Compared with the journey from the capital to Yangxian, Zhou Kou and his group had a rather smooth trip to Longxi. This made him feel a bit unaccustomed for a while. However, they still encountered some trouble when entering the city.
Since Shang Luoshu and his group arrived in Longxi, Uncle Su had informed the then magistrate of Longxi, a member of the Su family, to strengthen the screening of people entering the city.
Shang Luoshu was of such noble status and had been assassinated in Zhao County before. This made Uncle Su not dare to be careless. He was afraid that the hand of the Regent would reach here again, so he could only strengthen the guard.
"Big brother, you have an official position anyway. When we get to the city gate, just show your token. Those people won't dare to stop us from entering!"
Zhou Kou sighed slightly and looked at the speaker with a look as if he were looking at a fool.
This trip was actually a secret order from the emperor. Moreover, they didn't know if there were any of Shang Mozheng's minions in Longxi. If they alerted the enemy, it would be a great loss.
However, the most important thing at the moment was to confirm whether His Highness the King of Jing was still in the city. If so, where he was staying.
Previously, when they stopped in Zhao County, they had heard that more than a dozen people had died overnight in an inn there. Although the county magistrate had ordered to keep it secret, there were still many rumors spreading outside. But for more specific information, they were not clear.
So Zhou Kou wasn't sure how many of those more than a dozen dead were the Regent's wolf guards and how many were people around His Highness the King of Jing.
Later, they heard that a group of people had come to Longxi some time ago and picked up the people staying in that inn. After resting for a while, they set off again at full speed on horseback.
"Anyway, I'll lead some people into the city first to gather information. If we can find His Highness the King of Jing, that's great. If not, we'll think of other ways."
Everyone had no objections. Finally, it was decided that Zhou Kou would lead two people into the city.
At the city gate, the guards found that the three of them knew martial arts and re - examined their identities. How much time was wasted was not mentioned.
It was only after the three entered the city that they realized that it was really not an easy thing to find a person in the vast Longxi.
Fortunately, Zhou Kou remembered that when the prince entered the city, the commotion might have been quite big, and there should be many people with an impression. So he asked all the way and finally found the Su Mansion.
As soon as they entered the door and saw the man sitting in the main hall, the heart that Zhou Kou had been hanging all the way finally returned to its original place steadily.
"Your Highness!"
He almost threw himself at Shang Luoshu's feet. Even though Zhou Kou regarded himself as a man who didn't shed tears easily, his eyes were filled with tears at this moment. The other two were no less emotional.
Zhou Kou always knew that his life should have been taken by Zhu Chengjie. It was the prince who pulled him back from the gates of hell and then cleared his name. To be honest, Shang Luoshu could be said to be his re - born parents.
When he knew that the prince was in great danger in Yangxian and his life or death was unknown, he wished he could rush to him immediately and exchange his life for the prince's. But he also knew that the more this was the case, the less he could be impulsive.
So he hid all his emotions, accepted the emperor's secret order, and came all the way from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River and then to the current Longxi. Heaven rewarded those who worked hard. He finally found Shang Luoshu, and the emotions that had been suppressed for a long time were finally released.
Lu Yinxi touched his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed, and wisely retreated, leaving the space for them.
After crying for a while, Zhou Kou finally vented all his worries over the past days. He also felt a bit embarrassed in his heart. After all, he was a grown man, and crying like this really damaged his majestic image.
"Finished crying?"
Above, the man asked with a suppressed smile. He also didn't expect that he had such a crying subordinate under him. "Sit down and rest after you've finished crying. By the way, tell me about your experiences during this period."
Since the master had asked, Zhou Kou quickly wiped away his tears and told in detail his experiences from the capital all the way to Longxi.
"By the way, Your Highness, your subordinate once overheard Zheng Dai mention that Xia Shouzheng, the magistrate of Yangxian, was burned to death. It is said that he set the fire himself in his study and committed suicide by fire."
"Moreover, on the way from the capital to Yangxian, there are people arranged by the Regent everywhere."
To be honest, Shang Luoshu had already thought that the imperial uncle would arrange people along the way. After all, the imperial uncle's desire to kill him was as strong as his desire to overthrow the imperial uncle. But the man didn't expect that Xia Shouzheng would commit suicide by fire, and it was in his study.
Generally speaking, court officials liked to keep important things in their studies. Now that the magistrate of Yangxian and his study had all been burned, would the Regent think that all the correspondence with Yangxian at that time had been burned to ashes?
The fact was just as Shang Luoshu had predicted.
Actually, the main reason why Shang Mozheng had approached Xia Shouzheng at that time was that he really appreciated this man. Although he had no background at all, he had managed to make a name for himself in the court.
So he didn't hesitate to give him a hand and make him a part of his plan.
However, Xia Shouzheng was also very cautious. When he realized that he had become a pawn in Shang Mozheng's hands, he forced the letters between the capital and Yangxian to be written personally by Shang Mozheng.
This was to keep evidence in case he was abandoned in the future.
By then, the plan had already been launched, and it was too late to stop it!
Even though the Regent was angry that Xia Shouzheng dared to threaten him, he had to compromise. During that period, he had also found someone else to imitate his handwriting, but Xia Shouzheng had recognized it after only one letter was sent.
So after learning that Xia Shouzheng had committed suicide by fire, Shang Mozheng's first reaction was to send Zhu Jie to look for those letters. Naturally, he found nothing, and the study had been burned to ashes. So he naturally thought that those things had been destroyed in the fire.
Moreover, the current situation in the capital also didn't give him time to think about these things in detail.
Because Zheng Dai was about to arrive in the capital!
Since the morning court that day when Shang Luoze reluctantly agreed to pardon Zhu Jie and the 80,000 people, he had completely let himself go. Regardless of the dissuasion of anyone, including Prime Minister Lu, he had issued nine imperial edicts to Zheng Dai in Yangxian in a row just to urge him to come to the capital to receive rewards!
The news spread among the common people. They thought that the current emperor was becoming more and more like a child and didn't know how to show consideration for his subjects at all. General Zheng had worked so hard to suppress the rebellion. Now the emperor was even issuing imperial edicts to urge him to come to the capital as soon as possible just for the sake of the reward?
Shang Luoze naturally also heard the rumors outside, but he didn't care!
Don't you just want to ruin my reputation and make me lose the hearts of the people?
Fine, then I'll do as you wish. But as long as I'm on the throne for a day, the imperial edicts I issue have supreme power, and no one can easily violate them. Otherwise, you're despising the imperial power and defying the imperial edict!
Zheng Dai really had no way to deal with the imperial edicts. After much thought, he could only leave behind his 100,000 - strong army and rushed to the capital all the way on horseback with his personal guards. Finally, he arrived in the capital before the little emperor's tenth imperial edict was issued.
At the same time, the capital had also received the news that he was about to arrive. The processions prepared to celebrate General Zheng's victorious return had already been placed in their proper positions.