The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort - 176. Praying mantis catching cicada

Xia Jun was startled, and secretly said that it was not good, but before he could speak, he heard that someone in his crew showed a sword. He shouted, “Put down the sword!” But the person seemed to have not heard him speak. Hack it up.

The emotion of killing and brightening the knife is contagious, just like a signal, people around you light up the knife one after another and join the slashing team. The crowd was in chaos, and for a while, only the sound of fighting each other was heard. The official sitting high on the horse was frightened and angry at the scene, and shouted: “You all listen to my order and take down these arsonists, or if you resist, you will be put to death!”

As soon as this remark came out, the men and horses brought by Jiang Chao became even more panicked, ignoring Xia Jun’s prevention and fighting harder to resist. It’s just that so many people are acting at night, and how can they be compared with the patrolling guards in the dynasty. In less than a stick of incense, the men and horses brought by Jiang Chao had already been subdued, and the ground was in a mess. The fire in the granary is unstoppable. At this moment, someone is constantly bringing up water to put out the fire. I could only watch the fire engulf the entire granary, and the army of hundreds of vehicles was turned into ashes.

The fire has been burning all night. That night the people of Dajin Dynasty slept soundly without knowing how many undercurrents occurred in it. No one knew how the granary caught fire. Until the next morning, the hawker went to open the shop. At a glance, he saw that the granary was filled with thick smoke. The original carts and horses were in a mess, and there were ashes in it, obviously no longer there. What a good food.

Jiang Chao, the second son of Jiang’s mansion, and Xia Jun, the second young master of Xia’s mansion, burned the military salary in the granary at night, and it spread throughout the capital on the first day. When Jiang Quan heard the news in the mansion, he almost turned the tea cup upside down with a shake of his hand, and stared at his new wife Xia Yue incredulously: “What did you say?”

Xia Yue looked at Jiang Quan timidly. She was just a daughter of a distant cousin of the Xia Mansion. She originally had her own childhood sweetheart, but in order to win over Jiang Mansion, the Xia family did not allow Jiang Mansion to have a relationship with Xia Mansion after Xia Yan died. Interrupted, she married her. Xia Yue is now only seventeen or eighteen years old, exactly the same age as a flower. Marrying Jiang Quanneng to be a person like her father is naturally resentful in her heart. It didn’t take long to marry now that Jiang’s mansion had something like this. Xia Yue’s heart was even more resentful, but people had to bow their heads under the eaves. Jiang Quan looked gentle on the surface, but it was frightening to start the fire. She said: “Master, this is true, it’s spread outside.”

She said so swearingly, even if Jiang Quan wanted to believe it or not, he couldn’t help it. He said angrily: “This wicked man! Must destroy the Jiang family!”

“Master, don’t worry about getting angry,” Xia Yue looked down on Jiang Quan in her heart. He only knew how to blame the sky and you, and covered the disdain in her eyes: “I heard that Lord Hou has already entered the palace. It’s no trivial matter. Burning the military pay in the granary is a big crime. The 100,000 soldiers at the border are now waiting for the food to help. But the second son’s act at this moment is unavoidable to make people feel suspicious.”

Jiang Quan was shocked, and he was dizzy just now, only to care about Jiang Chao’s boldness, but at this moment, he really felt a sense of fear. Yes, one hundred thousand soldiers are still waiting for the emergency military pay at the border, but Jiang Chao and Xia Jun burned the granary with a fire last night. In the middle of the night, if it is intentional, no one believes it. If it is intentional, take a good look at why the official’s concubine did such a move. For example, the battle between the Jin and Dajin dynasties today is the most sensitive part of the emperor’s nerves. Jiang Chao stabs Louzi at this time, not forcing the emperor to think about it, thinking about Jiang Chao’s treason with the enemy. Otherwise, why would you rather destroy the granary, and have the soldiers of Dajin Dynasty in danger of running out of ammunition and food!

Jiang Quan was fidgeting, feeling a cold sweat sliding down his neck to his back. The emperor’s suspicion was a knife hanging on the head of Jiang’s mansion. But now he only has this son, and he can’t ignore it.

He suddenly asked Xia Yue: “Why does Lord Xiahou want to enter the palace?” Although Xia Cheng has only one grandson, Xia Jun, he shouldn’t enter the palace so quickly. Xia Cheng couldn’t act rashly until everything was clear. Now that the sacred face is in a hurry, something important must have happened.

Xia Yue glanced at Jiang Quan and whispered: “I heard that yesterday, when Young Master Xia appeared, he also brought the private army of the Xia family. Those soldiers were fighting with the guards of the city. His Majesty heard that he was extremely furious. , And sent Second Young Master Xia and Second Young Master into the prison.”

When Jiang Quan heard this, he almost fainted. It is not a big deal for the high-ranking officials in the capital to raise some private army in each mansion. This private army is no different from the guards in the mansion, and the number is not very large. The emperor also tacitly approved. However, the charges of arson between two people and the charge of arson with a private army are quite different. If only a single person set the fire, it can be said that it was Xia Jun and Jiang Chao’s own idea, but once there was a private army, it would be implicated in the whole Major events in the house. Especially this private army is still fighting with the city guards. Wouldn’t it be clamoring at the feet of the emperor, what would the emperor think? It must be that they have long been rebellious!

Jiang Quan grabbed Xia Yue: “You can hear clearly, only the private army of the Xia Mansion has nothing to do with the Jiang family?”

Xia Yue was even more contemptuous in her heart. At this time, Jiang Quan was still thinking about herself, for fear that he would be involved in Jiang’s mansion, and he was really selfish enough. But then I thought about it, the relationship between Xia Mansion and Jiang Mansion was originally maintained by marriage, and after Xia Yan died, he married himself. It was originally for the benefit of the family. What kind of family affection is there?

“There is no private army of the Jiang family, please don’t worry, Master.” Even though she thought so, Xia Yue still smiled, but immediately frowned: “But master, are you going to enter the palace to intercede for the second son? This is not a trivial matter.”

Jiang Quan sat in the same place, the expression in his eyes changed undecided. If he had been in the past, he would definitely try to rescue Jiang Chao without saying a word. But now the Jiang family is not as good as before, its reputation in the capital is already corrupted, and the emperor has a lot of criticisms against the Jiang family. This time Jiang Chao stabbed such a huge basket. This fact is too big, Jiang Chao is impossible. Retreat all over. What is more worrying is the emperor’s attitude. If he enters the palace to intercede with Jiang Chao at this moment, will the emperor think that the Jiang family is also involved in this matter. Originally, I only suspected that the Xia family had rebellious intentions, and then the Jiang family would be implicated. How could this be good?

“No,” after thinking about it for a long time, Jiang Quan made up his mind: “It’s not a good time right now. You fix a book for me and send it to Jinying Palace. You want Jiang Ruan to go back to the palace as soon as possible. She wants to save her second brother’s life.”

Xia Yue had heard of Jiang Ruan’s deeds before coming to Jiang’s Mansion. She actually clapped her hands and applauded Jiang Ruan’s rectification of Xia’s family and Jiang Quan. Now listening to Jiang Quan say this, I can’t help but feel a trace of contempt in my heart. Why should Jiang Quan say such a high-sounding voice, he dare not come forward, but teach his daughter to come forward. Jiang Ruan and Jiang Chao are at odds, Jiang Quan knows how he would willingly help Jiang Chao out of crime, and I don’t know if Jiang Quan is so confused now because he is too impatient.

In the sky cell, the darkest cell, two cells are closely adjacent to each other, separated by a thick iron fence. The faint light not only did not bring a glimmer of light to the already gloomy cell, but it seemed even more weird.

On both sides of the iron fence, there were two people sitting against the wall, one of them bowed their heads and mourned again and again, while the other had gloomy eyes, and one face was so heavy that water dripped.

Jiang Chao looked at Xia Jun, unable to conceal the anxiety in his heart: “Cousin, what should we do now?”

“What else can I do,” Xia Jun sneered: “Man is a knife, I am a fish.”

Seeing Xia Jun’s painless appearance, Jiang Chao felt even more anxious, and said, “How did things turn out to be like this? Where did we go wrong? Damn it, how could the city defense rush at this time? Come?”

Xia Jun lowered his head, his eyes flashed. Since last night, he had an ominous premonition in his heart and now he finally got the proof. He felt that everything went too smoothly, which made people suspicious. Jiang Ruan didn’t stop it, which is really unreasonable. Now he finally understands where the inexplicable hunch came from. It was only because Jiang Ruan had been calculated three years ago. As long as it was related to Jiang Ruan, she had never lost. She won’t lose, how can they win so easily? All this is nothing but her calculations.

“We were in the game.” After a while, Xia Juncai slowly said: “This is a game set against us from the beginning. The other party always knows what we are going to do, but it is just a handy push. It’s time for the net.”

Jiang Chao looked at him in surprise, his mind becoming more and more confused: “Cousin, what do you mean?”

“The fire in the granary last night was inexplicable. It was clear that someone deliberately set fire and brought the crime to you and me. When the city’s defense came with troops, I clearly gave the order not to allow private forces to fight impulsively, but someone took the initiative. Drawing swords and facing each other, now that I think about it, it is too suspicious. It is clear that someone has mixed in and deliberately disturbed the water in the pool.”

The man mingled among the private army and provoked a conflict between the Xia Mansion’s private army and the soldiers led by the city garrison, and gained a reputation for injuring people and committing chaos in the Xia Mansion. This crime of arson, coupled with the crime committed, is really a heinous crime, and it can be described as a conspiracy to rebel.

“But… how did they know our plan to exchange food and grass?” Jiang Chao was surprised that there was someone behind the mantis hunting cicadas, but only five people knew about the plan. Where did the news leak out? .

“It’s weird, isn’t it? I also think it’s weird. It doesn’t seem to have learned the news that we are going to set fire. Instead, it seems to know what we are going to do from the beginning and even push it. Now think about it, Zhang Following the performances performed in the courtroom that day, it was really too complete. I think at that time, we had already fallen into the trap of others without knowing it.” Xia Jun said.

Jiang Chao shook his head: “Cousin, what you said is really incredible. If what you said is true, who is that person? Who has such great abilities?”

“Who?” A charming and gorgeous face appeared in front of Xia Jun’s eyes, and the upturned eyes were slightly bent, as if mocking their cleverness. Is it her? Although it was too unbelievable, Xia Jun had an intuition that this matter must have nothing to do with her. There is no such thing as a prophet in the world, but why, how did she learn about their plan? It’s almost as if they’ve got all their thoughts through. This is really terrible. She even asked Zhao Yi on duty to avoid the search last night. Last night, another veteran who captured their city guard was the famous selfless Da Jin Dynasty. If it were Zhao Yi, perhaps the emperor would suspect that it was because of Zhao. Zhao Yi, the family and Xia family’s holiday, did this, but he changed the old official, almost completely abandoning this possibility. Jiang Ruan even thought of this, and they had no chance of turning over.

“Do you know where the most terrible place is?” Xia Jun sneered, and said: “We burned the grain and grass in the middle of the night. If we accidentally, we would be accused of collaborating with the enemy and treason. That grain and grass is to alleviate the urgent need at the border. Burn out the fire. We cannot compensate. There is only one way.”

“What way?” Jiang Chao asked hurriedly.

“Wait.” Xia Jun said: “Wait for the Eighth Prince to find a reason to exchange all the grains and grasses that have been exchanged, and tell the emperor that we are burning mold-grown grains, not military pay. This matter will be solved.”

“That’s fine.” Jiang Chao breathed a sigh of relief: “The Eighth Prince still needs you and me. The Jiang family and the Xia family can’t be thrown away, so naturally they won’t just sit idly by.”

“I hope so.” Xia Jun looked at his hand, but… he secretly said in his heart, is Jiang Ruan really only doing this? That woman was ruthless and ruthless. If all this was really dominated by her, how could she pick it up and drop it gently? Just to make them suffer so little? The faint anxiety in Xia Jun’s heart came out again, he clenched his fist and stopped talking.

At the Eighth Prince’s Mansion, the staff quietly stepped aside, dare not say a word. It was a foolproof thing, but somehow caused trouble at this point, especially when someone was caught upright. The defense of the city was notoriously upright, and there was almost no opportunity to complain. The mold-grown old grain cannot be transported to the border, and this part is lost, which is equivalent to losing the whole plate.

The expression on Xuan Li’s face was very ugly at this moment. It was because the people under his men were planted in various places, but how could the city guard suddenly come forward with troops, and he still hasn’t figured it out yet. I don’t even understand what went wrong in this plan, which will let people take advantage of the loopholes. Now the development of things is beyond his expectation, and he doesn’t even know how to pick up the net.

“His Majesty, do you think you can save Xia Jun and Jiang Chao?” the aides said: “The Xia family is still involved in the matter right now. If you sit back and ignore it, your Majesty will punish the Xia family severely. The Xia family is still useful to your Highness. It should not be taken lightly. throw away.”

The private armies of the Xia family were all caught on the spot, and it was already a fact that they couldn’t escape. If the trend continues, the emperor will even end the Xia family. Now that his great cause has not been achieved, he still needs to rely on the strength in the hands of the Xia family. How can he easily discard this most important chess piece? If the Xia family was damaged because of this, it would not only chill the courtiers who followed him, but also cause him to lose most of his strength. Xia family, can’t help but save.

Seeing that Xuanli didn’t say anything, the staff continued: “Now they only have an idea to transport the original military pay back, and discuss a way to say that Xia Jun and Jiang Chao burned Chen Liang and are protecting the military pay. Just round things up and do it cleanly. Some, it’s not impossible.”

Xuan Li was startled, as if he realized something, his eyes sank, and said, “No.”

The staff looked at him in surprise.

Xuan Li sneered: “If I really did this, it would be in the arms of others. You can say that Xia Jun is to protect the military pay, and others may not be able to say that Xia Jun wants to switch out of the military pay to fill his pockets. I see that. The man behind, maybe when I just thought about explaining to the emperor father, he would have other evidence to convict Xia Jun of changing the military salary. The emperor must be very angry at the time, and even I will blame it. Besides… “He thought of something, but he didn’t finish it.

The staff were a little worried, and asked: “His Royal Highness did this, but is planning to ignore the life and death of Xia Jun and the Xia family?”

“Abandon the army to protect the handsome.” A trace of cruelty crossed Xuan Li’s face: “Now I can’t help it.”

Jiang Ruan put down the wolf’s hair in his hand, and the beautiful and charming writing in the small seal of the hairpin. The purple-clothed youth sitting opposite finally couldn’t help asking: “If Xuanli wants to save him? The Xia family can’t compromise anything, either. He will still have a grudge against you. He is busy, but only got such a result.” He has always been used to using power to count everyone in, and now this is the first time he accepts other people’s arrangements, and he doesn’t even know every aspect of this plan. She just did what Jiang Ruan ordered, but she was still at a loss, not sure what she wanted to do.

“I and them are already deadly enemies. Isn’t it unnecessary to talk about holding grudges?” Jiang Ruan picked up the rice paper unhurriedly, hung it slightly, and said, “Why did Xuanli save him?”

“The collapse of the Xia family will not do any good for Xuanli. His great cause depends on the support of the Xia family. If the Xia family is injured this time, it would be tantamount to breaking his right arm. How can he be reconciled?”

Jiang Ruan looked at Qi Feng and suddenly smiled: “Is that right, Master Qi, how about I make a bet with you?”

“What bet?” Qi Feng was slightly startled by her movements.

“Just bet, Xuanli will definitely not save the Xia family.” Jiang Ruan said.

“How come?” Qi Feng was surprised.

“Without the Xia family, what he lost is just a right-hand man and saved the Xia family, but he may end his great cause.” Jiang Ruan said calmly, “Xuanli is suspicious. There is such a person who can save the Xia family. Opportunity, he would hesitate instead, thinking that we had dug a hole in the back to ask you to enter the urn. The more hesitated, the less he dared to make a decision lightly.”

“But that’s just suspicion. He wouldn’t dare to even test.” Qi Feng insisted even though he was surprised by Jiang Ruan’s familiarity with Xuan’s thoughts.

“Naturally he didn’t dare.” Jiang Ruan suddenly laughed, turned his head to look at Qi Feng, his eyes were beautiful and full of meaning: “Do you know where the eight hundred vehicles are now?”