Chapter 1199 Showdown!
Seeing that Sun Xiuquan was determined to fight him to the end, Murong Yuliang swept his cold eyes across Su Xiuquan’s calm face, and left without saying anything...
Looking at Murong Yuliang's leaving back, Sun Xiuquan flashed a trace of disdain, and then immediately started to work. Although the main purpose of the large-scale clearing operation he led this time was to target Murong Yuliang's followers, in order to cover up this real purpose, some necessary work still needed to be done, and the real intention could not be revealed too obviously.
Two hours later, seeing that it was getting dark, Sun Xiuquan finished his work for the day and immediately took a carriage, escorted by servants and runners, back to his mansion in the city.
After returning home, Sun Xiuquan had just called the concubine he had just married last month, and was about to ask her to sing a couple of songs for him to relieve his fatigue, when he saw the butler Sun Zhong coming to report.
"Master, Master Ma Jingui is here!"
After saying this, the Sun Mansion’s chief steward couldn’t help but add:
"Master Ma looks very anxious! It seems like he has something important to discuss with you, Master!"
Sun Xiuquan raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and then nodded slightly. The housekeeper Sun Zhong immediately understood what he meant and bowed and retreated.
Sun Xiuquan immediately instructed his concubine:
"Go back!"
The concubine, who was in her twenties, pulled Su Xiuquan and said coquettishly, somewhat dissatisfied:
"Master, you just called me here, why are you sending me away now?"
Sun Xiuquan, who was already over fifty years old and half buried in the ground, seemed to enjoy the concubine's coquetry. He touched the concubine's youthful and energetic RT and said with a smile:
"Master, I have something important to deal with! Be obedient and I'll buy you a gold bracelet someday!"
When the concubine heard about the gold bracelet, her eyes lit up immediately, and she said in a half-hearted way:
"Then I will wait for you at night. You must come, Master. If you don't come, I won't sleep..."
"Good good!"
After getting rid of this young goblin, Sun Xiuquan tidied his clothes and walked leisurely towards the study. At this time, Ma Jingui had been waiting in the study for about a while. Seeing Sun Xiuquan appear, he was anxious and wanted to say something immediately. However, before he could open his mouth, he heard Sun Xiuquan's leisurely voice.
"Brother Ma! What did Murong Yuliang do?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Jingui quickly said:
"Brother Sun, Murong Yuliang seems to know your plan. He ordered Xie Wenjun to arrest Fang Lin, Liu Weixin, and Yang Haoyu!"
Sun Xiuquan calmly sat down on the chair opposite Ma Jingui, then picked up the teapot on the desk and poured himself a cup of tea. Seeing that Sun Xiuquan was not panicked at all, as if he had expected it, Ma Jingui was also a little surprised. After hesitating for a moment, Ma Jingui couldn't help but ask tentatively:
"Brother Sun, have you known this for a long time?"
Under Ma Jingui's gaze, Sun Xiuquan took a sip of tea and nodded slightly, saying:
"Brother Ma, you should know that Murong Yuliang came to see me this afternoon. He suggested that if we both claim illness and retire, he would give up reporting you and me to the Marshal. When he left in anger after being rejected by me, I knew that he was going to make a heroic decision and sacrifice the chariot to save the king..."
Ma Jingui was shocked when he heard this, and after a moment of hesitation, he assured Sun Xiuquan;
"Brother Sun, I didn't say anything!"
Hearing Ma Jingui's assurance, Sun Xiuquan glanced at him with a half-smile on his face. Seeing that Sun Xiuquan didn't seem to believe him, Ma Jingui immediately wanted to say something, but before he opened his mouth, Sun Xiuquan spoke to himself:
"I was the one who leaked the news about Fang Lin, Liu Weixin, and Yang Haoyu to Murong Yuliang!"
Ma Jingui was shocked when he heard this, and then asked in disbelief:
"Brother Sun, why are you doing this?"
Sun Xiuquan said calmly:
"Brother Ma, you are also over fifty years old, don't be so startled!"
"Why do you think Murong Yuliang, an outsider, can call the shots and decide life and death in Huainan?"
At this time, Ma Jingui, the deputy governor of Huainan, was still immersed in the explosive news that Sun Xiuquan had deliberately leaked his plan to Murong Yuliang, so he could not think about the hidden meaning of Sun Xiuquan's question at all, and could only answer instinctively:
"Murong Yuliang is the governor sent by Marshal Ye, and his daughter Murong Qingwu married Marshal Ye. Murong Yuliang himself is also highly regarded by Marshal Ye!"
Sun Xiuquan smiled and waved his hand and said:
"Brother Ma, just tell others what you said. You and I both know that Murong Yuliang's achievements in Ji and Yu are enough to allow him to move up to the next level and become one of the six ministers of the Yijing court!"
“And the reason why he came to our Huainan is because he was defeated in the court struggle. To put it nicely, he came to our Huainan to be demoted, or to put it bluntly, he was exiled…”
"Why is Murong Yuliang so anxious to implement his so-called bullshit reforms? Is it good for the people of Huainan as he said?"
"His rhetoric of serving the country and the people may be enough to fool a three-year-old child, but who doesn't know what he's thinking?"
"He is so anxious to implement reforms, just to achieve some results as soon as possible so that Huainan can make a comeback, and then strive to return to Yijing to be his Shangshu Lord, the Grand Lord of the Great Zhou? His heart is not in Huainan at all!"
Listening to Sun Xiuquan's remarks that went straight to the point, Ma Jingui fell into silence. Seeing this, Sun Xiuquan continued:
"The reason why Murong Yuliang dares to be so strong is, on the one hand, because he is the governor appointed by Marshal Ye, and Marshal Ye is backing him up!"
"But the most crucial thing is that we in Huainan are not united and cannot work together. Murong Yuliang took advantage of this and dared to ride on our necks and shout at us, bullying us!"
Seeing Sun Xiuquan's disappointed look, Ma Jingui was even more confused about Sun Xiuquan's real intention. However, he did not like Sun Xiuquan's preaching and immediately said:
"Brother Sun, just tell me why you leaked the plan to Murong Yuliang on purpose?" "If I didn't leak the news to Murong Yuliang, how could he sacrifice his own plan to save his own?"
Ma Jingui was even more confused after hearing this. He frowned and said:
"Brother Sun, although it is a bit embarrassing for Murong Yuliang to sacrifice his chariot to save his master, isn't your goal to defeat him?"
Sun Xiuquan said with some emotion:
“Murong Yuliang is not a fool. My action this time involves the entire Huainan. It is almost impossible to keep the news from leaking out on such a large scale. So Murong Yuliang must know that I am going to attack his men…”
"Although Murong Yuliang understands this, he doesn't know that I'm going to attack his subordinate!"
"The Marshal is about to inspect Huainan. Murong Yuliang knows that if I make a fuss about this matter, he, as the governor, will be very embarrassed, so he will definitely find out whether his subordinates are clean and whether they can stand the test!"
"Liu Weixin and Yang Haoyu's affairs are not difficult to investigate. Although Fang Lin did it in a relatively covert way, as long as we investigate carefully, we can still find out. So even if Murong Yuliang wants to clean up the mess for these three people, he can't do it at all!"
"And these three people are his capable men in promoting reforms, so it is difficult for Murong Yuliang to make the decision to abandon them. That's why he came to me today and tried to make a deal with me to make me give up targeting these three people!"
"But I rejected his deal, so he had no choice but to give up these three people to keep his position as governor!"
Listening to Sun Xiuquan's story, Ma Jingui seemed to realize something and asked in a deep voice:
"Brother Sun, do you have any backup plan?"
Sun Xiuquan did not directly answer Ma Jingui's question, but said calmly:
"The Marshal finished his inspection in Kangyin two days ago and is on his way to Shouchun. He will arrive in Shouchun in about three days!"
"So tomorrow is the day when Murong Yuliang and I will have a showdown. This time, I want him to be ruined..."
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May
There is a county town called Dancheng County in the south of Shouchun City. The best inn in the county town is called Liufu Inn. However, this inn, which used to be bustling with people, is now heavily guarded and no one is allowed to enter!
The reason for this situation is that a special guest has checked into the best inn in Dancheng County!
In the suite, Song Haibo smiled and reported to Ye Mingsheng who was soaking his feet:
"General, I asked the locals, and they said that Dancheng County is only about thirty miles away from Shouchun. If we leave after breakfast tomorrow morning, we can have dinner in Shouchun!"
Ye Mingsheng, who was soaking his feet, nodded slightly when he heard this. Seeing this, Song Haibo hesitated for a moment and asked Ye Mingsheng:
"Marshal, dinner is only an hour away. What do you want to eat tonight?"
Ye Mingsheng casually ordered:
"You know what I don't eat. Excluding the food in this inn that I don't eat, just make four or five dishes!"
"Oh, I heard that there's a famous dish in Dancheng County called Dancheng Braised Fish, which is said to be quite delicious. I haven't eaten fish for a few days, so ask the kitchen to make me one!"
"I understand. I will arrange it right away!"
After Song Haibo left, Ye Mingsheng continued to soak his feet and asked the guards to add hot water for him. He walked thirty or forty miles every day these days. At first, Ye Mingsheng took a carriage, but later, because the road was not easy to walk on, the carriage was a bit bumpy, so Ye Mingsheng simply rode a horse. After a day's walk, his back and waist were sore, so Ye Mingsheng could only soak his feet to relieve his fatigue··························
After soaking his feet for about a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng dried his feet, asked the guard to pour out the foot washing water, and leaned back in the armchair with his eyes closed. At this moment, a man in gray walked into the room, bowed and handed a letter to Ye Mingsheng. Hearing the footsteps, Ye Mingsheng slowly opened his eyes, and with some surprise he took the letter from the man in gray!
The content of this letter is the latest news in Yijing. Although Ye Mingsheng is no longer in Yijing, there are still many eyes and ears watching his every move!
After carefully reading the records in the letter, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this is truly the most vicious heart of a woman!
When he was working in Luoan, he had actually heard of the infatuated Feng Yuning. If he remembered correctly, someone mentioned Feng Yuning at a drinking party and he even teased him, saying that there were tens of thousands of women in the world, so why hang himself on a tree!
I never thought that after so many years, this guy is still so devoted. It's really touching!
The number of young masters who pursued An Miaoyi back then was bragging when they said there were a hundred or eighty of them. Fifty or sixty was also an exaggeration, but there were definitely twenty or thirty. Among these people, many were desperate to do anything for her. However, after so many years, only Feng Yuning can still be so infatuated. The others really don't have that kind of perseverance!
But it's a pity that my passion and sincerity are treated as nothing!
If this guy wasn't dead, Ye Mingsheng really wanted to meet him and ask him if he regretted falling in love with this woman?
But Feng Yuning didn't complain about his death. All the bad things he had done were enough to kill him five or six times...
Ye Mingsheng put the letter away, then looked at the man in gray and said with a smile:
"It is said that the grilled fish in Dancheng County is very delicious. Since you are here, you might as well try one!"
The man in gray bowed and said:
"Thank you for your concern, but I don't like eating fish!"
Ye Mingsheng smiled and shook his head. The man in gray bowed and left. While Ye Mingsheng was waiting to eat the roasted fish, Song Haibo walked into the room quickly and reported to Ye Mingsheng in a serious manner:
"Something's happened to the Marshal! Huainan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Su Xiuquan has arrested Shouchun Prefect Xie Wenjun. In addition, Lord Murong has also arrested Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Fang Lin, Provincial Government Counselor Liu Weixin, and Bozhou Prefect Yang Haoyu!"
Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this. According to the information he knew, Xie Wenjun, Fang Lin, Liu Weixin and Yang Haoyu were all from Murong Yuliang's faction!
Especially Xie Wenjun, the prefect of Shouchun, was promoted by Murong Yuliang against all odds and despite a lot of pressure and doubts!
And you have to know that Shouchun is the capital of Huainan and it belongs to the upper prefecture in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, the prefect Xie Wenjun is a third-rank official. Logically speaking, even if he committed a crime, as long as it was not a serious crime such as treason that required emergency powers, the Huainan Censorate had no right to arrest him. If they wanted to arrest him, the Censor had to report the impeachment to the court first, and then the court would decide whether to arrest him or not...
(End of this chapter)