Chapter 471: The Breakdown of the Alliance! (Thanks to book friend 4439 for the reward!)
Half an incense stick later, Yun Hanjie, who was in a daze, slowly walked out of the governor's mansion, with Ye Mingsheng's words still echoing in his mind.

“Old Yun, since you came here today on your own initiative, I will give you a favor. You must bring the culprit to me within three days, and we can discuss the rest. If the person is not brought to me after three days, then Old Yun, you should prepare coffins for all 357 members of your Yun family…”

Yun Hanjie, filled with grief and anger, walked like a zombie. He didn't notice the steps under his feet at all. He missed a step and was about to fall to the ground. Fortunately, the attendant beside him was very alert and supported Yun Hanjie and reminded him:

"Master, watch your step!"

Although he almost fell down, Yun Hanjie still didn't collect his thoughts. He just nodded mechanically, and then got into the carriage with the careful help of his servants.

After returning to his residence in Dongning an incense stick later, Yun Hanjie gradually calmed down and asked the old servant beside him:
"How is the situation at the Gongsun family?"

The old servant replied:
"After Gongsun Hui was arrested, Gongsun Huan set off from Changqing Prefecture overnight. He is expected to arrive in Dongning tonight at the earliest. I heard from the Gongsun family that Gongsun Huan has sent a pigeon letter to Cui Shao, and Gongsun Qiaoqing and Cui Zibo are already engaged. Their two families are now in-laws..."

The old servant paused here and then said in a low voice:
"Master, when you went to see Ye Mingsheng, someone from Chong'en County sent a message saying that hundreds of unidentified people came to Chong'en County. They looked like an action team from the Coordination Office.
"In addition, a battalion of 5,000 people under Ye Tie's Fifth Division has also been transferred to Chong'en County in the name of rotation. Master, something is wrong here. You must make a decision as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing this, Yun Hanjie immediately realized that Ye Mingsheng's threat was not just talk. He really dared to kill all the members of the Yun family. He sighed helplessly and told the old servant:
“Let Yunfeng go and bring Guan Jing back as soon as possible…”

"Yes!"

After saying this, Yun Hanjie, who was already exhausted, seemed to age ten years in an instant. Ye Mingsheng was more powerful and ruthless than he had imagined. He was not afraid at all that chaos would occur in Liaoyang at this critical juncture when the Fengwu Army entered the pass!

Ever since he learned that Yun Guanjing and Gongsun Hui were plotting to get rid of Ye Mingsheng, Yun Hanjie knew that the Yun family could not escape this disaster, and his first reaction was how to protect the family and his eldest brother's only son, Yun Guanjing. He was clearly aware that with Ye Mingsheng's character, this matter would not be able to be made small or forgotten.

Even if God blesses them to overcome this difficulty, the Yun family will inevitably suffer heavy losses and may even have to pay a price in blood...

With this mental preparation, even though he knew that Yun Guanjing was the culprit and handing him over could save the family, in order to protect the only flesh and blood of his deceased eldest brother, Yun Hanjie began to think hard about how to exonerate him and save his life!

His original idea was to find a senior executive in the Yun family who was willing to sacrifice, and then push all the things onto him, and then pay some economic benefits, so as to fool Ye Mingsheng. For this reason, Yun Hanjie also wanted to find Cui Shao and let Ye Mingsheng's third uncle mediate.

But what he never expected was that he didn't even enter the gate of Cui's house. The old fox Cui Shao pretended to be sick and refused to see him!

Yun Hanjie has been in charge of the Yun family, one of the three clans in Liaoyang, for decades. Naturally, he has a very keen political sense. He knows very well what Cui Shao's actions mean. Things are more troublesome than he thought, and Ye Mingsheng's determination is greater than he thought!
Cui Shao chose to keep himself out of it, which disrupted Yun Hanjie's plan and also made Yun Hanjie feel the anger of betrayal. They had agreed to this before, that the three families were of the same blood, sharing happiness and hardships, and facing Ye Mingsheng's suppression together. It hasn't been a few months yet, and the news is still fresh in our ears. What everyone in Cui Shao's bar said with confidence at the beginning is now just bullshit...

Originally, if Cui Shao had helped to mediate, and at this critical juncture when the Fengwu Army was entering the pass, Yun Hanjie would have been confident that Ye Mingsheng would accept his plan. But now Cui Shao was sitting on the sidelines. Although Yun Hanjie wanted to force Ye Mingsheng, he did not have the chips to challenge Ye Mingsheng.

In this situation where others are at the mercy of others, Yun Hanjie is helpless but still wants to risk his own life to save his nephew. Although his idea is admirable, Ye Mingsheng has already seen through everything after receiving the report from the Coordination Office, and naturally will not let his little trick succeed!
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In the Liaoyang Governor's residence, Cui Zibo walked into the room and reported to Cui Shao, who was resting with his eyes closed:

"Father, Yun Hanjie has come out from the Governor's Mansion!"

Cui Shao just nodded and said nothing more. Seeing this, Cui Zibo added:
"Our people said that Yun Hanjie was in a state of panic when he came out of the Governor's Mansion. He almost tripped and fell to the ground on the stairs. It seems that the Governor's offer must be very high this time, otherwise Yun Hanjie would never be like this..."

After hearing what his son said, although Cui Shao appeared to be calm and composed on the surface, he felt a little sad in his heart. He knew that by doing nothing this time, he had completely offended the Yun family. The three-family alliance that he had worked so hard to build would completely collapse from then on!
But can he be blamed for this?
I don't know how the Yun family gave birth to a fool like Yun Guanjing, and why Yun Hanjie was so pedantic as to hand over the Yun family to such a fool! He retired to the second line to enjoy his old age.

Although the appearance of Ye Mingsheng has forced the three families into a corner, it has also brought new opportunities. You have a poor vision and are not far-sighted enough. It would be fine if you only care about the immediate benefits, but Yun Guanjing, you are so stupid!
Even if you are really dissatisfied with Ye Mingsheng's suppression and want to kill Ye Mingsheng, you should have thought of a more sophisticated method. You focus on Wang Gui, this piece of mud. It would be unfair if your deeds are not exposed. The Yun family has fallen into this situation now. It is all your own fault. You can't blame me...
You have dug yourselves into a pit, you can't expect me to jump into the pit with you just for the sake of the saying "we are of the same blood", right?

Cui Zibo was naturally unaware of Cui Shao's inner thoughts. Looking at his father's calm face, he hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively:

"Father, what did Lord Gongsun write in the letter he sent you?"

Cui Shao heard this and said calmly:
"Just ask me to help take care of the Gongsun family in Dongning!"

Having said this, Cui Shao opened his eyes and looked at Cui Zibo. Under his father's deep gaze, Cui Zibo felt that all the little thoughts in his heart had been seen through.

“And Gongsun Huan said that the marriage between you and their girl Qiaoqing should be held as soon as possible!” Cui Zibo felt a little embarrassed after he finished speaking. Although he had a crush on An Miaoyi since childhood and regarded An Miaoyi as his dream lover, as An Miaoyi married Ye Mingsheng and became the governor’s wife, she lived a very good life. Although Cui Zibo was sad, as time passed, he gradually came out of the grief...
Faced with this political marriage with Gongsun Qiaoqing, Cui Zibo, who had not yet gotten over his unrequited love, was still a little resistant at first. However, because he had gone out to relax and visited the very efficacious Prajna Temple in Liaoyang, he happened to meet Gongsun Qiaoqing!
Although he didn't have much contact with Gongsun Qiaoqing, Cui Zibo had a special liking for this girl from the Gongsun family. After they parted at Prajna Temple, he began to try to write to Gongsun Qiaoqing secretly. The two began to exchange letters from then on. During the correspondence, Cui Zibo's affection for Gongsun Qiaoqing grew day by day. Therefore, his attitude towards this political marriage took a 180-degree turn, from initial resistance to a vague expectation!
It was precisely because of this relationship that Cui Zibo began to care about the affairs of the Gongsun family. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, if he married Gongsun Qiaoqing, the Gongsun family would become his father-in-law...
"Father, how are you going to treat the Gongsun family?"

Cui Zi Bo asked Cui Shao a little nervously, secretly wondering how he could persuade his father to help the Gongsun family if Cui Shao planned to treat the Gongsun family the same way he treated the Yun family.

Feeling the expectation in his son's eyes, Cui Shao felt a little helpless. He had been very restrained in terms of love throughout his life, but he never expected that his son would be such a romantic man!

After a pause, Cui Shao said:
“Although Gongsun Hui from the Gongsun family is involved in this, he is the only one involved. The two brothers Gongsun Huan and Gongsun Heng don’t know about this. If nothing unexpected happens, they will definitely make a bold move and cut ties with Gongsun Hui. In this matter, Gongsun Huan is more decisive than Yun Hanjie…”

Cui Zibo was a little surprised when he heard this and said:
"Father, do you mean that the Gongsun family's incident this time is not serious?"

Cui Shao shook his head and continued:

"It's hard to say! The main force of the Fengwu Army has already been dispatched. Ye Mingsheng will not want to make a big deal at this critical juncture. The Yun family focuses more on business and compared with the Gongsun family, it is a fat sheep that can be fried into oil and water!"

“Although the Gongsun family no longer has many followers holding important positions in the army due to Ye Mingsheng’s deliberate suppression, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. At least in Changqing Prefecture, they can still command the support of hundreds of people. So I guess Ye Mingsheng will not make things too difficult for the Gongsun family. But it also depends on how Gongsun Huan behaves in front of Ye Mingsheng. Now the situation is not too clear…”

Hearing what Cui Shao said, Cui Zibo frowned and considered how to talk to his father. Cui Shao saw what was on his mind and said:
"If the situation allows, I will say a few words for the Gongsun family. After all, Qiaoqing will be my daughter-in-law in the future. Even if I don't give face to the old man Gongsun Huan, I still have to give her face."

"Thank you, father!" Although he felt a little embarrassed, Cui Zibo still said happily:

Just as the Cui family father and son were talking about this, an old servant came in and bowed and reported:

"Master, Zhu Xiaowen is here!"

Cui Shao nodded upon hearing this and said:
"Let him in!"

"Yes!"

A moment later, a tall, well-mannered, handsome young man walked into the room. When he saw the young man Cui Shao, he bowed deeply and said with great guilt:

"Xiao Wen has disappointed you, my Lord..."

Looking at Zhu Xiaowen who had a guilty look on his face in front of him, Cui Shao felt a little sorry. The reason why he kept quiet this time, besides not wanting to get involved in this muddy water, was another reason. That was that if you think about it carefully, their Cui family was not clean either.

Although Zhu Xiaowen did not take money to release Xue Laowu, and did not commit favoritism or corruption, after all, the incident was caused by his hands, and he could not escape the charge of dereliction of duty. In the end, he also concealed the matter of Liu Fushan, which was another case of knowing the truth but not reporting it. These two things together were enough to cost Zhu Xiaowen his life!

If it were someone else, he would have been arrested and imprisoned by the Coordination Office long ago. However, Zhu Xiaowen is still able to appear here safely. There is only one reason for this, and that is that he is the son-in-law of the Cui family. He was promoted by Cui Shao when he was the Censor General and he is the young man that Cui Shao thinks most of...
Cui Shao naturally knew the purpose of Ye Mingsheng's doing this, and he himself had no intention of getting involved in the Yun family's mess, so naturally he had remained silent until now!

Looking at Zhu Xiaowen, Cui Shao said calmly:
"When Huo San found you, you should have known that Liu Fushan's affairs would be exposed sooner or later. Why did you keep hiding things for him?"

Zhu Xiaowen smiled bitterly when he heard Cui Shao's words.

"I don't care what happens to Liu Fushan. If he dies, my sister will become a widow, and my nephews will become fatherless children. At that time, I was indeed hoping for a lucky break, and wanted to help him for the sake of my sister and nephews."

"What are you going to do next?" Cui Shao continued to ask:
Zhu Xiaowen was silent for a while, then raised his head and looked at Cui Shao and said:

"My Lord, although I have not been punished for your sake, I can no longer stay in the Censorate, so I want to resign and return to the countryside to teach and farm..."

(End of this chapter)