The mastermind behind the tax case was Zhou, the attendant of the emperor... Xu Pingzhi slapped the tea table, stood up angrily, stared with wide eyes, and opened his mouth to curse, but seemed to be choked by something in his throat.

Xu Xinnian looked at his powerless and furious father with a serious face, "Is the information reliable?"

Xu Qi'an nodded, "Chu Caiwei, one of the main officials responsible for the tax case, told me."

He repeated what Chu Caiwei had said.

Xu Xinnian picked up the tea cup, put it down again, and pondered, "It seems that what happened today was not accidental, but a deliberate revenge by Zhou."

Okay, he deserves to be a scholar who passed the imperial examination, his brain is very useful.

Xu Qi'an was somewhat pleased, knowing that this conversation would not be in vain.

If it were only Uncle Xu's words, he would not have proposed this secret talk, which would be meaningless.

Because when Uncle Xu was pushed to the limit, he would only say, "Brothers, come with me to kill."

There is no way, after all, he is a rough martial artist. He is good at killing people, but calculating people makes him confused, and the professional fields are different.

Xu Qi'an asked, "What's your opinion, Er Lang?"

Xu Xinnian glanced at his cousin, frowned, and seemed very dissatisfied with his questioning tone. He said unkindly:

"What should we do? Of course, we should strike first and gain the upper hand, and then we won't be at a disadvantage."

Okay... Xu Qi'an was surprised. It was hard to imagine that Xu Xinnian would say such decisive words.

After hearing this, Xu Pingzhi, who considered himself the head of the family, could not remain silent and reprimanded his son:

"Put away your ignorant and arrogant ideas. Even if you are a scholar, you cannot afford to offend the Minister of Revenue, let alone a mere juren."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was ruthlessly rejected by his nephew, "I think Er Lang's idea is right."

Xu Qi'an continued, "We have offended not Zhou Li, but the Minister of Revenue, Zhou Xianping. Zhou Li may not dare to retaliate again, but what about the Minister of Revenue?"

"We not only ruined his good deeds, but also injured his eldest son. Anyone with a temper would not tolerate this. Moreover, in Zhou's eyes, the Xu family is no different from ants. He has no reason to let us go."

Xu Pingzhi disagreed, "This is not feasible. We cannot fight against Zhou Li. Ning Yan, you have befriended the white-robed from the Bureau of Heaven, and Xinnian is a student of Yunlu Academy. With these two relationships, as long as we behave ourselves, no one will dare to provoke us."

Is it really like this?

Xu Qi'an reminded him, "Uncle, you may not know that the white-robed from the Bureau of Heaven does not interfere in court affairs."Xu Cijiu continued, "During the tax silver case, wasn't I also a student of Yunlu Academy? Big brother was able to come back today because Zhou Li was unreasonable and used low-level methods. But if it was Zhou Shilang who acted, and another tax silver case occurred, it would be reasonable and legal for the Xu family to be executed, and could the Bureau of Astronomy and Yunlu Academy still help us escape prison? For us to resist the laws of the Great Feng?"

Xu Pingzhi, the head of the family whose dignity had been challenged, furrowed his brow. "But how can we deal with the Household Department's Shilang, who is a fourth-grade official?"

"I don't know, I'm just a simple time traveler..." Xu Qi'an turned his gaze to his handsome little brother. "What do you think, Second Brother?"

Xu Xinnian remained silent for a long time, and when Xu Pingzhi was about to lose patience, he finally spoke slowly, "I've been thinking about something."

"The tax silver was stolen, and the emperor was furious, which shows that he values silver very much. The criminals should be severely punished."

"But those two cowards committed suicide out of fear," Xu Pingzhi said.

Ignoring his father, Xu Xinnian continued, "I can think of two possibilities. First, the Household Department's Shilang has a backer. Second, the emperor has some concerns, such as maintaining a delicate balance."

"Big Brother said that the Household Department's Investigating Censor accused Zhou Shilang of embezzling treasury funds. Why didn't he accuse the other Shilang or the Household Department's Secretary?"

Xu Qi'an's heart stirred. "Is Zhou Shilang's political enemy dealing with him?"

Xu Xinnian nodded. "Our teacher said that the core of imperial politics has always been balance. The fact that the emperor didn't move against Zhou Shilang indicates that this matter may involve factional struggles."

"What should we do?" Xu's second uncle asked unconsciously.

Xu Qi'an rubbed his chin and thought, "The emperor's political strategy may work in normal times, but with the Jingcha approaching, as long as we can catch Zhou Shilang's handle, there is a great chance that we can take him down. Jingcha is a ancestral system, and even the emperor cannot act arbitrarily. The core of the Confucian dragon-slaying technique is the word 'ritual.' Therefore, Zhou Shilang's political enemies will not give up easily."

Xu Xinnian was surprised that his rough cousin could come up with the phrase "dragon-slaying technique." Wasn't this the same quick-handed cousin from before?

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...I just watched a lot of costume dramas! Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

Of course, part of the reason was that he had studied history more.

Historical records are the essence of human culture, and by studying history, you can learn a lot.

Historical records are also the most useless thing because the only lesson that humanity can learn from history is that it cannot learn any lessons from history.Xu Qi'an used to sneer at this sentence, but later found that there was some truth to it.

The reason was that when he was studying, his parents and teachers always advised him earnestly: "You must work hard and study hard, otherwise you will regret it in the future."

No one took it seriously.

It wasn't until he experienced setbacks and was beaten down by society that he suddenly realized it.

Xu Qi'an's cousin, who didn't like to read and failed in his business ventures, blurted out one day: "You must work hard and study hard, otherwise you will regret it in the future."

After saying this, he suddenly froze.

Xu Xinnian raised his chin and said in a scholarly tone, "So, what does big brother think we should do?"

"You really hate losing, don't you... If you were the female lead, this tsundere personality wouldn't be very likable... I prefer a 36D mature woman who acts cute and spoiled..." Xu Qi'an silently mocked in his heart, but maintained a calm expression as he said, "Why did Zhou Shilang create the tax and silver case? It's definitely not for embezzlement, because he could do that at any time. Why would he risk facing the investigation from the capital?"

"Unless he urgently needs a sum of money to fill a hole, and the reason for filling the hole is to deal with the investigation from the capital." Xu Qi'an fully utilized his logical reasoning ability.

"So?" Xu Xinnian raised his eyebrows.

So, we need to find out the real reason why Zhou Shilang embezzled the tax and silver, we need to solve the case, so that Zhou Shilang can't escape, and confess and accept punishment... Xu Qi'an was about to say this, but suddenly saw Xu Xinnian's ambiguous eyes, so he didn't say it.

"I understand!" Xu Xinnian slapped his thigh excitedly, spitting saliva as he said, "So we need to expose this matter and make the Zhou family unable to escape."

He was very excited, feeling that his brain had finally come up with a bright idea.

I'm not stupid either... Xu Xinnian thought proudly.

Xu Xinnian snorted and said, "Father thinks that, as a captain of the Imperial Guards, you can openly investigate the Household Department Shilang and access the Household Department's files?"

Xu Pingzhi's face instantly stiffened.

Xu Qi'an also snorted and said, "Of course not."

Thanks to my uncle for stepping on a landmine.

Xu Xinnian, who couldn't outsmart his cousin intellectually, was a little dissatisfied and asked, "So, what do you think we should do, big brother?"

Xu Qi'an lightly tapped the tabletop with his finger and said, "Drive the tiger and swallow the wolf. Dealing with Zhou Shilang's main force is not our job. What we need to do is to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back."

As for how to do it, he hadn't figured it out yet."Not bad..." Xu Xinnian nodded in approval and said, "If we take a step back, we don't need to deal with Zhou Shilang, a high-ranking official with great scheming and tactics that are beyond our capabilities. But people have weaknesses."

Xu Qi'an's eyes lit up and he excitedly clapped his hands, "Zhou Li!"

"Yes, compared to Zhou Shilang, Zhou Li, that playboy, is easier to deal with. If the accusations against him are not sufficient, we can create them. We can give Zhou Xianping's political enemies a knife to help us kill Zhou Xianping," Xu Xinnian's eyes sparkled with a sinister light.

"The imperial inspection is imminent. If Zhou Shilang's son does something outrageous, as a father, Zhou Xianping cannot escape blame. The emperor may be willing to forgive once, but not necessarily twice," Xu Xinnian frowned and said, "Although this approach is not bad, they are not fools and framing and shifting blame may not work."

As he listened to his son and nephew, Xu Xinnian, the head of the family, suddenly realized that he had been pushed to the edge of this secret conversation and could not get a word in.

But as his son analyzed the situation layer by layer, Xu Xinnian's thoughts became clearer and he became more and more convinced that it was possible. He couldn't help but slam the table excitedly, "My son Cijiu has the potential to become a prime minister."

"Don't I have the potential to become a prime minister too, nephew?" Xu Qi'an glanced at his uncle and took the opportunity to diss Xu Xinnian, "Xiaosheng's empty talk is harmful to the country, and you can't escape this trap either, Second Brother."

Xu Xinnian's mouth twitched and he retorted, "Please enlighten me, Big Brother."

Xu Qi'an was not flustered at all and said, "I can't provide a ready-made solution, but I can offer a train of thought."

Xu Xinnian anxiously asked, "Please tell us."