Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

As Geng Songfu closed the door to visitors and asked for leave from the court, not attending court meetings for seven consecutive days, the Geng Party, which used to be so powerful that it could shock the court and the public with just a stomp of its feet, collapsed like a mob in just a few days.

Most of the officials who considered themselves to be members of Geng's party and were attached to Geng Songfu had the idea of ​​switching camps. In recent days, they had been in constant contact with key figures in the "Jiangnan Party" and the "Jiangdong Party."

The Geng Mansion, which was once bustling with people, has become extremely deserted.

This made the vendors doing business not far from Geng's house sigh at the fickleness of the world.

On this day, Geng Songfu, dressed in an official robe, came out of his house, but there was no trace of loneliness on his face. He got on the sedan chair and headed towards the palace.

……

In the imperial palace, in the royal study.

Chen Mo received a secret letter from his brother-in-law Wu Changlin from Chuanhai.

The secret letter explained that ever since the Maritime Customs took away the Nangong family's port, the Nangong family had been obedient on the surface and cooperated with the government's work, but secretly, they had been smuggling without the knowledge of the Maritime Customs. The total value of the goods seized alone exceeded one million taels, plus those that were not seized, one can imagine how much the Nangong family had smuggled.

Chen Mo frowned and looked at the secret letter in his hand with bright eyes. He could still tolerate what was written on it.

It is understandable that although the port of Chaoping County was "privately built" by the Nangong family, which is illegal, the Nangong family also invested a lot of real money, making the current Chaoping Port almost like a cash cow. The imperial court accepted it just because it said so, and they also had to follow the route opened up by the Nangong family. How could the Nangong family not have some resentment?

Therefore, as long as the Nangong family does not oppress the people, Chen Mo can turn a blind eye to the Nangong family's behavior in the early period of the Xin Dynasty.

Chen Mo was also very satisfied with Wu Changlin's approach. He just criticized the Nangong family with words but did not take any real action.

But the content of the second half of the secret letter was something Chen Mo could not tolerate.

Wu Changlin investigated and found out that the Nangong family's private army responded to the court's call and disbanded the private army on the surface, but secretly, Wu Changlin suspected that it had been transferred.

Because Wu Changlin didn't find out where these disbanded soldiers went in the end.

The reason why it is a suspicion is that Wu Changlin has no evidence.

In addition to these, according to the news brought back by the Fish Scale Guards who left the port, two years ago, a small country called Boliu overseas was suddenly overthrown by someone. It was finally discovered that the incident was related to the Nangong family, but again, there was no actual evidence.

Later, the overthrown regime of the Kingdom of Boliu kept sending people to the waters around the Kingdom of Gu Luo, making a lot of effort, as if they were looking for something, and many people died.

Every once in a while, dozens of bodies would float up from that sea.

"Bo Liuguo, looking for someone?"

Chen Mo couldn't figure out the connection between the two, so he put the doubt aside for now. However, he would never allow the behavior of disbanding the private army in public but transferring and secretly supporting it in reality.

He picked up the brush beside him, tapped the ink on the inkstone, and wrote back to Wu Changlin personally.

At this moment, Jia Yin's voice was heard outside the imperial study: "Your Majesty, Elder Geng is here."

"Let him in quickly." Chen Mo paused slightly, a look of joy appeared on his face, and he said quickly.

Soon, a man with white hair, a slightly hunched back, and wearing a bright red official robe, Geng Songfu, walked in quickly: "Your Majesty, I am Geng Songfu, and I pay my respects to you."

"Quickly, please excuse me." Chen Mo stood up, walked around the desk and came to Geng Songfu, made a gesture of support, and said with a smile: "My dear Geng, you are finally here. I can't live without you. Do you know how much I hope you can come to the palace to share my worries these days?"

As he spoke, Chen Mo glanced at Jia Yin who was about to leave, and said, "Come here, give Elder Geng a seat."

Jia Yin responded and hurriedly brought a chair for Geng Songfu to sit on.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Geng Songfu bowed, but did not sit down immediately. Instead, he first explained the reason why he took leave and did not come to the court. Finally, he apologized to Chen Mo: "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

Chen Mo was stunned, and then he had some guesses in his mind. He smiled and said, "What crime have you committed, my dear?"

"I have failed to teach my wife properly and failed to discipline her, which led to my wife's brother forming a clique in my name and deceiving his superiors and subordinates. Your Majesty, please punish me for my crime." Geng Songfu bowed.

Chen Mo looked at the sincere and serious old man with his bright eyes. His expression paused for a moment, and after pondering for a while, he chuckled and said, "I wonder what you want to say."

Chen Mo shook his head: "I have known about this for a long time, and I also know that this matter has nothing to do with you, you don't need to blame yourself.

Besides, you were the head of all officials at that time, and you also had to employ people. Even if no one stopped you, there would still be people who would flatter you and depend on you. This is human nature."

At the beginning, Chen Mo thought about managing this kind of private party.

But after thinking about it carefully, I found that this kind of thing can never be prevented.

Wherever there are people, there will be rivers and lakes.

Just as where there are interests, there will be gangs.

What he has to do is what all monarchs must do, which is to balance and allow healthy competition between them rather than outright suppression.

Because human hearts are complicated, and because you don’t know, the people who are re-supported will definitely do better than the previous ones.

Everyone has private feelings. Those who do not have the slightest selfish desire are saints.

But it is difficult to produce a saint once in thousands of years.

Geng Songfu shook his head and said respectfully, "They are all people around me. If I had noticed it earlier, there would not be such a thing as forming a clique for personal gain. I am guilty of negligence, and I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

Chen Mo: "..."

He is a very interesting person. Even though I didn't pursue him, he was still eager to deliver it to me.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "My dear minister, you are a meritorious official and an important official of the Great Wei. How can I bear to punish you? Moreover, I only abolished the Secretariat and the Prime Minister and transferred you to the newly established cabinet as a Grand Secretary. People outside said that I was heartless and ungrateful. If I punish you again, I don't know how people outside will talk about me.

My dear minister, you don't want me to fall into an unkind and unjust situation, do you?"

"Your Majesty..." Geng Songfu choked up a little, knowing that His Majesty was trying to exonerate him. In the end, all his words came down to one sentence: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Speaking of which, the reason why Geng Songfu was able to achieve this.

Because he is old and has no ties, he cares a lot about his innocence.

If he allowed the "Geng Party" to develop in this way, his end would probably not be any better, and even the red seal and iron certificate would not be able to protect him.

Of course, he is no saint.

If Nanhua was pregnant with his child.

Or maybe Nanhua was not given by His Majesty, but was the woman he loved, and the two had a deep relationship.

He is also partial.

He will not sit idly by and watch the "Geng Party" collapse.

I won't come to ask for forgiveness anymore. ...

Time flies.

Before I knew it, more than a month had passed.

Since then, the Great Wei entered the eleventh month of the first year of Zhenghe. Autumn faded away, and the cold winter arrived, with the temperature dropping particularly quickly.

It felt like I had to go out shirtless to enjoy the cool air yesterday, but just one night later, I was still shivering even after putting on a cotton jacket.

The war in Shu Prefecture.

It also fell into the curtain.

In the military prison in Shufu.

The armor on Yang Xian's body was already tattered and covered with dried blood, but there were no obvious scars on his body. The blood that was dissipated was not Yang Xian's own.

Yang Xian's half-black and half-white long hair was already messy and disheveled, his face was covered in dust, and his whole body exuded a stench that was a mixture of sweat and fishy smell.

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It was winter, so the stench did not spread.

He just sat in a cell covered with hay, without handcuffs or leg irons, but with ropes tied around his body, his face full of desolation and resentment.

The two guards who were guarding him could not help but whisper to each other when they saw him like this, "He is the Marquis of Hongdu County, and his daughter is the Consort of His Majesty. He is in a very high position, but he insisted on raising his own troops, rebelling against His Majesty, and now he is a prisoner. What is he trying to do?"

"That's right. Even the previous rebels, Prince Huai, Prince Chong, and Lu Sheng, were no match for your Majesty. Where does he get this confidence from?"

"But the Imperial Master is also very powerful. I heard that the Imperial Master defeated him in less than ten rounds and even sealed his cultivation."

"Don't you think about it? If you are not good enough, how can you be appointed as the Imperial Master by His Majesty?"

Yang Xian raised his eyebrows. Although his cultivation was sealed, he still had the perception of a top-grade warrior. He could hear clearly what the two were whispering about. He couldn't help but feel an endless sadness in his heart.

I feel that such a small person now dares to talk about me.

At this moment, he heard the rattling sound of chains outside the cell, which shocked Yang Xian. The two soldiers stopped talking and looked in the direction of the sound. After seeing the person coming, they immediately went to meet him.

Wu Yanqing walked in, surrounded by his personal guards, and said to the soldiers who came to greet him, "Open the door."

Immediately, the soldier who came forward responded and opened the prison cell.

"What are you doing here?" Yang Xian had a bad face and looked indifferent.

"I'm here to bring some food to the Marquis of Hongdu County."

Wu Yanqing walked into the cell, followed by two bodyguards. One of them held an armchair and asked Wu Yanqing to sit down.

The other person held a food box in his hand and placed it in front of Yang Xian. Then he opened the box and took out the food inside one by one.

There are fine wine, roast goose, roast duck and even bear paws, which can be said to be very rich.

Wu Yanqing waved his hand and asked the two to leave first, then he picked up the wine pot and personally poured a glass of wine for Yang Xian and handed it to him, saying, "This is the fine wine that His Majesty gave me before the expedition. I didn't have time to drink it along the way. Would you like to try it?"

Yang Xian was not afraid. After taking it, he drank it all in one gulp. After saying it was a good wine, he handed the glass to Wu Yanqing, as if asking for another glass.

Wu Yanqing also satisfied him and poured him another cup. He then stared at Yang Xian and said, "Your Majesty is kind and has given you many chances. This time, he even asked Concubine Zhao to accompany you and persuade you. Why are you so stubborn, Lord?"

Yang Xian drank the wine in his glass again, looked up at Wu Yanqing, and answered in a questioning tone: "I worked so hard to build all this in Shufu, but now he wants to take away everything from me with just a few words. How can it be so easy?

Not to mention, he is an ungrateful person. I promised my daughter to him, sent troops to help him fight against the King of Huai and the King of Chong, and did not ask for any reward from him afterwards. I just wanted to protect my own piece of land, but he did not agree and even killed us all. How can I let such a scoundrel get his wish so easily?"

As he spoke, Yang Xian became more and more angry.

"Your Majesty was still alive more than a decade ago. Now the times have changed. The general trend is the unification of Zhongzhou. Your Majesty's attempt to resist the general trend is undoubtedly like hitting a rock with an egg. Your Majesty is a wise and capable monarch. He will never allow anyone to raise an army and resist the imperial court."

Wu Yanqing poured another glass of wine, but did not hand it to Yang Xian. He poured it in front of Yang Xian and said, “Besides, the Marquis sent troops to help His Majesty at that time fight against the Prince of Huai and others. He must have his own calculations.

If the battle at that time was won by Prince Huai and his men, would the Marquis still help Your Majesty?"

Yang Xian did not listen to Wu Yanqing's next words, but looked at the wine he poured in front of him. He was startled and stared at the sumptuous food and wine in front of him. He said in a slightly relaxed but inquiring tone: "Such a sumptuous meal, is it the last meal of the execution?"

Seeing that Wu Yanqing did not answer but had an expression of acquiescence, an indescribable fear surged in his heart.

In fact, the reason why he rejected Chen Mo's many "opportunities" and confronted the court was because he had a glimmer of hope in his heart, thinking that he had contributed to Chen Mo's current situation, and that his daughter was Chen Mo's woman.

He felt that Chen Mo would not send troops. Even if he did, the worst outcome he thought of was being imprisoned. He did not think of death.

Now that he anticipated that his fate would be death, Yang Xian's expression changed.

"What are you going to do? I want to see His Majesty, I want to see Concubine Zhao, Qingqing, Qingqing." Yang Xian started yelling.

"It turns out that the Marquis is also afraid. Unfortunately, it's too late." Wu Yanqing said in a calm tone.

After saying that, he took out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom, poured the wine into the wine pot in front of Yang Xian, and said, "I'm afraid that Concubine Zhao can't see the Marquis at this time, and His Majesty doesn't have time to see you."

After he finished speaking, he stood up, turned his back, and said, "Come here, wait for the Marquis of Hongdu County to set off."

Although His Majesty did not explicitly say that he wanted to kill Yang Xian.

But Yang Xian's daughter is your Majesty's Concubine Zhao after all. If your Majesty orders the death of Yang Xian, there will definitely be a rift between your Majesty and Concubine Zhao.

Instead, let him be the evil one.

Moreover, given his status, he would not be afraid even if Concubine Zhao insisted on blaming His Majesty afterwards.

It would be better to make Yang Xian afraid and commit suicide to prevent future troubles and also to prevent the outside world from gossiping about Your Majesty.

But after these words were spoken, no one dared to move for a short period of time, including Wu Yanqing's personal soldiers.

After all, Yang Xian’s identity is not ordinary.

Wu Yanqing frowned and shouted in a deep voice: "Are you asking me to do it myself? Why don't you wait for the Marquis of Hongdu County to go on his way!"

This time, some personal soldiers took action.

He forced the poisoned wine into Yang Xian's mouth.

(End of this chapter)