novelAbuy Chapter 088: The Storm Is Brewing
Chapter 088: The Storm Is Brewing
Qin Keqing put the three slips of paper into the inner compartment of the book, closed the book, and stood up.
After a moment's thought, he reminded him, "There's one more thing. Yesterday, a former informant of a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard said that the Imperial City Guard has sent more unfamiliar faces to the Ezhou area. Among them, an old man in a gray cotton robe is frequently going in and out of the Ezhou government office."
If Tian Ruyi has already begun investigating the outskirts of Xiangyang, the time left for Yue Yinping may be shorter than we anticipated.
"I know that." Zhao Bozong stood up, walked to the window. The snow outside had completely stopped, but the sky was as gloomy as dusk. "You send out the message first, and I'll figure out how to draw Qin Hui's attention back after that."
When Qin Keqing walked out of the study, she paused at the door. Zhao Bozong did not turn around, but she could feel that his back was even heavier than that night in May of the twelfth year of Shaoxing.
At that time, he was facing Zhao Gou in the warm pavilion, with only the list left by Zhi Jia and an empty envelope from the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs.
Now he has Xin Qizong's soldiers, Yuwen Xu's copper bell, Consort Wei's ebony box, the intelligence on the Jin cavalry in Xiao Bieli's arms, and the power that Yue Yinping has been building up day by day in Xiangyang.
But the weight on his back was ten times heavier than before.
She didn't say anything, turned around and walked into the corridor.
In the afternoon, Xiao Bieli knocked on Qin Keqing's door.
He held a note in his hand that had been rewritten in code. The handwriting was Qin Keqing's, but the ink was fresh, indicating that she had just written it in the study.
It was a secret message to Yue Yinping, warning him to move towards Xiangyang and requesting his assistance in getting Li Bao's outer perimeter out of the city as quickly as possible.
"Miss Qin, you have too many letters. I have nowhere to put my knife." He put the note into the bamboo basket on her table and casually placed a newly delivered secret letter in front of her.
This was the latest news from the palace, sent by Feng Yi from Deshou Palace. The wax seal was intact. He glanced at the pile of papers and booklets on her table, then sat down on a low stool with his knife across his lap.
"You rearranged the intelligence network of the Imperial Guard into seven lines, and transferred five members of the royal family to Xiuzhou to help with its operation. You distributed everyone's burdens to others, but you kept the heaviest lines in your own hands."
Xiao Bieli solemnly said, "My mother once said, 'In the end, when you help others, you must also live.'"
Qin Keqing did not stop, and continued to copy the contents of the secret letter into the booklet.
"What else did your mother say?"
"She said that my father took countless blows for others on the battlefield, but he couldn't stop the last one." Xiao Bieli stood up, sheathed the knife at his waist, "So now, before I take a blow for someone, I always look at my sister first."
He pushed open the door and went out.
Qin Keqing picked up her pen and continued to copy the last word of the secret warning letter to Yue Yinping.
The letter contained intelligence that Tian Ruyi had gathered about the outskirts of Xiangyang, the approximate locations of the new hidden sentries of the Imperial City Guard along the Ezhou-Han River line, and a strict order prohibiting the transport of all visible marked materials via the Sun Yan waterway.
She folded the letter, sealed it in a wax ball, and placed it at the bottom of the bamboo basket. Only then did she put down her charcoal pencil, gently shake her head at the now empty doorway, and continue writing.
Qin Keqing was always like this; when she received kindness from others, she was not used to responding on the spot, but rather she would leave it until late at night to add a short note in the finest words in her notebook.
This time, she added: "Xiao Bieli's younger sister is named Jinluo, which is very good."
......
The fifth day of the first lunar month.
According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, the government offices were opened on the fifth day of the first lunar month.
On this day, the Imperial City Guard resumed its official operations. Wan Qixie went to the palace early in the morning to meet the emperor and petitioned to increase the number of Imperial City Guard officers on the grounds of "maintaining order in Lin'an".
Zhao Gou approved it.
That afternoon, the Imperial City Guard dispatched an additional sixty inspectors to various wards in Lin'an.
Each of these inspectors received a newly issued roster, which showed the locations of the Prince of Puan's residence, the old camp in the southern suburbs, the Deshou Palace, the Cining Palace, and the main routes between the various residences.
No names or charges were written; only the location and route were listed.
But everyone understood that the meaning of this roster was crystal clear: from now on, Qin Hui would bring every road between the Prince of Puan's residence and the old camp in the southern suburbs under surveillance.
In the evening, Consort Wei summoned Zhang Quwei to the Cining Palace.
"Qin Hui sent someone to promote Dong Xian and also sent more scouts to Lin'an." She placed a stack of secret reports in front of Zhang Quwei. "He doesn't want to arrest people; he wants to trap people—trapped Zhao Bocong, trapped me, and trapped everyone who is still willing to speak up for Yue Fei."
"The Empress Dowager's meaning is—"
"I'm going to take action against the Imperial City Guard." Consort Wei's voice was very calm. "Of course, not with my own sword, but with the Censorate. Three years ago, the Censorate's chief clerk, Chen Dafang, impeached the Imperial City Guard for disturbing the people, but Qin Hui suppressed that impeachment."
But Chen Dafang's impeachment document is still on file at the Censorate. Find that old file and have Feng Yi deliver it to Zhao Bocong; he knows how to use it.
Zhang Quwei lowered his head and said, "Empress Dowager, it's easy to submit this memorial, but Qin Hui will immediately know that it's Cining Palace reopening old cases."
"I want him to know."
Zhang Quwei raised his head.
"I uttered eight words at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and Qin Hui endured it for a month, thinking that I was just saying it."
An old woman who has survived for sixteen years in the north will settle down after a few days in the palace, but she doesn't know that the only thing I've learned in all these years in the north is to wait.
Consort Wei stood up and walked to the shrine.
"The light of a grain of rice dares not compete with the sun and moon. But I do not seek glory; I only wish that what is sealed in this box may bask in the sun on every bluestone slab of Lin'an City."
......
January 11th, Ezhou.
Dong returned to Ezhou on the night of the seventh day of the first lunar month.
The promotion certificate given by Qin Hui was placed in an oilcloth bag and sealed with the vermilion seal of the Ministry of Personnel. Two people from the Imperial City Guard escorted the carriage all the way, ostensibly to protect the official but actually to monitor him.
The first thing he did after returning to Ezhou was to report to the Military and Military Commissioner's Office.
He was very familiar with the position of Military Commander. In the seventh year of Shaoxing, when he was transferred from Yue Fei's army to a local post, he served as Military Commander of Jiangnan West Road, in charge of the local troops and righteous societies.
The Xiang Army consisted of local miscellaneous soldiers who repaired roads and bridges, transported grain and hay, and carried out other tasks in peacetime. The Yishe were local militia who practiced martial arts during the off-season and farmed during the busy season. Together, they numbered over a thousand. They had no heavy cavalry, no siege equipment, and not even a few decent crossbows.
Qin Hui placed him in this position not to use him, but clearly to trap him.
A powerful military commander in Ezhou, who could control the local militia and righteous societies, sounds like a promotion.
However, Ezhou is less than 200 li away from Xiangyang. If Qin Hui had a pair of eyes placed beside him, he could have seen all the movements in the direction of Xiangyang.
Dong Xian walked around the yamen, met with several garrison commanders, and went through last year's training records.
Then he returned to the small courtyard he rented in the east of the city. The moment he pushed open the door, he found a package on the stone steps of the courtyard.
Inside was a packet of tea.
It was wrapped in coarse paper, and in the corner of the package were four very small characters written in charcoal: "New Tea from the Han River".
Dong Xian stared at those four words for a long time.