Feng Ping respectfully presented the secret letter.
The two people he was talking about were the two people who had come into contact with Yan Yan some time ago and were particularly suspected by Qi Xu.
One is a jade merchant from the Northwest.
The other was a doctor who entered the Yan residence to treat Yan Yan's concubine.
Neither of them had any direct connection with Yan Yan, they had just met or exchanged a sentence or two.
If Qi Xu had not had any suspicion, these two people would not actually be within the key surveillance scope of Tianshu Pavilion.
But now that they have investigated carefully, the people of Tianshu Pavilion have to admire the vision of their master.
There is really something wrong with these two people.
This is a big problem!
The people from Tianshu Pavilion followed the two men for nearly ten days, and then followed the clues to trace the people who had daily contact with the two men, as well as their hometowns.
The first merchant who sold jade was actually from the northwest. There was no problem with his identity, and there was no problem with the people he came from. The problem was the jade he sold to Xie Lang's mansion.
Some jade artifacts are hollow inside and are used to transmit information.
Apart from this, he himself was somewhat suspicious. People from Tianshu Pavilion traced him all the way back to his hometown in the northwest. It was said that he was left-handed when he was in his hometown in the northwest. He was used to writing and eating with his left hand, but every time he played with and appreciated jade, he would use his right hand, just like ordinary people.
Relatives from his hometown once joked that he was only like a normal person when he touched jade.
But according to the observations of the people in Tianshu Pavilion, the merchant now used his left hand to do everything, even playing with jade. They had reason to suspect that the merchant had been "replaced" by someone.
As for the second one, the doctor who treated Yan Yan's concubine, the problem turned out to be even bigger if we investigate further.
At first glance, he was just an ordinary doctor who had been practicing medicine in Chongzhou for many years. He was often invited to wealthy families because he was good at treating women's gynecological diseases.
It was for this reason that the concubine of the Yan family invited this doctor into the house.
Except for occasional illnesses, the doctor would come to the mansion on the first and fifteenth day of every month to check the pulse of Yan Yan's concubine.
Following this doctor, Tianshu Pavilion caught a big fish...
There is something else going on inside the Yongchuntang Clinic where this doctor works.
There is actually a hideout where Northern Barbarian coins are minted!
The copper used in the experiment all came from the official mines in Chongzhou, which were the ones that Xie Lang was responsible for supervising.
However, the copper was not circulated through Yan Yan's hands, but through Yan Yan's beloved concubine and a trusted supervisor under Yan Yan. The two colluded and took a small amount of copper from the official mine every half a month and sent it to the clinic.
This kind of activity has been going on for at least two years...
I don’t know whether to say it is fortunate or unfortunate.
Fortunately, Yan Heng did not get involved in these affairs, and the Duke Yan's Mansion, which was highly trusted by Emperor Xiaoming, did not surrender to the enemy.
Unfortunately, Yan Yan, a good-for-nothing, had been surrounded by people with ulterior motives, but he knew nothing about it. Even his concubine, who slept with him every day, was unaware that she was secretly colluding with the barbarians!
The secret letter presented all the clues obtained in recent investigations to Qi Xu.
The clues are detailed. The coin minting den under Yongchun Hall was located in the copper mine of Dayong, where Northern Barbarian coins were minted privately.
"Master, do you want to send someone to destroy this den?"
"Or is it a plan to let Yan Yan know and report this news back to the capital?"
Qi Xu frowned slightly, shook his head and said, "Don't act rashly."
Both of Feng Ping's proposals are unacceptable.
It is not yet time to destroy this den.
"Leaving this den will help us keep our forces in Chongzhou restrained and prevent them from noticing anything unusual."
"Also, send two more people to infiltrate the group and find out who these Northern Barbarian coins were minted for." A hint of interest flashed across Qi Xu's eyes.
Although stealing Dayong's mineral resources is abominable, privately minting coins may not be a good thing for the Northern Barbarians.
Qi Xu didn't think that the Northern Barbarian Chanyu would ask people to do such a thankless task.
It is obvious that the person who colluded with officials in the Chongzhou mining area to privately mint coins was not the Chanyu, but someone else.
The northern barbarians are not a monolithic group.
"Let people pay attention to where these coins are going."
After a pause, Qi Xu gave another reminder, "If we can contact them, we will infiltrate the Northern Barbarians and ask them to be careful recently. If the barbarians are defeated, there may be changes in the Northern Barbarians."
"Yes." Feng Ping replied respectfully.
He wrote down Qi Xu's instructions and was about to leave the room, but after thinking for a while, he stopped and whispered, "Master, we have been delayed outside for a long time. If we don't see you show up in the fiefdom again, I'm afraid those noble families headed by the Mei family will not stop."
"Leave things to them, and then you can pack up. Tomorrow morning, you and I will set off south." Qi Xu had a plan in mind.
Since they have decided to place personnel on the investigation of the Chongzhou Copper Mine, they have no reason to stay in Chongzhou any longer.
In fact, this time's stay in Chongzhou was long enough.
There was no need to delay for so long just for the copper mine issue. The reason he stayed so long was because he took this opportunity to meet privately with Xue Lian, the second son of Marquis Wu Ding, who was sent to deal with the Holy Moon Sect.
Because of Song Changke's incident, the credit for searching for evidence of the Holy Moon Cult's crimes and arresting the remnants of the previous dynasty will be attributed to Xue Lian.
Based on merit, Emperor Xiaoming would definitely promote Xue Lian.
The Marquis of Wuding's Mansion does not have any obvious official position in the court now. Since Xue Lian has made great contributions this time, the Marquis of Wuding's Mansion will do its best to support him to make further progress.
The original connections in the Eastern Palace will also secretly lend him a helping hand.
Adding these three together, it is not difficult to upgrade several levels.
The official position that Qi Xu chose for Xue Lian was the commander of Suizhou or Huangzhou, who was able to command the military forces of an entire state.
Influenced by the iron mine incident, a number of officials in Suizhou and Lianzhou were dismissed, including Lord Hong, the commander of Suizhou Guard, who had married the daughter of the Liu family.
If Xue Lian succeeds to this position, he can take this opportunity to secretly integrate the underworld forces in the nearby states in preparation for any emergency.
However, compared to Suizhou, Qi Xu was more interested in Huangzhou.
The former commander of Huangzhou, Lin Jian, had been beheaded, and almost half of the officials in Huangzhou had been replaced. It was time to reshuffle everything. Xue Lian was in a position that was suitable for succeeding Lin Jian, and he would be able to control the entire garrison without any obstacles.
Moreover, Huangzhou is located in a remote area, close to the border, and almost not bordering other states. No matter what you do, you don't have to worry about attracting attention. It is a good place to accumulate strength.
On this point, his idea coincided with Miss Wei's.
This cold, remote and unpopular place is not only suitable for developing industries and earning money and food, but also a good place to store troops.
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