Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

Xizhao had just returned to Qianqing Palace, only to see people coming and going outside the palace, it was a mess.

"What's the matter?" Xizhao asked a little eunuch.

"The emperor's jade pen holder is lost, and everyone is in a hurry." The little eunuch didn't want to talk to Xi Zhao, and hurried to leave.

"Jade pen holder? What jade pen holder?" Xi Zhao tugged at the little eunuch's sleeve, not letting go at all.

"It's the one that the late emperor liked the most. The suet jade pen holder carved with dragons and phoenixes. It was still there this morning, but it's gone now. Aren't you looking for it everywhere?" He pulled it back in his hand and walked away quickly.

Xi Zhao just wanted to go forward and ask again, but only heard a strange voice behind her.

"Yo, I just came back. It's such a fun stroll around Mr. Ma's place."

Xi Zhao looked back, and it really was Hu Dazui. "Eunuch Hu." Xi Zhao saluted.

"Hmph. Others are busy, but you are wandering elsewhere. Hurry up and find a pen holder!" After leaving this sentence, Eunuch Hu turned around and was about to leave when he saw Brother Xiong and Xiaobao muttering in front of them. What.

"How dare you two bastards be lazy!" Hu Dazui became furious, and stepped forward to lift his foot to kick Xiaobao.Xiaobao moved lightly, jumped back and dodged.

"Hey Eunuch Hu!" Brother Xiong hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him, and said with a smile on his face, "Hey, the villain is not lazy, but is discussing how to find this jade pen holder. I have searched all over the hall, but I can't find it. I am thinking about it. Is it somewhere outside the hall..."

"Then search one by one! That's okay, that little thief is so bold that he dared to steal the things left by the former emperor! Just start searching from there!" Hu Dazui pointed , "I have to find it even if the Qing Palace is lifted!"

Brother Xiong and Xiaobao exchanged glances.

"Let's start from that room, right? Got it!" Brother Xiong just finished speaking, and the two of them turned around and hurriedly ran towards the direction they pointed just now - the first wing on the northeast side where Hu Dazui lived.

"Hmm... um? Hey!"

Seeing Brother Xiong and Xiaobao running towards his room, Eunuch Hu came back to his senses.But he said the words and pointed the way. He didn't know how to stop those two people at this moment, so he had to run along.On the road, he yelled at Er Fu, who happened to pass by, and said something, and then followed the two people in front into the house.Seeing this, Er Fu didn't know what to do, and hurriedly followed, and disappeared behind the warm curtain together with Hu Dazui.

Xi Zhao looked at this farce-like scene from afar, and suddenly felt that there was something strange about it.He stood in the empty space in front of the hall for a while, and wanted to leave, but he was always inexplicably uneasy, so he hesitated for a moment, then ran towards the first wing in the northeast corner.

Before opening the noren curtain, I heard Hu Dazui chattering in the room.

"Watch out! Don't scratch me! You little bastards... that is, we didn't do anything wrong, so I'm not afraid of you searching... Hey! Look at that bottle! So what will happen to you guys? All the cubs have to pack up and go back to me!"

"This is it!"

While Hu Dazui was babbling, he suddenly heard Xiaobao shouting in the room. Hearing the sound at sunset, he opened the curtain and went in, only to see Xiaobao coming out from the inside holding a ball of ochre-colored dark flower satin. Wrapped in a white jade pen holder carved with dragons and phoenixes.Several pairs of eyes in the room looked at Hu Dazui, and Hu Dazui's face suddenly turned earthy, with his mouth half-opened, staring blankly at the pen holder, the domineering energy just now had disappeared, and the whole person was like a stone statue I froze there, unable to move.

Brother Xiong glanced at the pen holder, and a smile flashed in his eyes.Then strode to the door, opened the noren curtain, and shouted:

"Don't look for it! The pen holder is here!"

two

Supervisor of rituals.

In the main hall, a eunuch with a black crown and a brocade robe, with light eyebrows and a thin face, sat upright in the upper seat, and there were many attendants standing up and down beside him, with a very intimidating aura.Hu Dazui, Brother Xiong, Xiaobao, Erfu, and Xizhao, all knelt down below with their heads down, the room was so quiet that even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

Gala.

"uh-huh."

The father-in-law took a sip of tea, then covered the teacup and cleared his throat.

"This matter seems to be very simple. Hu Kun, you have been working in the palace for so many years, why did you commit such a foolishness. Now, there are all witnesses and evidences, so you can't help pleading guilty." The father-in-law said slowly say.

"Eunuch Gao, the villain was really wronged! It must be...someone must have framed the villain on purpose!" Hu Dazui lay on the ground, raised his head, and cried out in a crying voice, his usual air was here There was nothing left in the mouth.

"Have you entered the South Study Room today?"

"The villain is in charge of cleaning the Qianqing Palace, no matter the South Study Room or the Nuan Pavilion of the Main Hall, you must enter it every day!"

"That means it has entered. Is this ocher satin your veil?"

"It belonged to the villain, but the villain lost it a few days ago! This thing is really not done by the villain! Eunuch Gao, I am wronged!" Hu Dazui desperately defended himself, and then knocked heavily on the ground A few rings.

Eunuch Gao shook his head, then picked up the tea cup expressionlessly, and took a sip.Xi Zhao looked up quietly, and suddenly found that Eunuch Gao's eyes were passing over the rim of the teacup, pointing directly to the place in front of him, to the left, where Brother Xiong was kneeling.That gaze was sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy, and could not be discerned clearly, but Xi Zhao intuitively felt that Eunuch Gao's eyes were not pure.

Hu Dazui probably was wronged.No need to think about it, you can guess it right.Even if there are all the witnesses and material evidence, Hu Dazui stayed in the palace well, why would he do such a mindless thing if he has nothing to do?The discerning people present, perhaps including Hu Dazui himself, also understood what was going on, but the thing happened according to this method, there was no evidence to prove it, and no one except Hu Dazui wanted to point it out. It's just who did this good thing.

"Okay," Eunuch Gao put the teacup on the table with a clang, as if knocking down a gavel, and interrupted Hu Dazui who was crying for his injustice.I saw that Eunuch Gao was twisting the tassel of his hat, and said calmly: "You say you are wronged a thousand times, and everyone will see the matter. How can you believe that you are wronged? You will not be punished this time. I'm afraid it's difficult to convince the public..." He glanced at Brother Xiong and the others, smiled sinisterly, suddenly opened his eyes, and said loudly, "Come on! Take Hu Kun..."

"and many more!"

A loud shout suddenly came from behind.Xizhao looked back and saw two people standing at the door, one was Feng Dachuan who sent him and Eunuch Ma out of the palace a while ago, and the other had big eyes and flat face, he was the number one eunuch in the palace The character, the most favored celebrity in front of the emperor, Wang Chengen, Wang Gonggong!Hu Dazui's eyes lit up all of a sudden, he hurriedly knelt and rubbed over, grabbed Wang Chengen's thigh, and shouted "Eunuch, save me!"; but Eunuch Gao's sinister smile froze all of a sudden, the corners of his mouth trembling, With an unnatural respect on his face, he stood up awkwardly and saluted the prince.

"Hey, Eunuch Wang, this trivial matter has troubled you. Come, come, please take your seat."

Wang Chengen let out a hum from his throat, went inside and sat down.Eunuch Gao also sat down on the chair next to him.

"Our family didn't want to ask about such a small matter, but it seems that we can't come if we don't come." The little eunuch brought a cup of new tea, Wang Chengen picked up the tea cup from the table, and said with lowered eyes, "If we don't come , Aren’t you going to wrong the good guy soon?”

"Uh... What did you say, Eunuch Wang? Hu Kun stole the emperor's pen holder, and the evidence is overwhelming. How can he be called a good man?" Eunuch Gao's stiff expression eased, and a faint smugness flashed in his eyes. I want to see how the prince will solve this siege.

"I heard that the pen holder is still here this morning?" Wang Chengen asked slowly.

"Yes."

"However, before dawn this morning, Hu Kun came to my office to discuss matters. It was almost noon, and he didn't go back to Qianqing Palace until he heard that the pen holder was lost. How could he have time to steal the pen holder?"

A few words were spoken in a lukewarm manner, but it was like a gust of cold wind swept through the room. Eunuch Gao, Brother Xiong and the others turned pale instantly.

"But, but Hu Kun said it himself. In the morning, he went to the South Study Room, Xiong Da, and Er Fu. They all saw him and went there. This is proved by someone..." Eunuch Gao was not reconciled, and opened his mouth to refute road.

"You mean... our family is lying?" Wang Chengen squinted at Eunuch Gao.

"Don't dare dare..." Eunuch Gao's last bit of arrogance was extinguished by this sentence, and his whole body softened all of a sudden.

"He said he had been there, because he was afraid of being accused of dereliction of duty." Wang Chengen turned to Hu Dazui again, with a kind expression on his face, "This silly boy, it is still unclear whether dereliction of duty or stealing the pen holder is more serious? Why bother?" Persevere."

"Elder-in-law is right... Eunuch is right..." Hu Dazui knelt on the ground and nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking at rice, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

"Well. Although, this Hu Kun is our family's distant nephew, but our family is not a person who bends the law for personal gain. The crime of dereliction of duty should be punished, so let's deduct his monthly salary for one month. Punishment, Eunuch Gao, what do you think?"

Wang Chengen took a sip of tea, put the teacup back on the table steadily, raised his eyes, and poked at Eunuch Gao.Eunuch Gao dared not say a word, so he nodded.

"Since it is the prince's decision, then do as you say. Hu Kun, according to the crime of dereliction of duty, you will be fined for one month's salary. As for... who stole the pen holder and planted it on you," said Eunuch Gao and Brother Xiong Looking at each other, he paused and said, "At present, it seems that the evidence is not sufficient. After new clues are presented, we will investigate another day. Wang Gonggong, do you see...?"

"The villain knows who it is!" Without waiting for the prince to answer, Hu Dazui quickly followed up. The panic and despair a moment ago had already turned into anger, and he raised his hand to point at someone, but the prince on the seat did not Waving his hand, he still spoke in that unhurried manner.

"Hey—don't worry. Since Eunuch Gao has said to check another day, let's forget about today." Wang Chengen looked at Eunuch Gao, with a half-smile expression that made people feel chills, "and the pen holder has already been found. Now, this matter can be made into a minor matter as much as possible, and the supervisor of ceremonies is busy with work, so why bother Eunuch Gao?"

Hu Dazui froze for a moment, nodded hesitantly, and stopped talking.Wang Chengen smiled slightly:

"Since the matter is over, our family will leave first. It's getting late, so you should leave too." After speaking, he took Feng Dachuan, walked out of the gate and left.Everyone in the room didn't know what to do, so they had to look at Eunuch Gao.I saw Gao Gonggong with a sullen face, neither moving nor speaking.After a long while, he raised his hand and waved it anyway. Seeing this, everyone also dispersed wisely.

Xizhao lowered her head and walked silently behind the crowd.Wang Chengen was talking nonsense to protect Hu Dazui, of course Xizhao knew it.Although I have no impression of seeing Hu Dazui when I was in the main hall in the morning, but in Ma Gonggong's small courtyard with gray walls, I really watched Hu Dazui sitting there for a long time, how could it be possible Wang Chengen stayed in his room until noon.But Xizhao remained silent, saying nothing.What's the point of saying it.Regardless of whether what Wang Chengen said was true or not, Hu Dazui was framed by others, which is probably true.It is hard to say that it is a bad thing to use lies to solve the encirclement of lies.It's just that in front of these layers of lies, everyone's heart is like a mirror, but no one steps forward to expose it.Either fear in the heart, or ghosts in the heart, no matter what is hidden in each heart, all these can't help but make the young Xi Zhao shudder.

three

On the way back to Qianqing Palace, there was silence all the way.Approaching the east wing, Hu Dazui waved, signaling the four of them to follow Hu Dazui's room.Xi Zhao, who was walking behind, faintly felt that something was a little bit wrong.

As soon as he entered the room, there were already four or five tall eunuchs standing inside.Seeing Hu Dazui and the others come in, they hurriedly stepped aside.Hu Dazui walked straight into the house, sat down, and glanced at Xi Zhao and the four of them.

"Admit it to yourself."

No one said anything.

"Have the guts to design Lao Tzu, but don't have the guts to admit it!?"

Hu Dazui's voice raised an octave, and his face was full of contempt and resentment.I was in the Supervisor of Rituals just now, and I don't know who the person Hu Dazui wanted to point out was, but judging from the abnormal behavior of the three people a while ago, it should be the conspiracy of the three people.And the eye contact between Brother Xiong and Eunuch Gao just now made Xi Zhao more convinced of this guess.However, he didn't want to point them out.Although these people were wrong, it all stemmed from Hu Dazui's many injustices.Anyway, the pen holder was found, and Hu Dazui was not convicted, so the matter is settled.It would be best if he can't find any evidence, or if he can ignore the villain's mistakes and really turn the big thing into a small one.Xizhao murmured in her heart, praying that the storm would dissipate as soon as possible, and everyone would be happy after the rain.

"Yes...it's Zhang Dexiu!"

Xi Zhao was thinking about it, when suddenly a voice broke out in the silence, short and sharp, especially piercing.

"it's him!"

Xizhao raised her head abruptly, only to see Brother Xiong's trembling fingers pointing directly at herself.Hu Dazui narrowed his eyes and looked this way suspiciously. In an instant, he became the focus of everyone's attention in the room.Dao Dao's eyes stabbed his body like needles, Xi Zhao's eyes widened in surprise, and he was completely stunned.

what? !