Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 504 Gu Tingye Returns to Beijing

"That being said, what if it is found out?" Wen Duo said.

"Mingsir, whether this thing succeeds or not, the person who did it must either die or flee. Moreover, we only sent someone to secretly instigate and then get rid of the person afterwards. How can they trace it back to us?"

Xue Qing said, "Your Highness Huan Wang is short of manpower right now, but this is a godsend. If not, and Your Highness Huan Wang continues to investigate, it won't be long before he finds out about me and you, and then it will be too late."

There was a trace of struggle in Wen Duo's eyes. He was different from those low-level officials who were arrested. He was the chief officer in charge of salt affairs in Huainan Road, and the Lianghuai Salt Fields were under his jurisdiction.

The more powerful you are, the more you know.

Even if the case is eventually traced back to him, many people will protect him and will not abandon him.

Even if the evidence is conclusive and he is exiled, he will still live a comfortable life.

However, after working so hard for so many years to reach his current position, he was naturally unwilling to give up.

After hesitating for a long time, Wen Duo said, "Just do as you say. Remember to do it cleanly."

"Yes!" Xue Qing bowed and said, "Then I will arrange it."

"Go ahead." Wenduo waved his hand.

Xue Qing bowed and left.

Wen Duo watched his back disappear and murmured, "Since I have to deal with you, I have to deal with you too. Only the dead can keep secrets!"

…………

In Tongzhou, after some investigation, Gu Tingye has roughly determined the hiding place of the Cheng family. Just when he was about to confirm and arrest them, Shen Congxing brought the eunuchs from Bian Jing to Tongzhou and found Gu Tingye.

After meeting Gu Tingye, the eunuch read out the emperor's edict, summoning Gu Tingye back to Beijing.

Mr. Bai beat the drum to sue Gu Tingye, and people with ulterior motives kept filing impeachments, so he, as the person involved, naturally needed to go back.

Shen Congxing had already escaped from the previous troubles, so the government sent him to replace Gu Tingye.

After the eunuch read the imperial edict, Shen Congxing sent him away.

"Zhong Huai, His Majesty does not distrust you, but there are too many people impeaching you now, so you must go back. This matter is not a big problem, as long as it is investigated thoroughly." Shen Congxing comforted Gu Tingye when he saw that he looked unhappy.

"I understand what the prince means. He has just arrived and does not understand the current situation. Let me explain it to him first."

Gu Tingye described the situation of the Cheng family in detail.

After listening to this, Shen Congxing also realized the importance of finding the Cheng family and said, "I will continue to investigate."

"Then I feel relieved." Gu Tingye nodded.

"Oh, right." Shen Congxing said, "My wife heard from Madam Ziqian that your former mistress has returned. She is now at your house. It is a good thing that you are back this time."

Shen Congxing was very angry that Xiao Zou and the Zou brothers used his son's name to lend money at high interest rates.

Because of the debt to the Zou family, he no longer had the desire to compensate the Zou family.

During this period, my relationship with Zhang Guifen has become more harmonious.

After Minglan gave birth to her child, Zhang Guifen visited her often.

Upon learning that Shen Congxing was coming to replace Gu Tingye, Minglan specifically told Gu Tingye that Man Niang was now in Orange Garden.

"what?"

Gu Tingye was shocked when he heard this and said, "Uncle, I have told you everything. I will return to Beijing immediately."

"Why are you in such a hurry? It's getting late now. We'll set off tomorrow. We haven't seen each other for a long time. Let's have a drink together in the evening." Shen Congxing said.

"Uncle, if I don't go back, my wife and children will be in danger."

Gu Tingye had no mood to drink now. He wished he could fly back to Bian Jing immediately.

He did make some arrangements before he left. He knew Xiao Qin very well and was best at killing someone with a borrowed knife.

The only ones who could be used as a knife by Xiao Qinshi were the fourth and fifth rooms.

Before he left Bian Jing, he sent someone to secretly deliver a letter to the fourth and fifth rooms.

The content of the letter was very simple. If they dared to go to Chengyuan to embarrass his wife while he was not in Bian Jing, he would kill the two exiled people from the fourth and fifth rooms.

Although the fourth and fifth rooms were angry, they also knew that Gu Tingye could do it.

This is also the reason why they didn't fall for Xiao Qin's trick when she contacted them.

Even on the Yu family side, Gu Tingye has a backup plan.

Gu Tingye did all this to force Xiao Qinshi to take action personally.

He left the stone behind to set a trap and wait for Xiao Qin to come to his rescue. Then he would catch her and get rid of her once and for all.

However, he had planned everything, except for the fact that Man Niang would appear.

Yu Yanran is weak in character and Shitou only follows orders. If Man Niang does anything, Yu Yanran and Shitou will not be able to cope with it at all.

Shen Congxing didn't know what Gu Tingye was worried about, but seeing that Gu Tingye was so anxious, he didn't try to persuade him anymore.

That night, Gu Tingye and the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict boarded a boat to Bian Jing.

The next day, Shen Congxing arranged for people to continue tracking the whereabouts of the Cheng family, while he himself went to Yancheng County.

This time he not only came to replace Gu Tingye, but also brought an oral order from the emperor.

Shen Congxing rushed to Yancheng County, found Zhao Ceying, and conveyed the emperor's oral order to Zhao Ceying.

The content of the oral order was very simple. The salt administration must find out some problems as soon as possible, otherwise the government would not be able to withstand the pressure.

Zhao Ceying smiled and said, "I was just about to write a letter and have someone send it back to Bianjing. Now the progress is very smooth, and we have found a lot of problems. As long as we continue to investigate, the problems of Lianghuai Salt Field will be solved soon. The problems of salt fields in other places should be similar, so it won't be difficult to investigate them at that time."

"It's good to have progress. These days, someone has been submitting petitions every day requesting to stop the thorough investigation of the salt affairs. If it is delayed any further, maybe the emperor will force the emperor to abdicate." Shen Congxing said.

"These people are really hateful!" Zhao Ceying said angrily, "They eat the emperor's salary, but they provide shelter for corrupt officials and ignore the interests of the court. It's best not to let me find out that they are involved in the corruption of the salt administration, otherwise I will see how I will deal with them."

After thinking carefully about what Li An said last time, he felt that it made more and more sense.

In fact, the Song Dynasty did not have any ancestral system that prohibited the killing of scholars and officials.

Taizu and Taizong both killed fewer people, while Zhenzong killed fewer but still did not stop killing.

Where does the idea of ​​ancestral system come from?
But the late emperor really did not kill them. If the late emperor had killed the literati and officials, there would naturally be no so-called ancestral system.

But when it came to his father, the previous emperor did not kill him, which was the ancestral rule.

As long as it is not a serious crime of treason, it would be difficult for his father to kill the civil servants.

But killing someone during exile would still have the same deterrent effect.

As long as this kind of thing is not done deliberately in secret, the civil servants are all smart and will be able to detect it.

In fact, doing so is more deterrent than directly killing civil servants.

If they kill directly, there will be a trial process. Some people’s crimes are minor and do not warrant the death penalty.

But if you kill someone on the way to exile, it all depends on your feelings.

It can be said that Ang Lee's words opened a new door for him.

Although the clues he had found now had nothing to do with the officials in Bian Jing, some of the people who had confessed said that many officials in the court would receive a tribute every year.

As for who took it and who didn’t, they didn’t know.

This is also the reason why Zhao Ceying was so angry after hearing Shen Congxing's words.

"Those civil servants really need to be dealt with." Shen Congxing nodded in agreement.

In the past, the civil servants were behind his misdeeds, and he was often scolded by the government for this. Shen Congxing naturally hated those civil servants.

However, he did not know that Zhao Ceying had already planned to advise the emperor and kill a few civil servants as a deterrent.

I thought it was just a simple cleanup.

Zhao Ceying had no intention of explaining. Even if this kind of thing happened in the future, everyone would know it, but they could not admit it, let alone say it out loud.

"Uncle, how is Zhong Huai's investigation into the whereabouts of the Cheng family going?" Zhao Ceying asked.

"We have found his approximate whereabouts, and I have arranged people to continue investigating." Shen Congxing said.

"Then uncle, you will rest here tonight and rush back to Tongzhou tomorrow. The Cheng family is very important and we must find them as soon as possible. I have almost finished the investigation here and will escort these people back to Yangzhou in a few days to continue investigating in Yangzhou." Zhao Ceying said.

"But what about your safety? I see that you only have more than a thousand guards now." Shen Congxing said with some concern.

Zhao Ceying thoroughly investigated the salt affairs, and the government arranged for 5,000 imperial guards to accompany him for protection.

Sheng Changbai's men were still in Yangzhou. He kept a part of them and gave another part to Gu Tingye to capture the Cheng family.

Later, in order to investigate the whereabouts of the Cheng family, he gave some to Gu Tingye.

There are only about four thousand people in Yancheng County.

However, as more and more people were captured, he became concerned about the local troops and was afraid that someone would kill them to silence them, so he left some people to guard them.

Now there are only about a thousand people around me.

"Uncle, don't worry. Unless someone wants to rebel and mobilize the garrison troops, who can kill me?" Zhao Ceying said nonchalantly.

There are more than a thousand imperial guards, and they can protect him unless thousands of troops attack.

He is even less afraid of anything else.

As far as he knew, many of those salt merchants had some extremely vicious criminals on their payroll, with the least numbering one or two hundred, and the most even numbering thousands.

But those people were just a mob, and even if they were brave, they were no match for the army.

Shen Congxing thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed the case, so he felt relieved.

In the evening, Zhao Ceying hosted a banquet for Shen Congxing, and Xia Shaohua and Li An accompanied him.

"Haha, congratulations, Ziqian. Your wife gave birth to a big fat boy for you. My wife went to see him and loved him very much." Shen Congxing said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Li An asked about the situation at home. It was not convenient for Shen Congxing to go there after Li An left, but Zhang Guifen had been there several times and told him some things after returning.

Shen Congxing told Li An everything he knew.

Knowing that everything was fine at home, Li An was relieved.

The next day, Shen Congxing left Yancheng County and went to Tongzhou.

Li An and Zhao Ceying continued to stay in Yancheng County to search for evidence.

Nowadays, more and more people have been arrested, many have confessed, and some have even taken the initiative to find Zhao Ceying to provide clues.

However, confessions alone are not enough. Finding out the causes of corruption in the salt administration is only a temporary solution. Only by removing the corrupt officials can the root cause be addressed.

In fact, it cannot be considered a fundamental solution. After all, even if these corrupt officials are removed, more corrupt officials will emerge in the future.

But even if the salt business continues to decline in the future, there will be a process of decline.

As long as it is cleaned thoroughly this time, the erosion will be slower in the future.

It is unrealistic to really want to solve the problem once and for all.

In order to root out all these corrupt officials, we have to find more evidence based on clues and confessions, so that we can catch all those involved in it.

Even if you can't clean it up completely, you should clean most of it.

As the evidence became more and more sufficient, those who refused to confess began to loosen up and confessed one after another.

…………

It took Gu Tingye seven days to reach the Bianjing wharf.

Logically, he should have gone to the palace to meet the emperor first, but he was worried about Yu Yanran, so he went back to the Orange Garden after entering the city.

When the doorman saw Gu Tingye coming back, he quickly sent someone in to inform Yu Yanran.

As soon as Gu Tingye entered the inner courtyard, Yu Yanran, who had learned the news, came out to greet him.

"Husband!" Yu Yanran was very excited to see Gu Tingye. She had been worried these days.

"Miss!"

Gu Tingye held Yu Yanran in his arms and comforted her, "It's okay, I'm back, don't be afraid."

After entering the door, he asked the doorman.

Although the doorman didn't know much, he knew that it was the mistress who agreed to let Man Niang stay.

When Gu Tingye heard that it was Man Niang left behind by Yu Yanran, he became a little angry.

He was worried about Yu Yanran all the way, but he didn't expect that it was Yu Yanran herself who put herself in the dangerous situation.

However, Gu Tingye quickly calmed down. Although this incident was due to Yu Yanran's weak character, it could not be entirely blamed on Yu Yanran.

The appearance of Man Niang can be said to be an open conspiracy, and it would be difficult to deal with it no matter who is in her place.

Many people knew that he had a mistress.

Moreover, Man Niang gave birth to two children for him, but no one knew why Man Niang was driven away.

If Man Niang makes a fuss, not only will it be bad for his reputation, but if he drives her away he will also be known as jealous, which is really embarrassing.

"Erlang!"

When Gu Tingye was comforting Yu Yanran, Man Niang came over with the two children. She called Gu Tingye happily, nudged the two children and said, "You guys keep saying you miss your daddy, why don't you go and pay your respects to your daddy?"

"Shi Tou, take the child away!" Gu Tingye said coldly.

When Yu Yanran came out, Shi Tou and his men followed and were standing aside.

Hearing this, he responded, walked forward, hugged the two children in each hand, and took them away regardless of their crying.

"Erlang, what are you doing? I know you are angry with me, but so much time has passed and I know I was wrong. Can't you forgive me just this once?" Man Niang looked at Gu Tingye pitifully.

"Someone, take her to the woodshed and lock her up."

However, Gu Tingye didn't buy her trick and ignored her.

"Yes!" Two guards stepped forward and held Man Niang down.

"Gu Tingye, you have such a cruel heart. I gave birth to two children for you, and you enjoyed the glory and wealth, but you drove me away and separated us from each other. Gu Tingye, you are so cruel and you will not die a good death." Seeing that pretending to be pitiful was useless, Man Niang started to curse loudly.

"Shut her mouth!" Gu Tingye frowned.

He held down Man Niang's guard, tore off a piece of cloth from his body and stuffed it into Man Niang's mouth, then quickly dragged the person away.

"My wife, I need to go to the palace. You just need to take care of the children and you don't need to worry about anything else." Gu Tingye said.

"Yeah." Yu Yanran nodded.

...............

Xiao Qin soon learned the news that Gu Tingye had returned to Bian Jing.

However, Xiao Qinshi did not care. She originally thought that since Yu Yanran did not see Man Niang, Man Niang would be able to make up her mind.

(End of this chapter)