Heaven's Formula

"My lords, I don't think the matter has reached that serious level." It was Wang Yi'an's eldest son, Wang Qingzhi, who came first to entertain everyone.As the next successor of the Wang family, he is also a familiar face in Shenzhou official circles, "In fact, my father has already been involved with the other three members of the Privy Council, and they have always hated Xia Fan's actions. There are two points."

"I guess one of them is Her Highness the Princess?" Among the chief officials, the most calm one is undoubtedly the ruler of Jinxia City, Prefect Xiao.

He was over half a century old, but he was still full of energy. When the subordinates complained non-stop, he was the only one who drank the wine calmly.

"My lord, that's exactly the case." Wang Qingzhi replied respectfully, "Although the princess is no longer in Shangyuan, she must still have connections, and the person arrested by the command department is indeed related to evil spirits. As long as a little exaggeration is made, the higher-ups will be delayed. It’s not hard to be late in judging.”

"Princess, we can't move." Prefect Xiao said bluntly, "Not only can't move, but we have to watch her carefully, so what's the second point?"

"The second point is that there is currently no Fu Cheng in the Privy Council."

Liu Gongcao clapped his hands and said, "That's right, Mr. Zhou is gone, so Xia Fan is unstoppable! If there is another Fu Cheng, wouldn't he be able to press that kid to death with just one finger?"

"You're right." Wang Qingzhi said with a smile, "It's a pity that the transfer of the Privy Council is not as convenient as the Six Departments. After all, the alchemists of the fourth rank and above are all radishes and pits. If we go through the normal process, I'm afraid it will take a year or two. .”

"What if we don't go through the normal process?" Prefect Xiao immediately grasped the key point.

"That's before the end of autumn!"

"Oh?" The others suddenly became interested, "Is this really true? How to realize it?"

The reason why Princess Guangping was able to make such a fuss is entirely related to Xia Fan—whether it is to crack down on Jianghu gangs or re-investigate old cases, although the princess has earned her reputation, the perpetrators are always the commanders. .

"Jinxia City needs an emergency." Wang Qingzhi looked around at the officials present, "When an emergency occurs, the alchemist of the Privy Council can temporarily fill the vacant position according to seniority. This is the opportunity to give Xia Fan a fatal blow!"

Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment.

Prefect Xiao frowned, "Emergency? In Jinxia City?"

"That's right...for example, pirates attacked." Wang Qingzhi raised the corner of his mouth.

"Absurd!" The prefect stood up abruptly, "Do you know what you are talking about? This is the capital of Shenzhou, my territory! You are just a son of a merchant, how can you have the courage to say such wild words!? What about Wang Yi'an ? Let your father speak out!"

Having said that, he suddenly shook twice, and stretched out his hand to press his forehead.

"My lord, you don't have to get angry with this kid..."

"What kind of nonsense did you say, you still haven't apologized to the prefect!"

Cui Duyou and Liu Gongcao hurriedly supported their boss.

But soon the two found that they couldn't stand their legs straight anymore.

"Lord Xiao is right. The Wang family has nothing to do except making and selling salt." Wang Qingzhi crossed his hands and put them in front of his mouth, "It is precisely because the Wang family is just an ordinary salt merchant that they are helpless against the pirates. .”

The prefect felt his vision blur suddenly.

The other officials were not much better, they stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground one by one.

"Wang Qingzhi, what do you want to..."

He collapsed to the ground, stretching out his fingers tremblingly.

"My son... I want to borrow everyone's first use."

Wang Qingzhi replied calmly.

That was also the last sentence Xiao Taishou heard.

Chapter 139 The Truth That No One Cares About

After a while, there was no movement in the room.

Wang Qingzhi walked over the staggering officials and walked out of the room. Master Lu, who was waiting outside, saluted him respectfully.

"Have you dealt with all the people they brought?"

"Yes. This mist is very effective, and none of those people can detect it." Master Lu glanced into the room, "How does the young master plan to deal with them?"

"Leave the governor and meritorious service, and make them fools by drugging, and kill everyone else." Wang Qingzhi has already deduced what he has to do several times, "But you must pay attention to the method when killing, especially the prefect. After all, they are all good officials who fought bravely against the pirates and died unfortunately. As for the two who survived, it is more shameful. .”

Master Lu swallowed, "Are you really going to do this?"

"Ok?"

"No, I'm not questioning the young master, it's just...they also took care of the Wang family..."

"They are looking after the salt merchants and the salt tax, but not the Wang family." Wang Qingzhi shook his head, "You don't think they have any way to survive at this point, do you?"

"Jinxia City was raided by pirates, and the princess died in a chaotic battle. Who was the first to bear the brunt? Of course, the officials of Jinxia City. Who should be responsible second? Shenzhou Mu and the generals of the garrison."

"A good result is deprivation of official positions and exile on the frontier; bad sentence is death and beheading. Nine out of ten of the chief officials of Jinxia City are the latter result. Compared with the pain and humiliation brought by torture, in the state of sleep It is a kind of kindness to them to die silently."

"I...understood." Master Lu bowed his head.

"It's not that I have no choice, and I don't want to." Wang Qingzhi patted him on the shoulder, "When the forest is on fire, how can we stop the fire? The only way to put it out is to divide the forest and attack the fire with fire. As long as they are still alive , it is possible to speak nonsense during the interrogation, dragging all possible people around you into the water. Since they are all dead anyway, of course it is better for them to die to benefit the Wang family."

In addition, the Wang family is not the only one who can benefit from this matter.

Wen Xingyuan, the faculty member who proposed this plan, is probably aiming at killing two birds with one stone.

Officials from the six ministries believed that the Privy Council should never interfere in local government affairs. As a result, a sudden pirate raid would make the government lose face and face.Wang Qingzhi could guess with his eyes closed how much disturbance the Privy Council would make.

Who cares about the truth when these big shots end up muddying the waters?

Compared to the two behemoths of the six ministries of the imperial court and the Gyeonggi Privy Council, the Wang family is still too inconspicuous after all...

"Master Lu, you follow me...you won't regret it?" Wang Qingzhi asked sincerely.

"Young master, the Wang family treats me as much as a mountain. No matter what happens in the future, I am willing to live and die with the Wang family." The master replied without hesitation. shadow."

"I was raised by him alone. I'm not like him." Wang Qingzhi smiled slightly. "It's just that my father is old. He will understand this after the dust settles."

……

On the beach between Jinxia City and the east bank, there is an old stone tower.

It was built a hundred years ago and is now used by Qiguo as a sentry tower to monitor ships entering the sea and a beacon tower for warning.

Tian Shi is in charge of stationing here.

With him were three soldiers and a corporal.

Although guarding the sentry tower is tedious, the task itself is very easy. During the one-month garrison period, there is no need to go out for exercises, and there is no need to worry about being reprimanded by the chief.To pass the time by throwing dice during the day, and go to the wine shop for a drink after the handover in the evening, the life is quite comfortable.

Although the stone tower is stationed to monitor the river and the sea, no one really stays on the top of the tower for this purpose.That place is like a steamer during the day, even though it is much cooler now than in midsummer, it is not difficult to get sweaty in a short time.When the sweat and lining are mixed together, let alone how uncomfortable it is, the smell alone is enough to suffocate.

Therefore, those who want to go up and have a look will be disgusted by everyone.

"Hey, Shitou, why don't you come and play?" Wu Zhang happened to be named Wu, so everyone called him Boss Wu.It is said that he is a native of Jinxia, ​​and he has a little relationship behind the scenes, so he is a frequent visitor to this errand.

"No, I lost twenty copper coins yesterday, if I lose any more, I will have no money to give to my wife." Tian Shi waved his hands repeatedly.

"What if we win back today?"

"That's right, maybe I can even pull an extra piece of cloth for your wife!"

"You play, you play, I just watch."

A new round of betting has begun.

Three dice and one bowl, simple but exciting.Sometimes the corporal will come up with other things, such as Pai Gow and number lottery, but in the end what everyone loves to play is betting on big and small.

"I heard that your wife is going to give birth?" Boss Wu chatted casually while shaking the bowl.

"Soon, it should be this year's event." Tian Shi said cheerfully, he could only go back every two months, and the next vacation was just after the end of the garrison.

"I think Brother Shitou is saving money!" Someone laughed.

"All good men are like this. Unlike you, all the money you win is spent on Sister Yao."

"Why, I didn't ask for a wife, so I'm not allowed to have fun."

"Pan Houzi, you don't have a single coin in your pocket, how can a girl like you?"

Everyone couldn't help laughing in unison.

Tian Shi then grinned. The guy who was run out was named Pan, and he was the youngest in this round of guards in age and size. Everyone liked to call him Monkey Pan.

And the latter has no self-consciousness of being ridiculed, and is full of an expression that money is not spent in vain.

"Okay, I'm going to open the lid, buy it and leave!" Boss Wu slapped the bowl and yelled loudly, "Whether you sleep in a stone pagoda or a soft bed tonight depends on everyone's luck——"

Before he finished speaking, there was a muffled thud above his head.

Something seemed to have landed on top of the tower.

Everyone couldn't help but look at each other. There is only one entrance to this sentry tower. If you want to climb the stairs, you have to pass them. Now everyone is sitting on the bottom floor. How can anyone run to the top.

But if it wasn't their words, then who made the noise above?Seabirds should not have this ability.

"Don't move, don't move, you can't take back the bet after you've placed your bet." Boss Wu stared and said, "Look at your dumbfounded looks, isn't it because the wind knocked something down? Stone, you didn't play anyway, Go up and see for everyone."

"Okay." Tian Shi got up, hung the straight knife on his waist, and walked up the stairs.

When we reached the top floor, the tower was still empty.

He thought for a while, then simply pushed open the movable cover on his head, and poked his head out from the patio.

It doesn't matter if you don't look at it, Tian Shi was startled when he saw it.

At some point, there was an extra person on the top of the sentry tower!

"Who are you and how did you get up?" He kicked his feet and rushed to the top of the tower, his right hand was already pressed on the handle of the knife.If it weren't for the fact that the other party was well-dressed and dressed like a kid from a rich family, he would probably have slashed with the knife.

The other party turned to look at him, with a normal look on his face, and said, "I just passed by here, and I just want to do a simple fortune-telling."

1 Forty Chapters The Storm

"Divination, do you mean fortune-telling?" Tian Shi felt that this person was a bit abnormal, "This is a sentry tower, no one else can approach it, fortune-telling does not go to a street stall, why come here to hang out!"

"An outpost tower? I saw no one around here, so I thought it was just an empty tower, so I climbed up the wall." The other party said unhurriedly, "Also, fortune-telling is fortune-telling, and divination is divination. Confused. Guapan told me that something big happened, so I deliberately followed the guidance of the Qi mechanism and came here to find out."

climbed up?

Tian Shi squinted at the side—it is two feet five feet high from the ground, and there are not many footholds on the surface of the stone tower. How can an ordinary person climb it casually?

He slowly pulled out the straight knife at his waist.

This person may have a rich family background, but he can't justify trespassing on the sentry tower even if it comes to the government. It's not too late to take him down first, and then hand it over to Boss Wu for questioning.

It's just that the knife was pulled out halfway, and it couldn't be pulled out again.

Tian Shi suddenly felt a blur in front of his eyes, the other party was already close to him, and he stretched out his hand to hold the handle of the knife.It seemed like an understatement, but he felt the weight of the other end of the knife!

"Since you don't welcome me, I'll leave immediately. Why bother to use swords and guns." His tone revealed a little regret, "But since the hexagram points here, it means that you are on the cusp. Why don't you listen to me?" Say, find a place to avoid it first, so as not to be involved in it?"

The next moment, he distanced himself from Tian Shi.

The straight knife was immediately unsheathed.

Tian Shi didn't dare to move forward rashly.

This guy looks slender, but his strength is not small!

Fortunately, he didn't linger too long, just as he said, he jumped out of the tower.

This is the height of nearly three floors!

Tian Shi hurriedly ran to the side of the tower and looked down - he saw that the opponent suddenly slowed down the moment before falling, as if stepping on something invisible, and then landed lightly.

But there happened to be a dirt bag where he fell.

Therefore, his straight body was obviously crooked, and he swayed forward and took a few steps before stabilizing his posture.

Then the person headed west all the way, and soon disappeared from Tian Shi's sight.

"Hey, what's going on up there, you just squeaked!" Boss Wu's roar came from under him, "It's been so long, why don't you even have a letter of approval?"

"...Uh, I saw a—" Tian Shi stopped for a moment, he didn't know how to describe this scene, "a guy who is probably an alchemist."

"Can't hear you, come down and talk!"

Tian Shi rubbed his forehead, put the knife back into its sheath.What nonsense divination, what big event happened, it's just nonsense!The most exasperating thing is that he actually let the opponent jump off the tower and run away. How can he explain this to the corporal leader?I am afraid that if I say it, I will be regarded as a laughing stock by everyone.

Look at this endless sea, what else can there be but seabirds and clouds——

Tian Shi was stunned suddenly.

At the end of the sea line, there seemed to be a few more gray and white shadows.

He closed his eyes, rubbed them with his hands, and opened them again.

That's not an illusion, but something really is going on the sea.The only things Tian Shi can think of are boats.

"Boss Wu, there is movement in the sea!" He shouted towards the bottom of the tower.

……