Gu Chi said: "He didn't go to see anyone."

This answer exceeded Shen Tang's expectations.

He raised his eyebrows with some interest: "Didn't see anyone? This is interesting. Is there any problem with this person's identity and background?"

How can there be so many coincidences in the world?

You can find a place to stay at random, and there happens to be someone here who knows all the answers? Someone must be pulling the strings!

Gu Chi whispered: "Although this tea guest has never been seen before, his identity does have some connections. He should be a broker."

"A broker? A pimp?"

Gu Chi nodded lightly: "Yeah, broker."

There is more than one broker who plays a similar game.

They specially stayed at the inn to guard merchants from out of town, and even coaxed the merchants to go to Qujianghu to find the flower boat, nodded their heads, and then used the top cards to borrow so-called official debts from secretly local high-ranking officials.

"These people are interesting. The phrase 'where there are policies above, there are countermeasures below' makes them understand." Shen Tang's eyes were filled with cold and murderous intent, and he smiled angrily, "I prohibit officials from doing business, they The idea was to let the tribe’s henchmen take charge. If I blocked their way, they would immediately play tricks on me. Official debt, haha, official debt! Nine out and thirteen returns..."

Everyone's life hits a low point, and it's normal to borrow money to get through the hard times. The borrower can get through the hard times, and the creditor can also earn some interest. People lend money to others just for interest. If they don't give interest, they will Why should I lend you money?

It is not illegal to lend money out to earn some interest.

It is neither in the scope of business nor corruption.

It's the merchants who are short of capital when doing business and take the initiative to ask for help, rather than the officials taking the initiative to ask for bribes. The interest earned is also the return of the loaned principal. What's really wrong with this behavior? Hahaha, the only problem is that the interest is too high. .

This high interest rate was voluntarily provided by the merchants.

You love me, what can outsiders say?

Shen Tang crushed the tea cup. She calmly watched the broken pieces flow out from her fingers, and sneered: "It's not too late to fix the problem. Now that a problem has been discovered, it must be solved. Come back to the meeting and write a memorial." Come on, let's kill the chicken and scare the monkeys. We will use this incident to close this loophole. If anyone tries again in the future, I will rip off the heads of his entire family!"

Let Yushitai stir up trouble and then legislate from scratch.

By the way, I can also give the officials a beating.

As for the official debt, they probably haven't had time to get involved yet.

After all, Fengluo is her base, with the Seven Guards and Four Commanders in hand, and Gu Chi in charge of the Yushitai, any troubles can’t be hidden for long. Gu Chi doesn’t even know about it, which means that the trend of official debt is still local. Scratching is already a blessing among misfortunes.

Gu Chi looked at the looming light in his lord's palm, and sighed in his heart - this is the fifth year, and these people in this place haven't learned how to behave? Then he thought about it, people's hearts are inherently greedy. They know rationally that they can't do it, but they can't control their behavior. live.

Where else could there be so many corrupt officials?

Which corrupt official would not understand these principles?

Knowing and doing it are two different things.

Shen Tang puffed up her sleeves and blew up the breeze, blowing all the ashes from the tea cup out the window. Gu Chi was about to surrender, but she raised her hand to stop him: "Wait a minute, watch the tide, the broker continues to stare."

Gu Chi: "Your Majesty, do you suspect that he has another identity?"

Shen Tang took off the fork pole, lowered the window, and watched the moonlight pouring on the ground cut in half: "I do have this worry. The content he knows seems to be beyond the scope of a broker. If the broker has a rank, he should be a broker Got the broker."

Gu Chi cupped his hands and accepted the order: "I resigned."

Shen Tang said: "Pay attention to safety."

Despite the fact that the state of Kang has become more and more prosperous in the past two years, and appears to be singing and dancing, there are undercurrents surging beneath the calm, and discordant movements occur from time to time in various places.

It has only been more than a year since Kunzhou was completely recovered. A little chaos is understandable, but it is wrong that there are movements in other places. This means that the people who are secretly unhappy with Shen Tang have never disappeared. They are like a group dormant in the dark. A poisonous snake, waiting for the opportunity to kill with one strike. Shen Tang patrols for three months every year, and the Seven Guards and Four lead secretly suppressed assassinations no less than a thousand times.

"The king of the country is really not a human being!"

She was the only one left in the room, so she kicked him down.

The short bird was kicked around by her until it fell apart.

Looking at Gaoji's body, the wave of anger boiling in her heart was barely suppressed. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths for several cycles, then said to the beam: "Bring a new one."

Shen Tang turned around to carry the unfinished bags.

When I came back, the place was as new as ever.

It's as if the "evidence" of her willful venting never existed.

Since she took up the position of ruler of the country, she sleeps later than a dog, wakes up earlier than a chicken, and does more work than a donkey... She works so hard, but there are still a bunch of villains who are holding her back and trying to kill her. On the other hand, Zheng Qiao , he is the leader of the country, so he is comfortable. Anyone who dares to displease him will displease his ancestors for eighteen generations.

The candles in the house were never extinguished.

Until late at night——

A personal guard suddenly appeared.

She did not look at the king who was reviewing the memorials, but walked towards the back of the screen, knelt down on one knee, and bowed his head in obedience.

Behind the screen stood a royal couch.

There is a figure sleeping unrestrainedly on the imperial concubine's couch.

This figure is also Shen Tang, or the real person. She woke up when the bodyguard appeared: "How is it?"

"There is news from Prime Minister Gu."

The name Gu Xiang mentioned by the guards also refers to Gu Chi.

On the surface, he is her royal doctor, but behind the scenes, he also manages a personal guard for her, and has the right to dispatch and command. The staff of this personal guard is streamlined, but absolutely trustworthy. There are some things that are inconvenient to deal with openly. Everything is handled secretly by them.

Chu Yao and the others turned a blind eye to this matter.

Shen Tang turned over and sat up: "What should I say?"

The man they sent stared at the broker for a long time.

There was no problem during the whole day and the first half of the night. In the second half of the night, he got up sneakily, put on his clothes alone, and touched a piece of wasteland outside the prison. It was said to be a wasteland, but in fact it was a mass grave. Everywhere he could see were graves. , the broker looked around all the way, and finally stopped in front of an abandoned tomb and stayed for about a quarter of an hour, talking to the tomb about a lot of trivial matters.

Shen Tang raised his eyebrows: "What did you say?"

The guard responded truthfully.

When Shen Tang heard this, he not only did not relax his brows, but frowned even more. Judging from what the guards relayed, the person buried under the tomb was just a broker friend, and what they talked about was trivial and worthless. It was the same as the two cases. It has nothing to do with major cases.

The broker talked for a long time before going back to sleep.

His behavior seems more like sleepwalking.

"Besides, are there any other changes?"

The guard said: "There are still will-o'-wisps."

Shen Tang sat up straight: "Will-o'-the-wisp?"

When they followed the mass graves, they saw several green and gloomy flames floating in the air. When they checked closer, there were no traces. Shen Tang lost interest after hearing this: "In this weather, there are many cemeteries in chaos again." It’s normal for will-o’-the-wisps to appear in the burial mound, I’m afraid someone is just pretending to be a ghost..."

The so-called will-o'-the-wisp is nothing but phosphorus fire.

Shen Tang carefully smoothed over the clues in his hand.

As his brows relaxed, the corners of his lips also raised into a sneer, and he waved his hand: "No need to keep an eye on the broker, evacuate the people."

A small broker who knows how to play hard to get.

She would like to see——

Who is pretending to be a ghost behind the scenes?

The bodyguard clasped his fists and said, "I obey."

Shen Tang rubbed his swollen temples, hugged the quilt and leaned back to the imperial concubine's bed, ready to continue the unfinished dream.

The next day, there were rivers and lakes in the canal, and the shore.

Shen Tang was still wearing a carefully dressed "widow's makeup" and was guarding somewhere on the shore with a "bookkeeper" and a few "guards". She had received news from Zhechong Mansion that the flower boat would be Half an hour later, he appeared nearby.

She was sitting on a horse with her elbows on her knees.

His eyes never left Qu Jianghu.

Just when she was almost impatient with waiting, a vague outline finally appeared on the lake - the weather was not very good today, the sky was gloomy, and the lake was very foggy. The flower boat was getting closer, and everyone could barely see the flower boat clearly. The true face of the ship in Lushan.

This flower boat is quite impressive, with five floors.

The carved beams and painted buildings are magnificent.

The bright red flag fluttered with the wind on the lake, and from time to time, slender figures could be seen appearing and disappearing. Just looking at this picture, she could smell the rich fragrance of powder. With her excellent ear, she could also hear the flowers blooming. Sound and laughter on the boat.

As the flower boat docked, Shen Tang and others also stepped forward to greet it.

Several strong men with martial aura around them came to stop him.

One person looked Shen Tang up and down and said in a tone that could not be refused: "Please come back, Madam. We don't accept female guests here."

Because the Zhechong Mansion was engaged in fishing and law enforcement from time to time, the flower boat was very resistant to the sudden appearance of female guests.

Shen Tang smiled and said: "I have an invitation."

The speaker and his companion looked at each other.

Asked: "Where is the invitation?"

Chu Yao took out the grain quotation document that he had prepared long ago from his sleeve. There are no restrictions for merchants to do business in their native area, but if they want to do business across regions, they need to report to the government and obtain permission through official channels. This document is stamped. Seals of both places.
To be continued...