Madam, protect me!

Zhao State.

The capital of the country.

The battle for the right to inherit the throne has entered a critical moment. In the past two months, the fourth prince has had an advantage and is far ahead in public opinion. His reputation has changed in the past few days.

Some of his actions before supervising the country were exposed, including forced buying and selling, bullying the people, bending the law for personal gain, shielding criminals, etc., which even involved multiple lives.

This is undoubtedly a huge blow to the reputation of the fourth prince.

Even the political achievements he has made these days have been somewhat compromised due to this impact.

But soon, rumors about the other three princes began to spread in the market.

For example, the eldest prince, Hao Long Yang, had unclear relationships with many of his advisers, and had even robbed a married woman of her husband.

Another example is that the second prince likes to have a wife, and the wives of many officials in the court are having affairs with him, but those officials are still kept in the dark.

Others said that the third prince embezzled hundreds of thousands of taels of food and salary from the treasury and used it to bribe officials. Most of the officials in the court who supported him accepted his money.

These rumors spread throughout the city in just a few days.

No matter how dull the common people are, they can still realize that this is probably a deliberate attempt by several princes to slander other opponents in order to compete for the throne.

In this way, the previous rumors about the fourth prince may not be true.

At this time, no rumors should be believed.

In a certain royal palace.

"Does this king like Long Yang?"

"Is this king a good wife?"

"When did this king steal so much money from the treasury?"

Speaking of the rumors about them outside, the three princes were furious.

The news about King Sheng was indeed released by them.

The three of them had never taken him seriously before, so there was no need to use these methods to deal with him.

But these days, King Sheng's momentum is so strong that they have no choice but to do this.

What makes them feel aggrieved is that the rumors about them outside are all groundless and nonsense, but those things about King Sheng have actually been done by him.

No one expected that he would actually have this trick.

After the water is thoroughly muddied, the people will not be able to tell the difference between what is real and what is fake, and what is fake and what is fake.

The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple are now in charge of King Sheng. It is simply impossible for him to investigate himself.

After failing to reveal King Sheng's true face, he himself made a fuss, but he still couldn't explain it publicly. The three of them felt depressed in words that could not be described in words for a moment.

Prince Sheng's Mansion.

The situation turned around and turned from defense to offense. Compared to the defeat of the other three princes, the fourth prince was in a particularly comfortable mood.

He looked at a figure in the hall and said with a smile: "Mr. Lin, thank you very much this time."

The figure hugged his fists and said: "Your Highness, there is no need to be polite. As a counselor, it is my duty to make suggestions for Your Highness."

The fourth prince raised his glass and said to the middle-aged man: "No matter what, I still want to thank Mr. Lin for rescuing the king. I dedicate this glass of wine to you."

This time King Shun and others used past events to attack him, which really gave him a headache for a while.

But soon a counselor came to offer advice and easily helped him calm the situation.

These counselors really know how to adapt to the changing circumstances.

When he didn't have the advantage before, no one was willing to help him.

In recent days, those counselors and retainers who wanted to defect to him were about to cross the threshold of the palace.

Today, Prince Sheng held a banquet for guests at the palace, and the banquet guests were all the palace's retainers and advisers. Compared with the lack of attention two months ago, the current Prince Sheng's Palace has become the most lively one among the four palaces.

After the banquet, everyone dispersed.

As long as all the disciples who defect to King Sheng can prove their worth, King Sheng will properly arrange them and give them gold, silver and beauties.

Those who have contributed to King Sheng can live directly in the palace.

In the past two days, among the palace's advisers, the most prominent one was undoubtedly Mr. Lin.

His Royal Highness King Sheng not only allowed him to live in the palace, but even rewarded him with two treasures from his collection, which attracted the envy of countless people.

In Prince Sheng's Mansion, there is a quiet courtyard.

Mr. Lin walked into the small courtyard, closed the door, and walked back to the room. A person sitting at the table asked: "How is the situation?"

The man wore the clothes of a follower, but his tone of voice did not sound like a follower.

Mr. Lin sat down opposite him and said: "The situation outside has been stabilized for the time being. It depends on what the three princes will do next..."

After saying that, he shook his head again and said in a puzzled tone: "Among the four princes of the Zhao Kingdom, Prince Sheng is the one who is the least able to support me. I don't know why, but you chose him..."

The man shrugged and said: "If you ask me this question, why not ask Li Nuo? All I know is that he is the number one scholar in six subjects and is smarter than all of us. If you choose with him, you will definitely not be wrong. Facts Doesn’t it also prove that whoever he chooses can win? It’s not all because of him that King Sheng can have the prestige and status he has today in just two months..."

He leaned on the chair, put his hands behind his head, and said: "I fought against him in Daxia and lost miserably. This time I choose with him in Zhao. I want to see how I lose?"

…

Princess Mansion.

Li Nuo and Yi Ren came back from shopping for groceries. Yi Ren said with some confusion: "Why haven't you seen the Sixth Princess in the past two days?"

Li Nuo also hasn't seen the Sixth Princess for two days.

Two days ago, she said she would go to the Fourth Prince to confirm those rumors, and Li Nuo never saw her again after that.

When he was buying vegetables with Yiren just now, he heard people discussing some things, such as the eldest prince liked Longyang, the second prince liked other people's wives, etc., and they said it seriously, as if they were the parties involved.

Obviously, facing the rumors spread in the market a few days ago, King Sheng also found a way to fight back.

Li Nuo has been busy with other things these two days. He has to write a medical manual and improve the skills for those martial arts sects.

Doctor Sun said that there are many doctors who are willing to donate some silver to the medical school and contribute some unique prescriptions or secret techniques. He hopes that Li Nuo can mention their names in the manual. Li Nuo has not had time to meet them yet.

These two days, he was so busy that he didn't pay attention to the sixth princess at all.

After cooking, Li Nuo took off his apron, wiped his hands, and came to the main hall of the princess's mansion.

Li Nuo knocked on the door, and after a long time, Zhao Zhiyi's voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Li Nuo walked into the room and said to Zhao Zhiyi who was sitting at the table: "Yiren and I have just prepared the meal. Do you want to go over and eat?"

Zhao Zhiyi looked at him, shook his head gently, and said: "You guys eat, I have no appetite."

Li Nuo came over, sat down opposite her, and asked: "What's wrong?"

Zhao Zhiyi was silent for a moment, looked up at him, and said: "What they said is true, the emperor brother really did those things, he even hid it from me..."

She looked at Li Nuo and asked: "You won't help him again, right?"

She knew that he was a law-reformer.

After knowing these things, I'm afraid she won't help the emperor brother anymore.

Li Nuo didn't answer directly, but asked: "Do you want me to continue to help him?"

Zhao Zhiyi shook his head and said: "He is no longer the emperor brother I know, no, he has never been the emperor brother I know, you are a law-reformer, I can't embarrass you, sorry, I invited you all the way here, but I didn't expect this result..."

Li Nuo didn't blame the sixth princess at all.

He had gained a lot in the past two months in Zhao.

His life span doubled, he was introduced to medicine and Confucianism, and most importantly, he and his lover had progressed to the point of sleeping in the same bed. What else could he not be satisfied with?

Besides, even if he had not agreed to her at the beginning, he would have had to go on this mission.

Li Nuo smiled slightly and comforted her, "You don't have to apologize. I have gained far more than I expected from this trip to Zhao, and I won't blame you for it."

After confirming these things, Li Nuo would certainly not help King Sheng again.

If he continued to help King Sheng ascend the throne, his legalist cultivation would not improve but regress.

At this moment, he withdrew, but it was nothing more than not being able to cultivate the strategist this time, and the legalist could not break through the realm.

He was just not comfortable with being freeloaded so much.

Zhao Zhiyi was silent for a moment, looked at Li Nuo, and asked, "What are your plans next?"

Since it was meaningless to stay in Zhao, of course he had to go home as soon as possible.

After two months of separation, he didn't know how much he missed them.

Not to mention the beautiful woman and An Ning, he even dreamed of the phoenix several times.

Li Nuo did not hide it and said, "We should return to Daxia soon."

Although the mission lasts for two years, his father will definitely find a way to transfer him back in advance.

"Are you leaving?"

For some reason, Zhao Zhiyi felt a tightness in his heart when he heard this.

After this separation, I am afraid there will be no chance to see each other again.

Li Nuo said, "Don't worry, I will write the manual before I leave, and the medical school will be handed over to you in the future..."

Zhao Zhiyi's eyes showed a trace of sadness.

With him, medical reform can continue to be implemented.

If he leaves, those doctors will not give her face.

What's more, the emperor's brother is already thinking about raising money. No matter whether he or other emperors take the throne in the future, I am afraid that they will not let go of such a large sum of money.

There are many places where the court needs money, but for the sake of the people, training more doctors is definitely not within their consideration.

She originally thought that if her brother came to power, she could really do something for the people of Zhao.

Now it seems that this is just her delusion.

At this moment, she once again remembered the letter that Master Gongsun left for her.

Replace it.

This is a possibility she had never thought of before.

Master Gongsun asked her to invite him from Daxia, not for her brother at the beginning, but for herself.

But that would be a complete betrayal of her brother.

There are two choices in front of her.

On the one hand, it is her closest relatives.

On the other hand, it is the people of Zhao.

Faced with such a choice, she has been unable to make a decision in the past two days.

But at this moment, when she learned that they were leaving, the balance in her heart tilted towards one side.

She pondered for a long time, suddenly looked up at Li Nuo, and asked: "What if I want you to stay and help me?"

Although the two are friends, there are also some uncompromising principles between friends.

Li Nuo shook his head and said, "I will not do anything for the Fourth Prince anymore."

Zhao Zhiyi said, "Not to help my brother, but to help me."

Li Nuo looked at her, not knowing what she meant.

Zhao Zhiyi met his gaze and said seriously, "Help me win the throne. Our previous agreement is still valid. If Daxia can't accommodate you in the future, you can come to Zhao at any time. I will always keep the position of prime minister for you..."

[ps: I am a little confused today, so I will write less. ]