There are two families living in a rather old courtyard house. The main house and the east wing house the owner of the courtyard, and a merchant family, with a total of four people.
A wing room on the west side was rented by Lu Zhaolin.
In the room, Lu Zhaolin neatly folded the official uniforms he had just received from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and looked at them again and again, with a knowing smile on his face.
The day before yesterday, he and Meng Huailiang were summoned by Duke Zhou. After a conversation, Duke Zhou appreciated the two of them very much and invited them to serve in the Hanlin Academy. Lu Zhaolin and Meng Huailiang both wanted to do it, so how could they refuse.
Yesterday, he received an official notification from the Ministry of Personnel. He went to complete the formalities in the afternoon and received his official uniform. His uneasy heart finally calmed down.
He walked to a table, polished it, and wrote two letters in a row. One letter had three pages, and the other had only one page. While writing the letter, he would look at the official uniform on the bed from time to time.
One glance.
After sealing the letter, write down two different addresses, and then write "My dear friend Qimei" on the cover of the three pages, and then write "My dear father Noh In-shin" on the cover of the one page.
.
After he was done, he stretched out and went out to find a friend from his hometown who was about to return to his hometown. He handed the letter to him and asked him to help him send the letter back to his hometown.
Then he returned to the small courtyard, ate lunch in a hurry, put on his official uniform, took his official certificate, and strode towards the imperial city.
Enter the Imperial City from Zhuque Gate, walk along Chengtianmen Street for a while, then exit through the east gate of the Imperial City, and then enter the Daming Palace through Danfeng Gate.
After asking Qian Niuwei for directions several times on the palace road, Lu Zhaolin finally arrived at the Hanlin Academy.
Entering the main hall, I looked around and saw that there were ten desks in the main hall. Wang Bo was sitting on his knees in front of the innermost desk on the right hand side, burying his head and writing furiously.
After Lu Zhaolin approached, he patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Why are you the only one? Brother Zhou and Brother Meng didn't come?"
Wang Bo turned to look at him and said calmly: "You are here. Brother Zhou and Xue Ji are in the library. Brother Meng has not come yet." He stood up and said: "I will take you to familiarize yourself with the environment."
Lu Zhaolin nodded and asked: "Where is the Martial Arts Master? Should I go find him first to report?"
"The Master rarely comes here, so there's no need to rush this matter." Wang Bo replied, leading him towards the back hall. After walking a few steps, a young man strode in from outside the door.
Wang Bo saw this person when he first came to the Hanlin Academy. He hurriedly greeted him and said, "Zhuge Si Cheng, why are you here?"
The person coming was none other than Zhugenan. He glanced around the hall and asked, "Is Wu Shaoqing here? I have something urgent to see him!"
"Isn't the Head Court in Dali Temple?" Wang Bo asked doubtfully.
Zhugenan raised his eyebrows and raised the corner of his mouth and said, "I understand, he must be lazy at home again, so I'm disturbing him." After saying that, he turned around and left the Hanlin Academy, heading straight to the Duke's Mansion.
However, when they arrived at Duke Zhou's mansion, after asking, they learned that Wu Chengsi was not in the mansion, but had gone to the Ministry of Punishment.
Zhuge Nan transferred to the Criminal Department. On the way to the prison, he happened to meet a few people walking over, one of whom was Zheng Lingxuan.
"Miss Zhiying, do you know where Wu Shaoqing is?" Zhuge Nan stepped forward and asked.
Zheng Lingxuan said to the people next to her, pulled Zhugenan to the foot of a tree, and said, "He should be at Duke Xing's mansion now."
"What is he doing there?" Zhuge Nan asked curiously.
Zheng Lingxuan folded her arms and said with a smile: "Xu Jingzong's case has just been decided. Wu Shaoqing, Li Sikong and Liu Zhongshu have all been invited to the mansion by General Su."
"Is it sentenced?" Zhuge Nan asked hurriedly: "How was it sentenced? The death penalty?"
Zheng Lingxuan said in a deep voice: "That's natural. After Xu Jingzong's death, the men of the Xu family were sent to Qianzhou, and the women were sent to Yeting Palace."
"What about the others? Where are Yuan Gongyu, Qian Jiude, Jiang Rong and the others?"
"Yuan Gongyu, Cui Yixuan, and Li Jingkan were demoted to other states, and Qian Jiude was also sentenced to death. Jiang Rong was sent to Kuizhou, and there were more than a dozen officials who were exiled like him."
Zhuge Nan stuck out his tongue: "My mother, are there so many officials involved in the case? Fortunately, Wu Shaoqing caught Xu Jingzong directly, otherwise it would be really difficult to investigate!"
"It's not just that!" Zheng Lingxuan frowned and said: "There are also many unknowing officials who were inadvertently used by Xu Jingzong, plus many Xu Jingzong's gang members, there are dozens of officials under investigation this time. Even us
Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments was also demoted, and the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments was taken over by Yan Liben."
"He deserves it!" Zhugenan gloated: "By the way, was Guo Zhengyi demoted?"
Zheng Lingxuan glanced at him: "No, even if Jiang Rong committed a crime, we can't hold all the officials of the Ministry of Punishment to account!"
Zhuge Nan muttered "What a pity" and turned around to leave. Zheng Lingxuan grabbed the back of his neck and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Don't pull here!" Zhugenan turned around and said angrily: "Of course I'm looking for Wu Shaoqing!"
"What are you looking for him for? Is there any case?" Zheng Lingxuan's eyebrows flashed.
Zhuge Nan waved his hand and said, "The matter is urgent. I'll tell you later." He turned around and left again.
Zheng Lingxuan stretched out her hand and said angrily: "You asked me so many questions, and I answered you well. I asked you questions, why didn't you answer them?"
"Don't pull there!" Zhuge Nan hurriedly turned around and opened her hand. Looking to the side, he found that many people were watching the fun and said angrily: "I am a sixth-grade official, you are a low-grade official.
Officer, you can’t be so humble!”
"This girl is still a fifth-grade rural lady." Zheng Lingxuan rolled her eyes at him: "Stop talking nonsense and tell me quickly, is there a case?"
Zhugenan stared at her for a while, then sighed and said, "Okay, okay, I can tell you."
"That's pretty much it." Just as Zheng Lingxuan finished speaking, she suddenly noticed that Zhugenan was looking behind her with a look of surprise on his face. He turned around and saw nothing.
When she turned around again, she saw Zhugenan running away in the distance. She stamped her feet, greeted her colleagues who were waiting for her, and took steps to chase after Zhugenan!
…
In the lobby of Duke Xing's Mansion, at a large round table made of rosewood for ten people, Su Dingfang stood up and said with his hands in his hands: "Su's ability to wash away his grievances this time is all thanks to the help of all of you. I'd like to toast you a glass!" He drank a glass of wine.
Drink it all.
Pei Xingjian stood up and said with a smile: "The student has done nothing this time, but he can't afford your drink." He returned the glass.
Su Dingfang laughed and said: "Everyone knows that you are Mr. Su's favorite disciple. If they want to deal with me, they will naturally have to think of how to deal with you. I can't blame you."
Pei Xingjian shook his head and said, "It's because the students are not considerate enough in their daily lives that they left a loophole that Li Yifu could take advantage of."
He turned to the other three people and said, "The three of you not only saved the teacher this time, but also helped me get out of trouble. I'd like to toast you all." He said and drank another drink.
At first, he thought that Li Yifu was under the command of Empress Wu, but he didn't know that the person behind the scenes was Xu Jingzong. Li Yifu was also implicated this time and was demoted to another state.
Liu Rengui sighed: "I'm ashamed to say that I was also present on the day Li Yifu impeached you, but I didn't find out that he had ulterior motives. I punished myself with a drink." He also drank a drink.
Su Dingfang tugged on his beard and said with a smile: "I have to say that Su was dim-sighted before, but he didn't know that Mr. Wu was such a handsome person, or that Brother Li had the foresight to betroth his granddaughter to me a long time ago! Otherwise, this son-in-law, Su Someone is going to decide!"
"In terms of vision, you are not as good as me." Li Ji said with a smile.
Wu Chengsi took a big bite from Kuai Xiong's paw, and his mouth was full of meat juice. His heart was as bright as a mirror. On the surface, Su Dingfang and Li Ji were talking about marrying their granddaughter, but in fact they were discussing their attitude towards the Wu family.
Li Ji has always supported Empress Wu, while Su Dingfang has always opposed Empress Wu.
After this incident, Su Dingfang changed his mind and expressed his support for Empress Wu to Wu Chengsi.
This is exactly what Wu Chengsi wants to see. Su Dingfang has great prestige in the military and has a huge influence on Pei Xingjian. With his support, many people in the military will change their mentality towards Wu Mei.
While thinking, a long sigh suddenly sounded in his ears. Wu Chengsi turned around and found that the person who made the sound was Liu Rengui. He was looking at a plate of goosefoot in front of him, in a daze.
Su Dingfang asked curiously: "Brother Liu, I know you love goose feet the most, so I made them specially for you. Why are you sighing?"
"Although the goose paws are good, it's not my turn to eat them." Liu Rengui pushed the goose paws in front of Li Ji and said slowly: "The army will set off the day after tomorrow. This plate of goose paws belongs to Brother Li!"