Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Chen Shao paused at the door, glanced at the two parties, and said with a smile: "Since each of you needs to borrow a step to talk, then let's go by first come first served."

Turning back, he asked Chan Yi, "Are there any other empty houses?"

Chan Yi said: "Yes, the study room next door is empty."

"Then let's talk in the study." Chen Shao nodded to Zhao Senduo and turned to walk towards the study.

Zhao Senduo and Han Jinghong immediately stood up and followed her.

Seeing that the two of them didn't even turn their heads, Rulupu and Nalongmeng couldn't help but look a little unhappy.

After they all entered the study, Nalong Meng took a sip of tea and asked, "Why are you hesitating? You just missed the opportunity!"

Rulupu was also very regretful in his heart, "Who knew that they were so impatient before Lord Chen even entered the house!"

The two of them were feeling upset and regretful here. After Zhao Senduo and Han Jinghong followed Chen Shao into the study, they also took the opportunity to take out the letter from the former prince's party: "This is a letter sent by the rebels on the way here. Please take a look, Lord Chen."

Fu Jiu took the letter and handed it to Chen Shao.

Chen Shao opened it, read it quickly, and then handed it to Gu Feiyan.

After reading it, Gu Feiyan glanced at Chen Shao calmly.

Chen Shao took the letter again and asked as he read it, "I wonder if the two generals have something else to say when they ask for your permission to talk?"

Han Jinghong was a little unsure of her thoughts, so he didn't dare to speak out. Zhao Senduo didn't have so many thoughts, and said bluntly: "There are hundreds of armed forces of all sizes in Shan State, but in terms of strength, only my General of the Cavalry, General of the East, and General of the Mighty are the most powerful. With Datong's strength, if we want to do business, we can choose big or small, but since it can save trouble, why take an extra detour?"

Han Jinghong listened to his words and immediately continued: "Your Excellency and the general are both smart people, and we dare not hide anything. At the beginning, the rebels wanted to do business with us, and we rejected it sternly. But the general Zhendong surrendered, and the other armed forces, big and small, also surrendered one after another. We had no choice but to surrender as well."

After a pause, he continued, "If you and the general don't believe me, you can check the account books of the rebels and our general. The weapons we bought from the rebels are three cents more expensive than those from other forces."

Zhao Senduo also said: "If you and the general can do business with only one company as promised, then our general will always be loyal to Datong!"

After listening to this, Chen Shao was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "I will consider it carefully."

Zhao Senduo and Han Jinghong knew that they needed time to verify the truth and listen to the conditions of Rulupu and Nalong Mengkai. After a few more words, they tactfully left the study.

Chen Shao did not avoid the two of them and immediately asked Fu Jiu to invite Rulupu and Nalongmeng over.

Rulupu and Nalongmeng did not have so many bargaining chips. The first thing they said when they entered the study was to guarantee that as long as they were chosen, they would always listen to their arrangements.

Chen Shao asked the two to sit down and went straight to the point: "I heard that General Zhendong was the first person to do business with the rebels?"

"You must have heard what Zhao Senduo said, sir?" Rulupu sneered, "Yes, on the surface, our general was indeed the first person to do business with the rebels, but secretly, their cavalry general was at least half a month ahead of us!"

Nalong Meng presented the letter from the former prince's party at the right time: "Your Excellency, please take a look. This is the letter in which the rebels first threatened us to do business with them."

Fu Jiu took it and handed it to Chen Shao.

The handwriting of this letter is the same as that of the secret letter handed over by Zhao Senduo, and it can be confirmed that they were written by the same person.

Judging from the content of the letter, the princelings of the previous dynasty used the evidence that they had reached a deal with General Weiwu and General Huoqi, and threatened General Zhendong that if he did not do business with them, they would join forces to destroy them and force him to submit.

The letter must be true.

but……

The handwriting on the two letters was the same as that on the dozens of letters Qin An had handed over.

Qin An said that those letters were written to him by Sun Guishan.

But now, Sun Guishan is still in prison, how can he write a letter to Zhao Senduo?

Chen Shao took out the letter Zhao Senduo handed over, read it from beginning to end, and asked casually, "Did you encounter any obstruction from the rebels on your way to Mengshe Prison?"

Na Long Meng was startled and quickly glanced at the letter in Chen Shao's hand. He knew that it must have been handed in by Zhao Senduo and his party. He did not dare to hide it any longer. He hurriedly took out the secret letter given to them by the prince's party of the previous dynasty and handed it to Fu Jiu respectfully.

Then, he explained, "We did receive a letter, but it was just a threat to stop us from coming. We didn't take it seriously and didn't take it out."

Chen Shao took the letter and read it roughly. The content of the letter was similar to the one handed in by Zhao Senduo, with only slight differences in the threatening language.

"I heard you got up before dawn," Chen Shao glanced at the sunlight outside, "You probably haven't had breakfast yet, right?"

Na Longmeng could tell that she was chasing someone away, so he smiled tactfully and said, "I am indeed a little hungry," and then he and Rulop left the study.

After they walked away and asked Fu Jiu to guard the door, Chen Shao told Gu Feiyan about her discovery.

After listening to this, Gu Feiyan asked, "Should we go find Qin An to interrogate him again, or go directly to Sun Guishan?"

Chen Shao thought for a while and looked outside again: "Let's put aside the question of who to look for. For now, who do you prefer, the General of the Cavalry or the General of the East?"

Gu Feiyan said: "Only the weak make choices, the strong want both."

Chen Shao smiled and turned back: "What do you want?"

"Only with competition can betrayal be avoided to the greatest extent." Gu Feiyan stood up, walked to the window, and said slowly in the cool breeze, "Let each of their teams send one person to lead the troops to eliminate some of Luo Wanyou's spies who Zhou Shan confessed. Whoever can solve the problem faster and better will be chosen."

"As for the officials you arranged a few days ago, their families are in your hands. When they see someone snatching their tasks, they will naturally help you keep an eye on their two teams and beg for mercy."

"Your method..." Chen Shao was only halfway through his words when Gu Feiyan asked back, "You didn't think so?"

Well, she thought so, but she asked her because she thought this method was a bit insidious. Since she also thought this method was good, then everyone was insidious, so there was no need to feel any psychological burden.

Chen Shao smiled and added a little more of his thoughts.

After hearing this, Gu Feiyan said, "I thought I was cruel enough, but I didn't expect you to be even more cruel!"

"Is it cruel?" Chen Shao disagreed, "Giving them weapons for free is still cruel?"

Gu Feiyan chuckled twice.

After arguing with her for a few sentences, Chen Shao picked up a pen and wrote down two lists. Then, he went to the hall with her.

The atmosphere between Rulupu, Nalongmeng, Zhao Senduo and Han Jinghong has become tense.

Seeing Chen Shao and Gu Feiyan, the four of them stood up at the same time.

"You're all welcome." Chen Shao nodded to everyone, and after sitting down at the head with Gu Feiyan, he slowly said, "The purpose of your coming here has been clearly stated in the letter, so I won't repeat it. I'll just tell you my request."

"Although we have invited 13 armed forces from Shan State, in the end we will only choose one to cooperate with."

"Cooperation?" Rulupu was puzzled.

"Yes, it is cooperation." Chen Shao explained with a smile, "The so-called cooperation means that we will provide you with weapons and armor for free on the premise that both of us abide by the agreement. We don't give you these weapons and armor because we don't need them. As long as we have them, we will provide them for free."

As soon as the words fell, the breathing of the four people suddenly became heavy.

"Of course, for the sake of fairness, who to cooperate with is not decided by us, but by the results of the competition." Chen Shao paused for a moment, took out two lists and handed them to Fu Jiu, who gave each of them a copy. "The people on this list are some of the rebels' spies in Jiannan Road. You have one month to send one person each as a representative to lead the soldiers you bring to encircle and suppress them. Whoever encircles and suppresses the most people within the time limit will win."

Zhao Senduo asked, "Are we the only two participating in the competition?"

"Of course not." Chen Shao said, "For those who come later, I will give them the same list and the same deadline."

Zhao Senduo glanced at Rulupu and Nalongmeng in front of him with a grim look, and asked again: "Does your Excellency have any other requests?"

Chen Shao: "No, you can discuss who to send as the representative. Once the discussion is complete and you inform me, we can set off immediately."

The four of them immediately stood up, clasped their fists towards her and Gu Feiyan, and quickly returned to their respective courtyards. After discussing with each other for a moment, they wrote down the names of those who were going to leave and gave them to Chen Shao, and then they set off impatiently.

The General Zhendong was represented by Rulupu, who brought ten soldiers with him.

On the side of the General of Cavalry, Zhao Senduo was the representative, and he also brought ten soldiers with him.