You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 207 announces the case is solved!
Yuquan Mountain is located on the west side of the Summer Palace.

This place is blessed with beautiful mountains and clear waters, and its scenery is delightful. The spring water in the mountains is clear and blue, as pure as jade, hence the name Yuquan Mountain (Jade Spring Mountain). Throughout history, Yuquan Mountain has been a forbidden area for the imperial family.

As they ascended the mountain, the large group was surrounded by a large entourage.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Jiang Qingyun closed his eyes and thought, "Being able to live in Yuquan Mountain means I've made a name for myself in this life."

That evening, all the wives and concubines arrived from the south of the city, weeping and wailing.

Before the person even entered the door, the crying began.

This made Jiang Qingyun frown slightly; this was too ominous.

A mother's voice came from outside:
"Deploy more people around the area to keep watch in shifts, so as not to disturb Yun'er's rest."

"Please rest assured, Madam."

This is the sound of Jiangbei.

……

The sound of a group of women crying instantly filled the entire room. There were women all around the bed, several of whom were unfamiliar faces.

Walking at the very back, Ms. Wen quietly closed the door; she knew the inside story.

"Stop crying, everyone."

The women immediately fell silent.

"Yun'er was wounded by an arrow, but the imperial physician said that with proper care, she can recover in one or two months. She needs quiet to recover, so everyone except Jiangnan and Lüzhu should go to a side room."

"Yes."

All the women bowed in unison:
May my husband be well.

Then they left sadly, each looking very reluctant to part.

……

"Mother, where is my father?"

"Your father is in a hurry to take up his post in Daming Prefecture. He's the Commander of the Green Standard Army in Zhili, a high-ranking official of the first rank. He's all fresh off the job."

Sensing the resentment in her mother's tone, Jiang Qingyun smiled and then got up from the bed.

"Jiangnan, come and change my bandages."

"Ah, perhaps I should go find the imperial physician."

"Sister, your husband is alright."

"what??"

Green Pearl was incredibly shrewd; she guessed seven or eight parts of the truth as soon as she entered the room.

Madam Wen nodded and said softly, "Yun'er has the protective armor, so there shouldn't be any problem. It's late, so one of you should stay and serve her. Get some rest."

Green Pearl took two steps back and bent slightly.

"Thank you for your help, sister."

Once only the two of them were left in the room, Jiang Qingyun tore off the gauze, revealing his muscular body.

"Madam, it's been so long. Have you missed me?"

"I miss you terribly every day."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"My husband, where is your wound? I want to see it."

Jiang Qingyun pointed.

Jiangnan suppressed a laugh, her cloud-like hair ornaments swaying wildly.

"These past few days, I've had you and Green Pearl serve me in bed, and my injuries need to be kept secret. Now, General Dingyuan has ordered that the infantry in Jiangnan immediately remove their armor."

Xiaolou listened to the spring rain overnight, and Shenxiang sold apricot flowers in the Ming Dynasty.

……

The next day, in the morning.

Jiang Qingyun hid in the room studying military books.

Visitors flocked to the foot of the mountain, but no one was seen. Some of the gifts were accepted.

It's impossible to refuse all bribes, unless one wants to cut oneself off from officialdom, the consequences of which could be more serious than killing ten princes.

After his disastrous command of hundreds of thousands of troops across the three southern provinces, he realized that he was indeed an amateur, and his military theory was practically illiterate.

I need to catch up.

Which book should I read?

Jiang Qingyun muttered to himself, picked up a copy of "The Art of War" and felt it was too naive, then picked up "The Essentials of Military Classics" and found the content too dry.

At this moment, he deeply understood the conflicted feelings of online novel readers: they wanted to read something substantial, but they didn't want to be too tired.

suddenly~
There was a knock on the courtyard gate.

Someone whispered through the window, "Sir, Zhou Cang has returned."

"Let him in."

As soon as Zhou Cang entered the room, Jiang Qingyun smelled the strong stench of blood and sweat on him.

"My lord, the last assassin escaped more than ten miles away but we still managed to catch him. We didn't dare bring him into the capital, so I found a courtyard in the suburbs to imprison him."

"Has it been reviewed?"

"The interrogation is ongoing. This person is very stubborn, and I don't dare to kill him, so the interrogation is quite difficult."

Jiang Qingyun handed over his teapot.

"It's alright, take your time with the interrogation. We have plenty of time to wear him down. When you leave later, go ask Physician Wu for some hemostatic medicine to take back with you; it might come in handy during the interrogation. Sit down and have some tea."

Zhou Cang gulped down the entire drink and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Assassins are the elite of the army."

"Oh?"

"The assassins' bows, arrows, daggers, and military boots were all military equipment."

"An assassination attempt that could shake the heavens and earth, yet the disguise is so crude; it shouldn't be like this."

Jiang Qingyun fell into deep thought.
On the day of the assassination, the prisoners and the body were handed over to the Ministry of Justice.

The person Zhou Cang caught would definitely not be handed over again. Jiang Qingyun suspected that the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review might, for some reason, find a few scapegoats to take the blame.

……

One day later, Zhou Cang returned.

He brought back a message:
Unable to withstand the torture, the assassins confessed that they were the trusted servants of the late Prince Li, Mandahai, and because they firmly believed that they had secretly poisoned Mandahai and Lekedehun, they decided to avenge their master.

The assassination was carried out by an individual without any orders.

Jiang Qingyun was furious.

Mandahai and Lekedehun died in the same year, and both were very young. Considering the conflict between Shunzhi and the Council of Princes and Ministers, this matter is very strange.

suddenly~
His heart skipped a beat as he recalled the Third Eunuch's secret reminder before the expedition: "The thirteen government offices are monitoring all the residences in the capital, including the Jiang residence."

"Little beggar~ what kind of person are you?"

Jiang Qingyun muttered to himself.

He believed that what the Third Eunuch said was true, but he was very suspicious of his motives.

The King of Hell once said: Never underestimate anyone who climbs out of hell on their own.

……

On the fifth day of his "recovery", Jiang Qingyun wrote a "Proposal on Promoting the Songzi Experience to the Eight Banners Camps Garrisoned in the Capital".

It's a lengthy piece of writing, several thousand words long.

The most crucial sentence is: "Promoting the experience serves three purposes: first, to train troops and maintain the Eight Banners' fighting strength; second, to rectify and unify the thinking of the Bannermen in the capital; and third, to reorganize the military system in the capital region, which is chaotic and reorganization is inevitable."

These three points are quite profound.

Over the years, Jiang Qingyun has thoroughly understood Shunzhi's heart, and every move he makes is precisely aimed at the young emperor's heart.

Whatever you want, I'll give you, and I'll also slip in what I want along with it.

This is how skilled court officials are: their methods are subtle and insidious, seemingly devoid of any personal will, yet they skillfully conceal their own, disguising their will as that of the emperor or the people.

……

Qianqing Palace.

Wu Liangfu stood with his hands at his sides, silent, like a statue.

The Emperor was engrossed in reading Jiang Qingyun's memorial, meticulously studying each word and sentence, pondering it repeatedly.

No one was more favored by the emperor than Jiang.

Wu Liangfu secretly thought that in the future, information about this person should be screened in advance, and information that was slightly arrogant but not very serious should never be submitted to the emperor.

Otherwise, if the emperor reprimands Chiang, an enraged Chiang will retaliate.

"Wu Liangfu".

"The slave is here."

"Take it and burn it."

"My lord, there are regulations for archiving memorials."

"I know, but this will not be allowed to happen again."

"Whoo."

Wu Liangfu, clutching the light memorial, walked toward the bronze incense burner in the corner. He longed to steal a few glances at what was written inside, but he dared not.

Lift the openwork dome cover and throw it in.

A flame rose up, and the memorial vanished without a trace.

……

"Your Majesty, the officials Li, Suo, Zhu, and Zhang, who were ordered to investigate the assassination case, are requesting an audience outside the Meridian Gate. They say they have made progress."

"See."

"Whoo."

Fifteen minutes later~
Minister of Justice Li Shuotai, Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture Sony, Governor-General of Zhili Zhang Cunren, and Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Zhu Guozhi entered the Qianqing Palace together.

Li Shuotai stepped forward and presented a stack of files.

"Please have Your Majesty review this."

The Qianqing Palace was very quiet; all that could be heard was the sound of Emperor Shunzhi turning the pages of documents.

After a long time~
Shunzhi turned his head:

"Wu Liangfu, no one is allowed within ten zhang (approximately 33 meters)."

"Whoo."

Emperor Shunzhi looked at the four high-ranking officials kneeling below and, unusually, did not tell them to get up, but instead made them continue kneeling.

"So, you believe that the assassination attempt on Chiang Kai-shek was purely an individual act by the assassin?"

Li Shuotai looked up: "Yes!"

The three people next to him echoed, "We second that."

(End of this chapter)