But the bright moon shines on the ditch

After a brief silence, both of them regained their composure.

Losing control should not exist for them, but now that it has happened, even if they don't understand it, they can only face it calmly.Liang Peiqiu was surprised by the inscrutability of the new county magistrate, and did not dare to treat Zhou Qiguang the same way she treated An Jiu. Therefore, even if the two temporarily formed a alliance and reached a consensus, she would not be able to foolishly deliver her "heartfelt words."

In fact, she did want to investigate something.

Before deciding to burn Wanshou porcelain, Siliu once warned Wang Yu to be careful of "there is something wrong with him".Wang Yu didn't take it to heart at that time, and neither she nor Wang Yunxian cared.

After all, they worked with the imperial kiln factory to bake royal porcelain every year, so the general manager was not happy to give the money, and it took a while to get back, but it was all given in the end. So when Si Liu said that the treasury was tight, they all underestimated the "tight". To the extent that it was, it was expected that it was the emperor's business and had nothing to do with them.

Nothing happened until after the deposit was made.

She went to the capital in person, saw with her own eyes the pomp of Emperor Wanshou, and experienced with her own eyes the prosperity and tributes that dazzled her that she had never seen before. She finally had a real and intuitive understanding of the cost of Wanshou.

Therefore, when she returned to Jingdezhen and urged the imperial kiln factory to pay the balance several times but the general manager always refused, she realized one thing - Si Liu's guess might have been verified.

The treasury is likely to run out of money.

This winter porcelain incident was part of her plan.Even if Zhou Qiguang doesn't force her to host the Ceramics Industry Supervision Committee, she will find a way to avoid the winter porcelain, so as to put pressure on Anjiu and demand the balance of the Wanshou porcelain.But she didn't expect that An Jiu would spend his own money to quell public anger, which proved that things were not as simple as she thought.

If it was true that the imperial court owed money and the winter porcelain could not be delivered, Anjiu would definitely cry to the emperor or beg his godfather to intervene. This is not something that can be solved by filling the hole by himself!Obviously there is something hidden behind it.

So she took the opportunity to propose the establishment of a pottery industry supervisory committee and asked Anjiu to ask the court for money as a test.

If the court never gave her money, Anjiu would not hesitate and would immediately refuse to let her give up her idea. However, his reaction was unexpected.He was worried about losing face, worried about Sanyaojiu causing trouble, worried about people's support and future, but she was not subconsciously worried about the court having no money as she thought.

Therefore, she guessed that although the national treasury was tight, the imperial silver must be distributed, so why couldn't the imperial kiln factory get it?And why did An Jiu hide this matter?
With his overwhelming power in Jingdezhen, why should he be afraid of anything?
If you think about it, it's actually not difficult to guess.

And Xu Zhiliu knew a little more than she knew.When Si Liu wrote a letter to remind him that Wanshou Ci was in trouble, he followed the clues and found out that his true identity was Aragonite, the owner of Wending Kiln.

The Wending kiln collapsed more than ten years ago because hundreds of thousands of taels of snowflake silver disappeared.Such a huge deficit cannot be swallowed up by Zhang Wensi alone. There must be an abyss behind it.

Combined with the attitudes of Wanshou Ci and An Jiu, Xu Zhiliu can almost conclude that the matter involves a powerful person in the dynasty and should not be underestimated.

And this one or more officials are unknown to Anjiu or cannot be shaken. According to the process of appropriation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Jingdezhen's finances have always been directly managed by the court, so the Qinyin will go directly to the local government after it comes out of the treasury. This is also This means that Jiangxi is most likely where its base camp is.

The minions mainly involved in the fraud here are all from Jiangxi.It was hard for Xu Zhiliu not to think of Sun Min, the powerful minister most favored by the emperor in the Sansi Yamen, who was also Wu Fangyuan's original in-laws.

His son Sun Hao came to pursue Wu Jia and seemed to be staying in the town.Wu Yin complained about this, and Xu Zhiliu, who was the one to whom he confided, had inevitably heard about it and knew a thing or two about the temperament of the young master of the Sun family.

Sun Hao is arrogant, has a good reputation, loves to show off, and doesn't like writing, so Sun Min helped him find a position as head of a household in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, where he patrolled the surrounding areas on a daily basis and arrested criminals.

This time he brought people to Jingdezhen for routine business. He stayed here for nearly two months. Not only did no one urge him to go back, but there were also people to take care of his food and accommodation. This shows how much Sun Min doted on his son.

It would be a warning, and getting close to Sun Hao was not Xu Zhiliu's first choice.He still has a choice, which is also the only remaining clue in the incident that year.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zhiliu did not tell Liang Peiqiu his inference, but asked her to go to a place with him.

It's October, and Qingyang Taoist Temple is also getting into the mood of autumn.

After dismounting in front of the mountain gate, you have to walk into the Taoist temple. Along the way, the maple trees on the mountain are all red, and they are particularly eye-catching among the green and yellow leaves of unknown tree species.

Liang Peiqiu looked while walking, and remembered that one autumn, Wang Yu led people to quarry stones to survey the landforms. She walked beside him. When she walked through a cave of paradise, she suddenly looked up and saw that the trees were red and swaying in the wind.

In an instant, it seemed that the goddess scattered the flowers and strayed into the fairyland.

People who were traveling with her praised her for her good fortune. She had never seen such a beautiful place while quarrying in the past. The first time she came, the immortal descended to earth.An old man among them joked that she had great luck and that she would have a golden house and a jade chariot in the future, and she would be able to find a husband.

Now that things have changed and the red scene of the past is gone, where is her lover?

As longing begins, it is like a flood that has been released out of control. Related and irrelevant things come from all directions, and then flow into the distance through the corners of the eyes and eyebrows.

Xu Zhiliu saw that she had not spoken and seemed to be absent-minded, but her steps were brisk and joyful, so she asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Liang Peiqiu barely suppressed her displeasure at being disturbed and looked forward: "It's nothing. The scenery is so beautiful that I couldn't help but get caught up in it."

"is it?"

In fact, Xu Zhiliu also thought of the rumored cave heaven and paradise at this moment.

Because what they saw was too bizarre, the surveying craftsmen talked about it for a while after they returned to the town. There were frequent business exchanges among various companies, and he also listened.

While everyone was envious of the little god's good fortune, what he was thinking about was that if he really had such a blessed land, he would be quite happy living here in seclusion, with men farming and women weaving, and a couple of gods and gods, right?

Perhaps deep down in his heart, what he longs for is not just the golden palace in the sky, but also the determination to take revenge?When I was young, I once had a lingering vision of picking chrysanthemums on the east fence. In the changes of grass and spring year after year, are there still traces of it?

And which lover is it that makes her happy at this moment?
A shadow fell over Xu Zhiliu's head for no apparent reason, shrouding his face in darkness.Without any warning, he changed the topic and asked: "I recently heard that in order to seize power in Anqing Kiln, you did not hesitate to kill your mentor and drive away the young master's family who are as close as brothers. Is this true?"

Liang Peiqiu's face changed suddenly, and she didn't know what he meant by his sudden attack. After thinking for a while, he replied: "Sir, if I acted like this, I should be in the dungeon now, instead of walking aimlessly with you in the wilderness and saying something. Are you talking big without proof? I'm sorry for being rude, but as a parent and an official, your words and deeds will serve as an example for the people, so you must be more careful with your words and actions."

Xu Zhiliu remained unmoved: "The county magistrate's seat was vacant at the time of the incident, and the case was shelved. I only heard about it after being busy for a while. I only asked you about it because of the relationship, and I didn't mention it to anyone. "

Liang Peiqiu deeply felt that these words were nonsense and meaningless. Because of the relationship, what relationship?Does this serve as a reminder or a threat?She couldn't help but find it ridiculous.

After these days of contact, she was very sure that the new official was not happy with her.Perhaps she had been punished by Quan Eun for sitting together, or perhaps there was some other reason, but she observed that this person was difficult to distinguish between emotions and anger, and was difficult to get along with. He was not someone she could turn to for help. Therefore, she faced all kinds of difficulties. She had nothing to argue or say.

Just pretend to be dumb.

Xu Zhiliu also realized the ridiculousness and childishness of his behavior just now, but he found it difficult to take the initiative to ease the relationship, so the atmosphere remained deadlocked for the second half of the journey.

When we arrived at Qingyang Taoist Temple, there was already someone waiting, a man dressed as a handyman.The man wanted to step forward to salute, but Xu Zhiliu stopped him and ordered him to lead the way.

Several people walked around the front halls where foreigners offered incense and asked for help, and walked towards the depths of the Taoist temple.When passing a bamboo forest, Liang Peiqiu couldn't help but ask: "Sir, where are we going?"

Xu Zhiliu replied lukewarmly: "Is it too late to ask now?"

Liang Peiqiu was already full of ambitions for the prime minister to break the deadlock first. Seeing him so angry, Liang Peiqiu rolled her eyes.If it weren't for her status, she would have turned around and left immediately.

At this time, I heard him say: "You will know when you meet him later. Don't worry, I don't want to do anything to you, I just want you to be a witness."

Liang Peiqiu muttered: "My lord gives an order, and so many people rush to respond. Why do I need to be the witness?"

"This matter is of great importance and it must be done by you."

When Liang Peiqiu saw that he was being mysterious, she was really curious. At the same time, she was a little hesitant, worried that she would be framed by the new official and get into unnecessary trouble.

Xu Zhiliu peeked into his mind and said, "If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

"Seriously?" Liang Peiqiu stopped.

An unknown fire arose in Xu Zhiliu's heart: "I will do what I say."

"Then I..."

Liang Peiqiu looked around and saw that they had walked out of the bamboo forest and arrived in front of a palace that was obviously very expensive although it was located in a remote location. People could be seen walking around and patrolling in the distance.

She wanted to run, but suddenly a hand fell on her shoulder, and a cold voice came from the side: "It has something to do with Xu Zhiliu, you don't want to hear it?"

Liang Peiqiu was like a grasshopper being pinched by the throat, unable to move.

At this time, the guards in the palace heard the noise and discovered them. They quickly ran over to take a look. When they saw that it was the county magistrate, they retracted their hands holding the hilt of the sword.

The leader, Liang Peiqiu, was no stranger. It was Wang Jin who led the men to break into the Anqing kiln when Wan Niang's accident happened.

Wang Jin did not salute, and Xu Zhiliu didn't care. He just asked, "Is Zhang County Cheng in there?"

"What's the matter, sir? Let me go and report it first."

"No need."

Xu Zhiliu wanted to pass him and go inside, but Wang Jin didn't know the purpose of his sudden visit. He was eager to protect his master and instinctively drew his sword to block the way.

"Sir, please allow me to go in and report..."

Before Wang Jin could finish his words, he was struck head-on.The opponent's attack was very fast. Wang Jin subconsciously retreated to dodge the attack, and then drew his sword to meet the attack. He didn't expect the opponent to make a horizontal slash, then turned around, rushed from the bottom, and directly took the long knife, accurately anticipating his move.

Before he could make the next move, his knife was already placed across his neck.

Liang Peiqiu looked at the handyman with wide eyes. She really didn't expect him to be so skilled.And this person was placed in a Taoist temple by Xu Zhiliu. Obviously the owner inside was not trivial.

By this time she had already guessed who Zhang Xian Cheng was.

Speaking of which, it’s true that I haven’t heard from Zhang Wensi for a long time.She almost thought that this person disappeared with Xia Ying. Was he still alive?
He used to be An Jiu's man. After An Jiu gained power, he should have lived a good life. How could he end up in a Taoist temple?
At this time, under the intimidation of the handymen, the guards retreated and dropped their weapons one after another.Xu Zhiliu ordered the servants to keep Wang Jin under guard and not allow anyone else to come in or out, and then walked into the palace.

Liang Peiqiu followed closely behind.

After pushing open a door that seemed to have been sealed for a long time, Liang Peiqiu's memory of what happened next was a bit fuzzy, as if she was unconscious and unforgettable...

All in all, this night was something she would never forget.