Aspirations

Chapter 185 Getting Started Still Expecting to Survive

"What is the meaning of the emperor's suppression of Zheng Shan's memorial?" Xu Heguang's heart sank.

"The emperor is waiting for the opportunity..." Cui Xiang picked up a letter, "Today I received another letter from Mr. Hou, who said that Xing Wang is very dissatisfied with this official, and the situation is really out of control because of my lack of restraint." Because of Xia Xiang. Right now, there is an opportunity to pay off the merits and sins. After the emperor’s southern tour is confirmed, he will go to Xingzhou.”

Li Heng's heart skipped a beat. Xing Wang's plan had failed. Could it be that he still didn't give up and wanted to attack the emperor?Although he has a good relationship with Xia Xiang, he is not estranged from Cui Xiang, but he does not want to completely fall to any side. He also knows that Xia Xiang is completely loyal to the emperor, and Cui Xiang obeys Xing Wang's words. He wants to walk the middle way , the so-called impartiality and no party, the kingly way.

Of course, he also knows that although the words sound nice, he is actually still a grasshopper sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight.However, it is better to be on the fence than a villain who sees the wind and the wind. He does not join any party to harm the other. He just wants to wait for one party to win so that he can show his loyalty in time.

Li Heng stood up: "Oh, my stomach hurts suddenly, Mr. Cui Fuzun and Mr. Zheng Tongzhi, I'm going to apologize to you, I'm going to make it easier."

Cui Xiang waved his hands in disgust: "In the future, Li Tui doesn't have to escape, just go out, and I won't blame you for anything."

Li Heng blushed, turned around and left without speaking.

Xu Heguang looked at Li Heng's background, and said contemptuously, "What a villain."

"A real villain is better than a hypocrite." Cui Xiang waved his hand disapprovingly, "No wonder His Royal Highness Xingwang didn't send anyone to make a real plan recently, but he originally wanted to transfer the battlefield to Xingzhou. Hou Xianggong also said that the emperor On the southern tour, all the princes accompanied me, it seems that this trip to the south will be a grand event."

"His Royal Highness Xingwang wants to wipe out the emperor and several lords?" Xu Heguang asked in surprise.

"Thinking about it the other way around, maybe the emperor also wants to take the opportunity to wipe out Xingwang and his forces." Cui Xiang coughed a few more times, "There are rumors in Beijing that the emperor's condition is already recovering, and he kept it secret all the time, because he wanted to catch Xingwang by surprise. I didn't quite believe it before, but now I believe it more and more. I still suspect that Xia Xiang is the emperor's sharp sword."

"Xia Xiang? How could it be? He and the emperor have only met once, and he has been in the real state, how can he know what the emperor thinks?" Xu Heguang didn't quite believe Cui Xiang's speculation, "Besides, Xia Xiang is just a How can a small magistrate get into the eyes of the emperor?"

"Hmph, Xia Xiang is just a small magistrate, but he turned Zhending upside down, isn't it enough? If he becomes the magistrate, will the entire Zhending Prefecture be covered by him?" Cui Xiang said angrily, "Even Xing Wang is afraid of Xia Xiang. Xu Xiancheng, you must not underestimate Xia Xiang, otherwise you will be played by him at some point."

"This official never dared to underestimate Xia Xianzun..." Xu Heguang grinned, this sentence is true, if he didn't underestimate Xia Xiang before because Xia Xiang was his immediate boss, now he dare not underestimate Xia Xiang It was because Xia Xiang was really good enough to completely destroy Xing Wang's good situation in Zhending, "What I just don't understand is that even if Xia Xiang can get into the eyes of the emperor, how can he communicate with the emperor?"

"I've always found this matter strange. After much deliberation, I finally figured it out." Cui Xiang tapped his forehead, "There are people from the emperor beside Xia Xiang..."

"Who?" Cheng Dao was shocked, several people flashed through his mind quickly, "Zheng Hao, Zheng Tongjuan? Cao Shujun? Xiao Wu?"

"Where are you thinking, Cheng Tong knows, it's Mrs. Lian." Cui Xiang sighed secretly, Cheng Daotong is a good person, loyal, but unfortunately he is too stupid, "Although I have guessed who the person behind Mrs. Lian is before , but I have never dared to speculate that it is the emperor. Now it can be concluded that Haojingchang became the number one trading firm in Daxia in just a few years. It starts, implying the meaning of Jiangshan's eternal solidity."

"If it's true that the emperor is behind the back, doesn't it mean that the emperor has long been on guard against Xing Wang and wants to take down Xing King and his henchmen once and for all?" Xu Heguang felt chills behind him, "Could it be that the emperor has been fighting against Xing Wang for three years?" Are you pretending to be sick? The emperor's mind is truly unfathomable."

"Don't forget that today's sage is not inferior to Taizu Taizong in terms of martial arts and martial arts. If he didn't fall ill suddenly, how could he let Xingwang sit on the throne?" Cui Xiang recalled the scene when he first met the emperor, and couldn't help being fascinated for a while, "I think of the emperor's heroic appearance back then. Bofa, the young son of heaven, after he ascended the throne, the foreign tribes were eager to move, bullied the emperor when he was young, and wanted to attack the Great Xia. The emperor was wise and martial, and preemptively sent troops to conquer Goryeo and Xiping the barbarians. A glorious and prosperous age for thousands of years. Unexpectedly, the emperor, who was in high spirits, encountered a change of heart..."

"The emperor suffered a change of heart?" Xu Heguang heard of the emperor's change of love for the first time, and couldn't help being very curious, "The emperor is rich all over the world, so it is not a matter of saying that he wants to marry any woman in the world?"

"I've heard rumors about this matter. I haven't seen it in person. I don't know if it's true or not." Cui Xiang got up and came to the screen. There was a hunting picture on the screen. The emperor chased a small deer, but strayed into the depths of the dense forest and lost his way. He also met a white tiger, and the horse stumbled and fell. After waking up, he was rescued by a woman. The woman told the emperor, This place is a blessed place, mortals cannot enter, why does the emperor come in? Fortunately, I met her, otherwise the emperor would be eaten by the white tiger."

"Immortal?" Xu Heguang couldn't believe it, "It's probably based on rumors."

"The woman looks like a fairy, with the face of a fish falling into a wild goose. The emperor's heart can't be restrained when he sees it. After several days, the emperor has never found anyone else, only the woman, and there are few people in this place. Although the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant, it is isolated from the world. After the emperor recovered from his injury, he was reluctant to think about Sichuan, but the woman asked the emperor to go back, saying that the people of Daxia needed the emperor. The emperor refused, because he only wanted to spend the rest of his life with the woman here. Meeting him again, the emperor reluctantly left. The woman told the emperor that this place is called Miyuan."

"After the emperor left the secret source, he turned around and saw that the woods were still there. There were no houses or women there. He went up the small road and saw the woman from last time. After spending a few days with the woman, the emperor returned to the palace again. After that, for a year, the emperor had a tryst with the woman at regular intervals. Until One day, the emperor couldn't find any more women, and he lost his mind and was in a daze all day long, ignoring government affairs and thinking about state affairs. Many ministers who heard about the tryst between the emperor and the woman advised the emperor not to think about the witch day and night, This woman lives alone in the mountains, coming and going without a trace, she must be a monster. Some ministers asked Taoist priests to do tricks, trying to make the demon girl show her original shape. After the Taoist priests went, they couldn't find where the secret source was, so they had to die in vain. return."

"At first, the emperor didn't believe in Taoism. After this incident, he became obsessed with the theory of immortals. Ye Muping got in and became the emperor's favorite. After this incident, the emperor no longer had any interest in the three thousand beauties in the palace. To this day, there is still no child. It is said that the emperor was deprived of energy by the demon girl, and he could no longer give birth to dragon children. Whether this is true or not, there are different opinions. Some people even say that this woman gave birth to a son for the emperor and lived among the people. The emperor originally wanted to send people to search for the whereabouts of this son, but when there was news, he suddenly fell ill." Cui Xiang recalled an old event, and couldn't help but be filled with emotion, "If the emperor's illness is connected with rumors, It's quite believable. Some people didn't want the emperor to find Longzi and wanted to succeed himself, so they poisoned and wanted to kill the emperor. As a result, the poison failed, and they made a plan to become the current king step by step. situation."

"If the emperor really has a dragon son, according to the time calculation, there should be one this year..." Xu Heguang asked.

"The year of the weak crown." Cui Xiang said after calculation, "similar to Zheng Hao, Li Chi, and Zheng Mingrui's age."

"And Xia Xiang..." Xu Heguang suddenly thought of something, and stood up, "Zheng Hao, Li Chi, and Zheng Mingrui all have fathers and mothers, and only Xia Xiang has a mother and no father. yes?"

Cheng Daotong was also taken aback: "Is Xia Xiang really of royal blood?"

Cui Xiang shook his head calmly: "You two don't need to guess wildly. It's hard to say whether the matter between the emperor and the witch is true or not. Maybe it's just a dream of the emperor's Wushan Yunyu. Don't believe it all. Xia Xiang is a dragon. It’s even more nonsense when Zi Zi said it.”

Song Yu said: "In the past, the former king visited Gaotang, and took a nap in the afternoon. He dreamed of a woman who said: "Concubine, the daughter of Wushan. She is a guest of Gaotang. I heard that you traveled to Gaotang. I would like to recommend a pillow mat." The king was lucky. Go and say: "The concubine is in the sun of Wushan, the obstruction of the high hills, morning clouds at dawn, and rain at dusk. Day and night, under the balcony. "When I look at it, it is like saying. Therefore, it is a temple. The name is Chaoyun... Later generations misunderstood its meaning, so it is used to call men and women happy together.

"Okay, okay, let's not mention Xia Xiang's matter for now, the most important thing right now is the matter of the emperor's southern tour." Cui Xiang looked out the window intently. It was already early winter, and the cold wind was blowing. Breaking, Xingwang is still not reconciled, and intends to deploy in Xingzhou, but what is the bureau in Xingzhou? Xingwang didn't say it clearly, probably because he no longer trusts us and started a new one?"

"It's nothing to start a new stove. I'll try my best to cooperate when the time comes." Xu Heguang said viciously, "I hope that not only will the emperor be dismounted, but Xia Xiang will also be killed, so that no future troubles will come."

"If that's the case, don't mention Xia Xiang, I'm afraid that several princes will also be doomed." Although Cui Xiang hates Xia Xiang, he also knows the seriousness, "I only hope that His Royal Highness Xingwang will be careful in planning and succeed in one fell swoop, and don't hurt the common people, the common people The most innocent, the best is just another Xuanwumen change."

A few days later, the emperor's grand convoy finally arrived at Zhending City after a journey of more than ten days.

Early in the morning, the officials and citizens of Zhending City got up early, splashed clean water on the street, paved the road with loess, and set up a post every three steps, and a sentry post every five steps.The north gate of Zhending City was opened wide, Zheng Shan, Cui Xiang, Cheng Daotong, Wu Yidong, Xia Xiang, Han Meng, Zheng Hao, Li Heng, Xu Heguang, Lu Zhiyue and other civil and military officials lined up on both sides according to their ranks, waiting for the emperor 's arrival

Jin Jia and Ye Muping were also in the crowd, and they stood together with Lian Ruohan, Cao Shuli, Xiao Jia, Man Tuo, Cao Shujun, and Xiao Wu.Li Chi, Zheng Mingrui and others stood behind Xu Heguang and Yang Jiang, their gazes flicked over Xia Xiang's body.

The rising sun sprinkled thousands of red lights, illuminating the city gate in red.Countless people waited eagerly. After waiting for a long time, there was no movement.

"Here we come, here we come." Someone with sharp eyes saw a train approaching slowly on the official road in the distance, and shouted excitedly, "The emperor is here."

A large chariot approached slowly. Besides the gold and silver decorations, there were also seven treasures and colored glaze embellishments on it, which was extremely solemn.The guard of honor of the four horses and 64 is just the royal majesty.Against the backdrop of the rising sun, it is extremely magnificent and solemn.

Xia Xiang said softly: "Master Cui, shall we come forward to greet him?"

Cui Xiang shook his head: "No need, wait until the emperor arrives."

Xia Xiang asked again: "Why don't you see some princes?"

Cui Xiang said impatiently: "Talk too much, just wait patiently. How can I know where the princes have gone?"

Xia Xiang secretly smiled, and lightly tugged Cui Xiang's sleeve: "Master Cui doesn't know, the princes entered the city last night."

"Really?" Cui Xiang was taken aback, and shook his head with a smile again, "Don't be joking, Mr. Xia, how can the princes not go with the emperor? Besides, even if the princes enter the city ahead of time, they will come to the official residence for a while." Sit down, how could you go to your county office instead of the government office?"

Xia Xiang also laughed: "Master Cui, the officials only said that the princes had entered the city, but did not say that the princes had come to the county government office. To tell you the truth, Master Cui, where did the princes go after entering the city? What, the lower officials don't know."

Cui Xiang was stunned: "How did you know that several princes have entered the city?"

"While taking a walk by the river, I ran into one of the princes by accident." Xia Xiang didn't play tricks, and said directly, "I saw His Royal Highness. Seeing His Royal Highness, I told the lower official that he and King Qing and King Yun They're all in Zhending City, but he doesn't let the lower officials say anything, the three of them just come first and walk around first..."

"Is it really just wandering around?" Cui Xiang was puzzled that Wang Jian and King Qing were still fellow travelers, and King Yun was an outsider. If only Wang Jian and King Qing were together, the two of them came to convey some news secretly to Xia Xiang, which is also true. It's normal, but there is one more King Yun, which makes people confused, "The three princes are distinguished, and if something goes wrong, you and I can't afford it. Xia Xianzun, why don't you report this right away?" official?"

"Seeing that the king won't give way, the lower officials don't dare to presume, not to mention what happened last night. After thinking about it, the lower officials will be able to meet several princes in a few hours anyway, so why bother to report it?" Xia Xiang's attitude was sincere, and his tone was humble, "When I saw the king, I specifically confessed to my subordinates, not letting them report to Cui Fuzun."

(End of this chapter)