It was mid-June, the hottest time of the year in the south of the Yangtze River. The sun was so scorching that it felt as if the earth was about to melt. Even the dogs were hiding in the shade and sticking out their tongues. There were only coolies and hawkers on the streets to support their families.
They were busy carrying goods or selling goods along the street under the scorching sun and sweating profusely.
On such a hot day, poor people usually stay at home to enjoy the coolness, while people with a little money like to go to teahouses. In order to attract customers, many teahouses have their own ice cellars, not only to sell iced drinks in the summer, but more importantly, like rich people, in
Place ice cubes inside the wall to cool down.
It's hot outside, but there's a cool breeze blowing inside the teahouse. Teagoers naturally flock to the teahouse and want to stay in the teahouse all day long.
"Have you heard that Xianggong Xu's son is serving as county magistrate in Yuchi County, Kaifeng Prefecture!"
"real or fake?"
"I don't know. It is said that someone saw him and he looked very much like Xianggong Xu's youngest son."
"Isn't this normal? Everyone has seen this situation now. The country is about to change its surname, and the world is about to change its owner. At this time, who doesn't arrange a way out for themselves first?"
"Keep your voice down. If the Plum Blossom Guard hears it, they will be unable to eat and walk away!"
"That's all I care about! Who lost the Han people's empire, and who took it back? Everyone has a strong conscience and wants to use force to silence everyone. How is that possible?"
At this moment, the door was slammed open, and several Plum Blossom Guard soldiers walked in aggressively from the outside. They glanced at everyone in the lead escort team and asked coldly: "Are you discussing the imperial court?"
There was silence in the teahouse. Everyone was drinking tea with their heads down. The teahouse owner quickly said with a smile: "Everyone is chatting about Feng Yue and discussing the room!"
The leader of the escort pushed the shopkeeper away and said coldly to everyone: "First of all, I'm warning you, if you underestimate someone's low status, don't make rash comments about the court. If you catch the Plum Blossom Guard, you will suffer."
Everyone still bowed their heads and drank tea, pretending not to hear anything.
At this moment, there was suddenly a noisy running sound outside, and then a tabloid man shouted in a clear voice, "Beijing News! Beijing News! The latest news, the Western Army has wiped out 200,000 gold soldiers and regained Hebei Road.
"
This news was so shocking that everyone ignored the presence of the Plum Blossom Guards sergeants and ran out to buy newspapers. Within a moment, almost everyone in the teahouse had a copy of the Beijing News and were all looking down at the newspapers. The Plum Blossom Guards were quite bored.
He asked the shopkeeper for two coins, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"
He led his men away in despair. As soon as the Plum Blossom Guards left, the teahouse burst into uncontrollable cheers.
"Hebei has been recovered! Our Han people have been recovered!"
"The golden man finally got out!"
Cheers arose one after another in Lin'an City. Many people ignored the hot weather and ran to the streets to beat gongs and drums to celebrate the victory. Many people whose hometowns were in Hebei knelt down and cried bitterly. The cheers became louder and louder, and the whole Lin'an City seemed to be boiling.
.
The parade of Taipei students came out, bringing the spontaneous celebrations to the climax. Thousands of Taipei students walked in front, holding high banners and slogans, 'Expel the Tartars, restore the mountains and rivers!' in eight vigorous characters.
There are many banners at the back, such as 'Suddenly heard that Hebei has been recovered, I burst into tears and praised the Western Army', 'The soldiers of the three armies forged a new tripod with the blood of the soldiers' and so on.
More and more people joined the parade, from thousands to tens of thousands, and finally to hundreds of thousands, cheering and marching on the streets, beating gongs and drums, singing and dancing, celebrating the victory of regaining Hebei.
Some people are happy while others are disgusted. For example, Qin Hui is extremely disgusted. Today happens to be a holiday. Qin Hui stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his hands. When he heard the cheers outside, he snorted heavily, turned around and walked into the study, closing the door heavily.
"Master doesn't seem worried at all!" There was a trace of worry in Wang's eyes.
"What am I worried about?" Qin Hui asked a little unhappy.
"If Chen Qing replaces Song Dynasty, will Chen Qing let me go?"
"That will happen in the future. If he comes from the west, I will go eastward. I will not be his official, receive his salary, or be one of his people. What can he do to me?"
"Master, have you made any arrangements?"
Qin Hui said calmly: "If you don't have long-term worries, you will have immediate worries, but it's best to keep it a secret. Don't send your son to King Yong to be an official like some people do, while here they are still pretending to be loyal and patriotic!"
"Are the rumors true?"
Mrs. Wang asked with great interest: "Did Xu Xian Tuzhen send his son to serve as an official with King Yong?"
"There is no evidence, but it should be true. That person is the county magistrate in Yuchi County. Isn't Xu Xiantu from Yuchi County?"
"Is this evidence that the master took the opportunity to bring down Xu Xiantu?"
Qin Hui thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "I don't intend to impeach Xu Xiantu!"
"Why"
Wang was shocked and said: "Hasn't I always tried every means to impeach him? And he will object to the suggestions made by me. Everyone is saying that he and I are incompatible."
"None of these statements is wrong, it's just one moment and another. In the past, I wanted to kick him to death, but now I hope he will continue to stay in phase."
Looking at his wife's stunned expression, Qin Hui sneered and said: "Now that Xu Xiantu has fallen, it is not me, but Zhang Jun who has benefited. The emperor wanted to reuse him as prime minister, but there was no suitable opportunity for a while, so he demoted Xu Xiantu."
, wouldn’t it be that Zhang Jun is in the right position.”
Wang nodded, "I understand, it's just that Xu Xiantu was advantaged. Back then, Zhao Ding was completely demoted because of Zhe Yanzhi's betrayal. Now Xu Xiantu has also betrayed him, and he is still his son, but he is safe and sound. I am speechless.
You can tell!"
"It won't be easy for him!"
Qin Hui said proudly: "I have to hold on to this handle. If he dares to oppose me at the critical moment, I will use this to warn him, but I still have to send someone to Yuchi County to confirm that the county magistrate is his son.
"
"Did Master send someone?"
"I asked He Li to go there a few days ago. He is doing a good job and I believe there will be results soon."
Wang nodded, looked at the newspaper, and said, "After reading today's newspaper, will the emperor call me again to discuss countermeasures?"
"It should be possible, but what can we do? Attack the newspaper again? Chen Qing is just waiting for the opportunity!"
At this time, the butler's voice came from the yard, "Master, someone is coming from the palace!"
Qin Hui and Wang looked at each other and they were indeed here.
In a waterside pavilion in the palace, Zhao Gou was sitting on a large soft chair. There was a wooden stage on the pond in front of him. More than a dozen dancers were dancing on the stage. The melodious sound of silk and bamboo lingered around the stage. Sitting with him on both sides were
There are more than a dozen concubines, all dressed up in colorful clothes.
Zhao Gou's face was gloomy. He was still thinking about today's "Beijing News", which said that the Western Army had regained Hebei. What he was most worried about had come.
He really hoped that the Western Army's expedition to Hebei would fail, preferably a disastrous defeat, but the Western Army still won, no matter what, then why couldn't it be silent and make the commotion known to the world, so where would the court's face be? His own
Where is the face?
The more Zhao Gou thought about it, the angrier he became. The originally melodious sound of silk and bamboo became particularly harsh. He couldn't help it anymore and suddenly shouted angrily, "That's enough!"
All the concubines were stunned. Seeing that the situation was not good, the eunuch quickly stopped the music and the dancers also stopped.
Zhao Gou snorted heavily, got up and went to his inner study, leaving behind all the concubines who were looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Your Majesty is probably angry about the Beijing News at noon!" someone whispered.
The girls were relieved. They all subscribed to the "Beijing News", which was their only channel to understand the outside world. They all knew that the Western Army had recaptured Hebei.
As soon as Zhao Gou sat down in the inner study, the eunuch reported, "Qin Xianggong wants to see you!"
"Announce his presence!"
Zhao Gou also knew that Qin Hui often came up with bad ideas, but those bad ideas came from his own mind. This time he still wanted to hear Qin Hui's opinion.
After a while, Qin Hui hurriedly walked into the inner study, bowed and saluted, "See you, Your Majesty!"
"It's a day off today, and I brought Mr. Qin here to disturb him from his rest!"
"Your Majesty, don't worry about it. When you reach the position of a minister, you don't have a day off anymore."
"That's true!"
Zhao Gou took the Beijing News and put it on the table, "Has Mr. Qin read today's newspaper?"
"Weichen has read it. To be honest, Weichen is very angry. The whole article is extremely flattering to Chen Qing, as if he alone is responsible for regaining the country."
"Although I haven't left the palace, I can guess that the people in Lin'an must be singing and dancing to celebrate the recapture of Hebei, right?"
Qin Hui didn't say anything, obviously acquiescing to Zhao Gou's guess. Zhao Gou suddenly became furious, "This bastard is so bullying. He has to keep humiliating me to show his wisdom and prowess?"
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that's what Chen Qing means!"
Zhao Gou put his hands behind his hands and said coldly: "Mr. Qin, don't I have any way to fight back?"