Qi Ning of course understood that Sima Lan seemed to be reassuring, but in fact it was an implicit warning.

Sima Lan overthrew the King of Huainan, but ushered in the Jinyi Qi family as an opponent, although the power of the Jinyi Qi family in the court is far from being comparable to the Sima family, but no one will forget that the Jinyi Qi family has commanded the Qinhuai army for decades, and before completely stripping the relationship between the Jinyi Qi family and the Qinhuai army, even the Sima family, who is in power, does not dare to act lightly against the Jinyi Qi family.

And if the situation changes today, and there is a civil strife in the Northern Han Dynasty, it is indeed an excellent time for the Chu State to go north, which can be seen clearly by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, and it is impossible for Sima Lan to see it clearly.

Of course, the Sima clan hopes to find an opportunity to bring down the Jinyi Qi family, so as to take charge of the government alone, but Sima Lan understands better that the Jinyi Qi family is different from the king of Huainan, and it is not easy to bring down the Jinyi Qi family, and once there is a real conflict, the Chu State will definitely face a bloody fight in the same room.

With a military background and a brocade family with a black scale battalion, the King of Huainan can never be compared.

Once there is civil strife in the Chu State, then the great opportunity to go north to attack Han will also be missed, and no one knows if there will be another opportunity if this opportunity is missed.

Although Sima Lan wants to tilt the power towards the government and the opposition, after all, he is an old minister of the Three Dynasties, and the pattern cannot be limited to the Chu State, and his eyes must also be on the north.

If you can keep peace with the Jinyi Qi family at the moment, and even for the sake of the Northern Expedition, you can let the Jinyi Qi family only Sima Clan's horse take the lead, then it will naturally be the final result.

Qi Ning naturally heard the meaning of Sima Lan's words, and Sima Lan really hoped to use the Northern Expedition as an excuse to let the Jinyi Qi family follow.

If the Sima clan really stopped the struggle within the Chu State and put his mind on the Northern Expedition, Qi Ning was not unwilling to cooperate, but Qi Ning knew very well in his heart that if the Sima clan did not use the Northern Expedition to expand its power in the court to eliminate dissidents, then it would not be the Sima clan.

In Qi Ning's words, he also revealed information to Sima Lan, if the Sima family really opened up the territory and expanded the territory for the Northern Expedition of the Chu State, the Jinyi Qi family should cooperate, but if there were other plans, the Jinyi Qi family would not watch from the sidelines, and let the Sima family refer to the donkey as a horse in the middle of the court.

The two of them spoke sharply, and each of them expressed their positions and attitudes.

But Qi Ning also knew that the State of Chu was indeed going to start planning the Northern Expedition, after all, the three princes of the Northern Han Dynasty fought against each other in order to compete for the throne, and the war was chaotic, and the Northern Han Dynasty would fall apart and fall into unprecedented turmoil.

The departure of the Eastern Qi delegation also made the festive atmosphere of the emperor's wedding, which lasted for many days, gradually fade.

Justice is not in the hearts of the people, right and wrong care about strength, this truth Qi Ning knows better than anyone else that he wants to gain a foothold in the court, not by being close to the emperor, but by how much strength he has in his hands.

Although the Qinhuai Legion was once the biggest trump card in the hands of the Jinyi Qi family, the situation has changed, and now although the Qinhuai Legion still has a great relationship with the Jinyi Qi family, the actual control of the Qinhuai Legion is no longer in the hands of the Jinyi Qi family, and the only force that the Jinyi Qi family can only grasp now is the newly built Black Scale Battalion.

Now that the emperor has found an opportunity to let Qi Ning enter the Criminal Department, of course Qi Ning cannot miss such an opportunity, for him, the top priority is to firmly control the Yamen of the Criminal Department in his hands, as long as he can have the card of the Criminal Department in his hand, with the black scale camp, then the Sima family will not dare to act rashly against the Jinyi Qi family, and the Sima family wants to exclude dissidents in the court, and it will also be very tricky because of the Jinyi Qi family's control of the Criminal Department.

On the day of the day, Qi Ning went straight to the yamen of the criminal department early in the morning, and he had already figured out that the officials of the six yamen were all going to enter the yamen at three o'clock to run errands, so just after the o'clock, they were already sitting in the main hall of the yamen of the criminal department.

The Criminal Department is the place where the name of the criminal is in charge, and the lobby of the Criminal Department is naturally very majestic, Qi Ning arrived at the lobby, sat on the chair in the hall, leaned on his eyes and recuperated, and did not say a word from the beginning.

Three o'clock ago, many officials of the Yamen of the Seventh Division of the Criminal Department had come to the inside and outside of the main hall, and the first to rush over was Shen Lian, the head of the Criminal Department who Qi Ning had seen last time, and then Chu Mingwei, the right attendant of the Criminal Department, also arrived early, Qi Ning was silent, and every time someone came in, he glanced at it, and Liao Zhen, the servant of the Arrest Division, and Wei Yujiang, who saw him in the Qinhuai River that night, were also in the crowd.

At three o'clock in the morning, there were already thirty or forty people of all sizes standing in the lobby, standing on both sides, Qi Ning could see from the official uniform that most of the directors of the seven divisions of the Criminal Department had already arrived, but Cao Sen, the chief judge of the Autumn Trial Department, was nowhere to be seen, and Lang Da Xichong, the left attendant of the Criminal Department, was not in the crowd.

"Master Shen, what time is it?" Qi Ning sat upright, looked at Shen Lian, and asked with a smile.

Shen Lian hurriedly stood up and arched his hand: "Back to the Hou Ye, it's just past three o'clock!" ”

"Master Hou?" Qi Ning said with a smile: "I'm sitting here, is it just Master Hou?" ”

Shen Lian was stunned for a moment, but he was obviously an extremely shrewd person, and hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, yes, he was negligent in his duties, and he returned to the Ministry Hall, it has already passed three minutes!" ”

Qi Ning bowed slightly, glanced at it, and said: "Three days ago, the official had already spoken first, and he wanted to do it today, and he warned that even if the house at home was on fire, he would have to arrive at the official on time." With sharp eyes, he asked, "Chu Shilang, have all the people from the Criminal Department arrived?" ”

Chu Mingwei also glanced at it, and then he said: "Back to the ministry, except for those who went out of Beijing on business, almost all the officials who stayed in Beijing have arrived, and there are probably more than a dozen people who may have been delayed on the way." ”

Naturally, the officials of the Criminal Department participated in the order, and the jailers below did not have to come to the point, there were a total of one hundred and thirty-six officials in the Criminal Department, and there were indeed hundreds of people inside and outside the hall at this time.

"Director Shen, if anyone hasn't arrived, record it immediately and present it to the official." Qi Ning leaned back, closed his eyes and said, "Let's wait!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, Shen Lian was stunned for a moment, but soon took the book in his hand, inspected the officials, and after half an hour, he presented the roster, Qi Ning stretched out his hand to take it, looked at it casually a few times, threw the roster on the table, and still sat on the chair, closing his eyes and recuperating.

After a while, Chu Mingwei gave up his hand and said, "Ministry, do you want to send someone to urge you?" ”

Qi Ning didn't open his eyes, he just raised his hand and waved it casually, what did it mean, and he didn't explain it, all the officials were stunned, but Chu Mingwei had already turned around and whispered to Shen Lian: "Send someone to find those people." ”

"Lord Chu, ...... over there?"

"Send someone to urge too." Chu Mingwei said in a low voice: "I said that the lord of the ministry is waiting in the yamen, and no one is allowed to be absent." ”

Shen Lian agreed and hurriedly retreated.

After Shen Lian sent people out, he returned to the hall, but he heard a snoring sound in the quiet hall, and the officials in the hall were all looking at each other, and the snoring sound came from Qi Ning's side, Shen Lian looked over and saw that the little marquis had fallen asleep on the chair.

Shen Lian approached Chu Mingwei's side and said in a low voice, "Lord Chu, ...... this?" ”

"Wait." Chu Mingwei was calm and relaxed, and said calmly: "Today is the first day of the Ministry of Justice, and the people have not arrived, so naturally they have to wait." ”

Shen Lian nodded slightly, and didn't say much.

All of a sudden, there was an extremely absurd scene in the lobby of the Criminal Department, and the Shangshu of the Criminal Department sat in the lobby and shouted loudly, but the hundreds of officials inside and outside the hall stood without saying a word, and no one said a word.

After a long time, a few more officials finally came late, and when they saw the formation in the yamen, the faces of several officials changed slightly, but they still stubbornly went to the front, and when they arrived at the door, they hesitated, but they did not dare to enter the lobby.

Some officials looked at these belated officials, and their eyes slipped with a look of schadenfreude.

When Cao Sen, the chief judge of the Autumn Trial Division, arrived at the yamen of the Criminal Department, it was already two o'clock in the morning, nearly an hour later than the stipulated time.

Early in the morning, hundreds of officials stood and waited inside and outside the lobby because someone was late, and there were inevitably complaints in their hearts.

Cao Sen came to the outside of the hall, and saw that everyone's eyes fell on him, and there was no guilt, but swaggered into the hall, and stood beside Liao Zhen, the superintendent, looking like he was fine, many people frowned slightly, and at this time, they heard the snoring abruptly stopped, and everyone hurriedly looked at Qi Ning, but saw that the little marquis had already sat up, and his arms were raised and stretched.

Cao Sen glanced at it, his expression was calm, Qi Ning swept around, his eyes stopped on Cao Sen, and said with a smile: "When did Cao Sixuan arrive?" ”

Cao Sen came out and said: "Return to the Hou Ye ......!" Before he finished speaking, Shen Lian coughed twice over there, intending to remind him, Cao Sen glanced at it, and still continued: "I reviewed some cases last night, and I also know that I didn't rest until the hour, and I got up late this morning, and I couldn't get to the yamen in time, and I ask the Hou Ye to punish him!" ”

Qi Ning smiled and said, "In this way, Cao Sixuan really worked hard last night. Leaning forward slightly, he seemed to smile and said, "So where was Cao Sixuan reviewing the case last night?" Which cases have been reviewed, and what are the results, I wonder if I can say it in public? ”

Cao Sen was stunned, but he still stubbornly said: "Humble position..... Humble duty is to check the case in one's own home, and there are many cases, and the lowly duty is ..... The humble post was sorted out and then presented to the Hou Ye. ”

"At home?" Qi Ning touched his chin, looked at Chu Mingwei, and asked, "Master Chu, what time is the Yamen of the Criminal Department?" ”

"Lord Huibutang, as a rule, if you are not on duty that night, you can leave the yamen, and if there is an important case to be heard, you may have to stay in the yamen." Chu Mingwei said respectfully.

"Then what are the important cases of yesterday's autumn trial?"

"As far as the officials know, there were no major cases to be handled yesterday by the Autumn Trial Division."

Qi Ning nodded slightly, stared at Cao Sen, and asked with a smile: "So, Lord Cao left the yamen yesterday and worked until midnight?" ”

The corners of Cao Sen's eyes jumped slightly, but he still said, "It's ..... Exactly! ”

Qi Ning still had a smile on his face, and said: "Cao Sixian, this official gave you one last chance, you can remember it yourself, did you really return to the mansion and work until the time of the child?" Don't be in a hurry to answer, think slowly, since the official has been waiting for you for an hour, he won't care about waiting a little longer, and he will talk back after thinking about it! ”