On the eighth day of the seventh month of the 70th year of the Great Qiankang Dynasty, the unitary time, the south of Chang'an City, near Changle Fang.

This area is the slum area of Chang'an City, surrounded by some black tile mud wall mud houses, those dense, crowded in one place of earthen houses, already narrow, there are a few mud walls, after daily wind and rain erosion, the soil has been peeled off, the rafters have been skewed, there is a sign of collapse. On both sides of the narrow and uneven trail, there are all kinds of small stalls and vendors, some selling dim sum and noodles for food, and some selling fruits and vegetables such as beans and dates......

Li Chongsheng and Gao Liangshi dressed as civilians, walking slowly in the pickled and messy streets, facing a gust of wind, accompanied by the winter chill, but their faces were full of dust. Li Chongsheng narrowed his eyes, couldn't help frowning slightly, sighed lightly, and said:

"I haven't been out of the palace for a long time, and today I want to walk around this south, but I didn't expect it to be this dilapidated appearance...... How did this Zhong Xingming do it?!...... These roads, as well as those houses, will not be repaired...... At the feet of the Son of Heaven, this façade still needs to be paid attention to...... If you are seen by those envoys of Fanbang, it will not be good after all......"

Gao Liangshi beside him hurriedly said: "Tomorrow, the old slave will go to Jingzhao Mansion to inform Lord Zhong and ask him to allocate funds to repair the ...... immediately."

Li Chongsheng said again: "It's a shame that Zhong Xingming has been Jing Zhaoyin for so many years, but he doesn't even understand this truth...... If the money is not enough, can I go to the household department to get it......

Gao Liangshi didn't answer in a hurry this time, he saw a bun shop in front of him, and there were four words "Yang Da Bun" on the sign of a white cloth shop on it. The steamer in front of the shop was full of large and round buns, and the fragrance of the meat buns was everywhere, so that the palace manager couldn't help but sniff a few more times......

"San Lang, after walking for two hours, it is already Youzheng now, and the old slave is also a little hungry in his stomach, see there is a 'Yang Da Baozi' shop, business seems to be good, wait for the old slave to buy a few to ......" Gao Liangshi said slowly.

Li Chongsheng waved his hand, and Gao Liangshi ran to the steamed bun shop and bought ten hot steamed buns freshly out of the basket. Unexpectedly, he had just taken a few steps back, but out of nowhere, four unkempt children came out, surrounded Gao Liangshi, and shouted, "Grandpa, grandpa...... Be merciful, do well, and give me something to eat...... We've been hungry for three days!"

Gao Liangshi looked at Li Chongsheng, Li Chongsheng nodded, and the emperor's personal manager gave all ten big meat buns to the four children, seeing them gobbling up and rolling clouds, it seemed that he still felt unbearable, so he ran to the bun shop to buy twenty big meat buns, and gave them all to those children.

I didn't think that this time it would be terrible, and in an instant, more than 20 children came from all directions, all of them looking ragged and tattered. The oldest of these children was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and the youngest was six or seven years old. When they saw that Gao Liangshi was so "generous", they all surrounded him and shouted: "Great master, living Bodhisattva...... You are good, have mercy on us, and give us something to eat...... You save us, we're starving......"

At this moment, Li Chongsheng couldn't help but change color, he walked forward quickly and asked:

"You ...... Where are you from?...... How can you be so hungry?...... What about your parents?"

The first sixteen-year-old boy, seeing that this "old man" was dignified and graceful, regarded him as a "big man", hurriedly stepped forward, nodded his head, and cried and said:

"Lord Qingtian, you are a living Bodhisattva! You must do well, show mercy, and save us! We all fled from Jinan Mansion, and our parents are starving to death...... We followed the people who fled the famine and walked for several months to get here. I heard adults say that Chang'an is the capital, and there are rich people, officials, and good people here, and if we just ask for a few mouthfuls of food, we won't starve to death...... Who knows, the official who guards the city just won't let us in. The adults had no choice but to stay outside the city. We little kids snuck in......"

Li Chongsheng asked: "Jinan Mansion, Shandong Province, there are thousands of miles of fertile land, why do you want to flee?"

The young man said, "Don't you know, sir, there is a great drought in our place, there is not a drop of water in the fields, and the wheat is dead...... If we don't flee, we're going to starve to death......"

Li Chongsheng said angrily: "Didn't the local government open a warehouse to release grain? None of those big grain farmers opened a porridge field to provide relief?"

The young man said: "This summer, the prefect opened a warehouse and put some grain, but how can there be enough food...... Within a few days, the government ignored us...... Those rich and wealthy families will only raise the price of grain, and they have not even given a grain of porridge......" After a pause, the young man said hatefully:

"Don't talk about soup kitchen, there is a Yang Yuanwai in our village, and we were originally tenants of his family. My father only borrowed a bag of wheat from his family, and when he didn't come out, a group of family members from Yang Yuan's family beat my father to a serious injury and robbed my mother...... Later, my aunt ...... was ruined by that Yang Yuanwai, Ah Niang was angry, and committed suicide by throwing herself into the well that day...... My father heard that Auntie was dead, and he died the next day......"

Li Chongsheng's face turned blue with anger, and he couldn't help shouting a few times in a row: "Damn, damn, damn!" He turned his head to look at Gao Liangshi and asked, "Gao Liangshi, what's going on?"

Gao Liangshi was still surrounded by a group of little beggars at the moment, and when he heard Li Chongsheng's question, he hesitated for a long time, and he didn't know how to answer, so he had to bow his head in mockery......

Li Chongsheng knew that if the manager refused to say it clearly, then the hidden truth inside would inevitably be even greater. He didn't ask anymore, but ordered Gao Liangshi to buy all the steamed buns in the bun shop and distribute them to the children.

Then, the two went back to the palace, and along the way, Li Chongsheng couldn't help but sigh inexplicably:

"I am a great Qiankang Yuan prosperous age, how did I become like this?!"

"I am old, over the years, I have handed over this state affairs to the princes, kings and ministers, and I thought that you would be able to govern my splendid country in an orderly manner...... I can't imagine what you've all done?!"

"In this catastrophe, no one in the local government reported it, and no one in the princes and ministers wrote a book, you ...... I really thought it was ...... Am I old?!"

Thinking of this, Li Chongsheng's worried eyes suddenly shone again......

......

And almost at the same time, in the palace of the king of Chu.

Li Zhi, the king of Chu, was leaning on the couch, and a round fat belly was already covering his vision of his feet. He sat up with great difficulty, took the wine glass handed by the maid with one hand, opened his mouth full of oil, and drank a full sip of wine, and pointed to the table of delicacies in front of him with the other, and commanded......

"Cut me some of the snowflake steamed bear's paws and the eight-treasure roast suckling pig for me......"

Xiao Yihong, the secretary of the criminal department on the side, frowned slightly when he saw it, and couldn't help but step forward and persuade:

"Your Highness, you've been eating for half an hour, so why don't you stop for a while...... Otherwise, it won't hurt the stomach and intestines, Your Highness's body is valuable, but you have to take care of it......"

"Yihong, I'll just take this bite, don't stop me...... Life in the world, isn't it just about eating and drinking, otherwise, it's like the morning dew, and the days are hard......" Li Zhi said, while not stopping swallowing, the large piece of roast pork slid down Li Zhi's big mouth into his throat, and a stream of oil and water gurgled down the corner of his mouth......

After eating for a while, Li Zhi asked, "What is this household experience?"

Xiao Yihong said: "Your Highness, his name is Xu Wuxi. ”

Li Zhi asked again: "You say, he is a student of Qiu Mingli?"

Xiao Yihong said: "Exactly!"

Li Zhi said: "Qiu Mingli is so bold that he dares to openly argue with the prince...... However, he sent a mere seven-rank official to collect debts...... What's going on?"

Xiao Yihong said: "Perhaps, he was instructed by King Wei...... I don't know ......."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "My fourth brother?...... Hahaha! You're underestimating him...... He wouldn't do such a stupid thing! Of my brothers, there is no one more shrewd than my fourth brother. Just like his name, Li Jin, Li Jin...... Meticulous and thorough, huh...... If he had ordered it, would he not have come to me by now?......"

Xiao Yihong said: "Now, the prince has put Xu Wuzhi in the prison of my criminal department, according to his subordinates, the prince will do it tonight...... Since this person has no background and has nothing to do with King Wei, it is better for us to ...... ...... just let it go and wait and see what happens?"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "No!"

Xiao Yihong asked, "According to His Highness's wishes...... What should my subordinates ......?"

Li Zhi said: "Do your best to protect him, not only will he have no worries, but he will also be unscathed!"

Xiao Yihong was puzzled: "Why is this?...... Could it be that His Highness is still worried that he is a disciple of King Wei?"

Li Zhi snorted and said, "If this person is really my fourth brother's disciple, I will let it go, and let the fourth brother go in a hurry...... It's a pity that this Xu is not sick, he is young and doesn't know how thick the sky is...... It's just a momentary bravery, and what he did may not even know about the autumn light...... Since he's just a pawn, I'm going to make good use of it......"

Xiao Yihong thought for a while, then said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness's intention is to take advantage of this pawn, follow the vine, and take advantage of the fact that the prince has borrowed a huge amount of treasury silver, and shake off the prince's big melon......"

Li Zhi also smiled: "Yihong has heard the saying 'a thousand miles of embankment, collapse in an anthill'?...... Sometimes, don't underestimate the power of a pawn, a small termite can destroy a thousand-mile-long embankment...... My second brother has not grown in skills over the years, but his temper has grown a lot. It's time to cure his stinky disease......"

Xiao Yihong hurriedly said: "The subordinates understand, without further ado, the subordinates will go and arrange the ......."

......

Li Zhi looked at Xiao Yihong's distant back, and suddenly remembered something again, and hurriedly ordered:

"Come on, go and call Sun Xun to me......"

Two hours later, at the right time, in the prison of the Criminal Department.

At this time, in the dead of night, it is a good time to kill people and sell goods......

Wang Qingquan, the waiter of the Criminal Department, took the two people behind him and came to the door of the No. A cell where Xu Wuxian was held alone. Several jailers hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and one of the cell leaders at the head said, "The little one is Lord Wang!"

Wang Qingquan asked, "That Xu Wuxi, why did he come here without the permission of this official?"

The head of the cell said: "Lord Yuwang, the younger one is ordered by Lord Shangshu to transfer that Xu Wuzhi to the cell No. A and detain ......"

Wang Qingquan said coldly: "This official has something to do, and he wants to interrogate Xu ......."

The cell boss looked embarrassed and said, "It's not that the little one wants to stop Lord Wang, it's just that Xiao Shangshu personally ordered it, without the permission of Lord Shangshu, no one is allowed to see that Xu Wuxian......"

"Bold! This official has been in charge of the Criminal Department for ten years, and if you want to interrogate a key criminal tonight, do you dare to stop this official as a cell leader!" Wang Qingquan said angrily.

The cell boss shook his heart and protested: "Lord Wang, please forgive the little offense! No one is allowed to enter without Lord Xiao's personal order!"

Wang Qingquan said secretly in his heart, as expected, Xiao Yihong, the secretary of your criminal department, learned that the prince had arrested someone, so he really came to intervene......

Wang Qingquan remembered that an hour ago, he was still in the Taiji Palace, and he persuaded the prince Li Rendao:

"His Royal Highness the Prince, this is just the experience of a single household, it's just a matter of nothing, just beat him back with a stick, why gouge out his eyes?"

Li Ren glared at him, rushed forward and said angrily:

"Qingquan, do you think that my prince is about to be abolished, so I can't move you, right......?"

Wang Qingquan hurriedly knelt on the ground and said, "The old minister doesn't dare to ......"

Bi Songyun, who was on the side, hurriedly stepped forward to help Wang Qingquan up, and said, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, Lord Wang didn't mean that...... Qingquan, just listen to the prince, is he just a seven-grade last official, who told him to make His Highness unhappy...... We only punished him slightly, but did not hurt his life......"

Wang Qingquan said helplessly: "Okay...... However, His Highness needs to send two Ouchi masters to go with the minister......"

Li Ren said impatiently: "Okay, good, this palace will send two people with you! Just this little thing, and still grinding and chirping like this......

Wang Qingquan thought to himself for a moment, knowing that he had no choice at this time, so he glanced at the two people behind him......

Two black shadows suddenly burst out from behind Wang Qingquan, and these two people shot like the wind, and in the blink of an eye, they had already knocked down the cell head and the four jailers......

Sure enough, it was a master of the inner house, and Wang Qingquan didn't even see what was going on, so he saw that the five jailers had all weakened and fainted to the ground......

Wang Qingquan took out a delicate small silver spoon from his arms, which was handed over to him by the crown prince Li Ren himself. He put the silver spoon into the hands of a man in black, and said, "Do it cleanly, gouge out his pair of eyes, and bring them back to the prince to see...... Remember, keep him alive!"

The two black-clothed masters answered the call, took the spoon and walked towards the prison door......