Chapter 224 The Letter That Cannot Be Delivered
Early in the morning.
Mother and Aunt Xiuxiu are not at home.
Jiang Ziyan is bringing his younger sister with him today.
The younger sister was surprisingly well-behaved, sitting on the straw mat and combing Jiang Xiaobai's hair.
The little white wolf looked very happy as he lay lazily beside her.
Jiang Ziyan originally wanted to read a book, but gave up.
I found that the little red bird was a bit noisy today.
It's not just the little redbird that's noisy; all birds are noisy.
There are surprisingly many birds in the yard today, jumping up and down on the branches, as if they are having a meeting.
Jiang Zifeng received an assignment and followed Cui Xingzhou to patrol the city and outside the city.
However, patrolling is secondary. The main thing is to monitor every move outside the Qin Mansion.
To prevent the Qin family from leaking information to the outside world.
I heard that several gangs of bandits have come to the outside of Jiangzhou City recently, all of them are eyeing the horse farm in the western suburbs of Jiangzhou.
Most of them were heading for the gold mine in the forest.
Fortunately, they are currently only wandering outside the city and dare not hurt anyone.
When Governor Cui heard the news, he was shocked.
Additional guards were quickly dispatched to the city to defend it strictly and not let any bandits enter.
Of course, the person who was most nervous about the arrival of these bandits was none other than Lou Ye.
At this moment, he was as anxious as an ant on hot pan, pacing back and forth in the cave.
The temperature in the cave was already high, and the back of my clothes were all wet.
The subordinate who went to get information came back hurriedly to report, "Master, the horse farm is surrounded by bandits, and I am afraid they will take advantage of the dark and windy night to break in.
Lou Ye's expression was solemn as he ordered, "Divide the troops into two teams. One team will fight to stop the bandits, and the other team will follow me to escort the money away..."
"Also, find someone to keep an eye on that woman Lu Qingyao. Don't let him report her to the police."
The task of refining official silver in Jiangzhou was instructed by Prince Su, and was fully responsible by Lord Qin, who was the head of a state at the time.
Lord Qin is stationed in Jiangzhou, which is a remote place with dense jungles. Choosing this place to refine silver will not easily be exposed.
After being refined and the official seal removed, the silver could quickly flow into the market, and then be exchanged for grain and transported back to the capital.
Without anyone noticing.
Therefore, not many people knew about this, only he and Lord Qin, even Madam Qin didn't know.
As luck would have it, Lord Qin was inexplicably implicated by a concubine and became the mastermind behind the assassination of King Jing. The Qin Mansion was also surrounded.
He had a bad feeling.
Far water cannot quench a nearby fire. Pointing fingers at Prince Su is probably hopeless.
"Has the letter been sent?" Lou Ye asked his men.
"Yes, it was sent to the capital at an expedited rate of 800 miles."
"Okay, send another letter to Tanzhou by carrier pigeon."
Without the protection of Lord Qin, it is impossible to stay in Jiangzhou. Lou Ye is wondering whether this batch of military pay can be transported to Tanzhou.
But it will only be possible if Magistrate Wang sends someone to pick us up.
He wrote a note, stuffed it into a bamboo tube, took the carrier pigeon handed to him by his men, and tied it to its foot...
Watching the pigeons fly away, I felt a little relieved.
…
The autumn weather is clear and crisp.
The sun is shining and the sky is clear.
A flock of geese flew by, leaving behind a lone bird.
A white bird flew out from the horse farm, skimmed over the treetops, and flew overhead.
“Whoosh…”
An arrow flew through the air.
Then it landed on the ground with a white dove stuck in the arrow.
Ordinary pigeons usually fly in groups, but this is a solitary pigeon, which is easy to identify.
"Sister, this pigeon is perfect for Miaomiao to roast and eat, but there is not enough meat." Xiuxiu picked up the pigeon, took off the mailbox on her feet and handed it to her sister.
I started to wonder whether to stew or roast the pigeon.
Lu Qingyao took the small note out of the mailbox and looked at it. She smiled and said, "It seems that Lou Ye is desperate and is thinking of writing a letter for help. I wonder if the letter has been sent to the capital?"
"Sister, when I passed by the post station yesterday, I saw the Duke's men following us. I think the Duke would never let Lou Ye send the letter."
Xiuxiu held the pigeon and looked at it, muttering to herself, no matter how fast this pigeon can fly, it is impossible for it to fly to the capital.
"Sister, do you know where this pigeon flew to?"
"Judging from the direction, it should be flying to Tanzhou. The current prefect of Tanzhou is surnamed Wang, and he is Madam Qin's cousin." Lu Qingyao looked at the northwest direction and said with certainty.
There is no doubt that Lou Ye wanted to transfer the military pay to Tanzhou.
Ever since she knew that the theft of military pay was related to Prince Su, she asked Jiang Yue to help investigate Prince Su's connections.
After checking, she actually found it out.
Jiangzhou is located in a remote area with high mountains, long rivers and dense jungles.
If this horse farm had not fallen into her hands by accident, Miaomiao would not have accidentally picked up the silver coins.
It would be difficult to find the cave in a short time.
Moreover, the cave has more than one entrance. If you are not fully prepared, it will be very difficult to catch the criminal red-handed.
Xiuxiu looked towards the horse farm and asked, "Sister, there's something I can't figure out...I wonder if I should ask?"
When she worked for King Jing in the past, she always followed her master's instructions and never asked why.
But that's how people are. Once they start thinking, a constant stream of questions will flood into their minds.
I can't help but be curious.
"What's the matter?" Lu Qingyao looked at her with a smile.
"I just can't understand why Prince Su didn't refine the silver in his own fiefdom, but instead had to go to the trouble of transporting it to Jiangzhou. Isn't that more risky?"
Lu Qingyao smiled lightly, "Of course I came here for food..."
How could she describe her mood today? She was both excited and nervous.
She was so excited that she blurted out everything that was on her mind, not knowing if it would scare Xiuxiu.
"Jiangnan is a land of fish, rice and water, and a large area near Jiangzhou is rich in grain. Prince Su chose to refine silver here, probably for the grain, so that they can store it." Lu Qingyao learned from Mu Yunji.
The silver refined by Prince Su was not only sent to the capital, but the Wang and Qin families were also directly allowed to store grain locally and then transport the grain to Prince Su's fiefdom.
Xiuxiu was puzzled. "Sister, why do they need so much food? Look at the grain shipped out of Jiangzhou. It's all genuine goods at a good price. It seems that Prince Su has taken most of the grain in Daliang."
Lu Qingyao hesitated for a moment, but still replied, "Xiu Xiu, think about it, a prince falsely accuses loyal ministers and generals, and needs so much food and money, what do you think she wants to do?
"rebellion?"
Xiuxiu blurted out and quickly covered her mouth.
Looking at my sister's expression, it's true.
Although Concubine Li is favored by the emperor, Prince Su has no military power, and the Wang family is a civil servant...
So Prince Su is raising troops.
Maintaining an army requires money and food.
However, they couldn't afford both the money and the food.
Lu Qingyao and Xiuxiu smiled at each other, then rode their horses at full speed towards the horse farm.
The bandits immediately became alert, but when they saw that they were two young ladies, they relaxed their guard again.
Upon asking, I found out that one of them was the owner of the horse farm.
Then he became interested and wanted to take the horse farm for himself.
After all, gold mines are not ready-made gold that can be robbed and taken away. It would be best if it can be mined legitimately.
The leading bandit leader directly blocked their way with his sword, "Who among you is the owner of this horse ranch?"
"My surname is Lu, and I am the owner of this horse farm. What advice do you have for me?" Lu Qingyao raised her eyebrows and looked at him.
…
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