Both Li Kuo and Li Kuo were confused by the yamen servant's attitude. They really didn't understand why the yamen servant who was still arrogant before suddenly treated them with courtesy. Despite their doubts, the two of them followed the yamen servant inside.
Jingzhao Mansion.
Under the guidance of the yamen servant, the two did not enter the lobby of Jingzhao Mansion but walked out through a side door. They walked along a hand-curved corridor and passed through two stone arched moon doors before arriving at the inner residence of Jingzhao Mansion.
.
The back house is a large house with three entrances and three exits. A crescent-shaped shallow lake flows quietly in the middle of the house. Lake stones transported from Taihu Lake are piled into various rockery shapes by skilled craftsmen in Guanzhong. Several rainbow clear springs flow from the house.
The rockery pours into the lake, creating ripples. There are several pavilions built along the lake. In the middle of the pavilion is a water table, and there is a guqin leaning against the rockery. I never thought that Mr. Jing Zhaoyin
Li Kuo was quite surprised that he was so elegant and decorated his inner house as elegantly and elegantly as the mansions in the south of the Yangtze River. But before he could think about it, he was led by the bearded yamen to a road paved with bluestone slabs.
Along the path, the group walked slowly on the stone slabs, passed through a grove of bamboos, and arrived at the "Jingwu Hall", the reception room of Master Jing Zhaoyin's inner residence.
The bearded officer went forward and whispered to the guard, then he bowed his hands to Li Kuo and said: "You two gentlemen, you will see the master when you enter from here. The younger one will leave first." After that, he said.
Turn around and leave.
Li Kuo straightened his clothes and tightened the black scarf on his head. After making sure that it would not be rude, he took square steps into Jingwu Hall. The whole hall was not big but was extremely exquisite.
The door has six openings, and the fine red sandalwood panels are carved with vivid Spring and Autumn pictures. Even the door bolts are inlaid with gilded auspicious animals, which are no less powerful than those of the emperor's relatives. Placed in the middle of the hall
There is a silk screen with a hand-painted preface to the Orchid Pavilion by Wang Youjun. Judging by the power of the writing, you can tell that the owner is a Taoist. Walking around the screen, you can see a middle-aged man in a dark blue robe leaning against a soft bed.
On the couch. This man has a face with a Chinese character. Although he cannot be called sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, the heroic look between his eyebrows is indeed sharp. A thick and dark goatee is printed on the cheeks as beautiful as crown jade, which shows that he is
The owner attaches great importance to the maintenance of appearance and appearance.
This man is Wang Jingzhao of the Tang Dynasty. As he reaches middle age, he gradually feels that his youth is passing away from him. Ten years ago, he would not feel tired while sorting out official documents all night long, but now he only needs to lie down in front of the desk for two days.
Within an hour, he would feel severe pain in his back and bones, but he could not fall down. The rise and fall of the Wang family in Guanzhong depended entirely on him. Although the Wang family was now prominent, he had offended many powerful people in his position as Jing Zhaoyin over the years.
Don't look at these people who dare not provoke the Wang family now. As long as he resigns from the position of Jing Zhaoyin today, tomorrow someone will dare to impeach the Wang family for their crimes of causing harm to the people of Chang'an. Humph, the most duplicitous of these people is Li Linfu, the right prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.
His Excellency is mostly using him. As a confidant promoted by the Right Prime Minister, he knows the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty best. If he is in trouble, this unreasonable Prime Minister would like to kick him away to get rid of him.
Himself. This huge city of Chang'an is a chessboard, and these officials, big and small, are all chess pieces. The only person who controls the chess game is the one in the Daming Palace. If you don't want to be regarded as an abandoned piece,
, he must make his own strength stronger, only in this way can people who play chess have some scruples. The strong are respected, this is the creed of his life. Ever since he became an official, he has not believed in anything.
Even if he has a wife and children, he feels that there is a strong sense of purpose in his (her) eyes. This feeling has been lingering around him, which Wang Wen, who has many children under his knees, cannot feel.
A trace of family happiness. So over the years, he has always been hands-on, and everyone who opposes him will be caught by him. The battles in the court have sharpened his eyes as sharp as an eagle, and any flaw will be revealed.
He grabbed it and gave the enemy a fatal blow.
Li Kuo, hum, this name has been bothering him these days. According to the information from his informant, this young man named Li Kuo first forced his son to flee with his sharp tongue in full view of the public, and then He also recognized the celebrity next to Shu Han, Gao Shi's brother, as his uncle. Then he mistakenly recognized the current Princess Yuzhen of the Tang Dynasty as his foster aunt. Now he came to ask for someone with the princess's jade plaque. If he hadn't been there Lan Yue Lou had an eye liner, but he is still kept in the dark until now. What a great trick to take advantage of the situation. He has such a strategy at a young age, and in time he will become a great weapon.
Opening his eyes lightly, Wang Wen carefully looked at the young man in front of him. He was dressed in dark cotton and linen clothes, with a black scarf on his head. The simple attire could not hide his heroic spirit. He looked so much like Li Shizhi back then. Oh, is this a trick of fate? Now is his son coming for revenge?
Being stared at by Wang Wen, Li Kuo felt a little weak. He quickly stepped forward and gave him a deep courtesy as a junior: "Young man Li Kuo has met Mr. Jing Zhaoyin."
Wang Wen half stood up, waved his hand to Li Kuo and said: "Niece Kuo, don't be too polite. I often hear Zhao'er talking about you. Compared to my unfilial son, you are really a leader among the younger generation. "After speaking, he picked up a cup of scented tea and took a sip, waving his hand to signal Li Kuo to help himself.
Although he felt very uncomfortable being suppressed by Wang Welding's aura, Li Kuo still forced himself to smile: "Uncle, you are ridiculous. Prince Wang is so majestic and a pillar of the Tang Dynasty. How can he be compared to Kuo'er? Kuo'er is here to visit today. Uncle actually does it for one thing."
"Hey, there's no rush." Wang Wen waved his hand and said, "Don't you want me to come to Jingzhao Mansion if you have nothing to ask for? You and I should treat each other as uncles and nephews. This is your home. Don't see anyone outside. "Come here, give my nephew Kuo a cup of tea." The clever boy offered a cup of freshly brewed scented tea, and Li Kuo had no choice but to take it with both hands and take a symbolic sip.
Zhang Yanji had long been dissatisfied with the fact that Wang Wen was taking advantage of his situation to pressure others, so he snatched the tea cup from Li Kuo's hand and drank it all in one gulp. "Hey, Uncle Wang. Brother Kuo'er is stupid, let me tell you. Brother Kuo's A good friend, Dezi, was arrested by the Jingzhao Mansion for some unknown reason. I think it was a misunderstanding. No, even Her Royal Highness Princess Yuzhen was alarmed. She specially gave a jade plaque to Brother Kuo'er as a gift. I have a guarantor, and I hope that you, the old man, will make the decision to let that little brother go."
A trace of gloom flashed across Wang Wen's face, which was then replaced by a warm smile: "Haha, you brat, you are still so impatient. Look at how you talk and act like a young man from the Ministry of Industry." Qing Qing After scratching his tea, Wang Wen said softly: "Yes, Jingzhao Mansion has arrested a lot of people these days, and most of them are related to a case. Nephew Kuo's friend is indeed in Jingzhao Mansion now, but this This matter is of great importance, so I have to act cautiously. Now that Her Royal Highness Princess Yuzhen is the guarantee, it must be a misunderstanding. I will send people to take the two nephews to the prison to get the little brother out of prison. Our family must not harm the harmony." He deliberately bitten the word "Princess Yuzhen" quite hard, as if to imply something.
"Thank you so much, Uncle Wang!" He didn't expect Wang Welding to agree so readily. Li Kuo was so happy that he bowed his head to the ground to express his gratitude.
Wang Wen helped Li Kuo up with one hand and said with a smile: "You are as polite as Shi Zhi was back then. If you need anything in the future, just come to my uncle. In Chang'an City, your uncle and I are still a bit thin."
Li Kuo received the token, thanked him again, and then he and Zhang Yanji said goodbye to Wang Wen and left the inner residence of Jingzhao Mansion together.
After leaving Jingzhao Mansion, a yamen officer led the two to the prison. With Wang Weld's token, everything became simple. After a few words with the warden, the two of them entered the prison smoothly. The Heavenly Prison of Jingzhao Mansion Most of the prisoners in the prison were noble sons from aristocratic families, so it was naturally not as dark and humid as ordinary county prisons. But even so, Li Kuo still shuddered when he entered the prison for the first time. The temperature inside the prison was significantly lower than outside. Although there were lighting torches on both sides, it was still dark. Li Kuo and Li Kuo followed closely the jailer who led the way, and walked slowly around two corners before arriving at the Tianzi prison area where felons were held.
The warder cupped his hands at the two of them, pointed to a single cell on the right side and said: "Brother Dezi is in that cell. The brothers are being treated kindly these days. Please excuse me, gentlemen." .”
Li Kuo returned the favor and said, "Thank you, brother."
Most of the prisoners in the Tianzi Prison Area are repeat offenders, so the cells are all single-person. This is to prevent prisoners from colluding to escape from prison, and secondly, these prisoners have deep family backgrounds, and most of the jailers can make a lot of money from them.
Li Kuo walked to the cell where Dezi was imprisoned and looked around. He saw a dirty-looking prisoner huddled on a straw bed in the corner, shaking uncontrollably.
When the prisoner saw someone coming, he huddled back as hard as he could and shouted: "Don't come over, I really don't know. Don't hit me, I don't know anything. Don't, don't, I really don't know anything."
"Dezi!" Li Kuo said with a sore nose, "I am your Brother Kuo. It's okay, it's okay. Everything is over. Brother Kuo will take you home. Dezi is not afraid, Dezi is not afraid."
"Brother Kuo? Are you really Brother Kuo?" The prisoner heard this and crawled forward a few steps. When he saw clearly that the person coming was indeed Li Kuo, he actually swarmed forward and hugged Li Kuo in front of the prison pillar with both hands. He cried bitterly: "Brother Kuo, I, I really thought I would never see you again in this life!"