Drive a RV and go farming in ancient times.

The next day, Gu Huanxi asked Han Jun for help to dig deeper into the network of contacts in the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion. At the same time, he paid closer attention to Meng Yao's every move.

Two days later, Han Jun gave her detailed information about the relatives and old friends of the Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion. However, there was no progress with Meng Yao. She still did not leave the house. Except for her increasingly irritable temper, there was no other abnormality.

Gu Huanxi looked through it carefully and found that, as expected, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue were both closely related to the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion. However, those people did not hold high positions and were not very noticeable.

But it is often such a little person who is not valued who can easily ruin a thing.

When he saw Xu Huaiyi again in the RV, Gu Huanxi handed him the list to deal with. "The grain and grass issue is probably caused by the Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion. They still haven't given up on you. Now that it's a truce, they can't shoot arrows in your back anymore. They use this trick to wear you down. When your bodies are damaged, will you still have the energy to resist the Japanese pirates when they invade again?"

After hearing this, Xu Huaiyi said with disgust, "She is so young, but her mind is so vicious. She wanted to get rid of me, but she only targeted me. She is so cruel to everyone. Isn't she afraid of being struck by lightning? God is blind. Why does he give this niece a chance to be reborn? Does she deserve it? Letting her be reborn, is it a disaster for the people?"

"If she had succeeded, all the soldiers in your entire camp would have been in danger. Fortunately..." After Gu Huanxi saw through Meng Yao's sinister intentions, he was extremely grateful that Xu Huaiyi had decided to suppress the bandits. The consequences of defeat were more terrible than being impeached.

Xu Huaiyi said coldly, "I was a little reluctant to kill her because she was just a child. Now it seems that we can't keep her. She is a disaster. For her own selfishness, she not only disregards the lives of all the soldiers, but also disregards the safety of the country. If we are defeated and all die in battle, the Japanese pirates will definitely come ashore to plunder. By then, I don't know how many people will lose their homes!"

Hearing this, Gu Huanxi's heart skipped a beat, "You want to..."

Xu Huaiyi said "hmm" and looked up at her, "You can't bear it?"

Gu Huanxi was silent for a moment, shook his head, and smiled bitterly, "I'm a little uncomfortable. Killing people on the battlefield is legal and reasonable, but in private... can you do it?"

Xu Huaiyi said honestly, "I couldn't go down before, but now I can, especially for a scourge like Meng Yao, I don't have any psychological burden."

"Since you have made up your mind, I will not stop you. She has tried to harm you time and again, so you should fight back. However, she is protected by experts sent by Emperor Jianxing. It will be difficult for you to get rid of her. If you are not careful, you will put yourself in danger, which is not worth it." Gu Huanxi reminded worriedly, "Moreover, if Meng Yao is killed like this, Emperor Jianxing will definitely track her down. What will you do then? Can you guarantee that you will not leave any loopholes?"

Xu Huaiyi frowned and said, "I will definitely plan it carefully and clear myself of the crime before taking action. It would be best if it was an accident..."

Gu Huanxi saw him lowering his head in thought and sighed silently. In the past, he was the most law-abiding person, but now he would resort to lynching. She didn't know whether this was good or bad. After all, the environment changed him, and the principles and bottom lines of the past were gradually broken.

Whether it will become unrecognizable in the future, only time can tell.

Although it has been decided to take action against Meng Yao, there is no rush to do this. After all, Xu Huaiyi is still fighting in the south and is out of reach.

However, the matter concerning the Qiao family has come to a conclusion.

Qiao Huaixian was sentenced to exile at the border, and those who acted as his thugs were directly beheaded. The punishment for human trafficking in Dayong was very severe. Basically, once caught, there was no way to survive. In serious cases, the entire family would be implicated.

The girl from the Xiao family was only kidnapped and did not suffer any other harm, so Qiao Huaixian saved his life.

However, if you are exiled to the frontier, unless there is a general amnesty, there will be no hope for your whole life, and living will be more painful than death.

As for the Qiao family, their reputation was ruined because of this incident. Although Qiao Huai no longer held an office in the court, he held a lot of businesses, which enabled him to have a foothold in the capital. Now, his business has plummeted, and many shops have been splashed with dirty water in front of their doors. There are also ruffians who come to cause trouble. Even reporting it to the patrolling yamen runners is of no avail.

Obviously, someone deliberately suppressed and retaliated.

As for who it is, it is easy to guess. Prince Duan will only focus on fighting with Prince Qi and will not deal with a group of merchants. It is the Xiao family that took action.

How could the daughter of the deputy commander of the imperial guards be bullied by a group of merchants and swallow this humiliation?

It's not that it is not reported, the time has not come.

Now is a good time to add insult to injury, so we must step on him to death.

Not only Qiao Huai, but Qiao Huaijin was also implicated. The Yulin Guard, to which he belonged, was also part of the imperial guards and was under the command of Deputy Commander Xiao. How could he be safe after offending his superior?

Commander Xiao didn't even have to play tricks behind the scenes. He could just find him something to do openly and make him complain bitterly, to the point where he almost couldn't stay.

He was unable to take care of himself and could no longer take care of Qiao Huai's family.

Qiao Huai couldn't hold on any longer. His eldest son was exiled, which meant he was ruined. His business kept running into problems, and he couldn't even keep his wealth. It would be strange if he didn't collapse!

Gu Huanxi had people keep an eye on the Qiao family's movements. When he heard that Qiao Huai vomited blood and collapsed, and couldn't even find a decent doctor, he couldn't help but sigh.

When I met Xu Huaiyi at night, I said to him with emotion, "The Qiao family is not a small family. They have some foundation thanks to Prince Qi. But now it has collapsed. I heard that they have even fallen to the point of selling their shop. No decent doctor in the city dares to visit them for fear of getting involved. They are not popular with people inside and outside. It's really miserable..."

Xu Huaiyi had no sympathy at all. A man who had been tempered on the battlefield would inevitably have a colder heart. "It's all your own fault. You dare to get involved in everything. If you lose, you have to admit it."

Gu Huanxi said something fair, "They have no choice..."

The Qiao family naturally stands in the camp of Prince Qi. If they don’t help him, who else can they help?

Xu Huaiyi asked, "Why don't you have a choice? Why didn't Qiao Huaijin do anything?"

Gu Huanxi was stunned for a moment, "Qiao Huaijin felt that kidnapping the Xiao family's daughter was unreliable, so he refused?"

Xu Huaiyi nodded, "Qiao Huaijin is a smart man. Even if he is on the same boat as King Qi, he will not blindly help with everything. If King Qi asks him to go, he will not only refuse, but also try every means to dissuade him. After all, this trick is too stupid. King Qi knew this would happen, so he simply skipped him and went directly to find Qiao Huaixian. Qiao Huaixian is a fool. He didn't think this was a trap at all. He might even be complacent, thinking that he was finally valued by King Qi. Ha, he's just a pawn."

"So, there is a conflict between Qiao Huaijin and Prince Qi?"

"It's not a conflict. They will never break up. It's just that they have conflicts in their views on some things. Prince Qi is getting more and more arrogant and won't listen to advice. Qiao Huaijin is too cautious and selfish. He doesn't want to live only for Prince Qi's cause. He also wants to build a future for himself. He is a sensible man. What a pity..."

In the end, he will still be implicated by Prince Qi.

Gu Huanxi said, "Prince Qi was fighting with Prince Duan, but he was eventually defeated and failed to rescue Qiao Huaixian from Jingzhao Prefecture. I heard that he lost several more people and his power was greatly depleted. Some of his followers began to waver..."

"That's normal. Those people are speculators. They support whoever they think is worth investing in, and abandon whoever they think has no hope. I guess Prince Qi and Prince Duan didn't perform very well in this fight. It makes people lose confidence. What about Prince Duan? How did he perform?"

"Prince Duan didn't actually gain any advantage. Prince Qi made several moves in secret. In order to appease his subordinates and win over the people, he invested a lot of money, and the Su family also lost some money. However, compared to Prince Qi, Prince Duan is obviously more reliable. He has the Queen in the palace, and Princess Duan is also a capable person. The court now has a much better reputation for him, and there is a tendency to make him the crown prince."

Xu Huaiyi was thoughtful, "What about the King of Jin? Has he been hiding in the dark and fanning the flames?"

Gu Huanxi nodded, "Anyway, they didn't join the battle, so they kept their cool. On the contrary, we saw some shadows of the Chu Palace and Emperor Jianxing. These two were not idle while watching the show, and secretly added a lot of fuel to the fire. Otherwise, Prince Qi and Prince Duan wouldn't have fought so fiercely."

"It's understandable that the King of Chu is making trouble, but it's really hard to describe Emperor Jianxing. Isn't it embarrassing for him to see his sons falling out with each other?"

"Perhaps we ordinary people cannot understand the thoughts of the emperor."

After this fight, both princes were badly injured and tacitly stopped fighting for the time being.

At this time, there was a commotion in the court because of the issue of food and fodder.

The memorial submitted from the south was written very clearly. The food and fodder had been tampered with. Not only were inferior goods used as good ones, but it also delayed time and was insufficient in quantity. The lives of the soldiers were not taken seriously. If they ate like this, it would be strange if they had the strength to fight.

Therefore, they reasonably suspected that the person behind the scenes had ulterior motives, not just corruption.

This crime of ulterior motive, if investigated thoroughly, is much more serious than embezzlement. The former is suspected of treason, and once discovered, the entire clan will be punished. The latter is for money, and even if caught, he will not lose his life, but will either be dismissed from office and exiled, or imprisoned.

Therefore, once this matter was raised, it caused an uproar in the court.

In the cabinet, Shangshu Sun and Prime Minister Lu were determined to get to the bottom of the matter.

Both of them are neutral. They said that the investigation is not targeted at anyone, but is just to find out those with ulterior motives.

Emperor Jianxing agreed and handed the matter over to Prince Jin to handle.

The Prince of Jin was so excited in the hall that he almost lost his composure. His strategy of conserving his energy and watching the fight from the mountain turned out to be the right one. See, isn't he getting a bargain?

Prince Qi and Prince Duan's faces turned unhappy, and they felt annoyed that they were making wedding dresses for others.

As for the King of Qi, he remained indifferent from beginning to end. However, after the court session, he asked people to pack their bags and prepare to go to the northwest to supervise the war.

Even if he ignored the affairs of state, he could feel that there would be another round of swordplay in the court, with some dying and some living. He couldn't care less, nor did he want to care. He just wanted to stay away from it.

When the King of Qi left the capital, he was very low-key. Han Jun went to see him off, and when he came back, he brought a bag of things for Gu Xiaoyu. They were all valuables that he could use, and their total value was about 100,000 taels.

It can be considered a big deal.

But neither Gu Xiaoyu nor Han Jun felt anything about it.

The two were born into wealth and never lacked money, so they naturally looked down on these things because, in their opinion, using money to get rid of them was the easiest and most convenient way. They didn't take it seriously at all, so there was nothing to get excited about.

Han Jun was even a little angry, and complained to Gu Huanxi, "He didn't even leave a single word for Jin'er. He didn't want to meet her for her safety, but what can a letter do to that?"

Gu Huanxi also felt that the King of Qi had gone too far, but it was not appropriate to add fuel to the fire and accuse him, so she could only say, "Maybe he feels guilty about Xiaoyu and doesn't know what to say?"

Han Jun sneered, "He is indeed too embarrassed to say it, but has he never thought about how to make amends and resolve the situation? What's the point of giving him 100,000 taels of silver? It's like sending away a beggar!"

Gu Huanxi laughed dryly and did not respond. Thinking of those divorced men in his previous life, if they were willing to pay such a large amount of child support, they would be considered good fathers. After all, some irresponsible men would not even give up their money even when forced to do so.

Han Jun complained a few more times, and finally when he stood up to leave, he said his purpose, "I don't know how to persuade Jin'er. You two are close, you go and talk to him, try to make him think more positively, a father like that is not worth him being upset about."

Gu happily agreed.

However, there was no need for her to persuade him, because Gu Xiaoyu was not upset at all and was much stronger and more open-minded than they thought.

After the first month's profit share of the roast duck restaurant was delivered, Gu Huanxi gave it directly to him for safekeeping. He also smiled as he compared the money with the one that King Qi gave him before he left. He praised the roast duck restaurant for its good management, saying that it made so much money in just one month. In less than half a year, the money would exceed the money his father had given him to support himself.

Seeing this, Gu Huanxi was completely relieved, thinking that he was worthy of being the person that Meng Yao cared about, and his mind was indeed strong.