Chapter 113

Jiang Yanyi said slowly: "Jianjia, how about handing this sheepskin scroll to the government for disposal?"

Huo Jianjia nodded: "If this thing falls into the hands of others, it may cause trouble. It is best to hand it over to the government."

She touched the handle of the big knife behind her back, and her eyes were like a little wolf: "I have only one request. If the group of people who killed my father are caught, and there is a female itinerant doctor among them, I will personally chop off her head!"

"Female itinerant doctor?" Jiang Yanyi paused while holding the sheepskin scroll.

The loose hair hanging down in front of Huo Jianjia's forehead blocked her eyes, only the corners of her mouth were tightly pursed, showing a bit of stubbornness: "That traveling doctor is good at making incense and smoke, and my father was fooled by her!"

Jiang Yanyi asked hurriedly: "What does the female traveling doctor you are talking about look like?"

Huo Jianjia gestured with her hands: "She is a woman in her forties, half a head shorter than you, about this tall, and of medium build."

What Huo Jianjia described was consistent with the female traveling doctor Jiang Yanyi had met before. Just now, she heard Xing Yao say that someone in Pipa Lane was attacked and burned a large amount of smoke with fire.

Previously, I met a female itinerant doctor at the market and bought food for several people...

Jiang Yanyi's expression changed slightly: "We will catch the murderer."

She looked at Huo Jianjia's bloody clothes and said: "Go to the next door to find Qiu Kui first, wash up and change into clean clothes."

Huo Jianjia wiped the blood off her face and went back obediently.

Jiang Yanyi walked out of the flower hall quickly, asked the servants of Feng Mansion and learned that he was in the study. After telling Feng Shuo about the sheepskin scroll, she said: "There is a female itinerant doctor named Fang in the city. She should have accomplices hiding in her residence. They are probably the

remnants of the previous dynasty who kidnapped Jiang Yanxi." In the original book, it was a female doctor named Fang who recognized Jiang Yanxi as a princess of the previous dynasty in the village outside the pass.

Jiang Yanyi had never thought about the former dynasty outside the Great Wall. After all, in the original book, the plot was triggered when the hero and heroine arrived outside the Great Wall.

But combined with the current clues, the female itinerant doctor surnamed Fang is undoubtedly the female doctor who prepared medicine for the heroine and almost poisoned the emperor Feng Shiyan in the original book.

The female itinerant doctor and her group robbed the sheepskin scroll used by Huo Jianjia and her father to escort the convoy, obviously wanting to use it as a bargaining chip to cooperate with Xing'an Hou.

When the war breaks out, only the lowest class of people will suffer. At present, the world is divided into three parties. The southeast is Fan Wei and the Xinyang King's party, the northwest is Feng Shuo, and the central part is the power of the new emperor Feng Shiyan.

The three parties have their own constraints. Although there has never been peace, they dare not fight hard in order to preserve their strength. The scope of the war is limited and will not affect more innocent people.

She and Feng Shuo both intend not to let people from the previous dynasty get involved and stir up trouble. After all, the old ministers of the previous dynasty want to restore the country, so they wish the world would be more chaotic. The more miserable the people's livelihood is, the more support they will get if they jump out to draw big pie.

Now people from the previous dynasty suddenly jump out, obviously someone deliberately pulled this line.

Calculating the time, the last time she caught a cold, the female itinerant doctor had already come to Xizhou, wasn't it after Jiang Yanxi was arrested?

Feng Shuo asked Xing Yao to find Lu Linyuan, most likely because he suspected Lu Linyuan.

Although it was already known that Jiang Yanxi was at the Jixiang Inn, the female itinerant doctor's residence must also be a base. Feng Shuo quickly ordered his trusted men to set up an ambush, and specifically told them not to make any surprises.

Once the net was closed at the Jixiang Inn, if there were any escaped remnants of the former dynasty who were looking for a hiding place, they would have to retreat there. Catching them all in one net would be much easier than searching the entire city.

After making all these arrangements, Feng Shuo looked at the blank parchment scroll on the table and asked Jiang Yanyi: "Can you trust your maid's words?"

Jiang Yanyi said: "My people have been watching her for a while, so she can be trusted."

As soon as she finished speaking, Chi Qing rushed in from outside: "Where is the treasure map of the previous dynasty?"

He found Jiang Yanyi inside when he entered the room, and hurriedly bowed: "Miss Chu."

Jiang Yanyi bowed in return.

Feng Shuo handed the treasure map to Chi Qing: "Can you see any cat stuff?"

"Blank?" Chi Qing muttered as he took the parchment scroll and turned it over. He even rubbed the edge of the parchment scroll with his hand, but found no partition inside. His interest was immediately lost. He curled his lips and said, "This parchment scroll is probably fake. It might be a play directed and performed by the former ministers, just to get Xing'an Hou to join in and help them save people."

He returned the parchment scroll to Feng Shuo. , poured himself a cup of tea to quench his thirst: "I'm so sorry that I rushed here as soon as I heard the news. I thought that with this money I could buy a batch of weapons for the soldiers and a whole heavy cavalry. I was so happy for nothing!"

The heavy cavalry was raised with countless silver, and it also had an absolute advantage on the battlefield. The light cavalry was good at marching and performing some raiding missions, but it could only be defeated in the frontal battlefield against the heavy cavalry. The

heavy cavalry, from the soldiers to the horses, was protected by heavy armor. They could not be hurt by long-range arrows at all, and could only fight in close combat. When the light cavalry faced the fully armed heavy cavalry at close range, the light cavalry might not be able to hurt the opponent even if they chopped the heavy cavalry several times, while the heavy cavalry could kill or injure the light cavalry with just one slash.

On the battlefield, if there is a heavy cavalry, in a head-on confrontation, the heavy cavalry can crush the opponent's infantry camp, and the infantry behind can then clean up the mess and make up the damage, and the chances of winning will be much greater.

However, it is extremely difficult to form a heavy cavalry. Almost all the top soldiers in the camp are selected. After all, wearing heavy armor and wielding weapons requires both the skills and physical fitness of the cavalry.

The war horses must also be selected from the best horses. Not only do they have to carry the cavalry wearing heavy armor, but they also have to wear armor to prevent swords and cuts. Inferior horses can't run at all with these on their backs.

In order to prevent their subjects from rebellion, the emperors of all dynasties did not allow their subjects to privately raise heavy cavalry. Only the emperor had a heavy cavalry.

There are many hills in the south of Xizhou, and the advantage of heavy cavalry cannot be brought into play, so they can stalemate with the court. But outside the territory of Xizhou, it is mostly plains. Sooner or later, they will have to face a head-on confrontation with the court, and they cannot do without a heavy cavalry unit.

The more expectations Chi Qing had before he came, the more disappointed he is now.

Feng Shuo originally did not pin his hopes on the treasure map, and did not think this result was a big deal. He glanced at Chi Qing and said, "Didn't I ask you to raise money?"

This hard job was finally taken by Chi Qing because he was mean a few days ago and teased Feng Shuo for not being able to have a meal at Jiang Yanyi's place openly.

He said bitterly: "I tried every means to get money from the merchants in Xizhou, but these merchants are also cunning. They are all very cunning. They cry poor and sell miserably, but they are more powerful than anyone else. If you don't care about your reputation, I can just take people to rob them."

Feng Shuo glared at him.

Chi Qing helplessly threw up his hands: "Then I have no choice."

Jiang Yanyi had been silent until she heard this: "The wealthy businessmen in Xizhou have established a chamber of commerce. I will try to start with the chamber of commerce."

If Feng Shuo puts pressure on them by force, he can also make the wealthy businessmen bleed heavily, but if he does that, the reputation he had worked so hard to build up before will be gone. He has to make the wealthy businessmen "willingly" pay out of their pockets.

Feng Shuo raised his eyelids and looked at her: "What do you want to do?"

Jiang Yanyi said: "Defeat them one by one."

She brought Ruyilou and the noodle shop to join the chamber of commerce, and the profit pie in the chamber of commerce must be redistributed. Through the successful bidding for Ruyilou, the people in the chamber of commerce also knew that Feng Shuo was behind her.

She approached the merchants one by one, hinting that they could get a bigger piece of the pie by donating money to support military supplies. As long as one person stopped speaking in unison with the other merchants, the other merchants would get nervous. In order not to be kicked out and to keep the piece of the pie that originally belonged to them, they had no choice but to follow suit and contribute.

Chi Qing's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands and said, "That's a good idea."

Feng Shuo thought about it for a moment, and seemed to think that the idea was feasible. He nodded, "Tell me if you need cooperation from the government office."

Jiang Yanyi went to paint a big pie for the merchants, and the government had to spread some news to scare those old foxes.

Chi Qing held the teacup in both hands, looked at Jiang Yanyi and then at Feng Shuo, "Isn't this my responsibility?"

Why did he need to inform Feng Shuo if he needed cooperation?

Feng Shuo said calmly: "I will personally supervise it, you go back and supervise the construction of the city defense."

Chi Qing: "..."

Where is human nature?

Since the beginning of winter, the heavy snow in Xizhou has almost never stopped.

Lu Linyuan stood in the yard, looking at the dead branches covered with snow outside the wall, his eyes were like a dry well, without waves. His figure was a little thinner than before, with a gray squirrel brocade cloak on his shoulders, and he would cover his lips and cough from time to time.

His servant came out of the kitchen with a bowl of freshly boiled medicine: "Master, it's time to take the medicine."

Two birds were resting on the dead branches. Lu Linyuan stared at the birds and said, "Leave it for now."

The servant muttered, "I'm afraid it's not the last time that the root of your cough has not been cured."

He was talking about the time when Lu Linyuan braved the wind and snow to look for Jiang Yanxi for a day and a night.

At this time, the gate of the courtyard was roughly knocked twice, and the servant hurried to open the door: "Here, who is it?"

When the gate was opened, the servant saw a team of armored guards and fell silent instantly.

Xing Yao stepped into the courtyard and showed the token of Feng Mansion: "Please, Mr. Lu, accompany me."

Lu Linyuan just picked up the medicine bowl, and was surprised by Xing Yao's sudden visit. He also had a secret uneasiness on his face. He put down the medicine bowl and bowed and asked: "May I ask what happened? Where is Guard Xing taking me?"

Xing Yao said: "Mr. Lu will know when he sees the prince."

As soon as Xing Yao mentioned Feng Shuo, Lu Linyuan's uneasiness became heavier.

He had been cautious since returning to Xizhou City, and he should not reveal his tracks.

Arriving at the study in Feng Mansion, he still greeted Feng Shuo as before: "I am honored to see Your Majesty."

Feng Shuo sat at the desk, raised his eyelids and looked at the young man who was bowing and kowtowing below: "Do you remember what you said to me in this study that day?"

Feng Shuo did not let him stand up, and Lu Linyuan had been holding the posture of bowing. These incoherent words implied a warning, and his heart sank. He answered, "I remember it."

Feng Shuo said, "It's good that you remember it. Tell me, who let the person who rescued Xipin into Xizhou City?"

Lu Linyuan's heart was pounding, but his face showed just the right amount of surprise, "Xipin was rescued by someone?"

Feng Shuo narrowed his eyes. Considering Lu Linyuan's several meritorious services, he wanted to give him another chance, but Lu Linyuan's words made him lose his patience.

The sharpness in his eyes was like a knife tip, but he spoke slowly: "Lu Linyuan, I didn't kill you, not because you are the only son of Lu Mengxue, but because I am afraid of being criticized by Confucian scholars. You are still alive now, but I remember that you saved hundreds of lives in Dingjia Village."

Lu Linyuan knelt down hurriedly, half frightened and half terrified, and a little embarrassed: "Your Majesty, calm down." Since ancient times, it

has been difficult to be loyal and righteous.

When he went to Yuzhou as an envoy to lobby Xing'an Hou, Chu Chengmao and his party were still hostages in the hands of Emperor Feng Shiyan, and Jiang Yanxi became a bargaining chip in Feng Shuo's hands, and even nearly had a finger cut off to threaten Feng Shiyan.

After all, she was the person he had been obsessed with for his whole life, and Jiang Yanxi had fallen into the trap just to save him. How could he bear it!

Jiang Yanxi would not have an easy life whether she was in the hands of Feng Shuo or Feng Shiyan, so he contacted the old subordinates of the previous dynasty, wanting Jiang Yanxi to follow them to hide outside the Great Wall, away from this vortex of power.

The letter was written in Yuzhou, and no one else in the world knew about it except him. He didn't know why Feng Shuo suspected him. The unknown panic made him sweat coldly on his back, soaking his underwear in an instant.

Feng Shuo looked at him from above: "For the sake of those hundreds of lives, as long as you tell the truth, I will not pursue the matter. Do you have anything to do with the remnants of the previous dynasty who rescued Concubine Xi?"

He was known as the "Living King Yan" in the army, and his aura was indeed not something that a mere scholar like Lu Linyuan could resist.

Lu Linyuan's hands, which were resting on the ground, trembled unconsciously due to his kneeling posture. He knelt again to cover up the trembling in his hands: "I hope Your Majesty will understand that I knew nothing about Concubine Xi being rescued!"

Feng Shuo narrowed his eyes: "I heard that Grand Scholar Lu is having a very hard time in the capital now. You might as well go down and think about it carefully, and then decide whether to tell the truth to me."

Lu Linyuan had made many contributions in the government office, and the only time he made a big mistake with evidence was last time. Although he suspected that the influx of old subordinates from the previous dynasty into Xizhou was related to Lu Linyuan, this was only a guess, without evidence.

Feng Shuo had expected that it would be impossible to get anything out of Lu Linyuan easily. He summoned him today, firstly to trick him to see if he could get something out of him, and secondly to find a reason to lock him up first.

He had to deal with Xing'an Hou immediately. Even if the former dynasty's former subordinates had anything to do with Lu Linyuan sneaking into Xizhou City, given the friendship between the Lu family and Xing'an Hou, and Xing'an Hou was persuaded by Lu Linyuan, he had to make sure that Lu Linyuan would not leak the news in order to avoid any accidents. After Lu Linyuan was taken away

by the palace soldiers and put under custody, Feng Shuo glanced at the sky outside the window, then retracted his gaze and continued to deal with official documents.

In another half an hour, there should be news from the Jixiang Inn.

Jixiang Inn is located in the east of the city and is the best inn in Xizhou City.

Since the Marquis of Xing'an arrived in Xizhou, the Jixiang Inn has been booked out and never receives outsiders.

The door of the inn is the main street, along which are vendors with stalls or peddlers carrying goods and shouting.

Although the snow has been falling, the streets are crowded with people, and the accumulated snow is quickly trampled and melted, exposing the blue stone slabs of the street.

The sound of horse hooves came from afar, and the scarlet cloak behind the person riding the lion horse fluttered in the cold wind. The reins of the lion horse were pulled in when it reached the door of the inn, and it was clear that the person on the horse was a woman.

"The county owner is back!" The guard at the door of the inn hurried forward to lead the horse.

Yang Zheng turned over and dismounted, and the brow pendant hanging in front of her forehead also swayed slightly.

The pendant was made of agate, and the cinnabar red color made Yang Zheng's skin look as white as snow.

She glanced at the street, and her eyes changed suddenly.

Something is wrong!

This afternoon, the people doing business in the stalls and selling things on this street were all strong men, but there were no women or children!

When Yang Zheng handed the reins to the guard who came to greet her, she asked, "Where is my father?"

The guard did not find anything unusual and said respectfully, "The marquis is in the room."

Yang Zheng pushed the guard aside and went into the guest house. When she entered the door, she found several unfamiliar faces, and Yang Zheng frowned tightly.

Several former subordinates noticed the hostility in Yang Zheng's eyes and stared at her covetously.

Chang Sui, who was beside the Marquis of Xing'an, came out and called out "County Lord", which made those people calm down.

Yang Zheng pursed her lips and asked, "Are these the new employees in the inn? They don't know how to greet me when they see me, and they have no manners at all!" Her

tone was arrogant, as if she was just a spoiled girl from an aristocratic family.

Xing'an Hou had been keeping the meeting with Fang Zhi a secret from Yang Zheng. Chang Sui was worried about how to explain these people to her. When Yang Zheng asked, he followed Yang Zheng's words and said, "Please calm down, County Lord. I will discipline these servants."

Yang Zheng snorted and said to Chang Sui, "This County Lord is hungry. Send me some food to my room!"

Several former officials downstairs had already regarded her as an arrogant and brainless young lady and did not take her seriously.

After going upstairs, Yang Zheng keenly discovered that someone was guarding the door of a room. She did not say anything and went straight back to her room.

Chang Sui quickly took the waiter of the inn to bring food to Yang Zheng upstairs. After Yang Zheng sent the waiter away, she asked her personal maid to close the door, pulled out a dagger and put it against Chang Sui's neck. Her cold and fierce tone was completely different from her arrogant appearance downstairs in the inn: "What's going on with those people downstairs in the inn? Who is in the room opposite?" Chang

Sui was completely unprepared for Yang Zheng. He was also frightened when a sharp knife was suddenly handed to his neck, "County... ...County Lord, please put down the knife first..."

Yang Zheng shouted in a low voice: "You idiot, tell me if you want to live! There are killers outside the inn. Who else do you think can deploy these killers in the Dizhou area?"

Yang Zheng's words scared Chang Sui out of his wits. He knew the plan of Marquis Xing'an very well. If the King of Liaoning knew that they had ulterior motives and wanted to take action against them, this is Xizhou, in the territory of the King of Liaoning, they will have no way out!

Chang Sui told him all the plans of Marquis Xing'an and his former subordinates.

After hearing this, Yang Zheng was so angry that she slammed the dagger on the table, "Father is really confused!"

Chang Sui said, "The Marquis is also trying to vent your anger for you..."

"I hope the King of Liaonan will marry someone else, why would my father vent my anger

for me?" Yang Zheng was so anxious that her head hurt. Chang Sui was speechless. The Marquis of Xing'an agreed to cooperate with the former dynasty's old subordinates, and more or less he still had some thoughts of wanting to be the king himself.

He said, "I will arrange a carriage to take you and the prince out of the city."

Yang Zheng sneered, "Those people outside are keeping a close eye on the inn. I'm afraid the carriage will be shot into a sieve by arrows before it runs out of this street!"

Chang Sui panicked, "This... What should we do..."

Yang Zheng said, "For now, we can only arrest these former dynasty rebels ourselves and hand them over! Let the kitchen prepare meals and put drugs in the meals!"

Directly kidnapping people would only alert the enemy, so it would be faster to use drugs.

Chang Sui immediately went down to arrange for people.

It was dinner time, and the kitchen in the guest inn had already started cooking. The former officials knew that Xing'an Marquis was now on the same side as them, so they were not on guard against Xing'an Marquis's people. When the food was served, they ate heartily and were soon mesmerized by the feast.

The two guards guarding the door of Jiang Yanxi's room saw their companions falling down one after another, and finally realized that something was wrong. However, they were outnumbered and were soon kidnapped by Yang Zheng's men.

When the door was kicked open, Jiang Yanxi, who was crying in the room because of her life experience, was also frightened and trembled. She looked at Yang Zheng, whose face was as pale as ice, and was instinctively afraid: "Who are you?"

Yang Zheng glanced at her and ordered her attendants: "Tie her up."

Soon someone came forward and tied up Jiang Yanxi. She wanted to shout for help, but was blocked again.

Xing'an Hou, who had been in the room, heard the two guards being tied up, and when he went out of the room, he saw Jiang Yanxi was also tied up.

Xing'an Hou's eyelids jumped: "Zheng'er, what are you doing?"

Yang Zheng was furious: "It's all your fault, father. If you don't hand him over, we will die in Xizhou!"

Before Xing'an Hou could react to Yang Zheng's words, his attendant said with a look of impending disaster: "Marquis, the King of Liaoning has found out about us. There are killers outside the inn! What is the King of Liaoning doing? I want to kill you directly and take over Yuzhou!"

Xing'an Hou was also suppressed by Feng Shuo's thundering means, but he still had a glimmer of hope: "How is it possible? There are so many people in Xizhou City. Even if he checks every house, it will take several days..."

A few days are enough for him to get the treasure map. At worst, if he can't hide it anymore, he will turn around and cry thief, sell out the old subordinates of the previous dynasty, and go back to look for the treasure.

He thought that at least Feng Shuo would send someone to test and negotiate. He had thought of the excuse of playing Tai Chi, but he didn't expect that the other party would directly arrange a strangulation like a net.

How could he know that after the first two city-wide searches in Xizhou City, every five households in Xizhou City are now a squad with a squad leader; every ten households have a squad leader. Whenever the government investigated someone, the people would monitor and report each other. If they knew something but didn't report it, all ten families would be punished.

As long as a search order was issued, the results would be out in less than half a day.

Yang Zheng didn't want to waste any more words with Xing'an Hou, and said angrily: "Father, why don't you go out and take a look yourself, and you will know if what I said is a lie!"

Xing'an Hou had been in the army for many years. When he looked out of the door of the inn, he knew that what Yang Zheng said was true. He took a half step back in shock, and the blood on his face faded away.

He regretted it and sighed: "I underestimated the King of Liaoning, I underestimated him! This time... even if we hand over the princesses of the previous dynasty, I am afraid that the King of Liaoning will not let us go..."

"Zheng'er, your father is sorry for you!"

Yang Zheng was surprisingly calm: "Hand over Yuzhou as well, maybe there is still a glimmer of hope." Handing over

Yuzhou is equivalent to handing over the military power, and they are no longer a threat to Feng Shuo.

Xing'an Hou was still dreaming of being a local emperor in the morning, but now he was forced to hand over the military power. He didn't even have time to breathe, and he vomited and fell ill, and was bedridden.

When Xing Yao brought back the news, Feng Shuo was quite surprised.

Chi Qing clicked his tongue twice: "This Xing'an Marquis County Lord is actually three points stronger than her father. Before you took action, she took the initiative to hand over the person, and put forward a scapegoat to say that Xing'an Marquis had been kept in the dark, and then offered Yuzhou to him. What a good move to save the marshal."

If they had gone hard with Feng Shuo and lost their lives, they would have lost everything.

Using this best of the worst strategies, they could save their lives without losing face, and they also thought of reasons for Feng Shuo not to pursue them.

Feng Shuo ignored Chi Qing and asked Xing Yao, "Have all the rebels from the previous dynasty been arrested?"

Xing Yao clasped his fists and said, "There is still a female traveling doctor who has not been found. According to people from Xing'an Marquis's side, the female traveling doctor has not returned since she went out in the afternoon, and the people guarding near the female traveling doctor's home have not seen her."

Feng Shuo said, "Catch her as soon as possible."

"I obey your command." Xing Yao hurried away after saying this and continued to look for the female traveling doctor.

Several thorny matters were settled. Chi Qing was in a very good mood and took an orange from the fruit plate and asked while peeling it: "How do you plan to deal with the princess of the previous dynasty?"

Feng Shuo said in a light voice: "Exchange her and the new emperor for 3,000 stones of grain. Do you think the new emperor is willing?"

The orange was a little sour. Chi Qing's nose and eyes were almost wrinkled, but because of shock, his eyes widened, which was quite funny: "After blackmailing the new emperor, you also gave him a pillow knife?!"

He hissed: "You are worthy of it!"