Naturally, Mu Qingchao, who was far away in Jinling, didn't know about these things about Gusu.
Shen Muchi and Zhong Ming have been fighting for a long time, and they are afraid that they will continue to fight.
Mu Qingchao had no choice but to wait.
Anyway, no matter how tense the situation is, life cannot go on as usual.
Especially those places far away from Beijing are not affected at all.
No, seeing that it was almost autumn, several baskets of dates were brought as tribute from Jin and delivered to Shen Muchi.
The Tanzao in Shanxi is particularly famous, it is sweet and crispy, but the distance is far and it is really difficult to transport, so we only got three baskets.
Shen Muchi looked at the three baskets of tan dates and thought for a while and said, "These dates are rare. Send one box to Princess Zhenguo's Mansion, and the rest... send them to Chaoyun Palace."
When Eunuch Lu delivered the dates, Chun Ya happened to be on duty, so he called two maids to carry the boxes into the house.
Chunya's face was filled with joy. She was a glutton, and her saliva drooled when she looked at the dates.
"I heard that the dates in Jinzhong are very different from those in other places. The fruit is large with a small core, the skin is thin and the flesh is thick, and the taste is excellent."
Mu Qingchao looked at her greedy look and thought it was funny, and said: "If you want to eat, just pick some and wash them and let everyone in the palace have a taste."
"Eh!"
Chunya was so happy that she picked several kilograms of dates and carried them with water to wash.
Unable to bear it, I picked one up and stuffed it into my mouth.
"Ah, bah bah bah..."
But as soon as it entered the mouth, Chunya vomited it out in a hurry.
"Queen Mother, how come this... these dates are salty?"
Mu Qingchao was reading a book and had no time to talk to her. He didn't even raise his head. He turned over the pages and said lazily: "Nonsense, these dates are sour and astringent. I have never heard of salty ones in the Ai family."
"It's true." Chunya took one and put it to Mu Qingchao's mouth: "If you don't believe it, try it."
Mu Qingchao opened his mouth to take it in doubt, and the next moment he spat it out with a "poof" sound.
"It's really salty?" She looked up at Chun Ya.
"wrong!"
Suddenly her thoughts changed and her expression became serious.
"You just said, where do these dates come from?" she asked Chunya.
"Jin...Jinzhong...what's wrong?"
When Mu Qingchao heard this, he immediately sat up from his seat and said, "Hurry, follow the Ai family to Fulin Palace, the Ai family wants to see Your Majesty."
"Now?" Chun Ya looked confused.
"I'm afraid it's not worth it to go to His Majesty for two boxes of dates, right?"
But at this time, Mu Qingchao had already gotten up from the couch in a hurry. He was probably too anxious and didn't even put on his shoes.
Seeing this, Chun Ya quickly followed.
"My servants will ask them to prepare the sedan chair."
"No more sedan chairs."
Mu Qingchao was so anxious that he didn't have time to dress up, so he jogged all the way to Fulin Hall.
At this time, Shen Muchi was discussing matters with the ministers. He heard a "dong" sound and Mu Qingchao came in from outside.
Eunuch Lu followed behind her and looked at Shen Muchi with a fearful expression: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, the Queen Mother is walking too fast. I... I can't stop you."
He arrived in such a hurry that Mu Qingchao didn't even have time to change his clothes.
In the past, she always acted dignified and majestic in front of others, but now that the summer is hot, she doesn't have to be restrained in her bedroom and only wears a light shirt.
All the ministers looked straight.
The Queen Mother is already very beautiful, but she has lost a lot of charm since she was a widow. Now she is dressed in a different style.
Mu Qingchao was not in the mood to pay attention to these people at this time. He only looked at Shen Muchi who was in a high position and said: "Your Majesty, the Ai family has something urgent to say."
Mu Qingchao called herself a "people's daughter" in private, but in front of everyone, she still kept it straight.
When Shen Muchi heard this, he didn't ask a single question and waved his hands to the ministers: "You guys can go down first."
"yes."
After the ministers retired, only Mu Qingchao and Shen Muchi were left in the entire Fulin Hall.
"You are looking for me..."
Just as Shen Muchi spoke, she heard Mu Qingchao say with joy on his face: "Your Majesty, this is a good thing."
"Ah?" Shen Muchi was stunned.
"What good thing?"
"You've always wanted to find evidence against Zhong Ming, and now the evidence is here."
As she spoke, she showed Shen Muchi the date in her hand. There were teeth marks on the date that she had taken a bite of.
"These dates will be salty if they are not washed," Mu Qing said.
"Salty?"
"Yes, it was a coincidence that the maid of the folk girl took a bite of the date when it was not washed and found that it was salty.
This jujube comes from Jinzhong, and apart from Tan jujube, there is another one in Jinzhong that is also very famous."
"What is it?" Shen Muchi asked.
"May I ask Your Majesty, are these dates transported by water?"
Shen Muchi's mind followed Mu Qingchao, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but become nervous.
"Yes, we did take the water route."
"Then everything can be explained. Maybe there were not only dates but also private salt on the ship transporting the goods. The moisture in the water wetted the salt and accidentally penetrated into the dates.
So even the dates taste salty."
How precious is salt these days? Ordinary people don’t want to use it for cooking, and it’s absolutely impossible to use it for such useless purposes.
There are specific channels for transporting official salt, so the salt on that ship can only be private salt.
Mu Qingchao knew that Zhong Ming was selling illegal salt. Since he controlled this gray industrial chain, no other officials in Beijing would dare to get involved.
I just didn't expect that transporting dates was also a cover.
As expected, Zhong Ming's hands and eyes reached the sky, and his hand had actually reached a place as far away as the Emperor in Jinzhong.
It can be regarded as a coincidence. If Shen Muchi had not thought of sending two baskets of dates to Mu Qingchao, no one else would have been so alert.
"Then I will let someone take control of the boat now." Shen Muchi said immediately.
If you follow this clue, are you still afraid that you won't be able to catch Zhong Ming's clue?
Now, Shen Muchi and Zhong Ming are locked in a stalemate, unable to go up or down. Zhong Ming is acting against the yin and yang, making him constrained everywhere, but there has been no explicit action, so he can't find a chance to make a move.
Now, this private salt is a good opportunity, and its importance is self-evident.
"Your Majesty, you must move quickly." Mu Qing said.
"The girl knows Zhong Ming well. He is prudent in dealing with things and is not a rash person. Such a big mistake must have happened because he couldn't wait any longer."
This smuggling route was definitely not established on the first day. Why hadn't it been discovered before?
It is obvious that Zhong Ming must be anxious now, so anxious that he does not care about safety, and even takes risks with a sense of luck.
He was impatient.
When things have developed to this point, both sides are at odds with each other, and whoever can move faster will win.
It seems that a protracted battle is finally coming to an end.