvious that he wanted to interrogate the prisoner alone. Without waiting for Sun Shaozong to speak, he hurriedly followed the eunuchs out of the secret room.
When the iron gate disguised as stone slowly closed, Sun Shaozong's gaze fell on the south wall - to be precise, on Li who was locked on the south wall.
At this time, Li was fastened to the wall with five chains - probably to prevent her from committing suicide, a layer of soft padding was specially pasted on the wall.
In addition, she also had a delicate mouthpiece on her mouth, which prevented her two rows of silver teeth from closing.
However, the gap between Li's teeth was too small. If this was the style the prince usually used, then the caliber of this prince might be...
No wonder it was bitten off in one bite!
