Li Jiangyao's words had a great impact on Li Bing.

This influence is mainly reflected in two aspects: Is Yin Chengyi qualified to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition to counterinsurgency? Wei Zixuan has any ulterior considerations in the matter of thieves?

As the emperor, Li Bing has been in a state of doubt for a long time. is not only suspicious of military generals like Li Jiangyao and Ma Hongjie, but also suspicious of important ministers in the court.

For him, except for himself, no one is worthy of complete trust, including Murong Xue. And the starting point of his suspicion of everything often changes due to different positions and angles.

Because of Wei Zixuan and Yin Chengyi, he can suspect Li Jiangyao; Similarly, because of Li Jiangyao, he can also suspect Wei Zixuan and Yin Chengyi.

At the end of dinner, Li Bing instructed Li Jiangyao to return to the front line as soon as possible, lead the army to prepare for war quickly, and he must fully support him here in the imperial capital, no matter what the Phoenix Legion needs, whether it is soldiers, money and food, or equipping warships, just open his mouth.

Li Jiangyao naturally didn't take the emperor's cheap words to heart, and after politely expressing his gratitude, he got up and retired and left the palace.

Back at Hu's mansion, he had a cup of tea with Old Man Hu and chatted about the current situation in the court. Although Hu Yufei has retired from old age, he is familiar with all personnel, and he is also very good when it comes to the political situation, which makes Li Jiangyao feel that he has benefited a lot.

As a long imperial dynasty that has been precipitated for more than 800 years, the political system of the Shengtang Dynasty is both mature and complex, and the relationship between the various royal families and nobles and the families of the gate lords is intertwined, which is far more profound than that of the 36 countries of the Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang.

For example, the Cheng family of the Zhenguo Mansion.

Cheng Kaiyang, the commander of the Long Knife Legion who was assassinated by Lian Ji, is the elder brother of the former empress Cheng Huilin, that is, Li Bing's maternal uncle. In this way, the emperor and Cheng Wen are cousins. If this is placed in the modern world, it is absolutely impossible to get married.

However, in the era of the Holy Tang Dynasty, this kind of move full of political marriage could not be more natural.

Although there are some signs of Chengmen's family downfall, there are no characters in the clan who can provoke the big beam, and even the matter of the duke's inheritance has been dragged by the emperor without being determined. However, the Zhenguo Mansion has long been at the core of the Shengtang political group, and there are countless family in-laws and protégés, and if they want to turn over, they often only need to seize an opportunity to easily achieve it, so that they can return to the ranks of the court's important ministers and play a pivotal role.

It is precisely because of this that many ministers followed Wei Zixuan to jointly elect Cheng Wen to participate in the election of the queen, with the purpose of continuing to consolidate the momentum of the traditional power group.

Hu Yufei analyzed that even if the competitors are very strong, the possibility of Cheng Wen being selected by the emperor in the end is still extremely high. Because the Cheng family is not only the Cheng family, it is also the representative of the traditional aristocracy of the Holy Tang Dynasty, if Li Bing wants to consolidate his throne, he should choose Cheng Wen without hesitation, just as he chose Liu Yanru in order to win over Liu Shiming, and then influence the entire Yizhou court to be loyal to him.

As for the hatred of the assassination of Cheng Kaiyang, Hu Lao is not optimistic.

He believes that the reason why the Cheng family took the initiative to show favor by holding a banquet and temporarily shelved the revenge of killing their father was entirely due to two considerations: first, they did not want Li Jiangyao to directly block Cheng Wen's path to the queen's throne, and second, the strength in their hands could not provoke the dignified capital of the Xinjiang army at the moment.

Since there is no revenge now, why should he use his future to anger Li Jiangyao?

On the other hand, when Cheng Wen became the queen, the Zhenguo Mansion became the descendant, Cheng Dong and other brothers gradually grasped the power of the court, and the traditional aristocratic forces approached again, it was difficult to guarantee that the Cheng family would not show their minions and ask Li Jiangyao for someone.

At that point, it is inevitable that there will be another thrilling struggle.

Li Jiangyao has no doubt about Hu Yufei's judgment, the old man has gone through three dynasties, no matter experience or vision, it is naturally nothing to say. Moreover, Li Jiangyao himself has also dealt with the Cheng family brothers and sisters, and even Cheng Dong and Cheng Wen are not easy people, and there will definitely be trouble in the future.

However, although he is decisive on the battlefield, he is not a ruthless and unscrupulous person after all. Even if he knew that the Zhenguo Mansion would sooner or later find himself again because of Lian Ji's matter, Li Jiangyao was unwilling to be ruthless at this time and cut the other party to the root for no reason.

People always have to have a bottom line of being a man.

What's more, if someone's father is a victim, what reason is there not to allow others to pursue it?

For now, we can only take one step at a time, and try to find a suitable opportunity to resolve this grudge in the future.

Because Li Jiangyao was going to leave for Luzhou the next day, the old and the young said goodbye, chatted until late, and did not give up until the drum sounded outside for three watches.

Li Jiangyao said good night to Old Man Hu and was about to go back to his room to sleep, but he didn't expect his white-robed army to suddenly come to report that the person in charge of the Imperial Capital Branch of the Intelligence Department asked to see him.

The senior intelligence officer came at night, and there must have been something serious, so Li Jiangyao hurriedly ordered people to come in. The effort was not great, and the intelligence captain walked into the hall quickly, and when he saw him, he knelt down on one knee: "Dadu Hu, Miss Lianji has an accident!" ”

Li Jiangyao was slightly stunned: "Lian Ji? What's wrong with her? ”

"I just received a message from the flying pigeon," Du Weiyu reported: "Ten days ago, Miss Lianji suddenly left Zijin Pass without saying goodbye. Madame originally thought that she was coming to find Dadu Protector, so she ordered the brothers of the fourth battalion of the white-robed army to chase after her and accompany the guards. Unexpectedly, when the white-robed army arrived near Lanzhou, they received a local report that Miss Lian Ji had been attacked and abducted. After receiving the news, Madame had already set off for the imperial capital, and at the same time asked the Intelligence Department to pay attention to the search for the whereabouts of Miss Lian Ji. ”

"Ten days ago?" Li Jiangyao frowned slightly, and muttered, "Who could attack her?" Ran into bandits? Or Lao Jianhua's people? ”

The lieutenant replied, "We are still investigating." However, according to the analysis, it should not be a bandit on the rivers and lakes, because in Lanzhou, there was an extremely fierce fight, and the other party lost a lot of people in order to capture Lianji alive. This situation usually only happens to military personnel or spies with special missions. ”

"Lanzhou eyeliner confirmed that Lian Ji is not in danger of life?" Li Jiangyao said with concern.

"According to eyewitnesses, people were kidnapped alive." The lieutenant replied: "The other party obviously came prepared, and as soon as he succeeded, he disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye. ”

Li Jiangyao thought about it carefully, and the image of Rui Ji suddenly appeared in his heart, and he couldn't help but think: "The only person who can make Lian Ji leave the Western Frontier in a hurry is her only sister." This matter was either done by Rui Ji or had something to do with her. Inform the Jiangnan Branch to find out what recent movements Rui Ji, Lao Jianhua and Li Jiong have. ”

"Yes!"

"In addition, you will send more people to keep an eye on the Zuo Servant Shooting Mansion, the North Ya and the Zhenguo Mansion for me. If it was really Lao Jianhua who was behind his back, he shouldn't have to transport people back to Jiangnan all the way, but would stay in the imperial capital to play a role. ”

"Humble duty understands."

"Also, I'm not leaving tomorrow. Anyway, Ning Han is coming, so I will simply stay in the imperial capital for a few more days and wait for new news. ”

"Yes, please rest assured, as soon as there is news, I will report it immediately."

Li Jiangyao thought for a while and instructed: "You still try not to show up easily, and put safety first." Let Shi Feng come, the news will be conveyed by him. ”

-

The next day, the 10,000 white-robed troops who were already ready to go received an order to continue to stay. The entire army resettled, and at the same time, fifty groups of elites were divided into various routes in Guanzhong, secretly searching for Lianji's traces.

Li Jiang counted the days, and Xiahou Ninghan would not be able to arrive here until the day after tomorrow at the earliest. During the three days of waiting for his beloved wife, he can do a lot.

First of all, it is necessary to analyze and judge the reason for Lianji's abduction as soon as possible, that is, the real purpose of the mastermind behind the scenes.

He believed that this was definitely not done by the enemies of the rivers and lakes or the Zhenguo Mansion. The reason is simple, none of them have the strength.

Dare to risk angering the capital of the Zhenjiang Army, and capture Lian Ji, who is strong in martial arts and ruthless, there are probably not many in this world. Lao Jianhua, Beiya Reverse Scale Division or a certain military force cannot escape these three possibilities.

Among them, the most suspicious and the most motivated, there is only Lao Jianhua.

Moreover, he also has an innate advantage, that is, Lianji's sister, Rui Ji. As he analyzed last night, the only one who can mobilize Lotus Ji is Rui Ji.

So, what is the purpose of Lao Jianhua's this?

Li Jiangyao thought quietly while playing with Go chess pieces in his hand.

No matter what Lao Jianhua does to Lian Ji, or what he uses Lian Ji, there is only one target, that is, he, the protector of most of the Zhenjiang Army and the governor of the water army. And the best effect against Li Jiangyao is not to bring him down, but to force him, or force the elite soldiers under his command to rise up against the emperor and the imperial court.

The outbreak of fierce infighting in the north is what Lao Jianhua wants to see the most, and it is the most beneficial to the rebels.

Therefore, Lian Ji is a medicinal induction, and it is used to induce violent medicinal properties, which can poison the entire northern court.

And since it is an introduction, whether it is Lao Jianhua or Wei Zixuan, it is bound not to hurt Lian Ji easily, let alone use her in medicine to take effect early. Lao Jianhua and Wei Zixu need to wait, waiting for the best opportunity to hand Lian Ji into the hands of someone who can force Li Jiangyao and the Zhenjiang army to have no way out and can only rebel.

This person may be Li Bing, or the future queen Cheng Wen.

Think about it carefully, in terms of the emperor's character, will he turn his face against Li Jiangyao for his uncle Cheng Kaiyang?

The answer is clearly no.

Li Bing turned his face with Li Jiangyao for Xiahou Ninghan, this is possible, for the sake of Zhenguogong? Joke.

Therefore, Lianji's last place must be the Zhenguo Mansion. And the best time for him to be sent was the day Cheng Wen was chosen by the emperor to become the queen!