"His Highness, King Pingxi, was exhausted on his journey. The emperor prepared some wine to welcome His Highness. If His Highness does not abandon..." Wang Xin smiled and wanted to be polite.

Seeing that Tong Guan's face looked a little bad, Chen Ao seemed to understand something in his heart, and interrupted him lightly, "I am tired, I will give up this drink. Thank you for your kindness."

A lukewarm word made Wang Xin's face look a little embarrassed. Tong Guan's face behind him looked a little better at this time. As for the generals of the border town who came with him, they all showed some joy. I guess Duke Cheng's popularity on the three sides is not good.

Wang Xin dared to laugh and said, "Since the prince is tired, why not go to the imperial envoy to take a break? The official has already prepared his place to stay..."

Chen Ao said lightly: "No, I have always lived in the Tongguan Jun Mansion, and this habit cannot be changed."

After saying that, he ignored Wang Xin and went straight to the city with Tong Guan. With Chen Ao's current status, he didn't have to pay attention to a Duke, let alone a marginal figure like Duke Wang Xin of Cheng.

Of course, Wang Xin knew this truth, and did not dare to say anything, so he obediently took his entourage to go there.

When he arrived at Tong's Mansion, Tong Guan immediately welcomed Chen Ao into the main hall and called out the people on both sides, leaving only a confidant old servant to pour tea and water. Chen Ao had just taken a sip of tea, and Tong Guan had already grabbed Chen Ao's feet and said, "Your Highness saves the family."

Chen Ao couldn't help but be shocked and said, "What are you saying about Eunuch Tong? It's like the sky is falling."

Tong Guan smiled bitterly and shook his head and said, "If Your Highness doesn't come, the Zajia family really thinks that the sky has fallen. Somehow, the court suddenly sent Wang Xin to be the imperial envoy to supervise the three sides. Originally, Your Majesty had always trusted the Zajia family, but somehow heard someone's slander, saying that Zajia family was old and wanted to share the worries for the Zajia family..." Tong Guan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and stayed with the king like a tiger. How could he not know this old fried dough stick? The minister was said to be old, which was both an understanding of the emperor and a prelude to the family scout and extermination of the clan.

Tong Guan continued: "When Wang Xin came, the zodiac family realized that things were far from that simple. When he arrived at Sanbian, the first thing he did was to open the pass to Huaizhou merchants, and thoroughly investigate many military generals on Sanbians, these people..." Tong Guan said embarrassedly: "All of them are the confidants of the zodiac family. Didn't the old saying say that the emperor once a day's minister, and even the same is true for this side. Now that the power of the town has fallen into Wang Xin's hands, Wang Xin is the right thing to pick the zodiac family as an imperial envoy, isn't it obvious that Wang Xin is going to pick the zodiac family? The zodiac family dare not say that the generals and subordinates in the border are all law-abiding, and it is not easy to make mistakes. Your Highness... You have to make an idea for the zodiac family. Did Wang Xin give His Majesty the holy intention and specially come to rectify the zodiac family? Or is it caused by the zodiac businessmen?"

Chen Ao thought for a while and took a sip of tea: "I have communicated with Your Majesty in the past few months, and Your Majesty has also mentioned the three sides of the matter. He has no complaints about you, so it should not be the holy intention."

Tong Guan couldn't help but sigh in relief when he heard this. He was deep in the trees on these three sides. An imperial envoy was not so frightened. What he feared the most was that Wang Xin was instructed by the palace, which means that there was no way to heaven and no way to go down to the ground. He could not argue with his mouth, so he could only wash his neck and let others kill him.

Tong Guan couldn't help but sneer: "Is it the ones who are the ones who are trying to make trouble in Huaizhou? I really didn't expect that the energy of Huaizhou people is so great."

Chen Ao was not interested in resolving his entanglement with Wang Xin. In his opinion, Tong Guan and Wang Xin were just a continuation of the struggle between the court. Instead of having the energy to care about this, it would be better to put it more on the court. He said lightly: "The collapse of Taiyuan has been in a month and a half. Is there anything new?"

Tong Guan was already calm and cheered up and said, "The news sent last night." He smiled bitterly and said seriously: "Your Highness, don't be angry when you hear it." He said slowly: "The land of Taiyuan collapsed, and Duke Qi was ordered to provide disaster relief, but the chaos occurred. Your Majesty Long Yan was furious. Three days ago, he had sent someone to take him back to Beijing, and most of them were in Dali Temple to prepare for trial. This time, the land of the land was suddenly in trouble, and the world was talking about it. Some people even deceived the public, saying that God warned Your Majesty that it was a sign of the destruction of the country! Originally, His Majesty wanted to suppress this matter immediately, but who knew that Duke Qi brought money to raise food when he got there, and the victims had no food. As a result, something happened. Thousands of people attacked the imperial envoy. Although they were suppressed by the border troops stationed in Taiyuan, it became difficult to contact the collapse of the land. I am afraid that Duke Qi will be finished this time."

Chen Ao was lowering his head to drink tea. After hearing Tong Guan's words, the cup in his hand couldn't help but fall to the ground. He raised his eyes and said, "Say it again!"

Tong Guan smiled bitterly and said again, "This time the court allocated a total of five million yuan in disaster relief money. According to the market price, it was enough to buy two million dan of rice. However, when Duke Qi arrived in Taiyuan, he did not buy rice, which was delayed, which caused a disaster. Your Highness was close to Duke Qi. At this time, it would be better not to stand out for him. The collapse of the land was a huge matter. The palace was worried. Now that this happened again, the relationship between Duke Qi and the palace had long disappeared. It is said that the Empress Xian went to the Empress Dowager to plead with him, and even the Empress Dowager dared not agree."

Chen Ao was stunned for a moment. The political impact of the land collapse was too great, especially in Taiyuan. If it were the previous dynasty, the palace would issue a self-destruction and the chief minister would cause blame to the soldiers. However, there was no movement in the Song Dynasty. Now, due to Zhou Zheng’s inappropriate disaster relief, it finally broke out.

At present, I am afraid that countless people are looking forward to letting Zhou Zheng take the blame for the collapse.

The charge of arousing civil rebellion is probably similar to treason. Not to mention Chen Ao, even the empress dowager stands up and speaks is useless.

Since the land collapses, there will definitely be someone who is unlucky. The emperor is not unlucky and the chief minister is not unlucky. Isn’t it that Zhou is unlucky?

However, the relationship between Zhou Zheng and Shen Ao is absolutely impossible for Chen Ao to stand by. His face suddenly became gloomy and he said, "Who recommended him to go to provide disaster relief?"

Seeing that Chen Ao's face was not good, Tong Guan didn't dare to offend him, so he hurriedly said, "It's Li Bangyan." He hesitated for a moment and continued, "Li Bangyan is from Huaizhou, and Taiyuan is also one of the important commercial routes in Huaizhou. Mid-class families heard that using money to buy merchants' food to provide disaster relief was also Li Bangyan's idea. Did Li Bangyan deliberately collude with those merchants?" He continued to think according to his own ideas: "It should be impossible to make a mistake. The reason why he recommended Duke Qi was probably because of His Highness."

What a smart person Chen Ao is, he snorted coldly, saying, "At this critical moment, they still want to make disasters and wealth, but they are afraid that I will pursue it in the future, so they deliberately dragged Duke Qi into the water. In this way, if I pursue them, the first person to eradicate is Duke Qi, right? Humph, such a deep scheming."

The general context is clear, although it is not certain, it is the most reasonable explanation now. Li Bangyan instigated the emperor to buy grain on the spot, and the grain is in the hands of merchants in Huaizhou. These merchants want to sell grain, of course, they cannot sell it at the market price. It is a common thing to increase ten times, and a hundred times. Li Bangyan set up a pocket to wait for the imperial envoy to hand over the money. Zhou Zheng is also the key point. If no one wants to investigate, just pull Zhou Zheng into the water. Anyway, the grain was purchased by Zhou Zheng, and he will bear it if something happened.

As a result, Zhou Zheng arrived in Taiyuan, and the price quoted by the merchant made him unacceptable, so he became a stalemate. After that, a civil unrest occurred, and the blame for poor disaster relief naturally fell on Zhou Zheng.

According to Li Bangyan's estimate, Zhou Zheng went to Taiyuan and honestly bought grain at a high price, then asked the merchants to send some bribes, so that everyone could make a fortune together. Who knew that Zhou Zheng was not a man who was not involved in meat, but he didn't dare to touch the money for disaster relief. Now that this big thing has happened.

Chen Ao sneered: "I'll ask someone to find out the whole story of this matter first. Eunuch Tong, although the border troops in Taiyuan have nothing to do with you, do you have any acquaintances there?"

Tong Guan nodded and said, "Of course there are, Sanbian and Taiyuan have always been inextricably linked. Your Highness meant that you asked someone to ask someone to inquire?"

Chen Aohe nodded and said, "When you go inquire, you can write me a letter immediately when you have the right letter. As for Bianjing, I will go to act in person. Damn, these bastards have put the abacus on me. If you don't give them a little color today, they don't know why I, Chen Ao, call me a silly."

Tong Guan said: "Your Highness should think twice. This fact is too great. Not to mention that the people in the world have already been talking about it. It is said that the civil unrest that the Duke of Prayer ignored the disaster victims and caused the civil unrest. Even the palace was already furious. The two things about the land collapse and the civil unrest are combined. No one will get good results if they get involved."

Chen Ao smiled faintly: "What's wrong with trying?"

Chen Ao was a little anxious. Thinking of many past events, he could have a today, and he was inseparable from Zhou Zheng. Mrs. Zhou and Zhou Ruo in Bianjing City must have been anxious. He was not here, and there was no man at home, so he was just returning home. If it weren't for the fact that it was too late at this time, I really hoped to set off immediately.

Tong Guan didn't know how to persuade him anymore, but said, "Since your highness has made up your mind, the family has to give it a try with you."

After saying that, he asked someone to exchange a new cup of tea for Chen Ao and comforted him: "For such a big thing, the three departments must be tried, and the imperial examination may not be necessary. No matter what, Mr. Zhou is just waiting for punishment now, and he will definitely not be able to eat the pain. Your Highness doesn't have to worry too much, and he wants to make up his mind before talking."

Chen Ao nodded and said, "The key point now is Taiyuan. Let's find out the news first." After saying that, he took a sip of tea, but he knew that the tea was a new one. He was a little lost and was so cold that he couldn't help but burn his mouth. However, this burn made him calm down and told himself in his heart that he must be calm at this time. The honor and disgrace of the Zhou family were entrusted to him. Only by calmness can he rescue Lord Taishan.

Seeing Chen Ao lost his soul, Tong Guan smiled bitterly and said goodbye.

Chen Ao went to ask someone to find Zhou Heng and talked about this matter to Zhou Heng. Zhou Heng was stunned for a moment, then said, "My father must have wronged him. Cousin, I will go to Bianjing now and see my father first."

Chen Ao stopped him: "During the middle of the night, what are you doing at this moment? What's the point of going?"

Zhou Heng was both depressed and powerless, and he sat in his seat with tears in his eyes: "It's better than waiting here. Cousin, is there any hidden truth? My father has always been cautious, how could he have such a big negligence? My mother is not doing anything now..." He suddenly realized that he had no idea at all, and he became extremely depressed.

Chen Ao pressed his shoulder and said slowly: "The matter has not been found out yet, and my cousin is not easy to guess. We will rush back tomorrow morning. No matter what, with my cousin here, we will never let the Duke suffer a loss. It would be fine if there is no other connection in this matter. If I want my cousin to know that someone is causing trouble..." Chen Ao smiled coldly: "I am different from him!"

Zhou Heng felt a little more at ease after hearing Chen Ao's words. In his heart, Chen Ao has always been omnipotent.

Chen Ao patted his back and said, "It's late at night, go back and rest first, and be fully energetic, so that you can hurry up, right?"

Zhou Heng shook his head and said, "I'm not sleepy and I don't want to sleep at all. Can I sit here?"

Chen Aohe nodded. At this time, his mood was a little confused and he didn't go to the bedroom to rest. Both of them sat in the hall in a daze, and no one said a word. The red candle in the hall burned to the end at some point and suddenly went out, and the entire hall fell into darkness.

Chen Ao sat in the darkness, thinking of many past events, and was a little sad. He was an orphan since childhood, and after traveling through time, he had no relatives. In his heart, he always regarded Zhou Zheng as the most kind elder and one of the closest people. Now that Zhou Zheng was in trouble, Chen Ao suddenly realized that he had lost his innocence. He silently adjusted his mindset, repeatedly thinking about the causes and consequences of the matter and the impact of this matter. Unconsciously, the rooster crowed, and the sky had already revealed the white morning light.

"It's dawn." Zhou Heng looked at the sky outside with dark eyes and said a word with difficulty.

Chen Ao nodded. Although he was a little tired, he had to cheer up and stand up and stretch: "Set out! My cousin went to the camp to find Han Shizhong and Tong Hu, and let Han Shizhong lead the team back slowly. As for Tong Hu, let him lead a dozen guards to follow us first."

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Chapter completed!