Xuanxia

Chapter 559 The mastermind behind the scenes
The moment the door of the imperial study was closed, the domineering and majestic imperial aura of Zhao Yuan disappeared almost instantly.

He couldn't wait to take off the jade crown on his head, opened his dragon robe, and waved at Ning Wushu: "Sister Wushu, I have given you the title of General Xuanwu. Are you satisfied?"

Ning Wushu smiled slightly: "It's okay. Anyway, when we get to the Northern Frontier, it's still up to my foster father to decide how many soldiers to lead and how to fight."

Zhao Yuan curled his lips.

Then he looked at Fu Qingzhou again: "Brother Fu, now you are Lord Fu, how do you feel?"

Fu Qingzhou grinned: "I don't know whether you are a noble or not, but you gave me a mansion, you are a good brother!"

This is an apartment in Beijing!

Zhao Yuan burst into laughter and looked at Yue Heng again.

Facing Yue Heng, he couldn't help but be cautious: "Brother Yue, Brother Yue, you have a long way to go... Yan and Yuan both think highly of you, you need to win their trust at the same time and fight for enough say in the cabinet!"

Yue Heng was solemn and bowed: "My humble servant...I understand."

Zhao Yuan nodded with satisfaction, strode to the desk and sat down, nodded to Bai Jin: "Brother Jin, you go ahead and tell us what's going on."

Several people sat down again. Bai Jin did not look away, but took out a few sheets of paper from his sleeve and handed them to Fu Qingzhou and the other three.

"This is the confession sent from the prison early this morning."

Bai Jin said in a deep voice: "Remember, this confession must not be leaked. Even in Mingjian Pavilion, only Li Jingzhe, the commander, Ning Wuwang, the owner of Ning Tower, and the secret envoy who interrogated Hua Xincheng know about it. Apart from them, only the people in the imperial study today know about it."

"Hua Xincheng has said a lot over the past few days. This confession has been carefully compiled by Building Master Ning. There is no redundant information. Please read it carefully and don't miss a single word."

Hua Xincheng...

Fu Qingzhou knew that was the name of Hua Wuying's father, Acheng.

His heart sank, knowing that the person on the confession in his hand was probably the man behind Wuli Village.

But...if a confession could reveal the person behind Wuli Village, why would Ning Baimei go through the "gift of a sword" trick?

Fu Qingzhou was confused and read the confession carefully.

When he saw this, his heart suddenly started beating wildly!
In Asumi's confession, the first sentence directly pointed to "the lord".

"The master's identity is Xishuo King Zhao Liang."

Zhao Liang! Zhao Hao's father! The emperor's uncle!

When Ning Baimei suspected him before, Li Jingzhe said that Zhao Liang loved to follow ancient rituals and was extremely self-disciplined. From the governor to the old farmers and porters in Xishuo, everyone praised the prince's character...

Fu Qingzhou was not in a hurry and continued to look down.

When he saw this, his heart beat even faster.

According to Acheng's confession, behind Wuli Village are the three major families of Yuan, Lan and Hong.

Only the Ning family, a new aristocratic family founded by Ning Baimei, did not participate.

The confession mentioned that Acheng had met Zhao Liang in person and received orders from Zhao Liang; he had also visited the Yuan, Lan, and Hong families on behalf of the prince and delivered messages between them.

Not only that, he also gave out one name after another...

As for what these people are planning?
As a messenger in the shadows, Ah Cheng was not particularly clear. He was only responsible for conveying the current task, but he had no idea what these people were planning specifically.

But in his confession, one can still see that these people are constantly killing people, recruiting criminals, funding Xiyu Pavilion, secretly supporting Huijue, colluding with officials to abuse their power for personal gain... They have formed a huge interest group and are doing countless shameful things.

Ping!
Zhao Yuan slammed the confession on the table. His previous smile had long disappeared, and his face was full of anger: "Are these people fucking going to rebel?!"

Fu Qingzhou put down the confession in his hand and looked extremely solemn.

He looked at Yue Heng and Ning Wushu, and there was shock and fear in their eyes.

But Bai Jin was much calmer. He said softly, "Your Majesty, calm down. This confession may not be entirely true."

Zhao Yuan said coldly: "The confession that Mingjian Pavilion took out from the prison, how could it be false?!" "...It's hard to say."

Fu Qingzhou frowned and said, "That... Hua Xincheng, he has been managing Xiyu Pavilion for Jiang Baichuan for such a long time. Every assassin in Xiyu Pavilion was trained by him personally. He himself has reached the Cave Heaven Realm. Ordinary interrogations are completely useless to him."

"So I suspect that the confessions he made were what he wanted to say."

After saying a few words, he found that everyone was staring at him, so he carefully considered his words and said, "Before, Hua Xincheng told me that if I could walk out of Jiang Baichuan's sword alive, he would confess everything... But I don't dare to believe everything he said."

"He has great respect and admiration for Jiang Baichuan. For Jiang Baichuan, he is willing to die... Now that the mastermind behind Wuli Village has not yet been revealed and Jiang Baichuan has already escaped, what will happen if he reveals everything now?"

Hearing his question, Ning Wushu replied softly: "Hua Xincheng doesn't know his father's arrangement, and doesn't know that the emperor doesn't plan to take action against the aristocratic families for the time being. If he really tells everything, it will trigger a war between the two sides..."

"...then Jiang Baichuan will definitely be in danger."

Bai Jin took over the conversation and said in a deep voice: "He no longer has his own power. If he wants to protect himself, he can only wag his tail and beg for mercy in front of his master. His master hates him for not doing his job well and causing trouble, and will also make him do the most dangerous and dirty work."

After these words, Zhao Yuan calmed down a lot.

But he still wondered, "If it's as you said, this Hua Xincheng... why did he make up all this?"

"To muddy the waters?"

Yue Heng said carefully: "As long as more people are dragged into the water and the real mastermind is hidden, Jiang Baichuan will be relatively safe?"

Fu Qingzhou nodded: "It's possible...but it doesn't rule out the possibility that he's telling the truth."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Yuan cast a dissatisfied look: "Brother Fu, didn't you say that we can't believe his words?"

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Make bold assumptions and verify them carefully. We need to consider both possibilities."

Zhao Yuan asked again: "What if what he said is true? Why?"

"Similarly, it's also a diversion."

Fu Qingzhou replied: "If we expose these people behind the scenes, the court's attention will not just stay on Jiang Baichuan."

Zhao Yuan showed a little annoyance on his face and scratched his head.

"Okay, I think I know."

He waved his hand and said, "No matter what, this matter can only be known by these few people and must not be leaked. You need to know who the enemy is. As for the rest, Brother Fu will carry out Ning Baimei's appeasement plan, and then we can discuss it."

After these words were spoken, a trace of confusion clearly appeared on Bai Jin and Yue Heng's faces.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Zhao Yuan laughed and scolded: "This is an absolute secret! You are not qualified to know it!"

Bai Jin suddenly realized, and the confusion on his face turned into relief.

Obviously, after knowing that Ning Baimei had made arrangements for this matter, he felt much more relieved.

Yue Heng was clearly relieved...

He had just become an official, and already he had to face such a big trouble. This was already the limit of his stress tolerance - if he had to worry about another big secret, he would probably go crazy.

"Okay, let's stop discussing this matter for now."

Zhao Yuan said solemnly: "If there is any progress in the future, I will discuss it with you guys. You guys plus Mingjian Pavilion are completely my people. Remember?"

Since he entered the Imperial Study, he has always referred to himself as "I". Now he calls himself "Zhen", which means that he is truly giving orders in the capacity of an emperor.

Several people also looked solemn and stood up slightly in response.

"Okay, then let's discuss another matter."

Zhao Yuan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "How should we fight that debate?"

(End of this chapter)