Placid Chang'an

Su Cen was escorted back to Su Residence by Qi Lin.In fact, it was the fifteenth full moon, the moonlight was clear and bright, and there were firecrackers flying into the sky from time to time as companions, so the road was not too dark.But with the eight-treasure glazed palace lantern in his hand, he thought about it a little more for no reason, as if the person who handed him the lantern was still there, guarding him through this journey.

When we returned to Su's house, it was still early, and there were still many people on the street, but Ah Fu said that the two people who came to the door before came again, and they had been waiting for a long time.

Su Cen doesn't know how long this is. Tonight is New Year's Eve. Ordinary people probably have to go around the street at night. If they want to block him, he will arrive at least in the afternoon, or even earlier .It's a pity that he was called away by Zheng Yang early this morning, and it's hard for these two people to wait patiently until now.

Su Cen extinguished the lantern and asked A Fu to send him back to his room, and then went inside to see who these two guests were.

These two people obviously sat bored for a long time, and they all raised their heads when they saw someone coming.One of them's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly stood up and said to Su Cen: "Brother Su, Brother Su, you are back. It's really not easy to see you... Do you remember who I am?"

Su Cen smiled back: "Brother Ming Jing."

The person who came was Zou Mingjing whom I met in Xingqing Palace that day. Fortunately, Su Cen still had a little impression of him not long ago.

Looking at the one sitting behind him, Su Cen also recognized him.Coincidentally today, all the new faces I met in Xingqing Palace are here, and now this is Huang Mian, the son of the household servant Huang Ting who fought with Song Fan back then.

Seeing that Huang Mian's complexion was not good, Su Cen compared his heart to his heart, and told him to wait for a long time, maybe his complexion would not look good, so he put down his airs as much as possible, and nodded and smiled at him in a kindly manner.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Su Cen asked the two why they came.

They visited the door twice, and this time they waited for such a long time, Su Cen naturally didn't believe that they came here for nothing.

"Brother Su has solved several big cases in a row, and he has already gained a reputation in Beijing and China. We have admired his name for a long time, and we were able to meet him in Xingqing Palace that day. Brother Su is indeed a handsome young man." Zou Mingjing complimented him first. After a while, we got to the point: "We are here this time to ask for something."

Before Su Cen asked what was going on, Huang Mian stood up abruptly, "Chongzhi, I don't need his help with this matter, let's go."

Su Cen really couldn't understand why this person was full of hostility towards him the moment they met, but based on the principle that one thing more is worse than one thing less, he didn't intend to keep him.He can't do it with a hot face to stick someone else's cold ass.

"Huaizhen, be safe and don't be impatient," Zou Mingjing hurriedly comforted him, and forced Huang Mian back, and smiled embarrassedly at Su Cen: "Brother Su, don't take offense, Huaizhen just has a quick temper, and there is no malice."

Su Cen smiled politely, he was not the one asking for help, and waited quietly to see which of these two people would sing.

"Speaking of which, I want to use Brother Su's speculative talent to help find someone." Zou Mingjing took out a long box from behind, opened it, and presented it. It was a set of high-quality four treasures of the study, Duan inkstone, Hui ink, lake brush, and rice paper. The same ones are all outstanding, and this set is probably worth thousands of gold.Zou Mingjing pushed the box to Su Cen's hand, "This is a small gift, and there will be a big gift to thank you after it is done."

But Su Cen closed the lid on his own, and pushed it back: "You will not be rewarded for your merits, Brother Mingjing, let's talk about what's going on first."

"This...it's actually..." Zou Mingjing looked a bit embarrassed, and looked at Huang Mian several times, seeing that the person still had that stinky face, so he could only speak to himself: "Brother Su must have heard that day, saying that he was pregnant." The real sister, in fact, is also my sister, Huang Wan'er, who ... disappeared with a servant."

Su Cen asked: "Miss Huang is really... missing?"

Zou Mingjing nodded with a sad face, "Yes, yes."

Su Cen understood that she wanted him to find his "missing" sister back.It's funny to say, it was supposed to be Huang Mian's sister who was lost, Huang Mian came to beg, and Zou Mingjing was with him, but now it seems that the missing one is Zou Mingjing's sister.

Su Cen chuckled: "I'm afraid Brother Mingjing may have misunderstood me. He was appreciated by everyone and gave him a bit of a reputation, but what I usually solve are the death cases in Dali Temple. I don't know how to find someone. If you don’t know anything about it, you might as well go to the Jingzhao Yamen instead of looking for me.”

He is a dignified Master Su, since when did he do such a thing like beating mandarin ducks with a club and catching adulterers in pairs?

"You can't report to an official," Huang Mian finally said, "Wan'er is right, why should I report to an official!"

"Brother Su, Brother Su is like this," Zou Mingjing hastily corrected the situation, "People in the world have rumored that Wan'er eloped, but in fact, Wan'er doesn't know that servant at all!"

"Huh?" Su Cen raised his eyebrows.

"Although Song Fan's fellow is not a thing, the Huang family has very strict family education. Wan'er stays in a boudoir, and usually does not leave the door. The boudoir where she lives is isolated from the outside world, and servants of the opposite sex are not allowed to enter at all. Even if it is me, because my father and Huang Shibo are family friends, I often run to Huang's house and have never seen Wan'er, how could Wan'er elope with a servant I don't know?"

"Why don't you report it to the authorities?" Su Cen frowned and looked at the two people, "A living person has been missing for so long for no reason, whether he was kidnapped, or accidentally, and his life and death are uncertain, how can you sit at home and ignore him?"

"What if, what if Wan'er really elopes?" Huang Mian slapped the table and stood up, "Reporting to the official is to tell the world that Wan'er has eloped with others. What about Wan'er's reputation?"

Su Cen sneered, what reputation do you care about when you don't care about life and death?He only thinks that the British Duke has a good face and dares to throw Zheng Yang in the Xingqing Palace to practice, but he doesn't know that the Huang family is even better.

Zou Mingjing hurriedly pulled Huang Mian to sit down, and respectfully said to Su Cen: "It's not that I don't care about it, we came here this time to ask Brother Su for your help, try to find out in private without disturbing the government. Waner?"

Su Cen lowered his eyes calmly: "I'm afraid that this matter will be difficult for Su Mou, and there is nothing I can do if I don't alert the government."

Huang Mian stood up in a huff: "I've just said it, a brat is just a waste of fame, he has no skills, but he has a lot of airs!"

"Huaizhen!" Zou Mingjing stood up and scolded.

Su Cen drank his tea with his eyes downcast, "I'm sorry to send you off."

Huang Mian snorted coldly and walked away.Zou Mingjing saw that the conversation could not go on, so he could only hand in his hands and say goodbye: "Brother Su, don't take it to heart, Huaizhen's temper is really... I will apologize for him, Brother Su has a lot of lords, we will visit another day."

As soon as he reached the door, he was called down again. Su Cen brought the box of the Four Treasures of the Study to him, "Brother Mingjing, please take these things back."

Zou Mingjing hastily declined: "Since I brought it, there's no reason to take it back. It's not for Wan'er's business, just treat it as a friend, and I hope Brother Su will definitely accept it."

Speaking of this, Su Cen was disrespectful, no matter what happened to Huang Mian, this Zou Mingjing was indeed quite polite.Xun Li sent the man out of the door, and Su Cen turned back after watching the man go far away, and told Ah Fu to lock the door.

Ah Fu said, "Ling'er hasn't come back yet."

"He's not coming back tonight."

Just now when Qi Lin came to see him off, as soon as he left Su Cen noticed that Qu Ling'er had quietly followed him out. It's the New Year's Eve festival, so it's strange that he would come back.

After Ah Fu locked the door, Su Cen said again: "Go to my room and find something of comparable value, and send it to Pingyuan Hou's mansion in two days, and say that the new thing you got recently is for Zou Mingjing to enjoy."

Afu nodded in response.

After another two days, the seal was opened and the court resumed. The smell of the New Year finally dissipated, and everything was on the right track.

Su Cen now lives in the fourth grade of government, and he has to go to court every three days. It's not as good as working on cases in Dali Temple, dealing with those old oily people in the officialdom all day, and he is more mellow.

He also saw Li Shi's sophistication more and more.

In short, what Li Shi wants, no matter how twists and turns, he will always get what he wants in the end.

For example, a while ago Li Shi was busy promoting the new official assessment system.In view of the fact that the secret door planted a large number of eyeliners in the officialdom of the Great Zhou years ago, although most of them were cleaned up with a wave of Beijing police, the symptoms were not cured.

So at the beginning of the dynasty, Li Shi made drastic innovations. First, he added a clean-up department to the Ministry of Officials. The six-year Beijing inspection was changed to a three-year inspection. Every three years, the clean-up department cooperated with various departments to conduct an assessment. , the results are divided into upper, middle and lower ranks. Year after year, the upper rank will be promoted to one level, and the lower rank will be dismissed.In addition, in order to restrict the power of the Ministry of Officials, a supervisory censor was added to the Yushitai to disperse all parties and conduct inspections and inspections from time to time.

Officials below the fifth rank are appointed and removed according to this system, and those above the fourth rank are required to report on the form and be appointed by His Majesty.During the Beijing inspection period, Beijing officials and foreign officials are not allowed to meet privately to avoid collusion.Such mutual cooperation and mutual restraint prevents officials from using their power for personal gain, selling their officials to sell their titles, and also restricts some people from arbitrarily placing their own people in the officialdom.

Take Su Cen as an example, if he hadn't been promoted to the fourth rank a year ago, under this system, if he wanted to go from the fifth rank to the fourth rank, it would take at least six years to get two upper ranks. It was smooth sailing, and no one impeached him When he corrupted the law.The situation where he jumped several levels like he did last year will hardly happen again.

So when Li Shi entrusted him with the full power of the case, his intention to bring him up was obvious.

It is conceivable how many people's interests have been shaken by this system. The favors that should be left will not go away, and the confessions that should be made will not be made. Those sons, nephews, and nephews who are waiting for one person to ascend to heaven will have nowhere to be placed. , It is not conducive to the prosperity and stability of Da Zhou's officialdom, and the prosperity among officials.

Therefore, the resistance at the beginning of the implementation is indescribable.

This further shows that Li Shi's officialdom is like a battlefield, and he is very familiar with the methods.

A few years ago, Jingcha Li Shi deliberately left a few corrupt and corrupt tycoons unattended. These tycoons had just had a good year with fear, and they never thought that Li Shi would use them to make a good start as soon as he came to Li Shi after a breath of relief.First, the Ministry of Officials and Yushitai checked the details, including the young man who stole the owner's chicken and kicked out the owner's dog. They were all found out, and then all the charges were announced to the world, which almost aroused public resentment.

Then Li Shi took advantage of the situation to appease the hearts of the people, all the people can report to the public, and specially equipped with scribes to visit the people and write on behalf of those who cannot read.In an instant, lawsuits flooded like rain, and everyone was in danger.

Seeing that Prince Ning was about to wash out the officialdom, he never thought that Li Shi would wave his hand at this time and set aside all the lawsuits to show that Prince Ning would ignore the past and give them a chance to reform.

At this time, we will push the boat forward and implement the new assessment system, and the journey will be smooth and unimpeded.

After all, why not be more cautious in the future than losing your job and losing your head.

After tossing and tossing for more than a month, the dust settled. In the blink of an eye, it has entered March, the grass is growing, and everything is thriving.

Su Cen had already forgotten about the incident in the first month of the lunar year, and never thought that the world was over, and she saw a familiar figure outside the door.