scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 93
Hearing the news that Xiao Mazi decided to send an imperial envoy to the south to investigate the fight between Li Suzu, the prefect of Qujing, and Lu Yifeng, the prefect of Qujing County, Li Xu, who had been expelled from the Hall of Mental Cultivation and sent to Donghuamen as an errand, was overjoyed. Ignoring a bite to eat, I hurried home and changed a set of clothes, rode a fast horse, and rushed all the way to the Prince Kang’s Mansion in Dajiangfang Hutong in Xizhimen to announce the good news—by the way, I suggested that Jie Shu and Li Shi Zu is ready to see what kind of good plan he can arrange so that he can send that damned Lu Sanhao to the guillotine, ransack his family and exterminate his family to punish the nine clans.

When they arrived at Prince Kang’s mansion, they put in the gate and handed over the name badge. Not long after, the servants of the palace came out to say that the prince had summoned him. Li Xu was overjoyed, and quickly followed his servants into Prince Kang’s mansion, all the way through the middle gate to get to the palace In the back garden, I saw Jie Shu was listening to a show and drinking wine with a graceful and beautiful young woman. A man and a woman sat side by side, very close to each other. The beautiful young woman almost completely stuck to Jie Shu's body, chatting and laughing happily with Jie Shu , didn't sit up straight until Li Xu approached, putting on a dignified appearance.

"Guard Li, why are you so free today, and you came here specifically to ask to see me?" Seeing Li Xu coming in in plain clothes, Jie Shu, who was already drunk, knew that it must not be business, so he didn't bother to get up, and just waved and laughed Said: "Come here and sit down, and have a few drinks with me."

"Thank you, my lord, but wait for a while to drink with my lord, this slave has to congratulate my lord first." Li Xu's face was full of flattery, and he suddenly knelt down on one knee to Jieshu, cupped his fists and said, "My slave congratulates my lord, congratulates my lord, this slave just now Hearing the news, the emperor has decided to send an imperial envoy to the south to investigate the case of mutual criticism between Li Suzu and Lu Yifeng!"

"So fast?" The beautiful young woman's eyes lit up, and her face was full of joy.

"Oh, so fast?" Jie Shu also beamed with joy, and said, "I just handed the book into the palace the day before yesterday, and the emperor decided to send an imperial envoy to investigate Lu Yifeng today? Who is this imperial envoy?"

"Who is this imperial envoy?" Li Xu froze, then remembered that he was too happy to hear that Fatty Lu was going to be unlucky, and even forgot to ask who Xiao Mazi sent to investigate this case.In desperation, Li Xu had no choice but to answer truthfully: "My lord, I'm so confused, I forgot to ask who the emperor sent to be in charge of investigating this case."

"Confused." Jie Shu's face sank, and he scolded: "Why don't you even find out who is appointed as the imperial envoy? This is a key candidate. How will the emperor handle this case? They are closely related, and the key to success or failure is basically on him alone, you don't understand that?"

"The servant is confused. The servant has already been transferred from the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The servant was not present when the emperor issued the decree. The news came from Cao Yin, so he forgot to ask who was appointed as the imperial envoy." Li Xu replied dejectedly: "The servant must find out who this imperial envoy is as soon as possible, and report to the prince when he comes back."

"My lord, this is a big matter, can I trouble you to inquire now?" Ren Zeyu didn't dare to put on airs like Jie Shu to reprimand others, but just slowed down, cast a wink at Li Xu, and begged: "This matter If the imperial envoy leaves the capital, it will be inconvenient to say a lot to him in advance."

"This lady is...?" Li Xu asked tentatively.

"The slave family is the wife of Li Suizu, named Ren Zeyu." The beautiful young woman smiled and replied: "Prince Kang is the godfather of the slave family."

"It turned out that my aunt arrived, and my grandnephew Li Xu was rude." Li Xu quickly knelt down on one knee and saluted, explaining to the puzzled Ren Zeyu: "My aunt probably doesn't know that the grandnephew is the grandson of General Li Xiquan who commanded Zhengbaiqi, Li Xiquan The general's daughter, the aunt of the grandnephew, is married to Li Jian, the son of Li Xianzu's cousin Li Xianzu, so in terms of seniority, my nephew should call you aunt."

"So we're still relatives." Surprised and delighted, Ren Zeyu quickly got up and helped Li Xu himself, saying that this nephew is good, and he's a hundred times better than Fatty Lu's distant nephew.

"Okay, we Banner people are already close to each other, and we can even get a little bit of kinship. The seniority is not clear at all, so there is no need to be so polite." Jie Shu urged impatiently: "If you want to reminisce about the old days, wait a while. Wait, first send the imperial envoy to find out, so we can do things tonight. Otherwise, the imperial envoy usually leaves the capital the next day after receiving the envoy, and it will be too late to say anything."

Li Xu reluctantly agreed, had no choice but to leave Kang Wang's mansion in a hurry, rode a fast horse and rushed to the Forbidden City to find his friend Cao Yin to inquire about news.Fortunately, Cao Yin is off duty and can move freely, so Li Xu found him easily, but when Li Xu asked about the imperial envoy, Cao Yin shook his head and said: "Brother Li Xu, I am very sorry, I don't know who to send as the imperial envoy."

"How is it possible?" Li Xu asked in surprise: "Weren't you there at the time? Did you hear who the emperor appointed as the imperial envoy? You must not be afraid of taking responsibility, we brothers are so familiar, you are still afraid I sold you?"

"Brother Li, who do you think I am, Cao Yin? Are you afraid that you will sell me?" Cao Yin was a little dissatisfied, and said, "I don't know, the situation at that time was like this. The emperor asked the emperor to have a look at the imperial decree for the appointment of the imperial envoy, and the emperor asked Mr. Zhang to use the official seal and handed it over to Ming Xiangye. From the beginning to the end, he never said who was appointed to be the imperial envoy. Do I dare to peek in front of the emperor?"

"Oops, this matter is troublesome." Li Xu felt a big headache and said in embarrassment: "In other words, only the officials in charge of archiving of the Ministry of Rites, Eunuch Zhang and Master Ming know who is appointed as the imperial envoy. I can't even get through the door."

"The Ministry of Rites and Mr. Zhang, don't even think about it. Even if you kill them, they don't dare to reveal a single word." Cao Yin kindly suggested: "If you want to know who this imperial envoy is, just If you can follow Master Ming's door, you can ask Prince Kang to come forward, and if you think about it, Master Ming will not refuse to give Prince Kang this face."

"I have no choice but to do this." Li Xu agreed helplessly, feeling even more resentful towards Fatty Lu in his heart - if this fat man molded himself like this, would he be transferred out of the No. [-] Palace of Mental Cultivation in the Qing Dynasty? ?

At that moment, Li Xu hurriedly bid farewell to Cao Yin, and with boundless hatred for Fatty Lu, he returned to Prince Kang's Mansion as quickly as possible to report the news to Jie Shu and Ren Zeyu.Although Jie Shu and Ren Zeyu were extremely dissatisfied with Li Xu's incompetence, considering the key role that the imperial envoy will play in this matter, Jie Shu still couldn't stand his daughter's begging, and just brought a little gift. Came to Mingzhu's mansion, wanting to find Mingzhu to inquire about this important news.But what Jie Shu didn’t expect was that just as his sedan chair stopped in front of the gate of the Mingzhu Mansion, another sedan chair of a first-rank official also stopped in front of the gate of the Ming Mansion. The person coming out of the sedan chair was none other than The number one person in Pingxi's residence in the capital—Wu Yingxiong, the son of Pingxi's prince!
"Oops, why did you meet him here?" Wu Yingxiong couldn't help but feel a little distressed when he met Jieshu here, so he hurriedly greeted Laijieshu, "Slave Wu Yingxiong, please greet the lord."

"Oops, why did you meet him here?" Jie Shu, who was afraid of being beaten by a wolf, also complained in his heart, and hurriedly returned the courtesy, "Your Majesty, you are welcome, you are welcome."

"My lord (prince), what are you...?" Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong asked each other in unison.

"Visiting friends." Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong replied in unison: "It's been a long time since I saw you, and I miss you very much. I happened to pass by here today, so I just stopped by to have a look."

"Huh? Why is this guy saying exactly the same thing as I said? What exactly does he want to come to Mingzhu?" Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong asked themselves in surprise in their hearts with one voice.

"My lord, my son, why did you two join hands? How dare you call Mingzhu?" Mingzhu who received the news and went out to welcome her broke the embarrassing situation, but Mingzhu was also very surprised-Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong are both recognized as living in seclusion. The master who likes to provoke gossip, why did he come to find himself together today?
For a long period of time to come, Jie Shu, Ming Zhu, and Wu Yingxiong basically spent time surrounded by hypocritical nonsense, either greeting each other, greeting each other, or asking Jie Shu about his recent past. How is the health, or is it to praise Mingzhu for taking over the Ministry of Criminal Justice, the crime rate in the Qing Dynasty has dropped by a few percentage points, or to ask if Wu Yingxiong is full for lunch today, and whether Mingzhu's family should have dinner in advance so that Wu Yingxiong will not be hungry?There is a lot of nonsense, so I won't describe them one by one with pen and ink.

After all, Mingzhu is a smart person. Although Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong tried their best to conceal their real intentions in front of each other, after talking a lot of nonsense in the flower hall, Mingzhu still analyzed the purpose of these two living treasures from clues.At that moment, Mingzhu smiled, and said straight to the point: "Master Kang, Prince Wu, you both came here for the case in Qujing Mansion, right?"

Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong were dumbfounded together, and finally closed their mouths that had been talking nonsense.After a little silence, Jieshu and Wu Yingxiong nodded together again, and said in unison again: "Mingxiang, don't get me wrong, I'm not here today to intercede with Li Suzu (Lu Yifeng), I just want to ask Mingxiang, I must We need to find out the truth of this case - if Li Suzu (Lu Yifeng) is guilty, please don't be shy because Li Suzu (Lu Yifeng) is my godson (the selection official of our Pingxi Palace) , must be severely dealt with in order to rectify the law of the country.”

"Why did this guy imitate me again?" Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong looked at each other again, feeling angry in their hearts, "This guy, didn't he come here today to embarrass me on purpose?"

"Hahahaha..., Lord Kang, Master Shizi, don't blame me, Mingzhu really can't help it." Rao Mingzhu's city is very deep, and this meeting can't help but hold his stomach and laugh out loud. Wu Yingxiong teamed up and couldn't help laughing, while Jie Shu and Wu Yingxiong were extremely embarrassed, regretting that they chose this time to visit Mingzhu.

Finally stopped laughing, Mingzhu rubbed the corners of her eyes, and said: "My lord, my son, Mingzhu understands what you mean, please rest assured, Mingzhu has no grievances or enmities with Li Zhifu and Lu Zhixian, and I know that they are both As a pillar of the Qing Dynasty who is loyal to the emperor, Mingzhu will definitely resolve this matter impartially, and will never cover up and favor one side. As soon as the imperial envoy appointed by the emperor returns from Yunnan to investigate the case, Mingzhu will definitely give the two A fair explanation."

"Really? The emperor has appointed an imperial envoy?" Jie Shu asked hypocritically: "Then who did the emperor appoint to investigate this case? This king also wants to go to him to say hello, so that he doesn't have to worry about this king and deliberately Partiality and protection must be judged impartially, and the laws of the country must not be misunderstood."

Wu Yingxiong finally stopped talking with Jie Shu this time, but Wu Yingxiong also pricked up his ears, waiting for Mingzhu's answer——Wu Yingxiong came to Mingzhu's house this time, in fact, to find out who the imperial envoy who investigated the case was. Otherwise, if this imperial envoy stood by Li Suzu's side, cleaned up Fatty Lu and dragged Pingxi Palace into the water, then the trouble would be serious.

"My lord, my son, have you already gone to the Ministry of Rites to find out who this imperial envoy is?" Mingzhu didn't answer the question, but smiled and said, "Is it possible that the identity of this imperial envoy can't be found out at the Ministry of Rites, so Did you come to Mingzhu to inquire?"

"Can't find the name of the imperial envoy at the Ministry of Rites?" Jie Shu, who had never been to the activities of the Ministry of Rites, was surprised.Wu Yingxiong remained calm - because Wu Yingxiong had already gone through the door of the Minister of Rites Huang Ji before, but he was shocked to find that the imperial edict did not include the name and position of the imperial envoy in the archives of the Ministry of Rites!So Wu Yingxiong was unavoidably more surprised and frightened, and took the risk to come to Mingzhu's house who knew the inside story to spy on the news.

"I can't find it." Mingzhu shook her head and said in a deep voice: "My lord, my son, Mingzhu must apologise to you, because at the request of the imperial envoy, the emperor promised to keep it secret for him, so the Ministry of Rites recorded the imperial decree. , has temporarily erased the name and position of the imperial envoy, only the official imperial edict has the name and position of the imperial envoy to prove his identity. Mingzhu dare not disobey the order to reveal a single word about the identity of this imperial envoy, so I'm sorry to both of you."

"Is there such a strange thing?" Jie Shu looked at Mingzhu suspiciously, and said, "Mingxiang, you are not joking, are you? Didn’t the imperial envoy ask to keep his identity and name a secret?”

"But this imperial envoy just asked for it, and the reasons are very good. He directly said that if the emperor doesn't agree to his condition, he would rather die than accept the job, so the emperor has no choice but to agree." Mingzhu said with a wry smile.

Jie Shu's and Wu Yingxiong's eyeballs widened even wider, and they were both more surprised and uncertain.Mingzhu looked at the words and expressions, and probably guessed the thoughts of these two treasures, so she said calmly: "My lord, my son, this imperial envoy is actually for your own good. Li Suzu is your lord's disciple and god-son-in-law, and Lu Yifeng is your son-in-law." The doorman, the confidant who was handpicked by Shizi's younger brother, this imperial envoy is afraid that you will intervene rashly, affect his handling of the case, and force him to impeach you, so he made this bad plan."

"This point, the emperor also agrees to protect you." Mingzhu emphasized again that this was from Xiao Mazi, and then said: "Okay, everything Mingzhu can say has already been said. If the son of the world is considerate of the slave, please stop asking, the slave really can't say a word!"

Although he didn't force Mingzhu, Jie Shu's face became more and more gloomy, and he thought to himself: "Damn, is this imperial envoy that **** slave? Why did you mention this bullshit condition? For what purpose? He came to handle the case under Wu Sangui's nose." case, if he can't withstand the threats and lures of Wu Sangui's old man, won't the king's son-in-law suffer a big loss? No, I have to prepare another countermeasure!"

Wu Yingxiong also had an even more gloomy face. Wu Yingxiong thought to himself, "This crap imperial envoy is so mysterious, and he really came to Yunnan only for the case of Fatty Lu? Could it be that he wants to help Li Suzu and join forces with Li Suzu? Aiming at our Pingxi Palace? If the case of Rulong was investigated again last time, there would really be no room for the father’s old face! No, I have to prepare another countermeasure!"

As it was getting dark, Mingzhu hypocritically invited Jieshu and Wu Yingxiong to stay for dinner, but Jieshu and Wu Yingxiong, who had their own ghosts, could still eat there, so they naturally declined Mingzhu's warm invitation to stay, and they said goodbye to each other and went back to their homes.After Wu Yingxiong returned home, of course he wrote the situation into a letter overnight and sent it to Yunnan in an expedited six hundred miles, warning his father Wu Sangui and Fatty Lu to be prepared and guard against the tricks of this mysterious imperial envoy.After Jieshu returned to the mansion, he also asked his master to prepare paper and pens, but Jieshu didn't write a letter to Li Suzu to tell him to get ready, but asked his master to write a memorial for him, and asked him to go out of Beijing—to visit his relatives in Yunnan!

After impulsively handing in the memorial to the palace, Jie Shu soon regretted it, feeling that he was too clear-cut, and it was unlikely that Xiao Mazi would let him go to Yunnan. After half an hour, Xiao Mazi decreed and gave a reply - he was allowed to go to Yunnan!
"Hmph, want to go to Yunnan to help your godson put pressure on the imperial envoy? Dreaming! I can't even deal with that guy, let alone you!" Xiao Mazi thought so, "But if you voluntarily travel to Yunnan and Guizhou Okay, heh, Yunnan and Guizhou are notoriously poor and poor. I sent you there because I was afraid that you would be angry and unwilling. Now that you go voluntarily, I certainly wish for it. One is to let you see the real situation in Yunnan and Guizhou, and come back to tell me Report, let me have another channel to understand the situation in Yunnan and Guizhou. Second, let you familiarize yourself with the mountains and rivers of Yunnan and Guizhou, customs and customs, and get in touch with civil and military officials in Yunnan and Guizhou. Maybe it will be of great use in the future.”

………………

Our poor Prince Kang was not the only one who took the initiative to send Lu Fatty auspiciously to his door. Relying on the top-secret and efficient channels of the Thirteen Yamen, Kong Sizhen in Guangxi knew the news that Xiao Mazi sent an imperial envoy to Yunnan to investigate the case a few days earlier than Wu Sangui. But it is a pity that Kong Sizhen's intelligence force is also unable to find out who this mysterious imperial envoy is.

So after receiving this news, Kong Sizhen was inevitably both happy and worried. Of course, he was happy that his plan with Zhou Peigong finally worked. Xiao Mazi finally became suspicious of Fatty Lu and sent an imperial envoy to Wu Sangui's base camp to investigate Fatty Lu. As long as I give Li Suzu some pointers and suggestions, there is great hope for killing Fatty Lu, a disaster star who extremely ignores his beauty.

In addition, what Kong Sizhen was worried about was the position and character of the imperial envoy—in case this bastard was bought by Wu Sangui and Fatty Lu, or if this guy was too firm and was deceived by Fatty Lu's hypocrisy of loyalty to the emperor and love for Qing, Seeing Li Suzu's numerous crimes in Qujing, reporting the truth to the court and demanding that Li Suzu be brought to justice, then not only Li Suzu is doomed, but Kong Sizhen himself may be involved again.

"No, I have to go to Qujing in person to sit in town!" Kong Sizhen finally made up his mind after repeated calculations and weighing, "I have come to Qujing in person, not only can I instruct Li Suzu to deal with Lu Fatty according to the situation, but also find that bastard imperial envoy in the first place." , Pull him to my mother's side! Hmph, I don't believe it anymore, besides Lu Yifeng, that blind fat man, who else in the world would not obediently bow down to my mother's pomegranate skirt?!"

(End of this chapter)