serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 111

At the beginning of October, the capital became a bit cooler. The autumn wind pulled a few fallen leaves and danced in the air. The streets were deserted, with few pedestrians and vehicles, and many shops were closed. It was a cold and desolate scene.

At this time, a carriage drove up outside Guang'an Gate, and more than a dozen guards dressed as servants escorted the carriage into the capital.

Sitting in the carriage was a middle-aged man, Li Mingbo, the prefect of Yangzhou.

Li Mingbo's face showed endless emotions. This time he came to Beijing because he received an official document from the cabinet, and he was transferred to Beijing to be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture.

This year is the last year of his tenure in Yangzhou. He originally thought that he would be appointed as an inspector by special briefing, but he did not expect to be appointed as the governor of Shuntian Fu, so he took office immediately.

At this moment, Li Mingbo is worried, and it is not easy to be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture!

On the surface, it looks majestic, but in fact it is suffering on both sides, and often takes the blame. No, because of the assassination of King Beijing and Taoist Zhang, the former governor of Shuntian Prefecture resigned.

Li Mingbo also heard about the sufferings experienced by the former governor of Shuntian Prefecture, which can be regarded as a relief.

Chief Assistant Song Chengliang also wrote a private letter to Li Mingbo, explaining the reason.

The power struggle within the Cao Gang is intensifying. At the beginning, the two sides were relatively restrained, and they just competed with each other for the Jianghu gangs that are attached to each other. Now they directly and blatantly adopt the simple and crude method of fire fighting, causing panic in the Lianghuai area.

The officials of the Water Transport Yamen came forward to mediate, but the effect was not good. After three to five days of silence, the two parties clashed again.

The annoyed Governor of Water Transport sent troops to suppress it once, and thousands of people were arrested.The two parties expressed that they would not delay the water transportation, let alone disturb the lives of ordinary people, and then no one cared about this matter.

After receiving Song Chengliang's letter, Li Mingbo knew that the Governor of Water Transport had received an official document from the cabinet, so he let the Cao Gang fight and fight among themselves. As long as they do not affect the life of Water Transport and ordinary people, the Water Transport Yamen will turn a blind eye One eye, let them make trouble.

Song Chengliang also hinted in the letter that Lianghuai would be in chaos, so he took this opportunity to let him leave early.

It can also be said that Song Chengliang, the first assistant, rescued him from one fire pit and took him to another fire pit.

Lifting the curtains of the car, Li Mingbo took a few glances and sighed slightly. He heard about the war in the north on the way. Defeated the coalition forces of the Zherim League.

It stands to reason that there should be a peaceful and festive atmosphere inside and outside the capital, but Yongweiying and Sanqianying have lost their traces.

As more and more news came back, the situation became worse and worse. It was almost certain that the Yongwei Camp and the Three Thousand Battalion had fallen into a trap carefully set by the Manchus and Mongols.

On the vast prairie, falling into the encirclement of the cavalry, you don't need to think about what the ending will be.

A large part of the soldiers in the Yongwei Battalion came from the original Fifth Army Battalion, and almost all of these soldiers were from good families in Gyeonggi, Shandong and Shanxi, which made many people worried.

At the end of September, rumors suddenly spread in the capital, saying that Jia Hu was greedy for meritorious deeds, and thus fell into the trap of the Manchus.He also said that Jia Hu was able to lead the army because he had a sister who was a noble concubine.
The imperial court paid no attention to this kind of street talk, until the family members of those soldiers went to Ningrong Street to make trouble under the instigation of caring people, which attracted the attention of the imperial court.

Bingmasi arrested a group of people, and after interrogation, it was determined that someone deliberately spread rumors to slander Jia Hu and his concubine Jia Yuanchun.

Hearing that there were rumors even in the harem, the emperor was furious and dealt with a group of court ladies and eunuchs.

The capital city at this moment is like a keg of explosives. As long as the news of Jia Hu's defeat comes, the capital city will be blown upside down immediately, and the Jia family and Xungui's lineage will be backlashed!
Thinking of this, Li Mingbo sighed, it's not easy to be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture!
Suddenly, the convoy arrived at Zhengyangmen Street.

Suddenly, there was a rush of horseshoes from behind, and the captain of the guard turned his head to look, only to see a messenger with a burden on his body and torn clothes, lashing his fast horse with his whip and galloping towards this side.

The horse was gradually approaching, the eyes of the messenger on it were slightly closed, and his complexion was sallow.

The guard captain's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly called the convoy to step aside and dodge.

At this moment, the horse let out a mournful cry, foamed at the mouth, its front legs went limp, and it collapsed forward, twitched a few times, and then fell silent.

Only then did the guard captain realize that the letter had tied himself to the horse's back with a rope.

Blood seeped out slowly, it was so dazzling.

Such a big commotion attracted the surrounding people, but no one dared to come over, and gathered together from a distance to discuss quietly.

"what happened?"

Li Mingbo lifted the curtains of the car, was taken aback for a moment, and said to the captain of the guard, "Go and have a look."

After a pause, "Don't move the burden on him."

The captain of the guard: "Yes." Turned off his horse, walked forward, knelt down next to the messenger's corpse, stretched out his hand to feel it, found a token in his arms, and took it out. Suddenly he trembled, as if seeing Ghost!

Li Mingbo: "What's wrong?"

The captain of the guard came back to his senses, and quickly ran to the carriage with the token, and handed it over.

Li Mingbo's expression changed, and the token was impressively engraved with the words "Title Division"!

There were more and more people watching, and even more people with good intentions came over.

Li Mingbo: "Scatter the onlookers first!"

The captain of the guard: "Yes!" With a wave of his hand, several guards drove away the crowd of onlookers.

Looking at the commander's card in his hand, and at the burden on the corpse's back, Li Mingbo gritted his teeth: "Bring the burden."

Guard Captain: "This"

Li Mingbo: "Go!"

The captain of the guard swallowed and moved slightly, but he still stood still.

Li Mingbo was not in a good mood: "I am responsible for anything, and it has nothing to do with you."

The captain of the guard stepped forward, untied the burden on the messenger's back, and then ran over and handed it to Li Mingbo.

Li Mingbo took the package and put it on the table in the carriage, and unwrapped it.

A locked wooden box was exposed, and two seals were crossed on the wooden box.

The two seals were stamped with the seal of the Division of Criminal Justice and the seal of the commander of the Yongwei Battalion.

Li Mingbo's eyes were wide open, and he was indistinguishable from surprise!
The first assistant Song Chengliang is his backer, and Jia Hu is Song Chengliang's political ally.

Li Mingbo fastened the baggage again, lifted the curtains of the car, and said to the captain of the guard: "Leave two people here to watch, and immediately escort me into the palace."

Qianqing Palace, in the bedroom.

For the past few days, Emperor Jianwu had been under tremendous pressure. Last night, after reviewing the memorials, he fell ill due to the night wind blowing in the middle of the night.

Emperor Jianwu was lying on the bed with a high pillow, holding a memorial and looking at it carefully, a melancholy light appeared in his eyes, and then he sighed softly.

Dai Quan came in with the medicine in hand, and said softly, "Your Majesty, drink the medicine."

Emperor Jianwu put the memorial in his hand on the table next to the bed, sat up straight, took the medicine and drank it in one gulp, then took the water from Dai Quan and rinsed his mouth, and then said: "That matter is investigated. how's it going?"

Dai Quan deliberately hesitated, and replied: "Investigating"

Emperor Jianwu took a deep look at him: "You should also read Liu Fang's military newspaper."

Dai Quan was startled, and quickly knelt down: "I don't dare. The ancestors have rules, and internal officials are not allowed to read the memorials from the external court."

Emperor Jianwu: "I am the emperor, if you want to see me, just watch."

Dai Quan didn't dare to say any more, so he had to pick up the military newspaper and read it carefully.

Emperor Jianwu spoke again: "Look behind."

Dai Quan: "Yes." He hurriedly turned his gaze to the last page of the military newspaper, looked at it, and his face began to change.

Emperor Jianwu looked at the military newspaper in Dai Quan's hand, and said thoughtfully, "Today is the last day for the Jia family to hold a funeral ceremony, right?"

Dai Quan: "Yes." Gently closed the military newspaper, put it on the case table, and then said: "Yesterday, the cabinet, the six ministers and nine ministers all sent gifts from their families. The officials of the Ministry also sent sacrifices."

After a pause, "The imperial envoy's family also prepared gifts such as pigs, sheep, incense, candles, tea and silver, and sent them to Qingxu Temple."

Emperor Jianwu nodded, and several places in the palace and families that had good relations with Jia's family all sent sacrifices on the first day.

His eyes slowly fell on the military newspaper on the case table. This military newspaper had just arrived. Liu Fang repulsed many attacks by the reinforcements of the Zhelimu League in Duolunuoer. It was nothing at all. But Liu Fang asked about Yuan Chun's safety in the military newspaper, and the article in it was too big.

Obviously, rumors in the palace spread to the army. Liu Fang was speaking for Jia's family, supporting Yuanchun, and telling everyone where the bottom line of the noble army was.

After pondering for a while, Emperor Jianwu sighed: "The queen mother said to me that day that the queen is too weak, and the people in the harem have no rules."

Then he said to Dai Quan: "You are the chief eunuch in charge of the palace's logistics. These maids and eunuchs are all under your control. It is impossible for you not to find out."

Dai Quan immediately got down on the ground: "The slave dare not lie to the emperor, the rumors came from Concubine Wu's palace."

Emperor Jianwu was startled for a moment, then blushed, and coughed violently out of breath.

Dai Quan quickly stood up and stepped forward to beat Emperor Jianwu's back. After a while, Emperor Jianwu's cough finally subsided.

Dai Quan: "Your Majesty."

Emperor Jianwu closed his eyes slightly and nodded slightly.

Dai Quan's eyes flashed. Although this Concubine Wu's appearance is not as shameful as a closed moon, she is also beautiful, and she has a well-behaved appearance. For the imperial concubine.

It's a pity that she is a stupid woman who is arrogant and spoiled. Can you spread the rumors about Jia Hu and Jia Yuanchun?

Competing for favor also depends on whether you are worthy or not. Who is behind Jia Yuanchun?Not just Jia Hu and the Jia family, but also the entire lineage of the noble military.

Thinking of this, Dai Quan whispered again: "Early in the morning, the empress went to pay her respects to the old dowager, and the dowager asked about this again."

Emperor Jianwu opened his eyes: "Proposed decree: Concubine Wu has a fake pregnancy to compete for favor, deprive her of her title, and demote her to a nobleman."

Dai Quan was taken aback, this Concubine Wu Gui is really pregnant
Emperor Jianwu spoke again: "Also, clean up the inner palace, it's a mess."

Dai Quan: "Yes."

Emperor Jianwu: "How is King Zhongshun?"

Dai Quan: "It's much better, I can rest at night."

Emperor Jianwu was stunned for a moment, King Zhongshun is considered useless now, not to mention leading troops, he can't walk too far.In order to treat him, he specially ordered to recruit famous doctors.

The errand of the infantry commanding the yamen was considered vacant, and several clan princes submitted their self-recommendation memorials, but unfortunately they were all just bombasts, so they were useless.

The Yizhong County King also set his sights on this job, but fortunately, the Supreme Emperor did not agree.

Emperor Jianwu snorted coldly, even if he handed over the command of the infantry to Xungui, he would not let Yizhong County King succeed.

At this moment, the chief eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate came hurriedly, stopped at the door of the bedroom, raised the burden in his hand, and panted: "Yong, Yongweiying!"

Dai Quan strode over, grabbed the bundle, untied it hastily, and presented the box to Emperor Jianwu.

Emperor Jianwu took the box with both hands, looked at the seal on it, put the box beside the bed, and took out a bunch of keys from under the pillow: "Open it."

Dai Quan: "Yes." Tore off the seal, and took the key from Emperor Jianwu to unlock it.

Emperor Jianwu took out the military newspaper exhibition inside and looked at it. A smile gradually appeared on his face. Looking at it, his expression suddenly changed, his face became gloomy, and a cold light shone in his eyes.

Dai Quan was surprised: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Emperor Jianwu yelled: "Arrest Pei Yan!"

Dai Quan was shocked when he heard this.

Emperor Jianwu: "Immediately guard all the members of the Pei family closely. Also, immediately send people to Qiantang to capture the family of the traitor Zhao Xi, and escort them to Beijing together with the Pei clan."

Dai Quan: "Yes." He bowed and backed out.

Emperor Jianwu asked the eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate, "Where's the messenger?"

The eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate: "Return to Your Majesty, the military report was sent by Li Mingbo, the former prefect of Yangzhou who just entered Beijing. According to him, the messenger died of exhaustion on Zhengyangmen Street."

After pondering for a while, Emperor Jianwu finally said: "Go, call Shoufu and Niu Shangshu here!"

Dongcheng, Pei Mansion.

Pei Yan dragged his exhausted body back home.

Walking into the hall, pushed away the second son's hand, sat down on the chair, took a sip from the tea bowl, Pei Yan asked, "Does your brother have a letter?"

Second Pei shook his head.

Pei Yan sighed deeply, and then said: "Get ready, I'm going to Daxiangguo Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha."

Second Pei: "Yes."

"What are you doing? Whoops"

Amidst the commotion, a group of criminal criminals rushed in.

Second Pei strode forward and asked, "Presumptuous! Do you know what this place is?!"

The head of the criminal division's head tilted his head and looked at him: "Come on, grab him."

The two fans shouted and grabbed him.

Only then did Pei Yan stand up: "Bold! This old man is an imperial envoy. Without His Majesty's imperial decree, no one can trespass into Pei's mansion. Don't you even know this!"

The leader of the Division of Criminal Justice sneered coldly: "Oh, Mr. Pei and I are pretending to be stupid? Today, you, the imperial envoy doctor, are arrested. Not only will you be arrested, but one of the Pei family will count as one, and one will also escape. No. Oh, by the way, the Pei clan from Qiantang will also be arrested and brought to Beijing."

Pei Yan stayed in place in a daze.

The leader of the Fanzi ordered loudly: "Come on, gather everyone in the backyard and put them under custody. All property is confiscated, and all must be registered and recorded. All books and letters in the study room should be sent back to the Judiciary, not a single piece of paper is allowed. Fall! Copy!"

All the fans shouted in unison: "Yes!"

Imperial envoy Pei Yan was imprisoned, and the news that Pei's house was ransacked swept through the capital like a gust of wind, and rumors spread all over the place.

Qian Qing outside the palace
Chief Assistant Song Chengliang came out, and Li Mingbo, who was waiting outside the palace gate, hurried up to greet him.

When he reached the gate of Wenyuan Pavilion, Song Chengliang pushed his hand away: "Your Majesty said, I will give you credit for this matter."

Li Mingbo was overjoyed.

Song Chengliang continued: "Someone will definitely ask you about this matter."

Li Mingbo hurriedly said: "Don't worry, teacher, student"

"You listen to me first."

Song Chengliang waved his hand: "Zhao Xi surrendered to the enemy and betrayed the whereabouts of the Yongwei Camp, which almost fell into the trap of the Manchus. Fortunately, the eunuch Zhao found out in time, and not only did the Yongwei Camp not have any The loss, and after joining forces with the [-] battalion, the Khalkha royal court was destroyed, and now it is clearing the Mongol tribe on the prairie."

After a pause, "These can be passed on to the outside world."

Li Mingbo rolled his eyes and understood that the situation of the Yongwei Camp was not good, and then said: "Master, don't worry, the students will definitely tell everyone the good news."

Song Chengliang nodded: "Today is the last day of the Jia family's funeral at Qingxu Temple. I have already prepared sacrifices for you. You don't need to go to the Ministry of Officials. I'll let someone take you there."

Li Mingbo: "Thank you, teacher."

In less than half an hour, the news that the Yongwei Battalion had won the battle spread throughout the capital, and at the same time there was news that Zhao Xi had defected to the enemy.

Qingxuguan

A burst of gongs and drums shouted from the second floor mountain gate.

I saw soldiers on the stage appearing in disorder, and suddenly they raised flags and beat drums, which was very lively.

At this time, "Xue Rengui's Eastern Expedition" was being sung. In order to please the lottery, Jia Lian changed the play lottery behind Jia's mother's back, and replaced all the plays such as "Lost Street Pavilion".

Jia Mu sat in the front seat of the main building, looking at the stage, but her eyes were not on the stage.

Suddenly, Mother Jia said, "What time is it?"

Sitting aside, Baoyu took out his pocket watch from his pocket and replied, "It's three quarters."

Jiamu leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes.

Wang Xifeng, who was standing behind Mrs. Xing, saw it, then turned her gaze to the empty chair next to Youshi, and shook her head.

Ever since rumors spread in the capital, Mother Jia and others couldn't sit still, and even speculated that the news was released by the Manchus. As the old saying goes, there is no wave without wind.

Thinking of Jia Lian again, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but rolled her eyes, and after three days of good drama, even a fool knew there was something wrong, but no one wanted to expose it.

Hope to have good news, the family is already in a mess.

The gongs and drums are loud.

Mother Jia sat on the chair with her eyes closed.

Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue, Youshi, and sisters Yingchun and Tanchun sat there silently, looking left and right, anxious.

At this moment, Jia Rong came upstairs out of breath, and walked quickly to Jia Mu's side: "Old, old ancestor. Yes, there is news about uncle."

Mother Jia opened her eyes.

Jia Rong: "The new governor of Shuntian Prefecture brought news from my uncle, saying that my uncle sent a battle report from the grassland, and the Yongwei Battalion won a big victory." Then, he told Mother Jia the news he got from Li Mingbo.

Mother Jia stood up from the chair and said in a loud voice: "Okay, good ancestor protection! Ancestor protection!"

Jia Rong's words clearly penetrated into everyone's ears. Knowing that Jia Hu was fine, everyone was at peace of mind, and hearing that the Yongwei Battalion had won a big victory, they couldn't help but beam with joy.

If it wasn't for the wedding and acting, they would have already stood up to congratulate Jiamu.

Mother Jia smiled again, and asked Jia Rong, "What's the matter with the new Shuntian Governor?"

Jia Rong hurriedly told Mother Jia about Li Mingbo's background, and suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly said: "Master Lin brought some things, and they are on the family's boat behind."

Only then did Mother Jia realize that Daiyu was not there, and hurriedly asked, "Where is Miss Lin? Where is Miss Lin?"

Wang Xifeng came over and whispered something in Jiamu's ear.

Mother Jia sighed and said to Wang Xifeng, "Go and tell her the good news."

Wang Xifeng: "Yes." Pointing at Ping'er, she walked out.

Qingxu Temple

Lin Daiyu knelt down on the futon under the statue, and Hu Po, Zijuan, Qingwen, and Xueyan stood by the door.

Grandma Wang, Lai Sheng's family, and Lin Zhixiao's family led a group of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to stand outside the palace gate.

Seeing Wang Xifeng walking towards this side, several people hurriedly went forward to greet her, and pointed to Lin Daiyu who was kneeling under the statue, shaking their heads and sighing.

Wang Xifeng sighed, walked over, waved to Hu Po and the others, walked behind Lin Daiyu, and said softly: "The military report came from the Yongwei Battalion, and the second brother won a big victory. It's all right."

Lin Daiyu was still kneeling there, neither got up nor spoke to her.

Wang Xifeng was startled: "Sister Lin?"

"girl?"

Hu Po, Zijuan, Qing Wen and Xue Yan all panicked and walked over together.

Wang Momo and the others glanced at each other, and then walked up quickly. At this moment, Lin Daiyu's cry came from the side hall.

Just as the people in the city were celebrating the victory of the Yongwei Camp, Li Shouzhong, the left deputy governor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, stopped for a long time in front of the mansion.

Many officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate gathered in front of the gate.

The housekeeper of the Li family stopped in front of the door: "My master said that all visits are declined. Please go back, all adults."

After hearing this, all the officials were even more silent, and they all looked at the closed door in panic.

Zhao Xi, the imperial censor of the right capital, defected to the enemy and treasoned the country, and Pei Yan, the imperial censor, was sent to prison. This made the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate worried, fearing that they would be implicated. They originally wanted to come to Li Shouzhong to inquire about the news, but unexpectedly Can't even get in the door.

Among the crowd, a middle-aged man wearing fourth-rank civil official robes sighed silently. He is the new Zuoqian capital censor Mei Changwen. He was originally a lecturer at the Imperial Academy. He is the censor of Zuoqian capital.

I thought that since then, I would be able to make steady progress and reach the pinnacle of life.Unexpectedly, Pei Yan was thrown into a big prison, he, a freshly baked Pei Dang, probably cannot escape punishment.

At this time, Mei Changwen remembered the marriage contract back then. He hadn't been admitted to Juren that year, and he was just a scholar. Second master, Xue Pan's second uncle.

After that, the two families not only had contacts, but also made a marriage contract and became the relatives of their children.

Strange to say, since the marriage contract was made, Mei Changwen went smoothly on the way of the imperial examination. He first won the Juren, and then passed the test in the spring of the second year. Born, and was assigned to the Hanlin Academy in the selection examination.

Over the years, he has gradually forgotten that there is still this marriage contract. Until the kidnapping case that caused a sensation in the government and the public, it turned out that the second master of the Xue family was still related to the Jia family in the capital.

This time the Jia family held a funeral at Qingxu Temple, most of the officials in the capital had prepared gifts to send to them, and he happened to be one of the few people, the reason was to avoid suspicion, and to avoid the Xue family.

Mei Changwen gritted his teeth, and let's keep the black hat on his head first.

Thinking of this, Mei Changwen squeezed out of the crowd.

(End of this chapter)