The back house of the Luozhou magistrate.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, only Yan Tian and his daughter were left to celebrate the festival, which seemed very deserted. If so many people hadn't come all at once before, maybe it wouldn't have seemed so lonely after everyone left. The father and daughter didn't show anything, they just laughed for a while and then left.
Yan Tian took the glazed lamp and led Xiaozhu slowly towards his small courtyard. The night is getting darker and colder. Yan Tian tightened her cloak tightly and looked up at the full moon in the sky.
She recalled that on such a cold winter night, an upright young man said to her, "The world is unfair" and "it's very harsh on women."
Yan Tian lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, that man was a strange person, at least he was not like a common person in this world...
After the New Year, it seems that spring has suddenly arrived, and the originally dry and cold air seems to be filled with moisture from the south.
Under the warm sun at noon, Yan Tian sat on the swing wrapped in a thick cloak, recited a large Qi rhythm, grabbed a handful of millet and threw it to the chickens in the yard. The servants were busy on their own, and the small courtyard became a peaceful world of its own.
Just as he was memorizing "Whoever rapes a married woman will die. If he doesn't have a husband, he will be punished with a rod of one hundred and seventy...", suddenly there was a loud bang on the door. A servant ran to open the door, but a man immediately barged in. Without being informed, he pushed aside Uncle Sun who came after hearing the noise and drove straight to Yan Tian's courtyard, leaving the sound of chasing behind him.
Yan Tian stood up and looked at Qin Zhu'en in surprise as he walked towards him. For some reason, he left and returned after only half a month.
"Brother Qin?"
"Is there any hot tea?" Zhuo En stared at Yan Tian, suddenly feeling more at ease than ever before, "I have been traveling for five days, and now I am very thirsty."
"...Yes, Xiaozhu! Serve tea!"
Before he finished speaking, another person suddenly broke in, but as soon as he entered the courtyard gate, he sat down with a bang. Sanshou was panting and shouting loudly: "Not only tea! There is also food! Come on, give me a kick!"
Yan Tian:......
Could it be that this pair of master and servant escaped from the capital?
…
Capital City, Imperial Palace.
The earth dragon in the royal study was extremely warm, and the smoke of ambergris was rising.
Emperor Yongzhi was standing in front of the case and splashing ink. The afternoon sun shines in from the open window, spreading over the tall and straight figure, staining the face as handsome as white jade, coating the tall and upright nose with a beautiful golden halo, and even the slightly hanging nose. The eyelashes are also glowing with a little golden glow.
Such a peaceful afternoon, such warm sunshine, such good-looking people...but they don't blend harmoniously. The man from Zhilan Yushu invisibly gave people a sense of suffocating oppression. His body seemed to have a thousand-edged blade hidden in it, and his throat was sealed with blood.
Kneeling in the middle of the ground was Zhou Qian, the censor of Qiandu, with sweat on his forehead, and was reporting back to the emperor on his errands.
"I have exchanged 3,000 Uighur prisoners for General Huang Qifeng. On the day of the prisoner exchange, General Huang learned that Your Majesty wanted to exchange 3,000 prisoners of war for him. He was immediately filled with grief and anger, and almost wanted to bite his tongue and commit suicide. It was the Uighur General Sari who had quick hands and quick eyes. Only by removing his jaw did nothing serious happen. Before that, General Huang must have tried to commit suicide many times but failed, because...his arms were also dislocated that day."
Emperor Yongzhi frowned, put down his pen, and reached out to take the handkerchief handed by Liu Cheng to wipe his hands: "How is Huang Qifeng now?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. After careful treatment by the imperial doctor you sent, he is completely fine. After all, the Uyghurs were concerned about our national strength and did not dare to injure Little General Huang's muscles and bones. He only cut off his joints.
"But at first, Little General Huang couldn't accept the exchange of three thousand Uighur officers and soldiers for himself. He said that he was guilty of letting the tiger return to the mountains. If everyone hadn't stopped him at that time, saying that Qi and the Uighurs had already negotiated peace, the Uighurs would pay tribute. After proclaiming himself a vassal, he almost wanted to pick up his sword and attack the Uighur camp again."
"Hahahahaha..." Emperor Yongzhi laughed and threw the handkerchief on the case. "This kid is still so angry! Didn't you tell him what I said?"
"I have said it. I said, Your Majesty asked me to bring you a message. He talked about 3,000 prisoners of war, but the Uighurs want to exchange you for 30,000 prisoners, and the court will also exchange them. You can equal an army by yourself, and your Majesty only needs to live to start the battle. Don't die a hero. If you feel sorry for yourself, be loyal and guard the northwest border in the future. If there are any intruders, they will never come back!
"Little General Huang finally listened. He burst into tears at that time. He knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of the capital. I asked you to tell your majesty that in his life, he was born as a Daqi person and died as a Daqi soul. For him, there will be no difference."
"Good!" Emperor Yongzhi sighed, "This kid is a good piece of steel, but he is still young after all, and he likes to make quick progress. Now this game can be regarded as a test of his temperament. Good steel must also be tempered. , only after quenching can the edge be revealed. After this incident, his sword has been completely sharpened!"
After saying that, he looked at Zhou Qian and suddenly smiled: "Zhou Qian, you are the censor of Youqiandu, and you have the responsibility of correcting all officials and investigating and defending injustice. Please tell me, what kind of person is this Huang Qifeng?" As some people in the court said, 'If you are not captured, but surrender to the enemy, you should be treated as a traitor.' Or...as Huo Laoyushi said, 'Being captured but not committing suicide is a great shame and humiliation. Even if it is not treason, There are also doubts in his mind whether he is still loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and he should be escorted back to Beijing to prove his innocence."
Zhou Qian sweated even more. He lay on the ground and said tremblingly: "Little General Huang's heart is as strong as gold, loyal as pine, and noble as snow. He is not treason, and there is no need to escort him back to Beijing to prove his innocence!"
"Well said!" Emperor Yongzhi looked at Zhou Qian on the ground and nodded. "I believe in Huang Qifeng, not only because he is a loyal and loyal man. The whole family sacrificed their lives for the country and he is the only one left. It's not like he is a suspect and cannot be used." I don't believe such power-based nonsense. I believe in him because I know him well and know that he is loyal and upright, and has a firm mind.
"I know that the teacher-student relationship between you and Huo Yushi is very deep. I sent you on this errand this time because I want you to go to the northwest border to see for yourself and see how difficult the environment there is! Look at the officers and soldiers there. How loyal! I want to tell your teacher and the civil and military officials through your mouth that I have not seen the wrong person, and I will never see the wrong person! Go to Beijing to prove your innocence? Of course you can, but that will chill the border. The heart of a soldier!"
Zhou Qian immediately knelt down and knelt down, sweating like rain.
…
Liu Cheng, the chief eunuch, sent the censor of Youqiandu away and returned to the imperial study room to resume his duties. But he saw Emperor Yongzhi looking in a daze at the large characters "Better to break than to bend" that he had just written.
"If you talk about good steel, I still have a few pieces here..." Emperor Yongzhi seemed to be talking to himself, and Liu Cheng lowered his breath and waited.
"How is Fang Yuting's case going now?" Emperor Yongzhi asked Liu Cheng.
"I heard that Lord Jingzhao Yinbao has been feeling unwell these days, and the Fang family's case has not yet been heard in court..."
"Not feeling well? Haha." Emperor Yongzhi laughed mockingly, "Bao Yingbai is indeed old, just like Huo Qingfeng. It is really inappropriate to force him to be loyal to the court at such an old age!" But this "he" didn't know. Who do you mean?
Liu Cheng's heart trembled, and his face did not dare to waver at all.
"I heard that Arn left Beijing again?"
"Yes, he said he went to Luozhou..."
"Going to Luozhou again?" Emperor Yongzhi pondered, "Is there anyone following?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. We have arranged for proper people to serve you both overtly and covertly."
Emperor Yongzhi turned his head and glanced at Liu Cheng with a half-smile. Liu Cheng panicked and hurriedly bent his waist down again.
"Not bad." He looked away and praised lightly.
Only then did Liu Cheng dare to exhale slowly. The clothes on his back were already wet at this time.
"Did you go to the Luozhou magistrate's home this time?"
"Yes. He is the third son of Lord Yan."
"That bastard? He does have some talent. Wasn't he the one who handled the Qian Erlu case last time? I heard that his daughter also had many contributions to this case, and he was also a talented person. He tried another case two days ago. A strange case of 'bringing a corpse back to life'..."
Emperor Yongzhi dropped the note, reached out and knocked on the big case, "Fourth Rank Jing Zhaoyin... From the Fourth Rank Magistrate..." Then he muttered to himself as he walked out of the palace door.
Liu Cheng hurriedly picked up his cloak and chased after him, and ordered a group of young eunuchs to follow him quickly.
…
"Why did my nephew come back? But what happened in the capital?" Yan Wenkuan received a report from his servants in the Yamen. He thought something serious had happened, so he hurried home.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, he saw the master and servant of Qin sitting in the flower hall, working hard on two bowls of noodles. There was a big face buried in each of the two sea bowls, which was bigger than the face, and a pig knuckle was placed in front of each person.
not good! It seems something big happened in Jingli. The Princess Mansion is bankrupt!
After Qin Zhuen finished two bowls of noodles and an elbow, Yan Wenkuan finally turned away and asked the general hesitantly.
Unexpectedly, Lord Qin suddenly blushed. He first turned his head and glanced at Yan Tian, who was about to avoid her but was left behind by his words. He stretched out his hand to scratch his head and laughed three times.
Yan's father and daughter looked at each other. I feel like this guy is a little weird today. Not wanting to wait for Qin Zhuen to speak, the father and daughter were suddenly shocked on the outside and tender on the inside.
He cupped his fist at Yan Wenkuan and said, "Uncle Yan, I came here specially to ask you to marry Yan Tian."
Qin Zhuen didn't call him eldest sister, which showed that he didn't want to have any more relationship with Yan Tian. Looking at the father and daughter who were staring at him as if they were being restrained, Qin Zhuen felt that his heart was about to take off, and his face couldn't help but turn redder.
He took a deep breath and continued: "Uncle Yan and...he, Tiantian..." This "Tiantian" sound was unusually weak, even a little shy, "Don't worry. I am definitely not Arrogant and absurd person. I decided this matter after careful consideration. You don’t have to worry about my mother, the emperor, and the queen mother.
"I made a promise earlier that everything about marriage must go according to my wishes. If I am not satisfied, I will not marry even the Jade Emperor's daughter. If I am optimistic about it, I will also marry the daughter of a commoner family. The matchmaker in the sedan chair is getting married. After all, she is my daughter-in-law, so she has to suit my wishes no matter what.
"As for the betrothal gift... I was in a hurry when I came here, and I traveled very quickly for five days. I only slept and ate along the way, so I didn't take the time to buy it. But don't worry, I can bring as much as I can with the private house I have saved over the years. Brought them all over."
As he spoke, Qin Zhuen untied his baggage and placed it in front of the Yan family and his daughter. He opened it and said:
"Large objects and gold, silver, jewels and jade are all thrown away at home and are not worth much. I only brought some land deeds and silver notes. There are those that the Queen Mother and the Emperor usually reward, there are private houses given by my mother, and there are also things I earn from my own business... Now Leave it all to...ahem, Tiantian."
The father and daughter looked over and saw a mountain of deeds and banknotes. They only made a rough estimate. The banknotes alone were about one million taels, and the land deeds and house deeds were even more numerous. The two looked at each other again, seeing shock in each other's eyes. It seems that Mr. Qin is not only rich, he is also sick!
"You, you can spend whatever you want. You can buy whatever you want." This is what Dudu said to Yan Tian, "Just treat it as your dowry. When I return to Beijing, I will buy a betrothal gift, and the Queen Mother and the Emperor will naturally have more The reward will be glorious and will not wrong you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to leave Luozhou. From now on...ahem..."
Qin Zhuen's face was red and red again and again today, like a firefly's butt, flashing and shining...
"After all, you are just a daughter, Tiantian." The words turned to Yan Wenkuan again, "I will move to Luozhou when the time comes..."
Yan Wenkuan felt that he had to stop it verbally, otherwise Qin Zhuen might keep talking about where to choose the geomantic treasure land after his death.
But before he could speak, he suddenly heard his daughter say: "Yan Tian is very jealous. He once swore that the person he married must be loyal and never take concubines, otherwise he would never marry in this life. Mr. Qin must have many confidants, and Yan Tian is honest Not a good match. Mr. Qin, please come back. From now on, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, so don’t waste your time seeing each other again."
In just a few words, the matter was resolved...
