As the morning dynasty ended, news of the great victory in Shawo spread like the wind throughout the capital.
Suddenly, almost every yamen and mansion up and down the imperial court were filled with joy.
Only the British government is not.
Before I knew it, three months had passed.
Jiao Jing and Xue Heng's confinement was finally lifted. Although all their errands were relieved, it was still a good thing.
However, sitting in the study room of the British Duke's mansion, facing Zhang Shi, Ren Li, Chen Mao, Jiang Yi and others.
Jiao Jing and Xue Heng felt that their air pressure was frighteningly low.
Relatively speaking, Jiao Jing was older. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked first.
"Consort Xue and I already know the news about Datong, and we have already suffered this setback. I think it can make him calm down. The second master is so anxious to come to us. Is it possible that he is worried about the safety of the third master in Oala?"
He and Xue Heng had just been released from confinement for two days, and they had barely digested all the things that had happened in the past few months.
However, some specific situations are still unclear.
Zhang Min had a dark face and said nothing.
On the other hand, Ren Li sighed and said.
"Prince Jiao, Prince Consort Xue, to be honest with you two, the mission has already received news, saying that they arrived at Xuan Mansion before the Battle of Shawo."
Hearing this, Jiao Jing was even more confused and continued to ask: "Then the second master and you are now..."
At this time, Chen Mao, who was also gloomy, spoke.
"I came back, but as soon as I entered the Xuan Mansion, the entire mission was arrested!"
"What?" Jiao Jing suddenly couldn't sit still and asked angrily: "Who has the courage? Tao Jin? Yang Xin? You rebelled against them!"
You should know that although Jiao Jing was only the Prince Consort, he was a confidant of Empress Dowager Sun and held great power as early as the Zhengtong period.
When the Supreme Emperor left Beijing for the northern expedition, he even handed over the power of the Beijing camp to him, which shows his status in the court at that time.
Although all his errands have been taken away from him now, when Tao Jin was still serving in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, when he saw him, he would clasp his fists and salute.
Seeing Jiao Jing's angry look, Ren Li and Chen Mao didn't say anything. At the same time, they looked at Zhang Shi, who gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words.
"It's Jin Yiwei!"
With that said, Zhang Min took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it to Jiao Jing and Xue Heng, and said.
"This is a secret letter that Tao Jin sent quickly. It describes the situation at that time. According to Tao Jin, the mission encountered resistance in the negotiations in Oara. He was also accompanied by a eunuch named Xi who surrendered to the enemy from the Ming Dynasty. Ning, has been causing trouble."
"So the third brother planned to trick Xi Ning into Xuan Mansion and then take the opportunity to ambush him. After Tao Jin received the report, he originally planned to cooperate with the third brother to set up an ambush in Yehuling. However, just before he was about to set off, Lu Zhongchi, commander of the Jinyi Guards, arrived with a secret edict. Xuanfu, strictly orders the Xuanfu army not to act rashly."
"Unable to set up an ambush in Yehuling, the third brother and others simply deceived Xi Ning into the Xuan Mansion. Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the Xuan Mansion, Lu Zhong led a large number of Jin Yi guards to lure Xi Ning, the third brother and the others. Caught them all.”
"Right now, they are being escorted back to the capital together. They should arrive in three days at most!"
While Jiao Jing listened, he read the letter carefully. His brows suddenly knitted together and he said nothing.
Xue Heng on the side was confused.
"It's not a trivial matter to arrest the envoy without permission. Why does Lu Zhong dare to do this?"
this……
Zhang Min, Ren Li and others looked at each other, shook their heads in unison and said.
"Tao Jin's memorial about this matter has already been sent to the capital. However, it is a little slower to go to the inn. But no matter what, Jin Yiwei arrests people in such a big way. If they want to cover it up, they will definitely not be able to cover it up. It won't be long. By the end of the day, everyone in the imperial court will know."
"However, Jin Yiwei didn't say the specific reason for arresting him. He just warned Tao Jin not to ask too many questions with a secret edict to act cheaply."
At this time, Jiao Jing finally raised his head from the secret letter and said.
"The fact that the Jin Yiwei dared to arrest people shows that they are not afraid of things getting serious, so this time, it must be the third master and others who have some information that fell into the hands of the Jin Yiwei."
The scene suddenly became a little stagnant.
Everyone present had more or less thought of this possibility, but this was precisely the most troublesome thing.
Jin Yiwei's mouth is very strict, so until now, except that they know that the person has been arrested, they don't know anything else.
With his eyes darkened, even if he wanted to think of ways to save people, he didn't dare to act without permission.
Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it might have the opposite effect.
Zhang Min's fist hit the table hard, his face was ashen.
"I have known for a long time that the emperor would not be so kind and send an envoy to welcome the emperor back for no reason. First he made some exchanges, and then he went to Beijing to investigate. Now he couldn't help but try to show off and directly confront the third brother. Let’s start!”
In fact, during this period, the court seemed peaceful, but the British government was really having a hard time.
After the mutual trade was approved at the court meeting, the Ministry of Revenue acted very quickly. It didn't take long to negotiate the specific details with the envoys from Tuotaobuhua. They only waited for them to return and prepared for another two months. The first mutual trading can begin.
The failure of Kou Que made the old guy Wang Wen completely forget about it. The manpower they trained among the civil servants were targeted one after another, and now there are not many left.
Zhang Xi had no choice but to endure these cowardly behaviors. As a result, now, the Jin Yiwei had directly arrested the envoy.
If this continues, Zhang Xi feels that in a short time, the British government may be removed from its lintel, so how can he not be anxious.
Even so, looking at Zhang Xi who was so restless, a trace of dissatisfaction flashed in Jiao Jing's eyes, but he concealed it well. After pondering for a moment, he spoke.
"Second Master, don't be anxious. We will always come up with a solution. The top priority now is to find out what happened. I remember that when the Zhennan King case was going on, didn't we still have manpower among the Jinyi Guards?"
Zhang Xi gradually calmed down, nodded with a sullen face, and said.
"Yes, there are, but this time is different from the past. In the past, the Zhennan King case and the Luo Tong case were all locked up in ordinary prison cells. But this time, since Lu Zhong took the secret edict to arrest people in advance, , indicating that the emperor is watching behind you."
"So, I'm afraid it won't be easy to arrange."
This is a problem...
Jiao Jing pondered for a moment, but after much deliberation, there was no good way, so he had to say: "Let's inquire first, use some money, it would be best if we can meet each other, if not, try to send a message, we must first Only by understanding what happened can we take appropriate measures."
"Besides..." Jiao Jing turned his head and said to Xue Heng.
"Now our power in the court has been greatly reduced, so we must continue to maintain a good relationship with the palace. The third master's matter is most likely not a trivial matter. I would like to thank Prince Consort to accompany His Royal Highness the Princess twice these days. In the palace, try to get the support of the Holy Mother and her family."
Zhang Min and Xue Heng nodded at the same time, and the atmosphere finally became a little calmer.
Ren Li watched quietly from the side, and couldn't help but admire the prince-in-law a little more in his heart. No wonder he was the one who was able to plan things together with Zhang Fu.
Although he had been banned from the house for so long, when he came back for the first time, he quietly took away the power to make decisions from Zhang Shi.
What's more important is that Zhang Mi actually looked convinced and didn't feel anything wrong at all.
It seems that he will pay more attention to this prince-in-law in the future...
