flstandardbreds Chapter 116: Distant water cannot save nearby fire
Chapter 116: Distant water cannot save nearby fire
On the other side, when the Eighth Prince received the note from the Seventh Prince's men and saw the words written on the note, his face suddenly turned pale and his eyes became darker, like the pitch-black night, which made people feel uneasy.
In less than a cup of tea, Zhou Hanjin had to go to court. At this point in time, even if he wanted to vent, there was not enough time.
Although he knew time was running out, Zhou Hanjin couldn't help but curse, "What a useless person! Chu Qibai asked them to assassinate him several times but they all failed. What a bunch of good-for-nothings."
I just don't know if this good-for-nothing has blamed all the assassinations he had arranged before.
Zhou Hanjin also had several close followers in his study, and his personal eunuch was arranged for him by the Yao family and was extremely loyal to him.
Just by hearing the Eighth Prince's curse, he knew that this operation had failed. He secretly winked at the people around him and asked them to make another cup of tea and bring it up.
As for him, he watched Zhou Hanjin's expression and whispered, "Master, this plan was arranged by the Seventh Prince after all, so he naturally won't take it too seriously. Anyway, the failure of the operation will not affect him."
How could Zhou Hanjin not know that the people around him were playing tricks on him, but this also hit the point. Although he had reached an agreement with Zhou Jinye, the Nalan family was one of Zhou Jinye's trump cards after all, and he really couldn't let the Nalan family sacrifice everything for this operation.
Leaving room for maneuver is the normal operation.
Seeing that Zhou Hanjin was lost in thought, the eunuch beside him immediately handed over the tea that the maid had just brought in and placed it in front of Zhou Hanjin's desk.
"Master, anger is harmful to your health. You can find another opportunity to kill Prince Chu later."
Zhou Hanjin was just angry at first, and he wasn't going to really settle accounts with Lao Qi for such a small matter. He had already expected the result to be like this, but he was still somewhat frightened.
I was shocked to find that Chu Qibai was so powerful that several consecutive assassination attempts failed to take his life and he was always able to turn danger into safety.
If it happens once or twice it could be a coincidence, but if it happens every time it is definitely not a coincidence. This shows that he has greatly underestimated Chu Qibai's strength.
If he really allowed such a powerful opponent to go to Xi'an City, Zhou Hanjin was worried that all his deployment plans would be interrupted.
He always had a bad feeling that Chu Qibai was definitely a big trump card in Zhou Yichen's hand, and would also be the person who gave him the most headaches.
In order to ensure that this plan is foolproof, he deliberately chose such a special period. As for the deployment and transfer of those garrison generals, in order to prevent others from noticing anything unusual, they could only be transferred one by one.
After months of planning, Zhou Hanjin risked the eternal crime of treason and treason just to mess up the internal affairs of the Great Zhou in one fell swoop so that he could take advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters.
However, he never expected that his plan, which was so covert and smooth, would suddenly be discovered by Zhou Yichen, Chu Qibai and others?
If they had not noticed, Chu Qibai would never have had the sudden idea of going to Xi'an to join the army. Zhou Hanjin did not believe that there would be such a coincidence. Seeing that the plan was about to start, Chu Qibai took the initiative to volunteer to go to Xi'an.
"After court, go to the Yao family and invite my uncle to come over for a chat." Zhou Hanjin put the note on the candle with a cold face and watched it burn out bit by bit.
At this moment, the light covered his face, seeming to blur his expression. Although I could see his face clearly, it seemed that I couldn't see his expression at this moment clearly.
Only the surging and suppressed dark color in those eyes could be seen clearly.
The eunuch beside him bowed his head respectfully, "Yes."
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Chu Xi continued to assassinate people along the way, and the ups and downs in the capital city never stopped.
Even with Chu Xi's departure from the capital, some court officials sensitively smelled something wrong. Chu Qibai's departure from the capital should not have attracted much attention. After all, although His Majesty had ordered him to go to Xi'an City, he was just a centurion.
Such small leaders are the most common in the army. He doesn't even have a ninth-rank captain, which is indeed a bit shabby for a marquis's son.
But the court officials all understood the emperor's concerns. His vigilance against military commanders had reached an almost insane level. Therefore, they were not surprised at all that Chu Qibai was so perfunctorily appointed a "small official".
This just shows that in His Majesty's heart, Chu Qibai needs to be guarded against. His Majesty is not at ease with his strength, so he treats him in such a perfunctory manner.
Of course, some sensitive court officials gradually felt that with Chu Qibai leaving the capital to join the army, Zhou Yichen, the third prince seemed to have unsealed some seal. He, who used to keep a low profile, actually had several open confrontations with Zhou Hanjin and Zhou Jinye during court meetings.
It’s not that the Third Prince had always been very friendly with them, but at that time, Zhou Yichen was relatively low-key and quiet. Even if he occasionally expressed his own political views that were slightly different from those of the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince, he could tolerate it.
Now that Chu Qibai is gone, he seems to have unsealed himself. From time to time, he would sharply point out the flaws in the political views put forward by the Eighth Prince and the Seventh Prince, and hit the nail on the head.
Such actions can be said to have created a lot of gunpowder, not to mention the smoke of war. Even the emperor, who usually didn't care much about their quarrels, noticed the problem.
The emperor has always been good at using the art of being an emperor and the art of balance, especially on his sons. He used this skill very well and successfully made the relationship between his sons very tense and full of hatred for each other.
But he had always observed clearly that the third brother was a tolerant person. Moreover, he really didn't like the third brother and his grandfather. As a great scholar of the time, the third brother's grandfather had many students all over the world.
Almost half of the court officials in the entire Zhou Dynasty came from the academy opened by the third son's grandfather. How could the emperor like him? He was only on guard against the third son, endlessly on guard.
Especially when Zhou Yichen's mother, the late queen, was still alive, she openly suppressed him and deliberately boosted the Seventh Prince's arrogance all the way.
As time went by, the third brother became more and more silent and quiet, and he spoke less. Over the years, he gradually became an invisible man. The only impression left on the emperor was that there was Chu Qibai, who was always by his side and whose shadow was inseparable from him, and the two had a good relationship.
Perhaps it was because of their good relationship that the assassination on the road when Chu Qibai was transferred out of Beijing must have stimulated the third brother.
The emperor thought so and didn't bother to care about the open and secret attacks between the brothers. After all, this was the situation he wanted to see.
Zhou Yichen targeted the Eighth Prince and the Seventh Prince because he was really angry, but also because he did it on purpose. After all, it was understandable that he was angry.
However, this morning he received a carrier pigeon from Qi Bai, which said that the Eighth Prince and the Seventh Prince had joined forces and mobilized a group of assassins from the Nalan family to assassinate her, but they were finally persuaded by her to leave.
Finally, Qi Bai reminded him that the successive failed assassinations made him worry that the plan would either be brought forward, or completely shelved and postponed, or cancelled.
If it is the latter two situations, it would be fine. But I am afraid that if it is... the first one, Qi Bai, who is still on the road, will really be out of reach, and distant water cannot put out a nearby fire.