After returning to the Begonia Courtyard, Xi Yan's eyes were full of An Ruofei's figure, but looking at the letter in front of him, he had to calm down and face all the chaos.

"As soon as the Shangyuan Festival is over, Your Majesty is about to start the dynasty, and presumably the Ministry of Industry will make arrangements for the construction of the embankment of the Chushui River. You go to Qi An's place, he is the official to the Ministry of Works, and he happens to be Xi Qing's boss. Let him speak in front of the Ministry of Works, and find a way to let Xi Qing be responsible for supervising the water discharge. ”

After thinking about it, Xi Yan changed his words again: "That's it, I'll go in person tomorrow, Qi An is very shrewd......"

Early the next morning, Xi Yan put on a heavy cloak again and prepared to go to Qingsong Courtyard in Qi Mansion. As soon as he arrived at the gate of Qingsong Courtyard, a small servant came over to inform him that Qi An was not there.

Hearing this, Xi Yan couldn't help laughing a few times, and said a little self-deprecatingly: "I'm really confused, how can he stay in the mansion honestly on such a holiday." Let's go, go to Shifang Street. ”

Sure enough, when Xi Yan arrived at the gate of the Qinglou on Shifang Street, he saw Qi An's henchman Yao Ke. When Xi Yan pushed the door in and found Qi An, he was leaning on the couch, hugging left and right, his clothes were half-open.

Seeing Xi Yan coming in, Qi An was not displeased, "I can't imagine it, I'm hiding here, you can still find me." ”

"Shifang Street is your second home, how can I not find you?"

After signaling the idlers to retreat, Qi looked at Xi Yan steadily: "You have just been promoted to the Criminal Department, should you be here to receive gifts this time?" ”

Xi Yan smiled slightly, and while playing with the wine cup in his hand, he said: "Originally, it wasn't, but since you took the initiative to speak, I had to laugh, remember... Be nice. ”

Qi An glanced at Xi Yan fiercely, "I won't give it, Lingjiang produces salt, and the only one who can be richer than Yanzheng is Caoyun." ”

"Stop," Xi Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, "How many iron mines in Huai'an have changed their surnames unconsciously?" ”

Qi An disagreed, "Huai'an is located in the northwest and is far less rich than Lingjiang. ”

Xi Yan didn't want to talk to him anymore, so he took a sip of tea and said, "Don't talk nonsense with you, I have something I want you to help with." ”

"Say! Brother help you," Qi An smiled and waved his hand, looking like he was wrapped around him

"Don't take advantage of me," Xi Yan glanced at him with disdain, "Your Ministry of Industry is going to repair the water, you should be almost ready, right?" ”

Hearing him say such an important thing as soon as he came, Qi An couldn't help but glance at him meaningfully, and said with a contemplative expression: "Yes, the reconsideration of the subordinates has passed, and the official document of the Kai Dynasty will come down after the New Year." ”

Xi Yan smiled lightly: "Since that's the case, then this matter has to be you..."

Qi An didn't wait for Xi Yan to finish speaking, and said: "I'm just a little waiter in the Ministry of Industry, I have Lord Shangshu on my head, and there is Shangshu Province above, please ask me to help, I'm afraid I can't help." ”

Hearing that what Xi Yan was going to say involved a major project in the DPRK and China, Qi An had to be cautious, and he also had a sense of shirk in his heart.

Xi Yan heard the refusal in Qi An's words, and changed his words: "Don't be nervous, it's not a big deal." It's a good thing for us to get together, and it's not bad for you to get it down. ”

Qi An smiled noncommittally, "Benefits? Harm? Can you tell us about them one by one? ”

"Okay," Xi Yan said very simply, "It's done, we can start dealing with the Jing family; If it doesn't work out, you won't have anything to lose. ”

"Dealing with the Jing family?" Qi An pursed his lips, his eyes flashing, "Do you remember to deal with the Jing family?" I thought you and Xi Qing were fighting like black-eyed chickens, and you forgot about it. Tell me, what's the matter? ”

Xi Yan smiled slightly, looked away from Qi An with a side face, and said unhurriedly: "I want you to recommend Xi Qing in front of Dai Shangshu and let him supervise the construction of the embankment." ”

After finishing speaking, Xi Yan looked at Qi An quietly, waiting for him to respond.

Sure enough, Qi An's face gradually began to be solemn: "What is the purpose of you helping him speak?" ”

Xi Yan shook his head slightly, "Help him?" Why should I help him? I'm helping both of us. ”

Qi An only groaned slightly, and his heart suddenly brightened.

"Okay, you're really vicious! With my brother like this, I really want to sigh for Xi Qing's bad luck. He had just been appointed as a member of the Ministry of Works, and he thought highly of himself but had no experience. If he was put in charge of such a big thing, he would definitely not be able to handle it. ”

Qi An pointed at Xi Yan and said with a clear gaze: "If he can't cope with it, then he is not worthy!" The mouth of the official in the DPRK is the most poisonous, especially after you have your instructions, if he can make something wrong in such a major matter as building the embankment of the river in the water, the official will naturally spare no effort to impeach him. ”

Speaking of which, Qi An already had an expression that saw through everything, "He is now in full swing, he must be slack at the same time as he is proud, and after he relaxes, he must be careless, and there must be something wrong under carelessness, isn't it?" ”

Xi Yan saw that his thoughts were punctured, and nodded calmly, "What you said is good, but these are not enough. Whether he is rampant or modest, as long as he goes to the water, he can only do what I designed. He is now the Dweller, just as the water will overflow, and I will add another drop to him, just to make him fall. ”

Qi An glanced at Xi Yan suspiciously, and found that Xi Yan was still indifferent, and his heart was full of doubts, "What's in it for me?" Since Xi Qing will be defeated this time, how can I, as the person who recommended him, not sit together? ”

Xi Yan seemed to have expected him to say this, but he still didn't care much about it, so he only took out a letter from his sleeve pocket and gently pushed it in front of Qi An.

Qi An looked at Xi Yan with a waveless face, lowered his head and picked up the letter, the longer he read the letter, the more he couldn't help but emit a cold light in his eyes.

"Situ Yizheng..."Qi An tried his best to restrain his anger, but his palms couldn't help but slap on the table, "When did they start?" ”

Xi Yan let out a sigh, and his words were very peaceful, "A few years ago, maybe when Jing Yuan came back, maybe earlier... Situ Yizheng got together with the Jing family. If it weren't for the fact that my guards had discovered that they had a lot of unusual private dealings, you and I might have fallen short. ”

"It's beautiful," Qi An sneered, "What now?" Do you still clean up the Jing family? Or I'll clean up with the Situ family. ”

"Qi Gongzi..."Xi Yan turned a deaf ear to this rough proposal, and spread his hands out, "We don't have a handle, we don't have the strength, and we can't clean up the Situ family, so let's do it according to the original plan." ”

I don't know if it's because this news hit too hard, Qi An thought for a while, but there was still some hesitation and confusion in his mind, and he actually said: "Then I will go to Xi Qing to discuss this matter, and I can also restrain the two of them." Why bother? Moreover... I really had recommended him. For no reason, why should he believe that I am sincere? ”

Xi Yan saw that he pulled the topic back again, and also said, "Didn't you take 100,000 taels from him?" The right to repay the favor. ”

"Okay. Even so, if Xi Qing is willing to listen to my persuasion, he will temporarily form an alliance with me. ”

"Are you confused?" Xi Yan looked at Qi An with some anger, picked up a cup of tea and poured it into the incense burner, and the incense that was originally burning happily was suddenly extinguished, making a sizzling sound.

"Not to mention that I'm the one who is allied with you! Even if you find him, will he believe you? All he has in his eyes is what is in front of him, and even if he agrees to join forces with you, how can he really help? ”

Xi Yan tried his best to calm the anger in his heart, and said as calmly as possible: "As long as you help me take down Xi Qing first, the rest is to capture it." For you, recommending him is just a matter of pushing the boat to say a word, in front of the interests of the family, what is this!? ”

As he spoke, Xi Yan walked to the window again and opened all the originally closed windows.

As soon as the cold wind blew, the two suddenly sobered up a lot.

Qi An also realized that Fang Cai was wrong, so he put his hand on his forehead, "You let me think about it." But... What good do you give me? ”

Xi Yan didn't expect him to be still entangled in these details, and looked at him with cold eyes, "What benefits do you want?" Do you want the income of Lingjiang well salt next year!? ”

Qi An was still hesitating, Xi Yan knew that the matter was important, so he said: "You think about it slowly, if you think it clearly, give me an answer tonight at the latest, it's too late." ”

Since the words were a little not speculative, Xi Yan naturally didn't say more, got up and left.

Qi An deeply understood that Xi Yan's words were very reasonable, but he still couldn't help but doubt Xi Yan's plan. But in the face of the current situation that the Situ family and the Jing family have begun to join forces, Qi An is also very entangled.

A moment after Xi Yan left, Qi An was also ready to leave. Before leaving, Qi An twisted out a handful of incense ashes in the furnace and wrapped it with a handkerchief, and carefully covered up the traces in the incense burner, and only after there was nothing unusual, he hurriedly left Shifang Street.