Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 618
After exiting the Anding Gate, the speed of the carriage increased.

Although it is an official road, but at this time the carriage is made of wooden wheels, without shock absorption, it is still uncomfortably bumpy.

Cao Yong only felt his stomach turned upside down, and his nausea was tight.He was about to tell Cao Yin that he was going to ride a horse, when he saw that Cao Yin's expression was not good.

"Father, slow down..." Cao Yong asked.

Cao Yin waved his hand and said, "No, just right..."

In such a hurry, when we arrived at Tangquan Palace, it was already the beginning of Xu (seven o'clock in the evening), and it was already dark.

Cao Yong is in regular clothes, but Cao Yin came in official clothes.

Just in a hurry, and he didn't have any paper and pen to write down, so Cao Yin asked which adult was on duty at the bodyguard, and asked him to ask to see him on his behalf.

The person on duty was Ah Ling, the minister of the guards. Seeing Cao Yin coming with his son, Cao Yong looked like this again.

In the palace, Kangxi was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the kang with a book in his hand, but he was a little absent-minded, thinking about touring Jidian in a few days.Some rivers have to be dredged, and the money from the Ministry of Households has to be thought of.

Thinking that there is a palace lady who has been pregnant for several months, Kangxi also felt a little complacent in his heart.

Beside the imperial case on the ground, the one who sorted out some books on spells and numbers was none other than the Sixteenth Elder Brother who was in charge of the imperial court.

Since he was a child, he has been fond of magic arts, and when he reads these books, he is engrossed in them.When I come across a book that I haven't read, I put it aside alone, thinking about taking it back to read in the evening.

The room was very quiet, except for the occasional sound of pages being turned.

Kangxi sat for a while, feeling a little sore in his neck, raised his head, put down the book, and rubbed his neck.

Inadvertently glanced at Elder Sixteen, seeing his frowning, Kangxi asked, "Is there anything you don't understand?"

Brother Sixteen's spells were enlightened by Kangxi himself, so Brother Sixteen naturally respected his father very much, so he responded and stepped forward to point out what he didn't understand.

Kangxi looked sideways, thought for a while, and pointed out the solution to the problem.

The sixteenth elder brother was enlightened when he heard the words, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your advice, my son is clumsy. I have been thinking about it for a long time."

Kangxi nodded and looked at Elder Sixteen with rare kindness on his face.

For the son of Elder Brother Sixteen, he has always been kind of pampered from the beginning to the end.The other adult sons more or less made Kangxi aware of the threat. Only the sixteenth princes and the little princes were not involved in the seizure of the heir apparent. This was the main reason why Kangxi doted on them.

Elder Sixteen also saw that Kangxi was in a good mood, just as he was about to ask another question, Wei Zhu came in and told him, "Your Majesty, let the minister of the guard, A Ling, see you."

Kangxi glanced at the clock on the ground, nodded, and said, "Xuan!"

Wei Zhu went out in response to the sound, and then Ah Ling came in with his head bowed, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, Cao Yin, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, has come with his son and asked to see the Emperor, and now he is waiting outside the palace."

Kangxi put a smile on his face, and Elder Sixteen also put down the book in his hand.

During these days when Sheng Jia was in the palace, apart from the Grand Scholars who were on duty in front of the imperial court, the six hall officials were all on duty.The Ministry of Rites was on duty yesterday, and Cao Yin also came over yesterday morning, but nothing unusual was seen.

"Do you know what's going on?" Kangxi asked as he got off the kang.

"I don't know, but just look at it, Manager Cao has a wound on his face, it doesn't look good." A Ling'a thought about it, and replied.

The sixteenth elder brother was beside him, he was already in a hurry, and said to Kangxi: "Huang Ama, son, go and have a look first?"

Kangxi's expression became gloomy, he nodded, and said: "Well, pass on my oral order to call Cao Yin and his son to meet him."

Brother Sixteen responded and went out, Kangxi stood there, thinking about something, after a long while he said to Ah Ling: "Kneel down!"

"Hey!" Aling'a kowtowed in response, and exited the room, but he felt astonished.

Seeing what the emperor meant, he wanted to summon Cao's father and son privately, did he know the reason?
Cao Yong is not very old, but as the prince's son-in-law and the head of the House of Internal Affairs, how could he be injured?It can't be that Cao Yin himself is itchy and wants to teach his son a lesson, right?

Although he was reprimanded in the early years because of his close relationship with the eighth elder brother, Ling'a still has his heart towards the eighth elder brother.

A man stands between heaven and earth, who doesn't want to make contributions?

His grandfather was E Yidu, one of the five founding ministers, and his father was Ye Bilong, one of the four ministers in the early years of Kangxi.Due to the influence of Oboi's dictatorship, their family has been unable to feel proud for decades.

Although it is a descendant family, it cannot be compared with the Hesheli and Tong families. The descendants of the clan also have more troops, and fewer stand in the court.

If the eighth elder brother ascended the throne and won the merit of supporting him, he would have an explanation for his children and grandchildren.

Maybe it's because he's getting older and becoming more greedy, but this obsession in A Ling'a's heart never fades away.

Although his son-in-law's seventeenth elder brother had a good relationship with Cao Yong, this did not dilute his disgust towards Cao Yong.Just because Cao Yong is not from the eighth elder brother, and there have been several conflicts with the ninth elder brother.

Thinking of Brother Nine, Ah Ling couldn't help but widen his eyes.

After the Ministry of Internal Affairs called for bids, Brother Jiu saw someone and wanted to scold Cao Yong. Could it be that this master couldn't help it...

*
Palace, outside the palace gate.

Under the flickering of the palace lantern, the paleness of Cao Yong's face was in stark contrast to the red and swollen purlins on it, looking a bit hideous.

Elder Sixteen was taken aback, he didn't care to meet Cao Yin first, stepped forward and supported Cao Yong's arm, and asked: "Who, who hit you? Where did you hurt?"

Cao Yong didn't know how to answer. Seeing Brother Sixteen being so concerned, he felt warm in his heart, and said: "It's not a problem, it's just a skin injury. Master Sixteen doesn't need to worry."

The sixteenth elder brother realized his gaffe, put down Cao Yong's arm wistfully, and muttered: "Who is worried about you, it's just curiosity. You can't be more peaceful. This year is not going to be a good time."

After speaking, he turned around and said to Cao Yin: "Lord Cao, Huang Ama ordered you and your father to follow me to see you."

Cao Yin knelt down and agreed, and then followed Sixteenth Brother into the palace.

Some of the guards guarding the gate along this road knew Cao Yong, and when they saw his embarrassed appearance, they all stared at him with their necks bent, wondering in their hearts.

"What's going on, made it look like this?" Elder Sixteen asked Cao Yong in a low voice while walking.

"I served my mother to offer incense today, but encountered an accident when I came back..." Cao Yong recounted the matter in a few words.Of course, the words like shooting Shan Duo and threatening Brother Nine are ignored.

Elder Sixteen heard this, his face flushed with anger, he clenched his fists and said: "Although I knew he would not let it go, I didn't expect him to be so unscrupulous. After all, you are the chief of the internal affairs office of the third rank, how can he say that you can fight?" Just hit!"

Cao Yong shook him and said: "It's not that brother Jiu can do it."

Elder Sixteen said indignantly, "What's the difference between asking someone to do something and doing it yourself? Who doesn't know that he is despising you now, if he didn't use his identity, he might tear you apart."

Cao Yong didn't say much, so he fell silent.

Brother Sixteen took a look at Cao Yin, wondering why he brought Cao Yong over overnight.Is it because Brother Jiu is afraid that "the villain will sue first", or is he going to sue for "grievances"?
No matter what it is, it is not like Cao Yin's usual introverted and quiet temperament.

After a while, we arrived at the main hall of the palace.

The sixteenth elder brother entered the main hall, followed by Cao Yin and his son.

Cao Yin, father and son, had to bow down again.

Because just now A Ling'a mentioned that Cao Yong was injured, so Kangxi's eyes passed Cao Yin and fell directly on Cao Yong.

But they are so far apart that they cannot be seen clearly.

"Pingshen, come forward and talk." Kangxi said.

Cao Yin and his son responded, got up and walked a few steps forward.

Cao Yong kept his head down, Kangxi couldn't help frowning, and said: "Cao Yong, raise your head."

When Cao Yong heard the words, he revealed "the true face of Mount Lu".

Kangxi's shock was no less than that of the sixteenth elder brother. He looked straight at the half-foot-long blood purlin on Cao Yong's face, and his body was already trembling slightly.

At this time, Cao Yin had pulled Cao Yong to kneel down, kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, the servant brought his son to come to plead guilty." As he said, he kowtowed three times.

Cao Yong knelt behind Cao Yin, really unwilling, but there was no other way.

Looking at Cao Yin's hunched back, he felt somewhat guilty.

"What's the crime?" Kangxi suppressed his anger and asked in a deep voice.

Cao Yin was a little hesitant, he paused and said: "Your Majesty, Cao Yong is extremely mediocre and reckless. It is really wrong to fight with people day in and day out. I don't dare to show favoritism, so I ask the Emperor to punish him severely... However, although the slave has a young son, who is still in his infancy, the eldest son's behavior is disorderly, which is also the fault of the slave's lax teaching... But he has no face to stand in the court again, and I hope the emperor will take pity on him and spare the slave and his son. Beg for the bones, and return home with your son..."

He kowtowed as he spoke, and at the end of the speech, he was already in tears and choked with sobs.

Cao Yong knelt behind Cao Yin, listening to the "bang bang" kowtow, as if he was going to suffocate, he couldn't breathe.

Cao Yin's voice was not fake at all.

At this moment, Cao Yong knew in his heart that even if his father "retreats as an advance" and cuts off the way for Brother Jiu to complain, but these words are probably from the bottom of his heart.

In the past two years in the capital, Cao Yin has changed a lot, and he regards his family a little more than before.

Kangxi was moved by Cao Yin's cry, but he didn't believe Cao Yin's words: "Mediocre, reckless? Are you talking about Cao Yong? If he is mediocre, wouldn't everyone else be trash? He is like a little Like an old man, if you don’t beat and don’t leave, how can you act recklessly?” At this point, he stepped forward a few steps, stood beside Cao Yong, and said, “Cao Yong, what happened that made your father so terrified?”

Cao Yong raised his head, his face was disheartened and could not be concealed.

"Your Majesty, what my father said is true, but my minister acted recklessly and fought with others. But the situation is urgent, and I really didn't mean to offend." Cao Yong replied: "I also ask the emperor to show mercy. If I forgive this situation, I would like to pass it on to you. Resignation, go home to serve the elderly parents."

Hearing the word "offend", Kangxi frowned even tighter, and when he heard the "resignation letter", his expression drooped, and he asked, "Who is it? Who attacked you?"

Cao Yong glanced at his father, hesitated for a moment, and said: "The third class Xia Shanduo!"

"Shan Duo?" Kangxi felt a little familiar, turned his head and asked Brother Sixteen, "Do you know him? I seem to have heard this name before."

Elder Sixteen replied in a low voice: "Ama Huang, Shan Duo is Brother Ninth's personal bodyguard."

Kangxi stared at Cao Yong, and said coldly: "Why did you do it?"

Cao Yong lowered his head and replied: "I served my mother in the morning to go to Nianhua Temple to offer incense. On the way back, there was an accident, and the carriage accompanied by the female family members was hijacked. I chased away, but...under pain, Missed counterattack..."

When Brother Nine is involved, it doesn't need to be said by Cao Yongming, Kangxi also knows the reason.

These days, Kangxi also knows about Brother Nine's tricks of ordering Fang Jiadong.Although I was unhappy in my heart, I didn't take it to heart, as long as I didn't delay the deposit of money into the treasury.

To be honest, although Kangxi didn't admit that it was so convenient for Cao Yong to take money, he felt a little uncomfortable besides being happy.

From Kangxi's point of view, having Nine Elder Brothers come out and add some things to Cao Yong can be regarded as giving him more training.

Unexpectedly, such a big change happened all of a sudden.

"That Shanduo was beaten to death by you?" Kangxi asked with his hands behind his back, thinking.

"I dare not..." Cao Yong hurriedly leaned over and replied.

Kangxi nodded, looked at Cao Yong and said, "That's right, you are generous and will not kill people at will. As Heshuo's son-in-law, that Shanduo is only a third-class shrimp. If he dares to attack you, he should be killed." For such a trivial matter, is it worth being like your father and son?"

Cao Yong raised his head, his eyes were deep, and he said: "Your Majesty, I am afraid."

"Oh, what are you afraid of?" Kangxi rarely saw Cao Yong's expression, and asked.

"I am afraid that if you are not guilty today, you will be guilty tomorrow; if you are not guilty tomorrow, you will be guilty the next day. If you are alone, you can have no worries and deal with right and wrong. Parents are old and children are young. If you are implicated, wouldn't you regret it? Not enough?" Cao Yong spoke the truth: "Although I have the heart to be loyal to my emperor, my minister is also a villain who is greedy for life and afraid of death... In these years, I have passed through the barriers of life and death several times, but I have never felt a little panic. The intention is to accept it calmly; to this day, it is implicating innocent women and children in the family, how can we not be afraid..."

In his heart, he had already made up his mind.

If Kangxi doesn't come forward to protect and frighten Brother Jiu, then he really has to think about a way out.

There is a thousand days to be a thief, but there is no reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days.

Although I want to live a peaceful life, I can't always be a shrinking turtle.

Cao Yong is soft-hearted and respects human feelings, Kangxi knows it.

Cao Yin's crying and Cao Yong's confession made Kangxi's face red and white for a while, and he was really angry.

His body trembled slightly, he retreated to the edge of the kang and sat down, and asked: "You said that you served your mother to offer incense, how about your mother, are you surprised?"

"Returning to the emperor, the frightened horse scattered the carriage behind, and the minister's mother's carriage was in front. It's a good fortune." Cao Yong thought about it and replied.

Kangxi slapped the table hard, and said angrily: "Nizi, these bastards..."

*
Ba Age Mansion, study room.

Brother Jiu walked around and said bitterly: "Cao Yong, I want to kill him, I want to kill him..."

The eighth elder brother took a sip of the tea cup, and said, "Ninth brother, sit down and rest first, you have been spinning for two hours."

Brother Nine stopped, turned around, and said to Brother Eight: "Brother Ba, you didn't see the arrogance of that kid. He actually threatened me, he dared to threaten me... and he shot me in front of my face. Kill Shanduo..."

Eighth Brother shook his head and said: "It's not the time to talk about this, Ninth Brother, you are acting too recklessly. There is no such thing as an impenetrable feeling in this world. When the prince of the court makes people rob officials and toss them out, Huang A Can Mana forgive you..."

Brother Jiu was also tired from turning around, so he leaned back on a chair, frowned and said, "Don't worry, starling, the food has been cleaned up. Can Cao Yong go to the imperial court to file a complaint?"

"Where is Shan Duo's body?" Eighth Prince asked.

"Finished, together with the others. Only Fang Baikui is left. He still has some uses. Let's keep him for a while." Brother Jiu said.

The eighth elder brother nodded and said: "Even if you want to deal with Cao Yong, you can't put yourself in it. Other people's ama may protect his son, but our emperor ama doesn't know how to do it."

Hearing the words, Brother Nine sneered and said, "What can I do? I'm going to be surrounded by the sky. I'm still afraid that this won't work? It's just a wall, and I'll still be my prince and elder brother inside. I don't believe it anymore, big brother Brother and the deposed prince lived well after all the toss, if I clean up a slave, can I still fold myself into it?"

The eighth elder brother coughed twice, and said, "Let's wait for news from the Cao family."

After a while, the people who went to Cao's house to inquire came back, but the news they brought back surprised both the eighth and ninth elder brothers.

"What, take your son out of the city? What the hell is this old guy Cao Yin trying to do?" Brother Nine opened his eyes wide, looked at Brother Eight, and wondered in his heart: "Could it be that the wicked should sue first?"

The eighth elder brother was also very surprised. He thought that the cautious nature of Cao's father and son would suppress this matter, but he didn't expect it to progress like this.

For a while, they really couldn't know the intention of Cao Yin's move...

*
Xicheng, Cao Mansion, Wutong Garden.

Cao Yin and Cao Yong's father and son were not there because of these changes in the mansion.On Li's side, although he was not frightened by the frightened horse, Gao was getting older and after tossing for a long time, he was a little frightened and felt uncomfortable.

Mrs. Li had to take off her clothes and take care of her mother closely.Chu Yu is busy with the affairs of the mansion.

The Tian family wanted to appease, and the Han Jiang family wanted to persuade. The Prince's Mansion of Pingjun and the Duke's Mansion of the State got the news and sent people to visit, and there was still a response.

Chu Yu was busy until dark, and only ate at night, but it was useless.

When Zijing heard about it, she asked the kitchen to cook porridge. After she arranged for Tianyou and Hang Seng to sleep, she asked someone to bring the porridge to Wutong Garden.

Chu Yu sat under the lamp, looking at the list of servants who followed Shangxiang today.

Seeing Amethyst come in, she got up to greet her, but her expression was hard to hide.

"Grandma wakes up before dawn, she's been busy all day, so you have to take care of yourself." Zijing took the food box from the maidservant, and put the porridge on the kang table herself: "I heard that grandma is useless at night. This is the spinach and minced chicken porridge that grandma likes to drink most, grandma should drink half a bowl while it's hot, carefully starving her body."

"Perhaps I was able to hold back with two pieces of dessert in the afternoon, and I couldn't eat a single bite just now, but now I smell the porridge, but I'm really hungry!" Chu Yu looked at the porridge bowl, and couldn't help twitching his index finger.

Seeing Xicai, she had already put on a wet handkerchief and helped Chuyu wipe her hands.

Chu Yu ate most of the bowl in one go, and was about to talk to Zijing about offering incense during the day, when Xiyan came in and said, "Gege, Manager Zheng sent someone to pass on a message, saying that he caught Zhang Jin, but It’s because the mouth is tight, and he refuses to say anything, so ask Ge Ge for instructions, how should I deal with it?”

Chu Yu put down the porridge bowl, with seriousness on his face, and said: "Naturally interrogate the reason, just tell me what I said, the uncle often praises Zhao Tong, if the interrogation fails, let Zhao Tong go to the interrogation again."

Xi Yan responded, and Chu Yu's face was filled with guilt, and said: "It's all because of me. I didn't manage the family strictly, and this happened."

"Grandma, don't say that. In the front yard, there are masters above and housekeepers below. How can grandma have anything to say? There are many disputes in other people's houses, and it's not just one or two women who are lazy and play tricks. , how can we have those in our mansion?" Zijing comforted after hearing this.

Chu Yu shook her head and said, "It's not my credit, it's all the rules set here before, I'm just following them."

"Today was just an accident, grandma doesn't need to blame herself." Seeing her gloomy expression, Zijing persuaded her.

Chu Yu frowned, sighed, and said, "If it's not Mrs. Tian's carriage today, but the wife's, second wife's carriage, or Jinghui's carriage is what happened, then the Cao family's face will be ruined." Sweeping the floor! Sister Zijing, do you still remember the incident of Tianhui throwing the amulet last time? The two suspected girls are also offering incense with the second wife today, I wonder if there are their heads and tails in it."

When Chu Yu mentioned this, Zijing also remembered something, and said: "Even if Zhang Jin is the son of the family, but Grandma Tian lives in the inner courtyard, the two of them will not see each other. of."

When Chu Yu heard this, she shook her head: "Even if you want to rob people, you must make arrangements in advance, and you will not act recklessly. Even if Zhang Jin doesn't know anyone, you can appoint someone who knows to follow. I suspect that the person following is Dongfu. Those few. Although they haven't met Han Jiang's family very much, they know Sister Tian. But they don't know what went wrong, which made Sister Tian suffer from such a fright."

The two thought about it for a while, but they couldn't guess the reason.

Now, thinking about the few people in the East Mansion, they should check it out carefully, but Cao Yong has to talk to Cao Song about this.On the side of the second wife, Zhao Jiashi, I'm afraid it doesn't make sense, but I have to be extra careful.

*
The front yard, east across the yard.

The lights in the room were flickering, Zhao Tong twitched his lips, looked at Zhang Jin who was tied to the pillar, and said with a smile: "Master Zhang has nothing to say?"

Zhang Jin's face was contorted, and he said in a trembling voice: "I've said it all... I've said it all, Mr. Zhao... is a little money-obsessed, not to mention receiving 100 taels of silver, but still coveting the remaining 400 taels... See that The one surnamed Han was called by grandma to sit there, so she suggested to Grandma Tian, ​​thinking that they are about the same age, and they are both little widows..."

The ground under him was already stained with blood, his arms were drooping strangely, and the nails of several fingers had been peeled off.

"Coax children?" Zhao Tong flicked the ashes on his cuffs, looked at Zhang Jin and said, "If it's true as you said, you'll be a corpse, how can you be so cheerful?"

When Zhang Jin heard this, his body trembled, his face was full of horror, his lips trembled, but he couldn't speak.

Zhao Tong sneered a few times, and said: "It seems that you are still not relaxed enough, it should make you 'comfortable' and 'comfortable' again..."

"Ah... woo..." As soon as the scream came out, the rest became a blocked woo...

*
Jiubeizi Mansion, bedroom.

Brother Nine was lying on the bed, looking at the curtain, his eyes straightened.

In front of his eyes, there was always the scene of Shanduo's neck being shot by an arrow. He felt his neck was itchy and tightened. He gritted his teeth and said, "Kill, I will definitely kill you..."

*
(End of this chapter)