Princess Promotion

Li Jinglong stood in the empty courtyard, looking into the distance with empty eyes.

Since the An Tian case, more than half of the old officials of the Western Zhou Dynasty were laid off, which is no different from cutting off Li Jinglong's hands, and their strength has been greatly reduced.

Originally, Li Jinglong wanted to recuperate for a while before regrouping.

But I heard that the current emperor does not allow his subjects to take leave. If they take leave for a long time, they will be dismissed from office.

To be honest, when the former Zhou emperor was still alive and this rumor came from Qi State, Li Jinglong always thought that this was an excuse for Yao Chuguang to eliminate dissidents.

When this matter fell upon Li Jinglong, he really didn't dare to test whether the rumor was true.

Therefore, Li Jinglong did not dare to claim to be sick at home. If it was true, it would backfire.

But then the problem arises again: there are endless official duties and memorials to be written every day when I go to work.

Li Jinglong originally planned to keep quiet for a while and wait for the storm to die down before looking for another way out, but he was so busy every day that he had no time to rest, so how could he conserve his energy?

Li Jinglong now only has a little time at night to think about his future career.

This time he was completely defeated by that old villain Xiao Chengen, and he didn't know when he would recover.

The old villain Xiao was cunning and ruthless. He colluded with that woman An Tian to plot against him, and he took note of it.

In the future, he will definitely make that old thief Xiao pay the price.

A while ago, that woman An Tian broke into a private house and caused a big commotion, but the government didn't intervene.

Li Jinglong found out about this matter and learned that the case was suppressed by Xiao's followers who rushed to the yamen that day.

In the past, Li Jinglong might have taken advantage of the situation and sent people to kill the whole family, making it look like An Tian was killing people to silence them.

But he had just suffered a great loss here. If this was another trap set by the old thief Xiao, wouldn't he be walking into a trap?

If a person falls twice in the same place, it is not carelessness, but stupidity.

Li Jinglong felt that he should attack from other places. If he couldn't kill the opponent with one blow, it would be better not to move. Otherwise, it would be easy to fail to defeat the opponent and get himself involved instead.

Li Jinglong discovered that the old thief Xiao suddenly rushed back to Huayang recently, and left in a hurry.

It was obvious that something was happening, but Li Jinglong had no idea what it was.

As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles. No matter what the old thief Xiao is going to do, Li Jinglong must know.

Li Jinglong was lost in thought when a servant hurried up to him and breathlessly reported, "Master, Shadow is back."

Li Jinglong's heart tightened when he heard this, and he immediately ordered, "Let him come in quickly."

Although Li Jinglong sent a shadow to follow Xiao Chengen, he did not hold much hope.

After all, in such a short time, it would be extremely difficult for an outsider to sneak into the Xiao Mansion, let alone find out Xiao Chengen's secrets.

However, Shadow suddenly came back at this time, which meant that there must have been some important discovery.

Soon, a man in night clothes walked in quietly, knelt on one knee, and said respectfully: "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."

Li Jinglong asked anxiously, "What have you found?"

Shadow's voice was deep and powerful: "After Xiao Chengen arrived in Huayang, he immediately went to Zhang Huaijin's residence."

Li Jinglong still had some impression of Zhang Huaijin. This person once held great power and was a hostile force to Xiao Chengen. However, since Yao Chuguang became the empress, he was dismissed from office for some unknown reason.

It seemed that Zhang Huaijin was dismissed from his official position by Yao Chuguang because he had been on leave for a long time and had not attended court.

Shadow continued, "Lord Xiao stayed at the Zhang residence for an hour before leaving. That night, the imperial guards raided the residence and executed the entire family, accusing them of treason."

"Zhang Huaijin's followers were all beheaded. Finally, the imperial guards went to the Xiao Mansion to report."

After hearing this, Li Jinglong couldn't calm down for a long time.

It seems that Xiao Chengen's trip is to eliminate dissidents.

While Yao Chuguang was away in Yundu City, he rushed back to Huayang City to eliminate his former political enemies.

Xiao Cheng'en was indeed a ruthless person. He did not even let go of his defeated political enemies. He traveled thousands of miles to fabricate charges against Zhang Huaijin and wiped him out completely.

Li Jinglong thought that Xiao Chengen was only targeting them, the old ministers of the Western Zhou Dynasty, but it seemed that this old villain was targeting everyone who opposed him.

But what made Li Jinglong even more confused was Yao Chuguang's attitude towards Xiao Chengen.

Logically speaking, the key to being an emperor is to maintain checks and balances. To put it bluntly, no single party can dominate the country. The court will only be stable if multiple forces are involved.

However, Yao Chuguang repeatedly indulged Xiao Chengen, allowing him to develop his power and eliminate dissidents.

If Xiao Chengen and Yao Chuguang are related by blood, or if there are other binding interests, it would also make sense.

But according to Li Jinglong's observation, there was nothing special between Xiao Chengen and Yao Chuguang, so why did Yao Chuguang trust Xiao Chengen so much?

Li Jinglong couldn't figure it out and was absolutely sure that he had overlooked something, which led to his current deviation in speculation.

But what went wrong?

Could it be...

Li Jinglong suddenly slammed the table and stood up. He thought of a possibility. Could it be that Yao Chuguang was a puppet emperor?

All of this is actually the alliance between Xiao Chengen and Duke Li.

The Emperor Emeritus of Qi had long harbored murderous intentions towards Duke Li, and Duke Li also knew that the Emperor Emeritus would take action against him sooner or later.

At that time, Xiao Chengen and Zhang Huaijin were evenly matched, and the breakthrough point lay with Duke Li.

So the two hit it off and joined forces to support Yao Chuguang to sit on the throne.

This is the best way for both of them to maximize their interests. Duke Li gets the military power, and Xiao Chengen has absolute power in the court.

From the beginning to the end, Yao Chuguang was just a puppet of Duke Li and Xiao Chengen.

It's just that Xiao Cheng'en hid in the dark in order to better control the court. After all, those who are on the table are always targets.

Xiao Cheng'en was like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue, watching every stumbling block that blocked his way in the dark.

At this moment, Li Jinglong's body began to tremble involuntarily, as if a chill was rushing from the soles of his feet to his forehead. Cold sweat slid down his spine, and he felt a fear he had never felt before.

Xiao Chengen is such a terrifying person!

At the same time, in the Imperial Garden.

An inexplicable chill ran up Yao Chuguang's back, and then a loud sneeze broke the tranquility of the garden. Yao Chuguang couldn't help but rubbed his itchy nose, frowning slightly.

"Strange?" Yao Chuguang thought to herself, "Could it be the chilly spring weather, or... is someone thinking about me?"

It is springtime in the Imperial Garden, with flowers blooming in profusion and green leaves swaying, creating a vibrant scene.

Yao Chuguang, dressed in an elegant palace dress, strolled among the blooming flowers, enjoying this rare moment of tranquility.

Fu Hongxuan, who was following behind Yao Chuguang, said, "I think you are not wearing enough clothes and you have caught a cold."

Yao Chuguang took a deep breath, turned around and looked at Fu Hongxuan and said, "There's a rumor about you out there. Have you heard of it?"

Fu Hongxuan said expressionlessly, "Do I look like someone who would listen to gossip?"

Yao Chuguang: This reason is very powerful. Few people can resist the charm of gossip, and you are one of them.

Fu Hongxuan quickly walked in front of Yao Chuguang, blocking her path. He lowered his head and met her eyes, saying, "I won the bet a few days ago. Are you trying to cheat by repeatedly changing the subject?"

Yao Chuguang turned away his eyes feeling a little guilty. This guy actually became smarter.