Lu Ping walked up to the third floor and met Ma Yaozong in an elegant room. Ma Yaozong knelt down on one knee and saluted, "I am not good at ease, General Lu!"

"No need to be so polite. Let's talk about the assassination in Yongxian County. Chang'an has spread. Unfortunately, there are all kinds of rumors. I want to report to Zhongdu immediately."

Ma Yaozong nodded and explained the assassination in Yong County in detail. Lu Ping listened and asked, and soon he understood the whole story of the assassination. He pondered for a while and asked again: "Did Cui Wenxiang and Li Yuanji never think about getting rid of you assassin?"

Ma Yaozong smiled and said, "I have considered this issue. In fact, Cui Wenxiang was determined to kill me, but Li Yuanji refused. Cui Wenxiang did not dare to offend Li Yuanji, so he did not take action in Yong County. The reason is that I think there are two. One is that Li Yuan believed that the assassin was Huang Lu, a man in black. He was dead, so they thought that the assassin had been silenced, so they no longer suspected that there was another assassin. But it was more important that Li Yuanji took a fancy to my archery skills. He also wanted to use my archery skills, such as shooting Li Shimin, so he refused to kill me and rewarded me with 300 taels of gold."

Ma Yaozong put the skin under his feet on the table, "This is the 300 taels of gold that Li Yuanji rewarded me. I dare not take it with me, so I will hand it over."

"Li Yuanji is so generous!"

Lu Ping smiled and said, "The emperor has explained this issue. If any information scouts have obtained from him and half of them are paid as funds, you will get one hundred and fifty taels."

"Thank you, General!"

Ma Yaozong then received fifteen ingots of gold. In Chang'an, 150 taels of gold could be exchanged for 7500 jin of gold, which was considered a fortune. Li Yuanji was willing to reward him with 300 taels of gold, and he was also very concerned about him.

Lu Ping picked up another ingot of gold and looked at it, and asked, "What's going on with horse hoof gold? How did Li Yuanji get it? Did he cast it himself?"

"No! The horseshoe gold of the Tang Dynasty was cast with the mold of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. A batch of cast in the Northern Zhou Dynasty was about 10,000 taels, and all were rewarded to the Dugu family. When Li Yuanji searched the Dugu family's treasury, he privately greed for this batch of gold. The horseshoe gold of the Tang Dynasty was exactly the same as the horseshoe gold of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, but the number at the bottom was different. Cui Wenxiang chiseled the number at the bottom. Everyone thought it was the batch of horseshoe gold cast by the Tang Dynasty."

"What if the prince's five thousand taels of gold are in the East Palace? Then will it be exposed?"

"Cui Wenxiang has already conducted an investigation in advance. The prince's five thousand gold was rewarded with the three armies at that time. He did not keep any of them. All the witnesses had surrendered to the Great Zhou in the Battle of Taiyuan."

Lu Ping had to praise: "So that's it. Cui Wenxiang is very strategic and has a good grasp of the details."

"General, this Cui Wenxiang is really amazing. He planned for several months and was well prepared. He was linked together and completely led the court's nose away. Even if Li Jiancheng escaped into the Yellow River, he would not be able to wash it. If he wanted to deal with Li Yuanji, he would definitely kill Cui Wenxiang first."

Lu Ping nodded, "I understand, but before killing him, we must do our best to help Li Yuanji ascend the throne. This is the order of the Lord. You must also firmly implement Li Yuanji's various orders. If you encounter misfortune, your family will get your achievements."

Ma Yaozong nodded silently. He knew the risks he was facing, but he was mentally prepared to devote himself.

Ma Yaozong said goodbye after eating a bowl of noodles. Lu Ping immediately wrote an eagle letter, put it in a red tube, and handed it to a confidant, "Get out of the city immediately and send it to Zhongdu with an eagle letter."

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Zhang Xuan received a pigeon letter from the military aircraft when inspecting Donglai County. He immediately decided to terminate the inspection and return to Zhongdu. The situation was very subtle. Zhang Xuan had to return to Beijing immediately. He immediately divided his troops and asked Pei Zhizhi and civil servants to take a large ship to take the Yellow River waterway. He himself led 300 cavalry to Zhongdu day and night.

Three days later, Zhang Xuan arrived in Zhongdu and came to Tiange all the way. He didn't care about the fatigue of the journey and immediately asked someone to find both Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui.

Soon, the guards reported at the door, "Your Majesty, they are here!"

"Please come in!"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui walked into the room quickly, and they bowed and said, "I am going to see Your Majesty."

"Okay, okay, sit down!"

Fang Xuanling had become prime minister in October last year and was also appointed as the Minister of War. Su Wei was renamed as the Grand Tutor. He was basically considered to have retired from office. Li Jing was over 70 years old and was not in good health. Zhang Xuan asked him to serve as the Grand Guardian and calmly recuperate at home. Chen Ling also retired from prime minister. Zhang Xuan was granted the title of Duke of Qi, the Prince's Shaobao, and the founding of the Grand Guardian Yitong Sansi. Duke of Qi was Zhang Xuan's former title, and giving him the Duke of Qi was also a great honor.

After successfully resolving the alternation of prime ministers, Zhang Xuan then officially signed Fang Xuanling, Yu Shinan and Yang Gongren as prime ministers, plus the previous four prime ministers, Wei Yunqi, Li Gang, Xiao Yu, and Lu Chu, thus forming the second prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, with a term of five years.

Du Ruhui took over as the chief secretary of Fang Xuanling, and Ling Jing served as the military station sacrificial service. Although Fang Xuanling had no longer cared about intelligence, Zhang Xuan still habitually asked him to come and discuss with him.

"What's the situation in Chang'an now?" Zhang Xuan asked.

Du Ruhui smiled and said, "Just after sending the eagle letter to His Majesty, Weichen received a second letter. Li Yuan issued an order to search the Eastern Palace and put Prince Zhongyun Wang Gui to prison for interrogation. There were more than a dozen officials from the Eastern Palace who were arrested at the same time. None of the Eastern Palace officials who stayed in Chang'an were spared. Weichen also heard that the search soldiers found more than a dozen steel needles under the bed of the Prince's bedroom."

"Steel needle?" Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "Is it possible that Li Jiancheng still stabbed a villain in the palace?"

Du Ruhui nodded, "Li Yuan should have thought so. He was extremely angry and beat the ten eunuchs and five palace maids in charge of the prince's bedroom to death. However, Weichen felt that these steel needles might not be owned by Li Jiancheng."

"You mean Li Yuanji framed him?"

Fang Xuanling next to him also smiled and said, "Where is the villain taken away? The reason why the steel needle is still left behind? However, this strategy is very clever and gives people a strong hint. If Li Yuan doesn't believe it, it should be Cui Wenxiang's plan. Now Li Jiancheng's position as the prince will definitely not be guaranteed. It would be good if he can survive."

"Then has Li Jiancheng returned to Beijing?"

"He walked very slowly on the way back to Beijing, and Li Yuan sent someone to detain him back to Beijing."

Zhang Xuan walked a few steps behind his hands and suddenly asked, "Is there any news over Li Shimin?"

Du Ruhui shook his head, "There is no news, it seems that Li Yuan has completely forgotten him."

Zhang Xuan sneered, "This is called "overwhelming". The more he acts not in mind, the more he cares about Li Shimin. If I was not wrong, Li Yuan's next step is to consider how to cut Li Shimin's military power."

Fang Xuanling nodded, "Your Majesty is right. Li Yuan's idea of ​​deposing the prince has been a long time. This time, no matter whether it was the assassination case or not, Li Yuan will seize this matter to implement his plan to depose the prince. But this does not mean that he will give Li Shimin the position of the prince. On the contrary, he will never establish the prince again. He will use equal power to promote internal struggle among all the sects, so weakening Li Shimin's military power is the inevitable goal of the next step."

"Your Majesty, what should we do next?" Du Ruhui asked.

Zhang Xuan paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back. He pondered for a long time and said slowly: "The next step is to station Li Shimin with one hand and let him stay in Longyou."

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Chapter completed!