Chapter 1049: Thoughts from All Sides

Keep it secret.

Since it is a secret funeral.

The first thing to do is to keep it secret.

Liu Zheng tried hard to calm himself down; if it were his previous life, he would have been scared half to death just having a dead person lying right beside him.

But now it is different...

Having personally experienced war so many times, Liu Zheng is no longer afraid of the dead.

Calm down.

Calm down.

He knows what kind of chaotic state Longyan will enter following the death of Xie Tianyao. What he should do right now is to minimize this chaos.

He first instructed Grand Eunuch Zhou to find people to go down and get spices.

In fact, on the way here, the department of the Ministry of Rites responsible for the imperial family's funerals already had these preparations. What they were worried about was that if Xie Tianyao were to pass away on the road, all preparations would need to be foolproof. However... even with preparations, what could be done? At this time, the news of Xie Tianyao's passing must not be leaked under any circumstances.

Collecting spices is not too difficult, and collecting high-proof alcohol is also very easy.

All of this is being carried out in secret.

But surely, it will also be noticed by those with keen eyes.

Zhu Zhen is one such person.

Vice Minister Liu was summoned by the Emperor?

From the moment Liu Zheng entered that Horse Carriage, Zhu Zhen's gaze began to turn gloomy and complex.

"My lord..."

"Teacher..."

He was still walking with a cane, and the people beside him had already noticed his mood.

Fortunately, there were these students and subordinates helping him; otherwise, Zhu Zhen really would not have been able to walk this far, and he would likely have perished on this road in just one day.

"How long... has he been gone?"

Excessive fatigue made Zhu Zhen's voice somewhat hoarse; a subordinate nearby quickly brought over a water bag, and only then did Zhu Zhen moisten his throat.

"It has been half an hour..."

Someone replied immediately.

Half an hour...

Zhu Zhen nodded slowly. Half an hour is not a short time.

A lot of things can be discussed...

Of course.

A lot of things can also be done.

Thinking of this, a dazzling sharp light burst from Zhu Zhen's eyes.

Could it be?

"From now on, keep an eye on every move Vice Minister Liu makes at all times! No detail is too small, hurry!"

Zhu Zhen reacted immediately and gave the order.

Very quickly, the Scholar-official side arranged for people to go down. Having been in Longyan for so long, there were naturally quite a few of Zhu Zhen's people in this procession.

"Could it be..."

Zhu Zhen took a deep breath, and his whole body trembled violently along with it.

Could it be that the Emperor has passed away?

Zhu Zhen is a person who excels at long-term planning; if he did not have this ability, he could not have become the leader of the entire Scholar-Official Group. While others can see one step ahead, he has to consider how to take the next three steps. Although he cannot be certain now, if the Emperor passed away halfway here...

A secret funeral?

What he can think of would surely be this...

But...

If it is a secret funeral, does that not mean that the future of Longyan, the great rule of Longyan, and Xie Tianyao's imperial edict have now fallen into the hands of this Liu Zheng and Grand Eunuch Zhou?

Not allowed!

Zhu Zhen became nervous all of a sudden; he absolutely would not allow such a situation to happen!

The great rule of Longyan, the state of Longyan—this is more important than anything else!

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhen, who had always been as steady as Mount Tai, began to feel impatient in his heart.

But.

He soon calmed down.

Even

if it is a secret funeral, what can be done? Now that the Duqi and Duwei are all in the hands of this Liu Zheng, it means that the lives of these people are all in the hands of this Liu Zheng... even if he knows it is a secret funeral, he cannot go over to investigate.

Maintain a tacit understanding?

Pretend not to know?

But...

That imperial edict...

He took a deep breath.

Since it is a secret funeral, they certainly would not choose to read the Emperor's imperial edict at Lishan; they would certainly return to Jinghua to carry out this matter.

"Come back!"

He said again immediately.

Huh?

This move once again left the group of people under his command completely bewildered.

"Don't go yet, remain calm and composed!"

Zhu Zhen shook his head.

"My lord..."

"Teacher..."

The few people beside him all grew anxious.

In truth, they had also guessed the hidden truth that might lie behind this matter...

"My lord, if the Emperor has truly passed away..."

"We..."

"My lord..."

Zhu Zhen gave a cold laugh: "What could we possibly do? Remember, do not show any signs of questioning! Otherwise, it is very likely that we will not be able to return to Jinghua!"

The expressions of those present changed drastically upon hearing this.

As they spoke these words, they were still supporting Zhu Zhen as they walked forward. It would have been fine if Zhu Zhen hadn't said this, but once he did, these people truly felt that during the time Liu Zheng had entered the Horse Carriage, the security work of the surrounding Duqi Duwei had clearly become tense.

"Remember, remain calm and composed!"

That old fox Zhu Zhen naturally knew what should be done, and then lowered his voice: "Immediately send word to Jinghua and have our people start preparing!"

"Yes!"

This group of Scholar-officials began to go off to take action.

"This Vice Minister Liu has been inside for half an hour already!"

At the same time.

Prince of Zhao Xie Sheng also noticed the current situation.

The other members of the Old Aristocrats remained silent at this moment.

Xie Sheng was anxious, gnashing his teeth as if mad: "Do you all have no thoughts on this? No thoughts at all! I see a possibility that this Tsarist Russia was brought here by this Vice Minister Liu! At a time like this, to invite the wolf into the house—what wolfish ambition, what wolfish ambition!"

This sentence made many people look at each other in dismay.

This...

It really was quite possible.

At this critical juncture, why did Tsarist Russia suddenly attack the Longyan? Could there be some secret hidden within this?

One must know...

The Xiongnu of the past, and the Southern Barbarians who came later, were able to attack the Longyan so frantically because they received help and cooperation from the Longyan. Moreover, every time there was a struggle for the succession and the inheritance of the throne, the Longyan was prone to invasion by foreign enemies; why is this?

"Does the Prince of Zhao mean..."

"That Vice Minister Liu?"

A group of Feudatory Kings looked at each other in dismay.

Prince of Zhao Xie Sheng became excited upon seeing their attitude: "That's right! He must have some kind of cooperation with this Tsarist Russia, letting Tsarist Russia attack the Longyan wantonly to draw our troops away, and then, wouldn't we become soft persimmons in his hands, to be squeezed at will?"

Boom!

At this, these Feudatory Kings suddenly understood many things.

It is possible!

It is highly possible!

Right now, what these Feudatory Kings worried about most was that their troops were gone; following the order issued today, their troops had already begun to march to support the war... This meant that the capital they relied on to be arrogant was suddenly no longer in the Longyan.

Under such circumstances...

Would the entire Longyan

fall into the hands of Liu Zheng?

A sharp glint flashed in the eyes of Prince of Zhao Xie Sheng: "Fellow colleagues, it seems that the Emperor..."

"It is time we consider things for ourselves!"