Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Mr. Qi nodded in agreement, ignoring Mr. Fan's gloomy look.

Chen Shao tapped the armrests with his fingertips a few times: "When the previous prince passed away, how old was the Prince of Pingliang?"

"Seven years old." Mr. Fan answered before Mr. Qi.

"Seven years old... Although his mother is Huangfu, at his age, he is definitely not capable of calling on the former ministers to plot to restore the country, and persist for hundreds of years." Chen Shao said nonchalantly, "The Left and Right Inner Guards are the imperial guards of the Eastern Palace. They not only have to protect the safety of the prince, but also hold certain military power. For the fire that made the Left and Right Inner Guards risk their lives to save people, it must have burned for at least two cups of tea to achieve this effect. The Left and Right Inner Guards are the imperial guards of the Eastern Palace, and they are responsible for protecting the safety of the prince. What is the reason that they did not discover the fire until it burned for more than two cups of tea, and then took the risk to save the prince?"

Mr. Fan and Mr. Qi Ao were silent for a while, mainly because they had never thought about this issue before.

Chen Shao did not expect them to answer. In the face of huge interests, they are not afraid of monsters, so how could they be afraid of conspiracies? However, no matter how powerful the conspiracy is, it is impossible not to leave the slightest trace, especially when many coincidences come together. I have to write to Chen Zhao again, and ask him to check how many officials surrendered to Datong when the previous dynasty fell, and how many officials continued to serve the Datong Dynasty after surrendering.

Throughout history, there are almost no successful precedents for overthrowing the new dynasty and supporting the old dynasty. This is probably one of the reasons why the princelings of the previous dynasty have been planning for hundreds of years but have not yet taken action. But no matter what, the princelings of the previous dynasty have been planning for hundreds of years, and the forces inside and outside the court must not be underestimated. If they are dug out and dealt with as soon as possible, even if they cannot support the old dynasty, they will definitely cause Datong to suffer heavy losses, especially at a time when foreign threats are present.

"What was the name of the former crown prince?" After calming down a bit, Chen Shao continued to ask, "How did you get to know him?"

"We don't know his specific name," neither Master Fan nor Master Qi wanted to answer this question. They were in a stalemate for a while. When they saw Chen Shao looking at them, Master Fan had to answer, "Master Xiao called him Master Huangfu, so we will also call him Master Huangfu."

Chen Shao immediately asked, "Who is Lord Xiao?"

It seems that the Zhu family and the Wen family did not say much about the affairs of the previous prince party. He must seize this opportunity to surrender and fight for a way out for the Fan family. Mr. Fan no longer hid, sat up straight, and said frankly: "Xiao Chong, the governor of Yuhang County, our Fan family and Qi family got to know Mr. Huangfu through him."

Geng Yu, the governor of Wujun, has surrendered to the crown prince of the previous dynasty.

Yuhang County Governor Xiao Chong also surrendered to the former prince.

Wu County and Yuhang County were two of the most economically developed counties in Jiangnan Province.

This is just what they know.

How much more is unknown?

Chen Shao did not delve into this question, but continued to ask: "Before you met the great-great-grandson of the former crown prince through Xiao Chong, did the Fan family and the Qi family in Yuhang County already know him first?"

Mr. Fan nodded.

"There should be quite a few jades in your two families' small treasuries," Chen Shao said bluntly, "Are those jades also given to the great-great-grandson of the former crown prince?"

Mr. Fan nodded again: "Yes."

"What does he need so much jade for?" Chen Shao asked.

Mr. Fan shook his head and said, "We really don't know about this. We asked Governor Xiao out of curiosity a few years ago, but Governor Xiao told us to just follow Mr. Huangfu's instructions and not to ask questions that we shouldn't ask. We never asked again after that."

Chen Shao patiently asked, "What did Master Huangfu order?"

Mr. Fan explained everything in detail: "Every month, send 50 kilograms of top-quality green jade raw stones and irregular green jade items to Yuhang County and hand them over to Governor Xiao."

Chen Shao: "Does the irregular jade objects mean that there are sometimes more and sometimes less?"

Mr. Fan said, "Yes."

Chen Shao: "I see that both the Wen family and the Zhu family have several hundred kilograms of jade and hundreds of jade items stored in their small treasuries. Why?"

Master Fan: "The Shan Kingdom always finds various reasons to raise the price of green jade, and sometimes they deliberately don't sell it or sell less. After so many times, we will tell the caravan to buy more when they are not causing trouble, so that if they do cause trouble, we can use our inventory to make up for it."

Chen Shao asked: "What will happen if we don't take the lead?"

Mr. Fan: "Nothing serious, it's just a competition, I can't be worse than others."

Chen Shao nodded and continued: "Do you guys pay for the jade yourself, or does Master Huangfu pay?"

Mr. Fan hesitated and said, "We will pay for it ourselves."

"He is really loyal." Chen Shao commented sarcastically, and then asked, "What about the grain you sent to Jiangnan? Are you really selling it for money, or are you giving it to Master Huangfu like Qingyu?"

Master Fan said stiffly, "We were also instigated and persuaded by Governor Xiao and our relatives in Yuhang County, so we were temporarily bewildered. But you can rest assured, young master, this kind of thing will never happen again."

"We'll talk about the future later." Chen Shao said indifferently, "Answer my question first."

Master Fan showed a hint of embarrassment on his face, and kept silent for a while, hoping that Master Qi would take over. However, Master Qi did not want to offend Chen Shao when he was unhappy, so he lowered his head and pretended to look at his shoes without saying a word. Master Fan was angry, but he did not dare to vent. In the face of Chen Shao's increasingly impatient gaze, he gritted his teeth and replied, "I sold part of it for money, and gave part to Master Huangfu."

Chen Shao laughed twice in an insincere way: "Did you buy all the jade and send it to Yuhang County, or did you keep some for yourself?"

Master Fan stammered, "Master Huangfu said that we can keep some if we like."

Chen Shao asked coldly: "How old is Mr. Huangfu?"

Finally, he stopped asking about the jade and food, and Master Fan breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and saw Tian Shan and Yu Linwei coming back. Especially the Yu Linwei was holding three sandalwood boxes containing imperial edicts. The breath he had just breathed was suddenly raised. Watching the Yu Linwei enter the room and hand the sandalwood box to Chen Shao, Master Fan's throat suddenly became dry.

Watching Chen Shao open the sandalwood box and take out the imperial edict inside, Master Fan answered almost instinctively: "He should be twenty-three or twenty-four years old. When we met him that year, he seemed to be only seventeen years old."

Like the Zhu family, the Fan family also has a third-rank, two fourth-rank, and three fifth-rank hereditary official positions. After handing the imperial edict to Li Tianliu, Chen Shao looked up at Master Fan, then at Master Qi who was still looking at shoes, and suddenly asked, "Why did the Fan and Qi families come to Hongyuan County to settle down?"