Chapter 466 [Three-year period has expired]

"Master Xue, I don't quite understand."

Qiu Fang, the leader of the Miao guards sent by Hou Xiaoxiao, now regards Xue Wei as one of his own.

Seeing that Xue Wei still respected the suspicious Emperor Qingning so much, he finally asked out loud, "It's obvious that the revitalization of the Northwest is due to you, the head of the Guan family, and several other heads and storekeepers."

"Yet you keep praising the emperor's achievements."

Qiu Fang was really confused. He vaguely knew that the person sitting on the dragon throne would not be able to sit there for long.

Xue Wei simply spread out the letter paper and smiled mysteriously: "You will know in a few months."

What does it mean that the higher you fall, the harder you fall?

Xue Wei's image as a person who respects the emperor and is loyal has been established.

If such a loyal minister with great contributions was forced to death by the monarch he trusted.

How will the people in the northwest, who love Xue Wei and are grateful to Emperor Qingning for his good use of talents and his keen eye for talent, react?

Qiu Fang was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but feel excited.

After Xue Wei finished writing the letter, he saw a hibiscus stone incense burner on his desk that Su Rui had dug out for him from the tomb of the previous emperor.

This little gadget is beautiful and exquisite. Ever since Zhou Jushan informed him that Imperial Envoy Zhang Yuan was coming, he had put it away for the sake of caution. Today he was finally able to display it.

In the twelfth month of a year and a half ago, Sheng Zhixing and Su Rui came to Feixia Valley where the tomb of the previous emperor was located. After doing enough research, they came to Xue Wei's place to celebrate the New Year and borrowed some manpower. After the New Year, they returned to Feixia Valley to visit the tomb.

The imperial tombs are indeed dangerous. In order to prevent tomb robbers, they are equipped with many traps and are full of dangers.

Fortunately, they were led by Su Rui, an experienced professional archaeologist, and had Rong Shenlai, the master of machinery Xin Cheng, as their consultant. With the help of advanced equipment and sufficient supplies, the tomb-going team roughly searched the tomb of the former emperor. Not only did they find the hidden 300,000 taels of military pay, but they also discovered three bodies in the tomb chamber where the 300,000 taels of silver were placed.

Sheng Zhixing judged from the characteristics of the corpses that these three corpses were the porters who brought the silver in. They accidentally touched the mechanism in the tomb and died here due to exhaustion of oxygen.

The items on these three bodies all contain clues and can be used as evidence.

Besides this evidence, the tomb-going team also had an unexpected discovery! The burial objects in the late emperor's tomb were very rich!

Since the dog emperor didn't allocate money to Xue Wei, he just relied on verbal support and acted like a hands-off boss. So they could ask the dog emperor's father for money. It was a sure win, but this "huge sum of money" couldn't be touched now. So Su Rui brought back some small gadgets for Xue Wei.

After completing the task of finding silver, Sheng Zhixing and Su Rui retired, left the northwest, and went to the capital to meet up with the capital team.

Xue Wei: "It's been over a year since Lao Sheng and Su Rui left the northwest, right?"

Qiu Fang nodded: "Yes. Brother Sheng has been in the capital for a year now. I heard from Guan that his herbal tea business is doing quite well."

Xue Wei calculated the time since he traveled through time and muttered, "It turns out that three years have passed in a flash."

Qiu Fang was suspicious. Lord Xue had only been in the northwest for two years, why was it three years?

*

Seventeen days later, on the streets of Beijing.

Zhang Ping came back from the northwest, and before he had time to go back home, the first thing he did was to go to the streets of Beijing to find his master who sold herbal tea.

"Master, during the days I was away, has anyone else in the Dali Temple been giving you trouble?"

"No, how dare they!"

This master who sells herbal tea and is good at solving cases and telling stories is Sheng Zhixing who is lurking in the capital.

Sheng Zhixing patted his chest and said, "Old man, I am now telling stories brilliantly. All the big restaurants in the capital are vying to invite me to be their storyteller, telling stories while drinking tea."

"Really? Then why don't you go? That way you don't have to push a forklift around and you can earn more money."

Zhang Yuan looked suspicious.

"Of course it's true!" Sheng Zhixing glared at him.

"Let me tell you, Princess Jin's Golden Tripod Restaurant has invited me seven or eight times, and she even said that seeing the old man made me feel as close as seeing my grandfather."

"And that so-called most handsome man in Beijing, He Lin, personally invited me to their Hecai Restaurant. But when I saw his true appearance, he was just so-so! Not even as handsome as I was when I was young!"

Zhang originally believed Sheng Zhixing's words. After all, although his master looked a little sloppy, he was really good at solving cases.

But when he heard the old man bragging without thinking, he couldn't help but hold his forehead with his hands.

Even officials like them who hold the fourth rank and above have to consider their wallets before entering the Jinding Restaurant, and He Lin's Hecai Restaurant is even more crowded with He Lin's little fans. If they want to have a meal, they have to make a reservation half a month in advance or pay a high price to scalpers to reserve a table. Those with good seats can even see Mr. He playing the piano performance.

How could a place like this be interested in his master, an old man?

While talking, the two returned to Sheng Zhixing's small, shabby courtyard in the alley.

Zhang Yuan didn't want to disappoint his master, so he jokingly said, "This is such a good idea, Master, why did you reject it again? I want to go to these two places to eat, and I can ask you for help."

Sheng Zhixing was still boasting at this moment, with a look of disgust on his face: "I don't want to get involved in the dispute between these two businessmen. I can't stand the smell of money from them."

"Okay, okay, Master, you are honest and upright. Let's go have some cold tea!"

Zhang Yuan helped Sheng Zhixing push the cart, his tone helpless yet doting.

"Master, has any case happened in the capital during the days I was away?"

Sheng Zhixing shook his head. "There aren't so many cases. They're either about someone's cow being lost or a pawnshop receiving counterfeit goods. They're all so boring and trivial."

"but--"

Zhang Yuan quickly asked after hearing this: "But what?"

"Old man, I found an old case from three years ago that is very interesting."

Sheng Zhixing's shining eyes met Zhang Yuan's curious and expectant gaze, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face.

Zhang Yuan poured him a cup of cold tea and said, "Master, please stop keeping me in suspense and tell me what I'm talking about!"

Sheng Zhixing lowered his voice.

"I sell tea in the capital, and sometimes when I pass by the old residence of Marquis Zhaoping, I hear people sighing that the Marquis Zhaoping's family has been wronged, and it's a pity that a war god like the prince was exiled to a deserted island."

"I was just wondering, what kind of people are this Zhaoping Marquis family? Three years have passed, and the people of the capital still remember them."

When Zhang Yuan heard Sheng Zhixing mention Marquis Zhaoping, his expression became solemn and serious. At that time, he was only a seventh-rank chief clerk in the Dali Temple. When he heard the news, he thought it was a rumor. He couldn't believe it until Marquis Zhaoping and his family were ordered to be exiled.

"Master, have you found anything?"