In the eleventh year of Yongle, autumn has just entered.
The air was already filled with a chilling atmosphere.
Dozens of miles away from the capital, Jiangjun Mountain, which had never been captured, was breached, all the bandits were wiped out, and the bandit leader Pei Qian was taken to prison and tortured.
A few days later, the local magistrate and county magistrate of Jiangjunshan and others were all taken to Jinyi Guard Prison.
In both cases, there was one person involved, and hundreds of households in Jinyiwei were solemn.
"Who else knows about the arsenal?" Zhuang Jing raised his whip and picked up the unrecognizable Pei Qian on the torture rack.
Pei Qian's deal was really a total loss, and he lost all his century-old foundation. He lost all his money and his life was in danger.
"Wha... what arsenal?" Blood was oozing from the gaps between Pei's front teeth. It wasn't that he refused to move, but that he was really blinded.
"Help him reminisce." Zhuang Jing turned his back, and the execution captain took the torture tools and walked towards Pei. They were ordinary torture tools, just a few embroidery needles.
When Pei Qian was in this state, he could not move even under severe physical torture. Should he say it or not, this guy was still a man. He had to stand up for a long time before confessing to the magistrate and others.
However, this is not what Zhuang Jing wants.
He should have listened to Qiu Bu's words from the beginning... Pei Qian's consciousness was a little blurred. Suddenly, a sharp pain hit his whole body. His whole body could not restrain itself from shaking violently, and his hands and ankles were bleeding from the ropes.
"Qiu...Qiu..."
"It's useless to beg!" Zhuang Jing slowly picked up a cup of tea.
"Qiu no!" Pei Qian growled.
The captain stopped the torture and turned around and said, "Sir, does he seem to be talking about a person's name?"
Zhuang Jing put down the tea cup and motioned for the captain who was recording the confession to follow him. He tilted his ear close to Pei Qian's mouth and said, "Tell me, let's talk...do you have anything else?"
"Gone……"
Qiu Bu, this man Zhuang Jing knew that Wang Qian said that he was from the Prince of Xin'an County, but Wang Qian also said that he did not believe a word of what Lin Lin said. Now it seems that this man is not only not a member of the Prince of Xin'an County, but he is also probably a bandit. If Lin Linyou and him are really friends, Lin Linyou will be convicted of the crime of liaison with a bandit!
…
Wang Qian sent someone to give Lin Linyou two mahogany brocade boxes inlaid with rivets. These boxes alone looked very valuable. When he opened it, he saw that the inside was covered with silk and satin. In each box, there were eight balls neatly placed. The style, size, pattern and color were almost exactly the same as the billiard balls of Lin Linyou's time. The difference was that the Arabic numerals on it were replaced by " The traditional Chinese characters are written in Xiaozhuan. To be precise, they are not written on them, but carved on them and decorated with gold powder.
The biggest difference is that the uncolored parts of each ball—that is, the parts that should have been white—are transparent, shining like gems. Especially the cue ball, which is completely transparent, like a huge luminous pearl. Probably Wang Qian felt that the white paint was too cheap, and there were no such large white pearls, so he used a completely transparent one instead.
I don’t know what materials it is made of, but the cost is definitely not cheap.
"No reward for no merit, I will never dare to accept such a heavy gift." Lin Linyou said to the boy and boy who gave the gift.
The boy smiled and said, "Sir, do you look familiar to me?"
Lin Linyou looked at it carefully and said, "Are you... the tea boy of Kingo's family?"
"Exactly the little one." Chatong'er smiled.
Lin Linyou was shocked. According to this, this gift was given by Ji Gang?
Cha Tong'er nodded: "Dad said, we are all serving the emperor. We are a family. We don't look up when we see each other. If you have any questions, let's talk to the family. Don't make trouble outside."
This really sounds like what a parent would say. But Lin Linyou felt that things were not that simple.
Why is Ji Gang, an old man, suddenly so caring about me? How can there be any reason for the commander of the Imperial Guard to give gifts to a hundred households? Something is wrong, nine out of ten times something is wrong!
"What a shame!" Lin Linyou really didn't dare to accept it! But, I like it so much without any hope...
"Please sir, please accept it." Chatong'er said, "If you don't accept it, sir, dad will definitely punish the little one."
…
In the evening, Lin Linyou sat in the hall, with the two brocade boxes beside him and playing with two jade-like billiard balls.
It was already very late, and the watchman outside did not know how many times he had passed by. The sound of bangs sounded, and the watchman shouted: "It's three o'clock at midnight, everything is fine."
Zhang Bi finally pushed open the courtyard door and walked in, staggering. Seeing that the hall lights were still on and Lin Linyou was sitting there alone, he staggered in. His fat face was red from drinking, especially the tip of his nose. , illuminated by firelight, red to the point of reflection.
"Second brother, why...why aren't you sleeping yet?" Zhang Bi pulled out his chair and sat down. He stretched out his hand and knocked over the cups on the table. He quickly grabbed the cup and poured himself some water. Drink several cups in a row.
"Waiting for you." Lin Linyou said silently, "Who are you drinking with?"
"Zhang Xin from Nansi." Zhang Ben smiled.
"anything else?"
"Yuan Jiang, Pang Ying..."
"Don't you have a grudge against Pang Ying?"
"Are you so lenient? You are not my wife! Why are you acting like a girl? What's wrong with the old man drinking some wine? You are gibbering." Zhang Bi was not happy yet.
"Who else?" Lin Linyou continued to ask.
"Wang Qian, Li Chun!" Zhang Bi glanced at the billiard ball at Lin Linyou's hand, "It's gone!"
"Sure enough." Lin Linyou raised the billiard ball in his hand, "I asked, how could he know the style of billiard balls? Actually, it was Ji Gang who sent someone to bring it to me personally. I was really flattered! It turned out to be you, eldest brother. The face is great."
"Second brother, listen to what I'm telling you." Zhang Bi stretched out a finger and gestured in front of his eyes, "Jianghu, he is not fighting and killing, but... human beings are so sophisticated, it is the same in temples. Do you understand?"
"If I didn't understand, would I accept this gift?"
"That's right -" Zhang Ben dragged out the last word "la", then patted Lin Linyou on the shoulder. Like all drunk people, he rambled a lot, and his words were serious and thoughtful. Annoying and annoying.
Although it is annoying, it is a good opportunity, because drunk people often tell the truth, so truthful that they regret it when they wake up.
"Can your Zhang family outplay Ji Gang?" Lin Linyou began to trick Zhang Bi into telling the truth.
"Second brother, you are familiar with history." Zhang Ben said.
"I haven't read it well."
"Someone is familiar with it."
"That Xia Di?" Lin Linyou asked, "You are a royal guard, and you are not afraid that the official will sell you out? Do you believe him?"
"I believe in our old Zhang family, and I believe in history even more." Zhang Ben said firmly.
"History, perhaps, can be changed." Lin Linyou said quietly.
"Don't you have a better way?" Zhang Ben said, "Second brother, you can't defeat them head-on. You have to use softness to overcome toughness."
Zhang Bi and Taoist Master Qiu Xuanqing were not fooling around in vain. They used all the Tai Chi techniques.
"At least, judging from the current situation, they won't attack you and me for the time being." Zhang Ben said, "When this matter comes to an end, you and I will just be idle officials, and I will give you a good beating regardless of the affairs of the court." It’s time to play billiards. When the time comes, my eldest brother will play two strokes with you."
"Is it okay?" As long as people are in the arena, in the court, and wherever there are people, things cannot be avoided.
"It will happen one day." Zhang Ben patted his shoulder and squeezed hard.
Lin Linyou knew very well that if it weren't for Zhang Ben's presence, it would be difficult for him to survive in the Ming Dynasty, and perhaps he would have died under the swords of Ji Gang and others.
He also decided to temporarily put aside his personal grudges with Li Chun and others because he did not want to become a pawn of others.
Zhang Xin and the others obviously don't have any use for his chess piece at the moment. On the contrary, his chess piece has disrupted their plan.
"Brother, thank you." Lin Linyou said suddenly.
Zhang Ben smiled and said: "Thank you for what? How can we say thank you between brothers? The relationship has faded!"
…
Suddenly one day, Qiu Bubu, who had disappeared without a trace, came to the door again: "Brother Lin, I have something to ask for. You have done it for me. I will not talk about paying back the gold."
Jin Yiwei was looking for this guy everywhere. Lin Linyou quickly took him to his room and gently closed the door:
"What's the matter?"
…
