Jinghong Tower

Chapter 412 Exclusion
Everyone laughed and contributed money just to visit the playboy named Fang.

He Zongqun felt extremely sad. The people in front of him and this government office were all incompatible with him.

He is here, like a superfluous person.

No one knew when he left. He staggered out of the yamen and walked on the busy street.

"Hey, isn't this the new county magistrate?"

"Look at how distraught he looks. Could it be that he was kicked out of the government office?"

"How is that possible? He was so majestic in the court yesterday, and even dared to beat Mr. Fang with a stick."

"You also said that the person he beat was Mr. Fang. He just got beaten and received a commendation from the court. This is really unbelievable. No wonder the county magistrate was kicked out of the government office."

"Have you heard? He is no longer the county magistrate here. He has been transferred to Daba Mountain to be a village head. From now on, he is no longer the county magistrate, but the village head."

"Tingzhang? Isn't that an official lower than the county magistrate? Tsk tsk, I've only heard of people getting promoted, but this is the first time I've seen an official get lower and lower."

The people's discussions became louder and louder, as if they were afraid that he couldn't hear them.

He Zongqun's face turned pale. At this moment, a man suddenly ran up to him and asked, "My dear, are you from Zhending?"

From Zhending?

He Zongqun raised his head silently. The person in front of him was dressed in a silk robe and was a scholar.

"That's me. Who are you?"

The man bowed to He Zongqun and said, "I once worked in Xi'an and heard some things. If you don't mind, could you give me a chance to chat with you?"

In the past, He Zongqun would definitely ignore such a person of unknown origin, but today, perhaps because he was hit hard, or perhaps because he didn't want to hear the gossip on the street anymore, He Zongqun pointed to a small teahouse on the side of the road and said, "Let's go there and have a cup of tea."

The two walked in one after the other. The teahouse was quiet, with only the two of them at a table of customers, making it a perfect place to talk and chat.

The man said his surname was also He, but he had no relationship with the famous Mr. He. He took the surname of his previous master. He was an orphan and was bought by his previous master. When he grew up, he became a servant. Before his master left Xi'an, he dismissed all the servants. Not only did he get back his indenture, he also received a severance pay. Now he opened a small bookshop here.

It turns out you are not a scholar.

He Zongqun stood up and was about to leave. How could a lowly servant like him be qualified to drink tea with him?
He quickly stopped him and said with a humble smile: "Master He, do you know who my previous master was?"

He Zongqun's expression was cold: "Who is it?"

He said: "He is the father-in-law of General Wu Ji of Chang'an. His surname is He and his given name is Jiang."

He Zongqun was startled and sat back involuntarily. He heaved a sigh of relief, returned to his seat, and said to He Zongqun with a smile: "Sir He, do you know that General Chang'an is not only the son-in-law of my former master, but also the son-in-law of the Zhending He family?"

Son-in-law of the He family?

What a joke!
He Zongqun felt that he was wasting time, and he was about to stand up again. He said quickly, "Madam Chang'an is the second daughter of the Zhending He family, and her maiden name is He Shuting."

The air around them suddenly froze, and He Zongqun stared at He in disbelief: "Say it again!"

He said boldly: "Madam Chang'an is only the adopted daughter of my master. Her real identity is the second daughter of the Zhending He family. Her father's name is He Wenqing, who was once a doctor in the Ministry of Rites."

"You said she is the second young lady? How is that possible? How is that possible!"

Although He Zongqun came from the He family of Zhending, he was only a branch of the He family. The most promising branch of the Zhending He family was that of He Wenqing. Back then, let alone a branch like He Zongqun, even the main family of the He family would not call them by their names when talking about the branch in Zhending city, but would call them the eldest son, the eldest daughter, or the second daughter.

Even though He Wenqing's branch is no longer viable, He Zongqun still calls He Shuting the Second Miss when he hears her name.

He lowered his voice and said, "In the early years, Madam Chang'an went to Jinyang to seek refuge with the headmaster He. Unfortunately, the headmaster He did not care about the brotherhood and treated Madam Chang'an like a servant. Madam Chang'an had no choice but to leave Jinyang and come to the northwest. She saved my master and his wife, and was adopted as their adopted daughter. Later, she married General Chang'an. Alas, speaking of which, my young lady was once a princess, but unfortunately, the headmaster He deprived him of his throne when my son-in-law just passed away."

As He said this, he wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

He Zongqun was silent for a moment, and then asked, "I heard that Princess Chang'an offended Jinghong Tower, which brought about her catastrophic disaster. Is it true?"

He cried again, "It's true. Lord He doesn't know that Jinghong Tower is relying on the fact that it is the property of the He family and is bullying the city of Xi'an. Madam Chang'an felt sorry for her husband being bullied, so she tried to punish him a little, but she didn't expect him to cry. Poor Madam Chang'an was still pregnant when she left Xi'an, and now she and her young master have to live under someone else's roof and be bullied."

"You said they are living under someone else's roof. Where is the second young lady now? And how are her children?" He Zongqun asked.

He wiped away a tear and said, "Meng family of Longxi was originally the retainer of General Wu. Madam Chang'an went to join them, but unfortunately the Meng brothers are dead. Now the Meng family army is leaderless. Madam Chang'an gave birth to a son in Longxi, who is the only blood of the Wu family. Those soldiers bullied Madam Chang'an, an orphan and a widow. Madam Chang'an has no one else to rely on except my master."

He Zongqun didn't believe this, and he didn't believe that the He family actually had a daughter wandering in the northwest.

He stood up and left. He wanted to say something, but when he saw He Zongqun's resolute figure, he had to give up.

He came to Xi'an on He Jiang's orders to sell He Jiang's property and gather He Jiang's former servants and generals. He left in a hurry and left without taking many people with him.

He Zongqun opened the court to try the case of Master Fang and punished him with a cane in public. At that time, he was standing in the crowd outside the court. He was still thinking that since Lord He solved the case, he would be promoted. Unexpectedly, he heard the news today that not only was Lord He not promoted, but he was demoted to a minor official in Daba Mountain.

After all is said and done, there is still no one in the court. That boss He really doesn't care about his relatives.

He was just watching the fun, but suddenly he heard two people discussing this matter. One of them said, "Come to think of it, this Mr. He is the cousin of Mr. He. He was an official by qualification. I heard that he had made great achievements in Jiangnan. I didn't expect that he would end up in such a situation after coming to Xi'an."

Another person said, "It can only be said that the superior in Xi'an is more powerful, and Mr. He is unwilling to support Mr. He, so a capable official was lost in vain."

"He is indeed a capable official. I heard that he is very good at winning over the aristocratic families in Jiangnan. He is very resourceful. It is because of his great ability that he is squeezed out. I heard that eight out of ten officials sent to Xi'an this time are Feng Xieying's students. Think about it, Feng Xieying is also a strategist. Scholars look down on each other. There cannot be two tigers in one mountain. The more capable Lord He is, the more he will suppress him." "Yes, he has been suppressed to the Daba Mountains. He will never get ahead in this life."

"We can't just generalize. After all, Lord He is also the elder brother of the He family. If the He family remembers him one day, wouldn't he be promoted again?"

"What a joke! With Feng Xieying by his side, He Da will not think of Lord He. Besides, there is also Nie Chen, who is also a counselor. Among the civil officials now, only Nie Chen can compete with Feng Xieying."

"Alas, with the two of them around, it will be difficult for someone as capable and upright as Lord He to come to the fore."

He's heart was pounding. Yes, how could he forget that Lord He was not only the cousin of Mr. He, but also the cousin of Madam Chang'an He Shuting.

He was nervous, but hope was ignited at the same time. This He Zongqun was indeed powerful and could be on par with Feng Xieying. If he had his help, why would he worry that the soldiers in Longxi would not surrender?
Thinking of the indifferent gift he received in Longxi, He felt sad and angry, but the idea became clearer.

Unfortunately, the first meeting with He Zongqun ended in a bad mood, but he was not discouraged. He found out where He Zongqun lived and went there.

He Zongqun is packing his luggage. He is about to leave for Daba Mountain.

His luggage was very simple, just a few pieces of clothes, a box of books, and a permanent attendant.

The long-time attendant sobbed as he helped him clean up. Other masters' families were promoted to higher and higher positions, but his family's master, who could have become a prefect, was sent to a small county town in the northwest to be a county magistrate. However, before he could even get comfortable in the position of county magistrate, he was demoted to a remote mountain village to be a pavilion chief.

The long-time attendant had inquired around and learned that Daba Mountain was the poorest and most miserable place in the entire northwest.

The servant cried even more sadly. He knocked on the door for a long time before the servant came to open it.

Seeing the attendant's red eyes, He guessed what was going on.

Yes, who wouldn’t be sad and cry if they were to go to such a difficult place?

He was about to offer words of comfort when a mocking voice came from behind him: "Hey, I heard your master is going to be promoted. Isn't this a happy event? Why are you crying?"

He looked back and saw several young officials. Yes, this was an inn and many new officials stayed here.

The long-servant cried, "How can this promotion come from? My master was clearly banished to Daba Mountain."

The men laughed loudly, saying in strange tones, "They all went to Daba Mountain. Isn't this a promotion? Every day when you go to the yamen, you have to climb mountains. Lord He must be very good at climbing mountains. He will be promoted every day in the future."

"Shut up! All of you snobs, get out of here!"

A loud shout was heard, and He saw the angry faces of He Zongqun. It turned out that he heard voices outside the door, so he came out to see, and heard the sarcasm of these people.

He Zongqun was furious, but the laughter of those people became more and more shrill. He Zongqun turned and went into the house, brought a basin of water, and poured it on those people. Those people could not dodge in time and were splashed all over their bodies and faces. They left cursing, and even the corner of He's robe was splashed wet.

Those annoying people finally left, and He Zongqun was about to close the door, but a foot suddenly stretched in and forcibly closed the door.

"Why is it you? You can see how miserable my situation is now. Please go away. I am just a small pavilion chief. It is not worth it for you to cling to me."

He's eyes were filled with tears. "Sir He, please come with me to Longxi. Once you get to Longxi, you will be Madam Chang'an's top counselor. In terms of wisdom and courage, Madam Chang'an is no less than Mr. He. However, Mr. He is surrounded by many talented people, but Madam Chang'an only has my master as her available person. You are her cousin, and she will definitely treat you as a distinguished guest. When you gather the 100,000 troops in Longxi and take Longnan in one fell swoop, no one will be able to underestimate you, and even Mr. He will regret it."

This time, He Zongqun's expression finally relaxed. He loosened his hand that was about to close the door and said to He, "Come in and tell me about Longxi in detail."

Two days later, a secret letter was delivered to Feng Xieying, stating that He Zongqun had already set off for Longxi.

Feng Xieying stood up and bowed in the direction of Longxi: "Zongqun, I wish you a smooth journey. Xieying will be here to wait for your triumphant return."

In Shu, the news that King Zhao was seriously ill also reached Shu. Zhou Cangyue was cutting bamboo. Upon hearing the news, he dropped his bamboo knife, was stunned for a moment, and suddenly jumped up high on the spot.

The white dog looked at him and said, "Don't tell me that you are possessed by the monkeys in Mount Emei. Don't you hate those monkeys the most?"

Zhou Cangyue: "You are the one who is possessed by the monkeys of Mount Emei. Your whole family is possessed by the monkeys of Mount Emei."

The white dog bared his teeth: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, I'm the only one in my family."

Zhou Cangyue didn't bother to pay attention to him. He climbed up a big tree. The white dog looked up from under the tree: "You said you weren't possessed by a monkey, so why did you climb so high?"

Zhou Cangyue: "Let me take a look at the capital."

White Dog: I am sick, and I am seriously ill. I can see the capital from here? Is this not a disease or something else?
Zhou Cangyue slid down from the tree, propped up his face with his hands, and asked the white dog: "What do I look like?"

White Dog: "One nose and two eyes. Looks similar to me, but only a little prettier than me."

Zhou Cangyue: "Don't talk to me, I don't want to pay attention to you."

The white dog said to himself, "Alas, I heard that King Zhao is very sick and is about to die. He is still so young, how pitiful."

Zhou Cangyue: "What's so pitiful about him? He does nothing but eat and wait to die. No one lives a more comfortable life than him."

Bai Gou thought the same thing: "So, His Royal Highness Prince Zhao is really a blessed man, but it's a pity that he will die young, and he will never be able to sit on the throne in this lifetime."

"You still expect him to become the emperor? I never expected that there is such a big fool by my side." Zhou Cangyue said disdainfully.

The white dog ignored him: "People say that Prince Zhao is the emperor and He Da Dang Jia is the queen. In the future, He Da Dang Jia will be in charge of government affairs, and Prince Zhao will only be responsible for enjoying a peaceful life in the harem. Now it seems that he will not be able to enjoy this peaceful life in his lifetime."

Zhou Cangyue was furious and grabbed the white dog by the collar: "Where did you hear this bullshit? If you say it again, I will skin you alive!"