Chapter 458 You still dare to say that he is a false surrender
Seeing that the situation was becoming tense, Xie Mao and Teng Yuru took the initiative to mediate.
"My Lord, please calm down, Master Qi."
Guessing that they also had a plan, Qi Lei's anger could not be relieved, and he became even more furious. He waved his sleeves to express his disdain.
"Humph."
Xie Mao just laughed it off and didn't take it to heart.
"You two lords have some concerns, which I think are reasonable. I beg Your Majesty not to be angry."
He pretended to put himself in their shoes and spoke reasonably about the feelings of Qi and Tao.
"The officials of the provincial governors have followed Emperor Jin for many years and have never had any other ambitions; the officials of the secret council have followed the emperor for several years and have no intention of causing chaos."
"Even if the two of you are offering a perfect plan, you two adults would not dare to act on it. As Master Qi said, he has to be loyal to the prince and protect Feng Zhengtai's subordinates. The reality does not allow him to act impulsively."
When he proposed a new idea, Gu Nianting suddenly understood as if the clouds and fog had cleared away.
"Thank you, sir. That makes sense. In that case, their concerns are understandable."
Understanding what Gu Nianting wanted to hear, Xie Mao agreed.
"Your Majesty, please be tolerant, as the sea embraces all rivers. I am not talented, so I am willing to admit that I am inferior to you."
Gu Nianting couldn't hide his delight.
"Thank you for your modesty, sir."
He turned his eyes to Qi Tao and his eyes suddenly became sharp.
"Thank you, sir, for empathizing with you and speaking for you. That's very reasonable."
"You are so ungrateful and shameless. Why are you so gloomy? Why don't you thank him?"
Qi Lei was so angry that he turned his back to him.
"Humph!"
Tao Kangping was used to it and spoke well of it.
"Master Qi is not feeling well. I would like to express my gratitude on his behalf."
"Thank you, sir. I am deeply grateful for your understanding. I am moved to tears."
Xie Mao remained polite and smiled slightly.
"You are very polite, my lords."
He continued with his words and circled back to the strategy.
"Since the two lords are worried, then the governors and the secretaries should not give advice to the prince for the time being."
"Yin Sitai, that's not the case."
"As all the wise men present know, there was an internal strife in Yinsitai. The former Yinsicheng, Lord Zheng, followed Princess Qin and attempted to seize the power of Yinsitai. He used many tricks and ambushed assassins to take Lord Teng's life. Later, Lord Teng met me by chance and took shelter in my humble abode for a while, thus escaping the disaster."
"Afterwards, Princess Qin was tried and confessed that both the emperor and Prince Dijin were behind the scenes. After saying this, she committed suicide, so that the case could not be investigated further."
"Princess Qin's words are very likely to be framed. Although they cannot be trusted, Lord Teng will have some alienation in his heart. Therefore, he told the Yinsitai people to be content with their duties and not to participate in the disputes in the court."
"It was like this for a long time, and it was not until Princess Yuexi saved my mother that Lord Teng and I, in order to repay her kindness, began to have a little desire to follow King Dijin."
"But not long after, the prince came to Xie's house and revealed the true face of Prince Dijin. We knew that we were almost used by others, so we changed our minds and came here to repay the prince's great kindness and die for him."
"My foolish filial piety, even if it is not worth mentioning, has made a name for itself; Your Majesty's treatment of my mother is like saving her life, and I will never forget it."
"Lord Teng cherishes treasures and is grateful for kindness. This is well known to everyone. Even if my kindness is small and not worth mentioning, he will definitely not let me down."
"In summary, with the advice given by Lord Teng and me, I wonder if Lords Qi and Tao can rest assured?"
Gu Nianting nodded and smiled, very satisfied.
"Thank you for your thoughtful consideration, sir."
Qi Lei glanced at Xie Mao, his face cold and without a trace of warmth.
"Thank you, sir, for your words are so true. Unfortunately, there is a misunderstanding. The one who treated your mother was not the prince, but the imperial physician Lord Lin. Even if you two really want to change your mind, you should follow Lord Lin. What does it have to do with the prince?"
Xie Mao corrected it politely.
"Master Qi is wrong. Following Master Lin means pursuing the prince, right?"
Qi Lei refuted without any hesitation.
"Master Lin's suspicion is still unresolved. This man is simply pretending to surrender!"
When he heard the word "false surrender", Gu Nianting was immediately dissatisfied.
"Shut up."
"Lord Lin played the role of go-between and introduced me to all the gentlemen present here, which is an unprecedented achievement."
"You still dare to say that he is pretending to surrender?"
Lin Mu left his seat and bowed modestly and respectfully.
"My efforts are insignificant, yet I have received such praise from the prince. I am so humble that I cannot deserve it."
Gu Nianting gestured to return to his seat, not wanting to tire him out in any way, and turned to Qi Lei, still scolding him.
"You should learn from Lord Lin. He was scolded by you in public, but he still had a broad mind."
"Unlike you, with your ugly face and arrogant attitude."
After the lecture, he naturally continued with Xie Mao's words.
"In my opinion, the advice given by the officials of Yin Sitai is the most appropriate."
As he spoke, he glanced at Xie Mao and Teng Yuru and asked with a smile.
"Excuse me, Masters Xie and Teng, what is your plan?"
Just like the previous two strategies, Xie Mao also analyzed the situation first.
"Reporting to the prince, assassinating Prince Dijin is not an easy task; getting rid of Concubine Xian is a bit rash. How did the Yan clan stand firm for more than 500 years? To put it bluntly, it is because of the will of the people."
"In my humble opinion, under the current circumstances, Your Majesty should focus on stabilizing the people's hearts."
Gu Nianting had longed for the hearts of the people and immediately became interested.
"Thank you, sir, for what you said."
"However, winning over the hearts of the people will inevitably require a certain amount of money, and the treasury of Prince Chen's Palace may not be able to bear it. Moreover, in the past, this prince spent a lot of money to show favor to the people, but the results were mediocre and there was no significant impact."
"In the past, the emperors always put their feet on the ground and did their best to win the hearts of the people. This prince is ignorant and naive. May I ask, sir, how do you plan for such a matter?"
Hearing that Gu Nianting felt a little inferior and wanted to be affirmed, Xie Mao temporarily gave up his plan and turned to flattery.
"Your Highness is kindhearted, so he has no ill will towards others. In fact, you are the only one who is down-to-earth and does not seek fame."
Teng Yuru followed closely behind, complimenting him in a gentle voice.
"Thank you, sir. The previous results were mediocre because the prince was too sincere in his conduct and actions."
The dream was so beautiful that Gu Nianting was completely lost. He didn't want to wake up at all. His peach-shaped eyes narrowed into slits and he smiled foolishly.
"Thank you for your praise, my Lords. I beg you to give me some advice."
After appeasing Gu Nianting, Teng Yuru continued to explain the strategy.
"Sometime ago, there were some problems with the total grain harvest in Tuobin County during the tenure of Lord Yu Xiaotao."
Hearing that this time the attack seemed to be directed at his beloved son, Tao Kangping immediately became extremely alert and his expression became particularly serious.
Teng Yuru didn't pay much attention to Tao Kangping's changes and just continued talking to himself.
"This case has long been investigated and it is beyond doubt that Mr. Tao has not committed any corruption."
After hearing this, Tao Kangping breathed a sigh of relief.
Teng Yuru changed the subject.
"However, there is no evidence to prove that Lords Qi and Tao had nothing to do with this matter. Lord Tao was just a minor local official at the time. How could he have the authority and courage to embezzle the food of the people of the entire county? Unless someone was backing him up behind the scenes..."