In an elegantly furnished public room in a county temple in Chengdu, the county magistrate Hu Bin and the county lieutenant Li Yu were sitting opposite each other, chatting.
Li Yu said respectfully: "Yu deeply agrees with what Ming Ting just said, but..."
Hu Bin smiled and said: "It's just that Pang Xing is Pang Xi's nephew after all. Pang Xi used to hold a high position and serve as the governor of Brazil when Liu Zhang was there. After the first emperor took Shu, he was appointed Sima of the Zuo General's Mansion. He and the powerful people in Shu All families are inextricably linked, and the Pang family in Yizhou is deeply rooted, so we can't move lightly. Is this what Ziyu is worried about?"
"The Ming court hit the mark." Li Yu cupped her hands to Hu Bin and said, "Should this matter be reported to Governor Yang?"
"No need. Although Pang Xing is our son, he is not qualified enough to disturb the prefect. I, Chengdu County, can handle this matter."
Li Yu nodded.
Also, Governor Yang has a high position, is busy with affairs, and is deeply relied on by Prime Minister Zhuge. A murder case is not worth disturbing his old man. Besides, Pang Xing is just a collateral descendant of the Pang family, and is really not that important a figure. After the death of Pang Xi, although there were still several members of the Pang family serving as officials, no one reached the official level of two thousand shi. It can be said that the family power has shown signs of weakening. Not to mention comparing with Governor Yang, he was the leader of the Ming Dynasty. It is worthwhile to go to the Pang family.
Although Ming Ting was not born in Sichuan, he was an old man who had followed the late emperor during the Jian'an period, so others could not underestimate him, let alone holding such an important position as the Chengdu Order.
Hu Bin was a scholar who defected to the late Emperor when he was the shepherd of Yuzhou. He is quite senior in the Han Dynasty today. Although his talent is not above average, he has been upright and diligent since he joined the army. Therefore, he took over as the magistrate of Chengdu after Li Fu. Until now.
After calculating the backgrounds and relationships of several people, Li Yu felt that he was overly worried. He calmed down and asked, "Then Ming Ting, should we treat this case as an ordinary murder case?"
Hu Bin picked up the tea cup, blew it gently, took a slow sip, and then said: "Yes, we just need to handle the case impartially."
"After all, Chengdu County is the land of the capital, and the emperor and the prime minister are keeping an eye on it!" Hu Bin glanced at Li Yu and said lightly.
Li Yu couldn't help but shake his body after hearing this. He actually forgot about this key point.
The prime minister demands that the case be handled according to law and discipline. If he succumbs to the power of the Pang family in this case to reduce Pang Xing's guilt, once the prime minister finds out, his future career may be ruined.
Li Yu, Li Yu, it seems that you still don't have enough experience. The pressure and favors of the Pang family are worthless compared with the Prime Minister's evaluation. As long as you can leave an impression on the Prime Minister to act impartially, are you afraid that you will not be able to serve in the official position in the future? Thousand stones?
In fact, he was born in a family of officials in central Shu, and he was quite aware of the status and power of the Pang family. Therefore, when he was called by Hu Bin to jointly receive members of the Pang family, he was momentarily disturbed by the pressure from the Pang family. Of course, he didn't want to succumb to the Pang family and exonerate Pang Xing. The Pang family's request was only to reduce one or two culpability and save one life. He planned to do this if the Ming court and he couldn't stand it.
In the past, Li Yu somewhat looked down on Hu Bin, thinking that his talents were mediocre and that he could only become the Chengdu magistrate based on his qualifications. Now it seems that Ming Ting has seen clearly. These old people really have something, and they must not be underestimated.
Thinking about this, Li Yu bowed respectfully to Hu Bin again and thanked him for his advice.
"As Ming Ting said, Yu will definitely handle this case fairly and convincingly."
Hu Bin stroked his beard and smiled: "I can rest assured that Ziyu will do the work."
When Yang Qing returned home, the moonlight had already climbed onto the branches of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree. He sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, holding his head with his right hand and listening to the gentle music of the piano quietly.
On the way back, he found a casual shop and ate a bowl of noodles. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he heard the sound of a piano coming from the attic next door. He knew that the sound of the piano came from the homeowner's house. He had heard it once two days ago, but he didn't know who played it.
Speaking of which, he had also lived here for a few days, but except for Aunt Gu who came to finalize the lease agreement that day, he had never met anyone else in the family, and he didn't understand music, so he couldn't hear the sound. The person who plays the piano is male or female.
However, the sound of the piano suddenly changed from gentle to urgent at this time, as if a sharp sword was stabbing out one sword after another, passionate and high-pitched.
Yang Qing was wondering what the change in the sound of the piano meant, when suddenly the tune changed again, it was very sad, as if it was telling the anguish in his heart.
The change in the sound of the piano was too obvious. Even if Yang Qing didn't understand the music, he already understood in his heart that the person playing the piano must be thinking of some sad past events that were being expressed through the music.
Alas, he seems to be a man with a story.
Yang Qing sighed secretly, and suddenly felt something. He remembered a sentence that fit the piano player's current situation, and couldn't help but read it out loud: "If you want to express your thoughts to the Yao Qin, but you have few close friends, who will listen when the string breaks!" Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the piano stopped.
Um, did you stop playing or did the string really break? Did anyone hear the saying "string breaking" is just a literary idea at this time, and there is no need to actually break the strings to suit the occasion.
Yang Qing was very embarrassed. He was just expressing his feelings. Unexpectedly, the sound of the piano was cut off just because of this. It must have nothing to do with him. Maybe the owner of the piano was tired from playing.
He wanted to hide in the room immediately, but he thought it would be too rude and a bit indecent, so he had to stand up and say calmly: "Qing Yi was speechless for a while, disturbing your elegant mood. I am very sorry, and I hope Haihan. "
Looking up, a figure appeared at the attic window. The candlelight was dim, and the figure could not be seen clearly. He just stood by the window and made no sound.
Seeing this, Yang Qing didn't know how to end it. He felt a little bored, so he had to put away his bowing posture, put his hands behind his back, looked up at the moon, and pretended to be indifferent. After a while, a dark cloud floated over and covered the bright moon. He had no choice but to look at the attic again. Unexpectedly, the person behind the window had walked away.
this.......
Forget it, let's boil water, wash up and go to bed early.
In the attic, a young woman was putting away a guqin, and there was a woman dressed as a maid standing next to her.
"Madam, that person just now was the guest who rented the side yard. I met him several times when I came up to clean the attic."
The woman who collected the piano said, "Yes, I know. Aunt Gu told me that day that this person's surname is Yang Mingqing, and he came to Chengdu to study."
The maid on the side continued: "This Mr. Yang disturbed the girl playing the piano. Why didn't the girl hold him accountable?"
The woman put the piano into the wooden box, turned around and said with a smile: "I played the piano at night, and no one else blamed me for disturbing me. How could I blame others?"
The woman did not wait for the maid to answer, and continued: "Besides, this man's witticism just now, which is like poetry but not poetry, just hit my heart. It's not to disturb, but I have feelings."
"My maid understands."
"Mulan, go and call Aunt Gu." The woman ordered the maid.
Yang Qing finished washing up and was about to lock the courtyard door when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Who would come looking for him at such a late hour? He only knew a few people in Chengdu City.
Yang Qing asked through the door: "Who is it?"
"Mr. Yang, this is me."
An old woman's voice came from outside the door. Yang Qing recognized Aunt Gu and quickly opened the door. After a closer look, it turned out to be her. She was holding a lantern in her right hand and looking at herself with a smile.
Yang Qing stepped aside and asked her to come in: "Ms. Gu, you haven't rested yet. It's so late. What can you tell me?"
"Mr. Yang, please excuse me. The day after tomorrow is my wife's birthday. She plans to invite all her neighbors to have a drink at home tomorrow night, so she asked me to come here to invite them." Aunt Gu replied.
It turned out that I was inviting someone to congratulate me on my birthday. I was shocked. I thought that the agreed rent would be paid every six months, so why did I come to ask for the subsequent rent?
Yang Qing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands and thanked him: "Since it's your birthday, Queen Qing will definitely come to congratulate you."
"Since Mr. Lang has agreed, I will go back first."
"Mom, walk slowly."
Yang Qing sent Aunt Gu out of the hospital, locked the door bolt, entered the living room and lay on the bed, recalling what she had said with Li Yu today, and realized that he did intend to invite her to serve as an official, but she didn't know how to deal with it later. I asked again in a few days, and then I thought about what gift I should prepare for the landlord He Sheng tomorrow. I thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. Suddenly I felt my eyelids heavy, so I fell asleep deeply due to sleepiness.
