prosperity

In the study of Duke Zhen's mansion, Pei Yunyin, who seldom appeared here, stood in front of the table with a gloomy expression.

The elder brother Pei Yunzhen had disdain in his eyes, and he smiled lightly, "Ziqing, what you said, so what if Ju Jingyi went to Mu Linsen's mansion to investigate the case? Anyway, we can't find it on our Zhen Guogong's mansion." Saying, His eyes became ambiguous, "You don't think you have a crush on her, do you?"

Father Pei Xiaoquan couldn't help interjecting, "Ziqing, that little girl has no other abilities except investigating cases. If the emperor doesn't value her, she might not be as good as you. Don't be so indifferent."

Pei Yunyin's complexion was even more ugly, but his father and grandfather were both there, so it was difficult for him to argue with his elder brother who was the eldest son.

Zhen Guogong Pei Huaiyuan who was sitting behind the table finally said, "Ziqing, tell me, why do you value her so much?"

Pei Yunyin raised her eyes and met the old man's deep eyes, but did not back down, "Grandfather, Dazai-sama is not an incompetent person, Ziqing believes that grandfather knows this best."

Back then, Ju Jingyi's stunning imperial examination was attended by all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, not to mention powerful ministers like Zhen Guogong.

"Yes, she is indeed not incompetent." Pei Huaiyuan nodded, still staring at Pei Yunyin, "And then?"

"As the Young Minister of Dali Temple, Ziqing knows Lord Dazai best." At this moment, Pei Yunyin's usual adornment of the son-in-law was completely gone, only indifference and composure remained, "She is a gravedigger as terrifying as a lion. "

For Pei Yunyin's strange metaphor, Pei Huaiyuan's eyes showed interest, "Oh?"

Pei Xiaoquan, who wanted to interrupt Pei Yunyin, quickly shut up, fearing that he would make Pei Huaiyuan unhappy.

Pei Yunyin took a deep breath, "She once said that most of the truth in this world is buried in the soil with the dead, but no matter how difficult it is, she will dig out the buried truth, not for wealth or innocence , not for curiosity, not for fame, but for the truth."

"Just for the truth?" Pei Huaiyuan laughed, the smile barely lingering on the corner of his mouth, "This is really something she can say."

Pei Yunyin naturally heard his off-screen meaning.

Naive and childish.

"She didn't get to where she is today entirely by the secret blessing and support of the Prince Regent and others." Pei Yunyin lowered her head and clenched her fists, "If she catches an opening, it will be fine."

"These are just your conjectures." Pei Huaiyuan interrupted him, and Pei Yunzhen on the side heaved a sigh of relief, "I warned you a long time ago that it is good to be cautious, but you must never think highly of your opponent."

Pei Yun concealed his lost gaze. He knew long ago that his grandfather would not take Ju Jingyi seriously.

It's like not paying attention to him.

"Come with me."

Ju Jingyi didn't say much, she reached out and grabbed Zhao Jiamin's wrist tightly, for fear that she would evaporate out of thin air.

"Master Dazai." Ye Heng couldn't tell Ju Jingyi's purpose for a while, and stopped in front, "Why are you here?"

Ju Jingyi was finally willing to give him a glance, her eyes were so cold that she said, "I'm not here, waiting for you to be caught as thieves by the guards of the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

Ye Hengqi shivered from the cold in her eyes, and finally became honest, and forgot to keep wondering why she knew they were in the prime minister's mansion.

"And you." Ju Jingyi turned her head to stare at Zhao Jiamin, although it was also cold, it was still much warmer than Ye Hengqi's temperature when she froze to death, "Do you want to know what won't Ye Hengqi help? Do you have to do everything yourself?" The rest of the words were swallowed abruptly.

At this time, it is not suitable to say.

The conspicuous worry in her eyes made Zhao Jiamin in a trance for a while, unable to speak for a while.

Is there something wrong with the world, or something wrong with her?

Zhao Jiamin felt that she was not a fool, but why did she not understand Ju Jingyi?

The three of them were stalemate in the bushes, but they heard footsteps and some shouts from the backyard not far away.

It seems that the thief was caught?

Zhao Jiamin's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that Wei Shuyu was arrested?

Ju Jingyi and Ye Hengqi looked at each other, "Let's go!"

Regardless of Zhao Jiamin's reaction, he immediately dragged her and ran outside the prime minister's mansion.

Zhao Jiamin is still in chaos.

Wei Shuyu is the commander of the guards of the Prince Regent's Mansion. He is skilled in martial arts, but he is not a big bastard who doesn't know anything. Logically speaking, he shouldn't be arrested so easily.

Just thinking about it, Zhao Jiamin lowered his hand, and suddenly realized that his waist was empty.

She hurriedly looked down, her pupils shrank sharply.

The jade plaque that belonged to Ju Jingyi, which was originally hanging on her waist, was gone.

The beating heart suddenly seemed to sink into the abyss, and it was impossible to find the bottom for a while.

Is it.

Dodging the Jinwu Guards who were patrolling around and rushing over because they heard the noise, Ju Jingyi was relieved when she reached the alley near Ye Mansion. Seeing her distraught appearance, she couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

Realizing that he had lost the jade token, Zhao Jiamin didn't dare to look at her, turned sideways and whispered, "It's okay."

Ju Jingyi thought that her tone was too strong, so she couldn't say much, so she ordered a few words to be careful, and then walked towards her house.

Hearing her gentle voice, Zhao Jiamin felt even more guilty. He didn't pay attention when he followed Ye Heng into the house, and almost bumped into the threshold.

"What's the matter?" Ye Hengqi poured her a cup of hot tea, and asked hastily, "Don't scare me, if you do something, tell me, brother will cover you."

"Me." Zhao Jiamin's nose turned red, and he punched himself on the leg, "I lost the jade token."

"Hi." Ye Hengqi heaved a sigh of relief, "This is no big deal, wait until later."

Halfway through the speech, he suddenly brought it back in relief, his eyes widened, "You don't know, you left it in the prime minister's mansion???"

Zhao Jiamin turned her head, pursed her lips and refused to say any more.

Seeing this situation, Ye Hengqi couldn't understand, he stared blankly at the dancing candle flame, and murmured, "It's over, it's over."

No matter what Zhao Jiamin thought, she felt that Wei Shuyu should be stopped, but in the current situation, she couldn't do anything.

Ye Hengqi beside him was still muttering to himself, "Isn't this just rushing to pass pillows to Ji's family? How about this?"

On the surface, the prime minister has nothing to do with other departments except for his own affairs, but secretly he has already controlled the Ministry of Punishment.The struggle for power between Dali Temple and the Ministry of Criminal Justice is not a matter of a day or two. Even if Ju Jingyi has no idea of ​​fighting for power in her heart, her solving cases one by one means fighting for power in the eyes of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

Dali Temple is like a thorn, which has been choked in Ji Yuandao's throat for some time.

Zhao Jiamin understood these things in his heart.

But it is precisely because of understanding that I am so upset right now.

"Then what should she do?" Zhao Jiamin thought of Ye Bingyu, "Then father."

Unexpectedly, Ye Heng poured a basin of cold water over, "It's impossible for father to speak for her."

"Yes, father has always been neutral."

"It's not about a neutral position." Ye Hengqi hesitated, and finally said simply, "It's because my father didn't believe that Princess Zhaoyang killed Taishiling, and thought that Lord Dazai made a random conclusion without serious investigation, so he has always treated Lord Dazai. There is no good face."

"Is that so?" Zhao Jiamin never thought of this reason.

"I'm afraid that Pingnanhou's mansion won't be able to say anything about this matter. Luoyang King and Jing Wang are alone, and the Princess Anping who can speak up in the court is far away." Ye Hengqi sighed, "In the past year, Dazai-sama is really not easy."

Zhao Jiamin was silent.

After leaving Ye Mansion, Ju Jingyi did not return to her own mansion, but returned to the vicinity of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

A rapid flute sounded, and a black shadow fell in front of her.

"grown ups."

"What's going on in the prime minister's mansion now?" Ju Jingyi stared at the brightly lit prime minister's mansion with a confused look on her face, "Caught a thief, or what?"

"The suspect was caught, and Wei Shuyu."

"And then?" Ju Jingyi asked, "Ji Yuandao grabs Wei Shuyu, if he doesn't make any noise, then he won't be him."

Ada looked at her face, and said in a low voice, "Wei Shuyu took your jade pendant and said yes, since Princess Zhaoyang passed away, she has been following your orders."

"Sure enough." Ju Jingyi closed her eyes, only feeling a pain in her head.

This guy Wei Shuyu has always disliked her, and later accidentally learned that she secretly helped Leng Yuge's business, and even felt that she had some ulterior secret to use him, and repeatedly tried to trouble her.

Going to Jifu this time, I am afraid that he is also prepared to take her as a backing.

When Zhao Jiamin was still ignorant, she discovered the loss of the jade pendant, and subconsciously thought of Wei Shuyu, who had always disliked her.

It was beyond her expectation that things had become so troublesome.

However, this situation is not difficult to solve.

"Continue to keep an eye on Wei Shuyu." Ju Jingyi ordered, "And the murderer, Ji Yuandao will probably put him in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, so that no one, including the government of Zhenguo, can find out. I need his confession."

"Yes."

"I will enter the palace later, don't let outsiders notice that I haven't returned home."

Ada was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Miss Pingting told you so."

Ju Jingyi interrupted him expressionlessly, "Your master is me."

Ada couldn't resist her, so he could only respond, "Yes."

Ye Heng asked her mother-in-law and mother a few words before getting up and leaving. Zhao Jiamin drove out all the servants, drugged Lan'er who was guarding the outer room, and walked out of the courtyard carefully.

What happened tonight made her deeply aware that now she is no longer the regent princess Zhao Jiamin who holds great power, she is now the daughter of Shangshu, Ye Huazhao.

She can no longer use her power to protect anyone she wants to protect, such as Wei Shuyu.

For example, Ju Jingyi.

But even though she is no longer Zhao Jiamin, Princess Zhaoyang, she is still the proud Zhao Jiamin.

She didn't want to wait for all the news that Ye Hengqi brought her, she didn't want to just sit in the house passively and helpless like now.

Wei Shuyu had left her the tokens and secret words to summon his subordinates. Even the important subordinates had met each other. Zhao Jiamin didn't dare to waste time and quickly recruited everyone.

"Before dawn, send this letter to the homes of the adults on the list, and make sure they see it."

For Zhao Jiamin's current state, Wei Shuyu once explained to his subordinates, Zhao Jiamin didn't need to waste his tongue trying to explain.In addition, news of Wei Shuyu's arrest also came back, and everyone believed Zhao Jiamin without any doubts.

The sky was pale, and the maid who got up early blew out the candles, which turned into curls of green smoke in mid-air, evoking a few slanting rays of sunlight.

After listening to Ju Jingyi's calm narration, the little emperor's frown became deeper and deeper.

"I know Dazai has always been cautious, and I have reminded Dazai to be careful about Wei Shuyu. Why does the jade pendant still fall on this person?"

Ju Jingyi didn't need to raise her head, but she could sense the faint probing intent in the little emperor's eyes, and sighed silently.

As the little emperor got older, even his thoughts and doubts became more.

"In order to investigate the case, Weichen temporarily put the jade pendant at Ye Hengqi, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple. He was busy and couldn't get it back in time. He went to Lengyu Pavilion several times but didn't know Wei Shuyu's identity, so he didn't increase his vigilance. Unexpectedly, Wei Shuyu took the opportunity to steal the jade pendant, which led to this incident." Ju Jingyi bowed her head deeply, not at all guilty of throwing the responsibility on Ye Hengqi, "The matter has come to this point, and it is meaningless to pursue responsibility. Besides, Wei Chen believes that the most important thing right now is how to resolve this matter."

The little emperor turned his head, and his obscure eyes fell on Ju Jingyi, "Then Aiqing, what do you think should be done?"

"No matter how Prime Minister Ji makes things difficult for this minister, I hope the emperor will not stop him."

"Oh?" The little emperor smiled lightly, "Master Dazai, have you come up with another fun trick?"

"I invite you to play the secret, and go to the Anxi Protector's Mansion."

The little emperor's expression changed slightly, "What did you say?!"

Even though Ju Jingyi's unwillingness to close the case because of secretly taking care of the remnants of the Prince Regent's Palace made the little emperor Ouyang Shi angry, but in Ouyang Shi's heart, what he relied on most was the Dazai, whom he had rewarded for the first time at his own will. grown ups.

Because Ju Jingyi was chosen by him, not by the first emperor or the regent.

Without Ju Jingyi by his side, the little emperor really couldn't imagine the consequences of facing the prime minister of last season and Duke Zhen.

"Your Majesty." Ju Jingyi raised her eyes and looked at him fixedly, "My minister is not in the capital, please be more careful, Your Majesty."

"No." The little emperor said without thinking, "Dazai, you."

"If this happens, Lord Zhen Guo will no longer be a stone in the way of the emperor, but a stepping stone."

Master Ouyang almost couldn't catch his breath, stared for a while, but was still moved by these words, struggled a few times in his eyes, and said, "Then, how long will it take?"

He asked this question carefully, not as aggressive as before, showing fragility like a child who is afraid of facing the outside world alone.

In fact, he was still a child.

Ju Jingyi has always regarded him as a younger brother, although she has long understood that he is no longer the soft and cute Baituanzi, but seeing him like this, she can't help but soften her heart.

"If it's quick, it will take more than a month."

"Then, Dazai has to come back earlier."

"The minister obeys the order."

Just as Ju Jingyi expected, Ji Xingchen not only made a big statement about the matter in the memorial he handed over, and charged her with the so-called five major crimes, but also picked out one of them in the early court and buckled it for Ju Jingyi. He was charged with assassinating important ministers of the DPRK and China, and having private contact with wanted criminals.

With this attitude, it seems that Ju Jingyi must be punished severely before he will give up.

But unexpectedly, several ministers of the court and central government stood up to refute Ji Xingchen, and even Yi Chuan, a scholar who had not asked about court affairs for a long time, also stood up and refuted Ji Xingchen's long speech in a few words.

University scholar Yi Chuan is not young, and he will retire and return to his hometown in less than a year. In recent years, he rarely said anything in the court, and the few words were about compiling books. It is really unexpected that he would Do the talking for yourself.

Seeing the expressions of the few people in the court again, Ju Jingyi seemed to be thinking of something, the coldness in her eyes softened a little, but there was also a lot of worry.

Master Ouyang saw that the timing was about the same, so he frowned and said, "Then, according to what Prime Minister Ji said, the salary will be fined for one year and suspended for three months."

In fact, the punishment conditions Ji Xingchen mentioned were more than that. Although he was pressing every step of the way, he also knew the reason to stop at the right time, and immediately knelt down and said, "I obey the order."

Watching the emperor's expression on the side, the internal monitor said in time, "Retire without incident~"

"Father." Pei Xiaoquan, who served as the Minister of the Ministry of War, approached Duke Zhen and said softly, "It seems that the Ji family is really going to do something to Ju Jingyi this time."

"But the emperor is determined to protect her." Pei Huaiyuan's eyes revealed a dangerous aura.

Pei Xiaoquan couldn't help laughing, "Ji Yuandao stumbled this time."

Pei Yunzhen, who followed closely behind, asked, "How could that be?"

"Heh, Ji Xingchen is still not good enough." Pei Xiaoquan glanced at the suave young man standing outside the hall, his eyes were full of contempt, "If Ju Jingyi is abolished just like that, it's a pity that he was only suspended for three months, and the Ministry of Punishment has another How much power can be taken away from Dali Temple? It also made the emperor wary."

"Father, are we?"

Pei Xiaoquan carefully stared at Pei Huaiyuan's expression, and warned his son in a low voice, "Don't act rashly, the emperor must be paying attention to Ju Jingyi's movements during this period, if you act rashly, I'm afraid it will attract the attention of the emperor."

Pei Yunzhen showed dissatisfaction on his face, it was just Ju Jingyi, why should he care so much.Could it be Pei Yunyin's words that made his father start to waver?Thinking of this, I couldn't help but glared at Pei Yunyin who was pretending to be a wooden man.

Although Pei Yunyin was not qualified to participate in the early court, he was allowed to attend.He and Ye Heng came together today, but they could only stand outside the hall and listen to the movement inside the hall, let alone participate in the discussion.

Pei Yunzhen only cared about getting angry, he and Pei Xiaoquan didn't see it, Pei Huaiyuan's hands hidden in the sleeves of the wide court clothes were clenched into fists, his eyes flickering towards Ji Xingchen, looking very dangerous.

After Ju Jingyi sincerely thanked the nostriled Master Yi, she left the palace gate and bumped into Ji Xingchen who had been waiting for a long time.

Prime Minister Ji Xiao has a good skin, especially those peach blossom eyes, which was praised by the first emperor when he was still young, saying that he will fascinate many daughters in the future.It's a pity that he didn't captivate the person he wanted to captivate, instead he cast winking eyes for the blind man in vain.

Zhao Jiamin used to be like this, and so is Ju Jingyi now.

Fortunately, he didn't have such a pair of eyes in vain, and he could see through Ju Jingyi's blue eyes, which had been carefully covered up with powder, and was tired, so he just smiled, but didn't see through it.

"Master Dazai."

Ju Jingyi kept walking forward, Ji Xingchen didn't mind bumping his nose, and followed quickly with his peach blossom eyes.

"I know that Wei Shuyu was not sent by you." As he spoke, he gave Ju Jingyi the imperial jade pendant that he had taken from Wei Shuyu's hand, so quickly that others could not detect it.

Ju Jingyi held the jade pendant in silence.

Ji Xingchen said to himself, "That guy has a single mind, and he is full of Princess Zhaoyang, and he believes that you killed Princess Zhaoyang, how could he obey you. Of course, more importantly, I believe you You won't deal with my Ji family so unprepared."

Having been in the officialdom for eight years, he has long understood Ju Jingyi's true temperament, like a sleepy tiger, it doesn't matter if you don't open your eyes, once you open your eyes, it will hit you with a single blow.

Very early on, he secretly wanted to include Ju Jingyi into his faction, and Ji Yuandao also agreed. After all, it is better to be blocked, and one more friend is one less enemy.

Ju Jingyi remained silent, but when she heard him say that Wei Shuyu's heart was full of Zhao Jiamin, she was inexplicably unhappy, as if something was stuck in her chest, and she couldn't get up or down.

"Master Dazai, why can't we cooperate?"

Ju Jingyi stopped and turned to look at him.

Seeing Ju Jingyi getting closer, Ji Xingchen looked at her with joy, and heard her lower her eyes and whisper, "Prime Minister Ji, the Ji family, and Li Xianzhi, how long have you known each other?"

Ji Xingchen's brows twitched, and his frivolous peach blossom eyes instantly became sharp, "Master Dazai, sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing."

Ju Jingyi chuckled lightly, and took a step back. Not only was there no fear on her face, it could even be said to be provocative, "People are doing what the sky is watching. There are never secrets in this world."

Li Yun, Prime Minister of Liang Guo, was envied.

Ji Xingchen looked upset, but after looking at Ju Jingyi for a while, he suddenly laughed.

There was a cloud in the capital, colorful peach blossoms, not as good as Jilang's smiling face; jade bones and ice muscles, pear blossoms, suddenly heard that everyone was shocked and Dazai came.

The former sentence said that Ji Xingchen's smile was like a peach blossom, but unfortunately Ji Xingchen was almost expressionless in front of people, and the latter sentence was about Ju Jingyi.Even Huang Piao'er can blurt out these words, but not many people know the source.

This was what Princess Zhaohua said in front of all the ministers when she was drunk at the previous palace banquet. In fact, the original intention was to scare off the two of them. Unexpectedly, it was widely circulated in the capital.

For some reason, seeing Ji Xingchen's smile now, Ju Jingyi immediately remembered this.

"I said earlier that the Ji family has no ill intentions towards you." Ji Xingchen said while walking, "Anytime, as long as you want, the Ji family can be Dazai's friend at any time."

Ju Jingyi followed slowly, "I also said earlier that I don't need friends."

"Oh? Then, Master Yi's work is really wasted." Ji Xingchen kept his eyes on Ju Jingyi's face, wanting to see her emotional changes. The people of Princess Hua."

Ju Jingyi's heart sank, she pretended to be surprised, "Oh? Really?" As if she really didn't know anything.

Ji Xingchen couldn't see it, so he still smiled and said, "Since Lord Dazai doesn't take it seriously, that's good. The arrest of Wei Shuyu this time is not aimed at Lord Dazai."

"Heh." Ju Jingyi naturally understood the implication, and raised her eyes to laugh at him, "Won't the Ji family think that after so long, Princess Zhaohua still has the power to make trouble?"

"In the final analysis, it's only a year. A centipede is dead but not stiff," Ji Xingchen turned his hands behind his back, and the two of them had already walked to the front of the steps, looking down, their dark heads, looking up, the fluffy white clouds , "Besides, they help you, but they are just worried that your high-quality shield will fall down, so why should you?"

Ju Jingyi stopped and said seriously, "I'm different from you."

Ji Xingchen was taken aback.

"As the Ji family, you have to work hard for the Ji family, but I am not bound by my birth. The choice is □□."

"That's true." Ji Xingchen smiled, went down the stairs, passed Ju Jingyi directly, raised his arms and waved them, "Free Dazai-sama, I hope you make a good choice."

The actions of the two were noticed by the people around them, but unfortunately they were too far away to hear what they were talking about.

Pei Yunzhen sneered, "I really don't know what this Prime Minister Ji Xiao thinks, he has offended people so much, what else can he do."

"It's just a test." Pei Xiaoquan said, "To test whether Ju Jingyi still has the power to fight back."

Unexpectedly, Pei Huaiyuan suddenly said, "Let Zhenniang pay more attention to Ye Huazhao."

"Ah?" Pei Xiaoquan was stunned for a long time before he remembered who Ye Huazhao was.

"Grandfather, this."

Seeing that Pei Huaiyuan's face became more and more ugly, Pei Yunyin, who kept silent and pretended not to exist, explained, "Miss Ye Jia has been chasing Ju Jingyi since she woke up. It is inconvenient for Ju Jingyi to follow, but Ye Huazhao can."

Pei Xiaoquan immediately realized, "Yes."