The twenty-fourth time, Scholar Xie Daen visits the poor girl and investigates the spy queen
Ever since he drank Asuo's bowl of tofu naoer at the Xiang'e Guild Hall, Zhou Peigong had been thinking about her. He went there several times but never saw her again. Later, he went to Lanmian Alley to inquire about it, and only then did he find out Asuo's surname.
Gu, his family has an old and sick father, and a brother who works part-time for others. Life is very tight. But why he stopped doing the tofu business, the neighbors don't know.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhou Peigong was about to go out again. When Tuhai saw him changing into plain clothes, he smiled and said, "Are you going to look for Gu Asuo in Lanmian Alley again? My little brother, your status is different now, so think carefully!"
A few days ago, Lao Jiang, the doctor from the Ministry of Finance, asked someone to inquire about you. He probably wanted to tell you about his sister, but I just vaguely declined. Although Asuo is good, he is just a bit low-level. Besides, she now has
There is no one who doesn’t know why they bother so much—to repay the favor, take five hundred taels of silver from my account!"
"Where, where!" Zhou Peigong concealed, "I don't mean anything else, I just received such a great favor from someone, and I didn't even see him or say a word of gratitude. Isn't it too rude?" Tu Hai listened.
Liao laughed loudly: "In that case, why don't you knock on her door openly and tell her face to face, 'I, Zhou Peigong, have come to repay your kindness by returning your hairpin!'" After that, he left.
Zhou Peigong was so laughed at that he didn't expect that this old Tuhai had peeked into his privacy. After thinking about it carefully, Tuhai's words did make sense. He had no shameful place, so he had the guts to knock her on the face.
What's wrong with the door?
Arriving at the door of Gu Asuo's house, Zhou Peigong hesitated again: A young man rashly went to find a young girl. If Xiaosuo's family asked, what should I say? He quickly withdrew his hand from knocking on the door. However, Xiaosuo's family asked.
The look on Suo's face as she served him a tofu dish reappeared before his eyes. In this indifferent world, the thoughtfulness and warmth she gave him suddenly came to his heart again. If he had lost these because of his cowardice,
, that will be a lifelong regret... Zhou Peigong thought, and was about to raise his hand to knock on the door, but the door opened with a "squeak". Xiao Suo walked out with a basket of clothes, and when she saw Zhou Peigong standing in front of her, she looked at him.
He flashed, then lowered his head and whispered: "Master Zhou..."
As soon as he heard the word "Sir", Zhou Peigong suddenly felt a chill coming over him. He then smiled heartily and said, "Sir, I'm still Zhou Peigong! I've been here several times, but I can't find your home."
Men'er, I should have come long ago..."
After hearing this, Xiao Suo just lowered his head, an imperceptible smile flashed across his face, and said: "This place is too remote, and we are a small family, so it's not easy to inquire..." After saying that, he turned around and pushed away.
He opened the door and knelt down toward Zhou Peigong again, saying: "It's very shabby inside, just come in and sit down." Hearing her words, Zhou Peigong seemed to have been spotted by her several times wandering in front of her door, and couldn't help but blush.
He made a face and said in a panic: "Don't go in, so as not to disturb your patients. Oh, aren't you going to do laundry? I just want to go to Xihe Street to visit a friend, can we go together?" Xiaosuo raised his head.
He glanced at Zhou Peigong and saw that there was no acquaintance in Zuo Yuan. He hesitated for a moment and nodded in agreement.
The two of them walked in silence for a while, no one said a word. Zhou Peigong's hands were already sweating. After a long time, he finally asked, "How are you doing at home?" Asuo was also not used to it.
On such an occasion, when Zhou Peigong asked this question, he just said "hmm" and Fang slowly said: "My father fell ill the year before last, and life at home is already difficult. We, brother and sister, work hard and can only make ends meet.
It’s just that my brother failed to live up to his expectations and something happened, causing others to..." At this point, she suddenly felt that she had lost her words and closed her mouth again.
"What's wrong with your brother?" Zhou Peigong stopped.
"Hey! I can't say that." Seeing him standing still, Asuo had no choice but to stop too. This is the ancestral tomb of Zhangge's hometown in the Qianming Dynasty. It is very deserted. Because it is under the festival and it is near noon, there is no pedestrian near or far.
The sun shone on the lush pines and cypresses, and clusters of wild roses bloomed with blood-red flowers in front of the loess tomb. Asuo glanced at Peigong, lowered his head and sighed: "He used to work at You's house in the east of the city, and he and You
The eldest grandma's maid got good... Later, she was caught in the wild, beaten, and had her hair cut off. Now she is recuperating at home and dare not go out. The You family comes to the door every three days to ask him to go
Doing work... ugh!" she said, tears rolling out of her eyes, "If I didn't know what kind of person my husband is, I would never talk about these things again, how embarrassing it would be!"
Only then did Zhou Peigong understand the reason why she didn't go out to do business these days. After thinking about it, he took out a banknote from his boot and handed it over, saying: "This is a banknote of fifty taels. You can take it back first to save yourself from poverty."
——No, no, don't refuse! I have no other intention. I, Zhou Peigong, am living in the capital with no relatives, and I have received your great kindness. How can I repay you with a few taels of silver for this kind of kindness?"
"Not because of this." Xiao Suo hurriedly said. He opened his mouth twice, but couldn't say the next words.
"Why?"
"Daddy wants to ask about the origin of the money. What should I... say?"
Both of them were silent. Zhou Peigong was originally an eloquent and resourceful man. At this time, he also felt that what Xiao Suo said was really reasonable. He slowly withdrew his hand and after a long time, he said: "Well, I will come to you another day.
Family, tell me clearly in front of your father, is this okay?" They were walking silently along the path among the tombs, when suddenly Xiao Suo screamed and took two steps back, almost falling into Pei Gong's arms.
When Zhou Peigong looked at it, he saw a snake sloughing across the road. He picked it up, shook it and threw it into the grass. He smiled and said, "This is a medicinal material. What's so scary about it? I thought you saw a dead body crawling from a grave."
It’s out!”
"This place is unclean and often haunted." Xiao Suo wiped the sweat on his cheeks with his hand and said with a lingering shock, "If I hadn't walked with you today, I would have had to go around two miles longer.
Already."
Zhou Peigong laughed and said: "There are no ghosts in the world! Immortals, Buddhas, gods and ways are all created by man. When I first came to Beijing, there was a large mass grave behind the Fahua Temple. In the summer, I rested there alone. How could I have seen this before?
Have you ever seen a ghost? You really believe in these things!" "Sir, don't dare to say this nonsense," Asuo said seriously, "There are still ghosts and gods... You haven't seen ghosts, that's because you are blessed and a noble person."
Zhou Peigong listened in silence for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"You...why are you laughing?" Asuo stopped in surprise and looked at Zhou Peigong, thinking that he was possessed by evil spirits.
"I remember the swearing I made with others when I was a child!" Zhou Peigong walked forward while recalling the past and said: "That year my father had just fallen ill and passed away, and my mother was lying on the bed dying again. The doctor wrote a prescription and said...
The patient needs to take good care of himself. I ran dozens of miles to my sister’s house to carry back a bag of rice. Before I left, my sister tied up an old hen and asked me to bring it back - do you like to hear these things?"
"Well," Xiao Suo replied, "just tell me, I'll listen."
Zhou Peigong breathed a sigh of relief. "I had just finished boiling the chicken when I got home, and my aunt came in from the door yelling and swearing, insisting that it was her chicken. I told her that it was my sister's filial piety to my mother.
She didn't believe it, and she kept her feet off the ground, howling and cursing in the main room, causing the neighbors to come in and watch the fun, and they all made sarcastic comments. My mother couldn't hear it inside, so she struggled out and started talking.
He bowed to his aunt and begged me, scolding me for not living up to expectations, and asking me to apologize to my aunt... When I didn't obey her, she became so angry..." When Zhou Peigong said this, his voice was a little choked, and Xiao Suo's eyes were filled with tears.
Tears.
"I was only ten years old at the time, and my blood was in full swing. When I saw my mother lying on the ground, I was so angry that I rushed forward like crazy, grabbed my aunt, and cursed: 'You old bitch, you are looking for trouble, you are so angry.
My mother is dead, I will fight with you! - Didn't you say that I stole your chicken? Go, go to the Guanlaoye Temple next door and swear in front of the god, do you dare?!'
"'Just go!' said my aunt, and she dragged me to the Guandi Temple. I shook my head and put on the incense stick, knelt down and kowtowed heavily, cried loudly, and shouted, 'Master Guan, Guan
Master! You are the righteous god in the world, who specializes in injustices in the world. You are the one who decides. I, Zhou Peigong, did not steal her chicken, but she falsely accused me. If you are smart, you can make this stinky woman take her breath away as soon as she goes out.
"If I, Zhou Peigong, steal someone else's chicken, as soon as I leave this temple, I will do a somersault and break my leg!"
"After I prayed, I got up. I felt dizzy. I stumbled out. Sure enough, I tripped over the high threshold and fell to the bottom of the steps with a bang. I rolled over twice in a row.
I really twisted my ankle and couldn't get up anymore..." Zhou Peigong woke up from his memories. Seeing that Asuo had forgotten his mind and wiped his tears with his sleeves, he laughed and said, "Don't you say there are ghosts and gods?
Do you believe that I am telling the truth?"
"Amitabha, I believe you are telling the truth, but this is an injustice from the previous life!" Asuo sighed, "I feel very sad when I hear this, but you still have the heart to laugh!" Unknowingly, he has replaced "you" with "you".
"You", "What happened next?"
"Then I started studying hard, thinking that one day I would get relief and burn down the Guandi temples all over the world!" Zhou Peigong said with a smile, "But after reading the book, I thought about it. Why should I be angry with this clay sculpture?" he said.
As they walked, they saw the official road ahead and the Xihe River in the distance. They seemed to have returned to the human world from another world. This world does not allow orphans to walk and talk without restraint. The two of them stopped in unison.
"It's time for me to go back." Zhou Peigong felt a feeling of farewell in his heart and looked at Asuo affectionately.
"Yeah." Xiao Suo took two steps back, squatted down, turned around and left silently.
"Asuo!" Zhou Peigong suddenly shouted.
Asuo suddenly stopped and looked at Zhou Peigong in confusion without saying anything. Zhou Peigong took a few steps forward and whispered: "Does your brother's family know about your brother?"
"No one knows that his braids were cut in the wild."
"That's easy to handle." Zhou Peigong smiled and said, "If you ask him to take a pair of scissors to the theater at night and cut off more than ten pigtails of his pigtails, and then shout loudly that his pigtails have also been cut, the matter will be written off.
?”
Asuowu's big eyes rolled. He thought for a long time before he came to his senses. He covered his mouth and smiled, pointed at Zhou Peigong, said only "You--" and walked away quickly with a red face.
.
It was already midnight when Kangxi returned to Da Nei from Niujie Mosque. The night was filled with verbal battles and directing the fights in person, and he handled them very appropriately. Although he was exhausted, he was extremely excited and not sleepy at all. He just wanted to find someone to talk to.
After talking, he ordered Zhang Wanqiang: "Prepare the sedan chair. I am going to the Xiu Palace tonight, and the noble concubine Niu Hulu will also go." Zhang Wanqiang hurriedly agreed and went out to arrange the arrangements.
Queen Hershey was not asleep yet. She was sitting under the lamp playing cards and asking questions about her son. When she heard that the emperor was arriving in the middle of the night, she hurriedly put on makeup to greet him.
Kangxi smiled happily and said: "I have won a fortune tonight, I am so anxious if I don't find anyone to talk to!" After saying that, he took the queen's hand and went up the steps into the palace. The imperial concubine Niu Hulu also came soon to see the emperor.
After talking to the queen, he knelt down to the side. Seeing her kowtow and salute, Kangxi only nodded briefly and said with a smile: "Come in."
"Long live," Hesheli asked people to bring the ginseng soup prepared for him to Kangxi and said, "What benefits did you gain tonight? Let your concubines hear it, and they will also be happy with it."
"Yes!" Kangxi rolled up his sleeves, took a sip of the ginseng soup, and then told the story of the farce in Niujie Temple in vivid detail.
Covering your mouth and laughing.
The queen was speechless for a long time. She listened quietly to Kangxi's words. After pondering for a while, she smiled and said: "Long live my lord, when Mr. Wu gave you a lecture, I also quietly listened to it several times. What did he say about 'the one who knows his fate'?"
"Love your body and don't stand under a rock wall." Small families all pay attention to this, not to mention that the emperor is the king of thousands of chariots. From now on, it is better to avoid dangerous places. It is enough to send a general for such things. This is one of the reasons.
one."
"Oh? There's a second one?"
The queen looked around and saw that several palace maids and eunuchs were still waiting at the entrance of the palace. She waved her sleeves and said, "All of you, please step aside. Only Mo Ju is left to serve."
Mo Ju was the most reliable servant brought by the queen from her natal family. After listening to the queen's instructions, she knelt down and said "yes", then went out and ordered everyone to avoid it, and stood waiting outside the palace.
"You are too careful." Kangxi saw the people retreating and said with a smile, "Will there be outsiders here?"
"That's what the second one said." The queen stood up and brewed a cup of Pu'er tea herself. She gave it to Kangxi with both hands, then sat down and said, "Long live what you just said was very detailed, and I listened to every word. It's just that Yang
Since the traitor then knew that the emperor was visiting Niujie Temple in person, he would have left as usual, so why did he insist on setting fire to it? This is so audacious!" Mrs. Niu Hulu was also startled, she didn't think about it at all.
"Raise fire as a signal!" Kangxi stood up in shock. On the way back, he also felt that this matter was a bit strange. At this time, when the queen mentioned it, he immediately hit his mind: "Raise fire as a signal."
, this was agreed upon in the Qianqing Palace, why did the thieves know so quickly! Kangxi thought about it, banging the tea cup on the table, staring at the outside of the palace, gritting his teeth and said: "You said
That's right - there is indeed a spy in the palace - so - here - like this!"
When Hesheli saw that Kangxi was shocked and angry, his face changed drastically. He stood up and said with a smile: "Long live, why do you need to start such a big fire? Fortunately, the thief's plot did not succeed, but we are aware of this matter. Concubine and imperial concubine."
Check slowly."
"Come!" Kangxi suddenly shouted, "pass the message and ask Zhang Wanqiang and Xiao Maozi from the Yangxin Palace to come!"
Mo Ju agreed outside the door and sent someone to go. The queen smiled and said: "Long live, are you not tired today? It's already past midnight, and you still have to ask questions here? All the palace doors have been locked. This alarm
, it’s time to record it again.”
"Just record it." Kangxi calmed down a little, breathed a sigh of relief, and handed the teacup to Niu Hulu, "Here's a cup of hot tea - the sooner this kind of thing is dealt with, the better. The palace door is locked.
, the fewer people everywhere know about it, the better - spread the word, and anyone who dares to speak nonsense will be locked up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and starved to death!"
The queen nodded and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, it's late at night, don't be exhausted!"
Kangxi sighed: "It is not easy for me to be the emperor. According to the Han people, you and I are both barbarians. There are many people who are dissatisfied, so we have to be extra careful. You must know that what the former Ming emperor could do with his own strength,
I have to put in five-tenths of my strength to do it!"
"Wanzai is telling the truth." Niu Hulu also nodded and sighed.
"Now is the time when the country is in trouble. I can't just rule from the top - if I just ask the subordinates to do it, it will easily lead to disadvantages." Kangxi said, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh, "If you can't calm the people, you can't calm down the vassal; you can't gather wealth, and you can't talk about troops.
Things - this is what Mr. Wu said in his letter to me. He is very right! My treasury is so exhausted and I have to spend 20 million silver every year to support the three living treasures. How can there be such an unlucky emperor in ancient and modern times?
Announcing the people, amassing wealth, and conducting military affairs must all start with being close to the people. I am not close to the people. I stay at the Qianqing Palace every day. Not to mention being better than Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, I am afraid that I am not even as good as Huizong and Qinzong of the Song Dynasty! Think about it, I am the Empress Changsun.
Or is it better to say, 'You are setting up a flag on the city wall, but I am deep in the palace, how can I know'?"
While Kangxi was expressing his emotions in a long speech, Zhang Wanqiang and Xiao Maozi came in panting, kowtowed to the emperor and the empress one after another, and then greeted the noble concubine, and then asked: "Long live the Lord, please send me the slaves.
I don't know what the purpose is?" Kangxi's anger had calmed down. He blew tea foam from the cup and turned to the queen: "You are the Lord of the Sixth Palace. Please tell them. I want to rest."
"Yes!" the queen agreed, sitting diagonally across from Kangxi and asked, "Today the emperor is discussing matters in Qianqing Palace, which one of you is on duty?"
Zhang Wanqiang hurriedly knelt down and replied: "To my master, it is the slave who is on duty."
"Besides the ministers summoned by Long Live, who else is in the palace?"
"I am the only one," Zhang Wanqiang raised his face and recalled with his fingers, "Liu Wei, Huang Sicun, Chang Baozhu, Chen Ziying... there are twenty-four in total. By the way, Wang Zhenbang from Wenhua Palace also came here as an official.
"
Kangxi couldn't understand what was going on, so he interrupted and asked: "I said that I would raise fire as a signal, and all twelve mosques would do it together. Did you hear this?"
"My servant heard it." After hearing this, Zhang Wanqiang already understood the emperor's intention, kowtowed and replied, "I dare not say that everyone heard it, but I must have heard a lot. This matter was discussed at that time.
After a while, I handed it over to Master Tuhai - Long live the Lord did not ask the slaves to avoid it."
"Is it true that when the emperor speaks here, he will act the other way?" The queen suddenly said angrily, "How did you get this job, Zhang Wanqiang?"
Although the words were not high-pitched, his tone was stern. The little boy next to him also turned pale with fright. He knelt down and lowered his head, not daring to express his anger. When Zhang Wanqiang heard the accusation, he kowtowed "yes" repeatedly, but was speechless.
.
Seeing his panic, Kangxi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Zhang Wanqiang, I also know that you are always careful. Today, you made a big mistake. Do you know?"
"This slave deserves to die!" Zhang Wanqiang replied with a crying voice, "Please punish me, my master!"
"It's not just a matter of punishment -" the Queen asked again, "Who do you think spread the word?"
"This..." Beads of sweat rolled down Zhang Wanqiang's forehead. After thinking for a long time, he shook his head and replied, "I really can't figure it out at the moment, so I don't dare to lie to my master."
Xiao Maozi suddenly said from the side: "I know all these people, Wang Zhenbang, Huang Sicun, there is no one else but them! Ah San who is setting the fire in the tea room is not sure..." After hearing this, Zhang Wanqiang turned around and said: "Xiao Maozi, this is not the case
If you are joking, your head will fall to the ground!" After saying this, Xiao Maozi was so frightened that he did not dare to speak any more.
"You are stupid!" The queen slapped the table, and even Kangxi, who was sitting next to him, was startled, but she heard the queen sternly say, "He is paying attention to the master, but you stop him - how do you know that the master is going to be wronged?"
Got someone?"
"Cha——" Zhang Wanqiang trembled in shock and said in a trembling voice, "I'm so stupid, I'm afraid that my master will wrongly accuse me!"
"Hmph!" the queen sneered, "Stop waiting in the Yangxin Palace and go back to the Cining Palace!"
Returning to Cining Palace to serve the Empress Dowager was not considered a punishment. But he was driven back. Not only himself, but also the Empress Dowager's face was not good-looking. Kangxi weighed it in his mind and ordered: "Both of you,
Get out!" Zhang Wanqiang and Xiao Maozi got up, stepped out of the hall with trembling legs, and knelt uneasily in the shadow of the lights in the courtyard.
Kangxi turned around and saw the complacent and angry look on Mr. Hesheli's face. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Can't you see how powerful you are as the head of the house?" Only then did Mr. Niu Hulu breathe a sigh of relief and the color returned to his face.
Come.
"We can't let this go easily," the queen came back to her senses and said with a straight face, "If we can't bring order to the family, we can't govern the country and bring peace to the world."
"Of course this is a good thing," Kangxi mused, "but Zhang Wanqiang cannot be punished at the moment. I have thought about it. The reason for the leak this time was not that the eunuchs were gossiping about my wife, but that it was deliberately spread out to plot something big. How could Zhang Wanqiang prevent it?"
These two people are the only ones around me who can still take care of things. Xiao Maozi, I have to make other arrangements. If the enemy's country is not destroyed, we must not harm ourselves. The queen also wants to spare Zhang Wanqiang."
"Okay," the queen told Mo Ju with a raised face, "call them in!" (To be continued)
