Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 993 The Disappearance Case
The next day, Cao Yong and Chu Yu had to enter the palace, and the couple got up early.

I didn't feel anything yesterday, but when I woke up this time, I only felt sore bones all over my body. Cao Yong rubbed his waist and asked Chuyu to find a box of tiger bone paste, baked two pieces of plaster, and stuck it on his waist and eyes, and then he felt better.

Cao Yong looked at the box of tiger bone ointment and thought of his father-in-law Seventh Brother.

Brother Seven originally stayed at the Changchun Garden, but he also returned to the palace yesterday afternoon to observe his filial piety.His legs and feet are inconvenient, and he is probably more tired than ordinary people.

And Brother Thirteen...

The tiger bone ointment in Cao Yong's house is made by Tongrentang, so it can be used with good tiger bones.

Speaking of tiger bone ointment, it is not a rare thing, it is a common plaster, and it can be sold in a slightly larger pharmacy in the capital.But these tiger bones are hard to find, and most of them are fake in the market, using leopard bones, yellow scorpion bones, and even beef leg bones as fake ones.

Even if there are real tiger bone pastes occasionally, most of them are made from the bones of old dead tigers or sick tigers. It is impossible to verify the efficacy of the medicine.

Regardless of whether it is true or not, the tiger bone ointment on the market is mostly mixed with musk and borneol, which are precious medicinal materials, which is enough to bluff people.

It is rare that Tongrentang bought a fine tiger bone in autumn, which is the complete skeleton of an adult male tiger hunted by hunters in the mountains.

Now Tongrentang of Lejia is not as famous as later generations, but Cao Yong is convinced.When he was working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he once promoted Lejia, making Lejia a crude drug supplier for the pharmacy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The owner of the Le family is grateful for Cao Yong's kindness. Over the years, he will bring his nephew to Cao Yong's mansion to pay his respects to Cao Yong every year and festival.

Cao Yong reciprocated, introducing Le's father and son to the sixteenth elder brother, which was regarded as finding a big backer for the Le family's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

When making tiger bone paste, the Le family left the tibia and skull, and made several boxes separately for the Cao family.Considering Mrs. Cao Yong's young age, the musk was not good for offspring, so she discarded it and added some mild medicinal materials, which neutralized the medicinal properties of tiger bones and covered the fishy smell of tiger bones.

After it was made, it was filled in palm-sized jade boxes, but only four boxes were obtained.

It was only delivered a few days ago. Cao Yong originally planned to send two boxes to the thirteenth elder brother, and then rushed to Tongzhou to check the official warehouse, and then went to Nanyuan. After being busy all the way, he forgot about it.

Thinking about it today, Brother Thirteen couldn't send it away.

The thirteenth elder brother raised his position, the most taboo time.

The fourth elder brother is willing to look up to the thirteenth elder brother, but he may not be willing to see the thirteenth elder brother in private with the minister.

"Find two boxes and give one box to my father-in-law...the rest, I will find a chance to give to Lord Sixteen..." Cao Yong said.

When Chu Yu heard this, she was a little surprised: "Don't you think it's good to use it? Don't we keep a box?"

Cao Yongti mentioned to her earlier that he would give half of it to Elder Brother Thirteen.

Cao Yongdao: "Thirteen masters, don't send them away...there are two boxes left for us to use..."

Chu Yu already knew that the thirteenth elder brother was named the prince and was appointed to be one of the ministers of the prime minister's affairs. After hearing her husband's words, she thought of the key point, so she didn't ask any more questions.

After a while, the couple had breakfast and went to Lan Yuan to pay their respects.

Mrs. Li had already got up, and sat in front of the Buddhist altar, reciting the "Diamond Sutra", and did not put down the beads in her hands until her son and daughter-in-law came in.

She is a married woman, and she also has to wear mourning for the Emperor Daxing, with makeup and hair cut, and she is completely naked.

I don't know if she really wants to open it, but she looks better than yesterday.

After asking a few questions, she knew that Cao Yong was only crying in the morning, noon, and evening, and at other times he went back to the office of the household department to work, so she didn't say much, turned to Chu Yu, and said: "God bless his father can still leave the palace." , you are going to stay in the palace all day, right?"

Chu Yu nodded, and said: "It should be, they are all female family members, and there are many taboo places to go in and out, so it's not easy to toss about three times a day."

Mrs. Li nodded, took out two purses, handed them to Chu Yu and said, "Here is a bag of caramel and a bag of furnace fruit, take it with you, fill it up when you are hungry, so as not to hurt your stomach."

Chu Yu didn't expect her mother-in-law to be so considerate, so she bent her knees and took it with some gratitude.

Mrs. Li looked at her son and daughter-in-law warmly and said: "Leave the family affairs to me, you can rest assured. Just remember to cherish yourself. If it is cold today, if you get sick, you will suffer."

Cao Yong agreed with Chu Yu, and chatted a few gossips with Mrs. Li before going out of the mansion and entering the palace together.

The morning sacrifice was at Maozheng (six o'clock), and the process was much simpler than yesterday's funeral. Cao Yong finished his errand in just two quarters of an hour.

If it is normal, this foreign minister will be searched when entering the palace, and he will not be allowed to bring prohibited items.

In the past two days of national mourning, many Beijing officials entered the palace, so the search became vague.With the identity of Cao Yong, even if the guards searched, it was just a formality. No one would open their eyes and turn over him.

Therefore, he directly carried a small box of tiger bone manuscripts in his bosom, and after the sacrifice was over, he went directly to Elder Brother's office and waited for Sixteenth Elder Brother.

Cao Yong was taken aback when he saw Brother Sixteen coming back.

Elder Sixteen's face was pale, his eyes were bloodshot, his chin was full of stubble, his eyes had been bent down, and his eyes were completely black.

Cao Yong knew that in the customs of the world, funerals are more important than weddings, especially in the royal family.

"The sixteenth master should also take it easy, the days of this great funeral are still long, and we have to endure it." Cao Yong couldn't help but comfort him.

Brother Sixteen squeezed out a wry smile, sighed, and said, "Fu Ruo, since you're here, let's talk inside."

Cao Yong saw that his demeanor was different, and he was surprised, so he followed him into elder brother's office.

Zhao Feng waited with a few young eunuchs, and when Brother Sixteen came back, he brought three small bowls.One bowl is filled with thick black concoction, and the other two bowls are steaming ginger soup.

Zhao Feng has served the sixteenth elder brother for many years, and he is familiar with Cao Yong, so he said to the sixteenth elder brother: "Since Master Cao has come, the servants have made their own decisions and made people send an extra bowl of ginger soup."

Brother Sixteen took the medicine and drank it, and then drank ginger soup, and laughed and scolded Zhao Feng: "As long as you are smart, you still say a word, you are a stingy person, don't you want a bowl of ginger soup?"

Zhao Feng just laughed, took the remaining bowl of ginger soup with his own hands, and sent it to Cao Yong.

Cao Yong took it, and said: "I'm sorry to trouble you to think about me. Next time I go out of the palace, I will treat you to a feast of swallow's wings."

Eunuchs are different from ordinary people, and they often have some hobbies to vent their grievances.

Wei Zhu loves money, but Zhao Feng is a foodie.If he got the grace to go out of the palace, he would wear ordinary clothes and hang out in the restaurant in Sijiu City.

After listening to Cao Yong's words, he shyly said, "If Lord Cao really loves the servants, the swallow-wing banquet will be avoided, and the slaves will be rewarded with two cups of the 'Five Blessings Wine' from the house, so that the servants can satisfy their greed."

"What's so difficult about it? After you get rid of it, you will ask someone to take it. Not to mention two cups, even two jars have yours." Cao Yong said.

After Zhao Feng heard this, he hurriedly thanked him.

Before Cao Yong said anything, Elder Sixteen waved his hand and said to Zhao Feng, "Go out and take care of him, and tell Master to be quiet for a while."

Seeing this, Zhao Feng knew that Brother Sixteen was going to talk to Cao Yong, so he agreed and took the little eunuch down.

Only Cao Yong and Sixteenth Brother were left in the room. Sixteenth Brother got up and walked to Cao Yong in two steps. He sat down without looking up and down.

Seeing his heavy face, Cao Yong became nervous.

"Fu Ruo, I'm in a mess right now, and I want to talk to you about kindness." Elder Sixteen lowered his voice, and said sideways in Cao Yong's ear.

Cao Yong couldn't help being stunned, only felt his back was stiff, turned his head and said softly: "Master Sixteen... Could there be something wrong..."

His heart was clenched tightly, and the words came to his lips, not daring to ask.If it involves royal secrets, the more you know, the faster you will die.

Now that the Emperor Daxing is mourning, what is the most worrying thing?It's just whether the Daxing emperor "died of his life" and whether the new emperor's accession to the throne is "righteous".

The matter has developed to the present, although the fourth elder brother has not yet ascended the throne, but now he has organized the national funeral as the heir emperor, and will promulgate the imperial edict of the Daxing emperor tomorrow, and he will ascend the throne as the emperor in a few days.

Even if Elder Sixteen finds something inappropriate right now, the safest way is to rot it in his stomach, so as not to say it out and cause trouble.

The sixteenth brother saw that Cao Yong's thinking was wrong, shook his head, and said: "It's not a big national matter, it's about the fifteenth brother."

It was the first time Cao Yong heard about it. He thought about it and said, "Master Sixteen is worried that Lord Fifteen will be implicated by Lord Three and Lord Fourteen? If the Lord wants to vent his anger, he should not be too strict."

Elder Sixteen's face turned paler when he heard the words, and he said with anxiety in his eyes: "I'm afraid it's not just implicated! The day before yesterday, Huang Amabin announced that Brother Fifteen was sick, and then Brother Fifteen disappeared... ...At the same time, Wei Zhu, the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, is also missing. Right now, Wei Zhu is keeping his filial piety in the Qianqing Palace, while the fifteenth brother is sick and is recuperating in the Changchun Garden...I asked someone to check , he is not in Changchun Garden at all."

Cao Yong was surprised when he heard this.

The [-]th elder brother has always been inconspicuous, and Cao Yong really couldn't imagine what role he would play at the critical moment before Kangxi's death.

However, with the temper of the fourth elder brother, even the third elder brother who is usually tit-for-tat, has been named the prime minister at this time. If the fifteenth elder brother has no mistakes, he will not bear the reputation of "treating his brothers harshly" and take the fifteenth elder brother as a knife .

"Master Sixteen, please be calm and don't be impatient." Cao Yong said with a steady mind: "Now, what is going on is still under speculation, and if you act rashly, it will annoy Fourth Master."

"I can wait. The fifteenth sister-in-law can't wait. She has already cried to her mother. If it weren't for the strict guards of the Yonghe Palace, she would have to ask the queen mother." Sixteenth elder brother frowned: "Now the queen mother and the fourth brother are in a deadlock. Now, knowing about Brother Fifteen, I'm afraid he will take the opportunity to have another attack, and it will be Brother Fifteen who will be unlucky then."

Cao Yong listened carefully and said, "What did the concubine say?"

Elder Sixteen breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Emiang's meaning is the same as that of Fu Ruo, she warned me not to act rashly, let me wait and see... Not to mention close relatives, I have no reason to watch... It's just that others In the eyes of his compatriots, I and his brothers and sisters are both prosperous, and both are harmed..."

Speaking of this, he showed a gloomy expression on his face, and said: "I am a man, so I am not afraid of anything. It's just that Er Niang and Fujin and the others may suffer because of it in the future... It would be fine if they were conferred titles in the early years, and have a share in the property Keep watch, there is a place to watch, the new emperor doesn't want to be seen, just away from the imperial court... Brother Fifteen and I don't even have a title, and it's time to start a mansion again..."

It seems that besides the "unknown whereabouts" of the fifteenth elder brother, his restlessness is also pessimistic about the future.

Hearing that the fifteenth elder brother "disappeared", Cao Yong's first feeling was that he had gone to the northwest with a secret decree?Immediately felt that something was wrong, this also involved a Wei Zhu.

The fact that Wei Zhu could stay in Qianqing Palace wholeheartedly to observe his filial piety meant that even though he was not from the fourth elder brother, he had never done anything that would harm the fourth elder brother's interests.

The two disappeared at the same time, one "disappeared" and the other appeared. No wonder the sixteenth brother was worried, and ninety-nine percent of the fifteenth brother fell into the fourth brother's hands.

If it wasn't for some private matter, the fourth elder brother would not let the fifteenth elder brother go to the Zi Palace to offer sacrifices under the pretext of being "ill".

Before Kangxi passed away, the privacy involved probably could not be spoken to others in this life.

Even if the fourth elder brother doesn't kill the fifteenth elder brother to silence him, I'm afraid he won't let him appear in front of others easily.

Brother Sixteen is not a dull person, he should be able to think of what Cao Yong can think of, that's why he is so anxious.

Cao Yong thought for a while, and asked, "Master Sixteen, what do you want to do?"

The sixteenth elder brother was very decadent, and said: "If there is a way, I won't worry about it. After thinking about it, there is no half way that can be done. If it doesn't work, I have to ask the thirteenth brother and invite him to join the fourth brother intercede."

After Cao Yong heard this, he quickly shook his head and said, "No way! The Thirteenth Lord suddenly rose to prominence. He looks like a beautiful man, but he is walking on thin ice. If there is anything wrong, he will be accused of being a spoiled child... ..."

Elder Sixteen's eyes were already red, and he said, "Although I blame Brother Fifteen for being troublesome, I can't stand by and watch at this moment..."

Cao Yong frowned, pondered for a moment, and said: "Perhaps the sixteenth master is thinking about it. If he offends the fourth master, the third master, the ninth master, and the fourteenth master can all be called the fourth master's sworn enemy. Even the fourth master If he had a fit, he wouldn't use the fifteenth master as a raft. Even if the fifteenth master is in the fourth master's hands now, it doesn't mean anything... If he is really ruthless and doesn't care about his reputation, then he won't arrange for the fifteenth elder brother to call him sick... Since the fifteenth elder brother is still alive now, it is not a great sin... The concubine is right, the sixteenth master should wait and see what happens. Even if the fourth master wants to vent his early grievances, there is still a big One of them is in the front row, and it's not the turn of Master Shiwu..."

The sixteenth elder brother heard Cao Yong's explanation, gave birth to some hope, looked at him desperately, and said: "Really?"

Cao Yong thought about the history he knew. According to the past history, the fourth elder brother vented his grievances, and he only vented on the eighth and ninth elder brothers. The other princes seemed irrelevant; Hey, there is no chance to hold back after the fourth elder brother came to power, and the fate of the ninth elder brother has become unpredictable. The weight of the fifteenth elder brother is no match for the ninth elder brother.

"Don't worry, Mr. Sixteen. After much deliberation, Brother Fifteen's safety is not a problem at the moment..." At this point, Cao Yong said seriously: "Just remember, Mr. Fifteen, you are not just a brother of Mr. Fifteen. Emperor Xing's sons are all brothers of the Sixteenth Master. In the future, if one is prosperous and the other is lost, Sixteenth Master, please be careful!"

Elder Sixteen was stunned by the words, and after a while, he understood Cao Yong's intentions, and said with a bit of helplessness: "In the future, we brothers and sisters, can't be casual in dealing with each other?"

"If Master Shiliu still misses his concubine and Fujin, I'm afraid it's better to remember this." Cao Yong said bluntly.

With such a turmoil, even if Brother Fifteen survived, he would lose his Sacred Heart.The sixteenth elder brother gets too close to him, it will only make the fourth elder brother disgusted.Although they are from compatriots, there are examples of the fourth elder brother and the fourteenth elder brother. Even if they are more distant, the fourth elder brother will not feel that the sixteenth elder brother is ungrateful; on the contrary, if they are close, he should be suspicious. To the sixteenth brother.

Brother Sixteen showed a bit of loneliness on his face, and nodded slowly...

*
No.8, more than 100 votes away from the top six, Xiao Jiu rolled around asking for monthly tickets.tears. .Forehead
(End of this chapter)