Hong Changshi walked out of Prince Min's study and left Prince Min's mansion with his head held high.
He did not return to his home, but went to a house in the east first.
The house was not big, just a small courtyard with two or three willow trees planted inside, swaying in the wind.
He was a chief officer and had a badge, so he was not affected by the curfew. The people from the Five Cities Military Department would give him some face. Even so, Chief Officer Hong still tried his best to avoid the patrols along the way. He came to the house very carefully, knocked on the door, and waited patiently.
After a while, an old man came to open the door. He slipped in and went straight to the main room. After entering the door, he called out "Sixth Master" first.
Mr. Qiu Liu hummed and looked at him with a smile: "My Lord, what you are doing really looks like that. Even I am getting nervous."
Hong Changshi clenched his hands. In front of Master Qiu Liu, he was unconsciously a little nervous. Unlike the calm appearance in front of Prince Min, he was very reserved in front of Master Qiu Liu. His whole body was tense. Hearing Master Qiu Liu say this, his lips moved, and he pulled the corners of his mouth helplessly, carefully choosing his words: "I have already told Master Liu about this matter as you said."
Previously, when Hong Changshi said that all officials in Jizhou knew about the affair between Song Heng and Zhao Qingye, he actually lied.
At least Hong Changshi himself doesn’t know it.
But Mr. Qiu Liu asked him to say so.
Hong Changshi had no choice. On the day he was chosen to enter Prince Min’s Palace, someone came to find him and asked him to be obedient.
As for why he had to obey, those people showed him the evidence of his corruption.
The corruption is one thing, but the worst thing is that there is evidence of his adultery during the Xiao period. If these things were to be made public, he would be ruined.
Then those people gave him another 12,000 taels of silver.
Ten thousand taels. The most silver that Hong Changshi had ever embezzled before was five thousand taels.
Faced with the ten thousand taels and those fatal evidence, Hong Changshi made the decision easily.
Mr. Qiu Liu was also somewhat satisfied. He smiled and said, "Well, as expected, Hong Changshi is straightforward in his work. I didn't find the wrong person. This matter was done well. How does King Min react?"
He smiled and seemed to be very easy to talk to, but Hong Changshi did not dare to think that he was really kind. He said carefully: "Prince Min was very angry. He seemed to have known something today. He did not stay in the inner courtyard and ran directly to the study. I saw that he seemed angry, so I observed his expression and told him the matter... He was indeed unwilling in his heart."
Of course, Mr. Qiu Liu was not surprised at all.
Most of these descendants of dragons and phoenixes are conceited. They all think that they are born to sit on that position. Who would think that they are unworthy
They will only feel that they are wronged, blaming their mother for her poor background and their older brother for being too flattering. Anyway, it is always someone else's problem and definitely not their own problem.
Master Qiu Liu had seen through this a long time ago. Otherwise, why would the second and third princes frame the former crown prince to death
Why was King Zhuang so determined to ascend to the throne
Now, it is King Min's turn.
He is not that special.
In fact, at the beginning, Mr. Qiu Liu discussed with the Southeast and wanted to start with the Fifth Prince.
After all, the fifth prince's maternal family is the Pang family, and the Pang family is a duke's family. In his time, Duke Ping was very powerful in the army and everyone called him a military god. The current Duke Ping Pang Qingping is also very powerful. He is the governor of Zhejiang and supports the training of sailors. The navy of Zhejiang respects him very much.
But unfortunately, this is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
The fifth prince's mother's family is too powerful, so he can't be easily exploited.
If anyone here tries to control and provoke the Fifth Prince, the Pang family will definitely not stand idly by.
They were not sure they could drag the Pang family into the water, so they could only give up the Fifth Prince and choose Prince Min.
What's more, the most important point is that King Min's fiefdom is better in Zhangzhou.
But when we went to Zhangzhou, there were people from the Southeast everywhere, and it would be too easy for them to drag King Min into trouble.
The room fell silent, and Mr. Qiu Liu was lost in thought.
Hong Changshi did not dare to disturb him. He sat aside and waited quietly, secretly glancing at Mr. Qiu Liu from time to time.
It took Mr. Qiu Liu a while to react, and he smiled kindly at Mr. Hong: "Look at me, I was lost in thought, and I am sorry for neglecting Mr. Hong."
Hong Changshi didn't dare to say anything and could only shake his head.
Mr. Qiu Liu glanced at his subordinates, and immediately someone handed a silver note to Hong Changshi.
Hong Changshi waved his hands hurriedly and was about to refuse, but when he saw the three big words "Twenty Thousand Taels" on the banknote, he couldn't take his eyes away.
Twenty thousand taels!
These people are so generous!
Twenty thousand taels of silver were enough for him to settle his concubines and not worry about them having no place to stay in the future.
Seeing Mr. Qiu Liu like this, Mr. Qiu Liu was not surprised at all. He raised his eyelids lazily and said, "Master Hong, please accept it. It's just a small token of your appreciation. If you can convince King Min to write a letter to request to go to the fiefdom, we will reward you handsomely later."
A generous reward
This is just a small token of my appreciation, what is the big reward
Hong Changshi was not actually greedy before. Most of the things he did were within his ability. The worst he had ever done was to take away five thousand taels of silver.
He had never encountered such a situation where someone would give him 10,000 or 20,000 yuan at any time.
Now that he has encountered it, he realized that when a person is faced with such a large sum of money, he really has no ability to resist.
Hong Changshi carefully took the banknote and said in a serious tone, "Don't worry, I will do my best."
Mr. Qiu Liu nodded and asked someone to escort him out.
As soon as he left, Qiu Liuye's confidant came out from behind the screen and whispered, "My Lord, you gave me so much money at the beginning. I'm afraid he is greedy!"
Greedy or not, Mr. Qiu Liu doesn't care about money.
Among those doing maritime business in the southeast, who cares about money
For them, this little bit of money is just a little squeezed out of their teeth.
He smiled and said, "His Highness wants us to help him get Prince Min to his fiefdom as soon as possible, so I naturally have to pay attention to it. As for greed, we are not afraid of him being greedy. As long as he does his job well, this little bit of greed is nothing."
After saying that, he walked outside and looked at the sky, then he let out a long sigh: "Look, the New Year is almost here. After the New Year, it will be the big day for the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess to get married. The Crown Prince is good in everything, but he is too good at everything. This is a bit bad. We don't know how long our good days will last!"