After getting off the carriage, he walked alone on the East Street. The bustling crowds of people came and went, which suddenly gave him a feeling of loneliness and despair.
He found a tavern. After the cat went in, he ordered a pot of wine and poured himself a drink. Like the literati of the past and present, he felt self-inflicted and wanted to compose a poem. However, he had neglected literature.
It’s been a long time. All these years, you’ve been doing nothing but pursuing officialdom, so where can you find the time to do literature?
My heart became more and more depressed, so I raised my head and downed half a bottle of wine. When I got drunk, I felt dizzy and my eyes were dizzy.
"Hey, isn't this Minister Yuan?" Suddenly, a mocking voice was heard.
He slowly raised his head. He saw a middle-aged man wearing blue brocade clothes walking in with his attendants. He took a closer look and found that it was Sun Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
He suddenly felt guilty and his face was flustered. Because this wife of Wu Shilang was once his sweetheart.
Wu Shilang is thirty years old this year. When he was promoted, his first wife divorced out of jealousy, and then married the current wife, and then continued to take concubines. Now there are three concubines, some with no status, and some
Seven or eight.
During the first-year assessment, he made some mistakes. Because he was promoted to the position of Minister, he had gone through the back door. He was always worried that he would not pass the assessment, so he asked to go to the residence of Minister Wu and gave him many gifts. However, Minister Wu was greedy.
It was not enough, so he was asked to send another three thousand taels of silver. He didn't raise enough for a while, and offended Wu Shilang. He originally couldn't survive that year. Fortunately, his uncle came forward and the matter was settled.
After Wu Shilang came over, he said with a smile: "I almost forgot, you are no longer the Yuan Shilang. You have to call me Marquis. I heard that you resigned due to illness. Is your illness cured?"
Jinghou was already accustomed to fawning over these people and subconsciously showing weakness, so even though he could hear the ridicule and contempt in his tone, he did not dare to refute, but just said with a smile: "It turns out to be Mr. Wu, thank you very much.
Greetings, nothing’s wrong, you’re welcome.”
He is a dignified marquis, but he would not dare to offend even a watchdog from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, let alone the minister.
Wu Shilang sat down with a smile and looked at him across from him, his face full of sarcasm and ridicule, "Yuan Balong, you are really worse than a dog. Dogs can still read people's faces. A coward like you is better off dead."
went."
Jingwai's sudden attack on Minister Wu was expected.
It wasn't because of his wife's affairs, but because he couldn't raise enough three thousand taels of silver, so he went to Wu Shilang to plead for mercy. It happened that the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel knew about it, so he reprimanded Wu Shilang and warned him. Wu Shilang has hated him ever since.
, opposed him at every turn, which also resulted in him having to find connections to ask for favors in every assessment after that. When he was in office, he dreamed of Wu Shilang being transferred away, but Wu Shilang had a nail in his butt and was always there.
The officials are waiting.
Now facing Mr. Wu's hateful face, he could only say sarcastically, even under the influence of alcohol: "Master Wu really likes to joke."
"Trash!" Seeing that Wu Shilang couldn't anger him, he couldn't help but cursed with waning enthusiasm.
I just waited for him to leave quickly, so I didn't say anything to him, I just looked at Wu Shilang and smiled flatteringly.
"Master Wu has such great official authority!"
King An's voice came over coldly.
The two men suddenly raised their heads and saw King An, who was wearing a python robe, standing behind them at some point. He looked at Wu Shilang coldly with a solemn face, "The Marquis has a title, so he is not the imperial court."
I will not tolerate your contempt, Ming Guan!"
There were many people in the tavern, and Prince An rebuked Wu Shilang in this way. Wu Shilang's face suddenly became pale, but he did not dare to argue. He just stood up and held his hands in the palm of his hand, "Your Majesty is right, I will take my leave!"
"Get out!" Wang An said coldly.
This word "Go" made Wu Shilang feel angry, but he did not dare to show his anger and left in anger.
Jinghou had never seen Wu Shilang so frustrated, and she couldn't help but feel happy. She quickly stood up and saluted Prince An, "Xiaohou has met the prince, thank you for your help."
Prince An raised his robe and sat down, and said in a hearty voice, "You're welcome, Lord Marquis. I can't bear to see his eccentric appearance, so I just want to give him a scolding."
Jinghou smiled flatteringly. This smile was habitual and he even showed it inadvertently.
After laughing, he remembered that his old friend's incident was planned by King An, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry in his heart.
However, when the waiter brought the wine glass and placed it on the table, he immediately stood up and poured the wine respectfully, "Your Majesty, please do me a favor and have a drink."
Seeing his humble attitude, King An was very satisfied. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip, "This wine is not good. If you don't mind it, why not go to Prince An's Mansion and have a drink."
"I don't dislike it, I don't dislike it, I want it!" Jinghou was flattered and said immediately.
King An stood up and said meaningfully: "Master Marquis, please!"
He waited quietly and bowed, "Your Majesty, please."
When they arrived at Prince An's Mansion, Prince An ordered the wine to be served, and he changed the cups. After a while, he was drunk until he was seven or eighty percent drunk.
He has a good drinking capacity. Because he has had many social events these years, he must have a good drinking capacity.
But he was feeling depressed and the wine was very strong, so he couldn't stand it anymore.
When King An saw that he was almost done drinking, he put down his glass and looked at him quietly, "Master Hou is only in his forties this year, right? He is in his prime, and it is time to serve the court. Why did he hang up his boots and resign?"
Where is the official?"
Waiting for the wine to get stronger, he heard these words and looked at Wang An's face full of meaning. He remembered that he had encountered a wall with Yu Wenhao and Yuan Qingling because of this matter, and he knelt down with anger in his heart.
"Your Majesty, if you can help me, Xiaohou is willing to do my best for you."
King An sat up straight, with a faint smile on his lips and a glint in his eyes. He made him kneel down and then slowly helped him up, "You don't have to be like this, Lord Marquis. If Lord Marquis really wants to return to officialdom, I should
Wang does have a suitable opportunity."
When I was waiting to leave Prince An's Mansion, my steps were shaky and I was half-conscious.
King An asked someone to take him off. He got on the carriage and fell asleep. He was helped down when he arrived at the mansion.
After entering the mansion, he went back to his concubine Zhou's house and lay down, with Prince An's words echoing in his ears, "If things come to pass, I promise to let you replace Master Wu as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs."
Job."
Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
From now on, he will hold the important position of evaluating officials. From now on, officials of all sizes will give him gifts to see how he behaves.
It's really attractive.
He seemed to have had a dream, in which Wu Shilang knelt in front of him and gave him three thousand taels of silver, but he kicked him out.
It is very pleasing to the people, very pleasing to the people.
"I don't know which vixen I went out to drink with and got so drunk."
In my ears, I could hear the cursing voice of my concubine Mrs. Zhou.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and the world was spinning, as if he was in a dream.
He slowly clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. He never wanted to look at people's faces again. He wanted everyone who had insulted him to beg to come to his door.