Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty-One Thunder Suspended
Walking in the palace, I saw the little peanut next to me who was usually smart and all-pervasive. He had a well-behaved face, but his eyes were looking around mischievously. He seemed to be itching to touch everything he saw, and he would ask two questions from time to time.
It's a silly question, but Zhang Shou felt that the description of Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden in Dream of Red Mansions was really penetrating and vivid.
When Zhu Ying, who volunteered to accompany her, saw the appearance of little peanut, she couldn't help but joked: "Most of the others who entered the palace for the first time were honest, but you are so bold. Just now you actually wanted to touch the guards at Ruiqi camp.
Are you afraid that someone will just pick up a blunderbuss and kill you?"
"I'm just curious." Little Peanut smiled coquettishly, but he was thinking in his heart, if I didn't look like a countryman entering the palace and cover up my trembling and horrified mood, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to survive.
I was so scared that I couldn't walk.
He wished that Zhu Ying was not with him at this time, so that he could ask Zhang Shou how to deal with it later. But with Zhu Ying at the side, he did not dare to reveal that he was the one who "seduced" the eldest prince, so he was very afraid.
The emperor settled the accounts after the fall, and then implicated Xian Yunhe and Zhang Shou who helped him cover up.
However, as Zhu Ying walked and introduced, when he heard the three words "Qianqing Palace", his legs inevitably weakened. He subconsciously grabbed Zhang Shou's clothes until the person turned around and glanced at him
He glanced at it and nodded with a smile. He became a little more courageous, and then he heard Zhu Ying chuckle.
"Ah Shou, why are you and Xiao Huahua flirting with each other? You don't have something on your mind, right?"
Zhang Shou was almost choked by Zhu Ying's flirtatious words. When he was about to pretend to be angry, he saw Zhu Ying winking playfully, so he simply took advantage of Zhu Ying's walking side by side and used
The very soft sound made the little peanut's bottom penetrate.
Others might not hear the whisper, but how could the little peanut walking behind the two of them not hear it? He was angry and anxious, but Zhu Ying suddenly stopped and turned around, and he almost bumped into someone.
Startled, he hurriedly took two steps back, but then Zhu Ying stretched out her hands like lightning and suddenly pinched his cheeks.
Frightened, he watched Zhu Ying tug his cheek hard. Just when he screamed out in pain, Zhu Ying suddenly let go and glared at him angrily: "I didn't expect that.
You still have this ability! You actually hid it from me for so long, and you even hid it from my eldest brother in Cangzhou. You are so good! You have done it all, why don’t you dare to be one?"
Seeing that little peanut was relieved and puffed up his chest as if he was about to say harsh words, Zhang Shou chuckled and said: "Yingying, don't push him, this kid can't help but be aggressive. He really knows how to do things for everyone. In fact, Ah Liu guessed it right.
Yes, I was also surprised at that time. Anyway, if the emperor really wants to pursue this matter, I, who helped cover it up, will never shirk the blame. Remember to beg for mercy for us."
Little Peanut opened his mouth and saw Zhu Ying giving him a half-smiling look. Then she left him and Zhang Shou and walked quickly ahead. He was immediately anxious and grabbed Zhang Shou's sleeve.
Asked: "Is the eldest lady really angry?"
"If she was really angry, she would have left the palace instead of entering the palace. Don't worry, she took a step first to see how the emperor was feeling, so that she could act accordingly. But you, that country boy just entered the palace
Are you pretending to be like that? Is it to cover up your guilty conscience and nervousness?"
Seeing that Xiao Huahua was so embarrassed that he didn't dare to speak, Zhang Shou stopped scaring the boy. After smiling, he continued to walk forward: "Have you not met the emperor before? You should know what kind of person he is. Even if If I really see through you, I won't be angry. Instead of shrinking back, you might as well be calmer."
After Zhang Shou's few words, Little Peanut finally gained some confidence. He followed Zhang Shou step by step. When he entered the Qianqing Gate, he saw that no one came up to search him, and no one looked at him curiously. He, as if he was a non-existent person, even turned a blind eye to Zhang Shou and turned a blind eye. After all, he was still feeling scared in his heart.
Dragging his heavy legs, when he finally arrived in front of the main hall of Qianqing Palace, he heard Zhu Ying's clear voice: "Your Majesty, it's just that the ship left early, and that ship was an official ship of the imperial court, and If you’re not coming back, why do you need to be so anxious and angry?”
"Why can't I get angry? I quickly sent someone to Tianjin, but the day before they arrived, the ship had already sailed. What a coincidence! I was planning to send someone to chase..."
"Your Majesty, this is not a river boat or a lake boat. It is a sea-going boat. As long as there are enough supplies on board, the wind will go straight down. I heard that it only takes a month to get to Qiongzhou Prefecture. Even if the horse is killed, it will not be able to catch up. Why waste manpower and material resources! It’s better to send another boat to follow and see if we can catch up!”
"Okay, let's do it!"
Hearing the conversation coming from inside, Zhang Shou already understood the reason why the emperor summoned him urgently. When he looked at Xiao Huahua again, he saw that his face was pale, and he understood that this boy should have guessed the cause and effect. He sighed in his heart, and after being told to go in, Zhu Ying rushed out after a while, with a worried look on her face, and he smiled at her.
Although she seemed to have appeased the furious emperor just now, Zhu Ying had never seen such an emperor before, and she couldn't help but feel uncertain at this time. She wanted to give Zhang Shou a few more instructions, but when she saw the man walking forward, , and smiled and nodded to her indifferently. Her hanging heart immediately calmed down a lot, and she didn't even care that she was in the palace, and held Zhang Shou's hand.
Although he didn't hear the words "Be careful", Zhang Shou still understood what she meant. After nodding to Zhu Ying again, he walked in calmly. He saw the emperor sitting on the throne in the main hall with a golden sword. There, the gentleness and joking of the past were gone from his face, and a pair of eyes shot towards him like knives. As if he didn't see it, he bowed calmly and saluted.
"Zhang Shou, you must have heard it outside, right? Just the day before I sent a messenger to Tianjin to summon him, the old salted fish took Xian Yunhe and those who were sentenced to exile and set sail to the sea. I don't think there is a world in the world. With such a coincidence, do you think the news was leaked somewhere?"
Zhang Shou didn't need to look back to know the expression of the little peanut who followed behind him. He straightened up and said calmly: "The emperor's guess is indeed well-founded, but you must know that the messenger sent from the palace uses The stagecoach was in a hurry, and if other people wanted to report the news, they couldn't be faster than it unless they had wings, so it was probably just a coincidence that the ship took the first step."
"What's more, to escort prisoners, we always need soldiers. Even if Old Xianyu is the captain, and the sailors and other boatmen are all his people, he may not be able to defeat the sailors from Linhai Camp who went with the ship to Qiongzhou Mansion, right?"
"As Yingying said, if the emperor is really worried and sends a boat to chase her, even if she can't catch up or miss her on the road, she should be able to catch her when we get to Qiongzhou Mansion."
Seeing Zhang Shou's fluent answers, Little Peanut, who was following him in salute but was sweating profusely from being questioned by the emperor, suddenly came to his senses. After a moment's hesitation, he boldly raised his head.
As a result, he directly met the emperor's scrutinizing eyes. The last time the emperor ran to Zhang Yuan incognito, he personally led the way. At that time, he only thought that the emperor was very kind, but now he was stared at like this.
However, he felt a chill rising from under his feet, and all the confidence he had just gained disappeared.
The emperor just glanced at Little Peanut and then withdrew his gaze, and turned to glare at Zhang Shou: "It seems that you don't think at all that these people are sailing to the sea and flying away?"
"If the emperor thinks so, wouldn't he think that all the soldiers and horses in the Linhai camp are useless? Furthermore, the emperor also underestimated the servants from poor backgrounds in Xianyunhe. They all have family members and young children in Cangzhou, and Lao Xianyu even took him and him
Xian Yunhe's only relative, Little Peanut, was entrusted to me. They can't just leave and ignore the people who stayed behind."
The emperor's face softened a little, but his words were still a bit stiff: "Don't they have something on their mind and run away?"
"What's going on in your heart? Is it because they have been to Haidong Continent?" Zhang Shou chuckled and said calmly, "Even if there are people who are guilty, it should be the people who funded and instigated them behind the scenes. What are the guilty consciences of these executors?
Of course, the people behind them might not want to be followed by the emperor, so they instigated them to rush on their way as quickly as possible, and then cut off the weeds and roots on the road..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard a thump behind him. When he looked back, he saw that Little Peanut had collapsed directly, and his face was as white as a dead person.
He suddenly burst into laughter and was about to reach out to help the rude boy up, but then he turned to look at the emperor. Seeing that the emperor's face looked gloomy, he smiled and said: "I'm just guessing.
It's just a guess. Little Peanut takes it seriously, but the Emperor shouldn't take it seriously. After all, Old Xianyu used to go to sea, and he probably used people's money to do things for others. Isn't it unnecessary to kill people and silence them? "
"Of course, as the emperor said, since that man knew where Haidong was, he hired people to find it at a high price. However, Lao Xianyu didn't go to sea for a long time after returning, and he even became a hawker selling salted fish incognito.
Maybe there is something more to it. Since the Emperor has had the idea of sending official ships to sea, why not take this opportunity to send two ships from Tianjin to patrol the sea?"
Seeing Zhang Shou's calm attitude, the emperor's originally gloomy face gradually turned cloudy. Although it was still far from clearing up, the initial irritable look gradually disappeared.
His eyes crossed Zhang Shou and landed on the little peanut behind him, and then he smiled and said: "That day, Zhang Shou, you specially sent the little peanut home to guide me, and I felt strange. I didn't expect it.
It's such an underage boy who disguised himself as a woman and tricked the eldest prince into losing his soul, but you have been hiding it from me!"
Although the emperor did not say where he learned about this incident, Zhang Shou confirmed from Xiao Huahua that Xian Yunhe's incident was very secretive. Even the people around him who started the incident were not aware of it, so it was impossible to leave any real evidence.
, however, he did not dare to hold the emperor in his arms. This was just a chance to cheat him.
Because with little peanut's mental quality, Ah Liu's secrets could be exposed with just a casual word, let alone facing the huge pressure from the emperor?
Besides, the emperor has one more trick up his sleeve, which is to ask the eldest prince to recognize him... Judging from the miserable look on the eldest prince's face, he definitely hates him to the core, regardless of whether he recognizes the little peanut or not."
"Pretty lady", they would insist on it directly. At that time, it would be boring.
Therefore, he immediately lowered his head and admitted readily: "This matter was indeed concealed and concealed by me, and it is my fault. Please forgive me for this sin because Xiaohuahua is young and ignorant, and out of righteous indignation."
It wasn't until she heard Zhang Shou taking over the responsibility that Little Peanut suddenly woke up. He immediately got up on his hands and knees, then knelt down and kowtowed: "It's all me...it's all Xiao Min's idea, and
It doesn’t matter to anyone else…”
Zhu Ying, who was looking at the door of the main hall, heard the sound and wanted to go in, but she suddenly stretched out a hand in front of her to stop her. When she saw that it was Liu Feng, the steward of Qianqing Palace, her eyebrows suddenly stood up. But she didn't want the other person to remind her in a very soft voice.
: "Miss, if you go in now, the Emperor will only be angrier. You have to believe Dr. Zhang, he can handle it."
Although this sounded reasonable, to the impatient Zhu Ying, she didn't want to listen at all. But the next moment, he heard Zhang Shou's voice.
"The people are not afraid of death, so why should they be afraid of death? When Xian Yunhe and others made big mistakes before, they always had their heads in their belts and never thought about the consequences. I think it was the same with Little Peanut. Since the Emperor agreed to the Cangzhou case
The big case finally ended like that, so please put aside your anger and don't argue with an ignorant child like Xiaohuahua."
Having said this, Zhang Shou smiled slightly and said: "Both Lao Xianyu and Xian Yunhe have no heirs. Xiao Huahua is almost like a son or grandson. Keeping him in the capital is undoubtedly the best bond for them. They say that after a fallen leaf returns to its roots,
Will they abandon this life and flee overseas?"
"They committed such a heinous crime before, and they all escaped death because of the emperor's mercy. What crime could be greater than this, and what hidden secrets could not be conveyed to them by me or Mr. Zhu? Your Majesty, Qiongzhou
Although the prefecture is bitter, it is not the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, nor the Tang and Song dynasties. Apart from the scorching heat, today's Qiongzhou Prefecture is actually far better than the bitter cold Liaodong and Gansu in all aspects!"
The emperor stared at Zhang Shou for a long time, and finally waved his hand angrily and said: "Okay, okay, I got anxious when I heard the news. Drag the little guy up. I didn't intend to scare such a child.
!”
Seeing Zhang Shou turn around and help the dumb little peanut, the emperor said word by word: "I don't want to mention the matter in Cangzhou anymore, so that's the end of it. But the matter in Haidong is not over yet. Please note that the shipping company
It is different at sea and on the road with carriages and horses. Boatmen often need to be proficient in identifying stars and hydrology. Hua Qi came back before and said that you picked up someone who is good at stargazing and went back today? "
"What kind of crystals does this kid from Yuzhang Academy want to grind for stargazing? It just so happens that I am recruiting talents for this Sihai test. Don't talk nice and help people make things. If you are stargazing,
If you use it and cancel the past, I will reward you even more!"