Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 149 No one dares to reveal it? (4K large chapter)

Zhao Qi'an was not surprised by this result.

Even if other things can be shirked, Wang Ping's action against Zhao Guanxiang is real. Now Wang Ping's head is in the Astronomical Observatory, and the Gao family will not be able to quibble.

The women rescued from Yifeng Imperial Manor were also like a sharp knife stabbing the Gao family.

It’s no wonder that the Gao family is so careless.

The Gao family's arrangement at Yifeng Royal Manor was already tightly guarded and tightly controlled. Who among the ordinary forces could storm Yifeng Royal Manor where hundreds of warriors were stationed?

In the city of Kyoto, the only ones who openly have such capabilities are the Six Guards of Kyoto, the Astronomical Survey Office, and the Eastern Depot.

In addition, even the officials from Jingzhao Prefecture and Sansi Yamen were not qualified to capture Yifeng Imperial Farm.

And who in Kyoto doesn't know that the Gao family is the Third Prince's subordinate and is his die-hard loyalists?

The eldest uncle of the Gao family, Gao Qirui, was the Lieutenant General of the Xiaowu Guards in the "Six Guards of Kyoto", a legitimate fourth-rank official. Who among the Six Guards would not give him face? Even if they didn't give him face, they had to give face to the Third Prince behind him, right?
On the other hand, many people in the Astronomical Observatory received benefits from the Gao family. Although they might not necessarily do anything practical for the Gao family, there might be people who leaked the information.

The most important point is that even if the Astronomical Survey Observatory wanted to attack Yifeng Imperial Manor, it would be impossible without sending more people. If too many people were sent out, the momentum would be huge. I am afraid that before they could leave the city, Yifeng Imperial Manor would have received the news early and escaped with their people through the secret passage.

Zhao Guanxiang has verified this point. This is not the first time he has checked Yifenghuangzhuang, but he has always returned empty-handed.

It is precisely for this reason that Yifenghuangzhuang has been operating in the suburbs of Beijing for so many years without any trouble.

Over time, even the Gao family warriors who had been stationed here became quite slack.

It was for this reason that Zhao Guanxiang led the Xiaowei to launch a surprise attack on Yifenghuangzhuang, and was able to successfully rescue the women held captive by the Gao family and obtain solid evidence of the Gao family's crimes.

This is taking advantage of the fact that the enemy is in the open and we are in the dark, creating an information gap.

The Gao family did not expect that there was an elite force like the "Xiaowei" hidden in Kyoto City, nor did they expect that Zhao Guanxiang would disregard the law and directly lead people to launch a sneak attack.

If they could know it in advance, even if the guards in Yifeng Royal Manor could not withstand the attack of Xiaowei, they could always buy time to evacuate the people in the manor and destroy the evidence by relying on the defense of the city walls, right?
But no matter what, since it has happened, there will be no more "if" and no possibility of doing it again.

The Gao family has at least been convicted of the crime of "trafficking innocent people."

However, this alone may not be enough to nail the Gao brothers to death.

So Zhao Qi'an played a role in it and added fuel to the fire a little.

He looked at Zhao Nishang and asked, "Have you arranged for your people to go in?"

"Yes, they are all girls from my building. They are the best at acting. I have told them what to say and how to act, and there will be no mistakes."

Zhao Nishang said this with full confidence.

Fortunately, the girls rescued from Yifeng Imperial Manor lived in different attics according to their social classes before being rescued, and they were not familiar with each other.

So this gave Zhao Qi'an room to maneuver, and he ordered Zhao Nishang to replace a few people.

As for why?

Because sometimes if you want to mobilize the emotions of a group of people, it is often enough to have a few people stand up and speak out. When it is in their own interests, the rest of the people will just cheer.

On the other hand, Zhao Qi'an also needed manpower to get some information from the rescued girls.

For example... who are the "distinguished guests" they usually receive?
But it was not very easy to get information in this regard.

Most of these girls are from Yongzhou, how could they recognize the dignitaries in Kyoto?

Moreover, according to them, the "guests" they come into contact with on a daily basis always wear various masks when they come and never show their true faces. If they can make someone speak again in front of them, they may be able to recognize them, but if the other party denies it, it will be useless after all, there is no solid evidence.

Zhao Qian'an felt it was a pity, but he could only give up.

"This time, the Gao family should be finished, right? Guan Xiang has broken one of the Third Prince's arms this time. I'm afraid the prince will bear a grudge against him."

When Zhao Nishang said this, there was some worry in her eyes.

Zhao Qi'an shook his head: "Not necessarily."

"Ah?" Zhao Nishang was stunned for a moment, puzzled, "Is the Third Prince so magnanimous?"

"No, what I mean is that the Gao family may not be finished."

Zhao Qi'an looked calm, and after a pause, he said, "Whether the Gao family will be ruined depends on whether the Astronomical Survey will investigate this 'trafficking case'."

Zhao Nishang was smart after all, and she quickly understood what he meant: "Foster father, what you mean is... maybe the Astronomical Survey will only investigate this case up to the point where we rescued the women from Yifeng Royal Manor this time?"

Zhao Qi'an nodded.

Zhao Nishang was puzzled: "Why should the Astronomical Patrol give the Gao family this face? Even if it is the Third Prince, it is impossible for the Astronomical Patrol to stop investigating."

Zhao Qi'an pointed upwards and said, "What if that person told the Astronomical Survey Station not to investigate further?"

Zhao Nishang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized and quickly understood who he was talking about.

Who else could give orders to the Astronomical Observatory except the one sitting on the dragon throne?

Zhao Qi'an said, "I have checked the border army battle reports in recent years. Since thirteen years ago, the foreign tribes outside the Western Desert have often entered our Daqian border to plunder. Coincidentally, thirteen years ago was when the Gao brothers entered the capital. Even more coincidental is that in the same year, Zhou Ming, the eldest son of Grandpa Zhou, abandoned the army to do business and returned to his hometown in Beiqi County, Yongzhou."

"On the surface, Zhou Ming is engaged in the business of precious goods from foreign races. He purchases large quantities of goods from foreign territories close to Daqian and transports them to southern Daqian for sale. But in fact, he is engaged in the business of pawnbrokers. Nearly a hundred pawnbrokers in Daqian have cooperated with him."

"And whenever foreign tribes invade Daqian and plunder, the number of private slaves supplied by those pawnbrokers will increase dramatically... Is this also a coincidence?"

These things were all obtained by Zhao Qian from the "Heavenly Secret Pillar" in the Treasure Pavilion.

The Zhao family's trading company is spread all over the Daqian Kingdom, covering all walks of life. Each shop has a dedicated person responsible for collecting intelligence, organizing it, and submitting it step by step, and finally sending it to Kyoto.

Most of this intelligence, most of the time, seems useless.

But when Zhao Qian'an needs to investigate something, these seemingly unrelated information will actually be linked together and verify each other, and the useless information can be used to extract crucial information.

Zhao Nishang frowned and asked, "After all these years, no one has noticed these things?"

Zhao Qi'an said calmly: "Perhaps someone noticed it, but did not have the courage to lift the lid."

Your Majesty, who is currently absorbed in seeking the immortality and the truth, may not be aware of this matter.

Now the government is controlled by the left prime minister Wu Yong. Wu Yong is a smart man and he may not be unaware of the tricks of the Western Desert Army.

But Wu Yong's cleverness was more often used in the two matters of "uniting the party to attack the dissidents" and "smoothing things over", but his attitude towards this matter is unknown.

Zhao Nishang thought about it for a long time, but still didn't understand: "In the past, it was assumed that no one noticed, but now the Astronomical Observatory has gone to the Gao family to arrest people, and the fig leaf has been torn off. Why does my godfather think that His Majesty will suppress this matter?"

"In this transaction, whether it is a 'person' or other goods, if there is a seller, there will naturally be a buyer. Now the seller is the Zhou family, then who is the buyer?"

Zhao Qi'an sneered and said, "I'm afraid that among all the officials in the court, those who come from aristocratic families are among them!"

In today's world, farming is still the main form of life. Most of the noble families own a lot of land. Naturally, they need people to cultivate the land. If they hire tenants, they need to share the profits. But if they use private slaves, they only need to give them enough food to survive.

The most traded items in the pawnbrokers were serfs in their prime.

The Zhao family is an exception among exceptions. They made their fortune through business and have little land.

Zhao Qi'an doesn't need to buy any land in Daqian. Most of the land of the Twelve Kingdoms of the East China Sea belongs to him, and the rest is just a matter of time.

Therefore, the Zhao family and the Zhou family have no business dealings.

But Zhao Qi'an knew the significance of land to other aristocratic families, so he also knew that those who cooperated with the Zhou family were either rich or noble, and it was likely that quite a few of them had family members serving as officials in the court.

So behind this, there is a very broad chain of interests involved, and it is not as simple as just touching the "Zhou family".

Judging from Zhao Qian's understanding of the current "Pig Dragon Emperor", he may not be willing to take time off from his cultivation to clean up this mess.

As for the "mud prime minister" Wu Yong, he may not dare to lift the lid completely.

If we investigate further, it is possible that the Zhou family will be driven into a rebellion if they are really forced into a frenzy.

If the Zhou family is forced to rebel, Yongzhou will be in danger.

Zhao Qi'an continued, "If on one side all the officials are advising against it, and attacking the Zhou family is a waste of money and effort, while on the other side everyone continues to live in peace, what do you think the current emperor who is bent on seeking immortality should choose?"

“Even if the emperor today makes up his mind to take action against the Zhou family, he will not choose this time.”

"After all, compared to the 'chronic illness' of the Zhou family, there is also a 'Jingzhou bloodbath' that needs to be dealt with urgently."

Although Zhao Qi'an no longer participated in the "Jingzhou Bloody Case", he has always been paying attention to it.

However, according to information obtained from Jingzhou, General Ling Fang and his entourage did not have a smooth journey after arriving in Jingzhou.

The Salvation Church had been hiding behind the scenes, inciting some ignorant believers to oppose the government. The imperial envoys had arrested many people and chopped off many heads in recent days, but there were only a few people who truly belonged to the Salvation Church.

Gong Xinying, who was sent back to Jingzhou by Zhao Qi'an, did bring some useful news these days. However, because Zhao Guanxiang did not go to Jingzhou, those news were temporarily put aside by Zhao Qi'an.

In this case, even if the Astronomical Observatory really got solid evidence from the Gao family, it would most likely be suppressed by Emperor Tianwu.

After all, haven't we been living in peace for so many years? Then we should just keep the status quo for now and wait until the situation in Jingzhou is settled.

After Zhao Qi'an's analysis, Zhao Nishang finally understood.

She looked unhappy and muttered, "So this matter is over? If it was just the women rescued from Yifeng Royal Manor, I'm afraid even the Gao brothers couldn't be eliminated. Maybe they would just find some scapegoats and let the matter go. If Guan Xiang knew about this, given his personality, I'm afraid he would be furious."

Zhao Qi'an said, "We need to deal with the Zhou family's affairs slowly. But for the Gao family...it may not be that easy to turn the page."

Zhao Nishang was startled when she heard this, then smiled brightly: "Godfather, do you want to help?"

"I'm only offering a little help, and someone will volunteer."

Zhao Qi'an smiled slightly, and a person gradually emerged in his mind.

However, to do this, some preparation is needed.

Thinking of this, he instructed Zhao Nishang, "Go check the brokerages related to the Gao family and see who has bought private slaves from the Gao family in recent years."

Zhao Nishang thought she had heard it wrong, so she asked again: "Gao family? Not Zhou family?"

Zhao Qi'an nodded: "The Gao family is in charge of all the pawnshops near Jingdu City. The Zhou family's businesses are scattered across the states of Daqian. It would take too much time to investigate. Let's talk about it later. Let's investigate the Gao family first."

"Okay, I'll send someone to check it out right away."

……

Not long after Zhao Nishang left, Chou Nu came in with tea.

As she walked towards Zhao Qian'an, she turned her head and looked outside, asking, "Was that the Third Miss just now? She left in such a hurry. I called her several times, but she didn't seem to listen."

Zhao Qi'an took the hot tea from her and said, "She has something important to do."

"Why is there so much going on in a day? I see she looks tired, she must not have had enough rest these past two days." The ugly slave felt sorry for Zhao Nishang, but he didn't dare to say anything bad about Zhao Qi'an, so he sighed and said, "The Third Miss is just like me, she has a hard life too."

Zhao Qi'an glanced at her. What did this mean? Was her life miserable because she followed him?

This ugly girl's hermaphroditic skills have really improved.

However, Nichang has been quite busy these past two days. Although matters concerning the auction at the trading company have been handed over to other deacons, she has been running around for Zhao Guanxiang's affairs these past two days without a moment's rest.

After this matter is settled, just give her a long vacation and let her have a good rest for a while.

Zhao Qi'an took a sip of tea, put down the cup in his hand, and said to the ugly slave, "Do you feel sorry for her? She spends two hundred taels of silver a month just on rouge."

The distressed expression on Chou Nu's face suddenly disappeared, and he gritted his teeth and said, "My life is miserable!"

Zhao Qi'an was satisfied and continued drinking tea.

After drinking tea, he asked the ugly slave: "I asked you to pick up the people and settle them down. Have you done everything?"

When this matter was mentioned, Chou Nu's expression became strange, as if he was a little embarrassed and a little angry.

She seemed to find it difficult to speak, and after a long while she said sullenly, "I received the person, and he has been settled. As soon as I sent him to the market town, the manager of the market town took him away."

Zhao Qi'an asked, "Isn't this a good job? What does your expression mean?"

"What's good about that!" said the ugly slave angrily, "That old man surnamed Song, he looked at me with a strange look in his eyes."

"what?"

"He also said that he liked me and wanted to redeem me from you, my master!"

"?"

Zhao Qi'an's first reaction was to question.

Even though Song Biaotou is blind in one eye, he shouldn't be... that blind, right?
Zhao Qi'an comforted the angry Ugly Slave: "Maybe it's just a misunderstanding."

The ugly slave said aggrievedly: "But he took advantage of me. If I hadn't reacted quickly enough and punched him away, I would have suffered a great loss!"

"what???"

Even though Zhao Qi'an had such a good character, his expression froze for a moment at this moment.

He then asked why he saw only Chou Nu coming back alone, and why Song Yi Zhang did not come to visit him at his house.

I will pay back what I owed a few days ago in the next two days. I kowtow to you all orz
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(End of this chapter)