The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Pei Yanxu was not completely unaware of Chen Suzhi's actions. Chen Suzhi, like him, had no background. After arriving in Yanzhou, he was held hostage in various ways. Therefore, he could understand why Chen Suzhi turned a blind eye to some things.

But, this won’t work.

This is a serious matter. If Zheng Xiaoyun really committed treason, Chen Suzhi will not let him go.

Pei Yanxu sent people to various coastal towns to keep watch overnight, and the news that came back a day later was indeed not good.

There were indeed quite a few pirates who disguised themselves as refugees and went ashore and into the city.

The more specific situation should be asked to Xia Mianwan who discovered this. Fortunately, he already had a scandal with Xia Mianwan, so even if they met in private, it would not arouse Zheng Xiaoyun's vigilance.

After having someone inform in advance, Pei Yanxu went to Xia's residence with the secret guards.

"Lord Pei." Xia Mianwan bowed slightly.

"Madam Xia, there's no need to be so polite. Is it convenient for you to talk?" Pei Yanxu asked.

Xia Mianwan turned around and closed the door to the main hall, and asked Ruzhu to take Yu Jie'er back to her room.

"Lord Pei, what happened?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Pei Yanxu did not answer but asked: "How much did you tell Su Zhi?"

Xia Mianwan was slightly stunned. Is there something wrong with Chen Suzhi?

"What do you mean, sir?"

Pei Yanxu said: "Chen Suzhi is not a 100% trustworthy person. It should be said that if Zheng Xiaoyun is the villain and I am the hero, it is difficult to distinguish between good and evil in Suzhi's position."

"Why?" Xia Mianwan asked in surprise.

"Su Zhi needed money. When he first came to Yanzhou, he couldn't do anything and was constrained by others. Later, he accepted some gifts, real or fake, and did some things. As time went by, the bondage became deeper. The emperor also knew all these things, but as long as there was no problem with major issues, the emperor would just turn a blind eye to Su Zhi. But this matter is different. We can't be sure who is behind it, whether there is Zheng Xiaoyun, and how deep his ties with the officialdom of Yanzhou are. If Su Zhi lets it go, even if... he is not someone on this line, he might have made a move and alerted the enemy. You know, human nature can't stand the test. I can't gamble our lives and the lives of the people in Yanzhou City on Chen Suzhi's humanity." Pei Yanxu's voice sounded calm. At this time, Xia Mianwan realized that Pei Yanxu was right. They were the same kind of people.

Xia Mianwan carefully recalled the details she had told Chen Suzhi, and found that there was nothing left to say. "Master Pei, I don't know about Chen Suzhi's problem. I told you as much as you know from him. It's just that Master Chen wanted to find Zheng Xiaoyun at that time, but I stopped him. After that, I was cautious and sent someone out to keep watch."

Pei Yanxu turned around, put his hands behind his back, paced a few steps, and asked, "Is there anything special?"

Xia Mianwan expressed his guess: "Based on my simulation, the Japanese pirates should have entered the city with several hundred people, no more than one person. And, if I'm not wrong, they should continue to release people, and then we will be defeated by the Chen Kingdom with internal and external forces."

"Why do you say that?"

Xia Mianwan took out a drawing, on which she calculated the time and frequency of people entering each city gate. There will definitely be deviations in simulation calculations, and to be honest, there is no regularity, but it’s good to be roughly accurate, just to see a trend.

Pei Yanxu's expression became more and more serious the more he looked at her. "If we pretend we don't know anything, won't they be able to send hundreds of people in a day?"

“Not always, because it doesn’t always go smoothly.”

The two were silent for a while. After a long time, when the candlelight blinded their eyes, Pei Yanxu finally came to his senses.

"Mianwan." This time Pei Yanxu called Xia Mianwan's name instead of Madam Xia.

"Lord Pei, you speak." Xia Mianwan listened attentively.

"If the situation is serious, the troops I can mobilize are limited. If Zheng Xiaoyun really commits treason, you and I are afraid that we will face the most serious crisis in our lives."

Xia Mianwan's expression was calm. "Master Pei, this is not the biggest crisis in my life, and I believe we can turn danger into safety."

"Do you believe me?" Pei Yanxu looked at Xia Mianwan in a daze.

Xia Mianwan looked into Pei Yanxu's eyes seriously and said softly, "Master Pei, I believe you..."

Pei Yanxu nodded heavily. He would definitely protect himself, his mother, Xia Mianwan and the people of Yanzhou.

"Let's talk business." Xia Mianwan said as he took out another account book.

"This is the sales record of my wine shop in various states. I carefully checked the sales in Yanzhou yesterday. It is twice as much as normal, but it is only in Yanzhou. There are very few grain-based wines on the market now, so my wine shop's business has been good in the past two months. After checking the daily records, Lord Pei, I estimate that the pirates started to sneak into the city about ten days ago. Moreover, the number of people entering the city every day is increasing."

After reading it silently, Pei Yanxu also agreed that people started to enter about ten days ago.

In previous years, the Japanese pirates would come in hundreds to thousands of people each time. This time, there are already hundreds of people entering the city. If there were only a few thousand people, it would not be difficult to deal with. What we are afraid of is that these people are just here to serve as outposts.

Xia Mianwan saw Pei Yanxu remained silent for a long time and did not disturb him.

"Or I'll send you away first!" Pei Yanxu thought for a long time but still couldn't come up with a perfect plan.

Xia Mianwan disagreed, "Where can we go? Zheng Xiaoyun will know as soon as we set out. Apart from alerting the enemy, I can't think of any other possibility."

"What if we let my mother return to Beijing? You can disguise yourself as a maid and follow my mother." Pei Yanxu suggested again.

Xia Mianwan still shook his head, "Master Pei, you have overlooked a problem. If Zheng Xiaoyun really committed treason, in his eyes, Madam Pei is your weak spot. Based on my understanding of Zheng Xiaoyun, how could he let Madam Pei leave? If Zheng Xiaoyun did not commit treason, then others would not be a threat. Others would not have military power, and we would not have to worry about insufficient troops. So at this moment, it's not that I don't want to leave, it's that I can't leave anymore."

Pei Yanxu knew that what Xia Mianwan said made sense, but he felt guilty for getting his mother involved in this storm. If he had known earlier, he should have gotten married earlier, and his mother wouldn't have to chase him to Jiangnan.