King Guangping did not give an affirmative answer: "In fact, I don't know, or even know, how many people have been co-opted and what positions they have assumed. But one thing is for sure, King Ying has always been smart, and if he doesn't have enough strength, he won't act rashly. But he was so strange in the matter of building the Nanhou Mansion, and even disregarded Tian Shangshu's reputation, and let Tian Shangshu say such ridiculous words, regardless of the consequences, there must be his reason. ”

Zhang was skeptical of his words, and always felt that he actually knew which people were suspected of taking refuge in King Ying, but he just didn't want to leak secrets, why? Is it afraid that she will remember the past and mention it in her letters, startling the snake? She sighed, although she was a woman in the house, she also knew the importance of the matter, how could she do this?

She said to King Guangping: "I don't understand the things in the court, I have the emperor, His Royal Highness, and the princes of the court, as for the old department of the county prince who took refuge in King Ying, no matter which one it is, if he is really hard-hearted, he will do such a big rebellion, that is, he violates the teachings of the county grandfather during his lifetime, no matter what happens to him in the future, he deserves it." ”

King Guangping immediately understood what she meant, and was moved by her deep understanding of righteousness, and said solemnly: "Old lady, rest assured, my father will never wronged innocent and innocent people, nor will he let the guilty escape." ”

I don't know if this is talking about the generals who took refuge in King Ying, or Zhao Jiong?

Zhang smiled faintly: "The emperor is in charge, what else is there to worry about?" She asked King Guangping: "Regarding King Ying's matter, the emperor must have already had a belly case, right?" ”

This question is really difficult for King Guangping to answer, the emperor has always been jealous and tolerant of King Ying's younger brother, jealous because he was almost robbed of the throne and throne by the other party, and tolerant because he swore before Emperor Taizu died that he would treat this younger brother well and never hurt his younger brother's life. He has been an honest man since he was a child, and he was taught by all the teachers to be a "benevolent gentleman", and the result is that he is bound to do anything, and he always has to consider public opinion, whether it will damage his reputation as a benevolent monarch, even if all kinds of signs show that King Ying is courting courtiers and has a bad mind, but as long as King Ying does not really openly rebel, the emperor has no intention of dealing with him, so that several princes and ministers in the court can't help but wipe a handful of sweat. However, if King Ying really did something, the emperor would naturally not let him go, at most he would not kill him, and he would be confined instead, which could be regarded as fulfilling the oath he made in front of the previous emperor.

As the prince who has been involved in politics for the longest time, King Guangping is very clear about his father's temperament, but he can't honestly tell the Zhang family about this kind of thing, so he has to say: "Don't worry, old lady, my father knows it." ”

Zhang nodded, and suddenly raised his head and stared at King Guangping's eyes: "Your Highness, if the emperor wants to deal with King Ying and stop his rebellion, he must find out how many followers he has. You also said just now, Emperor Taizu has already taught that Xiucai rebelled, and it didn't work out in three years, King Ying wanted to rebel, the most important thing was the army, and the people in the army who took refuge in him were likely to be the old department of the county grandfather. In other words, the emperor must find out who these people are first, right? Now that the emperor is reluctant to issue an order to deal with Zhao Jiong and take away the title of Xiao Changfang, is it because he wants to confuse King Ying, Tian Shangshu and others, so that they think that the treacherous plan has succeeded, so as long as Zhao Jue of Xiao Changfang inherits the title, someone will contact him, and then the emperor is afraid that he will not know who is taking refuge in King Ying? ”

King Guangping was a little dumbfounded when he heard this, Zhang's words sounded quite reasonable, but did his father really think so? He was a little unsure, with his father's temperament, it was not like he would make such a decision, of course, it was also possible that some important minister planned it. He needs to return to the capital to find out the truth.

Seeing that King Guangping was silent, Zhang thought that he was right, but this kind of secret matter was not something she should ask, so he smiled indifferently: "Your Highness doesn't say it, it's okay, the old man knows it in his heart." ”

King Guangping looked at her tangledly, and wanted to tell her the truth to the old man, but when the words came to his mouth, he swallowed again. As the Son of Man, you still have to be ashamed of His Holiness. He could not say that this kind of strategy, which was very scheming, did not seem to be something that his father, who cherished the reputation of the benevolent monarch, could do.

Zhang thought about it, and said to King Guangping: "Your Royal Highness, I am a woman, I don't understand the things in the court, but the prince is rebellious, it should definitely be stopped, what the emperor wants to do, I will never ask, if you want to borrow the title of Marquis of Jiannan, I don't have a word, just a little, I hope the emperor will be gracious." ”

King Guangping hurriedly said solemnly: "Old lady, please speak." ”

"Zhao Jiong must confess his guilt and be punished according to the law!" Zhang gritted his teeth and said, "Some people may say that he is the son of the county grandfather, and the emperor should give him a light sentence, and some people may say that he is now paralyzed, and he can be regarded as punished, so he doesn't have to be killed, but I can't swallow this breath!" My son is also the flesh and blood of the county grandfather, why did he die in vain? Those who commit great sins deserve to be punished! ”

King Guangping said solemnly: "Don't worry, old lady, my father is definitely not a confused person who does not distinguish between right and wrong, Zhao Jiong's crime is conclusive, I am a witness, how can I allow him to retract his confession?" Even the son of Zhao Jiong, I can promise you here, I will never allow him to get the title of Marquis of Jiannan, so that he can see and touch, and he will always seem to be expected to inherit, but he will not see the will for a long time. I was worried that this would cause Brother Wei to be in danger, but since the old lady has made up her mind and would rather abandon the marquis, then there is nothing to worry about, let Zhao Jiong's wife and children make trouble in Beijing, and when King Ying confesses in the future, they will never end well, and the crime is only a few points heavier than Zhao Jiong's crime of killing his mother and brother. ”

Zhang was slightly moved, and she asked King Guangping: "Does it matter?" If Zhao Jue is not allowed to attack the lord, can King Ying be satisfied? Will he tell who is his comrade in the old Zhao family? ”

King Guangping smiled and said: "What King Ying wants to borrow is only the prestige of the Zhao family in the army, where is the sincerity to protect Zhao Jue's title?" This matter is very controversial, and it is not difficult to delay it for a year or two, Zhao Jue can't attack the lord for a year or two, can King Ying still die? Even if the descendants of the Zhao family do not have titles, they are still the descendants of the old county prince of Zhao, and they are still recognized in the army. When the time comes, if King Ying wants to lure Zhao Jue, he only needs to use the position of Jiannanhou as bait, and it will save a lot of trouble. ”

Zhang sneered: "Whether the descendants of the Zhao family have titles or not, they are all descendants of the county grandfather, but if they are the sons of sinners, they may not be recognized in the army!" If I received the letter, I still think that Zhao Jiong is a good person, obsessed with helping Xiao Changfang, and even disobeys the order of the county grandfather and takes refuge in King Ying, and he deserves to die! She took out four more letters from her sleeve and put them on the table: "I wrote these four letters overnight, and the recipients are all in Beijing. ”

King Guangping glanced at the envelopes of several letters, and found that the recipients were the sons of three Praetorian Guard commanders and another founding hero, and now the generals of the Zhuguo State have always had a close relationship with Zhao Laojungong, if they knew what Zhao Jiong's family had done, at least they could guarantee that they would not intercede for Zhao Jiong in the court. And they each have deep connections, countless subordinates, the news can spread quickly, do not worry that the old Zhao family is confused by Zhao Jiong's son, do the wrong thing, in the future, when the same party of King Ying is investigated, it must not be injured by mistake. Because after knowing the truth of the matter, he still went all the way to the dark, needless to say, he also knew that there was a ghost in his heart.

King Guangping carefully collected the four letters, and got up again to salute and thank Zhang: "The old lady understands the righteousness, and I will live up to the old lady's trust!" ”

He left again, this time to return to Beijing with his wife and children. The emperor issued a secret decree that after inspecting the Haiphong Dam, he rushed back as much as he could, and reported in detail the beginning and end of Zhao Jiong's murder of his brother. He felt that his father and emperor would not be able to let Zhao Jiong go lightly no matter what, but now that the will has not been made, although Zhao Jiong is paralyzed, he can live in the old mansion, and someone is waiting, which is too cheap for him, so he left four guards to guard Zhao Jiong, and only allowed Gao Cheng to contact him, no girl is allowed to come in, let alone leave the room in any way, and even Gao Cheng, who is waiting for him, must be restricted from moving. When the holy decree comes down, whether Zhao Jiong is dead or alive, there will be a result.

Zhao Jiong lay flat on the bed, looking at the four heavily armed palace guards outside the door with the corner of his eyes, his face was pale, and cold sweat broke out all over his body. He had never felt as clearly as he did at this moment that he could really die because of the death of Zhao Zhuo and his wife. But he really didn't send people to scuttle the boat, they fell into the water just because of bad luck, and he just didn't save him when he saw death. Zhang hated him, and even if he wanted to put him to death, why did even his most trusted wife and son push these terrible charges on him? Is he really going to willingly accept his fate?

He couldn't help but roar: "I was wronged, I didn't kill them...... You can't do that to me! I am Zhao Zhu's son! I am the eldest son of Zhao Zhu, the prince of Jiannan County! It was my father who kept the emperor's throne! After I am a hero, you can't do this to me! By the last sentence, he was already hoarse in his throat, but no one outside the courtyard paid attention to him, only Gao Cheng, trembling and kneeling on the side of the bed, full of feeling that his future was no longer bright.

After listening to Wang Siping's reply to the latest information of the East Courtyard, Zhang sneered slightly, but did not say anything. She turned and walked to the east wing to see her grandchildren paint red. Zhao Wei's handwriting became more and more beautiful, just as smart as his father was when he was a child.

Zhao Xiu saw her grandmother coming, and pulled her to be coquettish: "Grandmother, grandmother, come and see what I wrote, is it better?" Zhang Shi looked at the three words "heaven, earth and people" she described, and smiled: "Sure enough, it is better, much more upright than before, and the word 'human' is especially well written." ”

Zhao Xiu was overjoyed, and a smile appeared on his face. She couldn't help but ask Zhang: "Is King Guangping gone again?" I really want to talk to him, but I don't know if the son of the world saw the letter I left for the prince last time. I thought I would see him again, but he didn't come. ”

Zhang smiled and touched his granddaughter's little face: "It's okay, there will always be a goodbye day in the future." ”