The return of the son-in-law

When Guo Zhan'an and Huo Yu returned to Guo's mansion, Li Shaojun's secret letter was delivered first. At this time, the guard who delivered the letter was waiting in Guo Zhan'an's yard.

Guo Zhan'an deliberately didn't want Huo Yu to continue to be involved in Liang Wang's matter, so he called Jia Huan after returning to the courtyard and asked him to explain the situation of the three restaurants to Huo Yu.And he also told Jia Huan that if Huo Yu was interested, he would take Huo Yu to the restaurant to see for himself.

When Huo Yu and Jia Huan went back to the study first, Guo Zhanan hurried to see the guards sent by Li Shaojun to deliver the letter without thinking about changing clothes.

The bodyguard sent to deliver the letter was Li Shaojun's newly promoted small commander of the Forbidden Army. Guo Zhan'an knew about this, so he didn't avoid this person, and took out the letter directly.

After Guo Zhanan read the secret letter, the guard said, "Master Guo, Your Majesty still has something to tell you."

Guo Zhanan restrained his expression: "Please tell me."

"Your Majesty said, Lord Guo, please take good care of Mr. Huo Yu. You are well aware of the situation on the Emperor's side. Mr. Huo Yu has had too much contact with the Emperor, so he may become addicted."

Guo Zhan twitched in relief: "I remember, please convey it to His Majesty for me, I will definitely take good care of Huo Yu."

The guard didn't say any more, and just took his leave.

After the guards left, Guo Zhanan called Wu Jia: "I remember that five or six years ago, Concubine Hua Gui gave the wife of the mansion two maids. Where are they now?"

Wu Jia thought for a while and replied: "It should still be in the wife's yard. At the beginning, because it was Hua Guifei last time, the wife couldn't use them, so she put them in the yard as a display. Now that Hua Guifei has been abolished, the two No one paid attention to the maids, but I didn’t hear any rumors coming from the courtyard over there.”

Guo Zhan'an thought for a while, and then ordered: "Go and find out what these two maids usually do and who they are in contact with."

Wu Jia agreed.

After Wu Jia left, Guo Zhanan opened Li Shaojun's secret letter again.In the letter, Li Shaojun stated that he suspected that someone in Guo's mansion was tipping off the news, and told Liang Wang about Huo Yu's return, so that Liang Wang used the excuse of hunting to leave the capital first, and Li Chonghao sent him to summon Liang Wang. The angel rushed to nothing.

Although the servants of the Guo Mansion are inferior to the Liu Mansion, there are nearly a hundred of them. It is not difficult for Guo Zhanan to find the spies of the King of Liang here——

After all, Guo Xiantong was in charge of the Guo Mansion, and according to his timid nature, it was absolutely impossible for him to have any contact with the prince under the eyes of the emperor.As for Liu Pianpian, she is just a housewife who thinks that she has the support of the Liu family and the empresses in the palace all day long. If she really gets on the big boat of King Liang, she can't not show off.

Guo Xiantong's official rank was no higher than the fourth rank, and he had never held any important position. The Liang Wang's arrangement of eyes and ears in Guo's mansion must not be aimed at him.If you want to monitor him and Huo Yu, it should be after he became the general judge of Xuzhou and pulled down Shi Guogan, the governor of Xuzhou at the beginning, and even later, when he was arrested and went to Beijing but was not found guilty, he was dismissed from office. Arranged for a period of time after dismissal.

It is impossible for the two headed masters of the Guo Mansion to have any contact with Liang Wang, and the ordinary servants have no chance.But at these two time points, although Guo's mansion had a few servants and maids, they were all bought from Ren Yazi, and they were only seven or eight years old when they bought them back.No matter how courageous King Liang is, it is impossible to find a seven or eight-year-old person as an internal response.

Based on this calculation, it is most likely that they are the spies of King Liang in the Guo Mansion, and only the two maids who were gifted to Liu Pianpian by Liu Shi, who was still Hua Guifei, are left.

I don't know if it was Wu Jia's ability to inquire, or the two maids were careless, but at night, Wu Jia found out.

"Master, the old Wangtou who is in charge of pruning flowers and plants in the garden has seen one of the two maids go out through the corner gate, and it was early in the morning, looking furtive. And the cook in our kitchen, Mrs. Niu, said that the two This palace lady likes to make friends when she has nothing to do these days, and she always asks about the second young master. Aunt Niu also said that because the young master is not in a good mood these days, she dare not say it, or else she would have reported it to the young master." Wu Jia One by one, the inquired news came one by one, all of them were named, and the suspicion of the two maids became more and more serious.

After hearing this, Guo Zhan'an got up and said, "You ask Nanny Jia to bring some strong nanny, let's take a walk in the wife's yard."

But Wu Jia hesitated: "Master, it's just that what these few people said can't just say that the two maids are the internal support of King Liang, and there are wives above them. The wives hinder them from being given by the palace. They have never been wronged on weekdays. These two court ladies are like young ladies in the yard. They don't have to do any work, and there are people who take care of them. The young master is going now. If there is a conflict with the wife, it will not be for no reason. Can't you make it faster for yourself?"

Guo Zhan'an waved his hand and said, "Do what you are told to do. There is no place for you to talk about it here. Hurry up!"

Wu Jia had no choice but to agree, and went out of the house to find Wu Xin.

A group of people went to the courtyard where Liu Pianpian was in a mighty way. Seeing that it was Guo Zhanan who was coming, the guards of the courtyard did not dare to stop them, and wanted to welcome Guo Zhanan and others directly.If Guo Zhan'an hadn't taken the initiative to wait in front of the yard and asked someone to pass it on first, he might have been able to enter Liu Pianpian's house all the way.

The Liu family was destroyed, and Liu Pianpian was like a frightened bird. Hearing that it was Guo Zhan'an who had come, she lost all her arrogance in the past, and even went to greet the gate of the courtyard in person.

"Has Zhan'an eaten?" Liu Pianpian acted like a loving mother, and after welcoming Guo Zhan'an into the hall, she asked him with a smile, "The kitchen in my yard made bird's nest porridge today, would Zhan'an have a cup?"

"No need," Guo Zhan'an said straight to the point, "I came here today to ask my wife for two people."

After hearing this, Liu Pianpian was overjoyed: "Have you grown up? Come on, tell your mother, who is our Zhan'an in my yard? I don't know what kind of beauty it is, but it makes you You have brought so many people here to beg, is it possible that you are afraid that I will rob people if I don’t agree?"

Guo Zhan'an didn't bother to act with her: "There are two court ladies who were rewarded by the palace in the madam's yard. I came here today to ask the madam for these two people."

Liu Pianpian covered her mouth and shook her handkerchief and stopped suddenly: "Zhan An, stop joking, you also know that this is a reward from the palace, how can you let you get involved?"

Guo Zhan'an sneered and said: "My wife is joking, how can I miss the people in the palace? I'm not the second brother, and I only know how to pity and cherish jade all day long."

Liu Pianpian's face turned cold: "I don't understand what you said. What do you mean you are not the second brother? An'er just joined Qiu Wei, and now she is studying hard in the yard. Where did you come from? Zhan An, Even if you are the eldest brother and the son of the first wife, I will have a good argument with you on this matter!"

"A few days ago, there was a maid who threw herself into the lake. After she was rescued, the doctor diagnosed her as pregnant. Is that maid the second brother's personal servant?" It's not about the maid's color, it's a beautiful story."

Liu Pianpian's face was almost distorted: "Guo Zhan'an, I'm giving in everywhere, but you are pressing me every step of the way. Let me tell you, don't be too arrogant!"

"Why, do you want to go back to your mother's house to file a complaint, or go directly to the palace to ask the nobleman for help?" Guo Zhanan's voice suddenly rose when he said this, "The names of the palace people in the palace are all on the book, and the palace ladies are all His Majesty's women. A concubine rewarded at will? The women sent by the Liu family violated many palace rules, and this is one of them! If we don’t send these two maids back now, do we have to wait for His Majesty to come to ask for it in person? The wife should go first Take care of your own son, and then find a way to ask someone to rectify me!"

Liu Pianpian didn't catch her breath, and fell directly backwards.Qiuju and Qiuxiang on the side hurriedly supported Liu Pianpian, Qiuju cried and shouted: "Young master, my wife is so angry with you, please don't say a few words!"

Guo Zhanan frowned and said, "A maid wants to teach me a lesson? Ma'am, let me ask you again, where are those two maids?"

Liu Pianpian pointed to the right: "It's in the room on the right in the yard, Qiuxiang, take the young master there."

"Yes."

Disturbed by Guo Zhan'an's simple words, Liu Pianpian couldn't care about anything else. As soon as Guo Zhan'an left, she immediately sent someone to the next yard to call over the maids around Guo Feng'an. She had to be careful this time. Rectify and rectify these little girl films!

Besides Guo Zhan'an, Qiu Xiang led the crowd to an independent house: "Master, this is the house where the two maids live."

"Go and call people out."

"Yes."

The two maids of honor came out soon.As Wu Jia said, one of the two court ladies wore a jasper-inlaid gold-embellished pearl apron on her head, and on her exposed arm, one could see an emerald bracelet on her left hand and a ruby ​​ring on her finger. She looks like a lady.As for the other, I can only say no more.

The two maids saluted Guo Zhanan together: "Hi, young master."

Guo Zhan'an didn't tell them to get up, and turned his eyes back and forth between the two maids, and said directly: "Okay, go in and pack up, and I'll send you back to the palace later."

Hearing the words, the two maids raised their heads to look at Guo Zhan'an, and one of them couldn't help asking: "Young Master, we were given to my wife by the nobles in the palace. Now the young master is going to send us back to the palace, have you ever asked your wife and the palace?" The nobleman in the palace? Please forgive me, the young master, the slaves talk too much, the imperial palace is not the Guo Mansion, and it is not something that the young master can decide at will."

Before Guo Zhan'an could speak, Wu Jia behind him laughed first.Guo Zhanan turned to him and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

Wu Jia hurriedly stopped laughing: "Back to Eldest Young Master, I just think that my wife is really kind to these two court ladies, and I have only been out for a few years, and I have forgotten all the rules."

Guo Zhan'an didn't blame him either: "Then tell me what the rules should be."

With Guo Zhanan's backing, Wu Jia said, "Even if it is given by the nobles in the palace, it is also given to the servants of Guo's mansion. The young master is the young master of our Guo mansion. These two maids looked up at the young master's honor during the salute." Not to mention, he still dared to utter wild words, using his wife and nobles in the palace to suppress the young master. Besides, the maids are all registered in the book, even if the palace maids leave the palace at the age of 25, they have to go through the empress, and even Your Majesty took a look, did you just give it as a gift? It can be seen from this that the coming of these two maids to our house is not only an honor, but a great bad thing."

Guo Zhanan asked the two court ladies: "Do you understand?"

The maids trembled when they heard this, and one of the brave ones wanted to continue arguing: "Master, the back seat in the palace has been vacant for a long time, and the palace affairs are all handled by the imperial concubine. The imperial concubine saw that we gave it to the wife, and it is not broken rule."

Guo Zhan'an made a hand gesture: "It's not a bad rule, you can talk about it after you enter the palace. Come on, go to Cuizhuxuan to clean up, please move these two, and send them to the palace tomorrow morning. "

The maids still wanted to argue, how could Nanny Jia and the others give them this chance?They walked up behind them one by one, grabbed their white wrists, and said with a smile: "You two girls, hurry up and tidy up in the house, go to bed early tonight, and you will have to get up early to enter the palace tomorrow."

When Guo Zhan'an returned to the yard, Wu Jia smiled flatteringly and said, "Master is a good planner, he caught the spies from our house so quickly."

After hearing this, Guo Zhan'an glanced at Wu Jia, and said with a half-smile: "It's not over yet, why don't you do it?"

Just when Wu Jia was at a loss, Wu Xin and others rushed in from outside the house, holding hemp rope and cloth strips in their hands.Before Wu Jia could react, they directly tied Wu Jia into a rice dumpling.

"Master, what are you doing, master?" Wu Jia was tied up and couldn't break free, so she could only wriggle in Wu Xin's hands and beg for mercy, "Young master, stop joking!"

"Are you kidding me?" Guo Zhanan walked up to Wu Jia and asked him, "I asked you to find out about the maids given by Concubine Hua. When did you say that these two maids were spies of King Liang?"

When Wu Jia heard this, her face turned pale immediately: "No, no, young master, you misremembered, and you told me yourself! You said that you suspected that these two court ladies are spies of King Liang, so I said that!"

Guo Zhan'an was not annoyed either: "I said I didn't say it, I know it in my heart. Those two maids were bestowed by the palace, I can't touch them, but you are a servant of my Guo family, and the whole family's deed of prostitution is in my hands." , You said, how should I punish you?"

Wu Jia's mouth twitched for a while, and then she suddenly knelt down towards Guo Zhan'an: "Master, Master, I was wrong, I was infatuated for a while, it was my fault!"

Guo Zhanan sat on the main seat and looked at Wu Jia: "You have been with me for so many years, you should know my temper. It's time like this, are you still just begging for mercy?"

Wu Jia choked up and said, "It's my fault. Two months ago, when I came back from work at Zhuangzi in the suburbs of Beijing, a carriage suddenly blocked the way. A man got out of the carriage and said that it was King Liang who asked me to explain. I went to the carriage to listen to the training. I don’t know if it’s the King of Liang in the carriage, but if it’s the King of Liang, it’s going to be a disaster if I ignore it! So I walked to the carriage, but the people inside said nothing. Throwing out a money bag, there was a lot of gold and silver in it. Liang Wang said that he wanted to win over you, young master, but young master always avoided him. I think Liang Wang is famous far and wide. If the young master takes the road of Liang Wang, he will His official career must be unimpeded. Moreover, the King of Liang asked me to inquire when Young Master Huo Yu would leave Beijing for a few days. King Liang said that if Young Master Huo Yu was at home, the Young Master would definitely not go to Liang Wang's mansion. I Thinking it’s not a big deal, I agreed.”

"There are so many lies!" Guo Zhanan scolded angrily, "The king of Liang is just an uncle of the current sage. ?”

Wu Jia's hands were tied, so she could only kowtow and beg for mercy: "Young master, what I said is true, I really did it for the sake of the young master. It was because I was obsessed with ghosts for a while and read too many dramas that I felt that Liang Wang was right. The young master's official career is beneficial. But I really do it for the good of the young master, so please forgive me this time, young master."

Guo Zhan'an sneered and said, "If it's really for my own good, why do you call those two maids the spies of King Liang? Spies, do you know what spies are?"

Wu Jia was dripping with cold sweat, and dared not say much.

Furious, Guo Zhanan stepped forward and kicked Wu Jia down: "It's been so many years, you still don't know how much patience I have?"

Wu Jia gritted her teeth and cried bitterly, "Master, I really told you everything!"

Guo Zhan'an was too lazy to continue wasting time with Wu Jia: "Wu Xin, take him out to play [-] boards and then come back."

Wu Jia felt a chill in her heart——Guo Zhan'an has always kept his word, and his legs will definitely be crippled if he spends [-] boards. By then, how can he survive as a crippled person?

"Young master, spare your life, young master, spare your life!" Wu Jia cried, "I say it all, I say it all! My father owes the gambling house 500 taels of silver. Some time ago, the gambling shop chased him every day for gambling debts, and said that if he didn't pay me Once the debt is paid off, we will take our family to dig coal!"

"Gambling debts?" Guo Zhanan asked him, "Didn't your father go to Zhuangzi to retire before I left for Tonghua County? How did you owe gambling debts?"

Wu Jia cried and said: "My old man has bad legs and feet, and he doesn't have much work in the Zhuangzi, and because he has served the young master, no one in the Zhuangzi cares about him. As a result, one day he went out for a walk and entered a gambling house The usual trick in the gambling house is to let people win money continuously first, and then let people lose money after they fall into it. My father won more than 20 taels at the beginning, but now he owes more than 500 taels The methods of the gambling house are vicious, if they really want to arrest our family to dig coal to pay off our debts, and take advantage of people's unpreparedness and send us far away to the coal mine, who can save us?"

Guo Zhanan asked in a deep voice, "Why didn't you tell me clearly?"

Wu Jia shook his head and said, "How dare you tell the young master such a family ugliness. Besides, the young master has a lot to do every day, even if I have the guts, I don't have a chance!"

Guo Zhan'an kicked again: "Aren't you telling the truth? I'm always busy? I was in the yard almost every day a few days ago. Why didn't you have a chance?"

Wu Jia showed embarrassment, but she was also worried about the fifty boards Guo Zhanan said, and finally said: "In the past, we all served in front of the young master, and there was no big difference. Now Jia Huan has become our chief manager. Fuquan became Master Huo Yu's personal servant, and I was left in Tonghua County to take care of Master Huo Yu's grandfather. When the old man left, the young master took me to Xuzhou, and I could only work with those servants who bought in Xuzhou Live the same job and live in the same house.”

"Presumptuous!" Guo Zhanan was furious, "Just because of these, you colluded with King Liang?"

Seeing that the matter had been completely exposed, Wu Jia no longer concealed it when she was exhausted, closed her eyes and said, "King Liang said, if I can bring down the young master for him, I will be able to enter the prince's mansion in the future and be in charge."

"Oh," Guo Zhan'an laughed after hearing this, "A person who betrays his master still expects to find another master?"

Wu Jia trembled all over: "Young Master, what do you mean, King Liang is lying to me?"

Guo Zhan'an didn't want to say anything more to Wu Jia, so he waved his hand: "Take them down and lock them up, and bring them into the palace together tomorrow, please the Holy Majesty to make a decision."

"Yes!"

After dealing with the house thief, Guo Zhan'an only felt a dull pain in his temple.After resting for a while, he got up and went back to his and Huo Yu's room.

Huo Yu just finished bathing, changed into a clean obscene clothes, sat barefoot in front of the mirror and wiped his hair.He heard Guo Zhan'an coming in, turned his head to look at Guo Zhan'an, and asked with a smile: "Brother, are you done?"

Under the light of the candlelight, Huo Yu's side face glowed with a layer of jade light, Guo Zhan'an's spirit was lifted, he walked to Huo Yu's side, took the towel from Huo Yu's hand, and wiped it for Huo Yu himself. hair.

"I'm done, have you chosen a restaurant?"

Huo Yu smiled and shook his head, "No, I'll take Fuquan to see it tomorrow."

"Don't move around, be careful not to pull your hair." Guo Zhanan nodded Huo Yu's forehead, and continued to ask, "Why didn't you take Jia Huan? I entrusted Jia Huan to handle this matter, and he is familiar with it."

Huo Yu lowered his head slightly, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "Jia Huan is the big housekeeper of our yard. He has to deal with so many things on weekdays. How can I keep dragging him to accompany me to watch? Anyway, Jia Huan has already told me about the basic situation. Having said that, I’m just going to take a look, and it’s enough to bring Fuquan.”

A "we" made Guo Zhan'an feel at ease: "Okay, I'll listen to you. After you have read it all, tell Jia Huan directly which one you like, and the title deeds are all with him."

Huo Yu was startled: "Brother bought all of them?"

"The business of these three restaurants is good on weekdays. If it wasn't for the disturbance caused by the common man Li Bo this time, causing the capital to be in turmoil, many people have the idea of ​​returning to their hometowns, I'm afraid they wouldn't sell it yet." Guo Zhanan explained carefully Huo Yu wiped his hair and said with a smile, "So many people are waiting to take over, if I don't start sooner, they will all be sold out when you come back."

"But it's too wasteful!" Huo Yu thought about the three land deeds and began to feel sorry for the money, "My brother's annual salary as an official is only so little, even if there are a few Zhuangzi's income, but during the festivals and festivals, he still has to pay up and down. Just keep some money when you go in and out. This time I sold so much money at once, I will be more frugal in the future."

Guo Zhanan laughed loudly after hearing this: "How old are you, and you are still so stingy."

"It's not stingy, it's careful calculation." Huo Yu corrected Guo Zhanan's statement solemnly, "Since my brother has handed over all the family books to me, you should discuss this kind of matter with me in advance. We will spend a few more days together in the future." Ten years, naturally we have to plan for the future."

The more serious Huo Yu was, the softer Guo Zhanan's heart became: "Cheng Chengcheng, I was wrong this time. I didn't discuss it with you in advance. Please calm down the sixth prince."

Huo Yu was in a hurry: "Brother, stop joking. I'm from a bandit village. What kind of prince is I? Brother, I depend on you for the rest of my life, so I won't enter the palace."

Guo Zhanan threw the towel aside, pulled Huo Yu up, sat down by himself, and then let Huo Yu sit on his lap.While heavily kissing Huo Yu's face and neck, he promised: "Yu'er, you and I will naturally grow old together."

Huo Yu uttered a slight groan, hugged Guo Zhan'an with his backhand, and took the initiative to send himself there.