A pavilion outside the city.
On the day Cai Qi left, the farewell procession was extremely spectacular. Almost half of the ministers from the court came.
Unlike ordinary officials, what Ganyan officials are least afraid of is demotion.
Demoted?
Well done!
Especially people like Cai Qi, who obviously didn't make any big mistakes, but ended up being relegated to the outside world.
Although Cai Qi lost his official position, his reputation in Shilin did not decrease but increased.
It can be foreseen that once the Queen Mother and the official palace take charge of politics, the officials will definitely argue hard on this matter.
This matter won’t just be forgotten!
The deputy chief of Yushitai demoted him as much as he wanted. What do you think of them as officials?
Not even the Queen Mother!
I need an explanation!
If it hadn't been for the mourning period now, the officials would have definitely gone outside the inner east gate, knocked on the door collectively, and asked for a court meeting.
"Xiantai, the journey is steep and the water is long. Please take care of yourself, Xantai."
Xie Tao, who is also the censor, said goodbye to Cai Qi on behalf of everyone at the censorship platform.
far away.
Two men in linen clothes were squatting beside the official road chatting, looking like they were taking a rest.
"Lao San, that one over there is our target this time, right?"
The older man among them glanced in the direction of the farewell pavilion.
"it's him."
The bearded man nodded, lowered his head and spit out thick phlegm.
He had a lot of resentment about this errand.
He had just gotten married not long ago, and before the excitement of being a newlywed had passed, a transfer order from above sent him out of Beijing.
Moreover, they have to follow the target person all the way to Shaanzhou.
Shaanzhou is hundreds of miles away from the capital.
Literary people like the target person travel very slowly. When they encounter a place with beautiful scenery, they walk around for a while. When they reach the place where their friends and classmates live, they have to stay for a few days.
Occasionally when the mood strikes, I will stay in a Taoist temple or temple for a few days.
All in all, there are a lot of things going on, and the journey doesn't look like a rush. This trip to Shaanzhou will take at least a month or two.
In the past two months, most of them were spent rushing to Shaanzhou, and seven or eight days at most would be enough to return to the city.
"You kid, stop complaining."
The older man patted the third child on the head.
"I know that your kid just got married recently and is reluctant to leave Wenrou Township, but think about it, your family's expenses will be quite big in the future.
If this job is completed, will the superiors give you the reward? "
The third child curled his lips and said angrily: "Why bother with so much trouble? If you ask me, why not just find a place where no one is around, wipe this guy's neck, and then dig a hole and bury him."
"Get out!"
The older man laughed and cursed: "You think this time is the same as last time?"
"This guy is much more expensive than the unlucky guy last time."
"That's true."
The third child nodded and said: "This guy is indeed much more expensive. As for Mr. Xiantai, I have never killed such a big official."
Judging from the tone of these two people, there is no respect for senior officials at all. In their view, killing a civil servant is like killing a chicken.
This is indeed the case. The fear and respect others have for officials is nothing more than the aura around them.
But once that halo is thrown away, officials are also human beings, and they will be afraid of death.
After seeing too many embarrassments begging for mercy, I naturally lost the awe in my heart.
the other side.
At the tea stall next to the official road, Han Xiaowu was drinking tea while secretly observing the surrounding situation.
He is a well-known ranger in Beijing. This time he was entrusted by someone to protect Cai Xiantai along the way and let him arrive in Shaanzhou safely.
As a relative of the Queen Mother, the Liu family often does bad things with the Queen Mother's backing.
Although it is not to the level of bullying men and women, and everyone shouting for beatings, the reputation of the Liu family is still in bad shape.
Therefore, many people in Beijing secretly applauded Liu Mei's death.
As Cai Qi, who indirectly caused Liu Mei's death, his reputation among the people naturally rose accordingly.
Han Xiaowu is one of them.
The night before yesterday, no one knew who it was, threw a baggage into the small courtyard where he lived. In addition to a letter, there was fifty coins in it.
At first, he was surprised, but it wasn't until he read the letter that he understood the reason.
The person who wrote the letter received the news that someone would assassinate Tsai Xiantai, and the person who assassinated Tsai Xiantai was very powerful, so the person who wrote the letter did not dare to offend him.
Coincidentally, the letter writer knew Han Xiaowu's chivalrous reputation, so he told him anonymously and hoped that Han Xiaowu could secretly protect Cai Qi.
The money in the bag is the travel expenses to and from Shaanzhou.
Although this letter has no beginning or end, the money is not fake. At the same time, Han Xiaowu and the Liu family still have conflicts.
He was one of the people who applauded Liu Mei's death.
Therefore, Han Xiaowu has a good impression of Cai Qi. After all, Cai Qi indirectly helped him get revenge.
So, he took the job.
Anyway, he is alone now. He has enough to eat alone, and the whole family is not hungry. He has nothing to do, so he might as well escort his 'benefactor'.
Half an hour later, the farewell ceremony at Changting finally ended. Amidst the blessings of everyone, Cai Qi boarded the bullock cart.
Seeing Cai Qi set off, Han Xiaowu was ready to pay and follow. Before leaving, he glanced back at the city of Tokyo in the distance and thought to himself.
'Hope everything goes well on this trip. '
At the same time, the two brothers beside the official road were also preparing to follow.
Of course, they were not riding horses or riding bullock carts, but walking.
As we all know, the Northern Song Dynasty was very short of horses. Riding a horse was like driving a sports car to hit the streets in later generations.
Riding a horse is too ostentatious and not desirable.
Similarly, bullock carts are not something ordinary people can own. Ordinary people have cows, but they don’t have enough money yet, so they are not willing to let the cows pull the cart.
Therefore, the two brothers traveled on two legs.
Han Xiaowu on the other side didn't have so many scruples. He had transportation, but it was neither an ox nor a horse, but a donkey.
In this way, three groups of people took to the road one after another.
The three groups of people did not know each other, and they did not know that there were two groups of people accompanying them secretly.
However, the accompanying people did not follow directly, but set off after a long time.
These days, once you know your destination, you are basically not afraid of losing it.
Anyway, there are only a few roads to Shaanzhou. If you are afraid of losing track, just send a few more groups to follow.
Funing Hall.
As soon as Cai Qi left, Li Jie received the news.
"Guan family, Cai Xiantai left Beijing. Our people followed secretly and made a discovery."
"explain."
"According to reports, there are several waves of people following Tsai Xiantai, some of them openly and some secretly."
Li Jie said in surprise: "Have you found out your identity?"
"Checking."
Zhang Mao did not dare to hide anything and replied truthfully.
In addition, he answered this way and was not worried at all about the officials directly convicting him, because this matter was very involved.
Check, it will definitely take time.
