The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, Lin'an City is filled with singing and dancing, and every restaurant is busy preparing for its own Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival.
Brothels are no exception, and among them, the poetry gathering held by the most famous Manxiang House in Lin'an is the most eye-catching.
However, these were nothing compared to the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival held by Liu Chan personally in the imperial city.
Just setting up the venue actually cost a total of 800,000 taels.
The talented people in Lin'an City fought hard to get a place at the banquet, because Liu Chan said that a scholar who can't do anything is not a good scholar.
Therefore, most of the scholars walking in Chang'an City today carry swords to prevent others from looking down on them.
Although Zhao Ding had many objections to this, with Liu Chan's character, who could stop him.
The cost of 800,000 taels will eventually fall on the Ministry of Household Affairs, which worries Qin Hui, who is also the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If he cannot save this expense, his funds for the coming year will be greatly reduced.
The salaries of officials, military expenditures in various places, and the construction of ships all depend on the money from the Ministry of Revenue.
But the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Festival had to be held. Liu Chan finally allowed himself to be willful for a while. Why didn't Qin Hui satisfy him?
So Qin Hui came up with an incredible plan after many considerations.
That is, in addition to officials and scholars, he also plans to sell ten banquet places to others, and the one with the highest price will get it.
In the end, all ten places were obtained by businessmen, and the highest place was actually sold for a total of 300,000 taels. The businessman is really rich.
But the officials were not happy. Qin Hui, what do you mean? How can a businessman deserve to sit with them?
The matter was so big that it even reached Liu Chan. Liu Chan ended up saying that whoever is willing to pay 800,000 taels, then he is willing to cancel the merchant's seat.
Eight hundred thousand taels, no one except the businessman is willing to be taken advantage of.
Although the status of merchants in the Song Dynasty was better than that of previous dynasties, it was still very poor. Therefore, the rich who had accumulated tens of thousands of net worth could not wait to switch from shopping malls to court.
The Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival is such an excellent opportunity.
A few days ago, no news came out about the assassination of the prince. Those who knew about the incident also kept silent. Only Zhao Yuan was still struggling to track down the murderer.
"Are these the bodies of those three people?"
"Yes, they have been kept here since they were transported. If not for His Majesty's order, they would have been buried long ago."
Zhao Yuan lifted up the white cloth and took a look. Due to the ice, the body had not yet rotted. Zhao Yuan looked carefully and saw nothing wrong with it.
"Have you found out the identities of these three people?"
"This is the information from the shadow guard's investigation. Please take a look at it, the prince."
Zhao Yuan took the letter from the shadow guard and read it several times, but couldn't see any problems.
"Oh, could it be that these three people really assassinated me for the sake of making money? How do you explain the crossbow?"
"I don't know, but His Majesty has ordered that no one, except the Crown Prince, is allowed to investigate this matter privately."
"I already know it, I don't need you to repeat it again."
"yes."
Zhao Yuan turned around and picked up the assassin's crossbow, looked at it for a while, then picked up the arrows on the table and looked at it for a while.
After a long while, he said with a smile: "Who sent these arrows?"
"It was sent here by General Yueyue Yunyue."
"Did you not come into contact with anyone during this period?"
"No, when the Shadow Guards arrived, General Yue Yunyue had already cleaned the battlefield and collected all the arrows."
After Zhao Yuan heard this, he left. When he walked out the door, he saw Wan Yanxue standing by the carriage waiting for him.
"Xiaoying, didn't I tell you that your injury hasn't healed yet? Just stay in the carriage and rest."
Zhao Yuan quickly walked forward and supported the pale Wan Yanxue.
Wan Yanxue changed her name to Cao Ying and said with a smile: "The prince has a humble status. It is a blessing for me to be able to take in this slave. How dare I ask for so much."
"You saved my life, so you are naturally different from others."
"Master, what did you find during the investigation?"
"This is not the place to talk. You and I should get in the carriage first."
After Zhao Yuan helped Wan Yanxue get into the carriage, he asked his cronies to drive the carriage in person.
"This assassination will definitely not be that simple. I suspect that a military general is involved."
Since Wan Yanxue also suffered an assassination and saved Zhao Yuan's life, Zhao Yuan did not hide much from Wan Yanxue.
"You are the prince, how dare they?"
Wan Yanxue pretended to be surprised and said in disbelief.
"Prince? I'm afraid it won't be true in a few months. Hey, look, why am I telling you this? Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival, and I will take you to see the world."
"My slave has a humble status, how can I go there?"
"With Gu, who dares to say that you are of low status, Gu will put him in jail."
"Pfft."
Wan Yanxue chuckled lightly, as if she was delighted by Zhao Yuan's appearance.
"That little guy Qin Hui did a good job this time. I didn't expect the businessman to have such huge financial resources, and he actually saw this."
"Who is Qin Hui?"
"He is the left prime minister, don't you know him?"
"I don't know." Wan Yanxue shook her head.
"What about Yue Fei? You always know."
"Of course I know. General Yue is loyal to the emperor and patriotic. I know it very well."
Wan Yanxue slapped her chest, her proud look making Zhao Yuan laugh.
"Qin Hui is Yue Fei's mortal enemy."
"What! No wonder you said he was a villain."
"Hahaha."
Wan Yanxue's expression really made Zhao Yuan laugh, and he immediately laughed regardless of the occasion, and the sadness on his brows was swept away.
"Prince, why are you laughing?"
"Nothing, hahaha, nothing."
"dare you laugh!"
"I didn't, hahaha."
Yangxin Hall,
"The prince still hasn't found anything today?"
"Yes."
"Has the identity of the woman next to the prince been found out?"
"It's exactly the same as what I reported before. It's just that I still don't know where she wandered to Lin'an from."
Liu Chan walked a few steps and said, "I always feel that this woman is not an ordinary person, she seems a little weird."
Weird, of course weird and tight.
Zhao Yuan, who usually doesn't care about women and doesn't care about beautiful women at all, would actually tease and care about Wan Yanxue. How is this not surprising?
Before meeting Wan Yanxue, Zhao Yuan's behavior could be described as straight. If Concubine Wu hadn't found several palace maids for him, Zhao Yuan would still be worried about state affairs and be alone now.
But after meeting Wan Yanxue, Zhao Yuan transformed into a warm man, asking for help every day and even learning cooking skills.
Compared with before, it is simply incredible.
It can be seen that Wan Yanxue's skills in controlling people are extraordinary.
"How about sending more people to follow?"
Liu Chan thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "If the prince finds out, it may cause disagreement between father and son. That's all, just do it as usual."
If Zhao Yuan is a love brain and discovers that Liu Chan is investigating Wan Yanxue, it will inevitably aggravate the father-son conflict between them.
Li Hui thought to himself, how much trouble could a woman cause?
But it was Li Hui's carelessness that finally caused the Lin'an turmoil that attracted worldwide attention.
Liu Chan, on the other hand, was a little better and was very afraid of women. However, due to his status as a prince, this fear could only end in vain.
Prince's Mansion,
Wan Yanxue came to a deserted corner and waited quietly. After a while, a maid walked over quietly.
"Lord, everything is ready, just waiting for tomorrow."
"Okay, after the matter is completed, immediately bring the person here to hide. Tomorrow the prince and I will go to the palace for a banquet, which is the best time to make a move."
"My lord, are you going to the palace tomorrow?"
"What's wrong?"
"I heard that Her Royal Highness the Princess is still in the palace and has not been executed by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."
"What, that bitchy maid Wanyanhu is still in the palace?"
"Yes, when the incident failed, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty did not punish His Highness the Princess, but just locked her up. Tomorrow's Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival will be held with the whole family celebrating, so he may not let her out."
"That wretched maid Wanyanhu has seen me, which is very detrimental to us."
"My lord, it is better to think of other countermeasures."
"If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch the tiger's cub. I want to bet with God that Wan Yanhu, that cheap maid, won't go to the banquet."
"Lord, this is too risky."
"We bear the heavy responsibility of reviving the Kingdom of Jin, and are responsible for the life and death of thousands of Jin people. If we don't take even the slightest risk, how can we be worthy of those predecessors who died."
"Is there no other way?"
"No more. We must rescue Jin Wushu as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Imperial Guards under my command will fall apart in less than a year without anyone to lead them."
"Hey, I think about the time when our Kingdom of Jin dominated the north and swallowed up thousands of miles like a tiger. It's really sad to see it like this now."
"Stop saying this and give the order."
"yes."
Wan Yanxue touched the wound on her shoulder. Although it hurt a lot, she still laughed. The mastermind of the assassination was of course none other than Wan Yanxue.
If there hadn't been such a cruel trick, how could Zhao Yuan trust her and how could Zhao Yuan fall in love with her?
For a straight man like Zhao Yuan, Wan Yanxue had many ideas in her mind. No, in just a few days, Zhao Yuan was already obediently obeying her orders.
Those assassin corpses were not the real assassin corpses, and Wan Yanxue didn't know what happened, but one thing was clear, someone must have changed them.
Because the assassin's identity is neither a Jin national nor a rogue from Lin'an, but a real soldier of the Yue Family Army, and a soldier of the Yue Family Army with an official position.
Wan Yanxue's plan was not only to cause a father-son feud between Liu Chan and Zhao Yuan, but also to falsely accuse Yue Fei of treason.
If the identities of the soldiers of the Yue Family Army were exposed, Yue Fei at this time would at least be dismissed from all official positions. But it is a pity that the bodies of the soldiers of the Yue Family Army were exchanged.
And so far, no one except Zhao Yuan has mentioned this matter.
However, the facts of this matter cannot be changed. As long as Zhao Yuan continues to investigate, the truth will eventually come to light. When the time comes, the lightest thing will be to remove him from office.
Wan Yanxue chuckled lightly, walked towards the kitchen with steps and singing.
She wanted to cook a bowl of chicken soup for Zhao Yuan and continue to attack Zhao Yuan's psychological defense.