Shipin Dalizheng

Cui Xian suddenly looked at the lame young man, and the muscles on his face twitched rapidly.

Rong Tang found it amusing. "Master Cui, are you looking at him like this because you feel sorry for him, or because you think he killed Cui Xingzhou? Let me answer you first, no. If you want to know how Cui Xingzhou died, you have to listen to another story, the story of a paradise on earth, Guanyin Village. By the way, did you eat before coming here? If you did, you can go out and clean your throat to avoid discomfort later."

Cui Xian pursed his lips and looked at him without saying anything.

"Then I'll begin. This story begins after we crossed the river..."

When he finished telling the story of Guanyin Village, Cui Xian could no longer bear it and ran out of the door, vomiting out all the bitter bile.

"So now you know who killed him? Lord Cui, from what I understand, you're a good official, but good officials always have their own agendas when it comes to their family's interests. I never harbor any natural hostility towards anyone, and I always go with the flow because I believe in cause and effect, and reincarnation. Of course, Lord Cui is a scholar, and scholars don't talk about strange things. But Lord Cui, you must believe that there are gods above you, and that God is watching over you."

He handed Cui Xingzhou's token to Cui Xian.

"I haven't found the right time to hand this over to the Cui family, so it's the same if you hand it over."

Cui Xian walked away unsteadily. Rong Zhan, who had seen him off, came back and said, "It seems he went to Lord Zheng's residence."

"Yes, Mr. Cui is there."

Turning to look at Xiao Poyun, he asked, "Do you hate Cui Xian?"

Xiao Poyun smiled bitterly, "Logically, I should resent all the Cui family members, but the Cui family also has an upright old man like Mr. Cui. Looking at this young Mr. Cui, he doesn't look like a bad person."

Rong Tang sighed, "This is what an aristocratic family is like. A successful clan is a complete social system, encompassing both black and white, good and evil. To protect the family's interests, the head of the family can be very evil, but for the family's long-term inheritance, they must also promote goodness. Even those Cui brothers who crippled you are learning the thoughts of sages. If they have the potential to become teachers in the future, they will also educate their students with benevolence and filial piety. I'm now waiting to see Cui Xian's attitude. Will he make a big deal out of a small matter, or provoke a fierce battle? This will determine my future strategy in dealing with the aristocratic families."

Xiao Poyun bowed his head, "Poyun is willing to follow Uncle forever."

Everything was ready, Rong Tang led three thousand soldiers back, and Steward Lu burst into tears. It had been less than two months, and his master was leaving again.

Rong Tang said, "Don't be sad for now. After I leave, the title of Earl of Annan may be invalidated. When the time comes, you can lead your men north. There will always be a place for you to stay there."

Butler Lu wiped his tears. He really envied Mrs. Gui.

Sima Zhi was also responsible for escorting the Southern Emperor's coffin and Sun Xianbin's family back to the Northern Dynasty to stand trial in Shangjing. Several of the Southern Emperor's children had fled, and if he didn't escort a few of them to vent Emperor Xuanning's anger, he would have no way to vent his anger.

In fact, there were not many people left in the Sun family. At that time, the people imprisoned in the Ministry of Personnel Prison included the Sun family, the Feng family, and some families that were directly related to their two families by marriage. It was so full that it was impossible to support them all.

Later, the food in the imperial city became less and less, so of course it was given priority to the good people. These prisoners were inevitably treated harshly. Not only was the food poor, but the quantity was also small. In addition, the internal distribution was uneven. After a long time, they fell ill and starved, and most of them died.

The mass grave outside the fourth gate was filled with corpses, and Rong Tang even ordered a collective burial for fear of the spread of epidemics.

Many people died, but overall, 70% to 80% of the people were saved. If you ask yourself, Rong Tang has lived up to his conscience.

As soon as he left the city, all the people in the city breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, they had indeed been quite frightened by him during this period, but many people had also been spared from death because of him. They certainly didn't love him, but they didn't hate him either.

Seeing the main force walking away, someone finally spat, "What a villain! They stole all my food and left us with only porridge a day to survive."

Some people cursed, while others refused to listen. "Why? If there's chaos, how can you keep all that food? Before Annan Bo came back, so many families were robbed and killed, leaving no one alive. Do you want to end up in that situation? Although Annan Bo stole the food, he didn't eat it all by himself. He gathered it together and everyone ate it. Even if they didn't have enough, they could still survive. If no one family has it, there will be no fighting among them. I think it's good."

Someone recognized him and asked, "Master Yang? Aren't you a relative of Master Xie's? Master Xie's family stole the Second Prince and ran away, committing a heinous crime. Yet you're still staying in the city. Aren't you afraid of being captured by the new prefect?"

Of course, Lord Yang was informed by Lord Xie, but he was still optimistic, thinking that with the establishment of a new state, there would definitely be a lack of administrators, and he could take advantage of the opportunity and become an official again.

He didn't even consider that the old imperial capital had withdrawn its imperial court and was now just a provincial capital. Why would it need so many officials? He wasn't the only one waiting to take advantage of the situation.

Being recognized and exposed is a matter of course.

Lord Yang panicked, "No, I'm not..."

"What do you mean by not? It's you. Your wife is Lord Xie's concubine sister. Even a corrupt official like you wouldn't share the food at home, and wouldn't care if you saw people starving to death. How can you compare to the Earl of Annan? He even took out all the food from his own mansion to distribute it."

"Yes, a plague official like him is not worthy of being an official at all. How can he compare to Lord Ma and Lord Xu? When the Earl of Annan went north, he only brought these two with him. It is said that they can be promoted to higher positions."

Amid the chatter of the crowd, Lord Yang pushed through the crowd and ran out. He had to run, as he didn't want to be targeted by the new prefect and be held responsible for the Xie family's crime.

Mr. Cui lifted the curtain of his carriage and listened to the people's discussions for a while. He sighed and said to Cui Xian, "The Earl of Annan is a man of character. I admire him but I also fear him. His schemes are unstoppable, and I absolutely do not want my family to be his enemy. When I go north, I will have a good talk with my eldest brother about the boat trip. This is not a very honorable way for the Cui family to die, and it would be best if it could be eliminated quietly."

Cui Xian felt uncomfortable listening to this. Cui Xingzhou was a direct descendant of Mr. Cui's branch, yet he committed suicide by burning himself in the Buddhist sect, and was actually considered to have died in disgrace.

Mr. Cui also knew that saying this to the younger generation would discourage the young people, but that was how the clan was: they could die but their reputation could not be ruined.

The Cui family especially cannot bear the claim of "retribution".

Cui Xian asked, "Then, Second Grandfather, how should I deal with the Xie family's affairs?"

Logically speaking, Lord Xie kidnapped the second prince, which was almost equivalent to going against Emperor Xuanning of the Northern Dynasty. As the new prefect, he should continue to issue arrest warrants and search for him all over the world.

Mr. Cui felt numb when he heard this. There was no solution, no solution.

"You should pursue him, but you certainly can't bring him back. Anyone captured by these families would be subject to genocide and death. As for the aftermath, let's just muddle through. After all, it's Grand Tutor Xie who needs to explain to Emperor Xuanning, not our Cui family."

Cui Xian responded, pulled the curtain for Mr. Cui, and bowed to see him off.

Not far away, Zheng Jiu also brought out his own men and set off with Mr. Cui. With his protection, Mr. Cui was safe.

Suddenly, a horse came from south to north, stopped beside Zheng Jiu, and handed him a letter.

After seeing this, Zheng Chang suddenly covered his chest with one hand, spit out a mouthful of blood, and fell limply on his horse.

Mr. Cui got out of the car when he heard the noise, and had someone help him into the car. He sternly asked the messenger, "Who asked you to deliver this letter? Are you trying to kill your master?"

The messenger was almost terrified and knelt down to beg for mercy. "I am the steward of Shangyuan Manor. The great-grandmother passed away a few days ago. She asked me to deliver a letter and ask if I could stop by her grave. Then she would die without regrets."