Chapter 503 Goal
Zhao Yushu had never seen what Xiao Qing looked like, but he still guessed it almost right based on a few key points: burning incense and being guarded by Liao people.
Unless there is another woman in the Prince of Shu's Mansion who has the same background and hobbies as Xiao Qing, it cannot be wrong.
"Brother Alibaba, what do you say?"
The two Pishan brothers couldn't agree on a conclusion, so they had to let a third person vote.
"I believe that for us Western Region warriors, honor is more important than life."
Zhao Yushu made his attitude clear. He needed to do this. He wanted to find out whether this was a simple palace struggle or an almost impossible one percent conspiracy.
In ten days, you can do a lot of things.
"Since Brother Alibaba has said so, let's do it."
The second brother of Pishan sighed. The thirty-six countries in the Western Regions have almost all been destroyed now. If the people of the Western Regions continue to fight among themselves, they will not even be able to be considered as stray dogs.
"It's okay, but I always feel that something is fishy. Why does this woman have Liao guards? And Shu brocade is not something that ordinary people can wear. Since we have ten days, we might as well investigate it first and then make plans."
Zhao Yushu didn't want to let these two Pishan brothers die in vain, so he decided to take the order, but he had to delay it. Perhaps within ten days, he would be able to see a turnaround.
"Brother Alibaba, what you said makes sense. Why don't we split up and make preparations?"
Brother Pishan nodded and said, "Second brother, you go to that Shengci Temple and take a look around. I will go to the palace to check it out."
Zhao Yushu immediately stopped him and said, "Brother, you go to the market first, and I'll go to the palace."
"What are you going to the market for?"
"Find out if anyone else has taken such an order, just in case."
Brother Pishan suddenly realized: "That makes sense. Brother Alibaba is really thoughtful. Okay, I'll go look around and maybe find some fellow villagers and we can do it together."
After the tasks were assigned, Zhao Yushu said goodbye to the two and walked straight to the Prince of Shu's Mansion. He didn't believe that anyone could calculate his every move. Whether it was a coincidence or not, he planned to use this opportunity to do something.
The Liao people's strongholds and contact persons are already clear to themselves, so if you fight among yourselves, I will help you and deal with the local tyrants.
Inside the Shu King's Mansion, a young man in his twenties was feeling quite restless.
“Has it been sent out?”
"Your Majesty, it has been sent out."
"Is nothing going to happen?"
"Your Majesty, just wait for good news."
An old man stood beside this generation's King of Shu with a smile on his face, looking at the young man who had grown up in his eyes with great fondness.
The late emperor had only one brother, Prince Fu, so after he seized the throne, whether for the purpose of appeasement or because he could not find anyone else, he did not move the old Prince of Shu.
But the late emperor had a bunch of sons. It was okay when they were young, but when they grew up, who would not covet the rich Shu land?
As soon as the old King of Shu died, the imperial court immediately set its sights on this place. However, what no one could have imagined was that when the Liao Kingdom was weak, Princess Xiao Qing, who was temporarily married to the King of Shu for the purpose of peace, suddenly stood up and used extremely tough diplomatic means to help the young King of Shu secure his throne. Even a ruthless emperor like the late emperor had to temporarily give in under the threat of the Liao people who were eyeing him covetously.
Before the young King of Shu had time to be grateful to his Liao stepmother for several years, he slowly realized that something was wrong. This woman was not helping him to secure his throne, but was trying to keep the Shu Palace in her own hands!
The little prince has grown up, but the Queen Mother does not want to give up power, and the well-known royal infighting begins.
"The Liao people have been eyeing our Great Tang for a long time. With Yizhou in such chaos this time, they will definitely take advantage of the situation. Concubine Dowager, Concubine Dowager will definitely join forces with them and destroy the foundation of our Great Tang!"
The young prince slapped his thigh in hatred, his expression sad yet somewhat excited.
"At this critical moment, I must, must, kill my relatives for the sake of justice!"
The young prince swallowed his saliva, his voice trembling slightly.
The eunuch quickly handed over a cup of tea and said, "Your Highness is a man of great talent and vision. In the future, if you raise your arm and call for help, Shu will surely respond. Then we can join forces with Tubo, and in the east we can destroy the Honglian rebellion, and in the north, we can clear the emperor's side!"
"No, don't talk nonsense, be careful, Aung, be careful!"
The young prince forced himself to hide the smile on his face, as if he had already seen the chair in Chang'an City.
It is not easy to stake out the Prince of Shu's Palace. Stalls are definitely not allowed on the street in front of the palace. Naturally, there are not a large number of shops where you can drink tea and spy on the palace.
The streets were spacious and clean, and there were even regular soldiers patrolling back and forth, so there was no way to squat.
Fortunately, although the world is not so good now, there is a profession where as long as you don't get too close and offend the eyes of the nobles, the soldiers won't bother with you.
That's a beggar.
Zhao Yushu really couldn't bring himself to steal a beggar's clothes to disguise himself, but fortunately, there was a profession that was similar to that of a beggar, so he could pretend to be one.
Old Zhao had his hands tucked into his sleeves. He was wearing a bachelor's gown that he had just bought for 150 coins and was already washed to a pale color. The poor scholar was counting the money with a look of reluctance. If he wasn't so useless, he wouldn't have been left without anyone to support his studies when he was over 30.
So a poor scholar, holding a few rolls of drawing paper, squatted in an alley far away from the palace, but just within sight of the gate. There were already a few beggars squatting there.
Seeing Zhao Yushu, several beggars glared at him. Old Zhao hurriedly responded with a humble and cautious smile: "I, I'm a painter, I don't ask for money."
Seeing that they were not competitors, the beggars continued to pick lice on their bodies out of boredom.
This place is not a good place to beg because the flow of people is too poor, but it is also a treasure land, because if someone coming out of the palace accidentally glances at you, you may suddenly be overwhelmed with love and be rewarded with a large silver ingot, or at least a few bowls of good leftovers.
It’s just that the probability of a noble person’s love being overflowing is a little lower.
Simply put, this is a gambling place.
"Scholar, no one here will let you paint. Let's go somewhere else."
"Thank you for your kindness, brother. I really can't find a good place."
The beggar snorted, "I just want to catch the attention of the nobles. Keep pretending."
Zhao Yushu smiled and didn't respond.
The palace was not deserted, but rather bustling, especially the side doors, with people coming and going to visit, going out to buy things, and even as the management was a little more lax, quite a few maids and servants would sneak out to the streets. After all, it was not a royal palace, and the owner was a young man, so there were not so many rules.
With more people coming and going, naturally some people noticed this poor scholar. Two maids also curiously asked Zhao Yushu to draw a picture for them. After Zhao Yushu used the sketching skills he learned in his previous life to draw portraits of the two girls who thought they were young and beautiful, the two maids were so angry that they almost called the guards over and shot the useless scholar to death.
It was not until evening that a sedan chair slowly came under the protection of a dozen Liao warriors, and the gate of the palace opened, indicating that the owner had arrived.
The sedan chair did not stop but was carried straight into the palace. Zhao Yushu used his eyes to stare at the slightly opened curtains of the sedan chair window. Finally, when the sedan chair turned a corner, he saw a touch of purple Shu brocade.
The target has been locked, and the person he wants to kill is Concubine Dowager Wang.