Chapter 124 Gusu Wang Clan
"Father later found out about Feilin and I, and he felt sorry for me, so he suggested to my grandfather that I inherit the title.
After that, he stopped caring about government affairs and devoted himself to poetry, wine, calligraphy and painting."
When Li Huaiyu said this, he looked lonely.
"You and Wang have been married for four or five years. How is it?" Li Yueyao asked.
"What else can we do? We are just in appearance but not in spirit." Li Huaiyu said with his head down.
"I don't like her. I can tell she has someone else in her heart."
"So you just spend your days drinking and partying and never come home?"
Li Huaiyu looked up at Li Yueyao and said resentfully, "Aunt, what would you do if it were you?"
Li Yueyao thought for a moment and nodded, "If it were me, I'm afraid I wouldn't want to go home just like you."
Feng Shenyu suddenly had a strong desire to survive and said, "Your Highness, don't be led astray by him. You and I are in love with each other, and our situation is definitely different from his."
Li Yueyao glared at him: "Let's talk business, don't talk nonsense."
"Regarding the matter of spies. Last time, Ice Face suspected it was the work of the Gusu Wang Clan."
Li Huaiyu was no longer interested in watching the two flirting, and continued with a sad face:
"I thought I'd give her a chance, so I went back and asked Wang, but she said she didn't know.
But these days, the more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong. When I checked Chunniang, I also checked her as well.
well……"
At this point, Li Huaiyu sighed again:
"I don't know if she has any problems, but the Gusu Wang family does have problems."
"Oh, what's the problem?" Li Yueyao asked.
"Well, they secretly contacted and wooed various great scholars, claiming that they could help them write books for free.
This naturally includes people from the Imperial College and Nanshan Academy.
On the other hand, he recruited many craftsmen into the government office, saying that they wanted to make some new agricultural tools to make it easier for farmers to use.
However, among the people they recruited, there were some who were good at using firearms.
What new agricultural implements require firearms?"
Li Yueyao and Feng Shenyu exchanged glances: "Sky-shaking Thunder?"
Li Huaiyu nodded silently.
"I came to find you two days ago, intending to tell you this, but seeing you were so happy that day, I didn't tell you.
It just so happens that both things have come to light today, so I thought I’d talk about them together.”
"Then can you find out where their craftsmen are now?" Feng Shenyu asked.
"I don't know. My people just got the roster of their recruits, and I saw the problem from the roster."
As he spoke, Li Huaiyu took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Feng Shenyu.
Feng Shenyu flipped through the book and found that some of the people among them were good at forging, some were good at carpentry, and some were good at water conservancy. He flipped through several pages in a row.
Sure enough, I saw the mark of someone who is good at firearms.
Feng Shenyu frowned as he looked at the list of people who were good at firearms. "Is this person named Zou Biao from the Ministry of Industry?"
As he spoke, he handed the account book in his hand to Li Yueyao.
Li Yueyao took it and started reading.
“No, his father, Zou Yan, was the Minister of Works during the reign of the previous emperor. He was demoted for a mistake, and his family was banned from holding official positions for three generations.
The whole family returned to their hometown in Jiangnan Road. The Zou family had a long history of learning and was very proficient in firearms.
These three generations were unable to become officials, and Zou Biao inherited all his father's knowledge, but had no place to display it.
He opened an iron forging shop in Gusu, which was run by his younger brother Zou Mao. He himself disappeared three years ago.
But I never expected to appear in the capital and be on this list."
After listening to Li Huaiyu's words, Feng Shenyu pondered deeply, "Was this Zou Biao recruited to the capital by the Wang family?"
"At the moment, that seems to be the case."
Li Yueyao closed the booklet in her hand and said:
"Zou Yan, I know about this. The reason for his demotion was due to the construction of the city wall in Yunzhong County.
Corruption was discovered, and it was finally found out that the Ministry of Works had embezzled money and passed off inferior products as good ones, which led to the collapse of the city wall of Yunzhong County.
Later, the Ministry of Revenue checked the Ministry of Works' accounts and found even bigger loopholes. The emperor was very angry and punished him."
Feng Shenyu and Li Huaiyu nodded after hearing this.
"However, Zou Yan is actually quite good and has a talent for firearms.
He was the one who built the weapons depot back then, and he also came up with the underground storage method.
His downfall stemmed from his failure to effectively control his subordinates, which led to the chaos at the border. In fact, the punishment he received was a bit excessive.”
Feng Shenyu and Li Huaiyu disagreed this time.
Li Yueyao could say that the late emperor had gone too far in punishing Zou Yan, but neither of them had the guts to agree with him.
You know, when Li Yueyao was very young, she often admonished the late emperor and reconciled the conflicts between the ministers in the court and the late emperor.
Most of the old ministers of the previous dynasty had received favors from Li Yueyao, so she had the confidence to say this.
Li Yueyao changed the subject and continued, "The Wang family of Gusu, the Chen family of Meixun, the Jiangnan Dao..."
"Why do you suspect that there is a connection between the three?" Feng Shenyu asked.
"Don't you have any doubts?" Li Yueyao asked back.
"Suspect."
Li Yueyao thought for a moment and said, "Looking at Chen Fang's confession, he said that his previous dealer was Gao Hongchen, but Gao Hongchen denied it.
So one of them must be lying."
Fengshenyu played with the jade pendant on his waist and said:
"Now that things have come to this, Gao Hongchen has no reason to lie, so I am more suspicious of Chen Fang."
"Didn't the Duke of Zhenguo say that the current head of the Chen Fang family is his brother? What was his name?" Li Yueyao asked.
"Chen Jia." Feng Shenyu replied.
"This Chen Jia is good friends with Huan Zi'an. Zi'an once mentioned this to me, saying that this person is extremely talented, quick-witted, and a smart person.
It's a pity that he was plotted against by Chen Fang and had his legs crippled.
However, I heard from the Duke of Zhenguo some time ago that Chen Jia's leg has healed and he has cleanly and efficiently dealt with Chen Fang and his men.
He is now the head of the Chen family."
Li Yueyao nodded: "Since it was the Duke of Zhenguo who handled the matter last time, let him handle it this time."
Feng Shenyu shook his head after hearing this: "Your Highness, no.
The reason why Chen Jia cooperated with the Duke of Zhenguo last time was, firstly, to save himself, and secondly, to seize the position of head of the family.
Now that the past is over, he has no obligation to cooperate in the Gusu Wang family's affairs this time, and he is afraid that he will not be able to do his best.
It would be better to let Huan Zian go, so that Chen Jia can repay his favor.
Besides, the people of the Duke of Zhenguo are prepared for the southern border."
Li Yueyao nodded and said, "That makes sense. I'll trouble you, Mr. Huan, to come over then."
Then Li Yueyao asked again: "Didn't they bust a spy den in Meixun? Do you have any useful information?"
Feng Shenyu shook his head.
"That might be the end of the line. They've been abandoned after the incident. We only interrogated a man named Yuan San, who was their superior.
But there has been no news about Yuan San, as if he never existed."
Li Yueyao sighed after hearing this: "To be able to completely erase a person's past and leave us with no clues, this person is indeed someone you cannot underestimate."
Feng Shenyu tapped his forehead and said, "Could it be Prince Jin?"
"I suspect him too, but I don't have any evidence. Do you have any?"
Feng Shenyu shook his head.
"Is he doing this for the throne?" Li Yueyao asked.
"Then what else could it be for?" Feng Shenyu asked back.
Li Yueyao continued, "Prince Jin's mother was of humble origin and later died of illness. My sister-in-law took pity on him and kept him by her side to take care of him.
Your Majesty has been on the throne for so many years and has treated him well. Apart from Prince Qin and Zhao Qing, you treat him the best. Why would he defect to Nanli?"
After hearing this, Li Huaiyu suddenly said, "Aunt... well... I feel that Prince Jin is different..."
Li Yueyao turned to look at Li Huaiyu: "What's different?"
"Well, how should I put it, he's different since he got married."
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