In the evening, a brothel in Seoul was bustling with activity, and officials from Lee's camp gathered to celebrate Lee's conviction in the Righteous Forbidden Province, which meant that Lee's move closer to the throne of the Joseon king.

Including Huang Xi and Cui Yunde and others, many high-ranking officials and dignitaries attended the banquet, but the only pity was that Li Jin could not come.

However, this did not reduce everyone's interest in the slightest, everyone knew that Li Jin's move was to avoid suspicion, after all, Li Yuntian was still in Seoul, so Li Jin had to keep a low profile before becoming the king of Joseon.

Compared with the festive atmosphere of Huang Xi and others, the officials in Li Jue's camp are all worried, sighing and sighing, shrouded in miserable clouds and mist, many people have even secretly planned to change the court to support Li Jue, and now fools can also see that Li Jue will become the future king of Korea after Li Jue's fall.

Zhao De, Jin Zongrui and other important officials of Li Jue's camp gathered at Li Ji's house to discuss the next plan of action, and now that Li Jue has fallen, they have to find a way to protect themselves, otherwise they will become fish to be slaughtered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great thing for us that Lord Zhong has opened up to His Royal Highness the Prince this time."

In a room in the Li Mansion, Li Ji glanced around at Zhao De, Jin Zongrui and the others who were silent at the scene, and after a deep groan, he took the lead in breaking the calm in the field, looked at everyone with a serious expression and said, "If the original appearance is not mistaken, the reason why Prince Zhong did this is to thoroughly investigate the murder of His Royal Highness." ”

"Prime Minister, do you mean that Prince Zhong has not yet decided to let the Lord of Shouyang inherit the throne?" Hearing this, Zhao De couldn't help but ask in surprise, he thought that Li Yuntian was just a light on Li Jue and didn't think deeply of this.

"How noble is Prince Zhong in Daming, how can he return in vain when he came to check on the murder of His Royal Highness the Lord this time, it is precisely because of this that Prince Zhong has been in Seoul for so long."

Li Ji bowed his head slightly, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said in a somewhat gloomy voice, "I believe that Lord Zhong must be looking for clues that His Royal Highness the Lord was killed, and once the evidence is found, then Lord Shouyang will not be able to escape justice!" ”

"Leader, did you hear anything?" Zhao De nodded thoughtfully when he heard this, and then asked tentatively, feeling that Li Ji would not say the previous words for no reason.

Hearing this, Jin Zongrui and the others present couldn't help but look at Li Ji suspiciously, their eyes showing an earnest look, now they need the encouragement of good news too much.

"Recently, I heard that when the Ming army distributed relief food in Badao, Korea, it strictly checked outsiders whose household registration was not in the local area, especially those who came from Seoul."

A smile appeared at the corner of Li Ji's mouth, and he looked at Zhao De, Jin Zongrui and the others meaningfully and said, "What do you say this means?" ”

"Prince Chung is looking for the survivors of Gyeongbokgung Palace!" Zhao De was the first to react, and couldn't help blurting out his debut.

"Because the Ming army is checking the household registration of the local people on the grounds of registering the number of relief population, all parts of the country are busy with food matters, so no one notices the fact that the Ming army is secretly looking for people, until recently, the prime minister sent people to find the survivors of Gyeongbokgung Palace sent back a message, and then I knew that the Ming army was also looking for those survivors in private."

Li Ji nodded when he heard this, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, "The Lord of Shouyang thought he had won, but once the Lord Zhong found the survivors and learned the truth about the rebellion that night, then it would be the end of the Lord of Shouyang!" ”

"Prime minister, the lower officials heard that the Lord of Shouyang and the Lord Zhong are very close, will the Lord of the Lord Zhong protect the Lord of Shouyang in the matter of His Royal Highness?" Jin Lai, the left counselor of the parliamentary government, frowned when he heard this, and asked worriedly.

"If the loyal prince protects the Lord Shouyang, the Lord Shouyang has now become His Royal Highness!" The corners of Li Ji's mouth suddenly flashed with a disdainful smile, he didn't think that Li Yuntian would favor Li Ji.

Jin Lai's face then showed a look of sudden realization, he only saw Shouyang Dajun and Li Yuntian approaching, but ignored the fact that the throne of the Joseon King had been empty, which meant that Li Yuntian did not want to protect Shouyang Dajun as he imagined.

"Prime minister, no wonder you wanted to push Lord Ying to the throne before, it turned out that you had taken precautions to find a way back." At this time, Zhao De finally reacted, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Although Li Xuan, the king of Linying, could not compete with Li Yao, he was the concubine of the king of Joseon, and when Li Yao fell, he would be the first heir of the king of Joseon.

In this way, if Li Xuan ascends to the throne of Joseon, Li Ji and Zhao De will be the heroes of Conglong, and will continue to control the power of Joseon, and then become the ultimate victor in this power struggle.

"Shouyang Dajun they have been staring at us, but the prime minister is paying attention to the loyal prince's every move, in Seoul can really call the shots is the loyal prince, even if the Shouyang Dajun wins His Royal Highness, but as long as he can't pass the level of the loyal prince, then he will be empty."

The corners of Li Ji's mouth showed a smug smile, and he looked at everyone present and said in an orderly manner, "Since the loyal prince must find out the reason for the murder of His Royal Highness, then the prince of Linying is our future dependence, and if he understands the prince who is relatively loyal to him, he will definitely be able to find out the truth of the facts, and then it will be the time for us to raise our eyebrows." ”

"Prime Minister, when will Prince Zhong find the survivors of Gyeongbokgung Palace?" After listening to Li Ji's words, the tense and depressing atmosphere on the scene was suddenly alleviated, after all, whoever laughed the last was the one who laughed the best, Jin Lai took a sip of the tea in front of him and remembered something, and couldn't help but look at Li Ji.

"Now that the relief personnel of the Ming army have spread all over the eight provinces of Korea, there must be news after the year." Li Ji pondered for a moment when he heard this, and gave a serious answer, unless the survivors of Gyeongbokgung Palace are dead, with the manpower and material resources invested by the Ming army, those people can definitely be found out.

Zhao De, Jin Lai and the others suddenly showed a relaxed look on their faces, which means that a real decisive battle will break out in the officialdom of Seoul after the year, as long as Li Yao is involved in the case of the murder of the king of Joseon, then it is time for them to launch a counteroffensive.

"Prime Minister, now there are many people who want to take refuge in Shouyang Dajun, should we think of a way?" Zhao De pondered for a while, and asked Li Ji with concern, since Li Jue was declared guilty by Liu Shangmin today, the officials of Li Jue's faction have been panicking, and a large number of people will definitely run to Li Jue.

"Those people are just some wall grass, and they will take refuge in the Shouyang Monarch, and they will come back after the Shouyang Monarch falls."

A sneer flashed at the corner of Li Ji's mouth, he had seen too many things like red and white, and he tended to be inflammatory, so he didn't mind those who wanted to take refuge in Shouyang Dajun in his heart, as long as Li Xuan had the upper hand at that time, those people would immediately come back and pat themselves on the back.

What really made Li Ji care was Zhao De, Jin Zongrui and others in the room, these people were all important ministers with real power, as long as they could gather around him, their strength would not be weakened much.

"However, we can't be beaten so passively, we must always let the people below see some hope, and sometimes we can still use them." Jin Lai groaned for a moment when he heard this, and looked up at Li Ji, as the saying goes, it is easy to do things when there are many people, and it is not convenient to do anything after those wall grasses run away.

"Tomorrow, Benxiang will go with Lord Linying to ask to see Prince Zhong!" Li Ji felt that Jin Lai's words were reasonable, although those wall grasses were insignificant, they could do a lot of things, so they couldn't let them take refuge in Li Ji, so he sneered and said after a while, "I want everyone in Seoul to know that the person who can become His Royal Highness is not only the Lord Shouyang Maharaja, but also the Linying Maharaja!" ”

Zhao De, Jin Lai and the others couldn't help but glance at each other, nodding secretly, Li Ji's initiative can definitely make the officialdom of Seoul, which has calmed down, set off a monstrous wave again.

"However, will the Lord of Linying fight with the Lord of Shouyang?" At this time, Jin Zongrui, who had been silent, frowned and asked Li Ji, who usually behaved in a low-key manner, and would not necessarily get involved in the battle of the Korean state.

"Lord Linying has had a deep relationship with His Royal Highness the Prince since he was a child, and now His Royal Highness the Prince is in trouble, and he will not sit idly by." Li Ji had already been confident, and when he heard this, he smiled at Li Ji and replied in an orderly manner, although Li Xuan was not interested in political affairs, he couldn't watch Li Ji and Li Jue kill each other.

Obviously, once Li Jue ascends the throne, then he will definitely find a way to put Li Jue to death, only in this way can he sleep peacefully at night.

Of course, Li Jue will definitely not kill Li Jue openly, he will definitely let people kill him secretly, and the hatred between the two can only be determined by life and death.

At this time, Li Xuan, who was close to Li Jue, had to come forward to compete with Li Jue for the throne, and only if he became the king of Joseon could he save Li Jue's life, and then avoid the tragedy of fratricide.

If Li Jue was severely punished by Li Yuntian for the assassination, I am afraid that he would at least be exiled to the remote area of the Ming Dynasty, but Li Yuntian let Li Jue go, so that Li Jue could continue to stay in Seoul, which invisibly created conditions for Li Xuan to come forward and compete with Li Jue for the throne.

After listening to Li Ji's explanation, the people in the room nodded one after another, Li Xuan was afraid that he would be forced to go to Liangshan this time, the revenge of the killing of the king of Joseon, as well as the fear of Li Jue's life, and even the future prosperity and stability of the Korean state, all of which would make Li Xuan have to confront Li Ji.

Besides, Li Ji's mouth is very powerful, and if he comes out, Li Xuan will not be able to refuse at all, and he will only have to fight against Li Ji at that time.

When Jin Zongrui left Li Ji's mansion, it was already dark at night, and he rode to his home on horseback and under the escort of a group of personal soldiers, frowning tightly along the way, not knowing whether Li Xuan would succeed in ascending to the throne of the Joseon king as Li Ji expected.

What particularly disturbed Jin Zongrui was that Li Yuntian had been in Seoul for more than half a year, and he had no intention of leaving, and he did not think that Li Yuntian, as a dignified Prince of the Ming Dynasty, had nothing to do and came to Korea for a vacation, which made him vigilant.

As I walked, a group of people came on the road, all with their heads bowed and carrying objects wrapped in strips of cloth in their hands, which looked like wooden sticks in shape.

"Stop!" Jin Zongrui, who was in deep thought, suddenly felt an inexplicable panic, so he couldn't help but look up at the group of people who were approaching opposite, frowned, and raised his hand to stop the marching procession.

From the way the group of people walked, Kim Jong-rui keenly realized that they were not ordinary people but people who had received professional military training.

Ordinary people walk with their shoulders held open and their chests straight, while these people are shoulders open and slightly hunched, obviously in a posture of alert.

"Who are you?" Sensing that the situation was not right, Jin Zongrui nodded to a sturdy subordinate on a horse on the side, and the sturdy subordinate slapped his horse to meet him and shouted at the person opposite.

"This uncle, we are foot merchants from other places, we have just finished the handover of goods, and now we are rushing to the inn to settle down." The leader on the opposite side was a middle-aged man, who replied loudly when he heard this.

Hearing this, Zhuangshi's subordinates turned their heads to look at Jin Zongrui, waiting for Jin Zongrui's instructions.

"Tell them to stop and bring the guide." Kim Jong-seo's brows furrowed, and then he gave the order in a deep voice, he heard that the middle-aged man in the lead opposite spoke with a Jeolla Road accent, so he wanted to check the other party's guide.

In ancient times, the management of outsiders was relatively strict, and the movement of people between places was also very small, and many people would stay in their places of birth for the rest of their lives, so in order to manage those who came from other places, they usually had to check the road guide issued by the yamen of the place of departure as a certificate of passage.

Perhaps a single pedestrian will not be interrogated by the officials of the yamen, but if a large number of people go to other places, they must have a road guide issued by the local yamen, otherwise they will be put in prison for examination.

Therefore, special groups such as merchant groups that need to travel through states and counties naturally carry road guides with them, so that people from the yamen can check along the way.

"This military master, this is our guide." The strong subordinate then asked the middle-aged man on the opposite side for directions, and the middle-aged man reached out and took out an envelope from his arms, and led his subordinates to walk quickly towards Jin Zongrui.

"Tell them to stay where they are, and only bring the way." Jin Zongrui saw that the other party had actually quickened his pace, his brows suddenly furrowed deeper, and he commanded the sturdy subordinate in front of him in a deep voice.

"You lead the way, and the rest of the people are waiting there." When the sturdy subordinates heard this, they immediately shouted at the middle-aged man who was leading the way opposite.

"This military master, now that it's getting late, the villains have to rush back to the inn, so you can raise your noble hand and let us go back." The middle-aged man on the opposite side didn't mean to stop, and ran towards Jin Zongrui and his party as he spoke.

As they went, the people who followed the middle-aged man ripped off the strips of cloth wrapped around the objects they were holding, and Jin Zongrui could see clearly through the cold moonlight in the sky, and those people were carrying swords in their hands.

"Assassins?" Seeing this, Jin Zongrui couldn't help but be taken aback, no wonder he felt a little flustered, it turned out that those people were preparing to assassinate him.

"Meet the enemy!" Then, Jin Zongrui brushed out his waist knife, waved it at the people who rushed over with an expressionless face, and gave an order in a deep voice.