Qu Zixi was about to go out to see the emperor, and only brought his personal entourage to keep all the subordinates of the Censorate in the city.

Everyone saw him off, and Nan Zhijin was also there, calmly and without any panic.

Qu Zixi was impulsive and wanted to order Nan Zhijin to tie up and take them to see the emperor. He held back and called Nan Zhijin aside alone, whispering: "Do you understand how serious this is?"

Nan Zhijin bowed, "You can't have both fish and bear's paws. Let the emperor go further and further on the wrong path. Seeing the Great Chu court split into pieces is a greater sin. Over the past few years, Bei Yi has been observing what Lord Qu has done and believes that Lord Qu will be a wise prime minister for all ages. As a prime minister, Lord not only needs His Majesty's trust, but also needs the support and cooperation of his colleagues. Please come on the road and tell His Majesty all the truth. After this matter, Your Majesty will no longer have any doubts about him."

"All the truth? The Ministry of War accused Yan Kang of getting rid of General Lou Chuan. You are secretly interfering in the government affairs. Do these truths also need to be revealed?"

Nan Zhijin smiled and said, "Who can stop the adults? It doesn't matter if you are humble, but you just add another crime to the death penalty. As for the Ministry of War, I believe that the adults have their own choices, and it is the most correct choice."

Revealing the Ministry of War means collecting a large amount of evidence and offending a large number of colleagues. For Qu Zixi, the gain is not worth the loss, and it is not even beneficial to the emperor. Instead, it will destroy the emperor's various plans.

Huang Pugong is likely to never come back. He has no foundation in the court, so he disappears, and it makes no sense to dig out the truth again.

For Qu Zixi, this is the "most correct" choice.

Qu Zixi disliked Nan Zhijin and studied hard on the books of sages. He was appreciated by wise rulers by his ability. In the end, his fate seemed to be controlled by a minor official.

At the same time, he also admired Nan Zhijin and felt ashamed of his inferiority in his heart.

"Your Majesty's thoughts are not that easy to guess. It is probably not me who took over as the prime minister."

"Fortunately, I have guessed very accurately for so long."

Qu Zixi sneered and turned around and left.

Nan Zhijin watched Qu Zixi leave, and completed the remaining documents with several colleagues. Then he returned to his room and asked the servant to buy a pot of wine, three or four side dishes, pour it on his own, and put the pen, ink, paper and ink, paper and ink, and write a letter after drinking a few cups, either long or short, or in a flash.

The servant came in and informed: "Shishou Minister Zhang from the Ministry of War is here."

"Please."

Zhang Qing, the Minister of War, entered the house, smiled, looked at the wine, food and paper on the table, and said with a smile: "Brother Nan is so elegant, should he use wine to write, or use writing to make wine?"

Nan Zhijin stood up to greet him. The two of them greeted for a while. After the servant left, Zhang Qing's smile disappeared: "Your Majesty refused to enter the city and summoned Jingshi Qu in advance. What does this mean?"

"Same as refusing to enter the capital."

During the Western Tour, the emperor expelled Zhao Ruosu. After returning to the capital, he was reluctant to enter the city and had a "confrontation" with the ministers.

Zhang Qing sighed slightly, "Your Majesty will never believe the minister after all."

"Don't blame Your Majesty, this is human nature. If you want to win back Your Majesty's trust, you can only rely on Censor Qu."

"Is Censor Qu... reliable?" Zhang Qing was still a little unsure.

"If you just look at people, who is reliable in the world?"

Zhang Qing laughed, "Civilian Qu is worried about the country and the people. If he wants to accomplish something, he must rely on the entire court."

"Mr. Zhang waited for a moment." Nan Zhijin remembered something, walked back to the table, and picked up his pen to write.

Zhang Qing's official position was much higher than that of Nanzhi, but he sat on the side and waited patiently.

Nan Zhijin finished writing the letter and folded it one by one. There were seven letters in total. They were placed in the letter respectively. The name of the recipient was written, and he stood up and handed it to Zhang Qing directly, "I have to send it to you by Lord Zhang."

"What's this?"

“Some private matters that need to be handled.”

The letter was not blocked, Zhang Qing looked at Nan Zhijin. After receiving acquiescence, he took out the letter and sent it to scan it. It was indeed a private matter: he paid some money to someone, asked someone for debts, and told someone that he could not do what he promised, and made demands on his wife and children...

Zhang Qing sighed again, put away the letter, and said, "We will do our best to do our best and will never harm Brother Nan's family."

"No, Your Majesty is meticulous and must not let him see the flaws. Moreover, Your Majesty is kind by nature and will never punish innocent people."

"Brother Nan is dead, please rest assured. When the limelight comes, Brother Nan's family will be taken care of. Brother Nan's grandsons are all studying. I heard that the eldest grandson Nan Guanmei is quite famous."

"I'm still young and can't tell anything." Nan Zhijin smiled, but did not say much. He neither praised the eldest grandson nor entrusted him. Instead, he said: "The son of former Prime Minister Lord Shen should participate in the grand exam the next year. Please remember this matter, Lord Shen will not forget it."

Zhang Qing shook his head, "Mr. Shen, when he was a censor, he couldn't hold back his anger. Now he is still like this. As long as his son has some talent, why worry about not being able to make a breakthrough? As an official in the same court, will everyone deliberately make mistakes? The court has its own rules, so everyone can abide by them. Why do you have to ask clearly?"

After hearing that Nanzhi Jin offended the emperor, he sent people to Beijing to inquire, which made some ministers unhappy.

"As long as he doesn't do too much, the urgency is understandable. How about Prime Minister Yan?"

Zhang Qing's expression was slightly dark, "He didn't know yet, and he thought he could get rid of the crime. Alas, Yan Kang was too anxious. Just let Huang Pu Gong lose his majesty once and lose his trust. Why do you have to kill him? He attracted the attention of His Majesty, and he was still counting on using conspiracies to cover it up. I think he was used to being arrogant and blessed in the East China Kingdom, and he forgot to act according to the rules."

Zhang Qing shook his head and was disappointed with Yan Kang.

Nan Zhijin stared at Zhang Qing and said, "Is the Prime Minister of Yan willing to escape to the sea and never return to his hometown again?"

"What? He has no idea about our plan, I have no word on it, I don't know what he thinks."

"Mr. Zhang has been friends with Yan State for many years and is familiar with his character. You can guess it."

Zhang Qing pondered for a long time, "The entire Yan family is in the East China Kingdom and has been rooted for a long time and cannot leave."

"So that's it." Nan Zhijin nodded.

Zhang Qing understood what Nan Zhijin meant. He just showed sympathy. Nan Zhijin was reminding him not to leak the secrets in advance. Yan Kang had no possibility of saving them. Leaking the secrets would only cause trouble.

Zhang Qing finally felt relieved in his heart, and stood up and bowed deeply, "Brother Nan, please go."

Nan Zhijin is a minor official. He usually acts respectfully in front of any adult, but today he accepts the behest of the Minister of War and murmured: "I hope Your Majesty will be really satisfied with the next prime minister."

Zhang Qing asked: "How much should we support Censor Qu?"

"Just do your own job. Lord Zhang just said that some rules can only be followed, not explicitly, Lord Qu will understand." Nan Zhi paused, "If you don't understand now, you will understand in the future. He is a smart person."

Zhang Qing bowed again and said goodbye and left.

Nan Zhijin returned to the chair and had no letters to write. He continued to drink cold wine and eat deserted dishes. He didn't think it was bitter at all. Suddenly he laughed, remembered his grandson, and said to himself: "The Nan family will stand out."

The two officials in the city were at ease, but Qu Zixi, who was walking on the road, could not calm down, and was worried about gains and losses: if he acted according to Nanzhijin's plan, he would become a part of the "rules" of the court. From now on, he would have no worries about his future, but he would lose his independence and freedom, especially in his heart. If he told the emperor all the truth, the court would be in chaos and even if he became the prime minister, he would be difficult to accomplish great things.

When he was in the Imperial College, Qu Zixi watched the affairs of the court coldly, always feeling pedantic and ridiculous. Since he joined the Ministry of Revenue, he has only become a difficult official.

What he couldn't understand was whether the whole court was wrong? Was it some ministers or the emperor?

On the morning of the third day of the imperial edict, Qu Zixi rushed to the patrol camp. From a distance, the camp was surrounded by mountains and rivers, no different from ordinary military camps. It was not until it was approached that he could see many unique flags. The person in the camp was the supreme emperor.

Qu Zixi started to undergo inspections ten miles away, and then he had to check every two or three miles away. At the gate of the camp, an official even came out and recognized the right censor before he allowed him to enter the camp.

Today's emperors like to do their own things. The so-called patrol and governing the country is more like the fantasy of young people, and it is difficult to see actual results. Qu Zixi saw that he was gradually accepting the ideas instilled by Nanzhijin, and was shocked, and hurriedly closed his mind and waited for the emperor's summons.

Han Ruzi went to the navy camp in the morning, listened to the combat plan formulated by the generals, asked some questions, and finally praised it, and returned to the guard camp before noon.

The navy did not have command of the general, and the warships were insufficient, and they did not trust the new generals such as Chen Xiao and were unwilling to go to sea. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the emperor was really just "talking about war on paper".

Han Ruzi took a break after dinner and summoned Qu Zixi, who had been waiting in the camp, with only Jin Chunzhong beside him.

Qu Zixi made an account and reported the situation normally first.

When Han Ruzi heard that Huang Pugong was not dead, he surrendered to the pirates. He was surprised and took the letter and read it several times, "Is this really written by Huang Pugong?"

"It cannot be confirmed. This is a copy. The original is still in the Prime Minister's Office. Even if it is Huang Pugong's handwriting, it will not explain anything." Qu Zixi began to tell the story of Huang Pugong being framed, and finally said: "There are evidences of this matter, and physical evidence. Yan Kang intends to blame others, but instead reveals his flaws."

Han Ruzi glanced at Jin Chunzhong and said to Qu Zixi: "Mr. Qu is doing a good job."

Qu Zixi continued to talk about Wang Pingyang. He did some investigations by himself. It is now that Wang Pingyang not only acted misconduct, but also accepted a large amount of property that was said to be used to entertain the emperor, but he had to practice frugality and could not use it.

Han Ruzi said, "My mother believed in family affection too much and did not see Wang Pingyang's nature of greed for money and profit."

"Mr. Qu will not let my trust down, and this trip will be rewarding."

"I can't hide it from you, these are not merits."

"Oh? Anyone help?"

"I have never been able to make progress. It is Nan Zhijin, who is under his command, who found out these things."

"Nanzhijin." Han Ruzi suddenly became alert, "He still did his past activities to figure out my thoughts?"

"Yes, he still wants to pull me into the water." Qu Zixi took a deep breath. So far, everything he said was within Nanzhijin's plan. He still did not make a decision to what extent he wanted to talk about next. (To be continued.)8
Chapter completed!