Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 39 Testing
"Could it be that he is resurrecting from the dead?" Liu Zun was shocked.

Gao Xun was puzzled. "Dao Ze, what's going on?"

Liu Daogui glanced at Du Shunu and said, "This is not the place to talk. Let's talk when we get back."

After the sun came out, the fog gradually dissipated.

The fields are full of busy figures: groups of woodcutters, farmers carrying hoes, and women picking up dead grass and roots in the fields.

A busy scene.

After returning to Guangling City and arriving at the General Zhenglu's Mansion, his immediate superior Yuan He brought five or six armored soldiers to block the entrance of the military office.

Those who are good will not come, and those who come will be unkind.

"Did you just leave the city?"

"Yes..." Liu Daogui was stunned. The news came so quickly.

"Young people are quick and agile, but they also need to know when to stop. For some things, turning a blind eye will benefit everyone."

Yuan He's face still showed signs of last night's hangover, and his eyes were a little cloudy.

"I understand." Liu Daogui responded.

Judging from his appearance, he doesn't seem to care much about the 3,000 shi of grain. More than two months have passed since the incident. If someone really wanted to investigate, it would not have been delayed until now.

The loss of three thousand shi of grain would cause such a big commotion that even the General Zhenglu's Mansion would notice it no matter how slow they were.

Unless they want the situation to continue...

This coincided with Liu Daogui's guess that everything was an internal struggle.

The two factions in the court wanted to fight each other, the Tianshi Dao wanted to expand its influence in the local area, and the Huan family also wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Most of Yunxiu's words were just lies, but there was one thing Liu Daogui firmly believed: those who wanted to kill him might not be from the Heavenly Master Sect...

"So, what did you find out?" Yuan He burped and half-closed his eyes.

It seemed like a casual question.

But Liu Daogui had a premonition that his answer was extremely important, perhaps even a matter of life and death...

"Reporting to the Sima, I have found that Sun Yizhi has a lot to do with this matter."

"Oh? You might as well be more careful." A cold light flashed in Yuan He's eyes.

"Sun Yizhi sympathized with the refugees in Jiangbei and distributed food to them without authorization. When the court investigated him, he committed suicide out of fear of punishment!" Liu Daogui lied with his eyes open, shocking Gao Xun, Liu Zun and Liu Hepi who were standing beside him.

Only Du Shunu's crooked mouth was pulled towards his ears, revealing a meaningful smile.

Yuan He stared at Liu Daogui. At this moment, there was no trace of drunkenness or sleepiness in his eyes.

Liu Daogui looked calm.

Life is like a play, it all depends on your acting skills. Being in the officialdom is more dangerous than being on the battlefield. Sometimes saying the wrong thing can bring about fatal disaster.

The only thing Liu Daogui could confirm now was that the Zhenglu General's Mansion was very complicated and not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Those three thousand shi of grain were far beyond his ability.

I originally thought it was just the Tianshi Dao that was causing trouble, but I didn't expect it to pull out a bigger fish...

Yuan He said in a pretentious tone, "Alas, General Sun... if it's for the people, why do this? Envoy Huan has always been kind. Just submit a petition to the court, and the matter will be over."

Huan Hong is not necessarily a kind person.

The imperial court will not let things go easily...

Liu Daogui knew it well, "Envoy Huan is wise."

"How about we just leave it at that?" Yuan He yawned towards the sky, looking down at people with his narrow eyes.

"Yes." "The boy is teachable!" Yuan He laughed and walked away with his hips twisted.

Du Shunu followed behind with his head bowed.

It wasn't until they disappeared at the end of the alley that Liu Zun said, "I'm getting more and more confused."

Liu Daogui smiled and said, "It's rare for a person to be confused in this life."

Gao Xun's eyes lit up, "This statement is profound!"

Liu Zun said heartlessly, "Ha, that's right. Anyway, you can take care of all these things. It's a pity that the woman came to your door just now, and you let her run away again."

"Sex is a double-edged sword. This woman exudes evil from head to toe. It's best to stay away from her."

"You haven't seen her whole body, how do you know what she looks like? Could it be..." Liu Heibin smiled.

As soon as the topic of women came up, they all became interested, their eyes lit up, and their pupils became as big as copper bells.

"Agui, you're already old, it's time to get a woman."

"Okay, okay, go to bed early." Liu Daogui waved his hands.

When we returned to the house, Liu Heipi was waiting outside.

The two sat opposite each other in silence for a long time. Finally, Gao Xun spoke first, "Envoy Huan is colluding with the Tianshi Dao!"

He came from a noble family and was very familiar with the situation in the court and the internal struggles.

If you think about what happened in the past two days, you can get a glimpse of it.

Three thousand dan of grain, three hundred and sixty thousand jin, it is impossible to just disappear. The Huan family has been cultivating in Guangling for twenty or thirty years and has many informants. How could Sun Yizhi take it away so easily?
Therefore, Huan Hong must have known about it.

Du Shunu was the spy of Sima Yuan He, the conqueror, and also Huan Hong's man.

"We are just using each other." If Liu Daogui had not been awakened by Liu Zun's unintentional words, he would have almost stepped into a trap.

If you try to get into the officialdom of the Jin Dynasty without internal strife, you will die without a burial place.

Over the past 120 years since the Sino-Korean War, countless famous generals and ministers have fallen under hidden arrows.

After Deng Ai there was Zhong Hui, and after Zhong Hui there was Wei Guan. Wei Guan's entire family was killed by Jia Nanfeng. In order to defeat Jia Nanfeng, the princes of the Sima family started the Rebellion of the Eight Princes.

After the Han Dynasty fled south, they still did not restrain themselves and fought even more fiercely. Jiankang was even captured by Su Jun, and Huan Wen even dared to depose the emperor...

Liu Daogui has been studying Gongyang Zhuan for so many years, but only today did he realize that none of the works passed down by Chinese sages are useless. It just depends on how you understand and use them.

The Gongyang Zhuan, a book about the Spring and Autumn Annals, contains countless conspiracies and schemes, and the opening chapter is about the top-notch strategy of "Duke Zheng defeats Duke Duan in Yan".

"The Tianshi Dao took the food in order to expand their power and strengthen themselves. So why did Envoy Huan do this?"

"Of course it's for the Huan family."

Gao Xun was silent for a long time. "After Huan Chong's death, the imperial court frantically suppressed the Huan family, eager for quick success and instant benefits. But although the Huan family's power has declined, their followers are still there. Jing and Jiang provinces only follow the Huan family's orders. There will definitely be chaos in the future..."

The Xie family voluntarily gave up power and abandoned the Northern Palace Army, which prevented any chaos. Otherwise, with the Xie family's reputation in the court and the army, they could have just raised their hands and stopped the Sima family from causing any trouble.

But Huan did not give up his military power.

Under the rule of Huan Wen and Huan Chong, the important cities in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, with the exception of Southern Yuzhou, were almost all under the control of the Huan family. Even Guangling was under the influence of the Huan family...

"Let's stop here with the matter of food and fodder. If we continue investigating, our lives will be in danger." Liu Daogui originally thought that only the Tianshi Dao was involved, but as he continued to investigate, he found that the waters were too deep and he could drown at any time...

Gao Xun said: "Fortunately, Liu Yi has already taken the lead. After this incident, Daoze will be able to gain a foothold in the military government in the future."

Although he didn't get to the bottom of it, Liu Daogui figured out how deep the water was in General Zhenglu's scheme and knew where the bottom line was, which was his biggest gain.

From now on, you don’t have to grope in the dark anymore.

(End of this chapter)