"Am I just bored, or does Awan want to catch it herself?" Gu Yan said anxiously.
Song Wan didn't deny her inner thoughts when they were revealed, "It won't be long until dawn anyway."
Gu Yan smiled anxiously, "The palace isn't as easy to break into as you think. Wait until he leaves tomorrow, and then you can do whatever you want."
In fact, with Song Wan's strength, it would not be difficult for her to break into the palace alone, but seeing that Gu Yanji seemed very worried that she would get injured if she broke into the palace alone, Song Wan swallowed her denial.
"Alright, I'll do as you say." Song Wan said lightly, "I'll help you deal with him during the day."
After Song Wan dealt with the two spies who followed Gu Wu into the Wei Mansion, he successfully used his mental power to interfere with the scene they had just seen.
"Is this okay?" Although it was not the first time he saw it, Gu Yanji was still shocked.
Song Wan nodded heavily, "They will answer according to the hints I give them when they go back."
Gu Yan was anxious: "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard. It's a pity that you can't use it, otherwise you could pass it on to them for fun." Song Wan said very seriously.
Gu Yan hurriedly shook her head and smiled, "I don't need that. I believe A-Wan will protect me."
For Song Wan, being trusted was the greatest recognition of her strength. She stood up and sat on the wall, reaching out to touch Gu Yan's anxious face and said, "Don't worry, as long as I, Song Wan, am here, no one will dare to bully you!"
The next morning, at daybreak, the Changle Gate opened.
General Wu, who was in charge of guarding Changle Gate, hadn't seen anything like this in a long time. Confused, he quickly seized the opportunity to ask the leader of the Imperial Guard, Wei Lin, "Captain Wei, where is the Emperor going?"
It's impossible for him to lead the army in person with a few thousand imperial guards. Regardless of whether there is a war or not, these few thousand imperial guards are of no use.
Wei Lin looked at him and said, "The Emperor is going to visit the Prime Minister."
General Wu: "..."
Are you kidding me? Do I need to bring so many imperial guards to visit the Prime Minister?
Song Wan and Gu Yan quickly hid in a corner where they could not see them. They were disguised, one in black and the other in red. The former looked like a rough-faced mountain bandit, while the latter was a handsome young man with red lips and white teeth.
Song Wan raised her chin slightly, her expression arrogant, "This Li Shi actually brought the Imperial Guards with him."
Gu Yan hurriedly sneered, "He's afraid of death."
Song Wan disagreed. She shook her head and said, "He's probably afraid of us. Compared to us, he'll probably want to die more by then."
Gu Yanji did not refute, but took her hand, smiled and said, "Let's go, follow me."
The news that Li Shi led 5,000 imperial guards out of the palace quickly spread throughout the palace city and the residences of important officials. When they learned that Li Shi was going to the Wei Mansion, they were both happy and worried.
The happiest person was naturally Li Shi’s maternal grandfather, Yao Guangyuan, Duke Ping’en.
Yao Guangyuan called his eldest son, Yao Chu, and asked, "Do you know why the Emperor brought five thousand Imperial Guards to the Wei Palace? Have you noticed any discord between Wei Xuezhi and the Emperor in the court recently?"
As the Minister of Revenue, Yao Chu has been worried about the floods in the south recently. The Ministry of Revenue has suffered heavy deficits, and the accounts are full of fictitious numbers.
He was thinking about how to fool around with the flood problem in the south, so he didn't pay much attention to the relationship between the emperor and the chief minister. "Father, what do you think the emperor means by this?"
Yao Guangyuan stroked his beard and said, "Since the Imperial Guards are already here, Wei Xuezhi must have displeased the Emperor in some way."
Yao Chu was puzzled. "But Prime Minister Wei has been the most favored by the Emperor in the past two years. Even your father, the Emperor's maternal grandfather, was almost surpassed. How could the Emperor lead the Imperial Guards to slap the Prime Minister in the face without any warning?"
"Hmph, no matter how proud Wei Xuezhi is, what does it matter?" Yao Guangyuan sneered, "Don't forget, he used to be related to the traitor Song Yan!"
"Father, do you mean that the emperor still cares about it?" Yao Chu analyzed.
"No matter how poor our Yao family is, we are still the emperor's in-laws. The Xu family is not, and the Wei family is even less likely to be." Yao Guangyuan snorted coldly, "The Xu family was severely damaged by the Prince Yu case. Now the only one who can stand up to the Yao family is Wei Xuezhi."
Yao Chu frowned, "But Prime Minister Wei is loyal to the emperor, and it seems that this has no impact on us."
Yao Guangyuan scolded him for being stupid. "No influence? Don't forget, the Wei family still has a girl who's almost coming of age. The emperor is still young, so even if the queen gives birth to a child, whether he can survive and grow up is a question. Moreover, this queen has nothing to do with our Yao family. Do you think the prince she raises will favor me, their great-grandfather? Or the Yao family?"
Regarding the selection of the queen, Yao Guangyuan did want to choose one from the Yao family's side branches, but the emperor was unwilling and insisted on choosing the daughter of a minister who had no relationship with the Yao family.
Yao Guangyuan certainly understood what the emperor's grandson was thinking. He used the Yao family to fight against Prince Yu and the Xu family, but when he had used them enough, he wanted to get rid of them. There was no such a cheap thing in the world.
Yao Chu lowered his head and said, "Father, I am teaching you a lesson. I am overthinking things. I would like to ask for your guidance."
"Your second brother is in Donglin Pass, and your third brother is in Xinzhou. We are the only two of us in the capital," Yao Guangyuan said, standing up and moving around. "We must find out what Wei Xuezhi has done. The emperor probably hasn't arrived at the Wei residence yet. Find a reason to go over and investigate."
Yao Chu thought for a moment and said, "My son just happened to have discussed the flood problem in the south with the Chief Minister of Wei before, and they couldn't reach a consensus. I can use this as an excuse today."
Yao Guangyuan was reluctantly satisfied. "By the way, once this matter is cleared up, I'll write a letter home to your third brother. The last letter he sent said he accidentally injured his right hand, and he always has his subordinates write letters for him. Please write a letter to ask about the situation in Guizhou and show your concern."
In Yao Guangyuan's mind, the family must be harmonious so that the family can grow and prosper. What he wants to see most is that his three sons can work together.
If he could take down the Wei family in one fell swoop this time, then his Yao family would be able to reach a higher level.
Yao Chu responded, "Son, I understand."
The Wei Mansion received news early in the morning that the emperor was really coming and was also bringing 5,000 imperial guards with him.
Madam Wei was extremely worried. "I will send someone to inform my son and daughter-in-law right now and ask them to leave the capital first."
Wei Xuezhi quickly stopped her, "The Emperor hasn't arrived yet, and you're already doing this. Doesn't that clearly show you're guilty? Besides, if it really comes to this, do you think they can leave the capital?"
Things were far beyond their expectations. Wei Xuezhi forced himself to calm down. "Things haven't reached the worst point yet. If Lu Huan had really heard everything, the Emperor wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to come out of the palace to arrest me today. Wouldn't it have been more decisive to send Wei Lin and the Imperial Guards directly?"
Madam Wei suppressed her panic and pondered, "Could it be that the Emperor is intentionally testing me?"
Wei Xuezhi couldn't guess either. He shook his head slowly, "Now I just hope they can show up later, preferably after the Emperor arrives. That way, when they see the orderly line of Imperial Guards at the door, they'll probably be able to guess roughly what's going on."
Gu Yanji is a smart man, and Wei Xuezhi believes that he can see the strangeness of the Wei Mansion.
"By the way," he asked his wife, "Has the elder of the Wei family arrived yet?"
Even though the play had already been suspected before it even started, Wei Xuezhi still decided to continue with it.
"We should be here soon." Madam Wei glanced at the sky and said, "How about we go to the front yard and take a look?"
Wei Xuezhi nodded, "Let's go."
They walked out of the yard together and headed towards the front yard.
At the same time, the elder of the Wei family came to the door with a box of one thousand and two taels of silver.
When Wei Xuezhi and his wife arrived at the front hall, they saw that several elders had very unhappy expressions and looked somewhat embarrassed.
That's right, one thousand taels is indeed a huge amount of money for them.
Wei Xueshu, the most senior of the elders, had his men place a wooden box containing 1,000 taels of silver in front of the hall. He said coldly, "Minister Wei, here are 1,000 taels of silver. Do you really mean it when you promise to release my nephew?"
It’s not that Wei Xueshu didn’t believe him, but he had begged so many times before, but Wei Xuezhi didn’t even let him enter the gate of the Wei Mansion. It would be hard for anyone not to be suspicious when such a heartless person suddenly changed his mind.
"I, Wei Xuezhi, have always kept my promises." Wei Xuezhi looked up at the sky and estimated the time. The emperor should have arrived at Fanghui Street.
Wei Xueshu still didn't know what would happen next. He was still angry at Wei Xuezhi's previous ruthless attitude, "If you were willing, why did you let my nephew suffer so much in prison?"
She was just an ordinary peasant girl. It was not that his nephew did not want to give her a status. He was a scholar after all. Taking a peasant girl as a concubine was a great honor for him.
Unexpectedly, the other party was unwilling and even threatened to commit suicide, which eventually led to the current unmanageable situation.
Wei Xueshu thought that the ungrateful peasant girl should just die, and there was no need to implicate his nephew.
"I didn't have time before." The reason Wei Xuezhi gave was simple, crude and ridiculous.
Wei Xueshu was so angry that he almost couldn't breathe. Thinking that he still needed help from him, he had to continue to endure it. "I brought the silver. When did you release my nephew?"
Wei Xuezhi thought to himself, why hasn’t the emperor arrived yet? It couldn’t be that he met someone brave enough on the road and was scammed?
"There's no rush for this matter." Wei Xuezhi planned to postpone the discussion until the emperor arrived. "Let's talk about the clan's affairs first."
Wei Xueshu's face turned black. "Wei Xuezhi, what do you mean? Don't forget that it was our Wei family ancestral hall that supported you to go to the capital for the imperial examinations, which led to your current status! Don't forget that the ancestors of the Wei family were watching you coldly from the sidelines in the ancestral hall!"
Wei Xuezhi said without showing any emotion, "Of course I remember."
If the people of Weijia Village had not remembered this kindness and that they were all from the same clan, how could they have the living status they have today?
But what did you do when you had money and status? You didn't strive for progress all day long, but just visited brothels and drank wine. Now you even do such things as raping women. If he continues to condone this, he will be truly ashamed of the ancestors of the Wei family.
Wei Xuezhi knew that the tribute from the Wei family clan had stopped in recent years, so it was likely that they had scraped together this one thousand taels overnight.
"I said, as long as you meet the requirements I raised yesterday, I will naturally let you get what you want." Wei Xuezhi said with his hands behind his back.
Madam Wei mediated from the side, "Elders, please sit down and have some tea. We are already taking care of your matter. Please be patient and wait for a moment."
Someone led him down the stairs. Wei Xueshu flicked his sleeves, sat down angrily, and planned to drink some tea and take a break.
At this moment, Ami suddenly came over with new tea, and when passing by Madam Wei, she slipped a note into her hand.
Although Mrs. Wei was surprised, she did not forget to avoid the gazes of the Wei family members. After seeing what was written above, her expression was obviously relieved a lot.
While the Wei family members were drinking tea, she secretly passed the note to her husband and mouthed a name.
Wei Xuezhi was stunned for a moment, then quickly took the note and lowered his head to see what was written on it.
After a while, when everyone's tea had been changed, Wei Xuezhi finally held back his laughter. No wonder when he saw the elders of the Wei family coming over, their sleeves were more or less stained with dust.
So this was the reason. Wei Xuezhi glanced back and forth at the boxes of silver.
In the courtyard of a shop not far from the Wei Mansion, Song Wan looked at the silver ingots scattered all over the ground, feeling extremely satisfied. "We still have some money left after paying back all the money we spent along the way."
Gu Yu sat among the piles of silver, touching this and that. He was extremely envious. He tilted his head and asked, "Sister Wan, when can I go with you?"
Song Wan patted his head and said, "When you become emperor, you can arrest as many corrupt officials as you want. But don't fight with me for these little shrimps, Ayu."
Gu Yu's eyes lit up. "Can we catch as many as we want?"
It turns out that being an emperor has this benefit.
Song Wan felt as if she had misled the issue, but she still said with her neck stiff, "Of course! Only by arresting more corrupt officials can you have more money to benefit your people!"
This should be considered as bringing people back, right?
Gu Yu understood, "Then I will definitely work hard to catch more corrupt officials in the future!"
Song Wan smiled and rubbed Baozi's face, encouraging him, "Come on!"
Gu Yu nodded heavily.
Gu Yan anxiously looked at the two, one big and one small, with a smile in her eyes, "Okay, Ayu, stop sitting on the ground, you're hindering Song Qi from tidying up."
Gu Yu said "oh" and crawled out from the pile of silver obediently. It was Sister Awan who brought him in just now.
Gu Wu, who had gone out to inquire about the news, returned to the shop and quickly walked up to the two masters to tell them everything he had heard and learned. "Minister Wei has received the note from Miss Song. In addition, the emperor has already arrived at Fanghui Street and will be at the Wei Mansion in less than a quarter of an hour."
The excitement in Song Wan's eyes became more and more obvious. She rubbed her hands and said, "Then let's go!"
Gu Wu's face showed hesitation, and he added, "Also, I saw the sedan chair of Duke Ping'en's mansion not far behind."
Song Wan frowned, "Lord Ping En? Who is that?"
Gu Yan was not surprised by the anxiety and explained to her, "Yao Xu is from the Yao family of Ping'en Gong. I think the person sitting in the sedan chair should be his elder brother Yao Chu, who is the Minister of Revenue."
Gu Wu lowered his eyes, "It is indeed as the master guessed. The person sitting above is not Duke Ping En but the current Minister of Revenue, Yao Chu."
"Ministry of Revenue?" Song Wan interrupted, a thought flashing through her mind. "Is it the very wealthy ministry?"
Gu Yan nodded hurriedly, "Do you remember the flood that happened in a place in Jiangnan when we passed by there?"
Of course Song Wan remembered that this was the place where she spent the most money along the way.
"Yao Chu must have come to discuss this matter with Prime Minister Wei, and by the way, to find out what the Wei family has done wrong." Gu Yan guessed anxiously, "The Ministry of Revenue has been slow to allocate funds, and it's likely that Yao Chu and the officials who colluded with him have embezzled all the money and kept it for themselves."
"This Yao Chu is even worse than Yao Xu!" One made her earn several walls of gold, while the other made her spend hundreds of taels without earning any.
Therefore, in Song Wan's mind, Yao Chu would of course be ranked ahead of Yao Xu on the list of bad guys.
"Then can I take over this Ministry of Revenue in the future?"
"Then can I take down Yao Chu as well?"
One small and one big, one in front and one behind, two pairs of similar yet different eyes looked at Gu Yanji with expectation at the same time.
Gu Yan was anxious. "...Ayu, you can replace someone else in charge of the Ministry of Revenue in the future, but you can't do without the Ministry of Revenue. This is related to the foundation of the country."
Gu Yu was disappointed. "Is that so? Then can I beat up all the disobedient people?"
Gu Yan anxiously "..."
He should have brought Li Songzhi to the capital. If he knew that A Yu had not grown up as he expected, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood for three days and three nights.
"Of course! But you have to follow the rules, the laws of Dai Viet."
Although Song Wan likes to beat up bad guys, if a country has no rules and order, it will easily collapse, and then more people will go hungry.
So she told Baozi, "Everyone, including you, must abide by the established rules!"
"Awan is right. You can deal with those who have done wrong according to the laws of the country. You cannot resort to lynching to vent your personal anger." Gu Yan squatted down quickly, his eyes level with Gu Yu's. "Ayu, you must remember that you are the emperor. In the future, you will have absolute power, but this does not mean you can do whatever you want. The higher the power, the more responsibility you need to bear. For tens of millions of people, the only one they can rely on is you."
Gu Yu thought carefully and nodded, "Ayu, I understand. Ayu has many more people to protect than Sister Wan, so I can't act arbitrarily."
But he was still a little sad, as if he was suddenly isolated, and he still couldn't get used to it.
Seeing this, Song Wan praised him for his cleverness, and then said, "It's okay, Baozi. You protect your people, and Sister Wan will protect you!"
Gu Yu nodded vigorously, "I'm not much better than my second brother, so Sister Wan must protect Yu more!"
Song Wan was so happy that she agreed to anything and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay."
Gu Yan anxiously "..."
Who taught him to take the opportunity to share the favor?
The cunning Gu Yu, with an innocent face, took the opportunity to pull Song Wan's sleeve and asked, "Can you take me with you to catch the bad guys?"
Song Wan: "Okay, okay."
Gu Yan listened anxiously and immediately stopped him, "Ayu, stop it."
Gu Yu looked disappointed, knowing that he couldn't fool his second brother, but he still wanted to try.
Song Wan felt sorry for Baozi, who would have to work harder than a plowing ox in the future, so she couldn't help but say, "Just take Baozi with you. Maybe it will make the emperor even angrier!"
Gu Yan is anxious...
Song Wan didn't wait for his consent. She tied Baozi to his back, put their heads together, and urged him, "Let's go!"
Gu Yan sighed anxiously and had to ask Gu Wu to take out the last piece of paper and stick it on Gu Yu.
Before leaving, Song Wan told Song Qi and Gu Wu, "You must help me keep an eye on the money!"
The two adults and one child quickly climbed over the courtyard wall and headed straight towards the Wei Mansion.
Song Wan was dressed in red and carrying a yellow-faced baby on her back. Gu Yan followed closely behind her in black.
The two of them were so fast, like two shadows passing by, that others couldn't even detect their breathing.
The emperor's dragon chariot stopped in front of the Wei Mansion, the door of the Wei Mansion was open, and Wei Xuezhi and his family kowtowed and saluted.
"Your humble servant pays homage to His Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"
"My dear minister, be safe..." Li Shi sat on the imperial carriage, and hadn't finished speaking, nor even had time to raise his hand.
Suddenly a strong wind blew up and the whole sedan chair turned over. The head did not touch the ground, but the people did not fall down. It was as if someone had seen a ghost.
Chaos ensued. Wei Lin drew his sword and peered around, trying to straighten the sedan chair while shouting, "Who is so presumptuous? Surrender now!"
"Wei Lin, save me! Save me!" Li Shi, who had never experienced such a scene, panicked. "No one is allowed to look! Close your eyes! Close them!"
Wei Lin ordered the Imperial Guards, "Quickly surround all exits of Fanghui Street! Don't allow anyone to leave!"
The sedan chair seemed to be fixed in mid-air by some force. No matter whether Li Shi used internal force or the combined efforts of dozens of imperial guards, the sedan chair and Li Shi remained motionless.
Li Shi was furious with these fools. He suspected Wei Lin of betrayal and deliberately created an appearance of being in trouble.
He roared, "Wei Lin! Get me down! Quick!"
In addition to the imperial guards scattered everywhere, there were also people in Fanghui Street stopping to look in. They had not seen the emperor yet.
But why is this emperor the opposite? He doesn't seem to be very smart, and his temper is nothing like the benevolent and magnanimous person described in the previous stories.
In the dark, Song Wan used the mental power to control people, making Li Shi and the sedan chair rotate in all directions.
The people and the sedan chair rose to a higher level at the same time. Unless Wei Lin kept using lightness skills to jump up and down, he would not be able to touch Li Shi's hair at all.
Song Wan slowly turned around and asked Baozi on her back, "Is it fun?"
Gu Yu was very curious, "Sister Wan, when I become the emperor in the future, can I also fly like this?"
Song Wan: "...Baozi, your focus is off. I'm punishing him."
Before arresting someone, they always make him look very ugly so that the people can recognize his appearance.
Gu Yu understood, but this was a flying man!
So he said, "The punishment is flying backwards, but if it's a reward, it can fly forwards!"
Song Wan thought for a moment, but couldn't think of any rebuttal. "Then I'll think about it later."
Gu Yu was about to feel secretly happy when he was suddenly knocked. He wailed softly, "Second brother, why are you knocking me?"
Gu Yan hurriedly grabbed the unconscious Yao Chu with his right hand, and knocked Gu Yu on the head with his left hand, sternly rejecting Song Wan's request, "There is no such reward."
He is still young and has not learned his lesson. He only knows how to trick his wife.
The author has something to say:
First update, red envelope for this chapter.
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