"I'm humble enough to pay my respects to you, Your Majesty."
A gray-haired old man walked out of the house. He was leaning on a rickety cane and was half-clad in official uniform. His eyelids were drooped, with only one pair of eyes sticking out. He staggered forward for two steps and saluted. .
"You are..." Ye Yongjia put down the big seal, looked straight at his face, and froze on the spot.
"I have been the minister of this department for thirty years. I still remember you, but you may not recognize me," the old man stared at him blankly and said, as if talking to himself, "I was the one who was ordered to inspect the Ye Mansion... Cui Longhuai.”
When Ye Yongjia heard the name, his fingers trembled. How could he forget that it was this incident that forced him to embark on a bumpy road and caused his temperament to undergo earth-shaking changes. The hatred I felt back then, now that I have gone through all kinds of hardships, has become a kind of nostalgic melancholy, and I no longer have the spirit of revenge. So he looked at the other person's face, only indifference remained: "Oh. So how old are you this year?"
Cui Longhuai bowed down respectfully: "I am sixty-nine years old this year. I have been invited to serve several times, but the superior officials have not approved it."
"Then I'm sure," Ye Yongjia waved his hand, "Anyway, you won't feel comfortable under my hand. You go back and write another memorial, and I'll hand it over to the emperor for you today."
"Okay, okay..." Cui Longhuai nodded, but did not move away. He suddenly let out a few sad and bitter smiles, "People often say that rise and fall are unpredictable, and things are impermanent. I just believe it today. The young man who was lost at that time After serving as a court official for two departments, this high-spirited old man could never see a promotion in his life and became your subordinate... I thought that the future would be smooth, but I ended up with nothing happening..."
Inadvertently, these words touched Ye Yongjia's heartstrings. His eyes were dull for a moment, and then he coughed and turned to get paper and pen. Cai Xianqing disagreed and smiled softly: "Master Cui, the Minister of Justice , how many people still can’t get it, let alone nothing can happen.”
Cui Longhuai immediately stopped and turned his back towards him: "Master Cai may not know everything." After saying this, he walked away.
Ye and Cai did not ask about his whereabouts, and continued to spread the news to officials at all levels to come to the hall to pay their respects.
Everyone has arrived, standing at the foot of the steps, paying respects, waiting for the new superior's roll call. Ye Yongjia was not in a hurry, and slowly opened the name book. At first glance, he saw the line of text written in the middle: 'Minghui Guang of Huizhou, a doctor in the Ministry of Punishment'.
"Who is Ming Huiguang? Come out and answer." He read the name smoothly and looked up.
I saw an eight-foot-tall man with a beard walking out of the crowd, very eye-catching. When you look closely at him, you can see that he has a pair of stubby eyebrows, which are gathered together in one place, as if he looks depressed all the time. His face is as yellow as wax, his lips are also an ugly purple color, and his eyelids are drooped. The blood-red eyes looked very haggard.
"Sir, I am Minghui Guang, whose name is Chunji." He took off his gauze hat and held it in his hands. Half of his curly hair was white, and you couldn't even tell that it was tied.
"How old are you...?" Ye Yongjia was quite surprised by his appearance and asked quickly.
"In reply to Mr. Ye, I am thirty-four years old this year."
"Thirty-four years old..." Ye Yongjia looked at him a few more times and nodded in disbelief, "Then when did you come here to be an official? How is your family situation?"
Ming Huiguang replied: "The villain was born in the Ming family in Huizhou, a well-known scholarly family in this dynasty. He was once as famous as the Yan family of Yan Wen. His ancestors were heroes in the founding of the country. The emperors of the past dynasties were all kind to him. In recent years, the family The path is declining and the prestige is about to fall. Therefore, after becoming a Jinshi eight years ago, I only became a doctor in the Ministry of Punishment. I feel extremely ashamed."
"Since you come from a famous family, why do you look like this at such a young age?" Cai Xianqing interjected.
"The villain only feels that the future is bleak, and there is no hope of reviving the ancestral business. The days are like years, and he is anxious. He also suffers from stomach problems, so he is prematurely old." Ming Huiguang said with a frown.
Ye Yongjia smiled slightly and said: "You still have a long career, why worry about this moment? If you are promoted a few more times in the future, won't you be able to return home in glory? By then, all the clansmen in the countryside will come to thank you, which will be enough to shine in history. That’s it.”
"I don't plan to go back, and I don't plan to be grateful to them!" Ming Huiguang shook his head decisively, with fire in his eyes, "They are a group of hypocritical beasts! What kind of family tradition and rules are established on the surface, and they pretend to be harmonious? People are similar, so they succumb to each other...Brothers rob their brothers, sons rob their fathers, and uncles rob their nephews. They don't care about family ties at all, and all ethical order is lost; and, and, they are like blood-sucking flies, Crazy exploiting those farmers, treating people like animals; holding this blood-like money, but living in the city all day long, relying on the power at hand, breaking laws and regulations everywhere, so disgusting..."
"What do you think these sects are? You don't know!" He became more and more excited as he spoke, even ignoring the identities of both parties. "I grew up in a place like this, and it is simply a shame to associate with beasts! If I gain power, sooner or later , sooner or later they will be exposed..."
"You're going too far, you're going too far," Cai Xianqing saw that he was a little out of control, and quickly comforted him, "This is your hometown after all, and you want to revive it, so why bother belittling it too much?"
"This is not how our ancestors came here," Ming Huiguang said quickly, his lips trembling almost convulsively, "But how did the descendants passed down the same line become like this? If no changes are made, it will be allowed to grow wildly. , as time goes by, we will all be finished... we will be finished!"
Ye Yongjia could see his panic and fear, but he really felt that it was inexplicable, as if he had listened to something in his sleep. Now was not the time to delve deeper, so he slowly opened the name book to another page: "I will ask you about your words in the future, but this has nothing to do with the official business of this department. If you have nothing to report, you can step aside first. go."
Ming Huiguang exhaled a long breath and laughed wildly: "Okay, okay! Mr. Ye, it seems that you, who have been famous for a long time, are also this kind of person! I will step down, I will just step down..." After saying this, he said He bowed and stumbled out.
Ye Yongjia continued to sit upright: "Who else is coming up? The head of the Criminal Department..."
"Report!" At this moment, a subordinate official suddenly rushed in from outside the door, knocked away several officials, knelt down in front of Ye Yongjia, and said stumblingly, "Ye, Mr. Ye, it's not good..."
Ye Yongjia glanced coldly: "What's the matter? Tell me."
"I just went outside and took a look. Master Cui, the minister, hanged himself!"
