#254 - Ning Yongnian's Intuition
After staying in Longzhou City for a day, Wei Changtian and his group continued their journey back to Shuzhou early the next morning.
The first day passed without incident, but on the second day, as they reached Lingzhou, they heard the news that the Dafeng army was approaching Yuanzhou.
This situation was undoubtedly very unfavorable for the Daning Dynasty, but it had nothing to do with Wei Changtian, at least not for the time being.
He was currently only concerned with how to destroy the Liu family.
As for Ning Yongnian...
“Young Master, the Emperor has returned to the capital.”
Inside the carriage, Chu Xianping put away the “codebook” and truthfully reported the news he had just received from the Tongzhou Society: “He returned last night, but did not attend the morning court today. Only a few people in the court know about this.”
“Hmm? Returned to the capital?”
Wei Changtian was stunned, wondering why Ning Yongnian would return to the capital at this critical juncture.
The battle of Jizhou had only just begun, and Yuanzhou was facing a foreign enemy, with fighting likely to break out at any moment.
For Ning Yongnian to return to the capital from the front line at this time could only mean that there was a more important matter waiting for him to deal with in the capital.
What could it be?
Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping exchanged a look, and after a moment of thought, the same idea popped into their heads.
“Send an order to the Tongzhou Society to be vigilant. For the next five days, unless there is particularly important information, they are not allowed to contact anyone else!”
Wei Changtian frowned and said, “Especially Ning Wenyu. If there are no accidents, Ning Yongnian will definitely test him.”
“He is our highest-ranking spy in the palace, and it is best to protect him.”
“But if we really can’t protect him...”
Chu Xianping's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded immediately.
“Young Master, I understand. I will send the order immediately.”
That night.
Imperial Palace, Shiqu Pavilion.
Two rows of black-clad, sword-wielding warriors stood beside the carved and painted stone pillars, the very same Hualing Guards who had been incorporated into the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
And at the desk at the end of the stone pillars, Ning Yongnian looked at the four people in front of him, his expression extremely gloomy.
The First Prince, Ning Wenjun.
The Second Prince, Ning Wenyu.
The General of Zhenguo, Han Zhao.
The Grand Tutor, Pu Siyi.
Apart from Xiang Shiyuan, the Minister of War who had already died in the Heavenly Prison, these four were the only remaining people who knew about that important piece of information.
In fact, Ning Yongnian had only suspected Xiang Shiyuan from beginning to end. The reason he chose to tell all five people at the same time was to prevent Xiang Shiyuan from becoming suspicious.
Yes, Xiang Shiyuan ultimately did not suspect anything, and he was indeed caught by him.
But the plan to directly seize Jizhou City still failed.
Then this means that there is still a spy among these four people...
Two are his sons, one is a famous general who has assisted two emperors of Daning, and one is his teacher.
Ning Yongnian swept his gaze across the faces of each person. He really couldn't believe that someone among these four people would betray him, would betray the Ning family.
But the truth is just that.
Thinking of Xu Chengwen being hung high on the city wall by Wei Yanyu, Ning Yongnian took a deep breath, his eyes unconsciously lingered on Ning Wenjun and Ning Wenyu for a while, and then he slowly said:
“You all know about the Jizhou matter.”
“The Daning soldiers are still fighting the rebels on the front line, but I chose to return to the capital at this time.”
“You should have guessed the reason. I want to hear what you think.”
“Speak, all of you.”
“...”
After Ning Yongnian finished speaking, the Shiqu Pavilion fell into a brief silence.
Until Pu Siyi, who was both a Grand Scholar of the Inner Cabinet and the Grand Tutor, coughed and took the lead in answering:
“Cough, Your Majesty.”
“This old minister feels that we should not jump to conclusions on this matter.”
“Xu Chengwen’s exposure may be due to his own carelessness.”
“As for whether someone tipped him off in advance...”
“This old minister believes in the two princes, believes in the General, and even more believes in his own loyalty to Your Majesty. I believe they would never do such a traitorous thing!”
Pu Siyi was a well-known good old man in the court, and these few words did not offend anyone.
Of course, what he said was not unreasonable, after all, it was indeed possible that Xu Chengwen had accidentally exposed himself.
However, Ning Yongnian did not think so, and he knew in his heart that someone must have leaked the secret.
The reason for this judgment was not that he had any key evidence, but just a feeling.
But Ning Yongnian was extremely certain of this feeling.
“Teacher, we can’t say that.”
Shaking his head, Ning Yongnian sighed softly.
“The Xiang family has assisted my Ning family for five generations, but didn’t Xiang Shiyuan still rebel?”
“Furthermore, Xu Chengwen is not a fool. He must be clear that if he is even slightly careless, he will end up with his head in a different place.”
“I don’t think he would make a mistake on such a life-and-death matter.”
“General Han...”
Ning Yongnian paused and looked at Han Zhao again.
“You are a general who leads troops into battle, you should understand this principle the most.”
“...”
Han Zhao, who was suddenly cued, was stunned, knowing that Ning Yongnian wanted him to speak.
He pondered for a moment, then cupped his fists and replied in a deep voice: “Your Majesty, this humble general is just a rough man, I don’t understand any profound principles, I am clumsy with words, and I don’t know how to defend myself.”
“This minister only knows one sentence.”
“If the father wants the son to die, the son must die; if the ruler wants the subject to die, the subject must die.”
“Even if someone really leaked the news about Jizhou, that person is definitely not this humble general.”
“I hope Your Majesty will investigate clearly!”
“...”
Unlike Pu Siyi, Han Zhao took the straightforward route.
No matter what, anyway, I definitely didn’t do this, you can investigate however you want.
“I know.”
Ning Yongnian looked at Han Zhao, whose expression remained unchanged, and didn’t say anything more, because he knew that the probability of Han Zhao and Pu Siyi betraying him was indeed very low.
One was the Grand Tutor, and the other was the Great General, both of whom had already reached the position of being second only to one person and above ten thousand.
More importantly, both of them were old and it was not worth taking such a big risk for that illusory further step in power.
“Teacher, General, you can go back first.”
Turning his back, Ning Yongnian said calmly: “I want to chat with Jun’er and Yu’er alone.”
“Yes, this humble minister takes his leave.”
Pu Siyi and Han Zhao exchanged a complicated look, and then responded in unison and retreated.
And those two rows of sword-wielding Hualing Guards also left before and after them.
“Swish, swish ~”
The friction of the armor made bursts of noise, and the flower feathers hanging on the hilt of the knife swayed up and down with the pace.
“General Han...”
Pu Siyi looked back at the closed door of Shiqu Pavilion and lowered his voice to say to Han Zhao beside him: “Among the two princes, I’m afraid someone will not be able to attend court tomorrow.”
“Lord Pu, I don’t understand what you are talking about.”
Han Zhao stopped and glanced at Pu Siyi, his tone impolite: “Han still has something to do, so I will take my leave first!”
“You!”
Looking at Han Zhao’s hurried departure, Pu Siyi only thought that he was unwilling to participate in this battle for the throne, so he secretly cursed “boor” behind his back in a pretentious manner.
Han Zhao had already walked more than ten feet away at this time, and it was estimated that he could not hear this complaint.
The cold wind was biting, and the murderous intent emanating from the Shiqu Pavilion behind him was almost piercing to the bone.
He walked slowly in the night, his expression calm, but in the palm of his hand hidden in his sleeve, he was tightly holding an object.
It was a small copper coin, with a small boat carved on the back, and only two words on the front —
Tongzhou.
