Chapter 781 The Transaction was Terminated!

“This plate of osmanthus cake is Jingren’s favorite. You can take this to Jingren…”

After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng picked up a plate of pastries on the desk and handed it to Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng took the cake and hesitated for a moment before saying:
"My lord, Master Jingren misses you too!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and shook his head when he heard this:
"I'll go again in a few days!"

"By the way, is the big wooden horse that I asked the Second Manufacturing Bureau to make ready?"

Ye Cheng bowed and preached:

"It's already been prepared and was just delivered to the mansion yesterday!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng ordered:
"Since it's ready, let's take it all over. The kids will probably like it!"

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Ye Cheng immediately took the osmanthus cake and had someone carry the wooden horse to An Miaoyi's yard.

At this time, in An Miaoyi's yard, a sound of recitation was heard.

“Thus, if one does not climb a high mountain, one does not know how high the sky is; if one does not stand by a deep stream, one does not know how thick the earth is; if one does not listen to the words of the ancient kings, one does not know how profound learning is. The children of Gan, Yue, Yi, and He are born with the same voice, but grow up with different customs; this is because of education…”

As he recited, Xiao Jingren's voice became more and more halting. When he recited to the part about teaching him, he stopped abruptly. An Miaoyi was very angry about this and said:

"It took you three days, Jingren, to get here? Are you working hard?"

Facing his mother's criticism, Jingren quietly defended himself:

"Mom, I'm working hard, but this exhortation to study is really hard to memorize!"

Hearing Jingren dare to quibble, An Miaoyi became even more angry and said:
"Jingren, do you know why your mother asked you to recite the Encouragement to Study?"

"I hope this sage classic can influence you and make you spend more time on studying, but you spend all day eating or playing, running around like crazy. Can't you sit down and read a book?"

"Are you willing to make your mother angry to death?"

"Mom, I was wrong. I won't play anymore. I will study hard and not go out to play anymore!" Jingren said in a low voice with grievance:

Ye Cheng, who was standing outside the room, heard this conversation and looked very embarrassed. At this time, Qiqige also informed An Miaoyi of Ye Cheng's arrival.

An Miaoyi walked out of the room and looked at the osmanthus cake in Ye Cheng's hand and the big wooden horse behind him, and her brows couldn't help but frowned.

Although he felt very bad, he had Ye Mingsheng's order after all, so Ye Cheng could only bite the bullet and say:

“Madam, these are the osmanthus cake and wooden horse that my Lord asked me to deliver to Young Master Jingren! My Lord said that this osmanthus cake is Young Master Jingren’s favorite food, and this wooden horse was also made for Young Master Jingren by my Lord some time ago…”

Upon hearing his father's name, little Jingren in the house ran out immediately. Looking at Osmanthus Cake and Wooden Horse, his big eyes suddenly lit up. He subconsciously wanted to run over, but when he saw his mother beside him, he could only lower his head and stand still obediently.

An Miaoyi was furious and wanted to return all these things immediately, but Qiqige saw her intention and immediately stepped forward to take the things and said with a smile:

"My Lord is really attentive to Master Jingren. The love between father and son is just different!"

After hearing Qiqige's reminder, An Miaoyi regained some of her sanity and took out a piece of osmanthus cake and handed it to Jingren. Seeing the osmanthus cake handed over by his mother, little Jingren hesitated for a moment before taking it and eating it happily.

Although as Ye Mingsheng's son, he had never lacked food and clothing since childhood, An Miaoyi's management of him was extremely strict. He seldom had the chance to eat desserts like osmanthus cake.

"Master Jingren has been studying very hard recently, and he always wants to recite a lesson to his father!" Qiqige said with a smile:

Ye Cheng also smiled and replied:
"There have been frequent wars recently, and there is another war in Huainan. Your Excellency has been very busy with military and political affairs recently, especially in the past few days, he has been staying in the study overnight. But even so, your Excellency is still thinking about Master Jingren very much, and said that he will come to see Master Jingren in a few days!"

As soon as these words came out, little Jingren, who had just finished eating osmanthus cake, suddenly became energetic and said in a baby voice:

“I want daddy! I want daddy…”

Hearing what Xiao Jingren said, Qiqige also took the opportunity to say:

"Butler Ye, we know that the master is very busy, but the master hasn't come for almost half a month. Master Jingren always calls for his father in the middle of the night. You are by the master's side, please help us remind him more often!"

As she spoke, Qiqige quietly handed something to Ye Cheng's hands. Although he didn't see what the thing was, Ye Cheng knew what it was. Qiqige's actions really made him very embarrassed. As Ye Mingsheng's attendant, although his official rank was not high, his position was very crucial.

It is no exaggeration to say that those who want to give him gifts can go around the huge Yijing City. As long as he asks for houses, money, and women, he will have whatever he wants. Even so, Ye Cheng knows very well that these people do not value him, Ye Cheng, but they flatter him because he is Ye Mingsheng's chief attendant. Corruption and bribery are what Ye Mingsheng hates the most. In addition, the salary Ye Mingsheng gives him is also very generous, enough for him to live a decent and wealthy life.

Therefore, Ye Cheng has always remained honest and refused gifts from others. This is one of the important reasons why he has been able to work with Ye Mingsheng for such a long time. However, Ye Cheng can refuse gifts from others without hesitation, but it is not so easy for Ye Cheng to refuse gifts from Qiqige.

First of all, Qiqige is An Miaoyi's eunuch. Her actions are almost equivalent to An Miaoyi herself. As Ye Mingsheng's legal wife, An Miaoyi is the mistress of the Fengwu Army and is in charge of all the affairs of the Ye Mansion. Secondly, he, the butler, was also promoted by others. From this point of view, An Miaoyi is grateful to him for his help...

If he chose to refuse, it would be equivalent to rejecting An Miaoyi's solicitation, and he would also be branded as ungrateful. Thinking of this, Ye Cheng weighed the pros and cons and made a choice. He put the thing in his arms and said respectfully:

"Thank you for the reward, Madam. Ye Cheng will definitely tell you how much Master Jingren misses you!"

After hearing what Ye Cheng said, An Miaoyi's expression eased a little and she nodded slightly:
"Ye Cheng, you are very good!"

After finishing what he should do, Ye Cheng chose to bow and leave. After he walked away, he took out the thing Qiqige gave him and checked it. It was a silver note of one hundred taels issued by Dadongsheng.

Although the amount of silver was not much, Ye Cheng always felt that it was too hot to handle. If Ye Mingsheng knew that he secretly accepted the silver from the eldest lady, then given Ye Mingsheng's character, he would most likely be driven away. Thinking of this, Ye Cheng made a decision. He would report the matter to Ye Mingsheng.

At the same time that Ye Cheng made the decision, Qiqige in An Miaoyi's courtyard also urged An Miaoyi:
"Madam, why are you being so serious now? We all know that you have good intentions and hope that Master Jingren will grow up as soon as possible, but Master doesn't think so. Studying is important, but Master's love is the most important!"

“Madam, in my opinion, if Master Jingren wants to secure the position of crown prince, he must try his best to win the favor of the Master. If the Master does not love you, even if you read and memorize all the books in the world, it will be useless…”

Listening to Qiqige's words, although An Miaoyi's reason told her that what Qiqige said was correct, it still went against her consistent values. An Miaoyi, who came from a powerful family, believed that it was correct to receive such elite education from an early age.

Seeing that An Miaoyi didn't say anything, Qiqige continued to persuade:

"Madam, that bitch Murong Qingwu is about to give birth. Midwife Liu said that Murong Qingwu is in such a state that she is likely to give birth to a boy. If that bitch really gives birth to a boy, won't she be so proud?"

"Madam, don't you know what kind of personality the master has? The master was also busy with military and political affairs before, but has he ever been absent for more than ten days? In my opinion, if you continue to be stubborn with the master, it will really be a bargain for Murong Qingwu and Pei Zhixiu!"

"In the past half month, Pei Zhixiu has gone to the study to spend the night three times, and the adults have also visited Murong Qingwu twice!"

When An Miaoyi heard Qiqige say this, a hint of grievance appeared in her eyes. She didn't understand why Ye Mingsheng had such a big opinion of her.

She knew that little Jingren’s education problem was just a fuse. There were some contradictions hidden under this fuse. However, An Miaoyi always felt that she had done nothing wrong.

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Posuo Prefecture, Denong County, County Office

Pointing at the three people tied up and covered in blood behind him, Gao Zhenghuan said respectfully:
"Director, I have captured all these spies from the Supervisory Department!"

Since receiving Huo San's order, in order to capture these people, the special agent of the Supervisory Office asked Huo San for credit. He worked day and night for three days and three nights, and finally surrounded the group of people in a large meadow. After a bloody battle, he finally captured these three people alive.

After hearing what Gao Zhenghuan said, Huo San's eyes swept over these three people. Judging from their faces and figures, these three people were all ordinary people, the kind that could not be found in a crowd. However, the experienced Huo San could clearly feel that these three people exuded a faint murderous aura!
If Huo San was not mistaken, with the lives of these three people, ten people would definitely not be enough to stop them!
Feeling the unyielding eyes of these three people, coupled with the experience gained from dealing with the Supervisory Department for so long, Huo San also knew that these three people were definitely tough guys. It would be difficult to pry open their mouths with ordinary torture, so he also asked Gao Zhenghuan:
"If I give these three people to you, how confident are you in prying their mouths open?"

In response to Huo San's question, Gao Zhenghuan hesitated for a moment and then said firmly:

"My Lord, if you trust me, Zheng Huan will never let you down. I will complete the task within twelve hours!"

Huo San nodded and ordered:
“You can torture him however you want, but don’t kill him…”

"Yes!"

After handing it to Gao Zhenghuan, Huo San returned to his residence and began to look through some material files.

After handing over the task of arresting people to his subordinates, Huo San was not idle during this period. He also investigated the clues related to this case and the Supervisory Department.

Because the Luoan court behind the Supervisory Office was very envious of the Fengwu Army's firearms technology and had conspired several times to kidnap and bribe the craftsmen of the First Manufacturing Plant, Huo San also conducted investigations based on firearms as clues.

Huo San soon found out that when Ye Zhanpeng was selling firearms privately, the Luoan court got clues from the Luobi people, found Ye Zhanpeng's agent, and offered a generous price in the hope of getting the craftsmen who made firearms.

Ye Zhanpeng immediately rejected such a request. After being rejected, the Inspectorate also proposed to buy firearms. Because they did not know the identity of the other party's Inspectorate at that time, and the price they offered was very generous, the negotiations between the two parties through the agent were very in-depth, and they even reached a deal for 300 Weiyuan guns and 8,000 taels of silver.

However, when the transaction was about to be completed, Ye Zhanpeng learned the identity of the other party's Supervisory Department, and Ye Zhanpeng immediately terminated the transaction...

As for why the deal was terminated, there were two reasons according to the confessions of Ye Zhanpeng's men.

The first reason is that for security reasons, the Luoan court is the main opponent of the Fengwu Army. Once this batch of firearms appears in the hands of the Luoan court, it will definitely be subject to extremely strict review by the General Coordination Office. The risk of exposure is too great, which is not in line with Ye Zhanpeng's low-key purpose.

The second reason is that Ye Zhanpeng's surname is Ye after all. As a member of the Ye clan, he also hopes that the Fengwu Army can unify the world, so that Ye Mingsheng can naturally ascend the throne and become emperor. Members of the Ye clan like him will naturally become royal relatives. Therefore, in the face of such far-reaching interests, Ye Zhanpeng is willing to sacrifice some immediate interests.

After Ye Zhanpeng terminated the deal, the Supervisory Department did not choose to give up. They reached an agreement with the Luobei people. The Supervisory Department would pay and seek to buy craftsmen who could make firearms from Ye Zhanpeng's agent in the identity of the Luobei people. After obtaining the craftsmen who could make firearms, the two sides would share the firearms technology of the Fengwu Army equally...

(End of this chapter)