It was also when Wu Dasai entered the room again, saying that Song Jin had already left the Guangdong Association Hall through the back door. Wu Chaoyue then got up with a drunken yawning, and smiled and told Wu Dasai to bring breakfast and enjoy authentic Guangdong breakfast that could not be eaten in Shanghai.

When breakfast was almost over, the person who went to inquire about Wu Jianzhang came back to report, saying that Wu Jianzhang lived in the Ministry of War last night and went to the palace to attend the morning court this morning. It is estimated that he would not come at least noon. When Wu Chaoyue heard that his comprador was fine, he didn't worry much. He just drank the remaining ship porridge in a few seconds, and then wiped his mouth and ordered: "Wu Dasai, take two people to follow us, let's have a trip to the Hanlin Academy."

"Young Master Sun, what are you doing in Hanlin Academy?" Wu Dasai asked in confusion.

"Stupid!" Wu Chaoyue cursed and said, "If such an important letter is lost, I don't show any nervousness. Can the other party believe it is true? If you go to make trouble, those who are going to cheat me will believe it. If you believe it, someone will definitely jump out. I can take the opportunity to see if it is the bastard who is calculating me behind the scenes."

Wu Dasai suddenly realized and quickly served Wu Chaoyue to combed her braids and changed her clothes. Wu Chaoyue shook his head again and refused. He deliberately messed up the pig tail behind his head in front of the mirror. Then he wore yesterday's clothes and deliberately made them not neat enough, pretending to be anxious and panicked. Then he took Wu Dasai out and rushed to the Hanlin Academy to find Song Jin for letters.

…………

When Wu Chaoyue was still on the way, Song Jin had already returned to the Hanlin Academy next to the Luanjiaku with the lacquered letter. He directly found Weng Tongshu, the eldest son of his teacher Weng Xincun, and whispered the detailed experience he had gone to get close to Wu Chaoyue, and also told him about the secret letter from Wu Chaoyue that he had stolen the French minister's letter from Wu Chaoyue. As a result, Weng Tongshu was shocked and happy and asked hurriedly: "So coincidental? Where is the letter?"

Song Jin quickly took out the letter and handed it to Weng Tongshu. Weng Tongshu took it and looked carefully. He found that there was no text sign on the envelope, only with a fire lacquer seal. He was even more happy. He knew that if the letter really wrote about Wu Jianzhang's secretly understanding of foreigners, he could not only take Wu Jianzhang's head immediately, but also take the opportunity to prove that his father's impeachment was true. Wu Jianzhang did secretly collude with foreigners.

However, after the joy, Weng Tongshu developed some suspicion and said to Song Jin suspiciously: "Brother Xifan, don't you think this is too coincidental, do you? You went to spy on whether the person named Wu secretly colluded with foreigners, but in the end he happened to meet a foreigner who sent a letter to Wu Jianchang and successfully got the letter. It was so coincidental that it was a bit unbelievable. The little rabbit named Wu, could it be that Jiang Gan had a trap for us to steal books? "

"I also think my luck was a bit too good this time." Song Jin also admitted that this was too coincidental, and then said: "But it doesn't matter. Let's open the letter and look at the contents inside."

Weng Tongshu nodded, and when he was about to crush the hot lacquer, he shook his head again and said, "It cannot be opened. If this letter is really evidence that Wu Jianzhang colluded with foreigners, then once we open the letter, we will inevitably be suspected of forging the letter. Moreover, if this letter is written in foreign language, we cannot understand it."

"What should I do?" Song Jin asked.

Weng Tongshu's eyes rolled around and thought for a moment before saying, "Wait first, see, if this letter is really proof that Wu Jianzhang colluded with foreigners, then if such an important letter is lost, the boy named Wu will definitely jump in a hurry and will definitely be suspicious of you. If we ask you about the whereabouts of this letter, we will test it out if we try it a little."

When Song Jin heard the applause, he and Weng Tongshu were not in a hurry to open the letter, but just waited patiently in the Hanlin Academy. As Weng Tongshu expected, more than half an hour later, there was a real family outside the Hanlin Academy to report that a young man named Wu asked to see Song Jin, and said that there was something urgent to meet Song Jin immediately. Weng Tongshu and Song Jin were overjoyed and hurried to the Hanlin Academy to meet Wu Chaoyue.

When I arrived at the concierge, I saw that Wu Chaoyue, who had not even had a straight braid, was anxiously raising his steps in the concierge, and his clothes were also a little confused. It was obvious that he was very anxious. When Song Jin saw it, he smiled secretly and bowed and said loudly: "Brother Wu, Brother Yu apologized to you. This morning I was in a hurry to come to Hanlin Academy to serve. I didn't wake up when I saw you sleeping well, and I left without saying goodbye. I hope my brother will forgive me."

Before Song Jin could finish his polite words, Wu Chaoyue rushed up, grabbed Song Jin's sleeve, shook his head and said, "It's okay, it's okay, Brother Song, I have something to ask you. Last night, someone sent me a letter. Have you seen it? Did you see that I put the letter there?"

"No?" Song Jin said in surprise: "Someone sent you a letter to me last night? Why didn't I know about this? Maybe because I was so drunk last night, I didn't hear anything."

"That's weird? Where did the letter go?"

Wu Chaoyue looked puzzled, and then looked at Song Jin's expression carefully. It was obvious that he was skeptical about Song Jin's words. Weng Tongshu, who was standing by, took the opportunity to say, "Mr. Wu, whose letter is so important? It is worth your anxiety. Go directly to the Hanlin Academy to find Brother Song Nian?"

"Yes." Song Jin also echoed and asked, "Brother Wu, who wrote you a letter worthy of your anxiety?"

Wu Chaoyue looked a little complicated, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "It was a letter from a distant relative of me who talked about my business, so it was very complicated."

Song Jin and Weng Tongshu quietly exchanged glances with each other, and then Song Jin said hypocritically: "Your brother, don't have to worry, just throw it away. Write a letter to your distant relative to explain the reason and ask him to tell you the content of the letter again. Otherwise, how about writing a letter for you by Brother Yu?"

"This..." Wu Chaoyue was speechless, then shook his head and said, "No need, the content of the letter is not important. The key is that there are silver notes in the letter. If you lose the letter, you will lose the money."

"There are silver notes in the letter?" Weng Tongshu was shocked and quickly turned to Song Jin and said, "Brother Xifan, since there are silver notes in the letter, you lived with Mr. Wu again last night, and you were in the melon field and plum trees. You have a lot of suspicion. In my opinion, you'd better go to Shuntian Prefecture and report the case immediately with Mr. Wu, and ask Shuntian Prefecture to send a service to investigate the matter."

When Song Jin heard this, he nodded and immediately invited Wu Chaoyue to Shuntian Mansion to report the case. Wu Chaoyue quickly shook his head and said there was no need to report the case. Song Jin asked in surprise: "Brother Wu, don't you have silver notes in your letter? If you lose the silver notes, how can you not report the case?"

Wu Chaoyue was speechless, but he rubbed his hands and pinched his fingers anxiously. After thinking for a while, Wu Chaoyue simply attached himself to Song Jin's ear and whispered: "Brother Song, tell the truth, did you take the letter? If you really took it, as long as you return it to me, what if I give it to you, what if I give it to you a thousand taels of silver?"

Song Jin's face changed. He shook Wu Chaoyue's hand away and said angrily: "Young Master Wu, what do you mean? Use a thousand taels of silver to buy back the letter. Do you think I stole the letter?"

"You lived with me last night. If you didn't take my letters, who else could take them?" Wu Chaoyue was also blushed and shouted: "You can offer a price, how much money do you need to repay my letters? One thousand taels of silver is not enough, is two thousand taels enough?"

After carefully observing Wu Chaoyue's expression, he found no flaws. Weng Tongshu did not hesitate anymore. As soon as he pulled Song Jin, he said, "Brother Xifan, there is no need to talk nonsense to him. Since he doesn't believe you so much, it's better not to make friends like this! Let's go!"

Song Jin nodded and agreed, raised his legs and left. Wu Chaoyue was even more anxious and stopped Song Jin quickly and shouted: "A man surnamed Song, please return the letter to me, otherwise I will fight you today!"

"I didn't take it!" Song Jin still denied it and said, "If you think I stole your letter, even if you go to Wanping County or Shuntian Prefecture to report the case! You lose your companion!"

After saying that, Song Jin and Weng Tongshu walked into the courtyard. Wu Chaoyue came up to fight with Song Jin, but was pushed away by Song Jin and Weng Tongshu. At the same time, Weng Tongshu called the officers and asked the officers to expel Wu Chaoyue from the Hanlin Academy. Wu Chaoyue shouted and just wanted Song Jin to return the letter, but his fists were defeated by four hands, and he could not beat Song Jin and Weng Tongshu's joint efforts. He was forced out of the gate by the Hanlin Academy and fell off the steps. Wu Chaoyue struggled to get up, cried and wanted to rush into the gate, but was stopped by the door and could no longer step into the gate of the Hanlin Academy.

Wu Chaoyue was so anxious that he burst into tears in front of the Hanlin Academy. There were already passers-by watching the fun. At the same time, there were many Hanlin Academy in the Hanlin Academy who heard the sound and came out to watch the fun. Then, naturally, a thin young man who was also working in the Hanlin Academy walked up to Wu Chaoyue and asked Wu Chaoyue in great confusion: "Mr. Wu, what happened? Why are you crying here?"

Li Hongzhang raised his eyes and saw clearly that the person in front of him was Li Hongzhang. Wu Chaoyue suddenly felt like the bullied little brother saw his brother. He grabbed Li Hongzhang and cried in grievance. While crying, he begged Li Hongzhang to help him. Li Hongzhang was puzzled and hurriedly comforted: "Mr. Wu, if you have something to say, what do you want me to help? Explain it carefully, and I will do my best."

"Brother Shaoquan, please call out the editor named Song Jin..."

Before Wu Chaoyue could finish his begging, Li Hongzhang's face changed drastically, and he blurted out: "Song Jin? Is this related to him?"

Wu Chaoyue nodded a little confusedly - Wu Chaoyue's confused expression was not a pretender, he really didn't understand why Li Hongzhang was so surprised. Li Hongzhang stomped his feet repeatedly and whispered: "Mr. Wu, you made a mistake this time, do you know? Song, Jin, Song Xifan is Weng Xincun Weng Shangshu's favorite student! Weng Shangshu was dismissed from your family's affairs and was taken to the Ministry of Communications for the crime. Song and Jin hated you to the core, why are you still related to him?"

Wu Chaoyue was speechless and immediately understood why Song Jin spyed on the evidence of his secret collusion with foreigners. Li Hongzhang whispered: "Also, Weng Tongshu, the eldest son of Shangshu Weng, is also an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and is also a close friend of Song Xifan. If you come here to make a big fuss, isn't it just a matter of giving him a chance to deal with you to avenge his father?"

Who is the person around Song Jin? Wu Chaoyue, who thought he was familiar just now, guessed it immediately. Then, some white foam suddenly appeared in Wu Chaoyue's mouth, and he swayed slowly and fell down. Li Hongzhang, who was definitely enthusiastic, quickly supported Wu Chaoyue and asked about Wu Chaoyue's situation. Wu Chaoyue's eyes turned pale, and there was no sound or reaction...

Then, after receiving the news that Wu Chaoyue was scared to death in front of the Hanlin Academy, Weng Tongshu and Song Jin did not hesitate anymore, and immediately left the Hanlin Academy from the side gate, running all the way to the imperial city. On the way, the two brothers' faces were full of joy and kept gritting their teeth, "The ancestors and grandsons of Wu, your retribution has finally arrived!"

……………………

It's time to see what happened to Wu Jianzhang on the side. As a fourth-rank foreign official, he could get the opportunity to participate in the morning court. Wu Jianzhang certainly understood that this was because the dynasty had to discuss negotiations with foreigners. Unfortunately, the morning court that day caught up with the major issue of discussing the construction of the Daozhou encirclement and trapping the Taiping Army. He decided to discuss this matter first. Therefore, Wu Jianzhang, who was in his sixties, knelt outside the Taihe Hall for an hour and a half before he heard his decree to enter the hall.

He rushed to the Golden Palace with fear and was already uninvited toward Wu Jianzhang, who was already at the sight of no one inside, immediately noticed countless unkind gazes, which made Wu Jianzhang, who had been in the Golden Palace for the first time, was even more nervous. He had just knelt down on his knees before he could walk a few steps, and when he said long live, he stammered and said his name wrong, which made the palace laugh.

Fortunately, in view of Wu Jianzhang's effective tax collection, the wise and powerful Emperor Xianfeng did not care about Wu Jianzhang's crime of misrepresentation, and even gave Wu Jianzhang a flat body. Then he asked Wu Jianzhang directly: "Wu Jianzhang, this time I announced that you will go to Beijing to assist the imperial envoy in negotiations with foreigners. What did the foreigners in the Shanghai Concession say before you leave?"

"Long live, in order to avoid the melon and plum trees, I did not dare to say a word to the foreigners after receiving the order." Wu Jianzhang replied truthfully: "So I don't know what the foreigners react."

Emperor Xianfeng nodded in depressedly, not only satisfied with Wu Jianzhang's prudence, but also disappointed that he could not know the attitude of foreigners in advance. But Mu Yin Zhongtang, on the other side, did not believe it at all, and said sarcastically: "Really? Lord Wu, I remember that the comment from the Ministry of Personnel gave you was that it was a good match with foreigners. If you went to Beijing to assist the imperial envoy with foreigners, how can foreigners in the Shanghai Concession not know about it?"

"It's true." Wu Jianzhang was not afraid of the shadows in this regard, and replied frankly: "Lord Su Shunsu can prove his subordinates. After receiving the order, he didn't even make a move in Shanghai. He came to the capital early the next morning. Lord Su also went to Wusongjiang Wharf to see off his subordinates. At that time, no foreigner was present."

Although he was the Minister of Military Affairs, Mu Yin really couldn't afford to offend Sushun, the most popular man in front of Xianfeng, so he didn't continue to get entangled. He just said in his heart: "If you don't meet and talk to foreigners, you can prove that you have nothing to do with foreigners? If you secretly contact the foreigners, or send someone to bring verbal messages to foreigners, aren't you still colluding with foreigners?"

Next, Emperor Xianfeng, who was reluctant to hire people, asked Wu Jianzhang about his views on this negotiation. When Wu Jianzhang went to the Military Affairs Office to pay homage to Qi Shuzao and others yesterday, he knew the negotiation conditions issued by the joint fleet. He was not very frightened. He directly kowtowed and replied: "Long live my emperor. Although the conditions offered by foreigners are harsh, they obviously leave room for bargaining. After accompanying the imperial envoy to Dagukou, he will definitely assist the imperial envoy in the court and the foreigners to fight with reason and strive to get the foreigners to retreat as soon as possible."

"That's good." Emperor Xianfeng nodded with satisfaction and said, "But remember a few points. First, we must not insult the face of our Qing court in the negotiations, and we must not let foreigners think that our Qing court is afraid of them. We must let foreigners know that the reason why our Qing court negotiated with them was to stop the war and also for their own good."

"Secondly, we must not agree to let foreigners station troops in Tianjin, nor can we allow foreigners to build any embassy in the capital."

"Third, no port is allowed, no port is allowed! Especially in Tianjin!"

"Fourth, you cannot cede land! You must also pay less compensation! Last time you handled the Qingpu Yiwu Affairs, didn't you just let the local rioters pay foreigners 300 taels of silver and settle the matter? That's a good thing, and this time you have to continue. The less compensation, the better! If you can let foreigners not pay compensation, then I will remember your great contribution!"

Emperor Xianfeng said something, and Wu Jianzhang kowtowed and said, and his face became more and more frowning. He knew that this time the job was more difficult than he thought. Emperor Xianfeng finally finished his unrealistic requests, and then he remembered another big thing and said, "As we also discuss the candidates for the imperial envoy? Who is willing to serve as the imperial envoy and share my worries?"

The Golden Palace was silent, and all the civil and military officials looked at their noses and their noses, and they didn't even dare to speak out. Hua Shana, the Minister of Personnel who was driven back by foreigners a few days ago, wanted to put his head in his arms, for fear that Emperor Xianfeng would be on the whim, so he called him to take the blame. Wu Jianzhang, who had been named as deputy, also remained silent. He just hoped that the official in charge of the negotiations would be a better person, otherwise the job would definitely be more difficult to handle this time.

Faced with this silent scene, Emperor Xianfeng's face was inevitably a little ugly. Just as he was about to just grab a serious court official and act as a scapegoat, an eunuch suddenly ran into the Golden Palace and attached it to the ear of the Hanlin Academy's Grand Secretary Bai Wei and muttered a few words. Bai Wei's face changed immediately and he blurted out: "Really?"

The eunuch who came to report the letter nodded, and Emperor Xianfeng also asked what happened. Bai Wei did not dare to neglect it, and immediately made a report: "Long live the report, it was Weng Xincun, two editors of the Hanlin Academy, who came to report to Song and Jin, saying that they had obtained iron evidence of the secret collusion between Wu Jianzhang and the French minister of the foreign negotiator, Bulbron, and asked the ministers to report it immediately on their behalf, and please make a decision."

Shi Potian was shocked! Before Bai Wei finished speaking, there was a huge uproar in the Golden Palace. Wu Jianzhang was stunned and exclaimed: "I secretly colluded with Buerbulon? Why don't I know?!"
Chapter completed!