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

Chapter 542 is simply rampant

Because the news was so explosive, the rumor spread throughout Beijing like the wind in an instant.

You have to know that the people in Beijing are most sensitive to this kind of gossip.

The capital has been shrouded in dark clouds these days, with soldiers and horses rushing around from time to time, which has made many people uneasy.

Moreover, there were already two markets, Jiqing and Mingyu, around the Yongshou Marquis's Mansion. The fact that the four foreign armies mutinied and caused trouble here and threatened the emperor could not be concealed from anyone.

Many citizens in the capital were somewhat worried, fearing that a fight would break out in the capital like the Cao Qin Rebellion decades ago.

By that time, if other soldiers from the Beijing camp took advantage of the situation to rob the people, those unlucky families would probably not be able to escape with their lives intact.

Just when the atmosphere was so tense.

Case solved!
The reason why the four outer armies were forced to rebel has been solved!

It is outrageous that such a vicious incident could happen in such a clear and bright world.

All of a sudden, everyone who got the news rushed to tell others. Some people even spit out their food halfway through their meal in a restaurant and enthusiastically share their thoughts with others.

It can be said that everyone cares about the people's food.

Of course, not everyone is fooled by the rumors.

Many wise men recalled the rumor that was widely circulated in Beijing last year, that a eunuch from the Eastern Depot was brutally raped by a chivalrous woman from the Jianghu. So they jumped out to say that the rumors in the Jianghu were not credible.

But later someone mentioned that according to the later refined version to refute the rumor, the person who was raped was not a eunuch from the Eastern Depot, but a Jinyiwei.

By the way, someone also mentioned that the person who raped and murdered the number one general Jiang Bin was also a Jinyiwei.

So everyone turned and exclaimed, what happened to the Jinyiwei? !

Not to mention the commotion in the marketplace, even people in various government offices got the news quickly. Many of them even forgot to be on duty and were excitedly discussing the matter.

Some officials remembered that there were Jinyiwei spies in their own government offices, so they hurried to find out.

When the Jinyiwei heard Jiang Bin's name, they were furious. When they heard that they were asking about Jiang Bin's rape and murder, they all swore that his cousin was at the scene.

The officials listened to the extra story of deep processing and expressed their satisfaction.

——It’s so outrageous!
Then the news quickly spread to the four outer armies.

Logically speaking, the Four Outer Armies had almost no connections in the capital, and the Yongshou Marquis' Mansion where they were stationed was seldom visited by officials, so information was relatively isolated.

Otherwise, they would not have been unable to figure out Pei Yuan's background and would not have gone to Zhihua Temple to cause trouble until now.

However, as soon as this rumor came out, it was immediately spread to the four outer armies by someone with ulterior motives.

If for no other reason, just to watch the fun and not be afraid of any trouble.

Li Cong, Shen Zhou and others were very annoyed, but this kind of public opinion made them feel like they had no place to use their power.

Li Cong went to the Shuntian Prefecture government office in person, but the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture avoided him and only a prefectural chancellor came out to deal with it.

After hearing what Li Cong said, the prefect immediately shirked his responsibility, saying that such matters involving insulting generals and Jinyiwei officers were not within the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, and that they should go to the Wucheng Bingmasi. The Wucheng Bingmasi had a patrol censor in charge, who was specifically responsible for impeaching such illegal acts.

Li Cong could only run to the Wucheng Bingmasi in disappointment. However, the official immediately said after hearing his speech that he was already writing a memorial of impeachment and would submit it to the court tomorrow.

Li Cong felt slightly relieved and demanded that those who spread the rumors be arrested as soon as possible.

The Imperial Censor who patrolled the city said that the Five Cities Military Command only arrested evil deeds that were currently happening, and that the people were spreading rumors only by word of mouth and without any real evidence, so it was difficult to determine the crime. The investigation and conviction must be carried out by Shuntian Prefecture or Daxing and Wanping counties.

Li Cong was impatient with this matter and asked the imperial censor who was patrolling the city if there was any way to arrest the rumormonger directly without considering the evidence.

The imperial inspector thought for a while and said with a strange look on his face, "Then we have to find the Jinyiwei."

Li Cong was furious and was about to explain when he heard a report from one of his personal soldiers that someone had sent a letter of challenge to Jiang Bin's house with great fanfare.

The group of hooligans who delivered the letter of challenge ran through the streets and alleys, shouting loudly, saying that a captain of the Jinyiwei was challenging Jiang Bin.

The shocking news that the number one general was raped and murdered had just become the hottest topic in Beijing, and suddenly something like this happened again. For a time, it attracted the attention of countless people.

Li Cong even heard from his personal soldiers that the crowd attracted by those ruffians was so dense that it almost blocked several streets.

Li Cong's expression changed, and he even asked the guard in front of the imperial inspector, "Jiang Bin didn't come out, did he?"

After hearing this, the imperial censor looked at Li Cong with amusement, but did not say anything more.

Seeing that Li Cong asked directly, the personal soldier had no choice but to answer, "When Jiang Bin heard the whole story, he was furious and wanted to lead his troops to find Pei Yuan and kill him. Fortunately, the commander of the Shaanxi Dusi, Shen Zhou, arrived in time and stopped him. Then Shen Zhou personally led his troops to arrest those scoundrels."

Li Cong immediately asked, "Have you figured out what happened?"

The soldier replied, "It should be Pei Yuan who ordered it. It's a pity that after the torture, nothing else was found out."

Li Cong was relieved when he heard that Jiang Bin did not come out.

At this moment, he also reacted, glanced at the imperial censor, turned his head and said to his personal soldiers, "Find out his name. If he dares to talk nonsense in the future, you will kill his whole family and then surrender to Shuntian Prefecture."

The expression on the face of the inspector froze for a moment.

As the most unscrupulous group in the Ming Dynasty, he was used to being aggressive towards everyone, but he never thought that this simple threat would be so powerful.

He worked hard to pass the imperial examination and enter the fast lane of life as an imperial censor, but not to exchange his entire family for a soldier.

Li Cong patted the imperial censor's chest hard and then left in a swagger.

Not to mention the commotion outside, when Pei Yuan woke up and recovered the energy he had consumed last night, it was already afternoon.

He called Chen Xinjian and Cen Meng and asked them about the progress of the matter.

Chen Xinjian told Pei Yuan about the rumors that were swirling in the city, and Cen Meng also told him about the result of sending a declaration of war.

After learning that Jiang Bin did not leave the house and Shen Zhou came forward to arrest him, Pei Yuan remained calm.

He thought for a moment, then instructed Chen Xinjian, "Go and deliver a letter for me later."

Chen Xinjian asked, "Is it still for Jiang Bin?" Pei Yuan shook his head and laughed at himself, "It's for another person who got into trouble with this matter."

Chen Xinjian had heard Pei Yuan's analysis before, so he reacted quickly and asked immediately, "Lu Wan, Minister Lu?"

Pei Yuan nodded and said, "That's right. Another person who is troubled by this matter is Lu Wan."

Chen Xinjian thought after hearing this, "Could it be that Qian Hu intends to join forces with Minister Lu? However, Minister Lu and we have had no previous interactions, so it would be very difficult to simply gain his trust."

Pei Yuan said indifferently, "Let him be. Anyway, what's troubling him now is Jiang Bin's problem, and what I want to solve is also Jiang Bin's problem. It's the same thing, so I'm doing him a favor."

"If he is willing to try to cooperate, he can get a lot of benefits. Even if he ignores it, there will be a time to wake him up in the future."

As he spoke, Pei Yuan took a piece of white paper from the table, cut it into a strip, and wrote on it carelessly, "Within three days, this thousand households can put an end to Jiang Bin's misfortune. A trapped beast will still fight, can Minister Lu still eat?"

After writing, he blew it dry and handed it to Chen Xinjian.

Chen Xinjian took a look and vaguely remembered the time when Pei Yuan went to see Liu Xiang, the prefect of Huai'an.

At that time, after Pei Yuan was rejected by Huai'an prefect Liu Xiang, he also left a message as an introduction.

Later, when sentencing Liu Xiang, the Minister of War He Jian deliberately pointed out this matter and acted very pretentiously, which left a very deep impression on Liu Xiang.

At this time, Pei Yuan was obviously laying an ambush for the arrow that would hit Lu Wan in the future.

Chen Xinjian said, "I will definitely send this to Minister Lu."

Not long after Chen Xinjian left, Pei Yuan was thinking about his next plan in Zhihua Temple when he suddenly heard a messenger come to report that someone from the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was here to see him.

Pei Yuan sneered and called someone in.

The one who came this time was Qian Ning's adopted son Qian Yong.

Qian Yong asked Pei Yuan with an unpleasant expression, "The commander wants to know what the meaning of Captain Pei's trick is?"

Pei Yuan replied calmly, "The outcome will be clear in three days."

Qian Yong reminded, "It's two days later now. Don't blame me for being so talkative. Your Majesty is also watching this matter."

Pei Yuan listened and said calmly, "Then let your majesty see me display my power."

Seeing that Pei Yuan was unmoved, Qian Yong warned him again, "The commander-in-chief has made full preparations. If Captain Pei goes as agreed in two days, there is still a way to survive. Otherwise..."

Pei Yuan looked at Qian Yong expressionlessly.

Qian Yong's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the guy in front of him even dared to hit Jiang Bin, so he didn't dare to act recklessly.

Then, Qian Yong said no more and turned and left.

As night fell, Chen Xinjian finally came back to report to Pei Yuan that he had already shown the note in his hand to Lu Wan.

Pei Yuan was a little surprised, "You also met Lu Wan?"

For Chen Xinjian, a small general, it was not easy to deliver the note to Lu Wan, and it was even more difficult to meet him.

Chen Xinjian answered honestly, "I spent some money to bribe the doorman to send the note in. I didn't expect Lu Wan to let me in to see him immediately."

Pei Yuan asked with great interest, "What did Lu Wan say?"

Chen Xinjian said with a strange look on his face, "He didn't say anything, he just called me in, looked me around for a few times, and then let me leave."

"On his desk was the writing Qian Hu had given him."

"Interesting." Pei Yuan was at a loss for a moment as to what to make of Lu Wan's attitude.

Pei Yuan simply put the matter aside for now and watched Chen Xinjian instruct him on what to do tomorrow. "Jiang Bin is a man of violent temper. When he was shot in the face by the Bazhou army, he still pulled out the arrow and shouted to charge. This shows how brave he is."

"Whether you can fish Jiang Bin out depends on your performance tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xinjian immediately expressed his opinion, "Just give me your orders, Captain."

Pei Yuan still asked Chen Xinjian to come closer to his ear.

Chen Xinjian couldn't help but feel nervous when he saw Qianhu's behavior. After listening to Pei Yuan's instructions, he felt that he was worthy of being Qianhu.

At the same time, he drew inferences from what he had learned and came up with a good idea.

The next day, Chen Xinjian called Cen Meng to conspire together.

Cen Meng was puzzled. He didn't know what Chen Xinjian wanted him to do with such a detailed plan.

When Chen Xinjian finished his instructions, Cen Meng breathed a sigh of relief. What kept him busy was still the easy work of catching some thugs in the gambling house.

As for Chen Xinjian, after Cen Meng left, he boldly strengthened Pei Qianhu's plan.

According to Pei Yuan's original plan, today he should learn the method that Zhuge Wuhou used to anger Sima Yi, and have someone send women's clothing to Jiang Bin in public to further anger him.

But after seeing Captain Pei's ability to make fun of himself, Chen Xinjian felt that he was also very good at making fun of Captain Pei, so he decisively sent people to search the city for the woman who was about to get married.

Relying on the powerful information channels of the Jinyiwei, Chen Xinjian quickly found a cloth merchant who was going to marry his daughter that day.

Chen Xinjian did not waste any time and rushed into the cloth merchant's house with his men in full view of everyone.

When the bride took off her wedding dress crying, she found that the leading Jinyiwei snatched the wedding dress away and left excitedly.

Afterwards, Chen Xinjian and Cen Meng met up and asked those gangsters to deliver the letter of challenge and the bright red wedding dress to Jiang Bin's residence with music and fanfare.

For a moment, the capital was shocked again.

Is this a decline in morality or a distortion of human nature?

Who is this Pei Yuan? Why is he so determined to take Jiang Bin for himself?

(End of this chapter)