Chapter 222 Taking advantage of the situation
"You don't know about this matter, but don't you know other things? I want to ask you, one of my two uncles tried to assassinate me, and the other tried to poison me. But according to my investigation, people around them were bribed by the Liao Kingdom. Was it done by the King of Qin?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Your Highness, how could I possibly know such a thing?"
Li Ge looked aggrieved, but he also knew that Zhao Xing would not accept this explanation, so he quickly said: "I don't know what your highness is asking, but I also know some secrets that I can tell your highness."
"Oh?" Zhao Xing said calmly, "Then tell me what you want to say. If you really want to help me, I will believe you. But if it's just some trivial matter, or you are trying to deceive me, then you should be careful about your life. I believe that even if I kill you, the King of Qin will still be willing to cooperate with me."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Li Ge nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Highness said before that His Majesty was assassinated..."
"Hmm?" Zhao Xing looked at Li Ge unkindly.
"Look at my mouth." Li Ge slapped himself and said, "It's the Liao emperor."
Zhao Xing's expression finally softened and he let Li Ge continue speaking.
"The Liao emperor was indeed assassinated a few months ago, and it was most likely done by the King of Qin," said Li Ge.
"Very likely? That's just a guess? What's the use of such news?" Zhao Xing said unhappily when he heard it.
Even in the Liao Kingdom, it was rumored that the assassination of the Liao emperor was most likely done by the King of Qin.
But rumors are just rumors. If we can get evidence, we can force King Qin to rebel and cause chaos in Liao.
But without evidence, it's meaningless.
After all, without these rumors, when the Liao emperor was assassinated, the first suspect would have been the King of Qin.
Even if there was no assassination, would the Liao emperor not have taken action against the Qin king?
The reason why he didn't take action was because he was afraid.
Zhao Xing even suspected that the news that the assassination was carried out by the King of Qin was deliberately released by the Emperor of Liao.
"Your Highness is right, but I have no access to these things and cannot produce evidence. However, when the former emperor of Liao was alive, he promised King Qin that he would inherit the throne in the future. But in the end, he passed the throne to his son, who is the current emperor. I heard that King Qin once said after getting drunk that the throne was his and he would definitely take it back in the future. It is very likely that he sent people to assassinate the emperor of Liao." Li Ge said.
"That's enough." Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "I know all of this, so don't talk about speculation. Tell me something useful."
Some things about the King of Qin and the former Emperor of Liao were no secret, so how could Zhao Xing not know them?
"Yes." Li Ge thought for a moment and said, "This time I came here on orders. The bottom line that the King of Qin gave me was 12,000 war horses and 100 beauties from the Liao Kingdom."
"You know what I want to know. My patience is limited. If you try to fool me with these things again, don't blame me for being rude." Zhao Xing said coldly.
"Your Highness." Li Ge said with a wronged look on his face, "My position is limited, and the little I know is also known by Your Highness, and it is not an important secret. But I promise that I will collect some information that Your Highness may be interested in after I return."
"That's true." Zhao Xing nodded, looked at Li Ge and said, "I want to know the information about the Liao border defense. Do you have a way to collect it?"
"Your Highness, you are really putting me in a difficult position. But since Your Highness has said so, I am willing to collect it for you." Li Ge said.
"Okay, then I'll give you a chance. Don't think about lying to me. Even if you are in Liao Kingdom, it's not difficult for me to kill someone if I want to." Zhao Xing said lightly.
"The villain dare not."
Li Ge looked at Zhao Xing's face and said, "Your Highness said before that the King of Yan used perfume to poison people. Perhaps the King of Qin also had similar intentions. I think it's not a bad idea to give the secret recipe of perfume to the King of Qin. If the King of Qin really does this, the Liao Kingdom will be in chaos, which is good for the Song Dynasty and Your Highness."
"What you said seems to make sense."
Zhao Xing nodded, as if he was somewhat tempted, but he sneered in his heart.
What he said before was that an uncle of his wanted to murder him by poisoning him with perfume.
It did not say it was King Yan.
After Prince Yan was captured, the only thing that was said to the outside world was that he had plotted to murder the crown prince, but no specific details were given on how he had done it.
Of course, based on this information, combined with Zhao Xing’s previous words, we can roughly infer it.
But inference is just inference, and Li Ge directly mentioned King Yan.
"Your Highness, if I can get the secret recipe of the perfume, my status will be improved, which will not only make it more convenient for Your Highness to get information. I can even provide Your Highness with more war horses during normal transactions." Li Ge was delighted to see Zhao Xing was interested and continued.
"Yes." Zhao Xing nodded slightly and said, "I can give you the secret recipe of the perfume, but I want those 12,000 stallions that have just reached adulthood. Don't fool me with old horses or young horses. In addition, there must be at least ten thousand-mile horses among them."
A so-called stallion is a horse that has not been castrated, but a foal cannot be bred until it reaches adulthood. Let’s not talk about whether an old horse can be bred. Even if it can, how many years can it be used?
"I'll try my best." Li Ge said with some difficulty.
"Don't try your best. If you can't do it, I will think that you are lying to me. Think about the consequences carefully." Zhao Xing said calmly.
"Yes!" Li Ge agreed with a sad face.
"Changsong, take him down and treat him well. Don't be negligent." Zhao Xing ordered.
"Yes!" Sheng Changsong replied.
"Your Highness, that secret recipe..." Li Ge became anxious when he saw that Zhao Xing let him go but did not mention the secret recipe.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Zhao Xing said unhappily, "How can you show your contribution by getting the secret recipe so quickly? Stay in Bianjing for a few days before returning. Then you can tell me how much effort you put into getting the secret recipe. Do I need to teach you this?"
"Yes, yes, it was I who was stupid. Your Highness is wise and brave, and has extraordinary wisdom." Li Ge flattered him.
Zhao Xing looked pleased and said, "You go down first. When the horse is sent over, I will naturally have someone give you the secret recipe."
"I'll take my leave!" Li Ge said with a salute.
Sheng Changsong also bowed and took Li Ge out.
"Your Highness, this person agreed so quickly, I'm afraid it's a trap." Sanshui reminded.
"Haha, you can think of it, how can I not think of it?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.
It must be false that Li Ge surrendered to him. He was just playing along with the enemy. In fact, Li Ge himself knew it very well and he was just playing along with the enemy.
But will Li Ge tell Yelu Chongyuan about this?
Zhao Xing thought that it would not happen. Could it be that Li Ge's master, Yelu Chongyuan, would believe what he said?
Perhaps Yelu Chongyuan would still doubt whether he really surrendered to Zhao Xing, so he said it out loud in order to gain his trust.
For a small figure like Li Ge, it is more beneficial for him to play with both sides.
Getting something from Zhao Xing could help him improve his status in the Liao Kingdom.
Providing some information to Zhao Xing can get more.
He won't lose anything anyway.
Could it be possible that Zhao Xing and Yelu Chongyuan could still confront each other?
Of course, all this is just Zhao Xing's guess.
Zhao Xing would not really believe the information he provided. Even if he really told Yelu Chongyuan, Yelu Chongyuan would set a bait in order to make Li Ge gain his trust.
There are always benefits.
Giving the secret recipe of perfume to Yelu Chongyuan was a decision Zhao Xing made after careful consideration.
What he would like to see most is that Yelu Chongyuan and the Liao emperor maintain a balance and continue to fight.
But this situation is difficult to maintain.
Even if Yelu Chongyuan wanted to keep his power, the Liao emperor would not tolerate him and would definitely want to get rid of him.
Although he didn't know much about the history of the Liao Dynasty, he knew that Yelu Chongyuan did not succeed in the end.
In other words, the Liao emperor was the final winner.
If one side must stay, Zhao Xing hopes that Yelu Chongyuan will be the final winner.
The Liao emperor represented orthodoxy and the general trend. If he got rid of Yelu Chongyuan, the turmoil would soon subside, and his rule over the Liao would also be strengthened.
However, Yelu Chongyuan was plotting treason. If he really killed the Liao emperor, many people in the Liao country would not submit to him, and some would even want to fight for the throne.
In fact, it is not very appropriate to give the perfume recipe at this time.
Because even if there was civil strife in the Liao Dynasty, it would be difficult for the Song Dynasty to take advantage of the opportunity to retake the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
The best time will be when the Song Dynasty has resolved some of its internal problems and has the strength to do so.
But Zhao Xing couldn't wait any longer. If he waited, the Liao emperor would get rid of Yelu Chongyuan, and all his plans would be in vain.
Moreover, even if the Song Dynasty was well prepared, it would be unlikely to recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun due to the internal chaos in the Liao Dynasty.
The Liao Kingdom was not stupid. No matter how much internal fighting they had, they would unite and face the outside world together when the Song Dynasty sent troops.
Instead of taking the gamble, it would be better to let the Liao Dynasty fall into civil strife and take the opportunity to destroy Western Xia.
Therefore, giving the secret recipe of perfume to Yelu Chongyuan is the best option.
"Your Highness is wise and brave. He had expected this. It was me who spoke too much." Sanshui said with a smile.
"It's just parroting what others have said."
Zhao Xing cursed with a smile and said, "Go and call Yu Liangyuan and Concubine Sheng to Mu Tang Pavilion."
The weather is hot, so it’s more comfortable to swim.
"Yes!" Sanshui hurried away after hearing that.
Zhao Xing came to Mutang Pavilion, changed his clothes with the help of palace maids, and went into the swimming pool.
"Comfortable!"
…………
Rulan was summoned and went to Muchang Pavilion with Minglan.
They had been in the palace for half a month, and Zhao Xing had summoned them before.
"Lan Minglan!"
"Sister Yanran!"
When they were almost at Mutang Pavilion, Erlan met Yu Yanran.
Because there were only three personal maids around him, it was a bit casual to address them as such.
However, after the greetings, Minglan and Yu Yanran were the first to react, their faces flushed, and they didn't dare to look at each other.
This place is not far from Mu Tang Pavilion. They appear here at this time, obviously they have all been summoned.
If she was just accompanying Zhao Xing for a swim, she wouldn't be so shy.
But they had all accompanied Zhao Xing in swimming in Mutang Pavilion and knew what Zhao Xing would do.
Now that all three of them have been summoned, doesn't that mean they will serve Zhao Xing together in a while?
Although Rulan was a little thick-skinned, she finally reacted at this time.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
(End of this chapter)