Reborn girl from poor family

Chapter 8 Night Tour

Shen Huai followed Su Ya through most of Huai'an City. The girl seemed to be going to a market, walking around all over the city.

If the light was on in the study, she would go to the study. If the light was on in the bedroom, she would go to the bedroom.

It happened that some of the bedrooms were doing business, and there were unusual noises. She seemed to be ashamed, and ran away with her neck curled up in a guilty conscience.

With such shame, you still want to listen to the corner?

Shen Huai has been in a bad mood since he was injured. How could he be in a good mood after being plotted against? He only found out the clues halfway and was in a hurry to seek medical treatment, so he had to endure his anger. However, he entered Huai'an City and saw Su Ya The scene of the person being tortured under the bridge felt a bit satisfying.

Although Zhang Shenmu's poison identification conclusion was already expected by him, Shen Huai thought about it later and found that the reason why he could accept it so calmly may also be related to his distraction at the time.

Su Ya practiced martial arts and was in and out of Zhou's house. She was really full of loopholes. If it weren't for her poor background, he would not have allowed such unstable factors to stay around. But he didn't expect this girl. He actually has a habit of visiting various houses at night - looking at how familiar he is, it's hard to say that this is his first offender.

Recently being guarded by two attendants like a piece of brittle jade, Shen Huai's own condition is also bad. He followed Su Ya and wandered around in the snow tonight. He was a little tired, but he felt quite refreshed.

But this girl was too good at running away. After all, Shen Huai was poisoned and felt weak after following her. Su Ya noticed her and was almost blocked by her in the alleyway of a certain house.

He quickly passed through the moon door and took refuge in an empty room.

Su Ya noticed that someone was following her, but she couldn't see who it was. She couldn't help but feel a sense of horror like "a mantis stalks a cicada, but an oriole follows behind."

In the past two years, she has been very cautious in going around each government. With her understanding of the layout and personnel of each government, she has never been discovered by anyone. She was actually followed tonight, and the other party did not reveal her whereabouts. I don’t know what the intention was. ?

Su Ya felt guilty and did not dare to investigate further, let alone act rashly in other people's houses, so she ran away quickly.

Shen Huai waited for her to go far and then prepared to leave. Before leaving, he glanced back and found that this room was actually a study room. There were two piles of documents piled on the desk, which seemed to be related to the government.

As soon as he thought about it, he simply flipped through it under the bright light of the snowy night, and found that they were all water transport government affairs, not only the water transport from Beijing to Hangzhou, but also letters from Guangxi to Huai'an via Guangdong and Guangxi.

A recent letter mentioned: After several months, the chieftain rebellion in Yong'an, Guangxi was finally suppressed at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. The report of General Zhao Qing of Zhenxi has been submitted to the Ministry of War, and he must have received a lot of rewards. It is the beginning of the new year, and Guangxi I am afraid that the military salary of the border guard army will have to be allocated first. But now that the imperial government's finances are empty, this money will probably have to be mobilized from southern Zhili. The recipient of the letter is asked to pay attention to matters related to military salary.

It turns out that this is the private residence of Liu Yun, the chief criminal officer.

The official position of chief is quite common and can be found in all ministries and departments. It is the sixth rank, two levels lower than the prefect.

What is unusual is that the chief criminal officer stationed in Huai'an is a good job, dispatched directly by the Ministry of Punishment. All water transport cases are in charge of the chief criminal officer. Locally, he is only subject to the management and control of the governor. Other departments include No one, including the Huai'an government office, has the right to intervene.

Since the beginning of the canal, water transportation has been the gold flowing on the canal. Most of the palace consumption, officials' salaries, military salary payments, people's food dispensing, etc., are transported by water transportation.

Such an important position makes water transport independent of various ministries and departments, and controls soldiers, horses, grain, money, materials, and work. In addition, because the governor of water transport also has the power to governor local areas, he is equivalent to returning In charge of local administration.

With great power, it is difficult to control the problem of corruption. Countless organizations are supported under water transportation. It is difficult to calculate the interest exchanges between officials and businessmen. Just look at the prosperity and extravagance of Huai'an Mansion, which is the command center of water transportation. You can get a glimpse of it.

Therefore, in order to prevent corruption, the officials stationed in the relevant agencies of the Six Ministries in Huai'an to assist in water transportation generally rotate once a year, and some rotate once every three years.

The current criminal director assigned by the Ministry of Punishment to assist in water transport work must have been in office for less than three years, but he already has such a large private house, and he must not have many clean hands.

However, Guangxi has nothing to do with water transportation. Why does Liu Yun care about Guangxi when he is in charge of water transportation cases?

Shen Huai couldn't help but frown, and then looked down.

The letter went on to say: The process of quelling the chaos this time was difficult. General Zhao Qing could not withstand the pressure from the central government, so he advanced unexpectedly and was captured. Fortunately, he was saved by a passing boy... When Shen Huai read this, he couldn't help but hum two words from his nose. When Dao Qi was about to look again, a light came on outside and someone's voice gradually approached. He quickly restored the bookcase to its original state and found a place to hide.

Two people came, and after entering the door, they still lowered their voices. The one who heard the voice was in his forties, had a stern look, and the corners of his mouth were sinking. It was Liu Yun, the person in charge of the execution.

Liu Yun handed the letter that Shen Huai had just turned over to another person. After they read it again, they both frowned in unison.

"...My lord asked me to come over overnight and tell you to make preparations as soon as possible." The other man lowered his voice and said to Liu Yun.

"How to prepare? General Zhao Qing has gone too far in this matter... Now that the application papers have been submitted to Beijing, he only thought of fixing the leaks. How confused!" Liu Yun took the letter back and folded it into the envelope again, with a gloomy expression on his face. , "Master Xu, you know, that poisonous doctor Liu Sandian, although he has been to Huai'an before, after all, several years have passed and there is no trace of him for a long time. How can we contain him?"

"The difficulty is a bit more difficult, so what can we do? After all, Zhao Qing and your Excellency are related by marriage. If we lose each other, we will both be harmed. Your Excellency and we are together... In short, now we are just doubting the identity of that person. We only need to find Liu first." Take control at three o'clock, no matter who that person is, he will be dead."

"This! If that man is really Shen Huai, if we kill him, we are murdering a court official, which is a serious crime of beheading! The Queen Mother will not spare us."

Liu Yun paced back and forth on the open space in the room with his hands behind his back, his expression becoming increasingly ugly.

"He is just a young Hanlin who got the rank of fifth grade by chance. The emperor only cherished his talents and allowed him to be willful. But he did not stay well in the capital and insisted on running around. As the saying goes, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. He is so If you are rebellious and frivolous, who can you rely on even if you die outside?"

Mr. Xu was about fifty years old, with a pale face and a pair of white eyes. He glanced at Liu Yun from time to time and spoke slowly and provocatively, "You don't have to worry too much. He is just a grandson recognized by the Queen Mother. How much affection can the Queen Mother have for him in her heart?"

Seeing that Liu Yun did not answer, he was not in a hurry, folded the letter slowly and put it back, with a gentle expression on his face, "Besides, even if the Queen Mother pursues the case, won't there still be Concubine Wan Gui? Shen Huai originally refused the marriage proposal from the concubine's mother's family. It means that with the imperial edict and the Queen Mother protecting him, the imperial concubine had nothing to do with him, so she must be feeling aggrieved, so we are just venting her anger for the imperial concubine... In short, as long as we don't leave any evidence, what kind of trouble can he cause as a dead person?"

"Master Xu, is this a good deal?" Liu Yun stopped beside Master Xu, "After all, General Zhao Qing of Zhenxi is only related to you by marriage, why should you take this risk for him..."

"Oh, you should know that a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake. In this world, is there anything that adults cannot control? How can there be any risk!"

After Master Xu finished speaking, he shook his head and sighed, then smiled and patted Liu Yun's arm, "Master Liu, you need to worry about your future first. Seeing that your three-year term in Huai'an is about to expire, there are many great people in the Criminal Department of the two capitals. , aren’t you planning to move up a bit? Is it possible that you still want to go back to Qingshui Yamen in Nanjing to retire?”

As soon as he said this, Liu Yun looked startled, swallowed his words, cupped his hands and said, "I still need some kind words from Mr. Xu."

The two chatted for a few more words, nothing more than the Spring Festival holiday arrangements, but they didn't dwell on this topic any more.

After the two of them left, Shen Huai walked out from behind the curtain with a very cold look on his face.

He didn't expect that there was someone in Huai'an Mansion who could dominate the sky with one hand. Just because he was related to Zhao Qing by marriage, he would kill someone without anyone noticing, even if it was the second-ranked person in Jinke, the grandson of the Queen Mother, from the fifth rank. The official of the imperial court!

Is it stupidity, or is it really possible to cover the sky with one hand and be unscrupulous?

Shen Huai's eyelids narrowed slightly, and in the night, bloodthirsty flashed through his eyes.

It is indeed true that kindness is as great as hatred. Speaking of which, not only did he have no personal grudges with Zhao Qing, the general of Zhenxi, but on the contrary, he was kind to Zhao Qing for saving his life.

(End of chapter)