After a while, the entire Zeng Homestead became completely silent, and only faint sounds of crying could be heard in the huge garden.
At this time, someone reported: "The county magistrate is here."
Ye Qing stood up and said, "I'll go greet you right away."
When he arrived at the gate, he saw Lu Ming coming. Ye Qing bowed, gave up his hand, and said with a smile: "Master Lu, I was going to invite you here. The Zeng family's collusion with the Northern Wei Dynasty is an unpardonable crime. Murder is an unforgivable crime."
It’s my right, but it’s your right to confiscate your home.”
Lu Ming heard the report in the morning, saying that he was killed on the spot in the garden, and he felt unhappy. However, at this time, Ye Qing came out to greet him. He was wearing armor, but he had a calm and quiet temperament, without any evil spirit, and he couldn't help but click.
nod.
Ye Qing led him away and said calmly: "Master Lu, I am not killing people for pleasure, I just have some selfish motives. Not to mention anything else about the Zeng family, these thirty Huqi alone are enough to prove that they colluded with the Northern Wei Dynasty.
"
"If my predictions were correct, I could have extracted a large amount of evidence, including a large number of secretly hidden weapons."
"It's just that the Zeng family has hundreds of years of history, and the counties are intricately connected. Even if I have evidence, if I really start a lawsuit, I won't be able to settle it in a few years."
"This delay is also dragging me down, so why not just kill them all now? Without the perpetrator and with ironclad evidence, it will be easier to end it.
Lu Ming sighed after hearing this, and when he looked around, he saw that they were all corpses. Most of them were members of the Zeng family. There were also two thousand people in the Zeng family, but most of them lived in the surrounding fields and houses. In the main garden
There were not many people, but even so, there were at least three hundred men up and down, and they were all killed at this time.
And speaking like this was really shocking. For a moment, he couldn't say a word. Lu Ming stayed for a long time before asking: "Where is Hu Qi? Have you been arrested?"
"Kill them all, and I'm going to fight in the village. How can I play with them?"
As he spoke, he took a long breath and smiled: "Since you are here, I have entrusted you to count the family property and population. According to the court system, these are the rights of the local chief official."
"However, this is not the case for copycats. In reality, twenty-three people in my family died in the battle. To boost morale, we need to show deep compassion, and we have to rely on looting after breaking into the stronghold."
After saying that, he bowed again and turned to leave. Then, the large number of people retreated like a tide, leaving only a dozen people counting.
No matter how safe he is, he still needs his own people to participate in the count, otherwise Lu Ming will be cheated and there will be no place to cry.
Seeing Ye Qing go away, Lu Ming took out a breath, and the clothes behind him were already half wet.
imperial capital
While inspecting the iron workshop in the eastern suburbs of the city, Prince Yu hurried back. It was already getting late, the sun was setting on the horizon, and the east city gate was closing. It was possible to enter or not at this time, but there was always some trouble. The coachman was not allowed to take out the Prince's Mansion.
symbol of faith.
Prince Yu, dressed in casual clothes, was in the car. He closed his eyes and listened to their negotiation. He was tapping several cases with his fingers. There were no accidents. The city gate guard did not dare to say more and let them go.
As we entered the city, night fell. The streets were deep and densely populated. Most of the vegetable and rice markets were closed, but more grocers turned on their lights and continued to operate. Small vendors began to set up stalls. Gyeonggi citizens have always been fond of entertainment.
,Business is sometimes better in the night market.
The streets are full of people, adults holding children, men leading women, scholars joining hands with scholars... The prosperous times have their own fireworks.
The feedback from the iron workshop was very good, and Prince Yu was in a good mood. At this time, he raised the car curtain, listened and watched with great interest, and sighed for a while: "I really envy such a simple life."
Fu Cheng Jiang Nan was speechless. He tried hard to find the words and said tactfully: "This is not a choice for the prince."
"I know, I know..."
Passing by some teahouses in Xuandefang in the east of the city, under the continuous bright yellow lights, and the voices carried along the night wind, I heard many comments about the court's small victory on the grassland. The most common one was to praise General Shen Yuncheng for his good fighting skills. …
The smile on Prince Yu's face gradually faded away. Shen Yuncheng was a member of the Sixth Emperor's brother. It was always not a pleasant thing to see the enemy's tide rise.
Living in a place like the imperial capital, everyone has a sense of politics in their hearts. The world's affairs are originally gathered here, and there will always be rumors. Let's not talk about the gossip of the confidants. Let's just talk about big politics and side affairs. Everyone's vital interests, or the sense of security at the heart of the empire they live in, spread faster.
Last year, as soon as the emperor received the battle report, the story spread all over the city. Although it was not accurate information, it still angered the emperor. He ordered a thorough investigation to no avail, and finally chopped off the heads of two Xiaohuangmen to explain. .
It's hard to say whether there was an unjust killing. It's not a secret line or an emergency military intelligence. There are too many links. Who knows who will take a breath and go out, and some of them will forget it...
The bureaucracy itself is a big sieve, with some meshes dense and some meshes sparse. The more extensive and important information is involved, the harder it will be to hide it for a long time, and in the end we can only turn a blind eye.
Prince Keyu was educated by the prince, and he knew very well that this screen was not useless, but just to save the cost of governance: "The common people can talk about right and wrong at will, because the little shrimp has no power, just talk, it means that the father and the emperor are close to each other." It will take several years before I lose my temper over this..."
"Officials are like fish, and the mesh size is suitable. A small fish can still talk about major national events and give pointers on the country's words, but dare to talk about the boss?"
"As for big fish, whoever speaks carelessly will be in trouble if not careful."
"At my level, we can't talk about national affairs easily. If we say it casually, if it is accidentally interpreted and used by others, it will be a disaster... There will be storms in the rise of Jiaolong. Who would believe that the dignified prince just commented casually? What political purpose?”
With this thought in mind, I left the bustling night market outside without any intention of watching it and returned to the Prince's Mansion.
As soon as they entered the backyard, the tempting fragrance came from the pavilion by the lake. The princess was directing the maid to prepare the dishes. She looked back with a smile: "I guess you are coming back. You haven't had dinner yet, right?"
"It's useless." Prince Yu nodded: "On the way, I was thinking of you, my beloved concubine..."
He deliberately lengthened his voice and glanced at his wife's beautiful figure. The princess's face turned slightly red. Just as she was about to speak, she heard that he was familiar with the dishes: "...'s craftsmanship."
The princess glared at him, endured her embarrassment and muttered in a low voice: "They are all still here."
It was about the maids who were serving Sakon. Prince Yu knew that his wife wanted to be more respectable, so he waved the maids to step aside and let her serve alone.
Glancing at the empty seats next to her, there were all the food and drinks on the table, but there was no one around. It was a bit strange: "Where is my sister? She is obsessed with reading again?"
"No way, she went to Qingyuan early in the morning. She heard that there was a garden party, some Jinshi, and fellow Jinshi... My sister-in-law insisted that she go, maybe she stayed for the dinner..." The princess looked behind him and blinked. Blink and smile.
Prince Yu looked back and smiled: "I was talking about you, why did my sister come back so soon?"
"You really want to keep the banquet there, the cultural banquet..." County Lord Mingyu turned around and closed the door, wearing a well-fitting dress, but with a dark face: "There are many... handsome men, some words are very disturbing to hear.
…”
She sighed and sat at the dining table, remembered something, and said: "I have already shown this book to my sister-in-law - by the way, when it comes to books, they all have some criticisms."
Prince Yu was startled, and then he came to his senses: "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms? There is some criticism. The second-placed official has lost face by writing these novels."
"Besides, with his talent, he is not willing to be a literary person. I can't figure it out."
County Lord Mingyu glanced at his brother who didn't like to read: "I gave it to you to read before the second-ranked master's masterpiece was finished. You only read a few chapters before you yawned, commented like this, and ran away early again.
go out……"
The princess pursed her lips and smiled. No matter how virtuous she was, she would inevitably criticize her husband for his lack of family.
"The book he is reading is not to my liking..." Prince Yujun defended. Speaking of Ye Qing, he remembered the words in the secret letter and asked, "What did my sister-in-law say?"
This is the princess who became a monk
"I haven't seen it yet, what can I say?"
The stars and the moon hung low, reflecting on the quiet water, as they drank wine and talked. At this time, there was a home atmosphere. Prince Yu felt happy and stopped talking.
After the banquet, the family took a walk and chatted by the lake, while the guards stayed away.
The woman in the family knew a little about politics, and she was a little concerned at this time: "There are a lot of disturbances outside. Some people say they are retreating from the enemy, and some people say they are beheading two thousand people. How is the war going?"
"There were beheadings, but not two thousand. Only more than a thousand were left. The number reported by the military magician is correct." King Yujun said casually. This was not secret information among the high-level officials.
"In fact, we can pursue it, but this mission is to penetrate into several major grasslands in the southern part of the Northern Wei Dynasty and make nails on the seven inches of the snake's body. The enemy's cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and the crossbow array moves slowly. It is difficult for our cavalry to go out alone.
."
"That's right, it's better to take it slow and steady." The princess agreed very much.
"Yes, victory or defeat does not mean anything at the moment... To put it bluntly, what do you see in the crossfire? The border guards, the small vassal tribes, the imperial court and the Northern Wei army have not yet mobilized. Before the autumn, they are just testing the reality.
...Pile chips on the gambling table by the way to show your strength, scare the opponent, and unite your own side." Prince Yu said this, his eyes sparkling.
The two women heard some hints, recalled the recent actions in the house, and looked at each other.
In the summer evening breeze, Mingyu County Lord was blowing his hair and sighed slightly: "Actually, my sister-in-law also said something, but it was not about books."
"oh?"
"When she sent me out, she asked me to bring you a message." She stopped by the lake and looked back quietly: "I miss you very much when you were young. At that time, the prince, Xiaoliu, Xiaoba, and you were all the closest to me.
I still remember when they came to play with me, none of them were as tall as a wheel..."
Prince Yu was stunned when he heard this and couldn't tell what he felt. Then he heard her sigh faintly: "Xiaoba has gone, which saves me a lot of things. You are born to the Heavenly family, and you have the destiny of the Heavenly family. For me,
For me, safety is the most important thing. I see everything you do, and I feel bad when I see you fighting."
"Is this my sister-in-law's intention, or..." Prince Yu was stunned, lowered his eyes and said nothing, thinking about the majestic and terrifying man, he smiled bitterly for a moment: "Father will not say such things, I understand my sister-in-law's good intentions..."
"Don't say that, the wealth is very high now..." The princess comforted softly.
"You women don't understand what it's like to be unable to stand out..." Prince Yu clenched his hands and looked at Xingyue Lake, just thinking.
When a dragon emerges, it stirs up wind and rain, and when it dives into the abyss, do you long for a flying dragon in the sky?
And there is a big net here. The bigger you are, the more you feel the restraint and suffocation. This is a net that catches all the fish and dragons in the world.
After pondering for a long time, Prince Yu smiled with a hint of grimness: "Eldest brother and sixth brother have become more and more active recently, which always makes me feel uneasy... Fortunately, Ye Qing reminded me again in the letter, so I don't have to worry about it.
, act according to your duty, make compromises, and what will happen depends on luck."
Prince Yu saw their worries and felt a little depressed, but he hid it and did not show it anymore. He just changed the subject with a smile: "To tell you the truth, the dignified No. 2 Duke writes a novel and cooperates with the Yin family publishing company.
What kind of serialization profit sharing is not enough to become famous, and this is not the way to get money... What Ye Qing is thinking, I really don't understand now."
"It's really difficult to understand... He has an idea. He knows that my sister-in-law likes literary anecdotes. She published two books when she was a princess. Even my father has read it and praised it. She is considered a predecessor of the novel, so he commissioned it to promote it."
County Lord Mingyu frowned as he spoke. He thought for a while and was puzzled. Then he smiled and explained to the princess: "But this "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is still very interesting. My sister can read it. It is different from the previous novels about worldly affairs.
It’s very majestic and graceful, and there are many moving emotions. In the beginning, the Taoyuan sworn brotherhood..."
The princess was fascinated by this: "It's so good. I have only heard from my husband that Liu Bei is a descendant of the royal family, but he can only make a living by selling shoes. He is too poor and has a low starting point. After moving to several places, his opponents are getting stronger and stronger."
, I didn’t miss anything, so I looked depressed.”
"Well, didn't you just write down part of it? It will get better in the future, right?" County Lord Mingyu said a little uncertainly. He rolled his eyes at his younger brother and then smiled: "Liu Bei can't see in, so you can look at Cao Cao, or
Sun Ce and Sun Quan, there is always something that is satisfactory. He describes the war scenes vividly, as if he had been there in person... It is a bit cruel and has a great impact on people. I think it can be written more poetically, such as the wise calculations of the counselors on both sides, and the brave generals.
Three hundred rounds of fighting..."
King Yujun saw that his sister couldn't finish her words when she mentioned Ye Qing. He felt a little "squeak" in his heart and decisively interrupted: "It is only appropriate to write cruelly. Now that the imperial court's Northern Expedition is about to begin, this book was published at the right time, so that all people can benefit from it."
Take a look, be mentally prepared... But the war in Yingzhou is about to start, why do I feel that this guy is not the one who finished the article honestly..."
"Isn't it true? If a man makes a huge promise, he will break his promise and make himself rich?" County Lord Mingyu murmured in confusion.
"Haha, it's hard to say..."
After laughing, Prince Yu said calmly: "This person didn't just write this novel, and even if he did, he wouldn't write to me. If he wasted a favor, he must have an agenda."
Having said this, he pursed his lips and said thoughtfully: "Let me think about it again."