"Father, that is a good woman that I saved in Xixia."
"Xi Xia? Whose daughter is she? Tell me clearly. Don't think I don't understand Xi Xia."
Zhong Huan had no choice but to whisper: "She is Li Qianshun's little daughter."
"What?"
Zhong Hong couldn't believe his ears. The youngest daughter of the Western Xia Emperor Li Qianshun was actually with his son.
"It's simply ridiculous. You are the son of the Zhong family. How can you have anything to do with Li Qianshun's daughter? Send her away immediately when you go back. I will never admit it."
"Father, Ah Jiu is already five months pregnant. Where can I send her?"
"You!" Zhong Hong pointed at his son and couldn't say a word.
The rice has already been cooked, what should he do?
Zhong Hong calmed down for a while and asked again: "Does Chen Qing know that you are with Li Qianshun's little daughter?"
"The prince knew about it, and he even wrote me two poems."
"What poem?"
"Helan's fire burns for a hundred years, and the spring breeze turns into rain and wipes out grudges."
Zhong Hong snorted in his heart, "Can the spring breeze turn into rain after Xixia's destruction of the country?"
Zhong Hong was at his wits end. She was pregnant for five months. No matter how much she didn't like it, she had no choice but to hold her nose and admit it.
"You said her name is Ajiu?"
Zhong Huan perked up and accepted his father's tone.
"Reporting to father, her nickname is Ajiu and her official name is Brother Jing."
"Brother Jing, you are really destined to be Jing. Huang Linjiang's little daughter is also named Huang Jing."
"Father, what about the Huang family's marriage?"
Zhong Hong took out a wedding invitation from the drawer and threw it on the table, "As you said, people with different opinions do not conspire with you. When Huang Linjiang heard that your Jingzhao had become an official, he sent someone to return the wedding invitation. No, this engagement is over!"
Zhong Huan was overjoyed and finally broke off the engagement with the Huang family. Otherwise, it would have been too unfair for her to have Xiaojiu as his concubine.
"Father, was Governor Li killed by royalists like Huang Linjiang?"
Zhong Hong shook his head, "Huang Linjiang is a true royalist. He will never compromise and has great integrity. He will never use such despicable assassination methods. There is another group of people who use the banner of royalism and try every means to do so." Collect money and do all kinds of evil in the land of fish and meat.
Because the county king introduced a series of measures that seriously infringed on their interests, this group of people hated the county king so much that they classified themselves as royalists. In fact, if the county king indulged their interests, they were guaranteed to become The loyal Sichuan-Shaanxi faction."
"But it is impossible to indulge their interests. Sichuan is the source of military salary for the Western Army. If their interests are taken care of, the army's salary will not be enough."
"Yes! That's right. Here's the problem. These people are very powerful, ranging from officialdom to local tycoons. I am Cang Cao. I know that last year, official salt sales dropped by 90% compared with the year before. The salt tax was basically gone. Well, it can be seen that the proliferation of illegal salt is serious. Since the beginning of the year, Li Yi has focused on cracking down on illegal salt dealers and publicly executed more than a dozen salt lords. Li Yi's assassination must have something to do with the salt lords."
"What does father mean to say that the salt owl Li Yi killed is inextricably related to these forces?"
"Of course, Salt Owl is just a steward sent by them."
"Then do these forces have names?"
"Of course, they call themselves the Sichuan Lee faction. Their mantra is that the interests of Sichuan belong to the Sichuan people, so they are called the Sichuan Lee faction."
"Then Wu Miao, the governor of Hezhou, and He Qiangong, the governor of Changzhou, should also belong to the Sichuan Li faction!"
"It's possible that the Sichuan and Li faction's home base is in the Chongqing area, including Hezhou and Changzhou, but I don't know the details."
As soon as he finished speaking, an arrow "Whoosh!" was shot from outside and nailed to the pillar. Zhong Hong's expression suddenly changed.
Zhong Huan pulled out the sword on the wall and rushed out. The courtyard was deserted and not a single person was seen.
Zhong Huan was worried about his father, so he jumped back and saw his father was about to pull out the arrow on the pillar. There was a letter stuck in the arrow shaft.
"It's a poisonous arrow, father, be careful!" The arrow has a touch of green.
Zhong Huan stepped forward quickly, wrapped it in a piece of cloth, and carefully took off the letter on the arrow.
Opening it up and taking a closer look, there was only one line of words on the paper, "Go back to Jingzhao, or you will die!"
Zhong Hong's face turned ugly, "These bastards dare to threaten me!"
He suddenly remembered something and asked quickly: "You came to Chengdu alone, who will take care of Ajiu in Jingzhao?"
"There are also female members of the inner guard. I will find a few girls to live with her and take good care of her."
"Ah Huan, do you want to go back?"
Zhong Huan shook his head, "I want to write to Wang Tongzhi immediately. The situation in Bashu is dangerous and is on the verge of getting out of control."
As soon as Chen Qing returned to Jingzhao Mansion, he heard about two major events. The first major event was that Li Yi, the prefect of Chengdu, was assassinated. The second major event was that an assassin actually appeared in his mansion.
Chen Qing didn't have time to go to the government office, so he rushed directly to his mansion.
Lu Xiu and Zhao Qiaoyun both cried and threw themselves into his arms. Chen Qing felt something bad. He took a deep breath and asked, "Who is in trouble?"
Lu Xiu said with tears in her eyes: "Tao Qiniang and Ba Niang were hit by poisonous arrows and could not be saved!"
Tao Qiniang and Tao Baniang are the two earliest female guards in Chen Qing's mansion. They are relatively naive, but they are highly skilled in martial arts and loyal.
"How could they?"
"We all moved to the island, and the two of them were responsible for guarding the old house. As a result, a group of assassins came last night and started a fight at the old house. They were both weak, and they were both hit by poisonous arrows."
"What about the assassin?" Chen Qing asked through gritted teeth.
"I heard that there were eight people in total, five of them died, and three others ran away. The internal guards are trying their best to arrest them."
"Wang Hao did a good job!" Chen Qing's face turned livid.
This is the second time that assassins have come to Chen Qing's house. The first time the internal guards failed in their duties, he did not pursue it, hoping that they would learn a lesson, but the second time they still let the assassins break in and escape calmly, deploying
The internal guards around your own house are seriously derelict in their duties.
"Why did you think of moving to the island?"
"We all have a sense of insecurity."
Lu Xiu then told him what Lu Qingshan wrote the note, and finally said: "My husband was not in Jingzhao, and Qiaoyun and I felt unsafe, so we moved into Qifeng Pavilion that day."
"Your sensitivity is absolutely correct. From now on, when I am not in Jingzhao, you will all move into Qifeng Pavilion."
At this time, a guard came to report, "The king of the inner guard wants to see you!"
"Ask him to wait for me in the middle hall!" Chen Qing said coldly.
"If he doesn't give himself an explanation today, he will never be spared!"
"I am here to apologize!" Wang Hao knelt down and saluted.
Chen Qing snorted coldly, "When my wife and children are assassinated, you won't have to apologize."
Wang Hao almost cried, "I have indeed neglected my humble duty and am willing to bear all responsibilities."
Chen Qing looked at him for a long time and said, "I'm surprised. You have deployed so many spies around my house. Even the restaurant manager is one of yours, but someone actually sneaked into my house. Are they all working for a living?"
!”
Chen Qing's voice suddenly became stern.
Wang Hao kowtowed and said: "This time it has nothing to do with them. It is a loophole in the defense of the humble position. The assassin came from the water."
"In the water?"
The small lake in Chen Qing's mansion is connected to the Cao River outside. It is connected through an underwater canal. A wrist-thick iron fence has been installed on the undersea canal. How can they survive?
"You mean they sawed through the culvert grating?"
"No! They didn't saw through the iron fence, but continued to dig deeper, digging a gap one foot high, and then got in through this gap. They were all skinny, like snakes, so they were able to get in."
Chen Qing was really speechless, he actually thought of this way to get into his house.
"You get up first. I don't have time to pursue you this time, but I want to know where these assassins come from? Is it related to the assassination of Li Yi in Chengdu? It is said that three people escaped. I must catch these three people.
"
"This is what I want to report. The three escaped assassins have been caught, but two of them committed suicide by taking poison, and one is still being rescued. In addition, I have identified the poisonous arrows, the ones that killed Magistrate Li, and the poison that threatened Zhong Huan."
The arrows are exactly the same.”
Chen Qing frowned, "What's going on with threatening Zhong Huan?"