Last night during the Tangram Festival, the sky was still full of stars, but in the early morning it started to rain.
The sky is gray.
The boundless silk rain fell silently, nourishing the pavilions and pavilions of Yancheng and tormenting Lord Lu's heart.
The maid brought the breakfast, and when she saw his appearance, she couldn't help but feel curious.
Not long after their master became the lord of the city, he was in high spirits and was in a very good mood every day, so much so that they could have a cup or a saucer without punishing them. But today, for some unknown reason, they were walking around,
Panic and anxiety.
From time to time, he muttered, "No, I should be back. Nothing will happen. Yes, nothing will happen."
Having said that, the certainty in his tone became less and less sure as time went by.
After the food was cold enough, he raised his head and asked everyone, "Has Duoyan come back?"
A maid went to check, leaving several maids looking at each other.
Strangely enough, Mr. Duoyan, who was supposed to stay by the city lord's side and stay close to him, unexpectedly never showed up.
Soon, the maid came to report that Master Duoyan was not at the house.
"You haven't come back yet?" City Lord Lu's tone was filled with trembling.
His intuition told him that something big had happened.
The maids also felt it.
The mansion was quiet for a moment, like a death row prisoner waiting to be sentenced to death. No one dared to speak loudly, or even speak loudly. The entire city lord's mansion was extremely depressed, a hundred times more depressed than Yancheng where dark clouds gathered in the sky.
"no!"
City Lord Lu suddenly broke the silence, startling the maids.
He wants to take the initiative and ask people to go out and find out the news.
The earth-shattering news in Lu Mansion last night must have been heard by many people. Someone will definitely go to inquire about the news. What happened last night cannot be concealed. No matter whether it is good or bad, news will definitely come out.
"right!"
He slapped his right fist with his left palm and ordered: "Let Xiao Liu come to me."
Xiaoliu is City Lord Lu's servant and he is very clever in doing things. It is perfect for him to go and inquire about the news.
The maid agreed, and just as she was about to call out, she saw Xiaoliu running in with sweat or rain on her face, "Sir, my lord, your lord is not good!"
He bumped into the maid, but he didn't bother to help her up. He panted and said: "Sir, here comes the royal guard, come to the door, lift, lift Mr. Duoyan——"
Xiao Liu stopped talking and looked at City Master Lu cautiously.
"What are you carrying!"
City Lord Lu held the corner of the table, he had a premonition that the news was not good.
"Master Duoyan's body." Xiao Liu said and looked at City Master Lu with a worried look.
Bang!
City Master Lu tilted his body and almost fell down. Fortunately, he caught the table in time, but the cups and plates with food on the table fell to the ground due to his tug, and shattered into pieces.
"No, no way, no way."
Although Lord Lu had expected it, when things came to pass, he couldn't accept it or believe it.
A total of eleven masters in the cultivation realm went there.
There were three people in the Moving Mountain Realm and eight people in the Qi Training Realm. As a non-practitioner, he knew that these people were more than enough to kill Lu Bai, who was in the Qi Training Realm.
Even though the Gu family is difficult to kill and is known as the fox monster, even with the trump card of City Master Ren and City Master Gu, these people are more than enough to kill Gu Qinghuan.
If you take another step back, even if you can't kill him, you can still escape intact.
It's not like carrying a body back.
"Could it be——"
City Lord Lu suddenly thought of Li Jinzhong, "Could it be that this person from the inner study hall betrayed him?"
Today's Nei Shu Tang is the most complex, and is roughly divided into three major factions:
There are old people left over from the former emperor's time, who obeyed the orders of the former emperor; there are people who obey the orders of the current emperor, and there are also people who are loyal to the country, but not necessarily to the imperial power - although most people in this lineage now also tend to lean toward the emperor.
In order to ensure the emperor's control over the inner study hall and the inner study hall's assistance to the royal family, the eunuchs in the inner study hall adopted a recommendation system when entering the inner study hall. There was only one recommender - the emperor at that time. All the disciples of the inner study hall were practicing.
At the same time, they also serve the emperor, and the emperor has the right to interrupt the eunuchs' practice at any time.
In addition, the masters of the inner hall, outer hall and inner hall were all appointed by the emperor, thus ensuring that the inner hall was always loyal to the imperial family.
Li Jinzhong was recommended by the late emperor to enter the inner study hall, so when he received the imperial decree, Li Jinzhong was as loyal as the late emperor said and vowed to get rid of Gu Qinghuan to the death. But when it came time to take action, who could guarantee it?
"Yes, he must have betrayed him!" City Master Lu nodded.
"Lord City Lord!"
Suddenly there were voices outside the door, and at the same time there were voices of servants trying to stop me, "Hey, why did you come in without permission?"
Jin Yiwei pushed the servant away, and Zhao Baili walked in with the lead.
He grinned at City Lord Lu and said, "Mr. City Lord, I'm still sending people off to the side. I can't waste too much time. I still hope Haihan."
He lowered his hands and called to his men to bring Duoyan in.
Duoyan was lying on a wooden board.
He was covered with a robe and was not wet, but when he spoke, he looked dead and lifeless.
City Lord Lu took one look and stopped looking.
"We adults have always respected Mr. Duoyan and regarded him as a confidant, but we never expected that he would turn swords against each other." Zhao Baili sighed softly, "In the final analysis, I still followed the wrong master."
City Lord Lu still had the pride and stubbornness of this city lord. He frowned and asked angrily: "What do you mean?"
Zhao Baili smiled and said, "It's not interesting."
"Lord City Lord, Sir Duoyan participated in the assassination of Lu Qianhu last night. I wonder if you know about it." Zhao Baili asked with a smile.
City Lord Lu waved his hand, "How would I know? He must have been raped - deceived, so he did such wrong things -"
He said with a sullen face, "Tell Lu Qianhu and reassure him that I will definitely get to the bottom of it."
Zhao Baili suddenly realized, "Oh, it turns out it wasn't City Lord Lu who instigated this."
boom!
City Lord Lu slapped the table, "What do you mean! How dare you slander me!"
Zhao Baili hurriedly held up his hands, "I don't dare, I don't dare, it's just that it's been said outside, it's spread all over the place. It's said that the city lord wants to establish a one-spoken society, rebel, and become a local emperor. For this reason, he did not hesitate to kill Eunuch Li of the West Factory."
."
"What!"
City Lord Lu collapsed on the stool, "Li, Eunuch Li, dead, dead?"
Zhao Baili did not answer, but smiled inconsistently and led the people away, "Please take care of yourself, Lord City Lord. Your life will not be easy in the future."
This sentence was what Zhao Baili wanted to say, and it was also what Lu Bai asked him to convey.
Bang!
As soon as Zhao Baili walked away with his front foot, the cup fell on the threshold with his back foot, almost splashing water on Zhao Baili's heel.
"He dares! I am the city lord, the lord of a city, and I am the master of Yancheng!" City Lord Lu roared, but his words became less and less confident. In the end, only he could hear it.
Too much talk is dead.
Eunuch Li of Xichang also died.
Presumably the people at Yiqiu Villa who went with him will not survive long.
Since Lu Bai dared to kill them, it would be easy for him to die as a defenseless person.
What's more, although Lu Bai is a royal guard, he has a profound influence on Yancheng's officialdom. Last year, several fires burned Yancheng officials who only obeyed his orders. This was especially obvious after he took over the position of city lord.
In the first half of the month, his city lord's order was issued. If there was any violation of Jinyiwei's regulations, the officials would go to Qianhu Station for advice and would only implement it after receiving Lu Bai's nod.
Later, Lu Bai relaxed his restraints and asked them to listen to the city lord, which relieved the embarrassment of the city lord being unable to leave the city lord's mansion.
Now the two sides are at odds——
Lord Lu knew that he was just a glutinous rice dumpling. Whether it was flattened or rounded depended on Lu Bai's whim.
"no!"
City Lord Lu stood up.
He wanted to write to Yiqiu Villa for help before Lu Bai took action against him.
If Gu Qinghuan is not dead, Yiqiu Villa must also be very anxious - this can be seen from the fact that they sent so many experts to Yancheng in one go.
When Lord Lu wrote a letter asking for help, Lu Bai had no intention of dealing with him.
He is solving the case.
**
Yancheng, Shangcheng District, Banpo Street.
It was raining lightly, soaking the trees and flowers in the city, but it could not block the discussion and noise in the teahouses and wine shops.
No, there was a lot of discussion at the tea stall not far from Qianhu.
"Hey, did you hear that noise yesterday?"
"I heard the earthquake and the mountains shook. I thought it was an earthquake."
"I heard it came from Qianhu Mansion."
"Oh, will Master Qianhu be okay?" an old man asked with concern.
"It's hard to say. Yesterday, after I heard the noise, I stood upstairs and looked at the Lu Mansion. I saw it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. It was like something black had covered the Lu Manor.
"The tea guest lowered his voice, "Those who can use such magical powers are definitely not loved by ordinary people."
The old man clasped his hands together and prayed, "Master Qianhu, please don't let anything happen to you. Don't let anything happen to you."
Since Lu Bai became a member of the Jinyiwei Qianhu, not only the Jinyiwei have behaved in a more orderly manner, but also the entire Yancheng has become clean, so he is still very popular among people.
"Don't worry." Another tea guest interrupted, "Lu Qianhu will be fine."
He raised his hand and called to the tofu stall outside the tea stall - Qiao Widow's tofu was smooth and tender, and was especially delicious when fried. I heard that Lu Qianhu also liked to eat it.
The man turned around and continued: "I went out this morning and saw the Jin Yiwei entering the Lu Mansion. They carried people out. Although I can't say that I was very happy on my face, I didn't feel sad at all. It looked like that
It’s not like something happened to Lu Qianhu.”
"Who are they carrying?"
"I don't know, but I saw them carried to the City Lord's Mansion. I guess they are from the City Lord's Mansion." He lowered his voice, "Do you think it was the City Lord who wanted to-"
He wiped his neck and said, "Want to kill Mr. Lu?"
"Don't tell me, it's really possible. No one in Yancheng knows about it. Now the thousands of households in Yancheng have the final say."
Just as they were about to say something, the pretty widow stood behind them.
"Ahem!"
They decisively stopped talking and moved aside to let the pretty widow put down the fried tofu.
As soon as the pretty widow put it down and turned to leave, the door of Qianhushuo opened.
drive!
Drive!
A group of Jin Yiwei, wearing brocade clothes, carrying embroidered spring knives, riding tall horses, came out from Qianhu House.
They are aggressive.
After going out, he rushed straight towards Banpo Street.
This is not to leave the city, but to arrest people in the upper city area.
For a moment, everyone's curiosity was aroused. After the Jinyiwei swept away like the wind and their robes were like clouds, everyone poked their heads out of the restaurants and tea shops, wanting to know what they were doing.
They soon had their answer.
Jinyiwei stopped at Qingfeng Tower and grabbed two girls out.
When everyone saw this scene, their jaws dropped: So many people were dispatched just to catch two brothel girls?
They know that since Lu Bai became a member of the Thousand Households, Yancheng has been peaceful and peaceful. No matter how evil spirits or evil people commit crimes, it has been greatly reduced. It has almost reached the point where the sea, Yan and rivers are clear, and the road is not picking up lost items. The Jin Yiwei has fewer cases.
But you won’t be so idle, right?
The Jinyi guards quickly gave them the answer.
After taking the two girls, they went straight to the Salt Supervision Department. Now the head of the Salt Supervision Department was nominally Eunuch Li, but Li Jinzhong did not come here for salt affairs, so the real head was Eunuch Li's deputy Zuo Qinglai.
He is the eunuch of the West Factory.
He was not in power in Xichang, so when he was sent abroad, he took a job in Yancheng, a place where there was not much money to be made and it was still poor. That was all. When he was about to leave, he got Li Jinzhong, so his status changed again.
One level lower.
The only good thing is that although the official position is lower, the work done is still exactly the same.
His main task now is to take over the Salt Supervision Department, and at the same time promote the taxation reform in Yancheng, and strive to gain a little more money for the current emperor, so that the emperor will favor him and let him leave this border town with poor mountains and rivers and go to other cities.
In his opinion, as long as he could leave Yancheng, no matter which city he went to, it would be better than Yancheng.
Zuo Qinglai was working hard for this and was diligently checking the accounts of the Salt Supervision Department.
boom!
The door was pushed open.
A group of Jinyi guards filed in, holding embroidered spring knives full of murderous intent.
Intimidated by their momentum, Zuo Qinglai was a little slow in speaking, "You, what are you doing?"
A Jin Yiwei walked in.
His name is Mobei.
He was originally Xiaoqi. After Lu Bai reformed the Jinyiwei last year, he was able to study at Mingzhengsi in Xiacheng District. He was taught martial arts seriously and with real materials, and was admitted to Mingzhengsi in Shangcheng District with excellent results. He was admitted by Lu
Qianhu personally guided.
At the same time, because of his outstanding performance in the second division responsible for arrests, Lu Bai was assigned to the second division of Shangcheng District and was promoted to the general banner, responsible for the arrests of Shangcheng District.
"grown ups!"
Mobeigong took action, "Jinyiwei received a report from the madam of Qingfeng Tower, saying that eight days ago, two father-in-laws came to the building to drink wine, beat the guests without telling them, disturbed the guests' fun, and robbed the two girls who were waiting for the guests.
"
Mo Bei pointed at the two girls behind him, "Master Qianhu said that these father-in-laws came with the adults. They are tired from the journey, so it's not a big deal to have a drink, listen to a song, and relax."
Zuo Qinglai had already reacted.
When he was in Xichang, he was timid and could just be a grandson.
Now that he has arrived in Yancheng, he is the emperor's special envoy, and with the emperor as his backing, is he still afraid of these country folk?
What's going on, do these people still dare to rebel?
He said sullenly, "In that case, why are you standing here?"
Mo Bei smiled softly, "But these two father-in-laws are unable to purify themselves. This is a big problem."
His face turned cold and he said angrily: "My father-in-law comes from the palace. It is a small matter to cause trouble to a brothel, but it is a big crime to cause trouble to the palace. As a personal soldier of the Holy Emperor, for the sake of Jiangshan Sheji, Eunuch Zuo has offended me!"
Mo Bei waved his hand and asked Jin Yiwei to search the Salt Supervision Department, arrest all the eunuchs, and escort them back to Zhao Prison for detailed interrogation.
"Be bold!"
Zuo Qinglai said angrily, but at the same time he felt a little confused and worried.
He knew whether there were eunuchs in his team.
Because these people were not from the palace, but were gangsters from the capital city society, who came out with him to pretend to be eunuchs and work for him.
When the father-in-law in the palace goes on errands all over the country, he often secretly adds some idle people to the team, firstly to collect money, and secondly to get more porters and helpers. This has almost become a customary thing, and it is basically a common practice in the capital.
Not surprising.
But he didn't expect that Lu Bai would make a fuss about this.