The soldiers opened the pillow and saw a crumpled note hidden inside. They thought it was confidential and did not dare to pry into it without permission. They handed it over to the officer first: "Sir, we found this thing! It should be!" It’s Cai Xianqing’s private collection!”
The officer looked at it in his hand and was shocked. He said in the ears of the two soldiers: "This is evidence against Governor Shi. Don't let others know about it! You should be smart and burn this note, otherwise There will be big trouble..."
The soldiers accepted the order, crumpled the note into a ball, and said viciously to Cai Xianqing: "You are a traitor with ulterior motives, how dare you write such a thing to slander Xuanhua! This thing must not be kept!"
Cai Xianqing looked pale and sat motionless, watching helplessly as they placed the note on the torch and it turned into ashes in an instant.
"Don't try this kind of trick again in the future, or you will make my governor angry, and you won't have the chance to regret it!" The officer threatened him with words, and then called his soldiers: "Let's go!"
Just as a large group of soldiers were preparing to retreat, ten strong men on horseback suddenly appeared in the distance, shouting: "What are you doing! You are breaking into Mr. Cai's house at night! That's Governor Shi." Is this how you serve the imperial court?"
The officer turned around and saw that he was a guard following the patrol. He cupped his hands and said, "I was just ordered to search for illegal items. I did not intend to go against the imperial officials."
"What the hell!" The guards angrily drew their swords, "We are patrolling the border under the imperial decree, why do you need to search!"
Just when the two sides were at war, Cai Xianqing ran out and stood at the door and shouted with all his strength: "They were all asking each other outside the house. I invited them to come in. Don't get me wrong, brother guards."
The guards hesitantly put their swords back, and after all Shi Yiyi's soldiers left, they hurried to ask about Cai Xianqing's safety.
"These dogs can even break down the door!"
"It's windy and cold outside. Let me go inside and talk to everyone." Cai Xianqing patted her forehead and sighed.
Everyone sat down in the room, and Cai Xianqing just said: "This is my negligence. But no one expected that Shi Yiyi would be so hard... I'm afraid he already knew some of the inside story of the court, so he didn't We dare to do this because of worries about the future. If there is a problem with Mr. Ye, we will really have wasted all our efforts."
"It's better to send someone to investigate."
"Absolutely not!" Cai Xianqing held the man's mouth and spoke in a serious tone, "Shi Yiyi is now unscrupulous and will definitely tighten his control over us. If someone commits an offense under his nose, I really don't know how much retaliation he will suffer. It's better to wait for Ye with peace of mind. When the adults come back, everyone should be honest so as not to be caught by them."
Sure enough, as he expected, Shi Yiyi strengthened the surveillance of border patrols the next day, and deployed four soldiers in front of Cai Xianqing's house. Every time Cai Xianqing went in and out of the room, he had to have someone accompany him; in the evening, arrangements would be made Changing sentries, the whole barracks is like a prison.
The patrol team was thus evacuated, and Cai Xianqing could only hope that the only chance of improvement would be in Ye Yongjia's hands.
Ye Yongjia felt the same way at this time. He sat on a pavilion by the water, waiting to set off with Niu Yuan to Hube. Just earlier today, Niu Yuan ran to him and said to him: "I intend to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to check the truth today. Tinglong is familiar with border affairs and will be of great use to me. But at home, the prime minister There are still things to deal with. I will go back to the palace to meet you after lunch." Seeing that he had no intention of pushing back, Ye Yongjia naturally agreed and came early to wait for the people in the pavilion not far from the Hubu Yamen Office.
"Serve the Prime Minister!" When Ye Yongjia saw Niu Yuan walking in from the gate, he quickly went down to the pavilion to greet him.
"I'm late, I'm really sorry for making you wait so long." Niu Yuan tugged at his collar a few times and smiled at him.
"As long as you have firm beliefs, it is never too late."
"Yes, it's time for us to resolutely go to the dragon's pond and the tiger's den. But before leaving, I have to explain a few words before I can rest assured." Niu Yuan patted his shoulder and said sincerely, "First, although the reform is controversial, There are many, and failure is common sense, but Tinglong cannot retreat easily, which is the way of a hero with lofty ideals; secondly, because I need to use tactics to win, I sometimes retreat in order to advance. I hope you can review the situation, don't get me wrong. , but it disrupts my deployment, which is not good."
"Your Majesty, I will remember it."
"Okay, come with me." Niu Yuan smiled knowingly.
Mr. Hube was rocking his recliner in the inner courtyard, yawning, and gradually falling asleep. He stood up slowly, wanting to go inside the house to take a nap, so he shouted outside the door: "I want to take a nap for a while. If anyone comes to visit, please report in time."
"Understood..." Before the word '白' was fully spoken, the doorman said again, "But...but someone is here now."
"What?" Shangshu didn't hear clearly until he slowly turned around and saw Niu Yuan and Ye Yongjia.
"I'm here to see you, Prime Minister." He took a breath, his eyes wandering in fear.
Niu Yuan came over with a smile: "Sir, you don't have to be modest. You are responsible for many border affairs. You are very busy on weekdays and pay a lot of money. Unlike me, the prime minister, sitting in Zhongshu Province, leisurely and looking for things to do." "
The minister worshiped in fear: "That is because the lower officials are greedy for talking fast. They are all nonsense, nonsense..."
"It's normal for the imperial court to fight. I won't blame you." Niu Yuan waved his hand nonchalantly, which made the minister feel very relaxed. He had already begun to welcome Feng Xiang to the second hall for tea, but he didn't expect Niu Yuan to return. There is the next sentence: "But your Ministry of Revenue is indeed responsible for the military expenses of the border. This Minister Ye knows Xuanhua's use of silver. Please take me to check the documents and check the discrepancies."
Shangshu's head buzzed. He opened his frightened eyes wide and looked at Niu Yuan with disbelief, making the latter a little confused.
"In..." He spoke less fluently, "In the bookstore behind the second hall."
"Well, the documents of the Ministry of Household Affairs are suspected of being confidential. Lord Shangshu and I will go there, and Mr. Ye can just stay in the hall and rest." Niu Yuan turned to Ye Yongjia and said.
"This is... okay, everything is at the discretion of Prime Minister Niu." Ye Yongjia was very surprised. He didn't understand what Niu Yuan was thinking, but in order to search for evidence as soon as possible, he had to obey the order.
Niu Yuan stepped on the stairs in front of the bookstore with heavy steps. Every time he stepped on a floor, he would stop for a moment and look around. When he reached the last floor, he actually hung his raised feet in the air and stopped stretching forward. .
"You don't think..." Seeing this, Shangshu wanted to ask in a low voice, but he was interrupted: "What I am thinking about has nothing to do with you. Open the door." The foot finally landed on the ground. .
