"Is this... what Ning Yi, Ning Liheng, taught you to say?"

In the Imperial Study, filled with bright light, Han Jing paused slightly upon hearing the Emperor's question: "Ning Yi?"

Zhou Zhe stared at him, silent.

Han Jing knelt there, his expression seemingly flustered, feeling at a loss. "Your Majesty, Ning Yi is... a merchant."

"Hmm, so what?"

"He... he's a businessman..." Han Jing's expression grew complex, seemingly not understanding why Zhou Zhe mentioned Ning Yi at this time. He gathered his thoughts. "Not... not to deceive Your Majesty, when Lvliang Mountain needed supplies, this Mr. Ning came and had a good relationship with Lvliang Mountain. After arriving in the capital, we also had dealings. But... but about today's matter, Your Majesty, he... he's a merchant..."

"He has a good relationship with the Right Chancellor." Zhou Zhe paced with his hands behind his back, silent for a moment, then muttered to himself, "Indeed, I was mistaken. Although he is capable, he has never truly been involved in officialdom, only doing things behind the scenes..."

Han Jing didn't know whether to respond. After a while, Zhou Zhe pointed at him. "Han Jing, based on this incident alone, I should truly kill you."

Han Jing shrank back.

"But the people of your Green Wood Stronghold in Lvliang Mountain, their combat strength is precisely because of this kind of affection, this kind of spirit. Without this kind of boldness, this kind of banditry, I fear you would become like everyone else. But Han Jing, in any case, the capital is a place where rules are observed. Some things cannot be done. You must think of compromise. Tell me, what should I do with you?"

"Your... Your subject... doesn't know... Please punish me, Your Majesty."

"Punishment, there must be punishment!" Zhou Zhe emphasized. "But, how to combine this boldness with rules, you must think of a way with me. For you, some things should change, some should not. Where to draw the line in the middle, I have not fully figured it out. You have committed a great crime this time, but... Old Qin..."

He looked up, pausing slightly. "Old Qin's family died before leaving the capital. The eagerness of these people is truly chilling! Han Jing, you once followed Qin Shaoqian in the Wu Rui Camp. What kind of person was Qin Shaoqian, you know in your heart, right?"

"General Qin... your subject thinks... he was actually a good person..."

"Yes, a good person." Zhou Zhe didn't refute this. "I understand. He was decent to his subordinates. But for the sake of victory, he used his father's power to gather all the good things under his command, harming the other armies. He had merit and demerit, but I cannot let his merit offset his demerit. This is the rule. But this time, his father passed away, and he was also beheaded. I am saddened and heartbroken, saddened by the death of their family, heartbroken by... these living powerful officials, scheming against each other, disregarding the country and the people!"

"Han Qing, in the future, do not become such a powerful official."

Zhou Zhe took a breath and slowly walked to his desk. "Get up. I will issue a warrant for this incident. Do you know that I am meeting you alone this time? Tan Zhen, Li Bingwen, Cao Fangxiu, these people came long ago. I'll give you a heads-up, Li Bingwen didn't speak ill of you, he treats you as a brother, but the others, impeaching you is their duty, you must not hold a grudge in your heart, understand?"

"Yes."

"Didn't I tell you to get up?" Zhou Zhe frowned.

"This sinful subject dare not."

"Get up when I tell you to get up, otherwise, I will get angry." Zhou Zhe waved his hand. "I have several things to ask you about."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Han Jing then stood up. Zhou Zhe nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

"I heard that this Lin Zongwu is known as the number one expert in the world? Is that true?"

"Yes." Han Jing nodded. "It is rumored among the Jianghu that his Great Brightness Sect was formerly the Manichaean sect. And this time in the capital, he also has people backing him..."

"I know these things, but don't make wild accusations." Zhou Zhe gave a simple reprimand. When Han Jing nodded, he was satisfied. "I heard that the people he brought with him to the capital this time are all experts."

"Yes."

"What did you do to him?"

"He escaped wounded, but his followers were... almost completely annihilated by us..."

"Haha." Zhou Zhe laughed. "The number one in the world has to flee in the face of my cavalry. What about your casualties?"

"There were... several deaths and injuries..." Han Jing hesitated for a moment, then added, "Five brothers died, and some were injured..."

Zhou Zhe pursed his lips, then said, "They are all martyrs, and must be properly compensated. Although you left the camp privately for the sake of your chieftain, this time, the money will come from the palace. However, you must also tell everyone, I admire what your chieftain has done, but such undisciplined things cannot happen again. If there is a next time, I will have to treat you like the Qin family, painfully... investigate you."

After Han Jing answered, Zhou Zhe nodded again and smiled. "There is another point, I am a bit curious. You all love and respect Chieftain Lu so much, why is it always you who comes to see me, and not Chieftain Lu herself?"

Han Jing hesitated. "...Chieftain is, after all, a woman, so these matters are entrusted to this subject to explain... certainly not disrespect to Your Majesty..."

"Hahahaha." Zhou Zhe laughed heartily. "I understand, I understand. Han Qing, don't worry, I understand everything. Your chieftain is a respectable and admirable female hero, a great hero, I understand in my heart. If she came today, it might be difficult for us to talk to each other. Lvliang Mountain, all are my people, you have suffered for many years, it is my fault, but the past is gone, no need to look back. Now the Jurchens are rampant, the country is in turmoil, but it is not without opportunity for men to achieve meritorious service. Han Jing, guard this land well for me, I will not let you down, one day you may be able to be granted a title and enfeoffed as a king, like the Prince of Guangyang..."

Zhou Zhe originally had some doubts about the Green Wood Stronghold's cavalry. He wasn't entirely sure who was in charge between Han Jing and Lu Hongti. Now, he suddenly understood. Lvliang Mountain's Green Wood Stronghold was initially developed by Lu Hongti, but after it grew, how could a woman lead a group of heroes? The ones in charge were ultimately people like Han Jing. However, that Miss Lu had a very high reputation, and everyone in the stronghold was grateful to her and respected her greatly.

In this way, for those like Han Jing who held real power, he would use both kindness and power. For those like Lu Hongti who were being revered, he only needed to add all kinds of glory and favor.

Having thought these things through, he felt quite pleased. When he thought of Ning Yi earlier, it was just a flash of inspiration. When Han Jing looked confused, he regretted it.

He was previously interested in Ning Yi mainly because he hadn't seen Li Shishi several times. Later, when he saw Li Shishi performing for the soldiers on the city wall, he had complex emotions in his heart. However, Li Shishi already had a lover. He was the Emperor, how could he be jealous and compete for her? He learned more about Ning Yi, a scholar who went into business, using all sorts of disreputable little tricks under the Right Chancellor. He felt disgusted, but he couldn't deny that the other party had some ability. Since he was the Emperor, he should use people regardless of their background. Qin Siyuan was dead, and one day he would make him a clown kneeling before him, using him. If he made a mistake, he would just wipe him out.

How could he really care about such a person? And even if the Right Chancellor fell, he wouldn't destroy him because of such emotions. But if he made a mistake in the future, he wouldn't be lenient.

Because of such emotions, he didn't want to think too much whenever he noticed this name - wouldn't thinking too much make him seem to value him too much? - This time, in such a formal setting, saying Ning Yi's name to an important general, after saying it, seeing Han Jing's confused expression, he felt a little embarrassed: Did a merchant instigate you to do such a thing?

Tsk, how undignified.

Fortunately, Han Jing knew that he had made a big mistake and was nervous, so he probably wouldn't notice anything.

After that, knowing the general situation of this Lvliang cavalry, and finding a breakthrough, he was in a good mood - how to adjust this Lvliang cavalry, so that they would not lose their wildness, and could be firmly held, and even develop more armies with this kind of quality, this was actually the biggest thing he felt recently, because there was no established method - as for Qin Siyuan's death, all kinds of power transitions, even if such a big thing happened near the capital, all kinds of ugly appearances, according to the rules, the things that should be knocked, that was it.

After chatting with Han Jing for a while, Zhou Zhe let him go back to appease the military, and by the way, issued him a warrant for the dispatch of troops. As for Tan Zhen, Li Bingwen and others, he didn't arrange for them to meet in the palace, lest they had to mediate again.

Han Jing left the capital with several personal soldiers and light cavalry. Passing by a courtyard, he saw a small mourning hall set up in the distance, and sighed slightly...

After he left the city, the atmosphere in the capital seemed to be covered with a layer of fog, hazy and unclear in the night.

****************

Nearly two thousand cavalrymen left the camp without military orders, and subsequently slaughtered on the plains, spilling blood like rivers. Usually, this would be a major event, but in the current situation, it could be considered either major or minor.

Qin Siyuan's problem involved such a wide range that few of the major families and high-ranking officials in the capital could completely escape responsibility. When the news came, more high officials entered the palace, and those at the core of power were guessing what might happen next. As for those below, such as constables Chen Qinghe and Tie Tianying, they had returned to the capital early and prepared to make a big splash. When the news of the Qin Siyuan family's misfortune reached the capital, the situation was obviously even more complicated.

This time, no matter which side the authorities wanted to deal with, they had a reason.

However, that night, everything remained tense, without further development. Either the Emperor had not yet made a decision, or the powerful officials were still negotiating in private, and everyone was watching the situation, not daring to act rashly.

Zhuxian Town was thirty or forty miles from the capital. Although the news of the deaths of Qin Siyuan, Qin Shaoqian and others reached the capital that night, the bodies had not yet arrived. As for the group who mobilized that night to save Qin Siyuan, possessing the last power of the Qin mansion, they were only slowly following the horse carriage carrying the bodies.

After the Jurchens left, although Bianliang became prosperous again, the city gates were still closed at night. Qin Siyuan's body arrived with Ning Yi and others outside the south gate of Bianliang in the early morning. It was not until the gates opened in the morning that they drove into the city. Tie Tianying and others were already waiting there.

At this time, the morning court had already begun. Once a decision was made, he would be able to arrest people. Ning Yi and others escorted the body in, looking indifferent, seemingly not wanting to cause trouble again. Soon after, they transported the body to the small mourning hall.

When a tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Although Qin Siyuan had been coffined, there might not be many people who dared to pay tribute to him at this time. After dawn, Tie Tianying received news that the matter of the cavalry leaving the camp had been dealt with lightly.

However, the matter here was not over. In the early morning, the first high official to come to pay tribute was unexpectedly Tong Guan. He went in to see Qin Siyuan and others' mourning hall, and when he came out, he first called Ning Yi to the side to talk.

In a room in a courtyard not far from the mourning hall, the conversation went like this:

"I didn't sleep well all night because of your matter! You can hide it from others, but can you hide it from me? The matter of 1,800 Lvliang cavalrymen leaving the camp, are you saying it has nothing to do with you? Can you hide it from the world?"

"Only to save Prime Minister Qin's life..."

"You! Did you save him?"

"For the sake of what should be done, Prime Minister Qin indeed exhausted his efforts, he should not have had such an end..."

"However, for the sake of what should be done, he still used the wrong method. The lesson of the past is the lesson of the future!"

"But I didn't expect that the first person to come to pay tribute would be Your Highness..."

"Hmph! I... Sigh..."

"To protect Prime Minister Qin, I exhausted all methods, but now, it has all been in vain..."

"What do you want to say?"

"Prime Minister Qin left behind some things before he left, and many people want them. I am just a merchant, Prime Minister Qin is gone, I can't keep them. The things... are here."

"...You want to borrow a knife to kill someone!? This Prince is a military commander, what do I need this for!?"

"Your Highness has the shallowest involvement here, and is the least afraid of trouble. This is the karma left by Prime Minister Qin, it's not good for anyone to touch it. Whether Your Highness wants to use it, or burn it, it's up to you."

"..."

Tie Tianying thought that at least Tong Guan would be furious about the cavalry incident, but he really couldn't understand the thoughts of the big shots. After negotiating with Ning Yi in private, this Prince also left with a calm expression.

Tong Guan no longer pursued Ning Yi's matter. The palace had Zhou Zhe to back up the army's affairs. After that, the only thing ordered was to apprehend the murderers who assassinated Qin Siyuan - this was also impossible to get. The chief constable of the Ministry of Justice was indeed a killing star among the Jianghu, but it was not easy to move Lin Zongwu's level. In the past few decades, the only Grandmaster they had moved was Liu Dabiao.

And in this, Lin Zongwu also suffered a great loss. He originally had a high official in the capital supporting him, wanting to become famous after assassinating Qin Siyuan, and the capital would be lenient, so the Great Brightness Sect would expand to the capital, but who knew that they would run into the army head-on. Not only were the experts in the sect killed, but also wanting to enter the capital next was a pipe dream for the time being.

In addition to Lin Zongwu, several major families in the capital who secretly supported warriors also suffered losses. The Jianghu experts who ran to the wilderness to watch the excitement were even more miserable and had nowhere to reason. But in this firefight, many things that surfaced in secret also truly moved people. Some serious criminals who had long been wanted in the capital, including the remnants of the Holy Duke, seemed to be foreshadowing some bad omens that were about to come.

After Qin Siyuan's death, the division of power would inevitably be a firefight and competition before it could be stabilized again.

And Tie Tianying absolutely did not believe that Ning Yi would stay out of this chaos. Whether he had defected to Tong Guan or any other side was secondary. The important thing was that for the sake of a hundred people in his family, he slaughtered half of Liangshan. This time, he would definitely take revenge!

But due to the leniency of the superiors, coupled with the death of the Qin family, and with Tong Guan's intentional or unintentional care, Ning Yi's affairs temporarily faded from the sight of most people.

In the following days, people occasionally came to the mourning hall to pay tribute. Ning Yi spent some money to set up some stages at the entrance of the alley, and gathered his performers, either storytellers or opera singers. The children nearby occasionally came to listen and watch, and the stage also gave out candy. These performances were also measured, mostly performing programs that made people laugh, and the storytellers never talked about tragic stories, only telling some stories unrelated to the world. Summer was sometimes sunny and sometimes rainy. Some children came, but were pulled back by the adults who inquired that it was the funeral of a traitor. There were not many people when it rained, but the performance on the stage continued. Once, Zhong Shidao came and listened to the erhu music under the deep and shallow shade of the trees in summer, the singer was singing.

"The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, the waves wash away heroes... Right and wrong, success or failure, all turn to emptiness. The green hills remain, how many sunsets glow red... The white-haired fisherman and woodcutter on the riverbank are accustomed to seeing the autumn moon and spring breeze..."

The singing was desolate, set off by the laughter and stories, it seemed ridiculous. When he heard "How many things in ancient and modern times are all entrusted to laughter," he couldn't help but shed tears. Summer was bright, but the wind and rain were vast. After saying goodbye to Qin Siyuan, who defended the city, he was also leaving, taking his brother's remains back to the Northwest.

The other high officials in the capital didn't care about the little things after Qin Siyuan's death. At this time, he was still a traitor, they could not talk about right and wrong, they could not talk about "existence", they could only talk about "emptiness". Since they talked about the emptiness of right and wrong, success and failure, these people would put it out of their minds even more. People with such thoughts could not play politics.

Only Tie Tianying was not deceived by such an atmosphere. After the seventh day of Qin Siyuan and Qin Shaoqian's death, Ning Yi and others buried the family without alarming too many people. At this time, various things in the capital had returned to the normal track of chaos and busyness. The Ministry of Justice spent a lot of effort investigating the remnants of the Manichaean sect from the north, but because there were too many people going to the capital recently, and there were many cases in the capital, the investigation had been slow. But Tie Tianying still arranged manpower to monitor Zhuji's movements.

In the big direction, after the fall of Taiyuan, establishing a Yellow River defense line had become the biggest strategic action in the capital recently. To establish such a big defense line, one had to spend money and effort, and if one had to spend money and effort, there would be things to allocate with rights, so the various forces in the capital were fighting for it. On the other hand, the position of Right Chancellor was vacant, and a new candidate had not been determined, which was also a big cake - in fact, as long as people were observant, they could see that Li Gang's hard-supported position as Left Chancellor was probably not going to last long.

Because of the threat of the Jurchens, the army was the top priority. The high officials in the capital were all seeking ways to innovate. The Wu Rui Camp outside the city had been placed on the cusp of the storm, but the more this was the case, the more cautious everyone was about how to attack this army. These were all big things. After burying Qin Siyuan, Ning Yi largely began to lean towards Tong Guan's faction, and Zhuji began to move again, but he had just entered Tong Guan's circle, and was basically doing his own thing, probably to restore the vitality of Zhuji under his command first.

Because of this and that, among many big things, the things Zhuji was doing seemed truly insignificant, and the things of Zhuji's members seemed somewhat aimless for a while. After Qin Siyuan's death, Ning Yi's actions also seemed much stranger. Tie Tianying occasionally saw him go out, look at cloth, talk about business, and do things more boring than before. During this time, he couldn't guess what he was thinking.

The Ministry of Justice had more and more things to do. When the middle of May was almost over, Zong Feixiao was also transferred back to the capital. That day at noon, the two met near the cloth store that Ning Yi often visited recently, and went to a restaurant to talk about recent events...

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