Hypocrites

In the second year of Yuanhe, in the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, the bookstore in Xishi, which had been open for nearly ten years, closed its doors.The clerk took off the banner and closed the bookstall. The guest asked, "Where's your boss?"

The guy was depressed: "The boss has gone to work."

"Hey? It's not good to be a boss, how can you work for someone else?"

Dude shrugs, who knows.

Jiang Zhi changed into a clean robe and combed her hair crown in front of the mirror, while Madam nagged beside her: "I think your book stall should have been closed long ago, and you were originally running Changle Shaofu, and you can still get fifty hu a month. It’s good to work for the royal family, and I don’t know what kind of official I will be appointed if I ask you to enter the palace this time.”

Jiang Zhi went out happily: "Let's go."

Walking dozens of steps along the Chi Road, to the inside and outside of Nanlu, Jiang Zhi stood there for a moment, turned around, turned into Fengyang Avenue, and stopped in front of a house—the owner of this family was also going out, and Jiang Zhi had four eyes. relatively.

"Where are you going?" Jieyun asked.

"Where are you going?" Jiang Zhi asked back.

"I'm going to be an official." Jie Yun's eyebrows danced brightly, he waved his wide sleeves, and put his back behind his back in style, revealing a fist-sized emerald on his belt.People are in good spirits on happy occasions, and they wear all the jade belts at the bottom of the box.

Jiang Zhi said: "What are you showing off, look at how petty you are."

The two looked at each other and smiled, just like the rain and the sky, the clouds cleared and the fog cleared, and they were indescribably refreshed.On the road together, passing by the door of Wen's house, Mr. Wen was sweeping the fallen leaves in front of the steps with a broom. When he saw the two elders, he saluted as a junior.

"Two gentlemen, are you going out today?" Young Master Wen asked with a smile, he knew that Jie Yun and Jiang Zhi, a master and servant exchange, a west market selling books, living a life of seclusion in the market.

Jiang Zhi said: "Hey, busy life. The eunuchs are all wiped out, and the imperial court is in need of people, so it's time for us to be donkey envoys for others."

Young Master Wen was stunned: "What is it?"

Jie Yun said: "Why, my nephew doesn't know? A few days ago, the mutiny caused a storm all over the city, and it was His Majesty who took a ruthless hand to wipe out the Southern Army of the Eunuch Party and arrest the leader of the bandit, Qiu Zhiyuan."

"Then... Then there are Tong Fang, Niu Shida..."

"The head is hanging at Dongshikou!"

The broom fell to the ground.Passers-by came and went, leaving Mr. Wen alone at the door of the house in a daze. Then he picked up the broom and walked home slowly. The people in the yard were shocked when they saw Mr. Wen's eyes staring straight out as if he had lost his soul.

The huge and impenetrable iron house in the backyard exudes a cold and harsh luster in winter.The lady sat on the futon and recited the scriptures: "...seeing that the five aggregates are all empty, the relics of all hardships..."

Mr. Wen stretched his arms to hug the iron house, and pressed his face close to the wall. There were waves of cold and hot waves, the iron wall was the colder, and his tears were the hotter.Across the wall was his old father's dying breath, which was quickly covered up by the wail of Young Master Wen.

The atmosphere of Zhangyi Palace has taken on a new look. In the past, white-faced eunuchs came and went in the palace, but now it is much quieter. The one who led Jiang Zhi and Jieyun to Tianlu Pavilion to meet was a tall and burly guard.The two passed through the back road and waited for an announcement in the corridor. After a while, a young man came out of the pavilion, wearing armor and a sword, holding a leather helmet in his hand. His expression was gloomy and angry, and he brushed past the two elders.

Jiang Zhi looked back frequently, and said for a long time, "If I'm not mistaken..."

Jieyun didn't look sideways, and replied: "You didn't admit your mistake, he is the eldest son of the Prime Minister. After your Majesty ascended the throne, he was named the Zuo Duhou in front of the palace. He was absent from the Wuyou Richao meeting for no reason and did not enter the palace to rescue him. Keep his position."

"how do you know?"

"How do I know? Hey, you set up a stall in the West Market and never go to Xie Ling Restaurant to drink?"

Pass two people in.There are three officials in the Book Pavilion—the Prime Minister Duan Boyu is the first under the Son of Heaven, Huo Liang is the next, and Shen Yu is the second. Seeing the two elders, he hugged and smiled and said, "Mr. Jiang, Jie Lao."

The two saluted the emperor.

Liang Heng also had a smile on his face. Compared to Jie Yun's impression, he was much thinner. It was obvious that he had put in a lot of effort. The scrolls in front of the case were piled high.

Duan Boyu and Huo Liang are old acquaintances with Jieyun Jiang Zhi. They were colleagues who died or retired, and now they are still officials in the same dynasty and serve the new master together. It cannot but be said to be a fate.Say goodbye to each other peacefully.

"Shen Youdu," Jie Yun joked, "Why don't black clothes show your handsomeness, do you want to change into green clothes?"

Everyone laughed.

Duan Boyu said: "Don't call him You Duhou anymore, Mr. Shen is now the Prime Minister Sizhi, a civil servant with a rank and salary of a thousand stones."

"It's overkill to be a bodyguard by my side," Liang Heng said with a smile, "Let my uncle guide me."

Shen Yu seemed to be singing along with him: "I dare not."

This scene fell into the eyes of the officials present, and the four were treacherous and cunning, and they all sensed the change in the direction of the wind—a pair of right-hand men of the emperor, Duan Yanling had fallen out of favor after the change of the Golden Palace, and Shen Yu's status was flourishing, as if he had become an upstart.

Jieyun was originally the minister of the Department of Agriculture and Agriculture. Since he left, no one is qualified for the position and has been vacant. Since Jieyun is willing to return to the court, he will be reinstated as an official.In addition, during the imperial court's search for eunuch criminal evidence, he reminded Shen Yu to secretly visit tax warehouses in various places, and provided many account books and files that had been suppressed by the Dasinong before, which greatly promoted the progress of the investigation. It should also be rewarded.

As for Jiang Zhi, the position in the Changle Shaofu was also vacant for him, but it was obvious that he had lost his talent. Just when Huo Liang had a headache and lost his hair in order to clarify the various corruptions and perversions of the three eunuchs, he sent him to the Ting Wei as the left supervisor to share the pressure.

Huo Liangdao: "In addition to the bribes of officials from all over the country, Mr. Pei also found out that the former prefect of Shixing Xu Chou colluded with bandits to plunder the stolen money of the people. Xu Chou is a party of eunuchs. Behind the collusion with the bandits, there must be instructions from the three eunuchs. I could have asked this question slowly, but Qiu Zhiyuan lost his tongue..."

Jiang Zhi was startled: "You lost your tongue?"

Duan Boyu sighed and said: "On the first night in prison, he committed suicide by biting his tongue in fear of crime. Although he was rescued, he could only keep his words in his stomach."

Jieyun: "You can let him write."

Duan Boyu: "On the day he was arrested, people from the Shocking Department accidentally broke his arms and legs."

Jieyun: "..."

Jiang Zhi: "..."

Despite the notoriety of the three eunuchs, there is a bit of meaning in trying to judge a person who can't speak or write.

Liang Heng glanced at Shen Yu guilty, and seeing that he was calm, he gave himself a comforting look.On the night of Qiu Zhiyuan's "suicide", Wang Jianzhi arrested the servants in the palace and threw them into Beisi Prison. Shen Yu went with him, and when he came back, he told Liang Heng that Qiu Zhiyuan had lost his tongue.

If you don't have a tongue, you won't talk nonsense. Xinzhou also understands this truth, so he cut off his tongue to show his determination never to betray Liang Heng.

Huo Liang went on to say: "For these crimes, let him draw a charge, and then confiscate the family property. The important thing is the case of Shen Gong, not only to convict the three eunuchs, but also to commit crimes for Shen Gong. Some students of the Shen family are still demoted. The way is to distribute documents to various places to prove innocence, so that it will work well whether the officials are reinstated or released from punishment.”

"Good things don't go out, but bad things spread far and wide," Liang Heng shook his head and said, "It's easy to splash dirty water, but it's not easy to clean up clean."

Jie Yun touched the emerald belt around his belly, and said with a smile: "It's hard to say, but it's easy to say. So let the civil servants draft an edict, and His Majesty will stamp it with a seal, and when he drags Qiu Zhiyuan around the city to show the public, Read it on the sidelines, read it a hundred and eighty times, and the news will spread.”

This is tantamount to roasting Qiu Zhiyuan on the fire, no one objected, the people of Wangdu City would like to eat his meat raw, it would be just right if it was burnt.

"The difficulty is," Jie Yun looked at Liang Heng, "the role of the three eunuchs in Shen Gong's case is to stir up the flames, and it was the late emperor who actually ordered it. To prove that Shen Gong is right, it is to prove the late emperor is wrong."

There was a moment of silence.

Xinzhou mixed hot tea for the adults, and everyone's eyes wandered between Liang Heng and Shen Yu.Everyone knows that His Majesty favors Master Shen, but how far can this favor go?Should we quietly cover up Shen Gong's case, or show right and wrong with great fanfare?

Shen Yu drank tea leisurely, as if he wasn't worried at all.

Liang Heng said: "Right is right, wrong is wrong. How has the standard of right and wrong been changed by power?"

Duan Boyu lowered his eyelids, Huo Liang touched his head.

Jieyun said: "It is human beings who make right and wrong, and human beings who set standards. It is not so easy." Even so, he said it with a smile, and his tone contained affirmation.

The guard who led the way earlier came in and reported: "The Jingsha Department sent to Ruyang has news."

"Oh?" Huo Liang's eyes lit up, "Did you catch Shan Guan?"

The guard said: "Shan Guan fled. More than ten corpses were found in the woods in the outskirts."

When Duan Boyu returned home, the eldest son was meditating in front of the hall, wearing a mask of neither sadness nor joy.The other people in the mansion were not like that at all, there was such a loud noise as if the wall in the west wing was being torn down, and all the servants hid.Mrs. Xiangguo was cursing on the street with her hips on her hips, and the West Chamber responded by throwing a bottle and smashing the furnace.

Mrs. Xiangguo scolded: "There are seeds born by parents but not raised by mothers! Who is used to it?!"

When the servants saw Mr. Xiang, they wept and mourned, "Second Young Master, I don't know why he lost his temper again. The house has been smashed, and no one can persuade him."

Master Xiang flipped his robes, sat cross-legged beside his eldest son, and said meanly, "Let him go."

Duan Yanling looked at his father coldly.

Duan Boyu said: "What air are you putting on today? Who are you showing your black face to?"

Duan Yanling didn't speak.He is on duty today, on duty at Tianlu Pavilion, Liang Heng treats him like nothing, and doesn't even give him a look, which makes him very uncomfortable.

"It's worthless," Duan Boyu said, "If you want to catch his eyes, you have to dig out his eyes and put them on the desk, and he can only stare at you every day."

Duan Yanling was taken aback by his father's sudden words, then covered up his disgust, and asked: "What are you going to do? You can only fish in muddy water, and now is the time when the water is the muddiest. Once the limelight passes, the opportunity will be gone. "

Duan Boyu sat with his sleeves on his heels, quietly looking at the sky outside the eaves, the north wind was like an invisible palm, wiping away the white clouds like velvet flowers, revealing his true blue face like a jade lake.

"What's the hurry?" Duan Boyu said, "Aren't you curious? Qiu Zhiyuan uttered such a sensational rumor at the court meeting, and his tongue was gone. The so-called well-known secret in Zhangshan County, Wangducheng No one knows about it. In my opinion, if you don’t find out about this matter, don’t mention anything else.”

The louder vibration in the west chamber was Duan Yanyou's sword hitting the pillar.The roof collapsed, stirring up a cloud of dust.