It was night, in the secret room of the mansion of King Ning, the high-quality sandalwood was burning, and there were bursts of frogs and insects chirping outside the window, and the ancient night was quiet and tranquil.

Brother Zhu, the son of King Ning, sat across the coffee table across the table, and Mo could only wait outside the door, and his status was obviously obvious.

The eunuch Liu Ji is the confidant that King Ning relied on, and Liu Yangzheng, the lifter, was the strategist Wen Gu that King Ning relied on, so "Er Liu" was known as the internal and external "prime minister" in King Ning's mansion, so even King Ning's son was also respectful to Liu Ji.

Liu Ji looks very rich, his hands are used to being in his sleeves, he always bows his head slightly and bends over, he looks humble and cautious, his face is always smiling, and those who don't know him must think that he is a kind and wealthy person, but they don't know that this is a ruthless character.

"Father-in-law Liu, is there an eyebrow for the spies in the house?" King Ning asked.

Liu Ji shook his head and said: "When the old slave set off, the house was investigating, and a few suspicious ones were caught, but it has not been found out exactly which one ate inside and outside, and leaked the princess's poem." ”

King Ning sneered: "Fei Hong's husband is capable, he actually planted eyeliner in the palace, we all underestimated him before, but unfortunately he accepted Xu Jin's fool as a disciple, and in order to be quick for a while, he actually leaked the bottom!" ”

Liu Ji smiled and said: "Shizi Xiu wants to underestimate that Xu Jin, according to the information I know, this is a smart little guy, it is absolutely impossible to make such a low-level mistake." ”

If it is refuted by others like this, Brother Zhu must not have a good face, but this person in front of him is a confidant in front of his father, if King Ning ascends to the throne in the future, Brother Zhu will have to rely on this "internal minister" if he wants to ascend the throne, so he naturally does not dare to be contemptuous, so he said modestly: "Oh, what does Gonggong Liu say this?" ”

"When the princess presented a poem to the prince that day, the prince was also present, plus the old slave, the only one who knew was the personal maid beside the princess." Liu Ji took a sip of tea and continued: "The prince, the prince, and the old slave naturally can't make this poem public, although the princess doesn't like the princess to act, but after all, it is a family, and she will definitely not publicize it, as for the maid next to the princess, the old slave also knows it!" ”

Ning Wang Shizi's heart was slightly cold, although Liu Ji said it lightly, but the meaning was obvious, the maid next to his mother was the person he arranged according to, so is there anyone arranged by this old man around him?

"Then what does Grandpa Liu mean by coincidence? Xu Jin happened to write a poem that was exactly the same as his mother (Concubine Lou)? ”

Liu Ji nodded and said, "There is indeed this possibility, but the possibility of a spy is even greater." Let's not mention this first, as long as there are spies in the palace, sooner or later they can be found out, and the old slave has another extremely important thing to tell the prince. ”

Brother Zhu said solemnly: "Father-in-law Liu, please speak!" ”

"Today, the old slave saw that Xu Jin on the dock, there was a little boy about ten years old next to him, I heard that Xu Jin picked it up last year, and it was best for the prince to send someone to arrest him!"

Ning Wang Shizi was slightly stunned, and carefully recalled the scene on the dock today, and really had no impression of the so-called ten-year-old boy, but the three girls of the Fei family made a deep impression on him, his clothes were soaked, his curves were exquisite, and his round buttocks were reverie. Of course, the most amazing thing is the pale and pretty face that I saw when Xu Jin flipped Miss Fei San over.

Liu Ji saw that Ning Wang Shizi was a little distracted, frowned imperceptibly, and put the teacup down gently, making a soft sound of "tuk".

Ning Wang Shizi came back to his senses this time, and said with a little embarrassment: "What's so special about that kid, why did you want to get it?" ”

Liu Ji said calmly: "The old slave feels that this child is a little familiar, and it seems to be the second son of King Xing!" ”

King Ning's face changed slightly, and he blurted out: "It's him!" ”

Xingwang Zhu Youqi was the fourth son of Ming Xianzong, the half-brother of the previous emperor Hongzhi, that is, the uncle of the current emperor Zhengde, and his fief was in Luzhou, Huguang'an (now Zhongxiang, Hubei).

It is worth mentioning here that in recent years, King Ning has been intensively preparing for rebellion, it is Sima Zhao's heart that everyone knows, rebellion is a big crime of the Nine Clans, in this case, why are so many powerful people willing to make friends with him?

One of the most important reasons, the current emperor Zhengde is over 30 years old, still has no children under his knees, the position of the crown prince has been vacant, not only the vassal kings around the country are ready to move, even the magnates in the capital are also surging, as the so-called once a son of heaven and a courtier, who doesn't want to leave a way back for themselves?

The traitor Qian Ning, Lu Wan, the Shangshu of the Ministry of History, and others bet on King Ning, and other powerful courtiers also wanted to invest in advance. So the reason why King Ning is unscrupulous is not for nothing.

Because of this, King Ning does not have to rebel now, he wants to sit on the throne There is a safer way, that is, wait, wait for the foolish Emperor Zhengde to hang up by himself.

Emperor Zhengde was playful and frolic, brave and brave, always liked to go on adventures, and never stayed in the capital peacefully. Let's take it as an example, Emperor Zhengde is still stranded in the border town of Xuanfu to play, and at the end of last year he almost fell into the hands of the Tatars, but this guy has good luck, and he does have some ability, and in the end he turned the danger into a disaster, and also fought a victory, known as the "Yingzhou Victory" in history.

Emperor Zhengde didn't hang up, King Ning was naturally anxious, he was Zhengde's uncle, he was much older than Zhengde, if he had to wait until Zhengde naturally died of old age, King Ning himself was probably already a pile of bones.

Therefore, on the one hand, King Ning is trying to pass his son to Emperor Zhengde in order to seek the right to inherit the throne; Another convenience is to arm themselves intensively, and if they can't do it, they will rebel and directly and rudely seize the throne.

Of course, until the last moment, King Ning didn't want to embark on the road of rebellion, after all, the risk was too great, and it was not good for his reputation, so King Ning, under the instruction of the traitor Qian Ning, was sparing no effort to make friends with the powerful people in Beijing, so that they could support his son to pass on to Zhengde.

However, King Ning encountered a great resistance, that is, the orthodox ministers led by Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet, who believed that Emperor Zhengde was in the prime of life, and as long as he worked hard in the harem to sow seeds, he still had a chance to spread his branches.

What's more, even if Emperor Zhengde has no son in the end, it will not be the turn of the Ning Wang line, the Ning Wang line is a distant branch of the royal family, Zhengde wants to choose an heir, of course, he must be selected in the near branch, such as Xingwang Zhu Youqi, he is Zhengde's own uncle.

Because of this, King Ning was extremely angry with Yang Tinghe and others, but Yang Tinghe was the first assistant of the cabinet, and Emperor Hongzhi was the minister of Tuogu when he was dying, and Emperor Zhengde trusted and relied on him very much, even if Qian Ning helped, King Ning could not overthrow Yang Tinghe.

So, King Ning's idea hit the Xingwang Zhu Youqi, it happened that Xingwang Zhu Youqi only gave birth to two sons, the eldest son Zhu Houxi died early, and the second son Zhu Houxi was only ten years old.

Therefore, at the end of last year, at the suggestion of Liu Ji, King Ning secretly sent dead soldiers to kidnap Zhu Houxi, the second son of King Xing, who knew that although Zhu Houyu was only ten years old, he was very smart and clever, and he escaped when he was about to arrive in Nanchang Mansion, Jiangxi. King Ning sent a large number of people to search the nearby counties, towns and villages, but Zhu Houxi was not found.

While King Ning continued to send people to look for him, he kept his eyes on Xingwangfu, and after a few months, King Ning's people still did not find Zhu Houyu, fortunately Zhu Houyu did not return to Xingwangfu, so King Ning thought that Zhu Houyu had died in that mountain, forest and wilderness, after all, he was only a ten-year-old child, pampered, and it was a cold winter at the time, and it was normal to die.

Until now, things have gone for more than half a year, and Zhu Houxi is still nowhere to be found, and he has not returned to Xingwangfu, so King Ning is even more comfortable thinking that Zhu Houxi is dead.

However, the eunuch Liu Ji couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the little slave next to Xu Jin at the south dock of the city today, because the little slave looked too similar to Zhu Houxi, the second son of King Xing.

Of course, Liu Ji was not sure, so at this time, he suggested that Brother Zhu, the prince of King Ning, send someone to arrest the little slave.

"Okay, I'll send someone to get that kid right now!" King Ning Shizi hurriedly stood up and prepared to call someone.

You must know that King Ning is planning to pass on his eldest son, Brother Zhu, to Zhengde.

Once this matter is successful, it means that he is the prince, can Brother Zhu not care?

So at this moment, Brother Zhu couldn't wait to immediately arrest the little slave to verify his identity, and then slaughter him with his own hands, lest he compete with himself for the status of the prince.

The eunuch Lu An shook his head and said: "Your Royal Highness, don't worry, that kid is in Shangrao County, and he won't be able to run for a while, this time he must do it safely, and he can't leak the slightest rumor, Sun Sui's old horseman is in the neighboring county to command the troops, this person is a strong donkey, and he is working against the prince everywhere, not to mention that Fei Hong is also here, so he has to guard against it!" ”

Hearing this, Prince Ning Shizi suppressed his eagerness, nodded and said: "Gonggong Liu is right, hmph, Sun Sui's old man doesn't know what to do, if he is ...... This son must clean him up first! ”

Lu Anpi said with a smile: "It's long to come to Japan, the governor will serve for three years, and Sun Sui will be transferred away in two years." Well, the old slave heard from Manager Mo today that Xu Jin will go back to the village to worship his ancestors on the eighth day of the first month of this month, maybe the little slave will accompany him, this is a good opportunity. ”

King Ning couldn't help but be happy, this is indeed a good opportunity, as long as he goes out of the city, he can kill people by sending a few good hands, and he will not leak the slightest rumor.

"Hey, go back to the village to worship your ancestors, and go directly to the Netherworld to chat with your ancestors!" King Ning said secretly, and couldn't help but think of the scene on the dock today.

King Ning asked Governor Lu to come to the door to propose marriage before, just to make Lu Kang loyal, but in fact he didn't care about the so-called three girls of the Fei family, but when he saw Fei Ruyi's true face today, he was moved and determined to get Fei Ruyi in his hands, and Xu Jin, who was "hugging and hugging" with Fei Ruyi today, naturally wanted to die.

Of course, even if Xu Jin didn't "hug and hug" Fei Ruyi today, just the song "Picking Wood", King Ning would kill Xu Jin.