The real daughter's life was stolen, and she was reborn and became the best in the capital

It was already the next day when Gu Mingheng received the carrier pigeon.

He has now arrived in Jinling.

Jinling is the capital of Nanzhili and also where Situ Lian is located. After Mingjin left Yingzhou Prefecture, Gu Mingheng and Yuan Yu also left Yingzhou.

They went to Yangzhou first.

The investigation into the relationship between Xiu Li Lou and Yangzhou prefect Li Shizhong led to a thorough investigation of the entire Yangzhou prefecture, following clues.

The Xiuli Tower was originally a place that Li Shizhong used to bribe, connect with high-ranking officials and wealthy children from all over the country, and pursue personal gain.

With Li Shizhong, the prefect of Yangzhou, in charge, how could other officials, big and small, not be involved? Traditionally, a pond is either clear or turbid. How can it be half clear and half turbid?

In addition, there is a special booklet inside to record the people who have entered Xiuli Building.

The reason why Yuan Zheng was able to enter Xiuli Tower was certainly not because he was the son of the Tongzhi of Yingzhou.

What is a mere Tongzhi of Yingzhou?

But it was because of the Yuan family far away in the capital.

The Yuan family is descended from the crown prince and the fifth prince.

The other members of the Yuan family were like a solid wall of iron, impenetrable and unpredictable, but Yuan Zheng was an exception. He was romantic and lustful, and was somewhat conceited about his literary talent and had a high opinion of himself, so he was dragged into the game by Li Shizhong.

Of course, Li Shizhong didn't really want to do anything to the Yuan family.

He has Situ Lian's support, so according to his status, he should actually be considered as a member of the Third Prince's side.

But the situation in the court is changing all the time.

Having one more friend means having one more way to survive. Although Yuan Zheng has no special ability, his surname is Yuan after all. If I can make friends with Yuan Zheng, I may be able to get on the prince's boat in the future.

Of course, this is also a double guarantee.

If the Third Prince's faction does well in the future, and he happens to know some things from Yuan Zheng, he can naturally use them to surrender to the Third Prince.

Li Shizhong had a good idea.

However, before he could fully use Yuan Zheng as a chess piece, he was targeted by Gu Mingheng.

So Yuan Zheng is pretty lucky.

Even though I was foolish enough to be taken advantage of, it wasn't too late to reverse the situation.

Since Gu Mingheng started investigating the matter, he had no intention of letting Li Shizhong and Xiu Lilou go. However, since the matter involved Situ Lian, he could not act rashly, so he did not act immediately.

Now, Gu Mingheng has found all the evidence of Situ Lian's crimes, in addition to the officials of all ranks in Yingtian, Songjiang and Anqing.

It can be said that this time the officials in Southern Zhili are going to be completely replaced.

When Wu Ji came over with the carrier pigeon.

Gu Mingheng and Yuan Yu have returned to their mansion in Jinling.

Situ Lian has been arrested, and all other officials involved in the incident in Jinling have also been arrested.

At this time, Gu Mingheng was drafting an official document to convey the affairs of Nanjing and Yangzhou to the capital.

Now that everything has been settled, there is no need to worry about anyone getting in the way. Moreover, as the King of Chang'an, who dares to stop him from sending an urgent letter to the capital? Who can stop him?

In fact, at the beginning, no one dared to stop Gu Mingheng from sending letters to the capital as the King of Chang'an.

No matter how bold Zheng Qingquan is, he should know the limits.

Besides, Zheng Qingquan is not that brave actually, he knows who he belongs to.

After all, Gu Mingheng still had selfish motives this time. Li Shizhong and Xiu Lilou had trapped her for ten years. Situ Lian, as the governor of Nanzhili, failed to supervise her properly and colluded with them to pursue personal gain.

Since he wants to investigate, there is no way he will let anyone go.

It was already night.

Candles were lit inside and outside the courtyard, and the light was bright.

Gu Mingheng, wearing a loose black coat, sat alone at the desk, writing.

The loose clothes could not hide his broad shoulders and narrow waist. Gu Mingheng was tall and handsome, but his aura was too solemn and cold.

The document was already filled with dense content, but he hadn't stopped writing yet.

Yuan Yu stood in front of the window behind him, holding the book he found in Xiu Li Tower. He read it and shook his head, "It's said that officials in Nanzhili are the best at forming groups. I didn't expect that they would form groups in this way."

"That's right. Power, sex and women. When people have power, they like to have sex with women. Li Shizhong is smart. He came up with this idea. He built a building and mixed everyone together. Even if someone wants to rebel in the future, he can use this to threaten them."

"Do you think it's only the case in Nanzhili?"

Gu Mingheng didn't even turn his head, and his pen never stopped writing: "It's just that we happened to run into it this time."

He thought of something and gave another solemn instruction: "Tell your good cousin that I'll let it go this time, but if you do it again in the future, I will never let you off easily!"

Things suddenly fell upon him.

Yuan Yu was a little embarrassed. He coughed lightly and said, "Don't worry. When I went to Yuan's house that day, I told my great aunt and cousin. They know what to do."

Seeing that there was no more sound coming from the front, Yuan Yu knew that the matter was over.

He looked at the man's back and breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Mingheng suddenly said this, of course not because his cousin had also been to Xiu Li Lou.

If we really calculate it this way, this time it will not be as simple as replacing just the governor and a few prefects and associate prefects. I'm afraid most of the officials in Southern Zhili will have to be replaced.

It's just that his cousin was unlucky enough to have once fallen in love with that girl...

According to what Cui Mama from Xiulilou said, his cousin had touched that woman's hand before, but when he saw the scar on her neck, he frowned and wanted to back off. Then, with Miss Yue coaxing him with sweet affection, his cousin, who had lost his mind, naturally focused on the beauty in his arms first.

But if they were really late, I'm afraid his confused cousin would really do something to that person...

After all, that person is really good-looking.

Yuan Yu himself had been around many beauties, but looking at all the beauties in the capital, no matter what their status, whether from wealthy families or ordinary girls, none of them was as pretty as that one.

When Yuan Yu thought of this, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he found it first.

If it really comes to that, not to mention Yuan Zheng and the Yingzhou Prefecture, even their relationship with Gu Mingheng would have to be completely severed.

No.

If that time really comes, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as just ending it.

He had seen Gu Mingheng going crazy about this matter in the early years.

Sometimes, he felt that Gu Mingheng had trapped him.

For such a matter which actually had nothing to do with him, he turned himself into an ascetic monk.

As the most honorable and favored King of Chang'an in Daqian, he should have enjoyed endless wealth and glory, but he trapped himself in the bitter and cold north for so many years.

Exposed to the wind and sun every day, he is just like others.

During the war, he fought desperately, and the emperor and my aunt were scared half to death by him many times.

He even refused to marry.

Others at his age, let alone getting married and having children, would probably have a lot of concubines in the backyard and sons and daughters running around.

He is fine.

He was all alone, and he didn't even have a concubine, let alone a wife.

"Hello, Gu Mingheng."

Yuan Yu suddenly looked at Gu Mingheng's back and shouted.

Gu Mingheng still didn't turn his head, but replied calmly: "What's the matter?"

Yuan Yu originally wanted to ask him if he knew about the news that the emperor had summoned him back to the capital, but he knew some inside information.

That day he went to the palace to have dinner with his aunt and happened to hear his aunt and the emperor discussing this matter.

His Majesty is preparing to put his marriage on the agenda again.

This time he was urgently summoned back to the capital just to let him get married.

He was enjoying watching the excitement and was just about to tell someone a secret when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

Gu Mingheng obviously heard it too, but he didn't turn around. However, his hand movements obviously slowed down.

Yuan Yu also stopped talking and took a look outside: "It's Wu Ji."

Just as he finished speaking, Wu Ji hurried in holding a thumb-sized bamboo tube.

"Master, there's a letter from Qing Xin!"

When Gu Mingheng heard this, his expression changed slightly. He immediately put down the brush in his hand, hurriedly stood up and walked over, took the bamboo tube, took out the note inside and took a look.

Gu Mingheng frowned at first, then gradually relaxed his brows.

"how?"

Yuan Yu was also very curious when he saw him like this. He walked over and asked, "What happened to Ming's sister?"

When Gu Mingheng heard this name, he immediately frowned and looked up. Instead of answering, he asked in a bad tone: "What are you yelling about?"

Yuan Yu was speechless.

"Why am I yelling nonsense? The Ming family and the Yuan family haven't had much contact in recent years, but if we look back a few decades ago, the Ming family was married to our Yuan family."

"Why is it wrong for me to call you sister?"

In a place like the capital, there are more or less some connections between the noble families and each household. It's just a matter of whether these connections still exist and whether they should be maintained.

After Yuan Yu explained, seeing that Gu Mingheng was still looking at him unkindly, he was speechless in his heart, but begged for mercy: "Okay, okay, I won't yell like that, okay."

"You're nosy. Who are you to her?" Yuan Yu muttered in his heart.

Gu Mingheng heard it, but he was too lazy to pay attention to his complaints. He just said to others based on the content on the paper: "She already knows about the Anyuan Marquis Mansion."

Although he had known that this matter could not be concealed, when he actually heard it, Yuan Yu's expression still changed.

"Are you okay? Mingmei..."

Yuan Yu was about to blurt out the word "sister" again, but was stared at silently by a pair of dark phoenix eyes. His voice got stuck and he suddenly stopped talking.

He coughed lightly, changed his address and asked, "Miss Ming, are you okay?"

Gu Mingheng looked at the contents of the note and was silent for a while before he continued, "...The letter said that she was fine and not seriously ill."

Actually, more than that.

According to Qing Xin, how could she be safe?

She didn't feel anything at all, and the crying and making a fuss he imagined did not happen.

She even turned around and took the initiative to comfort the mother who was talking to her.

Look again at the little statue in your hand.

The small statue is simple, but you can also feel her leisure and indifference.

It stands to reason.

Gu Mingheng should be happy that she can do this.

But for some reason, when looking at this small portrait, Gu Mingheng felt that his heart seemed to become even more uncomfortable. It was heavy, as if it was being squeezed hard by something, making him so uncomfortable that he could hardly breathe.

He would rather she cried and made a fuss than not care about anything like this.

Is it because you are afraid that crying will be disliked or rejected by others, so you suppress your emotions and refuse to express them?

Or maybe I've already seen through human hearts and human nature, so I've gotten used to it.

Thinking of the information he got when he tortured Man Niang in Xiuli Tower that day, he realized that she had been abandoned time and time again in the past ten years.

Every time we are full of expectations, we will be disappointed in the end.

Is that why she is like this?

Only at times like this will you act as if nothing has happened.

No matter which one it was, Gu Mingheng felt uncomfortable. He used his fingertips to exert force, as if he wanted to hold the paper in his hand, but when he heard the sound of paper friction, he immediately came to his senses. When he saw that the blank edge of the small statue was marked by his grip, Gu Mingheng frowned again.

He used his fingertips to carefully smooth the statue.

This action was completely subconscious, but when Yuan Yu saw it, he frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"What is this?" Yuan Yu said as he walked over and tried to see it more clearly.

But Gu Mingheng had no intention of showing it to him.

"nothing."

Gu Mingheng said, and then returned to the desk, "After the matter in Jinling is resolved, you go to Yangzhou in person and clean up the mess in Xiulilou."

"I don't want anyone to use this matter to come up to her and say something nonsense in the future."

"As for the two human traffickers who kidnapped her, I have asked Zhuo to go find them. You can bring them to the government and we will solve the problem."

"As for that Manniang——"

When Gu Mingheng talked about this person, he became a little silent.

If it were him, he would definitely get rid of this person without hesitation, but thinking back to that day in Yingzhou, when Yuan Yu came back and told him what she did before she left.

She looks cold, but actually she has the softest heart.

This was how she treated Miss Yue, who had once betrayed her, let alone Miss Man, who had once saved her life.

The slender fingertips tapped lightly on the table, making sounds again and again.

Gu Mingheng finally said, "After the matter over there is settled, let her go. Tell her to keep her mouth shut. Send someone to follow her privately to prevent her from saying anything she shouldn't."

Yuan Yu didn't speak immediately.

It was not until Gu Mingheng turned around and looked over that he looked at her and silently agreed: "...I understand."

He put the book down and walked out.

Before leaving, he suddenly turned around and glanced at the man behind him who was still writing official documents.

The two pieces of paper were still lying next to him.

Although Yuan Yu didn't see it clearly in his quick glance, he could vaguely see the general idea.

In addition to a note, there was also a small portrait.

What kind of statue can Qingxin send?

This naturally needs no further explanation.

In fact, this kind of small portrait is normal, and the Jinyiwei often draws this kind of thing. But what makes Yuan Yu feel strange is Gu Mingheng's cautious attitude.

Thinking of how Gu Mingheng had carefully smoothed the small statue, Yuan Yu felt that this matter was a little weird.

Thinking of a possibility, Yuan Yu's heart suddenly beat faster.

"...Gu Mingheng."

He couldn't help but shout, and his voice became hoarse without him knowing when.

"Ok?"

Perhaps because he heard the difference in tone, this time Gu Mingheng looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yuan Yu looked at him and opened his mouth.

Subconsciously, she wanted to blurt out the words in her mind, but when she looked at Gu Mingheng's face, she held them back.

Seeing Gu Mingheng frowning as he looked at him, Yuan Yu quickly came to his senses and said, "...Forget it, it's okay."

"I guess I'm just too tired lately." That's why I'm having these random thoughts.

He pinched his nose, frowned, and walked out.

Gu Mingheng looked at his departing figure. Although he felt puzzled, he still instructed Wu Ji: "Ask the kitchen to make him a bowl of ginseng soup."

Wu Ji responded and left.

Gu Mingheng continued to complete the document. After writing the last word, he put down the brush.

After the ink was dried, he called for someone to send him back to the capital at full speed.

Wait until people leave.

Gu Mingheng finally got a chance to catch his breath and rest.

He leaned back against the chair, his head tilted back slightly.

The moonlight outside the window fell on the man's handsome face, as calm as water and as silvery as light. After traveling to several places and not having a good rest for more than half a month, there was obviously more blue under the man's eyes, but this little blue did not affect his appearance at all.

He has a straight nose, thin lips, phoenix eyes and long eyebrows.

The carefree and unruly nature of his youth has gone, and the 26-year-old Gu Mingheng is mature, dignified and steady.

Wu Ji came in and saw him resting with his eyes closed, so he hurriedly advised, "Master, go back and rest."

Gu Mingheng actually didn’t sleep either.

Hearing this, he hummed softly in a hoarse voice.

Close your eyes and stand up.

When he was about to leave, he looked at the two small pieces of paper on the table. He should have burned them after reading them, but when he looked at the woman in the small portrait, Gu Mingheng hesitated slightly, but finally kept them and put them away.