Chapter 58 King Xi is troubled
King Xi was so embarrassed that he couldn't even save face.
After receiving Xie Xiangxiang's letter, he saw that what she said was very certain, so he secretly sent his confidant Zhang Sanao to the foot of Shensuo Mountain in Laizhou, Jindi to investigate and dig to see if there was any gold mine.
Zhang San'ao led fifteen people and left Prince Xi's mansion. Less than 100 miles outside the city, they had a collision with Zhou Shaoyu, the devil.
Zhou Shaoyu grabbed Zhang Sanao and refused to let go, saying shamelessly that Zhang Sanao had hurt his waist. He dragged him to the emperor to seek justice. No matter how much Zhang Sanao said nice things, kowtowed and offered to pay compensation, he refused.
When he arrived before the emperor, Zhou Shaoyu somehow pulled the letter out of Zhang Sanao's body.
When Emperor Xuanwen saw the letter saying that there was a huge gold mine "at the foot of Shensuo Mountain in Laizhou, Jin", he not only beat Zhang Sanao severely, but also sent Zhou Shaoyu to see if there was a gold mine.
Zhang San'ao was Prince Xi's man, and Emperor Xuanwen knew it very well. He called Prince Xi to ask what was going on. Prince Xi responded quickly and said that he had received a letter from Xie Xiangxiang, but he didn't know whether it was true or not. He didn't dare to alarm his father rashly, so he sent a few people to check it out. If it was true, he would definitely report it to the court.
Emperor Xuanwen didn't quite believe it, but what could he do to his own son? He couldn't just drag him out and chop him off.
He asked the old tutor in the palace to come to his home and give him a few days of lessons on the relationship between ruler and subject, which made Prince Xi depressed to death.
What was extremely unfortunate was that he had allowed Fu Xing to operate in the Langming Mountain outside Nanyang City for so many years, accumulating so much food and weapons, and was preparing to start a rebellion. He didn't know how that bastard Zhou Shaoyu discovered it and wiped it out in one go.
Even Fu Xing was involved.
Fearing that Fu Xing could not bear the torture, he had no choice but to give up and personally ordered his confidants to be silenced.
He didn't think that all this was done by Zhou Shaoyu. It must be that his father had become suspicious, or he wanted to remove obstacles for the prince's stupid brother.
He secretly summoned his maternal grandfather, Marquis Cheng'en, and his mother, Concubine Baogui, and the three of them had a secret conversation together.
He said gloomily, "I suspect that all this was done by my father."
Marquis Cheng'en said, "It must be your majesty's intention. Zhou Jingchen is just a hostage. How dare he compete with Prince Xi for profit?"
Concubine Baogui gnashed her teeth in hatred: "I'm afraid that Langming Mountain has long been under the control of His Majesty. The Embroidered Uniform Guards under his control are omnipresent. How could they not find out? They didn't do anything before because the prince was still a minor. Now they have to clear the way for him!"
Prince Xi is the eldest prince. He has both ability and connections. If the Crown Prince wants to secure his position, he will definitely start with Prince Xi.
All his years of business were ruined, and now he has nothing. Concubine Baogui asked him to take advantage of Huangfu Ming.
"Huangfu Ming has a fortune, but he doesn't even have a son. If we can take Huangfu Ming's fortune, what can't we do? Isn't it just adding a roommate? No matter how much a man takes, it's not too much."
He married Huangfu Yueyue as his wife and collected 500,000 shi of grain. He could not wait any longer.
He reported to Emperor Xuanwen that there was a severe drought in the Central Plains and the people were suffering. His father-in-law took out 100,000 shi of grain to relieve the people. He wanted to represent his father to appease the people on the spot.
Emperor Xuanwen approved his request as he was sincere, but sent Leng Luo, deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to supervise it.
Leng Luo was unmoved by anyone's tricks and only recognized Emperor Xuanwen.
When they arrived at Xiangyang City, they were thinking about what to do, but unexpectedly Huangfu Ming informed him that the granary was empty again.
Leng Luo looked at Huangfu Ming's sweaty forehead and said calmly: "Prince Xi, I want to report to His Majesty truthfully. Is there anything you want to say?"
King Xi's face was dark. Where could he get 100,000 shi of grain now?
Even if he could get it, he didn't want to give it to the common people for free.
"Wait for me for a few more days. I will collect some and distribute it to the people immediately."
While Prince Xi was deceiving Leng Luo, he was forcing Huangfu Ming, "Now that I am in trouble, please try harder and transfer 50,000. I have to give an explanation to my father."
Huangfu Ming had lost all the food nearby. His heart was bleeding. He couldn't help but ask, "Why did so much of our food disappear?"
"There is nothing we can do if he disappears! The government can't find him, and neither can my people. Stop making a fuss. We can't let the world know that the thief is targeting me. He stole so cruelly. Do we want to let everyone in the world know that I am punished by God?"
Huangfu Ming felt aggrieved. From Kyoto to Xiangyang, he almost lost all his property. How could he not be anxious?
"I can go and collect the food, but the theft is closely related to Xie Anfeng." Huangfu Ming gritted his teeth and said his guess, "I have already offered a reward at the Cross Gate and hunted them down. Even the Cross Gate Armor Group was dispatched, but they are still unharmed."
King Xi's men also learned that the people from Shizimen were hunting down the exiled Xie family. Only now did he realize that the person who placed the order was Huangfu Ming.
Huangfu Ming analyzed it for him, and King Xi gritted his teeth and sneered, "I really need to go meet Xie."
After Huangfu Ming left, King Xi immediately waved to the secret guard 1 beside him, and the secret guard 1 left quickly.
Xiangyang City Inn.
The next morning, Xie Anfeng followed Xie Yanyan's instructions and went to the street to continue buying saltpeter. He also visited a lacquerware shop and bought all the lacquerware, even some items that looked better, such as the best ceramics, copper lamps, and bone tools.
Later, he saw a jewelry store and walked in to take a look. He originally wanted to buy some jewelry for his daughter, but where could she wear jewelry while in exile? In the end, he only bought a sunshade and dustproof hat and a sun-proof silk gauze dress for Xie Yanyan.
After returning to the inn, Xie Yanyan got up and Xie Anfeng bought everything he needed.
"Yan'er, take a look, are these things good?"
He is actually not very good at shopping, and he has no idea what his daughter likes.
Xie Yanyan took a look and found that they were all very good. The lacquerware was even more exquisite than that of Nanyang City, mixing the aesthetics of the north and the south. Other objects were also more delicate than those in the north.
The veil hat and gauze dress were very nice. She felt very emotional when holding them in her hands. At that time in the Former Qin Dynasty, it was very rare to have such good handmade clothes.
She took out another bundle from the room and said to Xie Anfeng, "Just now, that red-haired, blue-eyed foreigner came to the store looking for someone. I met him. I took the preserved egg, lean meat, vegetable porridge, and ice-making method, and changed into two sets of protective clothing. You and your brother can wear them."
Xie Anfeng was extremely excited. He had seen the prince's experiments yesterday. Of course he liked this kind of magical weapon that was invulnerable to swords and knives.
"Yan'er, you should get a women's set."
"No, you and big brother can protect us."
Xie Yanyan pointed to the four dishes and one soup on the table and said, "Eat, I'll go to Wanghai Pavilion and order a few dishes. We'll leave after we're full."
Xie Anfeng said to bring some food back to Xie Ning and the others. Xie Yanyan shook the token given by the emperor and said, "I have received your order to eat."
Xie Anfeng laughed. He was not used to this token yet.
Before leaving Xiangyang City, they purchased enough saltpeter from the city and made a special trip to the Xiangyang County Government to "have a meal in compliance with the imperial order."
Sure enough, when the county magistrate saw the token, he immediately ordered someone to bring food boxes and pack 10 portions of food for her. The food was not as good as the one in Wanghai Pavilion, but there were enough steamed buns and vegetables.
They traveled quickly by carriage and caught up with the exile group at Huijia Town, 50 miles away, at noon.
Contrary to their usual practice, the exile team did not hurry on their journey but stopped outside the post station in the town.
From a distance, I saw a carriage and several war horses parked outside the post station on the official road.
In the corridor of the post station, a nobleman in gorgeous clothes stood majestically with his hands behind his back.
(End of this chapter)
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