Chapter 346

Craftsman Craftsman

"Tanlang! You, why did you come so fast? Where is Miss Chenjun Xie?"

Before Magistrate Ouyang Rong got off the carriage, he changed into a scarlet official robe. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he held a zither case and walked into the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion.

Just as he stepped into the side door, he bumped into Li Su Dalang.

The latter was originally pacing in place with an anxious look. Seeing Magistrate Ouyang Rong's figure, he exclaimed in surprise.

Hearing this, Magistrate Ouyang Rong did not answer.

He lifted the long hem of his official robe, turned his head, and glanced at the empty street outside the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion.

The noon wind swept across the plane tree leaves on the street.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong signaled to Li Su Dalang with his eyes.

The two tacitly left the entrance and walked into the mansion.

They stopped at a gallery far from the entrance.

"You mean, Xiao Shimei just went to find me?"

Li Su Dalang nodded, his mouth spitting out words like bamboo tubes pouring beans:

"Wang Wang Junzhi came to the door early in the morning. Father is in a difficult position. You are not here, and Miss Chenjun Xie and Guo'er started arguing...

"Miss Chenjun Xie said we must find you to make a decision. She had only just left the house when you arrived."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded slightly, passed Li Su Dalang, and walked toward the Juxian Garden study with familiarity:

"I see.

"Send someone to find Xiao Shimei and say I'm back."

Seeing the steady and calm back of his friend, even though the hot potato was still in the mansion, Li Su Dalang felt surprisingly much more settled.

He restrained the anxious look on his face and nodded to do as told.

Juxian Garden is where the Heir Apparent Li Li Fusu studies, located deep within the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion. Usually, servants are not allowed to approach, so it is considered a relatively private and safe place within the mansion.

In the past, the regular night strategy meetings were also held in the secret study of Juxian Garden.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong walked straight through the long corridor of the mansion hung with wind chimes, passed through exquisite gardens silently, and finally walked into the reception hall in Juxian Garden.

"Tanlang."

"Tanlang, you're here."

As soon as his figure appeared, the figures standing or sitting in the hall spoke out, welcoming him one after another, with various expressions.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded slightly as a response, passed Li Su Xian, Li Su Guoer, and Wei Mei without looking sideways. During this time, he held the zither case horizontally and handed it to Li Su Guoer.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong walked in front of a new figure in the hall and sat down as usual.

"You have three sentences."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong lowered his eyelids and stared at Wang Wang Junzhi's pair of surprised eyes. His tone was plain and flat, as if he were discussing with a guest what to eat for dinner tonight:

"Three sentences. If the Prince and I are not interested, we will send you to see Wang Wang Lengran horizontally. What do you say?"

Straight to the point.

Wang Wang Junzhi's expression froze slightly.

Hua Xuanji, he saw the Prince of Prince Xunyang, the Princess, and the Little Princess sitting upright behind Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who had silently stood up.

Especially that noble Little Princess, who was clever and quick-witted, was actually honestly holding the zither case for this person, lowering her brows tacitly.

The Prince of Prince Xunyang, Li Su Xian, and the Princess, Wei Mei, next to her, did not feel anything wrong with this at all.

Wang Wang Junzhi's face turned to excitement, and he said impatiently:

"Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan, you really are the chief strategist named Tanlang in the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion. Yan Gong and Mr. Wei guessed correctly."

"First sentence." Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded, reporting the count warmly.

Wang Wang Junzhi laughed.

He was not in a hurry either. Facing the four pairs of scrutinizing eyes cast from the front, he brewed for a while and said leisurely:

"Quite a few people should have seen me walk into the Prince's Mansion. Maybe Wang Wang Lengran has already received the news.

"Yan Gong is doing a great thing. Currently, the tyrant Wei Zhao is suspicious of the Prince, and Wang Wang Lengran is also wary and hostile toward Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan. Sending me over, my death is not a pity, but if it implicates the Prince and Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan and becomes a reason for trouble, that would not be good. I hope you think twice."

The atmosphere in the study went quiet. Li Su Xian, Wei Mei, and Li Su Guoer, along with Wang Wang Junzhi, focused their attention on Magistrate Ouyang Rong's lowered face, waiting for something.

"Isn't that simple? Didn't Ru Shixiong say it? Send you over horizontally. How can a dead person speak?"

A crisp and cold female voice came from outside the door.

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, dressed in heroic white male attire, held a long sword in her hand and walked into the study, followed silently by Li Su Dalang.

I saw that under the golden sun in the morning, this noble girl of the Chenjun Xie clan, ranked seventeenth in the clan, had her willow eyebrows raised, and her momentum was aggressive.

Wang Wang Junzhi looked sideways: "Little Miss Chenjun Xie, a dead person cannot speak, but they can be framed by others, calling a deer a horse... People are the cutting board, I am the fish, just lacking an excuse."

"Are you threatening my Ru Shixiong and the Prince?"

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang tilted her head slightly, smiling:

"You are like Li Li Zhengyan, bumping into the Prince's Mansion again and again, and now you are playing the trick of being fearless and forcing the palace?"

She slapped the moonlight long sword onto the table with a bang, and the smile on her stunning face turned cold:

"Heh, then chop it into meat paste and feed it to the carp in the lake. There will be no proof of death. So what if they saw you walk in? Anyway, they are already suspicious, so it doesn't matter if there is one more case.

"Uncle Li and Ru Shixiong have always been upright. If they didn't rebel, they didn't rebel. There is nothing shameful, and they are not afraid of him investigating.

"It's you, Wang Wang Junzhi, glib-tongued and sneaky. Don't come and get involved."

At this time, Magistrate Ouyang Rong spoke lightly, concise and to the point:

"One sentence left."

Wang Wang Junzhi, who had been in control and confident, changed his expression slightly.

He couldn't help but look at the young man in the scarlet official robe drinking tea in front of him.

He found that this "Tanlang" looked quite tired today, leaning slightly on the back of the chair, with a listless and uninterested expression.

Even harder to persuade than Wang Wang Junzhi had imagined before.

He licked his dry lips and took out a white handkerchief to wipe his fingers, as if there were sweat.

Wang Wang Junzhi said to Magistrate Ouyang Rong:

"Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan, the Restoration Mansion established by Yan Gong has Left and Right Chief Clerks, one person below ten thousand. This time, the position of Left Chief Clerk was specially left vacant, waiting for you.

"Yan Gong is thirsty for talent and deeply feels that Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan is a talent for assisting the king. Even Mr. Wei is willing to give up his position, stay in the Right Chief Clerk position, and be a head lower.

"In addition, regarding the Prince, Yan Gong still remembers the friendship between monarch and subject. Restoring Great Gan is by no means a slogan. Yan Gong is willing to serve the Prince and the Heir Apparent as supreme, act on behalf of heaven, crusade against the tyrant Wei, and take back the Li family's world. His heart is like the sun and moon, and he will never waver..."

His tone was both envious and sincere:

"Prince, Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan, the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion is currently swaying in the wind and rain, not only suspected by the tyrant Wei Zhao, hostile to the Wei clan, but also troubled by local officials, living in fear.

"This is just the beginning. Who knows if you will be more suspected later? Maybe one day a foot of white silk will be bestowed... Why not fight to the death, join us, and take back the world of the Great Ancestor together."

The study went quiet.

Wang Wang Junzhi finished in one breath, panting with a flushed face.

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang curled her lips: "You made this sentence quite long. So you are really afraid of death."

Wang Wang Junzhi ignored her. Seeing Magistrate Ouyang Rong silent and lowering his eyes as if silently weighing, he took advantage of the gap to speak again, adding one more word:

"Wang Wang Lengran suppresses Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan. Jiangzhou has lost Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan's presence. What can a wine-bag and rice-bag surnamed Wang use to defend it?

"The reinforcements from Yangzhou are still far away, and the troops of General Cai and Governor Zhu have already reached the neck. Prince Xunyang City will fall in a few days.

"I heard that when Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan was Chief Clerk, he was honest and loved the people, deeply supported by the people and scholars of Prince Xunyang, and was clear in rewards and punishments. The officials of Jiangzhou were all convinced. Now he is being framed by treacherous officials, and the scholars and people all feel humiliated and unfair for you.

"As long as you are willing to stand out, and you know that Prince Xunyang's city defense is weak, you only need to wave your arms and shout, and you will get a hundred responses. The collapse of a city, a state, or even half a southern country is between your flipping hands.

"Instead of waiting for death, being humiliated by treacherous superiors, and waiting for the poisonous wine in Shenjing Luoyang Palace, it is better to rise up, respond to justice, and hold your life in your own hands.

"With one anger, step on the bones of the nobles; without moving, you can make the world happy. A great man should be like this."

It must be admitted that Wang Wang Junzhi is an excellent lobbyist. His words are like ink falling into clear water, extremely infectious. He spoke with emotion, and his words were sonorous and powerful.

After a series of words, the whole place was silent.

Li Su Xian and Li Su Dalang couldn't help but be moved.

Even Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, who was originally pouting and angry, narrowed her eyes and stopped talking.

She, Wang Wang Junzhi, and Li Su Xian's family, each with their own thoughts, turned their eyes to Magistrate Ouyang Rong.

Among them, someone actually wanted to speak but stopped.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong saw it from the corner of his eye.

At this moment, he raised his eyes and looked at Wang Wang Junzhi.

"Finished?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong asked.

"Hmm." Wang Wang Junzhi nodded.

His palm under his sleeve clenched the handkerchief unconsciously, wiping sweat, as if waiting for something.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong suddenly stood up, picked up a moonlight long sword that Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang had slapped on the table, and drew the sword in public.

Wang Wang Junzhi's body trembled.

However, Magistrate Ouyang Rong did not fully draw the sword from its scabbard, only drawing a section of cold blade from the scabbard, placing it in front of his eyes, and the cold moonlight illuminated his pair of lacquer-like eyes.

It seemed that his attention was not on the impassioned pros and cons that Wang Wang Junzhi had just said.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong seriously appreciated the drawn sword edge for a while.

Wang Wang Junzhi's temples were wet, and sweat turned into beads.

Clang—!

The next moment, sweat beads as big as soybeans splashed from his temples, and he felt a hard, blunt object hit his arms, causing his body to twitch as if he had a chill.

"This is..."

Wang Wang Junzhi looked down in confusion, holding the moonlight long sword.

It turned out that after Magistrate Ouyang Rong sheathed the sword, he threw the sword into his arms.

"Brother Wang, wait here.

"If Wang Wang Lengran brings people to the door, please commit suicide, Brother Wang."

After saying that, Magistrate Ouyang Rong scanned Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, Li Su Guoer, and the others, turned around, and took the lead in leaving the reception hall.

Wang Wang Junzhi was stunned, then exhaled and wiped his sweat as if he had survived a disaster, and laughed bitterly:

"Thank you, Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong ignored him for now. After leaving the room, he took Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang and Li Su Xian's family back to the familiar study for night strategy.

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, with a cold face, reached out to Li Su Guoer.

The latter returned a certain zither case.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't care about the small friction between the two women and said directly to Li Su Xian:

"What does Uncle think?"

Li Su Xian's face was guilty: "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been involved with this person. It's really tricky."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang said directly: "What are you waiting for? Kill him."

Li Su Guoer shook her head: "Cannot kill him yet."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang looked at her sideways: "Is Guo'er sister capable again?"

She bit the word "capable" relatively hard, as if it were sarcastic.

Li Su Guoer shook her head: "This matter is my mistake, and the consideration was not thorough."

"Not just not thorough. It was fine, but you had to toss about recruiting talent. Now it's good, the talent wasn't seen, but the danger came."

Facing the accusation, Li Su Guoer did not refute, nodding in admission:

"It was mainly because I never expected Li Li Zhengyan to dare to risk his life to start an uprising."

Hearing this, Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at the little girl with plum blossom makeup whose pretty face was slightly dim. It was rare to see her like this.

He patted Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang's hand gently, stopping her from continuing to sneer, and said:

"The Princess is right. I was also caught off guard. This kind of thing of risking one's life to rebel, people don't even want their lives, playing the emotional card, deliberately getting close, making you suspected by the imperial court.

"This is an open conspiracy, impossible to guard against."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang pursed her lips and looked at Li Su Guoer again: "Then why are you still speaking for him? Reluctant to part with the talented person you recruited?"

Li Su Guoer shook her head, turned her face to look at the reception hall where Wang Wang Junzhi was confined, her face cold:

"I wish I could kill him with my own hands. Not letting him die is for our current situation."

The little princess with plum blossom makeup, who had been taught a lesson, spoke with unusual seriousness:

"Jiangzhou is in crisis now. If Wang Wang Lengran is a loser and doesn't block the military edge, and Prince Xunyang City is broken, we need to use this person. Killing him directly will offend Li Li Zhengyan.

"Regardless, detain him for now. No rush."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang was very unhappy: "He just took advantage of a smart person like you."

Everyone was silent.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong glanced at Li Su Guoer.

This choice is indeed the smartest one at the moment.

Wei Mei interjected:

"This person walked in openly. Wang Wang Lengran should know. A whole morning has passed, why hasn't he come to arrest him?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head and said:

"Wang Wang Lengran doesn't dare to break in. Besides being suspicious and afraid of falling into a trap, breaking into the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion publicly is also a capital crime. One Wang Wang Junzhi might not be enough to nail us to death."

Li Su Dalang sighed: "Although Wang Wang Lengran shouts every day that Tanlang is Li Li Zhengyan's accomplice and is conspiring to rebel, only enemies know how wronged Tanlang is."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong said noncommittally: "However, he should already be writing a memorial, taking advantage of this matter to impeach us again, accumulating little by little. Maybe one day, poisonous wine will be bestowed from Shenjing Luoyang..."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang gritted her teeth:

"Wang Wang Junzhi is truly damned, and Li Li Zhengyan is also malicious. Now even Ru Shixiong's position is implicated.

"Inside Prince Xunyang City, we are now blind."

Li Su Xian was restless:

"Tanlang, Li Li Zhengyan made such a big noise, raising my banner, and so many people responded. How come I feel that the Empress Mother will really believe it and bestow death upon me..."

He looked around at his wife and children, his eyes wavering: "We... why don't we make two preparations."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong sighed: "That's why it's an open conspiracy."

He turned his head and asked Li Su Xian with a smile:

"Does the Prince really think that going to stand for him can occupy the supreme position?"

Li Su Xian stared and asked in a low voice: "Tanlang means... a puppet?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at Li Su Xian carefully, then at Li Su Dalang, and sighed:

"Uncle, a founding or restoration monarch is not so easy to be. In other words, the temple name of 'Zhongzong' for restoration monarchs throughout history is not so easy to get.

"And it's the method of military mutiny and restoration... For example, how to deal with meritorious military officers who become powerful later?

"At least for you and Su Dalang, this path is too difficult."

Li Su Xian and the others were stunned: "Tanlang thinks so far ahead."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang added:

"Uncle might be a mascot, but Ru Shixiong is different.

"The position of Left Chief Clerk of the Restoration Mansion, Li Li Zhengyan seems to be sincere. With Ru Shixiong, the Restoration Army is like a tiger with wings.

"Not to mention offering Jiangzhou, which is equivalent to offering the entire rich southeast. No wonder Wang Wang Junzhi dared to take a big risk and act as a lobbyist."

Li Su Xian's face was ashamed, and Li Su Dalang and Wei Mei were moved.

"Why is Xiao Shimei saying this."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head and instructed seriously:

"Unless it's a last resort, don't change the policy. Prince, don't be impatient. I still have some informants in Prince Xunyang City, not completely blind. If there is any movement, I can always see clues."

He turned his head again and ordered Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang:

"Xiao Shimei, work hard and keep an eye on Wang Wang Junzhi. Once Wang Wang Lengran sends someone to the door, solve it cleanly the first time."

"Yes."

Li Su Guoer also stood up: "Together."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang glanced at her and did not refuse.

The gathering dispersed temporarily.

(End of chapter)