I played as an assistant in ancient times

Chapter 299: Speculations

How could Shen Xiaoye listen? There were more people on the street now, so she had to walk quickly, otherwise she would be stuck in traffic.

But the next moment, my cousin said, "Look who is that person coming out of Bingmasi Hutong? He is the one wearing a brown round-necked robe and a square scarf.

Hey, he was blocked by a man carrying firewood again."

Shen Xiaoye has already recognized him: "Master Wu Qi?!"

After a sudden turn of events, she jumped off the cart and squeezed through the crowd to chase after him.

Shen Cungeng, who was left behind, pulled the car to the side and stood alertly at the shaft to see if there was anyone else around Master Wu Qi.

Fortunately, when he saw his sister catch up with someone and talk to him, no one around was paying special attention to them.

On this side, Master Wu Qi sighed and said, "Going down the river, I was acting as a guide on the trade route all the way. I never thought that they would take a detour and come to your family."

"Shall we find a place to talk?" There were many people on the street, and Shen Xiaoye was not sure whether any spies from the Guard Bureau would pass by or monitor his home. At this moment, he wished that the little black cat was by his side to help him observe if anyone was watching him.

Wu Qiye refused: “No, I can’t disclose this.

Before leaving Beijing, General Zhao specifically told me not to say anything I shouldn’t say.”

"Sorry to bother you." Shen Xiaoye and the other party clasped their fists at the same time, but she noticed that when Wu Qiye turned and left, his hand was on the jade abacus hanging on his waist for a while.

She returned to the car with a look of disappointment on her face, and had no intention of answering her cousin.

After lying on his knees and letting his thoughts drift away, Shen Xiaoye has always felt that there is something strange about his grandfather's move back to Jiuli Village. Whether it is a post-disaster epidemic or the emperor's plan to move the villagers of Qizhou to the northwest, all of these are questionable.

Only when the escort agency's partners were exposed for smuggling salt, and my grandfather and Grandpa Zhou were afraid of uncertain troubles in the future, it would make sense for them to move back to their hometowns.

Today, three years later, I still can't avoid it.

But smuggling salt...wait a minute, will the Li family also be on this line? In the past, his family’s ships went from Linghe to Tianjin and then to Dezhou and Qizhou. Will they be escorting goods all year round with Qin Qi, the old escort leader and one of the heads of the family?

Moreover, a large amount of private salt is actually official salt that has been stolen from various salt wells and salt ponds.

The first people involved in this matter are the people who are responsible for the salt tax. How can this unrelated person, who only moved back to Jiuli Village because he realized the situation too late, get out of this predicament?

Alas, Fourth Uncle was in a hurry to go to the Dali Temple, otherwise if they had exchanged information, she wouldn’t have had such wild thoughts.

Also, was it intentional or unintentional that Master Wu Qi moved the jade abacus? If so, what was he trying to convey?

Shen Xiaoye rubbed his brows, "Cousin, you said that Fourth Uncle would just look for..." She pointed to the sky, "Will he let Grandpa and Big Uncle go home?"

"I don't know." Shen Cungeng drove the car carefully. After a while, he went around Hu and prepared to take the small road where there were fewer people.

The brother and sister were in silence along the way. When they arrived outside the Hanlin Academy, they heard that Grand Secretary Lin had gone to the palace to give lectures.

They were waiting nearby out of boredom, and after a while Shen Xiaoye couldn't sit still anymore and wanted to take a walk.

She said something to her cousin and walked towards a few open-air stalls, which were selling only small items, nothing much to see.

But there is a writing shop ahead, and you can go in.

As soon as Shen Xiaoye stepped in, he heard the sound of abacus clacking in the quiet shop.

When the waiter welcomed her in, he happened to see the shopkeeper who was using the abacus pause and pick up the pen on the table to record it in the account book.

When the sound of abacus was heard again, she suddenly realized that Master Wu Qi was not hinting at the abacus, but was clearly reminding her of the account book. The Guard Bureau might be looking for some account book.

Is that why he searched his house so many times and didn't allow Fourth Uncle to see Grandpa in Beiya, to prevent the news from leaking?

She turned and left quickly, leaving the waiter who had no customers around confused.

Shen Xiaoye returned to the car and said to Shen Cungeng, "Cousin, let's go find our fourth uncle."

"I knew you couldn't hold it back." Shen Cungeng agreed very much. It was a waste of time to just wait for Master Lin. It would be better to block him when he got off work at noon.

The Dali Temple was close to the Hanlin Academy, and the two siblings arrived at the place soon. It was Shen Xiaoye who jumped out of the car first with nimble hands and feet.

It was just a coincidence that Shen Changsui and Shicun came out carrying the master's wheelchair.

Mr. Pan saw her first: "Is your grandmother anxious to see Sui Ge'er?"

"No, let's talk about it when we get home." No matter how excited Shen Xiaoye was, he couldn't talk about it here.

After the group returned home without stopping, she expressed her guess that she had seen Master Wu Qi.

“It should be that the account books or something like that were not found.

And it was Uncle Gu who hid it." As soon as Shen Changsui finished speaking, everyone in the Shen family, except Shen Xiaoye, was very surprised.

Amid everyone's puzzled looks, Shen Changsui repeated the conversation with the commander.

He said, “Just now, my teacher and I visited Doctor Bao, the one who helped us contact the Honglu Temple earlier. He was also impeached and imprisoned by the Censorate on multiple charges because of some problems found during the salt tax investigation some time ago.

One of them was accepting bribes from my family."

"This one is definitely nonsense. Oh, I don't know who ordered it.

Doctor Bao has found the key point." Shen Xiaoye thought it was too common for Grandpa Gu to be a spy from the Guard Bureau, after all, she knew General Sun Xian who was one.

But I didn’t expect, “Sir, uncle, do you know who is targeting Doctor Bao?

This person must be related to who my uncle mentioned, the one the Guards want to bring down."

"Left Censor-in-Chief, the people who impeached Brother Bao are all his cronies." Mr. Pan told her generously, and added: "This man has always been vicious and cruel. When the army was on the march, he impeached and arrested the head of the Ministry of War, and killed him during the interrogation.

His wife had no choice but to beat the drum to appeal for justice, but... nothing happened."

"I heard recently that the emperor reprimanded him after returning to the capital." What Mr. Pan did not say was that it was most likely because the Left Censor-in-Chief moved something that should not be moved, such as salt.

Shen Changsui was busy taking exams and selling cloth, so he really didn't know about the changes in the capital. "So, that person..." He pointed in the direction of the Guards Department: "Is he trying to figure out what the higher-ups are thinking?"

"It's really a battle between gods, and it affects us mortals." Shen Xiaoye decided to come to Beijing more often to do business in the future. He should not only pay attention to the people, but also pay attention to the court.

Shen Cungeng listened for a long time, wondering how his own affairs were related to the fifth-rank official, and even the chief of the Censorate was involved.

He shook his head slightly, no, he had to sort it out again. Huang looked over quietly and asked him to listen carefully.

Lin, who was sitting opposite, was stunned for a long time before she came back to her senses and said, “So, Gu Shan knew about Qin Qi’s behavior and approached us on purpose.

No wonder Changshou said last year that when he went back to Qiu County to dig something, he found that the house next door to Gushan had been bought and demolished without leaving a single tile, but no new one was built.

"Grandma." Shen Xiaoye held her hand, she slowly looked at her granddaughter and said, "But he died to protect your parents, one thing at a time.

Moreover, he has never harmed us in the several years we have been neighbors.

There are many docks and waterways over there, so he must have found more than one."

"Grandma, I know." Grandpa Gu must have found out that his family was not involved in any illegal activities, which is why his relationship with grandpa is getting better and better.

Shen Changsui observed his mother's expression and saw that she seemed to be recalling something, so he quietly signaled everyone to keep quiet.