After Lu Gong left, Liu Ji asked Xiao He why Lu Gong wanted to save him. Xiao He said deliberately: "Maybe it's because you gave too many gifts!" Liu Ji blushed with embarrassment and said: "You also know that I am just a small pavilion chief, how can I have enough money to give away? "Xiao He scolded: "Since you have no money, why do you pretend to be a rich man?" Liu Ji said with a smile: "It's all because you shouldn't say in public that 'the gift is less than one thousand, sitting outside the hall'!" Xiao He said : "Those with more gifts should sit in the hall. This is the custom. What's the dissatisfaction?" Liu Ji said unconvinced: "The difference between the poor and the rich in the world is too big?" Xiao He said: "The world is inherently unequal between rich and poor. , In which dynasties has this not been the case? What does it mean to give a few gifts to the county magistrate? Today’s emperor builds palaces and mausoleums for himself, and he has 700,000 craftsmen alone. Can you imagine the money spent? But? You, Liu Ji, are so poor that you can't even get a gift of a thousand yuan. The world is unfair!" Liu Ji said solemnly: "I hate the distinction between high and low, the inequality between rich and poor. I really want to change this world!" Xiao He He was confused and said: "Although you have great ambitions, you often despise your superiors, neglect officials, and make fun of squires. This is the way to cause trouble! Now you are pretending to be a gift of 10,000 yuan. Where is the gift? If you anger the Censor, He will punish both crimes, and you still don’t know what crime to convict you of?” Liu Ji became a little nervous and hurriedly said: “If it weren’t for Mr. Xiao’s advice, how could my elm-headed head be enlightened? Now that the matter has come to this, I still hope Sir, save me." Seeing that Liu Ji had realized his mistake, Xiao He said, "I have to prepare a gift quickly and give it to Mr. Lu, and then ask Mr. Lu to present the gift to Yushi Zhang. Can the Yushi forgive you? It depends on your luck." Liu Ji said gratefully: "Thank you, Master Xiao, for saving me. I will definitely return your money to you in the future. I will definitely pay it back!" Xiao He left in a hurry.
When Lu Gong came out, he first led Zhang Cang's horse into the county government office, then went to the lobby to meet Zhang Cang and said, "Congratulations, sir!" Zhang Cang asked what the happy event was. Lu Gong said: "I heard that Liu Ji offended your lord and regretted it. He came here specifically to apologize to you today. But as soon as he entered the door, before he could explain to you, the officials captured him. I Privately, I think this approach is not appropriate. Look, my lord, no one is a sage. How can anyone be without faults? He is a gentleman if he knows his mistakes and can correct them. Liu Jiping is always cautious and very righteous. That day, one of his brothers was sick. I just mistakenly took away your Excellency's mount, thus offending your dignity. Your Excellency is here in this county today. It is a good day for all the heroes in the county to gather together to celebrate! I, Old Man Lu, boldly ask you to raise your noble hand and make a golden mouth to release Liu Ji. , can the heroes of Peixian County drink as much as they want?" At this time, everyone also said in unison: "Please raise your noble hand and release Liu Tingchang!" As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao He also walked in. He had already prepared ten thousand yuan. The money was dedicated to Lu Gong. Lu Gong then transferred the gift to Zhang Cang and said, "This is Liu Ji's special gift to you, please accept it?" Zhang Cang didn't know what to do at this time.
At this moment, the official from Peixian County had already brought Xia Houying. Xia Houying came to the lobby, knelt down and said, "Please calm down, Master Yushi! I injured your guard and took away your mount all by myself. I don't care about Chief Liu Ting. I am willing to be punished!" Zhang Cangxin I thought: All the officials in Pei County interceded for Liu Ji, and now there are still people who are being punished on his behalf. If I don’t give everyone a step down, people will say that I am too mean, and they laughed and said: "Okay, since you all say Liu Ji Ji is good, so I pardoned him. However, according to the laws of the Qin Dynasty, your Xiahou Ying's crime cannot be pardoned. The lightest sentence is whipping, and you will be sentenced to two years in prison! Are you willing to accept the crime? "Xiahou Ying? Ying said: "I'm willing to be punished!" He accepted the punishment of thirty lashes in the lobby. After receiving the punishment, Xia Houying was carried down to the hall. After a while, the official released Liu Ji from prison.
Liu Ji came to the lobby and was already greeted by Lu Gong and Xiao He at the door. Lu Gong took Liu Ji's hand and entered the lobby with Xiao He. Liu Ji first went to Zhang Cang to apologize. Zhang Cang said: "Someone has received thirty lashes for you and will be jailed for two years. However, this is all Mr. Lu said for you. You should go and thank him!" Liu Ji thanked Mr. Lu. . Lu Gong asked Liu Ji to sit back at the table. Liu Ji also showed no humility. After sitting down, he ate and drank as if there was no one else around. Everyone also started drinking heavily.
The banquet was about to end, and Lu Gong signaled Liu Ji not to leave with his eyes. Liu Ji stayed. After everyone left, Lu Gong took Liu Ji's hand and said, "My dear nephew, the moonlight is very beautiful tonight. I would like to invite you to have a drink in the back garden and admire the moon. Are you interested?" Liu Ji was quite surprised: "Old man Lu, Brother Xiahou took the blame for me, and I felt very uneasy. I want to visit him first." Lu Gong immediately called an errand over and gave instructions: "I and Liu Tingchang will go to visit Xiahou Ying first, and you go to my wife. , let her prepare some food and wine, and then bring me the painkilling ointment that I have collected." The errand boy agreed and left. Lu Gong and Liu Ji walked towards the cell.
When Xia Houying saw the two of them, he hurriedly said hello, but was unable to salute because of his physical injury. Liu Jidao: "Good brother, you are punished for me. Brother, I feel uneasy!" Xia Houying reluctantly straightened up and said: "Brother, please stop being like this. We share the joys and sorrows, even if we go through fire and water, we will do it! This little injury is nothing. ?" Liu Ji was very moved and helped Xia Houying to crawl. By this time the official had already brought the medicine. Lu Gong personally applied the ointment on Xia Houying. Liu Ji fed Xia Houying again.
After Xia Houying finished eating, the two of them left the cell and walked towards the back garden of the county government office. This garden is not big, surrounded by some osmanthus trees and sycamore trees, as well as some beautiful chrysanthemums. There is a five-cornered pavilion in the middle of the garden, and someone has already prepared some wine and food inside. The two sat down and poured wine. At this time, the moon has risen high, and everything is bright. Lu Gong felt relaxed and happy at this time, and said to Liu Ji: "My nephew, when I was young, I liked to meet people. Today I met my nephew, and I saw that you have a strange appearance, and you seem to have signs of being a noble person. You must behave yourself in the future!" Liu Ji disapproved and said: "Old man, I'm just a pavilion chief, how can I be so powerful? You'd better stop making fun of me, a junior?" Lu Gong said seriously: "Are princes, generals and prime ministers born? Yi Yin, Bai Bai Aren't Li Xi just ordinary people before we met? But later on, things turned around for them and they became famous figures!" Liu Ji was quite surprised and said, "If it's really like what you said, I will never forget the kindness of meeting you today. La!" Although Liu Ji said words of gratitude, he didn't take Lu Gong's words to heart at all.
After drinking for three rounds, Lu Gong asked Liu Ji about his family and his wife. Liu Ji immediately said with shame, "It's really shameful to mention this! To be honest with you, my wife Cao passed away after giving birth to a son for me. I am still alone today!" Lu Gong But he was surprised and asked: "My nephew's wife has died?" Liu Ji said yes. Lu Gong asked: "Then why don't you remarry?" Liu Ji sighed and said: "My father often advised me to work peacefully in farming and earn more family business, but since my wife passed away, I have become discouraged." When I get up, I am too lazy to deal with anything anymore, so I still live alone." Lu Gong asked, "If my nephew meets the right one, can he marry again?" Liu Ji replied, "How can I not marry him?" The reason? However, those with good conditions dare not care about it, and those with poor conditions feel that they have been wronged. Therefore, it is like this that I can't achieve a high level or a low level. I am ashamed, ashamed!" However, Lu Gong was overjoyed and said bluntly: "I am My eldest daughter, Lu Pheasant, although she does not have the beauty to conquer the country, she can still be regarded as one of the best. This daughter still has a bit of a man's style. I am willing to betroth her to my nephew as my wife. I wonder if my nephew is willing to accept it?" Liu Jiwen Hearing this, I was really pleasantly surprised, so I stood up quickly and said: "How can I, Liu Jiyijie, the pavilion chief, get your wife? She must be a lady of the family, how can you be willing to marry? This is absolutely impossible, so No way!" But Lu Gong said with great interest: "Hey, this is what I mean. I have quite a fortune, and I am willing to give half of it as your dowry. What do you think?" Liu Jiyi Hearing this, he couldn't believe his ears, so he said, "Are you drunk and joking?" Lu Gong laughed and said, "How can you joke about marriage? I am serious." Liu Ji said He quickly knelt down and said, "What virtues and abilities do you have, junior, that you always think so highly of me? Being able to marry your daughter is undoubtedly a star in the sky. How can I be unhappy? But your great kindness, junior, is not good." Repay?" When Lu Gong saw what Liu Ji said, he happily helped him up and said, "Life is about getting to know each other, how can we talk about repaying?" Liu Ji was overjoyed.
That night, when Lu Gong returned home, he told his wife about his daughter's betrothal. Mrs. Lu asked Liu Ji what he did, how old he was, and whether he was a good match for his daughter. Lu Gong introduced Liu Ji's situation in detail. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Lu was furious when she heard this: "You confused old man, don't you often say that your daughter is rich? Why did you foolishly promise her to a low-ranking pavilion chief?" Lu Gong said: " Madam, I don’t know. I observed carefully today and found that Liu Ji has a peculiar appearance and is extremely valuable, so I betrothed my daughter to him. Madam, please rest assured that our Lu family will be distinguished from now on! I have been doing facial recognition since I was young. But I have never seen a prime minister like Liu Ji!" Mrs. Lu said: "Liu Ji is already in his forties, and there is such a huge age difference. This is definitely not acceptable! I think County Magistrate Zhao's son is young and romantic. You are so suave, why not betroth your daughter to him." Mr. Lu said: "I have already decided the matter, how can I take it back?" But the lady firmly objected: "No! Only when Liu Ji has the status of an emperor can I agree!" Mr. Lu said She smiled and said: "Madam is right, Liu Ji is indeed an emperor!" Madam was surprised for a long time, but then regretted it and said, "Even if he can become emperor, he will only be in his forties, and I don't agree with it!" Lu Gong She said, "Madam, please keep your voice down, don't harm your future son-in-law!" Madam Lu lowered her voice. Lu Gong said again: "What is the age of forty? Didn't Jin Wen Gong ascend to the throne at the age of sixty-two? What's more, Liu Ji was in his prime, the time to start a business. Although the county magistrate's son is said to be well-dressed and well-fed, his character and appearance are Not bad, but my observation is that he is a short-lived prime minister and will definitely die in a few years. How can we marry our daughter to him?" The lady sneered and said: "You are really old and confused. Listen to what you say, Liu Can Ji Hao really become the emperor? This is ridiculous!" Lu Gong was speechless, so he had to say: "You ladies didn't know about this in the first place!" After saying that, he waved his sleeves and walked into the back hall.
Early the next morning, Zhang Cang and the county magistrate were discussing things in the lobby of Peixian County. Zhang Cang said: "I came here this time to do something very important." Magistrate Zhao asked what was going on. Zhang Yushi said: "The imperial court is going to build a high platform in Fengyi City. The emperor will come here for sightseeing when he goes on tour in the future. Please summon all the skilled craftsmen in the county as soon as possible and purchase bricks, tiles and wood. I will go there to investigate first tomorrow. The terrain. Once the platform site is selected, the platform will be built immediately." Magistrate Zhao asked: "Sir, how could the emperor come to such a remote place for sightseeing?" Zhang Yushi said: "They are probably Feng Shui masters. "I mean, as for whether His Majesty the Emperor can come here in the future, that is his business, and you and I have no right to interfere?" Magistrate Zhao said yes, and then followed Zhang Cang's instructions.
