It was already sultry in Songzhou in May, so Zhongqi stayed at the Yamen at all times on the grounds of being at the disposal of Mr. Han.
He sat on the stone steps of the corridor, fanning himself with the back of his knife, and watched a man brought in by the officials approaching. When he saw the man's appearance clearly, Zhong Qi immediately raised his hand to stop him.
"For what?"
The official hurriedly said: "General Xiao Qi, this is Mr. Ping from the sixth house, a member of the Wu clan."
If he wasn't a member of the Wu clan, he wouldn't stop him. Zhong Qi smiled and said, "Wu Liu's case is settled. Do you still have any objections?"
Mr. Ping hurriedly said, "I'm here to thank Mr. Han for ridding our family of evildoers."
"Do you want to send money?" Zhong Qi asked bluntly, waving his fan knife, "No, no, no, Master Han said the case is over. No money will be collected, and innocent family members will not be affected."
It was this knife that cut off Mr. Wu Liu's head. He was really close at the time, and I can still clearly recall the scene when his head and body separated.
After hundreds of years of peace and prosperity, this is the first time that Mr. Ping has seen beheading.
The young general was polite and good-looking at this time, but Master Ping did not dare to be careless at all.
"It's not a gift, nor a self-discrimination." He said hurriedly, "I have something to report to your Excellency."
Zhongqi made a sound, put away the knife, and stood up: "If you have anything to do, please tell me first. I will write it down and tell you."
He looked inside.
"A new notice has just been sent from the imperial court. Your Excellency is very busy."
Lowered his voice again.
"I'm not in a good mood either. I lost my temper just now."
The official said clearly and lowered his voice: "Is it because Ande Zhong came to Taiyuan Mansion?"
Rebels also passed through Henan Road. Although they did not pass through Songzhou, they still made people nervous.
Zhong Qi told him more news: "Not only Ande Zhong, but also Shi Chao has passed."
The official let out a frightened ouch: "That's really serious! No wonder you are so anxious."
Zhong Qi nodded to him and looked at Mr. Ping. He didn't avoid him when he said this, which showed that he was very kind to him. Mr. Ping listened and nodded hurriedly.
"So whatever you can solve, you solve it." Zhong Qi said, "If you are really undecided, tell me again, and I will find an opportunity to tell Mr. Han."
So good, so good, the officials nodded repeatedly.
Zhong Qi smiled deeply at Master Ping's dimples: "Master Ping, come with me."
…
…
Han Xu looked unhappy and threw the paperwork on the table.
"Sir, Xiao Qi and a master from the Wu family are sneaking around and saying something." Zhongli came in and said.
"Did he take money from others?" Han Xu asked.
Zhongli shook his head: "That's not the case. According to the Lord's instructions, all the money sent by the Wu family was not accepted, and Xiao Qi drove them back."
Of course, General Xiao Qi was not really obedient to him, and Han Xu never expected or believed in such loyalty. He only needed this young general to have the selfish desire to make contributions.
If you are selfish, you will do something and something you will not do.
Han Xu ignored him and said, "He has his own sense of control. Don't worry about him." Looking at the paperwork on the table, he frowned. Some people became less and less restrained as their desires grew.
This lady of Chu!
"Sir, are you saying that Mrs. Chu let Ande Zhong go?" Zhongli asked in surprise.
"Even if she didn't let him go," Han Xu said, "she must have condoned it."
He had long known that she would not leave the capital easily, but he never expected that she would dare to do such a crazy thing.
As for what Cui Zheng said about her holding the emperor's seal to show off her power, there is nothing strange about it.
Mrs. Chu had the emperor's seal, which he had seen a long time ago.
He was surprised that Mrs. Chu did not return the emperor's seal to the court, but dared to use the emperor's seal to arrest the emperor's imperial envoy.
But when he thought about it again, it was not surprising that Mrs. Chu's temperament did such a thing. As her power grew, she became more and more greedy... He only regretted that he didn't understand her at the beginning and didn't say more about the emperor to the court.
Regarding the seal, please promptly remind the court to take it back.
Han Xu sighed, now...
"The current situation is not good." Zhongli said from the side.
After he finished reading, there were letters on Han Xu's desk. Han Xu did not avoid him on these matters. At first, he refused to read them. Han Xu said that if he wanted to inquire about information and act as eyes and ears, he must know everything, so Zhongli accepted it... except
Letter from Mrs. Chu.
"Ande Zhongshi and Shi Chao gathered in Taiyuan Mansion, fearing that they might take action against Linzhou or the capital."
This was also the worry of the emperor and Cui Zheng. Cui Zheng said in the letter that it was time to set off. The armies in Ankang Mountain would gather together, and the court should also join the capital as soon as possible, so that the two sides could win a greater victory in a battle.
Even if they arrive at Henan Road first, the distance between the guards will be closer...
Han Xu nodded: "Your Majesty must set off..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door... There was no one else making this noise except that General Xiao Qi.
The footsteps suddenly stopped at the door, and Zhong Qi looked over.
Han Xu and Zhongli both looked at him.
"Sir! Several people from the Wu family have come to report to you." Zhong Qi lowered his voice and raised a booklet in his hand. "I have already received it for you and written it down. Some of them are really amazing.
of……"
He lowered his head and flipped through the paperwork.
"Some people bribed officials, some lynched their wives and concubines, and some deliberately set fire to death in order to open up mountains..."
Listening to the noise, each one more unpleasant than the last, Han Xu felt even worse.
"Okay!" He said, "Since they complained, let's go and investigate..."
Zhong Qi smiled and said: "I have already asked people to investigate. Actually, sir, I think they are having internal strife. They are all just speculating about things that I can't provide any evidence for. It is said that Mr. Wu Liu's family property is going to be taken over by the clan.
After the confiscation, the other people in the sixth house stopped doing it. This is revenge, do we still care?"
Han Xu pressed his brows and sneered: "I know they use me as a knife to seize family property. Since they dare to use me, why don't I dare? Go! Investigate it as they wish!"
Zhong Qi said: "Then can we share the benefits? It's such a disadvantage to work for them for nothing..."
Han Xu smacked the table and said angrily: "What time is it now? Hurry up and clean up these messy Wu clan members! Are you still waiting for Your Majesty to come and listen to their nonsense?"
Han Xu, who had always been elegant, cursed for the first time. Zhong Qi immediately ran away. His armor and weapons collided with each other, and he said from a distance, "Don't worry, sir!"
…
…
The footsteps were stomping, and the armor and weapons collided with each other, hitting the hearts of the Wu clan members with fright.
"General Xiao Qi, why are you here?" Mr. Wu San greeted him personally. In view of the previous lessons, his attitude was kind.
Zhong Qi looked at him and smiled: "Someone complained."
Master Wu San didn't ask as if he expected it. He sighed and said, "General Xiao Qi, this is a matter for our clan. Please leave it to us. We will not spare the perpetrators lightly!"
Zhong Qi smiled and shook his head: "No, the defendants are you clan elders. You have no way to deal with yourselves, so this time all the gentlemen of your ninth house will go to the government office."
Are they all going? Mr. Wu San’s face was surprised, isn’t it? The news is not like this...: "Sue us Jiufang? What are you suing us for?"
Zhong Qi said: "I accuse you of murdering the orphan girl of the eldest son."
Master Wu San's expression suddenly changed.
…
…
"This is impossible."
"The news is clearly not like this."
There was a lot of noise in the hall, but it was different from the noise in the past, it was tense and dull.
"The news is that several people from the sixth house went to sue the seventh house and the couple threw themselves into a well after an argument, and that there was a wildfire in the forest on the eighth house. Those were all accidents! And they have been resolved. There will be no witnesses!"
Of course they were keeping an eye on the sixth house. They knew that they had secretly gone to the government office and had bribed the government officials to eavesdrop on the conversation. Only then were they confident enough to face the officials. Why didn't the officials come and talk about these things?
It's a slap in the face!
"How would they know about this unless someone reported it?!"
Yes...many of their wives and children don't know about such private matters!
Several people from the sixth room were quickly brought and were shocked when they heard this.
"Not us!"
"Such a thing can happen!"
"Master!! I only know now!"
Old Master Wu Er immediately shouted, "There is no such thing! This is a false accusation!"
There was a dead silence in the hall, yes, there is no such thing, there cannot be such a thing, such a thing has never happened! But...
Everyone's hearts were beating loudly.
"Why did those officials say such things?"
If no one complained, how could they say this? I haven’t heard this statement for nearly 20 years... There is no smoke without fire!
And there must be no waves at this time!
"Second Master, there is no problem for Han Xu to investigate this, because there is no evidence! However, if this news spreads and Wu Ya'er hears it, if he guesses..."
For Han Xu, this incident had no emotion, but for the person involved, Wu Ya'er, it was different. If he knew the truth about his mother's murder, he would probably come and massacre Shangwu City immediately!
"Master, I told the guards that it won't take long to summon everyone..."
"What should we do? Do we really have to go to the Yamen?"
What should I do?
"If he wants some benefits or some money, we can give it to him. It doesn't matter if we humble him." Mr. Wu Er said solemnly, "But if he wants to kill us, we must kill him first!"
He looked at everyone in the hall.
"Now that our survival is at stake, everyone must work together."
"If there is a problem in the clan, no one will benefit!"
He looked at the gentlemen in the sixth room.
The gentlemen in the sixth room nodded repeatedly, of course they knew this.
Others also shouted, "Old man, tell me what we should do."
Old Mrs. Wu Er sat on the chair and held the armrests tightly.
"He wants to deal with us. He has soldiers and horses, and we have people. If he has the ability, he will kill and arrest thousands of our clan!"
"I want to see how he explains to the world! How he is trusted by His Majesty!"
"Third and fourth, you go gather the clan members and tell them that Han Xu is going to exterminate the clan and destroy the family!"
"Let everyone guard the city gate together!"
"Old five and six, you go summon the family guards!"
"Old Qi, take your people to see Han Xu and give him one last warning!"
"Others, come with me, open the ancestral hall, hold the ancestral tablets and meet the clan members!"
Accompanied by a chorus of shouts, the entire Shangwu City slowly began to boil like a pot of water.
………
………
"Brother Xiao Qi, there seems to be something bad outside."
A guard listened carefully and came back and whispered.
"It's a little lively outside."
Zhong Qi was sitting on a chair with his legs crossed and playing with his nails with a knife. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "It's lively? It's better if it's lively!"