After the court meeting dispersed, Fang Zilan called out to Pei Juanqing at the palace gate, "Mr. Juan, please stay."
Pei Juqing stopped, turned around, and looked at the people walking towards him, "I wonder what the Duke of Yue has to say?"
His angular face was slightly gloomy, and his eyes were as calm and bottomless as cold pool water. There was a faint pressure around him, but Fang Zilan was not afraid at all. After standing still in front of him, his expression was calm. He said: "We can't talk about it in person. I just have something to say to Duke Gui Guo."
Pei Juqing looked at her intently for a while, nodded slightly and said, "Please speak, Duke Yue."
There were all the officials, big and small, who had just left the court, coming and going nearby. Pei Juqing showed no shyness, and Fang Zilan also said calmly and generously: "I visited the house a few days ago, but I never thought that Duke Guo Guo was ill. , I’m very sorry that I couldn’t see him. I feel relieved to see that Duke Jun is fine today.”
Pei Juqing was clear in her heart and said calmly: "I heard from the people below that Duke Yue came to ask for money on behalf of the Southeast Prefecture Yamen in charge of the household department. This matter has been delayed for a long time. In fact, the household department recently There are too many things to do, I hope Duke Yue will forgive me."
Fang Zilan originally wanted to test his tone, but unexpectedly, he spoke openly and openly, which made her appear to be a villain. In this case, she might as well make it clear. Anyway, who knows whether she will be able to come back from her trip to Qiluo City. In addition, the Empress Dowager already dislikes her, so she will offend the Pei family more than once.
"Mr. Guo Jun's words are serious. I am also concerned about the chaos. I want to be very careful about the aftermath in the southeast, so I push the adults of the Ministry of Revenue a little tighter. I hope Duke Jun will not be surprised." Fang Zilan said. He must be polite, but his expression is a bit fierce, "After all, the Miluo people are invading in large numbers now, and there really can't be any problems in our capital."
Her words were obviously meant to shock the mountains and the tigers. Immediately, some officials deliberately slowed down their pace and walked not far or near, trying to listen quietly.
"Those incompetent people in the household department really need to be hammered. I appreciate Duke Yue's kindness..." Pei Jueqing narrowed her eyes and said, neither lightly nor seriously: "But Duke Yue stretched his hand too far, so be careful to stretch it. "
Fang Zilan smiled self-deprecatingly, "Thank you Duke Jun for reminding me, but my hand is about to reach Qiluo City. It's so long that it will be difficult not to stretch it."
Pei Juqing pursed her lips and spoke slowly, "I would like to ask, how long can Duke Yue defend Qiluo City?"
Fang Zilan was just about to say that he would do his best when he added, "What I want to hear is the specific date. Don't use the excuse of doing your best to fool me."
Fang Zilan took a deep breath and thought that this person was really strange. She didn't dare to neglect it at the moment. She looked forward and backward and finally cautiously spoke out a deadline, "One month."
"Okay, I'll remember it." Pei Juqing left these words meaningfully. Without waiting for her reaction, she said goodbye and left, leaving her confused and feeling like she was falling into a cloud.
In fact, what Fang Zilan didn't know was that Pei Juanqing was really sick in those days. Most of the people in the Pei family are not in good health, and people like Pei Xiaoze are already considered top among them. Therefore, the documents she sent to the Ministry of Revenue for approval were not returned under Pei Juiqing's instructions, but were made by the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue on his own initiative.
As for why she did it so deliberately, it's very simple to say. Since there has been such a fuss at the beginning of the New Year this year, let alone the people in the Ministry of Revenue, who in the whole court doesn't know that the Empress Dowager dislikes her? What's more, the Empress Dowager was also from the Pei family, which meant that the Pei family and her were not at odds with each other. Therefore, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance did this out of his own cleverness, thinking that he would not give others any leverage, but would also cause trouble for her and vent his anger on the Pei family. Why not do it?
Unexpectedly, Pei Juqing heard about this incident when he was ill and went to the Ministry of Hubu to investigate. In the original words of Duke Guo Guo, who had not visited the Ministry of Hubu in ten years, he said, "Even if you destroy the family to relieve the people, you still have to do it." Southeast's account has been settled." Those who knew about it were fine, but those who didn't knew thought that the one destroyed in Southeast was his Pei family's ancestral hall.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance was so frightened that he sorted out Southeast's accounts overnight. As soon as the accurate report came out of the imperial study room, the treasury sent the money to Southeast. Needless to say, this was so efficient, and he also knew that it was the people from the Ministry of Revenue who had prepared the account in advance. Said hello.
However, this was not the end. The people of the Su family heard the news from somewhere and said something to Pei Juqing. They also secretly communicated with Zhuge Yu and sent someone to send the silver to the southeast and directly crossed the border. King Rongan was afraid that someone would take advantage of him.
The money in the southeast was finally collected, and the soldiers fighting on the border could not afford it. The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance had his head as big as a bucket facing the snowflake-like documents of the Ministry of War. It happened that the Ministry of Industry also came to join in the fun at this time. They said that there was a problem in the military workshop, so they put the loach of the Minister of the Ministry of Industry into the boiling water and rolled it. Even though I had shed my skin, I didn't dare to poke fun at the Pei family, for fear that if Pei Jueqing went there in person again, it would really ruin the family's relief.
There are many connections involved. Everyone has their own hidden agendas and the relationships are intricate. No one knows how much Li Shengxuan knew and how much he did.
Fang Zilan didn't know the interests behind it, so she walked away quite easily. She rushed to Qiluo City with three thousand soldiers and horses from the camp on the outskirts of Beijing.
The soldiers were very fast, and Fang Zilan set off before dawn. It was completely different from the scene when thousands of people came to see him off when he expedition to the northern border. In the boundless darkness, only the lanterns hanging high on the corner eaves of the tower seemed particularly bright.
Li Shengxuan stood on the tower, looking at the resolute figure not far away, and suddenly remembered the first time he led troops to quell the chaos. King Xiang, who was only fifteen years old, also ordered the soldiers and left on a summer night without stopping for a moment.
At that time, his brother Emperor Ning Shun stood on the tower to see him off, and now he stood on the tower to see Fang Zilan off. More than ten years have passed, and Dajing is still not truly stable.
Standing behind him, King Yucheng Li Qiyou suddenly noticed something, his eyes widened suddenly, "It's really strange that Mr. Fang is wearing armor."
Li Shengxuan pulled back from his thoughts and asked, "Didn't she wear armor before in battles?"
"I never wear it." Li Qiyou recalled while saying: "In the past in the North, Mr. Fang felt that the armor was heavy and cumbersome, so he often went into battle in a riding uniform. If anyone advises him, at most wear two pieces of iron to deal with it."
However, Fang Zilan, who was leading the troops at this time, looked like a general wearing armor. How could he be disgusted at all?
Awan followed her, looking at her armor, she felt a chill running down her spine.
Fang Zilan believed that she was the best in the world, so she never wore armor even when she was fighting in the Northern Territory, which was very dangerous. On the contrary, during those idle days in the Northern Territory, her skilled master made a suit and wore it. long time.
At that time, everyone in the army found it strange that Fang Zilan, who had never worn armor when going into battle to kill enemies, actually wore a suit of armor weighing dozens of kilograms and walked back and forth in the camp during the peace years. However, men in the military are never the ones to gossip. Even if they feel strange, as long as they don't go out of line, they won't say a word more.
Awan asked once, and Fang Zilan replied lightly and said, "Adapt in advance." At that time, she boasted about taking precautions, but she never took it seriously.
Until now, seeing Fang Zilan put on this armor again, Awan felt a little more real fear in her heart. Even though she said Fang Zilan was scary, it was precisely because of this fear that she was reliable. She always talks about not being afraid of death, isn't it because she knows that as long as Fang Zilan is there, no one can hurt her?
But now that even Fang Zilan is wearing armor, the word death may not just be spoken.
Awan's eyelids jumped up suddenly. The closer they got to Qiluo City, the harder they jumped. They always felt that something bad was waiting for them.
I don't know whether Awan's premonition was too accurate, or there was a murderer standing behind the Miluo people. They rushed to Qiluo City, but before they had time to rest, news came from the front that General Shen had sacrificed his life for the country and died in battle under the city.
