There was a thunderstorm in the capital. Xiang Yi picked up a small lamp like a bean. Before the light could shine, she dipped in ink and started writing.

Qingwang County.

After the flood, the moisture seemed to be wrapped in an invisible curtain, weighing heavily in the air.

The distribution of food everywhere went smoothly. After all, Tan Ting was an imperial envoy and could not just stay in his own clan. He had to go to the place where the disaster was most severe the next morning.

But one day before leaving, Tan Ting went to the clan ancestral hall.

The sky was so stuffy that it was breathless. It was just getting light, and I could still faintly notice some coolness in the early morning.

Tan Ting did not let anyone follow him. He asked the elders of the clan who were guarding the ancestral hall to open the door. He bowed solemnly to the ancestral hall before stepping in.

He offered incense to his ancestors and walked to the memorial tablet of his father, Tan Chaokuan.

When his father passed away suddenly, he had just tied up his hair that year. When news came that his father was suddenly seriously ill, he thought that nothing serious would happen to his father's body. But he didn't know at that time that it was not a disease at all, but Someone wanted his father's life...

For so many years, he always thought it was a conflict between the common people and the common people, which led to the appearance of people like Tongzhi Yang Muhong, and his father had an accident.

Later, when Gu Yansheng and Yang Muhong fled to Qingkan, he had no intention of intervening, but because Yizhen was inexplicably related to Yang Muhong, he was shocked to learn that his father's death was closely related to the Chen family in Fengling, and even to the Chen family. Several aristocratic families are inseparable from each other.

Now he knows more or less who is causing trouble behind the scene, but unfortunately he doesn't have any evidence yet.

He had found out who the person who deliberately misled Yang Muhong was in the past few months.

But that person was Chen's person after all. If that person didn't show up and do bad things for Chen, he would have no chance to arrest him.

He looked up at his father's memorial tablet.

However, as long as he catches this person in action, he can uncover his father's past affairs together with him.

My father must be willing to see that those who work secretly cannot really succeed, and those who stand in the light of the sky will always be bathed in the light of the sky!

Tan Ting clenched his hands.

In the tall and spacious ancestral hall, lit incense slowly filled the hall. Standing in front of the rows of memorial tablets of ancestors in Tan's ancestral hall, Tan Ting's heart slowly calmed down.

He looked at the sky outside and did not stay any longer in the ancestral hall.

Tan Ting bowed again and exited the ancestral hall.

As soon as he walked to the courtyard gate, he saw Xiao Guan rushing to report.

"Master, I found someone mixed in with the victims who came to collect food and entered the city!"

...

Chen Fuyou and Chen Huyan wore the clothes of the victims and entered Qingkan City one after another.

They have a lot of manpower, but they don't dare to show off, lest their flaws are exposed before things get started.

After entering the city one after another for an hour, all the people from the Chen family arrived.

Chen Fuyou and Chen Huyan bumped into each other. They had already made an appointment. Chen Fuyou took the lead and rushed over first, heading straight for the Tan family's granary.

When the Tan family wanted to release grain, they grabbed it and scattered it all.

Chen Huyan was responsible for leading the victims to the scattered food.

Chen Fu then took the opportunity to set fire to kill people, causing a commotion, and led his men to rush into Tan's house.

These were the instructions given to them by the Zong family before they came.

After causing a big chaos, they took the opportunity to kill Tan Ting, the eldest son of the Tan family and the imperial envoy for flood control, and their mission was completed!

The two of them met and saw that everything developed as they expected and no one noticed them. The two of them immediately took action separately.

Chen Fuyou first went to the Tan family's granary in person.

Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived at the granary, we saw Tan Ting, the eldest son of the Tan family, standing in front of the granary and distributing food to the victims who came to receive food.

Chen Fuyou quickly covered himself up, and when he saw that no one noticed him, he was secretly relieved and surprised at the same time.

It would be easy for him to lead a rebellion and storm the Tan family's granary, but if he wanted to take advantage of the chaos to find the eldest son and take his life, it would be difficult.

But Zongzi Tan is in the granary, wouldn't he be able to kill two birds with one stone?

Chen Fu was more cautious this time than last time. Remembering the words of his seventh uncle Chen Huyan, he calmed down and made arrangements everywhere. He saw that more and more victims came to collect food, and the government soldiers came to guard the place. It was time for substitutions and a break.

Chen Fu had the right opportunity and gave the order.

The ranks of the victims immediately became noisy. Before that, Chen's people had already spread the news among the victims that Tan's food was abundant. If they robbed Tan's, all the food would be in their hands.

It's just that although there are a few people who are attracted by it, most of them think that the Tan family is a good family and they must not be so unruly and do things that are harmful to nature.

Chen Fu never expected that the people in Qingkan would be so friendly to the Tan family.

But these people said that if the food in the Tan family's granary was scattered, they had been hungry for so many days. How could they not grab the food when they saw it?

At that moment, Chen Fu gave an order, and his men directly embraced the people who came to receive food, and rushed towards the granary amidst the commotion.

The common people were all thrown into chaos by their attack.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Chen Fu saw that the eldest son of the Tan family had not yet left in front of the granary. He immediately called the experts around him and went straight to Tan Ting.

From time to time, they arrived behind Tan Ting. The three of them rose up almost at the same time. They all pulled out their swords and slashed at Tan Ting.

Soon after, six or seven people suddenly jumped out of the extremely chaotic crowd. Before Chen Fu and three of them could react, these six or seven people stepped forward with their swords and came straight towards the three of them.

Chen Fu was shocked and came to his senses in an instant.

"There's an ambush!"

But he had already finished speaking, and in the next breath, the knife was placed on his shoulder.

He saw the eldest son of the Tan family walking over, looked at him seriously, smiled and snorted.

"Chen Wuye, long time no see."

...

Chen Fu was able to assassinate Tan Ting. He didn't even succeed in storming the Tan family's granary, but the Tan family members who were on guard in advance, Pressed it down directly.

Chen Fuyou heard the voices of victims outside receiving food and thanking them in an orderly manner, and knew that he was defeated.

He couldn't help but look at the confident eldest son of the Tan family, and thought of being defeated twice in his hands, and he actually wanted to laugh a little sadly.

He smiled bitterly and saw Tan Ting coming over.

"Your clan asked you to come? You, the Chen family, are going to storm the Tan family's granary, and then blame it on the people in the disaster area, exacerbating the conflicts between the common people and the common people. Am I right?"

He guessed it right, Chen Fu You couldn't help but smile.

"Now that Mr. Tan knows it, feel free to kill or chop him into pieces."

Even if the Tan family lets him go back to the Zong family, the Zong family will probably not spare him.

Although he was born into an aristocratic family, or even into a clan, he was just a servant of the direct branch of the clan.

He envied the Tan family. The Tan family would not force the clan members to do things. It was a pity that his surname was not Tan...

But when he said that, Tan Ting just shook his head.

Chen Fu didn't know what he meant, but saw that after a period of confusion, more of their men were captured.

Chen Fu looked back and saw that his seventh uncle Chen Huyan was not spared either.

However, when Chen Fuyou looked at Tan Ting, he saw that the face of the eldest son of the Tan family changed.

Tan Ting guessed that someone would come and cause trouble this time. When he knew that it was Chen Fu, he had a special premonition in his heart. When he saw the person who came with Chen Fu, he suddenly laughed out loud. made a sound.

Chen Huyan was exactly what Yang Muhong told him, the person Chen sent to mislead Yang Muhong into causing trouble and killed his father Tan Chaokuan!

Tan Ting watched Chen Huyan closely.

The moment Chen Huyan saw Tan Ting, she also knew that she had done so many dark things for the Chen family over the years, and that she could not escape the chains of fate after all.

He whispered, "I am guilty..."

Tan Ting looked at this person, was silent for a long time, and said something as low as the bottom of the valley.

"Take this man outside the ancestral hall and make him kneel in front of Tan's ancestral hall."

Let him kneel in front of his father.

As soon as the words fell to the ground, the turbid air around him cleared.

After so many years, he finally caught evidence of Chen's murder of his father.

Chen Huyan also knew that she would not be able to escape the fate of being questioned, so she thought about it again and again.

"This is my life, I should have thought of it..."

Tan Ting pursed his lips tightly, not wanting to look at this person again.

But Chen Fuyou saw an almost identical shadow of himself in Chen Huyan's words, and he suddenly felt unwilling to give in.

Chen Huyan has been doing dark things for the Zong family all his life, but in the end he is still the abandoned son of the Zong family. The Zong family will not come to save him, and maybe they will try their best to distance themselves from him.

And I have become an outcast at a young age, what will happen next?

Chen Fuyou stopped Tan Ting.

Tan Ting's heart suddenly flashed with light at this moment.

"What does Master Chen Wu have to say?"

As soon as he asked, Chen Huyan immediately called Chen Fuyou.

"Don't be stupid, you will suffer even more if you ruin the important things of the Zong family!"

Chen Fuyou saw through it, "Now that I have not done what the Zong family ordered, I have already suffered some, so what else do I have to fear? It’s just a matter of death! At least until death, I don’t want to keep secrets for them anymore!”

Chen Huyan was speechless.

Chen Fuyou turned to look at Tan Ting, "If I can tell you something important, please let Master Tan let me live."

Tan Ting agreed without saying a word.

"Tan says it's true, so you say it."

His words were resounding.

Compared to his own clan, such a eldest son is more shocking.

Chen Fu had no chance to be reincarnated into the Tan family, but he asked Tan Ting.

"Master Tan has the foresight to predict that we will cause chaos, but I don't know. Did Master Tan expect that there are other people nearby who also caused chaos?" After

the words fell, Tan Ting immediately realized something. , his mind was shaken.

If the Chen family had caused such chaos this time, in the name of the common people's disaster victims, they would have robbed the Tan family's granary, rushed into the Tan family's door, and then killed his eldest son.

Such a well-intentioned family and these common people will immediately confront each other!

Not only the flooded disaster areas, but also the emotions of the entire government and opposition parties will be stirred up.

Tan Ting had somewhat guessed it before, so he made arrangements.

But if those people want to ruin the relationship between the common people, they may not only arrange to attack the Tan family.

This time, many aristocratic families took the initiative to ask for food. These families must have received orders from the Chen family or the four major families.

With these big aristocratic families in front, many small aristocratic families followed behind and released relief food from various tribes.

Whether these small aristocratic families were sincerely well-intentioned, or they were guided by the larger aristocratic families and forced by the situation, they all actually did things that benefited the common people.

But if someone pretends to be a disaster victim and robs their food, the common people will immediately become hostile to the common people.

And when there is no food in the disaster area, the common people treat the common people badly. Those common people who have no food to eat may not be able to take the lead in benevolence, justice, propriety and wisdom. As long as there is a little guidance, or even no guidance, they will join the bandits and thieves and rush towards the common people everywhere. Stealing food and killing people...

Tan Ting could almost imagine that scene.

He only thought that those people would come to harm him. He never imagined that these people had lost their conscience and humanity, and used the lives of these small families as bait, and would not even let go of their compatriots who were born in the same family as them!

Tan Ting's face darkened to the extreme, and he almost didn't dare to stay any longer and called someone in a stern voice.

"Hurry up! Inform the government and the families in various places to be careful about people robbing food and causing trouble in the name of disaster victims!"

...

For the next three days, the scorching sun scorched the earth after the flood receded.

The day after the news was sent out, Tan Ting rushed back to the hardest-hit area to take charge.

Officials from all over the country were in disbelief when they heard the news about him. What kind of person would do anything to such an extent?

But when the news came two days later, everyone was shocked.

The people sent by Tan Ting notified many families in advance. Among them, three aristocratic families made preparations in advance and survived due to Tan Ting's notification.

But there are two more remote aristocratic families who were rushed away before they could receive the news.

Overnight, the two small aristocratic families who kindly distributed food to the people were overrun by bandits and victims. The food was robbed, the consecutive houses were burned down, and many members of the clan were killed and burned to death in their own courtyards. , many people knelt down to beg for mercy and offered all their gold and silver to survive.

Tan Ting knew that they were not bandits at all, but it was true that the hungry victims followed them to grab food...

Although they were only two small families, when the news came, all the officials of the family Everyone looked shocked and angry, and some couldn't help but curse.

The victims of the common people were frightened when they heard this. What they were frightened was not the bandits and the victims who were robbing food, but the officials of the common people in front of them.

Are these family officials just hating them and are they still willing to continue distributing grain? Can they still eat the food released by the family with peace of mind?

Everyone was frightened.

...

As soon as the two small aristocratic families were charged, there was a lot of noise from the government and the public.

If it weren't for Tan Ting's advance arrangements, the Tan family escaped, and he sent a message in time to let the family be careful, then the chaos would only be greater, so big that all the families and common people were on guard against each other, and threatened each other. Raise your spear and shield.

The conflict between the aristocratic and common people is about to break out. It is not known what will happen to the two clans at that time, and how people like Xiang Yi and Tan Ting, who are straddling the two clans, will get along...

But fortunately , although the relationship between the world and the common people has become bad again, it is not yet to this point.

Tan Ting was afraid that those people would not give up until they achieved their goals. Thinking about the two previous breaches of the embankment, which blocked the relief food, he deliberately did not inform anyone in advance and suddenly ordered the deployment of manpower to guard the river embankment.

None of the officials knew what he meant.

The river embankment is not the Great Wall at the border. Is it really useful to send people to guard it?

Unexpectedly, on the second day after Tan Ting sent people to guard the embankment, a wave of people who deliberately attacked the embankment were caught.

These people who attacked the river embankment committed suicide out of fear of crime when they were caught.

The more so, the more surprising it is.

When the officials in the disaster area heard about this, they were so shocked that they were speechless.

"Who wants to bring disaster to the country and the people?! Are these people the same ones who have done something against the clan?!"

These officials became more and more doubtful.

In addition to the contradiction between the aristocratic family and the common people, there are also black hands hiding in the dark that are stirring up the situation.

And this black hand is gradually exposed to the public.

Tan Ting did not answer their questions, but he thought of the Chaoyun River bursting its banks when his father-in-law Xiang Zhiyuan was in charge.

Is it the same when the Chaoyun River burst its banks? In fact, it was not washed away by the flood, but man-made.

So, those people started planning it so long ago, right?

...

Tan Ting stopped the people who were destroying the embankment and successfully received the relief food and grass from the court.

The aristocratic clan no longer had to fearfully continue to put out food, and the common people no longer had to eat the food provided by the aristocratic clan. For a while, the vigilance between the two parties eased slightly.

Tan Ting did not dare to relax, so he wrote a long note detailing the matter and handed it to the East Palace.

What those people wanted to do was blocked by Tan Ting. They couldn't achieve their goals and didn't know what their next move would be.

The river embankments were held, the flood receded, and the victims had food to eat. Tan Ting also asked Huimin pharmacies in various places to release medicines to prevent epidemics, and finally arranged for officials from various places to gradually repair people's houses.

The disaster finally subsided.

It's a pity that because of the conflict between the two small aristocratic families, the conflict between the aristocratic families and the common people has taken another level.

Tan Ting was a little worried about what would happen to his wife in Beijing. After all, her identity was too sensitive.

At this moment he was preparing to write a letter to ask.

I didn't want a few officials discussing the matter, so when I met Tan Ting, I wanted to ask him what he meant.

But before these people could say anything, a servant of the Tan family came to him with a letter in his hand.

Tan Ting saw Juanxiu's handwriting on the envelope, and his heart beat faster.

He couldn't help but raise his hand and wave to the servant.

"I'm here."

The officials who were discussing the matter saw that he was anxious and thought it was something urgent, so they couldn't help but ask.

"Master Tan, is there any news from Beijing?"

They asked, but when they saw Master Tan, who had received the letter, he didn't even raise his head, he just looked at the letter and said.

"It's Zhuo Jing's home letter... You can talk about yours, I'll go first."

After saying that, he walked away.

Several officials were stunned.

They thought it was something big.

Everyone looked at each other a few times in confusion, but when they looked in the direction where Imperial Commissioner Tan left, no one was there.

The disaster area was not as good as a government office. Tan Ting had nowhere to wash his hands, but he still wiped the sweat from his palms with a silk handkerchief before opening his wife's letter under a secluded tree.

As soon as Xinfu opened it, a cool breeze blew through the shade of the trees.

Tan Ting's eyes reflected those clean and graceful handwriting, and he saw the first sentence -

Are you okay, sir? I wonder if the disaster relief work will go smoothly? The summer heat is in full swing, so remember to cool off in time.

With just two questions and one warning, Tan Ting's anxious heart softened and relaxed.

He read the line again.

Last time didn't count.

This was the first time she wrote to him.

Tan Ting read the first line three times in a row, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

She must have missed him.

But the letter contained a lot of content, so Tan Ting read on.

She talked about recent events in her mind, and the few she mentioned were similar to what Tan Jian had told him in previous letters, but she mentioned another one.

She met Mrs. Xuan Er.

Tan Chaoxuan entered the capital in advance, and then Mrs. Xuan arrived in the capital with her children and servants.

Yizhen was not the type to be judgmental, but she specifically mentioned Mrs. Xuan Er's arrogance in her letter.

She was not complaining to him, although Tan Ting hoped so... She said specifically:

I am afraid that the couple has other plans for the position of eldest son, so the uncle must be concerned.

Although it was not a complaint, it was a special reminder to him.

Tan Ting's heart felt extremely soft, and he paused for a few breaths at her reminder.

But she went on to say one more thing.

It is said that the emperor is unconscious and the situation is not optimistic.

Speaking of which, her letter first went to the hardest-hit area where he was stationed, but unfortunately he went to Qingkan again. The letter went to Qingkan again, but unfortunately he returned here again, so he saw the letter a few days late.

Tan Ting was a little depressed when he thought that his wife's letter was several days late. However, after so many days, he had not heard the news of the emperor's death. It seemed that he was still undergoing treatment.

It's not a big deal if the emperor can't handle affairs, as long as the prince is safe.

However, in this troubled time, it was best for him to finish the things at hand as soon as possible and return to the capital as early as possible.

As he thought about it, his eyes fell on the end of the letter.

At the end of the letter, my wife's handwriting seemed to become softer and softer -

a cluster of early chrysanthemums in the corner of the courtyard was already in bud, I hope Yuan Zhi will not miss the flowering period.

...

Only in this sentence, Tan Ting almost saw the image of his wife sitting quietly on the courtyard porch admiring flowers on the letter paper.

The wind blew past her feet, gently lifting the hem of her skirt. The early chrysanthemums bloomed quietly in the corner. She gently lowered her head and smelled the first scent of the chrysanthemums...

Tan Ting's heart almost flew home.

It was a pity that he couldn't leave for a while, so he could only put the letter away carefully and put it into his arms.

Then wrote her a reply.

Beijing.

Someone once again gathered quietly in the dark night.

Cheng Luo naturally went to the appointment again. As soon as he arrived, he heard someone say something.

"The Chen family has messed up things this time. Except for those two aristocratic families, no one else can succeed."

The person who reminded them not to back down with Heng Heng said this time that his tone was not as arrogant as before. Said.

"Who would have thought that Tan Ting would be a difficult person to deal with."

He said, glancing at the old man and the people around him.

"If we had eliminated the eldest son of the Tan family earlier, there would not have been so many things."

Cheng Luo sneered after hearing this.

Chen is incompetent and blames others.

But the "other people" really didn't get anything done.

There are quite a few people here who can't get things done...

What he thought, the person in charge didn't care, he just said something in an old voice.

"Now that the matter has come to this, it will be the same if we start from the side."

As soon as he said this, everyone looked at him.

The old man smiled slightly, feeling a little cold in the dark hall.

"The emperor has been in coma for nearly half a month. The day after tomorrow, the prince will have to go to the Yaowang Temple outside the city to pray for blessings."

As soon as the words fell, the eyes of everyone in the hall shone with light.