Daming prepares the emperor

night.

Still hot night.

It has been more than ten days since the yamen servants were called, and tonight it is Zhou's turn to watch the night.

At first he was very worried about his life and future, but slowly, he saw that although the door was piled with oiled firewood, there was no sign of lighting it, and neither Yongjiahou nor Luo Youqian sent anyone to look for it. , then gradually become numb and fall into the boringness of daily life.

There is no way to do this. In the face of unknown threats, few people can always be vigilant, even if it is a matter of life and death.

In the middle of the night, a person came from the direction of the inner hall, rubbed his eyes with one hand, and rubbed his shoulder with the other: "Boss, it's my turn, you go to sleep for a while."

Zhou Bantou handed over the lantern, lifted the clothes at the neckline, and said irritably, "It's a hot day, who can sleep."

"Who says it's not." The yamen servant said, "I don't know when this day will end."

"...The King of Hades fights, and the kid suffers." Bantou Zhou froze for a moment, and replied perfunctorily.

He walked in, and suddenly the more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt, his pessimistic attitude was inexplicably stimulated, and he regained his numb heart. Fear.

When he walked to the left wall, Bantou Zhou saw a round and wide shadow shaking violently close to the ground, not human-shaped, making no sound, not knowing what it was doing, stalking like a wild beast.

In an instant, heart-eating monsters and spirit-sucking ghosts appeared in his mind. Even the country stories he had heard in his childhood surged up from the depths of his memory, roaring and circling in his mind, and staged bloody scenes.

"Who? Come out! Come out!"

"It's me." Lu Jin'ai got up and said, "Put the knife away."

"Lord Lu?" Team leader Zhou heaved a sigh of relief, shoved the drawn knife back into his belt with trembling hands, and reluctantly greeted, "What are you doing here, it's scary to death."

"I'm packing food." Lu Jin'ai said calmly, "Don't make a fuss next time."

"Food?" Chief Zhou was surprised, "Where is the food? Why do you have to pack the food in the middle of the night?"

Lu Jin'ai showed a gratifying smile that Bantou Zhou couldn't understand or describe: "I just discovered this. There is a dog hole here."

"Dog hole? What's there to be happy about a dog hole." At this moment, the moon just came out, and Bantou Zhou bent down to take advantage of the light, and he saw a small hole, "It must have been in disrepair for a long time."

"The food comes out of this hole." Lu Jin'ai said, "The people tried to send it to us. They couldn't speak out to support them, and they didn't dare to show their faces to encourage them. They had to come up with this bad plan. May we persevere."

As he spoke, he unfolded the cloth bag he was holding, which was indeed full of grain offal, and even a few eggs, which fell heavily, reflecting a faint light in the moonlight.

Zhou Bantou leaned over to look at the egg, it seemed that it had just been laid.

"Here, is there any possibility of poisoning here?"

Lu Jinai shook her head: "It's midsummer, look at the rice, it's all different ages, it's not what the rice shop would sell, and it's not what the Luo family and other rich households would have, some of it is even so bad that it's almost inedible. It’s too much. Unless the common people send it in, and the Marquis of Yongjia searched it from house to house, he wouldn’t do that kind of thing.”

"That's good." Team leader Zhou said happily, reaching out to grab the eggs inside, "Just cook a few to eat."

"Don't eat." Lu Jinai immediately stopped with stern eyes, "We still have enough food, and these things will be returned to the people in the future."

"Brothers haven't touched oil and water for several days!"

"You won't die if you don't touch oil and water." Lu Jinai said, "I went to look for you that day. Can you buy the wine and meat you eat with them with your salary? Is your own money enough?"

Zhou Ban's head was poked in the sore spot by him, and he stopped talking.

Knowing that these yamen servants are not good people, but now Lu Jinai, who has no choice but to hit him with a stick, added another sweet date.

"According to the days, the result will come soon." He said, "It's only a few days, just bear with it for now. After you go out, you should eat whatever you want. As long as you don't break the law and discipline, I won't take care of you."

"Yes." Zhou Bantou swallowed and spit, "Then I'll go down, my lord should rest early."

Seeing him go, Lu Jin'ai looked sideways at the dog hole on the ground, sighed silently for a while, and walked towards the lobby with the cloth bag.

Before he could open the door, Song Shu walked out of the lobby, carrying his medicine box on his back. When he saw Lu Jin'ai, he seemed to see the air, and without squinting his eyes, he strode away.

"Doctor Song, go slowly." Lu Jinai said to the back.

Daotong inside is dressing. His injury has healed a lot, and he can already do some complicated movements. I believe he will recover soon.

"Sheng Yu, you're here." Dao Tong put on his belt, "What's in your hand?"

"It's something sent by the common people." Lu Jin'ai pointed in the direction when she came, "From that dog hole."

"Ah." Daotong suddenly said, "It's the entrance of the cave. Its location is not obvious. I haven't asked anyone to repair it. I didn't expect the villagers to find it."

"It's all because of your good governance, and the common people regard you as a parent official." Lu Jinai said, "This kind of situation only happens once every few years. Although it is not as eye-catching as the long street, it does not lose the same thickness. .”

Daotong didn't feel happy at all, but said: "The people secretly sent food, which shows that the Luo family's crimes are well known and aroused public anger. Although they want to resist, they dare not do anything. They can only hope that we will resist. If I'm really a qualified parental officer, how could I let them fall to this point!"

Lu Jin'ai didn't say anything encouraging, and after sitting down, she said, "It's been a while since the playbook was delivered."

"That's right." Daotong stood up to add oil to the lamp, "I've counted, it will be the eighth day after dawn."

"I followed the path of the Zhenyao Department. Although the method of sending letters is not yet popular, it is at least five days faster than the usual delivery. It should have arrived in Beijing."

"In the beginning, the Luo family and the Marquis of Yongjia even sent people to make trouble, but they haven't come in the past few days. Is there something wrong?"

For some reason, Dao Tong felt uneasy.

"Probably not." Lu Jinai said, "Panyu is remote, and even I took a lot of effort to find the newly built demon town here. The peach blossom demons there are even more innocent, they only know how to bear peaches, and the other If people ask, they won't find anything."

"Yeah." Dao Tong's face was heavy, "Then we can only wait."

Suddenly, with a pop, the lamp that had just been filled with oil went out, leaving a wisp of smoke in the room.

Yingtian Mansion, Forbidden City, in the corridor of the Sixth Division.

"Prime Minister."

Li Shanchang responded, stroked the beard on his chin, and didn't glance away.

"Prime Minister." Yang Gaomeng called again.

"Ah." Li Shanchang raised his head, put down the Chinese book in his hand, and saw that the person who came was an eunuch, he was suspicious and couldn't recognize him, but because of his special status, he was not easy to offend, and said softly, "What's the matter, father-in-law?"

"Your servant, Yang Gaomeng, is a eunuch delivering orders. He just came back from Guangdong not long ago."

There are mats spread out in the room, several ice basins are placed in the middle, and the cool air is diffused. Outside the cicadas are noisy and the light is scorching hot, but inside it is as cool as a spring day. Only Li Shanchang sits alone as the director. Yang Gaomeng turns around and closes the room after he speaks He walked out the door and introduced his name and history.

After explaining Zhu Liangzu's matter clearly, Yang Gaomeng took out a bank note and presented it respectfully: "This is from Lord Hou to honor you. He said that he has nothing else to ask, and he doesn't want you to worry about it. I just ask you to pay attention to it." Whether or not the Dao Tongyou has played on it, it is good to destroy it or delay it.”

Although Yang Gaomeng deliberately concealed Zhu Liangzu's oppression of the common people and making friends with wealthy households, and emphasized how Daotong despised the imperial power and did not understand dignity, Li Shanchang immediately heard the mistake and guessed the truth.

He is almost an old minister who has been with Zhu Yuanzhang since he started his family. He saw Jiangshan being beaten all the way, and Li Shanchang knew much more about the personalities and qualities of those generals than others.

Although their merits are great, most of them are not good at character. Then again, they fight and kill every day. With so many lives in their hands, they are used to seeing blood and beheading. He doesn't do things lightly or seriously, he doesn't know how to restrain himself, and he does whatever he wants.

"Prime Minister?" Yang Gaomeng extended his hand holding the bank note forward with a smile on his face.

Li Shanchang showed a thoughtful look: "This is very difficult, you and I know His Majesty's temper."

"Daotong is a Zhima official. What is your majesty's status? How could you notice him?" Yang Gaomeng said, "To tell you the truth, yesterday, His Majesty just approved the memorial to kill Daotong, and another eunuch has already left the city with the imperial decree." gone."

"Zhu Liangzu also wrote the letter?" Li Shanchang asked in surprise.

"Yes, ask me to bring it back."

Li Shanchang finally took a good look at Yang Gaomeng. Although Zhu Liangzu was a bad person, he still couldn't think of a trick to beat him up. Once this Eunuch Yang went to pass the decree, how could he just get back the memorial? thing?

After this sentence was finished, the room fell into silence again. Yang Gaomeng lowered his head, not a bit impatient, as if he could wait for Li Shanchang to think about the pros and cons of his life without being in a hurry.

"..." Li Shanchang shifted his gaze to the bank note.

He is not short of money.

How could the prime minister be short of money? There are so many "clean" land, shops, and villages in Li Shanchang's hands.

However, as the leader of the Huaixi Party, nine out of ten of the supporters behind him are nobles. The nobles huddled together, and Zhu Liangzu was in this group. In his position, he rebels against himself, destroys his own foundation, speaks out gossip, and makes people under his command criticize him.

"You took this back and burned it."

Yang Gaomeng raised his head suddenly: "Prime Minister, you can keep this note for us first."

Li Shanchang was amused by "we" and "custodial", thinking that this eunuch is really a wonderful person, he waved his hands and said: "You go back, don't tell others that you have seen me, I will consider this matter."

Yang Gaomeng hesitated for a while, and wanted to say something nice to get Li Shanchang's affirmative attitude, but after he finished speaking, he looked at the document again, picked up the brush, and made it clear that he refused to talk again, so he had no choice but to leave.

When the door was closed again, Li Shanchang's expression changed. He precisely took out a document from the pile of documents beside him, spread it out and placed it on the table.

The sunlight outside the window casts spots through the dense leaves.

As the wind moved, the brightest spot of light swayed back and forth on the memorial, gently scanning a line of writing.

Chen Daotong, magistrate of Panyu County, Guangzhou Prefecture, would like to play...

"Oh." Li Shanchang sighed, "Officer, how can it be so easy to be an official."

The playing book was pushed down by him at the bottom.