The next day, it rained heavily.
A few people gathered again in the Zichen Hall to discuss matters. Xie Yan strolled over leisurely, with faint wet marks still visible around his feet.
Liu Zhengze narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled on the surface. "Greetings to the Second Prince. It's pouring heavily today, making it inconvenient to travel. Why did the Second Prince come?"
Obviously, he regarded Xie Yan as an unwelcome guest.
"I haven't seen Father for a long time. I thought the weather was nice today, so I came to visit him. And by the way..." Xie Yan grinned playfully. "I came to see if all the lords have reported for duty dutifully."
The old duke let out a booming laugh. "So the Second Prince came to monitor us. I wonder if the Second Prince is satisfied with what he saw just now?"
Xie Yan lifted his robe and sat down. Every movement of his exuded charm. He propped his head up with one hand, squinted his eyes and smiled. "Naturally satisfied. I'll just sit here for a while. You lords can continue your discussion. What were you just talking about?"
The old duke answered quickly. "We were just talking about the Marquis of Wuan. General Mao is seriously ill. We're not sure if we should let him recover his health first before coming back, or send him back to the capital immediately."
Xie Yan seemed to be deep in thought but didn't say a word.
Liu Zhengze glanced at the old duke and said meaningfully. "General Mao is a criminal. Everyone knows that this battle was lost in a strange way. We can't rule out the possibility that something is wrong with General Mao..."
Xie Yan raised his eyebrows. "Lord Liu, are you saying that General Mao colluded with the enemy and deliberately lost the city?"
Liu Zhengze chuckled. "I wouldn't dare."
"Then in your opinion, how should we deal with General Mao?" Xie Yan asked leisurely.
If he said to kill General Mao directly, all the people present would surely oppose it. Especially that old coot, the old duke. He might even get up and fight him the next moment.
Liu Zhengze's mind was spinning fast. After a moment, he smiled. "There are doubts about General Mao. It's better for him to return to the capital as soon as possible."
With that old fool Chen Xuan keeping an eye on things in the northern border, it was really not easy to kill him.
But once General Mao set off, there would be many more opportunities to take action along the way.
Maybe a group of bandits would suddenly appear and kill him directly?
Xie Yan suddenly realized. "Lord Liu makes a lot of sense. Since that's the case, then it's better to do it right away. I'll immediately send someone to bring General Mao back."
Liu Zhengze's eyelids twitched. "How could we dare to trouble Your Highness? We can just let our subordinates handle such things."
The old duke chimed in from the side. "Let our subordinates handle it? I'm afraid General Mao will die on the way before he even reaches the capital."
Liu Zhengze's hand in his sleeve tightened suddenly. Almost instantly, he realized the purpose of Xie Yan's visit today.
He wanted to protect General Mao's life!
Liu Zhengze's eyes turned cold, but he pretended to be in a dilemma. "According to the rules, we still need the imperial court to send troops to escort criminals. The Second Prince hasn't taken charge of government affairs yet, so I'm afraid..."
These words were really irritating.
The smile on Xie Yan's face faded. He folded his arms and leaned back on the chair, silently looking at Liu Zhengze.
Liu Zhengze looked terrified and quickly lowered his head.
The old duke frowned and was about to speak when he saw Jin Yuanzhou, who had been silent like a wooden stake, suddenly raise his head. He said respectfully to Lord Zhang. "Now that His Majesty is in a coma and can't issue an imperial edict, everything still has to be decided by Lord Zhang."
Xie Yan smiled faintly. "Since Lord Liu said that I don't have the right, then I should naturally be obedient. Lord Jin makes a lot of sense. What's your opinion, Lord Zhang?"
On such occasions, no matter how fiercely the others quarreled, Lord Zhang never said a word. But everyone knew that once he opened his mouth, no matter whether the result was good or bad, there would be no room for refutation.
This was the power of status.
No matter how aggrieved Liu Zhengze was, he had no choice but to bow his head and accept it.
He could just find another opportunity to take action secretly.
At this moment, Jin Yuanzhou handed the decision-making power to Lord Zhang. Lord Zhang slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Xie Yan, and finally fixed his gaze on Jin Yuanzhou.
"Then—Lord Jin will go with the Second Prince's men to escort General Mao back to the capital."
Liu Zhengze's eyebrows twitched. The words he wanted to refute were almost on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.
After thinking for a moment, he smiled. "That's great. With Lord Jin and the Second Prince together, I'm sure General Mao will be able to return to the capital safely."
He couldn't interfere with Xie Yan's men, but couldn't he interfere with the men brought by Jin Yuanzhou?
He glanced at Lord Zhang. When he chose to divide the imperial power into three parts, he actually had the idea of elevating the Zhang family.
As long as he propped up that old coot, Lord Zhang, on a high pedestal, he wouldn't be able to favor the Second Prince's faction.
Once he showed partiality, he wouldn't be able to convince the public. Once he couldn't convince the public, then his chance would come.
Wasn't he afraid of causing chaos?
And if he remained impartial and held the balance fairly, although he wouldn't gain any benefits, the other side wouldn't either.
Then it didn't really matter whether he was there or not.
Liu Zhengze resumed his smiling appearance. "Then it's settled. It's raining heavily outside. There's no need to rush. We can set off tomorrow after the rain stops."
Xie Yan quietly glanced at Jin Yuanzhou, then stood up and stretched lazily. "Since we've discussed the matter, I'll take my leave first. I don't want to disturb you lords from discussing important matters."
Liu Zhengze bowed with a smile. "Your Highness, take care."
After stepping out of the door, the strong wind blew the heavy rain directly onto his face.
The smile on his face faded. He looked at the gloomy sky and said coldly. "Go to the Marquis's Mansion."
Chen Tingfeng was watching Fu Zhen drink medicine. At first, he wanted to feed her, but Fu Zhen thought he was in the way and directly took the medicine bowl and drank it up in one gulp.
Chen Tingfeng quickly stuffed a preserved fruit into her mouth. "Cousin is so brave."
Fu Zhen gave him a disdainful look. "You're so perfunctory."
Chen Tingfeng chuckled and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Cousin has a sweet mouth. Teach me, cousin."
Fu Zhen pushed him away, but he moved closer instead. He picked her up and sat her on his lap. Playing with her hand, he said. "I killed Yuanyang."
She was stunned. "What about the one in the palace..."
Wouldn't they know that the secret agent had been eliminated?
Chen Tingfeng leaned his head on her shoulder, smelling the fragrance of her hair. He said casually. "The real Yuanyang is already dead. The human skin mask left by the fake Yuanyang can also be worn on someone else's face."
He just needed to find someone with a similar figure to take her place. As long as the person was smart and cautious, he wasn't afraid of being discovered by the people in the palace.
"She had a very tough mouth. We couldn't get anything out of her even with torture," he said indifferently. "However, torture couldn't make her talk, but drugs could."
When she was unconscious, her mouth wasn't as tight. Although she didn't know much, Chen Tingfeng just wanted to know the secret signal for their rendezvous.
Presumably, the person in the palace didn't expect that Chen Tingfeng still had a drug that could make people lose consciousness and speak the truth.
However, it wasn't really a drug. It should be considered a kind of Gu.
In the southern Yunnan region, there were many Miao villages. It wasn't strange to have all kinds of strange Gus.
He was always a person who thought ten steps ahead. Since he was going to look for them, he might as well look for both drugs and Gus.
Now the inventory in his two secret rooms was increasing.
Fu Zhen listened silently.
No wonder Chen Tingfeng was able to win in both lifetimes. With such perseverance, determination, and foresight, if he still couldn't win, it would be against the will of heaven.