The Great Qi court was divided into two distinct factions, one faction supported Yin Chengyuan, in order for him to become the leading successor of the implementation of commercial reform, and the other faction supported Gu Qingxuan, but they were all just like Gu Qingxuan, tied up to watch a good show, it seemed that the more anxious the other party was, the more they understood who the final winner was.

A few days have passed, the emperor is still undecided, and the intention is unpredictable, they can only maintain the stability of all parties, and let the business be postponed.

In the middle of the month, it will soon be the end of the year, and other mansions are preparing for the New Year, only the Yin family is preparing for the funeral.

In the Yin family mourning hall, Yin Chengyuan's official uniform has not been changed, and he retreats left and right, independently in front of Yin Jiheng's coffin, caressing the edge of the coffin that has been sealed, hanging his head in contemplation, and his expression is solemn.

Yin Shaochu is back. During this period of time, he and his wife did not return to their mansion, and temporarily lived in the mansion to help take care of it. In addition, Yin Qixiu is also in the house, and these three brothers live in a family just like before they enter the office, and they see each other every day.

Yin Shaochu entered the mourning hall, and when he saw Yin Chengyuan like this, he felt uncomfortable, went in to light incense, kowtowed to Yin Jiheng's spiritual position, and then got up, walked to the other side of the coffin, and also reached out to caress his father's coffin, and stood opposite Yin Chengyuan.

He spoke: "Big brother......"

Yin Chengyuan raised his face and looked at him, he could see that his eyes were puffy and his face was haggard, which was not revealed outside, and he didn't want to look so weak in front of his younger brother, so he adjusted awkwardly, looking left and right to avoid Yin Shaochu's gaze: "Oh, the second brother is back...... Well, why hasn't Qi Xiu seen anyone yet? Do you know where he went today?"

Yin Shaochu replied: "Qi Xiu has been in contact with the people of the Criminal Department for the past few days, secretly investigating the hiding place of the Gu family's killers in Chang'an City, didn't he say that he had eyebrows before? Today, he and Miss Yuanxin said before going out, they will investigate what the relationship between those who died and injured due to the 'Immortal Sect' during the day, maybe they can find evidence related to the Gu family from this, and then go to the place they suspect at night to monitor and see if they can find anything, presumably they will go home very late tonight." ”

Yin Chengyuan thought back to some of the things he had heard Yin Qixiu say these days, patted his forehead, and suddenly said, "Yes, yes...... He's said it a few times in the past two days, and I can't remember it...... I don't know what I'm busy with all day, or Shaochu, you have a clear mind......"

Yin Shaochu thought for a moment and said, "Big brother, you are too busy and under too much pressure...... Eh, I know your distress, big brother, the situation has been bad recently, it is not easy for you to stabilize all this now, why bother to give yourself such a heavy burden to fight for that position......"

Hearing him say this, Yin Chengyuan suddenly became angry, and before he could finish speaking, he reprimanded: "Shaochu! What are these words? Is it for myself that eldest brother is fighting for that position? That is my father's hard work, and it is my father's unfinished business! How can I let it be stolen by others, not to mention that person is still Gu Qingxuan! For the Yin family, for my father, I have to fight!"

Yin Shaochu hurriedly raised his hand, signaled him to calm down, and explained: "Big brother, don't be angry, I didn't mean that, how could your hard-working brother not understand?" I want to say that there are some things that you can't be too anxious about, the more anxious you are, the greater the pressure, and the more difficult it will be for you to parry, so I'm afraid that in the end, you will lose even a little chance of winning, you might as well slow down, and you can grasp it tighter......

Yin Chengyuan took a few deep breaths, collected his emotions, looked down at his father's coffin, and stopped talking.

Yin Shaochu walked around to his side, approached him, put his hand on his shoulder, and said in a more peaceful way: "Big brother, don't worry, I support you wholeheartedly, everything you are doing now is right, but you are just a little anxious." Think about it, who proposed this major policy of business reform, who formulated it, who advocated it first, and who arranged this situation...... We all know that. The major policy of business reform is related to the country, when my father was in charge of sovereignty, it was very difficult, and you also saw his hardships at the beginning, and at that time, he couldn't do without Gu Qingxuan, although we didn't want to admit it, but that's the case......"

He paused, looked at Yin Chengyuan and continued: "And, eldest brother, forgive my brother for not speaking well...... Big brother, what do you think of your comparison with Gu Qingxuan? He is his father's opponent, and how can you compare your methods and skills with people like Lu Yuanzhi? He has the ability to manipulate business reform, and the only person who can compare with him is his father. He has been in charge of the household department for more than ten years, and now he is the first person in the imperial history platform, and brother, you are the chief justice of Dali Temple, and you have never participated in the reform of government decrees before this, even if you win that position, do you have the confidence to complete this great cause of saving the country?"

"Shao Chu, are you trying to persuade me to give up?" Yin Chengyuan clenched his fists in annoyance, he was very angry, not angry that his younger brother had belittled him so lowly, but angry that what he said was the truth.

"Of course not. Yin Shaochu shook his head in embarrassment: "Big brother, I said it, I support you." I'm trying to persuade you to take a step back, not give up. Take a step back, there is still a good chance of winning, resist hard, and we will not be able to grasp the result......"

Yin Chengyuan relaxed his fists, finally recovered his spirits, and his thoughts became clear with Yin Shaochu's traction, and asked, "How to retreat?"

Yin Shaochu said: "These days, I have been thinking about Gu Qingxuan's initiative to support you in the court that day, and the words he said that he would help you in the future, the more I think about it, the more I understand...... This man's methods are really clever, he is no longer a simple power seeker, he sees more deeply, further......"

……

The next day, the mourning period expired, Yin Jiheng went out of the funeral, and a generation of national ministers entered the earth for peace.

Two days later, Yin Chengyuan suddenly changed his previous state and made a presentation to recommend Gu Qingxuan to the emperor as the leader of the commercial reform.

Everyone was surprised, but his attitude was sincere, and he asked for the deputy, and offered to assist Gu Qingxuan in implementing commercial reform and jointly completing the implementation of this major national policy.

Some people from the Yin family still didn't understand his intentions and couldn't accept his attitude of taking the initiative to compromise with Gu Qingxuan, and he and Yin Shaochu visited those people one by one in private, driving them to have the same attitude, and then the limelight in the court changed suddenly, and they no longer heard any dissent.

The emperor finally officially issued an order, ordering Gu Qingxuan to preside over the commercial reform, as the head of the implementation of the commercial reform, and Yin Chengyuan as the deputy position, to make joint decisions, jointly implement the reform of the administrative order, and have the same right to pass on the advice from the top to the bottom.

Facing upwards to receive thanks, Yin Chengyuan and Gu Qingxuan made a trip again, and Gu Qingning and Gu Qinghuan were also on the side.

Sangu looked at Yin Chengyuan while bowing his head and pinning the black flowers on his sleeves, and walked towards them, with a smile on his face, calm and elegant, coming over, looking directly at Gu Qingxuan, Shi Ran bowed: "Congratulations to Gu Zhongcheng." ”

Three glances in a row, all in return, Gu Qingxuan at the front smiled: "Gu also wants to congratulate Lord Yin." ”

Yin Chengyuan's face was full of sincerity, humble and submissive, which made people unable to see through what he was thinking, "I am honored to cooperate with Gu Zhongcheng, I believe that you and I will be able to complete this important task together, and work together to promote the new situation of business reform in Daqi, prosper my Daqi, and secure my people's livelihood! I will sincerely help Gu Zhongcheng in the future!

"With Lord Yin's words, Gu will be relieved, please give me more advice in the future!" Gu Qingxuan responded cooperatively.

Yin Chengyuan saluted back and said respectfully: "Don't dare, don't dare." ”

They looked at each other and smiled, then turned around and walked away.

Gu Qinghuan put his hands on his sleeves and sighed: "It's really harmonious, it's really humble, what a scene of harmony among colleagues......

Gu Qingxuan's gaze followed Yin Chengyuan's back, he looked back, lowered his head and kicked away the pebble under his feet: "He just wants to do this, what a Yin Chengyuan...... The Yin family is not ordinary, such wisdom, such cunning, and such a mind are really admirable...... The afterlife is terrifying......"

Listening to Gu Qingxuan's beautiful words, Gu Qingning thought for a moment and said, "Don't force it, just take a step back, but give yourself a chance...... It's really not something that ordinary people can think of doing...... Still, such a compromise is surprising...... Father, do you think he really withdraws, or is he waiting for something?"

Gu Qingxuan raised his eyes to meet Gu Qingning's gaze, the father and daughter smiled tacitly, and he said, "Of course I'm waiting." This expedient concession not only allowed them to win the praise of the emperor and hundreds of officials, but also gave them enough time......"

Gu Qinghuan was a little puzzled, and he didn't know for a while, and asked, "What time?"

Gu Qingxuan said: "Time to deal with us." They have a hidden knife that hides behind the battle with us on the surface, and they have a chance to win it. ”

……

Several car dealers changed the regulations and documents, and they were sent from the political hall to the Yushitai the next day.

Gu Qingxuan acted resolutely, and the day before, he handed over most of the affairs of the Imperial Historical Observatory to the chief inspector of the Imperial Historical Observatory, Lu Qian, and arranged the coordination of various personnel in the Imperial Historical Observatory, making full preparations for devoting himself to commercial reform.

Because the end of the year is about to close, the implementation of commercial reform will not be carried out before the end of the year, and before the closure of the dynasty, what they have to do is to prepare in the early stage.

In this kind of matter, Yin Chengyuan also cooperated unexpectedly, and took the initiative to report to the Yushitai every time to discuss matters with Gu Qingxuan, without the slightest hatred.

He and the officials of the Imperial History Observatory also gradually got closer and had intimate contacts, and Gu Qingxuan knew that he wanted to turn these past Yin Jiheng's eyes and ears into his.

……

While everyone is paying attention to the commercial reform, the haze of the Immortal Sect has not yet dissipated in Chang'an, and the court is still discussing it, and everyone is afraid. Because the death of the county lord of Chengshuo is also related to the Immortal Sect, the emperor has long been unable to sit still, and the criminal department vigorously investigates the matter, but this case is really involved in a wide range of intricacies, and now no one dares to take the lead, and Langzhong of the criminal department does not dare to take responsibility for himself, all parties shirk the blame, and the court is at a loss.

But outside the imperial court, Yin Qixiu and Lu Yuansi have been investigating the Gu family without stopping, and their biggest discovery is the 'ghost building'.

As they speculated, the Gu family must have hidden a group of killers in Chang'an City, but where would they hide these people?

Gu Mansion, obviously impossible, Jiang Yuelou is too risky.

So what is the mysterious place that few people dare to approach?

That's the 'ghost building' they opened inexplicably. They invite others to explore the mystery, so that people are not defensive about this place, but because of the fear of ghosts and gods, how many people have really gone in to find out?

Those methods are nothing more than to cover people's eyes and ears, but not to prevent it is a big defense.

During this period of time, they sent eyeliners to pay attention to the movements of the ghost building, and they would also monitor it personally, but they got very little.

Recently, in Chang'an City, the traces of the Immortal Sect have also begun to disappear, and they have to suspect that the killers of the Heluo Sword Sect have been withdrawn from Chang'an by the Gu family.

What puzzled them the most was that the Gu family had obviously known about their escape back to Chang'an, but they didn't attack them again, was they afraid of the Yin family's forces, or were they already on guard?

It is not possible to wait like this, they also have other measures - secretly cooperate with Lang Zhong of the Criminal Department to track down the case of the Immortal Sect, find out everything from beginning to end, reason the basis, and make the case consistent with their vested conclusions.

From the initial small-scale assault to the death of someone due to the "Immortal Religion", they connected all the clues and came to the conclusion that these victims had two characteristics: either they were only attacked and intimidated in general, or they were completely killed.

Most of the people who suffered minor injuries were not related to the Gu family, which was used to create panic.

Those who have been seriously victimized have conflicts with the Gu family to some extent, or some kind of imperceptible interest relationship, such as Liu Yingxu, etc., which is obviously eliminating dissent.

But related to this, the death of the county lord is still a mystery to Yin Qixiu, which does not belong to any category, he can only speculate that if the county lord was really killed by the Gu family, then they have only one motive - to cause panic among the emperor, to make the emperor pay attention to the Immortal Sect, and then expose Yin Jiheng's various crimes in collusion with the Immortal Sect......

Since the Gu family has temporarily stopped the Immortal Sect turmoil, they can only take the initiative to attack, and under the Gu family's perfectly disguised appearance, there will always be opportunities for them to take advantage of.

As Gu Qingxuan began to prepare for the business reform, an opportunity appeared in front of them.

……

On the eighteenth day of the lunar month, Gu Qingxuan feasted in Jiangyue Tower, invited the giants of Chang'an City to drink tea, and Yin Chengyuan was also present. This meeting is nothing more than to give the businessmen a thorough air before the formal business reform after the year, listen to their views, and let both sides be prepared.

He and Yin Jiheng have done a lot of these things to open up the relationship before, and it stands to reason that there will not be a big problem. Because he was paying attention to the movements of the imperial court, and Jiang Hechuan and Yin Chengyuan were in charge at that time, most of the businessmen were very cooperative, and they expressed no objection to Gu Qingxuan.

- Of course, they don't know at this time how much the commercial reform will shake their interests.

When Gu Qingxuan was in the household department, he had dealt with these businessmen for more than ten years, he understood what they needed and knew the things they cared about, so he could often get to the point, so that they were all convinced.

The businessmen were very face-saving, and the discussion ended successfully.

That night, these businessmen set up another banquet in Jiangyue Tower, after all, they were to deal with the imperial court, and they businessmen should make their own plans.

The next day, Zuo Sicheng received a joint complaint from several giants, accusing Gu Qingxuan of oppressing civil and commercial people and strongly opposing the tax increase regulations in the commercial reform, led by Tao Chunlin, the owner of Yongshou Firm, the largest business in Chang'an City.

Tao Chunlin and others deliberately bypassed the Yushitai and directly sent the accusation letter to the Zuo Sicheng Bureau, but they still took a little risk, and this risk is called - the protection of officials and officials.

In order to give Gu Qingxuan a favor, Du gradually withheld the letter of accusation, and sent the original state to Gu Qingxuan with righteous indignation, expressing his support for him to come up with countermeasures and deal with the signed people on the complaint one by one.

Gu Qingxuan looked at the seal and studied it for a while, he didn't care who was on it, but there was really a surprising name that attracted his attention.

After that, he remained silent and asked Du Jianwei to send the complaint back to the Si Cheng Office intact and deliver it according to the regular process.

On the same day, it was handed to the political affairs hall, and the two ministers of state and auxiliary discussed and approved, and passed it to Gu Qingxuan, who wrote a rebuttal the next day.

He expressed extremely strong dissatisfaction in the rebuttal book, and dismissed the accusations against Shang Jia one by one, very tough and strong, and the hot writing was even a little different from his usual style, which made Qiao Huaian feel surprised, knowing that Gu Qingxuan was really angered this time.

Tao Chunlin didn't relax for a moment, contacted the people in the court, and continued to complain, pointing directly at Shangkai and Gu Qingxuan.

This is to catch up with the end of the year, the official affairs of the court are postponed as a whole, according to this situation, if Tao Chunlin and others continue to write the book, it means that their accusation will eventually be sent to the emperor's dragon case.

……

On the twenty-third day of the lunar month, Tao Chunlin invited the officials to the court, and after the banquet, it was late at night.

He has been like this for the past few days, with an iron-hearted appearance, mobilizing the relations between all parties, constantly contacting the courtiers, walking around frequently, and returning home late every night.

The carriage of the Tao family walked on the Jiuhui Street at night, and the style of the merchant could not be compared with the officials, the driver was only a groom, and the attendant was only two entourage, because he was drunk and dizzy and couldn't stand the bumps, and the two horse-drawn carriages walked very slowly, shuttling through the unmanned streets and alleys very leisurely.

During the march, the curtain of the carriage lifted a corner, and a pair of keen eyes looked at the deep alleys of Changchang Sky Street in front of him.

There was not only one person in the car, Tao Chunlin rubbed his dizzy forehead, looked a little worried, and asked the people around him in a low voice: "Qi Xiu, does this method really work?" It's been a few days, and there has been no movement......

Yin Qixiu pondered: "This is the best way at the moment...... We just have to wait...... They know we're using ourselves as bait, but they don't think of your cousin...... Cousin, you have angered Gu Qingxuan recently, and he can't touch you in business for the time being, according to their usual ruthless style, it is very possible to send someone to attack you......"

Tao Chunlin was still a little scared, and looked out secretly through the curtain drawn up by Lu Yuansi, but there was no abnormal movement, and he was still more and more panicked in his heart.

As the hour approached, the carriage was still moving slowly on the street, and before it left the intersection of Jiufang Street, a silver-white crossed the night sky, falling from the high buildings beside the street, and a man with a long sword stood in the middle of the road, masked and long-haired, so that people could not see his appearance, only the cold and cold eyes.

The carriage slowed down as the coachmen and their attendants outside let out a frightened cry......

Then they knew that the man they were waiting for had come.

The three of them looked at each other for a week, Yin Qixiu and Lu Yuansi held their breath, no longer made a sound, and looked at Tao Chunlin with pleading eyes, Tao Chunlin trembled, gasped, stabilized himself, and then according to their instructions, he reached out to pick up the canopy curtain, poked his head out, and pretended to be impatient and scolded the driver next to him: "What are you doing! I can't drive! Why stop!"

The coachman raised his hand tremblingly and pointed to the front with his whip.

Tao Chunlin looked over there and saw the person in the middle of the road, and before he could react, a silver-white long sword had broken through the wind and was facing his throat.

At this time, Yin Qixiu and Lu Yuansi in the car reached out at the same time and dragged Tao Chunlin into the car, and the coachman, who was so frightened that his soul was scattered, turned into a cold and calm guard in a moment, and with a flick of the long whip, he tripped the long sword that the person attacked, and pulled it hard to the side, the man couldn't help but change his position, barely retracted the long sword to stabilize his body, and launched a second round of attack.

At this time, the other three followers pulled out their soft swords hidden in their belts and swung them, like silver snakes with sharp edges, and stabbed at the man.

The man obviously didn't expect them to prepare in advance, and after a few rounds of matchups, they were outnumbered and soon had the upper hand. He is ruthless, and he does not forget to attack the carriage when he is besieged, and it can be seen that he is a very professional killer. However, there are many people on the other side, and it is difficult for him to succeed, and both sides are injured after dozens of moves, and his chances of winning are slim.

In this way, the only way to save yourself is to flee for your life as soon as possible.

Seeing that he had the intention of escaping, the four guards pursued closely, and he finally got into the loophole, jumped onto the eaves with superb light skills, and ran away.

The two guards remained in place, and the two guards continued to track.

Yin Qixiu hurriedly threw himself out of the carriage, and Lu Yuansi also planned to chase after him, but he stopped him and hurriedly said: "You and my cousin go and inform my eldest brother and let him bring someone here! This time this time this killer will never be allowed to escape, go quickly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he had cut off the reins of one of the horses in the carriage with his sword, mounted his horse, and galloped away in the direction of the killer's escape.

Because there was an arrangement in advance, the two guards had white powder bags on them, and they would never lose the killer, and they also intended to let the killer escape, and wanted to follow the killer to the hiding place, and they would mark it with white powder along the way, so that the people who came after them could track it down.

Yin Qixiu followed the marks they left behind and quickly chased after them.

The other two guards escorted Lu Yuansi and Tao Chunlin, driving the carriage and galloping towards the Yin Mansion at a high speed. There, Yin Chengyuan and Yin Shaochu had already borrowed people from Chang'an Mansion Yin, and all parties were waiting for the news to arrive.

Yin Qixiu rode a fast horse, not far behind these light masters, and soon saw the shadow of his own person, and there was the agile figure of the killer not far away.

Several groups of people galloped on the streets and alleys of Chang'an late at night, time passed with a flick of the fingers, the distance stretched a few feet and a few feet, the traces of white powder on the ground became dense, and the people behind them slowed down, which meant that the front was chased to the destination.

Sure enough, Yin Qixiu walked out of the corner of the street, looked up, and saw the distorted door plaque of the "ghost building".

When he arrived, the two guards were about to chase him in, when they heard the sound of horses' hooves, turned around and saw him, and shouted, "Childe, the assassin has cracked the door and locked it inside!"

"Then why don't you hurry up and go in and chase him!" Yin Qixiu rolled down from his horse and ran to the door of the gloomy ghost building, seeing that the two guards were a little hesitant, he suddenly became angry and scolded.

He glanced at the severed skeletal lock, it was pitch black, and he had heard how horrible it was. He was familiar with the restaurant that had belonged to his family, and knew that there was no back door in this building, and he was sure that the killer was still hiding inside.

Yin Qixiu was a little more sensible, and let one of the guards guard the door, leading the other guard to push the door and step into the "ghost building". He took out the fire fold, and with a stroke, the light appeared, and he gritted his teeth angrily, "I want to see how terrible the ghosts in this ghost building are! Even if this place is really hell tonight, I will get rid of all the ghosts and ghosts!"

In the middle of the night, they could hear the slightest movement in the building, but at this time there was no sound, which proved that the killer was still hiding in the building, and there was no place to escape, probably because they didn't dare to enter here. And his two brothers will inevitably bring people to surround this place soon, that is, catch turtles in the urn.

Tonight is destined to have an end.

Yin Qixiu entered this restaurant beyond his eyes, and saw its hideous and terrifying appearance with the faint light of the fire in his hand, cold sweat broke out on his back, and he was also terrified when the scary fake ghosts passed by him, or suddenly hung down from above to face him.

But the faith in his heart never wavered, he forced himself to open his eyes to everything in this building, he knew that these were false, these were terrible, but the people who created these were even more terrible, and he would not hesitate to smash these falsehoods and smash those terrible plots.

……

"Actually, I really admire them, they are all people with faith, but sometimes even if they are only more than faith, they will lose. ”

On the attic on the top floor of Jiang Yue Building, there is a window wide open, there is no light in the house, a round of cold moon in the sky, the moonlight shines on this Chang'an night, so that the three figures in front of the window show their true shape.

Gu Qingxuan looked away from his gaze in the north, looking up at the moon, as if he was looking at each other in tacit agreement with an old friend, they didn't have to say anything, they didn't have to hide anything, they understood each other deeply, they were transparent to each other, and they would always stay with each other.

There was a sound of footsteps at the staircase behind him, and Jiang Hechuan walked up from the bright passageway, nodded solemnly to them, and said, "Go in." ”

The three Gu Qi Qi looked back at him, and then Qi Qi turned his head and continued to look in the direction they were looking at before, Jiang Hechuan came to Gu Qingxuan's side, standing side by side with him, looking at the dim night, under the eaves of thousands of houses in Chang'an City, the portals of ten thousand families, under the bright moon, there was a reddish light, accompanied by wisps of ethereal smoke slowly rising to the sky......

He closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed shallowly.

Gu Qingxuan glanced at this old friend, "...... And we, too, have our beliefs. ”