After Gao married the prince, the sick and weak concubine lost her horse

Chapter 233 233
Sheng Tingye had already put on the half silver mask again.

Although he was only wearing an indigo uniform, his long, wet hair hung over his shoulders and was still dripping with water.

But even if he covered his face and only exposed the delicate jaw, it didn't reduce his elegance in half.

"gentlemen."

"Master Zhang."

Sheng Tingye nodded with Yue Qi, and the two greeted each other.

At this time, Yao Qingruan, who was standing behind Yue Qi, was slightly taken aback when he saw Sheng Tingye.

Her gaze was fixed on Sheng Tingye's half silver mask.

"Cousin Cheng, who is this?"

Yue Qi turned her head and explained calmly: "This is Mr. Zhang whom I invited."

Yao Qingruan frowned and looked at Sheng Tingye: "Mr. Zhang is from Suizhou?"

Sheng Tingye had already walked to Shen Qingci's side. Hearing this, he turned his head and glanced at Yao Qingruan lightly, and said calmly, "People in the lower capital."

After finishing speaking, Sheng Tingye had already supported Shen Qingci's hand to support half of her body: "Madam, it's cold outside."

He looked at her with affectionate eyes, and his movements were gentle and appropriate, as if he regarded her as a treasure.

Shen Qingci couldn't help but marvel at this person's acting skills in his heart.

Shen Qingci responded in cooperation, and was about to be supported by him back to the house.

But at this moment, Yao Qingruan, who looked decent before, suddenly took a step forward.

Her eyes quickly flicked over Shen Qingci who was half-embraced by Sheng Tingye, and finally looked up at Sheng Tingye, and hurriedly asked: "Have you ever been to Suizhou, sir?"

Sheng Tingye's expression was cold, but his tone was firm: "Never."

After getting the answer, Yao Qingruan's body froze, and a look of desolation or melancholy flashed across her delicate face.

"Cousin Qing Ruan."

Yue Qi's voice brought her back to reality, and Yao Qingruan smiled awkwardly: "It's nothing, just seeing this Mr. Zhang, I suddenly thought of an old friend I met in Suizhou."

"Since Mr. has never been to Suizhou, I must have made a mistake."

She sighed imperceptibly, then turned to look at Yue Qi: "Since Cousin Cheng has something to do, I won't bother you."

After saying that, she nodded politely to everyone, and then left the inn with her maid.

The inn lobby was empty again in an instant.

Although Shen Qingci had doubts in his heart, he didn't show it. He just obediently went back to the room with Sheng Tingye's support.

Yue Qi had already screened off the people below, and also followed the room forward and backward.

Only when there were no outsiders, Sheng Tingye took off the mask and put it on the table.

They talked about the current situation in Yunzhou and the situation of the Zhang family, and they also said some code words that Shen Qingci couldn't understand.

Shen Qingci waited silently at the side, and when Yue Qi left, she asked curiously: "Have you been to Suizhou?"

Looking at Yao Qingruan's eyes just now, it's obvious that it can't be fake.

Sheng Tingye turned his head and glanced at the half silver mask, "No."

"This mask was from Moon Seven before."

Wearing this mask on Yueqi, she performed tasks for Sheng Tingye in the area from Yunzhou to Suizhou.

Now Yue Qi has become "Zhang Jincheng", and Sheng Tingye has replaced the role played by Yue Qi before.

Shen Qingci was stunned: "So, the one who saved Yao Qingruan in Suizhou was Yue Qi?"

Sheng Tingye flipped through the secret letter in his hand, without raising his head, he said, "Maybe."

This is interesting.

Mingming Yao Qingruan's benefactor is right in front of him, but Yue Qi is trapped in Zhang Jincheng's identity.

Can't say, can't say.

Shen Qingci felt that there was no such trickery in dramas.

She was about to have a few words with Sheng Tingye, but suddenly Sheng Tingye's beautiful brows frowned.

His eyes were on a topographic map.

Shen Qingci was about to speak, but he suddenly turned his head and said with a rare solemn expression: "Tomorrow you will go back to Qingzhou first with the Wang family's fleet."

Shen Qingci's eyelids twitched.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

It was fine before.

Sheng Tingye got up and walked to the window, raised his hand to support the window, and the wind and snow outside swept in instantly.

Shen Qingci shivered from the cold.

Fortunately, Sheng Tingye quickly closed it again.

"The snow won't stop for a while."

"If it continues for another half month or so, it will be a disaster."

At that time, the Lijiang River will freeze and the mountains will be covered by heavy snow.

This year, there was already a flood, and the people were short of food and clothing, and another snowstorm like this...

The situation in this area of ​​Yunzhou is not optimistic!

There are hundreds of thousands of people in Yunzhou City alone.

The Zhang family has raised private soldiers somewhere in this area. What will they do in such an extreme situation?
No one can predict.

The Zhang family should have expected such a predicament, so they sent Zhang Jincheng to Qingzhou to raise money and food.

But that little thing is probably a drop in the bucket for the army.

What's more, when the mountain road is blocked and the ferry is closed, Yunzhou will become an isolated city. Once the news of Sheng Tingye's presence is exposed...

Shen Qingci's heart also lifted.

"What is your Highness planning?"

Sheng Tingye turned his head and his eyes fell on the topographic map he had just put on the table.

His firm eyes already showed the answer.

The more this is the case, the more he wants to stay.

If Yunzhou changes, he can find a way to control the situation immediately.

If luckily nothing changes, you can take this opportunity to find a breakthrough for the Zhang family.

Whether it is out of responsibility or to pave the way for him in the future, he cannot go.

"Then I won't leave either."

Shen Qingci did not hesitate at all.

She can't enjoy the benefits and convenience brought by her status as Concubine Ning with peace of mind, but when things happen, she becomes a shrinking turtle.

Not to mention that she has never been a deserter, since she and Sheng Tingye are on the same boat, they should advance and retreat together.

Moreover, if that secret letter is true, Dad may also stay in Yunzhou.

Sheng Tingye frowned slightly, and said in disapproval: "You will only distract me if you stay."

Shen Qingci just wanted to stay, but for a while, he didn't notice the deep meaning in Sheng Tingye's words.

She argued hard: "I can also share the worries for the prince."

Saying that, Shen Qingci turned her ankle that still hurt a little: "In a few days, my foot injury will be healed, even if I can't help the lord, I can protect myself and will never drag the lord down. "

"On the contrary, if the prince sends me to Qingzhou, I am worried about the situation here. Maybe if I care about it, it will cause chaos, and I may do something wrong. How can I disturb the prince's plan at that time?"

Always a word, she will never leave.

After finishing speaking, Shen Qingci looked up at Sheng Tingye with a firm expression.

Sheng Tingye was about to say something, but suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Liu Yun's voice sounded outside the door.

"Son."

Sheng Tingye responded, and Liu Yun opened the door and came in. After delivering a secret letter, he stood aside with his head bowed.

Sheng Tingye read the secret letter, and a layer of anger welled up in his black eyes, which were usually moody.

Under Shen Qingci's suspicious gaze, he pointed to a certain place on the map.

Shen Qingci took advantage of the situation to look over, and it was Qianku Ridge, which was about fifty miles away from here.

Before Shen Qingci came to Yunzhou, he had read the chronicles of local customs and people in this area.

It is said that the Thousand Cave Ridge stretches for hundreds of miles, and the terrain is quite high, which can resist foreign enemies. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is a curse of Yunzhou City.

Sheng Tingye's finger landed somewhere on Qianku Ridge.

"here."

Shen Qingci frowned: "Where are the troops stationed in the Zhang family?"

Sheng Tingye shook his head: "It's the location of the hematite mine."

As soon as the words fell, Shen Qingci suddenly opened his eyes wide.

There were still some points that I couldn't figure out before, but they all connected together at this moment.

In Daqi, the "official operation of salt and iron mines" was clearly ordered, and the private sale of salt and iron mines was strictly prohibited.

In Yunzhou, however, there is no official iron mine.

Therefore, this hematite mine was privately owned by the Zhang family.

It was precisely because hematite was discovered here that the Zhang family sent Zhang Zongyao here to mine and smelt iron.

Before that, Shen Qingci was still thinking, if the Zhang family was just stationing private soldiers, where would the weapons in great demand come from.

It turned out to be so.

With soldiers and weapons, the only thing left to worry about is money and food.

That's why Sheng Tingjing set his sights on the Jiang family.

Using this in-law to take the properties of the Jiang family's Wang family as their own, they can also use the shops and merchant ships under the name of the Wang family, and even use the name of the Wang family to collect and purchase the necessary military supplies from everywhere.

A hematite ore had already taken Shen Qingci by surprise, but Sheng Tingye's next words almost suffocated her.

Sheng Tingye handed the secret letter to Shen Qingci.

"Do you know where those miners come from?"

Shen Qingci shook his head, his gaze had already landed on the secret letter.

Sheng Tingye's tone was cold and murderous.

"In the beginning, they were domestic slaves of the Zhang family. Later, they ran out of manpower, so they trafficked people from various places. This year, they took advantage of the floods in the north of the Yangtze River and displaced people, and detained thousands of people to be used as livestock in Qiankuling."

There are old people and children here.

Floods in the north of the Yangtze River, firstly, they were greedy for disaster relief money, but secondly, they did everything they could to those refugees.

Because of the flood, there were already countless casualties, which happened to be their shield.

Just seeing a few words on the secret letter, Shen Qingci was already suppressed to the point of suffocation.

In the past, she wanted to stay because of love and righteousness, but now with her anger, Shen Qingci wished to trample this cancer to pieces.

Sheng Tingye had been aware of it before when he was ordered to investigate Jiangbei's ink corruption case.

But the Zhang family has been entrenched in Yunzhou for too long, it is difficult to find a breakthrough, and it is easy to startle the snake, and affect the whole body.

Therefore, he could only figure it out slowly. Fortunately, he didn't wait too long, and Yue Qi successfully replaced Zhang Jincheng.

With Yue Qi's internal response, and this time the Zhang family is in urgent need of food and grass, many flaws will be exposed.

Facing Shen Qingci's eyes that were almost spitting fire, Sheng Tingye knew that in this way, she would not leave even more.

He raised his hand and poured her a cup of tea.

"If you really don't want to go back to Qingzhou, there is one thing you need to do right now."

Knowing that he would not chase him away, Shen Qingci's eyes lit up.

"What's the matter?"

Holding the teacup in hand, Sheng Tingye looked at Shen Qingci with deep eyes: "Do you still remember Lin Yunzheng, Prince of Pingxi?"

(End of this chapter)