Chapter 129 Working Together

Unconsciously, it was already dawn.

Qin Mubai took a look outside the door, rubbed his tingling eyes, and said, "Now it's time for the government soldiers to gather for morning exercises. It's not convenient for us to go back to the military camp. Why don't you take a break here and go back later to meet the King of Wu and explain the whole story.

"It's okay..." Chen Yan nodded, squatted down silently, leaned against the pillar and hugged her knees, and looked at the empty space in a daze.

Qin Mubai walked outside the house and moved his muscles and bones, and couldn't help feeling a little hungry. Those hundred riders had dispersed, so he had to pick some wild fruits in the woods by himself. Fortunately, he caught a hare. So he went back to the cabin and raised a fire, slaughtered the hare and roasted it.

Chen Yan kept looking at it silently. It was not until Qin Mubai roasted the hare half cooked before she said, "You, a child of a well-bred official, can you do these things?"

"Is there anyone who stipulates that you are only allowed to walk around the world?" Qin Mubai smiled and threw two wild fruits at her and said, "Eat the cushion first, and the hare will roast it quickly. In fact, the surface scenery of our Baiqi is obtained through a hundred times of torture. When we were training, it was a simple and inhuman scene. Survival in the wild like this is a small trick.

"You are really a special official." Chen Yan said, "No official will torture himself and suffer for himself, right?"

"Why don't you wish Chengwen?" Qin Mubai smiled indifferently, "We only suffer from the pain of flesh and flesh, and he suffers more from heartache than us."

The corners of Chen Yan's mouth were gently **, leaned her chin on her knees, and said leisurely, "I want to ask you something."

"Ask." Qin Mubai said casually while roasting the hare.

"Do you have a beloved woman?" Chen Yan asked.

Qin Mubai was slightly stunned and thought for a long time... It's really not good for women who have accompanied him or have something to do with him in their previous life and this life, but where can we start with the word "deep love"? More often, it's more like being in the game world.

"No."

"I can see it." Chen Yan smiled softly, and her face was softer than ever before. She said, "At first glance, you are a cynical man, and there must be a lot of women around you. The more men like you are, the more women like them.

"You seem to understand very well." Qin Mubai smiled slightly.

"In fact, people are quite cheap. When a person really loves you deeply, you may not feel it or cherish it. I didn't know its preciousness until I lost it. Chen Yan said.

"Maybe..." Qin Mubai didn't want to continue the deep talk. Women are emotional animals. If you talk to them about emotional topics, you can stay up for three days and nights. Obviously, Qin Mubai does not have such energy now.

"Actually, I lied to you." Chen Yan suddenly said.

"Is that right?" Qin Mubai said with a little surprise.

"Yes." Chen Yan nodded, "In fact, Zhu Chengwen and I have never been a husband and wife, and we have not made a private life or a marriage contract. We grew up together, and he has always been like a big brother in my mind. He was 22 years old when he married, and I was 16 years old. At that time, I suddenly felt that I had lost something forever, and I knew that I also loved him deeply. The age of love was really crazy. I even wanted to marry him as a concubine at that time. But Zhu Chengwen was a real gentleman, and he refused. And even after his wife passed away, he did not give me any hope and opportunity, let alone promise. He loved his wife deeply and vowed not to marry again. Between me and him, I have always been just a confidant. After the age of 16, we will no longer mention the word emotion. But I know that he will be willing to die for me, just as I am willing to sacrifice everything for him. We have nothing to talk about, which is better than brothers and sisters, husband and wife and close friends. So I know everything about him, and he has always trusted me absolutely.

Qin Mubai's heart moved slightly: "Did he really give you an account book before he died?"

"Yes." Chen Yan said, "It's not to send it, but to give it in person. I wrote letters to him in my hometown and saw that he was in a bad situation, so I ran all the way to Jishan County to see him. Unexpectedly, he was furious and wanted to drive me away immediately, saying that I shouldn't have come at all. The time I spent with him was not more than a ray of incense. I was so sad that I even swore that I would never talk to him again. Before leaving, he gave me a burden and asked me to hand it over to the children in his hometown. I left without looking at it. It was not until I was halfway to calm down and open the burden and find the book of accounts inside. Only then did I know... He was determined to die! I regret that I was so stupid that I didn't see through his intention! Maybe if I had calmed down a little, it wouldn't have ended like this!"

"Hey, the error is often just a little bit, but it is a thousand miles away." Qin Mubai shook his head and sighed and asked, "Where is the book now?"

"It's on a big willow tree in the woods near Zhu Chengwen's grave. Don't worry, no one can find what I hide. Chen Yan said.

"Good! After a short break, let's go and get the account book back first, and then go back to see the king of Wu!"

"Alleed."

Half an hour later, Qin Mubai walked out of the woods, called the hundred horsemen guarding there, asked them to get two horses, one each with Chen Yan, and rushed to Zhu Chengwen's grave.

The autumn wind and falling leaves are running fast, and Chen Yan's riding is naturally not as good as Qin Mubai's fire cloud colt. She always looked at the man with fluttering clothes not far ahead and kept thinking in her heart: This man is really unique. He always gives people a mysterious feeling. He can easily see through other people's hearts and things and guess other people's behavior, but it makes people unable to see through what he is thinking. Moreover, he is not the same as an ordinary official. He has no official tone and no prestige. Although it is sometimes a little evil and domineering, it still retains a sense of justice, which makes people feel that there is a sense of righteousness in him.

"Do I believe him completely?" Chen Yan kept asking herself, but there was no answer.

It's at Zhu Chengwen's grave. The two first made a memorial service, and then Chen Yan jumped on a big willow tree like a civet cat, uncovered a large bark, took out a bamboo tube from the hollow pole, and jumped down the tree.

"That's it." Chen Yan said.

Qin Mubai quickly opened the bamboo tube and saw an account book wrapped in oil paper. After opening it and looking at it roughly, it was indeed a record of the entry and exit of a large amount of money and grain, which was recorded in quite detail. Under each record, Zhu Chengwen also made an annotation to explain how the money was recorded in the public account of the government, and where it was actually used.

There are three pages, which specifically record the direction of six pieces of money. It is all a large number of civil equipment and a large amount of labor employed by the government in the name of building the lake embankment. In fact, these civil equipment and labor force are simply illusory. These six sums of money were sent to Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, in twists and turns!

Obviously, this is Zhang Tianci's handwriting. He did not directly use money to bribe Li Daozong, but sent a large gift to Li Daozong in the name of the government during some birthday gifts and holiday visits.

These things are not common in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty, where the overall atmosphere is very clean. Emperor Li Shimin once "advised" that officials and small should not promote this kind of luxury, but there is indeed no law that does not allow officials to accept congratulatory gifts.

So Zhang Tianci and others hit an edge ball and drilled into the loopholes of the law, thus achieving the purpose of casting his favor and ripping Li Daozong.

If Li Daozong knew the way the money came from, he would not accept it. However, as the "supreme officer" of the Jin and the generation, this kind of "filial piety" of his subordinates is not very special. Although some of them don't sound good, they don't violate the law, so he generously accepted it. There is a saying that people's hands are short and people's mouths are short. It is unknown whether Li Daozong provided any convenience to Zhang Tianci later.

"Very clever bribery." Qin Mubai said, "The law can't be studied in depth, but Li Daozong did collect the money that should not be collected."

"Not bad." Chen Yan said, "That's why Zhu Chengwen is very painful. The original dike-building money was not enough when it was allocated, and some of it was drawn to pay filial piety to the king of Jiangxia... The king of Jiangxia, who had always been perfect in his mind, suddenly collapsed. But at the same time, he also suspected that Zhang Tianci, Cheng Songnian and others were deceiving him, and he was always reluctant to believe that King Jiangxia was such a person. Unfortunately, he had never been able to meet King Jiangxia to clarify the matter in person. Instead, he had to compromise under the threat of Cheng Songnian and others.

"I can imagine the situation at that time." Qin Mubai said, "In officialdom, especially local officials, if they offend their immediate superiors, their days must be unspeakable. In front of such a huge group as Zhang Tianci and Cheng Songnian, Zhu Chengwen is weak and powerless to fight against it. I guess Zhu Chengwen also took a delaying strategy at that time. On the surface, he compromised with the snake, and was still secretly planning how to solve this problem. If it hadn't been for this, he wouldn't have been killed.

"I don't know that." Chen Yan shook her head sadly, "He was very fierce to drive me away at that time, and he didn't want me to be involved in danger. It's just that I didn't wake up at that time..."

"That should be it." Qin Mubai sighed, "It's a pity that all the efforts of Zhu Chengwen have failed in the end. A sudden flood disrupted his deployment and damaged his life.

"This is all God's will..." Chen Yan's eyes turned red, and she gently stroked Zhu Chengwen's tombstone with her eyebrows, stunned.

"Let's go back to the army to meet King Wu! The three of us will discuss with each other and solve this matter perfectly!" Qin Mubai said, "Let's also comfort Chengwen's spirit in heaven!"

"Okay, let's go!"