Xiao Luolan finally nodded and said, "I believe in the abilities of Judge Xu and Tuiguan Dou."
Zhao Qingshan knew his mistress's attitude towards this matter. He took a sip of tea and looked into the distance. He didn't know who the next court official would be.
"Auntie!" Xiao Qingxue walked from the distant corridor to Tianshui Fang: "I've packed up, Mr. Qingshan, let's go quickly, I can't wait any longer."
Behind her was Tuoba Amu.
Xiao Luolan stood up and said with a smile: "Mr. Qingshan, please forgive me."
Zhao Qingshan smiled and said: "Let's set off."
"Aniang, I'm leaving." Xiao Qingxue waved to Aniang and left with Amu.
Xiao Luolan watched her daughter go away, and then looked away when she disappeared.
It's mid-afternoon.
Xiao Luolan found Sect Leader Zhou in the martial arts training ground.
"Why is Madam here?" Zhou Xu raised his bow and nocked an arrow. After shooting an arrow, he saw Madam coming and immediately went to greet her with a smile on his face.
"My son has met his mother." Zhou Shenzhi put down the bow and arrow in his hand and smiled at his mother.
"I saw that the sun was getting late, so I gave you some food to fill your stomachs." Xiao Luolan looked at the senior and junior students, placed the food box on the stone table next to the martial arts training ground, opened it, and then took out the contents inside. Milk tea and several plates of pastries.
Zhou Xu lifted his robe, sat down, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Madam. I can just let my servants do this little thing. Why bother to go there myself?"
Xiao Luolan was obviously very happy when she saw that this man was not serious about what he said, but she still pretended not to take his words seriously: "Hurry up and eat."
"Thank you, mother." Zhou Shenzhi had already finished drinking the milk tea and was now eating green tea soft cake.
"There are more here, don't rush." Seeing Zhou Shenzhi eating quickly, Xiao Luolan said softly, bringing the pastries at the bottom of the food box to Shenzhi.
The two fathers and sons have similar tastes and don't like things that are too sweet, so Xiao Luolan asked the people in the kitchen to make the milk tea stronger and less sweet. The same goes for the green tea soft cake, adding some chestnuts. Hawthorn is in it, so it's sweet and sour and appetizing.
Zhou Shenzhi ate two plates in a row, and only the last piece was left. When Zhou Shenzhi wanted to take it, his father took it away.
Zhou Shenzhi: "..."
He looked at his mother.
Xiao Luolan was speechless and amused at Sect Master Zhou's childish behavior: "How old are you, and you still compete with Shen Zhi for food." Then he looked at Shen Zhi and said, "I'll ask the people in the kitchen to make some more."
"I'm full today. Let's eat tomorrow." Zhou Shenzhi smiled and stood up. "I'm sweating all over from practicing martial arts. Mother, I'll leave first."
"Then remember to soak in the hot bath for a while." After Xiao Luolan said this, he asked Zhou Shenzhi, who was too hot, to put on his cloak before leaving.
After his son left, Zhou Xu held his wife on his lap and kissed her: "Why did my beloved come to see me?"
Xiao Luolan's face turned red and she glanced at the direction Shenzhi left, fearing that it would be very embarrassing if he came back.
"Don't worry, that kid won't come back." Zhou Xu said.
"I heard that the investigation of Beggar's case is almost complete." Xiao Luolan said.
"It's coming to an end. The case has been presented by Judge Xu and others." Zhou Xu answered while squeezing his wife's hand: "Madam, do you have any ideas?"
"I think they should have retribution." Xiao Luolan looked at Sect Master Zhou, a little nervous: "What do you think?"
Zhou Xu touched his beard and said more bluntly: "Madam, do you want the third uncle to deserve what he deserves?"
Xiao Luolan remained silent.
Zhou Xu raised his wife's chin and kissed her: "I understand, but we can't rush. We have to find some other charges."
It was almost what Mr. Qingshan said. Xiao Luolan's eyelashes trembled and she looked at Sect Master Zhou with a hint of astonishment in her eyes.
Mingming had made countless drafts in his mind before coming to convince Sect Master Zhou. After all, the official of the court was the elder of Sect Leader Zhou, but Xiao Luolan did not expect that Sect Leader Zhou would respond so quickly, which caught her off guard.
"Wu Shi Powder is not a good thing. I will ban it tomorrow." Zhou Xu clicked his tongue: "Those idle scholars like to play with these harmful things."
Zhou Xu settled the matter in a few words, obviously not taking it seriously.
"We will go hunting the day after tomorrow. What color fur does Madam like? I will hunt for Madam." Zhou Xu asked.
Xiao Luolan looked at Sect Master Zhou and found that he really didn't care about this matter, listening to Sect Master Zhou's plans for the future trip with great interest.
Xiao Luolan realized it later.
The power of Clan Leader Zhou seems to be much greater than what he imagined. He is the direct official of the court and even Judge Xu is under his official position. However, Clan Master Zhou's words turned him into a tiger with its teeth pulled out.
At the same time, Sect Master Zhou was as cold-hearted as iron in some aspects.
Chapter 123 (Revision)
Deyan Study.
Zhou Xu sat in the study and took a sip of tea. His wife was sitting in his arms, one hand was around her waist, and the other was on the desk, flipping through the papers for her, with a lazy expression.
Xiao Luolan looked at the information found on the table very seriously.
It was already evening, and Deyan's study was very clean. Xiao Luolan knew that this was the study of Sect Leader Zhou, and she usually didn't come to visit. She had her own study, in the Di Cuixuan in Mingxin Hall.
What is on the table is the Qi family information found by Langge Qilin Guard. It is very detailed and includes old stories of relatives and friends, especially Qi Yiming, the eldest son of Qi. She became more and more silent, and finally she picked up Judge Xu's petition. There were several candidates for the position of judicial officer in the court, and there were only three candidates in total.
They were all members of the Zhou family, and two of them were quite familiar. They were both family members of Sect Leader Zhou, and one was beyond Xiao Luolan's expectation. But combined with the information she had just seen, she felt that this was indeed the case. Feel.
The last name is Zhou Yihong, who is over thirty-seven years old. Judge Xu wrote two words ("cruel official") next to it. Compared with the brothers Zhou Zongzhu and others, Yiyi Hong's blood relationship is very distant. He is the kind of distant relative. Or a collateral line.
The clan leader Zhou is a direct descendant of the Zhou family in Langge. There were no high officials in the previous generations and they did not have a big family background. However, they lived in Langge three generations ago and were an authentic local powerhouse. The Zhou clan, tribes, and guests closely united and gradually formed a local power. It was not until Zhou clan leader joined the army and fought in the army and killed enemies that he was promoted. Step by step, he changed from a low-ranking tyrant in the eyes of the family to a powerful one. Jiedushi.
And this Zhou Yihong was a branch of the Zhou family that had been separated a long time ago.
Zhou Yihong's branch is the concubine of Clan Master Zhou's grandfather, and the blood relationship is very weak. They were originally in the Yingchuan area, but after learning about Clan Master Zhou's rise, their family and their families came over. .
Xiao Luolan carefully looked at the life of Zhou Yihong. Although he was a member of the Zhou clan, he started from an ordinary petty official and rose to the rank of prison official. Due to his cruel nature, he had offended many dandy children of the Zhou family. He only has one son and one daughter. His wife died young and never married again. His son and Qi Yiming were good friends. It was heard that the two families wanted to marry Qin and Jin. In other words, as expected, Qi Yiming was the son-in-law of Zhou Yihong. .
The investigation was clear and the relationship was clear.
"Madam, do you understand?" Zhou Xu asked with a head.
Xiao Luolan put down the information in her hand: "Do you think Yiyi Hong instigated the Qi family's elder brother to tell me about the beggar?"
Zhou Xu took the piece of paper and glanced at it: "Yiyi Hong's son is studying in Nanji Academy, and the Qi family's son is also there. I feel like I'm kidding myself if I don't say that."
"Then why didn't Zhou Yihong tell me in person?" Xiao Luolan was a little confused.
"A venomous snake bites a person and will kill him with one blow. Zhou Yihong told you. If you don't investigate, madam, once the news is leaked, it won't be long before he will be squeezed out of the circle by the people in this family and lose all the hard work he has earned over the years." everything of."
"You see, with the help of the Qi family's elder brother, he can secretly observe the development of the situation, and he is completely aloof from it."
Xiao Luolan was silent for a long time this time. He wanted to ask many questions, but he couldn't.
Zhou Xu stroked his wife's back: "But you feel angry?"
Xiao Luolan said sadly: "I'm not smart enough." She should have thought that there was no chance.
"If someone complains about injustice next time, will Madam still help?" Seeing that Madam was in a low mood, Zhou Xu held her face and kissed her, which was very comforting.
Xiao Luolan thought about it carefully, her eyes showed struggle, and her hands curled up involuntarily: "I will let others handle it first."
Zhou Xu laughed heartily and thought the lady was very cute. He picked up the lady's hand, lowered his head and kissed the back of her hand.
"My wife came forward for the beggar incident, and my third uncle was suspended from work for investigation. Those in the Zhou family will not say anything on the surface, but they will have complaints in their hearts." Zhou Xu hugged his wife and said unhurriedly.
"As the leader of the Zhou clan, I hold a high position. With my power soaring to the sky, there will definitely be some clan members whose character cannot be improved."
"Strictly speaking, no one's hands are clean. It's just that there are different sizes of dirt." Zhou Xu knew very well that with a large family, it was inevitable that there would be moths under the lush branches and leaves. This was inevitable.
Xiao Luolan looked at Sect Leader Zhou.
"There are many relatives in the official positions. The deputy ambassador knew that the governor of Jiedu was Zhou Bin, and the commander of the army was Zhou Xuan. I originally wanted to reserve the secretary of Jiedushi for Cui Shizi, but unfortunately he was exiled, so I chose him. A son from a local family in Langge is only used for decoration, and the third uncle is the direct official of the court."
"There are only so many official positions in total, and no one wants to get down. I regard them as something in my pocket." Zhou Xu took a sip of tea: "My second brother Zhou Xuan went with me to fight, and my third brother assisted Shen Zhi in stabilizing the rear. Each of them has his own merits. But I think it’s time for some drunkards to abdicate and enjoy their blessings. Even if Madam hadn’t found out about this matter, I would have started to investigate some people, just like cleaning up the dust in advance of the New Year.”
Zhou Xu picked up the piece of paper with the candidates for the direct judicial officer of the government court written on it: "If we choose an outsider now, it may cause some people to backlash. We can only do it step by step. Zhou Yihong is smart and the timing is just right."
Xiao Luolan thought about it carefully and understood a little: "You have to use Zhou Yihong as a knife to eliminate some Zhou people." If Yi Yihong takes the position of the official of the court, it goes without saying that he will definitely promote his own people. Stagnant water is perishable, and official positions come and go, so naturally there will no longer be a dominant family.
And once it succeeds, it will naturally bring other people's thoughts to life.
"This is his shrewdness, which makes you have to use him."
Xiao Luolan picked up Zhou Yihong's information, and Qilin Guard wrote a full page for him. Judge Xu made a note behind him that the cruel official really did not make mistakes. This Zhou Yihong treated prisoners extremely ruthlessly. What made him famous is In a case of rape/murder of a woman, after the murderer was caught, a match was used to burn the prisoner's area, and the prisoner was tortured to death.
This incident was so shocking that it spread widely. After he was promoted to prison, the number of such criminals decreased rapidly.
To be fair, Xiao Luolan thought it was pretty good.
"But he still needs to be punished for plotting against Madam." Zhou Xu said: "Madam is kind-hearted, but that is not a reason for others to plot against her."
"I will let Shen Zhi handle this matter, Madam, don't think about it anymore." Zhou Xu said: "Those Zhou family members will also focus on Yiyi Hong. Let them fight for it in the future, Madam doesn't have to worry about it."
"When we get back from our trip, this matter will be almost settled."
Xiao Luolan thought for a while and realized that there was indeed nothing wrong with him now.
"Madam is unhappy?" Zhou Xu raised his chin and asked.
"No." Xiao Luolan sighed sadly: "I just feel like I'm not smart enough."
Zhou Xu smiled when he heard this and said, "How could it be possible? Madam has always been very kind and wise."
When Xiao Luolan heard the praise from Sect Leader Zhou, her original sadness slowly disappeared.
Zhou Xu held Madam's hand and said with a smile: "Madam has always been very good. Even if she is good, I don't want her to go outside."
Xiao Luolan didn't believe this. Sect Master Zhou didn't force her to go on the trip.
"I'm serious." Zhou Xu narrowed his eyes and smiled: "The world outside is quite chaotic. Madam will definitely get hurt if she goes outside. When I think about this, my heart aches."
Only then did Xiao Luolan realize that the outside was not the outside she imagined.
"So we have to be together all the time." Zhou Xu hugged his wife, caressing her back with his hand, and said softly.
Xiao Luolan pursed her lips, the tips of her ears were slightly red.
Chapter 124 (revision)
