Chapter 110

  Bao Zheng discovered the existence of counterfeit coins in the military salary while inspecting the coastal defense and border affairs, and pointed the spearhead at Dengzhou Xiangjun, who was responsible for issuing military salaries.

  Before the matter in the army was settled, Bai Yutang rushed to seek help on horseback, so Gongsun Zan took the lead and entered Dengzhou City first.

  Bao Zheng also set off for Dengzhou after finishing his military duties.

  After arriving in Dengzhou, Bao Zheng went to see Cheng Yuan at the prefectural government office first.

  After a formal courtesy, Bao Zheng said he wanted to go see his student Tang Zhen. This made Cheng Yuan's expression change slightly at the time, but Bao Zheng pretended not to notice.

  Just as they were about to leave, a group of people saw Lu Xiao Feng holding his son and walking towards them from the corridor.

  Zhan Zhao's eyes lit up with joy, and his hand holding the sword also tightened involuntarily.

  "Lord Bao, Mr. Gong Sun."

  Bao Zheng stopped in his tracks and replied in a gentle tone: "Miss Lu, it's been a long time."

  "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Bao."

  Cheng Yuan stared with wide eyes on one side, as if he felt something was off.

  Lu Xiaofeng walked to Zhan Zhao's side and the baby in his arms was immediately attracted by the bright red color of Zhan Zhao's official robe, staring at it with shining eyes.

  "Give you a hug."

  She handed the baby forward, and Zhan Zhao naturally stretched out his hand to receive him. The little baby immediately grabbed the red silk tassels on both sides of the crown of the noble cat, opened his mouth and laughed happily.

  Zhan Zhao sincerely said to Yan Wushuang, "Thank you, Brother Yan."

  Yan Wushuang smiled broadly and said, "No need to be polite."

  "Big Brother Biao, I have something to discuss with Lord Bao and the others, so I'll go with them to the Judicial Office."

  "Oh." Cheng Yuan responded dully, still feeling that something was off. How could his cousin be so familiar with the people from Kaifeng Prefecture? It seemed like they got along pretty well too?

  Then, Little Phoenix took her own personnel and Yan Wushuang, who was not on the list, to Tong Pan's mansion together with Bao Gong.

  As soon as they arrived at the Tong Pan Fu, Zhan Zhao was immediately surrounded by the Five Rats.

  Of course, the target of the five mice was the little thing in his arms, and it was definitely not the cat himself.

  But Lu Ming, this little guy was interested in his father's brightly colored official robes, so he only stayed in his father's arms, which greatly discounted his enthusiasm for the five old mouse uncles.

  "This little scoundrel has no conscience." Bai Yutang was quite indignant about this.

  Zhan Zhao simply doted on his son in his arms, without making any response.

  Yan Wushuang looked puzzled on one side, suddenly came up with a very bold idea, and then he asked, "May I ask, who is the husband of Feng Niang?" His eyes stared directly at the little red cat.

  Bai Yutang snorted and said, "Isn't it just this stinky cat?"

  Swallow Unparalleled was tongue-tied with wide eyes.

  Pang Taishi's daughter married Yu Qian Fourth Rank Sword-Bearing Guard Zhan Zhao.

  The amount of information is slightly larger and needs to be processed...

  Bao Zheng, Gong Sun Ce and Lu Xiaofeng did not notice the commotion of the cat and mouse, and the swallow on the other side. They wanted to discuss and exchange information about Dengzhou that they had each grasped.

  "So you're saying, Miss, that you suspect the counterfeit money case is related to the Four Seas Money House?"

  Lu Xiaofeng nodded definitely, "Of course, I couldn't think of anyone else besides Li Kun who has the ability to make counterfeit money circulate widely without arousing suspicion. Moreover, he also had a motive for doing so."

  "But he doesn't seem to have such ability." Gong Sun Ce raised a question.

  Lü Xiao Feng said: "There is a hidden army in Dengzhou."

  Bao Zheng nodded in agreement.

  Gongsun Zan said: "In the western suburbs of Dengzhou, there is a smelting factory that can cast weapons and also has the conditions to cast counterfeit coins."

  "Cheng Yuan." Bao Zheng and his people all spoke with one voice.

  Lu Xiaofeng shook his head, "Honestly, my useless cousin doesn't seem to have such great courage and charisma. You and Mr. Gongsun are overestimating him. He can't even lie in front of me without getting caught. I think he's just derelict of duty, neglecting his responsibilities, not doing his job properly. In short, he's just a freeloader who doesn't do anything."

  Bao Zheng: "..."

  Gongsun Ce: "......"

  Yan Wushuang, who had been watching the cat and mouse interaction from the side, chimed in, "Pervert."

  "Isn't that just someone below who is in cahoots with Li Kun?" Gong Sun Ce furrowed his brow, "Does he have the guts to do such a thing?"

  "With a boss like Cheng Yuan, if I were in his shoes, I'd have the guts to do it too. After all, being a boss is just for show, and if anything goes wrong, I can just shift the blame onto this idiot."

  Everyone: "......" The idiot you're talking about seems to be your cousin!

  Is this really okay?

  "But to collect more official grain and secretly hoard the excess for personal gain is indeed what he did." Gong Sun Ce presented further evidence.

  Lu Xiaofeng said sincerely: "Mr. Gong Sun, you can't deny that Cheng Yuan is a puppet who is easy to control and command, while Li Kun looks like an old fox who is deeply calculating, Cheng Yuan is completely his pawn, he can make any move as he wants."

  Gongsun Ce smiled slightly, "Miss has met Li Kun before."

  Mentioning this, Little Phoenix Maiden looked slightly embarrassed and couldn't help but scratch her head, "I accidentally helped someone identify genuine or fake copper coins on the street and was targeted by him. Having no choice, I played a trick and then ran to find Cheng Yuan to pretend to stand guard, Lord Bao, you won't despise me, will you?"

  Bao Zheng smiled and said, "Miss, you're worrying too much. Consider the situation carefully before deciding on your actions. What you're doing is wise."

  Gongsun Ce then took out two copper coins and handed one forward, asking: "Miss, which kind of counterfeit money did you see?"

  Lu Xiaofeng pointed at one of them which was generally hard to distinguish from the fake money and said: "It's this kind."

  Gongsun Ce couldn't hide his astonishment, "This level of precision is already quite high, even the technicians at the Silver Guard might not be able to distinguish it."

  Lu Xiaofeng said disbelievingly: "But Mr. Gong Sun can also see it."

  Gongsun Ce: "......"

  "I can tolerate other things being fake, but I absolutely cannot tolerate counterfeit money. Therefore, it is a must to crack down on the crime of counterfeiting."

  Zhan Zhao: I have a feeling of sweating.

  Everyone: Sweating!

  Finally, it was Zhan Zhao who broke the silence and said, "Xiao Feng, is this the reason you liked going to the Silver Guard's place back then?"

  Little Phoenix nodded honestly, "The emperor is still very easy to talk to." She said she wanted to go, and the emperor generously allowed her to visit and learn.

  "Imperial brother?" Bai Yutang keenly caught this unusual form of address.

  Gongsun Ce explained on her behalf, "Lu Niang is the emperor's acknowledged imperial sister, respectfully titled as Princess Yicheng."

  Yan Wushuang's expression immediately became — shocked!

  Does this Miss Feng want to be so overbearing? This identity change after another will make others feel a lot of pressure, okay?

  "Little sister, why don't you reveal your identity and scare them a bit?"

  "Bai Xiaowu, when will your IQ ever improve? With this identity exposed, it can only tell others that they are in a precarious situation. Who knows what someone like Li Kun, who is desperate and reckless, will do when he reaches the end of his rope? So sometimes, being low-key is the way to live a long life."

  Bai Yutang: He's being looked down on again.

  The other four mice: When the fifth brother was ridiculed and despised by the sixth sister, they were truly delighted.

  Gongsun Ce cleared his throat and said, "Miss, are you going back to Cheng Yuan's provincial government office?"

  "Xiao Mao is here, why should I go to the provincial government?" Lu Xiao Feng paused for a moment and said, "Moreover, although the provincial government is Cheng Yuan's territory, there are many of Li Kun's informants there, not even a little sense of safety. Even if Cheng Yuan were my relative, I couldn't help but despise him."

  Low IQ is one thing, but low IQ and becoming a high-ranking official just because you have a good uncle and cousin is really unbearable!

  Is there wood?

  I don't know whether the Cheng and Pang families' attitude towards Cheng Yuan is one of love and care or if they think he's too weak-minded and want to use someone else's knife to get rid of him.

  "Hmm, this idea might just accidentally reveal the truth?"

  Little Phoenix couldn't help but give herself a thumbs up in her heart.

  Emotionless!

  "Just like you treat your fifth brother, right?"

  What a great example!

  Everyone's heart is connected and understands intuitively.

  Bao Zheng said, "Tomorrow we will go to the prefectural government office. Let Cheng Yuan accompany us on a trip to the Xiguan military smelting plant." After finishing speaking, he turned his head and asked Lu Xiaofeng, "Miss Lu, do you want to come together?"

  "I won't go." Lu Xiaofeng refused quite thoroughly, because according to her analysis, if that place was indeed where the counterfeit coins were being cast, given Li Kun's personality, he might have already taken corresponding measures, and it's possible that the place has now become a crime scene.

  Bao Zheng couldn't help but exchange a glance with Gong Sun Ce.

  Zhan Zhao's heart also skipped a beat. Usually when Xiao Feng refused to do something or go somewhere, something bad would happen there. Was it going to...

  The next day, when a group of people arrived at the Xi Jiao Xiang Jun Ye Lian Chang (a steel mill in the western suburbs), they indeed saw something that was not very pleasant.

  The smelting stone was deserted, with no one in sight. All that could be seen were the bloodstains on the ground and two counterfeit copper coins that had been dropped through a gap.

  Bao Zheng sent someone to follow the trail and search, and as a result, they dug up thirty or forty coffins of dead soldiers.

  Such a thing happened for two days, and Cheng Yuan, as the prefect of Dengzhou, was completely unaware of it. Bao Zheng naturally had to reprimand him severely.

  Cheng Yuan sweated profusely and admitted his mistake repeatedly.

  After returning to Tong Pan Fu, Zhan Zhao went to the back courtyard to see his wife.

  He went in when Lu Xiaofeng was helping his son change diapers.

  "I'm back."

  Little Phoenix

  "Huh?"

  Zhan Zhao took over and hugged his son, teasing him while saying: "Did you guess that something happened at the smelting plant?"

  "It's easy to guess, I found counterfeit money on the street, and then Tang Zhen searched the gambling house and the money house. In this situation, Li Kun would naturally take action to ensure stability."

  At that time, when Mr. Gong Sun said there was a steel mill in Xijiao, I had a bad premonition.

  "As expected."

  "What Tang Zhen had was a notorious poison in the Jianghu - Wuying San, which originated from Tianzhu. It is said that the Dali imperial family, the Duan clan, had introduced it to deal with court officials." Zhan Zhao subconsciously mentioned this matter to her.

  Lu Xiaofeng thought for a moment and said: "I remember that the manager of Li Kun's Silver Hook Gambling House is named Duan Wu."

  "What's your surname?"

  "Right."

  "It's rumored that back in the day, a servant from the Duan family named Wu Ying escaped with stolen goods. Could it be that this Duan Wu is the descendant of that runaway slave?"

  "Maybe." Lu Xiaofeng wasn't very interested.

  Cheng Yuan's fault is not minor this time.

  "Just because he privately collected grain taxes for his own benefit and hoarded them for profit, he should be put to death." How many innocent people in Dengzhou have been harmed by this, it's truly unforgivable.

  Zhan Zhao couldn't help but shake his head, watching his son play with the tassel on his hat, completely carefree. He couldn't help but smile, it was just like her to be so strongly opposed to evil.

  Lu Xiaofeng has already taken out a new long shirt. "Zhan Zhao, help you try on the new clothes I made for you."

  "What's up with you?"

  "Do you suspect?"

  At a glance at his wife's raised eyebrows with an unkind expression, Zhan Zhao immediately said: "What the madam makes must be fitting."

  "Hmph." Bai Yutang's teasing voice came from outside, "Zhan Zhao, I didn't expect you to have such a flattering moment too, it's really rare."

  Zhan Zhao couldn't help but let out a light cough.

  Lu Xiaofeng walked to the window and opened it, saying to the person outside: "Bai Xiaowu, eavesdropping on other people's private conversations between husband and wife is very immoral."

  Bai Yutang said: "Fifth brother, how could I be eavesdropping? I am standing here openly listening."

  At this moment, Ma Han came over from the other side and saw Zhan Zhao through the open window. He said: "Zhan Huwei, the master is looking for you to go over, Duan Wu died at the Silver Hook Gambling House."

  "Alright." Zhan Zhao put down the long shirt in his hand and gently took the hat from his son's hand, then turned around and left.

  Lu Xiaofeng didn't bother with the child who had been put into the cradle, but instead asked Bai Yutang, who was standing in the courtyard: "Have you ever fought with that swordsman who follows Li Kun?"

  "No, but he's a tough opponent."

  "Really?"

  "Hmm." Bai Yutang's expression was unusually serious.

  "How about you guys compared to Xiang Shuang?"

  Bai Yutang said seriously: "Not under me and Zhan Zhao."

  Lu Xiaofeng understood, this was a tough nut to crack.

  "Aren't you going to ask anymore?"

  "No need to ask."

  “？”

  "He's definitely no match for the two of you teaming up, let alone with Big Brother and the others around, completely ganging up on him without any pressure."

  Bai Yutang silently blacklined silently.

  Sister, you are really too fond of gang fights. You said the same thing when dealing with Huā Húdié back then, and now your proposal remains unchanged.