At this moment, Zhou Xing suddenly entered the Hanlin Academy with a heavy face.
"Brother Zhou, what's wrong with you?" Du Shenyan asked.
Zhou Xing poured a cup of tea and drank it, then said: "Yan Liben, the Minister of Punishment, was demoted to another state."
"This news has been circulating for a long time, and Yan Liben was once under house arrest. Is there anything wrong with that?" Du Shenyan asked curiously.
"Who can tell?" Zhou Xing glared at him and said:
"Originally, Her Majesty the Queen intended to appoint Qiu Shenji as the new Minister. Unexpectedly, Your Majesty suddenly issued an imperial decree and promoted Guo Zhengyi, the Minister of Punishment, to serve as Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment."
Du Shenyan was surprised: "How could your Majesty suddenly issue this edict?"
Zhou Xingdao: "I heard it was the imperial edict requested by King Pei." After speaking, he glanced at Wang Bo.
Wang Bo remained silent. When he was young, he served as an official in Prince Pei's palace, but was later dismissed because of an article.
In April this year, King Pei personally came to see him in the palace again, and his words were quite meant to win over him.
Although he declined politely, Zhou Xing happened to see the conversation between the two.
Although Zhou Xing did not report to Wu Chengsi, since then, Wang Bo noticed that Zhou Xing would deliberately observe his reaction when he mentioned King Pei.
Yao Chong suddenly said: "It's not a big deal. King Pei only needs to explain one thing to His Majesty, and he can easily obtain this imperial edict."
Zhou Xing always looked at Yao Chong and raised his eyebrows: "What does it mean?"
Yao Chong was leaning in front of the case, writing something, and said:
"Among the three major law enforcement yamen of the imperial court, Dali Temple and Yushitai are already under the control of Her Royal Highness the Queen. If even the Criminal Department falls under the control of Her Royal Highness the Queen, the role of the three major yamen in mutual supervision will be gone."
Although Zhou Xing was unconvinced, he had to admit that what Shen Chong said was reasonable.
At this moment, a civil servant entered the hall, cupped his hands and said: "Several editors, Chief Qian from the Ministry of Civil Affairs asked for a meeting outside the hall, saying that they want to see editor Lu."
Wang Bo frowned and said, "Go and tell him that Editor Lu has been transferred to Shenhuofang. Forget it, I'll go out and explain to him."
…
When he came out of the Hanlin Academy, he saw an official in his thirties waiting outside the door. Wang Bo cupped his hands and said, "Master Qian is polite."
"Wang Editor is polite, isn't Lu Editor here?" asked Chief Qian.
Wang Bo replied: "Compiler Lu was transferred to Shenhuofang by Wu Zhangyuan. I wonder what Chief Qian has to do with him?"
"That's right. When I entered the palace just now, a woman stopped me outside the palace gate and asked me to help her call out Lu Bianzhan. The woman seemed to have encountered some trouble and looked sad, angry and miserable, so I agreed."
"What's that woman's name?"
"Luo Narcissus."
Wang Bo thought for a while and said: "In that case, I'll go to Shenhuofang and tell Editor Lu about this, so as to save Mr. Qian from having to make another trip."
"That's fine." Mr. Qian cupped his hands, turned and left.
Wang Bo returned to the palace and said hello, then left the Daming Palace and headed towards the imperial city.
When we arrived at Shenhuofang, we heard noisy sounds in the distance, including human voices and the sound of forging iron and cutting wood.
This was not the first time Wang Bo came to Shenhuofang. The sergeant guarding the door did not stop him and let him in directly.
Entering Defang, the sound suddenly became louder.
Looking around, I saw that the entire Shenhuo Workshop was like a huge workshop, divided into five sections, each section had its own division of labor, and it was very busy.
Compared with other yamen in the imperial city, Shenhuofang is simply different. Wang Bo sighed as he walked through the square area and entered the back hall.
In the hall, Lu Zhaolin was seen talking to a bearded man around a table. There was a drawing on the table. The two looked at the drawing as if they were discussing something.
"Brother Lu, your place is so lively!" Wang Bo stepped forward with a smile, and then cupped his hands to the bearded man and said, "Zhou Fangcheng is polite."
The big man bowed his hands and returned the salute. Knowing that Wang Bo must have something to do when he came over, he said hello to Lu Zhaolin and went out.
Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "Brother Wang, why do you have time to come to my place?"
"There is someone looking for you outside the palace, named Luo Shuixian." Wang Bo said straight to the point.
Lu Zhaolin frowned and said, "Luo Shuixian? Did she say why she wanted to find me?"
"You don't know her?"
"do not know."
"Then go out and ask. Maybe they came to you because they were entrusted by others." Wang Bo said, remembering Qian Changshi's expression when he described Luo Narcissus.
"Okay then." Lu Zhaolin nodded, stood up, and was about to leave Shenhuofang with Wang Bo.
"Don't you need to tell the Wufang supervisor?" Wang Bo asked.
Lu Zhaolin smiled and said: "No, the supervisor went to ask for materials from the supervisor. Besides, the supervisor is easy-going and respects Brother Meng and I. We are very free in Shenhuofang."
"You're doing a pretty good job." Wang Bo sighed with emotion.
Lu Zhaolin smiled and said: "If you want to come over, I can tell the supervisor and ask him to request an order from Her Majesty the Queen."
Wang Bo waved his hand and said: "How can that be done? There are a lot of things to do in the Hanlin Academy. Zhou Xing will be too busy by himself without me."
"Aren't there Yao Chong and Du Shenyan?"
Wang Bo raised his eyebrows and said, "How many days have they been here? If they mess up, how will I explain to the chief?"
He always felt that Wu Chengsi seldom came to the Hanlin Academy out of trust in him, so he had the responsibility to manage the Hanlin Academy well.
While the two were talking, they arrived outside the Daming Palace.
I saw twenty feet away from the palace gate, and sure enough, a woman in green clothes was waiting.
That woman was the woman in green who was in the Nanfeng Inn in Shangzhou.
After the Yan gang disciples retreated that day, she rested in an inn for one night and went straight to Chang'an the next day.
Compared with a few days ago, she looked much more haggard.
After Wang Bo and Wang Bo approached, Luo Shuixian looked at the two of them and said in a hoarse voice: "Which one of you is Editor Lu?"
Lu Zhaolin noticed that the woman's eyes were red and she seemed to have just cried a lot. He replied Wen Yan: "I just don't know why the girl wants to see me?"
Luo Shuixian gritted his teeth, knelt down in the tunnel and said: "Editor Lu, please save my second uncle!"
Lu Zhaolin was taken aback and hurriedly helped her up and said, "If there is any problem for you girl, just say so. There is no need to give this big gift."
Then he asked: "Who is your second uncle?"
Luo Shuixian lowered his head and said with tears in his eyes: "My second uncle is the censor of the current dynasty, King Luo Bin."
Wang Bo glanced around and suddenly said: "Miss Luo, what you want to say should be very long. Let's find a quiet place to talk."
Luo Shuixian wiped her tears and said, "Then let's go to a nearby teahouse."
The three of them found a teahouse closest to the imperial city and asked for a private room.
As soon as he sat down, Luo Shuixian said: "To tell you the truth, my daughter is originally from Yangzhou, and her family has been doing business for generations."
Wang Bo was slightly moved and said, "Isn't your father Luo Tong, the famous ship merchant in Jiangnan?"
Luo Shuixian nodded slightly and said: "It's my father. A month ago, my father was framed and was sent to prison."
"Is there such a thing?" Lu Zhaolin raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, our whole family tried our best, but we still couldn't rescue my father. Later, my mother asked me to come to Chang'an to find my second cousin uncle for help."
"Do you know who framed your father?" Lu Zhaolin asked again.
Luo Shuixian said bitterly: "It was the Chen family that did it! They are another major ship dealer in Yangzhou. They have always wanted to defeat our family and dominate the Yangzhou ship market."
Wang Bo raised his eyebrows and said: "Anyone can make something like a boat, how can anyone dominate it?"
"The Chen family is backed by Gong Lingshu, the Hu Cao of the Yangzhou Governor's Office. Many ship merchants have been squeezed out by them over the years!"
Lu Zhaolin said angrily: "There is collusion between officials and businessmen! Doesn't the Yangzhou governor care?"
Luo Narcissus remained silent.
Lu Zhaolin took a deep breath and said, "Miss Luo, please continue talking."
Luo Shuixian whispered: "I came to Chang'an City a few days ago and told my second uncle about the matter. At that time, my second uncle was very angry and asked me if I had any evidence of collusion between the Chen family and Gong Lingshu."
Lu Zhaolin said: "Brother Luo hates evil as much as he hates enemies. What's more, this happened to his own relatives. Miss Luo, do you have any evidence?"
Luo Shuixian nodded and said: "Our family has been fighting with the Chen family for many years. We have long sent people to sneak into the Chen family and obtained a lot of evidence. I gave all the evidence to my second uncle."
Lu Zhaolin said: "Then Brother Luo didn't participate in Gong Lingshu?"
Luo Shuixian shook his head and said angrily: "Second uncle was taken away by the people from the Ministry of Punishment before he had time to participate in Gong Lingshu!"
Lu Zhaolin was shocked and said, "What's going on? Why did the Criminal Department suddenly arrest Brother Luo?"
Luo Shuixian shook his head and cried: "When I asked the officials, they refused to tell me. My second uncle only told me to come to the Hanlin Academy to find you, and he was taken away by them!"
Wang Bo immediately stood up and said: "Brother Lu, you stay here with Miss Luo, I will go to the Criminal Department to inquire."
After saying that, without waiting for Lu Zhaolin's reply, he left in a hurry.