After two servants escorted the four old men to the government office, the old man Hu, the cashier of the duck restaurant, was stunned in the living room for a long time. Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and reached out to call a waiter who was clearing away the leftovers on the table. , murmured a few words in his ear, the waiter nodded, immediately threw away the rag in his hand, took off the apron from his waist, and hurriedly left the duck restaurant.
Looking at the back of the waiter, Old Man Hu couldn't help but worry about whether what he ordered the waiter to do would implicate himself. At this time, the middle-aged wealthy businessman in the private room of Fuzihao upstairs came downstairs to check out with him. By the way, I asked him how to get to Xinjingfu Yamen. Old Man Hu was holding the menu of the private room of Fu Zihao in one hand and rattling the beads on the abacus with the other. After hearing this, he looked up at the middle-aged wealthy businessman and said with a smile: "Sir, did you listen to what those two servants said about the government office?" My master wants to inspect the ducks, especially to see the rare ones, right?"
The middle-aged wealthy businessman smiled and said: "I have lived a long time and have never heard of such a strange thing. I can't help but want to see it."
Old Man Hu shook his head and sighed: ''Oh! If Mr. Jia had not left, these weird things would have happened, and I'm afraid the people of New Capital would have suffered in the future! "
The middle-aged wealthy businessman just smiled and didn't answer the conversation anymore, for fear that the old man would continue chatting endlessly. Then Old Man Hu put the abacus in front of him: "Sir, the total is twenty-two-eight coins."
After the meeting, a group of people from Fuzihao walked out of Yang's Duck Restaurant. At this time, there were already two brand-new carriages and a few horses waiting at the entrance of the Duck Restaurant. Then there were women riding in carriages and men riding horses, walking along Old Man Hu's side. According to the directions, the Suzaku Street in front of the Yawei Restaurant goes all the way to the west.
At this time, in the court, Queen Su Xingran was worriedly discussing with a group of courtiers about relieving the refugees. The weather was getting colder and colder, and many refugees froze to death in and outside the city every day. Now that the court had money, tens of thousands of refugees could be saved. Three meals a day is basically no problem, but finding a place to house these tens of thousands of refugees at once so that they no longer have to suffer the cold outside is a real headache.
Everyone wanted to show off in front of the new emperor, so everyone racked their brains and came up with a lot of ideas. Although they sounded like good ideas at first, after careful consideration, they couldn't be implemented. For example, Wei Wen or It was brought up that Su Chengxuan had done what he did when he was here, and asked the court to forcefully stipulate that all high-ranking officials in the new capital must take in at least two refugees as slaves in each family. Of course, the higher the rank, the more refugees should be taken in. The more people there are. As soon as these words were spoken, they were opposed by all the court officials. The refugees they took in in accordance with Su Chengxuan's order some time ago were miserable within a few days of returning home. Not only did many of these refugees have unclean hands and feet, There were petty thieves and refugees who worked as slaves in their master's house. When they were scolded by their master for not doing things well, they beat the master in anger! Besides, the mere accommodation of these officials in the new capital is just a drop in the bucket for the tens of thousands of refugees and cannot solve the fundamental problem.
Wei Wen was immediately discouraged when all the courtiers talked about it. Then Zhuge Cheng proposed to integrate these refugees into the army. This time everyone did not buy it and asked him one after another: "Captain Zhuge, If you take away these strong men, who are only a small number of the refugees, how will you place the remaining old, weak, women and children?"
Zhuge Cheng rolled his eyelids and said to himself: "I only pick what I need. How to arrange the rest is none of my business!"
Seeing that the courtiers had been pulling for a long time with no results, Su Xingran began to feel irritable and his face darkened! Dai Jun, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, has always been good at observing people's words. At this time, he stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think that Chen Duwei is full of clever tricks. Why don't you call him to come and discuss a solution with us?"
When Zhuge Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but sneered "haha" and said sarcastically to Dai Jun: "Master Dai, do you want to see him interrogating ducks in the court? Or sleep in the court?"
When Su Xingran heard this, he frowned and said displeasedly: "My dear Zhuge, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand you?"
'' This..." Zhuge Cheng pretended to be embarrassed when he heard the sound, and hesitantly said: "Your Majesty, I was upset because I was so angry that I spilled the beans in a hurry! It’s better not to say it! "
Su Xingran had a sullen face and said coldly: "But it doesn't matter, all the dear ministers are loyal ministers of the imperial court. They should share the country's worries and solve the people's problems!"
"Okay! I obey the order!" Zhuge Cheng pretended to be helpless and held up his hands and said: "I returned to Taiwei's Mansion at noon. I heard many people talking on the road, saying that he was the new judge from Xinjing Mansion. He drank too much wine at lunch and was in the court when he was raised. Even though he was sound asleep, two duck sellers had a dispute over the sale of ducks and went to court to file a lawsuit. He actually ordered the Yamen to go to the store to capture the ducks and interrogate them. Your Majesty, do you think this is ridiculous? ?”
"What? He wants to interrogate the duck?" Su Xingran thought that she had heard wrongly, so she asked again.
Zhuge Cheng said seriously: "Exactly"!
Now all the civil and military officials in the court could hear clearly, and everyone couldn't help but snicker. However, most of these courtiers knew about the relationship between the new judge in the Xinjing Mansion and the emperor, so no one wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. He stood up to impeach Chen Xiaomu and went to please Zhuge Cheng. No matter what, he and the emperor were a couple, and the pig's trotters were bent inward after all.
However, there were some people among the court officials who did not believe Zhuge Cheng's words. Not to mention others, Prime Minister Wei Wen, who was the leader of the hundred officials in the court, was the first to stand up and face Su Xingran and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, Lieutenant Zhuge is just It's just hearsay, it's not enough to rely on. A smart person like Chen Tongpuan would never do such a topsy-turvy thing!"
When Zhuge Cheng heard this, he was immediately unhappy. With a long face, he said in a cold voice: "What did the chief minister say? I have been an official in the court for so many years, and I am already a lot older. What kind of thing?" If people haven’t seen it, can’t they tell it from hearsay?”
Wei Wen was startled when he heard this, and then he smiled and said, "Lieutenant Zhuge, didn't you say it yourself? Did you hear what Chen Tongpan said from passers-by?"
Zhuge Cheng argued: "Master Chief Assistant, even if passers-by say that these people have no grievances against Chen Tong, why do they have to arrange him? What's more, what they said is well-founded, as long as the emperor sends When people go to the government office lobby and take a look, they will know whether this matter is true or false!"
Su Xingran said solemnly: "Who to send! I will go to the government office lobby to see what happens. If it is really like what Zhuge Aiqing said, I will never tolerate indulgence!"
When Wei Wen heard about it, he quickly stopped him and said: "Your Majesty, I think it would be better to send the prince to the lobby of the government office to have a look and report the truth when he comes back. If the Emperor wants to move there in person, the commotion going back and forth will be too great. It will take a long time to prepare the chariot ceremony guard alone! I ask the emperor to think twice."
Zhuge Cheng rolled his eyes at the side and immediately took over Wei Wen's words and said: "What the chief minister said makes sense. Your Majesty, I think we might as well have a private visit in private, accompanied by the old minister and Prime Minister Wei, and a few personal assistants." The guards all changed into casual clothes, and then rushed to the Xinjing government office, and then blended into the crowd watching the excitement. Wouldn't it be possible to verify on the spot whether the rumors outside were true or false! "
Zhuge Cheng's proposal made Su Xingran's heart beat instantly. He immediately nodded in agreement and summoned Wei Yushang to escort him.
Next, together with the four guards, the group of eight people put on the clothes of ordinary people in the new capital. Among them, Su Xingran and Wei Yushang specially wore veils to prevent Chen Xiaomu from recognizing them in the court. Wei Wen and Zhuge Cheng Ze put on a curtain hat that covered most of his face, and after a few people packed up, they boarded the carriage and drove to the government office.
After Zhao Yiqiu met Chen Xiaomu in Cicada City, she followed him back to the new capital. Chen Xiaomu originally wanted to arrange for her to live in the princess's mansion, but Zhao Yiqiu was worried that doing so would cause some misunderstandings with Su Xingran. She insisted on finding an inn outside to stay on her own, waiting for Chen Xiaomu to return to Chen Country with her.
But since she stayed in the inn, five or six days have passed in the blink of an eye, and Chen Xiaomu has not even visited her once. This can't help but make her feel anxious. She got up this morning, had breakfast, and went back to the room to sit around. After a while, Zhao Yiqiu finally couldn't help but wonder what happened in the past few days, so much so that Chen Xiaomu never came to the inn to see her once, so he sent Wang Baozhong, the bodyguard of the prime minister's palace, to Princess Qingfeng's palace to find out the news.
Who knew that Wang Baozhong's news shocked her. It turned out that in the morning he was ordered by Zhao Yiqiu to go to Princess Qingfeng's Mansion to inquire about Chen Xiaomu. Who would have expected that in just a few days, the huge Princess Qingfeng's Mansion would be revealed? There were only a dozen veterans left to guard the gate, and the others, including the Princess Mansion Guards, had all moved away!
Later, Wang Baozhong spent some money on the soldier who led the troops and guarded the gate. Only then did he learn from the soldier that Princess Qingfeng of Princess Qingfeng's Mansion had gone to the palace two days ago to inherit the throne of her father. , ascended the throne and became the emperor. As for the whereabouts of the prince-in-law, Bingtou was not sure. He only heard people say that he did not follow Princess Qingfeng into the palace, but went to serve in the Xinjing government office!
When Zhao Yiqiu heard this, he became even more upset and said to himself: "A few days ago, this little stupid brother promised to return to Chen Kingdom with him in half a month at most, but now he has taken a job in the Xinjing government office. Could it be that he Changed your mind?"
Now Zhao Yiqiu couldn't stay in the inn any longer, so he hurriedly took Wang Baozhong and several other guards to the Xinjing government office to find out the news, thinking that it would be great if he could meet Chen Xiaomu in the government office.
When a few people rushed to the government office gate, they were immediately stunned by the scene in front of them. They saw that the entire Xinjing government office gate was gathered from all directions. The people of Xinjing city were surrounded by people on the three floors inside and outside. , almost even the heads were crawling on top of people, and just like that, there were still many people from everywhere still gathering here.
Zhao Yiqiu didn't know what happened, and couldn't help but start to worry about her little brother. Seeing this, Wang Baozhong took the initiative to step forward and pat a man who was standing on tiptoes in the crowd, stretched his neck to look inside at the young man's shoulders, cupped his fists and said, "Brother, please be polite!"
The young man was concentrating on watching the excitement. He was startled by this sudden shot. He quickly turned his head and saw a strange face saluting him with a smile. He asked in surprise: "Do I know you?"
Wang Baozhong shook his head and said with a smile: "Of course I don't know you! I just want to ask my brother about something."
The young man understood what was going on as soon as he heard it. He raised his finger and pointed to the government office and asked, "Do you want to ask Mr. Tongjian about the duck trial?"
Wang Baozhong didn't understand the young man's words for a moment, and thought to himself: "What nonsense? What does it mean for Lord Tong to judge a duck?"
Seeing Wang Baozhong's confused look, the young man knew that he hadn't turned around in his mind yet, and he didn't want to talk to him anymore, so he simply said to him: "Looking at how strong you are, why don't you squeeze to the front to see what's going on?" Got it!"
Wang Baozhong thought the same thing. Instead of listening to his long-winded explanation for a long time, he might as well squeeze to the front to see what happened, so he came back and told Zhao Yiqiu what he thought. After hearing this, Zhao Yiqiu frowned and said: "Forget it, it's not convenient for so many people to squeeze in and out. Why don't you guys protect me and squeeze in together to have a look. Maybe this judge is my little brother!"
