Poor Lady Chapter 20: Number group

Back home, Qi Surong took out a pen and paper, and listed the names of the officials who were investigated this time from top to bottom according to their official positions. A full list of forty or fifty people may be omitted. To be filled.

Looking carefully for a while, Qi Surong found that many of them will return to the court in the future to show their official prestige again. That is to say, they have successfully cleared the charges of this investigation. Although they may not be completely innocent, they are at least honored to have made up for the merits of the new emperor and made up for their mistakes.

Qi Surong knew that the future new emperor was not the prince, but King Jing, the ninth younger brother of the current emperor. Yuan Xi said that the secret letter is related to the throne, so she can assume that King Jing may be enthroned as king with the help of the secret letter. Although she didn't know the contents of the secret letter, or how many secret letters there were, she could deduce that anyone who would assist King Jing's ascension to the throne in the future and appear on the inventory list at the same time might have the secret letter.

Qi Surong carefully recalled the names of all the officials in the imperial court in the next thirty years. Of course, no matter how good her memory was, it was impossible for her to remember everything, but officials of rank five and above would more or less have an impression.

A moment later, of the fifty people on the list, she deleted and selected twenty.

Twenty people, the scope is too wide, but she still has one condition that is useless, that is, people who received the reward from the late emperor twelve years ago.

Qi Surong is not clear about this matter, so he must ask his father.

That night, Qi Surong knocked on the door of the study.

"Daddy."

"Rong'er, come in." Father Qi's voice came from inside the door.

Qi Surong pushed the door open, closed the door behind him, came to the desk, and handed Father Qi a bowl of ginseng soup.

"Dad, it's cold at night, drink a bowl of ginseng soup to warm your stomach."

Qi's father said with a smile: "My daughter has a heart."

He put down the book in his hand, picked up the ginseng soup and drank it.

Qi Surong saw that what he was reading just now was a military book, but his father still couldn't let go of the battlefield. He is a general who fights in the killing field, and the intrigue of the court is not suitable for him.

It's a pity that the border is now stable, and my father has no ambition but no place to use it. If not, the emperor would not dare to attack the Qi family.

"Father, my daughter remembers that the battle of Tongcheng twelve years ago was your last battle." Qi Surong sat down slowly and said.

"Yes, in that battle, the frontier bandits were expelled for three hundred miles, and they didn't dare to invade again." Qi's father raised his head, his eyes were far away, as if he was thinking about the glory of the year.

"After the battle of Tongcheng, father was recalled to the capital by the late emperor?" Qi Surong asked.

Qi's father nodded: "This battle was a great victory, the first emperor rewarded me for my meritorious deeds, and promoted me to be a great general to protect the country. He also held a celebration banquet in the palace, and rewarded the meritorious ministers one by one."

"Do you still remember who got the reward?"

"What are you asking this for?"

"I'm just curious, please tell my daughter about it."

Qi's father frowned and said, "I don't remember too well, I just remember that Liu Guozheng, Fan Gu, Wang Jun, Song Jie, Meng Ke, Lu Pei and others all received awards."

"What did the late emperor reward?"

"I don't remember the others, but the late emperor rewarded me with a hundred-year-old painting, a pair of jade cups, and a jade Buddha."

Qi Surong carefully observed his father's expression, there was no abnormality. From this point of view, there are two possibilities. First, the father did not know about the secret letter; second, the late emperor did not give the secret letter to the Qi family.

"Are these things in the warehouse of the Qi residence?" Qi Surong asked again.

"No." Father Qi replied, "I put all the rewards from the former emperor in the secret cabinet, and ordinary people can't find them."

A gleam of joy flashed in Qi Surong's eyes, Dad, you are finally smart for a while, great kindness!

Afterwards, she managed to recruit more recipients of the reward, about a dozen of them, and this was probably all the people my father could remember.

Back in his room, Qi Surong immediately listed these people on the paper one by one, and then put the three pieces of paper together.

There are 20 companies that meet the two conditions, that is, those who have been investigated this time and will be reinstated in the future;

There are only seven companies that meet the three conditions at the same time, that is, they are on the inventory list, they are the meritorious officials who were rewarded in the past, and they will regain their glory in the future.

There are two other people who have not been investigated this time, but they were rewarded by the former emperor back then, and they will be valued by King Jing in the future. One of them is Liu Guozheng, the Taiwei of the current dynasty, and the other is Zuo Mingtang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, who will also be the prime minister who will be the head of the three princes in the future.

Leaving aside the latter two, the Qi family is not qualified to be friends now. Qi Surong's focus was on the seven people who met the three conditions. They are at the moment of desperation, weak and helpless. But they were able to overcome many difficulties and finally regain their prestige. It is by no means a fluke, and there must be something special about them.

The Qi family may be just a flat boat in the sea, but as long as they borrow the east wind, they may not be able to ride the wind and waves.

Qi Surong set his eyes on the seven names again, Fan Ziyu, Meng Ke, Song Jie, Lu Pei, Jiang Qi, Bu Yan, Wen Zhihui. Of the seven families, Fan Gu is the only one who can be sure of having a secret letter at present, but since Fan Gu is dead, the secret letter should fall into the hands of his son Fan Ziyu. But Qi Surong reckoned that Fan Ziyu hadn't read the contents of the secret letter, otherwise he would have tried his best to enter King Jing's mansion instead of going to King Jing's side after going through all kinds of hardships.

Of course, all these inferences are based on the assumption that the secret letter is related to King Jing. If the secret letter has other meanings, then it will lose its due value. Compared with a few secret letters, Qi Surong believes in everything that has been established in the future. It is easy to change a small thing, but if you want to turn things around, you may end up with nothing left. What's more, King Jing is indeed a wise king, and Qi Surong is willing to bet his wealth and life on him.

In the last life, before the Qi family had time to participate in major events, the family was destroyed and turned into dust without leaving a trace. In this life, history has changed, and the name of the Qi family still exists, so it will definitely attract more people's attention in the future. Therefore, Qi Surong must accumulate strength beforehand to protect the Qi family as much as possible.

She rubbed the center of her eyebrows, folded a few pieces of paper, and temporarily hid them in the interlayer of the floor. After completing the list, she burned it.

Two days later, Qi Suyi pretended to come to the new house and asked Yuan Xi to go out together. After two days of recuperation, his injuries have healed a lot, at least there is no abnormality in his normal walking.

"Where are we going?" Yuan Xi asked.

"Inquire about the news." Qi Surong simply replied.

Yuan Xi looked at her back, a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

How is she going to inquire about the news?

Qi Surong walked through the market without stopping, and came straight to a remote alleyway that looked a little messy.

This is a well-known slum in the capital, where a large number of low-class people of various religions and low-classes gather. Yuan Xi didn't expect Miss Qi's family to come to this kind of place. Looking at her appearance, it's no accident that she came here.

At this moment, Qi Surong stopped suddenly, took out a purse from his sleeve and weighed it, attracting dozens of ragged beggars to stare at him.

"Those who want to make money come here, I have something for you to do. Once it's done, the money will belong to you." Qi Surong raised her voice.

All the beggars gathered around after hearing the words, only one person was lying motionless on the straw mat, as if he was asleep, but Qi Surong paid special attention to him.

"What does the young master want us to do?" A boy about fifteen or sixteen years old came over and asked cautiously.

"I want you to help me collect all kinds of information about the court ministers, famous nobles, including criminal officials who were punished by the emperor." Qi Surong said slowly, "Their names, identities, residences, hobbies, relatives and friends, etc. , are all included in the collection."

All the beggars looked at each other, but no one answered.

Qi Surong said again: "Don't worry, I won't let you die for me, as much information as you can find out, I will pay you regularly. If there is important news, there will be other rewards."

The eyes of the beggars were shining, and they all expressed their willingness to participate.

"I only have one request." Qi Surong said in a deep voice, "What I have ordered you to do must be kept secret and must not be publicized."

"Don't worry about this, we don't know anything else, what we are best at is gagging, and the truth and falsehood are mixed, and most people can't tell the difference." A beggar laughed.

"Okay." Qi Surong counted the number of people, there are eleven people in total, "Tell me your names, and I will record the news of your inquiries one by one in the future, and pay corresponding rewards and rewards according to the amount of information."

A beggar said: "Many of us don't have names, and we don't know how to read. We just call them casually."

Qi Surong thought about it, and guessed that they were probably unwilling to reveal their names, so as not to cause trouble.

"Well then, I'll name you numbers. From six to sixteen."

"Why start from six?" Someone asked curiously.

"One to five, I will leave it to those who contribute the most in the future, they will not only get generous rewards, but also become the little leaders of others."

The eyes of the beggars brightened, and their interest increased greatly.

But after a while, they all fell silent again, and their eyes moved to the man who was lying on the straw mat.

Qi Surong followed their gaze and said with a smile: "I've heard the name of a chivalrous beggar for a long time. As long as he is willing, this 'one' must belong to him."

As soon as these words came out, the man on the straw mat slightly opened his eyes, glanced in this direction, and then turned over and fell asleep again.

When the beggars saw this, their faces were filled with joy, and one of them said: "It turns out that the young master has also heard the name of the boss, and he has no objection. We can take orders from the young master."

Qi Surong nodded and smiled: "Since there is no doubt, then I will remember your names."

She clicks and reports a number until they remember it.

Qi Surong didn't know that the name she chose at will became the embryonic form of the most mysterious number group in the future.

Afterwards, Qi Surong handed the silver to the boy named "Six" and said, "This is a meeting gift, give it to your boss and let him distribute it. I will come back in two days and see what news you can find out." .”

"Thank you, young master!" The beggars cheered and rushed towards the man.

After leaving the slum, Yuan Xicai asked: "Is it feasible to entrust this matter to them?"

"You may not have heard of the name of beggars." Qi Surong explained, "Although there are not as many beggars in the capital as in other towns, there are quite a few. They are divided into factions and governed by districts, forming a unique set of underground rules. The chivalrous beggar is one of the best. The reason why he is called a chivalrous beggar is not only because of his martial arts and mysterious origin, but also because he has set three rules: one is not to bully the old, the weak, women and children; Don't kill people; three don't break your promise."

Yuan Xi nodded thoughtfully.

"Of course, there is another reason why I chose him to cooperate."

"Why?"

Qi Surong smiled and spit out two words: "Secret."

Yuan Xi choked for a moment, and then he became suspicious again, where did Qi Surong know the name of a beggar? They are completely two classes of people, and they have no chance to contact them at all. With her personality, she doesn't bother to contact them. But now it seems that Qi Surong not only has an unknown composure and scheming, but also hides many secrets.

Could it be that she was pretending the way she was before?

Just a day or two of contact completely overturned Yuan Xi's perception of this young lady of the Qi family.

The last reason why Qi Surong didn't say it can't be told to anyone, that chivalrous beggar will become the unique underground king in the capital ten years later.

But at this time, he is just an inconspicuous little person.