"You didn't persuade Li Chengyu?"

"Yes." Li Qijun said calmly: "When the official arrived, His Majesty had already killed Li Kui. There was really nothing he could do."

"So what?" Yan Zhenqing asked: "Do they really want to kill the king?"

Li Qijun said quickly: "Of course they don't dare. Li Chengyu said that he has tried his best to restrain the rioters. However, now the rioters are no longer his tenants, but have become tenants of the imperial court, and they have suffered harsh treatment from local officials.

Angry and rebellious, he cannot suppress it and is powerless."

"This is a threat, Your Majesty."

"I don't dare to be a lower-ranking official. These are Li Chengyu's exact words."

Yan Zhenqing asked solemnly, "Isn't he afraid that the imperial court will mobilize an army to conquer him?"

Li Qijun said: "He did not participate in the rebellion, and he has been claiming that a son was unjustly killed. The court is only afraid that he will be unknown. What's more, if the states and counties in the world regard the new law as a man-eating tiger, if the court wants to mobilize troops, I'm afraid...

OK."

As he spoke, he added: "These are also Li Chengyu's exact words. The lower official believes that once the troops are launched, it means that the imperial court will fight to the death with these high-ranking families, which will intensify the conflict and cause turmoil in the society."

Yan Zhenqing remained silent, seeming to be hesitating whether to use troops.

From his perspective as a teacher, father-in-law, and prime minister, he would have long wished to raise troops to rescue Xue Bai; but considering the stability of the Tang Dynasty, raising troops was the worst outcome.

Li Qijun said: "I think it is not difficult to solve this problem."

"explain."

"As long as the imperial court issues an order and the inspection has been completed, there will be no more inspections." Li Qiyun said: "In addition, I have met many officials before I came here today, and they all support the crown prince's ascension to the throne..."

~~

In the evening, Li Zuo, wearing a military robe, was practicing riding and shooting.

He was carried on a horse and played with when he was four years old. Now he can barely touch the stirrups with his feet, but his riding skills are already very good, and he can walk on the horseback as if he were on the ground.

"Your Majesty, slow down." Liu An did not ride a horse and trotted behind.

"Just wait here, I'll be back after a quick run."

Li Zuo shouted, his little feet pushed on the horse's back, and the horse quickly ran towards Lugongyuan.

This is the place where Wu Zetian used to raise deer, but now it has been vacant for a long time. It can be regarded as a small paradise for Li Zuo.

He was small and light, and the horse on him was obedient. He ran very fast, and soon left behind the guards behind him.

After that, he pulled the reins, left the horse path, and entered a small forest in the palace courtyard. He saw a woman standing in front of the house in front of him.

Li Zuo couldn't help but be overjoyed and said: "Stop the horse."

The foal obediently slowed down and reached the woman.

"Godmother." Li Zuo smiled and said, "Why did you come to the palace today?"

It was Du Jin standing there.

In the past, she often went to the palace to see Li Zuo, but now that Xue Bai and his wife were away, Yan Zhenqing didn't like her having too much contact with Li Zuo, so she came secretly instead. Anyway, she could come and go freely, and no one could stop her.

Du Jin took Li Zuo off the horse and said, "Let's see if you are tired?"

"Aren't you tired?" Li Zuo asked, "Has your godmother brought me the little book today?"

The little book he talks about is a popular kind of story with illustrations, and it is one of his biggest hobbies after reading.

"It seems you didn't think about me, you only thought about the little book."

"No, I come here every day to see if my godmother is here."

After hearing this, Du Jin took out a little book from his sleeve and patted Li Zuo on the head, saying, "You're still good, so I'll give this to you."

"Thank you godmother!" Li Zuo was very happy.

Apart from his parents, the two people he is closest to in the world are Yan Zhenqing and Du Jin. The difference is that he respects and loves Yan Zhenqing, while getting along with Du Jin is more relaxed and comfortable.

The two talked for a while, and then Du Jin asked, "Did you come here two days ago?"

"Yes." Li Zuo couldn't wait to look through the little book, and after listening to the question, he nodded repeatedly.

After sending Li Zuo away, Du Jin called Qu Shui behind him and said: "The person who is just talking nonsense and letting Zuo'er hear is in the Lugong Courtyard. Find out who he is and deal with it."

"yes."

~~

Yan Zhenqing was also checking how Li Zuo heard people say that Xue Bai's life experience was different, but two days later he learned that two palace ladies accidentally fell into the water and died.

After hearing the news, he asked: "But the palace servants of Lugongyuan?"

"yes."

Yan Zhenqing's face darkened and he ordered, "Let Yan Quanming come see me."

After a while, Yan Quanming arrived.

"I asked Liu An to come here last time, do you know why?" Yan Zhenqing asked.

"I don't know, nephew," Yan Quan said clearly.

"Your Highness heard that someone was slandering the saint." Yan Zhenqing asked: "Now, the two palace officials who spoke have been silenced. Is this also an accident?"

Yan Quanming felt very embarrassed. He hesitated for a while and said, "Didn't my uncle find out? Nowadays, many people deliberately kill people to silence my uncle..."

Yan Zhenqing had asked him similar questions before, and this was how he answered. But this time it was obviously different. The matter was more secretive. Yan Zhenqing heard Li Zuo talk about it in private, and within two days, someone died.

"You lied like this. It seems you know who did it." Yan Zhenqing asked: "Could it be His Highness?"

"No." Yan Quanming had no choice but to say, "My nephew ordered the killing of those two palace men."

"I just asked you, if you don't know about this, how can you give the order?"

"My nephew just lied."

"Is it Du Erniang?"

Yan Zhenqing seemed to have known this for a long time. He shook his head and was quite dissatisfied with Du Jin's methods.

~~

Luoyang Daodefang, Duzhai.

When Du Wulang entered the house that day, he saw that Du Jin's horse was also there, so he hurriedly ran to find her.

After searching around, he found someone in Du Youlin's study.

Opening the door, Du Jin was reading the letters on the desk, and he had the aura of a prime minister more than Du Youlin.

"Second sister, do you know that the south is in chaos? Liu Zhan rebelled, and there was a rebellion in Zhengzhou. Now His Majesty is caught in the middle of the rebels and cannot come back. Why are you not in a hurry?"

"Who said I'm not in a hurry?" Du Jin said.

"Are you in a hurry? Then why don't you go to escort me?"

"You are still stupid." Du Jin glanced at Du Wulang with disgust and said, "Your Majesty is not in Dongdu. If I don't guard him at this time, what's the use of running to Jianghuai?"

"But I feel very uneasy." Du Wulang whispered, "When I came back, I felt someone was staring at me."

"Someone is watching you?" Du Jin said, "How did you know?"

"I have a good nose, and I can vaguely smell the smell of that person, like rotten eggs, following me all the way."

"Maybe he's just a rogue."

Du Wulang said: "Is there going to be trouble in Luoyang?"

"No." Du Jin said casually, "The imperial troops are here, and those people don't dare."

"But the new law has touched so many..."

"Shut up."

Du Jin stopped, took a few letters and left.

Only then did Du Wulang realize that she had pried open a locked drawer of Du Youlin. He was very surprised and shouted: "No, how could you steal grandpa's things?"

Du Jin ignored him and left the study. He went to find Du Jin and handed over the letter in his hand.

"Sure enough, the Jingzhao Du family is not clear either. If these people cannot beg me, they must be on the opposite side of us."

Du Mei took the letter and read it, and saw that it was a letter from some tribesmen to Du Youlin, some of which contained threatening words, vaguely indicating that if they were forced to open up the old case, there would still be a way to ruin Du Youlin's reputation.

Such disputes among clan members are much more troublesome than conflicts with outsiders.

Even when they saw it, they felt a headache for Du Youlin.

"Er Niang, please don't kill them all." Du Si took Du Jin's hand and persuaded them with worry: "They are all our tribesmen."

"In the eyes of eldest sister, have I become a murderous demon now?"

Du Jin was just thinking about how to deny it, when someone came to Du Jin, but it was Yan Zhenqing who invited her to talk to the observatory of the palace tomorrow afternoon.

After thinking for a moment, Du Jin agreed.

She knew what Yan Zhenqing was doing, and believed that at this juncture, we should cooperate to stabilize the situation.
To be continued...