Civil and military officials of the Manchu dynasty, begging me to ascend the throne

Chapter 299 Checkmate
  When these disturbing things happened, Jiang Sile already felt vaguely uneasy. She thought about it and found that the only person who could discuss this matter with her now was the master of the young Taoist Chi Zhongjun, Yunhai Taoist Temple. The master of the temple - Xuan Qingzi.

Xuan Qingzi was alienated from others, but he took good care of Jiang Sile. Part of the reason was due to the influence of the little Taoist priest.

And Xuan Qingzi's ability is obvious to all. It is said that he has vast magical powers, Taoist origins, and is mysterious and enchanted. Most people call him 'Old Immortal.'

Although Jiang Sile didn't believe in gods and ghosts, he still felt that this man was extremely enlightened, and even his apprentices were taught to be smart, wise, full of ingenuity, and sophisticated in all his mental methods. This is quite similar to those old monsters in martial arts novels who are like sweeping monks and retreat into the background. While people feel secretly afraid in their hearts, they also feel at ease.

Usually when Jiang Sile visits, everyone in the Taoist temple is always very happy, especially the little Taoist boys. They like to talk with her very much, and every time she comes up the mountain, she will donate some incense money to the Taoist temple, and she also tells her uncle. We cooked them some sumptuous meals.

Taoist temples have always been vegetarians, but their skills in cooking vegetarian dishes are really good. Although those meals were not delicacies, dragons and phoenixes, or meat-based delicacies, they were really mouth-watering, fragrant in the teeth and cheeks, and left with long aftertaste after a full meal. Even if it is served as an imperial meal, such a dish is no less impressive than other dishes.

Jiang Sile smiled at the little Taoist boy. The little Taoist priest had red lips and white teeth, and was quite good-looking.

Jiang Sile gently leaned down and asked her: "Little master, is the temple master still in the Taoist temple today? Can you lead me there?"

The little Taoist boy was respectful and polite. He bowed first, and then opened his mouth and said, "Well done, noble man. My master is in the Taoist temple, but today he is closed and does not see visitors."

Jiang Sile's brows were filled with anxiety, his eyebrows were furrowed, and he frowned and said, "What should I do?"

What she planned to discuss with Xuan Qingzi this time was the matter of the little Taoist priest.

After returning from the Red Guards' base without success, Jiang Sile began to use reason to analyze her inner uneasiness. Among them, the one that worried her the most was Chi Zhongjun who was in the capital.

These days, she always felt anxious about recommending young Taoist priests. The previous death of Li Yancheng seemed to have not yet finished the blow to her, which made Jiang Sile feel a little more scared and frightened every time she thought of the capital and the young Taoist priests.

She was afraid that another one of her friends would die because of her recommendation again.

Even if her recommendation was well intentioned, she could not forgive herself again.

What is her original intention, what is her original intention, everything is not as important as her life, nor is it more important than the life of the little Taoist priest who has been with her for three years.

This time she came to Xuan Qingzi partly because she had begun to feel scared, and her tightly twitching heartstrings didn't know how to handle the next blow.

"Do you know why the temple master suddenly retreated today?" Jiang Sile asked the little Taoist boy.

The little Taoist boy shook his head, but then his eyes lit up, as if he remembered something, and said to Jiang Sile:

"The temple owner also said today that if someone comes to him, let that person verify his doubts by himself."

As he spoke, the little Taoist smiled shyly and explained vaguely: "However, I don't know why the master said these strange things..."

Jiang Sile stood up straight and remained motionless, but his face suddenly changed, his eyes became dull, and he suddenly fell silent and stopped making any sound.

She already understood the meaning of Xuan Qingzi's words.

But precisely because of this knowledge, Jiang Sile's already dark and gloomy heart was cast into another shadow.

The big stone hanging in my heart fell down again, and just as my body swayed, there was a low and loud sound of "boom". But the stone hasn't hit the ground yet, or in other words, it's only a stone's throw away, just a stone's throw away.

After a while, Jiang Sile thanked the little Taoist boy and hurriedly turned around and went down the mountain.

The remaining ignorant little Taoist boy stood there, looking at Jiang Sile's leaving figure, and wondered in his heart: Master's words are really difficult to understand... Did the noble man understand? ……………………………………………………………………………………··

Beijing-Inside the Imperial Palace

Outside the Chongguang Hall, there were guards patrolling the Forbidden Army wearing black armor, one every ten steps, with long knives hanging on their waists and spears in their hands. They stood upright and looked at each other with different eyes.

In the Chongguang Hall, only Jiang Yi and Chong'an's master and servant were present.

Jiang Yi has not gone to court for three days. The ministers in the court all think that His Majesty is angry. They are angry that they have acted too wantonly in the past few days, and they are angry with Chi Zhongjun and the red guards.

They really went too far.

Chi Zhongjun, who was regarded as the chief enemy by the courtiers, was the first to be eliminated.

The methods used to get rid of him were also very shady. They used some underhanded methods to frame the powerful Chi Shilang, but this was just an appetizer.

When Jiang Yi had some doubts in his heart, at the very ordinary court meeting, the courtiers expressed their opinions, but they all slandered and slandered Chi Shilang.

Of course, these methods cannot harm Master Chi, who is trusted by His Majesty and holds power in his hands.

But what they asked for was not to make His Majesty feel disheartened and let go of his protection for Chi Shilang. On the contrary, what they want to do is to deepen His Majesty's suspicion.

Jiang Yi thought that everyone in the court was hostile to Mr. Chi and was secretly brewing a conspiracy.

Of course, the fact is also true.

At this time, His Majesty has begun to worry about Master Chi's retreat.

At this moment, what they wanted to do was very simple. While deepening His Majesty's worries, they revealed without any trace that they only wanted to enforce the law impartially and complete the crusade against Chi Shilang openly.

According to Jiang Yi's character and his soft and kind-hearted nature, he couldn't help but want to give in to save Chi Shilang.

But what is the method of preservation?
  Removal? No, Chi Zhongjun, who does not have the right to fight back, is not even as good as an unarmed commoner. At this time, as long as the group of courtiers in high positions in the court move their fingers, Chi Shilang, who once held huge power, has already He is a dead man.

Is there any other way to protect Chi Shilang?
  Or, to put it another way, there is a place that is absolutely safe and under the control of His Majesty.

Your Majesty will find such a place after much thought.

First of all, this place is close to the imperial palace, it can even be said to be on the edge of the imperial city.

Secondly, this place is heavily guarded by troops, and these troops are directly loyal to His Majesty.

Then, few people know about this place.

And this place is the dungeon of the Forbidden Army.

Yes, the imperial army, which is usually responsible for guarding the palace and guarding His Majesty's honors and escorts, also has a prison in the imperial city.

This prison was not built by this dynasty, but by the emperors of previous dynasties.

Originally, the purpose of building this prison was to detain suspects related to the harem, especially the crown prince, for private interrogation by the then emperor.

But over time, this place became abandoned, and then, few people mentioned it again, and then, almost everyone forgot that there was such a private place near the palace.

Your Majesty knows this place because the world belongs to your Majesty, and your Majesty will know everything and know everything.

The courtiers knew this place because they had members of the Forbidden Army among their people. Afterwards, as expected, Chi Shilang openly asked for leave and was secretly hidden in this dungeon by His Majesty.

Perhaps His Majesty is thinking that after this storm has passed, he will continue to let Chi Shilang come back and still give him the rights and trust as before.

But the people in official uniforms in the court did not want this ending.

All prisons may be difficult to break into from the outside.

But if you do it from the inside, it can create unexpected effects and make the assassination a hundred times easier.

Just like that...Chi Shilang died.

He did not die after becoming famous, surrounded by his descendants and students, but died disgracefully at the hands of an assassin. The assassin was hacked to death by the guards around him after completing the assassination. Then he swung his knife at the assassin and everyone discovered that this man was also a Forbidden Army guard.

It is true that their methods were dirty and their tactics were unpredictable, but they were all useful. They successfully got rid of an annoying enemy.

At the same time, His Majesty seemed angry at their radical and extraordinary actions and did not go to court for three days in a row.

In fact, it wasn't that Jiang Yi didn't want to go to court, but that his body was no longer strong enough to support him.

The night before yesterday, the imperial doctor secretly entered the Chongguang Hall, and the entire Chongguang Hall was cleared out. Only Chong'an, whom Jiang Yi trusted the most, was left waiting at the side.

Jiang Yi's illness this time was severe, and it was three points more dangerous than the last time the Queen Mother was ill.

Last night, if it weren't for the ginseng slices he had in his mouth and the injections given by the skilled imperial physician, as well as his strong desire to live, he probably wouldn't have survived yesterday.

But even after surviving this most dangerous time, the situation did not improve much.

Jiang Yi has been coughing up blood since early this morning.

The bright red blood stimulated Jiang Yi's vision, telling him how fragile his body was.

According to the description of the imperial physician, his body was severely depleted, like a candle in the wind, and the most dangerous flame in the raging winter wind was also dying.

The fact has been placed in front of Jiang Yi, he will not live long.

When Jiang Yi truly learned the news of his death from the imperial doctor who was kneeling on the ground with fear, Jiang Yi actually relaxed.

It was like a heavy stone that had been hanging in his heart for so long and finally fell to the ground.

After Jiang Yi realized that he was sick, he began to ask Chong'an to conceal his illness from the outside world, and moved everyone else in Chong'an Hall to other places.

Now, in the palace, the only person he could trust [-]% was Chongan.

Chong'an fulfilled all Jiang Yi's instructions, and he did not betray Jiang Yi's trust.

But Chongan is very uneasy about the current situation.

He looked helplessly at His Majesty, who couldn't even get out of bed now, and was filled with worry.

At this time, he rarely complained and said with regret: "Your Majesty... why... Your Majesty... it's all your fault. Your Majesty didn't take good care of your body."

Jiang Yi shook his head slightly, then reached out with difficulty from the quilt and touched Chong'an's forehead.

His face turned red and his hands were a little weak, so he could only use his strength to droop.

"This is my body, and its current appearance can be considered my retribution..."

Chong'an's eyes were red, with a few tears hanging on his eyes, and there was a hint of crying in his voice: "It's your Majesty's fault... Your Majesty is so wise, God is really unfair..."

There was a bit of anger and distress in Chong'an's words.

Jiang Yi turned his head, smiled gently at him, and retracted his trembling arms.

"Next, you still have to help me. The future situation is still uncertain, and I can't fall down so soon."

When talking about the issue of heirs, Chong'an frowned, showing bitterness on his face.

Although Princess Jing'an has been canonized as the Crown Princess by His Majesty, she is still young after all. According to his superficial knowledge, even if the Crown Princess accedes to the throne in compliance with the legal principles, the road ahead will probably be even more difficult.

I guess His Majesty is also worried about this.

Jiang Yi stared at the ceiling, as if he was trying to live or die.

After a moment, he said: "Counting the days, Anle should be in Beijing soon."

Princess Anle? ! Thoughts passed through Chong'an's mind.

But I only heard His Majesty continue to say: "In the days before Anle comes back, I will trouble you and the imperial doctor."

Jiang Yi's eyes were sharp and firm, and his voice was weak and low as he said: "Before An Le comes back, I must be alive... alive to announce my will in front of the courtiers."

Chongan suddenly knelt down and burst into tears.

"Slave...Slave will secretly send someone to invite Princess Anle..."

With that said, Chongan was about to get up.

"No... Anle is already on the way now..."

Chong'an froze on the spot, with an uneasy look on his face, and asked cautiously: "But now that the red guards have been...all destroyed...who has gone to inform His Highness Anle?"

Jiang Yi burst into laughter, accompanied by constant coughing.

Chong'an immediately walked to the bedside on his knees and put one hand on His Majesty's back, hoping to relieve the cough.

Jiang Yi smiled and said: "You...ahem, you all underestimated Anle...ahem...her little girl...ahem...is very semen...ahem...wasn't it the same last time? If you come straight to the capital, can you sneak into the palace?"

"Ahem... now... she should have gotten up..."

Jiang Yi's laughter gradually stopped and his voice became deeper.

"I just didn't expect...the last time I saw...Anle was when I was about to die..."

(End of this chapter)