Gu Qingci

It doesn't rain much in Qingzhou, it's been very hot these days, the sun is shining brightly on the earth, and all the flowers and plants in the soil have come out.

News, good or bad, always travels the fastest.

The news that Nanman ran into the wild animal riots, and even Yingzhou retreated in despair and ran back to the base camp spread from the capital to all directions, and soon, Qingzhou also knew about it.

Along with this incident came the news that Hu Zhongli led a group of troops to surround the palace and openly assassinated the emperor in the court hall.

This is what the prefect of Qingzhou personally came to the West Wing and told me.

Ordinary civilians would not know about the court affairs, but rumors were raging among local officials at all levels, including mine and Hu Zhongli's.

It's nothing more than Prime Minister Yang and his relatives having an affair with the Southern Barbarians and the Northern Qiang, and secretly designed the emperor before, intending to rebel.

Hu Zhongli, on the other hand, worked hand in hand with me. Seeing that I was exposed and lost power, he wanted to fight to the death.

The rumors spread so well that it left people speechless.

I can't get along with Hu Zhongli, and he always targets me for those messy things that everyone in the court knows, and the local officials don't know much about it, so I made up such a story.

Smiling and shaking his head.

"The prefect trusts me, and has never betrayed the country in the slightest."

She nodded.

"The lower officials have long heard about Prime Minister Yang's political achievements in the capital. Whether it's the recasting of coins, the construction of the Beitong River, or the construction of the Grand Canal, it's nothing special to mention; you've stayed in Qingzhou for more than two months. You can see how diligent and serious you are in your daily work. Those who spread rumors don't understand you, Prime Minister, don't take it to heart."

"In that case, I have a merciless request."

"Prime Minister, please tell me."

"The last time I saw a staff member in your mansion, the one named Xiao Xiang, I was a little interested."

She paused, then smiled and said: "If the prime minister wants it, I will definitely offer it with both hands. It's just that he is a military commander and has an upright personality. In addition, his cousin has become the champion of martial arts and resisted the Northern Qiang on the front line. It is inevitable that he will be proud." If you are arrogant, there will be contradictory actions."

"It's okay, can the eunuch call him over?"

==

The door of the west wing was knocked open, and Xiao Xiang walked in, still wearing a yellow-brown short robe, with a bad attitude.

"Xiao Xiang, the next official, greet the prime minister." His eyes were full of reluctance, and the appearance of having to greet me was really awkward.

"The last time you called me by my name with confidence, why did you change your name to the prime minister this time?"

"It's not because the prefect said you were innocent, so let me treat you better!"

"Then do you think I'm guilty?"

He took a deep breath and said nothing.

I continued to smile and said, "Everyone says that the Prime Minister and his relatives had an affair with the Nanman, but now that the Nanman has retreated, they don't want Yingzhou, which was finally occupied."

"That's because there was fire behind them and the leader was attacked!"

"Then have you ever thought about it, well, why the wild beasts of the Southern Barbarians suddenly rioted?"

He turned his head away and said in a low voice, "I don't know."

"It was I who entrusted someone to inject drugs into the waters of the Southern Barbarian jungle, and the animals would go mad when they smelled the aroma. In this way, it is not surprising that their leader was seriously injured by wild animals while hunting."

He raised his head to look at me, and I continued to follow my advice: "The villages in Nanman also suffered heavy casualties. They had no time to take care of their own affairs, and they no longer had the heart to contend with Daxing. As for the attack on Jiangnan County at the beginning of this year, it was just a little grasshopper who took advantage of the fire and came out to rob It’s just a little bit—nothing to worry about.”

Xiao Xiang frowned, digesting this passage.

"Everything I said just now is true. You can think about it yourself. Don't worry. Now I want to ask you another question."

"what?"

"What do you Xiao family think of the Nangong family?"

When he heard this topic, he seemed to be excited, and he opened his mouth and said: "Nangong is from a family of generals, and has made great achievements under the founding emperor. He has always looked down on rising stars like us; before my cousin won the champion of martial arts, I went there Once in Beijing, the Nangong family saw that we looked at people with our nostrils, which made people angry! However, this time General Nangong was defeated at the beginning of the year and came back from the front line in disgrace. It was really satisfying, and made them look down on people!"

"I, Yang Li, also came from a commoner family, and my ancestors have never been an official. I live in the capital and get along with people from an official family like Hu Zhongli. The situation is similar to that of your Xiao family and Nangong family."

When Xiao Xiang heard this, the resentment on his face finally disappeared, and he hesitated and struggled.

At this time, adding another fire is enough.

"So, Hu Zhongli has always held a grudge against me. After I became the prime minister and my rank was higher than his, he became even more resentful. Originally, I was a commoner woman, and it was extraordinary to be able to enter the palace and become an official, but now He had to bow his head to say hello when he saw me, tell me, is he angry?"

Xiao Xiang nodded.

"So he tried his best to get me out of this position. He has planned many times in the open and in the dark. This time, he slandered me for collusion with the Nanman, and it was planned long ago. Including the later mention of the old matter, it was also to destroy my reputation. , let the common people believe that I am an immoral traitor."

"really?"

"Never tell a lie."

Xiao Xiang slammed his thigh violently, gritted his teeth and said, "It's too abominable, it's really a bully!"

He already believed it.

"The rumors outside are only half true - it's not me and him who have an affair with the Northern Qiang and the Southern Man and intend to rebel, and he is the only one from the beginning to the end. He and I are at odds with each other. How can we stand on the same line with him in such a big matter? .And the emperor knows these things, otherwise it would not be as simple as just driving me out of the capital."

Xiao Xiang pursed her lips, and finally knelt down in front of me with a plop.

"Prime Minister Yang, Xiao Xiang was also deceived by the rumors outside, and you have been wronged."

"Get up, I called you this time because I think you are a malleable talent. After all, there are too few people who are loyal and dedicated to the country. I think you can also serve the country like your brother."

"Really?" His eyes sparkled.

"Of course it's not a lie. It's just that your way of serving the country may be different from his, but the ultimate goal is for Daxing."

"Okay, okay." He replied repeatedly.

He took out a jade ruyi from his bosom and put it in his hand.

"A new restaurant has opened on Changgan Street. Go there and take a look. Remember to show this to the shopkeeper."

Holding Yu Ruyi's hand slowly squeezed tightly, he looked up at me.

"Xiao Xiang, I know that your father opened a martial arts gym, and you also have great skills, so you can't just be a civil servant in the staff all the time; the restaurant has recruited a lot of young guys, and they are slow in serving food because of their inflexible legs. I would also like to trouble you to mention them a little bit.”

I have stayed in the prefect's mansion for more than half a month and have not gone out for half a step. If I suddenly say something that is very familiar to outsiders, he will understand what I mean.

"By the way, after the matter is completed, you can return to Beijing with me."

==

Because of the lack of threats from the Nanman, Hu Zhongli was also imprisoned by the emperor, and the Yuqi Army began to thoroughly investigate all the old officials who were involved with him, and the people in the court were panicked.

What is more suspicious is that on the day Hu Zhongli assassinated the emperor, the Northern Qiang just sent a heavy army to suppress the formation. The Northern Four Towns were tense for two or three days, but the Northern Qiang did not see the attack for a long time.When the news of Hu Zhongli's imprisonment came, the army was withdrawn again.

However, Xiao Chu saw the Northern Qiang army retreating, led the army in pursuit, and even pulled back a city. Daxing won for the first time from successive defeats, and the frontline was also greatly boosted.

These news were told by Xiao Xiang after he came back from the restaurant.

He was both excited and excited to learn that his cousin had made military exploits.

What Tuo Shayu helped before was to ask her to buy a restaurant in Qingzhou, and then select young people with martial arts background from various impoverished counties and towns, and bring them here to train.

After that, I will let Xiao Xiang take charge of all the troublesome things.On the surface, this restaurant looks like a place for people to drink and chat, but in fact behind it is the power I gradually cultivated.

Although it is not bright to do this, the only thing I can guarantee is that these forces are only for self-protection, not to hurt others. They will only become Liu Yueying's right-hand man, and will never become her fear.From the beginning to the end, I did not hide this matter from Wuxia.

Another month later, Liu Yuehua came to Qingzhou to prepare for the resumption of work on the canal.If this line of canals resumes work, it will only take about 30 days for navigation.

The weather is starting to get hot, and the front line must be opened to navigation before the scorching heat arrives, so that the deadlocked front line may turn around due to sufficient supplies.

"Yang Li!" Liu Yuehua also stayed at Qingzhou Taishou's Mansion, and came to me with the airs of a princess.

"You are a big Buddha, you are willing to stay here anyway, I'm afraid it will make the eunuch feel frightened."

"I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with you. My heart is for the people, so I can't live anywhere."

"That's right." Liu Yuehua's character has been tempered by the emperor in the past two years, and she has learned to endure hardships.

The prefect's mansion is not big in the first place, and it is already too tight to live in me as a guilty prime minister. If you really want to stay in accordance with the rules of the princess, this place will never meet the requirements—in the end, another room was squeezed out from the west wing. She lived, she actually agreed.

"Yang Li, now Hu Zhongli has entered the prison, and Miss Huang asked the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Department of Punishment to show no mercy. I went to see it last time, tsk tsk..." Liu Yuehua wrinkled her face together and didn't say any more.

"Sister Huang told me before that Hu Zhongli is a vicious and introverted person who only dares to hide behind the scenes and play tricks. If he puts it on the table clearly, he can't bear the pressure at all. Such a worthless person dares to imitate others and force the palace to rebel. It's ridiculous. His so-called henchmen are threatened by the emperor, and they dare not even fart."

"You really can't leave the emperor in three words."

"What's wrong with my sister? Do you want to go back to Beijing?"

"It doesn't matter, I don't think too much."

"What?" She stared at me with wide eyes, and she lost her princess demeanor, she just pretended to be decent in front of the prefect.

"You don't want to go back to Beijing, why?"

"Although Hu Zhongli is no longer a threat, his impeachment against me is still there. People are arguing about me endlessly, and rumors are rampant. Returning to Beijing at this juncture will cause trouble for the emperor."

"It's easy to handle. It's enough for the imperial sister to issue an edict to clarify it for you."

"No." He shook his head without thinking.

"First, she defended me one after another. Do you think she can escape the eyes of the court and the people? They will only say that the emperor is ignorant of people, partial to his subordinates, and will be deceived by the treacherous officials. This will insult her reputation; second. , I can't... always let her help me solve my troubles. "

【Hu Zhongli is finally finished, he was still very moved after waking up for a long time. 】