Work overtime

It’s raining heavily in Beijing, but it’s sunny and cloudless near Hebei and Shandong, with stars hanging low.

Meng Xiang and the Jiangnan disaster relief team have been traveling day and night for two days.

At this time, he was holding a candlelight night conversation with his disciple Murong Hong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites.

At this time, the news of the death of the Queen Mother and the Queen had not yet reached the grassroots.

Meng Xiang, dressed in crow-colored casual clothes, poured wine into the cup leisurely, taking one sip at a time, very happily. The way he moves his hands and feet is extraordinary.

Murong Hong looked elegant and wore dark blue casual clothes. He was drinking with him, but he only took a sip every time.

Murong Hong was Murong Chang's father in the palace, and he was also a relative of Murong Chi.

Murong Hong suddenly picked up the wine glass, sighed at the amber wine, and muttered in an ups and downs, "Wei Wei, Ji Wei, Hu Bu Gui?"

Meng Xiang raised his eyes and looked at Murong Hong meaningfully, and changed his title to his official title, "What does Bo Qing mean by this? Are you going to go back to sleep after just a few drinks?"

Murong Hong pretended to be drunk and shook his head, "Teacher is such a smart person, why do you pretend to be confused?"

Meng Xiang was stunned for a moment, raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp, "What do you mean by this? Why don't you explain it clearly."

Murong Hong took a sip, lowered his eyes and sighed, "This year is a troubled spring. At the critical moment of the world's great struggle, the teacher should stay in the capital, why do you choose to go south? What's more, the south is plagued by plague and floods, and everything is difficult. .”

Meng Xiang looked at Murong Hong with a smile and said, "Bo Qing, is there anything in life that is not difficult? But as the ancients said, where there is a will, there is a way. What did the teacher teach you in the past? As a minister, you should try your best to share the worries of the saint. How dare you worry about personal matters? Safety and disobeying the imperial edict.”

Murong Hong was startled, "May I ask what the teacher's ambition is? The student is willing to explain it in detail."

Meng Xiang said solemnly: "I do not seek to be granted the title of Marquis of Baili, but I seek to develop my life's aspirations. To assist the wise king, to benefit the country, and to stabilize the people. If possible, I can reproduce the prosperous Tang Dynasty in my lifetime."

Murong Hong stared deeply at his teacher, "But nowadays, when the Holy Emperor re-appoints newcomers such as Murong Chi, Chen Ning, and Huang Shao'an, he is obviously afraid of the teacher's reputation for talent and learning. He gradually no longer relies on the old ministers and rarely calls the teacher to consult on political affairs. Teacher He is a man of great talent and unparalleled talent, but now he is not reused. It is a pity that the teacher has such ambition to serve the country."

Seeing that Meng Xiang was silent, he thought that he had hit the mark on the teacher's mind, so he tentatively continued to state the pros and cons.

"Prime Minister Chen has a daughter as a concubine, and now that he has a dragon heir, he will definitely be more relied upon by the emperor in the future. Since ancient times, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. The teacher will definitely be suppressed, and his ambition will become more difficult to achieve."

Meng Xiang asked attentively, toasting to each other, "What good ideas does Bo Qing have?"

Murong Hong stopped holding the wine glass in his hand, his eyes blazing, "Since ancient times, good trees choose birds. Oh, students are stupid, but good birds choose trees to live in. When a man uses his talents, why should he stick to one person?"

Meng Xiang said with a smile, "I'm afraid Bo Qing is drunk? Don't be greedy. I am the prime minister of a country. Apart from the current emperor, why should I care about whether others appreciate it? Who else can give me a higher honor than the prime minister?"

Murong Hong leaned forward. He hesitated for a moment and boldly asked, "What if there is such a person?"

Meng Xiang held the wine pot's hand for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Murong Hong with a smile, "Mr. Murong, what do you mean by this?"

Murong Hong stopped talking, looked at Meng Xiang with a smile for a moment, and then continued drinking.

Meng Xiang did not speak and continued to drink. He suddenly raised his glass to Murong Hong and said, "Since you and I know it well, something big will happen in the capital these days. If King Liuyang intends to recruit me, why bother to be so secretive?" ?”

Murong Hong paused in his glass, a little surprised by the teacher's straightforwardness, and then smiled and raised his glass to touch Meng Xiang, "Teacher is really a hero, and his knowledge is extraordinary. The students admire him very much. If I had known that the teacher would be like this. Students should be honest about their intentions."

Meng Xiang asked very seriously, "The late emperor had the kindness to know someone, and he worshiped someone as the prime minister, and they lived and died together. He also appointed someone as a minister of Gu Ming, entrusting the country to assist the current emperor. Someone has been a hero in two dynasties. , The Holy One is very respectful to me, and although he re-employs newcomers, their abilities are immature and their qualifications are shallow. It is just wishful thinking to take my place within ten years!"

Murong Hong smiled slightly, "As far as the students are concerned, this may not be the case. If the teacher does not make a bet with the students, and if Chen Xiang plots against him, the Holy One will replace him with his wise nephew Murong Chi."

Meng Xiang nodded and looked at Murong Hong meaningfully, "That's the case. But since Chen Ang is rebelling, why should I rebel? It's too late for me to be happy. Chen Ang is overthrown and the nine tribes are executed. The Holy One will naturally rely on me more. This is my chance to show off my ambitions. Why should I change my ways? I should be loyal and loyal to the emperor. What do you think?"

Murong Hong was immediately refuted and became speechless. He held the wine glass with a confused expression. If persuasion fails, then we have no choice but to kill Prime Minister Meng.

If a talented person like Meng Xiang cannot be used by me, I will destroy him and never allow him to make suggestions for my opponents. "I'm sorry." Murong Hong waved his hand as he spoke.

But no arrow was shot.

"Hahahaha~" Meng Xiang laughed and waved his hand.

Murong Hong was suddenly startled and turned his head to look. I saw two burly men standing behind him, instantly twisting his arms and lifting him up. Naturally, they were the two imperial guards that Li Beichen arranged for him before setting off.

Meng Xiang walked up to Murong Hong and patted his cheek, "I thought you would pretend to be drunk and make a mistake, but you pretended to be stupid and I pretended to be drunk. When things failed, you actually wanted to kill me. Do you think everyone is like you, duplicitous? , people who covet glory and wealth."

Murong Hong no longer tried to hide and tuck her in. He wanted to scold his mother and spit, but was suppressed by Meng Xiang's own pressure and did not dare to make any mistakes.

"Aren't you and I both the same? If you weren't greedy for glory and wealth, you wouldn't do business with the King of Liuyang all the time."

"It's a joke. A stance is a stance, and business is business. If you tell the truth who else in the court is Liuyang King's servant, and remember our teacher-student friendship, I will give you the antidote and spare your life. .If you don’t say it.”

Meng Xiang didn't know when he had a shining silver dagger in his hand, and he made gestures with the dagger on Murong Hong's lower abdomen.

"That thing is useless anyway, it's all a matter of cutting it off."

"Teacher, please spare me. I can't help it. The whole family is in the hands of King Liuyang."

"Lying again."

Meng Xiang drew a circle on Murong Hong's heart, "Don't think that you don't know the truth and no one is threatening you. It's all King Liuyang's gold, silver and jewels that have seduced your soul. You have neither loyalty nor conscience here. It's better to be cut off. It’s over.”

"Spare your life, spare your life. Yes, yes, yes. The teacher is right, I just want wealth."

Meng Xiangzai took the dagger and drew a circle on Murong Hong's neck, "Your daughter has entered the palace, so why worry about not having glory and wealth? You are still thinking about treason, and your brain is eaten by a dog? It's okay not to. I heard that you My daughter is also brainless. Like father, like daughter."

A fishy smell suddenly entered Meng Xiang's nose and spread.

Meng Xiang waved his hand at his nose in disgust, and when he looked at Murong Hong again, he was so frightened that he wet his pants and fainted.

He held his hands behind his back, stared at Murong Hong in front of him, and shook his head helplessly.

When Murong Hong was promoted, I felt that he was quite talented, clear-headed and flexible. Others are getting better and better as they live, so how come he becomes more confused and stupid as he lives more and more.

Prime Minister Meng then ordered the two guards, "I will leave it to you to be responsible for the interrogation. After asking for the list, go to the next door and call me. Alas, I drank too much. I will go to sleep first."

The two guards were specially arranged by Li Beichen and had rich interrogation experience. They quickly came up with a list.

They copied it in triplicate.

One copy was quickly handed over to another team secretly sent by Li Beichen to rush back to the capital secretly. Give one copy to Prime Minister Meng. They kept one copy with them for later use.

Meng Xiang actually knew these things well, but he pretended not to know.

Having been with the emperor all year round, he has long been accustomed to the emperor's suspicion.

What's more, if he does things, he will do it just like Li Beichen, without leaking anything.

Li Beichen thought he controlled Prime Minister Meng through his two sons. It would be better to say that Prime Minister Meng weighed the pros and cons and chose Li Beichen, and deliberately sent the hostages to Li Beichen, making the emperor think that he was always the one in control.

In fact, he had a way to subvert the situation and let his youngest son Wei Ran escape from the murder of the geisha Yunxi. But after seeing the face of geisha Yunxi, she changed her mind and let the investigation of the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple go.

At this time, he is just taking the opportunity to kill someone with a knife, get rid of his arch-rival Chen Xiang, win the trust of the new emperor, take over the power, recreate the rule of Zhenguan, and become a famous prime minister that will last forever!
  At this time, the big network he planned together with Li Beichen was slowly spreading.