Chapter 36: Correcting Mistakes A Thousand Miles Away
Early the next morning, news came out from the county government that due to the murder of Wei Yushi, the prefect Zhang Yunyi returned to Beijing overnight to explain to the emperor. The daily affairs of Jiangdu County were temporarily handled by the county prime minister Wang Shichong.~~!-
The news that the governor Zhang Yunyi returned to Beijing overnight did not cause much reaction. For the general public, it had nothing to do with them. For low-level officials such as government officials, the return of the governor had no impact on them. They remained normal.
However, for many high-ranking Jiangdu officials, the governor's return to Beijing at this critical moment had a completely different meaning. They all vaguely guessed that something big was going to happen to Jiangdu.
On the official road along the canal, three people and six horses were galloping like lightning, scaring the pedestrians on the official road to get out of the way. Not far ahead was the village of Mingyue Bay. The leading knight bit his tongue and ran towards the west end of the village.
And go.
In the large house in the west of the village, ten men in black are on standby. All of them are brave and powerful, and they are all highly skilled in martial arts.
"The ten of you are mainly feigning assassination. If you can escape from the assassination, you will escape. If you cannot escape, you must commit suicide. The Nanhua Society will take good care of your wives, children and parents and ensure that they have enough food and clothing throughout their lives."
On the steps, Wang Mo was making the final statement to the ten people. His foster daughter-in-law, Mute Aunt, stood behind her with a solemn expression. She would be the one to do the real assassination. The task of the ten assassins was just to paralyze Yang Yuanqing's followers.
Next to him, Xiao Yunnan felt a little sad. If the emperor was assassinated, he would firmly support it. But to assassinate a small imperial censor, the Nanhua Society would have to take huge risks. He felt that the gain was not worth the loss, but the order of the leader had been issued, so they must
implement.
At this moment, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves outside the door, and the person on guard hidden above the door said anxiously: "The leader is here!"
Wang Mo was stunned. Everyone was stunned. Did the leader actually come?
"Open the door quickly!" Wang Mo ordered urgently.
The men opened, and Xiao Mian, the leader of the Nanhua Association, strode in. He asked anxiously: "Has the order been carried out?"
Wang Mo quickly reported, "Replying to my lord, we are about to execute it!"
Xiao Mian breathed a long sigh of relief, waved his hand and said: "The order is cancelled, stop the assassination!"
Wang Mo and Xiao Yunnan looked at each other, and their eyes were filled with joy. Xiao Mian smiled bitterly and said, "Let's talk in the room!"
Everyone walked into the house. Xiao Mian was a little tired after running thousands of miles. He sat down and Xiao Yunnan served him a cup of tea.
Xiao Mian took a sip of tea, shook his head and said, "I was so hot-headed that I issued a wrong order. By the time I thought about it clearly, the messenger had already been gone for a day, so I had to come and correct the order myself and give up on assassinating Yang Yuanqing."
Wang Mo nodded, "Actually, we all feel that it is inappropriate to assassinate Yang Yuanqing. The risk is too great. But why would the leader think of assassinating Yang Yuanqing?"
Xiao Mian smiled bitterly and said: "I just came to Beijing not long ago and met with my aunt, Empress Xiao. Empress Xiao was quite resentful of Yang Yuanqing. She told me that both of her sons were destroyed at the hands of Yang Yuanqing. If the eldest son was not the crown prince,
If the second son were the prince, he would not have any dissent. It was a pity that her natal family had no one, otherwise she would have asked her natal family to kill Yang Yuanqing. I thought this was an opportunity to please the queen, so she asked me to do it.
A wrong decision was made.”
Xiao Mian took a sip of tea and sighed: "When I learned about the situation in the court, I realized that I had made a big mistake. Yang Yuanqing actually knew that Nanhua would exist, but we did not infringe on his interests, so he
He kept silent because if our assassination failed, he would definitely take revenge. Not only would I suffer, but the entire South China Society would be completely eradicated by him, so I came all the way from the capital to correct the big mistake I made."
Wang Mo stood up, gave a deep salute and said: "My lord can realize his mistake and run thousands of miles. This is the blessing of the South China Association. It is my wise choice for Wang Mo to serve for such a lord. I firmly believe that,
The Liang Dynasty will inevitably revive."
Xiao Xian waved his hand and said with a smile: "There is no need to be polite, military advisor. Tell me about the situation in Jiangdu. I am very interested."
Wang Mo sat down and told the recent events in detail, and finally said: "We got the news early this morning that the prefect Zhang Yunyi returned to Beijing to report on his duties, and Wang Shichong was in charge of Jiangdu's government affairs. We then speculated that Zhang Yunyi should be imprisoned by Yang Yuanqing, okay?
To say that Zhang Yunyi's situation is over, Yang Yuanqing most likely has obtained evidence against Zhang Yunyi, and he is suspected of being the evidence to assassinate Wei Deyu."
"Why did Zhang Yunyi kill Wei Deyu?"
Wang Mo said quietly: "With Zhang Yunyi's caution, it is impossible for him not to know the serious consequences of assassinating the censor. I speculate that it was Wei Deyu who discovered the secret of the Zhang family."
Xiao Mian nodded silently, sighed and said: "The current emperor's attacks on the Guanlong nobles are getting more and more severe. He is too impatient. Sooner or later, this will trigger a counterattack by the Guanlong nobles, and the world will be in trouble. With the help of us Jiangling people,
As the local saying goes, if you take too big a step, you will break your balls."
Everyone laughed. Xiao Mian looked at Wang Mo and Xiao Yunnan with bright eyes, "As long as there is chaos in the world, our chance will come. This time, I will help Yang Yuanqing."
Xiao Mian asked Xiao Yunnan, "How many weapons are hidden in Jiangdu?"
"About three thousand pieces."
"Get them all here tonight!"
Xiao Yunnan agreed and left, leaving only Xiao Mian and Wang Mo in the room. Xiao Mian stood in front of the window in silence for a long time, and said slowly: "I have been thinking about a question. In fact, Yang Yuanqing knew that Nanhua would exist, and he also
Knowing my ambition to restore the Liang Dynasty, why didn’t he report me and use us as a stepping stone for him to climb up? Don’t you think it’s strange, sir?”
Wang Mo thought for a moment and said in surprise: "Could it be that Yang Yuanqing himself has it?"
Xiao Mian sneered, "If I'm not wrong, he is as ambitious as us, but his ambition is in the north, so he will condone our development in the south. He also knows in his heart that if the Long nobles get too anxious,
, they will inevitably rebel, so he is so eager to kill the Zhang family."
"I thought that if we just killed the Zhang family, the Guanlong nobles would not rebel."
Xiao Xian nodded, "That's true, but if the Zhang family is killed and the Guanlong nobles are divided, then Yang Guang's next step will definitely be to take action against the fundamental interests of the Guanlong nobles."
"Is it the army?"
Xiao Mian sneered, "You are absolutely right, it is the army!"
Speaking of this, Xiao Mian suddenly turned around and said, "I want to see Yang Yuanqing."
In a deep alley in the south of Jiangdu City, a woman in white clothes and a curtain hat was riding a horse. She came to a small courtyard at the end, knocked on the door, and the door opened with a creak.
The door was opened by a middle-aged woman with a smile on her face, "Girl, you are back."
The lady in white took off her curtain and hat, revealing a delicate and delicate face. She was none other than Zhang Chuchen, who had broken up with Yang Yuanqing for almost two years.
She led the horse into the yard, looked around, and asked with concern: "Auntie, where is Bing'er?"
"I'm playing with Li Erniang in the house!"
Zhang Chuchen took off a heavy bag from his horse, handed it to the middle-aged woman and said with a smile: "This is 500 taels of gold and a bag of jewelry found from the corrupt official's house in Qixian County. Ziyan will also collect it from the house tomorrow."
When Pijun comes over, she also has a few hundred taels, which is enough for the palace to spend for a year."
The middle-aged woman nodded and took the bag. Zhang Chuchen tied the horse in the yard and walked impatiently to the back room.
In a small room, Du Sheng's wife, Mrs. Li, was playing with a little girl. The little girl was about one year old. She was pink and smooth, with crystal-clear pink skin. She was extremely beautiful and cute. She was learning to talk.
.
Zhang Chuchen pushed through the door and walked in. The little girl immediately stretched out her arms and shouted excitedly: "Mother--"
Zhang Chuchen felt extremely distressed. He held his daughter in his arms, kissed her little face, tapped her little nose, and said with a smile: "Mom has been away for the past two days, have you been naughty?"
Mrs. Li smiled and said: "This child is only one year old, and he is really tall."
"Yeah! Her father is very tall, and she looks like him."
Zhang Chuchen sat down with his daughter in his arms and said with a smile: "Her father's surname is Yang. I originally named her Yang Yuanbing, but my mother said that the child's name cannot contain his father's name, so I changed her name to Yang Bing, my dear.
,Yes or no?"
Zhang Chuchen gently tapped his daughter's nose again, and the little girl giggled happily.
Zhang Chuchen glanced at Mrs. Li again and asked with a smile: "Er Niang, have you decided?"
Mrs. Li nodded and her eyes turned red, "I have thought about it. I will go to Hengshan with you. My husband will be killed and my son will be on the run. The government will not let me go when I get home. It is better to go to the south, where there is still a way to survive."
"
Zhang Chuchen sighed, "Where is there any way to survive now? That tyrant built a grand canal, and many families were destroyed. It was simply made of bones. He also patrolled the south to offer food to the people, and the corrupt officials took the opportunity to fill their pockets.
I have seen with my own eyes how many people sell their children and wives and lose all their wealth. I only regret that Nanhua Palace has limited power and cannot adopt so many orphans."
Li asked in a low voice: "I heard from my aunt that Nanhua Palace has adopted more than 2,000 orphans. How much food and rice are needed to feed them?"
Zhang Chuchen gave a wry smile and said, "These are all adopted by my great-aunt and mother. My great-aunt's name is Guanyin, and the locals call her Guanyin Bodhisattva. She donated money and rice, and the local government acquiesced. But there were too many children, and the locals
The grain and rice donated were only a small amount of money, and we could only rely on the ill-gotten gains we three sisters stole in the Jianghuai area to support us."
Li's eyes showed admiration and she said with a smile: "I have also heard that Miss Zhang is known as the Jianghuai Heroine. When people in the village mention the Jianghuai Heroine, they all give a thumbs up, praising you for robbing the rich and helping the poor, and for eradicating violence and bringing peace to the good.
.”
"Actually, those are the names gained by my two junior sisters. I haven't been out for more than a year. If I didn't want my child's father to take a look at her this time, I wouldn't want to come to Jiangdu, and I wouldn't be able to save my second mother.
This is also destined!"
Li felt moved in his heart. He smiled and asked, "Is the child's father in Jiangdu?"
Zhang Chuchen nodded and sighed helplessly: "Her father is a high-ranking official in the imperial court. If my mother hadn't insisted, I really wouldn't want to... I'm very scared."