In the evening of that day, Shen Tingjun went to the appointed restaurant to keep the appointment. At this time, Wang Zhizhou was already waiting in the restaurant.
In terms of official positions, Wang Zhizhou was the second-rank magistrate of Minzhou, and Shen Tingjun was the third-rank minister of Dali Temple. It seems that Wang Zhizhou should be the most respected among them, but this is not the case.
Because this involves the issue of Beijing officials and officials sent to other places, and as we all know, Beijing officials are three levels higher.
Why is this said?
There are two reasons.
First, compared with local officials, Beijing officials have more opportunities to meet the emperor and royal family members. At that time, everyone wanted to gain a saint's favor, and only if there were more opportunities to meet saints, would they have more opportunities to stand out, and would they be more reused.
Second, Beijing officials represent not only themselves, but also local interest groups. To be more precise, some Beijing officials were agents of local interest groups in the imperial court.
Based on these two considerations, the status of Beijing officials is already higher than that of local officials. Not to mention Shen Tingjun, an important minister who was already in the heart of the emperor and held a high position. He was also in charge of one of the three divisions, and had been watched by Emperor Longqing since he was a child, so the relationship was naturally even more different.
For this reason, after meeting Shen Tingjun, Wang Zhizhou did not dare to take advantage of him at all, but was the first to greet him.
Shen Tingjun naturally did not accept his courtesy. The unspoken rules were unspoken rules, but on the surface, the official positions of the two people were the difference between the second grade and the third grade. It is a big mistake to accept the courtesy of an honorable person because of his humble position.
Shen Tingjun immediately saluted and returned it. Wang Zhizhou laughed loudly when he saw this and took Shen Tingjun to the table with him.
Wang Zhizhou was in his fifties, his face was wrinkled, his hair was gray, and he was thin. If he walked out on the street, he would be afraid of being thought of as an inconspicuous old man. But just look at Wang Zhizhou's overly sharp eyebrows and his pursed lips that always look like they are curled downwards. , this person is not a good person, and he is really not easy to get in touch with.
But good contact depends on the right person. At least when dealing with Shen Tingjun, Wang Zhizhou handled his identity well and would not make anyone feel offended at all.
Wang Zhizhou is really good at sociability. When he came up, he said politely: "I heard that your Majesty came to Minzhou, but he couldn't greet you in time. Don't be surprised that he went to Shen to wait."
Shen Tingjun said: "I didn't want to disturb Master Zhizhou at first. I just wanted to meet you after everything is over. Master Clinker is well-informed. I have only been in Minzhou for one day, and Master came to the door." .”
This tone could not be called kind, but Wang Zhizhou just laughed twice after hearing this, and did not take Shen Tingjun's sarcasm to heart.
And this man is really slick. He clearly knows why Shen Tingjun came to Minzhou this time. What's more, with him here, his boy Wang Qihe may not be able to escape. But Wang Zhizhou has this determination, and there is no exception on his face from beginning to end. Throughout the whole process, he only mentioned the customs and customs of Minzhou, and recalled that he had met Shen Hou several times in the capital before, but unfortunately they never had a close friendship, etc. He did not mention the rest...
It wasn't until the two parties parted ways in the restaurant and Shen Tingjun left in a carriage that Cheng Lin looked back at Wang Zhizhou, who was still standing at the door of the restaurant watching his master off. He didn't know clearly why Wang Zhizhou invited his master to the banquet today. of what.
He originally thought that Wang Zhizhou would put eye drops on Li Shan and remove his son's eyes at the same time. But Wang Zhizhou was very stable and did not mention the case during the whole process. It seemed that the banquet he invited his master was just to express his regret of not having a close relationship with the Marquis.
He is truly an unpredictable character.
Sure enough, a person who can sit in Minzhou and be on equal footing with the Navy Admiral's Mansion is not an ordinary person.
The carriage rolled over the bluestone slabs and gradually disappeared at the intersection of the street.
After watching them disappear into the dark night, the smile on Wang Zhizhou's face completely fell.
If Cheng Lin looked back at this moment, he might be frightened by the deep coldness on Wang Zhizhou's face. That kind of coldness is different from the usual condensation on my master's body. Instead, it has the smell of sinister calculation, like a poisonous snake dormant in the dark, which will jump out from the uninhabited grass at any time and give you a fatal blow.
Wang Zhizhou didn't know when a young man who had been dating appeared next to him.
This man looked somewhat like Wang Zhizhou, with the same aquiline nose, tight lips, furrowed brows, and cold, calculating eyes. The only difference from Wang Zhizhou is that he is slightly taller, more than a head taller than Wang Zhizhou. But he is also too thin, and his cheeks are too fair. Combined with the expression on his face at this moment, he makes his whole person even more feminine.
This man is Wang Qihe, Wang Zhizhou's most beloved son.
Wang Qihe asked aloud: "Father, how is this Marquis Shen like a man?"
Wang Zhizhou frowned even more when he heard this: "His personality is cold and unpredictable, as unreasonable as the rumors say."
Wang Qihe couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard this, and a cold and gloomy light flashed in his narrow eyes. "According to what dad said, this person can't be bought?"
Wang Zhizhou nodded: "Don't make any plans against him. This man is a close official of the Emperor. He is arrogant and arrogant. He is also a member of the royal family. He will not collude with us."
"How about that? All the evidence against the child is in his hands now. If he is careless, the child will be in danger."
When Wang Zhizhou heard this, he glared at Wang Qihe angrily and cursed: "You audacious fool, you are selling private salt and I can just turn a blind eye, but you are so bold that you want to intercept the salt tax?" , you are really brave."
Wang Qihe would not admit this and would only shout that he was wronged, "Even if the child is really brave, he would not base his calculations on the salt tax. It's just that he was slapped by Lei Shuanghan and couldn't swallow it, so he The salt tax was really intercepted and framed on Li Shan."
Wang Zhizhou knew exactly what the truth was. But his son refused to admit it, and he would not force him. He would just stare at him and say, "I hope you can still be so tough-mouthed when you go to court one day."
Upon hearing that he was going to court, Wang Qihe began to retreat.
If the court was promoted by an official from Minzhou, he would naturally not be afraid. He had gone to court frequently in his life, but that time the officials didn't treat him as a guest? Although he is the defendant, he has a seat every time. No matter who he is, trying to sue him in Minzhou is just a fantasy.
But the next time he was summoned to the court was different. The next time he was appointed to be Shen Hou, the minister of Dali Temple. Although he had never met the legendary Shen Hou, when his father greeted him just now, he also kept talking. Listen next door. Just like what dad said, this is indeed a person who is indifferent to both oil and salt. Moreover, he has an air of calmness and dignity, and his awe-inspiring aura is even more intimidating.
It would be difficult for him to quibble under Shen Hou's interrogation.
Thinking of this, Wang Qihe quickly bowed his head to Wang Zhizhou. "No matter what you say, the child is your biological child. Even if tiger poison does not eat its children, how could you not save the child? Dad, the child has got into a big trouble this time. Without your help, how can the child survive? This difficulty?"
Wang Qihe was able to bend and stretch, and he was very close to Wang Zhizhou. Although Wang Zhizhou secretly cursed Shu Zi in his heart for causing trouble, it was his fault after all, and Wang Zhizhou had absolutely no reason to open his eyes and watch him die.
Moreover, everything Wang Qihe did was connived by him. If Wang Qihe is sentenced, he, as a father, will have no good fruits to eat.
Wang Zhizhou then scolded Wang Qihe angrily, "You little troublemaking beast", and asked the housekeeper to come over to see if the culprit had made arrangements.
Wang Qihe stayed with his father throughout the whole process and paid close attention to his father's actions. He thought to himself: No matter how harshly his father scolds him, what will happen? After all, I can't see him going to jail or dying.
But Wang Qihe couldn't help but hate it. This time he didn't break Lei Shuanghan in, but instead shot himself in the foot. He remembered the aggrievement this time. After the imperial envoy left, he would see if he didn't let Lei Shuanghan Come on hard.
Not to mention what happened to the Wang family and his son here, I just said that when Shen Tingjun and his party arrived at the courtyard of their temporary residence, before they entered the door, they saw Cheng Yi coming out with a wooden face.
Shen Tingjun was keenly aware that something was wrong, frowned and asked, "What happened?"
Cheng Yi couldn't explain it in words, "Before the master came back, someone came to give gifts in the name of the Wang family. It was said that the Marquis came from afar, and it was his fault that he failed to welcome him in time. Now that I am sending a small gift, I hope the Marquis will accept it."
Cheng Yi dumbly repeated the visitor's words, but the expression on his face became more and more subtle.
Before Shen Tingjun could ask carefully, Cheng Yi had already told him what kind of gift he had given him.
"The Wang family sent some beauties over, saying that they would serve the Marquis in his daily life."
Shen Tingjun pursed his lips slightly and looked down with his deep eyes.
Cheng Lin noticed something was wrong and stepped back in time. He felt lucky at this moment. Fortunately, he followed his master out of the house this time. Otherwise, if he had accepted this gift, he might not have suffered the consequences.
The master is most taboo about this kind of "reciprocity" in the officialdom. Cheng Yi knew this and actually accepted the person. Cheng Lin couldn't help but look at Cheng Yi in surprise. Was he impatient?
There were beads of sweat rolling out of Cheng Yi's forehead, and his words were very difficult to say, "It's not because the subordinates want to accept it, but it's because the gift-giver is careless." Seeing that he was stubborn and refused to accept it, the visitor threw these people towards the door. Just ran away.
And those beauties knelt there and cried, saying that there was only one way to die after being sent back, and begged him to spare their lives.
Cheng Yi had never had such a big head before, and the people around him were leaning out to watch the fun, so Cheng Yi had to bite the bullet and get those beauties back to the house.
Cheng Yi said: "Everyone is locked in the woodshed. I don't know what the master is going to do."
Shen Tingjun still looked straight at Cheng Yi, who was sweating profusely when he saw them. He finally gave a cold voice and said: "Where did they come from? Send them wherever they come from. Don't let them dirty my land."
Cheng Yi said "yes" twice and was about to turn around and go back to receive the person. Shen Tingjun suddenly spoke again, "Keep your mouth shut and don't say anything you shouldn't say."
Everyone knows what this is aimed at. It's just that she doesn't want Miss Sang to hear some gossip and get angry with Mr. Hou later.
Cheng Yi and Cheng Lin quickly agreed. No matter what they thought in their hearts, they tightened their mouths and made enough gestures. They will definitely not spread a single word about this matter, otherwise, their mouths will be sewn shut with needles in the future.
Cheng Yi went to see the beauty off, while Cheng Lin followed Shen Tingjun to the study. As he walked towards Cheng Lin, he wondered, "Master, sending beauties to others is not something a scheming person like Wang Zhizhou would do."
Shen Tingjun said "Yeah", and Cheng Lin was immediately elated when he got his master's approval.
He tried his best to keep his active mind open, and chirped, "But since it was said to be sent by someone from the Wang family, it definitely wouldn't be someone else doing this kind of thing under their banner. From what I've seen, this thing is Eighty percent of it was done by Prince Wang Qihe."
Shen Tingjun said "hmm" again.
Cheng Lin became more and more excited, "Then Wang Qihe..."
"Shut up, go prepare the toiletries, and check to see if today's letter has been delivered."
Cheng Lin said an unhappy "Oh", not daring to disturb his master anymore, and quickly went to prepare the toiletries.
While the Marquis was taking a bath, Cheng Lin went to ask someone again if there was any news about what happened to Miss Sang today? Of course, there is a result, but the letter is with Cheng Yi, and Cheng Yi is now sending the beauty home.
When Cheng Lin heard this, he couldn't help but slapped his forehead and muttered that Cheng Yi "kills people without paying for it."
…
The next day was still a busy day, not only Sang Nianyue was busy, but also Shen Tingjun was also very busy.
I received the letter yesterday and the accompanying imperial envoy will arrive in Minzhou the day after tomorrow. At that time, preparations will be made for a court hearing on the salt tax case. As for this case, it is not yet known who Wang Qihe used to frame Li Shan. Moreover, he must beware of Wang Zhizhou murdering others and exonerating Wang Qihe by shifting the blame to others.
In such a busy situation, I still have to prepare for a meeting with Chang Wuxing in the evening.
It can indeed be called a saying that takes care of everything every day.
Seeing that it was evening, Shen Tingjun stopped writing, changed his clothes again, and went out again.
What I want to go to today is not a restaurant, but a secluded house.
It is impossible to find out who the owner of this house is, but there are rumors in the market that this is an elegant place run by the descendants of an old imperial chef. Because the layout inside is elegant, and the food adapts to the changes of yin and yang in the four seasons, and is more suitable for the cold and warm weather, it is quite popular in this city of Minzhou.
In this private restaurant, Chang Wuxing and Lei Shuanghan were already waiting in the flower hall.
The place here is small, but the layout is indeed elegant. It's summer now, and the all-green interior of the house makes people feel a sense of coolness as soon as they set eyes on it. In addition, in the water tank in the corner, the figure of the lotus peeks out from it gracefully, either budding or stretching gracefully. The color, whether pink or red, adds some bright fragrance to the coolness of the room.
Lei Shuanghan drank tea boredly, while peeking out to see if anyone was coming.
When he got really impatient with waiting, he approached his uncle and started chatting with Chang Wuxing.
"It is said that the Wang family sent a beauty to Shen Houna's house last night."
Chang Wuxing glanced at his sister-in-law who was neither sitting nor standing, and said with a calm expression: "You are quite well informed."
"No, I only heard the news after listening to my subordinates' gossip." With a malicious smile, he said to Chang Wuxing furtively, "But the subsequent development of this matter, brother, you Designated not to know.”
"What?"
"Those beauties were sent back to the Wang family by Marquis Shen again. Hey, just tell me whether this is funny or not. If you can't give them gifts, the Wang family will be embarrassed."
Lei Shuanghan was making fun of the Wang family at this time, but he completely forgot about it. After meeting his uncle yesterday, when he returned home, he found his wife and discussed with Chang Minjun about giving gifts to Shen Hou.
He didn't think about sending a few beauties as gifts. After all, there were rumors that when Shen Hou came to Minzhou, there were beauties on board. Although I don't know if this is true or not, Lei Shuanghan looks down upon her because everything is done by women.
In fact, from the bottom of his heart, he despised the idea of giving gifts. But that’s not it, isn’t that what?
Only the Wang family gave gifts, and I didn't give them. I always felt that Hou Shen would be biased towards the Wang family. If you don't give a gift, you will feel guilty; if you do, well, he will feel the same way, and everyone is on the same starting line again, so Shen Hou, you can't favor any one of them because of the "gift".
Anyway, Lei Shuanghan has such a mentality, and he and the Wang family have been enemies for more than ten years. When he asks himself how Wang Qihe will operate, he still has some psychology. Therefore, when he knew that Wang Qihe would give gifts to please Shen Hou, how could he sit back and wait for death?
Lei Shuanghan discussed with his wife whether he should just send some gold and silver jewelry over there? But there is nothing wrong with him except that he is very greedy for money. Of course, he is not greedy for external wealth, he is greedy for his own wealth. In other words, he is a cheapskate. If his family made money, he would be happy and beaming, but if he gave away such money to others, it would be bad and he would be heartbroken.
Fortunately, although Lei Shuanghan is unreliable, Chang Minjun is a reliable person. She pulled out Mr. Chang to speak.
Mr. Chang went to Beijing several times to meet the saint, and he naturally knew Shen Hou who had grown up under the saint's knees. It's just that Shen Hou was young and was just an inconspicuous companion who followed the prince, so he didn't pay much attention. But since Shen Hou passed the rank of Sanyuan, and was then assigned by His Majesty to take turns in the Sixth Department, who dared not to take Shen Hou seriously?
At that time, Shen Tingjun was their colleague, and he was a menacing official in the DPRK and Central Government with an unlimited future, so they could not help but ignore him.
General Chang Lao naturally took it seriously. After he came back, he told his children and grandchildren that although Marquis Shen was born into a noble family, he was certainly a breath of fresh air in the court. Although the words were simple, they gave the highest praise to Shen Tingjun's character.
Therefore, when Lei Shuanghan was about to make a move, Chang Minjun directly held him down, and in a few words sent him to the front yard to teach his three sons martial arts and calligraphy.
Lei Shuanghan was dismissed like this. At this moment, he still couldn't help laughing when he recalled the appearance when Cheng Yi sent all the beauties back to the door of Wang's house last night.
He felt that Shen Hou's behavior was too damaging, as it was a slap in the Wang family's face. But who told the Wang family to do things without thinking? They are the imperial envoys appointed by His Majesty. You are so hospitable and entertained. This can be justified. After all, you are fulfilling the friendship of the landlords. But it's inappropriate for you to give gifts in a big way. It's not obvious that you are bribing Shen Hou, so that people will know that Shen Hou is unfair.
Lei Shuanghan was making fun of the Wang family for being unreliable, but he didn't realize that if Chang Minjun hadn't stopped him in time, he might not have the time to laugh at the Wang family now. After all, he had also made a joke, and now he was afraid that he would not be able to even come to the banquet.
Not talking about these messy things, just waiting and waiting, but Shen Tingjun still didn't arrive. Lei Shuanghan couldn't help but look at the hourglass at the door. Time passed in the blink of an eye, and there was still a stick of incense left before the promised event.
He talked about the case with great interest again, saying that Wang Zhizhou was scheming and cunning. Now he was busy trying to exonerate Wang Qihe. The worst he could do was arrange someone to take the blame. Anyway, Wang Zhizhou couldn't afford to have his son in prison. s consequence. It's not just embarrassing, it's also a question of whether he can continue to wear the black gauze hat on his head securely.
As I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard someone say, "Here we come."
Lei Shuanghan shut up immediately, and then asked excitedly: "Who is here? Shen Tingjun?"
Chang Wuxing nodded slightly and stood up, then smoothed the wrinkles on his body and called Lei Shuanghan, "Come on, come with me to greet me."
The two of them walked to the entrance of the small courtyard and happened to bump into Shen Tingjun. The two parties exchanged greetings, and Chang Wuxing introduced Lei Shuanghan on his behalf. They greeted each other and then entered the flower hall together.
After taking a seat in the flower hall, Shen Tingjun picked up the teacup and sipped it, while taking a vague glance at Lei Shuanghan, who always gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
This man's skin should be fair, which can be seen from the skin color of his exposed neck and hands. It's just a personal preference or some other reason, but his face is covered with black beard, but he doesn't bother to take care of it at all.
This makes him look like a big black bear with a heavy back and a heavy waist, which looks very intimidating. But the beard also concealed his true appearance, making it unclear what he looked like and his exact age.
Looking into his eyes again, that familiar feeling came over me again.
But Shen Tingjun was convinced that this was the first time he had seen this person.
After all, this was his first time coming to Minzhou, and for such a person with such a sense of presence and such an unusual image, if he had seen him before, he would not be unimpressed.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but they didn't show up at all on Shen Tingjun's face.
The drinks, dishes, etc. were quickly served. The three of them toasted and exchanged glasses, and the drinking was quite lively.
Today's banquet was more enjoyable than yesterday, because although Chang Wuxing was a Confucian general, he was more disciplined in doing things and treated people politely. He is less scheming than Wang Zhizhou, and he is more humble. In addition, there is Lei Shuanghan, who looks like a green-headed young man, who speaks lively from time to time. Shen Tingjun does not find the wine at today's banquet difficult to swallow. .
It was getting late and the two sides said goodbye. By the time we got back to the house, it was almost midnight.
Shen Tingjun walked slowly into the house, with Cheng Lin and Cheng Yi following behind him.
Suddenly, Shen Tingjun's footsteps stopped in place. He looked back and asked the two of them, "Do you think Lei Shuanghan looks familiar?"
Both of them shook their heads inexplicably, not knowing why their master would ask this question.
Shen Tingjun didn't explain much. He only whispered to Cheng Yi: "Go and check this person's life story. Remember, don't alarm others."
(End of chapter)
