After a banquet, Xiao Qingxue only felt that County Sheriff Lian was very talkative, and it could be said that the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves. After the banquet was over, Xiao Qingxue vaguely thought about why County Sheriff Lian invited her to dinner? She carefully recalled the contents of the banquet, but it seemed that she didn't say much.
It's like meeting friends and just having a meal together.
She kept her grandma's advice in mind and didn't even drink.
However, Master Lian finally offered to send her some skilled Yanshi masters, but Xiao Qingxue refused. She was sure that she did not reveal anything at the banquet, but Lian Shiqing guessed so accurately and so quickly...
Xiao Qingxue looked at Xue Si who was riding a horse and asked: "Xue Si, do you know Lian Shiqing?"
Xue Si seemed to be thinking about something, and after a while he said: "We met several times a long time ago."
Xiao Qingxue was curious. Lian Shiqing was a high-ranking official, while Xue Si was a wanderer with no place to live. How did they meet?
Seemingly seeing Mrs. Xiao's curiosity, Xue Si said after a while: "Mrs. Xiao, do you know how Mr. Lian got the title of corrupt official?"
Xiao Qingxue shook her head: "I don't know."
Xue Si lowered his eyes, as if he was about to fall asleep, and said in a light voice: "In the third year of Daxiang, there was a severe drought, and there was no harvest in Yuzhou. The surrounding counties began to open official warehouses to relieve the victims, and asked wealthy households to donate grain. My family is the one that donates food.”
"Because it is close to Yuzhou, the victims swarmed over and there was no supply at all. The Ming government ordered the city gate to be closed." Xue Si's voice became softer and softer: "My father, my mother, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my two younger sisters are kind-hearted. They are all very kind." Well, I was studying abroad at the time, and I wrote to them to tell them not to give out porridge again, for fear of disaster."
He suddenly asked: "Has Mrs. Xiao seen the victims?"
When Xiao Qingxue heard this, her lips pursed, feeling inexplicably sad.
"You must have never seen it before." Xue Si said: "People who are extremely hungry are no longer human beings, they are wild beasts. A large number of wild beasts attacked the county town. After the city was broken, they rushed to the government office and found that there was no extra food. I beat Ming Zun to death, and then started to plunder wealthy people."
"My family had given out porridge, and they had done so diligently, and they were recognized by the victims, so the victims rushed into my house. Unfortunately, my family didn't have much food. The angry victims beat my father and the others to death."
Xiao Qingxue felt breathless as she listened.
"As for why the county government has no food." Xue Si continued: "That's because most of the food in the surrounding counties was transferred to Lord Lian for distribution. Lord Lian was the magistrate of Yuzhou County at that time, and borrowed money from Yuzhou County. The order of Shou diverted the disaster relief grains and replaced them with several times more bran for the victims to eat and make a profit from it."
Xiao Qingxue was silent: "Does the court just not care?"
"Gong Gong, the nobles of the dynasty, and the Minister of Household Affairs are in charge of money and food, but until the disaster was over, the court did not see a grain of food distributed."
"Ms. Xiao, do you think I should stab Master Lian to death when I see him?" Xue Si asked.
Xiao Qingxue was startled.
Xue Si lowered his head, as if asleep.
Chapter 136 (Qingxue plot)
Early in the morning.
When Zhou Shenzhi heard Uncle Sun's reply, his sister not only did not go out to play, but also did not go to the entertainment places in the house, such as Jinghu Lake, Plum Garden, Persimmon Garden, not even the boat, and even the zoo that she had always been curious about. Even in her own Lumingyuan, she even missed half a bowl of breakfast.
"Are you sick?" Zhou Shenzhi put down his brush.
"Bingqin said that the young lady took people out to play well yesterday. She got up and watched her several times at night as usual. The young lady's bedding was well covered and she didn't look like she was sick." Uncle Sun was sitting on the young master's table. Below Jun, he said: "My little lady, I felt a little gloomy when I got up this morning. She hasn't looked good for a long time."
After Uncle Sun retired, Zhou Shenzhi called for Zhang Ping, the head guard of Zhou's house who had accompanied his sister out yesterday.
Zhang Ping came quickly.
"Yesterday you followed A-mei. Please tell me in detail who she met and everything she encountered." Zhou Shenzhi took a sip of tea and changed his mind. It will be time for his father and mother to come back in the next two days. That's it, he didn't want anything to happen during this time.
Zhang Ping talked about yesterday's events in a polite manner, including the young lady's visit to Cui's house and her encounter with County Sheriff Lian on the way. After visiting Shangqing for a while, the young lady took Xue Si to the Xinghua Restaurant in the inner city, and then went to It tells the story between Xue Si and Sheriff Lian.
Zhou Shenzhi recalled his suspicion that A-mei was probably delighted with the talent and wanted Xue Si to be her guest.
However, in Zhou Shenzhi's view, there is no need for Amei to be so low-profile towards Xue Si. There are many strange people in the world, but the Gongsun family's Yanshu is unique. Why should they only identify Xue Si? After all, he is still younger and can easily Being seen through and manipulated.
Zhou Shenzhi frowned slightly, not liking Xue Si very much.
He deliberately mentioned the Yuzhou incident in front of his sister, hoping to create a gap between her and Lian Shiqing. However, his father and mother had previously gone to the Lian Mansion for a banquet, and later even gave him a wild roe deer. This The signal made Lian Shiqing quickly become popular in Langge.
I believe that when he returns to Taiyang soon, Yang Dong, the commander of Taiyang County, will not embarrass him.
You must know that Li Bozhi, the governor of Taiyang County, has been in Taiyang for so many years, but he still cannot get rid of the control of Taiyang Commandery Yang Dong. Died of illness on the way back to Chang'an.
But Lian Shiqing had only been here for a few months, and he already gained favor from his father. Zhou Shenzhi couldn't help but pay more attention to him.
Bold and careful, cunning as a fox, looking at his past experience, Zhou Shenzhi deeply felt that Lian Shiqing was not an easy person to deal with. For such a person, Xue Si would want his sister to confront Lian Shiqing...
Zhou Shenzhi's eyes were slightly cold.
Is it necessary to clearly tell his sister about the grudge between the Xue family and Lian Shiqing? As soon as the Yuzhou disaster relief food incident came out, Lian Shiqing was demoted one after another. The late emperor finally transferred him to Zhuya County in the wilderness and became a small county magistrate. After the current emperor ascended the throne, Lian Shiqing used the South China Sea pearls to discuss After winning the favor of Concubine Xi, the favored concubine in the palace, he rose through the ranks and returned to the central position of the imperial court.
How can it be simple for such a man to have been an emperor for two generations and now to be attached to his father?
Zhou Shenzhi looked at the information presented by the Qilin Guards and fell into deep thought. He remained silent for a long time and finally vaguely understood why the imperial court at that time turned a blind eye to the disaster in Yuzhou.
Lian Shiqing was born in the Haoying family in Fengzhou, and he had already taken the position of Yuzhou County Magistrate at a young age. He was only twenty-three years old at the time, which was exactly fifteen years apart from this year.
If asked which number Zhou Shenzhi is most sensitive to, it is only fifteen.
Fifteen years ago, when his father happened to win the war and the Yuzhou disaster occurred, it was certainly impossible for the late emperor to ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate grain for disaster relief. He must have been extremely worried that his father would disobey discipline and rebel. Based on this possibility, the late emperor would only He held the grain tightly in his hands. Even though his father later went to Chang'an in person and expressed no objection, the suspicious and aging emperor was still full of strong doubts about his father. The more doubtful he was, the more he wanted to arrest him. Living with food and grass as military guards, the ant victims are nothing in his eyes...
Zhou Shenzhi kept speculating in his mind about what happened that year.
The imperial court did not distribute food. The governor of Yuzhou County at that time should be a member of the late emperor. Whether Lian Shiqing used the order of the governor of Yuzhou to raise grain or the governor of Yuzhou could not bear the tragic plight of the victims and ordered Lian Shiqing to do it. Zhou Shenzhi They all felt that Lian Shiqing dealt with it well.
For those who sit in high positions, the people below must have heard about any orders from above, let alone a smart person like Lian Shiqing.
What should you do when you are sure that the court will not provide disaster relief and you can only rely on yourself?
There are several counties in a state, and half of the affected areas are affected by the disaster. The victims are like locusts, grass roots, tree bark, and soil. They have eaten what they can eat and what they cannot eat. Only the surrounding counties can be rescued. How to save them? Zhou Shen Zhi didn't know whether Lian Shiqing was thinking about saving people or making a fortune at that time, but he guessed that he wouldn't be able to make much money.
Generally, the price of wheat bran and rice bran is much cheaper than that of rice, and the situation becomes more and more the further north you go. This is due to my father's victory in the war in the north for many years.
According to Qilinwei's temporary investigation, Lian Shiqing sold the grain he raised to Fengzhou through the Bugu River in Luoyang, which means that he moved the grain to Fengzhou.
The governor of Fengzhou County was naturally happy. In a year of great disaster, who would despise having too much food? Because of this act of family ties, he gave Lian Shiqing a large amount of wheat bran and rice bran, and later joined forces with neighboring states and counties to provide some support.
This back and forth actually allowed Lian Shiqing to persist until the disaster was barely over.
Zhou Shenzhi noticed that during this incident, Lian Shiqing never touched anything in his house. Even if the victims outside were about to starve to death, he still ate and drank well.
Zhou Shenzhi guessed that this might be the point at which he was attacked later.
The sage said: If you are successful, you can help the world; if you are poor, you can only benefit yourself.
The Xue family and he seemed to be the opposite. Compared to the Lian family, the Xue family was the poor one, but they managed to help the world, while the Lian family was a powerful family, but they only took care of themselves.
Can the Xue family be wrong? Zhou Shenzhi shook his head slightly when he thought of this. Before the Xue family was destroyed, it was a truly good person's act. What was wrong? If it was wrong, it was also the fault of the hungry and dizzy victims.
Those victims killed Xue Si's family. Why didn't Xue Si kill them? Because he couldn't find them. The group of victims was too big. Maybe they just threw a stone each. Since he couldn't find them, it would be easy for him to kill them. Hatred was grafted onto Lian Shiqing because his family was killed because he raised food and caused the county government to run out of food.
Xue Si had the guts to hate Lian Shiqing, but why didn't he have the guts to hate the imperial court? After all, it was the late emperor who refused to allow the central court to provide disaster relief. Maybe he also hated it, but after all, the late emperor was dead and he couldn't hate it anymore. Or maybe he also had resentment towards his father. of…
Zhou Shenzhi subconsciously thinks a lot when he thinks about things, just like the name his father gave him. He hopes that he can think about everything carefully and make every decision.
Otherwise, there is no way to explain why Xue Si suddenly told Amei about him. Maybe he felt that he had no resentment because he helped his father when he was in Gu Chang. But on the other hand, he is likely to take advantage of this idea. Fooled myself.
In fact, many people are unwilling to face their own hearts. Zhou Shenzhi would rather think about everyone's psychology in a dark way, rather than being left alone in the event of an unexpected situation.
Besides, anyone who has helped must be a good person. Even if Xue Si is a good friend of Cui Langjun, he doesn't want Amei to continue to recruit Xue Si.
In short, this person is not suitable to be around his sister.
Zhou Shenzhi got up and asked the kitchen to make a cup of caramel milk tea.
When arriving at Luming Garden, Xiao Qingxue was surprised to see her stepbrother coming.
"Brother, why are you here?"
Zhou Shenzhi handed the milk tea to his sister: "I heard that you had a bad appetite in the morning, so I came to see you."
Xiao Qingxue hugged Snowball, touched its fur, and took a satisfied sip of milk tea. She finally felt better: "No, I have a good appetite."
"That's good." Zhou Shenzhi smiled and said, "Tomorrow I will send you a Yanshi from the Gongsun family and let him play with you. If you have any gadgets you want to make, let him teach you."
Xiao Qingxue blinked and didn't react. Then she realized that brother seemed to know what she was doing, and felt a little awkward for a moment: "I don't need it."
"Do you not want Gongsun's family or do you only want Xue Si?" Zhou Shenzhi sat down and prepared to have a heart-to-heart talk with Amei.
Xiao Qingxue suddenly felt that this stepbrother was very much like Sect Leader Zhou. He seemed to have choices, but in fact he had no choice. He especially liked to make decisions for others.
"Forget it, no more." Xiao Qingxue shook her head. After these few days of tutorials, she also knew the steps of fireworks. She even made one by herself yesterday. It should be no problem. Xue Si taught her very seriously.
"Really?" Zhou Shenzhi asked again.
"No more." Xiao Qingxue nodded heavily.
Zhou Shenzhi sat next to his sister. Seeing that she was not angry, he touched his sister's head happily.
His obedient sister made his hands feel itchy.
"You are bored at home, can I ask Shiliu to come over and play with you?"
Xiao Qingxue was confused, why did she let an oversized naughty kid come over? Do they hate each other?
She shook her head quickly: "No, Shiliu, I'll go and play with Amu later."
Zhou Shenzhi sent his sister out.
Xiao Qingxue said she was going to Tuoba's house. After riding around in a circle, she still stopped at Cui's house. She just told Cui Langjun yesterday that she wanted Xue Si to be her disciple, but she went back on her word today, which made Xiao Qingxue blush. .
When they arrived at Cui Langjun's place, Xiao Qingxue sat on the steps next to Cui Langjun, still not knowing how to speak.
"It's snowing," Cui Shizi said.
Xiao Qingxue hesitated for a long time and finally spoke: "Cui Langjun, Xue Si told me something yesterday. I..."
"I know." Cui Shizi smiled.
Xiao Qingxue was stunned for a moment, she hadn't said anything yet.
Cui Shizi coughed and said in a muffled voice: "There is no need to worry about Qingxue, and Xue Si doesn't care either. He will leave Langge and continue wandering in a few days."
Xiao Qingxue sat next to Cui Shizi, feeling lost and depressed. Then she took out a red envelope from her arms and gave it to Cui Langjun: "Cui Langjun, this is my New Year's gift to Xue Si. Please give it to him. Just think of it as my tuition fee for what he taught me.”
Cui Shizi accepted it with a smile: "Okay, he will definitely accept it."
After Xiao Qingxue left.
Xue Si walked out of the house. Cui Shizi gave him the red envelope and said with a smile: "Qingxue's New Year's greetings to you."
Xue Si received the red envelope, sat on another bamboo chair, looked at the sky, and said after a long time: "I finally said it. It's uncomfortable to keep those things in my heart. It's okay. I don't have to choose. Someone else took it for me." Idea, I’m leaving in a few days.”
