Chapter three hundred and twentieth successful retirement
Mentioning Gong Yueyue, Zhao Xiong pondered for a moment and then said to his old friend: "Brother Yang, Brother Cao. I remember that my poor daughter-in-law advised me to retire after my death. I will also give you these four words."
You. When the country is in trouble, everyone is responsible. But today, what the country needs is our letting go and leaving."
Seeing that he spoke calmly and calmly, there was no trace of resentment on his face. This made Yang Jinzhong, who had always been taciturn, sigh in his heart: "Uncle Zhao, your open-mindedness and bravery really make the younger generation admire you."
"The worst thing that can happen is death. Everyone is mortal. As long as you are not ashamed in your heart and worthy of heaven and earth, what else is there to be afraid of?" "Look, even my wife is not afraid." As he said that, Zhao Xiong
He turned to look at his wife, unable to hide the nostalgia in his eyes.
Liu also showed unprecedented calmness and open-mindedness: "In my life, what I care about most is Master and Zhao'er. No matter what happens to them in the future, as long as I am with them, I have nothing to fear."
"It's just..." Mrs. Liu suddenly frowned deeply, her face full of worry. After a moment, she walked out from Zhao Xiong and knelt down solemnly in front of several generals.
"Oh, Mrs. Sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Cao Rui was shocked and hurriedly stood up to stop him.
The Yang family father and son were also at a loss.
"Madam, please get up and speak!" Yang Guodong wanted to help her up, but he was worried about etiquette and could only look at Zhao Xiong helplessly.
Zhao Xiong stood up, came to his wife, and helped her up. "Madam, I know what you are worried about. It's just that this matter is not trivial. It cannot be decided by these two brothers."
But when Ms. Liu raised her head, her face was filled with tears: "Master, I know. I know that the emperor's order is hard to disobey. But our family only has so little flesh and blood left... Zhao'er has been innocent and pitiful in his life.
, How can I bear to watch my two grandchildren die with us? They are still so young..."
At this point, I couldn't stop crying.
Several generals suddenly realized at this time that they understood Liu's concern. In fact, Yang Guodong knew in his heart that those two dolls were not Zhao Xiong's concern.
He took a deep breath, with a resolute expression on his face: "Madam, madam, don't be too sad. I, Yang Guodong, am here to promise you that even if I risk my life, I will save the lives of your two grandchildren.
What's more, they are also my grandchildren!"
The room was filled with a feeling of farewell and no one noticed that it was getting later and later.
When Mrs. Liu lit the candles in the room one by one, there seemed to be rapid footsteps outside the door from far to near.
Everyone present had their hearts beating faster and their hairs standing on end. Because they all knew what was going to happen in this situation. The emperor had just announced the decree in the palace, which meant that,
The Zhao family was not even allowed to see the sun on the second day.
Mrs. Liu walked to Zhao Xiong, and Zhao Xiong also held her hand tightly.
"Master, tell me, can we still see Zhao'er?" she asked softly.
Just as Zhao Xiong was about to answer, he heard a high-pitched and loud shout coming from outside the door.
"General Zhao!" This was Tong Xian's voice, which sounded very urgent. It looked like he had been running all the way.
Zhao Xiong led everyone out of the house and met the panting Tong Xian head-on. "Master Tong? Why are you here?"
Tong Xian was out of breath, fanned herself with her hands, and then looked at the people following Zhao Xiong. "They're all...all here..."
"Master Tong, are you... here to convey the imperial edict?" Zhao Xiong looked at his formation and was a little confused. How could the edict of the minister be delivered in such an amateurish way?
Everyone looked at Tong Xian in confusion, and Yang Jinyi couldn't bear his temper. He rushed up to hold Tong Xian's arm and shouted: "My great-aunt, you are talking! Do you want to kill us all?"
Tong Xian finally straightened up, calmed down her breath, and then announced to everyone in a clear and crisp tone, word for word: "General Zhao, the emperor has just given an order to immediately release the general and his family back to the General's Mansion in Luoyang."
For a long while, no one believed their ears.
After a long while, Yang Jinyi asked: "You...what did you say?"
Tong Xian smiled and shook his head, and repeated to Zhao Xiong: "The emperor has ordered that the entire Zhao family be released immediately, without any mistakes."
Everyone was in an uproar, and Cao Rui even rushed to Tong Xian and asked excitedly: "Are you kidding me? The emperor just..."
Tong Xian raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Oh, General Cao, even if you give me ten courages, I wouldn't dare to joke about this! Oh, General Yang, please let go, it hurts me to death!"
Yang Jinyi then laughed and let go of his hand.
Everyone present, including many soldiers standing in the yard, cheered for the news. Anyone who still has some conscience knows that a loyal member of the Zhao family, how can he be a traitor? How can he escape from the gate of hell now?
Can it not make people feel happy?
After returning to the house, Yang Guodong remembered to ask Tong Xian: "Why did the emperor suddenly change his mind?" In the afternoon, in front of the ministers, the emperor tried his best to kill the Zhao family.
Not only Yang Guodong felt strange, but even Zhao Xiong himself was a little confused when he was happy. "Yes, Mr. Tong, can you tell us what's going on?"
Tong Xian took a sip of the tea handed to him by Mrs. Liu, frowned and thought for a long time, and seemed to be confused: "I don't know about this either. Just now Master Pan closed the door in the hall and chatted with the emperor.
After saying something, the emperor suddenly changed his mind."
It's okay if he didn't say it, but when he said this, everyone here, including Monk Zhang Er, couldn't figure it out. They all looked at me, and I looked at you, with confused expressions on their faces.
Yang Jinyi stared and asked: "You...who are you talking about? Pan Zhuqing?"
Tong Xian nodded: "Yes! Pan Zhuqing, Master Pan."
"How could he?" Yang Jinyi asked the first question on everyone's mind.
"How did he do it?" Zhao Xiong asked the second question on everyone's mind.
Although the current emperor is not a great wise king, he is also a person who has no ideas other than Zhao. The things that Tong Zhao truly believes in his heart and the determination he has made will not be swayed by others.
In the past, Zhao Changyuan had tried to turn the tide in front of the emperor. But in the final analysis, it was because the emperor's own interests were not touched, so the emperor did not and there was no need to pursue it too much.
Now this matter involves the emperor's heart problems and minefields. How did Pan Zhuqing turn the situation around? How did he do it?
Pan Zhuqing didn't care about his answer. He just strode forward and said, "Let's go to the Ministry of Punishment."
Naturally, Pan Zhuqing was not hindered when he entered and exited the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. Officials from the Ministry of Punishment personally held a lantern to clear the way for him and led him into the dungeon where the felon Zhao Changyuan was imprisoned.
Because of his profession, the number of times Pan Zhuqing visited the prison almost equaled the number of times he ate. But there were only two times that made him feel special. One was when Pan Jingyuan was in trouble, and he visited him as a relative.
One time, that's today.
He remembered that day when he stood at the door of the cell and saw his younger brother sitting lonely on the ground through a small window. That was the first time he felt the desire as an older brother to protect his younger brother.
At this moment, he was also standing in front of an iron door, looking in through the window, but there was no complicated emotion lingering in his heart.
It was still such a dark and narrow space, with only the light from a skylight. But Pan Zhuqing discovered that the person sitting on the stone bed was still sitting in a lotus position, with his hands clasped together, and he seemed to be muttering Sanskrit in his mouth.
The moonlight shines on Zhao Changyuan's face, calm and indifferent, as if he is not in prison, but sitting in a Buddhist hall, under the Bodhisattva.
Pan Zhuqing looked at him in silence for a long time, until the person inside suddenly opened his eyes and looked back at him calmly.
He smiled innocently and asked the jailer to open the cell door for him.
"You have only been a monk for a year, but you are very pious. Even at this point, you still don't forget to chant sutras and recite the Buddha's name. Are you asking for the Buddha's blessing?" Pan Zhuqing walked in and sat on the floor in front of Zhao Changyuan, not forgetting to tease him with a smile.
.
Zhao Changyuan looked calm and replied calmly: "It is enough to have Master Pan's blessing."
Pan Zhuqing raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "Why do you have so much confidence in me?"
"It's just that you know yourself and your enemy." Zhao Changyuan answered quite simply.
"You know yourself and your enemy well. Why don't you guess how I persuaded the emperor?"
Zhao Changyuan didn't speak anymore, a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he picked up the straw on the ground and placed a word on the stone bed.
Pan Zhuqing took a closer look, was startled at first, and then laughed loudly. He seemed to be joking but also said seriously: "You know me well, I really don't know if I helped you this time, but it is equivalent to harming myself."
Pan Zhuqing put away his smile and returned to his usual cold and distant look. "So are you ready?"
"Leave it to your own devices."
After a while, Pan Zhuqing walked out of the prison. Zhao Changyuan was still sitting cross-legged on the stone bed. Under the moonlight beside his knees, there was a big character made of straw - "Liao".
The corridor of the prison of the Ministry of Punishment was long and narrow. The dim candlelight illuminated the mottled walls particularly strangely. Pan Zhuqing walked out with a stern face, reviewing everything that happened in the Jinluan Hall in the evening.
"What's going on with Pan Aiqing?" At that time, all the ministers withdrew one after another. Only the emperor and Pan Zhuqing were left in the palace.
Pan Zhuqing stood in the center of the hall, hands clasped, and just about to speak, he heard rapid footsteps coming in from outside the hall.
The emperor frowned slightly, and was about to have an attack when he discovered that the person who walked in was Hu Weiyan, the military messenger. He couldn't help but feel nervous. As we all know, when there is urgent military information, these military messengers can directly enter the room to report to the emperor without passing the news.