Chapter 122: Acquaintance
Zhang Xiang tearfully recounted her and her brother's life stories: "Later, my brother entered the palace, and I was sold to Tianxiang Tower and became a singer. My brother said that if it weren't for him, he would have been beaten to death by the prefect that day, and I would have had no chance to escape from the sea of suffering."
Song Yuzhu asked: "Who is he?"
"I have never seen the benefactor that my brother is talking about. Every time a customer asked me to play the pipa, he would quietly pass the message to me, and then I would pass it to my brother. The customers who passed the message were also very different. I only remember that one of them had a small red mole on the corner of his eye."
"Anything else?"
Zhang Xiang shook her head: "I have told you everything I know. Can you please let Lu Wu go? She knows nothing and just wants to help me."
Song Yuzhu nodded to Bai Xiu, and Bai Xiu pushed Lu Wu to Zhang Xiang's side.
"Your brother is dead, and that person will probably never contact you again. Do you want to stay here or go back home?"
Zhang Xiang was stunned for a moment: "You...you won't kill me?"
"It wasn't you who planned the assassination, why should we kill you?"
Zhang Xiang sighed and said, "I'd better stay here... When my brother was alive, he always hoped to make a name for himself in the palace and redeem me from the brothel so that we could go back home together. Now that my brother is dead, what's the point of me going back alone? I'd rather be alone here with my sisters by my side and live a comfortable life."
Song Yuzhu stood up and prepared to leave, but Zhang Xiang suddenly called him: "Where is my brother's body? Can I help him collect it?"
"Your brother was not thrown into a mass grave. He was buried on a hillside ten miles outside the capital. Surrounding him are the graves of deceased palace ladies. He should be easy to find."
Zhang Xiang knelt down with tears in her eyes and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Song Yuzhu was a little surprised. She didn't expect that she could recognize her identity. She was indeed a smart woman. It was a pity for her to stay in such a place.
Zhang Xiang took out a handkerchief from his bosom and said, "This was given to me by my brother. He said that a benefactor had used it to wipe his face that day. This handkerchief must have belonged to that benefactor."
Song Yuzhu took the handkerchief and saw that there was a charming red flower embroidered on it. Apart from that, there was nothing special about it. He put away the handkerchief and left Tianxiang Tower with Hei Dao Bai Xiu.
It was almost midnight, and there were still many pedestrians on the street. The palace gates were closed, so they had to stay outside for the night. Song Yuzhu took the two of them back to the Song Mansion.
Song Yuzhu didn't dare disturb her parents when she came back so late. The servant on duty called Song Quan to help them arrange accommodation.
Song Quan put on his clothes and brought hot water: "Why did you come back so late, Master?"
"I'm leaving the palace to do something. It's getting late so I won't be back. Leave the water here and I'll get it myself. Go to bed now."
Song Quan yawned and helped him mix the water. The young master didn't like others to serve him when he was bathing.
"Then I'll go back first."
"Go ahead." Song Yuzhu took a hot bath, and the fatigue in her body subsided. She lay on the soft bed and slept until dawn.
The next morning, Jiang Rong heard her son had returned and ran to his yard, "Why didn't you tell me you were back?"
Song Yuzhu hadn't gotten up yet. She had a rare late sleep. She lay on the bed and said in a low voice, "I was afraid of waking you up."
"Even if you wake me up, I can still sleep during the day." Jiang Rong held her son's hand, her words were angry but her eyes were full of love.
Song Yuzhu couldn't help but smile: "Where are Dad and Tongtong?"
"Tongtong, that lazy little girl, hasn't woken up yet. Your dad is washing up and will be here soon."
As he was speaking, Song Bai walked into the yard and said, "Why didn't you tell us when you came back..." Coincidentally, what he said was exactly the same as Jiang Rong's, which made the mother and daughter laugh.
Song Bai looked at the two of them in confusion: "What are you laughing at?"
Jiang Rong couldn't help laughing and said, "Nothing, I'm happy that my son is back."
Song Yuzhu has been busy with palace affairs recently and hasn't been home for a while: "Today is a day off and there is no morning court. I will stay at home for a while and return to the palace after dinner."
"That's great. I'll stew pork ribs and make crystal shrimp dumplings for you later!"
"Oh." Song Yuzhu lifted the quilt and put on his coat. Coincidentally, the handkerchief that Zhang Xiang gave him last night fell out from his sleeve.
Jiang Rong picked up the handkerchief and looked at it, then teased, "Whose girl gave this handkerchief to me? The embroidery is really good."
"Mom, do you know what flower this is?"
Jiang Rong shook her head: "I don't know him, can you recognize him, my husband?"
Song Bai took the handkerchief and looked at it, saying, "This is the poppy flower, also known as the rice shell flower or poppy seed. It is used as medicine to strengthen the lungs, astringe the intestines, relieve cough, relieve pain, and induce sleep."
People in later generations are terrified of opium poppy, but in ancient times opium poppy was used as a traditional Chinese medicine and few people planted it on a large scale.
Song Yuzhu didn't expect that his father actually knew it: "How come I have never seen this kind of flower before."
"That's normal. This flower likes hot and humid weather. It only grows in Yunnan. I've also seen it in books."
Song Yuzhu was startled, and quickly put on her shoes and walked outside: "I have something to do and need to go back to the palace first. I will come back to see you next time when I have time!"
"Hey? You kid, you haven't had breakfast yet!"
Song Bai held his wife's hand and said, "Zhu'er must have something important to do, don't stop him."
*
Sitting in the carriage on the way back to the palace, several images flashed through Song Yuzhu's mind: poppy flowers, Yunnan, and King Yang Yuanji of Yunnan.
Since the fall of the Sheng Dynasty, many members of the Yang family died or fled, leaving Yang Yuanji as the only one left in the royal family.
When Zhao Xiao led his troops to Shuzhou to wipe out Yang Yuanhao, this man was afraid of being implicated, so he went directly to Beijing to surrender.
Song Yuzhu did not kill him because of his sincerity, and instead granted him a mansion and conferred him the title of Marquis of Anding, a fifth-rank title.
Song Yuzhu had sent people to monitor him a few years ago, but he did nothing but drink and grow flowers every day. After a while, they relaxed their vigilance against him, thinking that he could live a quiet retirement in Shangjing, but they didn't expect that he was harboring evil intentions.
He couldn't accomplish such a big thing by himself, there must be someone in the court helping him.
In order not to alert the enemy, after returning to the palace, Song Yuzhu immediately sent Liu Yanzi to monitor this person personally. If any officials in the court were found to contact him, they would be written down.
He also had to send someone to Tianxiang Tower to protect Zhang Xiang. This girl knew so much, and he was afraid that the other party would kill her to silence her.
After Liu Yanzi left, Hei Dao and Bai Xiu asked in surprise: "Your Majesty, how do you know that the person who saved Zhang Qiu was Yang Yuanji?"
Song Yuzhu took out a handkerchief and said, "This flower is called the poppy flower, and it only grows in Yunnan. Not many people in Beijing know this flower, and the only person I can think of who can embroider this flower on a handkerchief is him."
Heidao exclaimed: "So that's how it is, Your Majesty is really amazing!"
Putting aside how powerful he is, Song Yuzhu now has other very important things to deal with.
Last night, I got two very critical pieces of information from Zhang Xiang. One is that there are illegal mining areas in Jizhou, where they illegally imprisoned civilians and took their lives lightly. The other is that the governor of Shuntian Prefecture made arbitrary judgments and harmed innocent people.
The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is called He Mingjue. He had always been at the top of the evaluations in the past few years. Originally, Song Yuzhu was planning to promote him this year, but he didn't expect this kind of thing to happen suddenly.
This person is right under his nose, but he can solve cases so badly. If he is promoted to be the governor of a prefecture, he will definitely cause harm to the people!
Song Yuzhu was so furious that he immediately sent someone to take the man to the Dali Temple for investigation to see if he had any private contact with Yang Yuanji. Once discovered, he would be severely punished!
Song Yuzhu had taken the issue of the black mine into consideration when he established iron factories in Jizhou and Zhongzhou.
In order to avoid this situation, Song Yuzhu also specifically instructed local officials to strengthen the control over the mines and report the number and situation of the mining areas truthfully. If there is any concealment, the offender will be beheaded in public depending on the severity of the circumstances.
At that time, officials from all over the country reported all the mines, big and small, one by one. Song Yuzhu would occasionally go to check with a map, but never found any problems. He did not expect that there were such inhumane black mining areas in places he could not see.
Song Yuzhu directly sent someone to invite the prefect of Jizhou to come to Beijing.
Now that there was a train, the order was issued in the morning and Jizhou prefect Cheng Jin entered the palace in the afternoon.
He didn't know why the emperor suddenly summoned him, but he was sure that it was not a good thing.
As expected, when he saw the emperor, he was frightened by his sullen face. Cheng Jin knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Your humble servant greets the emperor. Long live the emperor."
"Let's stop talking nonsense. I just want to ask you one question. Are the mines in Jizhou reported truthfully?"
Cheng Jin rolled his eyes and thought that something must have happened at the mine, otherwise they wouldn't have asked him to come to Beijing in such a hurry.
He was a sensible man and knew that pretending to be stupid would probably make His Majesty angry, and he would be in big trouble then. It would be better for him to just admit his dereliction of duty.
"Your Majesty, the mining areas reported are all from the past two years. The newly built mining areas have not been reported yet."
Song Yuzhu said angrily: "Why don't you report it!"
"I have failed in my duty. I am really busy with official business and have no time to check the mine..."
"Oh, I didn't know that you, a prefect, are busier than the emperor?"
"I dare not." Cheng Jin lowered his head in fear.
"I give you seven days to find the illegal mine in Jizhou, close it, release the detained slaves, and arrest the owner of the mine. If you can't do it, bring your head to see me."
"I obey your command!" Cheng Jin kowtowed quickly to express his gratitude. His back was soaked as he walked out of the palace.
He didn't know how the emperor knew there was an illegal mine in Jizhou, but such a thing would not come out of nowhere. If he couldn't catch those people within seven days, his head would be gone!
*
Yang Yuanji lived in the northwest of the capital. The mansion was not very large, with only three courtyards, but the surrounding environment was good, and Jing Lake was next to the courtyard.
The weather had been getting warmer these days, and there were many wild ducks and swans playing on the lake. He often brought his servants here to fish during the day, and would fish for half a day. In the afternoon, he would go to a teahouse to drink tea or go to a theater to watch a play. He lived a carefree and comfortable life, and it was hard to tell that he had any thoughts.
Liu Yanzi kept watching him for three or four days, and just when he let his guard down, she suddenly saw a familiar face in Yang's house. This person was none other than Liu Yanzi's junior fellow apprentice Bai Ying!
He disguised himself as a servant in the mansion and even grew a beard on his face. If it weren't for his different walking posture, no one would have recognized him!
Liu Yanzi and Bai Ying were martial arts brothers who had practiced martial arts together since childhood, and they knew him too well. Bai Ying had a disability in his left foot, and he limped when he walked, but he was particularly concerned about it, so every time he walked, he used his left foot very hard, so that people could not tell that there was something wrong with his foot.
Bai Ying explained here that the person who entered the palace to assassinate on that day must have been sent by Yang Yuanji! Liu Yanzi immediately went to the palace and told Song Yuzhu about this.
Song Yuzhu said: "Don't alarm him, continue to monitor, I want to catch a big fish."
Three days later, a carriage stopped at the gate of Yang's house. Liu Yanzi saw a familiar figure getting off the carriage and walking in.
In less than half an incense stick of time, the door opened, and the man carrying something hurriedly got on the carriage and left.
Liu Yanzi watched the carriage go away, her heart was like a raging storm and she couldn't calm down. She never thought that he actually had contact with Yang Yuanji...
(End of this chapter)
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