After returning home, Qi Surong took out a pen and paper, and listed the names of the officials under investigation from top to bottom on the paper one by one according to their official positions. There were forty or fifty people listed. There may be omissions and they will be filled in in the future.
After watching carefully for a moment, Qi Surong found that many of them would return to the court in the future and regain their official power. In other words, they have successfully cleared the charges of this investigation. Although they may not be completely innocent, they at least have made meritorious service to the new emperor and have made up for their mistakes, which is why they have this honor.
Qi Surong knew that the future new emperor was not the prince, but the current emperor's ninth brother, King Jing. Yuan Xi said that the secret letter was related to the throne, so she could assume that King Jing might have ascended the throne with the help of the secret letter. Although she didn't know the content of the secret letter, nor how many there were, she could infer that anyone who would assist King Jing in ascending the throne in the future and appear on this inventory list might hold the secret letter.
Qi Surong carefully recalled the names of all the officials in the imperial court in the next thirty years. Of course, no matter how good her memory is, she cannot remember everything, but officials of fifth rank and above have more or less impressions.
After a while, out of the fifty people on the list, she deleted twenty.
Twenty people is still too wide a range, but she still has one condition that is useless, that is, those who received the reward from the late emperor twelve years ago.
Qi Surong didn't know anything about this, so he had to ask his father.
That night, Qi Surong knocked on the study door.
"father."
"Rong'er, come in." Qi's father's voice came from the door.
Qi Surong pushed the door open, held it shut, walked to the desk, and handed Qi's father a bowl of ginseng soup.
"Dad, it's very cold at night. Drink a bowl of ginseng soup to warm your stomach."
Father Qi smiled and said, "My daughter is interested."
He put down the book in his hand, picked up the ginseng soup and drank it.
Qi Surong saw that what he was reading just now was a military book, and his father still couldn't let go of the battlefield. He is a general who fights in the battlefield, and the intrigues in the court are not suitable for him.
It's a pity that the border is now stable, and my father's ambitions are useless. If not, the emperor would not dare to attack the Qi family.
"Dad, my daughter remembers that the Battle of Tongcheng twelve years ago was your last battle." Qi Surong sat down slowly and said.
"Yes, in that battle, we directly drove away the border bandits three hundred miles away, and no longer dared to invade." Father Qi raised his head, his eyes far away, as if he was thinking about the glory of that year.
"After the Battle of Tongcheng, my father was recalled to the capital by the late emperor?" Qi Surong asked.
Father Qi nodded: "This is a great victory in this battle. The late emperor rewarded me for my merits and promoted me to the rank of General Protecting the Country. He also held a celebration banquet in the palace and rewarded the meritorious ministers one by one."
"Do you still remember who received the reward?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious. Dad, please tell your daughter."
Father Qi frowned and said, "I don't remember clearly. I only remember that Liu Guozheng, Fan Gu, Wang Jun, Song Jie, Meng Ke, Lu Pei and others all received awards."
"What did the late emperor reward you?"
"I don't remember the others, but the late emperor rewarded me with a century-old painting, a pair of jade cups, and a jade Buddha."
Qi Surong carefully observed his father's expression, and there was nothing unusual about it. From this point of view, there are two possibilities. First, the father did not know about the secret letter; second, the late emperor did not give the secret letter to the Qi family.
"Are all these things in the Qi Mansion's warehouse?" Qi Surong asked again.
"No." Qi's father replied, "I have placed all the things the late emperor rewarded me in a secret pavilion so that ordinary people cannot find them."
A hint of joy flashed in Qi Surong's eyes, Dad, you are finally smart for once, great kindness!
Then, she coaxed out more people to accept the reward, about ten or so, which was probably all the people her father could remember.
Back in his room, Qi Surong immediately listed these people on the paper one by one, and then put the three pieces of paper together.
There are twenty companies that meet the two conditions, that is, those who were investigated this time and will be reinstated in the future;
There are only seven companies that meet the three conditions at the same time. They are on the inventory list, they are the heroes who were rewarded in the past, and they will regain glory in the future.
There are two other people who were not investigated this time, but they were rewarded by the late emperor and later gained the respect of King Jing. One of them is Liu Guozheng, the Taiwei of the current dynasty, and the other is Zuo Mingtang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who will also be the prime minister who will rank first among the three princes in the future.
Leaving aside the latter two, the Qi family is not qualified to be friends now. Qi Surong focused on the seven people who met the three conditions. They were in a desperate situation at the moment, weak and helpless. But their ability to overcome many difficulties and finally regain their prestige is no fluke, there must be something special about them.
The Qi family may be just a small boat in the sea, but as long as they can borrow the east wind, they may not be unable to ride the wind and waves.
Qi Surong turned his attention to the seven names again, Fan Ziyu, Meng Ke, Song Jie, Lu Pei, Jiang Qi, Bu Yan, and Wen Zhihui. Among the seven families, the only one who is certain to have the secret message is Fan Gu. However, Fan Gu is dead, so the secret message should fall into the hands of his son Fan Ziyu. But Qi Surong guessed that Fan Ziyu hadn't read the contents of the secret letter, otherwise he would have tried his best to enter Prince Jing's palace instead of going through all kinds of hardships and twists and turns before reaching Prince Jing's side.
Of course, all these inferences are based on the assumption that the secret letter is related to King Jing. If the secret letter has other meanings, then it will lose its due value. Compared with a few secret letters, Qi Surong believed in everything that was determined in the future. It is easy to change a small thing, but if you want to turn things around, you may end up with no bones left. Moreover, King Jing was indeed a wise king, and Qi Surong was willing to stake her fortune and life on him.
In the last life, before the Qi family had time to participate in major events, the family was ruined and turned into dust without leaving a trace. In this life, history has changed, but the name of the Qi family still exists, and it will surely attract more people's attention in the future. Therefore, Qi Surong must accumulate strength beforehand and try his best to protect the Qi family.
She rubbed her brows, folded a few pieces of paper, and temporarily hid them in the mezzanine on the floor. After completing the list, she burned it.
Two days later, Qi Su easily arrived at the new house and asked Yuan Xi to go out with him. After two days of rest, his injuries were much better, and at least he could no longer walk normally.
"Where are we going?" Yuan Xi asked.
"Inquiring about information." Qi Surong simply replied.
Yuan Xi looked at her back with a trace of doubt in his eyes.
How is she going to find out
Qi Surong kept walking through the market and came straight to a remote alley that looked slightly dirty.
This is a famous slum in the capital, where a large number of low-class people from all religions and professions gather. Yuan Xi didn't expect that Miss Qi's family would come to such a place. Judging from her appearance, it was no accident that she came here.
At this time, Qi Surong suddenly stopped, took out a money bag from his sleeve and weighed it, attracting dozens of ragged beggars around him to look at him eagerly.
"Anyone who wants to make money, come here. I have something for you to do. Once done, the money will be yours." Qi Surong said loudly.
When the beggars heard this, they gathered around one after another. Only one man was lying motionless on the straw mat, as if he was asleep, but Qi Surong paid special attention to him.
"What do you want us to do, young master?" A young man about fifteen or sixteen years old came over and asked cautiously.
"I want you to help me collect all kinds of information about the court ministers, famous nobles, including the criminals who were punished by the emperor." Qi Surong said slowly, "Their names, identities, residences, preferences, relatives and friends, etc. are all in Among the collection.”
All the beggars looked at each other, but no one answered.
Qi Surong added: "Don't worry, I won't let you work for me. I will pay you as much as you can find out the information. I will pay you regularly. If there is important information, there will be other rewards."
The beggars' eyes sparkled and they all expressed their willingness to participate.
"I only have one request." Qi Surong said in a deep voice, "What I tell you to do must be kept secret and must not be publicized."
"Don't worry about this. We don't know anything else. What we're best at is making jokes. What we say is half true and false. Most people can't tell the difference at all." A beggar said with a smile.
"Okay." Qi Surong counted the number of people. There were eleven people in total. "Tell me your names. I will record the information you inquire about one by one in the future, and pay corresponding rewards and rewards based on the amount of information."
A beggar said: "Many of us don't have names and can't read. We just call them casually."
Qi Surong thought for a while and guessed that they might not want to expose their names to avoid causing trouble.
"Well then, I'll name you by numbers. Starting from six and going to sixteen."
"Why start at six?" someone asked curiously.
"One to five, I will leave it to those who contribute the most in the future. Not only will they receive generous rewards, but they will also become the little leaders of others."
The beggars' eyes lit up and their interest increased greatly.
But after a while, they all fell silent again, and their eyes moved to the man lying on the straw mat.
Qi Surong followed their gaze and said with a smile: "I have heard the name of the heroic beggar for a long time. As long as he is willing, this 'one' must belong to him."
As soon as he said this, the man on the straw mat opened his eyes slightly, glanced this way, and then turned over and fell asleep again.
When the beggars saw this, their faces showed joy. One of them said: "It turns out that the young master has also heard the name of the boss. He has no objection. We can follow the master's orders."
Qi Surong nodded and smiled: "Since there is no doubt, then I will remember your names."
She clicks on one and says a number until they remember it.
Qi Surong didn't know that the name she randomly chose would become the prototype of the most mysterious number group in the future.
Afterwards, Qi Surong handed the silver to the young man named "Liu" and said, "This is a meeting gift. Give it to your boss and he will distribute it. I will come back in two days to see what news you can find out."
"Thank you, young master!" The beggars cheered and ran towards the man.
After leaving the slum, Yuan Xi asked: "Is it feasible to leave this matter to them?"
"You may not have heard of the name of beggars." Qi Surong explained, "Although there are not as many beggars in the capital as in other towns, there are still quite a few. They are divided into factions and governed by regions, forming a unique set of underground rules. He is the best among them. The reason why he is called a chivalrous beggar is not only because of his martial arts skills and mysterious origins, but also because he has set three rules that are not allowed: first, he is not allowed to bully the old, weak, women and children; second, he is not allowed to harm Human life; third, no betrayal."
Yuan Xi nodded thoughtfully.
"Of course, there is another reason why I chose him to cooperate."
"what reason?"
Qi Surong smiled and said two words: "Secret."
Yuan Xi was choked for a moment, and then he had doubts again. Where did Qi Surong get the name Xia Beggar? They were from completely different classes and had no chance to interact with them. With her personality, she didn't even bother to interact with them. But now it seems that Qi Surong not only has unknown composure and scheming, but also hides many secrets.
Could it be that her previous appearance was just an act
However, one or two days of contact completely overturned Yuan Xi's understanding of this eldest lady of the Qi family.
The last reason why Qi Surong didn't say anything was that he couldn't tell anyone. That beggar would become the unique underground king in the capital in ten years.
But at this time, he was just an insignificant person.