It is precisely because of this that Liu E not only could not hurt Mrs. Li, but also had to pay tribute carefully.
However, this woman, Mrs. Li, is a madman who dotes on her son.
Everything goes along with Zhao Zhen and towards Zhao Zhen.
Once Zhao Zhen did something wrong, as soon as Liu E scolded Zhao Zhen, Concubine Li would come to Liu E to admit her mistake.
As a result, Liu E no longer dared to scold Zhao Zhen loudly.
It is precisely because of this that Zhao Zhen, who usually only dared to send messages to Kou Ji behind his back, became more and more reckless, and would blindly protect Kou Ji in the Chui Gong Hall.
Liu E had the intention to reprimand Zhao Zhen, but as soon as she thought that after leaving the Chui Gong Hall, Mrs. Li would come to her and beg for mercy in front of her pitifully while crying, so she gave up the idea of reprimanding Zhao Zhen.
Liu E gritted her teeth and said in a deep voice: "The Ai family will pick some supplements from the palace and send them to Xiao Kou Aiqing."
When Zhao Zhen heard this, he smiled with satisfaction and winked at Kou Ji.
When Kou Ji saw this, he couldn't laugh or cry.
The civil and military officials in the court were filled with hatred when they saw Kou Ji taking advantage of him and pretending to be obedient with a bitter look on his face.
Seeing this, Kou Zhun couldn't stand it anymore. He coughed and said calmly: "There is still a dispute over the candidates for political affairs. After you go back, we will discuss it again. I will also discuss it with the empress. Wait until the discussion is over.
Once a suitable candidate is found, we can then make a decision.”
Kou Zhun came to the conclusion that there was no need to discuss the matter in the court anymore. It would not be too late to discuss it again after the competition between the parties and two candidates were finally selected.
After the issue of candidates for political affairs has been resolved.
There were also court officials who reported matters one after another, mostly related to issues left over from the struggle for power between the Six Ministries and Ti Xing Si, as well as the issue of return gifts from various vassal states.
At the end of the day, Wang Zeng wrote a memorial stating that there was a famine in Huainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and hoped that the court would make an early decision.
However, in the eyes of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, this matter did not seem to be more important than fighting for power and returning gifts to the vassal states, so in the end it only got the attribution that the yamen in Huainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang were paying close attention to the disaster.
After going to court, with Liu E looking grim, Zhao Zhenqiang left Kou Ji behind and took him to the palace to taste the cakes made by Concubine Li.
Since Mrs. Li appeared, Zhao Zhen has lost a lot of rigidity and has more joy that a child should have.
Zhao Zhen took Kou Ji around the palace and carefully counted the things that Concubine Li had done to protect him in front of Liu E.
It can be heard that Mrs. Li and Zhao Zhen have a good relationship.
Finally, Zhao Zhen took Kou Ji to his palace and took out the cakes made by Mrs. Li for Kou Ji to eat.
After Zhao Zhen returned to the palace, Concubine Li quietly appeared beside Zhao Zhen.
She dismissed the eunuchs and palace maids who were serving Zhao Zhen, and took matters into her own hands to serve Zhao Zhen.
Zhao Zhen hugged Concubine Li with one hand and pinched pastries with the other. Looking at Kou Ji by his side, he felt extremely happy.
His little mouth clicked as he ate and talked without stopping.
Kou Ji accompanied Zhao Zhen for a conversation, and the conversation turned to martial arts.
Zhao Zhen held the pastry in his mouth and said: "The empress said that I am still young and not suitable for practicing martial arts. I can easily hurt myself, so I was told not to practice martial arts."
Kou Ji glanced at Concubine Li, who was looking at Zhao Zhen with a doting look on her face, and muttered: "Concubine Li is afraid that officials practicing martial arts will hurt herself?"
When Princess Li heard this, she complained: "Every time the official finished practicing martial arts, he was always out of breath and sweating profusely. He was the most noble person in the Song Dynasty, so he didn't have to endure hardships to practice martial arts.
If he wants it, all martial arts practitioners in the world can be used by him."
Kou Ji frowned and whispered: "So... the officials have abandoned their martial arts because of this."
Hearing this, Concubine Li glanced at Kou Ji, frowned and said, "Why can I hear displeasure from your words?"
Kou Ji cupped his hands and said: "I don't dare...I just feel that the most important thing in practicing martial arts is persistence and perseverance. I don't think that officials can practice superb martial arts. I just want them to learn martial arts on the way."
Persevere and learn to persevere.”
Concubine Li raised her eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "So, the reason why the official family practices martial arts is because of you? No wonder my sister kept trying to persuade me. It turns out you were the one causing trouble behind the scenes."
Concubine Li snorted coldly: "None of you ministers are good. You always want to make the officials live according to your ideas, and try every means to instigate them.
But no one has ever asked the official what he really wants to live.
No one cared about his wishes."
Kou Ji was slightly stunned and said in a deep voice: "The concubine has a complaint against me for allowing officials to practice martial arts?"
Concubine Li said without mercy: "That's right! I just don't want to see the officials suffer. He is the most noble person in the Song Dynasty, so he should enjoy the greatest wealth in the Song Dynasty instead of suffering and being burdened."
Kou Ji frowned and said in a low voice: "If the officials don't suffer, the people in the world will suffer."
Concubine Li said loudly: "I only care about the official family!"
Zhao Zhen saw that the two of them were quarreling, so he said with a bitter face: "Empress, Kou Ji, can you stop quarreling..."
Kou Ji stood up slowly, bowed his hands to Zhao Zhen and said, "Guan family, I will retire."
Zhao Zhen was a little anxious, "Kou Ji, you haven't seen me for a long time, don't you want to talk to me anymore?"
Kou Ji glanced at Mrs. Li and said calmly: "It's not enough to say anything."
Mrs. Li snorted coldly.
Kou Ji bowed his hand again and left Zhao Zhen's palace.
After Kou Ji left, Zhao Zhen looked at the palace door with some disappointment and said to Concubine Li: "Your Majesty, he is the only friend of mine.
All the civil and military officials in the dynasty regarded me as a child, but Kou Ji was the only one who regarded me as a friend.
He didn't care about my identity, and he never thought about asking for anything from me. He just regarded me as a friend.
Now, my only friend has been driven away by you..."
Concubine Li stared at Zhao Zhen blankly, not knowing what to say.
She didn't expect that Zhao Zhen had such deep feelings for Kou Ji.
How did she know that when Zhao Zhen was most suppressed by Liu E, when Zhao Zhen was most helpless, it was Kou Ji who appeared next to Zhao Zhen and gave Zhao Zhen a touch of warmth.
When Zhao Zhen was the saddest and saddest, it was Kou Ji who stayed with him.
If it weren't for his identity that determined that he couldn't call Kou Ji brother, he really wanted to call Kou Ji brother.
Zhao Zhen put down the cake in his hand and said seriously to Concubine Li: "Kou Ji thinks that my martial arts practice is beneficial, so I can't neglect my martial arts. I have neglected my martial arts for several days, and I have to make up for it today."
After saying this, without waiting for Concubine Li to stop him, Zhao Zhen had already ran outside the palace to his martial arts practice place.
Concubine Li stared at Zhao Zhen's leaving figure, gritting her teeth secretly, "Sister is right, Kou Ji should not appear in the palace."
Concubine Li looked gloomily and told the eunuchs and maids in the palace: "If Kou Ji appears in the palace in the future, you must stop him and never let him see the official alone."
"Here..."
The eunuchs and maids all agreed.
But what she did was destined to be useless.
With Chen Lin, a traitor, secretly helping Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji exchange letters, she could not stop Zhao Zhen from communicating with Kou Ji.
…
Kou Ji left the palace and returned to the mansion.
As soon as I entered the house, I bumped into an unexpected person.
"father?"
Kou Ji looked at Kou Li, who was standing at the door of Kou Mansion, looking forward to it, with a look of astonishment on his face.
When Kou Li saw Kou Ji, he was particularly friendly. He walked up to Kou Ji with a smile, looked at Kou Ji, and said, "Bad boy, I haven't seen you for a while. You have grown a lot taller and stronger."
Kou Li raised his hand to pat Kou Ji on the shoulder, wanting to be closer to Kou Ji, but Kou Ji took a step back, widened the distance between them, and saluted in a steady manner.
"The child has met his father..."
Kou Li smiled dryly, retracted his hand and said, "No need to be polite."
Kou Ji asked: "Dad, why did you come to Bianjing City? You have an official position in Huayin County. If you leave your post without permission, you will be easily impeached."
Kou Li explained: "The imperial court has its own rules, and I know your father. I have not offended the imperial rules. Huayin's affairs are handled by the county magistrate and the county captain, so there will be no mistakes. It's the New Year's Day, and the New Year's Day is coming.
Xiu Mu is coming soon, so it won't be a problem if I arrive in Bianjing a few days early."
Hearing this, Kou Ji nodded slowly.
Every year on the New Year's Day, the imperial court would close offices and have a long holiday.
Kou Li left a day or two early and rushed to Bianjing to reunite with his family. No one else could fault him.
After all, it wasn't just one or two officials who did this, most of the officials in the imperial court did this.
As long as there was no trouble in the local government offices during the days when they left early, the imperial court would turn a blind eye and not investigate.
"Let's go back home and talk."
Kou Ji invited Kou Li to return home, but Kou Li stood at the door and refused to move his feet.
He said with some embarrassment: "Your grandfather hasn't gone to court yet?"
Kou Ji was stunned when he heard this, looked at Kou Li up and down, and asked doubtfully: "You want to wait for my grandfather to go to court? You won't get into any trouble again, are you going to let my grandfather help you cook?"
Hearing this, Kou Li quickly shook his head, "No, no..."
After a pause, Kou Li said sheepishly: "Your father and I have newly married several concubines, but I didn't inform your grandfather. I was afraid that he would not be happy, so I wanted to see him early and apologize to him."
Kou Ji looked strange and said: "You won't bring them all to Bianjing City, will you?"
Kou Li smiled softly and nodded slowly.
Kou Ji sighed, stared at Kou Li and said: "Father, if you want me to tell you, you can take my concubine as long as you want. Stay in Huazhou, do whatever you want. Bring her to Bianjing City, and hang out in front of my grandfather's eyes."
,Aren’t you looking for scolding?”
Kou Li said awkwardly: "They have never traveled far. Your father and I just want to take them to Bianjing City to see the world."
Kou Ji glanced at Kou Li and was too lazy to talk to him again.
He felt that it was certainly one thing that Kou Li brought those concubines to Bianjing City to see the world, but more importantly it was definitely to show off his bad taste.
Kou Ji bowed his hand to Kou Li, "Then the kid will go in first..."
Kou Li stopped Kou Ji, "Wait a minute!"
"Is something wrong?"
Kou Li nodded and said: "When I came, a document came from the Ministry of Punishment, saying that Zhang Hua would be arrested and brought to Beijing. The county magistrate and the county lieutenant asked me to bring the person to Beijing. I escorted the person to the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Punishment said that Zhang Hua should be arrested and brought to Beijing.
There is no record of this person being convicted.
When I led people out of the Criminal Department, I bumped into Mr. Cao from the Criminal Department. He said that Zhang Hua is the person you want.
I brought him back to the house for you, and he is now being held in the woodshed."
When Kou Ji heard this, he said with a surprised look on his face: "Is Zhang Hua here?"
Kou Li nodded.
Kou Ji was about to leave, but was stopped by Kou Li, "Ji'er, this person has a bad reputation in Huazhou. If the criminal officials hadn't arrested him, he might be able to pass the scholar examination next year. If he can continue
Being promoted to the top three is also a big political achievement for Huayin County in Huazhou. What did he do that warranted the Ministry of Punishment issuing a document to arrest him?
The document issued by the Ministry of Punishment stated that this person collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country.
But when your father and I were in Huayin County, we conducted a careful interrogation and found no evidence of his collaborating with the enemy and treason?"
Kou Ji couldn't explain to Kou Li that arresting Zhang Hua was purely his idea, so he shied away and said, "This matter involves the secrets of the DPRK. Dad, do you really want to know?"
Hearing this, Kou Li shook his head decisively, "Then I won't ask."
Kou Li had been an official for several months. He didn't learn anything else, but he learned how to ignore things that didn't concern him.
Seeing that Kou Li no longer asked, Kou Ji bowed his hands to Kou Li and hurriedly left the door of the mansion and went straight to the woodshed.
After arriving at the woodshed of the house, he pushed aside the Kou Mansion guards guarding the door of the woodshed and entered the woodshed.
As soon as he entered the door of the woodshed, he saw a young man three or four years older than him, sitting on the hay on the ground.
When the young man saw Kou Ji appear, his eyes fell on Kou Ji and he said nothing.
Kou Ji stared at him and said in a deep voice: "Are you Zhang Hua?"
Zhang Hua stared at Kou Ji, narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you Kou Ji?"
Kou Ji snorted coldly: "You are not old, but you are not young. You actually dare to sneak into Hu Qing and come to Bianjing City to recognize your relatives. Who gave you the courage to do this?"
Zhang Hua stared at Kou Ji and said in a deep voice: "I asked Hu Qing to go to Bianjing to recognize his relatives. I just took advantage of the situation and wanted to give him a future. I didn't deliberately plan anything.
But I didn't expect that you would implicate me for this matter, and that you would risk your own rights and use your private power to ask the Ministry of Punishment to issue a document to arrest me in Beijing."
Kou Ji was slightly stunned and said in a deep voice: "Did you guess that it was me?"
Zhang Hua said coldly: "I, Zhang Hua, have not offended many people, but you are the only one who has the ability to put the label of collaboration with the enemy and traitor on me. Someone from the yamen, holding a document from the Ministry of Justice, broke into
When he entered my room and arrested me, I knew that Hu Qing must have come to Bianjing to recognize his relatives and hate you, and then you turned your anger on me."
Kou Ji was stunned and asked: "Since you guessed that I framed you, why didn't you complain on the way to Beijing?"
When Zhang Hua heard this, he gritted his teeth angrily and said: "With your current status as Kou Ji, and with the current authority of your Kou government, even if I cry out for grievances, no one will listen to me.
No one will offend you, Kou Ji, or your Kou Mansion because of me, Zhang Hua."
Kou Ji sneered and said, "According to your statement, I, Kou Ji, am using my power to bully others and bully you."