Tianliangyuan

Chapter 453 You have made a meritorious service

Clearly, Xie Zheng had no good feelings towards the Duke of Su's family.

This aversion had nothing to do with whether they were adversaries in the court; it was simply a matter of looking down on everyone in the Duke of Su's mansion.

Xu Zhaozhao smiled and invited him to sit down: "Liu Qi is a very good person. He is capable, intelligent, and most importantly, he can accurately seize every opportunity. Moreover, he is smart!"

Xie Zheng's greatest virtue is that he listens to his wife.

Xu Zhaozhao smiled when she saw that the obvious rejection on his face had subsided.

What a lovely man!

Liu Qi did indeed come with a booklet in his hand. Since he brought it over so openly, he probably had a perfectly legitimate reason for it.

"Your humble servant Liu Qi greets the Princess."

"No gift."

"Thank you, Princess."

Liu Qi took two steps forward, noticed the pair of eyes staring at him, raised his eyebrows slightly, and then bowed, saying, "This humble official greets Prince Xie."

"no."

Xu Zhaozhao lowered her head and chuckled, then cleared her throat and asked, "What brings Lord Liu here today?"

“I dare not conceal this from Your Highness. This was delivered to the government office this morning. Someone said they had accidentally found the account book of your Xiangpiaopiao shop. I dared not act on my own, so I specially asked the manager of Xiangpiaopiao to identify it. However, he said it had nothing to do with their shop. Then the person who found it insisted that it was the account book of Xiangpiaopiao. I did not know which one to believe, so I came to ask Your Highness for advice.”

interesting!

It seems like this is aimed at her.

"Bring it to me and see!"

Liu Qi presented the account books, which Zisu took and placed on the stone table.

Xie Zheng, who was standing to the side, immediately turned to the first page and looked at his wife.

Xu Zhaozhao didn't speak, her expression slightly serious. After gesturing for Xie Zheng to turn three or four pages, Xu Zhaozhao's expression became increasingly serious.

"Lord Liu, is the person who delivered the account books still at the government office?"

Liu Qi immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, he is still here."

"Heaven is on your side, Liu Qi. You're going to make another contribution. Whether you get promoted or not depends on your own fate."

Liu Qi was momentarily confused and didn't understand what it meant at all.

"You must bring the person who found the account book to the palace immediately. Just say that someone has found Li Ye's whereabouts. My second uncle will bring the account book to the palace shortly."

Liu was initially surprised, but then he was genuinely pleased.

You should know that Li Ye claims to be a descendant of the Prince of Fu, but he managed to escape last time. Although he fled in a sorry state, he still managed to get away.

Therefore, His Majesty has always kept this matter in mind.

Now that we finally have news of Li Ye, we must report it to His Majesty immediately.

"May I ask, Princess, is this the second uncle you speak of?"

“Naturally, he is the younger brother of the Duke of Xin.”

"I understand. I'll take my leave now."

Xie Zheng also instructed Jian Qi to immediately invite Xu Wen to his residence for a chat, and reminded him to have the other party hurry up so as not to delay important matters.

Xu Zhaozhao told her second uncle the secret hidden in the account book, and repeatedly emphasized that he was the one who arranged for people to follow Li Ye's whereabouts. At the time, he was mainly afraid that his group would be harmful to Duke Xin, so he acted impulsively in a moment of anger.

Xu Wen was very clever; he immediately understood the key point.

"What about our people who are lurking over there?"

"Don't worry, Second Uncle. That man only knows that his master is a member of the Xu family."

Xu Wen nodded: "That's wonderful, Zhao Zhao. I appreciate your kindness. I'll thank you properly when I have the chance."

"Second Uncle, you're too kind. We're all family. Even if I get married, you'll still be my second uncle."

Xu Wen smiled; he liked hearing those words!

Xu Zhaozhao was originally the smartest child in the family. We initially thought it was a pity that she got married, but we didn't expect that she was such a shrewd person.

Xu Wen, carrying the account books, also rushed into the palace, where he bumped into Liu Qi at the palace gate.

Liu Qi wasn't stupid. After returning to his office, he drank a cup of tea, washed his hands, and then slowly led the person who found the account book toward the palace. Just then, they met up with Xu Wen.

After nodding to each other and understanding what the other meant, they were no longer so nervous.

Upon hearing news of Li Ye, Emperor Yong'an immediately summoned several important officials to the palace for discussion.

"Xu Wen, why did you think of sending people to chase after Li Ye in the direction he fled?"

"Your Majesty, I heard that he fled in the same direction as my brother was fighting. I was worried that he might stab me in the back, so I sent more men to chase after him. I didn't expect that they would turn around and end up in my Daxing territory. They are now hiding in the mountains, disguised as bandits."

Of the men I sent out, two died, three were wounded, and the remaining two went into the bandits' den as spies. Only after confirming Li Ye's identity did I dare send a message back. However, fearing detection along the way, I wrote the coded message in this ledger, deliberately making it appear as a report to the authorities to avoid being overheard.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yong'an immediately understood.

There must be others in the court who are colluding with Li Ye; otherwise, Xu Wen wouldn't be so cautious.

Thinking back to how quickly Li Ye escaped last time, Emperor Yong'an agreed that Xu Wen should be cautious.

"This matter has been handled well. You may all leave now. I will keep the source of this information a secret for the time being, so I will remember your contributions."

"I am loyal to Your Majesty and dare not seek credit."

"Haha! Alright, step down."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The important officials summoned to the palace by Emperor Yong'an were naturally his absolute confidants.

For example, Cui Xuanming.

"Your Majesty, Li Ye is just a young upstart who will amount to nothing. Now that we know where he is hiding, we should send troops to suppress him as soon as possible."

"What you say makes sense, but who should we send?"

Without hesitation, Cui Xuanming volunteered, "Your Majesty, I will lead the troops. We must bring Li Ye back. In my opinion, bringing back a corpse is sufficient; he could not possibly be a descendant of the Prince of Fu."

In a single sentence, Li Ye was identified as a traitor, and at the same time, he understood that this was the answer His Majesty wanted.

If Li Ye is indeed the descendant of the Prince of Fu, should His Majesty forgive him?

Therefore, they simply rejected the claim from the root, saying that he was using the name of a descendant of the royal family to try to seek personal gain.

In this way, Li Ye will surely be despised by the people, while His Majesty's image as a wise ruler will not be damaged.

Basically, there's nothing wrong with it.

After discussing some details with him, Emperor Yong'an instructed him to bring Cui Shu along, as well as Xu Jun'an, the heir apparent of the Duke of Xin, to accompany him.

Cui Xuanming knew that His Majesty did this to avoid criticism, lest people think that His Majesty was only using his own relatives to deal with the matter, and that this would give others an opportunity to attack him in the end.