Before Ye Xuemei could reply, the prison knife beside Gongliang Yuzhi had already spoken first, and he said: "If you want me to say, why bother so much, in fact, the best solution is to kill him, only the dead can keep secrets." ”

Since these days, Rong Xiang is most unaccustomed to the prison knife, and she is deeply influenced by Ye Xuemei, and she doesn't like those fights and killings the most, so she scoffs at the words of the prison knife, she said: "Don't want to fight and kill everything, sometimes, asking for people's lives is the most effective solution." ”

Prison Knife didn't expect Rong Xiang to suddenly scold him like this. These days, he has long seen this woman unpleasant, if it weren't for the prince, he would have solved her a long time ago. It's just ridiculous that she didn't even know that she had murderous intentions against her.

Ye Xuemei had already seen that the prison knife's murderous intention towards Rong Xiang had risen, so she transferred the prison knife's thoughts to her side without a trace, and she said to the prison knife: "If you kill Wu Ming, then when you return to Kaifeng, if Emperor Song asks, how should you answer?" ”

The prison knife said disapprerovingly: "Isn't that simple? Let's just say that he was killed by the pursuers on the way back! Your Majesty won't send someone to investigate! ”

Ye Xuemei smiled lightly, put down the cyan teacup in her hand, and said, "Then what if Emperor Song doesn't believe it and really sends someone to investigate?" ”

"No, how could Your Majesty pursue these things?"

"If you do that, you have to think about the consequences. Otherwise, by the time the matter is revealed, it will be too late to get out of control! ”

"You're thinking too complicated, isn't it? I don't think Your Majesty will look after this! ”

After Ye Xuemei listened to the words of the prison knife, she didn't say anything, she had no intention of arguing with him, all she wanted was to divert her attention.

Immediately afterward, she shifted her gaze back to Gongliang Yuzhi and asked, "What does the prince think Wu Ming thinks about Emperor Song?" ”

Gongliang thought for a while and replied: "The imperial brother is the king, and Wu Ming is the minister." Being a courtier is naturally loyal to his own monarch! ”

Ye Xuemei smiled and replied: "Before Liu Jin's incident happened, he may have been loyal to Emperor Song, but now, this is not the case!" ”

Gongliang Yuzhi was slightly surprised and asked, "Why?" ”

"You told me that after Wu Ming exposed Liu Jin's shady situation of privately storing grain and grass and reselling grain, Emperor Song promoted him to Honglu Siqing."

"He exposed the corruption of the household department, harmed the people, and disrupted the order of the court, and he should be promoted!"

"Is it really a reward?"

Gongliang's face turned slightly pale, and before he could answer, Ye Xuemei began to say: "Honglu Temple is in charge of court meetings, banquets, and sacrifices, and has no real power. At first glance, it seems that his official position is very large, but in fact, his power is far less than that of a fifth- or even sixth-grade official in the household department. ”

"There are vacancies in the official positions of the household department, and with Wu Ming's talent and merits, it is not an exaggeration to canonize him as the secretary of the household department. But Emperor Song didn't, he would rather let the household department find those new people, so as to find suitable candidates from them, and did not let Wu Ming serve as the position, why is this? ”

"In the final analysis, Wu Ming has always served as a deputy in the household department, and has not been exposed to substantive things. If he is rashly promoted to the head of the household department, he is afraid that he will be criticized. Therefore, it is not surprising that he should go somewhere else. ”

"And now? After another two years, did Emperor Song appoint Wu Ming again? ”

Gongliang was speechless when she asked, she was right, if it was really an experience, why did the imperial brother still not appoint Wu Ming after two years? Even, when he mentioned Wu Ming, the imperial brother thought for a while before remembering it, as if he had forgotten this person a long time ago!

Seeing his expression, Ye Xuemei already knew it, and she said to Gongliang: "Wu Ming has a warm heart and is also very talented. He really wanted to do something for the Song Kingdom, and it was not in vain that he read a book of sages. It's a pity that such Wu Ming is not liked by Emperor Song. ”

Gongliang's brows furrowed, and he asked, "What does the girl mean by this?" Why don't I understand something? ”

Ye Xuemei looked at him and said slowly: "Liu Jin's case not only hollowed out the entire household, but even removed many prefects. Presumably, in order to fill these vacancies, it is not easy to say, and Emperor Song also has to take a lot of effort. But despite this, Wu Ming was not satisfied, and kept writing to ask Emperor Song to severely punish the officials involved. All this has given Emperor Song a headache, and Concubine Liu will definitely cry grievances in front of Emperor Song, and she will definitely say a lot of bad things about Wu Ming. You say, what emperor would like such an official? ”

After Gongliang stopped listening, he replied: "However, what Wu Ming did was also for the good of Song Guo!" Brother Huang should know! ”

After listening to Gongliang's words, Ye Xuemei knew that he had been fighting abroad all the year round, and she still knew too little about the emperor's mind and the ways of officialdom. Yes, she continued: "Most emperors don't like troublesome courtiers very much, instead of dealing with a bunch of troublesome things, it is better to turn a blind eye and let the officials below be corrupt and take bribes, as long as it does not affect the overall situation!" Looking at Emperor Song's attitude towards Wu Ming, it is nothing more than that. Moreover, Wu Ming was not stupid, he could feel Emperor Song's attitude towards him. And because of this, his loyalty may not be the same as before! ”

"I see!" Gongliang thought for a moment before continuing: "Even if it's really as you say, what does it have to do with me? ”

"When he thinks that you are more honest than Emperor Song, can have a deeper relationship with him, and can understand him better, the scales in his heart will naturally lean towards you, so as to keep this secret for you!"

After listening to all of Ye Xuemei's words, Gongliang finally understood what she meant. He sighed slightly and said, "Maybe there is some misunderstanding between the imperial brother and Wu Ming in this matter. As you guessed, Concubine Liu will definitely blow the pillow wind in the ears of the imperial brother. However, the imperial brother is more nervous about the people of the Song Kingdom than me, and he will not cause the people to ignore it for the sake of the balance of the court. I'm afraid you can't get it right in this matter! ”

Ye Xuemei smiled lightly, she looked at Gongliang and said: "It seems that the relationship between the prince and Emperor Song is very good, I heard that you and Emperor Song were not born to the same mother, I am very curious, can you tell me about it?" ”

After Gongliang Yuzhi continued to reach out and scoop a small piece of mapo tofu with a spoon, he said slowly: "My mother is a noble person of my father, although her position is okay, but it is also because of me. But since I had me, my father has rarely favored my mother anymore, and my mother has only the name of a nobleman. The people in the palace are a group of people who see the wind and make helmsmen, they know that my mother is not favored, so they began to withhold her offerings, my mother is a kind person, never fights with others for anything, yes, and never told my father about this. Our mother and son lived a very difficult life. ”

"I thought that life would go on like this, but when I was six years old, I suddenly had a serious illness, fever and cough, and I didn't get better. At that time, it was winter, and it was very cold in the house, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not even send us a piece of silver carbon. The mother concubine sent someone to the hospital to ask a doctor to treat me, but I didn't know that those people were prevaricating in every way, either because they were busy or because the other concubines in the palace were also sick and needed them to check their pulse. My mother couldn't wait for anyone, so in desperation, I had to go to the hospital to find someone in person. That's when I found a doctor to treat me. The doctor said that it was too cold in the house, and there was no silver carbon heating, and it would be difficult for me to heal. ”

"After the doctor prescribed the medicine, he left. The mother concubine was very sad, there was no silver carbon, so she had to go to the head of the Internal Affairs Office, but the head of the Internal Affairs Office gave her black charcoal, which could not be used at all. It burned in the house, and it was full of black smoke, and I choked on it. The disease did not get better, but became more and more serious. The mother concubine was in a hurry, so she asked him to ask for a theory, but she was embarrassed by the other party. At that time, Concubine Wan Guifei, who happened to be passing by, is the current Empress Dowager Wan, after learning about the situation, she reprimanded the head of the Internal Affairs Office and gave the silver carbon to the concubine, and my illness gradually improved. It was also from that time that my mother and I have always been grateful for the kindness of the Empress Dowager, and I have honored her as the Queen Mother! ”

After Gongliang finished saying these words, his eyes were full of gratitude for the things of the year, and Ye Xuemei also saw that he was a very gracious person, otherwise he would not be grateful to Empress Dowager Wan and trusted his imperial brother so much.

He doesn't quite understand this matter now, so let's talk about it slowly in the future.

Thinking of this, she didn't say anything more.

After living in the inn for a while, Gongliang Yuzhi's men and horses had been fully rested, and they were about to return to Kaifeng in two days, so Gongliang Yuzhi walked out of the inn, came to the stable, and fed his horses.

Just as he was feeding the horse, Wu Ming came to his side, bowed his hand to him, and said, "Xiaguan Wu Ming greets the prince!" ”

Gongliang stopped his head and said, "Lord Wu is polite, is there something wrong with coming to this king?" ”

Wu Ming said: "Before Xia Guan entered the palace as an official, there was another title, which was given by the family, and he was replaced by Chongming, which is to hope that Xia Guan will be able to get ahead in the future and make some contributions to the country." If the prince doesn't mind, please call the next official Chongming! ”

Wu Ming was suddenly so polite, and asked Gongliangyu to stop calling his hometown, and Gongliangyu had already guessed his intention.

He said: "Okay, that king will call Lord Wu Chongming when no one is there in the future!" I don't know what Chongming meant? ”

Wu Ming replied: "Xiaguan thought carefully about what the prince said before, and felt that it was very reasonable. So he decided to hide the matter of the prisoners and others for the prince. However, if he went to His Majesty, His Majesty would definitely not believe that the prince would be able to go to the palace alone and rescue people. Yes, the prince still needs to think of another reasonable reason to be able not to make His Majesty suspicious! ”

Gongliang stopped muttering for a moment, he was still very happy in his heart about Wu Ming's conservative promise, but he hesitated for what kind of reasonable reason he should think. After thinking for a moment, he said: "By the way, there are often some organizations in the rivers and lakes that can be hired to do anything for money, so let's just say that we hired those outlaws, how about it?" ”

After Wu Ming heard this, his eyes lit up, and he replied: "The prince has a very good idea, so when we return to Kaifeng, we will say this to Your Majesty!" ”

At this moment, Rong Xiang and Ye Xuemei were eating in their room, Rong Xiang frowned tightly, and said to Ye Xuemei: "Girl, you said that you were going to leave for Kaifeng soon, did Lord Wu promise the prince?" ”

Ye Xuemei smiled faintly and replied, "What, do you just want to know so much?" ”

Rong Xiang pursed her lips and said, "Isn't the slave also caring about the girl!" ”

Ye Xuemei glanced at her with disgust without a trace, and said, "Wu Ming is feeding the horses in the stable with the prince at the moment, and they are chatting happily. I think he must have done it for the previous thing. If you're really worried, go find him there, I think he must have given the prince the answer! ”

After Rong Xiang got Ye Xuemei's permission, she was very happy, and she didn't even care about eating, so she had to go to the stable to find Gongliang Yuzhi and Wu Ming. As she reached the door, she heard a knock on the door.

After asking, Rong Xiang learned that it was the shopkeeper who delivered the food, so she opened the door.

The shopkeeper outside the door walked in with a tray and smiled, and he said to Ye Xuemei: "Girl, today is the celebration of the 10th anniversary of our store, and the boss will add a dish to the guests in each room in order to celebrate, and the small one will be sent over!" Girl please try it! ”

Ye Xuemei watched the shopkeeper put down the dish and asked, "What kind of dish is this?" ”

"This is our signature soup, stewed duck with ginkgo seeds! This soup is very nourishing and is perfect for this season. Drinking this soup on a hot summer day will help you get off the fire! ”

Ye Xuemei smiled faintly and replied, "I didn't expect the owner to be so good!" So I'm going to try it! ”

After she finished saying this, Rong Xiang hurriedly stepped forward to scoop a bowl of soup for her, and after she drank it, she praised it again and again, saying, "It is indeed a good soup, and it tastes delicious!" Thanks for the prison knife! ”

After hearing Ye Xuemei's words, the shopkeeper's face changed slightly, and he said, "I don't know what the girl is talking about!" ”

Ye Xuemei smiled: "Actually, I can already see from the moment you came in that you are not the shopkeeper, your body is relatively petite, and you are much worse than the shopkeeper." And, after drinking your soup, I'm even more convinced that you're a prisoner. Have you forgotten that I had already drunk the soup you cooked once when I was in the ruined temple before, and there is nothing wrong with the taste! ”

Ye Xuemei had already dismantled the shopkeeper, which was the prison knife, and the prison knife naturally no longer concealed it, so he sat opposite her according to what Ye Xuemei said.

Ye Xuemei said: "Prison knife, this is not the first time you want to kill me!" I'd love to ask you why? ”

Rong Xiang, who was on the side, heard Ye Xuemei say that the prison knife wanted to kill her, her eyes widened in shock, and she took a deep breath.

The prison knife looked at Ye Xuemei, and after being silent for a while, he finally took off the human skin mask on his face, and said, "I really didn't expect that I couldn't kill you in the end after working so hard!" ”

"Then tell me, why did you kill me?" Ye Xuemei was not annoyed and handed a cup of tea to him. "When An Muxi chased me before, I already noticed that you let him go twice. But those two times didn't succeed in killing me, and this time you'll do it yourself! I think you must have hidden in your bosom that sharp dagger that can kill people in an instant. ”

Prison Knife snorted coldly, "What can even be the sharpest blade? It's not the same as you've seen through! At the end of the day, you're just a good-looking skin! I really don't know why the prince is so obsessed with you that he forgot the big responsibility on his shoulders! ”

Ye Xuemei still smiled indifferently and said: "Maybe in your eyes, I have hindered your prince's plan, but I think I can wish you a helping hand and let him realize the responsibility on his shoulders as soon as possible." You give me three months, with a three-month deadline, and I will let you see the results! ”

The prisoner looked at her suspiciously and said, "How can I believe you when you say these things?" What if you can't keep your promise after three months? ”

Ye Xuemei replied: "If I can't achieve my wish after three months, then I will stay in Kaifeng and let you kill you!" What do you think? ”

Although he didn't believe in Ye Xuemei very much, he also knew the proverb, if you get this woman, you can win the world! If the prince can really use her to achieve great things, it is not impossible. Even if there was no movement after three months, he could still kill her then.

Thinking of this, he suppressed the murderous aura in his heart, nodded, and said, "Okay, so I'll give you three months!" I hope you don't let me down! With that, he turned and left!

There was no more talk this night, and on the second day, the prisoners and prisoners and Gongliang Yuzhi and other people had come to the outside of Kaifeng City.

At this moment, Ye Xuemei and Rong Xiang were sitting in the soft carriage together. When they were about to enter the city gate, the prisoners and the others had already dispersed, and did not enter the city with Gongliang Yuzhi. Gongliang Yuzhi was the only one left with the prison knife.

Rong Xiang was quite strange about this, and she asked, "Girl, why didn't they follow the prince into the city?" Haven't we already discussed countermeasures? ”

Ye Xuemei looked at her and said lightly: "This dark night camp has a huge organization, and there are many people who know about it. If you enter the city like this, you will inevitably be criticized, so it is better to disperse them all! At last, she said, "Do you remember what I said to you earlier?" If you see Emperor Song or someone asks about you, what should you say? ”

Rong Xiang nodded and replied, "Remember, let's just say that a group of outlaws saved us!" ”

"That's good!" Ye Xuemei said that, she stopped talking and closed her eyes. Seeing this, Rong Xiang didn't dare to bother anymore!

This Kaifeng City is very prosperous, more than a star and a half better than the Death City, Rong Xiang looked out of the carriage, very excited.

A small colonel guarding the city gate recognized Gongliang's words, and said to him very respectfully: "It turns out that King Ning has returned!" Hurry inside please! ”

After Gongliang Yuzhi returned to Kaifeng City, he took Ye Xuemei back to his mansion.

Gongliang said that Ye Xuemei's accommodation was in the east courtyard of his house, where it was warm in winter and cool in summer, and the climate was very pleasant. He knew that Ye Xuemei's health was not very good, so he sent the best doctor in his house to treat her and recuperate.

However, when the prison knife learned about this, he was very dissatisfied. After all, the East Courtyard of the general mansion is reserved for the lady of the main house to live in, but Gongliang Yuzhi has not yet married a wife, so he arranged Ye Xuemei there. Obviously, there are a lot of free places in the mansion, but he wants to arrange her in the east courtyard. It's a pity that even if he is not happy, there is no way to stop the decision of Gongliang.

After everything was settled, Gongliang Yuzhi was about to enter the palace to return to Gongliang Rongruo. In this regard, Ye Xuemei was a little worried about him. But he said to Ye Xuemei: "The girl doesn't have to worry about me, the imperial brother is very kind, besides, I have prepared the words, and there will be no flaws." ”

Gongliang stopped leaving, Ye Xuemei looked at his figure and pondered, thinking that at the beginning, he was such a person who was not good at talking, but now he has done so many things for her. She really didn't know what to use to repay this huge favor......

Gongliang's mansion was the farthest from the palace, and he rode his horse for half an hour before reaching the palace.

He made his way into the palace unhindered. If Gong Liangrong only allowed him to come to the palace without any notice among his brothers, it can be seen that he is favored.

After Gongliang stopped entering the palace, he bowed to the bright yellow figure in front of the imperial case, and said: "Brother courtier, see Your Majesty, respectfully ask Your Majesty Holy Peace!" ”

After hearing his salute, the bright yellow figure behind the imperial case put down the red pen in his hand and raised his head to look at him lightly.

He looks quite similar to Gongliang Yuzhi, the same abundant and handsome, elegant and extraordinary. But his complexion is obviously much softer than Gongliang's words, and against the backdrop of the nine-pearl golden crown, his face is like a crown of jade. This person is Gongliang's half-brother, Gongliang Rongruo.

Gongliang Rongruo looked at Gongliang's words that were still saluting, slowly put down the red pen in his hand, and said, "Are you guilty?" ”

When Gongliang heard his words, he knew that he must have learned from Wu Ming about his trip to Xia Kingdom to save people, so he quickly knelt down and replied to Gongliang Rongruo: "It's the younger brother who was impulsive, and the younger brother is guilty!" ”

"What are you guilty of?"

"First, the younger brother should not leave Kaifeng without His Majesty's consent to go to Lili to save people. Second, if it weren't for this, Murong Yu would not have learned that it was the Song Kingdom that went to save people, and it would not have destroyed the situation of friendship between the two countries for a hundred years. Third, if it weren't for these, the royal brother would not have fallen into an unkind and unjust situation. ”

After Gongliang Rongruo listened to Gongliang's words, he sighed slightly, got up and bypassed the imperial case, and helped Gongliangyuzhi up, he said, "How can I care about a small Xia Kingdom? I don't care what Murong Yu's attitude or thoughts are, what I'm worried about is your safety! Do you know that your departure has made me look for you for a month, and your mother and queen mother are about to die of worry! ”