Jiuxi

Chapter 827 825 [What is Light]

"…Duke Qin, as an important official of the court, should have performed his duties conscientiously, spoken and acted prudently, and put the country first. However, your recent actions have been inappropriate. How can you be a role model for other officials?"

In the main hall of the Duke of Qin's mansion, Lu Chen stood straight, facing Yuan Yuji, the Junior Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, holding a bright yellow imperial edict in his hand.

There were more than a dozen eunuchs standing outside. Although there were no imperial guards accompanying them, the formation was still quite impressive.

Yuan Yuji glanced at Lu Chen, who had an expressionless face. He felt a little uneasy, but he still read calmly, "You should have set an example and abided by it. You acted rashly and ignored the laws of the court, which is really disrespectful. I will not punish you because you have made great contributions to the country, but you must stay at home for seven days to reflect on your mistakes. I also hope that all officials in the court will take this incident as a lesson, abide by their duties, be strict with themselves, and never slack off. I decree!"

This is a very typical imperial edict of reprimand.

Li Zongben's words were not harsh. After all, Lu Chen had not done anything to anger God or people, and he had the left prime minister Xue Nanting to persuade him, so he was only symbolically ordered to stay indoors for seven days.

Yuan Yuji coughed lightly, looked at Lu Chen who still had no major emotional fluctuations, and whispered: "Duke, the palace has received dozens of impeachment memorials against you in the past few days. His Majesty ordered them to be kept in the palace, but he had to calm the anger of the officials, so he could only let this servant convey the order to reprimand you. I hope you can understand His Majesty's good intentions."

He was not exaggerating. The dozens of impeachment memorials were just the beginning. The Ministry of Public Security received more than 40 memorials this morning. One could not help but sigh that there were too many officials in Beijing. Even some minor officials in remote corners came out to impeach Lu Chen.

If Li Zongben does not express his position, or Lu Chen does not admit his mistake, there will be more and more memorials, and in the end, all officials may come forward together.

Lu Chen said nothing and raised his hand to take the imperial edict.

Yuan Yuji hesitated for a moment, but finally reminded him, "Duke, according to court regulations, you must submit a self-reflection letter as soon as possible."

Although he looked calm, he was not sure at all in his heart, because the young Duke in front of him had a tough personality. If he insisted on not giving in, there was nothing he could do.

After a moment, Lu Chen said calmly: "I understand, please go back."

At this moment, Yuan Yuji felt unbelievable. The other party's tone was very stiff, but the meaning of his words was very clear. He finally accepted the arrangement.

It is no wonder that Yuan Yuji was in a daze. You have to know that Lu Chen was a man who dared to refute the emperor in person and ran away during the court meeting. Originally, he thought that Lu Chen's acceptance of this imperial edict was the limit and he would definitely not report to the emperor for self-reflection.

It seems that the Duke finally felt the pressure from the civil and military officials.

Thinking that he could report to the emperor, Yuan Yuji couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on his face, and he said respectfully: "I will take my leave."

He left quickly with more than a dozen eunuchs. Lu Chen looked at his back and then threw the imperial edict to Chen Shu next to him. The diligent old butler was almost frightened to the point of staggering.

Lu Chen walked back to the inner courtyard study, and the several people waiting there immediately stood up.

"sit down."

Lu Chen looked around and saw Qin Zilong still standing. He smiled and said, "You sit down too. We are all family here."

"Yes, Duke."

Qin Zilong sat on the chair at the bottom.

Besides him, there were also Tan Zheng, Qu Zhong, Chen Xun and a weather-beaten man in his forties in the room, who was none other than Qi Lianfu, the leader of the Yin Hall of the Seven Stars Gang.

He set out on his journey south in late April and arrived in the capital yesterday afternoon.

Chen Xun spoke first, "Duke, it may not be a bad thing to take a step back. Perhaps after this incident, the emperor and some important officials will feel that you are not an impeccable person, and their suspicion of you will be reduced. From a long-term perspective, you can even take the initiative to extend the time of self-reflection, preferably until before the wedding. After the wedding is completed, you can take your relatives to the north to Dingzhou and no longer care about the right and wrong in the capital. As long as Jingguo is not destroyed, your position in the border army will be unshakable."

What he said was very direct, because as Lu Chen said, the people in the study at the moment were all his closest confidants, so there was no need to beat around the bush.

Although Chen Xun's considerations were mature and prudent, Tan Zheng, Qu Zhong and Qin Zilong all showed gloomy expressions at the same time.

Lu Chen picked up the teacup and took a sip, then smiled and asked, "Are you very angry?"

Qin Zilong said honestly: "I feel very aggrieved."

On the other side, Qu Zhong also mustered up the courage to say: "The Duke is clearly thinking about Da Qi, but some people don't know what's good for them. The most hateful are those officials who follow the wind. They don't think about whether it is feasible to rescue Dai, but instead they hold on to such a trivial matter as the Duke leaving the palace. How shameless."

Chen Xun looked at these people and said calmly: "My dear friends, this is the capital, not Dingzhou. Do you really want to see the Duke become the target of public criticism?"

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but shut up.

Lu Chen showed admiration on his face and said to Chen Xun: "De Zun, please help me write a self-reflection memorial. Don't be too humble. It would be best if you can show a little bit of resentment."

Chen Xun stood up and said with understanding, "I will obey your orders."

Lu Chen motioned him to sit down, and then said to Tan Zheng and Qu Zhong: "Although I have taken a step back, it does not mean that everything will be fine from now on. You must be more attentive. In the next two months, whether in the palace or in the offices and residences of the important officials, you must try your best to obtain their intelligence, and summarize it and send it to me every night. Tell the brothers below that I will not treat them unfairly after all their hard work during this period."

The two said in unison: "As you command."

"Let's do this for now. Uncle Qi will stay for now."

As soon as Lu Chen said this, everyone except Qi Lianfu bowed respectfully and left.

He personally poured a cup of tea for Qi Lianfu and said with emotion: "It is true that this trip back to Beijing is not very peaceful, but I don't want to trouble my family, so I specifically asked Tan Zheng and others to stop passing information to Jiangbei. I didn't expect that Senior Sister was worried and asked Uncle Qi and the brothers in the gang to come all the way to Beijing."

Qi Lianfu stood up and took the teacup, smiling and said, "Your Highness, that's a bit too formal. We in the Seven Stars Gang will never forget your kindness. As long as you need us, we will never frown no matter what happens." "I am just being hypocritical."

Lu Chen smiled and then asked, "How many people did Uncle Qi bring this time?"

Qi Lianfu replied, "Including me, there are seventy-one of us, all of whom are experts trained by the eldest lady herself. In terms of martial arts alone, we are not first-rate masters, but no matter who the Duke wants to kill, give us a few days to prepare, and I have absolute confidence that I can complete the task."

There was murderous intent in his words.

Lu Chen couldn't help but laugh and said, "You don't need to kill anyone for now, and you may not need to do anything later, but I have a feeling that you may be able to play an unexpected role at some point. Let's put it this way, you take your brothers to familiarize yourself with the terrain inside and outside this house, and when my father arrives in Beijing, you will be responsible for protecting him."

Qi Lianfu bowed without hesitation and said, "I accept your command!"

Lu Chen asked again: "When will Senior Sister enter the capital?"

Qi Lianfu showed a slight embarrassment and shook his head, saying, "The eldest lady only said that she had to go and do a few things first, but she didn't specify what they were."

Lu Chen did not ask any further questions and nodded, "Okay."

After Qi Lianfu left, Lu Chen stood up and walked to the table, took out the paper from a pile of files, and a cold look gradually appeared in his eyes.

"Li Zongben, I hope you really haven't done that kind of thing."

……

late at night.

Pingkangfang, Shangshufu.

In the dark room.

"Sir, why don't you let me volunteer to lead the troops out of the capital?"

In the dim candlelight, the puzzled look on the face of Yuan Xingqin, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Army's brave camp, was reflected.

Ever since Lu Chen and Xiao Wangzhi expressed their opinions one after another, the emperor had to give up the idea of ​​reinstating Han Zhongjie in the near future. Yuan Xingqin finally removed the "decorative" character in front of his military position and became the true commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp.

This time, the Dai Kingdom sent an envoy to ask for help. It had been discussed for several days before the court meeting that day. Yuan Xingqin wanted to take this opportunity to ask for permission to lead the troops out of the capital, because he knew that the emperor absolutely did not want Lu Chen to increase his power again.

If his wish could be fulfilled, on the one hand, he would be able to further firmly control the Brave Camp, and on the other hand, even if he just went out for a walk, he would be able to enhance his status in the military. After all, having experience in leading troops alone makes two completely different qualifications.

Li Shizhi stroked the teacup in his hand, his eyes obscure and unintelligible, and asked calmly: "Why do you want to go?"

Yuan Xingqin was suddenly speechless.

Li Shizhi looked up at him and continued, "The emperor has made up his mind. After Lu Chen and Li Bingxue are married, he will let him leave his relatives in the capital and the court will be responsible for their support."

Yuan Xingqin's expression changed. He certainly knew the turmoil this decision might cause.

In fact, similar things have been common throughout history. Most dynasties would allow the relatives of generals to stay in the capital to form a constraint. Otherwise, those generals who had lost the battle would have no constraints and might directly surrender to the enemy. What's worse, some of them would take the opportunity to be away from the court to privately cultivate their own factions to form a substantial separatist force, and obey the court's orders in public but disobey them in private.

But the situation in Da Qi was different. When the late emperor first ascended the throne, the situation was extremely difficult. The most important thing at that time was to resist powerful enemies, and he had no ability to adopt such means.

Yuan Xingqin said worriedly: "Sir, Duke Qin may not agree to it."

"This is why you and Chen Lanyu must stay in the capital. You are loyal to His Majesty and the court. The two camps with 100,000 soldiers are His Majesty's greatest confidence, and Lu Chen cannot disobey orders at will. Moreover, he was impeached by hundreds of officials this time, which has made many people dissatisfied with him. If he disobeys the imperial edict again, you can come forward."

Li Shizhi looked calm and said calmly: "As for Zhang Xu... he has a stubborn personality and may not understand your majesty's difficulties. Let him leave the capital."

Yuan Xingqin suddenly realized, a ruthless look flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, sir, I know what to do."

Li Shizhi smiled slightly and talked with him in secret for half an hour, and then Yuan Xingqin's figure disappeared into the night.

After a moment, Li Jinshan quietly walked into the secret dark room.

Li Shizhi said calmly: "Lu Chen will stay here obediently for the next month. He just wants to have a smooth wedding and then take Li Tianrun's daughter north."

Li Jinshan whispered: "Master, what should we do next?"

Li Shizhi hesitated for a moment and said slowly: "Are our people ready?"

Li Jinshan nodded and said, "Everything is ready."

After a brief silence, Li Shizhi said softly, "Let them sneak into the capital in batches."

"Yes, sir."

Li Jinshan bowed.

(End of this chapter)