"Nothing, I just suddenly discovered a dark side of my father, and I need to take it easy." Xu Yixing still didn't tell her the core conflict between her and her father. She still thought that useful people's mistakes could be forgiven to a certain extent.
"Look, you asked me to say this, you can't blame me."
"I don't blame you. Thank you for telling me this, but it's all in the past. There's no point in pursuing it any further."
Seeing that Xu Yixing's mood had improved, Lu Anyuan no longer took it to heart. After all, for him now, the most important thing was the preparations for the eldest prince's expedition.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, the heavy snow that had been falling in the capital since the Lantern Festival finally stopped, which made the Ministry of Rites breathe a sigh of relief.
Because today is the day when the eldest prince offers sacrifices to heaven and goes to war. If it continues to rain like this, I really don’t know where to find a place for him to use.
Half of the troops for this national war against the Lesser Song Kingdom were dispatched from the capital, with the other half drawn from the nearby Southern Border Army. The Dragon Guards, accompanying the Crown Prince from the capital, served both as a protective presence and as a demonstration. After all, everyone, from the Emperor down to the ministers, understood that this was a war they must win.
Xu Yixing also accompanied Lu Anyuan to the South Gate to see off the eldest prince.
Earlier today, the emperor had already cheered and prayed for him at the Temple of Heaven in the palace, and now was the official ceremony of sending troops.
The South Gate was at her feet. Seeing so many people filing out, she suddenly had a realistic understanding of the military strength. Although 50,000 troops were not a large number, the line leading out of the city was actually quite long. No wonder most of the generals in charge of the troops were so arrogant.
If I could mobilize 50,000 troops, I would be very arrogant.
It’s no wonder that even though my father has retired from the border for almost 20 years, he is still obsessed with his power.
"Brother has been out of the city for a long time. Isn't it time for us to go back?" Lu Anyuan stepped forward and gently bumped her with his arm. The other princes had all left, leaving only the couple standing there stupidly.
"Okay. I just felt a surge of heroism when I saw these men. Just imagine how cool it would be if you were the one riding the warhorse today!"
Xu Yixing turned her head and looked at him expectantly. She had seen Lu Anyuan wearing armor, but she didn't know what kind of iron-blooded feeling the seemingly golden armor would have if it was stained with yellow earth and blood.
"Next time, next time. I was wondering if you were worried about me going to the battlefield at first. Why did you change your mind today?"
Xu Yixing swung the forbidden step at his waist and said, "What kind of man is he who has never been to the battlefield? You have been in the capital for a long time. If I had known that the emperor would send a hundred thousand troops to attack the mere Song Dynasty, I would have let you go. How could I let the eldest prince get there first?"
"Oh, so it seems that Sun Ziyou is more to your taste." Lu Anyuan pretended to be angry and went down the city wall first. Xu Yixing choked for a moment and rolled his eyes.
Jealous person!
When he returned to the mansion, he saw Si Wen, who looked hurried and had been waiting for him at the palace gate.
"What happened?"
"Miss! Shopkeeper Ge from the east city came to report that our rice mill was raided by the government!"
Xu Yixing tilted his head, puzzled but not anxious. "What's the reason for copying it? Did they ask you to beat the drum to complain?"
"The Jingzhao Prefecture's legal advisor brought soldiers to raid the place. The charge is smuggling salt, and they caught our clerk in the act of collecting the salt. With the culprit now in the act, I'm afraid there's no point in complaining, young lady!"
Si Wen was so anxious that sweat broke out on his head. Buying and selling contraband salt was such a serious crime. This time, the young lady had really screwed the shopkeeper over!
Xu Yixing looked at Si Wen, even more confused.
"Could it be... that this illegal salt business wasn't your idea, young lady?" Si Wen asked carefully. The more she took on, the more frightened she became. Our young lady is really fearless and dares to sell anything.
"Of course not. I'm not that short of money. Besides, there's no shortage of salt in the capital, and the government is very strict about it. Why would I do something that doesn't bring me any profit?"
Xu Yixing rolled his eyes and knew that someone had definitely tampered with the situation this time.
"You just said that the human organs are still there?"
"Yes, it was the master who surrounded the men who went to pick up salt outside the city. There were three stones of salt, so Manager Ge rushed to report it. Now those people have been imprisoned."
"Why doesn't Shopkeeper Ge clarify? They weren't ours in the first place."
Si Wen hesitated to speak, "You have so many transactions that even I can't be sure whether this illegal salt was purchased by you. How dare you, Shopkeeper Ge..."
Seeing this, Xu Yixing sighed lightly. It seemed that the shopkeeper was also completely unaware and really thought that it was his own private behavior, so he did not dare to confront the government.
"Okay, don't worry. Go tell Shopkeeper Ge first that this contraband salt isn't ours. If the government asks him about it, just tell him to answer truthfully. And ask the squad leader to take good care of the people who are incarcerated. I'll figure out the rest."
"Yes!" Seeing that the young lady was so confident, Si Wen felt much more at ease. He bowed and hurriedly left.
In fact, Xu Yixing was just pretending to be calm. Since the charge this time was directly for buying and selling illegal salt, it meant that they were trying to kill him. What was the point of panicking?
Entering the hall, I saw Lu Anyuan holding the teapot high in one hand and carefully filling it with tea. He said with a teasing look, "I said Si Wen is just a child. She is always not calm enough when encountering things. I just said that it was not a big deal at all. She insisted on waiting for you to come back there."
"Do you have a plan?" Xu Yixing turned his back on the man, completely unlike his calm demeanor just now, and sat down with a gloomy face.
"Oh, you can change your expression? I just thought you already had a solution, but it turns out you were just pretending." Lu Anyuan pushed the teacup forward and placed it right in front of Xu Yixing, without spilling a drop.
"This happened suddenly, and I can't predict the future, but this deal was definitely not made by me. If you look closely, you'll definitely find some clues."
Lu Anyuan shook his head with a half-smile. The knife was already on his neck, so the chain of evidence must be well prepared. Maybe the more he investigated, the more conclusive the evidence would be.
"Good man, do you have any way to save me this time? Otherwise, my store will be ruined and I will have to ask you for money~"
"Puchi!" Lu Anyuan couldn't help it. Yi Xing was really adaptable and didn't act pretentious at all when asking for help.
"I do have a solution, but how long can your boss and his employees hold out? My method may take three to five days to work. If they can't withstand the torture, or if they piss themselves off after being frightened by the Jingzhao Prefecture, I won't be able to do anything about it."
"Only three to five days?" Xu Yixing ignited hope. Although the rice shop clerks were strangers to him and were not his men, as long as he sent a message to the prison and asked them to endure for three to five days, there should be no problem.
"Yes, ma'am."
"good!"
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