No. 1 Girl in the Imperial City

Chapter 430 430. Surprise the Snake!

After a while, Qu Tiange came back with a person in his arms, threw the person on the ground casually, then nodded to the two people on the main seat and said: "Recruited." Xie Yan nodded in satisfaction, although Qu Tiange Unlike those who have been specially trained by the secret word camp, people from Jianghu also have their own way of doing things.

What's more, Qu Tiange is still Qu Fang's apprentice, and he has done a lot of things for Bai Jingrong in the past few years with Qu Fang, so this little thing can't stop him.

The man on the ground didn't have any scars on his body, but he was still shaking when he was thrown on the ground, and the clothes on his back were almost soaked with sweat, obviously he had suffered a lot.

Wei Changting asked curiously, "Are you really from Cao Mian?"

The man trembled, and said in a hoarse voice: "Yes... the little, the little man is... Cao An, the guard in charge of the governor's mansion."

"Your surname is Cao, too? Guard Commander? What kind of official is this? Does it mean Guard Commander? The Cao family is even called differently from others?" Wei Changting asked.

Cao Andao: "The little great-grandfather and Mr. Cao's great-grandfather are brothers, so it stands to reason... the young one should call Mr. Cao a cousin. The little one... only manages some of the guards in the mansion who specialize in foreign business. The governor's mansion, and the little one Generally, there are four other leaders."

Wei Changting looked at Cao An in surprise, "You and Cao Mian are still relatives? The Governor's Mansion has quite a lineup, and even the division of guards is more regular than others."

It's just that the blood relationship is a little far away. The Cao family was considered a big family at the beginning, and Cao An is probably a side branch of his great-grandfather who was separated from him.

"Tell me, what is Chen Xun talking about?" Xie Yan interrupted Wei Changting's curiosity, and asked in a deep voice.

Cao An's complexion changed slightly, he couldn't help but quickly glanced at Qu Tiange, and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, spare me! The little one doesn't know anything, the little one is just ordered to hunt down the fugitive!"

Luo Jun shook his smile and said: "When you chase fugitives, you should pursue them openly. Why do you guys say that someone stole your master's things? Besides, why don't I remember that hunting fugitives is not done by the governor's yamen and the officers and soldiers under his command, but by the governor's office?" The guards of the government came to chase after him personally? Do you have the sea arrest document from the governor's office? Take it out and have a look?"

The governor's office and the governor's mansion are not the same place. There are some things that the governor's mansion can do but the guards of the governor's mansion can't. Anyone with a little common sense should be able to tell the difference.

Don't say that Cao An didn't have it, even if he had it, how could he dare to carry it with him?

The Governor's Mansion originally wanted to handle this matter quietly by itself, and suppressed the news within Qingzhou.If the sea arrest document is issued, it will be troublesome to spread the matter to other places.The governor of Qingzhou can cover the sky with one hand in Qingzhou, but other places may not give him this face.

This is also the reason why they only dared to disguise themselves and inquire secretly, instead of directly asking the local government for help with government documents.

"Tell me, why you arrested him?" Luo Junyao asked with a smile.

Cold sweat broke out on Cao An's forehead, but under Xie Yan's indifferent gaze, he couldn't even think of a lie.It took a while before he stumbled and said: "Hui, Hui Wangfei. My lord said that the teachers and students of Yunhai Academy colluded with pirates and gathered people to conspire. My lord ordered all the people in the academy to be locked up and interrogated. I don't want a few people to escape. Eldest son Said...these scholars are very cunning, and they will definitely ruin the reputation of the adults outside, and even falsely accuse the adults, so that the younger ones lead people to look for these...these thieves..."

In fact, no matter how much he quibbles, it is useless, because no matter what, it is impossible to explain why Cao Mian didn't directly order the officers and soldiers to arrest people if it was really the problem of Yunhai Academy, but asked the people from the Governor's Mansion to negotiate with Yunhai Academy first. .

The most important thing is that these things have been going on for nearly half a year, but the court has not received any memorials from Qingzhou in this regard.

Xie Yan said: "What did you say about what Chen Xun said just now?"

Cao An shuddered, and quickly shook his head, saying: "There is absolutely no such thing! This is all because of Chen Xun's slander of our lord! Please learn from me!"

Xie Yan said: "Is there absolutely no such thing, or do you want to deceive the court for Cao Mian? Since the matter has come to this king, there is no reason to ignore it, do you understand?"

Cao An lowered his eyes, staring at the ground and turning his eyes quickly.

Several months have passed, and even the Prince Regent's House may not be able to...

Xie Yan didn't wait for his answer, and said, "Take him into the dungeon of the palace for retrial. According to the king's order, send Miziying to Qingzhou immediately to investigate Cao Mian and Yunhai Academy. In addition..."

Xie Yan glanced at Cao An who was kneeling on the ground, "Bring his family to Shangyong."

Hearing this, Cao An's expression suddenly changed and he wanted to say something in panic, but Xie Yan didn't look at him again.

Wei Changting next to him said: "Don't you know how to startle the snake?"

Xie Yan said: "If they can't even do this little thing, they will all go back to Suzhou to guard the border."

Wei Changting immediately touched his nose, and waved his hand to signal Qu Tiange to take him away quickly so as not to offend His Highness the Regent.

Qu Tiange glanced at him coldly, stepped forward to pick up Cao An and left.

"Your new commander has quite a personality." Wei Changting looked at Qu Tiange's back and said, "But this is too taciturn, or..." Wei Changting suddenly stopped talking in the middle of the sentence, and his expression changed somewhat sadly. Said: "Why did the prince let him take over the secret word camp? It's strange that he is not used to it."

Leng Shuang had already left Shangyong, and he neither said goodbye to him nor left a single word on the day he left, and he didn't even tell him when he left.

When he knew, Leng Shuang had already left Shangyong for a day.

When Wei Shizi was sad, he didn't see Zhu Siming's eyes next to him: Isn't it you, Wei Shizi, who are most likely to make trouble for the prince in Zhen Guojun and the Prince Regent's mansion?

Xie Yan said: "Maybe it's because he can hit ten of you."

"..." Could it still make people feel sad for a while?
Zhu Siming coughed lightly, held back a smile and said, "My lord, as Cao Mian, ordinary people may not be able to deal with him. If what Mr. Chen said is true, I'm afraid we need to send high officials from the court to Qingzhou to take care of him."

The governor is the highest military and political official in a state, the real emperor of the land.

If it is placed in troubled times, it can be directly transformed into a feudal town to dominate one side.Ordinary court officials wanting to fight against him on Qingzhou's territory is basically tantamount to a sheep entering the tiger's mouth.

Hearing this, Wei Changting immediately stared at Xie Yan vigilantly, his eyes seemed to say: Don't even think about sending me!
Xie Yan glanced at him indifferently and said: "You have time to dream, why don't you think about when you will be able to secure the position of minister."

Wei Changting said angrily: "What does this have to do with me? The guy named Liao from the official department deliberately delayed, what can I do?!" He didn't blame him for lying, he promised that he would be promoted soon?How many months has it been?

Xie Yan said: "You can't even take care of Liao Wei, are you sure you can manage the entire household department? If it's really not possible, it's not like this king can't skip the official department and directly promote you to the position of minister."

The regent, like the emperor, can directly appoint any official.Although most of the time they follow the rather complicated process of only expressing their intentions or asking the ministers to recommend officials, and then the Ministry of Officials checks and considers them, and then asks the regent for approval, and then issues the imperial edict.

Wei Changting snorted softly, and said: "No need, don't worry, the old man in the household department is more anxious than me, if Liao Wei delays, he can directly live in Liao's house."

"If I don't need to go, then who do you plan to let go?" Wei Changting asked curiously: "There are not many people who can use Shangyong now, right? Luo Jinyan is leaving soon, and Gu Jue is sure not to, Chaozhong..."

Most of the people whose status can hold Cao Mian down are too old to travel far, let alone deal with these things. Those who are of the right age still have a lot of incompetence. In fact, there are very few people who are of the right age, ability and status. Not to mention, they may not be able to travel. have to open.

Xie Yan said: "Let's take a look at the news from the secret word camp first. If there is really a problem, the king will go there in person."

After finishing speaking, he turned back to Zhu Siming and said, "Send a letter to Dai Yunwen, and go directly to Qingzhou after finishing the business in Yizhou."

"Yes, my lord." Zhu Siming immediately stood up and saluted, while secretly sweating for his colleagues.

Sitting next to him, Luo Junyao suddenly said, "I heard that the Cao family has many relatives in the capital. The Cao family did not find Chen Xun and others. Will they ask relatives for help?"

Zhu Siming bowed and said: "Thank you, Princess, for reminding me, the next official will attract attention."

Because of the Qingzhou incident, Xie Yan was obviously not in a good mood these days.The people who can feel this most intuitively are the officials in the court who often have contact with His Royal Highness the Regent.

But they don't know why the lord is in a bad mood. It seems that there is nothing bad about it except for the eldest daughter of the Luo family.For the Prince Regent, the matter of the eldest daughter of the Luo family is not enough to affect his mood, right?
Could it be... the empress dowager is not well?
"My lord... what's bothering you?" In the imperial study, Liao Wei watched Xie Yan who was sitting behind the desk and couldn't help frowning.

The Ministry of Officials has already passed the promotion of Wei Changting to be the Secretary of the Household Department. This is a great thing for the regent to take charge of the government. Although he also took the opportunity to promote his student Fang Chun to be the Minister of the Household Department, the status of the two cannot be matched. Same day.

Isn't Xie Yan still satisfied?

Xie Yan raised his eyes and said calmly: "It's nothing, I remember... Lord Liao and Marquis Wen Ding are in-laws?"

Liao Wei was taken aback for a moment, not quite understanding why Xie Yan suddenly paid attention to his family affairs.

You must know that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent has always been concise and to the point, and he never chatted with anyone in the imperial study.

Some people think that such a person is vigorous and resolute, while others feel that he is a little impersonal.

"My lord is right. My daughter has been married to Wen Dinghou's second son for three years. At that time, my lord was at the border. It's a pity that I couldn't invite my lord to a wedding drink." Although Liao Wei was puzzled, he still replied.

Xie Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Since they are in-laws, has Wen Dinghou written to Lord Liao recently?"

Liao Wei felt a little displeased. Since he and the Cao family are in-laws, it is natural for him to have daily correspondence.

Is it possible that the regent also has to take care of this?

"Thank you, my lord, for your concern. At the end of the year, the Liao family sent people to the capital to send congratulatory gifts, and also sent a private letter from Brother Cao." Liao Wei smiled, but his tone was a little heavier when he said the word private letter.It was obviously to remind Xie Yan that his daily dealings were not within the scope of the regent's interference.

After finishing speaking, Liao Wei added another sentence, saying: "The letter from the in-laws has some words to inquire about the situation in the capital. Please rest assured, the lower officials know the rules and will never disclose what should not be revealed."

The words were very blunt. Originally Liao Wei thought that Xie Yan would be displeased, but he didn't want Xie Yan to just say indifferently: "Lord Liao is overthinking. Contacting relatives is a common thing. This king is just asking casually."

"..." The more he said that, the more disbelieving Liao Wei felt.

I couldn't help but wonder what Xie Yan's words meant. Could it be that something happened in Qingzhou?Or is it that Xie Yan wants to win over or deal with Cao Mian?Why?
After thinking too much, he didn't have time to care about Xie Yan's mood, so he left the palace after finishing talking.

Seeing Liao Wei go out, Wei Changting, who had been pretending to be a wooden man, said, "If you ask Liao Wei like this, you are not scaring the snake out of the grass?"

Xie Yan said calmly, "It's just to startle the snake."

"You suspect Liao Wei?" Wei Changting was surprised.

Xie Yan shook his head and said, "Liao Wei...Although he has disagreements with the king in politics, it's not that he doesn't know the seriousness. What's more, he still keeps an eye on the position of the prime minister. With Ruan Ting's lessons learned, he knows what to do What not to do."

Ever since Ruan Ting entered the prison, the position of prime minister is still vacant.Xie Yan seemed to have no intention of promoting anyone, and the important officials in the court seemed to have forgotten this matter and no one took the initiative to bring it up.

It is true that there are few talents in the court nowadays, and there are really not many who are qualified for this position.If it must be said, Liao Wei's qualifications and abilities are indeed the closest.

Wei Changting said: "You seem to have decided that Cao Mian has done something outrageous."

Xie Yan said: "I just suddenly remembered something."

"What's the matter?" Wei Changting asked curiously.

Xie Yan said: "The business of the Fang family in Yingzhou has become more and more prosperous these years, but the news is getting less and less as it gets older."

Wei Changting was stunned, his expression changed slightly, and he said, "If Qingzhou has been selling girls from good families to Yingzhou, and even has other undiscloseable business, why haven't the secret agents reported anything in these years?"

Xie Yan said: "Whether the news I have received over the years is from one of my own people is unknown. Cao Mian has been an official for 15 years. He has served as prefect, secretary, and governor in Qingzhou. Was it also seven years ago?"

"This……"

When Liao Wei returned to the mansion and saw the steward coming up to him, he asked casually, "Is there any letter from Qingzhou recently?"

The steward was also taken aback when he heard the words, and said in surprise, "Your master is so well-informed?"

Liao Wei frowned, "Really?"

The steward hurriedly said: "Go back to the master, the master of Qingzhou's relatives sent someone to see the master, and also brought the fourth lady's things to honor the master and his wife. The wife has already placed him in the guest house."

There was not much joy on Liao Wei's face, but his brows were furrowed even tighter, and he walked quickly towards the mansion.

(End of this chapter)