At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

Xiao Yan was speechless for a moment. He had never expected that the empress did not pay attention to the condition of the Hangzhou city wall when she entered the city.

After much thought, Xiao Yan made up his mind.

"Ling'er, let's go to the city wall and take a look."

Xiao Yan took the initiative to extend the invitation.

"can."

The empress still didn't understand and nodded in response.

So, under the leadership of Xiao Yan, the few people who had just appeared in the box immediately left the reception center.

And under the secret protection of dozens of imperial guards, he walked towards the city wall of Hangzhou.

Instead of riding horses, the crowd chose to walk.

One reason is that Hangzhou city is too prosperous and bustling. Even if you ride a horse, you will slow down because of the hustle and bustle of people.

The actual time taken to reach the city wall is not much different from walking.

Secondly, Xiao Yan, the Empress and others also wanted to take the opportunity to take a good look at the scenery inside Hangzhou City.

After all, for most of them, this is the first time in their lives to come to Hangzhou.

"Look, young lady. That's the Zhejiang Governor's Office. But it doesn't look very good. It's even a bit shabby."

After leaving the reception center and passing a corner, the Zhejiang Governor's Office appeared in the sight of several people. Yun'er pointed excitedly and said.

Empress Xiao Yan heard the voice and looked over.

As expected, compared with the extremely prosperous buildings around it, the governor's office in front of us can almost be described as shabby.

"Xia Yun is such a stingy bastard."

The empress thought to herself.

She remembered the same scene when she was in Dai County.

All the buildings in the city are quite luxurious, except for the government office where Xia Yun works, which is so poor that it looks like it is about to be sold as pants!

The empress couldn't tell for a moment whether Xia Yun did it on purpose to impress the court, or whether he was just a stingy local tycoon.

"Is Lord Xia in there?"

Suddenly, Yun'er asked out of the blue.

"No, he is in Nanzhili now."

Xiao Yan responded.

If Xia Yun was really in Hangzhou, he would definitely take the initiative to contact the other party to ensure the safety of the empress's incognito visit.

"Ok."

Yun'er nodded, and a hint of loneliness quietly appeared in the depths of her pupils.

But she hid it very well and was not discovered by others.

In her mind, she recalled the romantic experience she had with Xia Yun in the car.

So far, that was her only first experience in her life.

When she came to Zhejiang on this trip, she always had a vague sense of anticipation in her heart.

She didn't know whether she was looking forward to the prosperity of Hangzhou or to rekindling her romantic time with Xia Yun.

……

The sounds of traffic filled the streets and alleys of Hangzhou, and the shouts of peddlers were heard everywhere.

Only the Hangzhou prefectural government office was deserted at the moment.

Only a middle-aged man in gorgeous clothes quietly appeared in the court of the yamen.

If Xiao Yan and others were present at this moment, they would be able to recognize at a glance that the middle-aged man in gorgeous clothes in front of them was Manager Wang whom they had met in the guesthouse!

"Wang An, if you have anything to say, please tell me now. I have to go to the shipyard this afternoon."

Not long after the middle-aged man appeared in the lobby, Xiao Haiyang, the fourth-rank prefect of Hangzhou, dressed in official uniform, also appeared in the lobby.

However, Xiao Haiyang's tone was very urgent, as if there were various things waiting for him to deal with.

Ever since Xia Yun went to Nanzhili, he has been concurrently serving as the governor of Zhejiang.

All matters, big or small, within Zhejiang have to go through his hands, not to mention the various construction bureaus, shipyards, etc. in Hangzhou city.

Wang An is his subordinate and currently works as the lobby manager at the Governor's Yamen Guesthouse.

"Sir, a group of very wealthy guests from other places just came to the guesthouse. From their accents, they sound like they are from the capital."

In a few words, Wang An told Xiao Haiyang why he came to see him.

"A wealthy guest from the capital?"

Xiao Haiyang raised his eyebrows.

What the hell is this?

There are so many rich people in the capital, why tell him about this?

"I heard from them about a place, Dai County. Those foreign guests seemed to have been there before, so I hurried over to tell you the news."

Wang An saw Xiao Haiyang's confusion and immediately reported.

Sure enough, when Xiao Haiyang heard what Wang An had just said, a solemn look quickly appeared in his eyes.

As a close confidant of Xia Yun, he now has more or less understood the affairs of Dai County.

In short, he knew.

Dai County is the base camp for these people. Once they encounter a crisis in Hangzhou City or other places, they can retreat to Dai County with Xia Yun at any time.

"How many of them are there?"

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Haiyang asked again.

"There are three people leading the group, two young women in their early twenties, and a middle-aged man who looks to be in his forties. The rest are some maids and dozens of guards."

Wang An responded truthfully.

"Where are they now?"

Xiao Haiyang asked again.

"They checked into the guesthouse this morning and spent three hundred thousand taels of silver. They have now left the guesthouse and are probably wandering around Hangzhou."

Wang An responded again.

"Immediately send someone to monitor those people. Remember not to alert them. Let's see if they make any unusual moves first."

After some contemplation, Xiao Haiyang made a decision.

Before Xia Yun left Hangzhou, he had told him that those people with suspicious identities and unknown origins must be kept under close surveillance.

"Yes, sir, I'll do it right away!"

Wang An nodded and quickly left the prefectural government office.

Xiao Haiyang was left alone sitting on the armchair.

……

"Uncle Jiu, what is this place? Why are there so many children going in there?"

On the streets of Hangzhou, the empress was looking at a grand complex of buildings.

At this moment, at the gate of this grand building complex, a large group of children carrying cloth bags were walking in.

"Hangzhou College?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan's eyes turned to the front of the grand building complex. On a stone tablet, the words "Hangzhou College" were clearly engraved.

"Miss, what does Hangzhou College mean? Is it a place for people to study like the Imperial Academy?"

A questioning tone came out of Yun'er's mouth, but her eyes were full of curiosity.

"The scale of the Imperial College is much smaller than this, and most of the people studying in the Imperial College are young people from wealthy and noble families."

The empress shook her head. She was very curious about the Hangzhou College in front of her.

"Why don't we go in and take a look."

Yun'er suggested.

"can."

The empress nodded and immediately accepted Yun'er's suggestion. Xiao Yan did not say much.

The group then walked towards Hangzhou College.

However, an embarrassing scene soon occurred.

When the empress and others walked to the gate of Hangzhou College and were ready to enter the college with other children.

Suddenly, more than a dozen burly men rushed out of the security room next to the gate and blocked their way.

"The governor has issued an order! Hangzhou Academy is only open to students, outsiders are not allowed to enter without permission!"

The burly man in the lead, holding a long stick, scolded in a stern tone.