"The official family still has no heir. If one is born in the next two years, I will think that what I said is nonsense." Li Zhaoliang laughed and said: "But if this continues, then the eighth place in the Song Dynasty will fall to Xiao Xiao.
It’s on the prince’s head.”
"Old man, don't make such a joke." Zhao Zongshi had never been exposed to Qiu Ba, who was so straightforward. He immediately became restless and said, "Zong Shi never dares to think anything wrong."
"Haha," Li Zhaoliang said in his heart, just pretend. Then he smiled lightly and said: "The young prince may not have this idea, but the fact is that it does not allow you to have other choices. If others come to power, will you still have a way to survive?
?" After a pause, he said gloomily: "As the saying goes, 'precaution will lead to establishment, failure to predict will lead to destruction'. Do you want to establish or abolish it?"
"..." Zhao Zongshi stopped talking.
"Xiao Wang, have you ever thought about why among hundreds of brothers of the same generation, everyone supports you?" Li Zhaoliang smiled lightly and said: "Yes, you were once brought into the palace and became an adopted son of an official for a few days, but that doesn't mean anything.
, don’t forget, you are still considered uncle and nephew!”
This sentence touched Zhao Zongshi's pain point, as if he had been burned with a soldering iron.
"Actually, what everyone values most is you as a person." Li Zhaoliang changed the subject and said, "Because, little prince, you are the most like an official, and everyone is used to emperors like the official."
"What is an official-like emperor?" Zhao Zongshi said with a strange smile.
"Be kind to others, treat others with benevolence and justice, and never mistreat others easily." Li Zhaoliang said with a smile: "Who among my ministers would not want to have such an emperor? So everyone is vying to praise you."
"Haha..." Zhao Zongshi finally laughed out loud and said: "I understand, you mean, I am destroying the Great Wall, right?" But the laughter was very scary.
Li Zhaoliang stared at Zhao Zongshi, nodded and said: "Looking at these days, the young prince seems to be really preparing to destroy the Great Wall, so the old man has to say a few more words."
"When I do things according to orders, I only do it with all my heart. How could I destroy the Great Wall again?" Zhao Zongshi's face was very ugly. Anyone else would be furious if they tried their best and were called bullshit.
"If the young prince had not destroyed the Great Wall, how could you and your brothers have made such a scene on Hebei East Road? The important generals on both sides of the road were imprisoned by you, and they were so hungry that they started chewing grass roots." Li Zhaoliang sneered.
He said: "All the officials outside are begging for mercy. They are groveling and crying. But you two are hard-hearted and unmoved!" He said cheerfully: "The one in Bianjing City at least knows how to raise the official banner.
.Hide behind and fire arrows. Young prince, you are better off. Charge forward with murderous intent, killing people and killing Buddhas! Even the border guards were paralyzed, and the Liao invaders invaded. You didn't care about the danger of the people on Hebei Road. Have you ever thought about it, the little prince?
What will the official think of you?"
"..." Zhao Zongshi was speechless. These words hit his deepest worries.
"Alas..." Li Zhaoliang softened his tone and said, "Soldiers can't speak, and their words offended the young prince. Please forgive me. It's just the young prince who has chilled everyone's hearts. I'm afraid it will be difficult to warm them up again!"
" He said, hugging his fists, turned around and left.
Zhao Zongshi sat there blankly for a long time, then slowly raised his head and saw a thin booklet pressed under the tea cup used by Li Zhaoliang.
He got up and picked it up. It turned out to be an account book. When he opened it, he saw a record of the flow of funds. If he hadn't been so knowledgeable, he wouldn't have been able to understand it. After flipping through a few pages quickly, his eyes suddenly froze and he sat down.
Down.
I saw that more than half of the funds transferred from military expenditures were transferred to Beijing. The lists of recipients of filial piety were all over the Privy Council, the Zhongshu Province, the Third Division, the Ministry of War, the Three Yamen... From the dignified ministers to the
The petty officials below all benefit from it.
Some of it was even transferred directly to his home. It was a tribute to his father, and it gave him the benefit of being close to a brother...
Zhao Zongshi was angry from the bottom of his heart. What kind of world is this? Up and down, they colluded and unscrupulously devoured the people's wealth and anointing of the Song Dynasty. This is the foundation of my Zhao family!
But after being angry, he was filled with depression. Even his father and brothers were unclean, so how could he continue to investigate? He kept investigating, but the investigation had to be on himself...
Just when Zhao Zongshi was in a dilemma and feeling dejected, the guard Lao He who had come out from the capital with him rushed in with a panic look on his face.
"Are there any rules?" Zhao Zongshi was full of evil and had nowhere to vent his anger. Now he caught an unlucky guy.
"Young Master, Young Master, Fourth Young Master, he..." Lao He's face turned pale and his teeth chattered: "He's gone."
"Where have you gone?" Zhao Zongshi asked in shock.
"He has returned to the West..." Lao He said with tears streaming down his face: "The Fourth Young Master has returned to the West..."
"What?" Zhao Zongshi said, unable to recover, "Are you kidding?"
"How dare I joke about this kind of thing?" Lao He cried loudly: "The Fourth Young Master is really gone."
"What's going on?" Zhao Zongshi asked in a deep voice.
"This, this..." Lao He didn't know where to start, so he wiped his tears and said, "You'll know if you go and take a look."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cuixiang Tower, the most popular place in Daming Mansion, was surrounded by officers and soldiers at this moment. All the officials from Daming Mansion arrived, gathered the madam, sister, and slaves in the lobby, and interrogated them one by one.
As soon as Lao He and Zhao Zongshi came in, Kaifeng Prefecture Shaoyin Li Weiqian came up to him and said in a low voice: "My condolences, little prince."
Zhao Zongshi didn't even look at him, so Old He said softly: "The Fourth Young Master is upstairs."
Everyone gathered around him and went upstairs to the private room of the most wealthy family on the top floor. They saw Zhao Zongfu covered with a silk quilt and lying motionless on the big bed with wide eyes. He had been dead for a long time.
On the way here, Lao He had already explained the whole story to Zhao Zongshi. It turned out that Zhao Zongfu came to Daming Mansion not only to help him with errands, but also to save his own business. So in his spare time from official duties, he often accepted banquets from local officials and wealthy businessmen.
, I hope they can take more care of their own business in the future.
Last night, he and several bank bosses had a drink at Cuixianglou. After talking about business, the night was already deep, so they hugged their accompanying sisters and went back to their rooms to have a good time. Who knew that they would accompany him to bed early the next morning?
My sister found him dead on the bed and screamed...
Seeing the sudden death of his fourth brother, Zhao Zongshi didn't feel much grief. He just felt angry. He said with a sullen face: "How did my fourth brother die?"
"Wu Zuo has been examined and there are no wounds on his body," Shaoyin of Daming Mansion whispered: "But his penis was still as strong as a hand after death. It is initially determined that he died of exhaustion due to overdose of aphrodisiacs."
Zhao Zongshi's face immediately turned red and he said angrily: "How dare you slander me, the noble Tianhuang!"
But Shao Yin knew in his heart that the cause of Zhao Zongfu's death must be entirely blamed on himself, otherwise it would be difficult to solve the problem. He picked up a porcelain bottle from the small table beside the bed and said: "This is the best aphrodisiac, Spring Breeze Cake."
', only one pill can keep a person alive for a whole night, but the fourth prince may have been drunk. He actually ate six pills in a row." After saying that, he opened the silk quilt and let Zhao Zongshi see Zhao Zongfu's lower body, as well as his full body.
The bed was covered with semen spots, and he said: "The accompanying woman couldn't bear the fight and fainted. She woke up in the morning. The official has ordered her mother-in-law to check. The woman's lower body was seriously injured, which was caused by excessive conquest.
To…”
"Shut up!" Zhao Zongshi couldn't listen anymore and kicked Shaoyin in the abdomen: "Someone must have come in from outside and drugged my brother!"
Shao Yin was kicked so hard that he took two steps back. He covered his chest and said, "I have already checked. The windows in this room are all bolted from the inside. There are no signs of being pried, and there is always a sign at the door."
The guards of the mansion are guarding the place, so we rule out the possibility of outsiders coming in to commit crimes."
"And that bitch, why not her?" Zhao Zongshi asked bitterly.
"According to the accounts of the madam and the businessmen who accompanied the fourth prince to dinner, this woman was originally accompanying a businessman, but she was attracted by the fourth prince and was changed before moving into the house." Shao Yin said: "So,
Her suspicion can be ruled out." He paused and said, "According to her account, the fourth prince ate several spring breeze cakes in one breath, which is basically consistent with our speculation. Moreover, according to the account of a prostitute who had served the fourth prince before, he
Every time before having sex, you must use aphrodisiacs to enhance the pleasure..."
"That's enough!" Zhao Zongshi's face turned red. He grabbed Shaoyin's collar and said viciously: "If you dare to write a report like this, I will kill you!"
Shao Yin felt relieved... Apparently, the other party had accepted his explanation. He covered his chest and said, "Ahem, I understand that the fourth prince is overworked due to his busy schedule and running around."
"Don't keep this brothel open any longer," Zhao Zongshi let go of his hand and said calmly: "And that bitch has to pay for my fourth brother's life."
"I'm afraid it won't work." Shao Yin lowered his voice and said, "To be honest with the young prince, this Cuixiang Tower is actually the property of the Imperial City Division. It's just a matter of checking. If it's sealed, Daming Mansion doesn't have the full strength to do so, so it will have to be sealed."
The prince is looking for them to put pressure on them." He paused and said, "As for that bitch, it's not a pity to die, but she has to be charged with a suitable crime..." The officials of the Song Dynasty were not even afraid of the emperor, and they also flattered the future emperor.
There is a limit. I will never break the king's law for you...
"Hmph..." Zhao Zongshi grunted, looked at his fourth brother who looked like a dead dog, turned around and went downstairs.
On the second floor of the restaurant across from Cuixiang Building, two men in ordinary clothes were sitting at the table near the window, drinking. They saw the chaos outside, saw Zhao Zongji hurried in, and saw him coming out with a steely face. The two faced each other.
He glanced at each other and saw relief in each other's eyes, so he threw a dime of silver and went downstairs, disappearing into the vast city.