Thief Emperor

Chapter 817 Settlement of Accounts

He thanked Liu Xuan, and then personally escorted the director of the Central Plains Division of the Nine Divisions to the door of the big tent. After watching Liu Xuan leave, he stood there, lost in thought for a long time.

After a long time, he returned to his tent and opened the first document. There was not much content in this document. It just recorded the family's changes in the past twenty years, including where they lived first and where they lived later.

This family had lived in Luoyang for some time before. About two years ago, for some unknown reason, part of the family moved out of Luoyang and went directly to the vicinity of Taiyuan.

But there is still a large number of them living in Luoyang.

The second document contained all the crimes committed by this family in the past twenty years, as found out by the Nine Departments. Every crime was listed with names and evidence.

After reading the two documents, Zhao Cheng looked outside the tent and asked someone to bring his nephew in. Soon, Zhao Chengqi, who was only seventeen or eighteen years old, half-knelt in front of Zhao Cheng and bowed, "General."

Zhao Cheng stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and said, "Follow me."

The two of them left the general's tent one after the other. When they walked out of the tent door, Zhao Chengcai asked, "Can you ride a horse?"

Zhao Chengqi shook his head slightly.

Zhao Cheng was speechless: "As a descendant of our Zhao family, how can you not know how to ride a horse? Your mother was an expert in horse riding back then."

"follow me."

Zhao Cheng called a captain under his command and temporarily entrusted the affairs of the camp to him. Then he took Zhao Chengqi and selected a horse from the military horses. His uncle personally taught him how to ride.

Maybe it was because of his courage, or maybe it was a problem of talent, but Zhao Chengqi had mastered the basic riding skills after learning for less than half an hour. Zhao Cheng brought his mount, then called a dozen guards, and took Zhao Chengqi with him, left the camp, and rushed towards Luoyang City.

Before dark, they successfully entered Luoyang. Zhao Cheng arranged accommodation for his subordinates and Zhao Chengqi, while he himself went to Luoyang Prefecture and found Yao Zhong, who was now in charge of Luoyang's political affairs.

The two men, one a scholar and one a warrior, talked secretly for half an hour, and then Zhao Chengcai said goodbye and left.

Yao Zhong was also very considerate and escorted him all the way out of the Luoyang government office.

The next morning, Zhao Cheng got up early and walked in Luoyang City with his nephew.

The two walked around the city, then sat down at a roadside stall and had breakfast together. After finishing the last sip of soup, Zhao Cheng stood up and lined up a row of big coins to pay the bill. The stall owner took the copper coins and looked at them, a little surprised: "Customer, why is your new money so old?"

Zhao Cheng just smiled and said, "I am from Jiangnan Road. We have been using this new currency for many years in Jiangnan Road."

"It is not newly minted."

The stall owner nodded and said with a smile, "I can tell from your accent that new money is good. Luoyang Prefecture has just issued a document stating that by the second half of this year, all old money must be exchanged for new money. From now on, old money cannot be used."

"The guests use new money, so I don't have to exchange it again."

Zhao Cheng did not respond, but just reached out and patted Zhao Chengqi on the shoulder, leading him away. As he walked, he sighed softly: "Luoyang has also regained its vitality."

"Perhaps you haven't seen such a peaceful scene for many years?"

Zhao Chengqi lowered his head and was silent for a long time before he said in a muffled voice, "Since I can remember, my nephew has never had a peaceful day."

After these words were spoken, Zhao Cheng fell silent, and his fists under his sleeves clenched even tighter.

Zhao Chengqi is seventeen or eighteen years old this year. The chaos in the Central Plains has only lasted for the last seven or eight years, or the last ten years at most, but he still has not had a peaceful life.

Then it’s not entirely a problem of the world.

The uncle and nephew walked in silence for a long time. Zhao Cheng stopped two passers-by and asked for directions. Finally, they stopped in front of a mansion. This mansion was not a top-notch mansion in Luoyang, but it was undoubtedly a big mansion.

In front of the mansion, there are two stone lions squatting, looking majestic.

Looking up, I saw two words written on the plaque.

Zheng Fu.

Zhao Cheng looked up at the two words, then turned back to look at Zhao Chengqi and asked, "Do you recognize them?"

Zhao Chengqi was silent for a long time before he looked up at the two words. He took a deep breath and said, "I heard from my mother and my eldest sister... that they mentioned it."

"Come in with your uncle."

Zhao Cheng's voice was a little hoarse: "You and your son have been angry, and it is only natural that I, your uncle, should be here to help you vent your anger. Now, the time has come for you to vent your anger."

After saying this, he strode to the door and knocked politely: "Zhao Cheng from Yuezhou, please see you."

Behind the door, there was a long silence.

After a long while, just when Zhao Cheng was about to lose his patience, the door slowly opened. Behind the door, an old man with white hair and beard looked up at Zhao Cheng, then looked at Zhao Chengqi behind him, thought carefully, then bowed and sighed: "Is it... the nephew of the Zhao family?"

Zhao Cheng was also looking at him. After taking a look at the old man, Zhao Cheng smiled and said, "Who is your nephew?"

"Are you Zheng Mao?"

The old man nodded slowly: "It is this old man."

"Good people don't live long, but evil people live for thousands of years. I didn't expect you to be alive and kicking till now."

Zhao Cheng no longer remembered who this old man was, but he remembered his name. He was Zhao Erjie's father-in-law, and Zhao Chengqi's biological grandfather.

Zhao Cheng looked at the Zheng Mansion and continued, "The Central Plains has been in turmoil for ten years, but it seems that your family has not suffered any harm. You are really smart." "The Central Plains has been in turmoil for ten years."

The old man sighed and said, "Not even one tenth of our wealth is left."

"Since you are my nephew, would you please come in and have some tea?"

"No need to be so polite."

Zhao Cheng put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "I am not worthy of enjoying the tea in your house. Where is Zheng Song? I want to meet him and have a good chat with him."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Mao lowered his head and sighed, then said, "Several years ago, my son encountered the Qi bandits and unfortunately died at their hands."

After Wang Junping entered Luoyang, he was called the King of Qi. The scholars at that time called him the Qi thief.

"Nephew, if you have anything to say, just talk to me."

The old man looked at Zhao Cheng, then at the young man behind Zhao Cheng, and had already guessed what was going on. He was about to say something when Zhao Cheng's face darkened and he said in a deep voice, "Okay, I'll just ask one question."

"Back then, the damn court ordered the execution of my father and the murder of my two brothers. I was also sentenced to exile."

"I have read the imperial edict. From beginning to end, it did not mention my sister even a single word."

"Your house..."

Before Zhao Cheng finished speaking, Zheng Mao sighed softly, "My dear nephew, you should know that although our Chenzhou Zheng family is only a branch of the Xingyang Zheng family and is not a particularly large family, there are still several hundred people in the family."

"Back then, your father offended the Emperor..."

He looked at Zhao Cheng's face and didn't continue talking. He just sighed softly, "No matter what, in order for the whole family to enjoy peace, someone has to be the bad guy. At the beginning, I was the bad guy."

"Whatever grudges my dear nephew has, you can just blame me."

"Only on you?"

Zhao Cheng sneered and looked back.

Not far away, dozens of yamen runners from Luoyang Prefecture rushed to the Zheng Mansion and surrounded the entire Zheng family.

"You think too well."

"Since the Zheng family wants the clan to prosper so much."

He looked at Zheng Mao and said coldly, "Then I want you to watch the Zheng family being beaten into the dust."

Zheng Mao's face turned pale with anger. He looked at Zhao Cheng and said in a hoarse voice, "My dear nephew, the mother and her two children should all be here, right? Why is there such a big hatred?"

"In the past seventeen or eighteen years, if Zheng had sent someone to help me privately even once, I would not have come here today."

"Now, it's no longer just a grudge between you and me."

Zhao Cheng looked at him, suppressing his anger: "If you have anything to say, go and tell the Luoyang government office."

Zheng Mao's face didn't look good, but he stood there, still trying to maintain his composure. He just looked at Zhao Chengqi and said in a hoarse voice: "This kid..."

"Don't worry about it."

Zhao Cheng walked away with his hands behind his back, sneering, "Two years ago, your family must have known my name, so a group of people moved north from Luoyang to Taiyuan Prefecture."

"That's why the old man can talk to me so calmly."

"But don't worry, it won't be long before I reach Taiyuan and find those people who migrated north."

After that, he patted Zhao Chengqi on the head and asked, "Are you going with me, or are you going to stay here?"

Zhao Chengqi's face turned pale. He lowered his head and looked at the Zheng Mansion. Finally, without saying a word, he said, "Uncle..."

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and said, "Considering the blood relationship between you and your brother, I have tried to be gentle. This is not how we, as military generals, seek revenge."

"There is no need for the government to intervene."

Zhao Chengqi turned around and looked at Zheng Mao.

After hearing Zhao Cheng's last words, Zheng Mao seemed to have lost the strength to support himself, and he collapsed to the ground, his voice becoming frightened.

"General Zhao, General Zhao..."

His voice was trembling and tears were streaming down his face.

"The Zheng family is wrong, the Zheng family is wrong..."

At this time, Zhao Cheng could easily dispatch troops into the city to hang up and beat this family.

Even if we can't kill them all, there's nothing wrong with tying them up and scare them.

At this time, Zhao Cheng was trying his best to suppress his anger.

(End of this chapter)