Sifanglou's business has been much worse recently, and the epidemic in Yuezhou has significantly reduced the number of people looking for joy in the capital, and the number of people holding banquets has decreased significantly. The dignitaries seldom swaggered anymore, and the emperor took the lead in fasting and praying for the blessings of the victims, not to mention others, and the dignitaries were afraid that they would be included in the imperial history at such a time, so in the hall, there were only a few tables sitting sporadically, and even the private rooms on the second and third floors were empty.

At this moment, a man in a dark brocade robe, followed by a sturdy man in sackcloth, walked in. Xiao Er greeted him with a smile on his face, but the brocade-robed man didn't pay much attention to it and went straight up to the third floor.

The seemingly solid wall was pushed open all of a sudden, Xiao Hengyan looked at the pretty woman in a lotus green dress by the window, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved. However, with a turn of his eyes, the middle-aged man sitting next to the pretty woman made his heart a little blocked.

Guo Shu turned his head and smiled slightly, as lively and bright as he saw for the first time. Both of them stood up, and Li Niancun looked at the two of them, although they snickered, they didn't dare to show it.

"The minister has seen His Royal Highness King Xu. Li Niancun made a regular salute.

Xiao Hengyan frowned, Guo Shu knew that Xiao Hengyan didn't know him, so he introduced, "This is the new secretary of the Criminal Department, Li Niancun." ”

Introduced so seriously, Li Niancun knew that Guo Shu was telling him that he should assist the person, Li Niancun said in all fairness, although he didn't have much contact, but from some rumors, he could also know that King Xu was benevolent and didn't like treachery, compared to the two who are hot now, Li Niancun is willing in his heart. As for not being favored, this is not a problem at all, as long as you can have strength, what does it matter if you are not favored.

"It turned out to be Li Shangshu, and he has not congratulated Li Shangshu on his promotion, and this king is here to congratulate Li Shangshu. "There is both wooing and majesty, although it is the posture of Corporal Lixian, but it is not warm. Li Niancun is not surprised, in his impression, this should be the most enthusiastic about King Xu for those who participate in the party struggle.

"Don't dare, don't dare, it's just the duty of the Shangshu, Your Highness has a lot of opportunities, and you can still remember Weichen, Weichen is already very grateful, and the county lord also talked to me about His Highness, saying that His Highness is talented and benevolent. Li Niancun said with a smile, he didn't have any opinions because of Xiao Hengyan's not too enthusiastic attitude, but complimented Xiao Hengyan.

Xiao Hengyan looked at Guo Shu, and there was irrepressible anger in his eyes, but his face was still cold, but his tone was plain, but Guo Shu could see that Xiao Hengyan was angry, and he was very angry.

"Oh, I'd like to hear what the county lord has to say about me?"

Sure enough, they were all called county lords, and he was really angry. Guo Shu sighed, waved his hand, stopped Li Niancun's words, sat down with Xiao Hengyan, and put away his usual hippie smile.

"It's nothing, just talk to him and say that you will definitely come to me today, and you are in a bad mood, if you don't get it right, I'm afraid I will definitely not get a good face today." Guo Shu said lightly, and gave Xiao Hengyan a cup of chrysanthemum tea by the way, "This chrysanthemum tea is clear-fired, using the top-quality cell chrysanthemum, the tea is green and bright, you taste it, and go to the fire, your body is the most taboo now." ”

Xiao Hengyan glanced at the chrysanthemum tea on the table, and raised his eyes to look at Guo Shu, "It seems that you know that I am in a bad mood today, and you also know what I am doing?"

"Isn't this looking for someone to put out your anger, oh, it's him, you listen to his stuff, maybe you will be interested. Guo Shu gave himself a cup of black tea, and also gave Li Niancun a cup, so he leaned on the backrest and basked in the sun lazily.

"Lord Shangshu has been busy with things recently, and this king also knows a little bit about it, but how can the adults investigate the matter clearly? Xiao Hengyan finally looked at the lean middle-aged man sitting next to him seriously.

Regarding Xiao Hengyan's treatment at this time, Li Niancun has been in the officialdom for many years, how can he not be clear. But he doesn't blame Xiao Hengyan, after all, his ability has indeed not been reflected, and he was indeed promoted to the throne by the prince, and it is inevitable that he will be labeled as a prince's party. This investigation of the East Palace is undoubtedly to bite back on his benefactor. If you do it seriously, you will be suspected of being ungrateful, but if you let it go gently, it will be against the holy decree, so that you will be in a dilemma, loyalty and righteousness are difficult, and the people in the capital are watching his reaction.

"Most of the things are clear, and the county lord has told me some things, so that the ins and outs of this matter are already clear, and it is not a difficult matter. Li Niancun said modestly.

"Just say the result, there are no outsiders here anyway. Guo Shu's tone was filled with a hint of impatience. But Li Niancun was not at all dissatisfied because of Guo Shu's disrespect, but obeyed his words, which made Xiao Hengyan a little curious about the relationship between the two, but this curiosity was completely replaced by anger in Li Niancun's next narration.

"Yes, this matter is not complicated, but the prince has been competing with the king of Chu in recent years, and the funds are a little tight, so he ventured to use the Zhang family to smuggle military goods, Yuezhou is located on the shore of Dongting Lake, the Yangtze River Basin, the location is excellent, the prince's smuggling of military goods, it is here, some things in the secret are transferred to the surface through some means, some private goods such as fish and rice on the banks of the Xiangjiang River, materials are also transferred and temporarily docked here, and even some captured cattle and sheep that have not been handed over will be dealt with here. ”

"Cattle and sheep, military supplies, and private goods? These things are clear to the king, and the atmosphere of some Tuntian troops is indeed not good, and they often take military materials to sell them privately, taking risks and smuggling them, but what is the connection between this and the epidemic in Yuezhou?"

Guo Shu leaned back lazily in his chair and said lazily: "In the border army of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, there are usually Hu troops that have been absorbed, one is to enhance the strength of the border army, and the other is to weaken the strength of the grassland tribes. And these Hu people's troops often carry a large number of cattle, sheep, and even war horses, which are the origin of the cattle and sheep smuggled by the prince, and sell them as farming cattle, or sell mutton, or even horses, which can be sold at a good price in the Yue Dynasty. ”

Xiao Hengyan listened to it for a long time, but still didn't hear the point, "So what?"

Li Niancun arched his hand and continued: "These cattle and sheep come from the grassland, and when they come to the south, there will be some unaccustomed to the water and soil, and it is inevitable that there will be sick and dead cattle and sheep, and these sick and dead cattle and sheep were dealt with in Yuezhou, but the prince's people did not handle them properly, and these sick and dead cattle and sheep spread the plague through rivers and lakes. At first, the epidemic was not big, but a few people in the mountain village showed symptoms, and the prince blocked the village in order to prevent his wealth from being discovered. But some of the soldiers stationed in the village were sick, and when they returned, they went to the city again, and this spread the plague.

Because it was the prince's people who caused the plague, and the prince was in a bad situation at that time, he was afraid that he would be endangered by another accident at this time, so he desperately concealed the matter, which caused the current situation. ”

The more Xiao Hengyan listened, the more frightened he became, and his face became more and more ugly, he didn't expect the prince's courage to be so careless about human life, and he didn't care about the life and death of the people at all, if he was really allowed to sit in that position, I am afraid that it would be the people of my Yue Dynasty who suffered. Thinking of this...

"Do you feel that what you have done is much more noble and righteous?" asked Guo Shu with a half-smile.

Xiao Hengyan frowned, she could actually see through her thoughts?

"Are you wondering why I know what you're thinking?" Guo Shu took a sip of tea, "Actually, it's simple, in Chang'an, when you were in Silin Town, some of your words revealed your benevolence, just now when you came in, it was clear that you wanted to question me, if I don't know what you think now, then sooner or later I will be pitted to the point that there are no bones left." ”

"You won't. Xiao Hengyan muttered. But Guo Shu didn't seem to hear clearly, and asked, "What did you say?"

"I said, you, no, yes, with me, you won't. Xiao Hengyan said word by word.

Guo Shu snorted mockingly, feeling that it was inappropriate, and took another sip of hot tea, feeling the hot heat, Xiao Hengyan saw that her expression was different, and hurriedly snatched the cup in her hand, especially the hot aftertaste.

"What are you doing?" Xiao Hengyan was angry and distressed.

Guo Shu seemed to have heard nothing, the bitterness was even worse, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Someone has said this before, saying that with him, I don't have to think so much, just live easily, but," Guo Shu's eyes were already slightly moist, "In the end, his promise was still not fulfilled, and even at the last moment, he wanted to sell me." Guo Shu paused, the moistness in his eyes seemed to have been dried, and there was no trace.

"That feeling, it's like a betrayal, and this kind of betrayal, I don't want to go through a second time, in terms of now, I only believe in myself, for me, the person who can never betray me is only myself, in fact, everyone is the same, maybe, sometimes even myself will betray myself," Guo Shu looked at Xiao Hengyan, " Because he has no ability, he will surrender to this world and betray his original intention for some things, so there will be so much helplessness in this world, and there will be so many joys and sorrows in the playbook. ”

Guo Shu smiled, but the smile was so inexplicable, "In fact, everyone is working hard to stop surrendering to this world, and everyone is the same, just like you, you will also do something you don't want to do because of some things, such as," Guo Shu paused, "Grab the heir by any means, isn't it?"

"The county lord. Li Niancun coughed, which was a reminder. Guo Shu seemed to be a little out of control, he could see it, and Xiao Hengyan's face became undulating, and let Guo Shu continue, Li Niancun didn't know what would happen, but Li Niancun could see that Guo Shu seemed to have some past, and it had a great impact on her, just a little mention, she was a little out of control.

"It's true that I'm taking the throne, but their subterfuge means that they don't deserve to be in that position, and they will ruin the country. Xiao Hengyan said righteously.

Guo Shu's smile seemed to have a little contempt in his smile, although Guo Shu was smiling most of the time, which made people feel like a spring breeze, it was easy for people to have a good impression and couldn't get angry, after all, he didn't stretch out his hand to hit the smiling person. But Xiao Hengyan has been in contact with Guo Shu for a long time, and he can also feel the emotions hidden behind her smiles, such as her contemptuous and mocking smiles now, hidden in her eyes.

He seemed to understand her a little.