serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 338 Summer Capital City
It is said in the Book of Songs that in May, the cicadas have been dormant all winter and spring, and the cicadas have begun their first chirp.

There were thick green trees on both sides of the Tonghui River and cicadas were chirping. Since it was midsummer and the sun was shining brightly, there was only one passenger ship docked at the Chaoyangmen Pier.

Suddenly, the cicadas chirped loudly.

In the distance, a carriage and two sedan chairs came slowly from the official road.

After a long time, the carriage stopped and the sedan chair also stopped.The curtains of the first sedan and the second sedan were opened almost at the same time.The person who stepped out of the first sedan chair was Wang Hetang, the chief minister of the cabinet, and the person who stepped out of the second sedan chair was Zhao Zixun, a bachelor of the cabinet.

The curtain of the carriage in front was also opened, and with the support of the coachman, Yang Cifu, wearing casual clothes, stepped out of the carriage.

Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun walked towards Yang Cifu. Yang Cifu turned around and looked at each other. The sun was shining brightly, but his heart felt cold.

Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun looked at each other and bowed to Yang Cifu.

Yang Cifu smiled, smiling so calmly and relaxedly, stroking his beard and said: "I have never competed with others in my life. After entering the cabinet, I did not seek merit, but sought no faults. I thought that this would be the case in my life, but I didn't expect it. .I still had fights with others, but I don’t regret it. It’s worth dying for the country and the country of Zhou Dynasty!”

Wang Hetang was a sweet-tempered person. After hearing this, his eyes suddenly turned red: "I acted imprudently. In order to save me, you were deported to your home country. I...I'm sorry for you." Then tears welled up in his eyes. come out.

Yang Cifu: "The first assistant is wrong. We discussed this matter together."

Wang Hetang shook his head: "When Jia She refused, you tried your best to persuade me, but I said you were hesitant and timid."

Yang Cifu smiled again: "You are right, I am a person who is hesitant and timid. However, my biggest problem is that I have no independent opinion and just go along with it. If I persist a little longer, hey, I won't say anything anymore."

After hearing what he said, Zhao Zixun, who stood silently by the side, sighed in his heart. Jia She's refusal made their plan without a backer, or in other words, without someone to take the blame.

The reason why the Jia family was chosen was that the Jia family could withstand the anger of the emperor and the Prince of Nan'an County and let everyone pass.

Without the Jia family, they could only go into battle in person.

The plan went very smoothly, and the military rations were delayed for two days before being delivered to the frontline camp. Sure enough, Nan'an County Prince Ba Baili rushed to send an official document to hold the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household accountable.

But what happened next went in the opposite direction. Not only was Jin Shuqing okay, but he also received praise from the emperor.

In the end, the fire reached the cabinet. In order not to be overthrown by the royalists and the Mei Party, Yang Cifu took all the blame and was removed from all positions by the emperor and deported back to his place of origin.

After a long time, Zhao Zixun finally opened his mouth, but he just sighed.

"I went to Qianqing Palace again early in the morning. I wanted to plead with Ci Fu, but I couldn't enter the study!"

Wang Hetang became a little excited, "We are here to protect ourselves, and more importantly, for the country and the country of the Zhou Dynasty. We are competing with Jin Shuqing and others not only for power, but also for the future of the Zhou Dynasty. Can the emperor really not see it? What if he is right? If we are dissatisfied, a decree will be enough, and there is no need for a few scoundrels to humiliate us."

"Don't make any assumptions." Yang Cifu was extremely sensitive to such a topic and immediately stopped Wang Hetang.

Zhao Zixun finally spoke and sighed: "The first assistant is upset. Even though the emperor punished the second assistant, he also protected the second assistant."

Wang Hetang was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Before I leave, I would like to say one more thing."

Yang Cifu's tone worsened, "You should be more careful with the royalists in the future and don't fight them. With the emperor's protection, you can't fight them."

After a pause, "At present, it seems that only the military can suppress them." After saying that, he walked heavily towards the passenger ship under the pier.

Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun quickly followed.

Yang Cifu boarded the passenger ship alone, looked at Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun, was silent for a while, and said, "The prince of Beining County is coming back, and he will definitely protect you."

The two of them perked up, their eyes lit up, and they nodded together.

Yang Cifu forced a smile on his face: "Go back."

The ship's planks were pulled out, the sails were pulled up, and the boatman used bamboo pennies to prop up the pier to drive the ship away from the pier.

Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun bowed to Chief Yang Ci, and suddenly there were footsteps behind them.

"Stop the boat!"

"Stop quickly, there are prisoners on board!"

The two looked back and saw a group of officers and soldiers from the infantry yamen running over, several of them carrying firecrackers.

An officer carrying a knife shouted loudly: "Stop the boat quickly, or else we will set off firecrackers!"

The boatman was stunned and stood motionless.The soldiers of these infantry yamen were also ruthless. Seeing the boatman standing there motionless, the ones carrying muskets opened fire directly on the mast of the ship!

A cloud of sparks spurted out, the mast rope was broken, and the sail immediately floated down.

'Hurry to the shore!Otherwise, it will be fired! "

At this time, another group of infantry yamen officers and soldiers holding firecrackers came over, and more than a dozen firecrackers were aimed at the passenger ship.

Wang Hetang reacted and yelled loudly: "What a shame!"

Zhao Zixun's face sank: "Who gave you the courage in broad daylight!"

The officer had also seen people in the battle. When he saw the momentum of the two people, he knew that they had a lot of background. He hurriedly stepped forward to greet them, raised his hands and asked, "Who are you two?"

An attendant came over and introduced: "This is the chief minister of the cabinet, and this is Mr. Zhao Ge of the cabinet!"

The officer was startled and quickly returned the sword to its sheath. He said "Oh!" and bowed in salute: "I'm a humble official. Please atone for your sins, Chief Assistant and Mr. Zhao Ge."

With a snort, Wang Hetang asked: "What's going on?"

The officer said: "We came to arrest the prisoner on the order of the Supervisor of Ceremonies."

Zhao Zixun: "The former deputy minister of the cabinet is on this ship. Where did the imperial convict come from?"

The officer smiled bitterly: "That's right."

Wang Hetang was stunned: "What do you mean?"

The officer said: "I don't know about this junior officer."

"It's better for the Zajia family to tell the chief assistant." A voice sounded from behind.

Everyone turned around and saw that it was the deputy general manager of Qianqing Palace, and they saw him striding down with a team of chief ritual supervisors.

While the few people were talking, the boatman had already docked the boat, and Yang Cifu also came over at this time.

Wang Hetang looked at the deputy general manager: "What's going on? Didn't the emperor order the second assistant to return home?"

The deputy general manager looked at Yang Cifu and then said: "The Yunnan governor's office has been rushing for eight hundred miles. The southern Xinjiang army has been defeated. The southern Xinjiang general guard Rugui died in the battle. The whereabouts of the Nan'an prince are unknown. The 10,000+ army has less than five Wan returned to Yunnan."

Wang Hetang's expression suddenly changed: "What's going on?"

The deputy general manager shook his head: "I don't know."

"Why arrest the second assistant?" Zhao Zixun asked the key.

The deputy general manager lowered his voice: "At that time, Mr. Jin, the Minister of Revenue, was in the study room."

Hearing what he said, Wang Hetang, Zhao Zixun and Yang Cifu still didn't understand.

There was silence.

The deputy general manager spoke: "Sir, please." He said and gave up his hand.

Wang Hetang shouted: "Slow down!"

Everyone was startled and looked at him.

Wang Hetang's eyes flashed: "Don't they just want the position of chief minister of the cabinet? I will go to the study room now and exchange this gauze hat for your safety!"

Zhao Zixun gritted his teeth and said: "Okay! I'll go with you. It just so happens that my mother is old and waiting for me to go back to serve her."

The deputy general manager and the fans all looked at each other, stunned on the spot.

Yang Cifu looked up to the sky and laughed, then said after laughing: "Confucius said it was benevolence, and Mencius said it was righteousness. For the sake of our great Zhou Dynasty, I deserve to die." After saying that, he looked at Wang Hetang, then at Zhao Zixun, and said seriously : "We, the Zhou Dynasty, have finally revived and cannot be ruined by a group of idiots! Don't be arrogant and guard the cabinet. Your Majesty is a wise man. You must assist His Majesty in rectifying the current situation."

After saying that, he bowed his head to the two men and said to the deputy manager: "Let's go." He walked towards the dock proudly.

The deputy general manager seemed to notice something, blinked his eyes wildly, and then walked up.

Looking at their retreating figures, Wang Hetang gasped, with a fierce light in his eyes: "Since they want our lives, let's come. No one is allowed to kill whom!"

Zhao Zixun's eyes were full of grief, anger and desolation at this time. He already knew in his heart that Yang Cifu would not walk out of the prison alive. Maybe he would commit suicide the moment he stepped into the prison door!
(End of this chapter)