86_86438 However, he said that Lin Hai was assassinated in the street, and the assassin was actually a servant he brought from Yangzhou; the dagger was found to be coated with a very powerful strange poison, and his throat was sealed when the blood was seen. He then sat in front of the hall and ordered someone to take him away.
He came up and asked, "I've always treated you well, so I won't say such lies. I'll just tell you why."
The man's name was Hu Zhong, who was originally a son of the Lin family. He knelt down and kowtowed calmly and said: "I know that I can't help you, I just want to die quickly."
Lin Hai raised his eyes: "You are also a smart person, do you think you can do it?"
Hu Zhong said: "I don't know anything to begin with. How can I ask you anything?"
Lin Hai glanced at him.
Hu Zhongsui said: "The person who came to bribe me was of ordinary build. His voice was hoarse every time. He had a black scarf on his face and he came at night. I really don't know anything."
Lin Hainai asked: "How much."
Hu Zhong lowered his head and said, "Ten thousand taels of silver."
Lin Hai couldn't help but snorted: "Is your master's life worth that much?"
Hu Zhong said smoothly: "My life is naturally more valuable, but this is all I can get."
Lin Hai thought for a while: "A few days before coming to Beijing, you said that your wife was going to take the children back to her parents' house to stay for a few days. I think you have arranged for them to be accommodated."
Hu Zhong nodded and said: "Because I got the banknote first, found someone to secretly verify that it was genuine, and settled the family, I took this job."
Lin Haidao: "Aren't you afraid that if you die, your family will be silenced?"
Hu Zhong said with a smile: "I am a little clever. They were arranged by me personally. Anyway, if something happens, no matter I succeed or fail, I will die. The court and the opponent will definitely look for their wives or even sit together.
Or silence me. I am not boasting, I am afraid that neither the master nor them can be found. I was born to be a slave. Even if I live a hundred years in this life, I will only be a slave to others. What is the fun? It will also bring trouble to my children and grandchildren. It is not the master.
It's not that I'm ungrateful if you treat me badly. Such an opportunity is rare in a lifetime. Even if I die, my children will be free and have enough money to settle down and live in peace. I won't care about anything else."
When Lin Hai heard what he said so honestly, he was silent for a long time. He didn't ask Hu Zhong's mother-in-law and children how they obtained their freedom - now that all the princes have their own powers, it is very easy to become a good citizen with ten thousand taels of silver.
There are all kinds of people, among the hundreds of people in the Lin Mansion, there are naturally some who are loyal, and there are probably also a few who are motivated by interests. Moreover, Hu Zhong is a very smart person, and it is inevitable that he does not want to be a slave for life. But this person
Now that everything was clear, I didn't know where to start asking him.
Hu Zhong looked up at Lin Hai's thoughtful expression and said with a smile: "Master, there is no need to worry about it. I will tell you everything I know." Lin Hai raised his eyebrows and looked at him, and he said, "I have thought about it long ago.
No matter whether this matter succeeds or fails, and no matter who comes to ask me, what to say. It is not for the favor of the master, let alone for fear of suffering, it is just that there is no need to hide it. It is just a transaction in the first place.
.”
Lin Hai was silent again. After looking at him for a long time, he saw that he was always calm and composed. It was obvious that he had put life and death aside for a long time. He suddenly asked: "You still have parents, brothers and relatives in the house. You never thought that you would drag them down?"
He said with no fear on his face: "My parents, my family, my etiquette, my conscience, I don't care about anything else in front of my children."
Lin Haidao: "If you really want to get rid of your slavery, there are no serious ways. Why don't you come and ask me?"
Hu Zhong asked back: "How much money can you give me to take me out of the house? At that time, my son would not have to work as a tenant to farm. If the harvest was not good, he would still have to be sold into slavery."
Lin Hai sneered and said: "It turns out that you don't even have the confidence to leave your citizenship and go out to stand on your own and work hard to manage the family business to become a small fortune. Even if you lose, you still have the courage to be smart. How capable can your daughter-in-law be if she is a woman? She carries so much money with her.
, you know you won’t find another good family to marry? The person you marry must be a good man and will be able to treat your son well? Furthermore, there are so many dandy and untalented people in the world today, and no one is watching over them.
Do you know that your son will be able to take the right path? I'm afraid it would be better to be a tenant and be a down-to-earth person. If you accidentally reveal your wealth and encounter a strong man, you will not be able to save your life."
Hu Zhong was startled at first, but after hearing this, he smiled and said: "I know everything in my heart, and everything has been arranged properly." Then he said, "Instead of worrying about my child, why don't you ask what happened?"
Lin Hai saw that he looked confident, and he was afraid that it would not be easy to open the gap from his child, so he followed his words and asked: "How did it happen?"
Hu Zhong started from the beginning. Judging from his appearance, he was not lying, but he really didn't know much.
It turns out that this incident started last year. Hu Zhong went out to do errands for Lin Hai that day and returned home late. He found a small stall on the roadside and hurried back. Passing a quiet alley, someone suddenly reached out his hand in the dark.
One came and pinched his neck, and he immediately became speechless. The other put a bag over his head, stuffed his mouth with a veil, and dragged him away.
He was full of panic, thinking that he would have to explain it here today, but who knew that the two men pushed him to a place and took off the bag on his head. Looking through the moonlight, he was sitting on a big stone, surrounded by as if
It was a familiar place, but I was too scared to recognize it; the two people in front of me were both of ordinary build, with black scarves on their faces.
One of them said in a hoarse voice: "Sir, you are frightened. There is no need to be afraid. I just want to do some business with you."
Hu Zhong boldly said: "This villain is just a slave and has no capital to do business with adults."
The man excused himself and said: "Ten thousand taels of silver, in exchange for you stabbing Lin Hai, life or death, give me the money first, and we will prepare the knife for you. Lin Hai has hired a very capable guard, it is very difficult to stab him, we will
I'll give you some cover, and you'll wait for the opportunity to strike."
Hu Zhong was speechless and just about to refute, the man said again: "Do you want your son to still be a slave?"
This sentence hit Hu Zhong right in the heart. He always believed that his talents were not inferior to others, but he was born as a slave, with no place to display his talents. In this life, he could only be a housekeeper with Lin Hai, and he felt depressed every time. Therefore,
He didn't say anything for a moment. The man nodded and winked at his accomplice, and Hu Zhong let the sack cover his head again.
The same man from before said in a hoarse voice: "Sir, move carefully."
Hu Zhong was not afraid this time, and An Sheng supported him and walked away. After they removed the bag again, they immediately disappeared, and Hu Zhong was back at the entrance of the alley. He hurried back to the house.
After dawn the next day, he found the alley, walked some distance according to his memory, and found that the place where the two people were discussing with him was on a quiet side street that he walked on. After that, the two people disappeared.
It was not until four months later that Hu Zhong came home late again for some reason and was found by the two men again. This time, they whistled twice and waved to him in the dark. By that time, he had already
After thinking clearly, Zuo was willing to risk his life as a slave, so he followed them. The three of them walked to a quiet place one after another, and brought up the two old things again. Hu Zhong wanted to have a good future for his son, but he also vaguely felt that
If this matter could be accomplished, no one else would care about it, and he immediately agreed.
The two men actually trusted him, so they immediately took out a pile of banknotes worth ten thousand taels and gave them to him, saying, "Mr. Hu is a smart man, go and settle it yourself." After that, they left.
Hu Zhongli stood there blankly for a long time, and finally returned home with the money in his pocket.
Later, he tried to ask someone to check the banknotes and arrange an escape route for the family in advance. The two never met. It was not until the third day after Lin Hai got the order to return to Beijing to report on his work that Hu Zhong went to the street to buy things, leaving a Xunxun
The drunk man staggered, then opened his mouth to curse, but suddenly there was a dagger in his sleeve. He knew that what was supposed to come would eventually come.
After hearing this, Lin Hai knew that there must be something secretive in his house. The people behind the scenes were very familiar with Hu Zhong's temperament. They were not afraid that he would get the money and run away, nor were they afraid that he would come back and report to him. If they didn't get along with each other for a long time, how could they get a handle on him?
So measured? Then he waved his hand and ordered someone to take him down, write a letter back to Yangzhou, and ask the confidants who stayed there to carefully screen the house, especially those who had close contacts with Hu Zhong; those brought out must also be
Let someone investigate.
Someone from the Five Cities Military and Horse Department came back and said that those thugs were temporarily hired by someone just now and on the road. Because the man had an ordinary appearance and an ordinary Beijing accent, I'm afraid it couldn't be traced from that line.
What happened? Lin Hai smiled and said: "It's obvious that they have someone in Beijing, which is also a gain." He thanked them and sent him back.
On the other side, Jia Huan and Jia Cong went to the small study room to see Daiyu and told her to go shopping today. Lin Daiyu had laid out a booklet full of New Year's rewards, brought by Lin Hai and brought by Rongguo Mansion.
The Xianwang's house was originally different. He was so busy in the cold weather that he was just sweating. When he heard that they came in, he didn't even look up. He joked: "How much money did you eat from my father?"
Jia Cong didn't answer her words and shouted: "Sister Lin! It's so thrilling today!"
Jia Huan quickly winked at him and said "hiss" again.
Lin Daiyu then turned around and raised her eyebrows.
Jia Cong asked in a low voice, "Why don't you tell me?"
Jia Huan stamped his feet anxiously and leaned forward to whisper with him: "Do you want Sister Lin to die of anxiety?"
Jia Cong curled his lips: "This kind of thing doesn't happen once in a thousand years. Once you know it, you should take precautions, right? I always think that you don't need to hide everything from your own people. You will learn from every experience."
How can we hide it from Daiyu like this? She frowned and said: "You don't need to be stung by scorpions. Come and tell me. There are many good ones."
Jia Cong then pulled Jia Huan over and told him how he bought the food today, how Lin Hai was almost assassinated, and how Yao'er fell into the trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Fortunately, the assassin only wasted a bag of the *Ju walnut cakes that he had worked so hard to buy in line.
After saying this once, Daiyu's face turned pale with fright, and she immediately went to see her father.
Jia Cong hurriedly stopped her: "Sister, why are you so anxious? Anyway, my uncle has not even torn a thread in his clothes. He is currently interrogating an assassin."
Two strings of tears had already fallen from Daiyu's eyes: "Today it happened that Huan'er was blocking him with something, and the assassin was not very strong. What if it's not such a coincidence next time?"
Jia Cong said with relief: "If the second-rank officials of the imperial court were so easy to be assassinated, the world would have been in chaos. This shows that the people behind the scenes dare not mess around. They must have planned carefully for a long time. Although they wanted to harm my uncle, they were afraid of being exposed.
They themselves. If they can't succeed in one attack, there will be no next time."
But Daiyu said: "I'm afraid one plan will fail and another will come up. We don't know anything now, and my father doesn't know how to fight. It's impossible to guard against it."
Jia Cong said: "Is it easy for my sister to be an uncle? The assassin's original goal was to catch him by surprise. This strategy is like an empty city strategy. It only works once, but it won't work the next time."
Daiyu's heart was already unsettled. She was wringing the handkerchief in her hands, tears were falling on her face, and she was muttering: "How about my father and I prepare a pair of breast shields? We will need one later, at least two..."
Seeing that she was still anxious, Jia Cong hurriedly said: "It treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Instead of being anxious, why don't we all think about whether there is a way to help find the person behind the scenes? This is the root cause."
My uncle is a very good person, and he will definitely not offend anyone for nothing."
Daiyu immediately let him take his mind away, stopped crying, thought for a long time, and said: "Now that it's time to assassinate my father, assassinating a high official in the imperial court is a serious crime. Who dares to do it? I'm just afraid of my father.
If you hold something against him in your hand, if you shake it out, it may cost his life, or even harm the whole family."
Jia Cong said: "My uncle has been in Beijing for so long before taking action. He has discussed everything with the saint countless times. Therefore, he must not have reported the secret of the man behind the scenes to the saint, otherwise it would be useless to kill him.
.But why didn't you say it? My uncle is definitely not a person who hides his secrets. If he did, there would be no need to take the risk of stabbing him."
Daiyu frowned and thought for a long time but couldn't think of a reason. She stood up and walked around the room with her hands behind her back. When she looked at her coldly, she looked a bit like Lin Hai.
Jia Huan said quietly: "Is it possible that my uncle doesn't know yet? That man's secret."
Jia Cong curled his lips and said, "You have nothing to do but waste your efforts stabbing a second-grade official who knows nothing about it for fun?"
Jia Huan said: "You said that he has discussed various matters with the saint many times. If he knew, wouldn't he have said it earlier?"
Jia Cong glared at him: "Are you being arrogant?"
Daiyu suddenly gave a high-five: "I'm afraid my father doesn't know yet!"
Jia Cong was stunned: "Ah?"
Daiyu's face tightened, and she said solemnly: "This time, on the way from Beijing, my father has been picking fights and causing trouble in twos and threes. Although there is a boat from the Taiping Escort Bureau to protect him, it is just a coincidence. It is a cover. Even if there is no
, my father has a guard by his side, so it’s okay to come.”
Jia Cong nodded repeatedly: "Yes, they are just like those dirty thugs nowadays. They are of little use. They are used to fool people."
Daiyu quickened her pace: "Yes, those little thieves on the road and today's thugs are all disguises. My father and the guards thought that they were only capable, so they were not very alert. This servant today is the real assassin.
And he has been lying in wait for a long time. But he actually took action at this moment." Daiyu stopped, thought about it again, and said decisively, "My father doesn't know yet. But after returning to Yangzhou, I'm afraid he will be able to
Got it."
Jia Cong suddenly thought of something and gave a high-five: "And only he knows! If something unexpected happens to my uncle, and the court changes the successor of the Salt Class Censor, some clues or causes and consequences will inevitably be unclear, and I'm afraid I won't be able to detect it."
Jia Cong had seen it all too often in the company in his previous life.
Daiyu nodded after hearing this: "That's the truth. The person behind the scenes doesn't want dad to go back to the south, so he can only attack on the road or in Beijing." She couldn't help but feel scared, "Fortunately it's today." Then she remembered that Jia Huan had just saved her dad.
He quickly thanked her, "Thanks to Huan'er!"
Jia Huan had always admired her for her talent and talent. She neither hid her secrets nor looked down upon him as being raised by her aunt. She waved her hands repeatedly: "It's just a coincidence. How can I deserve my sister's thanks?"
Jia Cong said jealously: "Sir! Thanks to your student and my sharpness, I noticed early that something was wrong with those fighting people, otherwise it would have been even more chaotic."
Jia Huan pouted and said, "Yes, thanks to Cong'er, otherwise Brother Yao'er probably wouldn't have fallen into the trap."
Jia Cong glared at him: "How can a brother like you specialize in poking at his brothers' fate?"
Jia Huan said: "Are you talking about your brothers all the time just to sell them?"
Daiyu let them tease her one by one, but she relaxed her brows.