Chapter 53: Must drag! Must strip!

  On a quiet night, He Shang and Wu Hui Guang exchanged words, gesticulating in front of Feng Xi Hui's grave. The crowd that had come to bid farewell, even if they had some faint sadness, was dispelled by the quarrel between these two jokers. Many people couldn't help but laugh as they watched the two argue, and the originally solemn atmosphere suddenly vanished.

  "All right, don't argue anymore. Please continue reading, Master." Seeing the two of them making a scene that was really not like them, Zhao Pushan furrowed his brow and intervened.

  Bookworm Wu Huiguang's face turned red and his neck thickened as he said: "Sir, the monk is clearly reciting it wrong."

  The Buddha said: If you look for me with your eyes, if you listen for me with your ears, this is a wrong path, and you will not see the Tathagata. Sincerity of heart is essential!

  Wu Hui Guang listened thoughtfully, thinking that it was reasonable too. After all, he couldn't recite sutras for the monk himself. So, following the adult's words, "sincerity moves the spirit", he suppressed his anger and nodded, retreating back into the crowd.

  The monk was overjoyed, thinking that Zhao's words were extremely clever. From then on, if he encountered some obscure and unclear scriptures being recited but was caught out by others, he could use this phrase to cover himself up. He feared that he would forget the phrase when he turned his head, so he kept repeating it in his mind, while his mouth continued to chant "Mahaprajnaparamita Mantra" ... As a result, he made another mistake. Originally, he had been reciting the phrase "悉眈婆毗，阿弥利哆威哥兰谛，阿弥利哆威哥兰谛..." but ended up chanting: "The Buddha said: If you see me through form, if you seek me through sound, this person is on an evil path and cannot see the Tathagata. Sincerity of heart is spiritual!"

  Wu Hui Guang was so angry that he took a step forward, wanting to point out the mistake again. Fortunately, a colleague couldn't bear it anymore and pulled him back by his waistband. Wu Zhao Mo finally came to his senses and had no choice but to remain silent. However, for someone who loved to pick faults like him, having to endure this was extremely difficult.

  A nearly farcical funeral finally came to an end under the host of a half-baked monk, and people holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats dispersed in all directions. Xia Liu deliberately slowed down a step, waiting for Liu Xu and An Litong to come to his face, and immediately said in a low voice: "Two adults, how did Feng Zongqi die suddenly? What should I do now?"

  When it came to Feng Xihui's death, Xia Yu originally thought that it would definitely cause a sensation in Qingzhou Prefecture, but he never expected that the news of General Feng's death was unexpectedly calm and peaceful, until the third day when it gradually spread: Qingzhou Prefecture Inspector Feng Xihui died of acute enteritis.

  It's absolutely impossible for the head and body to be separated, although Feng Zongtai's corpse was burned beyond recognition in the big fire, but it shouldn't be that the corpse can't even be identified as intact or not.

  Xia Liu didn't know why the government wanted to conceal Feng Xihui's true cause of death. Was it because the waist token on General Feng's brocade robe wasn't completely burned? Or was it that someone had recognized the embroidered spring knife that had been deformed by the big fire? The government discovered that there were hidden dangers and, due to some concerns, didn't dare to make a public announcement.

  Xia Liu never figured out the real reason, but the more the government dared not to investigate openly, the more beneficial it was for him, and he was happy to pretend to be confused. However, he did not believe that An Litong and Liu Xu also believed that Feng Zongqi had died of a sudden illness. They had been in Qingzhou for four years and must have had some connections to help them find out the real cause of Feng Xihui's death.

  As soon as Xia Jun asked, An Baozi immediately cried with a sad face: "You ask me, who do I ask? Now I'm also at my wit's end..."

  Liu Xu shouted: "Shut up!"

  Liu Xu smiled gloomily at Xia Jie and said, "You don't have to worry, someone will be sent over from above. Director Feng had instructed you on something before his death, just focus on doing your job with all your heart, and don't bother about other things."

  Xia Fu bowed his head obediently: "Yes, I know what to do now."

  Liu Xu said: "You go first, as for Feng Zongqi's aftermath, I still have something to discuss with An brother."

  "Well, then, I'll take my leave."

  Xia Chuo nodded to them and turned back to walk towards the family's horse carriage parked in the distance. Liu Xuan's gloomy gaze slowly fell from his shoulder to his feet, Xia Chuo's footsteps were very steady, on the muddy rural dirt road, each step was almost the same distance apart.

  Xia Liu walked calmly to his car, first stamping his feet, before getting in. He got into the car and turned back to look at Liu Xuan and An Litong, seeing that they were watching him from afar, he slightly nodded as a sign of acknowledgement. Then he closed the umbrella and gently shook it off. The raindrops splashed onto the blades of grass, causing them to bend slightly before vigorously shaking off the water droplets and springing back up.

  Xia Jun was thinking tensely, just now when Liu Xu was observing him, he was also secretly observing the reactions of Liu Xu and An Litong. Now it seems that An Litong doesn't have any qualities or awareness that a spy should have, he is simply a thorough businessman, while Liu Xu... Xia Jun slightly furrowed his brow, Liu Xu had obviously become suspicious of him, after all Zhang Thirteen and Feng Zongqi both died mysteriously after his appearance, if he were the real Yang Wenxuan, Liu Xu wouldn't necessarily suspect him, but he was an imposter, he had motive.

  "What to do?" Xia Jie thought anxiously, after a long time, his tightly furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxed. Liu Xu might have suspicions, but he was just an insignificant person. People like Zhang Thirteen and Feng Xihui were all in my hands without knowing it, what could this trivial Liu Xu do to me?

  It's almost done!

  He returned from Yanggu County, and when he was on the Yellow River ferry boat, he had already heard people say that the current emperor's dragon body was unwell, and the crown prince had taken over the government. Xia Zhen didn't remember Zhu Yuanzhang's exact date of death, but he knew that Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen was in charge of the government, which also meant that Zhu Yuanzhang's death was not far away. And what did it mean when Zhu Yuanzhang passed away?

  It means the abolition of feudal domains will start immediately.

  Zhu Yunwen had always been wary of his uncles, and even before he ascended to the throne, he was thinking about how to deal with them. He even discussed this issue with his imperial grandfather, but unfortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang did not give him the answer he wanted. Instead, he asked him what he would do if his uncles harbored ambitions. Zhu Yunwen's response was very astute and consistent with the impression of filial piety and benevolence that he usually gave people. He said: "Win them over with virtue, control them with etiquette. If they cannot be controlled, then reduce their fiefs; if they still cannot be controlled, then remove them from their positions; and if it comes to that, then raise an army to punish them."

  Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied, but unfortunately, this remark was just Zhu Yunwen's hypocritical words in front of his grandfather. In fact: Just one month after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, before the funeral rites were completed, without seeing any signs of rebellion from the other princes, Zhu Yunwen couldn't wait to take action against his uncles. He didn't show off his virtues, or implement his rituals and etiquette, nor did he adopt the gentle approach of "reducing fiefs, dismissing guards, and retaining their royal titles", but instead directly took action to capture people.

  One imperial edict, and the virtuous King of Zhou, Zhu Youxiao, was imprisoned; another imperial edict, and the King of Dai, Zhu Gui, was demoted to a commoner. Next, the Kings of Qi and Min were also demoted along with their entire families. The King of Xiang, Zhu Bao, refused to accept being exiled to a remote and desolate place by his nephew and set fire to his house, killing himself and his family. Zhu Youxiao made it clear that except for his own branch of the family, all other descendants of the emperor would be demoted to commoners.

  He gathered five uncles, and the Jianwen Emperor's confidence greatly increased. He sharpened his knife and began to point it at Beiping. The King of Yan saw that things were not going well, so he sent all his sons to the capital as hostages to show his loyalty. However, Zhu Yunwen did not stop, following the plan of several trusted ministers, step by step tightening the siege. Finally, Zhu Di, who was unwilling to "let the lord want the minister to die and the minister cannot but die", led 800 personal soldiers and the rich and powerful emperor with tens of thousands of horses and soldiers, starting a war that seemed to have no chance of winning for anyone. The Jingnan Campaign began.

  In the war, this sharp knife of Jin Yiwei should have been very useful, but Xia Fan knew that once Jianwen Emperor ascended to the throne, Jin Yiwei would not be able to rise again. This was because Jianwen Emperor had received Confucian education since childhood and liked to reuse civil officials.

  If he reused Yang Yu, Yang Shi Qi, Yang Rong, Xia Yuanji, Jin Youzi, Wang Xun, Jie Xuan and other real strategists who valued results over means, then when the King of Yan Zhu Di stepped towards greatness, these politicians might have advised him to use the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Unfortunately, he reused Huang Cheng, Qi Tai, Fang Xiaoru and other ministers who were unable to bring peace with literature or stability with martial arts, but only knew how to talk loudly about moral integrity. They were loyal, but they had no ability.

  Therefore, Xia Yan clearly knew that as long as he dragged on until Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the Jianwen Emperor would immediately take action against the various kings, and it was not necessary for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to fabricate any criminal facts. He could arbitrarily frame some charges, issue a decree, and demote the King of Qi to a commoner. The plan of the Embroidered Uniform Guard would lose its execution target at that time. In the subsequent Jingnan campaign, the court's forces would be reorganized again, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard would no longer care about these few chess pieces thrown in Qingzhou.

  At that time, I might be like Ximen Qing, lurking here, lurking for a lifetime.

  This result is quite good, being able to dive and not come up is also a kind of happiness.

  So now he has only two things to do: one is to drag, drag until Zhu Yuanzhang dies and Zhu Yunwen makes trouble; the other is to get rid of it as soon as possible, draw a clear line with Qi Wang, and avoid being caught by Jianwen Emperor when he cuts off the vassals. Liu Xu is not worth worrying about, so his next main energy will be focused on:

  It took Jin Yiwei four years to get the identity of Qi Wang's agent for Yang Wenyuan, but he transferred it in half a year. In this case, he needs to find an accomplice, someone who is willing to take the blame for him.

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