"Don't be fooled by them!" Seeing that he couldn't get out, the old man suddenly shouted: "These three are the spies of the Mongols, who were about to leave the city with a gunpowder prescription, and were bumped into by us and were about to be captured!" ”

He took out a sign from his waist and shouted: "I am sitting under the account of the envoy along the river, and I am responsible for arresting the Mongol spies, so don't hurt the good people by mistake!" ”

Everyone was stunned when they heard his words, and they all lowered the weapons in their hands and looked at Zheng Yunming and the other three suspiciously.

Before Zheng Yunming could say anything, he only heard a frost-like voice outside the crowd say: "Although these three people have obscene appearances and hateful faces, they are not from Mongolia. Brothers, take down the real dog thief for Daddy! ”

Zheng Yunming listened to the familiar sound of silver bells crashing, his heart almost jumped out, and he shouted loudly: "Yue'er, is it you?" ”

The crowd suddenly split left and right, making way for a way. Lai Ruyue was dressed in an emerald green hunting suit, holding a familiar silver-lacquered treasure carved bow in her hand, and a carved feather arrow was mounted on the string, and slowly walked into the garden, and said coldly to Zheng Yunming: "Now I want to capture this thief to avenge my father. ”

Zheng Yunming was slightly surprised, Lai Ruyue had never spoken to him in such a tone since she met him. But after thinking about it, her father is still in prison, and this girl will be anxious and have a very bad temper, and she also knows the truth. Immediately withdrew the sword and said: "Please let the little lady quickly arrest the thief, but don't forget to recover the gunpowder formula, this matter is related to the victory or defeat of the two countries." ”

Lai Ruyue stared at her, and didn't answer a word. Raised his hand and shouted: "Brothers, do it!" As she spoke, she suddenly raised her bow and arrows, and her arrows were as fast as lightning, and even the battle-hardened Mongolian archers were willing to bow to the wind, and the other side had not yet seen how she fired the arrows, and the eagle feather arrows had already pierced the throat of the one-eyed man.

The crowd shouted in unison and rushed forward to fight with the shackle thieves. Shear thieves are good at gang cooperation, to bully more and less, when they encounter a large number of enemies to chase, they are accustomed to scattering and leaving the enemy at a loss. This kind of situation where a large group of people suddenly surrounded them on all sides was the most powerless situation for the shackles and thieves, although the old man used many methods, but after all, he could not defeat Lai Ruyue's men, and he captured more than 20 people.

Although the Mongolian spies tried their best to resist, they were shot through his right hand and thigh by Lai Ruyue's cold arrow in less than a round, and he lost his combat effectiveness, and was rushed up by several big men and tied up strongly.

A complete set of gunpowder recipes and crafting books were found from the old man. Lai Ruyue walked over with both hands and handed it directly to Zheng Yunming, and said: "Please send someone to collect it, and then ask others to steal it, and then come and wronged my father." ”

Zheng Yunming listened to the resentment in her words, and couldn't bear it anymore. Quietly dragged her aside and asked in a low voice, "Is this the case with you?" As soon as I heard the news of your father's arrest, I rushed over from Xiangyang overnight, so you don't need to squeeze me with such cold words, right? ”

Lai Ruyue's beautiful round eyes widened, but they became even more cute, and she said angrily: "Your teacher said, who told you the news of my father's arrest?" ”

Zheng Yunming was speechless for a while, if it was said by Bai Yijie, wouldn't it be the whole betrayal of the general's division?

Although Lai Ruyue is still young and a little naïve and ignorant of the world, she is not a stupid girl, she saw Zheng Yunming's appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, and she had already guessed it in her heart.

"Is it Bai Yijie's house?" She said angrily.

"Don't be angry." Zheng Yunming reached this point, and only Wen Yan was relieved: "The military advisors have to make this decision for the sake of our two talents, if I can't let your father admit a great affection, how can I let your father agree to the matter between the two of us?" You should be considerate of this feeling. ”

"Considerate? Do you know that what my father values most in his life is a good reputation in loving the country and his hometown! Lai Ruyue's tears were puffed up in her big eyes, and there was a slight cry in her voice: "You guys are doing this, aren't you asking for my father's life?" ”

"No, it won't." Zheng Yunming said: "I will take someone to the prefect's yamen to confess, not only will there be no damage to your father's reputation. As a filial daughter, you cleared your father's grievances and assisted the government to arrest the real thief, and there will be a good story in the future. While Zheng Yunming was talking, Liu Cheng and the pro-soldiers of the Jing'e Prefecture and the Yamen had already arrived.

"You come with me to the prefect's yamen, so that I can give you credit." Zheng Yunming instructed Liu Cheng to accept all the prisoners, and said to Lai Ruyue.

Lai Ruyue shook her head and said, "Don't you understand?" Only you can take the credit for this, and Daddy can relax a little. If he wants to know that I will help you capture the thief, he will definitely be even more angry. Saying that, he gently pushed Zheng Yunming, and said in a low voice: "You went to see your father, plead well, don't collide with him, I'm listening to your news at home."

Zheng Yunming nodded, shook Lai Ruyue's little hand vigorously, turned around to say hello to Liu Quan, and strode in the direction of the Changsha Prefect's Yamen.

At noon, Lai Wengong was not brought wine and food to the prison as usual. When Lai Wengong felt strange, the cell door suddenly opened. What came in was the smiling Changsha Tong judge.

"The case has now been clarified." He instructed Lai Wengong to open the shackles and said: "Sure enough, it was the Mongol spies who framed Lai Gong, and now all the spies have been captured, and the prefect asked me to come forward to release Lai Gong, and the prefect also held a cheap banquet in the side hall, specifically to apologize for Lai Gong's shock." ”

Lai Wengong arched his hand and said: "Don't dare to disturb, how dare Lai Moujie cloth clothes, how dare the prefect of labor set up a banquet and entertain?" Please pass the judgment to say good words for me, Lai has been in prison for a long time, and the relatives at home miss him diligently, please pass the judgment to reward me with a convenience, let me go home to see my wife and daughter first. ”

The general judgment looked embarrassed: "This is naturally okay, and I also ask Lai Gong to say a few kind words in front of Zheng Dutong, we are not detaining Lai Gong out of personal grudges." In fact, it is our duty, and we have always been respectful to Lai Gong. ”

Lai Wengong was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's the matter with him?" ”

Lai Wengong's mansion is in the eastern corner of Changsha City, and Zheng Yunming is waiting in front of the gate with his own soldiers. It wasn't until the afternoon that I saw Lai Wengong striding back.

Zheng Yunming hurriedly stepped forward and bowed his hand, and apologized: "Changsha Mansion is not clear, so Lai Weng has suffered a lot of injustices, this is all due to the local governor's poor investigation and unclear judgment, Zheng Yunming has compensated Lai Gong on behalf of Changsha Mansion." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Lai Wengong stepping forward, he was tall, almost half a head taller than Zheng Yunming, and a pair of tiger eyes stared at Zheng Yunming tightly. Suddenly, he shook his head to the ground and said, "All of them saved Lai Wengong's life, remember it from the bottom of my heart." In the future, there will be a place to get Lai Wengong, even if it is a sea of blood, he will definitely go all out. ”

He raised his head, suddenly changed his tone, and said coldly: "It's just that they all want to accept the little girl as a concubine, even if they cut off Lai's head, it will be difficult to obey their fate." ”

"Please!" After Lai Wengong said this sentence that made Zheng Yunming's face change greatly, he immediately turned around and entered the door, and several family members closed the cumbersome black lacquer door, and locked the dignified deputy capital of Jing'e and his own soldiers outside for a closed meal.

Liu Cheng was furious, and he pulled out his waist knife and was about to scold. Zheng Yunming raised his hand to stop him, and shouted loudly to the door: "No matter how you refuse, my heart for the little lady will never change!" ”

"So what?" A majestic and solemn voice came from behind him: "For the sake of a woman, it is easy to leave the important military and political positions entrusted to you by the state." Such a foolish son, I don't remember me teaching him that! ”

Zheng Yunming heard this familiar voice that could not be more familiar, and his heart was shocked. When I looked back, I could barely believe my eyes.

More than a dozen steps behind him, standing was Zheng Qingzhi, the prime minister and privy envoy of the Zuo Cheng and the privy envoy of the Great Song Dynasty, and the doctor of Yinqingguanglu.

Zheng Yunming didn't know that his father, who was supposed to be in charge of the political affairs hall in Lin'an, suddenly appeared here because of what was going on, so he hurriedly pulled up the sleeves of his robe and knelt down. He raised his face and asked, "Why did your lord come to Changsha because of something?" How can the pillars of the prime minister leave Beijing so easily? ”

Zheng Gui, the old housekeeper behind Zheng Qingzhi, whispered: "Second son, the master is no longer the prime minister now. ”

Zheng Yunming's heart sank. He knew that day would come. waited until today to remove Zheng Qingzhi from the post of prime minister, in fact, it was much later than scheduled.

The failure of the battle of Duanping in the second year of Luo, not only failed to recover an inch of the old territory, but the ancestral mausoleum was still reduced to dust. And all the divisions in Luoluo were defeated, and tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Jinghu were lost. It directly ignited the flames of the Song and Mongolian wars, which led the Mongols to invade the south on a large scale since then, making the national border full of beacons and swords at any time. All these sins were caused by the fact that someone in the court presided over the action of Duanping and Luo.

Although the emperor was reluctant to Zheng Qingzhi, a favorite general who could judge his intentions, he also understood that the dismissal of Zheng Qingzhi was also to announce that the Zhongxing illusion known as "Xiao Yuanyou" since he was in power had finally been shattered, so he repeatedly added officials to Zheng Qingzhi to show the emperor's support for the Zheng family. However, since the southern invasion of Mongolia, there have been frequent reports of defeat in the border areas, and even the Duanping Emperor who is above 10,000 people is powerless to resist the political pressure of the entire imperial court.

In the second year of Duanping, not long after Zheng Yunming arrived in Xiangyang, Zheng Qingzhi had already officially gone to the sparse, and asked him to return to the old age because of his ill health, and he was not allowed to do so, and he was promoted from the right prime minister to the left prime minister. In August of the third year, Lin'an was stormy, and Qingzhi took this as a warning from heaven, and he asked for resignation. The emperor was still hesitant, and in September, a thunderbolt exploded during the festival, and the ministers thought that God was warning the emperor the most, so they joined the group. Zheng Qingzhi himself also went to the book four times and begged to return the bones. The emperor finally could no longer insist on his opinion, and issued an edict to remove Zheng Qingzhi from the post of prime minister of the left, and conferred the title of scholar of the Guanwen Palace, the envoy of Liquan and the attendant, which was a glorious title after the retirement of important ministers, in order to show the favor of the Son of Heaven to the courtiers at the level of the political affairs hall.

Later, he was given the position of lifting the Dongxiao Palace, there was a Song Dynasty, Huizong began to advocate Taoism, the Dongxiao Palace set up since the Tang Dynasty is the most prosperous Taoist temple in Lin'an, and it is also the palace temple of the royal exclusive blessing practice after the Nandu. The promotion of the position of Dongxiao Palace is usually also conferred on the close ministers of the Son of Heaven, demonstrating the close relationship between the Son of Heaven and him.

All in all, Emperor Duanping was reluctant and helpless to depose Zheng Qingzhi. But there must always be someone in the court to take responsibility for the defeat of the Battle of Jinluo, and this person can never be the emperor himself.