In the dark night, an unlucky bird chirped, the clouds parted and the moon rose, and black shadows occasionally appeared on the top of the trees.
"Go up the mountain." Fan Xian and Gao Da returned to the carriage, and Fan Xian said to Deng Ziyue, "Be quiet."
Deng Ziyue nodded, lightly waved the reins, and the horses biting their teeth pulled the cart, then walked around the dead courtyard and headed for the back of the city. Behind the courtyard is a hill, hidden in the darkness and covered by spring trees. Looking down from there, no one should be able to spot their group.
In the carriage, Fan Xian silently took off the gloves on his hands. The gloves were as thin as a layer of skin. He wiped the blood on the soft sword carefully with the gloves to make sure that there was no longer a trace of blood on the sword. Only then did he put the soft sword back on his waist and abdomen, and then flicked his index finger steadily, some powder flicked onto the gloves, and burned with a bang.
Gao Da glanced at him, took out an iron bucket from under the chair, and placed it in front of him. Fan Xian threw the burning glove into the iron bucket, squinted at the gradually shrinking flames, and the flames in his pupils gradually extinguished.
It didn't take long for the carriage to drive up the hill.
The courtyard below was still quiet, and the people inside were either dead or passed out, so naturally they couldn't make any sound. No one knew that a murder had happened inside, and of course no one would come to see it.
I don't know what Fan Xian is staying on the mountain behind to see.
Deng Ziyue patted the horse's back lightly, got into the carriage, and sat down in silence.
Fan Xian raised a corner of the car curtain and looked down. He didn't know how long he looked, but there was still no change.
"I'm afraid it will take a long time for the other party to find out what happened here." Deng Ziyue looked at the sky, it should be in the middle of the night, and persuaded Fan Xian, "It won't come so early."
Fan Xian smiled, knowing that he was really impatient, said something softly to Gao Da, then leaned on the back of the chair and rested his mind.
Gundam took out a blanket and covered him. Gradually, his icy body warmed up. Fan Xian felt drowsy from the warmth, and fell asleep like this.
…
…
After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Fan Xian opened his eyes and hummed.
Deng Ziyue lifted the curtain, glanced down, and said in a low voice, "Here comes the man."
Fan Xian lifted the blanket, put his head by the window, squinted and looked down. I saw a person suddenly came outside the courtyard where Yuan Meng lived in seclusion. The person knocked on the door softly and familiarly. The rhythm of the knocking obviously concealed some kind of secret signal. people.
The man was wearing a single cotton padded jacket with an ordinary appearance. He knocked on the door of the house for a long time, but found that no one answered him. He seemed a little surprised and nervous, and immediately retreated into the darkness.
Fan Xian, who was watching from the mountain, was not in a hurry, knowing that this person would definitely come back.
Sure enough, that person didn't go far away, and after only a moment, there was another head sneaking out from the courtyard wall in the northwest corner, it was that person who was spying on what happened in the courtyard.
The man bravely jumped into the courtyard, and the three people on the mountain could no longer see what the man saw in the courtyard, only heard a suppressed very low whisper, it should be that the person finally discovered the courtyard. The tragic scene of a large number of corpses and pools of blood.
The courtyard door was pushed open immediately, and the man lowered his head and rushed into the darkness, presumably to report to his masters.
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…
Fan Xian stretched on the carriage and yawned. Only then did he notice that the sky was gradually turning white, and he couldn't help laughing, "It's almost dawn, if the other party wants to cover up this matter, they have to hurry up." .”
Deng Ziyue nodded: "Every mansion has sent people to watch. Who will receive the news tonight, and the information will be compiled tomorrow."
Fan Xian said with a smile: "Guess, who are the people who are here today to deal with everyone's funeral?"
Deng Ziyue smiled bitterly and said: "Suzhou Mansion... must send someone here. My lord, it's good that I'm here to keep an eye on you. You'd better go back to the mansion to rest first."
Fan Xian smiled and said nothing more. When Yuan Meng died, she was shocked by the Jiangnan officials who secretly protected her, killing people at night and spying on her in the morning, but any official who could know the news of Yuan Meng's death in such a short period of time and hurried to deal with the funeral... Of course it was in this case An official who plays a disgraceful role in the matter.
To be precise, we should be able to find out who are the eldest princess's confidantes in Jiangnan Road this morning.
Fan Xian also had no choice, the Overwatch Council was short of manpower in Jiangnan, and it was impossible to plant fatal nails in every house, so he had to use the method of separate surveillance and the method of killing Yuan Jingmeng to investigate.
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The magistrate of Suzhou Prefecture has been busy listening to the debate between Song Shiren and Chen Bochang in the courtroom these days. Not to mention the waste of government affairs, his mind is also exhausted. Every night he falls into a deep sleep, even the most beloved third wife. He seldom makes out, so when he was called out of bed early this morning, he was very angry.
But when he heard the news, it was like a basin of cold water was poured from his head to the soles of his feet. All the anger disappeared in an instant, and incomparable shock and deep worry filled his mind.
Yuan Meng is dead? This happened so suddenly, how could I explain to the Second Highness, the Shizi, and... the Eldest Princess
While he was in a hurry to put on his clothes, he ordered someone to send the master of the mansion to come over. When the master came over, Master Zhizhou had already put on his clothes, and said with a slight bit of complaint: "Why are you coming here so slowly? Yuan Meng is dead!"
But all the masters are the confidantes of these officials and lords, and they will not hide anything from each other. Of course, this master also knows about Yuan Meng, and said with a wry smile: "If you die, you will die. Since the imperial envoy came to Suzhou, that Yuan Meng Everyone still refuses to leave, and it is not a dead end in the end.”
Master Zhizhou frowned and said, "Her hiding place is so secret... Do you mean that the Overwatch Council did it?"
"Besides the Overwatch Council, what other forces in the south of the Yangtze River can quietly kill Yuan Meng?" The master analyzed, "My lord must not panic at this time. Anyway, Yuan Meng is dead, and it is impossible for the Overwatch Council to catch us with him." The relationship between her... If you react in a panic at this time, the Overwatch Council will discover your relationship with this matter."
The master's consideration was indeed cautious enough.
After thinking for a while, Zhizhou frowned and said: "But I always feel a little weird. If the imperial envoy did it, why didn't he capture Yuan Meng, but killed him directly? If you touch this official, you shouldn't deal with it like this."
The master also didn't want to understand this point, guessing and said: "Yuan Meng is a close person of the Second Highness and the Shizi. Although the Ministry of Criminal Affairs issued a sea arrest document, none of the officials in the world dared to take the risk of offending the nobles in Beijing. Go and arrest her, sir, don't worry too much, everyone is like this... As for why the Overwatch Council didn't capture her alive... I think it may be that everyone knew that they couldn't survive the punishment of the Overwatch Council, so they committed suicide."
"I still have to go and have a look." Zhizhou made up his mind, "At least I need to know some details."
The master categorically dissuaded him: "My lord can't go."
"Huh?" Zhizhou frowned and said, "Why? Naturally, I won't show off the guard of honor. It's going to be dawn soon. If you don't clean it up quickly, it will spread... The Ministry of Criminal Affairs in Kyoto must have something to say, and the Overwatch Council will also I will make use of the topic, how will my little Suzhou Mansion answer His Majesty's questions?"
"If the Overwatch Council wanted to take advantage of the problem, it wouldn't make this problem a dead one today." The master reminded: "Who knows how many pairs of eyes are watching over there at this time? My lord definitely can't go. As for the aftermath, I'll disguise myself for a while, and just bring some confidantes over there."
Zhizhou thought for a moment that it would be much safer to do so, so he agreed to the proposal. This official and teacher thought that his reaction was considered cautious, but he didn't expect that when the teacher dressed up as a morning riser and sneaked out from the back of the mansion, a secret agent hiding in the alley outside the Zhizhou Yamen had already spotted the person. One scene was clearly seen.
When the Master of the Suzhou Mansion sat in a small sedan chair with green curtains and came to the outskirts of the house where Yuan Meng was hiding, he found that there were already some strange people on the streets here. His heart tightened, and he opened the car curtain to take a look before he felt relieved. He frowned at the cloth-clothed man approaching the car and said, "What's going on? Why did people die like this?"
That cloth-clothed man is the Chief Executive of Suzhou Qian, and he was also one of the officials who woke up from the bed by the news of Yuan Meng's death today. He was supposed to be stationed outside the city, but the mansion is inside the city, so he was the first to rush here people. Listening to the master's question, the Lord Qian said angrily: "You ask me, who should I ask?"
The master was stunned and got off the sedan chair. The two couldn't help sighing and laughing wryly when they saw each other's clothes. The master, a dignified official, was forced to wear the clothes of ordinary people today.
"Is the street clean?" The master turned his face slightly, covering his own face, and asked cautiously.
Master Qian said: "Don't worry, my children have already cleaned up, and there should be no one watching."
The master nodded, and walked into the courtyard side by side with Mr. Qian.
As soon as he was admitted to the hospital, seeing the dead bodies all over the ground and the horrific scenes, the master couldn't help feeling sick, covered his mouth and nose and said, "Where's Yuan Meng's body?"
"In the room?"
The master suppressed his nausea and fear, walked into the room and saw Yuan Mengyuan's death, and stepped forward to confirm that the other party was completely dead. Then the master was relieved a little, and sighed: "This is really not good. Know how to explain to Jingli."
"Let's clean it up first." Mr. Qian said angrily, "It will be dawn soon. If people see this place, it will soon spread throughout Suzhou City. What will we do then?"
"Is there no one from the Ming family?"
"Those profiteers... are afraid that the imperial envoy will watch in the dark, so they refuse to come forward."
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…
The two walked out of the courtyard, and then met the people who came after them. They gathered together and said with serious expressions. They always felt that this matter should be done by the Overwatch Council, but it shouldn't be done by the Overwatch Council. After arguing and discussing, they were twisted, but they didn't know how to deal with it.
"The wounds on the dead body have been punctured. Although it can be seen that it should be a sword, it is difficult to find the style of the sword. I only know that there is only one person who made the shot. Of course it is a master." The character said in a deep voice: "If the Overwatch Council killed someone, why bother to cover it up?"
In the end, the teacher representing Suzhou Zhizhou made up his mind and said coldly: "It would be better if this case is not solved. We all have to retreat and let our people clean up this place. If the Overwatch Council doesn't care, we will bury this matter." , if the Overwatch Council really puts a nail in the way... Anyway, don't drag us, when the time comes to ask, just say that we have received a report, so we came to look at the case."
Boss Qian let out a yell, and scolded: "I am a general, how can I come to see the case?"
The master rolled his eyes at him, and said, "Who told you to come here in such a hurry?"
There was nothing to argue about, so several people started to work separately, responsible for cleaning up, responsible for burying people, responsible for returning home to do paperwork, as for whether this matter should be reported in the end, it still depends on the imperial envoy What is the sound of the wind.
When these people were busy, they didn't notice that on the hill in the distance, there was an all-black carriage slowly driving away like a ghost.
※※※
The man was killed by Fan Xian, but these Jiangnan Road officials were required to bury him, but he certainly had no intention of taking advantage of it. As for the sword wounds on the corpses in the courtyard, he treated them a second time because he didn't want Si Gu Jian's wounds to spread. Didn't let Gundam see his shot.
The key is not to let His Majesty the emperor in the palace know that he will look around the sword.
Otherwise, the emperor would definitely think of the assassin on the Hanging Temple, Si Gu Jian's younger brother, the Overwatch Council... that would bring terrible results.
The carriage was moving slowly, and Fan Xian sneered in the carriage and said, "When Yuan Meng died, the officials on Jiangnan Road were so shocked... Could it be that these officials are dogs raised by the Eldest Princess?"
Deng Ziyue glanced at Gao Gao, guessing that Lord Tisi wanted to use Gao Gao's ears to complain to the emperor in the palace, and replied with a smile: "The eldest princess has been in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, and there will always be some confidantes."
"Have you seen all these people who came today?"
"Some people's faces are a little strange, but since these people came out of the mansion, I think the spies below should be able to see clearly, and they will have definite news after a while." Deng Ziyue sighed: "It's just that the Ming family also If you are a bachelor, you know you can't get involved in this matter, so you can't beat anyone to death."
Fan Xian also had some pity. He originally thought that even if he couldn't take advantage of Yuan Meng's matter to dig out a big chunk of his family's meat, he would at least make the other party feel more uncomfortable.
The carriage quietly drove to Huayuan, Fan Xian felt a little sleepy, he waved his hand to let the two of them also go to rest, and went back to the back house by himself.
Sisi has been lying on the table waiting for him to come back, seeing him enter the room, she quickly poured hot water for him to burn his feet.
She knew that the young master didn't want too many people to know what happened tonight, so it was inconvenient to order the maids to make hot food, so she went to bring warm bird's nest for him to eat.
Fan Xian drank the mush from the bowl in one gulp with some satisfaction, scalded his feet, then fell down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
This sleep, he didn't wake up until the afternoon, and he didn't know what kind of changes would occur in Suzhou City because of Yuan Meng's death in this day, and he didn't care too much.
Knowing that he was awake, after Sisi's notification, Deng Ziyue walked in haggardly, and handed him the case file in his hand.
Fan Xian took it over and looked at it briefly, and it was all about the yamen that had a change in Suzhou City this morning. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes, and sighed: "Fuck it, all the officials in the city... are enemies. , let people live? Once Yuan Meng dies, they can hold their breath."
Deng Ziyue smiled wryly and said: "The officials are caught in the middle, life is not easy."
Fan Xian shook his head and sneered, "Now that the list is in place, their lives will be even more difficult in the future. Send the list back to the capital and let the second office start to study the old scriptures. The person we want to move will dig out his old background. Come out, even if... he was greedy for more than a dozen taels of silver ten years ago, he still has to dig it out."
Deng Ziyue knew that Fan Xian was determined to mobilize these officials along the way during the process of mobilizing the Ming family.
When Fan Xian saw the end, anger grew in his eyes, and he threw the case file on the table in hatred, and cursed in a low voice: "Sure enough... Sure enough, Xue Qing also knew about this matter. Shaking is really jubilant!"
Killing Yuan Jingmeng today, for Fan Xian, any information revealed by Jiangnan officials would not shock him. The eldest princess and the Ming family have been operating in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, so of course the officialdom is dominated by each other's staff.
With the power and position in Fan Xian's hands, he wasn't too worried about such resistance. What he wants to see clearly is how Xue Qing, Governor of Jiangnan, is going to stand in this matter!
Xue Qing is a high official in the frontier. Even if Fan Xian has the status of an imperial envoy, there is nothing he can do about him. Moreover, the governor is also in charge of civil and military affairs, and the power under his control is too strong. If even he is on the opposite side of Fan Xian, Fan Xian The resistance to inventing a home becomes extremely strong.
Deng Ziyue looked at his slightly angry expression, and comforted him: "The Governor's Mansion has received the news, but the Governor's Mansion has not made a sound, nor has there been any reaction... My lord, the other party is the governor of the road after all. If the officials below have relations with Beijing, Yuan Mengmeng is hiding in the south of the Yangtze River, and this matter must not be hidden from him. It's just that he doesn't want to offend your lord, and he certainly doesn't want to offend the prince in Beijing. This matter doesn't explain anything, and Governor Xue should still be in favor."
Fan Xian pondered for a while, and found that his reaction seemed a bit excessive. Perhaps it was the nervousness hidden under the laxity of the past few days that made him a little oversensitive. He couldn't help laughing at himself and said, "Thank you for your good words, but... you'd better make arrangements." For a moment, the day after tomorrow, I... will visit Xue Qing again."
Deng Zi was taken aback, as if he wanted to say something.
Fan Xian glanced at him and said with a smile, "Just tell me if you have any ideas. What are you doing like a woman in front of me?"
Deng Ziyue smiled and said, "I don't think my lord should be in a hurry to visit Lord Xue recently."
"Oh? Why?" Fan Xian asked curiously.
Deng Ziyue analyzed: "Your Excellency is still neutral after all. If your Excellency visits the mansion, with your temperament, I am afraid that you will immediately force your Excellency to take a stand... What should you do if your Excellency does not do what you want?" In my opinion, it is best for Governor Xue to keep watching the show, continue to do what we should do, and the Ming family to continue to push—if the Governor-General doesn’t make up his mind, no one will be able to compete with him, so let’s More time to do things.”
He continued: "Your Excellency wants the Governor to make up his mind, but in fact, the slower the Governor makes up his mind, the more beneficial it is to us."
Fan Xian frowned and said: "Now it's just a small blow to the Ming family, Xue Qing can still watch the show, if I really get killed in the next year, Xue Qing can't continue to watch the show, then he will come to stand in line... I feel a little bit unstable."
Deng Zi thought about it more, and said with a smile: "I think, at least we have to wait until you go to Wuzhou."
Fan Xian immediately understood what he meant. Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan Road... was the former Prime Minister Lin Ruofu's favorite student, and Lin Ruofu was the father of Dabao and Wan'er, and his father-in-law! —Even if Xue Qing doesn't need to give face to his father-in-law now, the father-in-law must know Xue Qing's bottom line.
"It makes sense." Fan Xian suddenly felt a big piece of relief in his heart. He laughed and said, "Standing in line adds weight. Although my father-in-law is about to rust, the weight is not light."
Deng Ziyue laughed twice.
Fan Xian looked at Deng Ziyue's exhausted expression, and asked curiously, "Did you not sleep this morning?"
Deng Ziyue replied respectfully: "It took some time to confirm the information."
Fan Xian originally wanted to persuade him to relax, but when he thought about his previous performance, he seemed to have no position to persuade the other party, so he couldn't help but smile, and suddenly thought of another matter, and asked seriously: "Zi Yue, are you in Qi Qi?" Before the year group...was it from the second office?"
Deng Ziyue glanced at him in surprise and nodded, wondering why the chief minister would suddenly ask this question.
"Wang Qinian will return to the country at the end of summer." Fan Xian looked at him and said with a smile: "The courtyard is going to let him take over one place. In this way, when Northern Qi goes to Beijing, we need someone who can hold the place. Follow me In the past two years, I have seen some scenes... Do you have the courage to go to the north?"