It was a deep night, and on the quiet official road, a large group of people and horses outside Yuzhou City were still hurrying on their way, and the loud sound of iron hooves broke the tranquility of the night.
"Your Excellency, the boundary marker of Jikang County is ahead."
The followers shouted excitedly, and Gu Tingchen then pulled the reins of his horse and asked everyone to raise torches. Looking over, he saw a stone tablet with the words "Ji Kang County" engraved on it.
"Wanwan, we are finally meeting again."
Gu Tingchen was delighted. He led his men on horseback riding for thousands of miles from Lin'an to Yuezhou, and traveled for seven or eight days just to see Wanwan as soon as possible.
It has been almost two months since we last met. She would probably be very happy to see me.
Just as he was about to order his men to head straight for Yuhua Town, he suddenly saw a small group of people holding torches appear at the intersection.
"Who is it?" the guard asked warily.
"Young Master, please don't panic. I am Qi Yunsheng, an aide to Governor Xue, and I have come specially to greet you."
Qi Yunsheng led his men hurriedly to meet them. Under the bright light of the fire, they could see the heroic figure of the young man on horseback at a glance.
"Xue Jiu is really thoughtful. He even sent people out of the city to greet us at such a late hour."
Gu Tingchen glanced at the figure under his horse. He saw a fawning look on his face, which made him very unhappy.
However, he had just arrived in Yuezhou and was unfamiliar with the place, so he didn't get angry with him. He jumped off his horse, looked at Qi Yunsheng carefully, and asked, "Where is Xue Jiuren? Why did you, a nobody, come here?"
Seeing that Gu Tingchen looked down on him so much, Qi Yunsheng's eyes darkened, and the anger in his eyes was hidden in the darkness and no one noticed.
He clasped his fists respectfully with Gu Tingchen and replied with a forced smile, "Young Master, Envoy Xue has gone to the East China Sea to eliminate the maritime threat. He has specially ordered me to stay in Yuzhou to welcome you, Young Master."
Qi Yunsheng said this with a flattering look on his face, and immediately made a gesture of invitation: "Young Master, please."
"You bastard, is this how the Pacification Commissioner teaches the rules?" Gu Tingchen was even more dissatisfied with his attitude: "Don't you know you should refer to your position in front of your superiors?"
Qi Yunsheng's heart trembled, and he quickly changed his words carefully: "Yes, I know I was wrong, Your Excellency."
The anger on Gu Tingchen's face finally subsided. "What the hell is Xue Jiu doing? Prince Yan's succession is imminent. Why is he going to suppress the bandits instead of focusing on Prince Yongning's Palace?"
"Your Excellency, the Imperial Censor, may not be aware that pirates recently robbed the Pacification Commissioner of a large amount of silver within the territory of Jikang County. Therefore, Prince Yongning has ordered the Pacification Commissioner to eliminate the maritime threat within a month."
Qi Yunsheng sighed helplessly: "Envoy Xue really has no other choice."
Gu Tingchen became even more annoyed after hearing this: "Yuezhou is so big, but Fu Mingchi only focuses on Yuzhou. I think he has nothing to do."
"That's right," Qi Yunsheng added, adding, "Ever since the cousin from the Censor's household arrived in Jikang County, Prince Yongning has been hanging around. Not only did he leave his Chifeng Battalion behind to guard Yuhua Town, he also exempted Yuezhou from taxes for two years because of Miss Ye, causing widespread public outrage."
"What did you say?"
Gu Tingchen's eyes were filled with anger: "Prince Yongning spent tens of millions of taels of silver to protect my cousin?"
On the way here, I had already heard about several new decrees issued by Fu Mingchi in Yuezhou. I thought they had nothing to do with my cousin, but I didn't expect that this ignorant guy would dare to harass my cousin.
Seeing the anger in Gu Tingchen's eyes, Qi Yunsheng couldn't help but feel happy.
"Your Excellency the Censor, you may not know that Miss Ye is colluding with Prince Yongning in Yuhua Town, targeting the Pacification Commissioner at every turn. She knows full well that the Pacification Commissioner is the Queen Mother and Prince Yan's spy planted in Yuezhou, yet she still dares to act recklessly. I'm afraid this is revenge for the Duke of Rong's breaking off the engagement."
Gu Tingchen had already seen that his cousin had done the cancellation of the engagement on purpose, so he naturally did not think that she was taking revenge on the Duke's Mansion.
But since she chose to side with Prince Yongning, she must have been instructed by Ji Yuan to help Fu Mingchi take control of Lin'an.
I had originally planned to let Fu Mingchi linger for a while, but now it seems there is no need for that.
Gu Tingchen asked Qi Yunsheng with a cold face: "Where is Prince Yongning now?"
"This man has already led his men to the East China Sea overnight to suppress the bandits."
Qi Yunsheng felt anxious when he realized he had to return the 500,000 taels of silver in two days. He reminded him, "Your Excellency, Prince Yongning has left the Chifeng Camp in Taowu and brought only a few dozen guards with him. The Yuezhou Army, the closest to Yuzhou, is also stationed in Yingzhou and Qizhou."
Gu Tingchen understood the meaning of his words, which was to remind himself that now was the right time to take action.
Patting Qi Yunsheng's shoulder heavily, Gu Tingchen said with a sinister smile: "It seems that you have been paying close attention to the whereabouts of Prince Yongning."
"I serve Envoy Xue, so I should always be thinking about sharing your worries."
Qi Yunsheng immediately put on an upright attitude: "The Yongning Palace maintains a strong military presence and controls over fifty counties in Yuezhou. They have been operating Yuezhou for over a hundred years. They appear to be loyal to the court, but in reality, they have long been a major threat to our dynasty and must be guarded against."
These words seemed to touch Gu Tingchen's heart.
After Emperor Mingde ascended the throne, in order to suppress the lineage of Emperor Taizong, the founding emperor of the Daye Dynasty, he deliberately exiled Taizong's lineage to Yuezhou. The original intention was to exclude Taizong's descendants, but unexpectedly, this group of unpopular royal family members became the powerful foreign vassal states that were difficult to get rid of in the Daye Dynasty.
Forty years ago, northern invaders launched a massive invasion to the south. The late emperor was forced to lead the army in person, but died in battle. The northern invaders took advantage of the situation and broke through the capital of Daye. The empress dowager had to lead the royal family and ministers to the south and retreat to Lin'an.
In the past few decades, the Daye Dynasty has been constantly at war with the northern invaders and has had no time to take care of the Yongning Palace. Although the Queen Mother and the new Emperor continue to ignore the Yongning Palace, they have to rely on the power of the Yuezhou Army to guard against rebellion by eastern pirates and Baiyue barbarians.
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