On the afternoon of the second day, Jia Jue rode a horse to the West City, the east and west cities are the largest commercial centers in Shenjing, covering an extremely vast area, the east city is public, the west city is luxurious, the people who enter and exit the West City are either rich or expensive, ignore the solicitation of the surrounding wine shop tea house guys, and went straight to a tavern called Moon Tower, this restaurant Jia Jue has long heard of it, the power behind it is not small, it is said that it has a relationship with the royal family, the dishes and the artists who sing songs and tell stories are also good, it has always been a place where the powerful people often come to have a pastime, of course, the consumption is also very high.

Last night, Niu Jizong came to talk to him and told himself that he would find a way to find an errand for himself in the military department, but he had to wait to see the emperor's attitude, and handed himself a letter before leaving, and there was only one line in the letter: See you at the end of the third floor of the Moon Tower in the West City.

There is no signature, no reason, just such a sentence, Jia Jue thought about it, and decided to come for a trip.

I don't know if it's been an hour, or the whole restaurant has been chartered, the restaurant is empty, and there is not a single guest, Jia Jue just walked to the door, and the shopkeeper immediately ran out, "General Jia, please come with me." ”

Jia Jue handed over the horse whip to his own soldiers, and took Jia Fu and a few people to go inside with the shopkeeper of the restaurant, and asked, "Do you know me?" ”

The shopkeeper led the way, and said with a smile: "The small shop does not entertain outsiders today, General Jia, please follow me upstairs." ”

Jia Jue nodded and did not speak.

After a while, the group came to a private room on the third floor, there were two guards with knives standing at the door, and when they saw the shopkeeper coming up, one of them glanced at Jia Jue, knocked on the door of the box room, and whispered: "Your Highness, the guest has arrived." ”

As soon as the words fell, the door opened, and a man about forty years old with a white face and no beard walked out, he looked at Jia Jue, "General Jia is finally here, and the miscellaneous family is the chamberlain of King Liang's mansion." ”

Jia Jue's heart moved, and he understood who was going to see him, nodded slightly, and then turned his eyes to Jia Fu, and then spoke, "You guys are waiting outside." ”

The old eunuch glanced at a few people and said with a smile: "General Jia, please!" ”

Jia Jue walked in with a calm face, and did not speak, the furnishings in the box were very simple, only a table and two chairs, a pot of tea and two tea bowls were placed on the table, and a man was standing in front of the window with his hands in his hands, staring out the window.

Looking from the back, Jia Jue felt that this person was a little familiar.

The old eunuch stepped forward and whispered, "Your Highness, General Jia is here." ”

The man turned around, with a white face, thick eyebrows, a tall nose, and a pair of narrow eyes that resembled Emperor Tianyou, it was Zhu Wucheng, the fifth son of Emperor Tianyou.

Zhu Wucheng looked at Jia Jue, smiled slightly, and said, "General Jia, let's meet again." ”

Jia Jue's mind came to mind the scene when he just stepped out of Shenjing on the way south to Zhejiang Weisho a year ago, when he rescued a son who was chased and killed outside the city, he didn't care at the time, but he didn't expect it to be Zhu Wucheng, who was the emperor's son.

Thinking of this, Jia Jue stepped forward and saluted, "Minister Jia Jue see His Royal Highness King Liang!" ”

"It seems that General Jia remembered."

Zhu Wucheng waved his hand and smiled: "I'm ashamed to say that for some reason, I had to suppress that matter, so I couldn't report General Jia's life-saving grace." ”

"Your Highness is polite, the minister is a military general, and when the road is uneven, he will draw his sword to help, it's nothing."

Hearing this, Zhu Wucheng smiled, "Sit down." ”

Jia Jue sat across from him, and the old eunuch poured a bowl of tea for the two.

Zhu Wucheng took a sip of the tea bowl, "General Jia, does you know the purpose of this king's appointment to come to you today?" ”

"Yes."

“....”

Zhu Wucheng was dumbfounded, he didn't expect Jia Jue to play his cards according to common sense, and he didn't know what to do for a while, at this time, the old eunuch coughed.

Zhu Wucheng came back to his senses, understood that he had lost his temper, shook his head and said with a wry smile: "But this king is a villain in vain, General Jia must have guessed the truth of that incident a year ago, the assassin who assassinated this king was ordered by the king of Shu, and did not hide it from General Jia, there is also the involvement of the civil official group behind this, which is why there is no investigation." ”

Jia Jue's face was calm, and he said directly: "Your Highness knows about yesterday's loyalty to the king!" ”

Ignoring Zhu Wucheng's ugly face, Jia Jue continued: "Why yesterday's incident made King Zhongshun also be reprimanded by His Majesty, it is not how much Zhu Zaimo's guilt is, but that his behavior has touched His Majesty's bottom line. ”

Zhu Wucheng's face was extremely bad, he understood the meaning of Jia Jue's words, military power, this is the bottom line in Emperor Tianyou's heart, however, Zhu Houjiong, the loyal king who controlled the Shenji Battalion, blatantly fell to Liu Wuxiang, the king of Shu, and the civil official group behind him, which made the emperor very unhappy, but there was no way to deal with him for the time being.

There is also that the power of the King of Shu is too great, so big that the emperor has to be afraid of three points, if it is rashly purged, it will not only cause chaos in the government, but also may cause turmoil in the provinces.

Thinking of Zhu Wuxiang's persecution and even assassination of him, he slapped the table fiercely, and said unwillingly: "Could it be that this king is just sitting still?" ”

"Didn't Your Highness notice that the wind is about to rise!"

Jia Jue looked up at Zhu Wucheng.

Zhu Wucheng's eyes also happened to be on Jia Jue at this time, and the two of them met and quickly separated.

Zhu Wucheng's face hung his head gloomily.

Jia Jue smiled faintly, this King of Shu is not simple, at least not as brave and resourceless as the outside world rumores, it seems that there must be an unknown scene in the hands of Zhu Wuxiang in the previous life, maybe this is related to the noble lineage that was liquidated later, and even the violent death of the concubine and Wang Ziteng may be related to it,

The old eunuch next to him couldn't hold back after all, and said: "The Jia family and the King of Zhongshun are blood feuds, once the three princes supported by the King of Zhongshun ascend the throne, the Jia family will definitely be purged and will not be able to escape." ”

Jia Jue didn't care, and said with a faint smile: "The Jia family is the noble of the Holy Ancestor Emperor, as long as the Jia family is loyal to the Ming Emperor for a day, no one can touch the Jia family, this is the oath written into the imperial ancestral training!" As for the hatred between the Jia family and the Zhongshun Palace, hehe, it has been found out back then, it was the old Zhongshun King who fled after fearing the enemy on the battlefield before he was beheaded by the ancestors and in front of the army, this is not a personal vendetta! ”

Zhu Wucheng's eyes narrowed into a slit, and he said slowly: "This king is still his own brother, he can do it, do you think he will abide by the oath of the Holy Ancestor Emperor?!" ”

Jia Jue was stunned, and suddenly burst out laughing, "That's right!" However, Your Royal Highness should not forget, don't say that he was not made the crown prince, that is, he became the crown prince, the Ming Dynasty is still His Majesty's final say, as long as the Jia family is loyal to His Majesty, no one dares to touch the Jia family. ”

Speaking of this, he said to Zhu Wucheng: "In a few days it will be the birthday of the Empress Dowager, Your Majesty is an extremely filial person." ”

After speaking, he got up and arched his hand and said, "The minister still has something to do, so I will leave first." ”

Zhu Wucheng: "Stop! ”

Jia Jue walked to the door and stopped, but did not turn around.

Zhu Wucheng: "Thank you, General Jia." ”

Jia Jue didn't turn around, let alone talk, after listening to it, he pushed open the door of the box and walked out, he planned to go to the Zhenguo Mansion to talk to Niu Jizong, it was too early to intervene in the battle for succession, and it was also very dangerous, not waiting for the civil official group to force Emperor Tianyou onto the cliff, and he must not show his attitude and position.

In the study room of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Tianyou was reading the fold, he took a book of folds and read it quickly, this is the fold of Yin Zhang Jiacheng of Shuntianfu forwarded by the Criminal Department, this fold said one thing, there have been several cases of missing children in the capital recently, and there are many officials and wealthy businessmen among the victims, Emperor Tianyou couldn't help frowning, and asked Dai Quandao: "Didn't I remember that I caught the traffickers with the assistance of Jinyiwei two months ago?" Why hasn't this criminal gang been dismantled? ”

Dai Quan hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, since the main culprits all died in the prison of the Criminal Department, and the accomplices did not know what was going on, this case was dragged down. ”

"And now?"

"Jinyiwei and Dongchang are secretly tracking, but the other party is very cautious, once they find that the situation is wrong, they will immediately kill the looted children, and then fight with the pursuing Jinyiwei and Dongchang's people, which is very murderous, so Jinyiwei and Dongchang's spies don't dare to chase too closely at all...."

Emperor Tianyou pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Is there any result on the side of the Criminal Department?" ”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, there are special people watching in the East Factory, once those rats contact the trafficker gang, they can be completely wiped out."

"Well, you have to do this with your heart, in a few days it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Queen Mother's birthday, I don't want such things to happen again."

Emperor Tianyou took the pen and approved the word 'read' on the fold of Shuntianfu, handed it to Dai Quan, "Forward it to Jinyiwei." ”

Dai Quan took the fold and walked out of the upper study, and handed it over to a small yellow door, "Quickly hand over the commander of the Jinyi Guard, Your Majesty ordered him to do it quickly!" ”

The little yellow door took the fold and turned to leave, Dai Quan was just about to turn around, but saw a steward eunuch from the East Factory hurrying over, so he asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Chief, the fifth prince invited Jia Jue, the commander of the three thousand battalions, to a banquet in the Moon Tower in the West City, this is a secret fold."

The eunuch handed Dai Quan an excerpt.

"Got it, there's news coming immediately."

Dai Quan walked back to the upper study and gently placed the fold on the imperial case, "Your Majesty, the fifth prince is hosting a banquet for General Jia in the Moon Tower. ”

Emperor Tianyou was stunned for a moment, put down the red pen in his hand, took the chapter and unfolded it, his face showed an undisguised look of appreciation, and then put down the fold, and smiled at Dai Quan: "This Jia family is a little interesting.... Well, there is a heart, there is an opinion, and most importantly, there is loyalty, I like it. There is also this little five, it seems that there is a master behind the guidance.... Well, yes, there's another message that will be sent directly to me. ”

As soon as these words came out, Dai Quan was stunned for a moment, the emperor did not order to investigate the mansion of the five princes....