Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 327 Luo Sect Must Have

Sikong Sui also noticed something strange and asked carefully, "What does this Luo Sect do?"

Pei Yuan didn't want to explain any more to him.

The blood vessels in his temples were throbbing.

Pei Yuan glanced at Sikong Sui and said in an unquestionable tone, "Don't leave yet, wait for my news."

He added, "No one is allowed to leave."

Pei Yuan asked Sikong Sui to wait, and then quickly took people out to look for Gu Dayong.

When they arrived at Gu Dayong's residence, Gu Dayong was not there. It was still the young eunuch named Wu Qing who was waiting to greet them.

Wu Qing knew that Pei Yuan and Gu Dayong had a close relationship, so he did not hide it.

It turns out that tomorrow is the day for Gu Dayong to respond to inquiries from the court. Even a former powerful official like Gu Dayong cannot avoid feeling uneasy and trying to connect with people who may be of use.

Gu Dayong should still be traveling outside at this moment.

Pei Yuan was immediately annoyed and asked again, but Wu Qing didn't know where Gu Dayong had gone.

Pei Yuan could only wait patiently at Gu Dayong's house.

It was not until the sun was setting that the drunk Gu Dayong staggered back in his sedan chair.

Pei Yuanlian didn't even bother to be polite. When he saw Gu Dayong, he asked him directly, "Eunuch Gu, have you told anyone else about the Luo Sect?"

Gu Dayong was in a drunken stupor and subconsciously asked, "What Luo Sect?"

Pei Yuan asked nervously, "It's what I mentioned to you last time, the Luo Sect that is rampant in Shandong. Have you mentioned this to outsiders?"

Gu Dayong misunderstood and laughed, "Don't worry, I'll do the job."

Then he added, "Now many people in the palace know the name of Luojiao. Qiu Ju came to see me a few days ago, and I also mentioned the matter of Luojiao to him."

Then he added, "What a coincidence! This afternoon, Qiu Ju and I were drinking, and the emperor sent someone to inquire about the Luo Sect. I asked Qiu Ju to report back to the emperor according to the words we agreed on."

Gu Dayong chuckled and said, "Qiu Ju needs help from me now."

Pei Yuan shook when he heard this.

There is no need to think about it. Zhu Houzhao must have listened to his own nonsense and then went to the East Factory to verify it.

But now Qiu Ju of Dongchang can hardly protect himself.

He was counting on Gu Dayong to help him, so how could he refuse Gu Dayong's request?

Moreover, in Qiu Ju's opinion, if Gu Dayong dared to do this, he must have sorted out everything.

There is absolutely no risk.

Therefore, Qiu Ju took advantage of the situation and naturally responded to Zhu Houzhao's inquiry according to Gu Dayong's words.

Gu Dayong also noticed Pei Yuan's abnormality. He was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's wrong?"

Pei Yuan tried hard to collect his thoughts and said solemnly, "Sir, please send the attendants away?"

Gu Dayong realized the seriousness of the matter and quickly waved his hand to send away the people around him.

After everyone left, Pei Yuan said to Gu Dayong, "Eunuch Gu, the emperor came to Zhihua Temple to see me today. I mentioned to him the rebuilding of the West Factory and the Luo Sect."

Gu Dayong was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately asked Pei Yuan, "What did you say? Did the emperor respond?"

Pei Yuan originally wanted to tell Gu Dayong directly about the Luo Sect, but then he changed his mind and thought that if Gu Dayong just gave up after hearing it, that would not be good either, so it would be better to leave him some hope.

Pei Yuan then said to Gu Dayong, "I told the emperor that the matter of Luojiao is still under secret investigation. This matter requires the cooperation of local officials, and it is not something that the Suppression of Evil Thousand Households can do on its own."

"So I hope to join forces with the West Factory to deal with this trouble together."

"After asking, the emperor learned that Eunuch Gu had promoted me in the past, and he also understood my intention to protect him."

Gu Dayong was a little drunk and asked excitedly, "What did the emperor say?"

Pei Yuan thought about it and decided to give Gu Da a carrot first, so he said, "The emperor told me that when the Western Factory was first established, it became famous by investigating Yang Rong's great-grandson. Now they are investigating the Liang Ci case. If we set up the Western Factory again at this juncture, I am afraid that it will cause the ministers to speculate too much, causing immeasurable consequences."

Gu Dayong didn't understand Pei Yuan's words and asked hesitantly, "What do you mean?"

Although he asked this, the expression on Gu Dayong's face clearly showed that he had begun to panic.

Pei Yuan could only say, "The meaning is that the Liang Ci case was originally just an individual case of Liang Ci's evil deeds. If the Western Factory is re-established at this time, it may cause the court officials to misunderstand that the emperor wants to take action against those powerful and wealthy people."

"By then, if all the high-ranking officials and powerful people support Liang Ci'an, it is very likely that the emperor who advocates justice will lose face."

"So in order to prioritize resolving the Liang Ci case that caused great trouble to the court, the emperor does not plan to restore the Western Factory immediately."

Gu Dayong's expression became increasingly ugly.

"How, how could this happen?"

Pei Yuan naturally couldn't let Gu Dayong lose his temper at this time, so he gritted his teeth and said to Gu Dayong, "Eunuch Gu, don't panic. We still have a chance now."

Gu Dayong immediately grabbed Pei Yuan's hand as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw, and said to Pei Yuan, "Pei Yuan, we were able to return alive from Xuzhou thanks to your help. If you can let us take charge of the West Factory again, then whatever you ask for, we will do whatever you want."

Gu Dayong is already quite old.

He had seen many old eunuchs' miserable old age, and now that he had just fallen from power, he felt extremely terrified.

At this time, he had already witnessed Zhu Houzhao's ruthlessness, and now his only hope was on Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan has already helped Gu Dayong clear the stigma of suppressing the rebellion in Bazhou with his planning. Now he is only one step away from rebuilding the West Factory. If not this man of extraordinary strategy, who else can he count on?

Pei Yuan wanted to strengthen Gu Dayong's confidence at this moment, so he naturally couldn't let him collapse first.

So he said to Gu Dayong, "I came to congratulate Eunuch Gu for this matter."

Gu Dayong was stunned for a long while after hearing this. Even though he was still a little drunk, he understood the seriousness of the situation. Why would Pei Yuan congratulate him?

He asked with hope and confusion in his heart, "Where does happiness come from?"

Pei Yuan replied calmly, "Before, although I was wholeheartedly planning for Eunuch Gu and also proposed to him to pacify Luojiao, the overall situation was still chaotic and unclear. I was not sure whether this would allow the emperor to restore the Western Factory, but now it is different."

Gu Dayong was confused, "What's the difference?" Pei Yuan replied, "Although what the emperor said seems to be a bad thing, it may not be a bad thing. At least, we can directly see from the emperor's concerns that it is related to the reconstruction of the West Factory, that is, the attitude of the ministers in Liang Ci's case."

Gu Dayong was stunned and asked, "So?"

Pei Yuan hinted, "Let's imagine it from the emperor's perspective. If the ministers are neutral or support bringing Liang Ci to justice, then the emperor will certainly do as he says. In order to avoid making the ministers think too much and angering them, he will choose to temporarily postpone the construction of the Western Factory."

"but……"

Pei Yuan paused deliberately, "If the reconstruction of the Western Factory is linked to the attitudes of the ministers, what if those ministers turn around and choose to support Liang Ci'an?"

Gu Dayong didn't understand what was going on, and asked blankly, "So?"

Pei Yuan said firmly, "If the ministers turn to support Liang Ci'an, it will inevitably anger the emperor who supports the prosecution of Liang Ci'an. As the rebuilding of the West Factory is tied to the attitude towards this matter, the emperor is very likely to rebuild the West Factory in response out of shame and anger."

Gu Dayong now came to his senses, and he seemed to see the real possibility of rebuilding the West Factory.

"So?"

Pei Yuan concluded, "As long as we create an atmosphere where the court officials support Liang Ci'an, maybe we can directly make the emperor overturn the table and cause the Western Factory to reappear."

Gu Dayong had also paid attention to this matter.

He asked in surprise, "If I remember correctly, most of the court officials were neutral on the Liang Ci case, while a few officials demanded that Liang Ci be punished. Even Wang Ding, the Right Censor-in-Chief who wanted to help Liang Ci, was dismissed by the court. I'm afraid this matter will not be reversed."

After that, he added, "If I remember correctly, it seems that you have been in opposition to Liang Ci's these days. Qiu Ju told me something. You have already broken into Liang Chu's house to arrest people. If Liang Chu gets over this, I'm afraid you won't feel good either, right?"

Pei Yuan already had a mature plan in mind, so he said, "Don't worry, I will make this happen, and it will definitely make the court officials anger the emperor. As long as we repeatedly strengthen the connection between rebuilding the Western Factory and the attitude of the officials in the emperor's eyes, then as a countermeasure, the emperor is likely to rebuild the Western Factory."

Gu Dayong had no idea about this matter, and after hearing Pei Yuan's firm words, he could only choose to believe it for the time being, "That's good, that's good!"

Pei Yuan temporarily calmed Gu Dayong down, and only then told him the truly fatal problem.

"Eunuch Gu, what did you tell others about the Luo Sect before?"

Gu Dayong was puzzled and said, "Just as we agreed."

As if he was afraid that Pei Yuan had forgotten, Gu Dayong repeated, "There are thousands of elite soldiers in the Luo Sect, hundreds of thousands of believers, and some canal workers and transport troops involved."

Pei Yuan asked Gu Dayong, "Did Eunuch Gu and Qiu Ju say the same thing? Did Qiu Ju reply to the emperor's envoy in the same way this afternoon?"

Gu Dayong, who had been frightened and shocked by Pei Yuan's previous actions, finally came to his senses.

He asked with some caution, "What's the problem?"

Pei Yuan hit his head hard. How should he explain this to Gu Dayong?
Seeing that Gu Dayong's face was getting more and more panicked, Pei Yuan could only say, "It is a bit troublesome. Today, another subordinate told me that he has been investigating cults in Shandong for many years and has never heard of this Luo Cult. My previous intelligence may have some omissions."

After hearing what Pei Yuan said, Gu Dayong almost collapsed in his seat.

After a long while, he stared at Pei Yuan and said word by word, "This Luo Sect must have! Thousands of elite soldiers must have! Hundreds of thousands of believers must have!"

Pei Yuan was completely numb.

Luojiao must exist, and Pei Yuan was able to reach a consensus with Gu Dayong.

But these several thousand elite soldiers and one hundred thousand believers were fake in the first place, so why do they have to be real now?

Gu Dayong seemed to have guessed Pei Yuan's thoughts, and said with a pale face, "If there is a real one, we can report a fake one. Now there is no real one, and the fake one must be real. Do you know what I mean?"

Pei Yuan came here this time in order to reach a consensus with Gu Dayong.

Seeing this, he answered decisively, "Don't worry, Eunuch Gu, there will definitely be Luojiao. As for those believers, I will do my best."

"It's just that the rumors we spread before were too loud. This Luo Sect has become a major concern for the emperor, but now there is no sign of this Luo Sect. What if... I said what if."

Gu Dayong was very decisive at this moment, and immediately said, "I will say hello to the East Factory, but the Jinyiwei has been taken over by Qian Ning, and he only listens to the emperor's orders. What should we do?"

Pei Yuan was overjoyed when he saw that Gu Dayong was willing to help stabilize the East Factory.

Zhu Houzhao heard about the Luo Sect today, and he would definitely ask the Jinyiwei and the East Factory to go to Shandong to investigate. Being able to get the East Factory's cooperation is already a huge gain.

As for the Jinyiwei...

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and said, "We can find something for them to do."

Gu Dayong listened thoughtfully.

Pei Yuan wanted to get accurate information, so he asked Gu Dayong, "Can this matter be arranged by Eunuch Gu? My men must go to Shandong as soon as possible to make the Luojiao incident a solid case."

Gu Dayong didn't say anything definite after all, he just said, "If it's possible, I'll let you know. Go and get the Luo Sect's matter done as soon as possible."

Pei Yuan was also busy arranging this matter, and asked, "What about Eunuch Qiu?"

Gu Dayong said, "Don't worry, I'll go talk to him."

After Pei Yuan received the confirmation, he immediately left Gu Dayong's residence and rushed back to Zhihua Temple.

From the moment he walked out of the gate of Gu Dayong's mansion, Pei Yuan's tension suddenly relaxed.

The Luo Sect’s issue is indeed troublesome, but it is not completely hopeless to resolve.

If this crisis could tie Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju firmly to Pei Yuan's warship, then even if there are some risks, it would be completely worth it.

When Pei Yuan returned to Zhihua Temple, the first person he saw was Chen Toutie who had rushed back.

Pei Yuan was immediately worried again.

He was so busy with Luo Jiao's affairs that he almost forgot that Zhu Houzhao had gone to Xiao Yan's house to give a testimony again.

Pei Yuan asked Chen Toutie nervously, "Did the emperor go to see Xiao Yan again? What did Xiao Yan say?"

Chen Toutie clasped his fists and said, "Today, around noon, the emperor did go to see Xiao Yan and asked him why he informed the captain. But don't worry, Xiao Yan's answer was flawless, and the emperor even praised Xiao Yan for his honesty when he left."

Pei Yuan found it a little unbelievable, "Then what did the emperor trick Xiao Yan into revealing? Could it be that Xiao Yan didn't tell you the truth?"

Chen Toutie listened and answered seriously, "It's really nothing. I told Xiao Yan to let him take the responsibility as much as possible. If the emperor asks the captain, the captain will definitely prioritize self-protection. If the two sides can't get along, I'm afraid they will dig up more and more evidence in the end. Instead of that, it's better to let him take it on himself."

Pei Yuan was puzzled, "Can Xiao Yan accept this kind of thing?"

Chen Toutie was silent for a moment, then replied, "I can't accept it. His scolding was very unpleasant. But at least I got through it safely."

(End of this chapter)