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

Chapter 539 Follow the lead
When Pei Yuan heard this, his little trick of using paper procedures to play with time immediately came to his mind.

As long as you can create opportunities, it doesn't seem that difficult.

Besides, Xiao Jing's confidants such as Li Zhang colluded with each other inside and outside the court to help him cover up.

If Li Zilong can enter and leave the harem freely with the help of some eunuchs and palace maids, then I should be able to do it too.

Pei Yuan said, "I know what's going on. We'll need someone in the palace to cooperate when the time comes."

Li Zhang thought for a moment and said, "This matter still needs to be planned, but as long as the thousand households have the order, we will not refuse."

Pei Yuan was very satisfied with Li Zhang's statement, and explained his intentions to prove his innocence. "After all, we can't support the queen in vain. Some conditions still need the queen's approval in person."

“I have to discuss these matters in person.”

Li Zhang smiled when he heard this, "These are all things that the commander needs to consider. When I return, I will inform the others. If the commander has any other instructions, you can also ask Commander Xiao to notify us."

Hearing Li Zhang talking about Xiao Yan, Pei Yuan couldn't help but think of that poor child Xiao Tong.

Fortunately, I took over the Xiao family's business, otherwise Xiao Tong would have to enter the palace and take over the family business.

He really has to thank me.

Then, Pei Yuan thought of Li Zhang’s nephew Li Jin.

So he asked, "I heard that you have a nephew who is now serving as a deputy captain?"

When Li Zhang saw Pei Yuan asking, a smile immediately appeared on his originally sinister face. "Thank you for your concern, Captain. My nephew is useless. He is just an empty title now, and has no solid arrangements."

Pei Yuan said, "You came to see me as soon as I entered the palace, which shows that you are diligent in your work. Do you want me to help him arrange it?"

Hearing this, Li Zhang smiled even more. "Although I am in the palace, I know that Captain Pei is a man who is willing to help his subordinates. If you are willing to help my nephew, I will go through fire and water for you without hesitation."

Pei Yuan didn't pay much attention to these empty words and asked directly, "Where do you want to place your nephew? In the local guard post, in the capital army, or somewhere closer to you?"

Li Zhang was a little unsure after hearing Pei Yuan's loud tone, so he could only say doubtfully, "I am old, and it would be best if I could arrange for my nephew to stay by my side. I just don't know if Qian Hu has any connections in the Banner Guard."

Pei Yuan thought about it and realized there was really no direct way.

The Banner Guards belonged to the Shangzhi Imperial Army, and were mainly responsible for guarding the imperial city and serving as escort for the emperor's carriage when he traveled.

They don't have much interaction with the forces outside the palace, so they can't have a say.

However, as long as it happens in the imperial city, there is nothing that the Admiral of the Imperial Household Department cannot intervene in.

Lu Ting can find a solution to this matter.

Pei Yuan asked the old eunuch, "Do you have paper and pen?"

Li Zhang quickly said, "Yes, yes."

As he spoke, he reached into his sleeves again, and soon he took out writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Pei Yuan looked at the inkstone still covered with thick ink and couldn't help but glance at the old eunuch.

This old guy has something.

Pei Yuan had seen a lot of tricks and was somewhat immune to them. He took a pen and paper, dipped it in ink and wrote a line of bad words on it.

The note briefly mentioned Li Jin's identity and asked for help in arranging a decent position in the Flag Bearer Guard.

There is no title above and no signature below.

Pei Yuan wrote the note, blew on it and handed it to Li Zhang, then said, "Take this and go see Lu Ting, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, and ask him to arrange a suitable position for your nephew."

"If he asks, you don't have to hide it, just say it was me who said it."

"Lu Ting?" Li Zhang looked at Pei Yuan in surprise, looked at the note, and took it hesitantly.

Pei Yuan looked at Li Zhang's expression, and his mind turned. He immediately guessed why the old guy was hesitating.
So he asked, "Don't you understand why you think Lu Ting is your enemy?"

Li Zhang is Xiao Jing's man. At the beginning, Lu Ting and Xiao Jing were the two major candidates for the seal of the Imperial Household Department.

Xiao Jing has served in the palace for several generations of emperors and has a faction that has been rooted for many years.

Around Lu Ting, there were also a group of eunuchs of all sizes who followed him on the front lines and rose to prominence by gaining military merits.

In the fight between the two, Xiao Jing originally had a greater chance of winning.

Li Zhang and others were even more celebrating, and were ready to rise to great heights.

Unexpectedly, for some reason, the Queen Mother suddenly became extremely hostile to Xiao Jing and even openly suppressed him, which made their situation take a sharp turn for the worse.

The final result was that Lu Ting successfully ascended to the position and became the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

As Lu Ting rose to power, his followers such as Yin Sheng and Zhang Zhong, who had followed him in the army, also quickly rose to prominence.

Then, those winners who were eager to seek power began to suppress Xiao Jing's party with all their might.

This put people like Li Zhang in a very difficult situation.

Unexpectedly, Captain Pei, who took over Xiao Jing's business, would actually ask him to find Lu Ting to ask for a future for his nephew.

Pei Yuan didn't wait for Li Zhang to ask again, and said, "Don't worry. Xiao Jing can't protect you, but I can. Xiao Jing's face doesn't work, but I can."

"Just show it to Lu Ting."

Li Zhang was a little confused about his position. After hesitating for a moment, he put the note away.

Pei Yuan didn't know when Qian Ning would come over, and was a little worried that his connection with the palace would be exposed, so he said to Li Zhang, "Someone might come to see me later, and it's not good for others to know about our relationship."

"You may withdraw now. If I need you, I will ask Commander Xiao to find you."

He then gestured to the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone on the table and said, "Take these things away as well."

Li Zhang also needed to digest this meeting with Pei Yuan, so he bowed and said, "In that case, I will take my leave first."

As he spoke, he slowly cleaned up the things on the table.

So Pei Yuan watched Li Zhang put away the four treasures of the study on the table, and put the lit oil lamp into his sleeve.

Pei Yuan thought to himself that this was a good technique, but he didn't know if he could learn it.

As the room grew darker, Li Zhang slowly and respectfully backed away and turned away.

After Li Zhang left, Pei Yuan was no longer very sleepy.

While thinking about the plan of sneaking into the harem, he was waiting for Qian Ning boredly.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard chaotic footsteps. Pei Yuan didn't know whether it was the Jinyiwei or Qian Ning who were changing shifts. He subconsciously looked outside and saw Qian Ning coming over surrounded by a group of people.

Qian Ning immediately spotted Pei Yuan looking outside, and hurried over to greet him, saying with a smile, "Brother Pei, please come here and disturb your rest."

"But now that Brother Pei can come, I feel much more at ease." Qian Ning waved his hand and signaled the personal soldiers following him to retreat.

The guards immediately scattered and guarded the other doors.

Pei Yuan let Qian Ning into the room. He was eager to know the first-hand information about the border troops' disturbance, so he asked directly, "I heard that something happened to the border troops, and I have been restless all day."

"Fortunately, the commander-in-chief sent someone to summon me this time, otherwise I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight."

Qian Ning paused and asked, "Brother Pei didn't kill Jiang Bin, did he?"

Pei Yuan knew what Qian Ning meant, and immediately said firmly, "How is that possible? Although my martial arts skills are rough, I still know how much strength I use."

Before, Pei Yuan also suspected that Qian Ning was not careful enough and secretly crippled Jiang Bin, but seeing that Qian Ning was concerned about this right away, it was obvious that he was caught off guard by Jiang Bin's condition.

Although the suspicion cannot be completely ruled out, it is enough to help Pei Yuan make further judgments.

After hearing Pei Yuan's answer, Qian Ning let out a sigh of relief and sneered to himself, "I knew they were playing tricks."

Having said that, he walked to the table, found a chair and sat down.

Qian Ning sat down and looked around. Seeing that the room was dark, he frowned and asked Pei Yuan, "Why is there no light?"

Pei Yuan gestured, "The lamp oil is gone, and I'm too lazy to bother."

Qian Ning looked at the small bowl on the table, which was too dark to see clearly, and then said, "Forget it, the moonlight is fine, no need to close the door."

After that, Qian Ning asked Pei Yuan, "What do you think about Jiang Bin's matter, brother?"

Pei Yuan had heard some information about this matter from other people, but that messy information was definitely not as specific as what Qian Ning, the person involved, knew.

Pei Yuan said, "I just heard a brief mention from my subordinates. I am confused about the whole matter. I hope the commander can give me some advice."

Qian Ning sneered, "It's right to be confused. I didn't expect them to play like this. Do they think this is Xuanfu or Datong?"

"They are playing this trick in the border town, and the imperial court is out of mind, so for the sake of the overall situation, they just let it go. But this is the capital, and the eyes of the entire court are watching us."

"This means that your majesty and the court don't even have the chance to play dumb."

"They blocked the way for His Majesty and the court, but how could they not block their own way?"

"It's so stupid!"

Pei Yuan listened to Qian Ning's complaints and casually echoed, "The commander-in-chief believes that Li Cong, Shen Zhou and others are deliberately using Jiang Bin's matter as an excuse to cause trouble and want to take the opportunity to target us!"

Qian Ning laughed disdainfully, "Yes, that's what they understand."

"They think that killing Captain Zhou Qi is fine, and that the rules of the border towns will come into play again? Haha, that's ridiculous."

Pei Yuan felt a little relieved when he saw that Qian Ning was not carried away by the excitement.

It’s not easy, but this time I finally met a more reliable ally.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment, and then asked tentatively, "In that case, has the commander mentioned this matter to His Majesty? If His Majesty has been deceived by those guys, I'm afraid we will not end well."

Qian Ning comforted Pei Yuan and said, "Your Majesty is smart and wise, how could he not see through those people's tricks? Your Majesty mentioned some of the key points to me."

Pei Yuan felt more and more relieved.

Brother Zhaozi is a smart man. As long as he knows what's going on, the possibility of him taking the blame is reduced a bit.

Honestly speaking, after learning that Li Cong and Shen Zhou were making trouble by taking advantage of Jiang Bin being beaten, Pei Yuan did regret having teamed up with Qian Ning to beat Jiang Bin.

Although Pei Yuan did nothing wrong in his small choice.

However, considering the overall situation, it was undoubtedly a very passive step.

He should have united the more powerful border troops and abandoned Qian Ning, who was gradually losing power as the imperial power weakened.

But the surging waves were there, and when the two sides collided with surging force, people standing aside had no chance to choose calmly.

Pei Yuan could only settle for the second best, and then the second best, stubbornly accumulating enough strength, striving to become the other side of the undercurrent when the waves of both sides collided and shattered.

Jiang Bin and his men pointed their swords at Qian Ning, and also at Pei Yuan. Naturally, Pei Yuan could only join in passively and fight first.

Pei Yuan then asked Qian Ning, "Then according to the commander-in-chief's intention, what should I do?"

Qian Ning said quickly, "Hey, what you said earlier opened my eyes and I benefited a lot from it. I am asking you for your advice."

Pei Yuan pondered over Qian Ning's words while thinking about how to break the impasse.

He glanced at Qian Ning unconsciously, but his eyes couldn't help but freeze slightly.

Qian Ning's expression did not seem to be completely at a loss or at a loss. Instead, he seemed to be confident and well-organized.

Pei Yuan was used to making plans for others, but only now did he realize that Qian Ning was really being polite just now.

It makes sense just thinking about it.

Since Qian Ning and Zhu Houzhao had discussed this matter before, how could Zhu Houzhao, who was so smart, not have any suggestions?
Saying that he is asking for my advice is probably just an excuse.

Pei Yuan's expression remained unchanged, and he said with emotion, "Commander-in-Chief, please don't be too modest. How can I show off in such a big matter? As a member of the Imperial Guard, I naturally have to follow your lead."

Qian Ning laughed and said, "You are too modest, brother. I am sincerely seeking your advice."

Pei Yuan refused, saying, "I know my limits and will just follow your orders."

When Qian Ning heard Pei Yuan say this, he stopped being polite and asked directly, "Brother, what do you think of Jiang Bin's current situation?"

Pei Yuan quickly gave his own judgment, "I think Jiang Bin must have taken the opportunity to pretend to be sick in the mansion so that his accomplices can cause trouble outside."

Qian Ning clapped his hands and said, "Great minds think alike. I think so too."

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What does the commander-in-chief mean?"

Qian Ning leaned forward slightly and whispered, "Brother, do you still remember Liang Ci'an?"

"Liang Ci'e?" Pei Yuan suddenly had a bad feeling.

Qian Ning did not give Pei Yuan a chance to maneuver and said directly, "Back then, Liang Chu and Zhang Rong deceived the emperor and wanted Liang Ci to risk his life and lie that he was beaten to death by you, so that they could find fault with you."

"As a result, my brother got the information from Governor Xiao, and immediately led his men to rush into the residence of Grand Secretary Liang Chu, arrested Liang Ci'an, and paraded him in front of the public at the Da Ci'en Temple."

"In the end, Grand Secretary Liang Chu was forced to claim illness, and Zhang Rong was also removed from his position as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard."

"Brother, you were so brave and resolute at that time, why are you hesitating now?"

After hearing Qian Ning's suicidal plan, Pei Yuan couldn't help but take a breath and cursed in his heart.

(End of this chapter)