Yang Ming couldn't talk to Yang Yinjiang about matters related to Gao Yue. After all, it involved the Jade Seal of the Kingdom, which was of great importance.
Besides, Pei Ju planted an informant in his house. If Yang Yinjiang found out, he would definitely fall out.
Who wants a spy hiding in their own home?
At noon that day, Yang Ming came to see Pei Shuying. After the latter read the letter, he immediately burned it.
"What I mean is that I suspect that this male slave may be Gao Lande?"
Yang Ming nodded and said: "Although it was not stated clearly in the letter, your father must have figured out a possibility."
Pei Ju is so cautious. He will tell you everything he found out, but he will not tell you his opinion on the matter, because that way, it will be easy to guide Yang Ming and others in the same direction. to think, resulting in limitations in thinking.
He wanted Yang Ming to judge and figure it out for himself.
This is the problem for people who are used to being secretaries. Pei Ju has served Yang Jian for twenty years. He has prepared everything perfectly, but he has never made a decision.
Yang Jian was in charge of the Great Sui Dynasty, and he was the only one who could make the decision. Pei Ju was just the one who came up with the idea.
"It is said that the imperial seal was sent by Hu Lu Xiaoqing back then. This male slave is hiding in his house, probably with ulterior motives," Pei Shuying whispered, "Do you think this person could be Gao Lande?" I said that this person is around twenty-four or five years old, and the time seems to be right."
Yang Ming asked: "How old is Gao Yue? Has Chen Shuyi found out?"
During this period, Pei Shuying and Chen Shuyi got along very well, and they often went to Gao Yue's place to chat. She went there with a purpose, and her brain was better than Chen Shuyi's, so it was easier to find out some information.
Although Pei Shuying is outspoken, she also divides things between people. When chatting about trivial matters, she is carefree and dares to say anything. When it comes to key issues, she will hide a lot, which also makes her quickly gain Gao Yue's favor.
"Thirty-one years old," Pei Shuying said, "I was born in Yecheng in the second year of Jiande."
Jiande is the reign name of Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, who was Yang Lihua's father-in-law.
Thirty-one years old, in later generations, she could still be called a young woman, but in the Sui Dynasty, she was half an old lady.
Yang Ming asked curiously: "Have you seen her face?"
"No," Pei Shuying said mischievously: "I couldn't help but want to open the door and take a look several times, but I was afraid of upsetting her and missing the point, so I held back. However, the skin on her arms was very tender and smooth, so I couldn't help but take a look. Like a thirty-year-old woman.”
Tsk tsk... don't talk nonsense, thirty is not old at all, okay? You don't understand the kindness of young women.
Yang Ming said: "Although your grandfather didn't say it clearly in the letter, I guess he probably guessed that this male slave was Gao Lande. In the eyes of the Gao family, Hu Lu Xiaoqing was a seller seeking glory. He was hiding in Hu." The Lu Mansion probably wanted to harm others, and by the way, there is nothing wrong with Hu Lu Xiaoqing's death, right?"
Pei Shuying shook her head and said: "No, I have a good relationship with Hulu Xiaoqing. He was old and frail, and he was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He was already overwhelmed and died of a normal illness."
Yang Ming nodded.
It is not easy to be a servant in the Yue Gong Mansion. In fact, most of the servants in the great Sui family came from their hometown. In other words, the servants in the Yang Su Mansion were basically from Hongnong County.
Since this man has a Xiangzhou accent and is a stranger, how did he get into the Yue Gong Mansion?
The only possibility is that he was brought in.
If this is the case, then the person who originally wrote to Gao Yue, saying that Gao Lande was in his hands, could it be Yang Su or Yang Yue?
The possibility is not small...
Yang Ming whispered: "Don't let Yin Jiang know about Gao Yue's affairs from now on. I will tell her about this matter later."
"I know," Pei Shuying nodded seriously: "Until the matter comes to an end, we can only rot in our stomachs."
Yang Ming smiled and raised his hand to touch her cheek. Pei Shuying took advantage of the situation and got into Yang Ming's arms. At this moment, Xu Jingfeng rushed in from outside.
"Something happened over there, your highness. Go take a look."
Yang Ming was stunned and hurriedly took Pei Shuying to the dormitory where Dugu Feng'er lived.
Because Dugu Feng'er often gets sick, she lives far away from Yang Ming, located in the northeast corner of the palace.
This was arranged by Yang Yinjiang. There were thirty slaves responsible for serving Dugu Feng'er, three cooks, seventeen male slaves, and twenty female slaves. They were all brought by Yang Yinjiang from her natal family. They are absolutely reliable. .
At this time, there were four guards in the courtyard who were all decorated. Although they would not die, it was enough for them to drink a pot.
In the center of the courtyard, Dugu Feng'er stood barefoot, with long hair disheveled, holding a horizontal knife in his hand, looking around with a cold expression, and a fierce look.
The servants had long been frightened by this scene and hid far away, while more than twenty royal guards had already surrounded Dugu Feng'er.
When Yang Ming came in, his personal guard Chen Kui quickly stood in front of Yang Ming and said solemnly:
"Your Highness, be careful. This woman's swordsmanship is superb. She has already injured four people in a row."
Yang Ming was stunned and said in a deep voice: "What's going on?"
It turned out that one of the maids responsible for serving Dugu Feng'er was quite undisciplined and not very attentive. She complained privately that the crazy woman was difficult to serve. The guards responsible for guarding the place had Yang Yinjiang's command. Anyone who was slack and dissatisfied would be punished with minor punishment. If you receive the rod, if it is severe, you will receive the whip.
So the maidservant was dragged out by the guards and given a few sticks. Somehow, this move irritated Dugu Feng'er, who immediately grabbed the knife and wounded her. The four guards did not fight her, and then reported it to Chen Kui. .
Chen Kui only knew that an important mad woman was imprisoned here, but he did not know the identity of Dugu Feng'er, so he wanted to seize the weapon from the opponent's hand.
As a result, he couldn't win it, and he almost lost the prize.
After Yang Ming heard this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Before Dugu Feng'er got sick, she was notoriously wild. Even Dugu Jialuo had to teach her personally to suppress her wildness.
His biological father is the most powerful man in the Dugu family and is good at using swords. From this, it can be seen that Dugu Feng'er's sword skills should be good.
Yang Ming pushed aside Chen Kui who was blocking him and walked towards Dugu Feng'er.
In fact, he was also very panicked, fearing that the other person would not recognize him when he was sick and would stab him.
Fortunately, after seeing Yang Ming, Dugu Feng'er's eyes instantly softened and she even smiled silly at Yang Ming.
"Put down the knife," Yang Ming raised his hand to gesture to her.
Dugu Feng'er smiled, picked up the scabbard on the ground with her toes, performed a beautiful backhand return in the air, and then kicked the blade, just in time to kick the sword directly in front of Chen Kui, who reached out to catch it, dumbfounded. .
Yang Ming breathed a sigh of relief and ordered: "The guards responsible for guarding this place from now on are not allowed to carry sharp blades."
Then he added: "The stick is also spared."
After sending everyone away, Dugu Feng'er let Yang Ming pull her back to the house.
"Okay, you should go back too." After Yang Ming persuaded Pei Shuying to leave, he called his maid Ah Qi and asked:
"Has the girl been seriously ill these past few days?"
Girl is what Yang Ming calls Dugu Feng'er.
Ah Qi said: "Since we came to Jingzhou, the girl's condition has improved a lot, especially after every visit by His Highness, the girl has not been sick for three or two days."
"Very good," Yang Ming nodded, caressing Dugu Feng'er who was kneeling in front of him, and said, "Don't let her idle. Occasionally take her to the back garden to let her play and get some air."
"My slave knows," Ah Qi retreated.
Yang Ming smiled and held Dugu Feng'er's face, and said softly: "Don't mess around in the future, let alone hurt others, because no one here will hurt you, do you understand?"
Dugu Feng'er nodded, then shook his head.
Yang Ming didn't understand what she meant at all.
This girl is really powerful. She is so thin that even four strong guards can't subjugate her. No wonder grandma hasn't let him see Dugu Feng'er for so many years. She must be afraid that she will be scared and doesn't want to marry her. .
As long as Yang Ming stays here, Dugu Feng'er behaves normally. Except for still not speaking, in other aspects, she has become much more relaxed than when Yang Ming first met her.
Yang Yue had heard that Dugu Feng'er would say some weird things when she was sick, but he had never heard her speak. Wouldn't this girl not be able to speak anymore?
After comforting her for a long time, Yang Ming wanted to get away, but was caught tightly by the other party. He had no choice but to leave her unless he coaxed her to sleep.
So Yang Ming patiently taught her how to speak.
"Ah, look at my mouth shape, ah..."
Dugu Feng'er frowned and looked at Yang Ming with a strange expression.
Yang Ming said again: "Mom, mom, mom, will you follow me? I know you can understand me."
Dugu Feng'er pursed her chapped lips and smiled strangely.
This can't be taught. She won't open her mouth.
Doesn’t a baby’s language learning begin with mom and dad? So Yang Ming planned to teach him from the most basic level.
"Dad, dad, dad..."
...
An hour later, perhaps because Dugu Feng'er felt that Yang Ming was too boring, she felt sleepy and fell asleep on Yang Ming's lap.
After picking him up and putting him on the bed, Yang Ming shook his head helplessly.
I can't teach her anymore. From now on, I can teach whoever I love. I've dried up my spit, but she won't open her mouth.
In the following days, Yang Ming will take Yang Yinjiang and others to leave the General Manager's Mansion and ride their horses to the countryside for some fun.
Pei Shuying is also from the north and has never seen the Yangtze River, so she insisted on taking a boat to enjoy the scenery on both sides.
There are people taking care of the affairs of the General Manager's Mansion, so Yang Ming is not worried. Since Pei Shuying, a landlubber, likes to take boats, he might as well go along the river and take a look at Xiangyang.
He has never met the person named Shen Qu. Since he is using him, it is natural to let the other party know whose food you are eating.
As a result, as soon as the big ship arrived at Jiangxia Pier, it was stopped by Murong Sanzang, the governor of Jiangling County.
How did he run from Jiangling to Jiangxia?
With doubts, Yang Ming asked the latter to board the ship.
With a bitter look on his face, Murong Sanzang presented a document from the Ministry of Officials to Yang Ming, and then begged:
"Your Highness must make the decision for your subordinates."
The content of this letter was an indictment. It was said that when Murong Sanzang followed Wei Guan to conquer Lingnan, he killed civilians indiscriminately and lied about military pay. Now that he was reported, the Ministry of Official Affairs asked him to return to Beijing to explain to the Ministry of Punishment. Just be clear.
After Yang Ming read the letter, he knew what was going on. He was just looking for trouble.
This is the usual way of doing things in Shangshu Province. He will keep the matter in a trivial tone first so that you can return to the capital with peace of mind. As long as you dare to go back and do nothing to investigate, you will be arrested and sentenced directly.
Murong Sanzang was an old Jianghu, and he knew that it would be very difficult to go there, so he divided his troops into two groups. First, he sent someone to send a letter to Wei Chong, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, to plead for mercy. On his side, he quickly found Yang Ming and wanted Yang Ming to help him first. Dragging.
He used to hang out with Wei Chong, who was Wei Chong's second brother. After Wei Chong's death, Murong Sanzang still maintained a very good relationship with Jingzhao Wei.
Later, after Wei Chong came to power, he took refuge with Wei Chong and still relied on Wei Chong's protection.
Yang Ming's second brother, King Yang Jian of Yuzhang, was Wei Chong's son-in-law, so Murong Sanzang knew that Yang Ming would help him.
that's the truth.
Because Yang Ming felt a little strange. He was the general manager of Jingzhou and Jiangling County was under his jurisdiction. If the officials wanted to touch Murong Sanzang, they should say hello to him first.
Now without saying hello, he asked the prefect of a county to return to the capital and cooperate with the investigation. It was obvious that he did not take him seriously.
Among the officials, Liu Shu was the only one who dared not to take Yang Ming seriously. It was impossible for anyone else to step over Yang Ming and touch Murong Sanzang directly.
He really takes himself seriously. He has only been pampered for a few days and is he so arrogant?
Yang Ming was also very decisive in his work. He asked Xu Jing to bring a pen and ink and wrote four words: "Nothing has happened."
Then he stamped it with the seal of the General Manager's Office and handed it to Xu Jing together with the letter from the Ministry of Personnel, saying: "Send someone to Jiangxia Official Post and ask them to rush to the capital."
Murong Sanzang was watching from the side. He did not expect Yang Ming to be so generous and rejected the official department directly.
This is obviously to protect him. After the official department receives the letter, they will definitely let him go.
Murong looked grateful and said: "I would like to thank Your Highness for your great kindness."
Yang Ming smiled, raised his hand to signal him to sit down, and asked: "Indiscriminate killing of soldiers and embezzlement of military pay. Is this true? Tell the truth."
"Yes!" After all, Murong Sanzang knew when to tell the truth after having been around for so many years.
"Back then, I followed the Duke of Xiangyang (Wei Gu) to conquer Lingnan, but encountered repeated setbacks. Lingnan was a barbaric land, and the Yi and Di people gathered to cause rebellion and rebels everywhere. They were all local tribes, and women and children could serve as soldiers. At that time, we As a result, they suffered great losses, and many of the soldiers under the tent were ambushed and killed. Later, Xiangyang recognized that gentle methods were ineffective against these barbarians, so they summoned a large army, but directly set fire to the mountains at every Yi village. This was indeed an excessive killing, and some It hurts merit.”
"Although there is suspicion of indiscriminate killing, barbarians are uneducated savages, and it is useless to talk to them about etiquette and morality. This matter was reported truthfully at the time, and the Supreme did not think it was inappropriate."
"As for lying about military pay, it has indeed happened. If soldiers died in a foreign country, if they didn't pay more, who would be willing to go deep into the wilderness and go through life and death? So I worked with Duke Xiangyang at that time to lie about the number of enemies killed and get more from the court. I got some rewards and distributed them to the soldiers..."
Murong Sanzang's explanation was still credible, but Yang Ming knew that the other party must have hidden some secrets.
This is normal. Shady things should never be spoken out.
Wei Guan suppressed the Lingnan rebellion and directly killed Lingnan. He also had a fight with Madam Xian, who was revered as the Holy Mother of Lingnan, and convinced Madam Xian. At this point, the Lingnan area completely surrendered to the Sui Dynasty.
This is a great merit, it can be worth the death penalty.
It was obvious that these old things were being dug up now, and it was obvious that they were looking for trouble and wanted to find a reason to kill Murong Sanzang.
But the problem was that although Yang Ming had not gotten along with Murong for a long time, he could tell that the other person was a rather tactful and sophisticated person who rarely offended others.
He was far away in Jiangling, how could he offend the officials?
"Although there are suspicions, it's not a big deal. Besides, it was the Duke of Xiangyang who presided over it at that time, so the crime can't be blamed on you," Yang Ming said with a smile:
"Furthermore, Mr. Xiangyang has outstanding merits. It is not appropriate to judge some trivial matters. Please be at ease. No matter who calls you to the capital again, you will come to me first."
Murong Sanzang was completely relieved. There was someone in the court who was easy to be an official. After all, he still had someone to rely on. With Yang Ming protecting him, some disturbances would be resolved.
After he said goodbye and left, Yang Ming fell into deep thought.
In any case, Murong Sanzang is also from the Wei family, and Liu Shu has become so blatant now? how? Jingzhao Webster doesn’t take it seriously anymore?
You'd better not come for me? If that's the case, don't blame me for being rude to you.
Your ancestral graves are in my fiefdom.
...
Daxing, Wei Mansion,
After Wei Chong received Murong Sanzang's letter asking for help, he summoned his staff to discuss countermeasures.
One person said: "Murong worshiped the Duke of Xiangyang in his early years and was awarded a title for his merits. Now he is a member of my Wei family. The official department has not said hello to you?"
Wei Chong frowned and shook his head: "That's the problem. The officials didn't say hello, and neither did the punishment department."
Another retainer said: "In the urgent need of the moment, the minister needs to go to Jingzhou immediately and ask the King of Hedong to come forward as a guarantor. As for the capital, we will find a way to deal with Murong."
Wei Chong's title is that of Marquis of Yifeng County. He is of the same third rank as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but the Minister has great power, so they all call Wei Chong the Minister.
Wei Chong said: "The letter has been sent. For the sake of His Royal Highness King Yuzhang, King Hedong should help."
A guest said: "The prefect of a county has a detailed description of his family background in the official records. It is impossible for them not to know that Murong is one of ours, so it is very possible that he is here for us."
In fact, Wei Chong had understood this a long time ago. He just didn't expect that less than a month after Yang Su was ignored by the Supreme, Liu Shu would already be so arrogant.
First Hongnong Yang, then Jing Zhaowei, Liu Shudan is so fat.
Wei Chong snorted coldly and said: "Murong's title is greater than mine, and he can do whatever the officials say. What a courageous person."
Murong Sanzang has the title of Duke of Yewang County, which is definitely higher than that of Wei Chong, but he is not as strong as Wei Chong now. He is a Qi minister. In the old Qi Dynasty, he once attacked the Duke of Yan County and surrendered to Da Da. After the Sui Dynasty, he became the county official.
Because Murong Sanzang was a descendant of the royal family of the Yan Kingdom during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.
As we all know, Murong has the final say in Liaoning.
But in the Sui Dynasty, it was the Guanzhong Group that had the final say, so the Murong family could only rely on the Guanzhong clan.
From Wei Chong's branch, only the fifth brother Wei Chong and the sixth brother Wei Yue are left. The four brothers above are all dead.
Lao Liuwei Yue once served as Prince Xian Ma for Yang Yong. Because he had complained to Yuan Yan (former Yizhou Governor Shi) in front of Yang Yong, Yang Jian found out about it. After an angry rebuke, he was dismissed from his post and made the emperor I didn't like it, so my career was cut off.
Therefore, Wei Chong is now the only one in the branch of his father, Xiaoyao Gong Wei Hong (xiong), who is still strong.
The four elder brothers' retainers and staff are basically attached to him now. Once he falls, their group will be scattered.
Therefore, Wei Chong is determined to protect Murong Sanzang. If he cannot, the people under him will become disloyal and cause big problems.
After the court meeting the next day, Wei Chong went to the East Palace to meet Prince Yang Guang.
"I know, I'll say hello to you about this. You can go back first."
Wei Chong knew he couldn't say much, so he stopped talking, resigned and left.
Later, Yang Guang sent someone to summon Pei Ju.
"Do you have any impression of Murong Sanzang?" Yang Guang asked.
After Pei Ju learned about the situation, he smiled and said: "This man is the second son of the old Qi Shangshu Zuopu She Murong Shaozong. After the eldest son was killed, Sanzang attacked the Duke of Yan, and the Sui Dynasty was founded. Because he was popular with the old Zhou Wu Emperor Yuwen. Yong respected him so much that he was granted the title of County Duke."
Yang Guang smiled and said: "So, this person has quite a background?"
"He is a talented person," Pei Ju nodded and said with a smile, "This person can do things. Jiangling is the capital of Jingzhou. To be a prefect there, you must have some ability."
"Sit down first and let's talk in detail," Yang Guang asked, "Is he from the Wei family?"
Pei Ju said slowly: "In the early days of the founding of the Sui Dynasty, he was independent and did not depend on any family. Therefore, he served as the supreme minister for several years and was even appointed as the ambassador of Liangzhou Road (temporary imperial envoy). Later, he discovered This person always looks forward and backward when doing things, and has an indecisive personality, so he gave up."
"Later, he followed the Duke of Xiangyang, Wei Gu, to recruit Lingnan, and made great achievements, so he was able to be used again. At the age of forty-six, he was transferred to the post of Jiangling Prefecture today."
In fact, Murong Sanzang was quite unjust. He was a minister of the Qi Dynasty and had no backing after entering the Sui Dynasty. How could he not look forward and backward when doing things? When he served as the deposed ambassador of Liangzhou Province, Yang Jian was completely disappointed in him because no one dared to touch or investigate.
Yang Guang couldn't help but laugh: "Pei Gong didn't answer Gu's question directly."
Pei Ju smiled and said: "All the ministers in the world are members of the Supreme Being and the Prince. There are no members of the Wei family."
"well said!"
Yang Guang knew that this old boy was playing tricks on him, but what he said was true.
"Do you think Liu Shu did this to Wei Chong or to Gu's son?"
Pei Ju took time to calm down and said: "The act of complacency was not directed at anyone. It was just to show off one's power after defeating Yue Gong. Wei Chong did not provoke him, so there was no need. As for the King of Hedong, Liu Shu did not have the courage."
Yang Guang nodded: "So it seems that Gu Ying turned a blind eye to what this idiot did?"
"It's better to let it go," Pei Ju said.
Yang Guang nodded and said: "I understand, you can go down."
In fact, Pei Ju didn't think that Liu Shu was just getting carried away and wanted to establish his authority in the court. However, he also knew that the Supreme Leader had let him go, so the prince should not interfere too much, lest it go against the Supreme Leader's will.
Liu Shu is not an idiot. If he can become a minister, he cannot be an idiot.
That's why Pei Ju deliberately guided Prince Yang Guang to despise Liu Shu, so as not to be suspected by the Supreme Being.
Pei Ju speaks with half truth and half lies. Such a person is a top strategist.
