I opened a tea shop in Bianjing

Chapter 39
When the first ray of sunshine in the morning shone on the Xuande Tower, there was still silence in front of the Daxiangguo Temple, but the vendors along the street had already carried their shoulder poles and pushed the Taiping carts to both sides of Xuandemen and Daxiangguo Temple, and began to sell along the street .

"Cooking cakes, soup cakes, sweet-scented osmanthus cakes, five cents for a spoonful of sugar water!"

Although there were not many pedestrians on the street at this time, most of the civil and military ministers who came to the court gathered here.It was the season when it was warm and cold, and the ministers wore loose court clothes and came to Xuande Gate in sedan chairs.The servants came to the breakfast stand with a few copper coins to buy breakfast for their masters.Officials, on the other hand, cannot do without greeting each other.

On weekdays, Zeng Bu, one of the ministers, would step out of the sedan chair, walk and look around with his hands in his wide sleeves.When peddlers along the street saw him, they would greet him: "Mr. Zeng is here!"

Zeng Bu also nodded and smiled, and said, "Here we come." As a high-ranking member of the imperial court, he had no airs of being a high-ranking official, so he won the love of the people and the trust of his officials.

But today, he did not get out of the sedan chair for a long time.

Just the day before, he issued a secret seal to the officials.

The so-called secret revelation is a memorial that is not made public, and only he and the officials know about it.This was Zeng Bu's first time since he became an official, so he felt a little ashamed and felt that he had damaged his reputation as an upright official.

As a privy envoy of the imperial court, he shouldn't be in charge of such things, but he couldn't hold back his wife Wei Wan, so he had to bite the bullet and write down this secret message.

Mrs. Wei was shocked when she learned that Mo Yunxiao's family had been raided and the whole family was imprisoned.That's why this move happened.

The secret code was handed in yesterday, and there should be an answer today.He didn't know whether the officials would be furious, or would not take it seriously, feeling uneasy.

It wasn't until the bearer bought him a bowl of steaming sesame oil soup cakes that he recovered from his contemplation.

This soup cake is a noodle soup made of boiled noodles and then topped with minced meat broth. It is one of the most common breakfasts in Tokyo and is also the prototype of noodles in later generations.

Zeng Bu took the soup cakes, stirred them with chopsticks, and said with a smile, "When I was young, I used to eat soup cakes. Now I serve the emperor, and I am so close to heaven, but I still like this folk food."

The bearer smiled and said: "Madam also often says that our master is easy to approach, presumably it has something to do with diet."

Zeng Bu chuckled, and "hula-la" swallowed the soup and noodles together. "Okay, when it's cold, a bowl of hot soup is enough to warm you up." He wiped the grease on the corner of his mouth, put the bowl and chopsticks aside, and then slowly stepped out of the sedan chair, stretched his waist, and walked towards the Xuande Gate go.

After entering the Xuande Gate, you will face the Daqing Hall where the government was discussed.This is the main hall that only important ministers from the two governments are eligible to enter.

Standing on the stone steps of the main hall, an eunuch about forty years old saw that the ministers had arrived one after another, so he raised his voice and shouted: "Today, the official is feeling a little windy, and his body is weak, and his eyes and ears are plugged. Court meeting. I hope that all the ministers will be self-restraining and devoted to the public, and live up to the entrustment of the official family, so let's go."

Although the eunuch's voice was sharp, he was full of energy and seemed to transmit his voice far away without any effort.

After he finished speaking, he stepped down the stone steps with a smile, and said to the officials of the Second Mansion who came up, "Masters and gentlemen, today, the officials are so inconvenient to go to the court to discuss the affairs of state. .” Then he raised his hands and bowed to everyone.

All the officials also returned the gift one after another.Among them, Li Qingchen, the servant of the censor, stepped forward and asked: "The official family has always been healthy, why did they suddenly fall ill?"

"It's just that there are unpredictable things in the sky." The eunuch replied: "Although the official family is the son of heaven, they are not exempt from customs in the world."

Li Qingchen nodded, and said: "In that case, I will take my leave first. I asked my husband to pass the performance on my behalf, and said that we all hope that the official's family will recover as soon as possible."

The eunuch smiled and replied: "Yes, I would like to thank you for your kindness on behalf of the officials. But..." He glanced around and said to Zeng Bu: "Mr. Zeng, please stay."

"Oh?" Zeng Bu was taken aback for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat.All the officials looked sideways at him, but no one dared to ask him.

The eunuch led Zeng Bu slowly towards Da Nei, without saying a word on the way.Zeng Bu was a little uneasy, so he asked, "Officer An, why did the official call me alone?"

The official smiled and said: "Mr. Zeng asked Yu Blindly. We are just a servant of the official's attendant. We only know how to follow orders. How can we ask Tianxin? The official's family is waiting for you in the imperial garden. Zeng Xianggong You can ask yourself face to face."

"Yes." Zeng Bu replied, and stopped talking.

They bypassed the Daqing Hall, Zhongshu Sheng, and went straight to Da Nei.The Zichen Hall, Chuigong Hall, and Jiying Hall are three side-by-side palaces in Da Nei, but the official family is not here.

They walked for a long time, passing through these three halls, bypassing Baoci Palace, Chongzheng Hall and other palaces, and arrived at the gate of the inner garden.

At this time, the sun was in the sky, and Zeng Bu was already sweating slightly.The eunuch also stopped at the gate of the inner garden.

Zhang Di, the official's personal servant, came to meet him with a smile.He met with the elder eunuch and Zeng Bu one after another, and then said to Zeng Bu: "Private Zeng, the official family has been waiting for a long time."

Zeng Bu saw that his tone was kind, and his nervousness eased a lot.So he answered "Here", and walked into the imperial garden in the inner garden together with him.

Spring flowers are blooming, but this spring is extremely cold, so many flower buds do not bloom for a long time.Zeng Bu looked around and saw flower buds that hadn't bloomed and dead trees that hadn't sprouted new buds all around. He felt a little strange in his heart, wondering why the officials wanted to meet him here.

The young Zhao Ji is in a gazebo.This pavilion is not big, a stone table is covered with the Four Treasures of the Study, and the official is holding a paintbrush and thinking hard.Standing around him were several guards wearing rattan armor and holding waist knives, looking majestic.

"Officials, Privy Secretary Zeng has arrived." Zhang Di walked up the steps and bowed to Zhao Ji.Zeng Bu hurriedly bowed and saluted, and said: "The minister and deputy envoy Zeng Bu kowtowed to Your Majesty."

Zhao Ji looked back and smiled at the two of them, saying: "This is the inner garden, not the court hall. You don't have to be polite." .”

Zeng Bu moved over, opened his eyes, and saw that the painting was of a high mountain waterfall, with strange rocks under the waterfall, and a scholar playing the piano sitting beside the waterfall.It's just that the area around the scholar is a little empty, presumably the author hasn't finished the painting yet.

"It's really a good painting." Zeng Bu praised: "The officials have this root of wisdom, which is bestowed by heaven. But it seems that the painting has not been finished yet, and I dare not comment in vain."

Zhao Ji seemed to be very satisfied with his work, so he also straightened up, watched carefully, and said, "Mr., won't you come to persuade me?"

Zeng Bu was stunned and asked, "What can I advise?"

"The empress dowager and the censors often say that the emperor should put state affairs first and cannot operate such ingenious techniques." He said: "They also cited Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties, as an example."

Zeng Bu said: "The ministers are right. If your majesty indulges in calligraphy and painting, the government will surely be ruined. However, calligraphy, painting and poetry can also cultivate people's temperament. Confucius even compiled "Three Hundred Poems", and your majesty can make a painting occasionally. "

"Hahaha..." Zhao Ji raised a smile and said, "Mr. Zeng's words made people suddenly understand." However, he frowned again, thinking hard: "It's just that the painting has not been finished yet, and the scholar is surrounded by paintings. Strange rocks or old pine trees, streams or flowers and plants, tsk tsk, no matter how they are painted, they seem too vulgar and can’t come up with new ideas.”

He pondered for a moment, then turned his head and asked Zeng Bu, "Do you have any tricks, sir?"

Zeng Bu smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm not good at this."

"I heard that Mrs. Wei has a literary talent, is this true?" Zhao Ji asked again.

"My wife can write a few sour poems, but the style is not high, I'm afraid it won't be worthy of official paintings."

Zhao Ji smiled slightly and said, "That's okay. You can take this painting back and show it to your wife. It's also good to refer to it for details. If your wife has an ingenious idea, you can order the artist to paint it. If not, well, it's up to you. It's my temporary scribbles, to burden the husband and wife."

After he finished speaking, he put down the brush, turned around and walked away.Zhang Di hurried up to roll up the painting carefully and put it in the painting tube.Zeng Bu couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to walk behind the emperor after thanking him.

Zhao Ji suddenly said: "Madam Wei has a very close relationship with Mo Yunxiao from the Minglou. This time, Madam must have persuaded Mr. to give me the secret message, right?"

Zeng Bu's heart tightened, and he couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.He wiped the sweat off his face with his hand, and hurriedly said, "The official's holy judgment, this...is indeed what my wife meant."

"Hehe, how do you think I know?" Zhao Ji was quite proud, and said with a smile: "Although Mo Yunxiao and I didn't meet each other, we did know each other well. That day in Minglou, the honored lady was also here After he finished speaking, he paused, took out a small jade pendant from his pocket, turned around and handed it to Zeng Bu, and said with a smile, "Look, this is a token from the Mo family's wife."

Zeng Bu took the jade pendant and looked at it. There was a camellia carved on one side, and the word "Mo" was engraved on the other side. It must belong to the daughter of the Mo family.

Zeng Bu was startled, and couldn't help staring at Zhao Ji with wide eyes.Zhao Ji felt a little embarrassed, and said: "That day I also participated in the tea fighting meeting in Minglou on a whim, but unexpectedly I won the first place. Hehe, I also thought about it later, if this woman has good character and good looks, I might as well be included Gong Lai..."

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Di interrupted Zhao Ji, and shouted: "How can a merchant's daughter..."

Zhao Ji waved to him, beckoning him to be calm, and continued, "I didn't expect something to happen to their family so soon."

Zeng Bu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Does Your Majesty know what crimes her family committed?"

"It is said that his father was a deserter from the Western Army." Zhao Ji replied.

Zeng Bu nodded, secretly admiring the young emperor's sharp eyesight, and said slowly: "Your Majesty has not been enthroned for a long time, and is about to set a new example for the people of the world. Although his father is guilty, it is not a heinous crime. Can Your Majesty follow the usual practice?" , Amnesty to the world?"

Zhao Ji sighed, paced back and forth, and said, "It's okay to forgive the children of the Mo family, but if you want to forgive Mo Chenglin...I'm afraid that once this example is opened, the soldiers guarding the border will be fugitives in the future."

Zeng Bu hurriedly said: "The emperor sits in the world, he is in virtue but not in danger. If the army's salary is sufficient, the soldiers will be rewarded for meritorious deeds and punished for crimes. The things that your majesty is worried about will definitely not happen."

Zhao Ji smiled at him, then turned to Zhang Di and said, "Let's go to the jail in Kaifeng Mansion to see how the Mo family is doing?"

"Yes." Zhang Di replied, handed the painting tube in his hand to another eunuch, and bowed back.

"Come, come, Mr. Zeng might as well take a walk here with me, as a pastime." Zhao Ji said and walked forward.

Zeng Bu followed behind him a little uneasy, and asked, "Is it just because of this that the official excused illness today?"

"Yes." Zhao Ji smiled and said, "I don't know why, but I'm very curious about that Mo Yunxiao."

Zeng Bu kept silent because he didn't know how to answer.

Zhao Ji continued: "'It's better to touch Kaifeng Mansion than Mo Yunxiao; I'd rather eat ten buckets of vinegar than meet Mo Helu'. Hehe, I think this woman must be strong. But what I saw that day was somewhat Shy, I don't know why?"

Zeng Bu replied: "After all, it's my daughter's family, so I'm always shy."

Zhao Ji's smile faded, and he seemed a little disappointed, so he said: "I hope she is a sincere and sincere person. Just like Mi Fu, she will be unrestrained all her life, even if she meets me. You like such a person."

Zeng Bu still didn't answer, and also didn't know how to answer, so he could only walk with the emperor.

Not long after, Zhang Di came back out of breath. "Official...official..." Zhang Di trotted all the way, came over and said, "That Mo Chenglin... is dead."

"Dead?" Zhao Ji and Zeng Bu were both shocked.

"How did you die?" Zhao Ji hurriedly asked.

Zhang Di replied: "I heard that he died suddenly in prison. I think he couldn't survive the torture."

Zhao Ji frowned and thought, "How can the soldiers of the Western Army be so weak?"

"Could it be that the officials suspect that he committed suicide in fear of crime?" Zeng Bu asked.

Zhao Ji seemed absent-minded, and asked Zhang Di: "Did you do an autopsy? Is there any trauma?"

"No." Zhang Di replied.

"Is there any trace of poison?" Zhao Ji asked again.

Zhang Di still said: "No."

Zeng Bu thought for a while, and said, "In this case, Shengfu Yin and Qiu Yuhou will inevitably be reprimanded."

Zhao Ji nodded thoughtfully, and said: "I boldly guess that Mo Chenglin must have thought of a method of committing suicide that does not come down to the facts, so that the whole family can be exonerated."

"This..." Zeng Bu was a little nervous, so he asked, "If this is the case, how will the officials deal with it?"

Zhao Ji smiled helplessly and said, "Without evidence, how can we deal with it? We can only rely on him."

A stone in Zeng Bu's heart finally fell to the ground, and he said after a while: "The official family is really the lord of benevolence."

Zhao Ji smiled slightly, and then said with some worry: "I just don't know how the Mo family's children and dependents will live after the sudden loss of their lord?"

Zeng Bu thought for a while and replied, "My wife will definitely help."

Zhao Ji nodded, and said to him: "Take good care of Mo Yunxiao for me, maybe one day I will go to see her."

Startled, Zhang Di interjected, "Could it be that the officials really want to admit her into the palace?"

Zhao Ji asked with a smile: "Why not?"

"Oh!" Zhang Di shook his hands, took two steps anxiously, and said, "A merchant's daughter, how can she enter the palace gate? Besides, her father is a criminal. If she enters the palace, how can she explain to the people all over the world?" ?”

Zhao Ji chuckled, pointed at him with a fan and said, "The view of rotten Confucianism is not worth refuting. Fan Wenzheng once said, 'What is the crime of a businessman, and a gentleman is ashamed to be a neighbor', after a hundred years, the words are still in my ears. As for her father, people When the crime of death is eliminated, how can the guilt of the dead be imposed on the head of the living. In this way, the crimes of all people in the world will affect their descendants, and the words of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's "hell is not empty, and you will not become a Buddha" are probably true. empty talk."

After Zhao Ji finished speaking, he and Zeng Bu laughed together.

(End of this chapter)