…
…
In an inconspicuous teahouse somewhere in the south of the capital, Zhao Junchen's aide Niu Fude was sitting in the corner drinking tea quietly.
While drinking tea, Niu Fude frowned slightly, looking a little impatient.
He was waiting for someone, but about a quarter of an hour had passed since the appointment time, and the person he had arranged with still didn't show up.
Zhao Junchen has always been punctual and efficient when doing things. Niu Fude has now become Zhao Junchen's confidant and has gradually adapted to this style, making him increasingly intolerant of others' lateness and unpunctuality.
"The nine sons of dragons are really different...but they are too far apart. They are as different as clouds and mud."
Niu Fude shook his head and murmured.
At this moment, a middle-aged man walked into the teahouse. After looking around, he quickly walked to sit in front of Niu Fude, with a flattering smile on his face, and said softly: "Mr. Niu has been waiting for a long time, because my brother The matter at home has become a mess. I have to stay and take care of it, and I can't leave at will, so I wasted some time. I hope Mr. Niu can forgive me."
Niu Fude glared at this man, without any concealment of contempt in his expression, and said slowly: "Oh? I thought you were gambling and drinking with your friends while you had some spare money. It turns out you were busy taking care of him. Brother, we really have a deep brotherhood."
Hearing Niu Fude's sarcasm, the middle-aged man couldn't help but look embarrassed and said nonchalantly: "Where...how could..."
In fact, he had just left the gambling house.
This middle-aged man's name is Song Lingcheng, and he is Song Huancheng's biological brother. He has always been idle, eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling, and is extremely useless.
It is hard to imagine that Song Huancheng, a man of noble character, would have such a completely opposite brother, but the reality is so bizarre.
This time, the reason why Song Huancheng fainted from hunger in the Rites Yamen was because of Song Lingcheng's secret mischief - he repeatedly asked Song Huancheng for money with "justifiable reasons", which made Song Huancheng even more cash-strapped and dared not spend at will; He would eat more food in the morning and evening, keeping Song Huancheng in a state of hunger all the time. He also "kindly" gave Song Huancheng some almonds and lotus leaf tea to satisfy his hunger. These two foods can provide people with a false "feeling of fullness." …
So, just three days later, Song Huancheng fainted from hunger.
The reason why Song Lingcheng committed such an act of "cheating his brother" was all due to Zhao Junchen's behind-the-scenes instigation.
Song Lingcheng owed more than 180 taels of gambling debt, and Zhao Junchen expressed his willingness to fill this hole for him, and would also give him an additional 180 taels of silver as reward, so Song Ling became this For less than three hundred taels of silver, he betrayed his brother without hesitation.
At this time, looking at Song Lingcheng's performance, he showed no shame and seemed to feel that he had made a lot of money.
For people like Song Lingcheng, even Niu Fude was naturally unwilling to have too much contact and was too lazy to expose his lies. He just asked: "How is your brother's situation?"
Song Lingcheng also showed disdain, but his disdain was directed at his brother Song Huancheng. He replied: "My health has improved. I ate a bowl of porridge this morning and I can sit up on my own." , it shouldn’t be a serious problem!
Hey, even though his mind is still as stupid as before, after his colleagues in the Rites Yamen learned about his situation, they collected a hundred taels of silver and sent it to his home. As a result, the first thing he did after waking up was to ask me Return this money, saying that it is the most difficult thing to repay a debt of gratitude! well! He wants to send back the money that has already fallen into his hands. Do you think he is stupid? He doesn't even have enough to eat, and he has to push money out. He himself is noble, but he doesn't think about our family members!
Besides, what's the use of such false innocence? He has wronged himself and his family, and the court does not want to see him. He is still a fifth-grade idler with no hope of promotion. I don’t know how many people will secretly laugh at his stupidity..."
Speaking of this, Song Lingcheng's expression became more and more dissatisfied, and he said: "My brother, I have been a proud man since I was a child. I have always passed the provincial examination and the general examination for the first time. Everyone said that I am better than Not being able to catch up with him has always made me unable to hold my head high. My family was poor at the time and could only provide for him to study alone. After he studied, I had to work hard. I didn't blame him at that time, I just worked hard to supplement the family income. I just hoped that he would be able to shine on his family and help me a little bit when he became successful, but he turned out to be too stupid to study. I just asked him to introduce me to a job that was both leisurely and lucrative, but he said that I can't do it for personal gain. How can anyone be like him? Like this? Hey, this time I work for Mr. Zhao Ge, this is the first time in my life that I have benefited from him..."
Obviously, Song Lingcheng's resentment towards Song Huancheng has lasted for more than a day or two. At this time, he was also complaining about Niu Fude, looking for legitimate reasons for his "cheating brother" behavior, as if he himself was the victim. .
Hearing Song Lingcheng's complaint, Niu Fude was unable to refute it for a while.
Of course, it is easy to refute Soong Lingcheng. For example, Song Lingcheng said that he had never benefited from Song Huancheng in his life, but in fact, if Soong Lingcheng did not have the support of his brother, it would be impossible for him to live in the capital. Nowadays, he is just a mud-legged person in the countryside, and Song Lingcheng has been idle and idle over the years. If it were not for Song Huancheng's funding and support, he would not be able to survive long ago. If it were not for Song Lingcheng's funding and support, Song Huancheng would be in trouble anyway. As a court official, the land under his name can be exempted from most taxes, and he will not live in such poverty.
But to a certain extent, Song Lingcheng's complaint is also true. After Song Huancheng became an official in the imperial examination, he naturally had the "privilege" of making his family live a prosperous life. He only needed to give up some persistence and live in harmony with his colleagues. But he insisted on his principles and voluntarily gave up this "privilege", which meant that his family had to live in poverty with him. In this regard, he may be a good official, but he is by no means a good family member.
Family, country and world are always confused by the world, but in fact these three are contradictory to each other most of the time - many times, if people want to be worthy of their country, they must be worthy of their family. If you want to be worthy of your family, you must be worthy of your country. This is an unsolvable proposition.
This world is not perfect, and people have limited resources, which is reflected in this.
Therefore, Niu Fude didn't know how to respond to Song Lingcheng's complaints for a while, let alone how to evaluate Song Lingcheng's brother Song Huancheng.
Is he a gentleman after all? Or a foolish person?
Or could it be said that the two are the same kind of people?
While he was silent, Niu Fude thought of Zhao Junchen's evaluation of Song Huancheng - "I am sure that I will never be able to become a person like Song Huancheng, so Song Huancheng is worthy of admiration."
Yes, Zhao Junchen admired Song Huancheng very much, which is not inconsistent with Zhao Junchen's personal design to frame Song Huancheng.
In fact, Zhao Junchen thought that he was helping Song Huancheng, and Niu Fude's private meeting with Song Lingcheng was also under Zhao Junchen's instructions. On the one hand, it was to find out about Song Huancheng's current situation, and on the other hand, it was to secretly give him some advice. Song Huancheng offered some care and compensation.
So, after a moment of silence, Niu Fude did not make any comment. He just took out a silver bag from his arms and threw it to Song Lingcheng, saying: "This is one hundred and fifty taels of silver, and one hundred taels of it is yours." As a mission reward, there is also fifty taels of silver to help you support your family, but don’t tell your brother that it was given by Mr. Zhao Ge... There is a carriage outside, which is loaded with a batch of rice, noodles, meat, vegetables and daily necessities. Supplies, as well as a few bags of medicine to nourish the body, you can take them all back...
Also, don’t go out to eat, drink, whore or gamble during this period, and treat your brother better... If nothing else happens, your brother’s good days will come soon! "
Hearing Niu Fude's meaningful words, Song Lingcheng couldn't help but feel stunned.
He originally thought that Zhao Junchen arranged for him to plot against his brother Song Huancheng out of revenge.
After all, Zhao Junchen personally came out to recruit Song Huancheng six months ago, but Song Huancheng directly and mercilessly disgraced him. This kind of thing will be resented by anyone.
But now I saw that after Zhao Junchen designed to make Song Huancheng faint from hunger, he gave money and gifts, but it didn't seem like he was seeking revenge.
Thinking of Niu Fude's last words again, Song Lingcheng suddenly became excited and asked quickly: "Could it be that... Mr. Zhao Ge is planning to support my brother regardless of past grudges? That's great! But, he is just worried about my brother. He is a stubborn person and will still refuse Mr. Zhao Ge’s kindness... But please rest assured, Mr. Niu, I will try my best to convince him during this period that Mr. Zhao Ge can value him. This is a blessing that cannot be cultivated in eight lifetimes. Point, once you join Mr. Zhao Ge, you will have a bright future in front of you, and you will never let him refuse again."
Niu Fude shook his head repeatedly and said: "If you were to advise your brother to change his mind, I'm afraid it would be counterproductive! In short, you just need to treat him better and forget about other things. My Mr. Zhao Ge has his own arrangements, but you can What is certain is...Song Huancheng fainted from hunger in public this time at the Rites Yamen, which is a good thing for his future!"
After saying that, Niu Fude ignored Soong Lingcheng, stood up and left, leaving Soong Lingcheng sitting alone, with an expression of excitement and confusion.
*
But he said that after Niu Fude met Song Lingcheng, he quickly returned to Zhao Mansion, met Zhao Junchen, and reported Song Huancheng's current situation.
In fact, when Niu Fude saw Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen had already put on court clothes and was about to enter the palace to meet Emperor Deqing.
After learning that Song Huancheng's physical condition had gradually recovered, Zhao Junchen breathed a sigh of relief.
In Zhao Junchen's plan, Song Huancheng's starvation fainting was just a trigger, but Zhao Junchen did not hope that his plan would destroy Song Huancheng's body.
"Song Huancheng's health is not serious, which also reassures my conscience. Otherwise, I would have had to ask the two miracle doctors Zhang Decheng and Wen Caining to diagnose and treat him... In that case, my intention would be too obvious!"
After saying this, Zhao Junchen no longer talked about Song Huancheng, but once again told Niu Fude: "You came back just in time. I just received the order from the palace. Your Majesty, after being incommunicado for these days, Today, he finally made a statement. He summoned all the cabinet ministers and six ministers to go to the imperial study room to discuss matters. It should be for the lawsuit between the prince and the vassal princes. I don’t know what he has been considering these days. He must find out... ...But taking advantage of this opportunity, the next step of planning can begin, and it is up to you to personally arrange it. You must be ready at any time!"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's instructions, Niu Fude's eyes flashed slightly and he nodded: "Students understand that everything is ready and can cooperate with Zhao Gechen at any time!"
Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "So, it depends on my contingency measures."
…
…
