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

Chapter 466 A Ruthless Person

Pei Yuan sat in Yang Chi's office for a while. Wei Ne, who saw Yang Chi leaving, came in and asked Pei Yuan in confusion, "Does the captain want to befriend this guy?"

Without waiting for Pei Yuan to answer, Wei Ne reminded him again, "He was born in the capital, and his future is limitless. I'm afraid he is not the same kind of person as us."

Pei Yuan glanced at Wei Ne. As colleagues, Wei Ne and Yang Chi had a lot to deal with, so he wanted to give him a lowdown.

So he explained, "There are many parties competing in the court right now, so there is no harm in having multiple channels for dialogue. Maybe they will be useful in the future."

"They can profit from me, so why can't I use their profit to get what I want?"

"I threw Zhang Yong out this time just to see who is behind him, so that it will be easier for me to do things in the future."

"Anyway..., it was Zhang Yong who betrayed us."

Even an old bastard like Wei Ne understood roughly what was said after listening to it.

The positions of officials in the Ming Dynasty court were never black or white.

The same person may belong to a certain group if we talk about his fellow townsmen; he may belong to another group if we talk about his peers; if we talk about his in-laws, his teachers, or his academic schools, he may appear in yet another group.

This has caused many people's positions to waver.

Different groups also have complicated conflicts of interest. Pei Yuan's faction might join forces with the people behind Yang Chi at some point.

Wei Ne curiously asked, "Captain, what's going on with Zhang Yong?"

Pei Yuan then told Wei Ne roughly about Zhang Yong's situation.

He added, "Zhang Yong's resignation is a foregone conclusion. This is a good thing for us. Let's wait and see what happens. Did the court meeting today reveal anything?"

Wei Ne said, "I asked someone before, but there was no news. I only heard from people outside that the noise was so intense that even the eunuchs and palace maids guarding the corners didn't dare to move around."

Pei Yuan guessed that Zhu Houzhao might have been angered by the empress dowager's sudden imperial decree during the last court meeting, so he ordered people to strictly control the movements of palace servants during court meetings.

Pei Yuan did not waste time here. He left a message saying "Report to me if anything happens" and left the Tongzhengsi.

When we returned to Zhihua Temple, Yun Buxian came to us quickly and said that he had rented two good places to stay.

Chen Xinjian also finished finding someone and appeared in the hall quietly.

After Yun Buxian left, Chen Xinjian reported back, "Captain, we have found Liang Gu, including his residence in the capital, and all the people in his family are recorded on this paper."

Pei Yuan took it and looked at it, then asked, "When does the Ministry of Personnel usually close?"

Chen Xinjian said, "The Ministry of Personnel was busy with the imperial inspection a few days ago. Things have been on hold these days, and the office was dismissed early. People started going home at around 3 p.m."

Pei Yuan thought about it and it was about three o'clock.

He said to Chen Xinjian, "Change your clothes, and let's go wait near Liang Gu's house. I want to see him in person."

Soon, Pei Yuan and several of his men changed into casual clothes and followed the path found by Chen Xinjian to the vicinity of Liang Gu's house.

If you just block the door like this, it will be a bit eye-catching.

Pei Yuan looked around and found an open area with a butcher's shop, which happened to be the only way Liang Gu had to take to go home.

Pei Yuan waited for a while and thought that the time was about right, so he took his younger brothers, who had changed into casual clothes, and pretended to be passers-by and went to the butcher shop.

When the butcher in the butcher's shop saw that there was a customer coming, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him with a smile.

Seeing that the hanging meat was quite fresh, Pei Yuan had no objection and let him cut a few pounds.

The butcher had a look in his eyes. After weighing the meat, he hung it with a straw rope and handed it to Chen Xinjian, who had an obvious temperament as his younger brother.

Chen Xinjian took out a string of money from his sleeve, counted it roughly and threw it over.

Wait for Chen Xinjian to take the meat.

Pei Yuan and the butcher looked at each other for a while, and Pei Yuan suddenly realized that he had made a mistake.

Damn it, I’m not here to buy meat!
How can we monitor this?

Fortunately, Pei Yuan was also very well-educated, and he came up with an excuse instantly. He said to Chen Xinjian calmly, "Don't worry, give it to him and ask him to cut it into small pieces."

The butcher's hand trembled immediately.

He swallowed hard and looked at Pei Yuan's bear-like physique in panic.

The story in the vernacular novel is about to unfold.

Sweat immediately broke out on the butcher's forehead. He bowed and asked, "My dear, have I offended you in any way?"

Pei Yuan didn't expect that this butcher was a cultured person. He looked at him with some surprise and said to him in comfort, "Don't think too much, just do it."

What else did the butcher have to say?

Chen Xinjian snorted coldly and threw the meat onto the chopping board.

As Chen Xinjian looked angry, several of his men who were scattered nearby also looked over.

The butcher was so frightened that he could only bite the bullet and untie the rope tremblingly.

Then he took a thick knife and started chopping the meat cautiously.

The butcher was distracted and afraid that Pei Yuan was really here to cause trouble, so he was cautious and slow when chopping the meat.

Pei Yuan took a look and found it was exactly what he wanted.

It's just right for me to linger for a while and wait for Liang Gu to come back.

After waiting for a while, Liang Gu showed up, so Chen Xinjian explained in a low voice, "Maybe he was delayed by something today, so he will be late."

Pei Yuan nodded, and when he came to his senses, he saw that the meat was almost chopped into pulp by the butcher. He immediately became angry, "Are you blind? Chop it again for me!"

This cost money!
The butcher finally came to his senses and hurriedly covered the smelly meat with straw paper, and used a knife to cut a piece of fat from the meat hook.

The butcher was about to start chopping when Chen Xinjian, who was standing by, got furious and kicked the heavy table, yelling, "What do you mean?"

When the butcher saw Chen Xinjian's sudden attack, which was consistent with his strategy, he became even more panicked.

He said without thinking, "There are also people who are soft-hearted!"

Pei Yuan saw that Chen Xinjian was getting even angrier, so he pulled him away with a smile, "I usually ask you to read more books. If you meet a cultured person, won't you make a fool of yourself?"

After that, he comforted the butcher, "It's okay, just chop a few more pounds of good meat, and you'll need the money."

The butcher was shocked and frightened. He quickly took more meat and started chopping it with trepidation.

Chen Xinjian was inexplicably ridiculed by Pei Yuan. He took two steps back awkwardly and saw a green sedan chair carried by four people slowly approaching.

He quickly whispered to Pei Yuan, "Captain, here we come."

Pei Yuan took a look and pointed at the butcher block with his chin. "Come to me when you're done chopping. Don't forget to pay."

After saying that, he slowly followed the sedan chair into the alley.

Soon, the sedan chair stopped in front of a house, and then a young official got out of the sedan chair and walked towards the house with brisk steps.

There were already servants waiting at the door. Some opened the gate, and some used a towel to gently wipe the corner of the official's robe. Pei Yuan coughed heavily behind him, and Liang Gu immediately turned his head to look over.

After taking a few glances and seeing that Pei Yuan was dressed just like an ordinary person and was passing by as if nothing had happened, he withdrew his gaze and strode into the house.

Pei Yuan came out from the other end of the alley and waited for a while, then saw Chen Xinjian and a few of his brothers coming over.

Pei Yuan glanced at the two paper bags one of the younger brothers was carrying and said, "Make some wontons to eat tonight."

Chen Xinjian looked back at the paper bag and asked Pei Yuan curiously, "Captain, have you seen Liang Gu?"

Pei Yuan nodded and said with some regret, "I met him, but unfortunately, he is not the one I want."

Liang Gu looked relaxed, his brows were relaxed, and there was light in his eyes. He did not have the dullness, depression, or worry that he had when his Young and Dangerous brothers came to visit him.

It seems that the triggering conditions for the Guishanwang case are still quite lacking.

This incident originally happened in the ninth year of Zhengde, but now it has been mentioned by myself in the seventh year of Zhengde. The different time and space backgrounds have led to somewhat different circumstances of the people related to this case.

Fortunately, villains like Pei Yuan are not the kind of people with moral baggage.

No? Then force this guy with a divine eye to become the one who falsely accuses a prince of rebellion in order to root out the evil.

Pei Yuan's eyes moved, and he instructed Chen Xinjian, "Write a letter to your brother and ask him to check if there are two people named Yuan Zhi and Zhao Yan around King Guishan. One of them should be a small military officer, and the other should be a servant."

"Once you find someone, just find an inconspicuous guy and tell them."

"Let's say that their good playmate Liang Gu has become the person in charge of official promotions in the Ministry of Personnel. With just a word from their good brother, they can rise to prominence and wealth."

"The things they did when they were wandering together... will feed them for the rest of their lives."

Chen Xinjian responded, "I'll make a note of it."

Pei Yuan looked back with some regret.

This guy is quite ruthless.

Not only is he ruthless, but he is also a man of some means to get away with it unscathed in that major case of confusing right and wrong.

Pity.

When Pei Yuan returned to Zhihua Temple, he sent someone to Dongyue Temple to guard Li Shishi and invite him to eat wontons.

But before Li Shishi arrived, he heard a report from outside that Xia Ru, the Earl of Qingyang, and his son Xia Zhu, who had been there last time, were coming to visit.

Pei Yuan's heart moved, and he quickly asked someone to come in.

As soon as Xia Ru entered the lobby, Pei Yuan caught a glimpse of the smile on his face.

Pei Yuan felt relieved, and did not stand up. He lowered his eyes, pretending to review documents, and circled a document with a pen, saying casually, "I have an important official business, so I am sorry to neglect the Lord of Qingyang."

After he finished speaking, he paused, raised his head and gestured, "Please take a seat, both of you."

Seeing Pei Yuan being so arrogant, Xia Zhu looked a little dissatisfied, but Xia Ru was calm and said, "No hurry, Qian Hu will handle the official business first."

Pei Yuan wanted to ignore the two of them for a while, and actually turned his gaze back to the memorial.

Upon closer inspection, it is actually quite important.

The memorial was sent from Datong, saying that some Maitreya followers had gone outside the borders again and there seemed to be a possibility that they were colluding with the Darul.

Pei Yuan thought about it and thought that Li Fuda had already planned to clean up his name through his relationship with Marquis Wu Ding, so there was no need for him to collude with the Dalu anymore.

Maybe they are some smugglers who are using this to bluff and cover up their tracks.

Pei Yuan instinctively wanted to transfer the case to Datong Prefecture, but then he changed his mind and thought that since it was smuggling, there must be some money involved.

Might as well go and vote for him yourself.

He thought about the people around him and felt that it was time for Yun Buxian to get some blood on his hands as well.

So he ordered, "Let Yun Buxian come over."

The Jinyiwei immediately responded and left the hall.

Xia Ru's words just now were meant to be polite, but he didn't expect Pei Yuan to actually ignore them and go about his business.

The expression on his face fell, and he looked a little embarrassed.

Xia Zhu couldn't hold back and wanted to cause trouble again, but Xia Ru kicked him calmly.

Pei Yuan waited for a while before seeing Yun Buxian come in.

Yun Buxian quickly stepped forward and saluted, "I greet the commander."

Pei Yuan waved to him, "Come here."

Yun Buxian hurriedly stepped forward to Pei Yuan's desk, carefully bowed down, and asked, "What do you want, Captain?"

Pei Yuan pointed to the memorial in his hand.

Yun Buxian followed the direction of Pei Yuan's finger and read the key lines. Then he asked in a low voice with some joy, "Could it be that the captain wants me to deal with these Maitreya believers?"

Pei Yuan tilted his head slightly.

Yun Buxian immediately understood and leaned over to listen.

Pei Yuan whispered, "I think these people are not Maitreya followers, but smugglers. How about you take some brothers to do this job?"

Yun Buxian was a little surprised when he heard this.

His mind worked quickly, and he had seen many dirty things like this to make money, so he immediately understood what Pei Yuan meant.

He said quickly, "As long as the commander orders, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Pei Yuan nodded, handed the document to Yun Buxian, and instructed, "This is a good thing. Find some people who are tight-lipped and don't let anything go wrong."

Yun Buxian flipped through the title of the document and whispered, "This is a document sent from Shanxi. We are following the rules. If there is any problem, it should be the fault of the Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner."

Pei Yuan nodded with satisfaction, and was very appreciative of Yun Buxian's clever idea of ​​passing the buck.

However, thinking that Zhang Lian, the Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, was his good father-in-law, Pei Yuan did not want to make Yun Buxian's job difficult in the future, so he said, "Do your job well. If there is trouble, there is no need to make a big fuss. I will take care of it for you."

After saying that, he wrote a letter for Yun Buxian, asking him to go find Tan Tai Fangtu to get some help.

After Yun Buxian left, Pei Yuan, contrary to his previous arrogance, walked down from behind the desk enthusiastically and said to Xia Ru, "I had an urgent matter just now and didn't pay attention to this. I hope that Lord Qingyang will forgive me."

Xia Ru did not speak in a hurry, but waited for a while. As expected, Xia Zhu sneered in dissatisfaction, "It's not the first time that Captain Pei has been so arrogant. Why do you have to be so hypocritical?"

Pei Yuan moved his gaze away from Xia Ru and took a step forward to stand in front of Xia Zhu.

Then he bent down with a smile and looked at Xia Zhu, "Is it because the emperor capriciously helped you to get some land that you have become a little carried away, Commander--?"

Xia Zhu looked at Pei Yuan's burly and strong body, which appeared so oppressive in front of him, and subconsciously leaned back.

A little flustered, "What are you doing?"

(End of this chapter)