From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Zhou Yuan came to Ningbo Prefecture, and the first thing he wanted to do was to meet someone.

Here, he planted many seeds, just to deal with the pain when the sea opened.

After Huang Zuoyu left, a short, dark-skinned middle-aged man walked in quickly. Seeing Zhou Yuan, he immediately knelt down and said loudly: "Your subordinate greets the prince!"

Zhou Yuan held the teacup and said slowly: "Do you know that there is a ghost in your family?"

Wu Zhong said: "Your subordinate knows that after the second batch of Chaozhou merchants lost contact, I already suspected that there was an internal ghost."

"But I dare not alert the enemy, dare not investigate openly, can only send spies to slowly collect intelligence, and so far there has been no particularly big gains."

"Those big families are cautious and smooth in doing things, and they have not left any traces. We can't find any loopholes to open that hole."

"But your subordinate has summarized some lists, please take a look, Your Majesty."

Zhou Yuan took the letter, took a closer look, and slowly narrowed his eyes.

The letter clearly stated "Fenghua Jiang Family, Jiangxi Cheng Family, Xiangzhou Luo Family, Lin'an Li Family."

Wu Zhong whispered, "Fenghua Jiang Family is... the family of the late Emperor's Consort Shu, a large family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with decades of experience in Ningbo Prefecture and great influence."

"Jiangxi Cheng Family is a famous family of scholars, and once created a myth of three Jinshi in the imperial examination. The family has been passed down for 200 years, and has produced two champions, one runner-up, and six Jinshi."

"After Zhao Jing, the Cheng family declined and started doing business for more than ten years."

"As for the other two A family..."

Zhou Yuan said calmly: "Let me tell you, the Luo family of Xiangzhou refers to the family of Luo Yunhe, the king of the Southern Tour."

"The Li family of Lin'an Prefecture, are you talking about Li Yunhua? The family of Li Zhaolu, the current governor of Dongfan."

Wu Zhong nodded and said: "These four families have participated in the opening of the sea since the beginning. The scale is growing day by day, and they also have gangs under them... They are all very suspicious."

Zhou Yuan said: "Go to the side hall to rest, and continue when Gou Yun arrives."

"Yes, I will take my leave for now."

Wu Zhong did not dare to breathe, lowered his head and slowly retreated.

After a while, the door of the study was pushed open.

Of course it was not Gou Yun who came. There were not many people who dared to push Zhou Yuan's door directly.

Zhuang Xuansu, dressed in a tight suit, walked in quickly, picked up Zhou Yuan's tea and drank a few sips.

Then she said, "I arrived a day earlier than you, and quickly took over the work of the Inner Court Division. Just as I started, Guan Lu said you were here."

"Have you found out?"

She looked at Zhou Yuan, frowning slightly.

Zhou Yuan said, "Sit down. Look at your two big dark circles. You are an iron man. You don't sleep!"

Zhuang Xuansu waved her hand and said, "This is not the time to talk about these things. What's the point of being sentimental? I only care about how far you have found out."

Zhou Yuan handed her the paper on the table.

Zhuang Xuansu read it and was also shocked. He said, "Even the Southern Prince and the Jiang family are involved? How are you going to explain to Qinshui and Ruanzhi?"

Zhou Yuan's face was gloomy, and he said coldly, "What does it have to do with Qinshui and Ruanzhi? Did they sell out the country?"

"One is busy doing business with Qu Ling for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, supporting silver and money to various places, and the other is busy studying academics. How could they know this?"

"Let me say this in advance. No matter who it is, no matter how big the background is, as long as they become traitors, don't blame me for being cruel."

"Your Majesty dared to kill even his own father, so why shouldn't I dare to kill him?"

Zhuang Xuansu was obviously relieved, and said, "The Li family... Li Zhaolu is Zhao Cheng's best friend!"

Zhou Yuan said, "I don't Kill him, his father must also kill him!"

"I just hope they are innocent, so that I won't have to do anything difficult. But if they are involved, even if they know about it but don't report it, I will make them bleed!"

Zhuang Xuansu sat down, feeling a little tired, and sighed slowly, saying: "They are all big families, and they are not short of money to spend. It's really shameful to sell out the country for the sake of business."

Zhou Yuan thought for a while, and then said: "You send pigeons to the capital, and let Qinshui and Luo Yunhenan go next time."

Zhuang Xuansu said: "Is it necessary? It's hard for you to be involved."

Zhou Yuan said: "It's better to be a human being if you make it clear, and it's hard to be a human being if you hide it."

"What I did is open to the public, and I'm not afraid of doubts."

Zhuang Xuansu shook his head helplessly.

Then she looked at Zhou Yuan and whispered, "There is something I don't know if I should tell you."

Zhou Yuan said, "From your look, it doesn't seem to be a good thing."

Zhuang Xuansu said, "About Ye Qingying."

Zhou Yuan stood up and shouted, "Didn't she go to the South China Sea Military Academy? Where did she go!"

Zhuang Xuansu hesitated and said, "I only found out through the internal guards when I went to Ningbo Prefecture that she didn't go to the South China Sea Military Academy.She did not go to Fuzhou Prefecture, but went directly to Ningbo, and went out to sea with a few internal guards. "

"She must have gone to look for... those captives."

Zhou Yuan could not help but slap the table and shouted: "Stupid! Reckless! Who asked her to go! This is at sea! Doesn't she know how dangerous the island pirates are!"

Zhuang Xuansu took out a note from her bosom and handed it to him, saying: "This is what she left before she left."

Zhou Yuan hurriedly opened it, and saw a short message written on it - "The island pirates can't take the hostages to the mainland. The route is too far, the cost is too high, and it is not conducive to exchanging ransoms."

"Most of our Ningbo Prefecture's goods are sent southwest along the coastline to the South Sea countries, but the cargo ships have lost contact in the waters near Dongfan Island."

"I suspect that the hostages are near the waters of Dongfan Island. I plan to take the internal guards to Dongfan Island first, and then look for islands around Dongfan Island, maybe I can find out about the hostages. "

Zhou Yuan clenched the note tightly and said with gritted teeth: "She went to Dongfan Island and may have even sailed out from Dongfan Island."

"No matter how anxious I am, I can't do anything."

"Send a letter to Nie Zairong immediately and ask him to send a cruiser to Dongfan Island to contact Li Zhaolu and find Ye Qingying. Bring her back to me and don't let her do anything."

Zhuang Xuansu said: "I have already written a letter. Don't worry too much. Ye Qingying is also an experienced person. She won't be too reckless."

Zhou Yuan shouted: "She is stupid! She is used to doing her own thing! Who allowed her to do this! Does she have the authority to do this!"

"When you come back, you will reduce her level to the lowest level, so that she can only stay in the base and write manuscripts!"

Zhuang Xuansu said: "It's useless to say anything now. To assist him from the side, the representatives of the island pirates must meet as soon as possible to stabilize the other party! ”

“This will help rescue the hostages, and even if Ye Qingying is caught, we can protect her from the side.”

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and said, “Where is the representative of the island bandits? I will meet him tonight.”

“First, get the money to stabilize the other party, meet the hostages, and then discuss the details.”

“Now I just hope that with Ye Qingying’s speed, she is far from taking any substantial action, and has just arrived at Dongfan Island.”

Zhuang Xuansu said, “She left ten days ago, not that fast, at most she has just arrived at Dongfan Island. Nie Zairong is faster, so he should be able to intercept her.”

“In addition, there is also pigeon communication over there. I can let the internal security of the Fuzhou Prefecture Branch send a message to the Dongfan Island Governor.”

Zhou Yuan said, “Do it immediately! The sooner the better!”

“Okay! "

Zhuang Xuansu walked out quickly.

Zhou Yuan felt bored and walked out of the yard, telling his men: "Ask Huang Zuoyu to prepare 500,000 taels of silver. I need it tomorrow night."

"I'm going to meet the island bandits. I really miss them."