Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 536 Another Dog in Trouble
Pei Yuan's mind raced as he immediately thought about the attitudes of the various forces in the capital in this sudden situation.

The first one is Zhu Houzhao.

He is the current emperor and undoubtedly has the greatest influence.

Even though his power was restricted by the civil servants, they were not united.

Imperial power is still the greatest common denominator they need to use when solving problems.

Zhu Houzhao's attitude still plays a key role.

Pei Yuan quickly thought about Zhu Houzhao's position, and then his panicked mind immediately calmed down.

Although Zhu Houzhao whipped Qian Ning in person amid the commotion of Li Cong, Shen Zhou and other border troops, he did not take any substantive action afterwards.

Pei Yuan, another accomplice who beat Jiang Bin, has not even been summoned by the emperor to be questioned until now.

Even Qian Ning, who was whipped, still wanted to meet with him to discuss follow-up countermeasures.

This shows that, to a large extent, Zhu Houzhao's attitude was still biased towards the Jinyiwei's close ministers.

Therefore, Qian Ning was still able to jump up and down. Zhu Houzhao did not summon him, obviously hoping to downplay the conflict of this matter and slowly ease the situation.

However, Pei Yuan should not be too optimistic about Zhu Houzhao's little insistence.

Although this guy is smart and can see what the border troops are doing, he cannot withstand the pressure.

The minor disturbances in the capital are still within the controllable range. Once Xuanfu uses this as an excuse to echo it and makes a fuss about Jiang Bin's affairs, Zhu Houzhao will most likely seek to calm the situation immediately.

Even if there is a reckoning later, that will be a matter for later.

What Pei Yuan needs to do now is to use this brief period of peace to gather enough help before Zhu Houzhao's rational judgment succumbs to pressure.

But this kind of help... is not so easy to get.

Pei Yuan could roughly guess what the situation was with the border troops.

He knew Jiang Bin's situation well and would definitely not beat him to death on the spot.

Judging from the fact that the border troops surrounded Jiang Bin's house and did not allow outsiders to approach, and the fact that the imperial doctors were very secretive about the situation, Jiang Bin should be fine.

Now the competition for favor between the Four Outer Armies and the Embroidered Uniform Guard has reached a fever pitch.

Jiang Bin had just killed Zhou Qi, a captain of the Imperial Guard, and the four outer armies were in high spirits. As a result, Jiang Bin was violently beaten by the Imperial Guard and was carried away from the scene in a coma.

This undoubtedly aroused the emotions of many border troops.

Jiang Bin had made such a fool of himself, so naturally he couldn't just let it go in such disgrace.

Therefore, Li Cong and Shen Zhou, who were accustomed to the experience of the border areas, still adopted the usual way of struggle of the border troops and started to stir up trouble, trying to make the emperor make concessions and take the opportunity to completely overwhelm the Jinyiwei.

Although Zhu Houzhao is not able to withstand pressure, he is not stupid.

I understand that if I give in at this time, there will be endless troubles.

Therefore, Qian Ning was given time and opportunity to save the situation.

Pei Yuan's mind quickly flashed through the situation of various forces, and then he confirmed with Li Shishi, "Does Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe really have no intention of calming down this matter?"

Li Shishi said, "Probably not."

Then, he even agreed with his tone, "The border troops can't stay in the capital for long. After this incident, it's even more hopeless. Now it's not a bad idea to use this knife to punish the Jinyiwei."

"After Zuo Shunmen killed Ma Shun, the Jinyiwei became much more obedient. If Qian Ning can be killed this time, maybe those Jinyiwei will, will..."

When Li Shishi said this, he suddenly realized that his good brother seemed to be a Jinyiwei.

And..., he seems to be the main culprit in the beating of Jiang Bin.

Li Shishi said awkwardly, "I said what I meant, and I also said what I meant."

Then, Li Shishi had an idea and urged, "If you can't stay in Beijing anymore, why don't you go to Jiangxi? King Ning is eager for talents and knows your ability, so there may be a better future for you."

Seeing Li Shishi's gloating expression, Pei Yuan said unhappily, "These arrogant soldiers and brave generals are a problem for the emperor, but aren't they also a problem for Prince Ning?"

Li Shishi didn't react much after hearing this.

Anyway, the tall man at the moment is Zhu Houzhao, so if anything happens, the emperor will take the responsibility and it will not be Prince Ning's turn.

Pei Yuan retorted to Li Shishi, and then said thoughtfully, "In this city, besides Qian Ning, there is actually another drowned dog."

Seeing Li Shishi's gaze looking over here subconsciously.

Pei Yuan glared back angrily.

Li Shishi quickly said awkwardly, "I don't know, brother, why don't you give me some pointers?"

Pei Yuan pursed his lips and uttered two words, "Lu Wan!"

Li Shishi also reacted after hearing this.

Pei Yuan was not wrong.

Lu Wan once again became the target of concentrated fire who was sacrificed for the unity of the majority.

Now the civil service camp is collectively watching the fun, but they still have to push Lu Wan to clean up the mess.

At this moment, the border troops were in high spirits and the Jinyiwei refused to give in. If Lu Wan intervened and stopped the fight between the two sides, he would inevitably bring the hatred of both sides to himself.

Lu Wan is not stupid, why would he do such a thankless task?

What's more, those "Four Outer Armies" were recruited by the emperor, and the Jinyiwei were also the emperor's personal army. Zhu Houzhao did not make a clear statement on this matter, so why should he get involved?
But reality is reality, and reason is reason, and neither of them can stop other civil servants from pointing fingers at Lu Wan.

It is no exaggeration to say that Lu Wan is a drowned dog.

Moreover, if the border troops or Xuanfu take more violent actions, the blame may still fall on Lu Wan, the Minister of War.

Pei Yuan asked Li Shishi, "I told you to make a good alliance with Lu Wan before, how are you doing?"

Li Shishi hesitated and said, "Lu Wan has been very cautious since he became one of the Seven Great Ministers."

"He has a background in Liu Jin's eunuch party. Although he was lucky enough to become one of the Seven Great Ministers this time by virtue of his merit in suppressing the rebellion, no one knows the whole story of that incident better than you."

"Lu Wan is a bit embarrassed as the Minister of War."

"Moreover, Lu Wan has a weak character. Although he cannot be blamed for the Xuanfu troops entering the capital, it is his responsibility that the other three of the Four Outer Armies were able to enter the capital."

"So these days, Lu Wan has been impeached and humiliated from time to time. His life has not been easy, and he rarely makes friends with others."

"Although I want to ease the relationship with Lu Wan, my position..."

Li Shishi smiled bitterly, helpless.

Li Shishi was the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and almost all of the mad dogs in the Censorate were his subordinates. Although Li Shishi had some influence, in fact, many censors had their own masters. Li Shishi did not have many ways to interfere with their memorials.

In this case, Lu Wan, who was besieged by the Censorate and the Six Ministries, naturally could not regard Li Shishi as a good person.

Pei Yuan thought about Lu Wan's historical path and guessed that it was because of this that Minister Lu gradually turned evil and became the vanguard of Prince Ning.

If it weren't for Pei Yuan, this little butterfly, Li Shishi should have stepped down when he was the Right Censor-in-Chief in charge of the affairs of the Censorate, and there would have been no possibility of taking the next step and becoming the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Now Pei Yuan has saved Li Shishi and allowed him to go a step further, but this has delayed Lu Wan's process of "turning evil and joining Ning".

Pei Yuan likes to see people turn evil the most.

He immediately said to Li Shishi, "If there are censors in the Censorate who impeach Lu Wan tomorrow, you can also secretly add fuel to the flames."

"Lu Wan is the Minister of War, and his command in the battle to pacify Bazhou was remarkable."

"If I'm not mistaken, King Ning probably doesn't have a serious talent who can command hundreds of thousands of troops?"

Li Shishi answered calmly, "Yes, there are. Liu Liu and Liu Qi defected there."

Although Pei Yuan had a good personal relationship with Liu Liu and Liu Qi, he really looked down on them.

What is the significance of the experience of a large army of bandits?

If Prince Ning wants to fight for the world, he can't just grab whatever he wants wherever he goes.

Pei Yuan gave a fair evaluation, "If Prince Ning really wants to do something big, it's useless to rely on those bandits. One Lu Wan can replace three guards."

Li Shishi thought for a while and felt that relying on those bandits was not a correct approach.

Commanding troops to fight is not something that just anyone can do. Especially commanding a large army requires strong leadership skills.

If Lu Wan could be forced to come to Prince Ning's side and let Lu Wan command the troops secretly accumulated by Prince Ning, it would definitely be like adding wings to a tiger.

Although he didn't know how Lu Wan could take on three guards, he knew that it was Pei Yuan who said this.

Li Shishi was somewhat tempted, "Then I'll give it a try."

However, Li Shishi was worried again, "But Lu Wan simply ignored me. In your opinion, what should I do?"

Pei Yuan said, "That's because the pressure Lu Wan has received has not completely destroyed him."

"People will find their own way to survive."

"Maybe that's when Lu Wan will come to see you."

Pei Yuan was about to say something else when Chen Xinjian leaned over to Pei Yuan's ear and said, "Captain, Qian Ning has sent someone to Zhihua Temple to meet with you tonight to discuss important matters."

Pei Yuan frowned, and ignoring Li Shishi, he took Chen Xinjian a few steps away and asked in a low voice, "See you tonight? Where is he?"

Chen Xinjian looked a little strange, "Qian Ning's messenger said that he dared not leave the emperor's side and is now in the palace."

Pei Yuan looked like you're kidding me, "He's in the palace, how can I go see him?"

Chen Xinjian said, "Qian Ning's messenger said that you have an ivory waist badge, so you don't need to change it when entering the palace. He has already told the gatekeepers that as long as you enter the palace before the gates are locked, the guards won't record it."

"Then the captain can stay with the soldiers on duty at the Jinyiwei first, and after a secret discussion with Commander Qiandu, they can change guard together at dawn."

Pei Yuan's eyes widened. "Entering the palace at night? Is this possible?"

Chen Xin said with a steely face, "Qian Ning said it's okay."

Pei Yuan was speechless. No wonder Li Zilong was able to enter the palace as if he was strolling in a garden by bewitching some eunuchs and palace maids.

It turns out that the imperial palace, which seemed heavily guarded in the eyes of outsiders, was just so-so in the eyes of those close ministers.

Come to think of it, it seems that Brother Teruko really doesn’t care much about his palace.

The imperial palace was where emperors of all dynasties kept their women, and the Leopard Room was where this emperor kept his men.

For Zhu Houzhao, the Leopard House where men were kept was his harem.

If the border troops had not made a commotion, making the safety of the Leopard House unsafe, Zhu Houzhao probably would not have thought of living in the palace.

Pei Yuan immediately thought of the secret letters from the Xia family that he had collected. If he could enter the palace, he might have a chance to contact Queen Xia secretly.

He asked nervously, "Is it possible?"

The secret letter was of great importance, and Pei Yuan had long hesitated whether to do the job personally, lest the secret be leaked.

Chen Xinjian replied helplessly, "It has come to this, how can we care about anything else? We must discuss a countermeasure with Commander Qiandu as soon as possible."

"Now Commander Qiandu dares not leave the emperor for a moment. He is probably afraid that someone will take the opportunity to slander him. How long will Qianhu wait if he does not go to look for him?"

Pei Yuan thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go back to the old house in Dengshikou later."

Pei Yuan didn't know when the palace gates would be locked, but he didn't have much time to talk to Li Shishi.

So, Pei Yuan returned to Li Shishi and apologized, "I wanted to discuss it with Dadu Xian, but now the situation has changed a bit, so I have to deal with it as soon as possible. What a pity."

Li Shishi also knew that Pei Yuan was in trouble, so he consoled him, "It's okay. Let's drink together after you get through this. If there's anything I can do for you, I won't refuse."

Then, he encouraged again, "If it really doesn't work, my dear brother, you should make plans early and go to King Ning. With my dear brother, it doesn't matter whether Lu Wan is there or not."

Pei Yuan sighed secretly.

Li Shishi thought of something else and added, "By the way, our people met with Liu Pang, the doctor of ceremonial affairs of the Ministry of Rites, today. As you said, Liu Pang accepted the money."

"Moreover, when we mentioned the matter of restoring the ceremonial guard for Prince Ning again, he readily agreed, but added a condition, asking us to find a way to move him to another position. He said that he was afraid of being implicated in this matter, so he changed his position."

"I found Yang Yiqing to fulfill the favor of Jin Xianmin. Later, Yang Yiqing sent Liu Pang to the Ministry of Guests and Guests to settle the matter because the envoys from Korea and Japan had repeatedly complained."

"My dear brother, I have done what I promised you."

Pei Yuan didn't have the energy to think about this at the moment, and just said thank you dryly.

Li Shishi said, "In this case, as long as the Ministry of Rites can pass it smoothly, all that remains is for the Grand Secretary to draft it and for the Imperial Household Department to use its seal."

Li Shishi looked at Pei Yuan meaningfully, "My dear brother, considering our relationship with the person in the Imperial Household Department, the use of the seal shouldn't be a big problem, right?"

Pei Yuan simply said, "Leave it to me."

Li Shishi asked expectantly, "What about the Grand Secretary's draft?"

Pei Yuan knew the answer, and that was Yang Tinghe who could decide the outcome by escaping from peeing!

However, Pei Yuan did not want to waste his energy at this time, so he recommended the great man who had facilitated this political bayonet in history, "This matter is not difficult. Dadu Xian can go to find Zang Xian."

(End of this chapter)