In September in Beijing, a rain made it a bit cooler.
A group of people came running on the road. When they saw the cover on the roadside in front, one of them reined up his horse.
"Look, that's Taipingju. Their tofu is unique." He shouted, "Let's go over there and make it sharp."
Everyone nodded with some curiosity. Just as the group was about to pass, someone on the side of the road called out to them.
"Don't go, don't go, you can't go now." The passerby waved his hand and said.
The group of people were a little surprised and confused.
"Why can't we go?" they asked.
"You people from out of town don't know, Taipingju is in a lawsuit now," a passerby said.
The man laughed after hearing this.
"Oh, what are you afraid of getting into a lawsuit?" he said.
This statement surprised his companions.
"Aren't you afraid of getting sued?" they asked.
"You don't know, Taipingju has King Kong in charge." The man said, "It's not like we didn't get into lawsuits before, but in the end everything was fine."
Companions nodded.
"Not necessarily this time." A passerby shook his head and said, "This time King Kong meets the Emperor."
Emperor?
The group looked at each other in astonishment. After looking at each other and listening to what the passerby said, they immediately reined in the horses' heads and galloped away along the road without hesitation.
Although people coming and going on the road no longer come to Taiping Juli as before, Taiping Juli is not deserted either.
There were several tables of people sitting in the hall, including ordinary people, businessmen, and a few scholars. They were all eating, drinking, and laughing. Although their identities were different, the content of the jokes was all about the big boss of Taipingju and Maoyuan.
The confrontation between the mountain brothers and the imperial court.
Because of the rumors that Mrs. Cheng was a disciple of Taoist Li Zhenren, the people naturally sided with her.
"I don't even think about it. He is a direct disciple of Master Li. How could he tell lies?"
"Yes, but it's true that the imperial court can even deceive the disciples of gods, and we common people have no way to survive."
Hearing the low voices and laughter of some people here, several businessmen at the other table shook their heads.
"...Why can't you cheat me? How many secret skills do the immortal disciples have in their hands? It's all money..."
"...So no matter how great the name is, it has no foundation..."
"...It's not like I have no foundation. I am also the son of an official.."
"…. There are so many officials, so her background doesn’t matter. Once something happens, she won’t be able to help. There won’t even be anyone to help. Instead, everyone will be implicated…"
Hearing the conversation of the businessmen, the scholars nodded.
"This is indeed one aspect. For people without roots, fame is like a knife that can be hung. In the end, it will only hurt yourself when it falls." A scholar said.
"But what's going on?" said another.
"What the matter is, it's just a matter of mouth." A person said with a smile while holding a tea bowl.
"But look at now..." The scholar said before, raising his chin slightly to signal to the others in the hall, "On the streets and alleys, people are yelling at the imperial court. I don't know how useful these many mouths are."
"Not only the common people, many officials also spoke for Mrs. Cheng. I am afraid that the lady lived very comfortably in the prison of Yushitai. The reason why was just for the favor of the fairy lady. This is the case with everyone in the world.
If someone is kind to you, then you can say that he is doing good to you. There is no reason to argue."
The noise and laughter in the hall floated through the window to the second floor, making Saturday Lang even more irritable.
"It's better to just close the door. Why open the door to invite these people to talk nonsense?" He said angrily and threw the wine bowl in his hand on the table.
"At that time, I closed the door and said that I had to close the business for three days due to family matters. How could I not keep my word? Isn't this really a threat to the government?" Qin Shisanlang said.
Saturday Lang scoffed.
"Do you think you won't be able to sit down if you open the door?" he said.
"Of course." Qin Shisanlang said, pouring him tea, "As long as you don't take it personally, you will always be someone else's judge."
Zhou Lang picked up the tea bowl dully and looked out the window at the road again. Suddenly he stood up suddenly. Because the movement was so sudden, he forgot to put down the tea bowl in his hand, and the tea spilled all over him.
"Coming!" he shouted.
Qin Thirteenth Lang also hurriedly followed and saw two horses galloping past on the road. Although the movements were very fast, he could still tell at a glance that they were in a hurry from the imperial court.
"It's faster than expected. It seems that someone has taken over this matter." He said slowly.
Zhou Lang was startled when he heard this and turned to look at him.
What happened? Someone took over? Who took over? Aren’t they thinking about the same thing now?
The quickie quickly passed through the city gate, and pedestrians on the unimpeded street retreated, making the noise even worse.
The Zhang family, who was located in an alley next to the downtown area, naturally heard it.
"Go and ask, go and ask what's going on." The old porter urged the boy.
"I don't know what's wrong with me these days, he's so lively." The boy muttered, but still went to the street.
Turn around soon.
"I passed by in a hurry."
As soon as the boy finished speaking, the old concierge stood up immediately.
"Thank God, we're finally here!" he said, and quickly went to the backyard before the boy could turn around.
In the backyard, there was a girl on the porch of the old lady's door, lowering her head to wipe her tears.
"Banqin, not everyone can help with this matter."
Mr. Zhang stood in the yard, pruning a camellia plant and said.
"Your wife is really a little confused this time," he said. "It's just a big injustice brought out in this way. In the eyes of the emperor, it's a big mistake."
The girl cried even more when she heard this.
"I don't like the idea of using power to deceive the people and the emperor. Don't expect him to speak up about this matter." Mr. Zhang said again, "But don't worry too much. Your Majesty is a kind man. At most, he will scold you a few times afterwards."
I won’t really do anything to your wife.”
"But if my wife insists on doing something," the girl cried, "she really knows how to..."
The words ended abruptly.
Mrs. Zhang, who was holding the scissors and bending over the bonsai, also paused slightly.
It really can cause thunder and fire to strike people.
Although there have been speculations for a long time, today I actually heard it.
This little lady...
Old Mrs. Zhang shook his head and stood up.
"Banqin, don't worry." He just said.
Your wife can deceive both nature and others. Although she obeys the rules, she is not a kind person. Even though she had the intention to give this little girl like you a future, she did not delay in exchanging the benefits that she needs more. Although she said it, she was heartless.
, but it’s understandable.
She is someone who has never been afraid of death. Naturally, she also wanted the consequences that everyone thought of. How could she jump into a pit of fire that would never be recovered?
There must be some back-up arrangements.
But this little girl couldn't explain it clearly.
"Banqin, Banqin, it's over here in a hurry, it's over in a hurry." The old concierge's voice sounded loudly in the yard.
Just wait and see, we will find out soon.
Mrs. Zhang smiled and turned around to continue building bonsai.
While the messengers were rushing through the streets, the daily court meeting in the palace was going on.
"How can the military and political affairs be planned by everyone? Now the whole city is in chaos, and everyone is talking about the Maoyuan Mountain incident, and all kinds of absurdities." A censor said.
The emperor on the throne looked calm.
Since Lu Zheng submitted the letter, the Maoyuan Mountain incident has been discussed all over the city. In addition, the emperor has promised to investigate the northwest. The entire censor in the censorship station has been busy, taking this opportunity to search for the incident in the court.
Open to impeachment.
It wasn't that much today. Looking back, I saw that there were piles of various kinds of ammunition and magazines piled high on the cases.
But the emperor was a little impatient.
"It is better to defend the people than to defend the river." He said, "Now that something has happened, can we not let the people speak out?"
"This is all because Lu Zheng, a young child, rebelled against the imperial edict and corrected the imperial edict, causing great harm to the state affairs..." The censor was very happy that the emperor spoke, which gave him more excuses to continue talking.
"The matter in the northwest has not yet been decided, and it is not certain who deceived the superiors and concealed the serious national affairs." Someone retorted.
"A major military and political matter in the northwest is being manipulated by a magician. Chen Shao, you are involved in politics but you know it and refuse to advise. Instead, you suppress dissident parties. You don't want to repay the emperor's kindness. You put state affairs first. You connive and blackmail His Majesty to find out the false statements and confuse the world.
The people are undoubtedly Li Linfu's generation." The censor suddenly became even more angry and took a step forward to target Chen Shao.
Chen Shao, who was standing at the side of the court, had a dull look on his face. The imperial censor was ordered by the emperor, and there was no limit on the authenticity of the rumors. Therefore, a person with his status could not refute the impeachment and could only wait until the impeachment was completed before dealing with it.
Just because of such an incident, the civil court was disturbed and many official matters were delayed.
The emperor's eyes darkened a bit.
Gao Lingbo smiled slightly when he saw it, and winked at another courtier. The court understood and immediately stood up.
"Your Majesty, Taichang Temple has reported that some people in the west of Beijing want to build a shrine for divine doctors in Taiyi Palace, and mold Mrs. Cheng into a real person to serve her disciples..." he said.
As soon as this statement came out, the whole hall was in an uproar, and the emperor even shouted loudly. Although he didn't say anything, the "haha" was enough to show his anger.
"Report."
A voice came from outside the palace door.
"Zhongshu sent it to Northwest Express."
northwest!
The noise in the main hall stopped immediately. We arrived so quickly? I thought it would drag on for ten or eight days.
"Send it up," said the emperor.
Under the gaze of everyone in the palace, the emperor took the envelope from the chamberlain and opened it with the seal of the Northwest Economic Strategy Department. With just one glance, his expression sank slightly.
Done!
Chen Shao sighed inwardly.
And the hearts of everyone in the hall were also enlightened.
It seems that there are no rare things that can cause thunder and fire to strike people... More than half of the court officials secretly regretted it.
What a bunch of trash! Gao Lingbo thought bitterly, but there was not much anger on his face. Unfortunately, this lady had become extremely disgusting in the emperor's heart. Even if her request for the northwest matter was well-founded, she would not be able to make a big difference.
The emperor read it quickly. He just read a letter folder, then glanced at several other documents aside. He saw the dense red handprints on them, but did not pick them up.
"Li Ziwen." He said.
Censor Zhongcheng immediately stood up.
"The Censor's Office has reached a conclusion." The emperor said, folding the letter in front of him and signaling to the chamberlain, "Circuit it."
The eldest prince held the letter in his hand and looked at the document in Gao Lingbo's hand, as if he couldn't understand it.
"...That is to say, Fang Zhonghe ordered to defend the city for an hour, but he withdrew before the time was up, so the remaining Maoyuan Mountain brothers had a very difficult time defending the city..." Gao Lingbo explained to him in a low voice.
Chen Shao sneered at the side.
"Master Gao, what do you mean by withdrawing before the time is up?" He said, "That is called fleeing in fear of fighting."
"Why are you fleeing because you are afraid of fighting? If you are really afraid of fighting, he would have ordered a retreat from the beginning." Gao Lingbo also sneered and said, "There is a huge disparity between the enemy and us, so there is no need to fight to the death."
"Isn't it necessary to fight to the death? If the disparity between us and the enemy is huge, then we should abandon the city and flee? Mr. Gao, if you say this, the generals in the northwest will be heartbroken." Chen Shao said with a sneer.
The censor Zhongcheng who was standing in the hall coughed heavily. Everyone stopped talking and saw the servants outside leading Mrs. Cheng in from the side hall.
Gao Lingbo and Chen Shao each looked at each other and turned away without speaking.
Looking at the little woman kneeling on the ground to salute, the emperor's expression was not good-looking, and a trace of embarrassment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
"Daughter of the common people, thank your Majesty for your understanding." Cheng Jiaoniang kowtowed and said.
The Yushitai has already explained the matter.
"The merits and rewards of your sworn brothers will be reviewed by Zhongshu." The emperor said calmly.
Cheng Jiaoniang thanks you again.
There was silence in the room, and no words of comfort were said as usual. It seemed that the emperor was unwilling to do anything, and he was extremely disgusted with this matter.
Gao Lingbo sneered in his heart, he really can't hurt others and can't benefit himself. What's the point of gaining such a false reputation? He is really seeking his own death!
"Step back." The emperor said without saying any more.
Cheng Jiaoniang thanked her and stood up.
"Ms. Cheng." The emperor called her again.
Cheng Jiaoniang knelt down again.
"Why did you do this?" the emperor asked.
"The women of the people said that those who have no merit can still fight for credit, but why can't those who have merit fight?" Cheng Jiaoniang said, "the women of the people are not ashamed of fighting."
The emperor looked at her and waved his hand.
The chamberlain hurriedly reminded her, and Cheng Jiaoniang bowed and left. She heard the chaotic footsteps over there, and it was obvious that the ministers had entered.
"...Zhongshu and Yushitai will discuss it, but don't think that if Fang Zhonghe dies, it will be fine. As for Jiang Wenyuan and Zhou Fengxiang, let them submit a confession and punish them with salary..." the emperor said with a serious face.
.
The people below were about to respond in unison, when a voice sounded first.
"Your Majesty, Northwest Supervisory Envoy Zhou Fengxiang is here to apologize." Chen Shao said, lowering his head and holding up a memorial.
Gao Lingbo was stunned for a moment, then sneered.
So what if I'm faster than others? It's just more evidence of my dereliction of duty.
At this time, when Your Majesty is embarrassed by the incident in Linguan Village, if you still play with these little tricks, you are asking for trouble.
Sure enough, the emperor's face darkened and he didn't even bother to say anything. He just raised his hand to the chamberlain, who hurriedly reached out and took it.
The emperor stretched out his hand and read only a few lines of words, and his expression suddenly changed again.
Compared to the change in his expression when he read the memorial from the northwest just now, the officials standing nearest could see that the emperor's hand holding the memorial was trembling slightly.
What happened? How could Zhang Shu be so angry just to see Zhang Shu asking for forgiveness?
A trace of confusion flashed across Gao Lingbo's face, and he couldn't help but look at Chen Shao. Chen Shao looked solemn and could not tell anything.
There was silence in the main hall, and the emperor watched for much longer than just now. As time passed, the atmosphere in the room became more and more stagnant, and both the chamberlains and officials finally noticed the emperor's gradually gathering emotions.
That's...anger...
anger?
When he learned about Linguan Village just now, the emperor was just embarrassed and annoyed. Even if he was angry because Zhou Fengxiang tried his best to make up for the situation, he should have been sarcastic and disdainful. How could he be angry?
What happened?
"Damn! You're bullying me like this!"
An angry shout broke out in the quiet hall. Even though the door was closed, the waiter who was walking down the steps stopped in his tracks and turned back in surprise.
It has been many years. This is the first time that the emperor has become so angry. What happened?
A woman's slight cough sounded in his ears, interrupting the waiter's trance. His eyes fell on the woman and saw that her expression remained the same, but her eyes seemed to remind him to lead the way.
She is not afraid when she sees the emperor, nor is she afraid when he is angry. This little lady is really extraordinary.
The chamberlain turned his head and raised his feet. Voices continued to come from behind the closed doors and windows, but they were no longer clearly audible, and he did not dare to listen.
So why do you dare to strive for merit if you have no merit? Why can't you strive for merit if you have merit?
Cheng Jiaoniang followed the eunuchs and walked slowly through the palace. Behind her, the eunuchs dispersed in panic and headed towards Zhongshu's door and other places. (To be continued)
