Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 11: The Weeping Madam Tong and the Lost Chiyu
This is not helpful, and that is not helpful, so what should I do to be beneficial?

Eunuch Li didn't know what to do, and sweat broke out on his forehead due to nervousness.

He licked his dry lips and said hesitantly, "Then... then kill his brother as well?"

Qin Hui sighed tiredly, leaned back in his chair again and closed his eyes.

The reeling sound started again. After a long while, Qin Hui said in a low voice, "I want to know if he went to Banjing Hall under the orders of the Imperial City Bureau! If it is related to the Imperial City Bureau, what did the Imperial City Bureau know and how much did they know! It's not about killing a pawn that has crossed the river!"

"I will follow the orders of the Holy Prime Minister!"

Eunuch Li responded respectfully and felt greatly relieved.

As long as Prime Minister Qin gives the order, he will know what to do.

Eunuch Li thought for a moment, and then said flatteringly: "Then... for the sake of safety, should we temporarily stop the plan to move the three mountains?"

"This is not something you should consider!"

After Qin Hui finished speaking, he waved his hand as if waving a fly, and Eunuch Li quickly bent over and retreated.

Eunuch Li left "Wuxia Hall" and closed the door for Qin Hui. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, picked up his robe, and walked quickly down the stairs.

Li Rong walked forward a few steps along the path, first around an old plum tree, then turned around a peach tree, and suddenly a girl in a goose yellow shirt ran towards him.

The girl was not very old, perhaps only ten years old, with beautiful eyes and eyebrows.

Mrs. Tong?
Eunuch Li was startled and quickly moved aside to the side of the road. He bowed deeply and stuck his butt out.

The girl's oval face, which was still childish, still had traces of tears and a few streaks of dust on it.

Behind the girl in the goose yellow shirt, four maids in green followed hurriedly, each with a look of panic on their faces.

Eunuch Li did not dare to raise his head. When he saw the girl approaching, he bowed and smiled, "Your subordinate Li Rong greets Madam Tong."

The girl ignored him and ran past him.

Following closely were four maids who walked in a hurry.

After the four maids walked over quickly, Eunuch Li slowly straightened up.

The girl just now is Qin Jiayue, the granddaughter of Qin Hui and the eldest daughter of Qin Hui's adopted son Qin Hui.

The government rewarded Qin Hui from time to time, and every time he was promoted to a higher position, Qin Hui would thank the emperor and resign according to the custom.

The emperor would say: "It is your help that we were able to bring back the coffin of the late emperor and allow my mother to return to the Song Dynasty. This reward from me is not even one tenth of your merits, so there is no need to refuse it."

Regardless of whether the words of the Song emperor were sincere or false, it is an indisputable fact that Prime Minister Qin has been monopolizing power for nearly twenty years.

With the support of the Jin people, he had already achieved the goal of "using the power of the invaders to force the emperor", and his power was overwhelming.

In history, he not only enjoyed unlimited honors during his lifetime, but also had a glorious death.

It is an anomaly in the past five thousand years that a powerful and treacherous person could actually get good results.

Qin Hui could no longer be promoted or rewarded, so the emperor's favors began to fall on Qin Hui's family.

His little granddaughter Qin Jiayue was named "Lady Chongguo" at a young age and was considered an important woman of the dynasty.

Normally, the title of "Mingfu" was only given to the mother of a high-ranking official or his wife, but Qin Hui's granddaughter, who was only two years old, could also receive this honor.

Because Qin Jiayue's nickname was Tong'er, everyone inside and outside the family called her "Mrs. Tong".

After Eunuch Li left, Qin Hui's original leisurely demeanor disappeared. He retracted his feet a little tiredly and put them into his soft shoes. In recent years, his health has been getting worse and worse. Qin Hui knew that his time was up and was eager to pass on power, so he colluded with the Jin people and could not wait to formulate the "Moving Three Mountains" plan.

He wanted to overthrow the generals of the Three Yamen Imperial Guards to ensure that he would have a smooth path to succession of power.

Only in this way can the Qin family's wealth and prosperity be maintained.

The emperor personally stepped in to stop his grandson from becoming the top scholar, which suddenly raised his sense of crisis.

I originally wanted to take my time with it, but now I feel it’s urgent.

Therefore, even if he suspected that the Imperial City Bureau had noticed something, he did not want to stop his plan. He had to pave the way for the transfer of power while he still had control over everything.

"Grandfather, grandfather, the 'Chiyu' is missing."

As soon as Qin Jiayue entered the study and saw her grandfather, she immediately threw herself into his arms.

He had a pouty mouth, but now he burst into tears with a "wow".

The grievances she had been holding back all the way made her tears flow down.

"Chiyu" is a lion cat she raised. It has been with her since it was a child and is now an old cat.

Qin Jiayue dotes on this old cat and takes good care of it.

The cat had become more well-behaved since it grew older. Besides staying by her side, it also often basked in the sun on her roof.

But today, the old cat suddenly disappeared. Qin Jiayue and his men searched all the places where the old cat often lingered, but still couldn't find it.

This time she was really panicked, and immediately mobilized all the servants to search the house inside and outside, but still could not find the whereabouts of "Chi Yu". She could not help but run to her grandfather who loved her the most to cry and complain about her grievances.

Qin Hui felt so distressed when he saw his precious granddaughter crying that he patted her back and said to her, "Hey, little girl, why are you crying? Did Chiyu run off to play somewhere else again? You can just look for her again. It's impossible that she has gotten lost."

"I've looked everywhere, but she's nowhere to be found." Qin Jiayue wiped her tears with the back of her hand and said with sobs.

Qin Hui took out a silk handkerchief and wiped his granddaughter's tears. He looked at the four maids who knelt on the ground as soon as they came in, and his face darkened slightly: "How did you take care of her? Where is Chiyu?"

The leading girl replied in panic, "Sir, I fed Chiyu a few pieces of chicken liver in the morning. After Chiyu was full, he jumped up to the attic to bask in the sun. But when I cut a dish of fish and brought it upstairs in the afternoon, Chiyu was nowhere to be seen."

Qin Hui Rushuang's eyebrows slightly frowned and asked, "Have you searched the whole mansion?"

The maid nodded hurriedly and said timidly, "Inside and out, up and down, all...all searched."

Qin Hui thought for a moment, his gloomy eyes flashed slightly. The crisis of losing control of power made him very suspicious.

He suddenly felt that the fact that "Chi Yu" had gotten lost might... be something he could put to good use.

Ever since his grandson Qin Xun lost the top spot in the imperial examination that was within his grasp, Qin Hui had become aware of how deeply the government was wary of him.

From then on, he began to lie dormant, even pretending to be sick. Not only did he seldom appear in public, he also often took leave from the court meetings which were only twice a month.

He wanted to lower his presence and secretly plan for the Three Yamen.

However, doing so will also have a counter-effect.

People in the government and the public have begun to talk about his serious illness and not long for death, and his people have begun to lose faith in him.

Now is a good opportunity to use the incident of lost cat to see how many people will come forward to stir up trouble!

Thinking of this, Qin Hui slowly raised his head and ordered: "Then go out and look for him! Ask the local wing offices, military patrol offices, and neighborhood officials to look for him. If you find the real person, you will be rewarded handsomely."

(End of this chapter)