Qiu Yizi walked out of the alley slowly, racking her brains but unable to understand why she had been to Yang's Mansion a few days ago, and her subordinate Zhao Chengxiao was still here early this morning, and now the gatekeeper Old Zhang said he didn't know her.
Qiu Yizhi was walking aimlessly as if in a fog, when a little boy ran up behind him and bumped into him hard on the butt. Qiu Yizhi staggered and was almost knocked to the ground. He turned around and was about to teach the reckless child a lesson, but he recognized that the child was none other than Yang Yuanzhi's grandson Yang Jin.
He was about to ask what happened, but Yang Jin smiled at him, stuffed the crumpled piece of paper into his hand, blinked twice, stuck out his tongue, and then ran away.
Qiu Yizi was a smart man. He knew that there must be a secret in the note, so he stopped chasing Yang Jin and immediately moved to a secluded corner. He carefully unfolded the note and saw that the handwriting on the paper was flowing and elegant. It was exactly the handwriting of the old Prime Minister Yang Yuanzhi.
The letter only had a few dozen words, without any greetings. It only said: The current situation in Luoyang is treacherous, and the Yang Mansion is already a place of tigers and wolves. Those who know their fate will not stand under the rock wall. Qiu Yizhi should leave the city as soon as possible to be safe. As for the collusion with the eldest son of the emperor, Zheng Chang, Yang Yuanzhi will handle it in the capital, so you can rest assured. Finally, he asked to destroy the letter immediately after reading it.
After reading it, Qiu Yizi realized that this was the old prime minister's intention to protect him, and he was a little excited. So he followed his order and tore the paper into pieces the size of a fingernail, and threw them all into the pond or stream beside him. Seeing the pieces of paper slowly sinking into the water, he walked towards the city gate.
The nearest city gate to this place is Jianchun Gate on the east city wall of Luoyang. The tower of this gate is very tall, and Qiu Yizi can see it from a distance, so he looks in the direction and walks towards the city gate.
When he was still about 200 to 300 steps away from the city gate, Qiu Yizi saw a long line of people lining up in front of the city gate. He thought that there were twelve gates in the four walls of Luoyang, and five or six of them were always open. When he entered the city that day, he only saw the gatekeepers checking the belongings of people entering the city, and those leaving the city were allowed to pass without even checking. It shouldn't be as crowded as it is today.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi did not queue up obediently at the back of the team. She just pretended to be there to watch the fun and slowly walked to the front of the team to see what had happened.
As expected, there were about 20 officers stationed at the city gate, checking each person leaving the city. They checked very carefully, opening and checking all the packages, taking out all the personal belongings, and searching the body of anyone wearing bulky clothes. There were also a few lecherous officers who took the opportunity to touch the young girls and wives, causing them to scream in shame.
Some people could not stand such behavior. A porter in his twenties asked in authentic Luoyang dialect, "Excuse me, officers, what's the big deal today? I've never seen such a strict inspection!"
The official did not answer, but only scolded: "The Ministry of Persuasion is doing business, why are you a coolie talking so much?"
When the young porter heard the words "Persuasion and Benevolence Department", he couldn't help but shrugged his shoulders, calmed himself down, and mustered up the courage to ask again: "Eunuch Wang Zhong...Eunuch Wang is dead, how can there still be the Persuasion and Benevolence Department?"
"Bullshit! If the emperor dies, the court will be disbanded, right?" The official said halfway before realizing that he had violated a taboo by speaking without restraint. He pointed at the porter in anger and said, "I don't think you are a good person! Someone, come here! Arrest him!"
At the officer's command, five or six soldiers came up to him, threw the porter's shoulder pole aside, pressed him to the ground, tied him up with ropes, and took him away without caring that he kept shouting "unjust".
When Qiu Yizi saw this scene, he thought that he was wearing a precious sword from the Western Regions, his package contained gold and silver treasures worth 50,000 taels of silver, and he also had a business card from Zheng Rong, the King of Youyan, in his arms. None of them were not prohibited items. Seeing how carefully they were checking, there was no possibility for him to leave the city today.
However, in Luoyang City, Guangyang Chamber of Commerce is a mixed bag, so Prime Minister Yang's residence is not convenient to disturb it. As for Nuanxiang Pavilion, it is the territory of Tianzun Sect after all, and it is even more difficult to stay there. Qiu Yizhi thought about it and was only glad that he did not refuse Zhou Cijing's gift this morning. With a huge sum of money, he thought about finding an inn in Luoyang City to stay, and at the same time, he would find out the news and wait for the storm to pass before leaving the city to go home.
With this plan in mind, Qiu Yizi was no longer anxious. While asking for directions, he slowly walked to Zhengpingfang, where many restaurants and inns were located. He chose an inn that was neither too big nor too small, and selected a clean and elegant room to stay in.
After staying there for three or four days, there was no sign of slackening of defense at the Luoyang city gates, and the officials from the Ministry of Persuasion and Charity were still meticulously checking passers-by every day.
After staying for another two or three days, the situation still did not change at all. Qiu Yizi finally couldn't stand it anymore, so he asked the innkeeper: "Is it normal for the control in Luoyang City to be so strict? If it is always like this, how can the people in Luoyang City bear it?"
The boss was in his thirties or forties, and had taken over this ancestral inn from his father. He had seen Qiu Yizhi being very generous these days, so he got to know him well and told him everything he knew: "This is a common thing. Whenever the emperor goes on tour, foreign vassals pay tribute, important ceremonies, or when a major case occurs, there will always be a period of control. This is the emperor's feet, so it is reasonable to have more rules. Young master is from another place, so naturally he is not used to it."
Qiu Yizi asked again: "How long will this last?"
The boss replied, "Normally it would take two or three days. But this time I heard that a big case happened in the palace—the eunuch Wang Zhonghai died. I also heard that the envoys from Bohai Kingdom have arrived in the capital to pay tribute to the emperor. With these two major events, it's not surprising that the control time is slightly extended."
"What? Has the envoy from Bohai Kingdom arrived in Luoyang? Where did you hear this news, boss?" Qiu Yizi asked in surprise.
The shop owner smiled and said, "I'm not happy with what you said, my cousin works for the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites has been very busy with this matter these days!"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi remembered that when he left Guangyang that day, Princess Yiran of Bohai Kingdom said that she would send Yelu to the capital to do business, and that she could ask him for help if she needed anything at that time.
It is certainly not a bad thing to meet a familiar and reliable person in a strange place. Thinking of this, Qiu Yizi finally felt a little happy in his heart, and flattered: "Boss, you have such a powerful cousin who is a high-ranking official. I am really disrespectful."
The shop owner scratched his head and said shyly, "There are more officials in the capital than sparrows flying in the sky. Which common people in the city are not related to officials? My cousin is not a high-ranking official, just a seventh-rank official. If I had listened to my father and studied hard to get a degree, I might be a higher official than him now!"
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "That's right. As the saying goes, 'All things are inferior, only reading is superior'! But I have to ask, where is the envoy from Bohai staying? To be honest, I have never seen a foreigner in my twenty years of life! It's a good opportunity to see the world."
After listening to this, the shop owner nodded and smiled, "Young Master, you are right. Foreigners are rare. You can't meet them if you are not lucky enough! I heard that people from the north are cruel and ruthless. If it weren't for Prince Youyan helping the emperor to guard the northern border, these barbarians might have attacked the capital! Therefore, I hope you will be careful and don't suffer any losses." As he spoke, he took a pen and paper, drew a simple map and handed it to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi took the map, thanked the innkeeper for some change, and went out.
The capital city of Luoyang covers a large area, but the streets are carefully planned, straight and neat. Therefore, although the map drawn by the innkeeper is simple, Qiu Yizhi can easily find the place drawn on the map by following the map.
This was a rather luxurious government office, with a plaque of "Honglu Temple" hanging on the lintel. Qiu Yi knew at a glance that this was where the Ministry of Rites was responsible for entertaining foreign envoys. So he searched the area and finally found a rather large courtyard with a sign of "Siyi Pavilion" hanging next to the door.
Qiu Yizhi knew that this was where the tribute envoys stayed while waiting to be received by the emperor or officials from the Ministry of Rites, so he stepped forward and asked the soldier guarding the door, "Excuse me, big brother, do the tribute envoys from Bohai stay here?"
The soldier was very tall, a full head and a half taller than Qiu Yizi. He glanced at him and said, "Why are you asking about this?"
Qiu Yizi heard that he didn't answer directly, rolled his eyes, and asked again: "Nothing. I just heard from my grandmother that the Hu people have three eyes and four ears, but no tongue in their mouths, so they can't speak Chinese, so I came here to see the fun."
The guard smiled contemptuously and said, "Your old woman is talking nonsense. The Hu people are no different from us except that they are shorter and have thicker beards on their faces."
"Would the old people in my family talk nonsense? Could it be that this elder brother has never seen a Hu person and is just making up stories?" Qiu Yizi asked again.
The soldier was provoked by him and blurted out: "Who said I haven't seen it? I see Hu people walking in and out here every day. How could it be false?"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi knew that the Bohai envoy was now living in this courtyard, so he pretended to be unreasonable and rushed into the door with his head down.
The soldier naturally couldn't let him in, so he stretched out his hand and pushed Qiu Yizhi out, saying, "What are you doing here, you little commoner? If you disturb the rest of the Bohai envoys and cause a disaster, will you still want to live?"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi deliberately raised his voice and shouted, "What's the big deal? They are just a few people from Bohai. Let me go in and take a look. It won't cost you a few pieces of meat!" After saying that, he tried to rush in again.
Seeing him yelling, the soldier finally got impatient, stretched out his long legs and kicked Qiu Yizi to the ground, cursing, "Can't you open your eyes, kid? You come here to act wild, let me see how I'm going to deal with you!"
Qiu Yizhi was kicked to the ground by him. Although he was not in much pain, he lay on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, looking very ugly. The package he was carrying also fell to the ground, revealing the countless gold and silver hidden inside.
When the soldier saw that this rude and troublesome boy was carrying so much valuables, his eyes suddenly flashed with gold. He let out a strange cry and was about to step forward. At this moment, a very authentic official voice suddenly came from the door of the Four Barbarians Hall: "Wait a minute!" (To be continued)