Jiuxi

Chapter 381 Chapter 379 [Heart-killing Fire]

Li Shizhi slowly returned to Dongyuan where he lived.

On the surface, the face of the Minister of Justice looked normal, and he did not seem to be disturbed by Li Daoyan's straightforward words.

When he came to the inner study, Li Shizhi made himself a cup of Bamboo Sea Golden Tea, sat on the Taishi's chair, closed his eyes and rested.

The fragrance of tea is lingering, quiet and elegant.

He was very aware of his old father's abilities and skills. There were not many things that could be hidden from him in this capital city, let alone the Li family that he had been running his whole life.

In other words, Li Daoyan knew more or less some of Li Shizhi's secrets, but due to the inseparable relationship between the two, his current age and the situation in Beijing, he was unable to make a strong response and could only take a gentle approach. Use tactful persuasion.

Li Shizhi would not be secretly happy about this. On the contrary, he felt a little heavy.

Li Daoyan's attitude is very clear. At this dangerous moment of undercurrent, the Li family tries to do nothing and find a balance between the emperor and the Jiangnan family.

To put it simply, he plays the role of a tinker.

"Do things well and do things with your heart. Other things are not matters you should consider."

Li Shizhi muttered: "I have always valued you very much. This time I send you to assist Shanyang Hou in investigating the case. You must do your best and don't let others underestimate the ability of the Criminal Department."

The man saluted respectfully.

Over the years, he has secretly become very close to the Jiangnan families, especially the other eight families who occupy the middle and upper levels of power in Daqi. Through the exchange of interests and the influence of the Li family, he has established a very close relationship with these powerful families and has a strong influence on them. He knows everything about his thoughts.

Since Li Duan ascended the throne in Yongjia City, the Beijing Army has been inextricably linked with the Jiangnan clan. As time goes by, this relationship has become deeper and deeper.

Li Shizhi slowly looked up at him and asked, "How is the investigation of the case?"

Li Shizhi made a few remarks, and then said calmly: "Go down."

"Greetings to the Minister!"

For the Li family, it is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous choice to stand on the shore and watch at this time.

Zhong Chang bowed and then said cautiously: "Sir, do you need me to do something about it?"

Now that Li Duan wants to attack the power structure of the Beijing army, he will inevitably occupy or even deprive the Jiangnan family of power. This is an irreconcilable contradiction.

There is a significant difference between the Jiangnan aristocratic families and those in the history books. They have deeper penetration into military power.

"Father, my son understands your difficulties, but many times danger also means opportunity. This matter is not as complicated as you think."

Li Shizhi murmured to himself, picked up the teacup and took a sip.

But Li Shizhi knew the risks involved.

His name is Zhong Chang, and he is now the head of the Ministry of Punishment. He is one of the experts sent by the Ministry of Punishment to assist Lu Chen in investigating the Hou Yu case.

When it was dark, his confidant Li Jinshan walked into the inner study, followed by a man in his thirties.

Li Shizhi glanced at him indifferently, and Zhong Chang suddenly woke up and said quickly: "I am an ignorant official. I hope you will forgive me."

He sat quietly like this for a long time.

Zhong Chang lowered his head and replied: "My lord, there should be some progress. However, I am only responsible for reviewing part of the files, so I cannot know the full picture."

"Your Majesty, please remember your instructions."

"Yes, my lord."

Zhong Chang bowed and left.

Li Jinshan sent him away, and his expression was slightly solemn when he came back.

"Master, the Marquis of Nan'an has been having a very hard time these days. He has sent several messages, begging me to help him and try to keep his position as general."

Even though there was no one else in the study at this moment, and there were no prying eyes around him, Li Jinshan still kept his voice very low.

Hou Yu is now recuperating in the Hou Mansion in name, but in reality it is no different from being imprisoned. However, the emperor cannot be too harsh, so he only allows the imperial army to control the periphery of the Hou Mansion, which is far from airtight.

With the Li family's strength and foundation in Yongjia City, it is not very difficult to establish contact with the Nan'an Marquis Mansion.

"The position of general?"

A sneer appeared on Li Shizhi's lips, and he said slowly: "He has stayed in a border place like Chengzhou for a long time, and he has really developed such a stupid temper. Little did he know that if he can save his life this time, it will be a good outcome."

Li Jinshan is different from others. He is Li Shizhi's most valued confidant. Naturally, he does not need to be too cautious. Hearing this, he reminded: "Sir, the Marquis of Nan'an has many connections in the military."

Li Shizhi nodded and said: "So he can't die. You send someone to tell him that this game of chess has just begun. The only thing he has to do now is to wait patiently."

Li Jinshan bowed his head and agreed.

Li Shizhi looked at the soft candlelight on the big case and added: "When His Majesty and Lu Chen burn this fire even more intensely and it becomes unbearable for many people, he will naturally have the opportunity to take action."

Li Jinshan's eyes lit up and he said with admiration: "I understand, little man."

……

At night, Shanyanghou Mansion. In the side hall, there was a simple table.

Luo Jiujiu sat on the south side, sipping his food while looking at Lu Chen who was enjoying his meal opposite.

This is actually a very novel experience for her.

Lu Chen felt her curious gaze, so he scooped up the last mouthful of rice in the bowl, then picked up the handkerchief next to him and wiped his mouth. He took a cup of tea from the maid's hand and said to Luo Jiujiu: "You have a big appetite. .”

Luo Jiujiu was startled, and said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "You are a noble prince after all. I also heard that your Lu family is quite wealthy, why are you so stingy?"

Lu Chen smiled, skipped the topic and said, "I thought you would sneak out today, but I didn't expect you to be able to resist staying in the house. It's a bit beyond my expectation."

Yuchi Gui has lifted the restriction on Luo Jiujiu's pulse gate. It is not difficult to escape with her martial arts skills when Lu Chen is not at home.

Luo Jiujiu said, "Why should I risk going out?"

Lu Chen said: "What do you mean by this?"

Luo Jiujiu slightly raised his eyebrows and said: "Although I don't understand the ways of your Qi court, I also know that Hou Yu's case has troubled many people. If you can kill me, although your emperor will definitely be very angry, but also It will completely cut off the possibility of repairing the relationship between Qi State and the seven Shazhou tribes. At that time, it is obviously unnecessary to punish Hou Yu because of the innocent Shazhou people who died tragically."

Lu Chen was slightly surprised by these words.

In the bright light, the bright look of the woman in red is like the breeze on a summer night.

Being looked at by Lu Chen like this, Luo Jiujiu said calmly without any shame, "Am I wrong?"

"That's right."

Lu Chen smiled slightly, and then said smoothly: "If the imperial court punishes Hou Yu, will the people of Shazhou be able to calm down the resentment in their hearts?"

Luo Jiujiu put down his chopsticks, wiped his lips with a cool handkerchief, and said softly: "It's difficult."

Lu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. In fact, this answer was within his expectation, but it was confirmed by the daughter of Yalong's leader, which was not very satisfying after all.

Upon seeing this, Luo Jiujiu explained: "If Hou Yu can get the punishment he deserves, the people of Shazhou will definitely have a good impression of His Majesty the Emperor of Da Qi, but how will the account be settled back then?"

There is an issue between Daqi and the Seven Divisions of Shazhou that will never be resolved, and that is the 8,000 native soldiers who died in Yanziling on the northern outskirts of Heluo in the 19th year.

The Seven Divisions of Shazhou were pure victims in that matter, and the late Emperor of the Qi Dynasty who betrayed them was long dead. Even if they wanted to take revenge, they could only target the entire Qi Dynasty.

Just as Luo Jiujiu said in the palace that day, the people of Shazhou are very aware of the gap between each other and do not want to cause greater casualties to themselves, so they will not actively provoke Daqi, but they want them to let go of their hatred, as they did a hundred years ago. It is obviously impossible to become the most loyal follower of Da Qi like that.

Luo Jiujiu sighed softly: "Moreover, the situation inside Shazhou is also very complicated. Although my father is the leader of the Yalong tribe, and the Yalong tribe does have the largest population, he cannot decide everything in the tribe. Others Many times the leader of the tribe would not completely listen to him.”

In fact, this problem can be understood from the names of the Seven Divisions of Shazhou.

After hundreds of years passed, the seven tribes in Shazhou still coexisted and were not integrated into one tribe. This shows that the internal forces are relatively balanced and no one can dominate.

Lu Chen nodded slightly and asked, "How big is Shazhou?"

Luo Jiujiu was stunned for a moment, then raised his hands to draw a big circle in front of him and said, "It's so big."

Lu Chen couldn't help but laugh and asked: "How big is it?"

Luo Jiujiu rolled her eyes at him and smiled: "How do I know? Anyway, Shazhou is a very large area. The seven tribes do not live together, but each has its own territory. Our Yalong tribe and Huining tribe live far away from each other. Yunling is not very far away. After crossing Yunling and walking a few dozen miles, you will reach Chengzhou in your Qi State."

Lu Chen remembered what the emperor had said before, and said warmly: "Which tribe's territory is the flying bird locked in?"

Luo Jiujiu replied: "Feiniao Pass? That is the territory of the Jinchuan tribe. I went there once when I was a child. Feiniao Pass is very dangerous and only needs a few dozen people to guard it. Even thousands of people cannot attack from the north -"

Before she could finish speaking, there was a burst of hurried footsteps outside the hall, and then Chen Shu, the chief steward of the Hou Mansion, walked in and said solemnly: "Master Hou, something happened."

Lu Chen raised his eyes and asked quietly, "What's the matter?"

Chen Shu said: "I just received an emergency report that one of our stores in Beicheng suffered from water leakage. The fire was very fierce and the items in the warehouse could not be saved. Fortunately, no one was injured."

Luo Jiujiu's expression changed slightly.

In today's sensitive and complicated moment, a fire suddenly broke out in the Lu family store's storefront. There are too many intriguing implications in this.

She looked at Lu Chen slightly nervously, wondering how the young prince would respond.

Lu Chen was about to stand up, but sat back down.

He turned to look at Chen Shu and said calmly: "Since nothing happened to the guys, it's good. Losing some money should be treated as a loss of money to eliminate disasters. It's already dark now, so I won't go check. You can have someone go to other shops to check." . The weather is dry now, so we really need to be prepared for fire prevention."

After hearing these words, Chen Shu was suddenly shocked and murmured: "Master Hou, could it be that this fire——"

Lu Chen interrupted him calmly: "It was just an accident, so don't panic too much. Starting from tomorrow, our store will be closed to all customers for the time being, and we will check for internal hidden dangers."

Chen Shu bowed and said, "Yes, Lord Marquis."

After he resigned, Luo Jiujiu asked worriedly: "Will something happen to you?"

Lu Chen looked at the concern on her pretty face and said with a smile, "Of course not. Also, I have some good news for you. Hou Yu's case will be resolved in a few days."

A happy look appeared on Luo Jiujiu's face, and she said sincerely: "Thank you very much."

(End of this chapter)