Jinling City, Song family.

King Jing and Song Qingyun drank and played chess at the same time.

At this time, it was raining heavily outside the window, and the rain was dripping on the banana leaves in the yard, making a ticking sound.

After Song Qingyun fell, he raised his eyes to look at King Jing who was sitting opposite.

"Your Highness, the body of His Royal Highness the King of Chu has not been found, but I am afraid that it will not be believed by the capital."

King Jing played with the chess pieces in his hand and did not fall in a hurry. He hooked the corners of his mouth and smiled playfully: "Do you think it's really that important to find the body of King Chu or not?" ”

Song Qingyun was slightly stunned, with a slightly stunned look on his face.

"Your Highness, do you mean that it doesn't matter if you can't find the body of the King of Chu?"

"The news of the death of the king of Chu has been transmitted back to the capital, and those who believe in it will naturally believe it. If you don't believe it, you won't believe it. ”

King Jing's words said that Song Qingyun was a little confused. He asked with a blank face: "Your Highness, is this something that you don't believe, you have to see people in life, and you have to see corpses in death." Others don't say that the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo did not see the body of the king of Chu, would they believe that the king of Chu was assassinated? ”

"The stupid man of the prince will definitely believe it, and my good uncle will definitely not believe it." At the mention of the crown prince, King Jing's eyes showed an undisguised look of contempt, "That stupid man of the prince wants King Chu to die, he will only be very happy when he hears the news of King Chu's assassination." "I have to say that King Jing knows the prince's temperament very well.

"It is useless for the prince to believe that the assassination of the king of Chu is useless, but it is useful for the prince of Zhenguo to believe it." Song Qingyun didn't take the prince seriously, but Zhenguo Gong had to guard against it. "Your Highness, I mean we have to find the body of the King of Chu and send it back to the capital, so that everyone can believe that the King of Chu is dead."

Hearing this, King Jing raised his eyebrows slightly, "Are you trying to use a fake corpse to pretend to be the corpse of King Chu?" ”

Song Qingyun bowed slightly: "That's right, we want to let the body of the King of Chu be seen in the capital, so that the Duke of Zhenguo will completely believe that the King of Chu is really dead." ”

"Do you think this king hasn't thought about it?"

Song Qingyun saw King Jing's disapproving look, and asked with a puzzled face, "Your Highness, do you think this trick is not good?" ”

"Of course not, if we really use a fake corpse to pretend to be the corpse of the King of Chu, not only will it not work, but it will backfire." King Jing dropped the chess pieces in his hand, and then said to Song Qingyun with a deep face, "It's best not to find the whereabouts of King Chu, which will make my good uncle uneasy." ”

Song Qingyun didn't quite understand what King Jing meant, "Your Highness, isn't it beneficial for many people that King Chu is dead?" ”

"It depends on when he dies, the king of Chu can't die at this time, understand?"

Song Qingyun didn't understand what King Jing meant, "Please give advice to Your Highness." ”

King Jing did not directly tell Song Qingyun what the reason was, but asked rhetorically: "This king can obviously report to the capital that the king of Chu is dead, but this king says that the king of Chu is seriously injured and his whereabouts are unknown, for what?" ”

Song Qingyun thought for a while and said, "Because we haven't found the body of the King of Chu, we can't be sure if the King of Chu is really dead." ”

King Jing glanced at Song Qingyun helplessly, "You think things are really simple." ”

"Your Highness, please." Song Qingyun personally poured a glass of wine for King Jing.

King Jing picked up the wine glass, lowered his head and took a few sips elegantly, and then said unhurriedly: "What did King Chu go to Pengcheng for?" ”

Song Qingyun replied without hesitation: "In order to investigate the theft of copper." ”

"Who is behind the copper theft?"

"The prince and the prince of Zhenguo." The ministers of the court all knew that the crown prince was behind the theft of copper, and although there was no evidence, everyone thought so.

"The departure of the king of Chu from Pengcheng means that he has found out the truth about stealing copper, do you think it would be a good thing if he died at this time?"

Hearing this, Song Qingyun finally understood, but he still didn't understand.

"The death of the king of Chu is a good thing for the crown prince."

"The death of the king of Chu means that the truth of the copper theft is about to be buried, which is not a good thing for the acting king and the Marquis of Xuanping." King Jing did not directly respond to Song Qingyun's previous words, and said to himself, "The matter of stealing copper is a good opportunity to pull the prince down, and they will definitely not miss it on behalf of the king." ”

"What do you mean, no matter whether the king of Chu is really dead or fakely dead, the acting king will take advantage of the death of the king of Chu to bite the prince." Song Qingyun said with a sudden face, "If the king of Chu is really dead, the acting king, they directly said that it was the crown prince, and they sent someone to kill the king of Chu." If the king of Chu had not died, the king of Chu would have returned to Beijing with evidence of the copper theft, and the prince would have been speechless at that time. ”

"You've said one less thing." King Jing picked up a chess piece, flicked it with his thumb, and then reached out to catch it, "Li family." ”

Song Qingyun's eyes widened suddenly, and then a look of admiration appeared on his face.

"Your Highness, your trick is really high." No wonder His Royal Highness just said that whether the King of Chu is dead or not is really not that important.

"The Li family will cooperate with the news of the king's return to Beijing and determine that something has happened to the king of Chu." King Jing raised the corners of his mouth and smiled meaningfully, "Even if there is no evidence to prove that it was the crown prince who did it, everyone will think that the prince did it." The Li family has the support of most of the world's scholars, if they think that the crown prince killed the king of Chu, what do you think will be the consequences? ”

"Your Highness, why are you so sure that the Li family will cooperate with you?" This is what Song Qingyun doesn't understand.

King Jing poured himself a glass of wine and drank it gracefully. After a while, he asked, "Do you think the Li family will think that the King of Chu is dead?" ”

"The Li family shouldn't believe it." To live to see people, to die to see corpses. Before seeing the body of the King of Chu, the Li family would definitely not believe the news that the King of Chu had been assassinated.

"Since the Li family doesn't believe it, why do they have to cooperate with this king?"

"Is it to deal with the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo?"

"No, it's to let King Chu return to Beijing safely."

Song Qingyun looked surprised, and immediately said convincingly: "I see, Your Highness is really clever. ”

"If this king is not mistaken, the king of Chu has found all the evidence and is on his way back to Beijing."

"What, the King of Chu has found it?" Song Qingyun was suspicious at first, and then denied, "Impossible, it is impossible for the King of Chu to find it, we have done so many things for the crown prince, and so far we have not found the whereabouts of the copper stolen from Pengcheng." ”

"If you can't find it, it doesn't mean that the King of Chu can't find it." King Jing was very confident in King Chu's ability.

"Your Highness, we have cooperated with the crown prince for so many years, and we have been helping them do a lot of things, including helping them transport copper out of Pengcheng." Song Qingyun said with a serious expression, "The copper transported from Pengcheng was transported from Jinling to other places, and several of us spent a lot of thought to find out where the copper was finally transported, but we never found it.

He continued: "Our families still have some forces and means in Jiangnan, and there is nothing that we can't find when we ship things out of Jiangnan. The king of Chu is capable, but does the king of Chu have power in Jiangnan? Even if he has power in Jiangnan, can he compare to us? What we can't find after looking for a few years, King Chu can easily find it? ”

King Jing did not speak.

"Your Highness, the matter of stealing copper is very important to the crown prince and their lives, do you think they will easily let others find it?" Although the prince is stupid, Zhenguo Gong is not a stupid person. "Once the stolen copper is found, the crown prince will be deposed, and the Zhenguo Mansion will only be afraid that the three clans will be exterminated. Moreover, you just said that the King of Chu is capable, so it is even more impossible for the prince not to be wary of the King of Chu. ”

Song Qingyun's words have some truth, but some things cannot be judged by common sense.

"The king of Chu may not be able to find it, but what about my father?"

"Your Majesty?" Song Qingyun exclaimed, and then he thought of something, and his face was shocked, "Your Highness, do you mean that the emperor knows the whereabouts of the stolen copper, and then sends the King of Chu to find it?" ”

King Jing nodded his head: "It's not impossible, otherwise my father would not have sent King Chu to investigate this matter." ”

"If the emperor knows, why did he send the king of Chu to investigate?"

"Naturally, it is for the King of Chu to collect evidence." After King Jing finished speaking, he thought of something, and said with a smile, "Of course, my father has another purpose in doing this, that is, to pave the way for the King of Chu and let the King of Chu pull down the crown prince." ”

Song Qingyun believed King Jing's words. He gasped in shock: "This ...... If this is the case, the emperor will inevitably value King Chu too much. ”

King Jing let out a sneer: "The main purpose of my father's purpose in doing this is to depose the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo. ”

"Your Highness, there is one thing that the grass people don't understand."

King Jing guessed what Song Qingyun wanted to ask, "You want to say that the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo have not done anything rebellious all along, why did the father and emperor deal with them like this?" ”

"Yes, although the matter of stealing copper is very serious, it has not yet reached the point of great rebellion, maybe the prince and they will use the copper to do bold things in the future, but the prince and they have not done anything after all." Song Qingyun said again, "As for what the prince did in Jinling, it was not serious enough to rebel. Why did the emperor target the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo so much? ”

King Jing glanced at Song Qingyun, and suddenly asked inexplicably: "When you mention the crown prince, who do you think of first?" ”

Song Qingyun hesitated slightly and said, "Zhenguo Gong." ”

"Do you understand now?"

Song Qingyun's eyes first showed a hint of confusion, but soon the confusion in his eyes was replaced by shock.

"Because of Zhen Guogong?"

"To be precise, it's because of the Xie family." King Jing said with a sneering face, "That stupid prince depends on my good uncle for everything. It's not so much that he is the crown prince of the Great Zhou, but that he is the prince of the Zhenguo Mansion, do you think my father will allow the entire Great Zhou to be controlled by the Zhenguo Mansion in the future? Would you like it to be you? ”

"Of course not." Song Qingyun sighed, "No wonder the emperor would target the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo so much. After he finished speaking, thinking of the relationship between King Jing and the Zhenguo Mansion, his face couldn't help but become strange. Your Highness, you ......."

"This king is different from the stupid man of the crown prince, this king will never rely on Zhenguo Gong for everything, let alone listen to him in everything." Thinking that the Duke of Zhenguo only helped the prince and did not help him, his own nephew, King Jing couldn't help but feel a hatred in his heart, and a gloomy eagle crossed his eyes. "Besides, this king is not close to the Zhenguo Mansion."

"This is the reason why His Royal Highness is reused by the emperor." Song Qingyun didn't dare to say a word, the emperor was obviously provoking the relationship between the prince and King Jing. However, even if the emperor does not separate, the relationship between King Jing and the crown prince will not be good.

"This king knows that his father is using this king to deal with the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo, but this king doesn't care." King Jing knew very well in his heart, "Even if my father doesn't let this king do this, this king will deal with the crown prince." If this king wants to sit on the throne of the prince, he must get rid of the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo. ”

"Your Highness, there is something that the grass people don't know whether to say or not."

"Say it."

"Your Highness, our Song family can only help you act in Jinling, but we can't help you do things in the capital." Their Song family is in Jinling, which can be said to be powerful, but in the capital, it is nothing. "If you want to sit in that seat, you need the support of the capital family, and the Zhenguo Mansion is your best backing."

"This king said that he would get rid of the prince and the prince of Zhenguo, but he did not say that he would eradicate the prince of Zhenguo." King Jing of course knew that he still needed the support of the Zhenguo Mansion in the end, "As long as the crown prince and the Zhenguo Mansion are gone, the Zhenguo Mansion will be used by me." ”

Seeing that King Jing understood, Song Qingyun didn't say any more.

"Your Highness is wise."

"We don't need to worry about the affairs of the King of Chu." King Jing deliberately sent the news of the assassination of the King of Chu back to the capital, in order to make the capital chaotic, so that the prince and the prince of Zhenguo had no mind to put it on Jinling's side for the time being. "The county exam has ended, but we still can't be negligent, we have to let those people honestly review the exam papers, and before the results are released, we must not leak any news, understand?"

Song Qingyun's heart sank, and he said solemnly: "The grass people understand. As soon as he finished speaking, he remembered something, "Your Highness, after the county trial list is released, are you going to leave for Beijing?" ”

"This king does not plan to return to Beijing."

"You don't plan to go back to Beijing?"

"This king plans to return to Beijing after the college examination is over." King Jing knew in his heart that if he returned to Beijing after the county test, there would definitely be danger. With the methods of the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo, I am afraid that he will die unexpectedly on the way back to Beijing. "The county examination is the first examination of the imperial examination, and this king successfully let the county examination be held in Jinling, which made a good start for the imperial examination in Jinling.

"The grass people originally planned to persuade His Highness to stay, but now it seems that there is no need for it." Song Qingyun's opinion is the same as King Jing's, if he goes back now, it would be a pity.

"This king has written to his father, begging his father to let him stay in Jinling and continue to be responsible for presiding over the next government and hospital examinations." During this time, King Jing not only dutifully held the imperial examinations, but also secretly dealt with the crown prince and the people of Zhenguogong. Of course, the most important thing is that he got to know a lot of poor people. He used to look down on these poor children, although many of them were talented, but because they were from humble backgrounds, it was difficult for them to have a chance to become famous, so he didn't pay attention to them.

Now it's different, and the children of the poor can take the imperial examination. As long as they are really talented, they will be able to stand out from the imperial examination and be able to stand out at that time. So it was necessary for him to get acquainted with them now and make them available to him.

Everyone felt that the emperor held the imperial examination just to deal with the family. In fact, not only that, the most important thing is to select talents for the imperial court.

With the importance that my father attached to the imperial examination, the ministers of the court and the central government had to pass the imperial examination in the future. The father is jealous of the family, and he will definitely reuse the minister from a poor family. Before these poor children are in the exam, get acquainted with them and help them. When they go to high school in the future, they will definitely support him.

Also, the queen mother is right. He is in charge of the imperial examination on Jinling's side, and to the poor children of Jinling, he can be regarded as their mentor. Whether they support him or not in the future, they will be grateful to him.

"Your Highness, aren't you going to preside over next year's township test?" Song Qingyun said, "Compared with this year's three exams, next year's township exam is the most important. ”

"This king understands that this king will fight for next year's township test from his father." Of course, King Jing doesn't want to miss next year's township exam, and if he can, he also wants to be in charge of next year's exam. However, with his qualifications, his father would definitely not agree to him being in charge of presiding over the examination. However, he can still strive for the township examination in Jiangnan next year, and of course the premise is that he successfully holds the three imperial examinations this year.

"Your Highness, do you want to ...... King Wei's side" Song Qingyun didn't finish his words, but the meaning was obvious. King Wei is now seriously injured in Pengcheng, which is a good opportunity to start. If you miss this opportunity, I am afraid it will be difficult to find such a good opportunity to get rid of him in the future. ”

"King Wei?" King Jing scoffed, "What is he?" ”

"Your Highness, King Wei is the crown prince's right-hand man."

"Capable man? You really look up to him. King Jing said with a disdainful face, "He's just a dog by the prince's side." He doesn't need us to make a move, the prince and the prince of Zhenguo will take him out as a scapegoat. ”

Song Qingyun thought about it.

"You better deal with Li Dao and them." King Jing threw the chess pieces in his hand into the chess box, stood up and looked at Song Qingyun condescendingly, "You have always been merciful to their subordinates, they may not be able to accept your affection." No matter how soft-hearted you are, you will be the one who will die at that time. ”

"Your Highness's words...... The grass people remembered. Song Qingyun stood up, took a few steps back, and then saluted King Jing, "Your Highness, rest assured, the grass people will not be soft-hearted." ”

King Jing glanced at Song Qingyun and said indifferently, "You'd better do what you say." ”

Song Qingyun's heart tightened, and his face turned solemn: "The grass people will definitely be able to do it." ”

King Jing took a deep look at Song Qingyun, didn't say anything, turned around and left.

Meng Gang, who was guarding the door, saw King Jing come out and was busy holding an umbrella for King Jing.

"Go to the Tribute Temple." The place where the imperial examination was presided over was called Gongyuan. The county exam has ended, but the examiners are still reviewing the exam papers at the Gongyuan.

There was already a carriage waiting at the door of Song's house. King Jing got into the carriage and asked Meng Gang, "How is the situation in the Gongyuan?" ”

"Everything works." Meng Gang said respectfully, "The Gongyuan is heavily guarded, and no one dares to make trouble in or around the Gongyuan. ”

King Jing nodded his head and immediately leaned back on the carriage to rest.

Moments later, King Jing's carriage arrived at the Gongyuan.

The courtyard was brightly lit, but it was very quiet.

The soldiers guarding the door saw that the person who came was King Jing, and bowed respectfully.

King Jing saw that the soldiers were all drenched, and ordered Meng Gang to prepare ginger soup. Although the weather in Jinling was hot during this period, it was still a little cold at night because of the rain in the past two days. If you get wet, you can easily get cold.

The soldiers hurriedly saluted and thanked.

When King Jing walked into the Tribute Courtyard, he heard the examiners arguing in the room, and they were arguing very loudly. His heart sank slightly, and he hurriedly walked over.

The examiners are arguing that the article is well written and that article is well written.

They told King Jing that most of the students who took the county exam were very talented, and the articles were very well written, which shocked them greatly.

King Jing picked up an exam paper casually, saw the article on it, and found that it was indeed very well written.

Jiangnan is worthy of outstanding people and is full of talents.

Seeing that King Jing was coming, the examiners asked him who should be rated first, who was second, and who was third. They quarreled so much because they felt that the three exam papers were very well written, and they could be said to be comparable, and they didn't know who to evaluate for a while.

Because the names on the exam papers were obscured, King Jing didn't know who the owners of the three exam papers were.

"Before this king came to Jinling, my father specially told this king that the imperial examination is not only to test whether the articles are well written, but also to test whether they can handle things." After he finished speaking, he carefully looked at the top three exam papers selected by the examiners. He found that these three students wrote very well in their writings, but they lacked some practical things.

"Ladies and gentlemen, look at the policies they have written about governing the localities."

The examiners took the exam papers, read the answers of the three students in detail, and found that the writing on this aspect was indeed not very good.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my father held the imperial examination for the purpose of selecting talents, and this person has to be pragmatic, understand?"

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your advice."

"Then take a good look at it."

King Jing accompanied the examiners to review the exam papers for a while. Before leaving, he repeatedly told them not to engage in favoritism, otherwise the consequences would not be something they could bear.

Somewhere in Jinling City, Zhao Yao looked at the seriously injured King Wei and sighed angrily: "Starling, even if you want to get injured, you don't need to make yourself so miserable." ”

King Wei glared at Zhao Yao, too lazy to deal with him.

"Starling, your little body is already weak, and you are seriously injured this time, do you want to be better?" Starling wants to make a show, and there is no need to hurt himself so badly. "Starling, you're about to catch up with that one when you're injured this time."

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