The Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.
Wang Ruoshui was stunned when he saw the crowds of people coming up to congratulate him with various emotions.
He couldn't imagine that a month ago, he thought that the position of Minister of Rites was out of reach, but now he became the acting minister of the Ministry of Rites, and in fact the number one person in the Ministry of Rites.
A thought suddenly arose in his mind: Could it be that I also have some great luck?
However, the Ministry of Rites attaches great importance to moral integrity. If he gets carried away, he will be the laughing stock of the world. He also suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and tried to deal with it calmly.
After a lot of fuss, he finally got to the time when he was released from office, and excitedly rushed to Jiang'anhou Mansion.
Seeing Gongsun Jing, he immediately said excitedly: "Mr. Gongsun, I am now the acting minister of the Ministry of Rites!"
Gongsun Jing smiled and nodded, "Congratulations to Brother Qingyuan. In just one month, you have crossed two levels in a row and walked a road that many people will never be able to walk in a lifetime."
Wang Ruoshui was also quite pleased with himself, "Luck, luck, brother Su, you're welcome."
Gongsun Jing frowned slightly and said immediately: "Brother Qingyuan received this good news and went home quickly to celebrate with his family. Is there anything you can say about coming to the Marquis Mansion?"
"Not really, I just came to report the good news. Am I one of those people who can't hold back his anger?"
Wang Ruoshui waved his hand, suddenly resting his elbows on the armrests of the chair, leaning sideways and smiling: "Speaking of which, if I can secure the position of Minister, will I have surpassed Mr. Li? He is the only one under the imperial concubine's command. Are you a senior member of Lord Yu Wei?"
He had a teasing look on his face, but Gongsun Jing suddenly calmed down and said, "Brother Qingyuan, there are some things that I am not allowed to say, and I am not qualified to say them, but you and I have known each other for a long time, and I still want to talk to you. If there is any offense, please forgive me. Don’t be surprised.”
Wang Ruoshui's smile faded as he listened to this battle, and he sat upright, "Brother Su, please speak."
"Brother Qingyuan, do you still remember what you looked like when the young master first came to Zhongjing?"
Wang Ruoshui's expression froze, and Gongsun Jing said: "At that time, Shi Shangshu made a casual trick, and your family was almost destroyed. You came to the house in panic. If it hadn't been for Young Master's help, you might not have been able to save your life."
"Then, you were in an awkward position in the Ministry of Etiquette. You had no backing, you were targeted by your superiors, and you were squeezed by your colleagues. Who designed it for you to unexpectedly ascend to the position of minister?"
Wang Ruoshui was speechless and said sarcastically: "I know that it was the young master who helped me, and I have never forgotten the kindness between the empress and the young master. Isn't this good news coming from heaven today? I thought I would come here to report the good news."
"Good news from heaven?" Gongsun Jing sneered, "Why doesn't this good news come to others? You are already a minister, do you really think that there is any good news from heaven? Are you destined for fate?"
Wang Ruoshui stared suddenly, with a look of surprise on his face, "You mean?"
"To tell you the truth, the young master discussed with Mr. Su and me at the beginning whether you could be qualified for the position of Minister of Rites. With my strong recommendation, the young master also agreed. This is how you have been doing for the past half month. Behind this dreamlike rise to fame is all the Young Master’s plan!”
Gongsun Jing never said anything about what he didn't believe at first, and whispered: "You are one of our own, and I can tell you the truth. Shi Dingzhong's downfall was all planned by the young master behind his back!"
Wang Ruoshui was so frightened that he stood up from his chair, "Seriously?"
Gongsun Jing looked at this expression and said slowly: "You came here just now. If you said you came to thank the young master and let me convey my greetings to the empress, that would be better. But you just came here to show off and said those words. Brother Qingyuan, you are upset."
Wang Ruoshui sat down slowly and thought carefully about Gongsun Jing's words.
"Brother Qingyuan, since we have said this, I will say one more inappropriate thing. If you can kill a minister so quietly, then naturally you can have a second and third one. A minister of the Ministry of Rites, it doesn't matter. what!"
He looked at the furious Wang Ruoshui, stood up with a smile and patted his shoulder, "Don't be nervous. Fortunately, we are his own people. We don't have to endure the pain of being his enemy, but we can enjoy the benefits of following him. You said so no?"
Wang Ruoshui swallowed his saliva and said, "Young Master is in the house, I want to express my gratitude in person."
"Of course that's possible."
Soon, Wang Ruoshui followed Gongsun Jing and met Xia Jingyun who was studying in the study.
After hearing the purpose of his visit and looking at Wang Ruoshui who was respectfully thanking him, Xia Jingyun did not show off, but was very considerate of the face of a newly promoted minister. He immediately stood up, lifted him up, and congratulated him with a smile.
"We are all our own people, so we can speak casually. Rather than coming to me to say thank you now, I still hope that you will choose to stay at the Ministry of Rites today, familiarize yourself with the ministry as soon as possible, seize the power, do a good job in the spring, and then use this word as agent Get rid of it.”
Wang Ruoshui woke up as if from a dream, and said quickly: "Young Master's words woke up the dreamer, I'll go back right now! If I didn't have Young Master, I almost missed something important! Young Master, take your leave!"
"Don't worry, I'll give it to you!"
Looking at the two people leaving one after another, Xia Jingyun smiled easily, sat back in his chair, and started reading the book again.
——
On the outskirts of the capital, in front of the large map of the world situation, the man stood with his hands behind his hands, looking up at the small flags placed everywhere, looking at the small characters on the flags, reviewing his memory and assessment of the general situation of the world.
A man came quickly and knocked on the door gently. After hearing a reply, he walked into the room.
"Lord, Shi Dingzhong was dismissed from office and imprisoned. The three divisions were interrogated. The Shi family was ransacked. The matter of the Shi family has been settled. Here is the entire story of this incident."
As he spoke, he held up a small tray with pieces of letter paper laid out in order.
The man raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't expect the results to come out so soon.
He walked to a chair and sat down, slowly picked up the information and read it.
He deliberately did not read these contents before, just because he wanted to fully observe Xia Jingyun's layout and methods after the dust settled.
He read each piece silently, pondering from time to time, and from time to time he picked up what he had read before and read it again.
Under the circumstances of calculating intention and unintentional, he is probably the person in Zhongjing City who knows the most about Xia Jingyun's action, except for a few confidants in the Jiang'an Marquis Mansion.
But even so, for many of his actions, he still needed to combine the conclusions afterwards to deduce the intention and foreshadowing at the time.
After reading it, he was silent for a long time.
The careful layout, the understatement of the move, the ability to make thunder in silent places, plus the intelligence information that suddenly became powerful that he found completely unfathomable.
He said solemnly: "Remember to remind me, if I can't kill him with a knife this time, I will kill him myself."
The man said softly: "Master, now he doesn't know that the master has targeted him, why doesn't he try to turn his enemy into a friend?"
The man shook his head decisively, "Neither he nor I are willing to live under others and be driven by others. It is impossible."
——
The shocking changes in the Shi family spread throughout the streets of Zhongjing City in a very short period of time, becoming a hot topic among everyone.
Countless versions have been fabricated. Amid rumors flying all over the sky, an old man walked out of an extremely spacious and luxurious mansion in the West City.
The old man got on the sedan, and, escorted by the guards, staggered toward the palace gate.
When they arrived at the palace gate, the imperial guards on duty were a little surprised. This old man had not entered the palace for how many days.
When the news of the request for an audience reached Emperor Chongning's ears through Gao Yi, Emperor Chongning, who was furious and overjoyed when he saw the Shi family's property brought up by Heibingtai, was equally surprised, but also without any suspense. Let the old man enter the palace.
"Come here, give Duke Fengyang a seat."
The old man in front of him is the old head of the Qin family, the grandfather of Qin Yuwen, the now famous Qiangongzi in Beijing.
The old head of the Qin family said, "I came to the palace to ask for something."
After saying that, he knelt down with some difficulty. Emperor Chongning quickly stood up and supported him, "What is Duke Fengyang doing? I am a descendant of the Qin family for several generations. My imperial grandmother is also the legitimate daughter of the Qin family. Speaking of which, I should call you uncle and just say what you have to say, so there is no need to pay such a big courtesy."
The old head of the Qin family sat down and sighed, "I came here with this shy old face because I want to beg Your Majesty to let someone go."
Emperor Chongning's smile did not change, "Mr. Fengyang just said it."
"I request your majesty to spare Shi Dingzhong's wife."
Emperor Chongning was quite confused, "Shi Dingzhong's wife?"
"Hey, this is an old story." The old head of the Qin family sighed, "In the past, when I was young, my behavior was quite absurd. She is my illegitimate daughter in Guangling Prefecture. I wanted to give birth to her mother and daughter. The two of them joined the family, but it was the critical time after my sister entered the palace, so the matter was shelved. Her mother had a strong temperament and thought that I was always in trouble and finally abandoned, so she avoided seeing her. Later, she married Shi Dingzhong , seeing that she had a home, the old minister didn’t force her anymore.”
He stood up again and knelt down towards Emperor Chongning, "Now that the Shi family has committed a serious crime, I dare not ask your majesty to forgive the Shi family's crimes, but I would like to ask your majesty to allow me to take her out quietly. I will never let her be exposed to the public." , ordering him to worship the Ancient Buddha of Green Lantern from now on to atone for his sins."
"Your Majesty, if the descendants of the Qin family are appointed to the Jiaofang Division, it will be a disgrace to the royal family! Please have mercy, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Chongning listened silently and said slowly: "That's right. Gao Yi, take Duke Fengyang to see the Minister of Punishment later and let them discuss it themselves. I only have one request, the news is not allowed to leak, and she is not allowed to reappear in front of the world. .”
"I thank you for your majesty's holy grace."
The old head of the Qin family kowtowed respectfully, and then said: "Your Majesty is wise and wise in martial arts. He built the Wanbao Pavilion to show his literary and martial arts achievements. The Qin family has considerable wealth and is willing to offer 100,000 taels of silver to congratulate your Majesty."
Emperor Chongning smiled slightly, "In that case, I would like to thank Duke Fengyang."
At midnight, a woman wearing a black cloak was sent out of the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice and put on a carriage that had parked at the back door early. The carriage silently rolled through the streets and arrived at a small courtyard in the east city.
The carriage drove directly into the backyard. When the woman got out of the car and was led to a house, she saw an old man being supported by a young man.
Under the dim light, she could not recognize the old man clearly, but she could recognize the young man, the direct grandson of the Qin family, the famous Qian Gongzi in Zhongjing, so the identity of the old man was very clear.
The old man looked at the woman who had become haggard due to prison, stretched out his hand tremblingly, and called out, "Xiu Niang."
Mrs. Shi looked at the old man in front of her, thinking of her mother who died in depression, of what she had hoped for, of the disappointments, and of the other person's secret help, resentment, gratitude, longing, loss, and joy. , all kinds of emotions are intertwined in my heart.
She was silent for a long time, and finally knelt down on the ground, "Please father, avenge me!"
(End of chapter)
