Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 394 Eating the Elephant and the General

There was a black boat moored by the canal.

As soon as Yang Yuan jumped onto the bow, he was helped into the cabin by Xiao Nai, who was dressed in green.

There was a bathtub in the cabin and the bath water was still warm.

Xiaonai reached out and helped Yang Yuan undress.

Hanane, dressed as a boat girl, looked around vigilantly, picked up the bamboo pole, and gently pushed it towards the shore. The boat then drifted away from the river bank and floated gently along the current.

In the cabin, Yang Yuan, who had taken off his clothes, gritted his teeth, jumped into the bathtub, and endured the pain to quickly wash off the blood on his body.

Then, Xiao Nai skillfully applied medicine and bandaged him, changed him into clean clothes, and tied his hair into a bun again.

……

The Imperial Wharf was packed with people, but the news of Xiangji Temple had not yet reached here.

There were countless boats of all sizes moored on the water at the Imperial Pier.

Everyone was looking at the stage set up on the dock. Even though it was far away, they could only see a graceful figure.

Tonight, the "Twelve Flowers of Lin'an" of Shaoxing in the 25th year will be born here.

This year's Oiran will also be born. This will be the most anticipated news of the year, and it will be born here soon.

It was the turn of the jade-waisted slave representing "Chunfenglou" to appear.

She is the woman most likely to win the title this year.

In fact, those who can participate in this courtesan competition must have extremely beautiful looks and figures.

From this aspect alone, Yuyaonu is not the best.

But, she is very famous.

Today, Yu Yao Nu is regarded as a great master of his generation for his innovations in music and drama.

Some people in the opera world have even placed her statue together with that of Emperor Minghuang of Tang, and worshipped her as the ancestor of the opera world.

With such an identity, many people actually felt that since she already had such a high status and position, she didn't need to participate in the Oiran competition.

There are courtesans every year, but the God of the Opera will always be remembered by those opera disciples who have benefited from him.

But she still came, and since she came, with her fame, she became a very competitive woman.

So, as soon as she came on the stage, all the women competing for this year's Twelve Flowers, especially those who were both beautiful and talented and had a chance to win the title of Oiran, all looked towards the stage nervously.

Miss Shuifu from Cuiyu Tower is one of them.

This Xixia beauty is a mixed-race of Dangxiang, Han, Tibetan, Uighur and other ethnic groups, and her appearance is naturally very pretty and charming.

She was determined to win the throne of the Twelve Flowers, but she was not sure whether she could become the oiran.

The biggest threat to her is the Jade Waist Slave.

Yuyaonu's singing, dancing and acting are unique, especially her original songs and acting, which are really hard to argue with.

The jade-waisted slave walked onto the stage gracefully.

Her nickname is Jade Waist, and she has a slender waist, which makes her look very charming.

But today, no one could see her slender waist, because of the way she was dressed...she didn't look like a prostitute at all.

She is dressed in simple and elegant clothes, just like a pure girl in seclusion.

Because she was standing on the stage, people far away couldn't see her face clearly.

In order to draw as much attention as possible to their beauty, all the women on stage will wear heavy makeup tonight.

If this heavy makeup was worn in the audience, sitting face to face with you, it would seem too bright, but if you were standing on the stage and looking at it from afar, it would be just right.

However, Yuyao Nu, who should not be ignorant of such common sense, was wearing only plain clothes tonight, with almost no makeup on.

So independent and unique?
Miss Shui Fu curled her lips and sneered disdainfully.

They are just means to attract men's attention.

But, tonight there are too many men who have only heard of your name but have never seen you. If they see you with such a plain face, they will only be greatly disappointed in you.

Most of them just want to see your appearance. Now that you are respected as a "great person", you really start to act arrogantly?

Yuyaonu did not introduce herself. She stood on the stage, looking at the person at the bow with a smiling face.

Liu Shangqiu was playing with a jade ornament and standing at the bow, looking at her with a smile.

Liu Shangqiu didn't think there was anything wrong with Yuyao Nu's dress.

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Even he himself did not notice that there was anything inconsistent between Yuyao Nu's clothing and makeup and the occasion tonight.

Yuyaonu raised her hand, and the most outstanding musicians she had invited from Lin'an Wazi started playing their instruments.

Yuyaonu's songs have always been novel in style and appealing to both the elite and the masses. Every new song she releases becomes a hit.

In the past few months, Yu Dajia has not released any new songs.

Therefore, when the music started, even the audience who had some complaints about her plain and conservative appearance and makeup tonight immediately shut their mouths and pricked up their ears.

The jade-waisted slave opened her cherry lips and began to sing.

As the song started, all the audience felt refreshed.

Although her previous songs were very novel and very different from the current trends, because they all had an ancient flavor, they made people feel that they were both novel and unique, yet natural.

But tonight, as soon as she sang this song, everyone felt like they had never heard anything like it before.

It has gone beyond the category of ancient modern songs and is completely a modern pop love song.

"It has become the most beautiful encounter in my life. I can't hide my love for you. Did I fall in love with you in my previous life? The moment you look up and smile, I just want to be with you forever in this life..."

The spectators only thought the singing was novel, but Liu Shangqiu, who was standing at the bow, stopped playing with the jade handle.

He understood immediately that Yuyaonu was expressing her feelings through singing and making an open confession to him.

"May the good things be with you, may we never get tired of looking at each other, may we be able to look back on the years, may we grow old together with deep affection..."

On the small boat, Yazawa Kanon, who was dressed as a boat girl, and Tsubakiya Kona, who was dressed as a maid in blue, listened quietly, as if they could hear their own voices.

They couldn't help but cast affectionate glances at Yang Yuan.

I am also willing to accompany Sanyuan Jun forever like this. Sanyuan Jun, are you willing to grow old with me?
Yang Yuan had bandaged his wounds, changed his clothes, and stood at the bow of the boat.

Tonight, after handing over his job at the "Fish-selling Bridge", he came to the Imperial Wharf. He wanted to cheer and support his good friend Liu Guojiu and Yu Yaonu's lifelong love.

So, of course, he didn't go anywhere else that night.

……

A beautiful girl who has been crowned as a "rich woman" is taking the risk of becoming a laughing stock in Lin'an if her confession fails. She takes advantage of this moment of the election of the most beautiful woman in the world to publicly confess her love to him. Why is he still hesitating?
Liu Shangqiu's heart warmed up and he jumped onto the shore.

Yuyaonu stopped singing before she finished her song because she was surprised to see Liu Shangqiu striding onto the stage.

He walked over, grabbed Yuyaonu's hand, and said to her affectionately, "Let's go home and sing for me alone."

In the stands, there was first a burst of inappropriate booing, and then even more spectacular cheers, boiling up like an overwhelming tidal wave.

People always like to see a happy ending with flowers and a full moon.

Especially those old perverts who like to look at beautiful women, they love the good life so much.

The spectators in the stands and on the boats gave them their heartfelt blessings.

Yang Yuan smiled, looked at Liu Shangqiu and Yuyao Nu walking back to the boat hand in hand, and said to Yazawa Kanon who was rowing the boat, "Move the boat closer, I want to go and congratulate him in person."

……

As soon as Qin Xiang left Xiangji Temple, he was attacked, which made the other ministers feel insecure.

The Imperial City Department in Xiangji Temple and the imperial guards who stayed outside the temple immediately protected several prime ministers and ministers.

However, despite the danger of being assassinated, they could not stay here, and could not even wait for news to come back that Prime Minister Qin had escaped.

Because they had to rush to Dailouyuan immediately and wait for the first-hand news from the palace.

It concerns the good or bad fortune of the emperor and the destiny of the Song Dynasty. Not to mention the possibility of encountering assassins on the way, even if knives are raining from the sky, they have to rush to Dailouyuan under the knives.

The Imperial City Administration and the Imperial Guards sent out a large group of troops to escort several important court officials to the Tailouyuan.

Shen Gai, Wanqi Xie and the six ministers of the six ministries, except Qin Hui who stayed in Xiangji Temple to deal with the aftermath and wait for news from his father, all the most important officials of the court were here.

Wanqi Xie held the tea and drank it for a while. When he calmed down a little, he looked at Shen Gai.

Shen Gai closed his eyes slightly, sitting there thoughtfully, and seemed to be dozing off.

Wanqi Xie certainly didn't believe that he could fall asleep at this time. After thinking about it, he went over and sat down next to Shen Gai.

Wanqi Xie whispered, "What does Mr. Shen think of what happened tonight?"

Shen Gai slightly raised his eyelids, glanced at Wanqi Xie, and said lightly: "What does Lord Wanqi mean?"

Wanqi Xie moved his butt a little, moved closer, and lowered his voice and said: "Since ancient times, those who plot to usurp the throne are common. Those who assassinate the king are rare.

All of them were crimes punishable by confiscation of property and execution. If the king was killed for the sake of the country, it could still be considered a reason. But if it was just to assassinate the king, what was the point?
What's more, they want to kill the Prime Minister as well. It's impossible that the emperor and the Prime Minister have a personal grudge against the assassin? This assassin is not just one person!"

Shen Gai understood Wanqi Xie's hidden meaning as soon as he heard it.

He wanted to use this case to make it seem like the pro-war faction was trying to assassinate the emperor and prime minister who were in favor of peace.

Once this crime is proven, countless people will lose their heads, and those who advocate war will be swept away from the court.

However, although Shen Gai, Qin Hui and Wan Qi Xie agreed on the general direction of peace, they had essential differences.

Shen Gai was a true peace advocate. He believed that the Jin Kingdom was stronger than the Song Kingdom at present, and if the Song Kingdom went to war with the Jin Kingdom, it would be detrimental to the development of the Song Kingdom. Therefore, they should be patient and dormant for the time being, accumulate strength, and therefore advocate peace.

This is a matter of his personal cognition. Deep down, he is still a person who is loyal to the Song Dynasty and cares about the Song Dynasty.

If the situation changes and he thinks that the Song Dynasty is now stronger than the Jin Dynasty, he will easily change from a conservative peace advocate to a radical war advocate.

Qin Hui and Wan Qi Xie were different from him. They were capitulationists in the guise of peace advocates.

Their rise is due to their consistent advocacy of peace.

In this process, they gradually attracted a group of like-minded people and formed a force.

Their political future and personal interests have become closely intertwined with the "must be for peace."

They advocate peace for the sake of peace, and suppress the pro-war faction for the sake of peace. This is fundamentally different from Shen Gai.

Shen Gai was silent for a moment, then said, "The Imperial City Department is still investigating the assassin's origins."

Just as Wanqi Xie was about to open his mouth, Shen Gai said, "You and I don't know what the situation of His Majesty is now. After Prime Minister Qin escapes from danger, he will also have some suggestions."

He looked at Wanqi Xie deeply and said, "From the time this happened to now, not even one night has passed. Lord Wanqi is getting impatient."

Wanqi Xie was very angry. Why was this old man putting on airs in front of me?

Humph, when Qin Huizhi comes back, he will definitely make a big fuss about this matter.

This great achievement was about to be snatched away by him again. Just as Wanqi Xie was thinking of this, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the silence, it was the sound of official boots stepping on the blue brick floor.

Shen Gai, Wanqi Xie and others all looked towards the door. Minister of War Cheng Zhen and Minister of Rites Qu Mo could not hold their temper and stood up.

They didn't know whether this was news from the palace or from Prime Minister Qin.

A purple robe flashed at the door. Before they could see who was coming, they saw that person trip over the threshold and fall heavily into the waiting room with a thump.

A black gauze hat rolled to the feet of Wanqi Xie.

Everyone was stunned and looked carefully. The person who fell to the ground was none other than Privy Councilor Qin Hui.

Minister of War Cheng Zhen was surprised and asked: "Prime Minister, is your health safe?"

As he said this, he stepped forward to support Qin Hui.

Qin Hui's face turned pale and he trembled as he said, "Gentlemen, my father... my father was killed by the thieves."

When everyone heard this, they were shocked.

It is still unknown what the emperor's current condition is, although the imperial envoy Mu En said that the emperor was just frightened and had a convulsion.

But these officials have all been working in the officialdom for their entire lives, so how could they easily believe his words?

Now Prime Minister Qin is dead again!
Within one day, accidents happened to the emperor and the prime minister one after another. This is going to shock the world.

Even Wanqi Xie, who thought it would be good for him if Qin Hui got into trouble, became worried because of the seriousness of the matter.

Shen Gai calmed down and said hurriedly, "Prime Minister, please sit down and tell me slowly. What is going on?"

Qin Hui was now in a panic and had no idea what to do.

Qin Hui has always supported him and has always been the one to make decisions for him no matter what problems he encountered.

Now, when he and his son were planning to replace the boss, they didn't know whether the boss was dead or alive, because his father died first.

Should we withdraw the ships and carriages deployed along the way from Lin'an to Jiankang?

Would the secretly mobilized troops and checkpoints leave any traces that would eventually reach the ears of the government?

Without his father, even if the emperor died, would he still have the final say on who would be the new emperor?

Not to mention senior and experienced ministers like Shen Gai and Wanqi Xie, even the six ministers would not necessarily obey his orders.

He no longer expects to take the lead in the discussion of establishing a new monarch, but...can he still keep his position as Privy Councilor?

In order to deal with the death of the emperor today, the Qin family made many preparations in secret.

If the emperor died and his father established a new emperor, there would be no problem with the traces of these preparations.

Because no one will report these suspicious signs, and no one will investigate these suspicious signs.

But now...will these traces expose the Qin family's conspiracy?
At this moment, if Qin Hui was slashed by someone with a knife, the shock would only last for a moment.

There were just so many "mines" there, and he had no idea when or which one of them would explode.

Waiting for danger to come is what scares him the most.

Trembling with fear, he recounted the horrific scene he saw when he led people to rescue his father and chased them all the way to the Dali Temple.

When he ordered people to smash the deformed carriage, before he could describe what he saw in the car, he pushed Cheng Shangshu away with a pale face, staggered to the corner, picked up the spittoon and vomited.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they saw this.

Wanqi Xie thought for a moment, and suddenly said sinisterly: "Dali Temple, Fengbo Pavilion, everyone, doesn't this place remind you of someone or something?"

Everyone had different expressions and remained silent.

Wan Qi Xie said categorically: "There is no doubt that this was done by Yue Fei's remnants!
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that Prime Minister Qin died in front of Fengbo Pavilion?"

Shen Gai frowned, feeling a little shaken.

Judging from all the signs, if we follow Wanqi Xie's statement, it does look a bit similar.

But... even if it is true, it must have been done by some of Yue Fei's former subordinates, and there are definitely no remnants of Yue Fei.

Because Yue Fei never formed a party.

Although Shen Gai was a peace advocate, he still sincerely admired Yue Fei and was able to make a fair evaluation of him.

More importantly, although he was a peace advocate, he knew very well that the court could not do without the war advocates.

This is like two brothers having a dispute with their neighbors. One brother thinks that the neighbor is large and prosperous, and if they start fighting, their own family will suffer a great loss.

So, he decided to reason.

However, if he is reasoning with others in front, and there is a brother behind him who is red-eyed and ready to fight for his life with a hoe in his hand, it will only do him good to reason with him, not harm.

If this brother was gone, or if this brother was even more cowardly than him, hiding in the back timidly and not daring to say a word, then how could he still have the qualifications to reason with others?
His advocacy of peace was based on his assessment of the strength of the two countries.

But it was not the case with Wanqi Xie. Wanqi Xie just wanted to use every opportunity to eliminate dissidents and hold on to power.

Shen Gai did not want this kind of situation to happen, so as soon as Wanqi Xie opened his mouth, Shen Gai said decisively:
"Mr. Wanqi, the Imperial City Division is hunting down the assassin, why not wait for them to report the results of their investigation?

As ministers, we must avoid making groundless assumptions and making groundless assumptions!"

Shen Gai emphasized the tone of this sentence. Qin Hui was about to agree with Wanqi Xie, but when he heard Shen Gai's stern tone, he immediately felt timid and did not dare to speak.

In fact, the Privy Councilor is the deputy prime minister and the number one person in the military.

Qin Hui's identity and status are of great importance.

In addition, the deceased prime minister of the current dynasty was his father, so as a victim, his words carry extra weight.

If he immediately agreed with Wanqi Xie and insisted that it was the remnants of Yue Fei who assassinated the emperor and Prime Minister Qin out of revenge, then even if he could not confirm the incident, he would be able to guide the wind direction and muddy the waters.

Unfortunately, he did not have the courage or the keen vision, and missed the opportunity in vain.

Wanqi Xie naturally disagreed with Shen Gai's words, but Qin Hui was dead, and Shen Gai, the second prime minister, was now the prime minister.

That good-for-nothing Qin Hui just held the spittoon and trembled with lingering fear, and couldn't help with anything.

Wanqi Xie changed his mind and did not insist on his own opinion. He just snorted in displeasure.

At this time, there was another burst of hurried footsteps, and Shen Gai, Wanqi Xie and others hurriedly looked towards the door of the waiting room.

If things go as expected, there should be news from the palace this time.

Sure enough, the person who appeared at the door in response was the eunuch Zhang Quwei.

Because the Empress Dowager is old and the Queen is unwell, Zhang Quwei stayed in the palace to serve tonight and did not accompany the emperor to cruise the river and watch the lanterns.

Zhang Quwei walked into the waiting room, glanced around, frowned, and asked, "Gentlemen, has Prime Minister Qin not arrived yet?"

Qin Hui held the spittoon in his hand and said to Zhang Quwei sadly, "Zhang Dayong, my father...can't come."

Shen Gai sighed and said, "Eunuch Zhang, how is the emperor's situation?

If there is any decree from the palace, please inform us. Prime Minister Qin... has been killed by an assassin."

Zhang Quwei was stunned when he heard this. Qin Hui... is dead?
For a moment, Zhang Quwei was at a loss and stood there, not knowing what to do.

Shen Gai said, "Eunuch Zhang, is the emperor all right? If the emperor has any instructions, please let us know."

"Ah, ah..."

Zhang Quwei came to his senses and said, "Your Majesty... is fine. Your Majesty has ordered... Prime Minister Qin and Prime Minister Shen to come to the palace."

Shen Gai raised his graying eyebrows and said, "I will follow you to see you!"

……

In the Funing Palace, Empress Dowager Wei and the sickly-looking Empress Wu stood nervously beside the imperial bed.

Behind them stood several Shangyao Fengyu, who were the higher-ranking imperial doctors.

Next to the imperial couch sat an imperial physician who was treating Zhao Gou's injuries.

Zhao Gou had two knife wounds on his body, one deep and one shallow, both of which had been bandaged and applied medicine.

But the blue "Bitter Invisible" sword was clearly poisoned, so how could the Queen Mother and the Empress dare to be careless?

Therefore, they summoned several of the most famous imperial doctors in the Imperial Hospital, regardless of their expertise, to treat the emperor.

Zhao Gou had just woken up for a while and ordered Qin Hui and Shen Gai to be summoned to the palace, but now he fell asleep again in a daze.

The imperial physician who was examining the patient finished carefully examining the patient, then stood up, bowed to the Empress Dowager and the Empress, and said:
"Queen Mother, Queen, we still don't know what kind of poison is on that strange dagger."

He paused and said, "But when I examined your pulse, my conclusion was the same as that of the imperial doctors.

Although this poison causes the official dragon's body to have a fever, it is not highly toxic and its toxicity is still mild.

I believe that if the medicine for expelling heat and detoxifying is used as the main medicine, the medicine for clearing heat and nourishing yin is used as the auxiliary medicine, and the medicine for strengthening the foundation and nourishing the source is used as the adjuvant medicine, the remaining toxins should be eliminated within three to five days.

What was really serious was that the dagger had penetrated quite deeply into the official's body, almost injuring his internal organs.

Now the official should rest in bed and rest, try not to move around, and especially not be too happy or angry..."

What this imperial physician said was similar to what several other imperial physicians said.

In fact, the poison that Zhao Gou was poisoned with was a strange toxin that Yagyu Shishitake accidentally discovered while developing poison.

When the poisoning first started, the symptoms were extremely mild, just as the imperial doctors had diagnosed. Apart from a low-grade fever, shortness of breath, and dizziness, there seemed to be nothing serious.

But the problem is that the damage it causes to internal organs is completely irreversible and there is no medicine that can treat it.

Within a few days, Zhao Guanjia will develop a series of fatal symptoms including acute respiratory failure, multiple organ dysfunction, gastrointestinal bleeding, heart failure, etc.

You can compare this poison to "paraquat" extracted from the venom of electric eel corpses.

However, this is a kind of miraculous medicine that Yagyu Shishitake keeps secret, and no one knows the properties of this poison except himself.

The imperial doctors didn’t know, and Yang Yuan didn’t know either.

So the next morning, Yang Yuan entered the Privy Council on time. Then, he heard two important pieces of news.

These are two pieces of internal information that have not yet been officially announced and are only circulated within the highest government offices such as the Privy Council.

It is said that the emperor's life is safe. After learning that Qin Hui was killed, the emperor has appointed Wan Qixie, the vice minister of state affairs, to replace Qin Hui and appointed him as the right minister of the Shangshu and the co-minister of the Zhongshumenxia.

It is said that Wanqi Xie advised the emperor that the assassination of the king last night was done by Yue Fei's remnants.

The reason is that the place where Qin Xiang was killed was exactly where Yue Pengju was killed.

The government has approved Wanqi Xie's statement and decided that Wanqi Xie, Qin Hui and Mu En would be fully responsible for investigating the case.

It can be imagined that Wanqi Xie would definitely make a big fuss about this case and take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.

Yang Yuan did not expect that the death of only one of Zhao Gou and Qin Hui would lead to such consequences.

At this point he had no choice. If he didn't take action, all his previous plans would backfire.

Then take action!

Since he can eat the "elephant", then he can also capture this "troop"!

(End of this chapter)