The little dark guard who travels between two lives

General Shen has been very depressed during this period because the successive assassinations of Qin Mingxuan and Yu Huaian angered the emperor. Coupled with the Jiangnan corruption case, the emperor's attitude towards General Shen has changed very obviously.

Originally, Marshal Shen's words carried a lot of weight in the court. When important ministers discussed state affairs, once Marshal Shen spoke, basically no one would disagree with him. Except for Qin Mingxuan and Yu Huaian, most other court officials would echo him, and the emperor would generally not oppose him in person.

However, things were different during this period. Although Yu Huaian had been recuperating at home and had not attended court, Qin Mingxuan had been like a madman, repeatedly refuting the political opinions of Shen Taiwei in the court. The key point was that the emperor, who had always been a smooth talker in the past, now stood on Qin Mingxuan's side.

This led to those ministers who were fence-sitters immediately following the emperor's intention and speaking out against General Shen's political proposals, which made General Shen, who had always been successful, very angry.

Ever since the death of Qin Taifu, Shen Taiwei has always been the most powerful person in the court. Shen Taiwei enjoys the feeling of standing at the top of all the ministers.

Now General Shen has suffered repeated setbacks in the court, so when Prince Cheng reminded him that he should stay out of the limelight, General Shen obediently accepted Prince Cheng's suggestion. He first took sick leave and stayed at home to recuperate for a while, and then after attending court, he restrained himself a lot and was very low-key and introverted.

On the one hand, Marshal Shen felt very proud because the officials involved in the Jiangnan corruption case were inexplicably poisoned and silenced one by one in the Dali Temple before the emperor could investigate them in detail.

Originally, General Shen failed to assassinate Yu Huaian, but Yu Huaian successfully brought the evidence and the guilty ministers back to the capital. General Shen has been worried. He knows that the emperor's tolerance for relatives has reached its peak, and the emperor wants to uproot him through the Jiangnan corruption case and completely eliminate his influence in the court.

That's why Shen Taiwei sent assassins to stop Yu Huaian from returning to Beijing, but unfortunately he failed. Just when he was panicking, Prince Cheng gave him a reassurance.

Shen Taiwei had never thought that Prince Cheng could kill people in the Dali Temple without anyone noticing. He had to re-examine this seemingly idle prince who had great power. Such means made Shen Taiwei wary of Prince Cheng. Shen Taiwei readily accepted many of Prince Cheng's suggestions.

For example, Prince Cheng suggested that he should be more restrained and also try to find out the emperor's attitude towards the Shen family before deciding on the next move. So, General Shen soon took sick leave and went home to recuperate.

According to court conventions, once an important official like General Shen fell ill, it would be a major event in the court. To show his respect for his officials, the emperor would usually send imperial physicians from the palace to visit the officials and treat them. The emperor would also express his sincere condolences and concern, and might even visit the officials in person.

When General Qin was ill, the emperor not only sent the imperial physician Zheng to treat Qin, but he also went to the Qin residence in person to visit Qin, showing his supreme favor to the Qin family.

General Shen knew that he was not as good as Grand Tutor Qin, but as a general, the father of the imperial concubine, and the brother of the empress dowager, the emperor had to show some appreciation.

Unfortunately, Shen Taiwei was wrong. When Shen Taiwei took sick leave and stayed at home, the emperor only asked a few simple questions and approved it, and then stopped asking questions, not even sending out a regular imperial physician.

When General Shen just took sick leave and stayed at home, those court officials who wanted to rely on him flocked to him to visit him and express their concern for him.

But when everyone found out that the emperor had turned a deaf ear to Shen Taiwei's complaint, they all regretted that they were too impatient. Why didn't they know the emperor's attitude before visiting him? Suddenly, the front of Shen's house went from being crowded with people to being deserted.

General Shen could no longer rest and recuperate in his mansion. At this time, another piece of news made him even more frightened: the imperial concubine in the palace was under house arrest!

The Imperial Concubine had been in the palace for many years and had always been favored by the Emperor. She had never been confined before. Moreover, the news from the palace by Empress Dowager Shen also hinted that the Imperial Concubine was confined because of the involvement of General Shen. The Empress Dowager specifically warned General Shen that he would be easily shot down if he was too popular. The Empress Dowager specifically told General Shen to restrain his arrogant attitude, otherwise it might implicate the entire Shen family.

Shen Taiwei couldn't stay in the mansion any longer and called the staff to discuss the matter. The staff looked at each other in bewilderment. There was a staff member named Lu Meisheng who usually analyzed the government affairs for Shen Taiwei and had quite a lot of insights, which was highly appreciated by Shen Taiwei. At this time, Lu Meisheng saw that no one dared to say anything and looked at him. He knew that no one dared to tell the truth for fear of angering the general, so he sighed and could only go forward.

Lu Meisheng bowed to General Shen and said, "General, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. Judging from the current situation, the emperor's attitude is very clear. He is just giving the general the cold shoulder now. I think the emperor will take action against you sooner or later. It's just a matter of time."

Shen Taiwei's face froze, and he glanced at the other staff members in the room. Now that someone had started the conversation, the others had nothing to worry about. They all nodded to the Taiwei, expressing their agreement: "Mr. Lu is right. I hope the Taiwei can make plans soon."

Lu Meisheng continued, "We must have a plan, but it is not appropriate for the current Taiwei to stay home on sick leave. If we continue, the power in your hands will gradually be taken away by Qin Mingxuan and others, and you will eventually become a Taiwei with an idle position. All the officials in the court will understand the emperor's intentions, and it will be difficult to deal with it when everyone pushes the wall down."

Shen Taiwei nodded to show his agreement with Lu Meisheng's opinion, and then asked: "What do you think I should do?"

Lu Meisheng bowed and said, "Your Excellency should return to the court immediately and hold on to the power in your hands tightly. You should not let go and show the ministers that your Excellency's importance in the court is still not to be underestimated. Of course, your Excellency can be more restrained in your attitude and still respect the emperor as a minister to avoid angering the emperor. As for what to do in the future, please think carefully before making a decision, General."

Commander Shen's shoulders drooped, looking extremely depressed. He said nothing, waved his hand and asked the other staff to leave, leaving Lu Meisheng alone.

After everyone left, Shen Taiwei looked at Lu Meisheng and said, "Mr. Lu, it's just you and me now. I want Mr. Lu to tell me the truth. In your opinion, what does the emperor want to do with the Shen family? What is the worst outcome?"

Lu Meisheng hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "As a foreign relative, the Shen family has now become an eyesore to the emperor in both the front court and the harem. Although the emperor must remember the queen mother's kindness in raising and supporting him, in my opinion, it is only a matter of time before the Shen family is wiped out. However, with the queen mother here, the lives of the Shen family should be safe. It's hard to say if the queen mother is gone."

After Lu Meisheng finished speaking, he saw that the face of Shen Taiwei became more and more gloomy as he spoke, and finally he bowed his hands and said: "Please forgive me for speaking frankly, my lord. I said the worst possible outcome. Now it seems that it is not that bad, my lord should still have a chance to turn the situation around."

Commandant Shen sneered: "If the king wants his subject to die, do I still have a chance to live?" Lu Meisheng didn't dare to say anything else and could only lower his head and remain silent.

As if he suddenly remembered something, Commander Shen asked Lu Meisheng, "I remember Mr. Lu said that there is a poison expert from southern Xinjiang in our mansion?"

Lu Meisheng raised his head in shock: "Sir, you..." Captain Shen laughed dryly and comforted Lu Meisheng: "Sir, don't panic. I'm just asking to find out."

Lu Meisheng said: "Indeed, there is a Miao doctor from southern Xinjiang in the palace. He originally followed his father to practice medicine in Beijing. During the time of the previous emperor, there was a rebellion in southern Xinjiang, and all Miao people in Beijing were also investigated, and many innocent Miao people were wrongly accused."

Commandant Shen had a deep impression of the Southern Xinjiang Rebellion, because his sister, Empress Dowager Shen, took advantage of the Miaojiang Rebellion to rise to the top of the harem. If it had not been for the rebellion, how could the favored mother of Prince Cheng, Concubine Li, be imprisoned in the cold palace and die miserably, and even lose the position of crown prince that her son was about to get?

Thinking of this past event, Shen Taiwei nodded: "Indeed, at that time, the capital was searching for Miao rebels one after another, and many Miao people in the capital were implicated."

Lu Meisheng sighed and continued, "Mr. Mo and his father were implicated in this turmoil. Mr. Mo's father was arrested and imprisoned and died in prison. Mr. Mo wandered around Beijing alone and suffered a lot. Later, he was taken in by a kind-hearted itinerant doctor and grew up. When the adults were recruiting staff, they joined the adults."

Upon hearing that Mr. Mo's father had been implicated in the Southern Xinjiang Rebellion and died, Commandant Shen clearly showed great interest: "Very good, please invite Mr. Mo to come and have a good chat with me when you have time."

Lu Meisheng bowed and said yes, then took his leave from the study. Lu Meisheng walked a long way, looked back at the light in the study which was still on, and couldn't help but smile. Fortunately, he had fulfilled his master's instructions and sent Mr. Mo to the general without leaving any trace. The general wanted to have a personal interview, which was very good.

The next day, General Shen appeared in the court. When the ministers saw General Shen, who had been ill for a long time, suddenly returned to the court, they thought to themselves: The emperor has won this secret contest between the emperor and his subjects.

Logically speaking, when the Grand Marshal Shen returned after recovering from his illness, all the officials should have gone to greet him, or at least said hello. However, except for a few officials who were obviously supporters of Grand Marshal Shen, most of the officials in the court did not go forward to say hello.

This was very different from the usual scene where all the officials would come forward to greet General Shen as soon as he entered the court. General Shen's face was gloomy, and he stood in the first position under the throne without saying a word. When the emperor came to the court and saw General Shen, he only asked a few questions in a lukewarm manner and then began to discuss state affairs.

Shen Taiwei stood there, listening to the emperor's orderly arrangements for state affairs, but none of them seemed to have anything to do with him. Suddenly, he felt a panic he had never felt before. It was then that he realized that during the time he was sick, the emperor had already stripped him of his power.

After the morning court session was over, no ministers gathered around General Shen anymore. Many ministers walked up to General Shen, looked at him with strange eyes, and then left in a hurry without saying a word.

Commandant Shen was holding back his anger until he returned home and entered his study, where he finally let it out. After smashing the study into a mess, he slumped down on the armchair, covering his face and sighing.

Commandant Shen did not expect the Emperor to act so quickly. He had only been recuperating at home for a dozen days, and the Emperor had already dispersed the power that he had originally controlled to Qin Mingxuan, Yu Huaian and a group of newcomers recently supported by the Emperor.

When leaving the court, Shen Taiwei saw the group of young officials surrounding Qin Mingxuan and Yu Huaian, looking at him with contempt. Shen Taiwei felt angry. These young people were hiding somewhere while he was in power.

The more Shen Taiwei thought about it, the angrier he became. He couldn't just surrender like this. If he just gave in and didn't fight back, then he would have no place to stand in the court. All the hard work he had done in the past would be in vain.

Commander Shen pulled himself together and called the servant to clean up the messy study. Then he asked Mr. Mo to come over for a talk.

When Mr. Mo walked into the study, it had already been tidied up. Marshal Shen was sitting behind the desk, still the dignified first-rank marshal of the current dynasty, with a calm expression, and no trace of the decadence and rage he had just shown.

Mr. Mo saluted and greeted General Shen, who came over with a smile on his face and helped Mr. Mo up. Mr. Mo couldn't help but feel flattered. He had never been summoned by the general since he entered the palace, and was left out in the cold. For this reason, Mr. Mo was often ridiculed and teased by other staff members, who laughed at his unorthodox skills and said that the general would not take them seriously.

Mr. Mo himself was a little anxious, but the order from his master was to be patient and wait quietly. The master said that one day Commandant Shen would invite him over.

At first, Mr. Mo was a little skeptical. He joined his master because he was eager to avenge his father's death, but his master kept telling him not to be impatient and to wait patiently. Mr. Mo had no choice but to wait, and finally the day came when General Shen came to invite him.

Captain Shen chatted with Mr. Mo with a smile on his face, and they talked about Mr. Mo's life experience intentionally or unintentionally. When he saw the uncontrollable hatred in Mr. Mo's eyes when he talked about the unjust death of Mr. Mo's father in prison, Captain Shen smiled with satisfaction. It would be easy to deal with the hatred.

Then, General Shen asked casually, "I heard that there is a secret medicine in your southern border. It is colorless and tasteless. Even the imperial doctors have a hard time detecting it. If you take it on a person, it will be like a chronic illness over time, right?"

Mr. Mo seemed to hesitate for a moment, and replied: "General, I have heard from my father that there is indeed such a secret medicine, called 'Ignorance'. It is indeed as the general said, it can make people die of a long-term illness without being detected."

Taiwei Shen was overjoyed and asked, "Sir, can you prepare this medicine?" Mr. Mo said, "This medicine is extremely difficult to prepare. The required raw materials need to be found in southern Xinjiang. It is also very difficult to successfully refine it. I can try my best for Taiwei, but it will take some time."

Commander Shen stood up immediately and said excitedly, "As long as you can refine it, sir, please try your best. I will fully support you with the money you need."

Mr. Mo looked at the excitement of General Shen and was secretly amazed. Sure enough, his master was right. His master said that the general would come to him to prepare poison sooner or later. It turned out to be true. In the future, he could use General Shen's power to increase his connections in southern Xinjiang.

Mr. Mo bowed and left, leaving the still excited Shen Taiwei rubbing his hands beside the table: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are unkind and I am unjust. You are relentless in pursuing me and want to kill me, so let's wait and see."