Chapter 709: Searching the house? Blocking the door?
The great scholar of Confucius boasted that he had seen countless storms and waves in his life, but the moment he heard the news, he felt the hairs all over his body, his vest getting cold, and an unparalleled sense of fear.
It permeated the whole body. Compared to him, Master Kong Jiu was even more frightened. He even subconsciously grabbed his brother.
"Brother, what's going on? How come there are soldiers and horses surrounding our house despite everything being fine?"
Although both families opened their doors independently, they could not write two characters "Kong" in one stroke. Of course Master Kong Jiu knew the importance of his little Dr. Taichang, and he was afraid that one would be prosperous and the other would suffer. He had enjoyed the past.
The benefits of his elder brother's high position were now being compromised. However, after the initial shock and anger, Academician Confucius calmed down.
"Why are you panicking! After the news about the Second Prince's shipwreck came out, when I went out early in the morning, weren't there a lot of guards from the Ruiqi Battalion standing outside? Later, when I went out, they also accompanied me to protect me."
Maybe this time it was because the emperor had soldiers and horses running around in chaos that night, and there were frightened birds everywhere, so he sent extra soldiers and horses to reassure the minister."
Saying this, Academician Confucius felt extremely unsure. Yesterday, Zhu Ying took two hundred soldiers and horses out of the city to Huairou to pick up the eldest prince.
Soldiers and horses, this at least eliminates nearly a thousand people... In this way, how many people can be left in the Ruiqi Battalion, which is only full of 3,000 people?
How could it be possible to allocate troops to increase the protection of a pavilion elder like him? Last time, he sent forty people here!
But he had a premonition that something was going on, but Academician Kong couldn't figure out where the trouble was - after all, as the top group of people in the court, he was of course indispensable for scheming, but in some places he was frank.
Frankly, at least he was confident that no one in the family could be involved in last night's clumsy incident. So, he finally gave the order in a calm tone.
"It's getting late. I'm about to go out to court. I'll send someone to the door first to ask what's going on."
The attendant who reported the incident outside the door first heard the panic of Master Ninth inside, but then found that his own master was still calm and composed. When he rushed out in a hurry, he naturally passed on the attitude and words of Master Confucius to the others.
Man. For a time, the Kong family, which was originally in a state of panic, finally settled down as if they had a backbone.
In order to claim credit, the attendant simply didn't ask anyone to go outside. Instead, he straightened his clothes and went out through the corner gate himself. Seeing a group of soldiers and horses in front of the gate, he stepped forward and bowed in a neither humble nor condescending manner.
He cupped his hands and said, "My master is about to go to court. May I ask what business you have here, military masters? If it is urgent, I will report it to my master now."
Seeing the soldiers on horseback looking at each other for a moment, as if no one dared to stand up, the attendant immediately held his head high and held his chest high, thinking that important ministers in the cabinet, such as his master, would always be respected by others.
You know, even when Emperor Ruizhong ascended the throne anyway, killed the traitorous sons of Emperor Yingzong, and then mourned Emperor Yingzong, didn't he still have to rely on those ministers at that time? If not, how would today's deposed people be?
How did the concubine later become the empress after the current emperor ascended the throne? Wasn't it because the empress' family was a famous official at that time?
However, the queen was simply taught to be too stupid by her family. Unlike the daughter of the Kong family, she was proficient in everything at home. After getting married, all of them became top housewives.
As long as the civil servants urged the emperor to establish a prince as soon as possible, it would not be considered a crime. Even if they really offended the emperor because of this matter, or they made mistakes in other matters, they ended up resigning from office and returning to their hometowns to live idle.
, but it will definitely not cause too much trouble!
Isn't Mr. Jiangge a good precedent? Duke Zhao was fighting at the front, while others were spreading rumors behind his back, and even conniving with the censor to attack him. In the end, apart from being dismissed from office, there was no major punishment!
And these self-righteous words soon received the same tit-for-tat answer.
"It's getting late, and I also know that Academician Confucius is going to court, so naturally I don't dare to disturb him."
The word "old man" was uttered in his mouth, but when the speaker rode up to the other party slowly, the attendant saw that the other party described him as majestic, but there was a scar on his face. At this time, he looked joking.
: "I'm here for Dr. Kong of Taichang Temple. I just sent someone to ask at the door over there. I heard that Master Kong invited Dr. Kong next door in the middle of the night. Am I not mistaken?"
That person is the most confidant of the Confucius University. How could he not recognize that the young man with the scar on his face is Zhu Tingfang? I thought that my master and the ninth master were still discussing what to do after Zhu Tingfang was seriously injured yesterday, especially in an emergency.
He was horrified when he took stock of the candidates who could lead the Five Cities Military and Horse Division and asked the Imperial Secretary to fill the vacancies as soon as possible.
Fortunately, this matter was just hearsay but it was wrong. Anyway, the master did not roll up his sleeves to fight in person, so he immediately tried his best to squeeze out a smile: "It turns out to be the eldest son Zhu. If the eldest master came here for the ninth master,
Yes, he is talking to the master in the study now. If you want to see him, why don't you go in and ask him to come out?"
"I really didn't expect that I, who was seriously injured in the assassination, worked all night, and Mr. Kong and Dr. Kong also worked for half the night. It was really hard work."
Zhu Tingfang paused and continued calmly: "Yesterday, Dr. Kong told people everywhere that he saw my future brother-in-law sending someone to buy me tonics, which he claimed to include Laoshan ginseng, which can extend my life.
It can be seen that my injury is not serious. Thanks to him spreading the word, groups of people came to my house to check on my injury, and my second brother had a hard time coping with it."
Seeing the smile on his face suddenly froze, Zhu Tingfang said with a smile: "Thank you so much for spreading rumors for me, so that those traitors last night thought they had a plan, so they continued their treacherous plan, and ended up being killed by me.
It seems that Dr. Kong has worked hard and achieved great results. The emperor must remember his contribution to the defeat of the eldest prince."
Knowing that Zhu Tingfang was speaking sarcastically, the follower's heart was beating wildly. However, he was not sure what Master Kong Jiu had done. At this time, he could only apologize over there, but he did not dare to say a word.
Say more.
Seeing that Zhu Tingfang had finally finished speaking, he could only squeeze out one sentence, "I'll go report it to the master right now," and then ran through the door like a scurry. But when he went out, he was calm and composed, but when he came back, his face was as pale as earth. The other people in the Kong family saw that he had just
The people's hearts that had calmed down could not help but become impetuous again. For a moment, it was like a group of demons dancing wildly.
Every household has servants who are obedient overtly but secretly very cunning. Seeing that their master may lose power, they will naturally go their separate ways when disaster strikes. As a result, the stewards everywhere are unable to take care of the place. This is really spreading rumors.
There are all kinds of things. One of the most popular theories is that Academician Confucius has committed a heinous crime, and the troops outside are here to arrest this important cabinet minister.
Could it be that the reason why so many people were sent here was to deprive the slaves of their property? As for not rushing in, they were just trying to save some dignity.
Therefore, when the Confucian scholar was furious because of the news brought back by his personal entourage, an abnormal panic was spreading rapidly among the people of the Confucius family. Zhu Tingfang waited at the gate for a long time, ignoring the gloomy sky and the cold wind.
, when he saw a servant sneaking around in front of the corner gate, he, who was young but experienced, immediately understood.
He gently stretched out his hand and shook it, signaling the soldiers and horses behind him not to overreact, and then stared with interest at the east and west corner doors of the Confucius Mansion. Sure enough, after seeing that the people outside did not do anything to stop them,
A man carrying a small bundle tentatively slipped out, looking like he was going out to do some errands, and tried his best to walk out calmly.
And as the first person left smoothly without any hindrance, soon there was a second and third person... In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhu Tingfang smiled and looked at a full five or six people carrying baggage or...
People with bulging bodies left through the corner doors on the east and west sides.
Although he was not sure whether there were people escaping in a hurry in places he did not see, such as side doors, back doors or even walls, and whether they would be stopped, he was certain that this kind of escape would soon become an irreversible trend.
The trend. Soon, he finally saw a scene he loved to see - a middle-aged man pushing a wheelbarrow came out of the door looking around!
It wasn't until this moment that Zhu Tingfang led his horse forward and stood directly in front of the man. Sure enough, as soon as he stood like this, the man immediately started to tremble, but he didn't even dare to raise his head and asked: "What's this?"
Sir..."
"Even the wheelbarrow has been pushed out, do you plan to come back?" Zhu Tingfang asked with a half-smile. Seeing that the person was speechless, he said lightly, "Like those people in front of me, I just took a baggage and ran away. I still want to go away."
I can just pretend that I haven't seen it, but like you, it seems that your whole family is going to move away. If I continue to pretend that I don't see it, it won't make sense."
The middle-aged man suddenly turned pale. He still didn't dare to look up at Zhu Tingfang's face, but he lowered his head and shrank his neck and said: "Sir, I took the initiative to write a letter of self-reliance and join the Confucius family as a servant, but in fact I didn't
I'm not a slave, and I haven't received any of the deed money. I still have parents and elders to support outside, so I beg you to show mercy..."
Zhu Tingfang suddenly sneered when he heard the words "relying on one's body".
Those who serve as officials often have hundreds of servants, but are they all servants of the family or legitimately bought servants? Among them, a lot of those who have no foundation are villagers or idlers looking at others.
After passing five tests and killing six generals in the examination room, and being named on the gold medal list and becoming an official, he came to his door and asked to be a slave. He also specially presented a personal document, that is, a personal deed.
However, it was beyond his expectation that for the sake of being an official and a scholar of Confucius University, there would be so-called servants in the family who became slaves after writing personal documents, which was really beyond his expectation.
"Oh, since you said that you entered the Kong family after writing a personal letter, when did you write the personal letter and how many years ago? What if you swear that you only wrote a personal letter in the past two years and entered the Kong family?
, then get out of here as soon as possible!"
Seeing Zhu Tingfang's sudden rebellion, the middle-aged man was finally so frightened that he could no longer stand. He hurriedly knelt down behind the wheelbarrow and said like a curse: "The younger one has been writing by handwriting for thirteen years. When he entered
I was only twenty-one years old when I came to the mansion. At that time, Bachelor Confucius was still a Bachelor of Confucius. My wife was looking for a gardener, and the young one happened to be good at gardening, so she took the initiative to come to the door. "
"If you sign a contract of employment, the young one will have to come back and forth every day. The house will not include room and board, but will only give you a thousand wages. But if you write a self-employment document, the house will not only cover room and board, but also give you a thousand wages."
Wen's salary. The younger one is the second son of the family, and his family is poor and has no wife, so he decided to write a letter of support for himself."
Seeing that Zhu Tingfang was still smiling but not smiling at all, with no intention of letting go, the middle-aged man could only say with a cry: "I am greedy for comfort, and my family is also greedy for the false reputation of being a member of the official residence, so I have been here all this time."
I stayed here peacefully. I am worthy of the salary, and the garden in the Confucius Mansion is also famous in the capital!"
"But all the credit was taken by Chen Jin, the man in charge of the garden, and he also got the reward. The small one only got the usual dead wages! It was just a transaction of money and goods. Now that I have something to do, why should I
Do you want me, the gardener, to be involved too?"
Hearing this, Zhu Tingfang finally couldn't help but clapped her hands lightly. Seeing the middle-aged man raised his head in surprise and joy, as if he thought he agreed with these words, he laughed.
"When I relied on others to make a living, I was cautious and groveling. Even if I was rewarded favorably to one but not others, I dared not speak out. Now when I feel that something is happening to my master, I have to go out to hide from the disaster and draw a clear line to show that I am not a stranger. This is also human nature.
...Okay, go away, just don’t regret it when the time comes!”
He rode his horse out of the way, and saw that the middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then knelt down and kowtowed with tears in his eyes, got up, pushed the wheelbarrow and flew away, so he stretched out his finger and hooked it.
The next moment, a guard from Duke Zhao's Mansion hurried over.
"Follow this guy. He dares to talk nonsense in front of me. It's funny." Zhu Tingfang pursed his lips at the man pushing the wheelbarrow. Seeing his guard immediately nodded, but dismounted and walked around from the other side, he couldn't help laughing.
.
Sure enough, after a while, Dr. Kong, whom Zhu Tingfang wanted to see, did not come out, but the guard who had just been sent out had already hurried back. When he came to Zhu Tingfang, the guard whispered: "The man pushed the wheelbarrow out of the door.
After going to the front street, he left the wheelbarrow and walked around the wall of the Confucius Mansion. He found that several doors were being watched by people, so he went to the back door and went in again under the pretense that he was a servant of the Confucius Mansion who was working outside."
"Haha." Zhu Tingfang couldn't help laughing again when she realized that she had guessed.
When a gardener wants to abandon his master and run away, he doesn't take the back door on the other side of the garden, but instead escapes through the east and west corner doors, pushing such a conspicuous wheelbarrow? This is not an ordinary servant, maybe Kong
The house felt something was wrong and tried to send someone out with a cart to test it out. The cart was filled with worthless things!
Sure enough, just a moment later, two people pushed a wheelbarrow at the east and west corner gates of Confucius Mansion again. There were some messy things piled on the wheelbarrow and they hurriedly came out. But the lot of rhetoric they prepared was of no use at all. Because as soon as the people came out,
Zhu Tingfang caught him with a look. Only then did Zhu Tingfang say word for word: "Search and see what it is! Since Dr. Kong hasn't come out, it seems I have to go see him in person!"