A traitor

Recently, several major events have occurred in the DPRK and China. Several officials were successively questioned for corruption cases. Among them, Zhao E, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Du Qingyun, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, were sentenced to beheaded for disregarding human life.

Although Xu Jingfei, the grandson of Xu Jin, a great scholar, did not participate in the ranks of murder and arson, he used his power to cause losses to the court, and he was stripped of his official position and distributed to the frontier.

Qin Jian, the right minister, said that the above-mentioned crime of impeaching Xu Jin for lax discipline, the old emperor thought of Mr. Xu's hard work, and did not pursue his actual responsibility. He only asked Xu Jin to go home and reflect on his mistakes.

Because Zhao E was imprisoned in the prison, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Households was vacant, and the Lord Right Minister and Minister of Rites Su Qinglang jointly recommended an official under his command. With the support of the emperor, Pei Yan originally wanted to compete with Qin Jian for the Ministry of Punishment. Unexpectedly, Qin Jian unexpectedly recommended Cai Jun for the position of Shangshu in the court hall.

Because of Zhao E's case, Mr. Cai performed well and was appreciated by many ministers in the court. The old emperor saw that he handled the case cleanly and neatly, so he adopted the advice of the right minister and the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and sent the Ministry of Punishment to the court. The position was given to Cai Jun.

However, after this incident, the internal forces of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Punishment have undergone a major change. Originally, the Ministry of Punishment was the territory of the left prime minister Pei Yan. Many officials, most of them were Pei Yan's henchmen, and Qin Jian took advantage of this opportunity to insert his own people in.

As for the household department, originally the running dog of the right minister Qin Jian, Zhao E lost power. Although he supported an official to go up, he was a newcomer after all, and it was not easy to use.

In addition, the old emperor had doubts about the loyalty of the household department because of Xu Jingyu's incident, so he specially ordered people to check the transaction documents over the years, and dealt with some people like chickens and monkeys, and introduced a group of new people from outside. Most of the people who were dealt with were Qin Jian's minions, and most of the new recruits were from Pei Yan's forces.

Therefore, comparing the two sides, both sides suffered damage and also benefited, but this time Pei Yan lost more, lost the position of minister, and lost absolute control over the Ministry of Punishment.

So Mr. Right, while feeling heavy, was also a little happy. When he walked out of the court, he laughed twice in front of Pei Yan.

In Shangshu's mansion, Su Qinglang was standing in the gazebo, while Ruyi was sitting at the stone table, in front of him were brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, and several scrolls.

In such a scene, one can tell at a glance that it is not the book boy who is accompanying the master to study, but the master who is teaching the book boy to read.

Holding a book, Su Qinglang was looking at a weeping willow on the opposite river bank, but Ruyi asked: "My lord, if a city is attacked by enemies, how should the general be rescued?"

Su Qinglang glanced at him, and asked back, "What do you think?"

Ruyi scratched her head, thought for a moment, and replied honestly: "If it were me, I would form an alliance with one of them and attack the other enemy with him."

Su Qinglang snorted, raised his eyebrows and said, "Negotiations between the two armies require bargaining chips. Today, people are swordsmen and you are fish. Why do you form an alliance with others?"

Ruyi thought about it again, and tentatively said: "Then... I promise that after the matter is completed, I will give him all the proceeds, and I only want my own one, so that the crisis can be resolved."

Su Qinglang raised his lips when he heard the words, and asked back: "But in this way, one of the enemies annexed the other's power and became stronger than before. If he attacks you in turn, do you think that under such circumstances, What are your chances of surviving?"

Ruyi put down the book in her hand, frowned, and said angrily: "But, it's clearly agreed. If this is the case, isn't it a breach of trust?"

"The so-called soldier never tires of deceit, since it is so..."

Su Qinglang withdrew his gaze, dragged his tone, and said unhurriedly: "Never put your life on the hope that the other party can keep their promises, believe that others are happy, but the world is unpredictable, and it often makes people feel uncomfortable. by yourself."

Ruyi nodded thoughtfully, and asked again: "Then, if it was the young master, what would you do?"

Su Qinglang smiled lightly, and said slowly: "I once wanted to eat a piece of fat, but that piece of fat was missed by a fox and a bear at the same time. How do you get it?"

Ruyi shook her head, and heard him say again: "Let's put down that piece of fat for now, let the fox and the bear fight first, then go around to the fox's lair and take away his important things. Next, turn back and form a bond with the fox." Alliance, defeat Gou Xiong, and let him see his beloved things are placed at Gou Xiong's door.

As a result, the fox has to give up the fat in front of him in order to get back his own things, and I can just take advantage of this opportunity to put that piece of fat into my mouth. "

Ruyi heard the words, her eyes lit up, and she said sincerely: "My lord, you are so smart."

Su Qinglang snorted, closed the scroll, slapped it on Ruyi's head, and said, "It has nothing to do with whether you are smart or not, the key is how much you read, you will gain as much knowledge, understand?"

Ruyi nodded half understanding, and continued to lie on the table reading. Su Qinglang sat down beside him, picked up the cup on the table, and took a sip with the lid on it.

But the housekeeper walked up to the gazebo and said to him: "My lord, Mr. Cai is here."

Su Qinglang raised his eyebrows slightly, Sir Cai was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, today is the time to announce the decree, as a new nobleman in the court, there are so many people vying to curry favor with him, how could he think of coming to him?

Shi Shiran flicked his sleeves and said, "Please come in."

When Cai Jun came from outside, Su Qinglang was sitting in the gazebo drinking tea leisurely, seeing Master Cai's flustered look, Master Su pulled an elegant smile from the corner of his mouth.

Putting the cup on the stone table, he asked lightly, "Lord Cai, what's the matter?"

After Cai Jun came out of the palace, he went directly to Shangshu Mansion and rushed to Su Qinglang, only then did he realize his impoliteness.

Quickly subdued his panic, collected himself, bowed his hands to Su Qinglang and said: "See you, my lord."

Seeing this, Su Qinglang turned his lower body, held a folding fan in his hand, and shook it slowly: "Master Cai is now the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, and you and I are already at the same level, why do you show such a big ceremony?"

Cai Jun's eyes widened, and he wanted to ask Su Qinglang how he knew that the emperor ordered him to be Minister of the Ministry of Punishment.

But thinking that it was he and Qin Jian who recommended him to be Minister of the Ministry of Punishments in the court that day, he felt relieved.

So he lowered his head and said ashamedly: "Regarding this matter, I want to ask Mr. Su, what is going on?"

Su Qinglang looked at him, saw him frown again and said: "The lower official has decided to retire in the Ministry of Rites and doesn't want to go out to do business with the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. This time, the lower official has no choice but to do anything about the case of Du Qingyun and Zhao E. , I thought that the case was over, so I could continue to return to the Ministry of Rites to work, my lord... are you going to be kicked out of office?"

Su Qinglang listened quietly, did not speak, and said after a long time: "Lord Cai, why did you come to the Ministry of Rites?"

Cai Jun was taken aback, with an unnatural expression on his face, and replied: "At that time, the subordinate had a little conflict with Master Liu of the Ministry of Punishment, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment. Officer, I have no place to stand in the Ministry of Punishment, so I have no choice but to ask the emperor for transfer. The other lords in the court are unwilling to accept me, for fear of embarrassing Mr. Liu, only you, Mr. Su, took me in..."

Hearing this, Su Qinglang raised his lips slightly, and said with a faint smile: "I asked you to come to the Ministry of Rites because you had nowhere to go. Master Liu and Master Du have fallen, and now it is the time when Master Cai is skyrocketing. To accept you, today, those people who want to curry favor with you are afraid that it will be too late, since you have a place to go now, there is no need to stay in the Ministry of Rites."

"Master Su..."

As soon as Cai Jun heard what he said, he became anxious, and hurriedly said: "I have been in the Ministry of Rites for so long, and I have been taken care of by my lord and other colleagues. I am used to the life of the Ministry of Rites, and I don't want to go away. Besides, , with my ability, where can I be a minister..."

Su Qinglang sighed silently, he gave away the position of Minister for nothing, but the other party didn't appreciate it, and instead asked him to comfort him, why did the world fall to this point?

He patiently explained to Cai Jun: "Since the emperor let you sit in this seat, it proves that you have this ability. Why should Mr. Cai do this?"

Looking up, Cai Jun looked like he was about to cry, and he continued: "I know you, although you work in the Ministry of Rites, you are always thinking about the past. My Su Qinglang's subordinates never accept deserters. How did you do that back then? He was kicked out from the Ministry of Punishment. Now, how can you walk back upright for me."

Cai Jun didn't want to cry at first, but when he heard him say this, his tears couldn't be held back immediately, and he knelt down at Su Qinglang's feet with a plop: "My lord..."

Su Qinglang was startled by the sudden gift, took a step back, and thought to himself, how much life would be lost if he was kneeled down by Cai Jun today.

He also heard him say: "Your Excellency once extended a helping hand to the lower official when he was in danger. The lower official has no virtue or ability, but he has been taken care of by the adult all the time. This kind of kindness, the lower official will never forget."

Hearing these words, Su Qinglang was very depressed. He was just being lazy and found someone to work for him. How did it become a great kindness when it came to Cai Jun?

He turned around and turned his back to Cai Jun. After a long silence, he sighed and said, "You and I are at the same level now. To me, you can no longer call yourself an inferior official. Also... although you have already served in the Ministry of Punishment , but at least I stayed in my Ritual Department for a while, and if I go out in the future, don’t lose face to our Ritual Department.”

Cai Jun sighed, and heard him say again: "You can do what you have done today, and the little prince has made some achievements. If you have time, you can go to the palace for a walk."

Cai Jun raised his head upon hearing this, and said strangely, "My lord, you are asking me to..."

Su Qinglang stood with his hands behind his back, smiled bitterly, and said: "That person Pei Yan has always only valued the power of the family, I'm afraid even the emperor has never paid attention to it, and Xiangye... I think you don't want to come here, I won't force it either. Although the palace is not as good as the two prime ministers, it is still a powerful person in the city. You have just been promoted, and you have offended many people. If you don't have a stable backer, the days to come will be very sad... ..."