The next morning, Gu Qi wore light blue clothes, opened the door and yawned at the red sun climbing up the wall.
"Good morning, sir."
Following the sound, Rong Di came from the martial arts school in the east and saw Gu Qi greeting him with a smile, revealing a row of white teeth.
"General Rong is so hardworking, no wonder he can guard Qingzhou and protect the people of Lan Country!"
Rong Di scratched his head: "It's a good thing to strengthen your body. If you can do your part to defend the territory, your life will be considered in vain!"
While they were chatting, Yan Churong walked out of the side room: "General Rong."
"Good morning, Doctor Yan! Thank you..." Rong Di was just about to say thank you to the lady, but he was afraid that Yan Churong wouldn't know and it would be inappropriate to expose his daughter's family's identity. He was so outspoken that he swallowed his words and changed his words: "How is Xie Ling?"
"I drank hangover soup last night, and I woke up later if I thought about it."
"Oh." Rong Di was sweating all over and felt a little cold standing in the courtyard. He said generously: "Sir and Dr. Yan will go sit in the hall first. I will go take a shower and change clothes. By the way, I will tell the kitchen to make some delicious side dishes and we will have breakfast together." meal."
Gu Qi and Yan Churong bowed to Rong Diqian: "Thank you."
Rong Di took a small path and went straight to the backyard.
"Let's go."
Gu Qi turned around and saw that Yan Churong was back to his previous appearance, smiling like a spring breeze.
I think it was the confession last night that solved the knot in my heart.
Gu Qi laughed happily and walked towards Yan Churong with bumpy steps: "Let's go!"
The two walked side by side under the eaves of the corridor, laughing uncontrollably.
Walking further, you will approach the main hall.
Gu Qi steadied her feet, straightened her body, and the smile in her eyes gradually disappeared.
The same is true for Yan Churong, who returned to his aloof look.
The sun climbed up, shining through the eaves of the corridor and shining on the pillars under the corridor.
When the maids and servants sweeping next to them saw Gu Qi and Yan Churong, they all saluted: "Master Pei, Doctor Yan."
After entering the main hall and taking a seat, the maid served hot tea.
After half a cup of tea, a maid came forward and led the two of them straight to the backyard.
Rong Di changed into a gray and blue pullover and stood at the door. When he saw Gu Qi and Yan Churong approaching, he greeted them with a smile: "His Royal Highness said that the front hall will entertain the Secretary of State Mu Yan later. I'm afraid the smell of the meal will be gone." If I don't go out, I will put the table in my room."
"Okay, excuse me for disturbing the general."
"Hey, sir, what are you talking about?" Rong Di raised his hand and slapped Gu Qi in the palm, then said to the maid: "You can go down."
"yes."
Stepping into the room, Yuan Zhe was already sitting at the table. Wearing a dark coat, the collar and cuffs are inlaid with gold thread, and wearing black gold-inlaid short boots. The green and white round jade hangs on the waist, and the bright yellow tassels are extremely conspicuous.
"Your Highness."
"Well, take a seat."
Just as Gu Qi was about to sit down, Rong Di picked him up and said, "Sir, you are next to His Highness."
After that, he sat down at the bottom of the table.
"Where's Xie Ling?"
"Back to Your Highness, she is not awake yet. Otherwise, should I call her?"
Yuan Zhe raised his hand: "That's all, prepare one for her and send it to her room later."
Breakfast consisted of nothing more than porridge and side dishes, with a plate of vegetarian buns in the middle.
Gu Qi drank a bowl of porridge, grabbed some vegetarian buns and stuffed them into her mouth.
Looking at Rong Di again, his mouth is full and he is eating deliciously.
On the other hand, Yuan Zhe and Yan Churong were enjoying themselves.
After a simple breakfast, Yan Churong returned to the wing.
Gu Qi and Rong Di followed Yuan Zhe to the front hall to drink tea.
At five o'clock in the morning, Rong Di called the boy to wait in front of the Prefectural Shepherd's Mansion. Before the tea was drunk, a boy ran in: "Your Highness, General, Lord Yan is here!"
Rong Di put down the teacup, sat on the armchair, and his deep voice echoed throughout the hall: "Well, bring us in."
Gu Qi stood up and stuck his head out slightly.
I saw an official wearing a crimson court uniform walking in panic with the servant. This man has a stooped body. He is about the same age as Feng Rui, but taller than Feng Rui. The corners of his eyes are full of fine lines, presumably because he laughs a lot.
Gu Qi lowered his head and bent down: "Greetings to Mr. Yan."
The man was startled, laughed awkwardly, walked to the front hall with broken steps, and saluted respectfully: "Greetings to His Highness, General Rong."
Yuan Zhe sat at the main seat, swallowed the tea in his mouth, and said "hmm".
Rong Di stood up and prepared to introduce Gu Qi. Suddenly he remembered that when he went to Hongxiu Tower yesterday, the name in the newspaper with Jiang Mingchuan was "Gu Gongzi". Yuan Zhe did not refute, maybe he deliberately hid his identity.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly feel happy that after so many years with Yuan Zhe, he finally made some progress!
"What's the current population of Qingzhou?"
Xu Shi didn't expect that Yuan Zhe would ask such a question, and Zhou Muyan's secretary was a little confused. But he still has the ability to speak when he is in official circles.
Yan Shuqing burst into laughter, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened: "Back to Your Highness, I asked several county guards a few months ago. It's been a long time since now, so I might not be able to give an exact number."
As expected.
Gu Qi raised his eyebrows.
Yuan Zhe also knew that if there was no conscription or recruitment of strong men for construction projects, the county guards would not pay attention to the increase or decrease in the population of each county. The household registration population is only corrected by county magistrates every two or three years and then reported to counties and states. As for the figures submitted to the capital, they are even more inaccurate.
As the prince of the country, he has always focused on the border wars and court struggles, but he has never paid attention to the situation of the people.
Guilt flashed in Yuan Zhe's eyes, his brows furrowed slightly and then slowly relaxed.
He became convinced and pretended to be angry: "You, the state shepherd, can't even figure out the population of this small Qingzhou! If there are disappearances, abductions, or even murders and burials within your jurisdiction, can you afford it?" !”
Yan Shuqing was so frightened that he fell to his knees on the ground, and the smile on his face disappeared: "Your Highness, forgive me! I was negligent in my duty! I will go and investigate right now!"
"You have one day to copy the household registration lists of each county. Regardless of status, all records must be recorded!"
"Yes! I obey!"
Yuan Zhe narrowed his eyes and sneered at the corner of his mouth: "If there is one less person, I will dismantle you and bury you all over Qingzhou, and let you count slowly."
Yan Shuqing was so frightened that he felt a sense of warmth under his crotch. He tightened his legs and trembled: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, don't worry! There will be no fault in any household!"
"Hmph, let's go! Tomorrow at midnight, I want to see your transcript."
"Yes, yes, Wei Chen is resigning..."
Yan Shuqing stood up slowly, beat his weak legs with both hands, and retreated out under the cover of his wide court clothes.
At Mao o'clock the next day, Yan Shuqing stood at the door of the general's mansion.
After Yuan Zhe had had breakfast, it was rumored that Shu Qing had entered the house.
Yan Shuqing held up a thick stack of paper in his hand: "Your Highness, this is the household registration list that I compiled yesterday."
Rong Di stepped forward to take it and handed it to Yuan Zhe.
After a general glance, the handwriting is different.
But if Yan Shuqing were to copy it by himself, he might not be able to finish it in three days and three nights.
He flipped through two pages, raised his eyes and asked, "Have you checked carefully to make sure that none of them are settled?"
Yan Shuqing swallowed and raised a trembling finger: "The only thing missing is the Jiang family."
The Jiang family is a big family in Qingzhou, not to mention that Jiang Mingchuan is engaged in the business of abducting and selling women. I'm afraid the Jiang family has a lot hidden.
Yuan Zhe's eyebrows deepened slightly, and a deep wrinkle appeared on his forehead: "What's the reason?"
Yan Shuqing felt that it was difficult to deal with both sides. On one side was the powerful Prince Zhenguo, and on the other side was the powerful Jiang family. He couldn't afford to offend him! He looked embarrassed and replied bravely: "Your Highness, the Jiang family is, after all, relatives of the emperor. I am afraid I have no rights..."
"Where's the Red Sleeve Building?"
"Yes, it has not been registered. The household registration kept by the county government shows that the population has not changed much in recent years. If you want to come to the Jiang family, you will not report false information, so I did not check it."
Yuan Zhe flipped back and finally found the Jiang family's household registration in the middle of the stack of papers.
"Okay, go ahead."
"My lord, please retire."
Yan Shuqing felt relieved and walked steadily out of the hall, then trotted out of the house.
"What do you think?"
Gu Qi stood in front of the hall, stepped forward to take the order from Yuan Zhe, glanced at it and said, "There must be something fishy."
"How to deal with it?"
"Hmm..." Gu Qi held her chin and thought carefully, then turned to look at the other orders on the case and sighed: "I think we can proceed in two steps at the same time."
"continue."
"First, I can check this copied list with the list compiled by Li Jinghao and the others. If there is anything, it is good. If not, there is no need to pay attention to these households; secondly, Your Highness, you have to send Personally, go to the Jiang family and try to figure out the population. If the numbers don’t match, there’s obviously something wrong.”
"Yes." Yuan Zhe turned to look at Rong Di: "Do you understand?"
Rong Di's eyes were full of admiration and he looked at Gu Qi: "I understand! I actually understand it! Sir, you are really talented!"
Gu Qi was amused by his silly appearance: "General Rong, let's praise him later, His Highness hasn't spoken yet."
Yuan Zhe nodded to Gu Qi, smiled and shook his head: "Pei Qihuan, at your young age, it is already very good that you can think of this."
"However," the topic changed, Gu Qi looked up at Yuan Zhe.
Seeing Yuan Zhe speak slowly: "If it is really a Tibetan, it would be easy. What I am afraid of is that there are batches of women with the same household registration."
Rong Di looked confused: "How is this possible? Every additional person must be registered. Even if a slave is bought or sold, the household registration list will be transferred with the slave. If you are carrying the same registration deed list, you will definitely notice it. That’s it.”
"What if it's fake?"
Rong Di waved his hand towards Gu Qi: "No matter how powerful you are, you would not dare to make false claims. The woman from Tuzhou must follow the household registration list."
Gu Qi had never understood this before, but after listening to Rong Di's explanation, he continued to think.
When a woman from Tuzhou comes out, she must have her own household registration form with her.
She looked at the pile of papers on the case and frowned deeply.
If it is true as Yuan Zhe said, there is a special set of household registration lists, which are assigned to batches of women.
Then the original owner of this household registration is expected to be in trouble.
The household registration that the Tuzhou woman holds is definitely not from Tuzhou.
"No!" Gu Qi's eyes were filled with anxiety. She stepped forward and picked up all the copy papers on the case: "Your Highness, one day!"
Yuan Zhe looked at Gu Qi and nodded.
Seeing Gu Qifeng running out in a hurry, Rong Di Zhanger was confused: "Your Highness, what's wrong with him?"
Yuan Zhe glanced at Rong Di: "If you can understand people's hearts and think quickly like him, I can entrust Qingzhou to you."
"Your Highness is making fun of me again!" Rong Dihan laughed.
Yuan Zhe didn't smile at all. The Jiang family was a hidden danger after all.
