Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 156
After Shi Wengui looked for Cao Yong Jiamian, he never looked for him again, but he looked for Li Qichang twice.

According to gossip from those little officials who like to listen to the corner, Shi Wengui and Li Qichang had a dispute once.Of course, these petty officials didn't have the guts to go into the yard to eavesdrop, they just poked their heads at the entrance of the yard, so the content of the conversation was unknown, except for the vague sound of the two adults arguing, and Master Shi dropping a teacup.

Although it was just a trivial detail, the people in the ministry naturally had everything to say, and most of them still felt that Li Qichang was looking for his own death.

Shi Wengui's family is full of dignitaries. Since his ancestors, his clan has always been a high-ranking or second-ranking official. Among his brothers in his generation, there are also governors, governors, and ministers, not to mention his brother Shi Wenbing's two daughters. For the fifteenth elder brother Fujin, a relative of the emperor.

If Shi Wengui wanted to make Li Qichang, a mere fifth-rank official with no background, disappear from the household department, it would be effortless.

Of course, there will be people who appreciate Li Qichang, such as Fu Xiangong.

"Master Li's strength of character is really admirable!" Fu Xiangong kept saying this in private, and even Peng Zhu and others were full of praise for Li Qichang.

Cao Yong listened, noncommittal.Of course there is strength of character, but is it worth it to be so head-on?Not to mention the powerful or not, Shi Wengui is the boss after all, although he also knows that if Shi Wengui bullies others, Li Qichang will not get any good if he just endures it, but he still feels a little pity for Li Qichang.

When Cao Yong and Zhuang Xi talked about the household affairs, they also mentioned this matter.On that day, Shi Wengui approached Li Qichang and Cao Yong to speak successively. Li Qichang had such an expression again.

After all, Cao Yong was transferred to the household department as a third-class guard in front of the imperial court, and he was regarded as a fifth-rank doctor, but he was young and inexperienced and not good at being the chief official, so he was inferior to Li Qichang as a fifth-rank Yuanwailang.It makes sense for Shi Wengui to threaten Li Qichang by "promoting Cao Yong to replace him".Now that Shi Wengui and Li Qichang's quarrel has spread, this point is further confirmed.

Seeing that Mr. Zhuang was pensive and silent, Cao Yong smiled and said: "Don't worry, sir, I have a sense of proportion, and I won't let Shi Wengui take advantage of it!"

Mr. Zhuang nodded: "Although Li Qichang has no foundation in the capital, you don't need to be afraid of him, but after all, you are the superior. If he becomes suspicious and deliberately tries to make things difficult for you, it may not be easy for you to do your job, but it is easy to get into disputes." Drop your tongue."

Cao Yong understands Zhuang Xi's concerns. He is only afraid that he will contradict the superior, and he will be criticized as young and frivolous and disobedient: "Actually, if he wants to be suspicious, I'm afraid he has been suspicious for a long time. He only asked me to do it at first. The fact is that it is a kind of precaution. Now that he is willing to hand over errands to me, he should have believed in me. Looking at him as a person, it is not something that Shi Wengui can provoke with a few words."

Mr. Zhuang said: "It's not entirely true. There was nothing wrong at that time, so it's easy to say; if something happens, he will not be able to protect himself, and he will inevitably be suspicious!"

Cao Yong listened, and his heart is indeed justified.How high is the trust between colleagues?What about between superiors and subordinates?What's more, there is still some conflict of interest with Li Qichang now.

"It's impossible not to trust!" Cao Yong finally said.In fact, there is no need to say whether Li Qichang trusts him or not. In terms of trust alone, Cao Yong's trust in Li Qichang is not as much as that in Fu Xiangong, Peng Zhu and others.He said: "I only do what I'm supposed to do. He can't find anything wrong with me when it comes to accounting and errands, and he can't do anything to me about anything else!"

Mr. Zhuang sighed: "It is necessary to guard against others, but there is no way to guard against this kind of human heart. Li Qichang is nothing, but Shi Wengui needs to be on guard. If he wants to get your attention, it will be a big trouble. When I go back, I will ask people to pay more attention to the door of his house, if there is any change, we will know it!"

For a few days, Cao Yong didn't have any troubles, but Shi Wengui still stared at Li Qichang, and reprimanded him twice for reasons.After he reprimanded Li Qichang for the third time, Li Qichang asked for sick leave on the grounds that he was ill and never came to the ministry again.

Cao Yong knew about this right away, because he had just completed the accounts of the grain adjustment at that time, and went to Li Qichang with Peng Zhu to deal with it.

Peng Zhu had a gloomy face, and couldn't help but said: "Master Li is not here, when will this debt be dragged on?"

Cao Yong was also helpless: "I'm afraid I have to hand it up, and this is not something that can be delayed."

Cao Yong was one of the 180 who didn't want to see Shi Wengui, so he stood in front of him and handed in the final grain adjustment account.Shi Wengui took a quick look and passed.Cao Yong just wanted to withdraw with the account, but was stopped by Shi Wengui.

Shi Wengui still put on that superficial smile, and said slowly to Cao Yong: "I think you know about Li Langzhong being sick and lying in bed!"

Cao Yong thought, this is not nonsense!If Li Qichang is not sick, is it worthwhile to come to you?But still nodded calmly.

Shi Wengui said again: "Everything in the department cannot be left alone. Li Langzhong is the chief officer of the first department. Now that he is ill, these errands will inevitably be delayed. Some errands may wait for one or two days Today, some things are not possible. Therefore, you will temporarily take the position of Langzhong Li and handle the internal affairs of the department with full authority."

Cao Yong was taken aback for a moment, in fact, he knew the rules, the adjutant could temporarily act as the adjutant when the adjutant was absent, last year when Cao Yin was ill, the adjutant handled the official duties on his behalf.But if it is said that Shi Wengui is completely following the rules and has no other meaning, Cao Yong will definitely not believe it.

Although he didn't believe it, there was no reason to refuse, so Cao Yong had to agree.

Shi Wengui gave him a few words of care, and then sent him away.

*
On the 26th of the first lunar month, after Cao Song's birthday, Chu Yu will return to Prince Chun's Mansion to live in "Taiyue".Originally, the groom could go or not, but seeing Chuyu's expectant face, Cao Yong let her arrange the two's luggage, and sent someone to the ministry to ask for leave in the front yard, so that he would come later.

Mother Ye frowned when she heard that Xiyun, Xicai, Zhu'er, and Cui'er were scheduled to accompany her, and finally she couldn't help persuading her in private: "Gege, this time, my mother's family is bringing my aunt's personal maid." , What’s the reason? Even if they don’t like Xiyu and Xixue, they just like Xiyan and Xixia!”

Chu Yu shook her head, and said: "My son-in-law is going to live in the mansion over there for a few days, it's definitely not as convenient as staying at home, how uncomfortable will it be if there are no familiar people around to wait on you?"

Mother Ye sighed, and said again: "Gege and the son-in-law have all gone, but this side of the mansion is actually handed over to Miss Zijing?"

"Yeah!" Chu Yu replied, "I'll go back and live for a month, and my son-in-law will come back in a few days, so there's nothing to worry about!" Although she wanted Cao Yong to stay with her at her mother's house for a month , but after thinking about it, I was still afraid that he would be too restrained, just staying for a few days, and the etiquette has come.

"Gege!" Ye Momo said again: "This is a whole month, such a newlywed, broke up the intercourse, the forehead...?"

When Chu Yu heard about the newlyweds, she was a bit shy at first, but after hearing that, she seemed to be wary of her forehead, so she couldn't help turning her head and said, "Mommy, I don't want to talk about these things!"

Mother Ye wanted to persuade her again, Xiyun came to report, and the carriage from the palace came to pick her up.

When Chuyu came out with people, Cao Yong helped her into the carriage, and he rode along with him.When he arrived at the palace, the king of Chunjun had not come back from the court, so Cao Yong didn't stay much. He explained a few words to his wife and went to the household department.

*
After finishing the errands, it was already Wei time (one o'clock in the afternoon) to return to Prince Chun's Mansion.

Chunjun Wang also came back from the Ministry of Rites and changed into casual clothes. The two talked for a while, and waited for a few younger brothers to come back, and had dinner together.

According to the rules, even if the groom stays here, he cannot have sex with the bride, otherwise it will be unlucky.Because he is a uncle and living in the guest room is too unfamiliar, Fujin and the prince asked Cao Yong to settle in Hongshu's courtyard.

Hong Shu had known Cao Yong before, and now he has gotten to know him a lot, not as stiff as before.Although he doesn't talk much on weekdays, he likes horseback riding and archery, and knowing that his brother-in-law has some real skills, he dragged him to the archery competition.The other two older brothers, Hongzhuo and Hongxin, one is twelve and the other ten years old, are also at the age of love to move, and they all clamored to go with their elder brother and brother-in-law.Hong Zhuo looks more cheerful than Hong Xin at the moment, which is quite different from his calm temperament when he was in the study.

The moment he picked up the bow and arrow, Hong Shu straightened his back, showing a bit more heroic spirit.He shot several arrows in a row, except for one that missed slightly, the others all hit the bull's-eye.Hong Zhuo and Hong Xin applauded, and Cao Yong couldn't help but nodded with a smile.

Hong Shu was a little frustrated, scratched his head, and said: "After learning from Fourteenth Uncle these days, it will be great when I can be as good as Fourteenth Uncle!"

Cao Yong has also heard that among the Kangxi scholars, apart from the elder brother who has been imprisoned, the number fourteen elder brother is considered to be an elder brother who is keen on military affairs.Thinking about the history he knew in his previous life, Cao Yong couldn't help but look at Hongshu again, and asked, "You learned archery from Master Fourteen?"

When mentioning Fourteenth Elder Brother, Hong Shu nodded with admiration and said, "Not only me, but also two younger brothers, even Hong Sheng, Hong Sheng, and Hong Zhi all love to find Fourteenth Uncle!" The last three are the emperor's grandsons of the third elder brother and the fifth elder brother.

Seeing that Cao Yong didn't respond, Hong Shu smiled and said: "Brother-in-law, I am learning the art of war with my fourteenth uncle. I will follow my fourteenth uncle to the battlefield to make contributions in the future when I find a chance, and fight for Ama and Erniang!" In the end, his demeanor became more determined.

Although Cao Yong listened with a smile, he felt very bad in his heart. You must know that the future of the fourteenth elder brother is not bright. worried?
Perhaps because Cao Yong hadn't spoken, Hong Shu turned his head and said, "My brother-in-law works in the household department, what's the point of that? It's boring to think about it all day like Ama, dealing with those officials. Why not serve as a military officer?"

Cao Yong didn't answer, but he also picked up his bow and arrows, and shot a few arrows at the target. Fortunately, none of his men missed the target.

Hong Zhuo and Hong Xin hurriedly gathered around, one said "Brother-in-law is amazing!" and the other said "Brother-in-law taught me!", and the little strangeness that was still there disappeared without a trace.

Hongshu stared straight at the bull's-eye for a long time, then Fang turned his head: "I have heard that my brother-in-law's bow and arrow are good, because my brother-in-law has been invisible in the study for the past two years, so I still don't believe it." , it seems to be true!"

Cao Yong thought for a while: "It's nothing, my second brother also likes this, and the mansion specially invited two martial arts masters, who are quite capable. After class, you can also go there. He's a bit older than you, and he's always wanted to be a general!"

Hong Shu was moved when he heard that, although there were cousins ​​who were of the same age, due to various taboos, they seldom interacted with each other, and those who accompanied them were all respectful and respectful, so they could not be regarded as companions.He is in the study room on weekdays, but he is very envious of the friendship between Uncle Sixteen and Cao Yong.

But thinking of the strict family rules, he couldn't help but frowned again: "Ama's side..."

Cao Yong smiled and said: "It's not someone else's house, the prince will not restrain it. The population in the mansion over there is simple, except for me and your sister, only this second brother is there!"

At this time, people are considered to be old. Although Hong Shu is thirteen and a half years old, but according to the old age, he is fifteen. Everyone treats him as an adult, and Wang Ye Fujin controls him even more strictly.He was feeling uncomfortable when he heard his brother-in-law's suggestion, he couldn't help being overjoyed, he nodded vigorously, his expression became more and more intimate.

Even Hong Zhuo and Hong Xin were both happy, shouting that they wanted to follow along.

Cao Yong said: "It's better to go there, ask your sister to buy delicious food for you, and the cook over there will be good at it."

Hongxin raised his head and said, "What about brother-in-law? Will he teach us how to archery?" He asked with a hint of nervousness in anticipation.

Cao Yong smiled and said, "Okay, if I'm at home, it's no problem. I also have a village in Changping, which is right next to the mountain. When the weather is warmer, let's go hunting together!"

The words made the three little elder brothers have a lot of hope.In Cao Yong's heart, he felt that he was a little ridiculous, and he was suspected of abducting a few younger wives and brothers. Although this method was a bit disgraceful, as long as they could alienate their relationship with the fourteenth elder brother, it would be a great good.

(End of this chapter)