No. 1 Girl in the Imperial City

Chapter 429 Saint?the wicked?
In the past, the princess regent would always get off at the gate when she returned to the mansion, but today the carriage drove in directly from the corner gate on the other side of the mansion. Hearing the news, the head of the mansion rushed over to greet her, fearing that the environment in the backyard would stain the eyes of the princess.

When the manager rushed over, Luo Junyao had already led the people to the gate of Jingyuan.

The manager was surprised when he saw the strange young people beside the princess and a few people who were tied into rice dumplings, and quickly asked, "Princess, what happened?"

Luo Jun waved his hands and asked, "Is Ah Yan at home?"

The steward replied: "Back to the princess, the prince just came back not long ago, and he just asked the princess's whereabouts."

Luo Jun shook his head and said: "That's all right, I'll go see A Yan, the boss can do other things."

The manager understood that the princess wanted to take these people to see the prince, so he bowed respectfully and left without asking any more questions.

After entering Jingyuan, it was the first time for Chen Xun, who was by Luo Junyao's side, to enter a place like the palace, and he didn't dare to look around for fear of offending anyone.

Because Jingyuan has an extra hostess, this spring is different from the quietness of previous years. At this time, there are already a hundred flowers blooming, the fragrance is floating and the butterflies are dancing, just like a fairyland.Although Chen Xun tried his best not to let himself look around, he couldn't help but be attracted by the beautiful scenery.

As soon as he walked into the garden, he saw Xie Cheng running over with a few children from a distance, "Little Aunt Huang!"

Xie Cheng happily patted Luo Junyao and shook the hem of Luo Junyao's clothes, "Little Aunt Huang, you went out so early today, Ah Cheng didn't even find you."

Luo Junyao smiled and leaned over to touch his little face and said, "What does Ah Cheng want me for?"

Xie Cheng said: "Ah Cheng is going into the palace today to pay his respects to the emperor's grandmother, and wants to invite little auntie to go with him."

Luo Junyao sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Ah Cheng, little Aunt Huang went out to the academy this morning. How is Grandmother today?"

Xie Cheng said sadly: "Grandmother only said a few words to Ah Cheng, and Aunt Changling said that Grandmother needs to rest, so it is not good for Ah Cheng to disturb Grandmother."

"Ah Cheng is a good boy, when the emperor's grandmother recovers someday, shall we go see her again?"

"Okay!" Xie Cheng happily replied, "I know that Auntie Xiaohuang is now the head of the mountain, and she has to go to Anlan Academy often to handle official business." Luo Junyao was a little surprised, and raised his eyebrows: "You also know that when you become the head of the mountain, you have to go to Anlan Academy often. Do business?"

"Of course, just like the emperor uncle has a lot of things to deal with every day." Xie Cheng said.

"Ah Cheng is really smart."

"Little Aunt Huang, who are they?"

"They..." Before Luo Junyao opened his mouth, Chen Xun, who was standing by the side, already had a stiff look on his face. Only now did he come to his senses and hurriedly knelt down on the ground, "Cao Min pays homage to His Majesty!"

Xie Cheng is wearing ordinary clothes today, he looks like a normal kid from a wealthy family.Therefore, Chen Xun didn't react when he called Aunt Xiao Huang for the first time.But the two of you talked for a long time, if Chen Xun didn't realize it, he would be a fool.

Xie Cheng looked at Chen Xun in surprise, Luo Jun shook his smile and said: "He is a scholar I met outside the city. He encountered a little trouble. We are looking for Uncle Ni. Ah Cheng will go play with everyone first. Okay?"

Xie Cheng nodded and said, "Has he met any bad guys?" The bad guys naturally refer to those who were tied into zongzi.

"Yes, we need your uncle's help."

"Okay then." Xie Cheng nodded, and said to Chen Xun, "Stay flat, don't worry, Uncle Huang is very powerful and will definitely help you fix these villains!"

What he said was naive but also very serious, Chen Xun couldn't help being a little jealous.

It was the first time in months that he had been told with such certainty that someone would fix those bad guys for him.

"Caomin thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Xun said solemnly.

When the group reached the gate of the main courtyard, Xie Yan had already come out. Seeing them coming, Xie Yan stood under the eaves of the gate and glanced indifferently at the people following Luo Junyao.

Luo Junyao ran over quickly and whispered what happened in Xie Yan's ear.

Hearing this, Xie Yan's originally indifferent expression seemed to be covered with a layer of frost in an instant, and the eyes of those middle-aged men who were tied up looked at him, and their feet were even softer, almost unable to walk.

They never thought that they would turn their backs like this, and they bumped into the hands of the regent princess just after they arrived in Shangyong.

Before they came, the adults repeatedly told them that they must not provoke the Prince Regent's Palace or attract the Prince Regent's attention.

Done!It's all over!

"Ask Zhu Siming, Qu Tiange and Wei Changting to come and see this king." Xie Yan instructed Luo Junyao as he walked in with one hand.

"Yes, my lord."

Both Zhu Siming and Qu Tiange came to the mansion very quickly, but Wei Changting still had to wait for someone to go to the household department to deliver a message, so it was impossible to arrive immediately.

Qu Tiange has a special background and has just taken over the secret word camp, and Zhu Siming is not familiar with him, even though they walked into the hall together, they seemed a little strange.

"I've met the prince and princess." Zhu Siming glanced at the strangers in the hall with some strangeness, and finally fell on Chen Xun.

"Sit down." Xie Yan said.

"Thank you, Lord."

After the two sat down, Xie Yan picked up the blood book on the table and handed it to Zhu Siming, "Look."

Zhu Siming took it over and opened it for a look, his expression changed immediately.

After reading it, he handed it to Qu Tiange without saying a word. Qu Tiange is still not familiar with Shangyong, let alone other places.After reading it, he just frowned slightly, and his eyes fell on those men who were already shivering into a ball at this moment.

Xie Yan took a deep breath, and said to Chen Xundao, "Tell me what happened in detail."

Chen Xun said respectfully: "My lord, on the [-]th of August last year, Du Cheng, a student of my Yunhai Academy, returned to his home in Laicheng because of the academy's rest. He happened to see a group of young girls being forced onto a boat by the sea during the night while he was driving at night. I accidentally heard that the leader said that these women were sold to Yingzhou as prostitutes. The leader once went to Yunhai Academy with Cao Mian, Governor of Qingzhou, and was Cao Mian's confidant. Du Cheng accidentally alarmed those people, Although he escaped smoothly, he lost the things of the academy. He was afraid that he would not go home, so he went back to the academy overnight and told the master of the academy. The next day, people from the governor's mansion came to the door."

Speaking of this, Chen Xun paused for a moment and his eyes turned red. He continued: "The gentlemen of the academy refused to hand over people. They only said that Du Cheng did not come back after leaving the academy. Those people... those people even set fire to the academy in the middle of the night. The dormitory was almost completely burned down. More than 20 students were burned to death on the spot, and Du Cheng was also arrested. Not only that, but the remaining teachers and students of the academy were also arrested. Only two gentlemen and a few The classmates escaped unharmed. One gentleman said that he was an old friend with the prefect of Dengzhou. He took two students to ask the prefect for help, but they never returned. We were imprisoned. In the end, there were only eight of us left in Yunhai Academy. We could only write blood letters and scattered in Qingzhou at the end of October. The students arrived at the imperial city after many detours and several months. The teachers and students of Qingzhou are wronged! I beg the prince to save so many innocent women in Qingzhou!"

After saying this, Chen Xun leaned over and kowtowed a few more times.

There was silence in the hall, Zhu Siming looked at Xie Yan and Luo Junyao who were sitting on the main seats, coughed lightly and said: "My lord, it seems that this matter should belong to..."

Xie Yan raised his eyes and glanced at him lightly, Zhu Siming immediately closed his mouth.

Of course he knew who Cao Mian was. If no one in Shangyong knew about such a big matter, it would probably be impossible.

"Qu Tiange, leave these people to you." Xie Yan glanced at the human-shaped rice dumplings on the ground and said.

Qu Tiange nodded silently, stood up, picked up one of them, and walked out. After a while, someone came in and took the rest out.

Seeing Qu Tiange leave, Zhu Siming felt a little emotional, "Young Master Qu is really different."

Qu Tiange is from the Jianghu, and it is indeed different from the people he usually deals with.

Xie Yan said: "Why is Qu Tiange not important, I want to know what Dai Yunwen is doing?"

Zhu Siming's scalp tightened instantly when he heard the words, and he said cautiously: "My lord, this... Mr. Dai is only one person after all. I heard that something happened in Yizhou at the end of the year. He is now in Yizhou. inner……"

Xie Yan said: "So this is the king's fault?"

Zhu Siming hurriedly said: "I dare not!"

The Dai Yunwen Xie Yan was talking about was not someone else, but another long history of the Prince Regent's Palace.

Unlike the left chief Shi Zhu Siming who stayed in Shangyong for a long time to handle the affairs of the Prince Regent's Palace, the right chief Shi Dai Yunwen didn't take care of the affairs of the Prince Regent's Palace, but inspected various places in disguise under the orders of the Prince Regent all the year round.

Xie Yan has not been in the court for a long time, not to mention the place, even the court. Although the secret word camp is good at inquiring, after all, the number is limited and it is impossible to cover everything. All these years of effort have been spent at the border.What's more, there are some things that ordinary spies can't understand, and people who know the officialdom and people's livelihood have to go to inspect them in person.

That's what Dai Yunwen does. In the opera, it's an imperial envoy.

"Get up, sit down and talk." Xie Yan ignored Zhu Siming and bowed his head to Chen Xundao who was still kneeling on the ground.

Chen Xun thanked him in a low voice, stood up and sat down in the lower seat.

Xie Yan looked at Chen Xundao: "Cao Mian has served in Qingzhou for 15 years, and it seems that he has never been impeached in these years. Mr. Chen is a native of Qingzhou. Before this matter, what do you think of Cao Mian?"

Chen Xun clasped his hands together and dared not, and then slowly said: "If this hadn't happened right in front of our eyes, the students wouldn't believe that Cao Mian would do such a thing. Cao Mian has been in Qingzhou for many years, even if he can't say it's a breeze He has a benevolent heart, but he has not had any bad deeds except for being a little lax in disciplining his family in recent years. It is for this reason that the head of the mountain was only an evil servant at first who took advantage of his master's power to make trouble, and wanted to go to the Governor's Mansion to fight with him. He has a clear theory. Who knows..."

Yunhai Academy is a famous academy in Qingzhou, and the head of the academy is naturally quite famous, so it's not that he has no friendship with Cao Mian.But even so, it still didn't end well.

"You said, the manager of the Cao family sold those girls to Yingzhou? Is there any evidence?"

Chen Xun shook his head and said: "Students have no evidence, but it is true that the place Du Cheng bumped into was blocked by government soldiers and horses afterwards. Moreover, a classmate and I hid nearby and monitored for nearly a month. The people who are transported outside are indeed young women, not just from Du Cheng. During that time, other gentlemen and classmates also collected some information, but there are many women from good families who are lost every year near Qingzhou Fucheng, and farther away... such as students. In my hometown of Guangxian, the county lord said...there were more than 70 girls from good families who went missing in Guangxian the year before last." Guangxian is not a big place, and the population of the county is only over 1.

"There have been some gossips among the folks in Qingzhou, saying that there is the most prosperous and beautiful gold selling cave in the world on Yingzhou Island overseas. It is said that there are gold everywhere, treasures like mountains, and beauties like clouds. No matter men, women or children in the world, as long as they enter it, they will be happy. To linger. There, whatever you want will be satisfied until you spend your last penny. Either you will be kicked out of the island penniless, or you will stay on the island as a slave, and you will not want to leave. People who can't do anything are thrown into the sea to feed the fish."

"Who do you want to throw into the sea to feed the fish?" Wei Changting's voice came from outside the door, and for a moment the guard Shizi walked in from outside wearing a plain long gown and holding a folding fan.

Seeing Chen Xunwei who was sitting on the side, Changting raised his eyebrows and asked, "My lord, my concubine, what's the matter? What are you doing crying and howling in Xiyuan?"

Luo Junyao gestured to him to wipe his neck, Wei Changting took another look at Xie Yan's expression and knew that something serious happened, and immediately stopped joking, "My lord called me, I don't know why?"

Zhu Siming hurried to his side and explained the matter in general.

Wei Changting was also obviously surprised, "Cao Mian? He has such courage?"

Luo Jun said: "He is the governor of one side, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, why don't you have the guts?" How else can you say that the local official is the emperor?
Wei Changting shook his head and said, "Princess, you don't know that Cao Mian...was famous for being gentle and cautious around Gaozu in his early years, not to mention the matter of buying and selling people...burning the teachers and students of the academy to death almost wiped out the entire Yunhai Academy Now, no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t look like he dared to do it, does it?”

"My lord, students should take care of their relatives, friends and classmates even if they die themselves! Don't dare to bite a governor!" Chen Xun became a little anxious when he heard Wei Changting's words, and gritted his teeth.

Wei Changting waved his hands and said, "Young Master, don't worry, that's not what I meant."

Xie Yan said: "You have dealt with Cao Mian before, what do you think?"

Wei Changting sighed and said, "The last time I dealt with Cao Mian was five years ago. At that time, I was not as accurate as I am now. But...the person who went with me at that time said something to me afterwards, but I remember that Now."

"What?" Luo Junyao asked curiously, and the others got up and looked at Wei Changting.

Wei Changting said: "People say that Cao Mian is a high-ranking man, but he has no arrogance. He is not greedy for money, not good at gambling, not greedy for drinks, not greedy for food, and not lustful. He is a virtuous corporal, magnanimous and tolerant, and he is even able to endure Confidence. Counting from the beginning of following Gaozu, for more than 30 years, it is inevitable that General Luo, Old Madam Su, and even the late emperor will have a few things to talk about. Only this person, no The slightest omission. Such a person...is either a saint or a great villain."

Luo Jun shook his head: "This is too extreme."

Wei Changting laughed and said, "It was just a joke. I only listened to it as a joke at the time, and now I only say it as a joke. It's really hard to say that we know each other after a few encounters."

Xie Yanning kept his eyebrows silent, Wei Changting raised his eyebrows and said, "What is your lord thinking?"

Xie Yan said: "Qu Tiange is already on trial, let's see what we can get out of those people first. If this is true, it is impossible for Cao Mian to send only these few people to Shangyong. Those who came to Shangyong from the direction of Qingzhou." After finishing speaking, Xie Yan looked at Chen Xundao again: "Young Master Chen, go down to rest first, I won't just listen to one side of the story, I will investigate this matter thoroughly."

Chen Xun was a little uneasy, but when he looked at Xie Yan, he thought of the prestige of the Regent. Anyway, he seemed to have no other choice but to believe in the Regent.

"Yes, thank you, my lord." Chen Xun got up and saluted, then came in and asked his steward to go out.

When Chen Xun went out, Wei Changting asked, "That's not what the lord wanted to say just now, is it?"

Xie Yan raised his hand and rubbed the center of his brows, and said: "It is reasonable to say that even if the Cao family is really selling people to Yingzhou, Cao Mian can let this matter go to Shangyong for nearly half a year, and let the whole Qingzhou No official dares to impeach him, and he can't do such a cruel thing to Yunhai Academy."

Wei Changting said: "Perhaps it is because of his ability that he has no fear?"

"Yunhai Academy is a well-known academy in Qingzhou. A scholar or even the common people who accidentally leaked out the whole Qingzhou will make a fuss. At that time, it will not be able to be suppressed by a few officials. You also said that Cao Mian is a mild-mannered person. Be cautious, with his character, it's better to really push a dead ghost out than make things like this."

"What does the prince mean?" Zhu Siming couldn't help but ask.

Xie Yan said slowly: "Is it true that there are only people on the boat going to Yingzhou?"

Although it is somewhat cruel and unfair, one has to admit that in today's world, there are not a few parents who sell their children and sell their daughters. For people like Cao Mian, this may not be a big deal.

Even if he was bumped into by someone accidentally, but he was not bumped into on the spot, so why should he not be so self-inflicted?
Unless, at that time, there was something more important than human beings on the ship, and Cao Mian would rather kill him by mistake than let him go.

Of course, the premise of all this is that Chen Xun is telling the truth.

(End of this chapter)