When Qiu Yizhi heard Zheng Xin was angry, he quickly comforted him and said, "This Yin Chengliang is really shameless. He did such a shameless thing. No wonder he mobilized a large number of troops to besiege me so loudly before. But in the final analysis, it was because of Yin Chengliang's bad behavior. It would be bad if you get angry for him and hurt yourself in vain."
Zheng Xin said with a worried look on his face: "Who is Yin Chengliang? Is he worthy of my anger? I am worried about the country and people of the Han Dynasty. I am afraid that the foundation that my father worked so hard to build will be ruined by this group of unscrupulous officials!"
Zheng Xin's words were too far-fetched and far-reaching, so Qiu Yizi was not in a position to interrupt, but said, "Yin Chengliang must be severely punished, but in this situation of being cautious, I wonder if Your Highness has any good plan?"
Zheng Xin frowned and said, "I can't think of any perfect plan at the moment, so I'm hoping that you can teach me some good ideas."
Qiu Yizhi had been working hard all day, and his brain was dizzy from the hot air in the south of the Yangtze River. He thought about it but couldn't come up with any good ideas. After a long time, he said, "I don't have any good ideas either... Oh, by the way, my friend Mr. Bansong, Lin Shuhan, is very resourceful. How about I ask him for advice? What do you think, big brother?"
Zheng Xin waved his hands and said, "No! This is too shocking. To put it bluntly, Yin Chengliang has no shame, but the court and the royal family still have some shame! Although Lin Shuhan has some friendship with you, he is a member of the Jiangnan literati after all. If he has a loose mouth, it will be hard to undo the damage."
Although Qiu Yizi did not agree with Zheng Xin's words at first, after careful consideration, she found that they made sense.
Qiu Yizhi pondered for a long while before nodding and saying, "Brother, what you said makes sense. I appreciate your advice." He changed the subject and said, "Brother, you have been busy since early morning today. The weather in Jiangnan is so hot that even a man of iron would melt. I think we brothers will not be able to come up with any ideas if we continue to think here. It is better to keep a close watch on Yin Chengliang first, and then make a long-term plan after we have found out what happened in Qingya Temple."
Zheng Xin sighed and said, "This is the only way for now. I don't think we will go to court tomorrow to hear the case. Let me take a day off first and sort out my thoughts. You can sleep in tomorrow and come back later to discuss the matter."
As there was nothing to do the next day, Qiu Yizi slept until noon before getting up slowly.
There was a heavy rain in the early morning, which slightly suppressed the high temperature that had accumulated for the past few days. Qiu Yizi pulled himself together, had lunch, and asked Captain Chi Jiming to be his guard, and went to Qixia Temple to discuss things with the Grand Master Zheng Xin.
Because the two brothers had talked very thoroughly last night, there was nothing much to talk about today. They just chose a cool and secluded corner, made a pot of herbal tea, and chatted casually.
The two were chatting until they were about to fall asleep, but they heard a soldier report that all the Taoist priests, young and old, in the "Qingya Temple" had confessed that they had an affair with Yin Chengliang.
As soon as these words were spoken, the sleepiness in Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizi's heads immediately disappeared. They looked at each other but could not utter a word.
After a long while, Zheng Xin sighed and said, "Alas! This Yin Chengliang really did such a shameful thing. How should we end this?"
Qiu Yizhi thought about it all night last night, and in a half-awake state, he came up with an idea that was not an idea at all. He said to Zheng Xin, "Brother, I have a bad idea to deal with Yin Chengliang. Please give me some advice."
Zheng Xin's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately said, "My dear brother, you are very wise and you must have a good plan. Why don't you tell me quickly so that we can discuss and make a decision together?"
Qiu Yizi nodded and said carefully, "My eldest brother was right last night. Yin Chengliang must be severely punished. However, we cannot expose all the truth, or we will be laughed at. It's like catching a mouse in a porcelain shop. We cannot break the porcelain, but we have to catch the mouse. It is really a difficult task."
Zheng Xin was anxious because of Qiu Yizhi's teasing words, but he couldn't urge him to speak quickly, so he said: "I understand this truth, that's why I'm at a loss! Otherwise, I would have crushed a little bug like Yin Chengliang to death."
"That's right!" Qiu Yizi said, "Yin Chengliang is a stink bug. But why do you have to pinch it yourself to get rid of it? Even if you kill it, your hands will be stinking. I was born in a poor family. When I was a child, I slept in a dilapidated temple and had a fight with stink bugs and fleas. When I encountered a stink bug, I didn't have to pinch it with my hands. I just took a pinch of salt and sprinkled it on the stink bug, and it would choke to death."
"Brother, what you mean is..." Zheng Xin asked puzzled.
Qiu Yizi smiled and scratched his head, saying, "It's all my fault that my analogy was not appropriate and confused you... As long as..."
Qiu Yizi then told Zheng Xin about the plan in his mind.
Zheng Xin nodded as he listened, and at the end he clapped his hands and praised, "Brother, this plan is perfect. I just don't know... I just don't know, was it the idea of 'Mr. Bansong' Lin Shuhan?"
Qiu Yizi hurriedly shook his head and said, "Brother, how could I disobey your words? This is indeed my own idea. Although this method is based on public interest, it is still a trick of Xiang Xie, and it lacks the four words of openness and aboveboard. Brother, why don't you write a letter and inform the emperor, and get his approval before you can implement it."
Zheng Xin nodded and immediately called his attendants to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone. He wrote a letter with great care, dried it a little, and handed it to Qiu Yizi, saying, "This is the letter from my elder brother to our father. Please take a look."
Qiu Yizi took the letter respectfully and read it hastily. The letter only briefly described the progress of the trial after Zheng Xin went south, and detailed the countermeasures for dealing with Yin Chengliang.
However, this strategy was originally thought out by Qiu Yi alone, but in Zheng Xin's writing, it became a plan that was discussed by the two of them together.
Qiu Yizhi was a smart person. She saw through Zheng Xin's little plan at a glance, but she didn't want to point it out to him. She said, "Brother, your handwriting is getting better and better... I think this letter is very well written, and there is nothing to modify."
Zheng Xin thought Qiu Yizi didn't see through his tricks, so he nodded complacently and said, "Okay, then I'll immediately send an express horse with a mile-high speed to deliver it to the capital Luoyang. I'm sure there will be a reply within three or four days."
Qiu Yizhi said: "Brother, you are very efficient and decisive in your work. I admire you very much. But can you use the 800 miles to send a letter to Guangyang?"
"Oh?" Zheng Xin glanced at Qiu Yi warily, "Why did my dear brother write a letter to Guangyang?"
Qiu Yizi smiled as if to make fun of him, and said, "Nothing. It's just that my personal servant Ruishou has been looking after the house in Guangyang City since the campaign against the rebellion. Big brother knows that Guangyang has something going on right now, and he is idle anyway. I just want to transfer Ruishou to help with some paperwork."
"I see." Zheng Xin seemed relieved, but said, "Brother, your thinking is biased. As the saying goes, 'a cunning rabbit has three burrows'. Guangyang is our base. If you don't have a trusted person in Guangyang City, if something goes wrong in Jiangnan in the future, won't you have no way to retreat?"
Qiu Yizi thought as she listened: There seemed to be another deeper meaning in Zheng Xin's words, but it was not entirely unreasonable - the foundation of her standing in the world was entirely based on the trust of Emperor Zheng Rong, but as the saying goes, "To serve the emperor is like serving a tiger", the emperor's heart was really unpredictable; even if Zheng Rong always trusted her, when the emperor died a hundred years later, it would be another matter to support the new emperor.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizhi immediately gave up the idea, bowed to Zheng Xin and said, "Brother, you are really far-sighted. Now that I think about it, it is better to leave an old friend in Guangyang City to take care of things."
Zheng Xin smiled and said, "Since you are willing to listen to me, that's great. Ruishou is clever, but he is not a quiet person. I am afraid he will cause trouble if he is idle for too long. So, I will give him a manor to manage, and the income will be under your control. This way, he will have something to do and more money on hand."
"Is this an attempt to win me over?" Qiu Yizhi thought to herself, but she said, "Then I'd like to thank you, big brother."
Zheng Xin smiled generously and said, "Although you and I are not blood relatives, our relationship is the same as that of brothers. Why should we be so polite? Didn't you just say that the county government is short of clerks? It's okay. I brought enough people with me when I went south this time. If you don't mind that my men are stupid, you can pick one or two to keep by your side."
Qiu Yizi was shocked when he heard this, and thought: This might be the real topic. It turns out that His Highness Zheng Xin wants to take this opportunity to place a spy around me.
However, Qiu Yizi couldn't refuse in person, so he had to bite the bullet and thank him: "Thank you for your kindness, brother." But he was thinking in his heart: Staying with me is one thing, whether I need you or not is another.
My foolish brother Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizi talked and laughed for a while, each with his own thoughts, and then said goodbye.
In the next few days, because he had to wait for the reply from Emperor Zheng Rong, Qiu Yizi only went to Qixia Temple to sign in and report for duty every day and no longer discussed matters with Zheng Xin.
During the past two years, Qiu Yizi first went south to quell the rebellion of the Tianzun Sect, then went deep into the capital several times to do business, and then rescued his adoptive father Zheng Rong at a critical moment, and then joined the campaign to suppress the rebellion. After the great success, he concentrated on reviewing for a month or two in order to gain fame in the imperial examination. Even after he came to Shanyin County to take up his post, he continued to fight against various forces.
Therefore, these few days of free time are very rare for Qiu Yizi.
He was a lively person, so he was very energetic and traveled as if he was doing serious work. Fortunately, Jinling was the place where the Six Dynasties gathered, and there were countless scenic spots. Xuanwu Lake, Purple Mountain, Yuhua Terrace, etc. were all places that scholars and writers dreamed of.
So when it was Qiu Yi's turn, he would make an appointment with the Grand Prince Zheng Xin, and accompanied by countless guards, he would dismiss the surrounding tourists and enjoy the majestic atmosphere of Zhongshan alone; sometimes he would make an appointment with Lin Shuhan and Wu Ruofei, and they would go on a small boat together on Xuanwu Lake, reciting poems, composing couplets, and talking about the past and the present, wasting the whole day; when there was no one to make an appointment with, he would take Yuchi Jiming with him to wander around the prosperous streets of Jinling City and enjoy the customs and folkways of the south of the Yangtze River.
He had been playing like this without restraint for five or six days, and finally received news from the messenger sent by Zheng Xin: saying that the emperor's reply had arrived, and asked Qiu Yizi to come over to discuss countermeasures together.
When Qiu Yizhi received the news, he was chatting with Lin Shuhan in Mr. Bansong's manor. After knowing this serious matter, Qiu Yizhi did not dare to neglect it for a moment. He immediately said goodbye to Lin Shuhan and did not even have time to call Yuchi Jiming. He rode his horse to Qixia Temple alone. (To be continued)