"Enter."
The Red King cherishes words as gold.
Qing Shisan straightened his clothes and entered calmly. As soon as he entered the door, he saw the master holding a familiar book, and was stunned: "Ah, do you also read this, master?"
Zheng Xiu and Qingpi stared at each other: "You too?"
Qing Shisan silently took out the same book from his arms.
Zheng Xiu sighed: "You have changed."
Qing Shisan smiled coquettishly: "That's not true. The main reason is that Ji Hongou likes to read it, so I bought a copy and took a look."
From this point of view, the writing style of the great writer is very popular in the circle of women with deep wives and resentments, and has become a genre of its own.
Zheng Xiu calmly closed the book and pressed the volume as thick as a hill. He was silent for a moment and said calmly: "Feng Bei bought it."
Qing Shisan suddenly said: "That's it." Finally, Qing Shisan raised his thumb and praised: "Master is really considerate."
"Okay, stop flattering me. Do you think I'm the type to do this?"
Zheng Xiu lay lazily on the big backrest, with his fingers crossed on his knees, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, looking "not very happy", and asked: "Have you found anything?"
"It lived up to our high expectations." Qing Shisan put away his cynicism and said seriously: "I found it out."
He touched the cigarette rod at his waist and said softly.
"Sir, do you know about 'Xiaoyaofang'?"
Zheng Xiu thought for a while and nodded.
Xiaoyaofang is the name of a gambling house, which is located in Xishi Street. The owner is a nouveau riche, known as "Master Dao" in the street. He is about fifty years old. Qing Shisan had told Zheng Xiu a long time ago, This man was a bandit when the world was in chaos twenty years ago. Qing Shisan had seen his reward order, but later he had someone find connections and changed his name, becoming the "Knife Master" he is today.
Twenty years ago, bandits were rampant and there were quite a lot of them. Zheng Xiu recalled the experience of Baili Village. The bandits all over the mountains and plains were like locusts. They traveled on rainy nights and worked hard, which was very scary.
Dao Ye runs "Xiaoyao Fang" in the capital and keeps a low profile on weekdays. There was some friction with Zheng Xiu when he first opened the gambling shop, but then Zheng Xiu asked Pei Gaoya to talk to him, and Dao Ye was convinced. Since then, the two of them have The family has never had any contact with each other over the years.
In addition, Zheng is involved in many industries, so he doesn't think much of the casino business. Besides, Zheng Xiu doesn't like making money from poor people, so the gambling house is not very big. On the contrary, Xiaoyaofang became a place for many wealthy businessmen and young men in the city to have fun.
"What does it have to do with Xiaoyaofang?"
Zheng Xiu asked with a frown.
"There's no rush, sir, please listen slowly." Qing Shisan smiled and asked, "Sir, do you still remember, who is his backer behind Xiaoyaofang?"
Zheng Xiu was stunned, he really didn't remember.
In the cannibal paintings, he actually experienced the erosion of hundreds of years, and these unimportant things were almost forgotten by him and left behind. But Zheng Xiu took a sip of tea, lifted the cup and brushed the leaves. This unfathomable behavior made Qing Shisan take the initiative to tell the answer:
"Of course I will never forget it. The backer behind Xiaoyaofang is Zhou Ji."
Zhou Ji? Which Zhou Ji?
Zheng Xiu paused as he flicked the tea leaves. He had an impression of this name.
Qing Shisan shook his head: "But Zhou Ji, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, died, and Xiaoyaofang lost its backer. Later, Lord Dao asked someone to send gifts to Lord Jiang Gaoyi's house, but Jiang Gaoyi declined them."
"At first, Mr. Dao thought Mr. Jiang had a big appetite, so he gritted his teeth and gave more. Later, Mr. Jiang was really annoyed, so he said that he always went to Mr. Zheng's house to have long talks and talk about home affairs."
"Master Jiang moved the master out, and Master Dao immediately understood. It turns out that it's not that he didn't give enough, but that Master Zheng gave too much."
"It's the third day of the third lunar month, and the ancestor worship ceremony is about to take place. The superiors are concerned about open and covert fighting. Even though Xiaoyao Fang has no backer, it is indeed free for a while."
"Later, when the emperor established a throne and the people above him were free, people began to focus on the fat piece of Xiaoyaofang that no one was looking at."
Qing Shisan explained the cause and effect in a few words.
But Zheng Xiu still didn't hear what this matter had to do with Er Niang's troubles.
Qing Shisan pulled out the cigarette rod and played with it back and forth in his hand, but was reluctant to smoke.
"Later, Dou Jiuyi, the Minister of Rites, asked Mr. Dao to meet in private. Hehe, he wanted to divide the money into eighty-two."
Zheng Xiu couldn't help but laugh, a little unsure: "The eighth minister of the Ministry of Rites, the second sword master?"
"Hehe, I really understand."
Zheng Xiu closed his eyes, nodded and hummed, casually twisting and turning the words in the water, and said leisurely: "I have been an official in the Ministry of Rites for many years, how can I not know the truth that 'it is better to cut the flesh of the rich than to make the hair of the poor'?" How much money can a poor person make? Wei Yangzun is not a vegetarian. In the past, the Secret Service asked for information for him. How could the big and small things in the city be hidden from him? He was so greedy and the leeks were ripe. Wei Yangzun issued an imperial edict, Cutting them all off will not only punish corrupt officials and win the hearts of the people, but also enrich the national treasury. Isn’t this the purpose of raising corrupt officials? Even if you lose your life if you cut off leeks, an official who can sit in the position of minister is not stupid, how can he be corrupt? . But the gambling house is different. The source of the money is not very clean. The Minister of Rites pays a share to the treasury and keeps some for himself. Wei Yangzun will turn a blind eye to this. Zhou Jiding did the same in the past. In this way, everyone is happy. Eighty-two split, haha, only the master of Xiaoyaofang suffers. But the guy who calls himself Master Dao, can he agree to this loss-making deal? "
Although Xiaoyaofang is small, it is still a piece of meat. On the surface, the water looks shallow. If the Minister of Rites dares to come forward to talk to Mr. Dao, there must be a surge on it.
"Of course we haven't reached an agreement." Seeing Zheng Xiu's understanding of the officialdom, Qing Shisan secretly admired him and shrugged: "But Dou Jiuyi, the Minister of Rites, is not a kind person. Mr. Dao has been arrogant and submissive. He has been in the past two months. , overtly and covertly, caused Master Dao a lot of trouble."
"At this moment, haha, it's a coincidence that an old couple came into the city."
"Xiaoyaofang is divided into three types of games: heaven, earth, and people. From top to bottom, they correspond to wealth and poverty. As long as there is an acquaintance in the lead, ordinary people can also enter and play."
"The couple, the man loves gambling, spent some money, found connections, and entered Xiaoyaofang. They thought of using the last expense to turn over there and establish themselves in the imperial city."
"There are 'thousands of gatekeepers' in Xiaoyaofang. Ordinary people have money in their arms, how can they take it away safely? The man tasted the sweetness at first, but was stupid and didn't see the clues, so he kept pushing in. After a few days I lost hundreds of taels of silver."
"The Dao Master of Xiaoyaofang...well, although he keeps a low profile under your lustful power, due to the tight pressure from above these days, he has gradually brought out some of the shady tricks in the past. He cleverly defrauded gambling debts and changed his mind. Selling farmland and forcing girls into prostitution are all despicable methods."
"But the couple were so poor that they needed money and their lives. Master Dao was so angry that he said they were doing a loss-making business."
Qing Shisan couldn't hold it in any longer. He put the cigarette rod in his mouth and smoked, but there was clearly no fire in the pipe. What Qing Shisan was smoking was not cigarettes, but loneliness.
He was silent for a moment, breathed a sigh of relief, and sighed: "At this moment, the woman couldn't help but say that many years ago, they sold their biological daughter into the city, into... the Zheng family .”
Phew~
In an instant, the oil lamp on the table swayed, almost extinguished, leaving only a faint spark, and the room became dark. The air in the study room seemed to be filled with lead, extremely heavy. Qing Shisan looked at Zheng Xiu with a calm expression in surprise. The scene behind him was distorted to a degree visible to the naked eye, as if something had been opened.
Qing Shisan was so frightened that he took a few steps back. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He subconsciously held the cigarette rod in his hand. When he came to his senses, his palms were full of sweat.
What is the master hiding behind his back?
Qing Shisan is Zheng Xiu’s confidant, but he usually doesn’t pry into Zheng Xiu’s little secrets. Except for the fact that the four golden flowers have become strangers, something is wrong with the cat, and the master often secretly practices with the four golden flowers. Besides, the rest of Qing Shisan didn’t know anything about it.
This sudden sense of oppression made Qing Shisan feel as if his neck was being strangled. It made it difficult for him to breathe, and he opened his mouth and gasped. After a few breaths, Qing Shisan felt as if he was suffocated, and his limbs seemed to be chained by heavy shackles, giving him the illusion that he could not move.
This strange "illusion" didn't last long until Zheng Xiu silently took a sip of cold tea. The sparks that were about to go out rekindled and bulged, and the light returned to the study.
Qing Shisan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, a little unsure: "Master, are you angry?"
"It's a bit." Zheng Xiu put down the tea cup and looked at Qing Shisan: "It seems that when I became the Red Queen, I seemed too easygoing in the eyes of outsiders."
Qing Shisan put the cigarette rod back into his waist and coughed twice: "Actually, Master, you may have misunderstood something."
"oh?"
"Master Dao is as shrewd as a ghost. How can he dare to deal with you blatantly? It's too late to flatter him! When Master Dao learned that the couple were actually Erniang's biological parents, he treated him as a guest and allowed the man to gamble. Give money in different ways."
"After being sent away for a few days, the man went off to live somewhere else and became a pauper again. Then he ran back to Xiaoyaofang to gamble. This time, he took away hundreds of taels of money from Mr. Dao."
"That couple originally promised me that you and Mr. Dao would take the lead and make friends, but unexpectedly they just went to Xiaoyaofang to withdraw money. Later, Mr. Dao couldn't bear it anymore, so he came up with this strategy, and gritted his teeth and gave it to the wife again. The man had one hundred taels of silver, and the woman was so jealous of the money that she wrote a letter and secretly sent it to the second mother, thus performing the drama of 'acknowledging her kin'."
ah?
Ah?
At this point, Zheng Xiu's anger turned into dumbfounding.
To put it simply, the story of this incident is that the owner of a small gambling shop was devastated because his backer had collapsed, and he wanted to find a new backer. Because the lion, the Minister of Rites, couldn't reach an agreement, the Dao Master wanted to lick the Red King; it just so happened that At that time, Zheng Erniang's biological parents appeared, giving Master Dao a hope of licking. Unexpectedly, the couple was not good at getting along. They were just trying to gather wool and did nothing, which made Master Dao anxious. He forced Zheng Erniang's biological parents to send a letter acknowledging their marriage, and finally made trouble. Zheng Erniang was unhappy.
Why is Zheng Erniang unhappy? The reason is very simple. It was her parents who cruelly abandoned her. If Zheng Haoran and his wife had not taken Er Niang away as their own children and had a deep love for Zheng Xiu, where would Er Niang be now or what would have happened to her. , are unimaginable. Now, more than 20 years later, her biological parents came out to recognize her relatives without any precautions, which instantly disrupted Erniang's mind and made her not know how to face it.
Over the years, she has long regarded herself as a blood relative of the Zheng family. Although the Zheng family and his wife are not blood relatives, they are more than blood relatives. However, Zheng Erniang has a kind heart and the appearance of her blood relatives makes Erniang confused and frowning.
After spending more than 20 years with Zheng Erniang, Zheng Xiu had never heard Erniang mention her parents. Apparently, her blood relatives did not leave her with good memories when she was a child.
Twenty years ago, when people were in dire straits, it was not surprising.
Dao Ye wanted to use this as a lead to curry favor with the Red King, but unexpectedly he didn't lick the right place.
In short, the flattery went wrong, and the red king was angry.
Qing Shisan frowned: "This matter is not easy to deal with."
Zheng Xiu also understood what he meant. If it were anyone else, he would have done it. But after all, that couple were Zheng Erniang's biological parents, so it was not easy to handle.
"It's not easy to fix." Zheng Xiu patted the dust on his body, put the tea lid firmly on, stood up, and walked out of the house.
Qing Shisan was stunned for a moment, then followed him: "What do you want?"
He made a motion of wiping his neck, his hands trembling slightly.
Qing Shisan was on fire.
Zheng Xiu shook his head and said matter-of-factly: "How can that be? I have always been charitable, law-abiding, and self-disciplined. Now that I am the Red King, can I do anything illegal?"
Qing Shisan was a little disappointed.
But the next second, Zheng Xiu let out a sharp whistle, which echoed loudly in Prince Chi's palace.
Qing Shisan was completely stunned. This was the Brotherhood's...assembly post!
The Red King is shaking people!
On the high wall of the Red Prince's Mansion, there are numerous figures, wearing hooded black clothes, with clever swords in their sleeves.
"Good guy!" Qing Shisan was hit by a bullet in his sleeve, raised his middle finger, and a sleeve arrow popped out from between his fingers. It turned out that he had already prepared it.
The Red King swaggered out of the palace, got on the carriage, and drove to the Western Market.
"The Red King goes out to eliminate harm for the people!"
…
Late at night.
Jiang Gaoyi, who had just returned from the disaster prevention bureau dragging his exhausted body, rejected his wife's plan to shake his body. After washing, he fell asleep on the bed.
Who asked King Chi to leave him a note asking him to sort out the cases of the Disaster Prevention Bureau in recent months?
Thinking of this, Jiang Gaoyi felt like crying, and even had the urge to resign from the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and settle down as the little secretary next to the Red King. But when he got the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, he didn't just resign if he wanted to. In the court, if he dared to show the slightest thought of resigning, he would face the risk of being beheaded.
To put it in the words above: If you don’t have a ghost in your heart, why do you want to take off your hat and return to work for no reason? There must be something fishy, take him to jail and wait for his punishment!
Jiang Gaoyi was honest before he was imprisoned, and then he was imprisoned. He was awakened by Zheng Xiu's actions in prison, and now he has been promoted all the way to the top. He has become the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and he has a clear view of the straight and crooked road in the officialdom.
When people are in officialdom, they can't help themselves.
Just as he closed his eyes and sighed, the "Chang Shi Hui" that Zheng Xiu assigned him flickered on and off, lighting up like a light bulb.
[The Red King calls, do you want to receive him? 】
【See? 】
【See? 】
In Chang Shie, there is no "disappear" option for the Red King's call.
Jiang Gaoyi quickly washed his face, gathered his energy, and answered the call. Just as he was about to say that the case was almost sorted out, Zheng Xiu smiled and said that he accidentally discovered a fugitive and asked Jiang Gaoyi to issue an arrest warrant overnight.
"What?"
Jiang Gaoyi was dumbfounded.
What time has it been? He was actually asked to issue an arrest warrant overnight?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Late at night, the city was strangely lively.
The six door gods arrested Guo Zifei and received a secret order overnight, saying that there was a fugitive important criminal hidden in the city who was burdened with numerous murders.
Less than half an hour later, the notice boards at the city gates in the east, west, south, north, and middle were all covered with the same "Arrest Order."
This arrest warrant is very strange. Each face is painted differently. Some even have only one circle and two nostrils, which barely looks like one face. It seems that it was drawn by temporary workers overnight and is not professional.
But the focus is obviously not on the portrait. A drunken prostitute passed by with his trousers lifted, squinting his eyes and drunkenly reading the words on the arrest warrant:
"Hiccup~"
"What the hell?"
"The criminal Zhang San, whose alias is Master Dao, robs homes and houses, kills people and steals goods, is a heinous crime. There is a reward of one thousand taels of silver on the six doors, and he is wanted in the whole city..."
…
When the whole city was covered with arrest warrants, Zheng Xiucai took a carriage and slowly arrived at the West Market.
For a short period of time, even the wanted person did not know that he was wanted.
Zheng Xiu got off the carriage, hung the Red King Mirror back on his waist, and smiled at Qing Shisan:
"Look, isn't this legal?"
Qing Shisan was filled with admiration.
Asking for a monthly ticket! Please read it! PS: Madam, you don’t want to see the finale in advance, right?
(End of chapter)
