King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 467 Digging a Pit
  "Oh...where are they?"

Ke Qing replied: "Early this morning, my father found someone to send a message, saying that thanks to the prince's great blessing, they are now working in Wuwei Mansion Office!"

This was definitely not a polite statement. If it wasn't for Zhu Jinghong's sake, the Chief Secretary of Gansu would not care about these two minor officials, let alone transfer them to the Wuwei government office.

Zhu Jinghong said calmly: "Since they are at the Wuwei County Government Office, then just send someone to call them and just meet you!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Keqing beamed with joy.

Taking him into his arms, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "If you want to thank me, you can't just say it with your mouth!"

"Then please teach me how to repay your kindness, please?" Ke Qing lay in Zhu Jinghong's arms and asked in a sweet voice with her head held high.

Putting his finger on her cherry mouth, Zhu Jinghong lowered his head and said with a smile: "Of course I'll use it!
  "Ah?" Keqing was a little surprised. She understood something in an instant, and her face suddenly turned red.

"I……"

"If you don't say anything, you are willing. There is nothing wrong with you right now, so I will consider you agreeing!"

After saying that, Zhu Jinghong didn't wait for Keqing's reply, picked her up and walked to the back room.

Yu Hai, who was outside the room, consciously ordered someone to go to Wuwei Mansion Office and invite Qin Ye and his son here.

As for the Governor's Office, Ning Huanxiang sent Wang Pei'an away, but his face didn't look good.

He knew that part of the "wage" of the peasants had been embezzled, but he just wanted to remind some people that enough was enough, and had no intention of digging deeper.

This also means that Wang Pei'an's impartial attitude conflicts with Ning Huanxiang's intentions.

However, Wang Pei'an never departed from the Ming Dynasty Law, and he also inspected local areas under orders, so Ning Huanxiang had no way to refuse his request.

"Sir Governor, this man is frivolous and ignorant. You cannot let him do whatever he wants!"

The person who spoke was Guo Qiyun, the Chief Secretary of Gansu Province. He had only been appointed Chief Secretary two months ago, so he naturally did not want his administration to be disturbed by others.

Beside him was Gansu Inspector Fu Andong, who also followed up and said, "That's right... things here are already messy enough, we can't let him cause more trouble for us!"

After hearing what these two people said, Ning Huanxiang showed his dissatisfaction and said: "There is no smoke without fire... It's not because someone was greedy for money that these things happened!"

The chief envoy Guo Qiyun said: "Sir, there are many things involved in this matter, and it's not just someone who is greedy..."

Of course, Ning Huanxiang knew that the matter was not simple. If a serious investigation was needed, it might not only extend to the Gansu officialdom, but also go all the way to the imperial court and into the Six Ministries.

After being involved in the officialdom for so many years, Ning Huanxiang understands that the so-called officialdom is a network, and everyone is related to each other on this network.

The inspector Fu Andong continued: "Mr. Governor, if you let him continue to act recklessly, I'm afraid it will make people panic, which will not be conducive to the overall situation of suppressing the rebellion!"

"That's right!" Guo Qiyun also spoke.

"I'm telling you, what you two should do now is to check for leaks and fill them up, instead of just talking nonsense about me!"

"People have their will and act according to my Ming Law. What can I do with it?" Ning Huanxiang said expressionlessly.

At this time, Guo Qiyun said with a smile: "Sir... as long as we work together, what can he do to me by himself!"

Obviously, the little official historian of the palace was not taken seriously by these feudal officials.

"There's just one thing. I wonder if His Highness Prince Xiang knows what this person is doing now..."

After glancing at Ning Huanxiang, Fu Andong continued: "If it is convenient for the Governor, you may go to see His Highness to find out what happened!"

Hearing this, Ning Huanxiang glanced at Guo Fu and the two of them. When they saw the two people looking embarrassed, he sneered and said: "This is a matter in Gansu. You two want to blame it all on me. Your Majesty." I’m here to command the battle, not to care about your bullshit!”

"You can decide for yourselves how to do things. Anyway, I will only ask who is guilty!"

"If you two have nothing else to do, just do your own thing!"

The last sentence was equivalent to seeing off guests, so Guo Fu and the others could only say goodbye and leave knowingly.

They understood what Ning Huanxiang meant, which was to put all the responsibility on them and to ask them to settle things, no matter what method they used.

"Do you really want us to go find His Highness Prince Xiang?" Fu Andong couldn't help but ask.

If Wang Pei'an has Zhu Jinghong's support behind him, then they must be measured in their methods, otherwise they will be finished if they offend Zhu Jinghong.

"Of course we can't go by ourselves, it's best to choose someone from below, choose the right person to go!" As he said this, Guo Qiyun was thinking about who should go.

The two of them walked out in silence. After a while, Fu Andong had an idea in his mind and said, "I do have a candidate..."

"Who?"

"Do you still remember that Qin Ye, the former doctor of the Ministry of Industry, was the one who was transferred to the Wuwei County Government Office by you a few days ago!"

Guo Qiyun nodded. Of course he would remember such a special person as Qin Ye.

"That's right... It is indeed the perfect time to use this person to test His Highness Prince Xiang!"

"Then I'll give you the order now?" Fu Andong said in a deep voice.

Guo Qiyun shook his head and said, "Don't worry...we'll talk about it in two days. This matter needs to be arranged carefully. It's best not to involve us!"

"That's true!"

While the two men were discussing secretly, Qin Ye and his son had received the message and were bathing and changing clothes to go to see Zhu Jinghong.

Although he is just a minor official, due to his special relationship with Zhu Jinghong, the prefect of Wuwei is waiting for him outside at this moment.

While changing clothes, Qin Zhong couldn't help but ask: "Dad, can you use His Highness Prince Xiang's method to get us out of here this time?"

Compared with his original handsome appearance, Qin Zhong seemed to be a different person now, looking much more stable due to the vicissitudes of life.

Although they are treated politely here, the bitter cold land in the northwest cannot compare with the scenery of the Central Plains.

Qin Ye sighed and said: "Your sister has not yet given birth to a boy and a girl, and she has no foundation for settling down in the palace. Let's not make things difficult for her!"

"The reason why we are in this situation is because of your sister. How can we be dissatisfied!"

"Yes!" Qin Zhong replied, he could only give up on these thoughts.

After the two men finished cleaning up, they rushed to where Zhu Jinghong stayed, led by the eunuch.

Normally, they would have to meet Zhu Jinghong first, but the latter exempted them.

This actually made Qin Zhong and his son relieved. Meeting Zhu Jinghong would put them under great pressure, so not meeting him was actually not a bad thing.

So the two of them could only wait in the side room. They waited for about two moments before Qing appeared in front of them.

"Father……"

Standing at the door, looking at her biological father who had been away for a long time, Keqing was so excited that she could no longer move.

"Ke'er..." Qin Ye's tone was also choked, and he saw him getting up and walking towards his daughter.

Seeing her father approaching, Keqing stepped across the threshold, knelt down and kowtowed in front of her biological father.

"The unfilial daughter pays homage to her father!"

"Get up quickly, get up!" Qin Ye stepped forward to help his daughter.

Qin Zhong on the side also came up to greet him and saluted Ke Qing in accordance with the etiquette.

After the ceremony, Ke Qing took a closer look at Qin Ye and his son. When he saw the vicissitudes of life on their faces, he couldn't help but shed tears. "Father...you have suffered!" Keqing's tears kept falling.

Qin Ye sighed and said, "Thanks to you, otherwise I don't know whether my father and Zhong'er would be alive!"

At this time, Qin Zhong also asked: "Sister, have you been living well since you entered the palace?"

………………

Since Qin Ye and his son met Ke Qing, five days have passed in the blink of an eye, and many things have happened in these two days.

First, local civil and military officials from Gansu, as well as officials from Sichuan and Shaanxi who were transferred from Sichuan and Shaanxi, arrived. Ning Huanxiang convened them to discuss the matter and made detailed arrangements for them to provide logistical supplies.

Secondly, local officials in Gansu also realized that Wang Pei'an wanted to cause trouble, and spontaneously joined forces to provide resistance to him.

However, Wang Pei'an is not an ordinary person. He has no concern for his own safety, honor and disgrace. Within two days, he investigated and visited everywhere, and he really found out a lot of things.

Finally, he sent the collected evidence of official corruption to the Yamen of the Gansu Patrol Censor, Liang Qian, the Censor of the Northwest Supervisory Army, and of course Ning Huanxiang, the Governor of the Northwest.

When the evidence is solid, the three yamen can only deal with it impartially.

The final result was that a total of two county magistrates were dismissed from their posts, three other bookkeepers were dismissed from office and imprisoned, and sixteen scribes were imprisoned.

And this is only the situation in Wuwei Prefecture. Wang Pei'an has already achieved such "fruitful" results in other prefectures and counties in Gansu before he checked.

The consequence of this is that when the news spreads, all officials are in danger, which in turn disrupts the normal work of the directors.

In order to quell the rebellion, under the joint instructions of Ning Huanxiang and Liang Qian, the case was handed over to the Gansu Procuratorate.

Originally, the matter would have ended here, but Wang Pei'an was half-hearted and stationed in the Ancha Division in the name of supervision, which really made Fu Andong extremely uncomfortable.

"Master Wang, this matter has its own responsibility. You should just do your job!"

Inside the Chasi Yamen, Fu Andong was holding a tea cup and playing with the tea leaves with the cup lid in his hand, while staring at Wang Pei'an with extremely sharp eyes.

"How many times do you want to reiterate your humble duty? Your humble duty is to inspect the local area. Now that there are major cases disrupting the place, how can you turn a blind eye to your humble duty!" Wang Pei'an said with a serious expression.

Suppressing his anger, Fu Andong said in a deep voice: "Many things have their own importance. The most important thing right now... is the great cause of counterinsurgency in the northwest!"

"My humble duty to investigate cases and redress the grievances of grain transporters is also for the great cause of suppressing the rebellion!"

After finishing this sentence, Wang Pei'an continued: "The principle of sending food and grass first before the soldiers and horses is clear. But if the people who are transporting food are resentful, how can we ensure that the military food is delivered on time?"

"If your Excellency guarantees that Minzhuang will not cause trouble again, I can no longer investigate this case further!"

As the inspector, Fu Andong knew very well how greedy the people below were, so he really couldn't guarantee that Minzhuang would not cause trouble.

"If your Excellency can guarantee it, I will report to the imperial court on my own initiative and will no longer interfere with the investigation and handling of the case!"

Hearing this, Fu Andong put the tea cup back on the table, snorted coldly, stood up and left the lobby.

Since Wang Pei'an is so dishonest, he has no choice but to use extraordinary means, so he will discuss with Guo Qiyun next.

And Fu Andong's reactions easily made Wang Pei's mind think that this person might also be related to the corruption case.

So next, he will conduct detailed investigations and interrogations, collect evidence and continue to dig deeper.

The people have suffered so much, but local officials are still beating their bones and sucking out their marrow. This is something Wang Pei'an cannot tolerate.

Another day passed in the blink of an eye, and Qin Ye and his son were in trouble in the Wuwei Mansion.

As scribes, the two of them have handled many accounts since they joined the job, but they found errors after checking yesterday.

"You two, according to the wishes of Mr. Wang, you are short of thousands of stones of food, and you will be in big trouble!"

In front of the Qin family father and son was Duan Zheng, the official of Wuwei Mansion. At this moment, he was analyzing the situation in a serious and thoughtful manner.

The Qin family father and son could not figure out why there was a thousand shi of grain missing from the good accounts. They counted each batch of grain before it was put into the warehouse, and only signed the document after confirming that it was correct.

"Sigh... I'm not really to blame for this. The warehouses for military rations and subsidized grains for the people are in the same warehouse. They come in and out frequently and are frequently transported. They got mixed up if you weren't careful!"

"It would be fine if our yamen found out, but when that guy came to check the accounts today, things got really bad..." At this point, Duan Zheng pretended to sigh.

"Master Duan, you have to help us!" Qin Zhong was anxious.

He should really be anxious. Making a big mistake while committing a crime is almost asking for death.

"Sigh...that guy named Wang doesn't even give Cha Si face, so how can I help you!" Duan Zheng sighed again.

At this time, Qin Ye couldn't help but say: "I have checked the account with my father. There is absolutely no mistake. Please help you..."

"Have you really checked carefully? There are absolutely no mistakes or omissions?" Duan Zheng changed his tone.

"There are absolutely no mistakes or omissions!" Qin Ye said firmly.

"Although I can't help you, I can show you the way!" Duan Zheng said, stroking his beard.

"Please let me know clearly!" Qin Zhong spoke again.

"Well, Wang Pei'an is the chief historian of Prince Xiang's Mansion. You may ask His Highness Prince Xiang for help with this matter. As long as he says a word... you will be fine!" Duan Zheng said calmly.

It's not that Qin Ye and his son have never thought of this method, but they really don't want to embarrass Ke Qing, so they haven't thought of taking this route.

As if he knew their concerns, Duan Zheng continued: "If something happens to you, I'm afraid it will also involve my concubine, so it shouldn't be delayed!"

When it came to this point, Qin Ye and his son had no choice, because their original purpose, or in other words, their only hope, was to ensure Ke Qing's safety.

Seeing that they were still thinking, Duan Zheng continued: "You two...if you delay any longer, I'm afraid the matter will be irreversible!"

"Zhong'er, let's go see your sister now!"

Seeing that Qin Ye and his son were about to leave, Duan Zheng immediately stopped him and said, "Don't be anxious now, we'll go later!"

"Sir, it's not too late..." Qin Ye said with a solemn expression. He was really afraid of delaying anything.

He was also a member of the officialdom. When he was at the Ministry of Industry, he had seen officials of all kinds, but he had never seen such a ruthless person as Wang Pei'an.

I have never even heard of such a straightforward person who handles cases at the Yamen in front of the Chief Secretary and the Inspector General, without even giving him the respect of the Governor's Office.

Therefore, when a county magistrate was imprisoned by this person, Qin Ye really couldn't calm down.

"Tonight, Chief Secretary Guo will host a banquet for His Royal Highness Prince Xiang at Lanyue Tower. All the senior civil and military officials in Gansu Province will be present. I am honored to... be invited tonight!"

"You must also know that there are already complaints from all over Gansu about Mr. Wang's frivolous behavior!"

When he came to Qin Ye, Duan Zheng patted him on the shoulder and said with a warm smile: "You come with me tonight. When you explain the reason, I will definitely contact all my colleagues to support you. Your Highness, Prince Xiang." Just go with the flow and your troubles will be over!"

Although he always felt that things were unusual, Qin Ye couldn't tell what was wrong, so he could only nod in agreement.

After Qin Ye and his son retired, the smile on Duan Zheng's face disappeared. He was under great pressure to tell Qin Ye this.

Taking advantage of Qin Ye's incident, Zhu Jinghong made his attitude clear publicly. If such an inside story spread, Duan Zheng might be beaten to death on the spot.

However, he had to take on this job, and Wang Pei'an's next target was him, the official of Wuwei Mansion.

I hope that tonight, King Xiang will be willing to protect the Qin family and his son, so that I can win my life... Duan Zheng thought in his heart.

(End of this chapter)