cabinet first lady

Chapter 68

On the second day after the extermination of the rogues, Sun Zhen went to the capital, told the story of the thrilling process, and lamented the greatness of the emperor's grace. Naturally, he got a lot of praise.

Not many people paid attention to the excerpts from the local official newspaper.

Only when Zhang Anyi heard the word "Cangzhou", his eyes became faster for a moment, so fast that it was difficult to see clearly with the naked eye.

When he came out of the palace that evening, Zhang Anyi suddenly asked Mo Wen: "Is there a letter from Cangzhou?"

Cangzhou is naturally referring to Ruan Muyang.

Mo Wen shook his head, and asked cautiously, "Second Master, do you want us to go and see Madam?"

Zhang Anyi paused, and finally shook his head and said, "No need, don't be smart."

"Yes."

On the other side, Ruan Muyang, Fang Fang, and Heyue disguised themselves as brothers and sisters who went to visit relatives, and the remaining three guards disguised themselves as coachmen and servants.

Sun Zhen was very cautious in his work, and even sent people to interrogate even the checkpoints that did not go to the capital.

When they arrived at the gate of the city, their carriage was stopped and questioned.

Heyue answered perfectly, but because of their capital accent, they were suspected, and the people at the gate of the city refused to let them go.

"Excuse me, my lord. My two younger sisters are weak. If it drags on, it will be dark and they will have to sleep in the countryside." In the end, Heyue relied on some money to let the official let him go.

He Yue sat back in the carriage, but the carriage was stopped when it started driving.

"People from the capital? Wait!"

Ruan Muyang, who was sitting in the carriage, was shocked when he heard Sun Haoyou's voice, and said decisively: "Don't stop, they've already left the city gate, it won't be so easy for them to catch up with us, let's go."

Sun Haoyou found that the carriage did not stop, but drove faster and faster, and immediately shouted: "Hurry up and catch up?" Of course, he didn't catch up.

After going back and reporting to Sun Zhen, Sun Zhen's face was very ugly.

"Father, what should we do? They ran away, that girl is definitely not dead." Fearing that the matter would be revealed, Sun Haoyou panicked.

"They are probably going to Shandong. We can't arrest people so clearly when we leave the border of Cangzhou." Sun Zhen put his hands clenched into fists on the table, pondered for a long time and said solemnly, "It's good that they The farther you run, the farther you get away from the capital. In this way, you go and ask someone to find a painter, and draw her, the maids and guards around her, and then I will send the portraits to the governor of Shandong, saying that they are escaped rogues , Pretending to be ordinary people and fleeing to Shandong Province.”

A smile appeared on Sun Haoyou's face, and he said in admiration, "Father's idea is great."

Ruan Muyang and the others headed south from Cangzhou, entered the territory of Shandong, and arrived at Jinan Prefecture.

When she was on tour with Emperor Wu, she had been to Jinan Mansion, and she had a very good impression of Jinan. She wanted to settle down in Jinan temporarily and then find a way to contact the capital, or wait for Zhang Anyi's people to come to them.Heyue left marks along the way.

But Jinan now is somewhat different from her impression.

"Why are there so many refugees?" Ruan Muyang asked looking at the refugees begging on the street.

Heyue said: "Ma'am, I'm afraid these refugees are all from the two rivers and Huaihe Rivers. I heard that the Qin Tianjian said that there will be heavy rain this year."

Ruan Muyang recalled the scene of being trapped outside the city of Yangzhou and couldn't move an inch, and sighed: "I just hope it doesn't rain for too long, otherwise the people will suffer."

Fortunately, they were well prepared when they escaped from the manor.They stayed in an inn in Jinan City.

The inn was a mixed bag, and Ruan Muyang spent most of his time in the upstairs room. It was rare that the room was also upstairs, but he had heard Yin Ji's name several times.

Since Emperor Yuan ascended the throne, she has paid little attention to the affairs of the court.However, although Yin Ji is a close minister of the emperor, his qualifications are still relatively low. Compared with Zhang Anyi, Shen Wei and others who entered the cabinet early, he has no prestige.His name was suddenly being talked about by people far away in Jinan, probably because of some major event.

Heyue and the others are Zhang Anyi's people after all, Ruan Muyang called Fang Fang and said: "Those people outside have been discussing Yin Ji, go and find out if something happened."

Fang Fang went down to inquire and came back and said, "Ma'am, it turns out that after we left the capital, Master Yin was ordered to inspect the two rivers and the Huaihe River, and supervise the river workers. They are talking about Master Yin's rectification of officials in Jinling these days to eliminate the long-standing abuses."

Ruan Muyang nodded.

Local officials protect each other, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, and there are not a few people like Sun Zhen who cover the sky with one hand in the local area. This job is thankless and will offend many officials. Yin Ji may have a headache.

Thinking of his battered appearance, she actually felt better.

A group of them lived in the inn for four or five days.

One day, Heyue knocked on the door of Ruan Muyang's room with a solemn expression.

He said: "Madam, I'm afraid we won't be able to stay in the inn anymore."

"What's wrong?" Ruan Muyang asked.

"Then Sun Zhen actually said that we are fleeing bandits, and now our portraits are posted everywhere in Shandong."

Fang Fang gasped in surprise, lowered her angry voice and said, "Why is this Sun Zhen so bold? He dared to frame him!"

Sun Zhen wanted her dead with all his heart.There is no way to prove their identity to the governor of Shandong and the prefect of Jinan, even if they tell them, they may not believe it, they will only throw themselves into the trap.Ruan Muyang's heart sank to the bottom: "Is there any movement in the capital?"

Heyue shook her head: "There are too many people in the inn. I am afraid that we will be suspicious when we go in and out like this. We have to hide in a secluded place. I have told Hemu and the others not to go around in the next few days. Moved."

secluded place?
Notices were posted throughout Shandong to arrest them, unless they fled to the mountains or the wilderness.

I don't know when Zhang Anyi will find out that something happened to her. Instead of waiting endlessly, it's better to find a way out by himself.Ruan Muyang is more used to relying on himself than placing his hope on others.

After a while of silence, Ruan Muyang's voice sounded as smooth as gurgling water: "We have no acquaintances in Shandong, and we are not familiar with the terrain. Instead of hiding in the mountains, we might as well leave when we don't have any copies of our portraits. Shandong."

He Yue hesitated for a moment, frowned slightly, and said with some disapproval: "Madam, we can't go back to Beijing, we can only go further south, so that the distance from the capital is getting farther and farther away, and it will be difficult for the second master's people to find us." Trouble. Besides, further south, it is raining heavily in the areas of Huaihe River and Huaihe River, and my subordinates should think about Madam's safety."

Now there are only those who escaped from the south, and very few go south.

"Let's go to Jinling." Ruan Muyang was not swayed by him in the slightest, "Master Yin Jiyin is in Jinling now, and the second master and I have some friendship with him. Instead of hiding in Shandong, we should go to Lord Yin and let him prove it for us or send a message to the capital, we can return to Beijing safely."

Fang Fang finally understood Ruan Muyang's intention to leave, and she agreed in her heart.She knew the friendship between their wife and Yin Ji, and knew that as long as he was found, they would be safe.

Heyue weighed in her heart whether staying in Shandong or going to Jinling, each has advantages and disadvantages, but she was still undecided and hesitant.Originally, he was ordered to protect his wife's safety during his stay in Cangzhou, but he did not expect such a thing to happen, and the follow-up was beyond his expectations. Now if he goes south, there will be even greater changes. I am afraid that the second master has never expected it .

If something happened, he didn't know how to explain it when he went back.

Enamel has a cold temper and acts calmly and decisively.In such a critical situation at the moment, she can't see a man mother-in-law, and couldn't help but said: "Shouldn't Commander Heyue listen to Madam in everything? Although it is said that she is thinking about Madam's safety, such hesitation and waste of time will make Madam more dangerous."

"You—" Being mocked by a maid, the seven-foot man in Heyue couldn't stand it, but he didn't bother to argue with her.

"Okay." At this time, Ruan Muyang persuaded, "Commander He Yue, Fang Fang is right, it's better to make a decision before it's too late. Sun Zhen will definitely try his best to prevent the news from reaching the capital. I don’t know when I will know what happened to us, why not go to Jinling to find Master Yin. It’s only ten days from here to Jinling, and we’ll be safe in ten days.”

Ruan Muyang remained calm in the face of danger, and calmly analyzed Heyue's voice, and there was a magic power in the voice that could comfort people's hearts, making Heyue immersed in her imagination.He Yue will be able to arrive at Jinling in ten days, Heyue gritted his teeth secretly and said: "Just listen to Madam, my subordinates will tell them to pack up and prepare to leave now."

Soon, Ruan Muyang and his party checked out of the room and quietly left the inn.

They left as soon as the notice came out, covering up a little along the way, and were not noticed.The journey in the Shandong area was very smooth. They thought it would be smoother if they left Shandong without being cautious, but the continuous rain forced them to slow down.

When we arrived in Xuzhou, there were more refugees than before, and the further south we went, the more refugees there were on the road.

Ruan Muyang chose to go to Jinling, and this road is not easy.

They settled down in Yangzhou, rested for a day, and then they could go to Jinling.

The closer he got to Jinling, the darker Heyue's face became, and the more disturbed he felt.As soon as he settled down in Yangzhou City, he took two of his men down to inquire about news.

As a result, the news that came back from the inquiry was not very optimistic.

"Ma'am, it has been raining heavily in Yangzhou for more than ten days in a row. People who come here say that the road to Jinling is very difficult. This year's rain is indeed rare in many years. I heard that many villages near Jinling were flooded a while ago. Yes, the water has been slightly under control for the past two days."

Ruan Muyang had experienced many years ago how difficult the roads around Yangzhou were at this time.

But they have already come here, and they can't turn back and throw themselves into the trap.

She said: "Then we will go to Jinling when the water is under control and the rain is not too heavy. We will start tomorrow."

The journey to Jinling was very difficult. It didn't rain very much at first, but when they were approaching Jinling, the rain suddenly became heavier.There were almost no carriages on that section of the road, so Ruan Muyang could only get down and walk.

Stepping foot by foot in the mud, the rain was so heavy that even holding an umbrella was useless. After a while, everyone was soaked, but fortunately, they finally arrived in Jinling safely.But after some inquiring, Ruan Muyang found out that Yin Ji had gone to Pingjiang a few days ago and hadn't come back yet, so he missed him.

Since going to Cangzhou, her luck seems to have been bad.It wasn't just driven by being cold in the rain, but also because of other reasons, Ruan Muyang's heart sank slightly.

"Ma'am, what should I do now?"

Ruan Muyang was drenched and his clothes were heavy. He looked at Fang Fangheyue and the others, who were worse than her, and said, "I just need to find a place to stay and wait for Yin Ji to come back."

Coming all the way from Cangzhou, they didn't have much money left, but fortunately, it was enough to stay in the inn for a while.

The rain is getting heavier.

After finding the inn, Fang Fang helped Ruan Muyang take a hot bath and changed into dry clothes.After cleaning up by herself, she went to get some ginger soup.

"Ma'am, you still have to drink some ginger soup when you get wet in the rain, it will be bad if you catch the wind and cold."

Ruan Muyang nodded and said, "Send some to Heyue and the others." Even after putting on dry clothes, she still felt heavy, until she drank some ginger soup.Then she lay down and fell asleep amidst the sound of heavy rain.

Beijing.

When Mo Wen asked Zhang Anyi if he wanted to send someone to find out about Cangzhou, Zhang Anyi refused.

Everyone in the court said that Mr. Zhang Ge seemed to be in a bad mood these past few days, most likely someone was going to be unlucky again, and people were panicking.

Even Shen Wei couldn't help asking when they were leaving the palace together: "Who has offended you recently? The court and the middle are saying that you have to do something."

"No one." Zhang Anyi looked the same as usual, and his tone was the same as before, but it just made people feel chills down the spine.

The mouth is not the heart.

Shen Wei smiled and didn't ask any more.

After separating from Shen Wei, Zhang Anyi was silent for a while, not knowing what he was thinking, and suddenly looked at Tianji and sighed, "Our two temperaments are very similar, and we are unwilling to admit defeat. Not even a single letter. I thought I could scare you, but in the end I tortured myself. I have no conscience." He was looking in the direction of Cangzhou.

"Mo Wen." He looked away.

"Second Master."

"Go to Cangzhou yourself—" Zhang Anyi's eyes moved, "Bring Madam back."

If you take it back, you are forgiven.

In the end, they still sent someone.

But a few days later, only Mo Wen came back.

Seeing Mo Wen's heavy expression, the keen Zhang Anyi had a bad premonition.

"Second Master, when I went to Cangzhou, I found a checkpoint was set up, and it seemed that someone was hunting for someone in the city. The subordinate immediately felt that something might have happened. After arriving at the villa, I found that the villa had turned into ruins."

A manor house has been turned into ruins, and one can imagine what catastrophe it has experienced just by listening to it.

These days, my heart, which is rarely brisk, suddenly turned cold, and the shallow curvature of the lips suddenly disappeared, Zhang Anyi frowned: "Where is Madam?"

Mo Wen knelt down: "The subordinate left someone to look for him in Cangzhou, Madam is... missing."

After his words fell, Zhang Anyi didn't say anything, time seemed to freeze suddenly, and his heartbeat seemed to have stopped.

missing.

"Send more people to Cangzhou to investigate, and also, to investigate what good deeds that Sun Zhen has done." Zhang Anyi's voice choked people's breath.

"Yes."

As a result, the reported news was not optimistic.

"Second Lord, the people under Sun Zhen's subordinates are very strict, and they can't find out anything, but our people found Heguang."

After He Guang was brought up, he told what had happened. There was no emotion on Zhang Anyi's face, and there was coldness and murderous intent hidden under Gu Jing Wubo's eyes.

"Immediately send someone to search around Shandong, Heyue should have left a mark." After being silent, he first ordered Heguang, and then called Mo Jian and said, "Go to the official residence to find Shen Wei for me. "

Two days later, Cangzhou.

"My lord, news came from our people from Shandong that the group of people left the territory of Shandong and continued to run south, as if they were going in the direction of Jinling."

After Sun Zhen heard the report, a sly smile appeared on his face: "The area around the two rivers and Huaihe Rivers is very chaotic now, with floods and rectification. If they die there, I don't have to worry about it."

The subordinate said flatteringly: "My lord is wise."

Not long after, someone rushed in from outside, shouting as he ran, "My lord! My lord!"

Sun Zhen frowned and said dissatisfiedly, "What's the matter? The sky is falling in such a hurry?"

"A man surnamed Zhang came from the capital and wants to see you."

The recent events made Sun Zhen particularly sensitive to the "Zhang" surname, especially "from the capital" and "Master Zhang". He suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart and asked, "Where are they? Are they here?" where?"

As soon as his words fell, Zhang Anyi appeared at the door with his guards.His old man smiled and said: "I am here, Mr. Sun." He is tall and tall, unlike ordinary frail scholars, standing at the door seems to block the skylight.His shadow was cast on Sun Zhen's body, as if it had cast a shadow over his heart.

Sun Zhen is a local magistrate, and he doesn't go to Beijing much every year, let alone see the chief minister of the current cabinet.

Zhang Anyi walked slowly, the gentle smile on his face was very unpredictable in the eyes of others. "I'm afraid Mr. Sun doesn't know this official. My surname is Zhang, and I'm just the chief assistant of the cabinet."

Sun Zhen's face was pale, and cold sweat was dripping from his forehead.He spoke with a trembling voice: "Why did Mr. Zhang Ge come to such a small place like Cangzhou in person? The lower officials are far away from welcoming him. I don't know what Mr. Zhang Ge did when he came this time—"

Zhang Anyi interrupted him with a chuckle.He sat where Sun Zhen had been sitting.

Immediately, Mo Wen kicked Sun Zhen in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"grown ups!"

The people under Sun Zhen screamed in shock, but they dared not help.

"Don't you know why this official is here?" At some point, Zhang Anyi put away the smile on his face, "Sun Zhen, you are so brave."

Sun Zhen didn't dare to get up, he just knelt down on the ground and said, "Your official, I don't know why Zhang Ge came here, my official doesn't know anything."

Zhang Anyi seemed to have expected that he would not admit it, so he didn't say much to him.

Afterwards, He Guang twisted Sun Haoyou in.

"Daddy, daddy! Help me." Sun Haoyou shouted.

Sun Zhen raised his head to look at Zhang Anyi, and said angrily: "Zhang Anyi, even if you are the chief minister of the cabinet, you can't act like this and cause trouble for no reason! Let my son go!"

Zhang Anyi still had a refined and handsome appearance, but his tone was extremely domineering: "So what if it's causing trouble for no reason?"

He glanced at He Guang, and when He Guang exerted force on his hand, Sun Haoyou immediately cried out.

"If you still dare to play tricks on me, I will depose your son first. Tell me, where is he?"

Just when Sun Zhen was hesitating, Sun Haoyou first wailed and begged for mercy: "I say, I say! Mrs. Zhang left Shandong, probably to Jinling."

"You—" Sun Zhen hated iron for being weak, and drops of cold sweat had already dripped down on the ground, forming dark marks one by one.

Zhang Anyi stood up and said, "Come here, arrest Sun Zhen—no, Sun Haoyou and take him away."

Sun Zhen was stunned, a little surprised that Zhang Anyi didn't arrest him, but took his son away.

Naturally, he would not understand what Zhang Anyi was thinking.

"Father! Father! Help me!" Sun Haoyou yelled.

"Haoyou!"

Zhang Anyi brought many people here, but Sun Zhen didn't dare to act rashly and could only watch Sun Haoyou being taken away.

Madam Sun looked at the chaotic scene and asked in tears, "Master, what's going on, why was Haoyou taken away?"

Hearing Sun Haoyou's voice getting farther and farther away, Sun Zhen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and his expression calmed down. The trembling in his voice was not known whether it was because of fear or something else. "Ma'am, hurry up and write to Queen Mother Qiu, saying that Zhang Anyi came to Cangzhou for no reason to make a fuss and arrested Haoyou."

After coming out of the government office, Zhang Anyi had a sullen face with unpredictable eyes. "Heguang, take people to the direction of Jinling, look for the marks left by Heyue along the way, and find your wife as soon as possible."

"I don't know how to stay for a few days and arrange a few people to watch Sun Zhen's movements in Cangzhou."

Then he got into the carriage.The pen, ink, paper and inkstone were all in the carriage, and he immediately wrote a document, and the pen traveled around.Before the ink was dry, he packed up the paperwork, called Mo Wen and said, "You send someone to send this horse whip to the governor of Shandong, and he will automatically remove the wanted list."

"Yes, Second Master."

After giving all the instructions, Zhang Anyi sat down in the carriage, straightened his clothes, and still had an inscrutable look: "Let's go back to Beijing."

It took a day from the capital to Cangzhou, but he only stayed in Cangzhou for two hours, and he was about to go back.

There are many affairs in the cabinet, and as the chief assistant, he has no time to spare, and even this little time is taken out of him.

Jinling.

On the first night in Jinling, Ruan Muyang went to bed early.It rained heavily all night, and the rain was a little weaker, but the heavy rain overnight caused the river to swell, and even the low-lying places in the city were waist-high.

At dawn, amidst the pattering rain, Ruan Muyang faintly heard the noise and restlessness outside.She seemed to have heard the sound of enamel, but her eyelids were too heavy, and she still couldn't open them.

(End of this chapter)