Using gambling houses for personal gain is a small matter, but selling out the Song Dynasty's intelligence to foreign enemies and betraying the Song Dynasty is a big deal.
Bao Changzhou didn't expect that he would find out so many things just by investigating a small gambling house. Wouldn't other gambling houses, especially larger ones, have more inside stories?
He focused on shutting down several gambling houses that were larger and more famous than the Da San Yuan Gambling House. After a series of interrogations, he found out that there were indeed many illegal inside stories. For a time, the gambling houses, restaurants, and other places with a lot of people in Beijing were in a panic, especially the gambling houses. No one knew which one the Tokyo government would shut down next.
Bao Changzhou worked tirelessly day and night to review and sort out the gambling house case, until Song Baixiao said to him, "Rong Ruo, do you find this strange? After Hou Tianbao passed away, the Hou couple could have directly reported the case. Even if the Hou couple had no real evidence, the Tokyo government would have thoroughly investigated the Hou Tianbao case after receiving the report. There was no need to wait a year to report the case."
Bao Changzhou raised his head and said, "It's not surprising. The house, shop and gambling house were taken away. The Hou couple had no place to live and no means of livelihood. They had to wait until they could find a livelihood before reporting the case. The purpose of looking for evidence was to redress Hou Jiabao's injustice."
Song Baixiao said, "Since you were transferred to Tokyo Prefecture, the biggest case we've encountered was the murder of Tao Shiqing last August. You said this time, such a big case has suddenly fallen from the sky, and the officials involved are important officials of the court like the Minister of Revenue. I'm afraid we've hit a wall."
Bao Changzhou asked, "Master Song, you are not afraid, are you?"
Song Baixiao told the truth, "Aren't you afraid? I am a little scared. If this case was just an ordinary one, I wouldn't be afraid of anything, but this case involves Mu Hongguang, who has a higher official rank than you. This alone makes our investigation very difficult. Although you hold the important position of the Tokyo prefect, you are still a lowly person and your influence is not strong. There are some things you cannot touch."
Bao Changzhou said, "This case is of great importance. With my status, it is really difficult for me to touch some people. I have reported the case to the Shangshu Ling. If nothing unexpected happens, the case will be transferred to the Dali Temple or the Ministry of Justice in a few days."
"That's fine. The Tokyo prefect is in charge of Tokyo. We are already busy enough, and I'm afraid we won't be able to handle the gambling house case anymore." Song Baixiao said.
Sometimes, if nothing unexpected happens, there might be something unexpected. However, one day, the Shangshu Ling gave a reply, asking Bao Changzhou to be fully responsible for the gambling house case.
When Bao Changzhou learned of Shangshu Ling's reply, he said to Song Baixiao, "Master, you trust me. I will certainly not let you down."
The selection of imperial concubines was completed in late September. Just as Ye Zelin said, His Majesty selected less than five women in this selection. Two of them were named beauties, one was named a talented woman, and one was named a princess.
As for the women who were not selected, eight of them were betrothed to princes, dukes and other members of the royal family. Among them, the fourth daughter of the eldest son of the Duke of Rong was betrothed to Prince Xuan.
As October approached, the weather grew colder. Hua Fushu put on a brand new embroidered jacket in the color of a lilac leaf. Sanqiao was worried that she would be cold, so she put a cloak on her. Hua Fushu gathered the cloak and took a carriage to a small restaurant.
On the third floor of the restaurant, Qin Youran sat cross-legged in a navy blue long-sleeved gown. He was fanning himself gently with a palm leaf fan. The charcoal added to the stove quickly burned red. Hua Fushu could smell the aroma of wine before he even went up to the third floor.
"Brother, you look so happy. I wonder which hero you are discussing over the wine by the stove." Hua Fushu sat cross-legged opposite Qin Youran.
"I'm not Cao Mengde. When we drink wine, we don't talk about heroes, we only talk about matters." Qin Youran said lightly.
Mu Qing called out, "Nanxing, here."
Nanxing walked straight to Mu Qing. Young Master Qin invited the young master to have a drink and talk about things, so he would not get in the way.
"dinner."
"I don't have any treats, but I have two pots of wine." Mu Qing took a jar of wine and gave it to Nanxing.
"I don't drink." He is the young master's coachman, responsible for picking up and dropping off the young master, so it is best not to drink.
Qin Youran glanced at Nanxing, "This kid is outspoken. If you keep him by your side, you won't be afraid of him leaking anything to you."
Hua Fushu expressed his trust in Nanxing, "Nanxing knows his limits."
The wine Qin Youran warmed was plum blossom snow wine, a common wine in the Qinhuai area. The water used to make the wine was melted snow from the mountains, and plum blossoms were added to it. Although it was not as mellow as the wine brewed with peach blossoms, it also had a unique flavor.
He poured Hua Fushu a bowl of warm plum blossom snow wine and said, "Try it."
Hua Fushu took a sip and said, "Old style."
Qin Youran said, "I still have some. Do you want me to give you a few jars?"
"Cang Zhu sent someone to send some to me. It should arrive in a few days." Hua Fushu said that Qinhuai's plum blossom snow wine is suitable for men, women, young and old.
Qin Youran took a sip of plum blossom snow wine and said calmly, "My brother's wedding with the Lu family can't be held until next year. The Concubine Dowager is not in good health. My eighth brother's wedding with the fourth daughter of the eldest house of the Duke of Rong is scheduled for before the New Year."
Hua Fushu said, "The old master of the Duke of Rong's Mansion and Ye Zelin's grandfather were comrades in arms. The fourth daughter of his family is well-known for her virtue. She has a good family background and it is a good match for a noble lady to marry a royal relative."
Qin Youran said, "My eighth brother has a leg condition. If you really want to talk about it, considering Fourth Miss Rong's status, he's really marrying above his station. I heard that His Majesty asked the Duke of Rong's mansion for their opinion before arranging Fourth Miss Rong for my eighth brother. Only after the Duke of Rong's mansion had no objection did they arrange the marriage for my eighth brother."
Qin Youran stopped talking about Prince Xuan and added a spoonful of wine to Hua Fushu's bowl. He then used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of steaming red bean cake and put it on his plate. "Hua'er, you often go to Doctor Li's clinic. Have you noticed anything unusual in the capital lately?"
Hua Fushu was eating a jujube and yam cake and said casually, "No."
Qin Youran said, "Several of the brothers in the City Patrol have recently had recurring fevers, coughs, difficulty breathing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Some have also experienced vomiting and diarrhea. I've heard from other brothers that their families and neighbors have also experienced this. I've also had Mu Qing and Guan Yu ask the maids and servants in the Prince of Qin's mansion, and several have also had these symptoms. Do you think these symptoms resemble the epidemic in Qinzhou in the seventh year of Huangyou?"
Hua Fushu put down her chopsticks and recalled that, especially recently, Xinglin Medical Clinic was crowded almost every day. Most of these people had symptoms such as fever, chest tightness and shortness of breath, sore throat, and weakness. Some of them had been to Xinglin Medical Clinic for treatment before.
When Qin Youran mentioned the epidemic in Qinzhou, she remembered that the epidemic in Qinzhou that year was very serious and highly contagious. Thousands of people were infected and nearly a hundred people died. The symptoms of the people in Beijing were particularly similar to those of the epidemic in Qinzhou that year.
The King of Qin prohibited others from entering the epidemic area, formulated a series of prevention and control measures, and called on the people and doctors of Qinzhou to fight the epidemic together. As one of them, she participated in the treatment, but at that time she did not know that Qin Youran was His Royal Highness the King of Qin. At that time, she also praised the King of Qin's measures as very good. It was because of the King of Qin's measures that Qinzhou was able to be quickly brought under control.
Hua Fushu asked, "You mean there might be an epidemic in the capital?"
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