Chapter 130 Fu Yi's Plan

Under the lamp.

Fu Yi tore open the wax seal, took out the letter and glanced at it quickly.

Assistant Officer Hou Fu entered the room and asked softly, "Why did Wei Yang send a letter to the master?"

Fu Yi raised his eyebrows slightly: "Yin Heng wrote it."

Hou Fu couldn't help but smile. "So it was him. He's read your book, listened to your lectures, and even paid you two special visits. He's very supportive of the ideas you promote. It's no surprise that he's writing to you for advice, having received inspiration from your master."

Fu Yi slowly folded up the papers and said, "The people of Weiyang didn't want him to take up his post. They sent people to burn the official post station and hunted him all the way."

"I'm lucky." Hou Fu sighed.

If I wasn't lucky, how could I have the time to write this letter?

Fu Yi pinched the letter paper: "Yes, he is lucky. I don't know who protected him."

Hou Fu was curious: "It's not in the letter?"

"After all, he's a son of the Yin family, so he still has some ideas." He paused, "I haven't written it yet."

"Follow me into the palace."

Half an hour later.

Fu Yi spread out the letter in front of the emperor.

The emperor's expression changed a lot: "Is this the place you asked Yin Heng to go?"

"It was a young man from the Yin family who had great ambitions and asked to go."

The emperor broke the red pen in his hand, he felt that he did not understand this minister well enough.

He raised his head and looked at Fu Yi intently: "You should go too."

The next day.

Prince Kang's palace sent an invitation, inviting Fu Yi to come to the palace to listen to music on his day off.

Fu Yi simply claimed to be ill and declined the offer.

At that time, Zizhu was bowing her head in front of him and replied, "I have already informed the people in the building that the princess is dead."

"Well, what did I give you as a reward?"

Zizhu quickly took off the purse from her waist and showed it to him. There was some small change inside, less than twenty taels in total.

"That's all?"

"That's more than that. You'll also get two new sets of clothes and weapons of your choice. When you've accumulated enough, you can even get a courtyard."

“…” No wonder “Xiao He” was raised so poor. On the day he first arrived at the Prince’s Mansion, his eyes lit up when he saw all kinds of valuable and delicious things.

"How stingy! Not worthy of being on public display," Fu Yi commented.

Zizhu smoothed the hair beside her ears. She was not as charming as before, and even looked a little restrained.

She smiled and said, "That's why...that's why I'm willing to serve the prince from now on."

She thought the prince was going to use the medicine to control her, but he took it away without saying anything further and asked her to go back to the building to report that the mission was completed.

To this end, she also took the Princess's things and gave them to her to prove that she had indeed killed the Princess with her own hands.

"Is there any follow-up to the arrest?"

"They... they haven't found any trace either..." Zizhu said cautiously.

She was wondering, how could this person hide so well?

Zizhu boldly came up with an idea: "Since the prince knows the name she is using now, why not post a notice and issue a wanted notice..."

Fu Yi raised his eyelids, and two cold lights flashed in his eyes, nailing Zizhu there.

Zizhu swallowed back her words.

If not, will there ever be a day when we can catch her?

Fu Yi sat there silently for a while, then threw away a few more crushed incense pills.

*

There was a creaking sound.

Cheng Nianying walked into Yin Heng's door.

"Come out of jail again?" Yin Heng asked her.

"Yeah." Cheng Nianying nodded gently, "They are too stupid. I go in and out every day and no one notices."

Yin Heng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But then he suppressed his smile and said angrily, "They are accustomed to neglecting their duties."

In the past few days, Cheng Nianying has visited all the places she needed to visit, and is just waiting for them to "send" her to meet that important person.

The officials seemed to have forgotten her.

Cheng Nianying couldn't help but ask Yin Heng: "How are you doing here?"

"I also won over a few minor officials from outside the province, but I don't think they are sincere in joining me. They probably think I can't defeat the Cen family."

"The memorial I submitted has not been responded to. I wonder where it got stuck."

"Now I know how difficult it is to be a minor official."

Yin Heng paused as he spoke.

He really shouldn't have said this to her.

When Yin Heng first entered the court, he often consulted his father and grandfather when encountering problems. Later, he found that he had many disagreements with his relatives and elders on some matters, so he talked about these things with others less and less.

But I never expected that one day, I would be sitting here and talking in detail with a woman about the officialdom.

And just in time, she actually had the patience to listen.

Cheng Nianying ate the snacks beside him and asked, "Why didn't you tell your family? Aren't your family very powerful?"

In the past, if someone asked Yin Heng this question, it would have touched a sore spot in his heart. As a man of honor, how could he always rely on his family for help?

But now he could tell that Miss Jiang had no other intentions.

She was just curious, just curious.

"Young lady, do you know why vernacular novels always love to tell stories about the emperor's incognito visits?"

Cheng Nianying paused while pinching the snacks: "I see. ...Because when someone too powerful comes, the cover-up becomes even more intense?"

"That's right." Yin Heng's face was cold. "Let them treat me with the utmost contempt, and then unfold all those tricks in front of me in detail."

"Do you want to be a good official?"

Yin Heng looked towards Cheng Nianying upon hearing the voice.

She continued to eat snacks. The sharpness she had when fighting with others was no longer visible in her. She just opened her clear eyes, looking sincere.

What I have always been ashamed to say to others...now came out naturally: "Yes, I want to be a good official."

"The children in the family are always thinking about how to extend the size of the handle."

"The new nobles in the court only hope to gain favor with Your Majesty."

"I'm not saying that what they did was bad... I just want to be a good official. Even if I say that, my father will think I'm naive."

"What is a good official? You must know its form before you can describe it in detail with your pen."

Yin Heng said slowly.

Cheng Nianying also listened quietly.

“Only after stepping out of my family’s protection did I realize I didn’t even know what a good official was.”

Cheng Nianying interjected, "Isn't being a good official a good thing if you're kind to the people?"

"How can we be considered good to the people? The previous dynasty enacted the Five Equalizations Law with the people in mind, to make their lives better and free them from exploitation. But in the end, the people wept in the streets... their lives were even more miserable than before."

"Good things and bad things sometimes only last a moment. If you are not careful, even if you want to be a good official, you will end up being recorded in history books as a bad official."

"I see no one today who can truly achieve excellence. Except..."

Cheng Nianying blinked: "Except?"

"Prince Danshuo."

This was the second time Cheng Nianying heard about this person from his mouth.

She pursed her lips uncomfortably, didn't even eat the snack, and lowered her head to slowly wipe her hands.

Yin Heng didn't notice and continued, "Everything he thought and did was confirmed step by step, without any surprises."

“It gives me hope.”

"So I came here... I wanted to see how I could find the shape of the good official."

There was a light in his eyes, and he was full of youthful vigor.

After Cheng Nianying read it, she rarely used that sentence to praise him: "You are different from the nobles in the capital."

Yin Heng was rarely so happy. He looked back at Cheng Nianying with a smile: "You are different too."

"But I'm not a noble person." Cheng Nianying whispered.

"Is that so? But I think Miss Jiang has an outstanding temperament and knows a lot... However, what she said is also true. The beauties in the Imperial Capital can't produce someone as sharp as you."

Yin Heng felt much less depressed for a while.

The uncertain road ahead no longer seemed so daunting.

He couldn't help but ask, "Will you leave Weiyang after Miss Jiang recovers the stolen things?"

"Um."

Yin Heng hesitated for a long time before asking her, "Then...will I ever see you again?"

"Why do you want to see me again?"

Yin Heng was speechless and stared at her.

"Because... because true friends are hard to find." Yin Heng said embarrassedly.

"Is it true that I am just listening to you talk?"

Yin Heng said seriously, "Miss Jiang, there are very few people in this world who can listen to others seriously, talk to them sincerely, and happen to be able to talk to them at the same point."

He said, "This is already a close friend."

This was the first time Cheng Nianying heard someone say this and she found it quite interesting. She then took a closer look at Yin Heng.

She said, "Then I will come to see you next time. Maybe you will be a good official by then."

Yin Heng concealed the disappointment in his eyes, but still smiled: "Yeah."

After asking about the situation in the county government office, Cheng Nianying was about to go back to the prison.

Yin Heng quickly stopped her: "Where do you really have to go back to?"

"Um."

"Well...how about taking a cloak? It's cold out there."

"I have it in my bag."

"oh."

Yin Heng watched her leave.

The servant quietly peeked in: "Can't you keep Miss Jiang?"

"Hmm." Yin Heng thought for a moment, "It's better not to stay. Take the lantern and let's go."

The servant asked quietly, "Did the master ask about Miss Qingjiang's background this time?"

"She is not in a position to speak, so I will not ask in detail."

The servant boy was disappointed: "If I don't ask clearly, how can I tell my family about the adults' true feelings..."

Yin Heng interrupted him: "Stop talking nonsense."

The lights flickered, and the master and servant gradually walked away.

*

The second day.

Cheng Nianying's cell door was opened.

The officer stood at the door and chuckled, "It's been tough these days, isn't it?"

Cheng Nianying understood. It turned out that he had ignored her earlier just to deliberately leave her here to "torture" her. Now that she was afraid, she would naturally beg for mercy.

The officer walked in, holding the candle high in his hand.

He looked closely.

The girl didn't look at all disheveled or skinny.

The face seems to be rounder.

Officer: "..." "Which boy secretly fed her something good?"

"No." The other officials were also confused.

"Come out!" the officer shouted angrily. Although he felt strange in his heart, he didn't think about anything else.

Cheng Nianying put on her bag and asked, "Is my case finally going to be tried?"

"Don't talk so much. Haven't you been locked up enough these past few days?" the officer shouted.

Cheng Nianying didn't say anything and just followed him out.

After leaving the yamen, there was a carriage parked nearby, and the officer urged her to get on it.

Cheng Nianying didn't move. She was looking at the people who were gathered in a circle outside the county government office.

They whispered:

"The county government office was haunted again last night."

"I heard the new county magistrate was scared to death."

Cheng Nianying was stunned.

Are you talking about Yin Heng?

"What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and get up!" The bailiff was still urging.

"Your county magistrate..."

"Dead." The officer didn't try to hide it, but grinned. "A foreigner, so timid."

Cheng Nianying blinked very slowly.

Yesterday, Yin Heng was still saying that he wanted to be a good official.

Just one night.

Just one night.