Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 443 What’s in the bag?
At the street corner,
At the small stall on the corner of the ground, the old blind man took back the tortoise shell he had just sacrificed, took it in his hand, sorted it out, and held it in his hand.

"Please sit down, noble man!"

Zhou Shihong sat down calmly and looked at the old blind fortune teller opposite him. He looked at it again and again with interest. Zhang Jinyu and others gathered tightly around him, blocking the view of the crowd outside.

"Oh, another noble person has come. No, there are many noble people. May I ask, your Excellency, who is your Geng?"

Although the old blind man could not see, his ears were very sensitive. As soon as he heard it, he immediately knew that there were quite a lot of people, and he was not afraid and asked questions.

Emperor Wu smiled heartily and wanted to point at the person who had just left, but seeing that the blind man could not see, he spoke again,
"What a coincidence. It's the same year, same month, same day, and same time as the man just now."

"Ok!"

The old blind man suddenly shook his hands, and the tortoise shells in his hands fell on the table one after another, with a look of surprise on his face.
"His accent sounds like he's from the capital city."

"Well, he's from the capital. His surname is Huang and his name is Tianci."

Zhou Shihong didn't hide anything and told his birth date. The old blind man tremblingly took out a pile of rice paper from the old cloth bag, put it on the table and asked,
"Your Excellency, please twist a word first."

"it is good."

Emperor Wu put his hand on the dozen rice papers, and seemed to deliberately pull out a piece of rice paper, and handed it over. Although the old blind man couldn't see it, he could tell what the words were by touching it with his hand. Then he stood up with his crutches and suddenly knelt down. Say next,
"I have seen the saint. Saint, you should be careful when you are wandering around so leisurely. The most dangerous people in the world are in the dark."

Zhang Jinyu and Dai Quan were shocked that they had guessed the emperor's identity. The people from the Imperial City Department held the hilts of their swords in alert hands. At this time, Emperor Wu was surprised and said,
"The old gentleman was wrong. The saint is in the palace."

The old blind man smiled bitterly,
"Noble man, look, you just touched the word "一", and just now you were stunned and dropped it on the ground. Isn't this just soil? Doesn't the word "Tu" plus a horizontal line make it a king?
And the whiteness of this white paper is added to the word "王" in the word "王". Aren't you a saint? "

"Haha, okay, Dai Quan, why don't you please get up, sir?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Dai Quan went over to help the old blind man up, took a thousand taels of silver notes and handed it over. The old blind man took the money with a desolate look on his face.
"I have revealed the secret, I am afraid that my life is not long, I left this money for my family, I took the saint's money, I owe it to the saint, saint, this year's Enke, be extremely careful, for fear of causing a huge wave, but there are people around you This young master is standing guard and can be used as a Poseidon Needle. I believe he has a bag of tips on him, this is the clue."

Before he finished speaking, he looked sluggish, as if he had aged a lot. Then he stood up, threw away all his things, turned around and left, and said nothing as he left.
"My life is over. I can't stay long. Go back and account for your wife, children, and children."

Before anyone could react, the person left, and there were still drops of blood on the ground where the old blind man had vomited.

Everyone was shocked, what is the situation.

Zhang Jinyu had quick eyes and quick hands and ordered,
"Ji Yunhui, follow us and take a look, be careful!"

"Yes, my lord,"

The old blind man walked away, less than a hundred steps away, into an alley, and then came to a dilapidated small courtyard in Jufang. An old woman came out to greet him. The old blind man took out the banknote and handed it over, and then his legs stared. As he drove westward, cries and cries started to sound. Neighbors came over to see him and started crying too.

Ji Yunhui's pupils shrank and he quickly walked over and put his hand on the old blind man's neck. He saw that the old man's face was as white as paper and black blood was flowing out of the corners of his mouth. He died of poisoning and was not breathing. Only then did he confirm that the man was dead. Before the old woman could react, she didn't explain much and went back to report immediately.

"Mr. Zhang, what do you think?"

"It's unbelievable. Just open the bag and take a look."

Zhang Jinyu sat on the old blind man's seat, took out three tips bags, and opened the first blue one. Inside was a note with words written on it, including Provincial Examination and The Analects of Confucius. Zhang Jinyu didn't understand anything yet. meaning, and then handed it to Emperor Wu.

Zhou Shihong took it and glanced at it, but his expression changed drastically.

"Dai Quan, are you ready for the provincial examination questions?"

"Go back to Your Majesty, it's been prepared."

"Then take a look, is this the test question?"

Dai Quan carefully took the note, opened it and saw that the Analects of the Provincial Examination had been revealed. He was shocked that this was it. Then he thought that the Enke examination questions had been leaked, which was a serious case of losing his head.

"Back to the master, yes."

After hearing the exact answer, Zhou Shihong's face turned pale.
"Tear it down, let me see who has the most powerful hands and eyes."

Zhang Jinyu was also horrified. This is an exam question. Oh my god, yes. She hurriedly opened the red and yellow tips bags and took out the note. However, there were no questions. There were only two addresses. One was the day before the exam. The west wing on the first floor of Yanchun Building in the north city of the capital was marked with five thousand words. The other person who wrote about the imperial examination was to go to the east wing on the first floor of Manchun Court in Xicheng and was marked with ten thousand words.

Zhang Jinyu knew in her heart that this was sold at a clear price. She sighed and handed it to the emperor. Emperor Wu immediately said after seeing it;
"Dai Quan, are there any questions for the imperial examination?"

"Return to Your Majesty, never."

Dai Quan could see clearly from behind that this was a blatant attempt to sell test questions and it was lawless.

"Yes, no, but there are people who have clearly marked the price in advance and sold it. It can be seen that the people behind it are very clear. I have never thought of being so bold. What does Marquis Luo Yun think?"

Zhang Jinyu was still thinking, didn't the people behind the scenes make a fortune? One person is worth 5000 taels. They were only given exam questions but no articles to solve them. This thing is a huge profit, and the business is also a business without capital. The exam Taking the exam no longer depends on your level of performance.It was the emperor who asked, what do you think of this?
"Hey, Mr. Huang, it seems that about 1000 taels of silver can buy the range of questions for the provincial examination, 5000 taels for the general examination questions, and 1 taels for the palace examination questions. If this is the case, this business is a business without capital. He is indeed a great talent. , As for how the test questions were leaked, it must have something to do with the examiners, and no one else knows except them, so I thought that we must strictly investigate and punish severely."

"What Marquis Luo Yun said is true. It's just an internal matter. I'm afraid there are many involved, especially the examination questions, which are all discussed by the cabinet. I'm afraid it's hard to notice. What I want to do now is to suppress this matter, in case the candidates make trouble. I'm afraid it will be difficult for Enke to be kind this year."

When Dai Quan saw what the Marquis said simply, he had no choice but to explain beside him. Emperor Wu looked heavy and nodded. Dai Quan continued his analysis.
"Master Hou, this matter is of great importance and needs to be considered in the long term. It seems that they don't know until the questions for the general examination and palace examination are released. Since they can get it the day before the exam, it means that it is one of these people who was guessed by the Marquis. So, Lord Marquis, what do you think we should do?"

This frightened Zhang Jinyu. Those who can get the test questions must be accessible. They can get them at any time. There is no confidentiality. They can only change the questions in a temporary examination room.

Zhang Jinyu found a way, came over in a low voice and said,

"Your Majesty, I think it's still the same idea as before. You thought about the test questions yourself, and then changed the test questions before the exam. Many candidates must know the test questions. You said that you spent so much money and the test questions are fake, right? Someone is making a fuss, and someone will complain about it. Naturally, they will get to the bottom of it. Secretly, the Interior Minister will send people to keep an eye on these places. "

"Okay, good idea. Marquis Luo Yun is worthy of being my minister, Dai Quan. Now he is keeping an eye on the fortune-telling old Taoist priest. We will also send people to these places to keep an eye on him."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I must be watching them. Ma Jianshi, I'll leave this matter to you. Just summon the best people from the capital and go now."

"Yes, Governor, I'm going to take this humble position right now,"

Ma Jianshi immediately replied with clasped fists, bowed to the emperor and the Marquis, and then turned back to the Yamen, mobilizing manpower without saying a word.

Zhang Jinyu thought about it for a moment. The provincial examination did not change. Let’s lure the snake out of the hole.

"Your Majesty, please don't change this provincial examination. The questions remain the same. Don't alert others."

"Can,"

Zhou Shihong also thought of the key here, he must not make mistakes in the rural examination. Besides, the rural examination has a quota limit, and there are not many in the capital.

at this time,

Ji Yunhui ran out from the alley,
"Master, young master, the old blind man died in front of his yard. When I went to check, he was already dead. Only his mother-in-law was there crying."

"This, how could this be?"

Zhang Jinyu also couldn't understand the cause and effect. He was probably prepared for it. Emperor Wu also had a gloomy look on his face. He didn't expect that he would see such a big case when he left the palace on a whim. He was probably premeditated, but the blind fortune teller had lost everything in vain. life,

"Dai Quan, if something goes wrong here, I will send someone to the blind man's home to take care of him. If there are any descendants, I will arrange a living for him. I will repay his karma."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey your order."

When Zhang Jinyu saw that the matter was almost settled and the sky was getting dark, he advised,
"Master, it's getting dark. It's better to go home early. I think it's not impossible for the master to come up with it. It's better to bring more people. If it doesn't work, you can send someone to give me a message. If you have nothing to do, just accompany me. Master, come out for a walk."

Zhou Shihong did not refute, but had a look of relief on his face. However, Dai Quan behind him had a dark face and winked at Zhang Jinyu repeatedly.

"Listen to your kid, go back,"

"Yes, sir."

After getting up, a group of people protected Emperor Wu and returned to Ouchi Palace City along the way.

Rongguo Mansion,
After everyone dispersed,

Aunt Xue took Baochai and Xue Pan, along with the maids and women, as well as the servants, and carried large and small bags to Lixiangyuan.

There was no rush, as everyone was cleaning up the house and yard in one day. Only Xue Baochai took the account book and started to check the accounts, and then he was thinking about how to open the bank first. Fortunately, there was an vacancy in the capital industry. The restaurant can be renovated, but the restaurant is right next to Qinghu Lake in Beicheng. It would be a pity to be a bank.

"My son, don't look at the account books for now. They are useless. Let me ask you, where has your brother been in this short time?"

"What, wasn't he still in the house before?"

As Aunt Xue asked, Xue Baochai was also shocked. Wasn't his brother drinking tea in the house before? Why did he disappear after a while? This is not in his own house. Don't cause trouble. , then the face will look ugly.

Aunt Xue also thought about what happened here. She was not as good as at home, and her face was a little ugly. Thinking of this, she said anxiously,

"Baochai, what should we do? Do you want to send someone to look for it?"

Seeing her mother anxious, Xue Baochai shook her head.
"Mom, this place is no better than at home. You should be careful everywhere. You can ask the housekeeper to take people out to have a look, but you can't let everyone out. It's too conspicuous. When someone asks, they just say that they are walking around the yard to identify the door. This place After all, it is a prince's family, not a small family of the Xue family, and we have to rely on our noses."

"Okay, Baochai, you are the sensible one. Mom will do it now."

Aunt Xue seemed to have found the backbone, and she followed the instructions and arranged for the housekeeper to go out to find someone. As for Xue Pan, although she was worried about him, it was not like this once or twice in Jinling. Just after leaving the courtyard, she heard someone say,
"Hey, let's not talk about it. Mr. Xue who came today is very generous."

"Yes, he is indeed a member of the Xue family of the Huangshang family."

(End of this chapter)