Sima Xunian finished entertaining in Shangshuling's mansion and returned to the mansion.

Since the last dismissal of the people in the house, he also didn't want to hire too many servants and attendants, so Mingxin selected more than a dozen people, who could handle the idle affairs in the house, and there was no need to buy out. At this time, the mansion was a little quiet, and when he entered the door, he saw Yiming waiting for him in the courtyard.

"Yiming, come to my study."

"Yes." After all, Yiming has been with him for many years, and the master's mind is still known, and when he went out today, he only mentioned Miss Shen slightly, and the master couldn't bear it, plus Sima Xunian was a good guest in the Qin Mansion, and he had to send someone to send a letter home, it must be that he had found clues and made some moves.

When he came to the study, Sima Xunian sat down and said, "Yiming, you go to Yangzhou and Jiangxia to inquire if there is any news of Shen Jiyue." ”

"Young master, you can speak, Mingxin and I have already packed up."

"Mingxin?"

"Young master, Mingxin is Miss Shen's maid after all, if I find Miss Shen, the hard persuasion is ineffective, and there is no Mingxin to continue to persuade, Miss Shen may be in the master-servant relationship, and it is possible that she was touched."

Sima Xunian knew that he was pretending to be a public servant, so he said, "It's okay if you want to take Mingxin away, but there are two points, one is to ensure Mingxin's safety, and the other is not to abolish the public for personal reasons." ”

"Don't worry!"

"The possibility of Shen Jiyue in Yangzhou and Jiangxia is not high, you can do regular investigation, if there is no clue at all, don't fall in love, go back quickly."

"Yiming understands." After receiving the order, Yiming was going back to the room.

"Wait a minute," Sima Xunian seemed to be relieved when Yi Ming turned to go out, and continued, "Shen Jiyue...... After all, if you can find her, whether she wants to come back or not, you can't be stimulated by words, if you are not careful, I will only ask! ”

"Young master, don't worry."

Sima Xunian was slightly stunned, and some worries flashed through his heart...... Child, could it be her own wishful thinking that she still has ......

The Yamen of the Ministry of Officials

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Officials has sorted out the results of the examination of the various inspectors and submitted them to the Son of Heaven for reading.

According to the laws and regulations of the Dacheng Kingdom, according to the inspection envoys, generally only the examination of the main local officials, that is, the assassin history, the county guard, if there is no special fault, are all general, only for the Son of Heaven to promote, promote and promote officials as a reference, the Son of Heaven also relies on the examination of the inspection envoy, to know the name, origin and main achievements of the local governors, etc., the results of the examination are only for the reference of the Son of Heaven.

The official examination courses that are more practical and have rules to follow are sponsored by the Ministry of Officials, and the Department of Officials is the organizer. Officials in the world, once a year, at the end of the year, the results will be released in the spring of the next year, and those who have merits and losses will be dealt with according to the rules.

Now is the time to sort out the results of the examinations and adjust the positions of officials in various localities. Sima Xunian was reviewing the handling documents of the preliminary examination of the servants of the Ministry of Officials, and after his approval, the documents were submitted to the Zhongshu Provincial Judgment, and the judgment would not reach the emperor's table after the judgment. In the processing of documents, Sima Xunian found that the officials in Qingzhou praised a lot, especially the Qingzhou Thorn History, and the results of the examination were actually the highest, so he summoned Yang Zheng, the servant of the ministry.

"Lord Yang, your document is obviously inappropriate in Qingzhou."

Yang Zheng is the son of Yang Hui, and he originally thought that the secretary of the ministry belonged to him, but he didn't want to this day, and he was still looking up to people, "Lord Sima, the results of the examination are issued by the Ministry of Examination, and the lower officials are also reported according to the truth." ”

"If this document arrives in Zhongshu Province, I'm afraid you'll have to go home and serve your father."

Yang Zhengzhi was angry and silent.

"Yang Zheng, if you learn a little bit of your father's calmness, I'm afraid you won't just be a servant now. As soon as Prince Ying went to the Qingzhou fiefdom, you praised and promoted the officials of Qingzhou, and the supervision of the imperial history must refer to you to win the hearts of the people, intending to form a party for personal gain! ”

Yang Zheng was slightly taken aback when he heard this, and then disagreed, "That's the case, my lord, shouldn't you report this document to the Holy Lord earlier, so that our Yang family's crimes can be added to it?" ”

"Although your father acted inappropriately, he has no deep hatred for me, and if it weren't for your father's promotion, I might just be an ordinary general now, and I am not qualified to sit here." Sima Xunian understood that the factions of the imperial court were complicated, and although he had military merits, if no one promoted him, he would not be able to become a very popular minister.

"Master Sima, you still know that you are deeply favored by your father!"

Sima Xunian didn't want to dwell on this issue with him anymore, so he said bluntly, "Qing, Xu, Yang, and Yizhou are rich in salt, especially Qingzhou, which and Yizhou belong to the two major salt-producing areas in the east and west of Dacheng Country. If you are still so reckless, I am afraid that even the last bit of base will be defeated by you. ”

Sima Xunian's words were rough, and Yang Zheng bowed his head and was silent.

"Take the paperwork back, change it and send it back."

Yang Zheng, who retrieved the documents, thought twice before leaving, but turned around and said a few words to Sima Xunian, "Lord Sima, my father interceded for Ling Zun back then, and he really wanted to win over Shen Yong, but at that time, the Tao family had been wiped out by Prince Rong, and it was impossible to have new testimony to corroborate Ling Zun, even if he fought to the end and sent to Dali Temple for investigation, there would be no better results." ”

Sima Xunian frowned slightly, Yang Zheng knew that he understood, and silently retired.

Yiming has always been very neat in his work, and he returned home after more than half a month.

"Young master, as you measured, whether it is Yangzhou or Jiangxia, there is no trace of Miss Shen."

"If this is the case, Sima You deliberately went out of the East City Gate with great fanfare, which is a trick to mislead me to trace the whereabouts of the token, and second, to make me mistakenly think that Shen Jiyue is going to Yangzhou to seek refuge with my father."

"So Miss Shen is still in Chang'an City?"

"At first I was just guessing, but now I'm pretty much sure. It seems that I am going to visit Sima You's Mansion again. Yiming, do you still remember a courtyard in the suburbs of Baqiao when you went out of the city before? ”

Yiming thought for a while and replied, "I remember, you also said to me at the time, 'Spring is full of joy here, but the door of this house is closed, and there is not even a small guard at the door, which is especially desolate', could it be ......"

"You go now."

"Yes, young master."

Sima Xunian didn't stop for a moment, and soon arrived at Sima You's Governor's Mansion, and as soon as he arrived at the gate of the mansion, he went directly inside. The little guy who guarded the door knew his identity, and he didn't want to stop him too much, so he hurriedly ran in to report it.

Sima You heard him coming, hurriedly came out of the back house, and only when he arrived in the front hall, he found that Sima Xunian was already sitting in the hall with a serious face, he turned his head and ordered the little servant to serve tea, and walked forward.

"Lord Sima's visit, there is a loss of welcome, there is a loss of welcome." Sima You seemed to be light and light.

"Master Sima, I'm here to pick up my fiancée."

"What fiancée? How can I have your fiancée in my house, didn't the guards at the East City Gate tell you that someone took your token out of the city that night? You should hurry to Yangzhou, maybe she's there. ”

"A lone woman, going to Yangzhou by herself? Moreover, I only have one token, can you not only give Shen Jiyue out of the city gate, but also send someone to the prison of the Criminal Department with an order to raise people? Sima Xunian took a sip of tea and said slowly.

"This ...... Shen Jiyue is naturally not alone, I arranged for the guards to take care of it, as for the token...... Naturally, I arranged the time. ”

"But the guard at the East City Gate said that he only saw one carriage out of the city, did your guards all sit in the same carriage as Shen Jiyue?"

Sima You said a few words, "Anyway, she is not in my house, I don't believe you can go in and search by yourself, all the doors of my room will be opened for you, whether it is a concubine or a maid, you can enter anyone's room." After saying that, he sat down to drink tea, turned his head and stopped looking at him.

Sima You seemed to have a look of emptiness on his face, and was looked at by Sima Xunian, "Master Sima, I smell that you are in the fields of Chang'an, you won't tell me to search slowly inch by inch, right?" "He's a little impatient and doesn't want to continue to entangle with him,

"Now Yiming and Mingxin are estimated to have arrived at your western suburbs, should we go over together now, or do you stay in the mansion and I go by myself."

It turned out that Sima Xunian deliberately dragged Sima You here, so that his spies could not send the news to him in time.

Sima You finally put down the teacup and looked straight at Sima Xunian, "Since you already know, I won't get involved in your affairs anymore." But I have a word first, if you really care about her, you should trust her and give her enough security. She was alone for six years, can you imagine a little girl under the age of fifteen suddenly losing all her family and then being thrown into a land surrounded by jackals? Shen Jiyue is! ”

Sima Xunian looked at Sima You for a while, then raised his feet and left, and when he passed by Sima You's side, he turned around and looked at him fixedly, "Lord Sima, I also said it first, my friend's wife, don't peep, if you have any crooked thoughts, don't blame me for ignoring my brother's righteousness." With that, he turned around and left.

Sima You looked at his back, stunned for a long time, and suddenly blushed, Fang shouted, "Sima Xunian, if you don't cherish her well, she will definitely become my Madame Sima!" ”

I don't know if Sima Xunian heard Sima You's call, but after he came out of Sima You's mansion, he rushed to his western suburbs without stopping.

In the more than a month that Shen Jiyue left, he was anxious about dealing with the two major fraud cases almost every day, but no matter how busy he was with official affairs, he did not leave a moment to inquire about Shen Jiyue's whereabouts. Although Yiming is a good player, he has to assist him to quickly control and round up the people involved, and he has no skills, so he can only do it alone.

At first, he was a little flustered, really thinking that Shen Jiyue had gone to Yangzhou, so he missed the best time to search. Later, I thought that she was pregnant, even if she had to travel a long distance, it was impossible to disappear without a trace in two or three days, and the only explanation was that she was still near Chang'an.

It is not without a purpose for him to go to Qingqing, although there are many private houses of Sima You, but the environment is quiet and there are few in the suburbs of Chang'an.

After a short time, he arrived, only to see that the door was slightly open, and Yi Ming, who was standing at the door, was already anxiously waiting for him, "Young Master, you can arrive." ”

He entered the courtyard in a flash, "Is Shen Jiyue here?" ”

Yi Ming said while closing the latch, "It's really here, but the young master ......" The words did not fall, and when he looked again, there was no trace of Sima Xunian.

His heart was beating faster and faster, so fast that it made him feel flustered, but he didn't want to wait for a moment.

Beyond the row of houses in the forecourt, behind it was a patchwork garden, and after a few more corridors, he came to the backyard, and near the round arch of the backyard, he saw a woman standing by the waterside in the distance......

It's her!

This slender and slightly lonely back was all too familiar to Sima Xunian, so he quickened his pace and almost trotted all the way around the nine-curved stone slab bridge on the lake.

The beauty was close in front of him, but he slowed down, looking at her thinner back, full of distress and self-blame.

"Yue'er ......"

Yiming had already come to the door, she knew that he would come soon, and she had already made mental preparations, but the moment she heard his voice, she still trembled slightly, but did not turn around.

Sima Xunian stepped forward, couldn't help but reach out behind him, and hugged her gently, the arms were a lot empty, and she lost a lot of weight......

"Yue'er, it's me who is not good ......" Sima Xunian felt that he had never been so low-voiced, but the person in front of him was her! During the time she disappeared, he thought a lot, and in the end, he had to admit that as long as she was willing to turn back, he could do whatever she wanted, and he could give up anything......