During the six months that Xia Ji and Xia Nan were not in Wanqiu, the people of Wanqiu experienced the most chaotic period in decades.

The former Prince Wu was "meditated" by Chen Linggong in prison, and Concubine Tao bought the jailer to let Gongzi Wu "commit suicide in fear of crime" in prison in order to completely clear the obstacles for her son. Who knew that the people on Gongzi's side had already been prepared, and Lu Sikong had already arranged for his own people to be among the jailers.

After getting the news, Lu Sikong immediately entered the palace to meet Chen Linggong, but Chen Linggong didn't take what he said seriously at all, and reprimanded him, saying that he just wanted to find an excuse to release Gongziwu.

Lu Sikong is Gongziwu's maternal uncle, and his sister is the former Queen Chen, but unfortunately died early. His sister knew that Chen Linggong was unreliable, and entrusted her child Wu to Lu Sikong before she died. Whether it is for the trust of his sister or for the future of the Lu family, it is impossible for Lu Sikong to sit idly by and watch Gongziwu be killed. Chen Linggong doesn't care, he can't ignore it no matter what.

However, Sikong is nothing more than a fictitious position in charge of etiquette, morality, and sacrifice. Lu Sikong had no soldiers in his hands, so he had to use secret means to use a prisoner who looked more similar to Gongziwu to stay in the prison instead of Gongziwu, and the real Gongziwu hid in the Lu family's courtyard after escaping.

But Gongziwu can't stay in the Lu family quietly like this all the time, otherwise once the news of his death is announced to the world, even if he jumps out again, as long as Chen Linggong doesn't recognize him, he will lose his status as a prince, and he will not be qualified to inherit the royal family. So Lu Sikong deliberately left a little flaw for Concubine Tao.

After all, Concubine Tao Xiaoxu was from a humble background and had limited vision, she was bent on killing Gongzi Wu, and after finding out that he was replaced, she immediately reported to Chen Linggong, saying that Gongzi Wu had absconded from prison with bad intentions.

Chen Linggong didn't want Gongzi to die at noon, he just wanted him to be safe and secure and not affect his power. But Gongziwu has always been against him, and now that he has escaped from prison, who knows what he will do next? Chen Linggong felt that this situation was too bad when it was not under his control, so he issued an edict to search for Gongziwu across the country.

Although Lu Sikong had no soldiers in his hands, he was in charge of the power of sacrifice. Sacrifice was a very solemn event in this dynasty, symbolizing the majesty of royal power, so he could influence many people in the clan and dignitaries.

Under the management of Chen Linggong, Chen Guo's situation deteriorated, which had already caused the dissatisfaction of many courtiers. Besides, those with a little bit of brains know that this is an era that will be eliminated if you don't move forward. They have been rooted in the state of Chen for generations, and they do not want to become prisoners of other countries one day.

Although Gongziwu is not necessarily a virtuous gentleman now, as long as he is willing to listen to the ministers, he is not full of wine like Chen Linggong, and he can't go to the court several times a month, and he treats national affairs as child's play.

The ministers' requirements are really low, and they don't want to wait for Chen Linggong's young son to grow up, who knows what that child will grow up to be in the end? Gongziwu put on a sincere enough attitude under the urging of Lu Sikong, so about half of the ministers expressed their support for Gongziwu.

They frequently made excerpts in the court, demanding that Chen Linggong withdraw the punishment of Gongziwu and restore him to the position of crown prince.

Chen Linggong saw that so many people were against him and supported his son, and he felt that his royal power was threatened, how did he accept it? A bloody round of repression began.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance. What's more, in the eyes of these people, they are all for Chen Guo. And Chen Linggong is a tyrannical tyrant. So those courtiers who supported Gongziwu united and formed a force that could almost be matched with Chen Linggong's people and could not be underestimated.

Chen Linggong and Gongzi Wu both sent people to desperately search for Xia Ji and Xia Nan's traces. Whoever can win his support will be the winner.

Xia Ji and Xia Nan did not travel with great fanfare, but went out to travel incognito. Coupled with the deliberate cover-up help of Qu Wu and Yang Yu, the final result was that no one found them.

Because he maintained an absolutely neutral attitude, no one from either side went to the forest to sabotage and offend the Xia family's mother and son. Xia Ji and Xia Nan stayed in Chu for half a year with peace of mind.

Zhulin's military horses obeyed the orders of Xia Ji's mother and son when they left, and no matter how much the two sides tempted them, they did not mix anything. made Chen Linggong and Gongziwu feel that there was a plate of very delicious food in front of them, but they couldn't eat it.

This balance will be broken after either Chen Linggong and Gongzi Wu achieve the final victory. At that time, Sima Mansion will be the first object to be eliminated by them. Because no one would want to let such a large force that they can't control under their noses.

When Xia Ji received a letter from Zhulin in Yingdu, she often felt anxious about this problem. If that day really comes, there will only be two roads in front of them, one is to rebel directly, and the other is to slaughter by the neck. Xia Ji didn't want to choose either.

Her anxiety fell in Qu Wu's eyes, and Qu Wu's later actions were born. He pulled the sheep's tongue, and the two of them used their secret hands to influence the political situation in Chen State.

Chen Linggong and Gongziwu were evenly matched, and for four months of stalemate, neither could help the other. Prince Wu suddenly bought off the forbidden army and the subordinate officials in the palace, and those people opened the door for Gongzi Wu to lead a small team directly into the palace and kill Concubine Tao and her son. When Gongzi was about to arrest Chen Linggong, Chen Linggong's men finally arrived.

Half of the palace of King Chen was eventually occupied by Gongzi Wu. Chen Linggong's men and horses escorted him to the Guangming Palace, the palace where he had not set foot for a long time.

At this time, Qu Wu asked people to find Chen Linggong and said that as long as he promised to make Xia Nan the prince, there would still be a glimmer of life. Chen Linggong was still hesitant, but the man took out the edict of Chen Mugong ordering Uncle Xia Yushu to succeed to the throne.

Chen Linggong's father, Chen Gonggong, his throne was originally Uncle Xia Yu's. Chen Mugong did not appoint a prince when he was alive, but left this edict. This edict was known to the queen at the time and the mother of Chen Gonggong, and she secretly hid it, as if there was no such thing.

Chen Gonggong, as the prince of the concubine, inherited the throne logically. And Uncle Xia Yu, who was famous and praised when he was a teenager, was named Sima to help Chen Gonggong protect Chen Guo's country. But Chen Gonggong's mother later found that the edict was missing, and she couldn't find it.

Before Chen Gonggong died, he told Chen Linggong about this matter, so that he could be mentally prepared. No one knows when that edict will come out and what kind of results it will cause. Now this edict has finally appeared.

"If the king agrees to my request, he will take Xia Nan's mother and son back to Chen Guo as the prince, and I will ensure that the king's country is stable and safe. If you don't say yes, there's nothing I can do to help. "The man with the mask in front of him spoke very clearly.

Chen Linggong didn't think long before agreeing. Anyway, his only son is currently in a situation with him, so who will inherit the country? He just needs to spend the rest of his life in this position.

The other party can meet Chen Linggong in the Guangming Palace, which is full of forbidden troops, and Chen Linggong knows that the other party's means are all over the world. Although he didn't even reveal his true face, Chen Linggong still obediently cooperated with him.

On the way back to China, Xia Ji's mother and son naturally encountered sniping from Gongziwu's side. But the soldiers and horses of Zhulin are not vegetarians. They rendezvoused with Xia Ji's mother and son on the border of Chu State, and followed the team sent by Chen Linggong to protect the safety of Xia Ji and Xia Nan. Those snipers were like petty fights, and they didn't affect anything at all.

Gongziwu's people have fallen apart since Xia Nan returned to Wanqiu. Except for Lu Sikong, no one else was very loyal to Prince Wu, but they just felt that he might be a little better than Chen Linggong. If there is a better choice, why choose a bad one? Besides, Chen Linggong said that as long as they atonement their credits, he will not blame the past.

The prince didn't have time to scold Xia Nan for his wolf ambitions, so he was tied up and sent to Chen Linggong.

Chen Linggong, who was almost alive, had completely lost his father-son love for his son in the afternoon. Without saying a word, let people kill him. But he didn't dare to do anything to Xia Nan's mother and son, in addition to the unknown power behind the other party, but also because the other party was Sima before, he had more soldiers and horses in his hands than his direct ones. If the other party wants to, he can be directly ousted from power. Why would he do that kind of thing to pit himself?

Besides, Xia Ji's mother and son are really well-behaved. Not to mention being extremely respectful to him, he also gave him ten beauties! All of them are no worse than the previous peach concubines. So Chen Linggong continued his life of drunken dreams and death.

The Sima Mansion in Zhulin was changed to the Xia Mansion. Xia Ji often lives in the Xia Mansion, while Xia Nan often lives in the East Palace. But he goes back to Zhulin once a month.

However, on this day, Xia Nan specially invited his mother from Zhulin to the East Palace.

"Nan'er, you must call me, what's the matter?" Xia Ji asked as soon as she saw Xia Nan.

Xia Nan didn't speak, but handed him two jade pendants. One is the Liuyun Baifu jade pendant he gave to the sheep tongue before, and the other is printed with the word "Qu", which is the style of the standard jade pendant of the big family. Needless to say, this latter one must have been Qu Wu's.

"What's going on?" Xia Ji knew the origin of these two jade pendants, so she was very surprised. Could it be that the situation of Chen Guo at this time is related to these two people?

"Mother, please come with me!" Xia Nan did not answer Xia Ji's question directly, but took her to her study.

In Xia Nan's study, there were more than a dozen people of different heights and different costumes.

"They are the Qu family and the sheep tongue family are secretly in the Chen country, although the positions are not very high, but they are all in very important places. They gave me these two jade pendants. He also said that he would listen to our mother and son in the future. ”

The more than ten people knelt down and kowtowed to Xia Ji and Xia Nan in unison, "Madam, prince, we will be your people in the future." We are willing to serve the lady and the prince! But if there is a difference, you will not dare to resign! ”