The Qiong Lake was called the Qiong River by the southerners. It was twenty li wide and more than a hundred zhang deep.
This was the record of the Qiong Lake in the Book of the Later Han.
The Qiong Lake was the Qiong Lake. The people who were taken away by Huang Jingrong were now standing on the shore of the Qiong Lake, where the water was shallow and not suitable for boats.
The water and sky of the Qiong Lake were one color and the scenery was very beautiful. Unfortunately, these people were not here to enjoy the scenery, so they all looked anxious.
"Uncle …"
The sister and brother looked at Yang Fan together. They were young and did not have the power to save their relatives. When they found a powerful and kind person, they naturally thought of him as their savior.
They followed the people who were taken away to this place. Because he had to monitor Huang Jingrong's movements and take care of the two children, Yang Fan did not have time to go back and interrogate the fugitives with broken noses and broken ribs. He let them fend for themselves.
On the way, Yang Fan had already asked the sister and brother for their names. They were surnamed Gu. The elder sister was called Gu Yuan and the younger brother was called Gu Huan. He was not too clear about their family background. Commoners were generally unwilling to tell their children about their past. At least, they were unwilling to talk too much about the past before they grew up. When they were banished, the sister and brother were still young and did not know much about their family background.
Yang Fan thought, "Huang Jingrong gathered the people here and did not even allow them to bring their bedding. It is obvious that she wants to kill them. She did not make her move immediately because she wants to show that she has investigated the matter to avoid being attacked when she returns to the court. If I appear now, there will be no problem here. But when the news reaches the capital, the time I appear here will not match.
If I escorted the Princess to Chang 'an, even if I rushed here at top speed, I would not be able to appear here so quickly. The Empress hates people who deceive her the most, especially when she lives deep in the palace and relies on external officials for information and actions. She is even more afraid of this. If she finds out that I am pretending to obey but secretly disobeying, the consequences will be dire. Since Huang Jingrong is not in a hurry to make a move, I will wait for two more days. "
Thinking of this, Yang Fan said to the siblings, "The two of you don't have to worry. The authorities have locked up your parents and so many other villagers here to investigate a case of rebellion. Perhaps they will let your parents go after the investigation is completed. You two come with me first. Uncle will keep an eye on them. If they want to harm your parents, Uncle will go and save them. "
Gu Yuan blinked her eyes. She felt that this uncle's words were insincere, but she couldn't tell what was wrong. Her younger brother, Gu Huan, was still young, but he didn't think too much. He wanted to run over to accompany his parents, but his sister wouldn't let him. Now, he could only listen to Yang Fan's arrangements.
Yang Fan and the others continued to wait on the side until Huang Jingrong left a portion of the soldiers to watch over the refugees while she and Luo Shudao returned to the city. Only then did Yang Fan bring the Gu siblings back to the city.
Huang Jingrong checked the name list and discovered that a pair of siblings was missing. They were just two children, so he didn't take them to heart. Killing two more or two less wouldn't affect him much. He didn't have the time to wait in the valley and send out people to search for them. He could just pretend that these two people didn't exist.
After returning to the provincial capital, Huang Jingrong asked for the name list again and seriously studied it.
As for the background of these exiled people, he had to find out more about them. If there really were any exiled people who had old friends or relatives who were officials in the imperial court and had great power, then he would get rid of this family. There was no need to offend people who should not be offended. In addition, he needed to understand these people's backgrounds so that he could make the crime of rebellion sound plausible.
"Oh? The family of the former Vice Counsellor of the Ministry of Justice, Li Yueying, was also sent here? "Huang Jingrong suddenly flipped to a very familiar name and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. This Vice Counsellor of the Ministry of Justice, Li Yueying, had passed the same imperial examinations as him. Later on, they were both in the three departments of law, so they were very familiar with each other.
How could Luo Shudao remember the identities of so many people? He gave a random reply.
Huang Jingrong looked at the name list and smiled. He stroked his beard and said with a sigh, "Vice Counsellor Li was beheaded because he colluded with Zhou Xing and Qiu Shenji to rebel. His family was sent to the desolate border. Turns out they ended up here. This official and Li Yueying passed the imperial examinations in the same year. Twenty years later, one life and one death, one official and one prisoner, the fate of life really is … "
Luo Shudao was astonished. "Imperial Censor Huang has friendly relations with this Vice Counsellor Li?"
Huang Jingrong chuckled and said with a deep voice, "The two of us were imperial examinations in the same year and worked in the three departments of law, so naturally … we have a great 'friendship'!"
Huang Jingrong's words had a deeper meaning. Unfortunately, Luo Shudao didn't understand.
Li Yueying and Huang Jingrong were imperial examinations in the same year and both worked in the three departments of law, so they were indeed very familiar with each other. Unfortunately, while friends were familiar, enemies could also be familiar. After the two of them entered the government, they both worked in the three departments of law and their relationship was not bad at first. Later on, two new political stars rose up, one called Zhou Xing and the other called Lai Junchen. The two of them had their differences.
Huang Jingrong joined Lai Junchen's faction, while Li Yueying protected Zhou Xing. Li Yueying felt that Huang Jingrong, as an imperial examination scholar, joining a ruffian was a disgrace to all scholars. He was quite disdainful of him and the two of them became enemies. Later on, Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen fought for power. They each served their own masters and their relationship became even worse.
After Zhou Xing's incident, Li Yueying was also implicated by him. He was sentenced to death for treason and his family was sent here. Now that he saw his name, Huang Jingrong couldn't help but recall the old hatred in his heart. "Zhou Xing was killed for treason. Now that this matter is connected, why don't we use Li Yueying's family as the main culprits? The Li family was dissatisfied with the death of their master and colluded with other exiles after being sent here …"
Huang Jingrong thought about it and felt that this wasn't convincing enough. The main culprit could be the Li family, but there had to be someone who could be regarded as the leader. He should see if there were any imperial disciples among the exiles. If there weren't, he could say that they served the crown prince or the Prince of Luling of Fang Province as their master.
"In addition, this group of exiles won't be able to accomplish anything. They aren't convincing enough and we'll have to implicate several tribes. However, there's no rush in this matter. Let's see which chieftain doesn't come to present gifts tomorrow and then label him as a traitor. Hmm, we can't let go of that Fuming Period. We'll include him as well … "
Huang Jingrong twirled his beard, his eyes flickering. A groundless case of treason was gradually taking shape in his mind.
Luo Shudao didn't know about the grudges between Huang Jingrong and Li Yueying. Hearing his words, he really thought that Huang Jingrong and Li Yueying were old friends and wanted to help Minister Counsellor Li exonerate his family.
Although Luo Shudao couldn't remember Li Yueying's background, he suddenly thought of Yang Mingsheng's family who had moved here because of Zhou Xing's case. He continued, "Yes, because of Zhou Xing's case, many people were implicated. There's a local family that was ruined because of Zhou Xing's case …"
Luo Shudao casually mentioned the situation of Yang Mingsheng's clansmen in Feng Province. After the Yang family returned to their former residence, they had visited him in order to find a backer and even sent him a generous gift. He was also aware of the marriage between the daughter of the Yang family and Fuming Period's son. Otherwise, the already ruined Yang family wouldn't be worthy of meeting him.
Now that Huang Jingrong and Li Yueying were old friends, he could make use of this matter to form a relationship with the Yang family. This way, it would be easier to resolve the conflict between Huang Jingrong and Fuming Period.
Huang Jingrong didn't know how much power Fuming Period had in the southwest, but Luo Shudao was well aware of it. That Fuming Period might look like an inconspicuous country bumpkin, but he had more than a hundred thousand tribesmen and dozens of White Barbarian tribes attached to him. Even Luo Shudao didn't dare to offend this kind of power.
Now that Fuming Period was on bad terms with the imperial envoy, it became a sore point for him. Since there was a chance to reconcile, Luo Shudao naturally wouldn't let it go. Unexpectedly, Huang Jingrong was overjoyed when he heard this.
Back when the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate were like fire and water, their relationship was even worse than the current relationship between Yang Fan and the Censorate. Currently, Yang Fan was the only one in the Ministry of Justice to challenge the Censorate. Back then, it was Zhou Xing and his subordinates who suppressed the Censorate. As Zhou Xing's number one fighter, Yang Mingsheng had a deep grudge with the Censorate.
Furthermore, Fuming Period left in a huff during the banquet yesterday, which also shredded Luo Shudao's face. Luo Shudao wanted to teach this person a lesson. Now that there was such a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, how could he let it go? Hearing Luo Shudao's words, Huang Jingrong's' rebellion plan 'was immediately perfected.
Huang Jingrong immediately said to Luo Shudao solemnly: "Governor Luo's words are wrong! Before Yang Mingsheng died at Zhou Xing's hands, the imperial court didn't pursue the Yang family's responsibility. Who would want to harm them? Zhou Xing has been rebellious for a long time, and the Yang family is already deeply involved in it. They won't stop just because of Yang Mingsheng's death. After Zhou Xing's rebellion failed, the remaining members of his faction were either killed or demoted. The Yang family, as his trusted followers, were unwilling to give up, so they followed him here and contacted his old faction to plot a rebellion. Governor Luo, you've fallen into their trap!
You say that the Yang family is ruined? What a great joke! When Yang Mingsheng was in power, he plundered the wealth of the people. The so-called ruined is just an excuse. The money was used to buy the hearts of the people and plan a rebellion. The Yang family used a young girl to marry the head of the White Barbarians. It's also a trick. They want to buy the Barbarians and make them their own. "
Luo Shudao never expected that his words would lead to such an ending. Luo Shudao stammered: "Is … is that so?"
Huang Jingrong's eyes turned cold and he said in an awe-inspiring voice: "When I was in the capital, I received a secret report! Governor Luo, you're in charge of this area, yet you know nothing about this? "
…
In a noisy cart shop in the west of Feng Prefecture, there was a dark and dirty room. More than a dozen burly men were either standing or sitting in it. The room was filled with the stench of sweat. Some of the burly men had fierce eyebrows, some had crooked noses and stared. Their expressions and mannerisms were all different. It was as if there were statues of Luohan standing in the Luohan Hall.
In the middle sat a burly man, but he didn't look like a Buddha. His figure wasn't tall and sturdy, but he exuded a fierce murderous aura that no one dared to underestimate. Liu Junfan was standing in front of him, crying with snot and tears. Two people were lying behind Liu Junfan. One had a collapsed nose and his face was covered in blood. The other had a broken leg and was curled up like a chicken.
As for the man with broken ribs, because he was not treated in time, blood overflowed from his mouth and nose while he was unconscious, and he had already suffocated to death. The other man who had his neck broken was naturally also dead. His accomplices threw the two corpses into the bushes and didn't even bother to bury them.
"Whoever dares to touch my, Sima Buyi's people, I'll take his life!"
The burly man sneered and said with a murderous aura: "Speak, where does he live!"
…
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