131-140

Chapter 131

On a rainy day, light rain is falling in Zhejiang, the sky is gloomy, and the rain in the capital has not stopped for half a month.

There were fewer stalls on the street than usual. Pedestrians on the road were wearing raincoats and cars and horses were passing by in a hurry. The little beggar on the roadside huddled under the eaves of the shop to take shelter from the rain, with a few broken bowls in front of him. If he met a kind-hearted shopkeeper, he would feel sorry for the little beggar and would even give him a bite of food; A good store will also send people to drive beggars away.

At the feet of the emperor, there are the rich young masters who call friends and eat meat for every meal; there are also the poor families who are unlucky and work hard just for a mouthful of food. These people are just the people living at the lowest level in this city. them.

"Driving__"

Several men wearing raincoats rode through the street on horseback, trampling on the water on the ground, and rode away on horseback.

The emperor summoned him to the palace today. As soon as he came out of the emperor's place, he met the eldest prince with two entourages. Seeing that there was no way to escape, Li Wen had to stand to one side and saluted the eldest prince who came to him, "I have met His Highness the eldest prince."

Three months had passed, and he was punished to spend three months behind closed doors in his house. The eldest prince has left the palace.

Yang Shaoyong looked at Li Wen condescendingly. This was the man who caused his father to punish him and caused him, the eldest prince, to lose all face. He had spent the past three months in isolation at his house, without being allowed to see outsiders. The prince and the third son took the opportunity to beat his men to pieces. The manpower he had worked so hard to acquire for so many years had been lost in these months. Just lost more than half.

And all of this is because of the person in front of me, and it's all because of Li Wen!

This man just stared at him without speaking. Li Wen couldn't stand up and leave, so he could only keep standing here with his head lowered, competing to see who had the better patience. He was not afraid of what the eldest prince would do to him. This was in the palace, and the eldest prince really couldn't kill him under the emperor's eyes.

If he were the eldest prince, he would never be stupid enough to trouble him at this time.

The story in Xiangzhou has been over, and all the officials who deserved to be beheaded have been beheaded. The emperor cared about the family ties and was reluctant to kill his biological son with his own hands. If he were the eldest prince, when he saw him at this time, he should have walked over as if he didn't see him, instead of staring at him like he wanted to eat him.

It's a pity that the eldest prince is not him, he is not the eldest prince, and the emperor's son does not seem to be very smart.

Little Eunuch Su followed Mr. Li. His body was trembling slightly and he felt a little scared when His Highness the eldest prince stared at him.

The two were engaged in a silent contest, when a voice intervened.

"Brother Emperor, Li Liuyuan." His Royal Highness came here with his companions and palace attendants.

Yang Shaomu had his usual slight smile on his face and asked with a smile, "Brother, are you and Li Liuyuan talking about something? I saw the two of you standing here from far away, so I happened to tell Gu Ting. Listen."

Yang Shaoyong withdrew his gaze from Li Wen, turned to look at the Crown Prince, and called out, "Prince."

Although he had the upper hand, because the Crown Prince was born from the Queen, he, the eldest prince, was in the Crown Prince's family. It's still a little shorter in front of me. Even though he was unwilling to do so, Yang Shaoyong still had to bow his hands in salute when he saw the prince. As brothers, they were respectful to each other and said hello to each other. Yang Shaoyong had a smile on his face, but it wasn't very pretty, "I happened to meet Li Liuyuan here, and I wanted to invite Li Liuyuan to have a cup of tea, but Li Liuyuan didn't seem to even give me, the eldest prince, this face. "

The meaning of this is that as the eldest prince, Li Liuyuan may not like him.

"I have met His Highness the Crown Prince." Li Wen saluted His Highness the Crown Prince and chuckled in his heart. He really didn't like Yang Shaoyong. If he hadn't been lucky enough to get a good fetus, this man would be nothing more than a foot of mud. How can I stand here and talk about the eldest prince? I really think he is something like the eldest prince!

This eldest prince is really good at telling lies. The two of them didn't say a word just now, so there was no need to invite him to tea. But before that, His Highness the First Prince sent people to invite him twice, but he refused without exception.

Zhao Xiangyi looked through the prince and eldest prince to the young man standing on the other side. Just when Li Wen raised his head and met Zhao Xiangyi's gaze, he told the man opposite him with his eyes that he had nothing to do here.

Yang Shaomu asked, "Li Liuyuan just came out from his father's place?"

Li Wen replied, "His Royal Highness, yes, Xianguan just came out from his father's place." "

Although he didn't know why His Highness the Crown Prince appeared here, Li Wen was sure that His Highness the Crown Prince was here to help him out. Li Wen looked troubled and said, "Unfortunately today, the Emperor just ordered something for the subordinates to handle. In fact, I have no free time today, so I ask His Highness the First Prince to forgive me. "

The road he took was the one he had to take just after he came out of the imperial study, so when he said this, others would naturally not doubt

him.

"Brother, you see, Li Liuyuan has something important to do. You save face. When is it not okay to drink tea? If because of this, Li Liuyuan missed something that he went to do for his father, it would be bad if his father would pursue him later, right?

"Yang Shaomu had a smile on his face, but in fact, when he looked at the eldest prince, there was no smile at all. As a senior brother, he naturally wanted to protect his junior brother.

"If I don't drink this tea another day, it won't be the same. of? "

Since His Highness the Crown Prince has said so, if he insists on drinking tea with Li Liuyuan and thus delays Li Liuyuan's business, the emperor will find out that he, the eldest prince, will be difficult to distinguish. An obscure light flashed in Yang Shaoyong's eyes, The smile on his face disappeared and he said, "It seems that I can only treat Li Liuyuan to drink today's tea another day.

"I still have something to do, so I'll take the first step. " "

With that said, without waiting for the prince's reaction, Yang Shaoyong took his people and left.

Seeing the eldest prince leaving, Li Wen breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He turned around and saw the prince looking at him with a smile. He said to His Highness the Crown Prince cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much, Your Highness. "

" I just happened to be passing by, it's just a trivial matter. "The smile on Yang Shaomu's lips did not change. He naturally knew why the eldest prince would find trouble with Li. Out of good intentions, Yang Shaomu reminded, "Li Liuyuan should be more careful when walking in this palace in the future. "

The palace seems calm on the surface, but in fact it is full of undercurrents. If you are not careful, you can easily get into the wrong hands of others.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. "Li Wen responded.

The prince wanted to go to the emperor and sent his companion to escort him out of the palace.

The rain wet the palace walls, and the entire palace was shrouded in rain.

The two of them shared an umbrella. Next, Zhao Xiangyi held an umbrella for his boy and put most of the umbrella on the boy's side. The drizzle wet his clothes, but he didn't care when he noticed that the man was only protecting him from the rain. His clothes were wet. Li Wen asked the man to move the umbrella over, but the man did not. He only looked at him

until the two of them left the palace. Zhao Xiangyi asked, "What did the eldest prince do to you just now?"

"Don't worry, he can't do anything to me. " "Li Wen pretended to be relaxed, not wanting the man to worry about him.

In fact, he also knew in his heart that he had made a formidable enemy for himself when he first entered the court. In the future, when he walks in the palace, he will inevitably meet the eldest prince. Today, His Royal Highness and Zhao Xiangyi are here to help him. In the future, if there is no one around but him, he will have to figure out some things by himself. response.

It is easy to block an open spear, but difficult to guard against a hidden arrow. He is not worried about the open sword and spear, but he is afraid that the hidden arrow is difficult to guard against. But what's there to be afraid of? At worst, if the soldiers came to block him and the water came to cover him, Yang Shaoyong didn't dare to kill him in front of the emperor. Besides, he didn't have the slightest ability to protect himself. Even if he encountered something, he would never surrender. It's what a fool does, and it doesn't include him.

At this time, he wanted to let the emperor see his value and never abandon him no matter what the situation was. This was what he wanted to do now. From the day he entered the court, Li Wen knew that he had no way out. No matter how difficult and dangerous the road ahead was, he had to move forward and clear all the obstacles on the road. There are no permanent friends in this world, let alone permanent enemies. Only mutual interests are long-term.

Of course, among all the people, Li Wen absolutely believed in the man next to him. Maybe it was because Zhao Xiangyi gave him a hand that night in Yizhuang, or maybe it was because of their subsequent interactions with this man. The protection of him along the way allowed him to feel the man's true love and sincerity for him.

"Oh, there is one more thing that I forgot to tell you. The person who sent your father back has returned to the capital. Your father has returned home safely. This is the letter your father gave you." Zhao Xiangyi said from his arms The boy who took out a letter and gave it to him said.

"Ah Yi, thank you so much!" Li Wen happily took the letter and opened it in front of the man to read. The letter was written by his father. It was not a letter written by his father himself, but there was a seal on it. This was his father's private seal, and he recognized it.

The letter was to tell him that they were safe. His father told him that they had returned safely.

He shared his joy with the man next to him. Zhao Xiangyi nodded and said, "I wish my uncle had returned safely."

"I don't know how to thank you for this. Thanks to you and the hard work of our brothers for making such a trip. I'll wait for you later." Invite brothers to come over and have a drink, I'll treat you." If Zhao Xiangyi hadn't been here, he wouldn't have known where to borrow someone, and he didn't trust outsiders.

Li Wen put his hand on the man's chest and asked, "We haven't gone to Zhuangzi for a long time. When Xiu Mu says, let's go over and have fun together?" Zhuangzi on the outskirts of the city has become their gathering place. The place, they haven't been to Zhuangzi after the New Year, and it happens to be spring now, so they can go hunting in the mountains. This is also a good idea

. "Okay." Since it was a young man's request, Zhao Xiangyi naturally agreed.

"And take Brother Chen, Xiaobao and the others with you..."

Chapter 132 So what?

Spring is warm in April, the cold winter has quietly passed, and spring has arrived.

The white snow on the top of the mountain melts, and the snow water merges into the ground, nourishing the roots of the trees, and the vegetation regains its vitality in spring. After a spring rain, the grass and trees at the foot of the mountain were green, small animals in the bushes were looking for food, and a pair of big ears were trembling alertly. Unfortunately, it fell into the hands of the hunter in the end.

There was a lot of hunting today, and we also picked up a few palm-sized little rabbits, which I just brought back for the kids at home to play with. Li Wen took out two little rabbits from his arms and shouted, "Come and see what these are."

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately attracted the attention of several boys, who ran over and surrounded him. Everyone shouted for it.

"Brother, I want it, I want it, give it to me, give it to me."

"I want it too, it's mine..."

"Okay, here it is, one for each of you, everyone has a share, don't grab it." He only has two here. There were two more rabbits at Xie Yunfei's place. Li Wen called to Xie Yunfei to bring the rabbits over. Of the four rabbits, each of the three boys could get at least one. In the end, each of his two boys got one, and Brother Chen got two.

He asked someone to bring a small basket, put the little rabbit in the basket, and gave it to several children.

"These rabbits are raised for you to play with. They are fed with some carrots, greens and other things every day, but they cannot be raised to death

.",,

"Yeah, we know." "

After having the little rabbit, the three boys circled around the little rabbit, and everything around them had nothing to do with them.

Others went out for an outing in the spring, and they went to the mountains to hunt in the spring, and they came back to take care of their children. But now the three boys With a new goal, I couldn't stop myself from feeding the rabbits with vegetables.

I slaughtered and cleaned the prey I brought back, and then braised them, boiled them, and grilled them. The wine jar was in full swing. It has already been placed on the side, and the jar of wine is extremely conspicuous here. All the soldiers with wine bugs in their bellies are already ready to drink.

"Well, this wine is so delicious. "Someone secretly opened the wine jar, smelled it, and looked intoxicated. The wine was so fragrant.

"This wine was brewed by Li Liuyuan himself. This is the only one that sells it. There is no one selling it outside. Can it be good?" "As long as you drink this wine once, you will definitely remember it the next time.

"Haha, there is enough wine today, everyone just drink it with an open belly. "Li Wen asked people to bring over a batch of wine stored in the cellar of his house. In order to thank these brothers for escorting his father home safely, he invited him to drink today, and the wine was enough.

"Hey, what's going on in the future? Li Liuyuan just opens his mouth to solve the problem. There is nothing that our brothers cannot do. "

As long as there is good wine, they will go up to the mountain of swords and the sea of ​​fire without hesitation, let alone such a trivial matter as helping Li Liuyuan escort Li's father back to his hometown.

Zhao Xiangyi glanced over there, and several soldiers surrounding Li Liuyuan hurriedly " When

they saw you, they were like a mouse seeing a cat? Li Wen asked.

General Zhao said expressionlessly, "I can eat people." "

This cold joke was very funny, and Li Wen laughed in unison.

Soon a group of people gathered around the table to eat meat and drink wine.

Drinking was a must-have for entertainment. Two soldiers took off their shirts and competed in wrestling. The people beside them were Shouting and cheering, it was so lively for a while. When he saw the funny thing, Li Wen couldn't help laughing and fell into Zhao Xiangyi's arms, "Haha..." He almost burst into tears.

Is it so funny? He put his arms around the young man's shoulders to prevent him from laughing under the table,

"Wang Si, kill him!" "

"I will win this round by buying the king and four.

"I win three times by betting. " "

Everyone on the side has already placed their bets on the opening.

Xie Yunfei, who is sitting aside, is half focused on Li Liuyuan and his boss. He has never seen his boss be so considerate and gentle to anyone. If it had been before this , Xie Yunfei was just a little doubtful, so by now, he was almost certain about the relationship between his boss and Li Liuyuan.

Once he

had doubts, Xie Yunfei thought about the relationship between Zhao Xiangyi and Li Liuyuan. Later, I realized that these two people might have been together for a long time.

It was not uncommon for men to be with men in the military camp, so Xie Yunfei was not surprised by the two men being together. He has been with his boss for so many years, but he has never known that his boss likes men. Is this Li Liuyuan the only exception? When Xie Yunfei thought about his boss's fate and Li Liuyuan's horoscope, these two

people were indeed a match made in heaven.

Will she be happy if she knows that the boss likes a man? Thinking of

this, Xie Yunfei glanced at Li Liuyuan who was leaning on their young general's shoulder. He hadn't noticed it before and

suddenly felt that Li Liuyuan had a pretty face. , this kind of good-looking does not refer to the beauty of a woman, but to the youthful elegance and scholarly spirit of a young man. However, this person is Li Liuwu, the best scholar in their entire Dacheng

.

As early as when Xie Yunfei looked at him frequently. Li Wen noticed that Xie Yunfei was looking at him.

Li Wen bared his teeth and smiled back at Xie Yunfei.

Xie Yunfei looked away pretending to be innocent. Three hundred taels of silver. Li Wen looked amused. He leaned into Zhao Xiangyi's ear and asked in a low voice, "Xie Yunfei doesn't know?" "

This is about whether Zhao Xiangyi told Xie Yunfei about their relationship.

"I didn't tell him. "Zhao Xiangyi glanced at Xie Yunfei and said to the young man, "I think he should have figured it out by now. "He did not tell Xie Yunfei about his relationship with Li Wen. He thought that because of Xie Yunfei's intelligence, he

should have already known about his relationship with Li Wen. It seems that he overestimated the military advisor beside him.

"... ..." Commander Xie is still a bachelor.

Is it really okay for you two to bite your ears like no one else is watching? Xie Yunfei saw their boss and Li Liuyuan talking quietly together, completely ignoring the feelings of the people next to them. But it seemed that he was the only one at this time. One person paid attention to every move of these two people, and everyone's attention was focused on the two people competing.

After the spring equinox, the sunset lasted longer than in winter.

It was almost dark when the sun set . The banquet was over.

Xie Yunfei called Zhao Xiangyi and walked away.

Li Wen only glanced at him and didn't follow him. He called the three boys to come over and take a bath. When he saw the three boys taking a bath, he wanted to take the rabbit down to wash them together. Li Wenhei Face, ordered, "Put the rabbits down, they are too young

to take a bath, and they will easily get sick if they get wet. "

"oh. "

"You will get dirty if you don't take a shower. "

This one reluctantly put down the little rabbit.

"Everyone took off their clothes and went in, and quickly washed them and came out. "The tub was big enough to hold three little ones, so he simply asked the three little ones to take off their clothes and go in together. The three little ones took off their clothes and soaked in it. They were as white and tender as glutinous rice balls in a bowl. .

But he just walked away for a while and went out to ask someone to bring some clothes for the children. When he came back and saw the water all over the ground, Li asked, "..." I really want to hit someone!

One child is a well-behaved rabbit, and three children together are like a group of monkeys on the mountain.

When it was time to go to bed, the boys wanted to put some rabbits on the bed to sleep. The reason was that they were afraid that they would be cold when they slept at night, so they had to sleep together in the quilt.

This reason made him unable to refute...

"..." Li asked, he had to speak harshly, "Put the rabbit down for me! If you dare to put the rabbit to bed, just wait until I put the rabbit down tomorrow Go back to the mountain." He didn't mind being dirty, so he took the rabbit to the bed to sleep, pooping all the urine into the bed.

"It's no use acting coquettishly!"

Li Wen felt angry and funny when he saw the three little faces making pitiful looks towards him, especially the one from Zhao Xiangyi's family who looked at you with red eyes and aggrieved expression. It was really unbearable to refuse. He had to soften his tone and coaxed, "Okay, if you are afraid that they will get cold, put a layer of thicker clothes in their nests to cushion them at night. They won't feel cold if they sleep in it. "

"I told you first that you are absolutely not allowed to put them on the bed at night. Think about it, if you turn over accidentally and crush the rabbit... "

But it will be crushed!"

After finally coaxing the boys to obey and promising not to carry the rabbit to the bed, Li Wen came out of the children's room. Seeing Zhao Xiangyi already in the room, he asked, "Have you finished talking to Yunfei?"

"Yes." Zhao Xiangyi nodded.

"Yunfei asked about us?" Li asked.

Zhao Xiangyi nodded and said, "He knows it, it doesn't matter." This means that even if Xie Yunfei knows about them, it doesn't matter.

Xie Yunfei and the others were the people close to him. Zhao Xiangyi had never wanted to hide these people around him. He said to the young man, "Let's just let nature take its course. No matter what happens in the future, I will protect you. You Trust me."

"Well, I believe you." Li Wen naturally trusts the men around him. Their relationship can be hidden from the outside world, but it must be difficult to hide it from these people around him.

Perhaps one day, their relationship will be made public, and by that time, everyone in the world will know that Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi are together. Although the good of Longyang has existed since ancient times, and there are also cases of men forming contracts with men in Dacheng Kingdom, after all, they are a minority. If two men are together, a good man who is willing to lie under a woman will be attacked by the world. and ridicule.

But so what, this is their own business and has nothing to do with outsiders.

Li Wen believed that Zhao Xiangyi's feelings for him were the same as his feelings for this man. They live their lives and have nothing to do with outsiders. They don't bother anyone. The worst is that they will no longer be in office and will resign and go back to farming. Of course things might not be as bad as he thought.

But before facing outsiders, they may have to go through the hurdle of both parents, which is indeed a headache.

The day passed like this, a group of people gathered together to drink and chat, another day passed.

Chapter 133 Booklet

The next day, Li Wen went back to work at the Ministry of Accounts, and Zhao Xiangyi went to the camp on the outskirts of Beijing. One of them was in the city, and the other was outside the city. They did not work in the same place. They worked separately. Busy with their own things. However, since Li Wen went to the Ministry of Household Affairs, the monthly salary from Hanlin Academy and Daying has not been owed again, and it has been paid out on time every month.

Military Master Xie shook the feather fan in his hand, squinted his eyes and said with a smile, "Sure enough, there are people in the court who are easy to do things." It is really different to have people in the Ministry of Household Affairs. I haven't seen that the Ministry of Household Affairs has not defaulted on their camp in the past few months. The soldiers' monthly money was gone.

Especially after knowing the relationship between Li Liuyuan and their boss, and knowing that this one was their "sister-in-law-to-be", no wonder he would protect their brothers. It doesn't seem like a bad thing for their boss to be with Li Liuyuan? Ordinary women don't have such ability, only Li Liuyuan has this ability.

Since returning to the capital, Zhao Xiangyi has worked in the camp on the outskirts of Beijing and is responsible for training his soldiers every day. When he first returned to the capital, Zhao Xiangyi was not used to being here in the capital. Now that he has been back in the capital for a few years, he has gradually become accustomed to the life in the capital. Of course, getting used to it does not mean that he likes it here.

It's just that now he has to protect it. As a man, his inner anxiety unexpectedly calmed down, and he no longer wanted to leave the capital and return to the border as before.

Standing at a high place, Zhao Xiangyi looked at the soldiers training under him.

"Sir."

"Well, you go find a few people and put all these boxes back to their original places. Be careful not to damage them.

" Li Wen ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Not long after, all the boxes in the room where he worked were carried out, and the account books that were half a person's height on the desk were gone. The table was quiet and tidy. It took nearly three months to finally read through the account books of this room, and Li Wen was quite satisfied with it.

Li Liuyuan here asked someone to carry the ledger back, and Zhu Guangquan knew it, "He just asked someone to carry the ledger back, nothing else?"

"Sir, yes."

"Well, you can go down."

After a while, Zhu Guangquan got up from his chair, walked back and forth in the room, and asked the people waiting outside to call his two officials to come over for discussion. The people outside the door got the order and left quickly. Not long after, two officials came to the Minister of Household Affairs and entered the house.

Li asked if he was afraid of being known when he was doing his thing.

From the first day he entered this household department, Li Wen knew that his every move in this household department was being watched.

There are so many people here in Hubu, and there are people coming and going. It is difficult to hide something from everyone, so if he wants to do something, he simply instructs people to do it openly, which is better than being secretive. , on the contrary, it will be more eye-catching and eye-catching.

On the contrary, he acted openly and aboveboard, but some people couldn't guess what his purpose was. This was the purpose of his actions. It was convenient to keep things secret.

He was sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs by the emperor, and he was obviously one of the emperor's people. Touching him was no different from challenging the imperial power, so as long as he was not a fool, he would not be touched openly. Even when they didn't see Zhu Guangquan, they just stared at him. Whatever he wanted to do in the household department, Zhu Guangquan didn't dare to stop him from doing it. If Zhu Guangquan wanted to stop him, wouldn't he tell the emperor that there was something fishy going on? So as long as Zhu Guangquan and some officials here are not stupid, they cannot stop him from checking the accounts.

Of course, Li Wen has not forgotten that Zhu Guangquan has been operating here for more than ten years in this household department. Zhu Guangquan's power and connections are all here, and the other party is the real boss in the household department. Li Wen will not be stupid enough to know that. Even if he was going against Zhu Guangquan, he still understood this truth.

He is the emperor's man, and Zhu Guangquan is also the emperor's man. The two of them are in harmony with each other in this household, and they are getting along well.

The account books that Zhu Guangquan asked Li Liuyuan to check were all on the bright side, and he thought there were no problems with them. But Zhu Guangquan seemed to have forgotten that this Li Liuyuan was no ordinary person.

"Congratulations, congratulations."

"Congratulations, Mr. Guo."

On this day, there was a happy event at the home of an official from the Ministry of Revenue. He invited people to his home for a drink. He was also invited. Li Wen said congratulations.

There are many officials in this household department, and every month there are always a few people who hold weddings at their homes and invite their colleagues to their homes for dinner

. Or sometimes after leaving office, an official invites everyone to have a drink. These social events are unavoidable. This is how it is in this circle. These are some interpersonal matters.

Li Wen did not completely refuse these invitations from others, and would occasionally go for a walk and then come back. Or when someone's family is having a wedding, he won't be there in person, but will send someone from the family to deliver a gift, as a courtesy.

There are many aristocratic families in the capital that have been rooted for hundreds of years. Naturally, there are elders and children of the clan who have old-fashioned ideas and look down on ordinary people. This saying has been passed down for hundreds of years. The status of aristocratic families is getting higher and higher, and it is difficult for children from poor families to get ahead. These same people from wealthy families think they are superior to others and have always looked down on children from poorer families.

Most of the officials in the imperial court came from aristocratic families and great clans, and there were very few children who came from humble backgrounds. But it is not impossible. There are many outstanding young talents among the children from poor families. These people have worked hard to take scientific examinations and become officials in the court. However, most children from poor families are severely suppressed. What they lack is an opportunity.

Officials in the court formed two groups. One was people from aristocratic families who came together, and the other was children from poor families who came together. These people had great differences in political opinions.

Of course, among these poor children, Li Liuyuan seems to be an exception. He is a young talent. He has connected the small, medium and large three yuan, and became the first six yuan in Dacheng Kingdom. He entered the court as an official and was highly valued by the emperor. He was promoted twice in less than half a year. This was unprecedented and unparalleled. Therefore, Li Liuyuan also became a model and example for the children of poor families to learn from.

In some years, these great nobles were so great that even the emperor could not touch these powerful nobles.

Now seeing the emperor promoting a commoner, the elders of these important clans gathered together and speculated: What is the purpose of the emperor doing this? Do you want to reuse the poor people and suppress these big responsible clans?

Speaking of Li Wen, there are some people among these big nobles who are far-sighted and want to send people to win over such a person. "This Li Wen is actually a It wouldn't be a bad thing if we can win him over for talent. "

But it seems that this Li Liuyuan is not that easy to win over. He doesn't like gold, silver, or jewelry. This Li Liuyuan is still young and doesn't seem to understand beauty, and the beauty trap doesn't seem to work.

When Li Liuyuan went to Xiangzhou, some things naturally spread back to the capital and reached the ears of these big families. Unexpectedly, Li Wen took a hundred thousand taels of silver notes from former Xiangzhou officials and turned around and handed them over. The emperor. So even if they wanted to recruit Li Wen, they had to be careful, otherwise they just took out the banknotes in their pockets and went out, only to be stabbed in front of the emperor by Li Wen when they turned around.

"But I heard that Li Liuyuan is not engaged yet, and there is an unmarried girl in his house..." ''Oh. "

This is an opportunity.

It's just that all the matchmakers sent by these people to Liuyuan Mansion were blocked. None of them could enter Liuyuan Mansion, let alone get married.

Of course, these people don't know that all the masters of Liuyuan Mansion are out during the day. There are only maids and servants in the house. Even if the matchmaker can enter, there is no one who can make the final decisions. Therefore, these people It was destined to be a wasted trip.

Unbeknownst to Li Wen, many people were wondering about him.

While walking in the capital, Li Wen saw many people from so-called big families. These people usually have a big problem, that is, they are arrogant and think they are great. But often some people are themselves He's just a idiot, without any ability. It's not that he looks down on such people, he simply doesn't care to be with such people.

But if they were as useful and innocent as the young prince, Li Wen wouldn't mind making friends with him.

In the past few months since he arrived at the household department, Li Wen's relationship with his colleagues has been pretty good, at least on the surface. The emperor reused him and promoted him. All the officials here knew it, so there was no shortage of people who wanted to please him.

When interacting with others, Li Wen never deliberately tries to please others. Likewise, he always politely refuses the purposeful flattery and generous gifts from some people and does not accept them.

As for the subordinates around him, Li Wen knew which ones were inserted by others and which ones could really be used by him. After this period of getting along, his group of people were convinced of him.

There are few people who disobey him as a superior, and there are those who don't take him seriously because of his young age. Li Wen also tries to find a way to make these subordinates who don't take him seriously obey him as a superior.

When it comes to the art of controlling people, he still knows a little bit, just enough to be useful.

During his stay at the Ministry of Finance, Li Wen did not forget the mission assigned to him by the emperor.

What he asked his people to count was only the apparent data, which was for others to see. When making

things for the emperor to see, Li Wen used the people assigned to him by the emperor. The emperor also sent a team of people to him. He could use these secret people at will. He used the emperor's people to serve the emperor. Nothing wrong with it.

But I have to admit that the emperor's people are very useful.

"Your Majesty, this is what we can find so far. Please take a look at it." Li Wen handed a thin booklet into the hands of the Emperor. There were also some evidences he had investigated, and they were all presented together. The emperor 's

purpose in asking him to go to the Ministry of Revenue was nothing more than this.

The Household Department is the place in charge of Dacheng's money, and it is also a department that controls the lifeblood of Dacheng. The emperor now attached great importance to this department, transferred him to the Household Department, and ordered him to secretly investigate the accounts in the Household Department.

If you don't check, you won't know. If you check, you will be scared to death.

Time was limited, so Li Wen did not dig deeper. He knew that once he dug deeper, all the officials in Dacheng would be implicated, which would cause turmoil in the entire Dacheng. Just accept it as soon as you see fit. This must be the emperor's purpose.

But the ones found so far are enough.

He, a small fifth-grade official, could not make the final decision on these things. Naturally, after getting the things, he presented them to the emperor "without hesitation" and let the emperor make the final decision.

"Your Majesty."

Eunuch Sun took what Li Liuyuan was holding and presented it to the Emperor.

Emperor Zhaozong, who was sitting on the dragon throne, looked through the booklet submitted by Li Liuyuan and saw some evidence of crime in it, and his face became increasingly ugly.

The imperial study room was so quiet that you could hear the sound of a needle being moved to the floor.

"Bang -"

the emperor waved his hand and smashed the tea cup at hand, his face extremely ugly, "Okay, these people are so brave. I dare you to say that this country is not mine, it is almost becoming these people's."

"Please ." The emperor calmed down."

The eunuchs and maids serving in the royal study all knelt down one after another, and Li Wen followed suit, but he didn't feel much fear in his heart.

Chapter 134:

On that day, a strong wind blew up in the capital. The blue sky was white and the sun was blocked by black clouds. It suddenly became dark.

Seeing that a heavy rain was about to hit, pedestrians and carriages were hurriedly walking on the street. The vendors on the street were hurriedly packing their things, for fear that their goods would be destroyed when the heavy rain came. The strong wind blew the papers and calligraphy and paintings flying around. The down-and-out scholar ran after the paintings and picked up this one. The other papers flew away. At this moment, the scholar wished he could have eight hands.

Seeing the paintings and calligraphy being carried away by the wind, the scholar had no choice but to give up and pack back what he could.

"Crack--"

Thunder and lightning flashed, and a bolt of lightning struck in the west, as if it was going to split the sky in half.

Emperor Zhaozong in the imperial study smashed the tea cup at hand and lost his temper. None of the eunuchs and maids in the study dared to express their anger.

The emperor had not been so angry for a long time, and everyone felt deeply in danger.

There was a strong wind outside, with thunder and lightning. The strong wind blew out the lights in the house. The light from the lightning outside penetrated through the window and shined into the house, shining on the emperor's face. The emperor looked extremely ugly. Eunuch Sun shook his body and told the emperor. After receiving the emperor's response, he directed the palace maid to light the lights in the room, and the room instantly returned to its light shell.

Li Wen knelt on the ground, listening to the thunder outside, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Get up."

"Thank you

, Your Majesty." "Go and call the prince over to me." Emperor Zhaozong asked his confidant Gongsun Haide to call over the prince and several princes, and also reported the names of several ministers. Together they summoned people into the palace, "Also, pass on my decree and have Zhao Xiangyi and Yang Zhen enter the palace immediately to see me."

"Yes, I'll go right away." Eunuch Sun took the order and ordered the eunuchs below. Go and call His Highness the Crown Prince, the princes, and several ministers to come over.

At this time, the emperor couldn't live without him. Eunuch Sun did not go to invite people in person. Instead, he ordered the palace servants below to call for people. He returned to the emperor's side to serve him, and asked the palace maid to make a cup of tea again. Bring it to the emperor's hand.

Li Wen stood up, lowered his head, and stood aside.

The emperor was furious, and he was afraid that it would not be easy to calm down. There would be a lot of bloodshed here in the capital. He sighed in his heart. Whatever the emperor wants to do, his humble ministers cannot and will not stop him.

It's time for this court to be reorganized!

A department in charge of the country's financial lifeline is like this. The other departments among the six departments are naturally not much better. As well as the five temples and departments, the internal officials are involved in high and low, and the officials protect each other. There are many dirty things inside. The central government is like this, and the local officials below are even more efficient. The entire ministerial bureaucracy is rotten from the bottom up. If rectification is not carried out, the entire Dacheng will be in danger, and sooner or later it will perish like the previous dynasty

. Does the emperor really not know about these things?

——In fact, Bu Jingran, the emperor must know.

Li Wen knew that everything in the court could not be hidden from the emperor's eyes, but at the same time as the emperor sat in this position, the more he thought about it, the more worries he had, and it was inevitable that he would not act as decisively as he did when he was young. But it has to be said that the officials below are hiding things from each other very well. As long as the emperor doesn't send people to investigate deeper, nothing can be seen on the surface.

And who does Zhu Guangquan belong to? Zhu Guangquan was a confidant promoted by the emperor, but now Zhu Guangquan betrayed his master, the emperor. No master could tolerate his subordinates betraying him, and the same was true for the emperor. That was why the emperor was so angry when he saw the evidence he presented.

Isn't it easy for the emperor to face him? The emperor must be more face-saving than anyone else. Every emperor wants to be remembered forever, and does not want to become an emperor despised by the people after his death and a sinner of the Dacheng Kingdom. As long as the emperor wants to save face, he will not allow the kingdom to be destroyed in his hands.

The East Palace is close, and the prince was the first to arrive, followed by the princes and ministers.

Before entering the palace, these ministers didn't know what was going on.

Seeing that the Holy Master's expression was wrong, these people were all human beings. Although they didn't know what was going on, their intuition told them that something was definitely going to happen.

"Crash-"

Two quarters of an hour later, a heavy rain came.

Fortunately, this gave people some time to find a place to take shelter from the rain. Otherwise, when the rain came, many people would be soaked in the rain. Those who were running slower behind would be soaked by the heavy rain.

Before the ministers arrived at the palace, it started to rain heavily.

Several small sedans stopped in front of the palace gate. The ministers who got off the sedans braved the rain and went into the palace, accompanied by their entourage and escort holding umbrellas.

At this time, the teahouses and inns in the city were full of people, and the doorways of some shops were filled with pedestrians taking shelter from the rain. The business in the tavern and tea shop is so good that the waiters in the lobby are busy pouring tea for the guests in the shop.

Someone said, "It's really weird today. It's going to change today."

"No, it was still sunny just a moment ago. In the blink of an eye, it turned dark and it started raining heavily."

It was pouring rain outside, and the street The vendors and pedestrians all ran away, and the entire capital was shrouded in heavy rain.

I thought that this heavy rain would pass soon, but unexpectedly it rained for two full hours without stopping.

Seeing that the city gate was about to close, people rushing out of the city looked anxious. Most of the people who lived outside the city would not stay in the city for the night. They slept in a bunk in the lowest inn in the city. It costs at least ten coppers a night. Most poor people are reluctant to spend this money. They have to work hard to save so much money in a day.

"Hey, I don't know how long it will stop raining."

"The old lady at home is still waiting for me to go back. She will be worried about me if she doesn't see me go back.

" The rain seems to be lighter. Let's leave quickly while the rain subsides. "

Fortunately, the rain outside has eased a bit. Some people who were hiding from the rain in the city saw that the rain had become lighter and left one after another in the rain. They were afraid that if they were a step too late, the city gate would be closed. At worst, they would risk their lives. After the rain, just go home and change your clothes.

At the last moment when the city gate closed, a group of cavalry on horseback was about to enter the city in the heavy rain. The sound of neat horse hooves was shocking. , the soldiers guarding the city recognized this token and did not dare to block it, and immediately let the cavalry in. When

"Jia"

saw the iron cavalry leaving in the rain, the soldiers guarding the city grunted, "I don't know what's going on in the city ." What happened?

Another soldier said, "It's none of our business anyway."

As

night fell, the heavy city gate fell and the city gate was closed.

Before the city gate opens on the second day, unless there are special events, the people in the city are generally not allowed to leave the city, and people from outside the city are not allowed to come in.

The rain is getting heavier, and it seems to have gotten dark very early that day. At this time in the past, there were only twos and threes of pedestrians on the street, but today there are no pedestrians at all. The shops on the street have all closed early. There are no vendors setting up stalls to sell anything anymore.

Along with the sound of heavy rain, the uniform sound of cavalry sounded. Under the command of the leading general, the soldiers surrounded the entire Zhu Mansion, as if not a single mosquito could fly out.

"Break open this door for me." The cold-faced general ordered.

"曰-t- 1"

When the time came,

someone went over and knocked on the door.

"Puff--puff--exposure-',

who is knocking on the door at this time? The concierge inside heard the sound, opened the door, and cursed, "Bold, who are you, do you know where this place is? ..."

"Get out of the way! "The soldier standing at the door pushed the old man away and tied him up directly.

"You guys, go and arrest Zhu Guangquan and everyone in the Zhu Mansion. No one can be let go. " Zhao Xiangyi waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him divided into two teams and entered through the gate of Zhu's Mansion.

At this time, the housekeeper in the mansion received the news and hurriedly ran to the main courtyard where their master lived .

"Why are you so flustered? Zhang? "At this time, Zhu Guangquan didn't know that he was about to die. When he saw the housekeeper running in a panic, he frowned and asked.

"S-Sir, it's bad, the officers and soldiers outside have surrounded our entire Zhu Mansion. "The housekeeper trembled all over.

"What? "Zhu Guangquan looked shocked. Who dared to surround his Zhu Mansion? He was a court official, a second-rank official, and the Minister of Household Affairs. Who dared not to take him as a court official in the eyes?

"Ah...,"

"Who are you and why did you break into Zhu's mansion? "

Ah... Madam..."

The female relatives in the backyard shouted when they saw the officers and soldiers who broke in.

As soon as these officers and soldiers entered, they started to take people without saying a word, and the guards in the house had no time to react. , were captured, and those who resisted would be killed.

Just as Zhu Guangquan was shocked, a sound of footsteps came towards him.

The door opened, and the wind poured in from the outside. Zhu Guangquan turned to look in the direction of the door. At this time, the guards around him all reacted, surrounded their master, and drew out their swords one after another, pointing them at the outsiders.

"Master Zhu, we are acting on the orders of the Holy Lord and have come to invite you to investigate and inquire." If so, please cooperate with us. "Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi walked slowly with their people. The rain wet his shoes and the hem of half of his clothes, but he was not in any embarrassment, and he still looked calm.

It's just that Zhu Guangquan is no longer his superior today. It was the court official they were ordered to capture.

Thanks to the emperor's kindness, the emperor entrusted him with such a difficult task, so he had no choice but to follow the order.

"Li Wen, how dare you! Zhu Guangquan looked at Li Wen with a look of disgrace. At this moment, he seemed to understand what was going on, "You can't treat me like this. I am an official of the imperial court and a second-rank minister in the imperial court. I want to see the emperor." . ,, "Master Zhu, you'd better go to the prison first and wait for the emperor to summon you." Li Wen said

with a slight sigh . Zhao Xiangyi made a gesture, and the officers and soldiers following him stepped forward to get the person.

Chapter 135:

Without the emperor's order to confiscate the house, Li Wen would not have dared to go to Zhu's Mansion to seize someone, so his presence here must be the emperor's order.

How many officials are completely innocent and not greedy at all? Zhu Guangquan knows what he has done. It's just that he completely miscalculated. He thought that he was someone close to the emperor, and the emperor was reluctant to touch him. But today, the emperor asked people to come to get him. Zhu Guangquan knew that he could not resist, and he could not resist.

He was able to reach this position not only because of the emperor's trust, but also because of his own abilities and skills.

But if the king wants his minister to die, he must die. Zhu Guangquan himself understands this truth.

Seeing that people from both sides were about to take action, the emperor dispatched people from the camp on the outskirts of Beijing to capture him. The opponent had a large number of people and strong force. The guards he kept in his house were definitely no match for these people. Even if he led others to resist today, his chances of winning would not be great. Instead, he would be charged with one more crime. Zhu Guangquan knew this in his heart.

In such a short period of time, Zhu Guangquan's mind turned several times, and finally he said in a deep voice, "Stop it, I'll follow you."

His men put down their weapons.

"Take it." Zhao Xiangyi waved his hand, and his men stepped forward to arrest Zhu Guangquan, detained him, and escorted him out.

Zhu Guangquan himself did not expect what happened tonight. The guards in the entire mansion were all controlled by the officers and soldiers before they could respond. None of the female relatives in the backyard of Zhu's mansion, Zhu Guangquan's sons and grandsons, as well as the maids and servants in the mansion were left, and they were all escorted away.

"Search!" Li Wen made a gesture and asked people to go in and search.

Tonight, he was not only ordered to pick up people, but also to search the Zhu Mansion. This was also the emperor's intention, and he was the sword in the emperor's hand. He had to hit wherever the emperor pointed out.

"Yes, sir." The team leader led people to search.

This kind of carpet-like search can be done in any corner and a lot of things will be found quickly.

"Sir, our people have discovered a secret passage."

"Sir, our people have discovered a secret room."

"Go and have a look.

The bed in the bedroom where Zhu Guangquan lives is opened and a secret passage is found underneath. Go in Inside the secret passage were mountains of gold, silver and jewels.

The people who went down came up and said, "Sir, a lot of gold and silver were found in it.

"Let's go, take me down to have a look. " "

Li Wen asked someone to lead the way and follow him down to have a look. Zhao Xiangyi did not stop him and followed the young man to protect his safety.

"Zhu Guangquan is the Minister of Household Affairs, which is really unexpected. "

Seeing what was inside, Li Wen stretched out his hand and grabbed a handful of pearls. The beads slipped from his hands like falling rain. It seemed that he had not wronged Zhu Guangquan. Who would have thought that a man who spent all day kneeling in the court could Why was there so much gold and silver and jewels piled up in the house of the Hubu Shangshu who was complaining to the emperor and the officials?

With these things, Zhu Guangquan was definitely going to die.

And Zhu Guangquan, who was being escorted away, thought he was. There is still a chance to turn over, but as everyone knows, he will never have a chance to turn over in this life.

"Leave a few people here to take stock of things. "Li Wen said to the man behind him.

"You guys stay. "Zhao Xiangyi nodded and called a few confidants to stay and count things.

"Yes, sir.

"Let's go up. " "

Arranged someone to stay and count the things, and the two of them went up together.

Not only were mountains of gold and silver jewelry found in the secret passage, but the two walls on the left and right were opened, revealing two secret rooms filled with valuables from various families. Calligraphy, paintings and antiques, some of them are priceless treasures, things that cannot be bought with money.

"I didn't know it until I searched, and found such belongings in an official's home. "Li Wen took Zhao Xiangyi to visit the secret room to see what Mr. Zhu has collected.

This is simply more gold and silver than the emperor's private treasury. I am afraid that the emperor is the poorest in the entire court. I'm an old man. I don't know how the emperor felt when he saw the list. I can imagine that the emperor's face will not look very good.

"If you are an official in the capital, you have to search every house. Who can't find something?" "Zhao Xiangyi is a warrior and is not interested in these paintings and calligraphy. In his eyes, they are just a few pieces of paper, not worth as much as a piece of silver.

But he is not interested, but he knows that the young man is interested.

"You said so. "When Li Wen thought about this possibility, it was really very high, but it was a pity, "Let's just think about it. If we want to search every household, the emperor probably won't allow it. But I think we should be able to harvest a lot of good things tonight. "

Li Wen stopped in front of a picture of Chunhui and saw that the signature was his teacher's name. With just one glance, he knew that it was his teacher's own handwriting, and he couldn't help but smile. "I didn't expect that my teacher's paintings are hidden in Zhu Shangshu's secret room. "

Having studied with Dean Fu for so many years, he is naturally familiar with his teacher's handwriting, and he can tell the authenticity of this painting at a glance.

"Master Fu's paintings are hard to find in the capital . . " Zhao Xiangyi waved to the people behind him to

take down .

"Oh, really? I really don't know this. "Li Wen remembered that his teacher's study room was filled with various paintings. He had seen many of them before. In his eyes, Dean Fu's paintings were something that he was too accustomed to. Naturally, he did not expect that Dean Fu's paintings and calligraphy were the most common paintings in the capital. Li Wen

touched his chin, thought in his mind, and said half-jokingly, "It seems that I will have to ask the teacher for two more pictures later. "

A smile flashed in Zhao Xiangyi's eyes and he said, "Go and ask, Master Fu will definitely not refuse you.

"That's for sure, I'm his beloved disciple." Li Wen raised his chin and said.

Seeing that Zhao Xiangyi asked someone to take the painting down for him, Li Wen did not stop him. This painting belonged to his teacher. Even if the emperor knew that he had taken the painting, he would definitely not say anything.

There was nothing to explore in the secret room. After walking around, they had a rough idea of ​​what was in it, so they left it to the people behind them to check and inventory the items.

This rainy night is destined to be an uneventful night.

As the night went deeper, the rain outside showed no sign of stopping. The rain fell to the ground, making waves. Accompanying the sound of rain was the sound of neat cavalry. The soldiers on the horses were well-trained. With an order, they quickly Take action.

That night, officers and soldiers broke into the houses of dozens of government officials in Beijing and came to fetch people. Some officials were taken away by the officers and soldiers who came to the house while they were sleeping with their concubines in their arms. When they were taken away, they did not know what was going on.

However, we should find out soon.

Some neighbors who lived next door heard the noise at night and dared to open their windows and take a peek. When they saw so many officers and soldiers outside, they quickly closed the doors and windows and hid in the house and did not dare to go out.

Three years to clear the prefecture, one hundred thousand snowflakes and silver. This sentence refers to the corruption and darkness of officials in the officialdom. A small official only receives a monthly salary of a few taels, and his family does not have much income. Where can he get so much money? A small Beijing official has so much money at home. I'm afraid these people themselves can't explain the origin of the money.

Seeing the silver coins searched from these people's houses, Li Wen knew that none of the officials arrested tonight would be able to escape.

After working outside for most of the night, Li Wen brought his people back to the house. The shoes under his feet and the clothes on his body were almost soaked, and the ends of his hair were dripping with water. He planned to use this time to come back and wash himself. After taking a shower and changing clothes, I had to go out to go to court soon.

I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight, my eyes are a bit sore.

When he came back and saw the lights in the lobby were on, Li Wen drank a handful of water from his clothes and walked inside. When he saw the girl sitting in the room waiting for him, he frowned and asked, "It's so late, why not Go back to the house and sleep, what are you doing here?"

"Third brother, you're back." Li Jinwan, who was dozing on the chair, woke up when she heard the footsteps and saw her brother coming back.

Seeing that her brother was soaked all over, Li Jinwan felt very distressed. She hurriedly ordered the maid next to her to go to the kitchen to bring ginger soup, and also asked someone to bring a cloth to wipe the water from her brother's hair, saying , "When I woke up at night, I heard that you haven't come back yet. I was not relieved. I will wait here for you to come back."

It was thundering and raining again at night, and she couldn't sleep well.

She woke up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet, and after asking, she found out that her brother had not returned home after being out for a day. Li Jinwan was worried and couldn't sleep. She came over to her brother's place to wait for her brother to come back. Who knew that she would be waiting until now.

"Miss." The maid on the ground floor brought a cloth towel over.

Li Jinwan took it, handed it to her brother, and said, "I see you are soaked all over. Wipe the water off your body quickly.

" Although it was April, it had rained at night and it was so wet. It is still possible to catch a cold if you are not careful, which would be bad if you get sick.

Li Wen took the cloth and wiped the water on his face, and said, "Here, I can wipe it myself. I will go back to the room to take a shower and change clothes later." He was soaked all over, so he wiped it with a towel. Wiping is of no use, so I still have to go back to take a shower and change clothes.

The master didn't come back, and Li Tong didn't dare to go to bed, so he waited until now.

Seeing that his young master was back, Li Tong circled around the young master. As soon as he heard that the master wanted to take a bath, he said hurriedly, "The hot water is boiled in the kitchen. I will go and prepare hot water for the young master."

"Well, go ahead." Li Wen nodded and held the towel in his hand. He threw it aside and asked, "Is there anything to eat in the kitchen? Bring me some." After working for most of the night, I didn't eat anything at night. I was very hungry now.

"There is food left in the kitchen for the master. I'll bring it to the master," Yingchun said hurriedly.

Li Wen said, "Send it to my room in a minute. I'll go back to the room to take a shower and change clothes."

Chapter 136: The magpie

quickly went to the kitchen and brought the ginger soup that had been cooked in advance to the master.

"Hey, wait." Li Jinwan grabbed her brother and held on to him, fearing that he would run away. She took the bowl with one hand and said, "Brother, drink this bowl of ginger soup first to ward off the cold. It's raining today, and it's easy to catch a cold and get sick. "

As soon as he smelled this smell, his expression changed. What Li Wen has disliked the most since he was a child is drinking this kind of thing, "I'll drink it later.

"No, drink it while it's hot. It won't be effective when it's cold. " "She still doesn't understand her brother's temperament? If she hides, she may not drink obediently. Li Jinwan grabbed her brother's hand and didn't let go. If you don't drink, I won't let you go.

"..." Li asked.

The girl was too strong and had too much control, but there was nothing she could do about it. Who

knew that the girl cared about him? He sighed inwardly and had no choice but to take a sip from the bowl. It was too hot to drink. Li Wen smiled and said sincerely, "It's a bit hot. I'll let it cool before drinking."

"...Okay, you remember to drink. " "Li Jinwan was a little helpless against her brother.

"Yeah, yeah. Li Wen nodded and promised to drink it and not waste it. "It will be a while before dawn. You guys should go back and take a nap." "

With that said, he was about to leave.

After taking only two steps, Li Wen remembered that he had something else to say, turned around and said to the girl standing behind him, looking at him, "Oh, yes. I may be quite busy recently, and I will probably come back later in the evening. If I don't come back, you don't have to wait for me to come back at night.

"Well, I understand. " "Li Jinwan nodded. Seeing her brother coming back dripping wet, she couldn't stop her brother from going back to his room. She asked her brother to go back to his room quickly to take a hot shower and change out of his wet clothes.

Li asked if Tsukuru, holding a bowl in his hand, was afraid that the girl behind him would ask him to finish the ginger soup in his hand before leaving, so he quickly went back to his room

and waited for him to return to the room. The hot water is ready.

"Master, the hot water is ready. Do you want to take a shower?" "

"Yeah,

" "Give it to me. I'll just send it to the young master." "Yingchun brought the food to the master, and Li Tong took it and sent it to their young master's room.

Li Tong was no longer surprised to see an extra person in his young master's room.

"Here I am . Just come. "Zhao Xiangyi doesn't like this annoying boy and wants to get him out. If he is here, his young man will deliberately keep a distance from him and won't let him get close.

"Master Zhao, it's better for a young man to understand how to serve people. There are many people around the young master who are waiting for him. "Li Tong rolled his eyes in his heart. Does this person always want to steal his job?! In Li Tong's eyes now, this Master Zhao is here to steal his master and his job. People.

After hearing what these two people said, Li Wen laughed in his heart. He still didn't know what Zhao Xiangyi was thinking,

but he knew that Li Tong had been waiting for him until now, and there was nothing in his house that he needed to take care of at the moment. It was over, so Li Wen asked Li Tong to go back to the house to take a rest.

"Oh, Master, I understand. "Li Tong was reluctant. He knew that the young master was considerate of them as servants. Since the young master had spoken, he had no choice but to go out and closed the door.

When he saw the little book boy who was holding his mouth and going out, he was not helpless. Seeing that the little boy's hanging mouth could hold three pounds of meat, Li Wen's eyes flashed with a smile.

This little book boy had followed him since he was a child and had been by his side for so many years. He naturally knew that Li Tong was right. He was so loyal to his master that he wanted to serve him all the time. But since Zhao Xiangyi came, he often sent people away without him to serve him. No wonder Li Wen was unhappy because he

knew this little man . The book boy's temper is known to come and go quickly, and everything is centered on his master's wishes, so even if he is unhappy, it will only happen for a while, and he will forget about it when he turns around

to look at the man . Looking into his eyes, Li Wen picked up the bowl on the table. There was still half of the ginger soup left in the bowl, which was what he had just drank. He handed the bowl to Zhao Xiangyi's mouth and said with a smile, "This is I left this specially for you. Drink it. "

Look at how much I care about you" on his face.

"..." Zhao Xiangyi lowered his eyes and glanced at the contents of the bowl. The disgust on his face was undisguised.

When he met the boy's smiling eyes, he knew that the boy It was intentional.

Just thinking that the boy had used this bowl just now, Zhao Xiangyi felt disgusted with the contents of the bowl, but he still obeyed the boy's hand and drank the half bowl of ginger soup.

"How good. "Seeing the empty bowl, Li Wen was very satisfied.

The clothes on his body were wet and clinging to each other, which made him feel very uncomfortable. Rather than eating, he wanted to take a bath first. There was hot water in the tub. He tested the temperature of the water with his hands, took off his outer clothes, and prepared to take a bath.

When he looked up, he saw the man standing not far away staring at him with dark eyes, and the corners of Li Wen's mouth curved nicely. , asked, "Wash together?

The man only had one word, "Okay. "

Li asked, "Are you going to be so rude? " ''

"You didn't invite me?" Zhao Xiangyi walked towards his boy, his eyes never leaving his boy. He stood in front of Li Wen and looked down at the young man. He always looked at him with a smile on his face.

The young man had picturesque features and a slight smile on his face, which was full of infinite temptation for him.

"Is it cold?" Seeing that the boy's lips were a little white and his rain-wet hair was sticking to his cheeks, Zhao Xiangyi reached out and lifted the hair from his cheeks.

"It's not cold." Li Wen shook his head. It was already April, how could it get colder?

With a move of his hand, Zhao Xiangyi pulled out the hairpin from the young man's hair. The young man's long black hair poured down like a waterfall. He reached out and touched it, and the tail of the hair slipped from his fingertips.

It was raining heavily outside tonight. They rode horses to several places and their clothes were soaked through. Li Wen saw that Zhao Xiangyi's clothes were stuck to his chest, and he didn't plan to hang around with this man anymore. He said, "Take a shower quickly, and come up and have something to eat after washing."

They came back in a hurry. After changing clothes and eating something, it was time to go to court.

Zhao Xiangyi put his hand on the young man's clothes and took off the young man's inner layer of clothing, and then the inner garments. The clothes slipped off the young man's shoulders, revealing his crystal-clear shoulders and delicate collarbones. The man's eyes fell on the young man and he couldn't look away.

The two of them entered the water and soaked in the warm water. Li Wen let out a comfortable sigh.

Li Wen shrank his shoulders, pushed the man behind him, and said, "Don't make trouble, hurry up and wash up, I'm so hungry..." If I had known, I wouldn't have flirted with this man just now. Who knew that this man was so experienced? I can't afford to tease anymore.

The man whispered "Hmm" in his ear, but his mouth movements showed no intention of stopping.

He couldn't push the person away at the moment, and he was a little on the verge of tears...

Fortunately, the man knew that they had been busy all night and hadn't closed their eyes. They were tired and hungry now, and they couldn't bear to torment him. After the two got up from the tub, they sat down around the table and ate.

Zhao Xiangyi wiped the water from the boy's hair with a cloth in his hand, and said softly, "You should get some sleep."

"Yeah." The muscles were on the man's legs, and he felt very comfortable being served by the man. Li Wen half-closed his eyes, When he closed his eyes drowsily

, he really fell asleep.

Hearing the boy's regular breathing, Zhao Xiangyi knew that he was asleep.

The movements of his hands became lighter, and his eyes were always fixed on the boy's sleeping face. His eyes moved from the boy's straight nose to the boy's pink lips. Finally, he couldn't help but reached out and touched the boy's lips, lowering his head. A kiss fell on it.

This sleep did not last long before Li Wen woke up automatically.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he met Zhao Xiangyi's eyes, which were looking at him unblinkingly. The man's eyes were bloodshot. He reached out to touch his chin, and felt the newly sprouted beard on the man's chin, which was a bit... Pricking his hand, "Why don't you squint for a while and why are you staring at me like this? Haven't you seen enough on weekdays?"

"Not enough." Zhao Xiangyi grabbed the boy's hand that was placed on his chin, meaning to look at people. To the point where I forgot to sleep.

"..." Li asked, he really didn't know what to say.

Knowing that it was almost time, they were going out.

He had only slept for a while at night, and he felt a little dizzy when he sat up. Li Wen held his head in his hands and didn't want to get up, and wanted to continue sleeping for a while.

"I'm afraid today's morning meeting will be very lively." Thinking of today's morning meeting, Li Wen felt a little big-headed.

"You and I are just following orders. For the rest, just let them make trouble." Zhao Xiangyi naturally took the clothes and put them on for the young man. Before this, he had never served anyone, but this did not hinder He serves his young man.

And he was pretty good at doing these things of serving people. For Zhao Xiangyi, being able to serve the person he likes is a blessing.

"It's probably a bit difficult for you and I to stay out of the matter." Li Wen let the man dress him. Normally he didn't

let Li Tong do these things for him, but now he didn't mind Zhao Xiangyi doing these things for him.

Even if he wants to stay out of the matter, he is afraid that the emperor will not allow it, let alone the ministers of the court. But now he has made it clear that he is the emperor's man, and he is only following orders. The ministers of the court will describe him if they want to participate in his book. Measure a little. He is not afraid of shadows. He has not done anything that cannot be known, so he is not afraid of others making trouble for him.

It's just that this household affairs incident will be a big shock to the entire imperial court. When Li Wen took over the household inspection department assigned by the emperor, he was mentally prepared for such a day to come.

After getting dressed, Li Wen opened the door and the two of them walked out of the room.

However, Zhao Xiangyi did not go out through the gate of Liuyuan Mansion with Li Wen, but climbed out from the side wall. There were people waiting for him outside.

The master and servant left quickly.

"Master."

"Well, let's go."

Li Tong was waiting outside the door, knowing that the master was about to go out to court at this time. When he saw the door of his master's room open and his master coming out, he followed his master and saw him out.

Chapter 137 Dismissal and Investigation

It rained heavily all night yesterday, and the rain has not stopped until this morning. It turned from heavy rain to light rain, and the streets in the city were muddy.

The morning of the day was as usual, and all the officials in the court knew what happened in the capital last night. Yesterday in the imperial study room, apart from the prince, several princes, and the ministers present at the time, officials from several factions knew that something big had happened. Last night, people from the camp on the outskirts of Beijing went to fetch people under the emperor's order. For such a big matter, everyone who was a little well-informed received the news.

Before going to the morning court, the officials in the main hall were discussing this matter in low voices. Some officials who had just learned about the matter had extremely shocked expressions on their faces.

"What? Such a thing happened?"

"Is this true?"

"Everyone has been arrested, can it be fake?" It

was not until the emperor came that the officials stopped talking, and all the officials knelt down and worshiped. Shouted: Long live my emperor, long live the emperor.

Today's morning morning, the atmosphere was a little different from the past.

The Minister of Household Affairs was embezzled and accepted bribes. The evidence is conclusive, and both the people and the people got the stolen goods.

Most of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue were arrested, and the family members of the government were not spared. They were all arrested and put in prison.

Without the emperor's order, would Li Liuyuan dare to take someone to the house of the Minister of the Ministry of Finance to arrest someone? Even the men and horses from the camp on the outskirts of Beijing were mobilized. It was feared that the emperor was really going to reorganize the court. For a while, there was a tremor, and everyone felt deeply in danger. The main hall, which used to be lively like a vegetable market, was now so quiet that one could hear the drop of a pin, and none of the officials below dared to make a sound.

Even the talkative officials who usually talk the most don't dare to be the first to speak now.

"Why, none of you are talking anymore? I don't believe you don't know what happened! Don't you usually talk a lot? Tell me, tell me." Emperor Zhaozong saw that no one dared to speak. Minister, these ministers usually jump higher than anyone else. Why don't they jump today?

The ministers below all lowered their heads, for fear of being seen by the emperor.

"Reporting to your Majesty, last night Wei Chen was ordered by the Emperor to arrest someone. He has been captured and imprisoned in the sky prison... This is the list of items that Wei Chen led people to inspect and record the income of each government last night. Please take a look at it, Your Majesty. ." Li Wen presented a thick stack of lists to the emperor. They worked all night long last night and used a large number of people to hand over the list they copied before this morning to his hands.

It seems that he still underestimated Li Wen!

When Prime Minister Dong saw Li Wen standing in the main hall, even he himself did not expect that in a short period of time, Li Wen could reach this position and quickly win the emperor's trust and importance. By the time he reacted, it was already too late to suppress Li Wen.

"Go, bring it up to me."

The eunuch above couldn't walk down, so he took the list from Li Liuyuan's hand and handed it to the emperor's desk.

When Emperor Zhaozong saw the brochure presented, his face became increasingly ugly, "Okay, okay, great, all of you are my good ministers and good officials of Dacheng!" The emperor said these words through his teeth. When it came out, it was obvious that what he said was ironic, and the emperor was obviously very angry.

"I leave this country to you to manage, and this is how you repay me?..." Is this how each of these ministers he trusted repaid his trust as the emperor? If he hadn't sent someone to investigate, Emperor Zhaozong would not have known that his ministers dared to do such things behind his back. The emperor felt extremely sad in his heart.

The ministers below all lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak.

The emperor was furious. No one dared to touch the emperor's troubles at this time. If they jumped out at this time, no one would get any good results.

But seeing these ministers choosing to remain silent at this time, Emperor Zhaozong became even more angry, "When the critical moment comes, none of you dare to say anything. When I asked you to speak, none of you spoke. , when you are not allowed to speak, everyone jumps out to speak!"

"What do I want from you people!"

Emperor Zhaozong was furious and coughed violently, "Ahem, cough..." "

Your Majesty. "The old eunuch standing next to him wanted to step forward, but he didn't dare to go any further. He could only look at the emperor with red eyes.

"I deserve death for my crime."

"Please calm down, Your Majesty. It's important to take care of the dragon body." All the ministers below knelt down.

"Father, it is a fact that Zhu Guangquan has been corrupt and accepted bribes. His crime deserves death, and even being quartered is not an exaggeration. Father, please take care of your dragon body and don't get angry because of such criminals." The eldest prince Yang Shaoyong raised his head and glanced The emperor sitting above was actually the eldest prince himself who was extremely nervous. He himself knew what he had done.

But without evidence, who can know what he, the eldest prince, has done? As a minister, the eldest prince pretended to care about his father.

The third prince Yang Shaokang sneered in his heart, but still said words of concern, "...Father, please protect the dragon body. The case has not yet been tried, and the details are not clear. Please send someone to investigate the case thoroughly. It must be investigated." The whole story comes to light. "The only good thing is that he didn't interfere in the household affairs. He is not afraid of his father's thorough investigation. It would be better to find out more clearly and identify some people

.

The crown prince and fourth prince Yang Shaojian also spoke timely to express their concern for the emperor.

Among the six departments, the department with the most profit and water must be the household department. The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the entire Dacheng's money. All money comes from the Ministry of Revenue. Every year, so much disaster relief funds, expenditures for various banquets in the palace, monthly expenses of officials, etc., all come from the Ministry of Revenue. , as long as the officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs who handle money leak out a little from their hands, their pockets can hold a lot.

None of the officials in the court had forgotten that Zhu Guangquan's favorite thing to do on weekdays was to complain about his poverty to the emperor and the officials. A year ago, the Ministry of Revenue was in arrears with monthly payments to several departments and could not pay them for several months. Now that the ministers in the court know that the Minister of Hubu has been embezzling and accepting bribes, lining his own pockets, and that his family has a lot of money, how dare you think that all the money from the Ministry of Hubu has gone into the pockets of the Minister of Hubu and these officials?

But how many of the officials standing in the court dare to say that they have not taken any money that they should not have taken? Probably there are, but they are a very small number of people. Most officials have something that cannot be known to everyone.

So at this time, seeing that most of the officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs had been arrested, officials in other ministries must have felt guilty. Some of them were even more secretive, fearing that they would be the next officials to be removed from their posts and investigated. At this time, some people think it is less important to protect one's self than to stand up and speak out.

The officials looked at each other and quickly reached a consensus.

But there must be officials in the court who are clean and have never been greedy in the slightest.

Now it is true that Zhu Guangquan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has been corrupt and accepted bribes. The evidence is conclusive. After the officials below reacted, they all jumped out to speak. They were all referring to the rumors of Zhu Guangquan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the officials of the Ministry of Revenue, and asked the emperor to send someone. Investigate the case thoroughly.

The prince already knew what was in the booklet before the morning meeting. When he saw the booklet, he was still a little surprised. Until today's morning court, the emperor was furious because of this matter. He saw the reactions of all the officials in the court. Yang Shaomu realized in his heart that if this matter was not handled well, the entire court and even the entire Dacheng city would be affected. Hence the unrest.

"Everyone, get up." When the emperor saw his son and ministers kneeling below, he took two deep breaths and asked the people below to get up.

The officials below stood up one after another.

Seeing that nothing was wrong with him, Li Wen retreated to his seat and stood, but he did not ignore the looks from the people around him. He was just following orders. This matter was the emperor's will. Otherwise, he, a small fifth-rank official, would not be able to handle the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and most of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

After the emperor was furious, it was now a matter of these officials to deal with it.

Naturally, Zhu Guangquan could not be let go. Emperor Zhaozong said, "From now on, Zhu Guangquan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, will be removed from his official position. He will be dismissed for investigation and will be thrown into the sky prison together with his family members...Officials related to this case will be imprisoned in the sky jail." Among them. '

...The case was handed over to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple for joint investigation and trial. The prince was the presiding judge, and Li Liuyuan assisted the prince in reviewing the case. "The emperor handed over this case to Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment for joint investigation. He appointed the prince to be in charge of the case. At the same time, he sent Li Liuyuan to assist the prince in trying the case.

"Yes, I have received the order. ""Wei Chen received the order. "

The prince stood up and accepted the decree. Li Wen followed His Royal Highness.

The official positions in the court are limited, and they are all a carrot and a pit. If others are unlucky, it means they have a chance, right? So some officials After they reacted, they began to speak actively, intending to perform well and let the emperor see them. Maybe they would have the opportunity to rise up and sit in a higher position among

the officials in the court . Seeing Li Liuyuan standing behind His Highness the Crown Prince, they watched Li Wen go from being a small editor in the Hanlin Academy to entering the Ministry of Household Affairs in just a few months. The Minister of Hubu and most of the officials of the Hubu were taken down. Of course, there must be the emperor's intention, but Li Liuyuan's silent move still shocked the officials in the court.

If there were still people who looked down upon Li Wen before this, then after what happened at the court today, most of the officials in the court began to take a second look at the seemingly weak Li Liuyuan.

Li Wen followed His Royal Highness . Behind the scenes, I didn't know the inner activities of these officials.

"If you have something to report, if nothing happens, please retreat."

None of the ministers below stepped forward to report. The eunuch above shouted, "Retreat! "

"I respectfully send you off to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor. "All the officials knelt down and respectfully sent the emperor off.

After the morning dynasty, it was time to disperse.

Chapter 138: Trial "Selling newspapers and selling newspapers----"

After the rain stopped, the sun came out in the capital. The boy selling newspapers was waving the newspaper in his hand and shouting "Today" on the street. "Quick report, quick report, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue is in jail -"

What?

The people in the capital were shocked. The Minister of Household Affairs was imprisoned by the emperor and was dismissed from his post for investigation? Such a big thing happened in Jingran! How could they not know!

Quick, quick, quick, go buy today's newspaper and read it.

"Here's a newspaper."

"I want one too."

People in the capital rushed to buy newspapers. Within half a day, the newspapers printed today were sold out.

On this day, tea shops and restaurants in the capital were full of people, gathering in groups to discuss government affairs. As long as someone does not promote remarks that disturb the public sentiment and attempt to overturn Dacheng, the government does not restrict people from discussing political affairs.

Since the establishment of the Beijing Times, people in the capital have become more willing to sit together and discuss various gossips.

It rained so hard yesterday, and such a big thing happened in the capital. There was the sound of horse hooves outside the streets last night, and the government sent troops to arrest people. There was such a loud noise, so naturally the people heard the noise. The people are talking about this today. The thing was said more clearly, "No wonder it rained so hard yesterday, I said it was unusual.", '

What's so unusual? It's going to rain, but you can still keep it from raining. No?

But it's really a big deal for the Minister of the Ministry of Finance to be caught. What? The Minister of the Ministry of Finance was found guilty

of corruption?

"All of these corrupt officials should have been arrested ! , it's best not to let anyone go, but to arrest them all! "The Skynet is in full swing. None of these people can escape..."

"I heard that it was Li Liuyuan who was ordered to arrest him."

"Li Liuyuan? He is the imperial envoy who went to Xiangzhou to provide disaster relief last time."

The common people all know Li Liuyuan. Li Liuyuan The last time I went to Xiangzhou for disaster relief, I arrested the officials from the Xiangzhou faction and returned to Beijing. This time I went to work as an errand in the Ministry of Hubu and got the Minister of Hubu down. Sure enough, their Li Liuyuan is so powerful, he specializes in catching these corrupt officials.

For corrupt officials, the people's mouths are full of curses, and they wish that these corrupt officials would die and be arrested.

Within half a day, the entire capital, from the officials to the common people, knew about the arrest of the Minister of Household Affairs.

On that day, the members of the newspaper office were so busy that they followed each other without touching the ground. It was like blood, and he was holding a brush in his hand and writing straightly.

However, articles about national events are released after strict review in newspapers. Not all news is released casually, but only news that can be known to the people. The remaining things that cannot be published will not be published in newspapers casually.

But what kind of place is this place in the capital? What happened in the court, within half a day, everyone in the capital who should know knew it^

After staying in the newspaper office for a while, Shen Zijing was well aware of all the big and small things that happened in the capital. For such a big matter, their newspaper office received the news immediately.

It was only now that Shen Zijing truly realized the growing distance between him and Li Wen. He admitted, "I, Shen Zijing, will probably never be able to surpass him in this life." The difference between him and his good friend is not just one term in three years. The scientific examination, they entered the court three years later, even if he entered the court as an official with his friend, he may not be able to compare with his friend.

Su Yuan said, "There are mountains outside the mountains, and there are people outside the people. Naturally, there are people better than us. But there are people better than us. We cannot belittle ourselves or fall into degeneracy because of this. Instead, we should take people who are better than us as our teachers. , learn from these people, so as to enrich yourself and become as good as them."

"You are right." Shen Zijing thought about it and felt that Su Yuan was right.

The two people stood in the yard and talked for a while. They knew that everyone inside was busy and they couldn't be lazy outside,

so they stood outside for a while and then went into the house together.

In the newspaper of that day, an article was also written about the emperor's attitude towards the case of arresting officials for corruption, expressing his determination to crack down on official corruption and bribery, political bureaucracy and officials' style issues, and resolutely safeguard Dacheng's Peaceful development, etc. The emperor's seal was stamped on it to indicate that this article was officially published by the imperial court.

In the past, people felt that the emperor was far away from them. Ordinary people like them would never be able to see the emperor in their lifetime. The emperor was the emperor, the king of their kings, and he was above them. None of them understood the emperor. Whenever something happened, everyone would scold the emperor. Now from time to time, I see the emperor's remarks and articles in newspapers. The common people understand the emperor a little bit, and know that the emperor is diligent and caring for the people, and he devotes himself to it.

As soon as this article came out, many scholars praised the emperor for doing a good job in this matter. When people mentioned the emperor, they all praised him. It turned out that the emperor was just deceived by the officials below. The emperor knew nothing. Now the emperor knows. Yes, send people to arrest all corrupt officials. The emperor was a good emperor who truly loved the people, so the emperor's image in the hearts of the people suddenly became taller.

So as soon as this article came out and such a big thing happened in the court, the people didn't criticize the emperor, they all scolded the corrupt officials, and they all agreed that corrupt officials should be arrested.

Not only the common people read newspapers, but also the officials who serve in the court also care about newspapers every day. None of these officials are stupid. They know that the emperor wants to govern the court and strictly arrest officials for corruption, so these officials They all put away their little tails, and they had to restrain their petty corruption and major corruption, for fear that they would be the next to be dismissed from their posts and investigated.

This case was handed over to the prince for trial, and Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment jointly assisted in the investigation and trial. The prince is the crown prince of Dacheng. The emperor handed this case to the prince for trial. It was a sign of trust in the prince and it was also a test for the prince. If the prince can handle this case well, his prestige with the emperor and among the people will rise accordingly.

"Damn it!"

Seeing that the good thing happened to the prince, the third prince Yang Shaokang was so angry that he almost vomited blood. Yang Shaokang thought in his heart, "This won't work. All the bad things will fall on the prince. My father is trusting the prince more and more now. Everything is done by the prince, and they princes have no chance to perform at all, so they really have no chance at all..."

Since the incident in Xiangzhou was punished, now the incident in the Ministry of Revenue has It's official corruption again. The eldest prince Yang Shaoyong has something in his heart. He is afraid that the emperor will think of him again. At this time, Yang Shaoyong has no choice but to avoid it. He dares not get in front of the emperor, let alone compete with the prince for limelight. .

The fourth prince, Yang Shaojian, has always behaved in a low-key manner. He seemed to never fight for anything and was content to be his prince.

It's just that the fourth prince really doesn't care about the chair at all. Hehe...

I'm afraid that among all the princes, only the sixth prince Yang Shaojun really doesn't care about political affairs at all. He has never thought about it. I can sit in that chair. If someone asked him if he wanted to be the emperor, he might be surprised and ask: In the future, won't the prince's brother be the emperor?

After leaving the court, Li Wen did not go back to the Ministry of Revenue, but followed His Highness the Crown Prince.

This time the emperor asked him to assist the prince in the trial, and he was not surprised at all. But it would be better if he could stay out of the matter. Li Wen knew that he had attracted too many people's attention. For a person like him who had not been in the officialdom for a long time, it was not a good thing to leave too fast. It was just who let him The emperor thought highly of him and had to drag him to the front, so he couldn't hide even if he wanted to.

It's impossible to stay out of the situation, so if you can't avoid it, you can only face it head on.

Li Wen knew that the emperor's purpose in asking him to assist the prince in the trial was simply to let him supervise the prince. The evidence in this case is conclusive, and both people and stolen goods were seized. It is difficult for the officials involved to get rid of the charges. The trial is just a formality, and the final decision is how to judge.

This case is very involved. If it is really pursued, most of the officials in the court will not be able to escape. Therefore, the emperor's intention must be to let the prince handle it as appropriate. In the end, it depends on how the prince handles this case.

As for some matters related to the investigation, His Royal Highness has no shortage of manpower here. Officials from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple are assisting him. Xiao Liuyuan, who was sent by the emperor to assist His Highness, is actually following His Highness. Just do the odd jobs, or even do the odd jobs, because there are so many people rushing to do these things.

However, Li Wen was not idle at this time. There were many things for him to do.

Such a big thing happened in the court, and it was impossible to hide it from the people outside, so instead of letting the people

guess randomly, it was better to let some news out generously, so the news in the newspaper office was naturally sent by him. . But these are not all the news, just a small part of it.

If we really report everything that happened in the court, I am afraid it will really cause turmoil in the entire government and the public and disturb the hearts of the people.

Therefore, the newspaper that was originally established now plays a key role.

At the same time, he also considered the emperor's mood, wrote a press release with his own hands, sent it to the emperor to read, stamped it, and then sent it to the newspaper office and published it in the newspaper. Public opinion can be guided.

At this time, a fresh newspaper was placed on the emperor's desk. Emperor Zhaozong opened the newspaper and read it. Eunuch Sun, who was waiting on the side, carefully observed the emperor's face and said, "Your Majesty, you don't know that the people outside are praising you as a good emperor."

This was not a compliment from one of his ministers, or from the emperor's servant. The eunuch said it, but the people outside said it, and the meaning is completely different.

"Oh, really?" This made the emperor's face soften a little. Is this really what the people said?

"Yes, how dare you lie to the emperor?" Eunuch Sun told the emperor some of the things he heard when he sent people to hear them.

"You are an old slave, you know how to make me happy all day long." Although Emperor Zhaozong had a straight face, his good mood could not be deceived. Emperor Zhaozong himself thought that as soon as the corruption case of officials from the Ministry of Revenue came out, the scholars and people below would scold him as an emperor, but he did not expect that the people would praise him as a good emperor.

After being an emperor for half his life, this was the first time he heard people say that he was a good emperor.

Which emperor doesn't love a person with a good reputation, and Emperor Zhaozong is no exception. So on this point, Li Wen had a good grasp of the emperor's thoughts.

Chapter 139 Everyone relies on their ability.

"The case has to be tried, and of course we need to eat. Let's have a meal here first before doing anything else." His Highness the Crown Prince didn't seem to be in any hurry about the trial. However, His Highness the Crown Prince has many people to handle things, and Yang Shaomu does not need to do everything personally. He can just leave some things to the people below to handle them.

Furthermore, the early investigation was assisted by personnel from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. His Royal Highness was the chief judge and the final decision-maker of the case. The case could only be judged through his hands.

This cosmetic case in the Ministry of Revenue is not easy to handle. A slight mishandling can easily shake the foundation of the court. Therefore, how to handle this case must be handled with caution. The biggest fear is that someone with evil intentions will make a fuss to attack the imperial court, but this is not impossible.

At this time, they were sitting in the upstairs wing of Yipinlou, the largest restaurant in the capital.

The view from this position is very good. They can see the people sitting in the lobby from here, but the people below cannot see him. There seemed to be a lot of guests in the restaurant today, and they could hear the people below discussing court affairs even while sitting here.

"You two sit down together." Yang Shaomu asked his Zhao Xiangyi and Li Liuyuan to sit down together and said, "I'm treating you today. Li Liuyuan is welcome. Just order whatever you want."

"Haha, thank you so much, Your Highness." "Li Wen stopped being polite to His Highness the Crown Prince. When ordering, just order whatever you want. His Highness the Crown Prince wouldn't be able to afford such a meal. It's rare for someone to treat you, so you can't treat yourself badly.

Zhao Xiangyi sat down and didn't have much requirements for food, as long as he could have a full stomach.

However, when Li Wen ordered, he still ordered two of his favorite dishes, and a smile flashed in Zhao Xiangyi's eyes. As for what His Highness the Prince likes to eat, Li Wen really didn't know. Anyway, what he ordered were all Yipinlou's specialties, and he thought His Highness the Prince would also like them.

Tea was served on the table, and only one of His Royal Highness's confidant eunuchs was left in the room to wait on him. The rest of the people were waiting outside

. Yang Shaomu looked easy-going and did not have the airs of a prince.

"Qian'er met Marquis Zhongyuan. The Marquis told me about Xiaoyu, and I found out that Xiaoyu's child is now following you to register." His Royal Highness the Crown Prince married Situ Xue, the legitimate daughter of Zhongyuan Marquis, as his concubine. Zhongyuan Marquis is the father-in-law of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The relationship between the Crown Prince and Marquis Zhongyuan must be closer than others, so it is not surprising that the Marquis would talk to the Crown Prince about his legitimate son Situ Yu.

Yang Shaomu said, "I have watched Xiaoyu grow up. In the past, this child was young and loved to do mischief. It's rare that he can find something he likes to do now, so Mr. Hou saves a lot of worry. "

The prince did not directly ask Li Wen about the report in Di, but started talking about it from the young prince, indicating that he knew such a thing.

As early as the year before last when Li Wen went to Xiangzhou to provide disaster relief, such a newspaper appeared in the capital, and Yang Shaomu paid attention to it. This daily newspaper was different from the government's Di newspaper. The news reported in it was more flexible and faster. During that time, the daily newspaper had been reporting on the drought in Xiangzhou. The news written in it was basically the same as what he knew. .

This daily report not only reports on political affairs between North Korea and China, but also folk anecdotes. The articles in it are written in plain language and can be understood by ordinary people. Probably because of this, it was quickly accepted and liked by the common people. At this moment, almost everyone in the restaurant and teahouse has a copy of the daily newspaper and is reading it.

At first, Yang Shaomu did not associate the Di newspaper with Li Wen, but after his people went to investigate, he found out that the person behind it was Li Wen.

Not only did the common people love to read this newspaper, it even appeared on his father's desk. So after contacting him, Yang Shaomu knew that Li Wen must have obtained the emperor's permission to publish this newspaper. Done.

If Li Wen was running this daily newspaper, there would be nothing strange about him.

Yang Shaomu occasionally flipped through the Kyoto Daily and learned some useful information.

But what the prince really didn't expect was that Li Wen would invite the young prince Situ Yu and the young gentlemen from several princes in the capital to participate in it. Now that they have serious business to do, these boys no longer go around causing trouble, and the court The secrets of the high-ranking officials and young masters of the Marquis House are all gone. Instead, these boys turned around and held on to the officials in the court.

The officials in the court were extremely scared when they talked about these young masters.

Thinking of these things, Yang Shaomu couldn't help but smile and said, "You don't know, in the past, these boys, even the emperor had a lot of headaches for these boys. You found something serious for them to do, and they were very happy." Stop causing trouble." As a prince, he doesn't have to wipe the younger prince's butt from time to time.

He did a great deed without knowing it?

Thinking that his original purpose of inviting the young prince and several young masters to the newspaper office was not too pure, Li Wen touched his nose with a guilty conscience and said, "Your Highness, you're welcome. It's the young prince and the others who are smart, so I just requested a life from the emperor." "The young prince and the others are the ones who put in a lot of effort, and I didn't do anything."

What he said was also true.

If the newspaper didn't have people like Xiao Shizi and the others, it really wouldn't be possible.

Nowadays, not only the people in the capital love to read the Kyoto Daily News every day, but also the merchants and vendors from out of town will take a few newspapers with them when they leave. Officials outside Kyoto even send people to the capital to buy newspapers every day. I sent it to them and followed the developments in North Korea and China through the Kyoto Daily News.

While they were talking, their orders were brought to them.

At this moment, Li Wen was really hungry. He put everything aside and filled his stomach first. Then

the meat of this duck was so tender...

The stir-fried bamboo shoots were also good...

Hmm... good. This time...

Seeing the young man eating happily alone, Yang Shaomu's eyes flashed with a smile. He usually ate by himself. Whether the food was delicious or not, it was just to fill his stomach.

I don't know if it was because he had two more companions today, but Yang Shaomu felt that his appetite was better than before, and the food on the table was also more delicious than before, so he used the chopsticks in his hands more frequently, and he didn't notice what was behind him. I just ate a little too much.

Li Wen didn't know if others were full, but it was true that he was full. The hand under the table quietly touched his stomach.

---So strong.

Zhao Xiangyi noticed the boy's little movements and knew at a glance that the boy had eaten too much to hold himself up. However, His Highness was here and it was not easy for him to rub the boy's belly. Seeing that everyone was full by now, Zhao Xiangyi asked the servant to come over and take the dishes off the table and bring up a new pot of tea.

Now that my stomach is full, it's time to get down to business.

"Your Highness, it was Mr. Zhao and I who went to pick up the person yesterday. You must also know about it." Li Wen said that when it came to this case from the Ministry of Revenue, the prince was the presiding judge. He wanted to assist His Highness in the trial, so naturally he was concerned about it. Some of the things that happened

yesterday were that he and Zhao Xiangyi led troops to raid the homes of these officials. Li Wenzhi knew better than anyone how many things were confiscated from the homes of these officials. He briefly discussed these things with the prince.

"Yes, I know." Yang Shaomu nodded. Listening to Li Wen's words, these officials were not unjustly arrested at all. He sighed and said, "As one of the six ministries, the Ministry of Husbandry is in charge of the entire country. Regarding finance, natural and man-made disasters have occurred in various places in recent years, and the Ministry of Household Affairs has been unable to come up with money for disaster relief..."

I really didn't expect that these officials from the Ministry of Revenue would dare to act like this. Even if they were all cut down, it would not be a pity

.

"Officials in Xiangzhou are like this, officials from the Ministry of Household are like this, the whole Dacheng... It looks good on the surface, but underneath I don't know what it's like." Yang Shaomu was not unaware of the problems in the court. Although he was the prince, he did not have a lot of power. He was suppressed by the emperor, and several brothers around him were watching. He, in the past, it was difficult for him, the prince, to do anything he wanted to do.

Li Wen could see that the prince was worried about the country and the people, but these problems could not be solved overnight. He comforted, "Your Highness, you don't have to blame yourself so much. These are not your fault. We can find problems, It's a good thing. We will solve these problems one by one in the future, and we can always handle them well."

"You are right, I am too impatient." Yang Shaomu knew that these things should not be impatient. It is easy to be impatient. If something goes wrong, it's best for them to handle it step by step. His Royal Highness Yang Shaomu knows better than anyone how the officials in the court are doing.

During these years, Prime Minister Dong controlled the government, and his father doted on Concubine Dong Guifei. Listening to Prime Minister Dong's words, the officials in the court followed Dong Xian's lead.

Thinking of Dong Xian and Dong Guifei, Yang Shaomu's eyes narrowed slightly.

After the meal, they drank a cup of tea in the private room and left together.

The emperor asked him to assist His Highness the Crown Prince in hearing the case of the Ministry of Revenue, so in the following period, Li Wen had to work with His Highness the Crown Prince. It's just that he still has a job in the Ministry of Finance, so he can't just ignore the affairs of the Ministry of Finance.

Originally, the Ministry of Household Affairs was a busy department, but now that there were so many fewer officials, the work on his hands suddenly increased.

So in the next period of time, he will have to run from both ends and be busy on both sides.

As an indispensable department among the six departments, the Household Department is in charge of the financial lifeline of the entire Dacheng. Now that so many officials from the Ministry of Revenue have been arrested, these people will still be locked up in cells until the case is decided. When the case is decided, these people still don't know what the crime is. But with so many vacant positions in the entire household department,

a large number of manpower will definitely be needed to fill them.

The assessment, promotion and transfer of officials in the DPRK and other matters are all managed by the Ministry of Personnel. Although this matter is said to be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, it is certainly not just the officials of the Ministry of Personnel who have the final say. It is also a competition between various forces to see who has the ability to stuff their own people into the Ministry of Household Affairs. in.

Therefore, in the following days, every morning was very lively. Officials in the court jumped out to speak one by one. Officials from several factions were holding back each other, eager to take down each other's people. So that people from his own group can come up.

As for who can put his own people into the household department, it depends on his own ability.

Chapter 140:

Returning to the Household Department in the second update, Li Wen could also find that the Household Department suddenly lost a lot of people. From the first day he entered the household department, he had taken down the superior officer who was always wary of him and was now locked in a cell. Many officials have been arrested and are awaiting investigation by the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple.

However, many of these people had a lot of gold and silver property searched from their homes. It would be very difficult for these people to be innocent.

Li Wen did not intentionally target anyone in this matter, let alone Zhu Guangquan. He was simply acting on the emperor's orders. If Zhu Guangquan and the officials from the Ministry of Revenue hadn't done these things, and he couldn't find any clues, what could he do to these people?

But now that they have done it, they can't run away.

"Master Li."

"Yes, Master Zhang."

When a colleague greeted him on the way, Li Wen nodded and responded.

After this incident, when he returned to the Ministry of Revenue, Li Wen found that the officials in the Ministry of Revenue looked at him differently. Everyone's attitude toward him was both flattering and fearful, and they wished they could stay away from him. But everyone wanted to get close to him when they saw him, so it made him feel awkward no matter how he looked at them.

When others greeted him, he responded.

The emperor asked him to do something, and he had to do it. And these people he arrested this time are all the people who should be arrested. Keeping them here in the Ministry of Finance is the biggest worm. So in this matter, if you ask him if he regrets it, Li Wen will naturally not regret it. .

However, after this incident, Li Wen felt a little confused. He knew that the place of Hubu was not suitable for him to stay. If he were here, it would be difficult to avoid contact and get along with his colleagues in Hubu, but now It seemed that it was difficult for him to get along well with his colleagues in the Household Department, so he thought that it might be time for him to leave the Household Department.

But after leaving the household department, which department can he go to?

Among the six departments, probably no department would dare to hire someone like him, so this gave Li Wen a bit of a headache.

And because he still has a position in the Ministry of Accounts, he has to deal with the affairs of the Ministry of Accounts.

Fortunately, the subordinates he brought out were all able to act according to his orders, and their attitude towards him as a superior officer was not much different from before. The difference is that he is more obedient to the orders of his superior, and is less procrastinating in doing things. The things he orders are quickly handled and handed over to him, which really saves him a lot of worry.

However, because Zhu Guangquan, the Minister of Household Affairs, is no longer there, the position of Minister of Household Affairs is vacant, and there is no decision-maker above him. He, the Minister of Household Affairs, has no authority over some matters, so he has to inform the emperor and get the emperor's approval before he can act. .

As for who the emperor wants to be the Minister of Household Affairs, it is naturally not something that he, Xiao Liuyuan, can decide.

The post of Minister of Hubu was vacant, and Emperor Zhaozong was also worried about the selection of Shangshu of Hubu. Li Wen did not expect that the emperor would ask him for his opinion. He thought about it in his mind and said, "Back to the emperor, I have not been an official in the court for a long time, and I am not as good to the officials in the court as the emperor and the ministers in the court." I know a lot. If your Majesty is unable to decide on the candidate for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Finance, it is better to ask the ministers for their opinions and suggestions. "

Although he is a small minister of the Ministry of Finance, he has been promoted twice in a row. It is also true that he has been working as an official in the court for less than a year. To say that he knows much about the officials in the court, he really does not understand these ministers as well as the emperor himself.

So the emperor asked him for his opinion here, and Li Wen really couldn't give him a good opinion.

For a flash in his mind, he felt that there was a suitable person, but he couldn't name this person, it still had to depend on the emperor's own intention. The emperor must know more about his sons than he, his minister.

"You, you speak sincerely." Emperor Zhaozong was not angry after hearing Xiao Liuyuan's words.

"Lying to your Majesty is a crime of deceiving the emperor, and a humble minister would not dare to do so." Li Wen raised his head and glanced at the emperor, and found that the emperor was staring at him. He gave the emperor a reserved smile.

This made Emperor Zhaozong laugh, "How is the investigation of this case? Tell me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Wen knew that the Emperor sent him to assist His Royal Highness in the trial, but he was sent by the Emperor to serve as an undercover agent. Able to bring the actual situation to the emperor. The emperor is the most noble person in the world. As a minister, he must respect the emperor and obey the emperor's orders, but at the same time, he has not forgotten the saying, accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger.

So when the emperor asks, it depends on him what to say and how to say it. However, after getting along with the emperor so many times, Li Wen also figured out the emperor's temperament, and he also had a certain level of what to say

in front of the emperor . When he came out from the emperor's place, he met a young eunuch on the road. He was obviously waiting for him here, saying that Concubine Dong Guifei had invited him over. Concubine Dong Gui was the emperor's concubine. As a minister, it was natural for him not to meet Concubine Dong in private. Li Wen was not stupid about this. Moreover, he had not had much contact with Concubine Dong Guifei before. Why would Concubine Dong Guifei come to him? Li Wen thought about it for a moment and realized that they just wanted to draw him into their camp. But unfortunately, he has little interest in joining the faction of Dong Xiang and Dong Guifei. His brain was screwed up, so he ignored the good prince and ran to support a little prince born of a noble concubine. This little prince is not yet under age. Although Concubine Dong Gui and the Seventh Prince are supported by Prime Minister Dong, to be honest, with so many elder brothers above them, and the eldest prince and the prince are all adults, the prince is now the legitimate crown prince, and the others Unless a prince has strong personal abilities or a strong backing, he still needs to work hard if he wants to win over His Highness. So when the young eunuch said that Concubine Dong had invited her, Li Wen refused without thinking, "I'm so sorry. The emperor just sent me something to handle. This matter is a bit urgent and cannot be delayed. I need it immediately." Go handle it, so I would like to ask my father-in-law to speak to the imperial concubine on my behalf. " He has just come out from the emperor's place. There is nothing better than using the emperor as an excuse. Besides, he really has something to do." Without waiting for the little eunuch sent by Concubine Dong to speak, Li Wen followed the little Eunuch Su who was leading the way. The little eunuch went back to tell his wife what Master Li had said. "You can't handle such a small thing, what's the use of you!" Concubine Dong's face was obviously angry, and she waved the little eunuch out. The little eunuch Nuonuo said "yes" and left quickly for fear that his master would punish him. After the little eunuch went out, Concubine Dong lost her temper in the room. The waiter, the youngest, saw that this Li Wen was a man of no means, and they sent people to invite him three times, but they refused to come. The youngest suggested in their empress's ears, "Mother, this Li Wen is just a stranger. A small official doesn't take you seriously, and doesn't give you any face. We have to teach this guy a lesson. Why don't we..." Concubine Dong Zhi heard this from the youngest. As he said that, his red lips raised and he snorted, "That's it!" "Go, send someone to deliver a message to the Prime Minister." "Yes, your Majesty, I'll go right now." Li Wen naturally didn't care about these things . knew.

When he came out of the palace and saw the carriage waiting outside the palace gate, Li Wen recognized the familiar carriage at a glance. He knew who was sitting in the carriage without even thinking.

"Master Li." The chief attendant standing outside the carriage saluted respectfully when he saw Master Li approaching.

One hand opened the curtain of the carriage, revealing half of the man's face, and reached out to him with the other hand. Li Wen had a smile on his face, reached out and took Zhao Xiangyi's hand, got on the carriage, and sat inside. The coachman outside drove the carriage away from the palace gate.

There were only two of them in the carriage. Li Wen asked, "Why did you come here to pick me up? Is there something wrong?"

"There is something, I will take you to see it." Zhao Xiangyi kissed the young man's forehead and asked , "Just went to see the emperor?"

"Well, that's right. Didn't you just pick me up at the palace gate? If I didn't go to see the emperor, who would I go to see?" Li Wen asked with a look on his face, "Aren't you talking nonsense? ", he mentioned what happened just now that Concubine Dong Gui asked the young eunuch to come to him, but he refused.

"You are right to refuse. From now on, in the palace, except for the emperor and the queen, you will not go to see anyone who sends someone to find you." Zhao Xiangyi did not know that Concubine Dong sent someone to find Li Wen. Don't refuse when the queen sends someone to come to you, because after all, she is the queen and the master of the harem, so it is difficult to refuse.

"I know." Li Wen nodded and said, "But the Queen has nothing to do with me. She probably won't let anyone come to me." The previous few times he saw the Queen were in private when there were many people. He has never seen the Queen, and the Queen has not sent anyone to find him.

However, he thought that his relationship with His Highness the Crown Prince should have been discussed with the Queen in private.

He is still officially the emperor's man, and the queen must know this, so unless there is something special, she would not send anyone to find him.

"You haven't said anything yet. Where are you taking me to?" Li Wen realized that this man came to pick him up and left without telling him where to take him or what he was going to do. What's up.

"You'll know when we get there." Zhao Xiangyi said with a smile in his eyes, "It won't be too far. I won't

trick you into selling it."

"Are you willing to sell me?" Li Wen stretched out his hand to poke He poked the man's chest. It was too hard and couldn't penetrate with his fingers. He touched his own breasts. They were also breasts. Why was there such a big gap?

Zhao Xiangyi reached out and grabbed the moving hand and warned, "Don't touch it." . "

Both of them are busy during this period. Considering that the boy has too many things to do recently, he is still busy until midnight when he comes back every day, so he can't bear to torment the boy at night, so the two of them have been sleeping on the same bed at night. Apart from that, there really was no further communication.

"Haha..." Li Wen met the man's eyes and laughed dryly. The abstinent man couldn't resist teasing. He understood...

He didn't want to be in this crowded street at all. I'm going to have sex with a man in a carriage, so it's better to be honest and not tease this old man.