To say that the officials and ministers in this Jingguo Dynasty have actually stood on their own team a long time ago, after all, if the new monarch ascends the throne one day, it will inevitably look unpleasant, and look at the unpleasant one, why not choose an emperor who will not use a knife against himself!

Therefore, in this capital, there are two parties among the ministers who hold real power, one side is the princeling party who supports the right position of the East Palace, and the other side is trying to influence His Majesty the Emperor and let him set up another prince.

However, there are also many people like Zhou Wenbin who did not choose to stand in line, so their career has indeed come to an end.

The official headed by the princeling is the current prime minister after Xi Fang was imprisoned, and he is also the prince's uncle, Wang Jin, although he is now the auxiliary government of the two princes, but some matters still have to go around in his hands, so Jingguo's politics are on the prince's side.

And the other party is the capable and hard-working, in charge of the treasury tax and Dali Temple and the prison affairs of the Criminal Department, Xuanping Hou Chai Song, because this Chai Hou Ye is a genius, and all the money and property of Jingguo seem to be taken care of by this Hou Ye, so Jingguo's wealth is here to offer the king.

If this is indeed true today, it will be a heavy blow to the Xianwang Party, because if Xianwang is really involved in this illegal salt case, then his best fate should be to send the frontier to fill the army.

Now, in front of the special investigation of the case, I saw the physical evidence.

The point is that this matter is not only for King Xian to suffer a blow, but even Chai Song, who is standing behind him, and the ministers will not be too happy.

If this matter is spread to the capital, this Marquis Chai, who is usually said to be a corrupt official, plus this case of illegal salt, it is estimated that he will be like the former Xiangguo, who will be imprisoned.

And this is undoubtedly another slap in the face of His Majesty the Emperor, because Chai Song is the person he personally selected to be in charge of the treasury after Xi Fang was imprisoned.

......

......

Xue Luping took off his black gauze hat, supported it with both hands, and said excitedly: "Xia Guan is willing to use this black gauze hat to vouch for the fact that what I just said is true, and there is absolutely no deception, let alone adding branches and leaves to it, maliciously slandering His Royal Highness the King!" ”

Xue Luping's move is not trivial, the third-grade senior officer uses the official hat as a guarantee, it seems that this time His Royal Highness the King can only go to prison once.

The crown prince raised his head, looked at King Xian with those deep eyes, as if looking at an animal on the verge of death, and said in a slightly regretful tone: "Fourth, seriously, if you haven't been fighting with this palace for so many years, this palace really wants to protect you!" ”

King Xian pursed his thin lips that were a little chapped, smiled dismally, lowered his head and stopped looking at the prince, who didn't know what this highness was thinking.

Bian Ying on the side had his mouth half open, not knowing what he wanted to say.

"But what His Royal Highness Xianwang proposed just now, shouldn't Lord Xue also go and do it, whether it is related to His Royal Highness Xianwang or not, but this Xinghuayuan must be investigated!"

Xue Luping looked at Xi Yuanxiu, who got up to speak, and suddenly his eyes became sharp, and he said sharply: "The official hasn't asked you for the guilt, but you have come to tell the official to do things!" ”

Xi Yuanxiu rubbed his wine glass, looked at him, and said indifferently: "Excuse me, my lord, I don't know what the crime of the lower official is, and I hope that the lord will make it clear!" ”

Xue Luping looked at Li Yuanhuan and said with a righteous and awe-inspiring look: "His Royal Highness Xianwang, or one of the suspects in this case, may have collaborated with the Yangzhou Salt Gang to sell illicit salt for personal gain, sent people to commit murder in prison without success, and also killed the garrison of my Yangzhou City!" ”

Xue Luping turned his head to look at Xi Yuanxiu again and said: "And now the official suspects that you are wearing a layer of skin from the county magistrate of Huangcheng, and behind your back is the leader of the Chenghua Gang that I have never heard of!" ”

With a "poof", Bian Ying pulled out the horizontal knife, pointed at Xue Luping and said, "You prefect think you've lived enough!" ”

only heard a "bang", a sudden momentum hit the knife in Bian Ying's hand, and then Bian Ying took half a step back, stabilized his figure, and looked at it, it turned out that His Royal Highness the Prince, who was sitting on the main seat, had made a move.

The prince put back his outstretched palm, and shouted coldly: "Presumptuous, who gave you the right to dare to point a knife at the third-grade members of the imperial court!" ”

Li Yuanhuan gently pressed Bian Ying's wrist with his hand, motioned for him to put the knife down, and then said to Xue Luping: "Lord Xue, this king still wants to hear you continue!" ”

Xue Luping wiped the sweat in his hand because he was pointed at by the knife just now, kept his composure, and then said: "How can a small county know so many secrets of the Salt Gang, even the leader of the Qingzhou Salt Gang lives in your county office, and why does His Royal Highness Xianwang go to your small county office many times to meet with you, is it just the friendship of the half division!" ”

Xue Luping then said to the prince: "According to the opinion of the lower officials, this Xi Yuanxiu Xizhi County is the leader of the Yangzhou Salt Gang who acted recklessly a few days ago, and he secretly met with His Royal Highness Xianwang, just to discuss how to secretly solve the matter of this private salt case, and what else is the private salt in the Xinghua Courtyard, I think it is all nonsense, don't you look at the business of the Qinglou and want to hold it in your hands!" ”

As soon as Xue Luping's words fell, Zhou Wenbin looked at him and said expressionlessly: "The matter of Xinghuayuan is also related to me, it is the clues I provided to Lord Xi to solve the case, and he found it there step by step, could it be that Lord Xue is saying that this official is also involved in this case?" ”

Xue Luping was speechless for a while, because the Qincha appointed by His Majesty the Emperor was naturally selected after a lot of thought, and naturally he would not look away, even Chai Song, who was known as the biggest corrupt official today, was also an admirable good official back then.

But soon Xue Luping shot back at him and said, "What if Xi Yuanxiu deliberately misled you? You can think about it, how could he know so many things, just with his small county? ”

Zhou Wenbin didn't know what to say, because it was true that Xi Yuanxiu was too shocked every time he gave him news, even if Xi Yuanxiu had many friends, but this was not the capital after all, and he had only been in Yangzhou for a few years, except for the mirage, he really couldn't imagine who else could do it.

Looking at Zhou Wenbin's somewhat hesitant expression, Xue Luping continued: "This official sees that he clearly wants to cause trouble to the east, mislead us to seal up the Xinghua Courtyard, take advantage of the situation to take this Xinghua Courtyard as his own, and then let us deviate from the direction of the investigation of this case, and then borrow your hand to get rid of the other salt gang forces that are against him, so that after you return to the court, he can wantonly develop his private salt business!" ”

Liu Xiao felt that he couldn't say it, because the news was obtained through the red tide, so he couldn't tell outsiders, and he was so anxious that he even tasted the fish in his mouth like chewing wax.

Xi Yuanxiu noticed other problems, and first clapped his hands with a sarcastic smile, indicating that Xue Luping's story line was still very clear.

Then he questioned Xue Luping: "The leader of the Salt Gang in Qingzhou is in my mansion, how did you know that my lord, the lower official heard that you were drinking and having fun in the mansion last night, and the lower official didn't mention this matter to you!" ”

Xue Luping's expression was slightly stunned, and then he said expressionlessly: "Naturally, this official found out." ”

Xi Yuanxiu smiled again and said: "Then the adult is also related to this case, if it weren't for the people in the Salt Gang, how would you know that the leader of the Qingzhou Salt Gang named Cao Cheng is in my mansion, and why can the adult know that His Royal Highness Xianwang has been to my mansion many times, my lord has been following His Royal Highness Xianwang, and dared to send someone to closely monitor the prince of the current dynasty, my lord knows what the crime is!" ”

This question stopped everyone present, because Xi Yuanxiu was right, since everyone was in Yangzhou as officials, although Xue Luping was in Yangzhou City, but this salt gang was so hidden, how did he know about it.

There is also the matter of the king going to Huangcheng, if he really sent someone to follow His Royal Highness the king, then Xue Luping could only be imprisoned with Li Yuanhuan.

The crown prince was not as curious as others, and he said flatly: "It was Bengong who told him when he went downstairs just now, does my brother think there is anything wrong?" ”

After the domineering Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he told Xue Luping about this, everyone naturally had no objections.

Xi Yuanxiu shook his head, then looked at Li Yuanhuan and smiled bitterly, indicating that he had no choice.

Then under the table, he slapped Liu Xiao's somewhat bloated thigh with his hand, and motioned for him to quickly pass the matter to Huangcheng and inform Xu Lai.

Sure enough, as Xi Yuanxiu thought, just as Liu Xiao put the origami in his arms at the bottom of the bowl, beckoned the guy who had been waiting for Chichao at the door, and gave the bowl to this person, he, Li Yuanhuan, Liu Xiao, and Bian Ying were surrounded by the officials of Yangzhou Mansion who came up from downstairs.

The prince looked at Xi Yuanxiu and Li Yuanhuan indifferently, and said slowly: "It seems that the fourth brother and his brother have been living in prison for a few days. ”

The prince did not mention the innocence of the king, because in the eyes of everyone, the relationship between the private salt case and the king is already inseparable.

Even if the king is innocent, the prince will definitely make him blacker than the charcoal in the hot pot on the table.

Zhou Wenbin suddenly felt a little in a trance, the few people who were still talking to him just now were taken away like this, and he was alone in investigating the case, and even the clues provided by Xi Yuanxiu before could be overturned.

Zhou Wenbin looked at Xue Luping's expression, and not only thought about whether he should investigate this prefect who had just spoken righteously.

Because they wanted to escort the four people back to Yangzhou Mansion, the prince and Xue Luping also went downstairs, so only he and Xiao Ye were left on the table.

Xiao Ye seemed to be a little overwhelmed by what had just happened, so he just cared about gobbling it up on the table, and raised his head to look at Zhou Wenbin from time to time.

Zhou Wenbin sighed with some hatred, brushed his sleeves and left, Xiao Ye squinted his eyes, drank the wine in the cup, and watched Zhou Wenbin leave the room.