The loyal minister was forced to marry the traitor

As soon as Bai Yan walked halfway, the servants from Mr. Fang's mansion heard the news and came over.

"Lord Bai!" The leader was the butler of the Fang Mansion. He knelt down when he saw Bai Yan, "The people in the house have eyes that don't recognize Mount Tai, so they treated you poorly. The little ones pleaded guilty to him on his behalf, and please forgive me."

"It's just waiting for the servants to kill me. I don't mind, but don't wait for the nobleman any longer. In the end, Mr. Fang will be affected."

Bai Yan said "it doesn't matter", but on the surface he deliberately put on a bullying look.

He is an official of the third rank, and Fang Yue is only the fourth rank.Although Bai Yan is not as powerful as Fang Yue in real power, the other party still wants to submit to him on the surface.

Bai Yan did a lot of things that caused trouble to others, so naturally he didn't hesitate to act arrogantly and arrogantly in front of Fangfu's slaves.

He thought to himself that there is no one around him who is useful for the time being, and it is inconvenient for him to break up with Fang Yue. He knows that the other party has become vigilant, so why not pretend to be ignorant of everything, and paralyze Fang Yue for a while, and wait for the rest It's not too late to calculate the total ledger when the subordinates arrive.

Sure enough, Bai Yan's appearance of "making progress" made the housekeeper secretly curse: a stupid and ignorant young boy, but he is so arrogant because of the momentum of the Taishifu and the eunuch Bingbi, just by looking at it, he knows that he is a person who can't stand on the stage .

Both of them have one thing on the outside and another on the inside.

"Master Bai's words are very true. This slave should punish him when he goes back." The housekeeper followed his words, and while intending to flatter him, he led Bai Yan to Fangfu.

If it was said that he just lamented the difficult life of the people before, then after seeing his extravagant and ostentatious mansion, Bai Yan only had uncontrollable anger in his chest.

What the imperial court was unable to provide in time for disaster relief, what was the lack of food in the warehouse, Fang Yue simply squandered the people's fat and anointing.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the emperor of the earth. The lake in the courtyard passes through the wall. The housekeeper said that it is a clear spring brought down from the mountain, and the rockery and rocks are brought from the coast of the East China Sea. moved here...

Every time the butler said a word, the people around Bai Yan gritted their teeth angrily. On the other hand, Bai Yan was furious in his heart, but he couldn't bear it on his face, and he chatted happily with the butler uncharacteristically.

"Only Yao Huang Wei Zi is the most gorgeous in my house. I don't lack anything else, except for the autumn water crabapple... The one in Mr. Fang's house blooms quite to my liking."

The name of Bai Yan's servant was Cheng Yang, and after hearing Bai Yan's words, he lied in a low voice, "The flowers that can be counted in the house are the apricot blossoms from the apricot branches next door, adults can really blow..."

Bai Yan was close, and when he heard it, he glared at him calmly.

Cheng Yang stuck out his tongue, but his heart was not flat, it was clearly the truth, the land as big as a palm in Bai Mansion, the soil was clumped, how could it grow delicate flowers such as peonies, that is, his lord Hu Suwa.

Fangfu's courtyard was about the same size as the mansion of a first-rank official in Yingdu, and Bai Yan silently remembered several places that were patrolled.

Not long after, he was led into the flower hall by the housekeeper.

"Lord Bai!" From far away, I saw a person walking out, the golden thread on the brocade robe reflected the candlelight, which was extravagant, but that flattering face was hard to make people feel good.

Fang Yue's person, Bai Yan, has heard of it for a long time.

He was originally from a poor family, and he passed the imperial examinations at twenty and three. At that time, the emperor held the imperial examinations. He stood out from his birthplace at a young age, and at the same time, he was favored by a well-known wealthy businessman in the town, who married his only daughter to him.

A moment of fame and fortune.

With the help of the Yue family's financial support, Fang Yue successfully entered the palace examination all the way, but there were so many talented students in his classmates, so he only got a second and sixteenth place in the end.

I can't help but sigh that he is lucky. At the Qionglin Banquet, the number one scholar, Tanhua, was upset and left early. The second place was a stupid old man. The eyes of the prince.

It is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son, but Fang Yue's methods are clever, coupled with good luck, he has been promoted all the way, and was exiled to Yongzhou Mansion within a few years.

"Trial and settlement of lawsuits, inspection of traitors, assessment of subordinate officials, and collection of taxes", these sixteen not only allowed him to sit firmly on the prefect of Yongzhou Prefecture, but also gave him the opportunity to amass a lot of money.

Countless ways to kill this man flashed through Bai Yan's mind, but in the end it turned into a smile, "Lord Fang."

Both of them have been immersed in the officialdom for many years, not to mention Fang Yue's extreme means. He looks fair, and with a tall figure, he can't see a little bit of wine erosion from the outside. "It's better to be famous than to meet, Bo Your lord is indeed elegant and profound!"

He pretended to be ingratiating, and Bai Yan was not inferior to him in the slightest, followed by the next sentence, "Lord Fang is absurd, you are a talent out of the crowd, the boy is just in the honor of his mentor, it is nothing."

They're all official foxes, they can't fool anyone, they're all kind on the surface.

Wine bags and rice bags are not a climate, but people like Fang Yue are by no means just perfunctory.But in just half an hour, Bai Yan saw Fang Yue's methods.

Bai Yan breathed out a foul breath, and was supported by Cheng Yang to walk towards the guest room. Two or three people in front led the way, and the lantern illuminated the path under their feet, but Bai Yan had one deep foot and one shallow foot, and almost fell over when he stepped over the steps. go down.

After finally helping Bai Yan into the guest room, Cheng Yang was about to speak, but Bai Yan, who had softened into a puddle of water just now, picked up the cloth towel beside the bed and stuffed it into his mouth.

Cheng Yang: "..."

"From now on, act according to my wink." After saying this quickly, Bai Yan deliberately overturned the small stool with the smell of alcohol.

Cheng Yang understood, took the cloth towel and threw it away, and immediately shouted at the top of his voice, "Oh, my lord, please slow down..."

There was a commotion in the room, Bai Yan vomited and lost his temper indiscriminately, the maid of the Fang Mansion boiled hot water and brought it in, and "by the way" took a look at Bai Yan's situation.

At that moment, Mr. Bai, who was breezy and breezy, was lying on the bed like a muddy beach, his clothes were wrinkled and his hair was disheveled, looking very embarrassed...and defenseless.

With a helpless expression, Cheng Yang "complained" and said, "My lord is fond of wine, but if he drinks too much..." He closed his mouth halfway through, as if he realized that he should not talk about his master in front of outsiders.

The maid was polite again and again, and finally got the person away, Cheng Yang let out a sigh of relief, sat at the table and complained in a low voice, "Master Fang is too treacherous, we have made such a big commotion, and even sent People come in and see."

The next moment, the "drunk" Bai Yan got up. He leaned against the bed with an indifferent expression on his face, "Fang Yue is cunning and scheming, so don't take it lightly. Let's see if he got me drunk tonight.

"It's also because I underestimated the enemy. I thought that Yongzhou Mansion was not far from Ying. No matter how courageous the magistrate was, he would not dare to act like this. But now that I think about it, I was wrong. Fang Yue is about to step down. According to tonight's observation, he If you are not afraid of me coming, it is probably because you are ready to win me over, or...kill me to silence you, that's why the housekeeper said so much to us so nonchalantly."

Even though he was pretending a lot, Bai Yan still drank a little too much. He pressed the center of his brows and continued, "Fang Yue has already grown his appetite. I don't know if he still has a backer behind him, but this time the flood in Yongzhou is definitely a problem. It won't be as simple as it seems."

Hearing this, Cheng Yang tightened his heart, "My lord, Fang Yue couldn't possibly be so courageous as to destroy the dam on purpose. This is a serious crime, and the destruction of his nine clans is not enough for the common people to be angry!"

Bai Yan shook his head, "It's hard to say for now, but there is no evidence at present, and it's just my guess."

What he didn't say is that now that the enemy is in the dark and they are in the light, some things are still inconvenient after all.And this is what he is most worried about right now.

Cheng Yang slept next door, and on the first night when he first arrived in Yongzhou Mansion, Bai Yan suffered from insomnia.His mind repeated the scenes he saw during the day over and over again.

Natural disasters are ruthless, but the most frightening thing is that the ruthlessness of man-made disasters is better than natural disasters.

Hopefully, it's not as he guessed.

In the early morning of the next day, Bai Yan proposed to take a look around. Sure enough, Fang Yue's expression was the same, and he arranged a luxurious carriage with many attendants.

Fang Yue's calm performance made Bai Yan's heart sink a little bit.

He has no scruples, what does this mean, it means that he doesn't care how Bai Yan patrolled, either he has already dealt with all the clues, or he is ready to restrain Bai Yan.

A strong dragon can't overwhelm a local snake, even if Bai Yan is an imperial envoy personally appointed by the emperor, his eyes will be darkened here.

What Fang Yue can see and hear is what Fang Yue wants him to see.

Unlike the scene he walked through yesterday, the place where Fang Yue arranged for people to take him to was also hit by floods, but the garrison was there and helped the local people rebuild.

When noon came, dozens of people pulled wooden carts filled with vats filled with rice porridge.

"Come on, one by one..."

"Here's another one..."

"Are there any more steamed buns, send some over here..."

The front of the wooden cart was full of people, and Bai Yan walked over slowly, and saw the thick porridge almost pouring out.

The housekeeper of the nearby Fang Mansion was still there. Fang Yue claimed that he had other important matters, so he asked the housekeeper to follow Bai Yan for him. On the surface, he was a slave to be driven, but the meaning of surveillance was too obvious.

"To tell you the truth, Mr. Bo, since the flood happened, my lord has been so anxious that he can't sleep every day. He still had blisters in his mouth a few days ago. Seeing the severity of the disaster, he can only use his own property of his father-in-law's family to buy high-priced rice. food to relieve the victims..."

Bai Yan didn't talk, Cheng Yang couldn't listen anymore, he held a grass leaf in his mouth, "The little one may be blind, why did you see Master Fang being very energetic, and he insisted on dragging my lord to get drunk last night Fang Xiu, tsk tsk, the blisters on his mouth are cured so quickly!"

"You..." The butler was about to scold.

Unexpectedly, Bai Yan said indifferently, "You are the only one with a mouth, are others blind?"

On the surface it was scolding, but the sarcasm in the words was not concealed, especially the sarcasm was too obvious, the butler was so angry that he could hardly hold back the respect on his face.

"Okay, there's no need to say more about those insignificant things. What you see with your eyes is the truth." Bai Yan slammed the housekeeper of Fang's house, and the other party was not stupid. He choked and followed behind slowly. There was no nonsense for several hours.

Without the butler chattering beside him, Bai Yan's mood improved a lot. After seeing so many dirty things, he simply tore his face, and he didn't follow Fang Yue's wishes, but walked around completely as he wanted.

The place where the porridge is given out is full of loopholes, only the "disaster victims" have no injuries on their bodies, all of them are clean, but the porridge is thick, but Bai Yan has excellent eyesight, and he can see people from a distance without eating, casually in remote places Poured clean.

At first glance, they are pretending to be disaster victims.

Not to mention other things, but the places Bai Yan visited yesterday, the victims didn't even get the bark, so how could they waste food like this.

After a while, Bai Yan asked Cheng Yang, "Find an opportunity to go out and send news, and send the news here back to Yingdu."

Cheng Yang nodded, and then tried to speak, "Should we still pass it on to the Holy One?"

Bai Yan thought for a while, then shook his head, "No, this time pass it to Eunuch Huai Chun."

It's not that Bai Yan can't trust the emperor, but that he has a lot of ties to it. He doesn't trust anyone, only Huai Chun, and...how much is the matter handled by the eunuch Bingbi himself different from the emperor's?

He believed that Huai Chun understood what he meant.

Cheng Yang was clever, and soon covered his stomach as an excuse to go out. Bai Yan "looked impatient", and the housekeeper didn't think much about it. Compared to a small servant, Bai Yan had the power in his hands, so he had to keep an eye on this. is the most important.

Seeing that he walked towards the worst-hit place, the housekeeper's face became more and more ugly, "My lord, it's very messy over there, it's better not to go any further, I'm afraid it will stain your shoes and socks."

Bai Yan was unmoved, "Since I have been ordered by the sage, I should devote myself to it. This trivial matter is nothing, just get out of the way, and I hope to see it as soon as possible so I can deal with it."

The housekeeper still hesitated, Bai Yan signaled his subordinates to pull him away, and stepped into the mud without hesitation.

The Xi River crosses Yongzhou Prefecture, and another Yue River meets here. There are many hills in the surrounding area, so the river course is curved and has many rapids. Coupled with the torrential rain and overturning some time ago, the water level of the Yue River, which originally gave birth to the 67 counties of Jiufu, soared.

Bai Yan has researched the river course here, and it was originally a land boundary with many floods during the flood season. However, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry in the previous dynasty was a man with high eyesight and a low hand. He took the heavy responsibility of building embankments, but he destroyed the river course here and forcibly built thirteen roads. river dam.

Once Dayu used dredging instead of blocking to control the water, but the minister of the Ministry of Industry went his own way and insisted on forcibly adding three dams at the confluence of the two rivers.

If it was fine in the past few years, after all, there was little rain, but this year's autumn, the weather in Yongzhou Prefecture is very abnormal. After a few rains, the water level of the Yue River and the Xi River was as high as more than ten meters.

There are thousands of acres of fertile land by the river, which was originally the day when the people harvested, but the flood passed through and nothing was left.

As far as Bai Yan could see, the water had passed and the tide was receding, and a thick layer of silt had accumulated in the fields.

"Oh, mediocrity is deceiving the people!" A gray-haired old man next to him sighed while leaning on a crutch.

Bai Yan narrowed his eyes to look at him, and tried to talk to him, "Old man, are you from this village?"

The old man was silent.

"I came from Yingdu..." Bai Yan added.

The old man finally had some reaction, but he got up and walked to the other side, his trembling voice overflowed in the wind, "Raw dogs of the same feather, go with the same tide... The sky has no eyes, so it's hard to make it clear..."

"My lord, this old man..." The attendant was a little annoyed, and it was clear that the old man meant something.

Bai Yan held him down, "Don't talk nonsense, help me lure away the people from Fangfu later."

Not long after, the steward of the Fang family lost the trace of Bai Yan. He wanted to find him, but let alone himself, even his subordinates were caught.

Bai Yan got rid of the steward's stalking, and his body became much lighter. Following the direction just now, he walked slowly into the village.

The traces left by the passage of the flood are still there, most of the houses have collapsed, and the mud on the road can directly cover your feet if you step on it.Bai Yan stomped over with one foot and one shallow foot. There were few people in the village. The clothes of the children in the village were dirty, and their little faces were covered with mud.

"Brother, is there anything to eat?" One child was obviously more courageous, and the other children were afraid to come over, but he grabbed Bai Yan's sleeve and whispered, "I'm hungry..."

Feeling like being stabbed in the heart, Bai Yan was full of soreness, he shook his head, "I don't have any food with me now."

The child let go of his sleeves, his bright eyes dimmed.

A momentary sense of powerlessness invaded him. He used to have his eyes above the roof and was never afraid of anything, but until now, he was filled with guilt and remorse because of a child's eyes that suddenly darkened.

If... had heard the news and worked hard to fight for it, wouldn't these children have been so miserable?

If it had been arranged earlier, wouldn't so many people have no hope of life?

Knowing that the answer is no, Bai Yan still cast aside his own incompetence.

"Most people live a life of mediocrity, and naturally they are also precarious. One moment they have no worries about food and clothing, but the next moment they may have nothing to live..."

The old man appeared again.

Bai Yan followed the voice and looked over, bowing respectfully.

"You kid has a secretive mind and a deep city." The old man leaned on a crutch, "but you have rare clear eyes, and you are a sincere person."

Bai Yanwen was stunned for a moment, the first half of the sentence was evaluated by most people, but the second half of the sentence was only said by Marquis Pingjin.

It's embarrassing to say, even Bai Yan himself feels that he is not an upright person, his temperament is changeable, and if he doesn't harm others, it is already an ancestor's incense, if you expect him to be a gentleman, even he can laugh out loud when he hears it.

But Marquis Pingjin touched his head at that time, and said seriously, "There are many people with evil intentions in this world, murderers, selfish people, flatterers, contemptible people, poor people... all kinds There are all kinds of people in the world, but I think you are another kind of person..."

Bai Yan was still young at that time and didn't know so much, so he just raised his head and asked in doubt, "The other kind of person, who is it?"

"Sincere and trustworthy." Pingjinhou pinched his nose, "Maybe you are naturally cold and indifferent, but I know that you have a magnanimous heart, a tolerant heart, and this heart...is also hot. "

"Is it true love and true sex?" Time has passed, Bai Yan dreamed back at midnight, and thought of these words countless times, but he felt that Marquis Pingjin had misjudged him, how could he afford those four words because he was so incompetent?

"Old man, I came to you for no other reason," Bai Yan suppressed the surging emotions in his chest, and said, "Do you know what's going on with the flood in Yongzhou Prefecture?"

He just looked around the river, although he doesn't understand water conservancy, but some things are full of loopholes.Bai Yan couldn't trust others, nor could he trust his own speculation. He couldn't explain why, but he vaguely felt that he could find the answer by coming to this old man.

The old man's eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his fingers trembled, "There shouldn't be such a disaster in Yongzhou Prefecture!"

In a word, Bai Yan's heart sank.

Either a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, and the source of all this...

"My lord should come from Yingdu." The old man sat down against the wall. "Actually, the first time I saw my lord, I knew you were not Fang Yue and his ilk. They are all inhuman things. For the sake of fame and profit, he did not hesitate to destroy Yongzhou Mansion... But, what is wrong with the common people!"

Bai Yan's hands under the sleeves were clenched tightly.

The old man was still saying that Bai Yan's complexion was getting worse and worse. If there was still groundless speculation before, then it is now a certain fact.

half a month ago.

"My lord, according to that person's intention, we have already made preparations. We can only have a heavy rain tomorrow, and everything will come naturally."

Fang Yue had several big boxes at hand, and other things were still being carried in one box after another.

"Speaking of which, God gave me a chance this time. I have been in the Yongzhou Mansion for many years, and I have suffered all kinds of dirty things. If I don't make a fortune now, how can I be worthy of years of painstaking efforts, just wasting ten thousand hectares of fertile land... Tsk tsk, if it was exchanged for taels of silver, how much would it be..."

Fang Yue sighed to himself, and the butler beside him approached, "Your Excellency, you're thinking about it now. They say that rare goods are good for living. If there is too much rice and grain in the warehouse, then there will be no chance to increase the price. If your lord wants to make money here It’s not easy for a sum of money.”

"You're right, no one knows the value of something until it's rare," Fang Yue casually picked up a silver ingot and rubbed it, "Only silver can make me feel at ease..."

Fang Yue was very satisfied, and the butler laughed, "Wait a few more days, everything will be yours, and the price will be raised on the floor, depending on your mood."

"Tsk, just thinking about it makes people feel happy." Fang Yue's mouth curled up into a smile, "It's just that I have to think about when to report the flood in Yongzhou Prefecture. Get caught."

Fang Yue made his own calculations, and the housekeeper stepped forward at the right time, "The time to report this should not be missed, but if...the flood and the banditry, it's not because we don't do anything at that time, people are needed for disaster relief, and people are also needed for suppressing bandits , you can’t take care of both ends, if you delay one or two... it seems to be a reasonable thing.”

The butler smiled until the creases on his face gathered, Fang Yue frowned first, and then suddenly realized, he patted the butler on the shoulder, "You should be more thoughtful, how serious is this banditry, and when will it be cleared up? In the end, it’s not up to us!”

"If the Holy Majesty is to blame, there will be that noble person to help us cover up one or two things. After all, it is a matter of mutual benefit. We can't just tell us to rush forward. That one should hide behind and count the money!"

The more Fang Yue thinks about it, the more excited he is. He has been in office for many years, he has scruples about this and that, and he doesn't know how much money he has lost. This time, he will fight no matter what. As long as he follows their plan, he will definitely make a lot of money in the end Full.

The housekeeper also understood what Fang Yue meant, and he also looked forward to that day, and it would depend on how much God could bless him when the time came, as long as everything went well, he would not have to worry about it for the rest of his life.

"...At first, no one in the village thought that the embankment would break in the middle of the night. In the days of heavy rain, experienced people sent young people from the village to check the situation. Even if it is rebuilt, it will not flood the entire village, but I never expected..."

"Little ghosts are hard to guard against!" The old man sighed, "Is human life really not as important as the things outside the body?!"

Bai Yan's eyes were red, and now he wished he could kill Fang Yue and others.

"It's hard to support a single tree, let alone us ordinary people, how can we fight against those beasts? After the village was flooded, we planned to find a few young people to send news to Yingdu, but Fang Yue's old and cunning thing bribed the people in the village. , I got the news in advance and immediately blocked all the roads, and it was rumored that the heavy rain made the official road difficult, people inside couldn't get out, and people outside couldn't get in."

Hearing this, Bai Yan was right. He had asked Yan Ruli before, and he was right because he heard that the official path was muddy and difficult. Now it seems that it was all Fang Yue's tricks.

"Up to now, Fang Yue already knows that he can't hide it anymore, and he is afraid that he is going to kill him now."

The old man looked at Bai Yan, and slowly knelt down, "My lord, the old man knows that he will die soon, so he has nothing else to ask for now," he tremblingly pointed at the few people around him, the few children from before were huddled in the corner, obediently Like a little quail, "I just hope that the adults can protect them safe, at least, leave a descendant, and someone can burn a paper in the lonely grave in the future."

Bai Yan helped him up, "Even if the old man doesn't say anything, I will try my best to do it. If I failed to save more people early, I will regret it for the rest of my life. If I can't even protect them, I'm afraid I will die again." Go back without face."

"My lord, the old man knows that I am too selfish, but there is nothing I can do about it..." The old man's hair is gray, his body is hunched, and there are hot tears in his cloudy eyes, and Bai Yan's heart is clenched.

----

Fang Yue was busy transferring money, and when he knew that Bai Yan had learned everything, he was so angry that he smashed several vases, "Then you can't look down on such a frail scholar!"

Originally, Bai Yan's early arrival at Yongzhou Mansion disrupted his plan, but now that he knows everything, he doesn't have to think about what will happen to him in the future.

"My lord, why don't you just do one thing and kill him directly, and say to the outside world that he is not acclimatized, and plunged into the water and drowned."

There is someone nearby to help.

Fang Yue hesitated, "Eunuch Huaichun and the Grand Master's Mansion, if I ask, how should I deal with it? I can hide this matter from others, but I can't hide it from those two old and cunning people. It’s not going to be good.”

"Your Excellency is too worried, this matter should be done cleanly, as long as we bite to death and refuse to admit it, they can't still torture and extract a confession, besides, there is someone over there who will make things up for Your Excellency, it's hard to say, Mr. Huaichun, but the Grand Master's Mansion should be able to Get over it."

Fang Yue still had scruples, Bai Yan himself had nothing to be afraid of, but the people behind him couldn't be messed with one by one.

"My lord," the subordinates forced him to make a decision, "it's better not to delay this matter. Once the people from the household department arrive, it will be difficult to start at that time."

"But……"

"We can't hesitate anymore, Bai Yan knows too much," the subordinates added to the anger, "If you delay any longer, don't talk about whether the money will reach the master's hands in the end, it's up to me to wait for it Not being able to retreat is a problem!"

Fang Yue finally made a decision.

The master and servant discussed for more than half an hour, and finally decided to use the identity of a "bandit" to kill Bai Yan, and then pretended to be a bandit and went down the mountain to invade and plunder. Bai Yan was accidentally involved in his death. With poor care, Fang Yue bears the least responsibility.

Leaving Shangcun, there were only three people behind Bai Yan, and one of them seemed to be Zhang Zhu who had led him the way before.

"My lord, you can't go back to Yongzhou Fucheng now. Fang Yue is probably ready to murder you now. If you go to the direction of Yingdu first, if..."

"There are people guarding the Fucheng, and there are people guarding the direction of Yingdu, and there is no way to escape." Bai Yan actually had already thought about the consequences when he asked the Fangfu steward to dismiss him at that time. Although he kept telling himself to Be steady, you can't scare the snake, but the situation in Yongzhou Mansion is already on the surface, how can he bear it.

"But there are Fang Yue's people everywhere here, and his brother-in-law still has soldiers in his hands. Once the search is overwhelming, let alone a living person, even a small bug can be found."

"So the most urgent thing is to find a place to hide." At that time, Bai Yan had already arranged for the remaining people in Shangcun to hide.

Just like him, as long as Fang Yue can free his hand, no one in this village can escape.

Compared to the worries of the people around him, Bai Yan was very calm, "Fang Yue will kill me, but he has some obstacles, and it is impossible to send someone to do it himself. Now... what method do you think he will use to kill me? ?”

People around: "..."

Being able to talk about another person's life and death so plainly is also an eye-opener for them.

When others encountered this kind of thing, they must have been so frightened that they couldn't do anything, and then thought about how to escape, but Bai Yan was calm and composed. Just with this mentality, others couldn't catch up with him.

"My lord, Fang Yue wished he could get rid of you soon, so why would he wait to use someone else's hand to kill you? What he is most afraid of now is the arrival of the people from the household department. When the time comes, under the watchful eyes of everyone, if you have the slightest damage, don't say anything." Fang Yue has to bear the responsibility, even the people from the household department will suffer. Therefore, in order to avoid this kind of embarrassment, he must kill you before the people from the household department arrive."

Bai Yan nodded and shook his head again, "You're only half right."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Fang Yue is afraid of being caught by the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he has to rush ahead. There is no problem, but don't forget, there is still a trick in this world called killing with a borrowed knife."

"Who borrowed the knife? It can't be his brother-in-law."

Bai Yan said indifferently, "If I remember correctly, Zhang Zhu said before that after the flood happened, the bandits on the mountain went down the mountain to loot twice, which led to the looting of the last bit of food for the people, right?"

Zhang Zhu nodded, "Originally there was a group of bandits on the mountain. They were not many at first, but after Fang Yue took office, they colluded with him, which made the opponent's momentum soar, and came down the mountain every now and then to invade and plunder."

"I heard that Fang Yue sometimes called the bandits when he was inconvenient to come forward. The two parties must have reached an agreement, otherwise the bandits would not have become more rampant over the years, but Fang Yue had no response."

Bai Yan nodded, "Looks like my death is most likely to be done by bandits."

After figuring this out, Bai Yan was not in a hurry, "Since the bandits are going to do it, then he must be deliberately pretending to be a bandit to invade and loot. As soon as the disaster relief money from the household department arrives, he will exploit the next layer, and only wait for the flood to be resolved before resigning with the money, what a good way to push all the responsibilities to the bandits, and he will naturally sit firmly on the Diaoyutai."

"My lord, what should we do next?"

"That's right, when the bandits come down the mountain, don't talk about me waiting, even the people in this village will die innocently."

Bai Yan remained silent, thought for a while, and finally said lightly, "I want the bandits to take my life, but I rely on the other party's ignorance. He Fang Yue has a good plan, so I can't fight back."

He pulled his lips slightly, "It depends on who we kill first in the end."

----

On the mountain about forty miles away from Yongzhou Mansion, everyone in Yunzhai will wake up.

Suddenly, a person came running from the bottom of the mountain, "Boss, four people came down from the mountain and said they want to discuss a business with you."

The head of the family was dressed in tiger fur, with tight arms, and a several-inch-long scar running across his face, making him even more menacing, "Who are they?"

"I just said that there is a big deal to be done with the big boss. One of them looks weak and seems to be a scholar. The rest should be his attendants. They don't look like people who know martial arts."

"Scholar?"

The head of the family was even more puzzled, how many lands does this Yongzhou Mansion have, no one dares to provoke like this, but he became a little interested, "Bring them up, let me see what kind of gods they are."

"Yes."

A few young men went down the mountain to kidnap people, and not long after, they saw that several people were tied up in a big way, the leader looked quite pretty, but it was a pity that such an outstanding appearance was not a woman .

Bai Yan was pushed and shoved, but he didn't get angry, and his expression remained calm from beginning to end.

The head of the family narrowed his eyes, "Who are you?"

Bai Yan was neither humble nor overbearing, "Bai Yan, the left deputy governor of the third rank at the time, is the censor."

"Hey!" Someone in the crowd exclaimed, but the head of the family didn't expect to be a high-ranking official. He stared at Bai Yan with some doubts, "Who are you lying to? The dignified high-ranking officials don't shrink back in the city. , How could you come to the bandit's lair, and still clamoring to do business with me, I'm afraid it's not here to scold me!"

"You worry too much, I'm not pretending to be an identity, nor did I come to make you happy on purpose. I just encountered some difficulties in front of me. Others can't help me, so I can only look for you."

"Hahaha, this is even more nonsense. Even if you are a high-ranking official in the court, if you don't go to the magistrate for something, you go to the bandit's den to look for me. It's because you have a brain problem, or my ear is broken."

Bai Yan sighed, "You can't find anyone else for a ready-made business, you can only find the big boss. If you didn't come to you sincerely, how could you risk your life to go up the mountain?" He looked up and swept the surrounding bandits, "The big boss also takes a look These brothers of yours, they have followed you through life and death, and have suffered a lot of infamy, if you only think about yourself, wouldn’t it be cold to their hearts!"

"You have a sharp tongue, you kid, don't sow discord here, how do I treat my brothers, they are clear!"

Bai Yan laughed when he heard the words, "Isn't the kindness just spoken out, isn't there a saying that always says that? If I have a bowl of rice to eat, you will have a bowl of soup to drink. The friendship that the master has for his brothers will not be faked." , but the four words of incapacity are always true, in other words, the head of the family can't even drink soup now, how can he treat your brothers favorably?"

"You..." The leader was at a loss for words for a moment.

Bai Yan broke free and continued to add fuel to the flames, "I don't want to hide the matter now, it's like this, I was originally an imperial envoy sent by the emperor to Yongzhou Mansion to handle disaster relief..."

He glanced at the people around him, "As you all know, there is a lot of knowledge in this matter of disaster relief, and a layer of oil and water just rolled off is enough for half a lifetime, so two days ago, I discussed it with Master Fang, the prefect. Originally, the two of us agreed that I would have six and the other four, but I didn't expect my people to find out that he planned to take even my share..."

"Think about it, can I agree to this?"

Bai Yan seemed really angry, his eyes were red, "It's actually a matter of mutual benefit between you and me, but this Fang Yue is too deceitful. Not only does he want to plot against the big ones, but he also wants to kill me together!"

At this point, everyone believed in what he said.After all, they are people who have dealt with them before, and they know Fang Yue's greedy nature.

"So you came here to think?" The head of the family had already made up his mind, and seeing him take the bait, Bai Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course we need to find another partner." Bai Yan looked at the head of the family, "The most suitable person is you."

"Aren't you afraid that I will follow Fang Yue's example and swallow yours too?" the head of the family asked tentatively.

Bai Yan pretended to be helpless, but in an instant he smiled again, "I believe that the head of the family is not that kind of person." He looked serious, "I know I came here suddenly this time, why not like this, if the head of the family this time How about swallowing that batch of disaster money for me, and we split half and half?"

It was as if a piece of flesh had been gouged out of him. He couldn't sit still after hearing the words, but he still wanted some more, so his greedy nature was exposed. Familiar with the local situation, I seven you three, how about it?"

"The head of the family is too deceitful. Although I have no hands, the batch of disaster relief money will eventually go through my hands. As long as I don't let go, you