Chapter 249: Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness
During the day, Pei Jingming disguised himself as a passing merchant and took a few confidants with him to sneak into restaurants and teahouses.
He wandered around Yangzhou City for most of the day, asking everyone he met about the reputation of the governor Yu Liang.
"Why are you asking about the governor?" Someone found him suspicious.
Pei Jingming gave out a few ingots of silver.
"I came to Yangzhou to ask for food. I must first understand the Governor's likes and dislikes so that I can cater to his needs."
He gave a knowing look.
The other party also understood his meaning.
So, in the most famous restaurant in Yangzhou, several people gathered around a table and started talking about Yu Liang.
What I received was unanimous praise.
"Lord Yu is honest, compassionate to the people, and fair in his judgments."
"I personally do everything and care about the well-being of the people."
"A few years ago, there was a severe drought, and he led the yamen runners to dig canals to divert water."
"He was very honest. He refused to accept any gifts from anyone. He was so upright. I heard that the late King Liang disliked him very much."
…
Pei Jingming frowned when he heard this one-sided opinion.
Officials are evaluated. If Yu Liang is really so good, why hasn't he been promoted?
Did I offend someone, or did I just not want to leave?
Pei Jingming believes in Qu Ling.
If Qu Ling said there was something wrong with Yu Liang, then there must be something wrong.
Unable to find anything valuable, Pei Jingming moved to another place.
Once he put on some ragged clothes and smeared some dirt on his face, he actually looked somewhat presentable.
In this way, he mixed in with a group of all kinds of people in the south of the city.
With a few glasses of low-quality liquor and a few peanuts, he quickly became friends with a straightforward man in the alley.
After three rounds of drinks, the conversation started and the real news came out.
"Yu Liang? Who the hell is he?"
The man's face flushed from drinking, and he spat in a low voice.
"The current position of Governor of Yangzhou was never his in the first place. The previous Governor was murdered by him and the late King Liang!"
Pei Jingming gave him his wine and motioned him to continue.
"At that time, Yu Liang was only a chief historian."
The rough man took a sip of wine.
"Prince Liang has set his sights on the wealth and business of the Fan family, the richest family in Yangzhou, and wants to seize it by force."
"Master Fan approached the old governor for help, but the old governor was a stubborn person. He protected the Fan family and confronted King Liang."
"As a result, not long after, the old governor was accused of collaborating with bandits and was beheaded. The Fan family ended up being destroyed."
He sighed deeply, "Weren't all the evidence that the old governor was colluding with bandits fabricated by that villain Yu Liang?"
"He became the new governor by stepping on the corpse of the old governor, and even pushed one of his own people to be the president of the Chamber of Commerce, that guy surnamed Zhou."
"The Zhou guy is a real scoundrel, squeezing out small businesses in Jiangnan until they can't survive."
"Half of the money he earned over the years went into Prince Liang's mansion, and half went into Yu Liang's pocket."
"It's just that business has been tough lately, and the spoils haven't been shared equally. I heard that Prince Liang and Yu Liang had a falling out before he died."
Pei Jingming's eyes darkened when he heard this.
Then he asked the man, "Is what you said true?"
"Of course." The man promised.
He was drunk and burped, but he still picked up the wine and poured it into his mouth.
"I'll tell you a secret."
He approached Pei Jingming with a mysterious look on his face, "The advisor next to Yu Liang is from the Fan family. Yu Liang values him very much, but Yu Liang doesn't know that he's cheating on him..."
After the man fell drunk, Pei Jingming waved his hand and several people came out from the darkness.
"Take it back."
Qu Ling couldn't help but said, "You don't have to put yourself in such a difficult position as a prince just to get information."
Just tell your trusted person to do it.
Pei Jingming said sarcastically, "Who said I was an idler just now?"
"Besides, I made a discovery right away when I took action."
Qu Ling was not in a hurry to listen to the new clues. He said to him, "Change your clothes first. I'll ask the kitchen to prepare the meal. You can eat first."
Pei Jingming took a bath, changed his clothes, and had his meal.
When he appeared again, he was still the handsome prince.
Qu Ling looked at him and said, "Your method of getting information is really perfect. Where did you learn it from?"
Hearing this, the nonchalant look on Pei Jingming's face faded a little, and his tone became a little lighter. "Before my mother picked me up, I grew up in these places."
He suddenly remembered a day many years ago when the weather was dazzlingly good.
At that time, he was just a nameless little beggar. In order to steal half a steamed bun, he was blocked in the alley and beaten by a group of older children. He was beaten to the ground and didn't even have the strength to raise his head.
Just then, a pair of cloud-patterned boots embroidered with gold thread stopped in front of him.
He raised his head with great effort and saw a very beautiful woman in an expensive dress, standing in the light, like someone who had walked out of a painting.
"Get up. Your father is a man who can never be defeated. You must be like him."
The woman held out her hand to him.
Those hands are delicate and warm.
Even after many years, Pei Jingming still remembers the touch.
"The name your father gave you is Jingming."
That was the first time he knew that he had a name.
The woman took him into a luxurious carriage.
The smell of incense filled his nose, causing him to sneeze, and the rumbling sound of his stomach prevented him from raising his head.
"Are you hungry?"
The woman handed him a piece of cake and said, "Eat it."
He was very hungry, but he didn't dare to eat.
If it is a bowl of leftover rice or a stale steamed bun, he will gobble it up.
But everything before him made him feel like a dream and a trap.
That delicate-looking dessert could be the cost of his life.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
The woman seemed to see through him, and with a gentle smile, she cut the pastry in half, eating half herself and feeding him the other half.
Pei Jingming still remembers that plate of pastries, each piece was shared half by each person.
She touched his head and said, "I will give you a good surname. From now on, I will be your mother."
He left that dirty beggar's den, had beautiful clothes and a spacious house, hired a teacher to teach him to read, and hired a martial arts master to teach him martial arts.
It was not until later that he found out that his mother did not like pastries.
The day before he went to Pei's house, he asked, "Why did mother eat that half of the cake?"
She didn't seem to expect Pei Jingming to remember this matter, and said with a smile, "I just want you to fill your stomach with peace of mind."
She will probably never know that the moment she reached out to Pei Jingming, she was no different from a god in heaven.
"How can it be a grievance?" Pei Jingming laughed loudly.
He spread his hands to Qu Ling, "At most, it's just a memory of the good times."
Qu Ling didn't delve into his past, but simply asked, "Where's the person you brought back?"
The two of them tacitly brought the conversation back to Yu Liang.
Pei Jingming yawned, "I want to prove something, you have to help me."
"What's up?"
"Call Yu Liang to the yamen and detain him."
Qu Ling was helpless. No one could sleep.
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