Chapter 364: Anyuan Hou

When the Rain Water solar term arrives, the spring breeze blows gently, the mountains are green, and the rain falls on the steps, wisps of it, like smoke and fog.

Zhu Lin sat up with great effort, looked at the spring rain outside the window, and said slowly: "To test how much rain there is in spring, you can return to the boat when the wild pond is flooded."

He pulled out a hidden arrow from his bed, smiled bitterly and continued, "Sir Ou is indeed a man of both civil and military talents. He must have noticed this thing from the beginning!"

Ou Zanghua nodded but didn't say anything.

"Ugh"

Zhu Lin sighed and said quietly, "Before, I always thought that you and Yang Yongxiu were just scholars. How could they compare to the accumulation of four generations of my family? You, Ou Zanghua, are gifted. Can your son be the same as you?"

"If that's the case, it won't be your turn, Ou Zanghua, to take the lead. Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Yu Qian, Shang Lu, Li Dongyang, who is not a man of great talent and learning? But they are all gone, and only the nobles like us are still standing in the court."

Zhu Lin turned his head to look at Ou Zanghua, his eyes red as he said, "I can swear to heaven that I have never intended to kill Qiu Yue and Zhang Tai. I do have evidence against He Jian, but I never thought of using it at this time. Someone is framing me! Ahem."

"But where's the evidence?"

Ou Zanghua looked at Zhu Lin and said calmly, "Now everyone knows that Lord Zhang was poisoned and died just a few days after he reported you and other nobles."

Zhu Lin shouted excitedly, "But Zhang Tai's memorial also mentioned the eunuch Liu Xi, the governor of the Beijing camp, and the eunuch Cao Zhengchun, the governor of the camp! Isn't it well known that eunuchs have no bottom line?"

"My lord, please be careful with your words. I will also investigate the suspicion of being a eunuch." Ou Zanghua looked at the emotionally unstable Zhu Lin and sighed secretly.

Now, no matter whether he did it or not, he cannot be the fifth Duke of Chengguo.

"Then why did you come to see me?"

"Because Zheng Futian was assassinated in the Beijing camp, and this person had a close connection with the eldest son."

Zhu Lin stared out the window with a dull look in his eyes. He was silent for a long time before he asked, "Lord Ou should know that the Chief Secretary of Prince Ning's Mansion is active in the capital, right?"

Ou Zanghua nodded. Of course he knew about this. Yang Qing, the chief secretary of the Ning Wang Mansion, had visited him but was turned away by Liu Qing.

"A few years ago, Ningyang Marquis Chen Jizu and Anyuan Marquis Liu Wen had close contacts with the Ning Palace. I guess there must be some kind of deal between them." Zhu Lin lowered his head and said with a gloomy expression.

"Thank you for the reminder, young master." Ou Zanghua stood up and prepared to leave.

"Mr. Ou"

"Does the eldest master have anything else to say?"

Zhu Lin looked at the fresh and handsome Ou Zanghua and suddenly asked, "If you and I had known each other earlier, would we have become friends?"

Ou Zanghua was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "No, the eldest son is of noble status, and probably doesn't look down on me."

After saying that, he walked out of the room.

The spring rain outside the door is like silk, continuous and endless.

Sukhbaru was standing in the rain. When he saw Ou Zanghua coming out, he immediately came forward and said, "Master Ou!"

"Let's go!" Ou Zanghua nodded and glanced at Xiao Ji and the other two.

Zhao Shanhe came to his senses and quickly took out three oil-paper umbrellas from the room next to him, handed them to Ou Zanghua and said, "I'll see you two out."

"Thank you."

Before leaving Chengguo Mansion, the housekeeper came towards him with his maid.

After seeing the two, the butler smiled and bowed, saying, "I greet Lord Ou. My master is meeting guests and cannot receive you two, so I specially asked me to prepare a small gift for you two."

Ou Zanghua glanced at the tray held by the maids and said with a smile, "Thank you, Duke. I appreciate your kindness, but there is no need for a gift."

After saying that, he took Sukhbaru and left Chengguo Mansion and walked towards Anyuanhou Mansion.

The first Marquis of Anyuan was named Liu Sheng. He followed Emperor Taizong in five campaigns, made many military achievements, and was promoted to Deputy General of Conquering the Enemy.

In the first year of Xuande, when he and Wang Tong and others were conquering Jiaozhi Leli, he was ambushed and killed on the way due to his unfamiliarity with the terrain and underestimation of the enemy.

Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen posthumously awarded him the title of Duke of Rong and the posthumous name of Xiangmin.

What makes Liu Sheng truly well-known is that he formed the first regular "artillery" in the history of the Flower-Growing Clan, which opened the era of hot weapons in the Flower-Growing Clan.

Liu Wen was the fourth generation of Anyuan Marquis, and the eighth generation of Anyuan Marquis Liu Zuochang finally surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. After arriving at Anyuan Marquis Mansion, the housekeeper personally led the two into the reception room.

Compared to Chengguo Mansion, the Anyuan Marquis Mansion is much inferior. Not only is its layout not as exquisite as others, even the various furniture and ornaments are not fine enough.

Ou Zanghua noticed a painting in the living room. He looked a little surprised. This thing was one of Li An's collection. If it weren't for his outstanding memory, he might not have been able to remember it.

Logically, it should have been stored in the inner treasury, so how did it appear here?

He narrowed his eyes. There was no His Majesty's seal on it, which meant it was not a reward.

The fact that they still dare to hang it up in such a situation can only mean that this painting has never been registered.

Ou Zanghua sighed in his heart. It seemed that even though he had emptied Li An's mansion when he was in Nanchang Prefecture, Prince Ning still had various ways to take away a lot of things from under his nose!
A moment later, Anyuan Hou Liu Wen came out wearing a sapphire blue crane cloak.

Ou Zanghua was slightly stunned. Isn’t this the Four Gentlemen series of the Weiyang Palace Imperial Manor?
I didn't expect that he was my client.

"Master Hou!"

"Lord Ou."

The two sides greeted each other, Liu Wen took a sip of tea, and said calmly: "I guess Lord Ou came to see me about the matter of Lord Qiu and Censor Zhang!"

"That's right," Ou Zanghua said, cupping his hands, "Please enlighten me, my Lord."

"I can't afford to be taught by you," Liu Wenyi said with a relaxed and indifferent attitude, "I don't like Zhang Tai. This has nothing to do with him impeaching me before the morning court session. I hate those bastards of the censors. If you, Ou Shilang, become the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate in the future, I will hate you just as much."

"It has been ten years since I inherited the title in the sixteenth year of the Hongzhi reign. During this period, I have been suspected by the censors without any reason and impeached more than thirty times. I have to go through three or four such incidents almost every year. Imagine if you were in this situation, would you still like them?"

Hearing this, Ou Zanghua slowly took a sip of tea. He was afraid before, but not now.

The Sixty-Four Praises from the Honglu Temple were his trump card against the Censors.

"Ah……"

Seeing this, Liu Wen smiled faintly and continued, "Minister Ou, you see, although I have been accused without reason and scolded three times every year, I have never retaliated. It's not that I can't, but that there is no need."

"So, I have nothing to fear if I'm innocent. If the censor wants to impeach me, then go ahead! Anyway, I don't need this chance."

Ou Zanghua put down his teacup and asked, "Then how did the Marquis see the rectification of the Beijing camp this time?"

"Too much haste!"

Liu Wen said directly: "The chaos in the Beijing camp is like a person who is sick. We have to slowly unravel the problem. If someone like Qiu Hou uses drastic measures right away, he will be attacked sooner or later."

"What kind of backlash?" Ou Zanghua asked curiously.

Liu Wen said quietly, "For example, there is a gap between generals and commanders, and there is a lack of trust between soldiers and military officers. These may only be minor disturbances in normal times, but in wartime, any insignificant mistake may be like a stone thrown into the lake, causing ripples and ultimately affecting the war situation."

"I see. Thank you, Lord Liu, for your advice." Ou Zanghua cupped his hands and asked casually, "What does Lord Liu think of Prince Ning?"

Liu Wen smiled and said, "I don't know much about the vassal king, so I won't jump to conclusions."

The three chatted for a while, and then Ou Zanghua stood up and said goodbye.

Liu Wen watched the two men leave before he stood up and returned to a water pavilion in the backyard. At this moment, Ningyang Marquis Chen Jizu was sitting there drinking wine.

"What do you think of Minister Ou?" Chen Jizu asked with a smile when he saw Liu Wen coming in.

"You are a little young and were frightened by a few words from me." Liu Wen said calmly.

Chen Jizu then asked, "The eldest son was so frightened that he couldn't sleep at night, did you know that?"

"You are as timid as a mouse, and you will never amount to anything." Liu Wen shook his head and said, "You made a brilliant move to kill Zheng Futian."

"But we don't have any bargaining chips in our hands now!" Chen Jizu sighed and said, "Although we are still the commanders of your Shenji Camp and my Wujun Camp in name, they are actually controlled by Qiu Yue."

"Don't worry! Your Majesty will never let Qiu Yue control the three camps alone." Liu Wen analyzed in a calm tone, "Your Majesty is far-sighted and will never let history repeat itself and remind people of Lord Yu Qian's past."

"That's true." Upon hearing this, Chen Jizu nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

(End of this chapter)