It was late at night, and there were almost no pedestrians on the streets. Even the soldiers guarding the gate were wearing raincoats and hiding in nearby strongholds, only looking at them from time to time.
Even if the rain stops for a while, revealing a somewhat gray sky, it is no longer as clear as before. The light of the stars and the moon is thinner than before. There seem to be dark clouds gathering in the distance, and I am afraid that it will rain again soon.
A depressing atmosphere enveloped the entire capital, and it had nothing to do with the weather.
Qingzhu Lane on the east side of Wanglufang is dimly covered with green tiles and pink walls. Several civil servants from the DPRK and Chinese Dynasty live there. The land price in this lane is not low. Anyone who can buy a house here is an official of fourth rank or above.
For such officials, there are usually some cars and horses parked in front of the door, but today not only here, but also everywhere else is quiet.
Occasionally, there are night banquets held in mansions, without singing or dancing, just listening to the singing girls singing a cappella. It seems that everyone with some connections seems to smell a kind of uneasiness about the coming storm. Even those who used to like to call friends,
Choose to keep a low profile at this time.
"Squeak——"
The door of the mansion at the end of Qingzhu Lane, which was originally closed, was opened from the inside, and two people walked out one after the other.
Following them were several followers in green robes, but no one spoke except for the sound of footsteps.
There was no one to see them off, but looking behind them, one could see a middle-aged man in private clothes kneeling inside the open door.
If you know which official this mansion belongs to, you may be able to recognize that this middle-aged man who is kneeling and not daring to raise his head at this moment is the owner of this mansion, a fourth-rank official in the court?
Kneeling further behind were the official's family members and servants, who were worse than the official. They were sweating profusely and their clothes were soaked with sweat.
It wasn't until he heard the sound of footsteps going out that the official kneeling at the front breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside, the eunuch Ma Shunde, who had learned nothing, had a stern expression on his face, and was obviously in a bad mood.
Although Qingzhu Lane is an alley, it is very wide inside and can accommodate two oxcarts passing by at the same time. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a street.
Next to the mansion at the end of the alley, there were two oxcarts parked, but the few people who came out of the mansion did not get on the oxcart immediately.
The man in Taoist robes was none other than Huo Wuyong. His expression was solemn and a bit scary to begin with. With such an expression at the moment, people who knew him would be heartbroken.
Ma Shunde was very upset at the moment. Not only was he upset, he was also very angry.
He was ordered to go out with Huo Wuyong on errands, but he had checked several people, but Huo Wuyong never said what he wanted to check.
The statements made on the surface are all to deceive people, and the real intention is definitely not this.
Ma Shunde didn't want to be a fool. He wanted to know the truth, and since he couldn't get it from the emperor, Huo Wuyong in front of him could ask.
"Master Huo, you and I are all acting under the emperor's orders. Now that we have reached this point, shouldn't we say a word or two? Otherwise, it will be really difficult to do errands."
"Even the most secretive errand must be known to you and me."
After Ma Shunde asked with a serious look, he looked at Huo Wuyong. He thought that no matter what Huo Wuyong said, he could give him a reminder.
Unexpectedly, the Taoist's muscles twitched twice and he just shook his head: "Eunuch Ma, I really can't say anything."
Even those who were assisting him couldn't know the inside story. What was hidden here? The more Huo Wuyong didn't say anything, the more Ma Shunde wanted to know.
It’s not that I’m curious, but unlike Eunuch Zhao who has been “cultivating his character” over the years, Ma Shunde, as a eunuch who has just succeeded in taking office, urgently needs more credit to make his position more secure!
The opposite is also true. Only by knowing the details of the errand can we make a clear target and avoid disaster. Otherwise, we will die without knowing how.
Ma Shunde has seen too many of his own people being executed after doing things in silence.
However, I am already the eunuch beside the emperor, and I have even finished reading the memorial. I didn't realize that the emperor has something important to do recently - does this man look down on our family, that's why he doesn't talk to our family?
?
Since the emperor wants our family to help with errands, it means that he has no intention of making our family blind and deaf. Our family still doesn’t know anything, so the problem must be all with this wise old man!
Damn you old-fashioned guy!
Ma Shunde was frightened in his heart, and subconsciously he did not dare to blame the emperor, so he could not help but express his anger at Huo Wuyong.
However, he also knew that it was not good for him to fall out with Huo Wuyong at this time. In this matter, he was now the emperor's popular person. The key to the matter was that although he had succeeded in becoming a great eunuch, among the people whom the emperor trusted most,
I'm afraid it won't even rank among the top five. This is a very fatal thing for a great eunuch who serves the emperor.
Ma Shunde rolled his eyes and said: "No matter what is being investigated, now that Wanglufang has been investigated, is it only Dai Wang's Mansion? Is the next step to investigate Dai Wang's Mansion?"
This was meant to be a joke, but to Ma Shunde's surprise, the wise old man in front of him did not deny it. Instead, he paced slowly with a gloomy face, pondering for a moment.
Ma Shunde suddenly felt uneasy in his heart, and his face changed. This is not good. He thought to himself: "Is it related to the acting king? This matter will be troublesome."
He originally thought that it would be the same as usual, just going out to run a moderate errand and not going beyond expectations. However, Huo Wuyou's reaction gave him a clue.
After all, he was also the eunuch beside the emperor, and he was ordered by the emperor to follow Huo Wuyong on errands. In this case, Huo Wuyong refused to tell the truth in detail, or he was too lazy to even do superficial things and looked down on him, or he was
This matter is really important!
Ma Shunde originally hoped it would be the former, but he didn't expect it to be the latter!
When it comes to the princes and grandsons, the relationship is huge!
Who really needs to be investigated? Even the Dai Wangfu must be investigated?
"Could it be that this time, if you check others, it's fake, but if you check the king, it's true?"
Although Ma Shunde thought about it carefully, he had an inexplicable dislike for the king, but he was a slave of the emperor and knew how powerful he was. When it came to such matters, he should never act based on his personal likes and dislikes, because if he didn't do it well, he would be punished.
Fall in yourself!
He had a dark face, frowned and gritted his teeth: "If you want to investigate the prince's palace, then our family will have to ask the emperor for permission again."
Huo Wuyong was startled, and his eyes that had not originally fallen on Ma Shunde also glanced over.
"Still asking for instructions?" He seemed a little puzzled: "Didn't you have a decree before?"
Although he is the emperor's royal alchemist, it seems that he is not as good at dealing with such eye-catching matters as those people who are thinking about how to please the emperor and protect themselves every day.
Huo Wuyong seemed to think that Eunuch Ma was too troublesome. Since they had already come out to ask for orders and it was getting late, they had to go back to ask for instructions from the emperor again. Isn't this unnecessary?