"Dang! - Dong, Dong!" A gong and two bangs broke the silence of the winter night. Immediately afterwards, the residents of the capital who had not yet fallen asleep could hear the distant chime of the university bell.
There are two watchmen, one holds a gong and the other holds a clapper. During the scheduled update, a noise of "Be careful of candles and beware of thieves" is shouted. The sound of the university bell rings eight times, as if it has a rhythm, and has the effect of reassuring the soul.
The bell was neither dull nor loud. It came slowly and far away, as if something had been wiped away from people's hearts, making those who heard it feel relieved. It was exactly eight o'clock in the evening, and the residents of the capital If you don't go out to drink and have fun, you have to close the door, blow out the oil lamp and go to sleep.
"Master, pack up and go to sleep." A voice from beside him woke up Yi Leyao, who was looking at the patio in deep thought. The former first-class secretary of Alfonso, the governor of Goa, and now the seventh-rank director of the Seiyi Pavilion of the Ministry of Rites, nodded slightly when he heard this.
He turned around and looked at his new wife with a smile. Although this beautiful girl does not have a prominent family, she is more than worthy of a "barbarian" like herself. Especially when Elaya expresses his passionate emotions with words like "I love you", his wife's shy look makes Ines Fernand completely forget everything about Europa.
As a colonial bureaucrat who lost his Portuguese homeland, Ines Fernand could not find a job similar to a first-class secretary even if he returned to Europe. Therefore, after the Ministry of Rites called him up, he was almost overjoyed.
Although her surname is Fernan, and there is also the surname "Fei" among the hundreds of family surnames, Ines felt that "Yuan Sheng" Yi Yin was more remarkable than the ancestors of the Fei family, so she adopted the surname "Yi" and gave herself the name "Yi". "Le Yao", layman Hongbao with double plug gave him the nickname "Xinye" - Yi Yin farmed in Xinye when he was young.
As he walked towards the bed with a smile, there was a loud knock on the door outside. Following the sleepy concierge, he went outside the bedroom to report: A guest named Du was visiting.
Yi Leyao frowned when he heard this and said, "It's so late, what is this guy doing here?" But he didn't mean to refuse. He smiled apologetically at his wife, packed his clothes and went to the main room.
"Lao Yi! Lao Yi!" When the person came quickly across the courtyard, he did not have the consciousness to treat the people as officials, which made Yi Leyao helpless for a while.
But he still smiled heartily and responded in a strange tone: "Brother Tutu, why don't you do it anyway?"
Du Liu ignored the Portuguese's intentionally non-standard tone. The scars on his face were distorted by fear. He looked around anxiously and glanced at the old man standing behind the concierge. He shuddered. As if he were a royal guard.
Entering the hall, he made a long bow. Before Yi Leyao could return the salute, he asked with a pale face: "Old Yi, is there an official in the Ministry of Rites named Hong Bao'er?"
Yi Leyao also became serious because of Du Liu's nervousness. Hearing this, he said, "Hongbao layman Tu Long is my good friend. What's the matter?"
"Oh, there is a person named Song Jiu'er who is also from the Ministry of Rites? Do you know him?"
Yi Leyao laughed and said: "What kind of mess is this? Song Jiunai, Shen Shixingge's old servant, his name is Song Xubin, is the most useful person around the old man - he is an acquaintance of Tu Long, what's the matter?"
When Du Liu heard the words, he swallowed his saliva, his throat made a gurgling sound, and he became more and more sweaty. He suddenly glared at Yi Leyao and said, "Lao Yi, how has our relationship been over the years?"
Although Yi Leyao, a foreigner, has a more serious class concept than the Ming people, the scope of this concept is in Europe and the colonies. In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, he did not feel that the gangster who rescued him from the casino and saved himself from bankruptcy had a lower status than himself - the two had always known each other as friends.
Ines Fernand, the former first secretary, crossed herself on her chest and said, "God is my witness, our friendship is indestructible!"
"Then lend me the money you have - I have to leave tonight." Du Liu was straightforward. He cupped his hands and spread his palms, waiting for Yi Leyao to enter the house to get the money.
Yi Leyao stumbled and asked, "Wait a minute, you have confused me. What happened?"
Du Liu's face turned pale, and he cupped his hands and said, "Lao Yi, don't pry! If I know, it won't be good for you. Let's talk about it later. I'll explain it to you slowly when I get back to Beijing. You go in and get the money first."
Yi Leyao pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, you wait." He went out from the side door of the main room and entered the study. Without taking a cup of tea, he entered the main room with a small baggage in his hand and said: "Here are six hundred dragon tickets - enough for you to spend a few years outside, is it enough? If it is not enough, I still have some loose gold." Broken silver.”
Du Liu's eyes turned red, and he cupped his hands vigorously: "I still have a wife, children, and mother at home. If someone bullies me, Lao Yi can help if he can. If it's too dangerous, there's no need. Just look after him secretly."
When Yi Leyao heard this, his eyes were red, and he bowed his hands and said in return: "Brother Du Liu, don't worry." Seeing Du Liu turning around and about to leave, he followed up and asked: "How can eldest brother get out of the city in the middle of the night?"
Du Liu was stunned, slapped his thigh and said, "Fuck, I forgot about this!"
Yi Leyao was stunned when he heard this, and said with a dumb smile: "I thought that brother had a way out of the city in the middle of the night, but it turned out that he forgot. I said brother, don't be anxious - please move to the study and tell me what's going on. .”
Du Liu had no choice but to follow him to the study. After the guests and hosts were seated, Du Liu first talked about his assignment to investigate the case.
Yi Leyao smiled and said: "This poem means that the deceased Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng had an affair with the Queen Mother?"
Du Liu was so frightened that he looked left and right again before whispering: "Old Yi, please keep your voice down." Seeing that he was so frightened, Yi Leyao curled his lips and said in his heart: "What's there to be afraid of? Being scared like this .”
He changed the subject and said, "Why does the elder brother know that this matter is related to Tu Long?"
Du Liu had a constipated expression on his face and sighed: "A friend of mine built a courtyard in Taste of Life. One day he went to eat, got drunk and went wrong, and saw Tu Long, Song Jiu'er and a group of people inside. Just having fun - Song Jiuer was writing these four sentences on the wall at that time, and my friend was expelled after reading the first sentence."
Yi Leyao laughed after hearing this and said: "Then don't too many people know about this poem? Song Jiu'er has been arrested a long time ago. Why are you so scared to death?"
Du Liu's face became paler and he said: "Oh..., I thought like a good brother at first. But after asking around, I found that apart from Tu Long, Song Jiu'er's companion who was in the yard that day, Qing Ke, died of a sudden illness these days. There are some who have gone to Nanyang, but there is no one in the capital!"
Seeing that Yi Leyao was dumbfounded, Du Liu said again: "I heard that the Marquis of Xining, Song Shien, was also inside that day. His wife and Tu Long were... that. These days, Song Shien was not seen in any of the brothels in the capital. Le, everyone said he was seriously ill - but today he was alive and kicking and his house was ransacked by the Jin Yiwei. The decree has been issued and the high wall will not allow anyone to be forgiven!"
Yi Leyao took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice, "Are you talking about a Marquis?" Du Liu nodded.
The hair on Yi Leyao's body stood up. Du Liu stood up and knelt on the ground: "Mr. Yi, you are the only one who officially has a relationship with a bastard like me - if I am lucky enough to escape, everything in the family will be in trouble!"
(End of chapter)
