Chapter 198: Take action against Li Yunrui.

"Master, news has come from Northern Qi that the families that previously traded with us have been wiped out by the Imperial Guards. Not only salt and iron, but all the materials we need, no one dares to sell them anymore!"

Qu Han spoke in a calm and deep voice, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Yelu Xuan returned after making a secret diplomatic mission to Northern Qi in advance. No one knew what he had agreed on in Northern Qi or what plans he had.

He had never expected that Li An would join Northern Qi. Thinking of Li An, his brows furrowed slightly.

As the saying goes, it is impolite not to reciprocate. Since Li Ang took the lead in cutting off his own path, how could he not return the favor?

"Write a letter to inform the Khan to cut off all warhorse supply to Northern Qi. Do it now!"

"Yes, master."

After seeing Qu Han leave, Yelu Xuan slowly walked out of the court tent and looked at the vast grassland. His eyes were like lightning and he sneered. He quickly got rid of the unfavorable things he had just heard and his expression returned to normal. It seemed that he did not take Li Ang's method to heart.

Now the Western Hu no longer have any land to expand, and the Northern Barbarian territory is really useless. Although their situation is somewhat similar to that of the Western Hu, their land is vast and sparsely populated, and the production is poor.

But now, for the sake of the iron ore and salt lake of the Northern Barbarians, the Western Hu also have to expand towards the Northern Barbarians. But all this cannot be done openly, but secretly.

After the Northern Barbarians can no longer hold out, perhaps they have already accumulated strength to send troops to Northern Qi!
Maybe, we can cooperate with Emperor Qing first?
······
Qing Kingdom, Kyoto.

When Fan Xian returned to the mansion, Ye Ling'er and another little princess had already returned.

He returned to the room, sent the maid away, and took advantage of the time when only he and his wife were in the room to ask softly, "Has there been any rumors in the palace recently?"

"What do you mean?"

Although Lin Wan'er answered the question, her hands did not slow down at all. She sat by the window, embroidering something in the sunlight, but her eyes were slightly narrowed because she was not skilled enough.

"Don't embroider if the light is not bright enough. It will hurt your eyes." Seeing that the delicate Lin Wan'er was still doing what she wanted, Fan Xian could not persuade her anymore. He continued, "Have you seen the Queen Mother?"

"After entering the palace, I naturally had to pay my respects to the Queen Mother. We just chatted about daily life and didn't say anything in particular." Lin Wan'er's expression darkened. She stopped sewing and gently placed her hand on the back of Fan Xian's hand. She said, "My husband, I can sense some changes in people and things. I feel very confused and uneasy."

Fan Xian understood what Lin Wan'er was worried about.

The Queen Mother in the palace was really a scheming person! It was strange that he had never seen the Queen Mother in the several visits to the palace. Even after marrying Lin Wan'er, the Queen Mother claimed to be sick and refused to see him. It was obvious that the Queen Mother might have noticed something and was deliberately distancing herself from Fan Xian!
Given how much she loves Lin Wan'er, how could she refuse to even return home?
As his mind raced, Fan Xian revealed a hint of sneer on his face, which made Lin Wan'er even more worried.

She looked into Fan Xian's eyes and asked softly, "Husband, answer me truthfully, are you going to investigate the Second Emperor?" The person she was talking about was Li Chengze.

Lin Wan'er was very clear about what was going on, so Fan Xian didn't plan to hide it any longer, lest he worry his wife. He told Lin Wan'er the truth about his investigation into the Second Prince, saying, "The Second Prince has no chance. He is just blinded by power and can't see that His Majesty is determined to protect the Crown Prince. Recently, I discovered that he has some connection with Chang Niang. As you know, your uncle has ordered me to manage the First Division of the Supervisory Council, so I have made some discoveries."

"Yes, yes, I understand, my Lord Tisi!"

After spending a few moments of tenderness with his wife, he was driven out by her. Lin Wan'er had to continue learning embroidery.

After sitting in the courtyard for a while, Yan Bingyun arrived as promised. Fan Xian took the file Yan Bingyun handed over and began to look through it carefully. After a long time, he raised his head and rubbed his temples vigorously to relieve the soreness from overusing his brain.

"The First Division found an excuse to arrest two officials. Although these two officials were not high-ranking officials, they were vaguely connected to the Second Prince and the First Princess. However, they did not find out anything."

Young Master Xiaoyan's expression and tone were still cold. He showed no urgency nor regret for not doing something well. He seemed like a robot like Wuzhu.

"No!" Fan Xian shook his head and said, "In fact, we have already found out. The smuggling activities between Xinyang and Beiqi and Dongyi City are so rampant every year that no news has been leaked. Moreover, the amount is so huge that I don't believe it if there is no interest chain to cover it up! Don't look at the deficit of the bad debt in the inner treasury. These are all caused by the prince and can only be regarded as small money. The really huge amount is missing. It is very likely that the person behind the second prince is the eldest princess."

Fan Xian smiled and affirmed, "If one of my retainers and subordinates was arrested by the Overwatch Council, it would be strange if they did not ask a single question. They are clearly fearless."

Yan Bingyun said coldly: "But we have no evidence."

"Who handed the Second Prince's silver to him?"

"The Jiangnan Ming family, the one that married into the Cui family."

Fan Xian frowned. It seemed that the money had gone through a long process before it finally reached the Second Prince's hands and was used to win over the ministers in the court. However, it would be difficult for him to find evidence.

"The situation is very complicated. Sir, do you still want to do it?"

Fan Xian did not answer Yan Bingyun's question, but asked in return: "Although this matter is secret, it was discovered so easily by one department. Do you think it is because the dean could not find out or because the palace did not know about it?"

"The palace may just not have enough evidence, but they must be on guard." Yan Bingyun thought as he spoke, his train of thought gradually becoming clearer. "The deceased head of a place, Lord Zhuge, was the eldest princess's man. Now, it is unknown how many people in Kyoto are under the command of the eldest princess. The current situation is that if the Lord really wants to continue investigating, a series of people will be implicated, and Kyoto may be in chaos."

It was obvious that Yan Bingyun's words meant to make Fan Xian stop.

"It's thanks to your ability that we were able to find out these things so quickly."

Fan Xian was very calm at this time, with a cold look on his slightly raised lips. "It's just that there's one thing you haven't figured out: His Majesty asked me to be the chief investigator, and this matter was discovered by us by chance. The palace was very quiet during this process, and the dean didn't stop us. So let me ask you, does His Majesty want us to continue investigating or not?"

Yan Bingyun dissuaded Fan Xian at first only because he and Fan Xian were in a cooperative relationship. There was only one person he was truly loyal to, and that was Emperor Qing! Now that Fan Xian had analyzed it, he also understood the thoughts of the adults and Emperor Qing, and immediately asked:
"What do you plan to do, sir?"

Fan Xian glanced at him and said, "Fire it up, and then confiscate the property!"

Yan Bingyun shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to, I just want to remind you, sir, that if you do this, your wife will be the one who suffers the most!"

"She will understand me!"

Fan Xian was determined to be a powerful official. What was a powerful official? It meant that no matter whether it was power or force, he would not allow Emperor Qing to threaten him or his family in the slightest. That was his ideal powerful official!

He would not slow down his pace because of his wife's difficulties, because the ultimate goal of all this was just to protect her.

Seeing Yan Bingyun's strange expression, Fan Xian raised two fingers and explained, "There are two reasons why I insist on doing this."

(End of this chapter)