Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1741 Untitled
Upon hearing Feng Yuan's promise to raise five thousand taels of silver, Ma Runchuan reluctantly nodded and said:

"I'm leaving this matter to you. You need to communicate well with those landlords and gentry, and make them understand how much His Majesty values ​​this matter. I believe they are all reasonable people and willing to contribute to the education cause in Qilu!"

Feng Yuan was already overjoyed when he heard Ma Runchuan entrust this matter to him. He knew this was a good opportunity to use Ma Runchuan's name to gain influence, and he began to make plans in his mind. As for what Ma Runchuan said next, he didn't listen to a word of it, but that didn't stop him from saying to Ma Runchuan:
"Sir, rest assured! I guarantee I will arrange everything perfectly!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Runchuan nodded slightly, and then gave the following instructions:

"You go down first!"

Upon hearing Ma Runchuan's words, Feng Yuan's expression immediately changed, and he couldn't help but glance at Zhao Dekai beside him, feeling extremely disappointed. However, on the surface, he still smiled and replied:

"Yes!"

After saying that, Feng Yuan left the room. Zhao Dekai glanced at Feng Yuan out of the corner of his eye before quickly resuming his respectful expression.

Although the changes in the expressions of the two clerks were very subtle, Ma Runchuan took them all in. Ma Runchuan said nothing, but he was very satisfied. Over the years as an official, he had learned some ways of managing people. His subordinates could not be all in harmony, otherwise they would easily become a stagnant pool. His two clerks had a very good relationship before, but the two of them colluded and secretly embezzled money together.

If it weren't for a chance encounter, Ma Runchuan would have remained completely unaware of what his two advisors had been doing behind his back.

The Provincial Governor of Shandong was furious about this and immediately had both men arrested and imprisoned to repent.
Although he was very angry, he still needed someone by his side to offer advice and do things for him, so Ma Runchuan still looked for a new advisor.

These are Feng Yuan and Zhao Dekai. Feng Yuan used to be a shopkeeper, but he was fired from the business because of some personal issues. Ma Runchuan valued his business acumen and recruited him to be his advisor.

Compared to Feng Yuan, who became a secretary halfway through his career, Zhao Dekai was a full-time secretary. He was from Kuaiji in Jiangnan, a place that has been known for producing secretaries since ancient times. He was originally the secretary of Xue Heng, the prefect of Langya. Because of his outstanding performance under Xue Heng, he was noticed by Ma Runchuan. After carefully learning about Zhao Dekai's past, Ma Runchuan also had the idea of ​​poaching him.

Although Xue Heng was unwilling to hand over Zhao Dekai, under the combined pressure and kindness of his superior Ma Richuan, he had no choice but to let go. Thus, Zhao Dekai became Ma Richuan's advisor.

Under Ma Runchuan, Feng Yuan and Zhao Dekai had a clear division of labor. Feng Yuan, a former manager, was responsible for Ma Runchuan's financial affairs, while Zhao Dekai, a traditional advisor, mainly handled administrative matters and other miscellaneous tasks for Ma Runchuan.

Because of the previous lessons learned, in order to prevent Feng Yuan and Zhao Dekai from colluding like the two previous advisors and embezzling money in his name behind his back, Ma Runchuan intentionally sowed discord between Feng Yuan and Zhao Dekai. Under his instigation, Feng Yuan and Zhao Dekai became sworn enemies and never spoke to each other again.

Ma Runchuan slowly pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at Zhao Dekai, asking:
"How is the situation on His Majesty's side?"

Although Ma Runchuan's question was somewhat vague, Zhao Dekai, as his advisor, understood his thoughts well, so he answered directly:
"Wang Yaozu prepared three 'skin horses' for His Majesty, but His Majesty only kept one named Sun Ning'er. However, it is said that this Sun Ning'er has some tricks up her sleeve. These past few days, she has been serving His Majesty very well. His Majesty has already given the order that she must serve him by his side for the foreseeable future!"

Hearing this, Ma Runchuan nodded slightly, then seemed to suddenly remember something, and immediately asked Zhao Dekai:
"Is this Sun Ning'er the one who's worth a thousand taels of silver?"

Zhao Dekai nodded without hesitation and said:

"That's right, it was she who spent a thousand taels of silver from Wang Yaozu!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yunchuan said with some emotion:
"You really do get what you pay for! Those with higher prices definitely have better quality!"

To please Ye Mingsheng, Wang Yaozu spent three thousand taels of silver to buy five "Jiangnan slender horses" (a euphemism for prostitutes from Jiangnan). Although these "Jiangnan slender horses" were all purchased, their prices varied. Top-tier "Jiangnan slender horses," like Sun Ning'er, with her high looks, good figure, proficiency in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and ability to speak well and serve others, commanded a higher price of one thousand taels of silver…
The Jiangnan "slender horses," who were slightly inferior to Sun Ning'er, cost between a few hundred taels of silver. Although Wang Yaozu was reluctant to spend the money, he was serving Ye Mingsheng after all, so he dared not buy those inferior Jiangnan "slender horses." Therefore, he spent two thousand taels of silver to buy four Jiangnan "slender horses."

Although the purpose was to serve Ye Mingsheng and make him feel at home in Qilu, Wang Yaozu understood the principle that a county official is not as good as a county manager. Therefore, before offering Sun Ning'er to Ye Mingsheng, he also meaningfully offered Sun Ning'er to Ma Runchuan.

At the time, although Ma Runchuan also wanted to try what it was like to be a Jiangnan "slender horse" worth a thousand taels of silver, the person was ultimately prepared for Ye Mingsheng. Therefore, in order to satisfy Ye Mingsheng, Ma Runchuan could not overstep his bounds and chose two relatively ordinary Jiangnan "slender horses".

Hearing how much Ye Mingsheng doted on Sun Ning'er, Ma Runchuan couldn't help but wonder what kind of tricks Sun Ning'er had up her sleeve.

Despite his curiosity, Ma Runchuan understood that since Sun Ning'er was now with Ye Mingsheng, it was beyond his reach to investigate; he could only dream about it.

After indulging in some daydreaming, Ma Runchuan asked again:
"Is Sun Ning'er easy to control?"

Zhao Dekai thought for a moment and then answered:
“This Sun Ning’er is from Huainan. He fled to Jiangnan with his family a long time ago, but later returned to Huainan. I heard that Sun Ning’er has a good relationship with his family. I have already found out about his parents. I am just waiting for your order, Master, to go to Huainan to find his parents!”

"Very good! Find his parents immediately! Be kind to others and be mindful of boundaries..."

"I see!"

After asking about Sun Ning'er's situation, Ma Runchuan changed the subject and asked:
"Have they accepted everything prepared for Zhang Hu?"

"No! Zhang Hu didn't take anything!"

Upon hearing Zhao Dekai's words, Ma Runchuan frowned slightly and then asked:

What did you give him?

"As you instructed, I delivered a silver note worth one thousand taels to him!"

"He didn't accept it?" Ma Runchuan asked, somewhat surprised.

Zhao Dekai said with a wry smile:

"Zhang Hu returned the silver notes without even looking at them. He also confiscated the money from his subordinates."
"However, Wang Yaozu said that Zhang Hu has a centurion named Ye Wei under his command. Ye Wei is said to be a member of the Ye clan and his family has some status among the clan. He asked Wang Yaozu to find him some entertainment, and Wang Yaozu arranged for the women under his command to be given to Ye Wei. Ye Wei was quite satisfied, so he is now very close to Wang Yaozu!"

"I think we have a chance to learn about the movements around His Majesty through Ye Wei!" Ma Runchuan, who had initially been somewhat disappointed, brightened up upon hearing Zhao Dekai's words and, after a moment's thought, asked:

"Dekai, how confident are you?"

After a moment of silence, Zhao Dekai replied very cautiously:

"Fifty or sixty percent! This Ye Wei is most likely a spoiled brat. I should be able to take him down with a little trick!"

Hearing Zhao Dekai's confident assertion of 50-60%, Ma Runchuan's heart skipped a beat. He knew Zhao Dekai was different from his other advisor, Feng Yuan. Feng Yuan was a businessman, known for his blatant lies; one had to be wary of him, or one could easily be deceived. Zhao Dekai, on the other hand, was very cautious. If he said he was 50-60% confident, he probably was 70-80% certain…
The thought of having someone by His Majesty's side to inform him of the latest developments filled Ma Runchuan with excitement. He had been serving as the Provincial Governor of Qilu for some time now and considered himself to have achieved considerable success in his work there. Therefore, he was looking forward to taking advantage of His Majesty's inspection tour to showcase his abilities.

Having someone tip you off will undoubtedly increase your chances of getting ahead of His Majesty!
Therefore, Ma Runchuan originally intended to ask Zhang Hu to do him this favor, so he approved a sum of one thousand taels of silver to give as a gift to Zhang Hu.

However, Zhang Hu either thought it was too little and looked down on the thousand taels of silver, or for some other reason, he refused to accept it.

However, since Zhang Hu won't accept it, we can try Ye Wei; something is better than nothing.

Although this person is only a centurion, he is, after all, a member of the Ye clan, and therefore has some value in winning him over!
Thinking of this, Ma Runchuan immediately made the decision:

"Then use the thousand taels of silver given to Zhang Hu to take down this Ye Wei! In short, I need to know as soon as His Majesty has any news..."

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Yijing Palace
In the warm pavilion, An Miaoyi watched the goldfish swimming in the fish tank with great interest, occasionally scattering fish food from her hand. Seeing the goldfish greedily munching on the food she fed them, a beautiful smile involuntarily appeared on An Miaoyi's lips. Just then, Qiqige came over and reported:
"Your Majesty, there is something I wish to report to you!"

"Say!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince was bitten by a venomous snake a while ago, but it was nothing serious and he has now fully recovered."

Hearing Qiqige say that, An Miaoyi calmly asked in return:

"Qiqige, you should have received the news a few days ago, right? Why are you only telling me now?"

The more nonchalant An Miaoyi appeared, the more frightened Qiqige felt, and she quickly explained:

“Your Majesty, I did receive the news nine days ago, but the news at the time was that His Highness the Crown Prince had been bitten by a poisonous snake, and I dared not tell you then.”

"So you only dared to tell me now that you know Jingren is alright?"

Seeing that An Miaoyi had seen through her little scheme, Qiqige lowered her head in embarrassment.

Although An Miaoyi was always very strict with Jingren, Qiqige knew very well how much her mistress valued this only son. So when she first received the news nine days ago, she really didn't dare to tell An Miaoyi, for fear that An Miaoyi would go crazy.

Now that she knows Jingren is alright, Qiqige dares to tell An Miaoyi about it.

Just as Qiqige was feeling uneasy, An Miaoyi walked up to her childhood friend and raised her right hand to slap Qiqige hard across the face.

"Snapped"

After a sharp crack, a five-finger mark instantly appeared on Qiqige's wheat-colored face. Faced with that slap, Qiqige gritted her teeth and didn't dare utter a sound...
Upon seeing this, An Miaoyi coldly said:

"Did Ye Mingsheng's stinky dick make you feel good? That's why you're so sympathetic to him?"

Upon hearing this, Qiqige immediately knelt down and explained:
"Your Majesty, you are my only mistress, and I am loyal to you alone!"

"The reason I dared not tell you is that I believe His Highness the Crown Prince is blessed with good fortune and will be alright. Also, I am worried that if you find out this news, you might do something outrageous, which would only cause pain to your loved ones and joy to your enemies."

Hearing Qiqige's words, An Miaoyi said with a cold smile:

"Now it's your turn to make decisions for me?"

Upon hearing this, Qiqige, who was kneeling on the ground, was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. She hurriedly shook her head in denial, but this only earned her another crisp slap.

After receiving two slaps, An Miaoyi's anger subsided somewhat. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gradually regained her composure, saying:
Go back and think about it carefully!

Hearing An Miaoyi say that, Qiqige walked out of the room somewhat dejectedly.

After she left, An Miaoyi sat on the sofa, a hint of solemnity appearing on her beautiful face.

She could understand Qiqige's thoughts; Qiqige didn't want to take any rash or extreme actions because of this matter!
But has Qiqige ever considered that if something really happens to Jingren, it might not be her who takes drastic measures?

Ye Mingsheng handed over his token of command of the Imperial Guard to Pei Zhixiu, which clearly showed that he did not trust him.

If anything were to happen to Jing Ren, the shared interests between him and Ye Mingsheng would be gone, and he would become an uncontrollable hidden danger for Ye Mingsheng...

(End of this chapter)