Nie Chen walked into the gate of the Cui family and was taken to the study in the front yard.

The Cui family of Dingning Marquis' Mansion made great contributions to the elixir certificates during the Taizu period. It has been passed down for four generations. The third generation of Dingning Marquis' defeated the border and ruined tens of thousands of troops and was punished by the court. It was not allowed to be used seriously since then. The Cui family began to show signs of defeat. It was not until the thirteen-year-old Cui Zhen secretly left his home to join the army, and it was gradually reversed the situation of Dingning Marquis' Mansion.

Cui Zhen always chooses the Choi children to take them to the battlefield and deliberately trains the children of the clan. It can be seen that Cui Zhen is a person with a long-term vision, so he should be more careful when dealing with this marquis.

When Nie Chen saw the two people in the room, he immediately saluted Cui Zhen on the main seat: "Nie Chen pays homage to Marquis Dingning."

After speaking, he turned to Cui Wei again and called out: "Mr. Cui."

Cui Wei stretched out his hand and said, "Mr. Nie, please sit down!"

The servant brought the tea and gently closed the door of the study.

Cui Wei then spoke, "Mr. Nie, why did we invite you to come?"

Nie Chen nodded: "The Marquis and Lord Cui are doing several cases in Taiyuan City."

Without waiting for Cui Zhen and Cui Wei to ask again, Nie Chen continued: "I have been walking in the market all year round, doing escorts, arresting fugitives offered rewards from the court, and investigating the case by the marquis. It must be related to these things that the marquis calls the Cui family by the marquis. The biggest quarrel in Taiyuan Prefecture is now a bandit case. The marquis wants to help the marquis ask about the news in the market."

After saying that, Nie Chen looked up at Cui Zhen: "But those who walk in the market like this also have their own rules. I will report to the Marquis in advance so as not to blame him in the future."

Cui Wei frowned slightly, looked at Cui Zhen with his head and saw that there was no anger on Cui Zhen's face, so he let go of his eyebrows, but this time he did not make any decisions to respond to Nie Chen.

Cui Zhen said: "Tell me."

Nie Chen then said: "We are civilians in the market and rely on the rewards from the court to make us investigate the case. We will only care about the case itself and will never dare to discuss the powerful and the current situation."

This was very subtle, and Cui Zhen’s eyes were deep. What Nie Chen meant was that he would only use money to do things for him and would not rely on him to become a member of the Cui family. He had not mentioned these things yet, but Nie Chen refused very simply.

Cui Zhen glanced at Cui Wei, and Cui Wei lifted the cover on the tea tray, and there were ten silver ingots of 20 taels neatly placed on the tea tray.

Nie Chen stood up and said, "Thank you, Marquis." When he said this, he couldn't help but look hesitant on his face.

"What?" Cui Wei saw the clue, "I think the money is not enough?"

Nie Chen said: "I just feel a little strange. The Marquis should have some clues about this case. I'm afraid the yamen can't get along with this, so why did he summon someone like me to come?"

Cui Zhen raised his eyes, with a slight murderous aura in his eyes. That was the power that only the generals who have been galloping on the battlefield all year round: "What do you know?"

Nie Chen is neither humble nor arrogant: "Have you ever brought news to the Marquis?"

Cui Wei's expression of surprise flashed away, but Cui Zhen's expression was still calm: "How do you know that the Zhou family's female family will bring me news?"

Nie Chen said: "That starts with several recent bandit cases in Shanxi."

Last year, Shanxi was in a drought. Although the court issued disaster relief food, it still caused a lot of refugees. After the spring, refugees began to lie in the mountains and cause chaos. The government office distributed seeds and fields to appease the refugees, allowing them to farm and restore farming. This was very effective, and refugees in Shanxi were also controlled.

Unexpectedly, after the beginning of the summer, bandit cases began to occur. The big merchants had escorts to deliver goods by escorts by the escort agency. The small merchants walking alone were repeatedly injured. The Tongzhi of Taiyuan Prefecture personally investigated the case but found nothing.

Cui Zhen and Cui Wei naturally knew about these situations, and Nie Chen did not say much: "Although the merchants lost their property in those bandit cases, no one died because of this. Until Mr. Ding's case, the bandits not only robbed the Ding family's property, but also killed the owner of the Ding family's caravan.

Mr. Ding escaped by chance after being seriously injured and met the carriages of the Zhou family’s female family on the road. When the people from the government office arrived, Mr. Ding had already died. The death of the Ding family was very miserable, especially Mr. Ding and his son were all tortured. In this case, either the murderer vented his anger or wanted to learn something from them.

I also wanted to find the clues in it all the way. I learned that the Zhou family's female family had settled in Taiyuan Prefecture. On the day when the Zhou family's female family went to Dingning Marquis' Mansion, the Marquis rushed back from Xuan Mansion. So I boldly guessed that the Zhou family's female family might have learned some important clues from Mr. Ding and handed them over to the Marquis."

Looking at the silent Cui Zhen, Nie Chen said, "Am I guessed wrong? The female family in the Zhou family did not get the clue?"

"Take it," Cui Zhen said lightly, "but it was not handed over to me."

A surprised expression immediately appeared on Nie Chen's face: "How could this be so? Could it be that the Zhou family's female family was targeted halfway, so..."

Cui Zhen continued: "That clue was lost in the Cui family."

Nie Chen's expression calmed down: "This is why the Marquis came to ask me for a question." Although his expression returned to normal, he was not calm in his heart.

He and the elder went separately to find clues to the Ding family case. In the elder's house, he knew that the elder had succeeded when he saw the map, but he could not think of how the elder found it.

Hearing Dingning Hou's words, he understood the details. The female family of the Zhou family came to the Cui family with clues. They originally wanted to hand over to Dingning Hou, but were taken into his hands by the elders.

In front of everyone, he got the clue but was not caught by Dingning Hou.

The elder is really powerful. No wonder he can take the lead every time he investigates a case. It is easy to get a fortune, but it is hard to find a good teacher. The elder is not only his benefactor, but also half of his master. He will ask the elder more advice in the future.

Cui Zhen said: "Do you know if there is anyone in Taiyuan Prefecture who has extremely high light body skills?"

Nie Chen couldn't help but say, "What is the Marquis referring to?"

Cui Zhen said: "I saw that man, but I couldn't catch him up." Afterwards, he took the people to check the Cui family up and down and confirmed that the man was no longer in the courtyard. The only explanation was that the man left under their noses.

Nie Chen shook his head: "Taiyuan Prefecture offers a reward to capture bandits. Recently, there have been many good players in the market, but it is definitely not an ordinary person who can escape from the marquis and avoid the escort of the Cui family."

Cui Zhen said: "If you see such a person, you must send a letter to the Cui family immediately."

Nie Chen responded: "If you take the Marquis' reward silver, you must do your best. If you hear any news, you will report it to the Marquis."

Cui Zhen stood up and said, "I'll go to the prison with me later."

Cui Zhen walked out of the house quickly, Cui Wei followed immediately, and the two brothers walked into the inner courtyard. Cui Wei couldn't help but say, "Why did you tell Nie Chen about the lost clue?"

Cui Zhen stepped into the room of the East Courtyard: "Since he is asked to investigate the case, we must make it clear."

Cui Wei didn't understand: "Brother had hesitated before whether to use the people in the market, so why did he suddenly make up his mind?"

Cui Zhen's eyes flashed: "Have you ever thought about what would happen if Zhuzhu was killed by someone in Jinta Temple today?"

Cui Wei pursed his lips: "Huaiyuan Hou must investigate this case and will never give up until the murderer is found."

Marquis Huaiyuan had no achievements in politics, but he cared for his wife and daughter. This time, the Marquis Huaiyuan would rather bear the blame and be punished for losing his horse. If there was no argument, the result would be different if it was involved in the wife and daughter.

Cui Wei said: "Brother is worried that someone deliberately involved the nobles."

"Use our men to avoid being plotted against others," Cui Zhen said. "If it is a simple bandit case, no one is manipulating it behind the scenes. If someone wants to stir up the storm, we can still leave a way out for ourselves. Use the people in the market to investigate the case. They do not belong to our Dingning Marquis Mansion. What he does can be related to us or has nothing to do with us."

Cui Wei bowed: "It's still the eldest brother who is far-sighted," he sighed, "The court struggles in the country, and I don't know when it will be."

"In addition," Cui Zhen said, "we must also be careful of the Wei family."

"I never understand why Wei Yuanchen always opposed his elder brother," Cui Wei said, "Our Cui family and the Wei family have never had any holidays, but Wei Yuanchen repeatedly refuted his elder brother's face and acted arbitrarily because of his identity as a relative.

Empress Wei has no son. No matter which prince ascends the throne in the future, the Wei family will not have any good results. It is not a good thing to make enemies everywhere."

Cui Zhen ordered: "You can't underestimate him. The Wei family's famous generals are afraid, even the emperor is afraid. Where did you come from the courage and carelessness of the enemy?"

When the emperor was in Qiandi, in order to stabilize his power, he married Wei as his wife. After ascending the throne, he was afraid that the Wei family's power would be greatly restricted.

Fortunately, the two princes born to Empress Wei died one after another, and the third princess only lived for three days. Empress Wei was discouraged and stopped seeking pregnancy. Five years ago, the Wei family was involved in a rebellion case and was even more severely injured. Empress Wei was frightened and seriously ill. To this day, the Wei family no longer poses a threat to the emperor. The emperor can finally use the Wei family's sharp blade to overcome all obstacles.

No matter what the final result of the Wei family and Wei Yuanchen are, at least it will not be easy for anyone to compete with the Wei family now.

"Let's go," Cui Zhen said, "Go to the prison first."

...

"Is it fragrant?" Mrs. Lin ordered someone to light the incense and looked at Gu Mingzhu with a smile.

Gu Mingzhu nodded: "Fragrant." She yawned deeply.

Looking at her daughter's silly appearance, Mrs. Lin's smile became deeper: "Then go to bed earlier." This fragrance has the effect of calming the mind. She was afraid that Zhuzhu would be frightened and would not sleep well at night.

Gu Mingzhu obediently closed her eyes, intending to pretend to be asleep and wait for Mrs. Lin to leave, but she really fell asleep in a daze.

She vaguely dreamed of the situation in her previous life. She walked in the dark and wet prison with the medicine barrel, and finally stayed outside a cell. A figure curled up on the haystack. She broke the millet cakes in her hand and put them into the man's mouth. The man was unconscious and refused to open his mouth.

"Eat it, if you don't eat it, you will die." She opened her mouth to persuade her, but she didn't know if he had heard it.

His body was as hot as charcoal. She pressed her cold hands on his forehead, as if she was talking to him, and as if she was persuading herself: "Only by living can you have hope."

"Miss." Baotong's voice came, and Gu Mingzhu suddenly woke up.

It’s strange. She hasn’t dreamed of her previous life for a long time. What happened tonight? Was she really scared?
Chapter completed!