Seeing Wang Changlian and Xiao Yu walking forward, Xiao Chen turned left and walked into the street of Li An Shangshu Mansion.
Today is the last day of the first lunar month. Once today passes, there will no longer be any sense of the New Year.
Even in the afternoon, the red candles were burning flickeringly in the lanterns at the entrance of Shangshu Mansion, seeming to express nostalgia for the festival.
After several visits, the servants of Shangshu Mansion were already deeply impressed by Xiao Chen and started saying hello from afar.
"Master Ziyi, you are here to visit Master Shangshu again!"
The two doorkeepers had their bodies hunched over and stared at Xiao Chen with a smile that was either fearful or flattering.
"Well, I'm here to chat with Mr. Li." Xiao Chen nodded towards the other party and stepped forward to walk in.
"My lord has not been living in the house these days. He is staying in the Xing tribe." The servant who spoke took a step forward and explained hurriedly.
Xiao Chen couldn't help but was stunned and looked at the other person: "If he doesn't live in Shangshu Mansion, why does he live in the Ministry of Punishment? Is the Ministry of Punishment so busy recently?"
"I don't know about this little one. Otherwise, your Excellency should go in first and wait while I go to the Punishment Department to call you back?" The servant poked his head in and said flatteringly.
Xiao Chen waved his hand and turned around: "Why are you doing this trouble? I'll just go to the Criminal Department to find him."
The Ministry of Justice was not far from Li An's Shangshu Mansion, so Xiao Chen didn't bother to go back and forth, so he walked towards the Ministry of Justice.
On this street, there was the imperial court's Sanfa Si Yamen.
The three government offices are lined up in a row, right next to each other.
The one on the far left is the Ministry of Justice, the one in the middle is Dali Temple, and the one next to it is the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Although the three houses are adjacent to each other, they all have their own large courtyards, so the gates are far apart.
When we arrived at the gate of the Criminal Department, the guard guarding the door didn't recognize Xiao Chen.
"This is the important place of the Ministry of Justice, please leave as soon as possible." A guard holding a spear coldly scolded.
Xiao Chen was too lazy to talk nonsense. He was in a good mood today and came to Li An for a casual chat. He didn't want to get to know this guard.
He pulled the hem of his clothes back from left to right, directly revealing the custom-made purple plum blossom order around his waist.
The Plum Blossom Order is the identity mark of Dongchang. There is only one purple Plum Blossom Order in the entire Ming Dynasty, and that is Xiao Chen, the purple-clad captain.
Seeing this token, the guard with a cold voice was shocked and hurriedly knelt down on one knee: "Master Ziyi! I don't understand you. I have offended you just now. Please forgive me."
"What's the crime? You're just doing your job. I'm here to see your Lord Minister, he's in the Ministry of Punishment." Xiao Chen waved his hand and motioned for the guard to get up.
"Returning to your lord, Mr. Li has been staying in the Ministry of Punishments recently. I will take you there right now." As if he had received an amnesty, the guard stood up hurriedly, took the long gun in his hand, pushed open the closed door of the Ministry of Punishments, and headed inside.
Go.
As for the Ministry of Punishments, Xiao Chen had been here several times before when he was a royal guard. He followed the guards familiarly and walked towards the lobby of the Ministry of Punishments.
The prisoner had just been handed over today, and there were no cases being heard in the lobby of the Criminal Department, so it was completely empty.
Standing in the center of the lobby, the guard bent towards the small door leading to the back hall and shouted respectfully: "Master Li, Master Ziyi is here to see you."
"Who? Xiao Chen is here?" Li An's voice came from the back hall. Immediately, the small door was opened from the inside, and Li An walked out with a smile.
"Oh, it's really Brother Xiao. I told you just now that I'm going to the East Factory to find you, so you'll come to the Criminal Department first. Come on, sit inside." Seeing Xiao Chen, Li An's face was full of smiles,
Greeted hurriedly.
At the same time, he waved his hand to the guard: "Okay, go and do your work."
The back hall of the Criminal Department is a little smaller than the lobby, but not too small.
Rows of bookshelves and desks look like the place where Li An usually works.
In a corner of the back hall, two bookshelves surrounded a small space, in which was placed a small bed more than three feet wide, with all bedding on it.
"Master Li, are you moving to the Criminal Department to take some time off?!" Xiao Chen asked with a smile, looking at the small bed in the corner of the back hall.
"Hey, since you left, I really didn't want to see Wang Wenshan's face, so I moved out on the pretext that the Criminal Department was busy." Li An pulled up a chair and placed it in front of the case table, proudly
He said, "Sit down first and try the new tea I bought."
As he said that, he took out two more tea bowls from under the table, then turned around to pick up the hot water kettle on the stove.
Xiao Chen gently pulled the chair back and sat on it: "Okay, stop showing off and look at what good things I brought you."
As he spoke, he took out a bulging paper bag from his arms and placed it on the desk.
Holding the kettle in his hand, Li An stared at the paper bag on the table: "What is it? It can't be money, right? I know that Brother Xiao made a lot of money in Jiangnan this time. Give it to me
Isn’t it a little too little to give such a small amount?”
Xiao Chen said nothing and looked at Li An in front of him like an idiot.
Wearing the uniform of a second-rank official in the imperial court, holding the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, and being in the back hall of the Ministry of Punishment, this guy actually said such words.
You guessed that it was just money, but you actually said that I was going to Hangzhou to make a fortune, and you actually thought that the share I gave you was small?
Without waiting for Xiao Chen's answer, Li An looked back.
Looking at Xiao Chen's expression, he said a little puzzled: "It's not silver? Did I guess wrong?"
Xiao Chen shook his head helplessly, wishing he could stand up and leave immediately.
How come this guy has become so virtuous now?
"Tea leaves, there are tea leaves inside, authentic West Lake Longjing." Xiao Chen gasped and said fiercely.
"Hey, it turns out it's tea. I thought it was silver." Putting down the kettle, Li An narrowed his eyes, opened the paper bag, and put a little in each of the two tea bowls.
"This is the best tea you can buy in Hangzhou currently. Even Mr. Wang, I only gave him two packs and you were still mumbling. If you keep nagging me, I'll take it away." Looking at Li An's disapproval,
Xiao Chen said angrily.
"I've brought all the good stuff, can I still let you take it back?" Li An smiled obscenely, put the paper bag away, and placed it under the desk where the tea bowl was.
Then he stood up, filled the two tea bowls with hot water, and then sat on another chair.
"Wang Wenshan pushed you too hard recently, so you escaped?" Xiao Chen said.
"After you cracked the Jiangnan Silk Case, you became famous in the court. The King of Han probably couldn't sit still anymore and was anxious to win over you. Recently, Wang Wenshan has been asking about you in my ears. I'm really annoyed.
I moved to the Ministry of Justice to live temporarily." Li An said as he picked up the tea bowl and smelled the fragrance wafting from the tea bowl.
"You still have to go back. Otherwise, how can I collect Hanwang's coveted silver notes? I can't go directly to Wang Wenshan to ask for it, right?" Xiao Chen squeezed his eyes and showed a lewd smile.
