Chapter 42 The forty-second chapter is thick with fog and wandering along the Qilu road. Miyun is not raining, and wise men observe the situation.

The city of Beijing was turned upside down, the crown prince was deposed overnight, Yinxiang was executed, and the people in the officialdom were panicked, but Wu Sidao didn't know it.Since Kangxi left Beijing in April, he asked Yinzhen for a leave of absence to travel. He took a boat from Guazhou to cross the river and went up the river. He toured the two mountains of Guishen and Snake in Huguang, climbed the Yellow Crane Tower, hired a sedan chair to Lingnan, and climbed Wuyi Mountain. After a full circle, it was already the end of September when we arrived in Chengdu.He knew that Nian Gengyao and Li Wei were officials here, but when he came out to travel, he was working hard day and night in Beijing, and his body was getting weaker and weaker.Reluctantly, when he was watching in Du Fu's thatched cottage, the only thirty taels of silver on his body were stolen by thieves. After thinking about it, Wu Sidao had to run a long way with crutches to find Li Wei.

Chengdu is the provincial capital of Sichuan Province, a famous city in a large county. The small county government office is inconspicuous in a city full of yamen. Xu Da is a shady area, if it weren't for the quiet avoidance sign erected next to the screen wall in front of the Yamen, the drums and official boot boxes hanging in the gate hole, it would look like an ordinary gentry's house.When Wu Sidao arrived, it was not yet the end of the card, and there were groups of scholars under the big locust tree, there were always forty or fifty people, some were whispering to each other, some were memorizing.Wu Sidao knew that it was a scholar's annual exam, and thinking of himself back then, he couldn't help smiling.I inquired with the yamen servants, and found out that "Grandpa Li" was meeting guests in the signing room, and he didn't let anyone report it. From the side door, he went straight to the back of the second hall, and he heard Li Wei talking in the east wing. It was Dai Duo, who chuckled outside, and rushed in and said, "I never thought that Lao Dai would be here, it's true that we never meet again in life!"

"Ah! It's you!" Both Dai Duo and Li Wei were taken aback, stood up quickly, helped Wu Sidao who was covered in sweat to sit down, Dai Duo complained with a smile: "You just walked here? Are you tired? That's it! Don't you still need money now?" Wu Sidao said with a smile: "Look at my complexion, it's dark and red, if it's not lame, which one of you is better than me? To tell you the truth, I have heard that we Grandpa Li wanted to rule Chengdu to the point where he would not pick up any lost things, so I felt a little careless and asked the thief to take out my pockets in the court of the poet. I don’t have any money in my waist, so I don’t dare to run amok, so I just asked for the children to make an autumn breeze!”

While pouring tea for Wu Sidao, Li Wei said with a smile, "Whether you want to or not is one thing, but whether you can do it is another. Give me the governor's yamen in Sichuan and try it out! I catch thieves here, five or six out of ten." Some bosses came to clear the joints, and some even put down signs to let people go! Damn day, even thieves are in charge of officials in today's world, and officials are thieves, and thieves control officials. Everyone in the city knows that I am a two hundred and five county magistrate!" Dai Duo sighed with a smile: "I was not good in my past life, but I am a magistrate in this life; " Just as he was talking, he saw a man dressed as a teacher in his twenties come in hurriedly, nodded slightly to the two, and said to Li Wei: "Master, the scholars are here, so you can go."

"I can't help it, eat this meal, do this job, and be a monk for a day. You two sit down a little longer, and I'll come to the class for some time." Li Wei took off the wall hanging on the wall. He put his official hat on his head, stretched his waist, felt it in his arms, was startled, and asked the master, "Gao Qizhuo, do you have the exam questions sent by Xuezheng?" Gao Qizhuo was also taken aback, and hurriedly said: "It is sealed, and I will hand it to you as soon as it is delivered. Why, I can't find it?" After groping for a breath, only dozens of Kangxi copper brothers were found. I was so anxious that I was sweating, but I couldn't find them.Gao Qizhuo laughed beside him and said, "Boss, are you in a hurry? You took it apart and read it, but it's just an exam question."

"I also forgot the test questions." Li Wei sat back, tilted his head and thought for a while, and said, "I just remember that there seems to be a word 'horse', who knows where it went!" Wu Sidao thought about it, This is a question for the province's academic, political, and general examinations for the province's scholars. There are dozens of scholars waiting outside. It's not fun to make a fuss, and they are also anxious for Li Wei. Just as he was about to say yes, Gao Qizhuo smiled and said: "Don't be busy, it is said in the fourth book The number of horses is limited. Is it 'the people hear the sound of the king's chariots and horses'?" Li Wei shook his head and said, "Grandma's, it's not this horse."

"Is that - is it 'As for dogs and horses'?" Li Wei shook his head even more, and said dejectedly: "It's not this horse either. I only remember the first word is the word horse!" Gao Qizhuo tilted his head and thought for a while, then realized it, and smiled: "Got it." A few steps Seeing Gao Qizhuo's agility, Wu Sidao Dai Duo couldn't help secretly praising Gao Qizhuo, but Li Wei still shook his head and said, "I remember There are more than these words following behind the horse." So far, even Gao Qizhuo was embarrassed.Wu Sidao was stunned for a while, and said: "You search your body again, don't worry, why did you lose the test paper?" Li Wei slapped his forehead and said dejectedly: "Because I don't like reading, I have been taught a lot by the fourth master. It’s still the same—” As if thinking of something, he reached out his hand to feel inside the boot leaf, pulled out a roll of paper, and shook it open. It was wrapped with a pawn ticket, and a piece of Xuetao paper was exposed inside. Li Wei was delighted. He smiled and said, "Yes!" When he unfolded it, it turned out that it was "how can I know that the one who came is not now"-it turned out that he mistook the word "Yan" for the word "horse".Everyone couldn't help laughing, Li Wei wiped his sweat with a smile, and said to Gao Qizhuo: "Go, let's test them!"

"Have you seen those pawn tickets?" Wu Sidao sighed deeply, looking at Li Wei's back and said, "The dog has a good character and is smart. The fourth master told me that he only charges eight cents of fire consumption-in fact, that's the case. With a low fire consumption, you can’t afford to be a county magistrate. If you read some more books, you’ll become a great weapon in the future!” Seeing that Dai Duo was silent, he asked, “What’s on your mind? Why don’t you come here? Sichuan?" Dai Duo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I came the day before yesterday and met Nian Gengyao. Zhangzhou was short of horses to transport salt, so I wanted to come to Sichuan to buy tea and change horses in Qinghai. Gengyao was very generous and said that it would not be such a troublesome thing." , so the army allocated 400 horses to me. I went to his tent and saw that the annual gift he gave to the eighth master and the fourth master was exactly the same in duplicate. I was very upset. Ask, I know something happened to the Thirteenth Master!" Wu Sidao smiled, his eyes flashed suddenly, and asked: "What happened?" Dai Duo shook his head and said: "There is something even more terrifying, Nian Geng Yaozhi told me that the crown prince has been deposed again, and the imperial court wants to publicly elect the eighth master to Yuqing Palace!"

"Does he have Qiu Bao?" Wu Sidao quickly calmed down from the extreme astonishment, leaned back, looked at the ceiling and asked in a deep voice. "Or the inner court has issued a secret decree, asking the governors and townsmen to prepare to protect their capital?" Dai Duo said dully, "He didn't say anything, and I didn't ask. Nian Gengyao is such a high-ranking official, who among us Qizimen can compare with him?" By the fourth master's kindness? Even he walked quietly through the eighth master's door, which shows the danger of the situation! Since you are here, I want to ask for a way, should I report this to the fourth master?" Wu Sidao thought deeply , with blue eyes shining brightly, he said after a long time: "You told me that you treat me as a friend, and the way of making friends is righteousness. Fourth master treats you well, and fourth master always treats you with vengeance. From which side, you must not leave Fourth Master alone. But the matter of the year is a trivial matter, the most important thing is to stabilize the heart of Fourth Master first! It is not too late to report the matter of the year when the situation changes again. "

Dai Duo stared at Wu Sidao. They had known each other for 20 years, and they knew that Wu Sidao's intelligence was far superior to his own.After a long time, Dai Duo sighed and said, "I'll listen to you. But it's thousands of miles away, and the situation in the capital is unknown, so what can we do for Fourth Lord?" "I didn't want to see the young worker at first, but it seems that I have to." Wu Sidao frowned, slowly got up, walked to the window and looked at the clear autumn sky outside, and said, "You're going to I wrote a letter with two meanings. First, when you passed Wuyi Mountain, you met a man of high morals, and you asked him secretly as a master. Immediately return to Beijing to be a counselor in the government, and said that I am watching the sky at night, and that Si Ye has Xiao Er under his eyes, so please be careful and watch it carefully—the date of payment must be ten days earlier, so that Si Ye can believe that you don't know what happened in Beijing." Dai Duo stretched out the paper and soaked the ink, and said, "The letter is easy to write, how can I send it?" Wu Sidao said without turning his head, "Tell the dog to find a way." Dai Duo asked, "Then what's the matter with Nian Gengyao?" ?”

Wu Sidao suddenly turned around, and said coldly: "I want him to know that defecting at this time is tantamount to suicide. Let him know that Fourth Master has his deadly handle in his hands! I want him to send troops to escort me back to Beijing, Go back to Fourth Master!" Dai Duo still wanted to talk, but when he saw Li Wei walking in from the second gate with a smile on his face, he stopped and buried himself in writing.Wu Sidao didn't wait for Li Wei to come in, and said, "Dog, there is an urgent letter that must be sent back to Beijing within five days, is there anything you can do?" "Yes." Li Wei replied without hesitation, grinning, "I pawned off the pocket watch that Si Ye gave me, and I just bought a Sichuan horse. Hey, I can walk 800 a day! Now I'm Jingpo, Cui'er complained..." "Okay!" Wu Sidao clapped his hands and smiled, "Just call your master! You call him, I have something to say!" On the fourth watch of the night, Wu Sidao left Nian Gengyao and went to Chongqing, via Xiangyang Wanluo, and then went north to Beijing via the Handan ancient road.The dozen or so Goshhas who saw him off were all poor men who carried sliding poles on the Sichuan Road. One hundred taels of silver, so eating and sleeping in the open air, walking early and resting late, not only did no one complain, but they became more and more energetic.In spite of this, I also walked for 20 days to Fengtai, a suburb of Beijing. "It's finally here!" Wu Sidao was helped out of the sedan chair with difficulty, looked at the sun, and guessed that Zhou Yongcheng was still waiting at Zhengyang Gate as promised, so he called the escort and said with a smile: "I have received your trip, and the errands have been done well. You have already sent me to the place. But you can't stop here, and you can't go to Beijing to see the world at the feet of the emperor. You have to return immediately." The army leader looked at this The inexplicable guest smiled and said: "Nian Jun has a general order, and everything is under the control of Mr. Wu. Mr. said so, we will go south tonight. But Mr. must give us a word, so we can go back and make a proof of payment." Wu Sidao smiled. : "I thought of this last night. This letter is for you to pay back the young worker, and there may be a reward. I said it in the letter. Brothers go back to have a rest." After speaking, he took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to the The head of the army said again: "Don't worry! I'll get another two people to carry me, and I'll go into the city before dark." Wu Sidao hailed a warm sedan chair from Fengtai's bar room, and set off towards the city in a meandering way.The bearers in the capital are no different from those in other prefectures and states. They have rules in how they move their hands and feet. They walk neither fast nor slow. .At this time, it is the season of autumn. Outside the sedan chair, there are red maples on the mountain beams and cold waves in the water.Wu Sidao didn't want to watch it either, he just thought about something in his mind: How can he make sense of such a chaotic political situation?Did Gao Qizhuo and Zhou Yongcheng catch up?If you can't see Zhou Yongcheng, should you go directly to Prince Yong's mansion, or wait another day? ...While thinking wildly, the sedan chair has already entered the city, and at first sight of the gray and gloomy Xibianmen Archery Tower standing among the westerly crows, Wu Sidao's heart couldn't help beating, but he stretched out his head and said, "Run to Zhengyangmen Guandi Temple. " Wu Sidao got off the sedan chair in front of Zhengyang Gate, it was already dusk.The Guandi Temple here is connected to the Dalang Temple, and a large area to the north is the flower market, which is the most lively place. Looking back, you can see the sunset wine sale, the singing girls at the top of the building come and go. The lights are all over both sides of the street, and there are people selling late snacks and people who are constantly passing by. Where is the shadow of Kaner?When I was looking forward, I heard someone laughing behind me: "Mr. Wu, tell me to wait!" "It's Mo Yu!" Wu Sidao turned his head and saw that it was Mo Yu, a servant in Yinzhen's study, he couldn't help feeling relieved, and said with a smile, "Where are you hiding? Make me wait here! Can't Zhou Yongcheng come out?" Mo Yu Nian was slightly younger than Kan'er, and she was also very clever. He smiled and said, "We have been waiting for four days in turn! I saw you as soon as you got off the sedan chair, because Gao Fuer brought a bitch with you." Upstairs over there, I didn't dare to come out for fear that he might see it." Wu Sidao said: "I don't want to see him either, let's go." Mo Yu led the way to the east, and said at the same time: "It's all settled, and the Song family's old shop has wrapped up the innermost yard for you in the front. When you come back, you won't see Fourth Master, and you won't even touch Zhou Touer." Mind—how comfortable it is to live in the house!" Wu Sidao followed closely, and said: "You remember one sentence, adults are uncomfortable, and being comfortable is not an adult. If I want to be comfortable, I probably can't stand being poor even in business." As he said, he had already entered After entering the shop, Mo Yu told the shop owner: "Our master is here, boil some water, warm up the rice wine, and bring the dinner in—Master Wu, please, the landlord's room is warm, the kang is already heated." While talking, opening the door and lighting the lamp, Wu Sidao just sat down when a hot towel was brought up. While talking, the shop owner also brought over dinner—a pot of hot rice wine, a large bowl of mutton ramen, four The plates and side dishes are neatly arranged, and there are several sesame shortbread. "You eat the rice wine and side dishes." Wu Sidao wiped his face, washed his feet and sat cross-legged on the kang, and said, "I only use this mutton noodles. I can't stay up all night when I drink alcohol - have you brought anything?" Mo Yu also Hungry, he ate voraciously, pointed to a package in the kang, and said: "This month's residence newspaper, as well as the articles approved by the fourth master, and the memorials approved by the emperor, are all in it. Zhou Yongcheng said please Mr. Wu watched closely, and had to send it back to the study during the day. It’s a big deal that Fourth Master can’t take out any one he wants!” Wu Sidao nodded and smiled, “That’s natural, but they won’t suffer because of me. " After the two of them had dinner for a while, Wu Sidao read the package, took out the contents one by one, and pulled out the most important ones, and asked slowly: "How is the fourth master's mood recently, is he in good health?" Mo Yu rushed to the ground With a smile, he said: "You are really hard to guess! I thought you would ask this first sentence when you meet, and you didn't ask it until now!" Wu Sidao said coldly: "Then I am a mediocre person. What I am most anxious to know is This stack of documents!" "Fourth Master is in good health, but has a bad temper." Mo Yu sat sideways on the edge of the kang, picked his teeth, and said, "When I see people, I have nothing to say, and I always have a long face, which scares my family to see him far away. I hid. The two masters of Xingyin Wenjue also had a sullen face a few days ago. Last time in Qingyuzhai, I heard them ask the fourth master: "Does Mr. Wu have any letter?" The fourth master sneered and said: "You guys Ask me, what do you eat?'——I haven’t seen Si Ye like this before, two masters! It’s all your fault, what are you doing when you go out of Beijing? You don’t see Si Ye when you come back!” Wu Sidao didn’t answer, holding the Holding the two papers and comparing them under the candle, it took a long time before he said, "Just talk, what else is there?" Mo Yu smiled and said, "Since I've been here with that tall thing, Fourth Master seems to be more at ease, not so fierce. Yes. A few days ago, I had a fever, and I had to go to the ministry to meet people. The fourth master chatted with the surname Gao for two hours, and even had dinner with him--I have been here for so many years, and I have not yet I've seen anyone who is so respectable! I found out later that you were coming back, and the weird fourth master has come to the door every day to ask if you have a letter-you are the backbone of this Prince Yong's mansion! Good Master Wu, hurry up Click back!" After Wu Sidao listened quietly, he put the Chinese book in his hand on the kang table, let out a long breath, and said, "Very good. You can't stay here for long. Go back and tell Zhou Yongcheng that he doesn't come here either, and ask Xingyin to turn the daily mansion I'll take a look at the newspaper. You, Zhou Yongcheng, and Wen Jue will spend more time with Siye, at most two days, and then I will go back home. I have to sort out these things and see Siye again." Mo Yu said with a smile: "Me and Zhou It was agreed by the boss that I will not go back when I receive you, and he will ask for leave for Gao Fuer on my behalf. You are handicapped, and you can’t do without a waiter around you. You will live in the back room, and I will sleep outside. "After that, he withdrew.Wu Sidao studied the court papers one by one in detail until dawn, and Fang Wai rested on the pillow for a while. For four days in a row, Wu Sidao did not leave the Song family's old store. Wen Jue Xingyin ran around non-stop during the day, inquiring about the news of the princes of the palaces, who was performing what play, who was invited, and which emperor's grandson had a birthday. The details of who gave the gifts were all summarized and reported to Wu Sidao for his reference. Zhou Yongcheng secretly ordered the bookboys in the east and west study rooms of Prince Yong's mansion to go out to inquire about the news. On the sixth day, Wu Sidao had already made up his mind, woke up early in the morning, rinsed his mouth with Qingyan, smiled and said to Mo Yu: "Find me a sedan chair, let's go back home today." Mo Yu longed for him to make this sound, go out in a hurry, and called a bright sedan chair wrapped in rattan, and said, "Mr. Feel refreshed too." Wu Sidao nodded in satisfaction, got on the sedan chair, but said: "Go out of Chaoyang Gate first!" "Aren't you going back to Lama Temple?" Mo Yu was startled, and said, "Outside the Chaoyang Gate is the Eighth Master's Mansion!" Wu Sidao was all smiles, urging him to get up the sedan chair, and said, "I just want to see what the Eighth Master's Mansion is like." .” Mo Yu had no choice but to follow, but was full of suspicion. When we arrived at the wharf of the canal outside Chaoyangmen, we didn’t pass the sign of Chen Zhengshi. Because the surface of the canal was covered with thin ice, there were very few people on the wharf. On the opposite side of the wharf, there was a lot of traffic in front of the majestic Eight Kings’ Mansion, with the crowns like clouds. Sedan sedan chairs, Ming sedan chairs, warm sedan chairs, mule carts, and sedan cars lined up far away from the door. Some servants of various households had tea and snacks under the shed in front of the screen wall, some gossiped and set up a long-standing battle, and some basked in the soft sunshine. , catching lice, all kinds of different grades.Wu Sidao came down from a distance, took a look at the side of the canal, and glanced at the sealed Wanyong pawnshop, with a gloomy smile flashing across his face, he silently stared at the gate of the Eight Princes' Mansion in Dan Yuyixin.Mo Yu said with a smile: "What's the point of his gate, Baba'er stands here and watches?" "Something's wrong." Wu Sidao pondered, "Wen Jue said the day before yesterday that Ba Ye didn't see any visitors, why is it so lively? I'll go over and find out." Mo Yu promised to go back to Zhaobi, and said with a smile: "So today It's the birthday of the Eight Fortunes. No officials came to pay homage, but all the wives, uncles, and cousins ​​from various prefectures came to pay homage to the horse." Wu Sidao smiled without making a sound, and sure enough, he saw a group of beautiful women leaving from the gate When they came out, some were still wearing official clothes, and each of them brought a group of girls and old women, chattering and chattering, getting into the sedan chair and car, and hurried away.Wu Sidao stood and watched for a while, then let out a long breath, and said "Let's go back".Just as he was about to get back into the sedan chair, he saw a girl coming from the west, holding a bag in her hand, walking straight to Wu Sidao, squatting down with a blessing, and asked, "Is your surname Wu?" Wu Sidao nodded stiffly, Asked: "Who are you? What's the matter?" "Our wife said that she looks at you like a relative of hers," the girl said, "Since your surname is Wu, you must have identified the right person. Please take a step to speak." After saying that, she gave up her hand.Wu Sidao followed hesitantly, but he saw a red felt sedan chair parked in front of him, and there were only two old ladies beside the sedan chair. The light yellow pleated skirt stepped out of the sedan chair, knelt down to Wu Sidao, and timidly called "cousin".When Wu Sidao looked at it, the watery almond eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a cinnabar mole next to the corner of the slightly raised mouth, who is it not Jinfenggu? —— Immediately stunned, it took a long time before he said incomprehensibly, "It's...it's you?" Jin Fenggu stared at Wu Sidao with black eyes, for a long time, lowered her head and sighed silently, and said on her toes: "Well, I heard that my cousin is in the fourth master's residence?" "Ok." "My cousin looks fine." "Well." The two were at a loss for words again, and both stared at the chilly canal.After a long while, Jin Fenggu murmured again: "There is something I've always wanted to ask, you...how did it rain so hard that day...and left without saying a word?" "Are you asking this?" Wu Sidao sneered, "Because I want to escape for my life! The fish on the knife anvil is still jumping - why, you are still a little unwilling? What do you want to do with me now, I'm afraid it's not so easy. You I am a person who is committed to others, and I am also a person with a master. What do you want to see me?" Jin Fenggu lowered her head, with tears in her eyes, and said: "...I will never forgive you in this life I don't want to ask for your forgiveness. I don't understand about your men, and I dare not ask. But I know that fourth master is not easy to mess with. My cousin's family is not poor. I just want to persuade my cousin to go back, that is, farming and studying , and be safe and sound. The city of Beijing is turbulent, the lake is deep, and it is not a good place to live——you are... already disabled, and...what are you trying to do? If you don’t have to worry about—" Before he finished speaking, Wu Sidao suddenly looked up to the sky Laughing loudly, he said, "You want to give me money to send me back to Wuxi? Please take care of me! I'm just a disabled person. There are one more and one less me in the world. It doesn't matter to anyone. The fourth master raised me and the eighth master raised me. It's just a chat to relieve boredom while grinding ink and holding inkstone. Don't worry, even if the fourth master's family is full of misfortunes, Qingke will not be implicated." Jin Fenggu lowered her head, knowing that Wu Sidao was puzzled by her resentment, in front of Mo Yu, she couldn't talk deeply, so she sighed and said softly: "Cousin take care." After a blessing, she got on the sedan chair silently and left.Seeing Wu Si saying goodbye, Mo Yu turned her face away, leaned on her crutches and just looked at the river, and said, "This is Mr. Cousin? Whose wife is it?" "She is a freak. A woman, if you marry a chicken, you will follow the chicken, and if you marry a dog, you will follow the dog. What can I say?" Wu Sidao said with a cold smile. He glanced at the sedan chair that was getting farther and farther away with his cold eyes, and said : "Go, go back to my Fengwan Pavilion." Yinzhen returned to the mansion from the upper study in the afternoon.Originally, the emperor had finished his breakfast and discussed political affairs.According to the usual rules, after discussing the matter, he still has to go to the Criminal Department of the Ministry of Households to listen to the case of the court officials and arrange business affairs for tomorrow before he is willing to return home, but today he is extremely irritable. Yinzhi, the ninth elder brother Yinzhen, and the fourteenth elder brother Yinzhen wrote drafts one by one according to Kangxi's will. Yinzhi talked at length about his compilation of "The Collection of Ancient and Modern Books", and everyone listened with great interest. Asked irresponsibly, made jokes, all of them were full of complacency, and couldn't sit still, so he resigned and returned home early.Seeing several elders at the door gathering in the door opening to play queer cards, Yinzhen kicked off the horse stone and came down, handed the reins to Zhou Yongcheng and walked over, standing outside the circle, silent in a gloomy voice.Zhou Yongcheng knew that he was about to lose his temper, so he yelled from the side: "You are all dead dogs! Didn't see the master come back? When did Yongwang's mansion have such a rule for playing cards in broad daylight?" The few family members heard this sound at first, and saw this cold-faced prince who was feared by everyone in the government and the public standing in front of him. They were suddenly numb from fright, holding cards with a scorched face, and did nothing in a panic.After finally regaining consciousness, they threw the cards into the brazier and knelt down together.Si Yan's old yellow head kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Fourth Master, it's been a long time since I've been fine, but I forgot Fourth Master's rules, we dare not do it again!" "Don't you dare again?" Yinzhen snorted, "You've already dared, why do you want to 'again'?—Where is Gao Fuer? Call him!" The guards at the second gate saw the guards at the gate one by one Kowtowing like pounding garlic, unable to answer Yinzhen's words, he hurriedly ran over and knelt down and said, "The senior executive went out after eating early, saying that he went to buy books for the son, and he hasn't come back yet!" Yinzhen was about to speak Seeing the three brothers Hongshi, Hongzhou and Hongli coming out of the moon cave gate in the West Garden with cold eyes, and they were about to go to the East Study while hiding themselves, they were very angry and funny, and shouted: "Stop! Come here!" The three brothers looked at each other, they had no choice but to stop, came over, and stood with their hands down.Yinzhen sneered and said, "Very good! I'm busy with state affairs outside, my family fights cards, strolls in the garden, walks in the garden, walks in the street, there is no queen bee!" Hongli saw two The elder brother's face was pale and silent, he knelt down and apologized with a smile: "The lord wronged us. We were all studying in the East Study Room, but Mo Yu said that Wu Shibo is back. The lord is not here again, afraid that Wu Shibo will be left out in the cold, let's go over..." "Mr. Wu is back?" Yinzhen's spirit lifted, and he immediately put everyone's faults out of the blue, his brows trembled slightly, regardless of the length of the people, he waved his hands and entered the Moon Cave Gate, Zhou Yongcheng made a face to everyone and hurriedly followed in. Yinzhen hurried into the garden, walked through a bamboo grove, and saw Wu Sidao waiting in front of the steps of the pavilion.He stood still, looked carefully at Wu Sidao, who had calm eyes, took a step forward, muttered for a while, wanted to say something, then stopped, nodded with a reserved smile, and said, "Mr. Wu, it's been a long time! It seems to be stronger than when he left Beijing." "Fourth Lord, please!" Wu Sidao cupped his hands, and he was also examining Yinzhen carefully, from head to toe, he was still neat and tidy, his face was paler, and his eye circles were a little darker, so he said with a smile: "The fire was just lit in the house." , the charcoal gas is too heavy, how about I take a walk in the fourth master's garden?" Yinzhen nodded, motioning for Zhou Yongcheng to help Wu Sidao, and together they walked among the weeping willows with fallen leaves.Both of them are very deep people, relying on each other, and both have a down-to-earth and warm heart, but they haven't spoken for a long time.After walking two arrows away, Yinzhen let out a sigh of relief, and Wu Sidao asked, "Fourth Master, do you have a serious hidden worry?" Yinzhen folded a wicker, looked at the green silver carp swimming slowly in the pond, and said solemnly: "In the past, the scholars in Donglin had a couplet, 'The sound of wind and rain, the sound of reading, the sound of reading, the sound of national affairs, family affairs, world affairs, and everything concerned. "The situation is so difficult, how can I not be anxious? Alas... To tell you the truth, I have been living like a year for a while, and it is like walking alone in a dark alley, with no one to talk to, no one to ask, and no one to point out. I don't know where the end is going. The wind is fierce, the weather is cold and the road is dark...what's wrong with me?" After finishing speaking, he let out another long sigh, "I'm really afraid that you will never come back, or—" "Or he is afraid of difficulties and refuses to come back, is it?" Wu Sidao laughed dumbly, and sighed: "The lord treats me with friendship, and being torn to pieces is just an ordinary reward, how dare we live with it? I have been back to Beijing for five days!" Yinzhen stood still and looked at Wu Sidao in surprise.Wu Sidao said slowly: "I knew about the changes in Beijing in Sichuan, so I started to collect the residence newspapers and court documents. After I returned to Beijing, I read all the files in the fourth master's study. Yongcheng, Moyu, Wenjue, and Xingyin acted like a horse. I listened to the information, and I already know the court situation well! Today, the imperial decree promulgated Hei Shuozhe, a member of the Eighth Master, as the Minister of Rites, Zhang Tingyu, who had saved the Eighth Master, as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Kui Xu Jinfeng Zuodu Censor, and the third elder brother His disciple He Shou became the governor of the south of the Yangtze River—is it melancholy for the fourth master to return to the mansion so early?" Yinzhen was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "These ordinary things in the officialdom are not my business. It hurts. But I didn’t take care of me before I went to the study, and I didn’t ask for my opinion afterwards. I put it there like a deaf ear. I, the prince in charge, is so tasteless!” I keep saying that I want to be an 'idle person', but now I am seeking benevolence and gaining benevolence, so I feel uncomfortable?" Yinzhen laughed when he teased him, and then sighed: "Although I have no ambitions, I still want to get along, and I don't want to be called The rats laughed at me." "It's too dark." Wu Sidao said abruptly.Seeing Yinzhen staring at him, he said again: "The passage through the alley that Siye said just now is very interesting. In fact, Siye has already walked out of the alley, but it is too dark and you can't see your fingers. You think you are still in the alley! Siye, Unknowingly, the emperor has reformed, can't you see it?" Yinzhen stopped his steps suddenly, looked at Wu Sidao in amazement and said nothing.Wu Sidao clasped his slender fingers intertwined, and said gracefully: "Long live has already taken over the imperial power, all the saints are dictatorial, and all elder brothers have stripped off the right of counselor, leaving only the right to do things, and going to the study is just to follow the order It's just dealing with the affairs of the court. Otherwise, the court situation is difficult to stabilize!" Yinzhen nodded and said: "I can see it, but this is not a 'reform'. Kangxi was like this forty-two years ago. "It's different." Wu Sidao said with a smile, "The last time I delegated power was to train the crown prince; this time the power was taken over to test the character and knowledge of all elder brothers. Long live, he is determined not to appoint a crown prince." Yinzhen's whole body shook, as if a bright light flashed across his mind, and he fell into deep thought immediately. "There are at least three advantages to doing this." Wu Sidao walked slowly, and said slowly, "First, the imperial power can be monopolized, and the government affairs will not be obstructed; the crown prince established is incompetent, which will damage the emperor's governance; It is not good for the emperor, the court, the country, or the common people if the emperor fights against the court in different courts." "Well." "Second, it can prevent the Agora from forming cliques and forming cliques for private purposes. If there is no crown prince, the courtiers will not know who will succeed the general in the future, so they dare not easily get involved in the struggle between the Argos' factions. In the future, when the new ruler will be in power, it will be easier to unify affairs and powers." "Ok." "Third," Wu Sidao said with piercing eyes, "the emperor has Fang Bao on the inside and Zhang Tingyu and Ma Qi on the outside to assist in government affairs. You can rest assured that the brothers can do their own errands. For the rest of the year, choose a brother who is the most satisfied to take over this Ninth Five-Year Master!" At this point, Yinzhen was like enlightened, his heart was full of clarity, he laughed and said: "It's really penetrating. It's ridiculous that the old man is so infatuated that he is full of plans to enter the Yuqing Palace! From this point of view, whoever is the prince will have the most heart. Whoever is going to be in bad luck! It fits the essence of a Buddhist saying - to fight is not to fight, not to fight is to fight!" "Wonderful words!" Wu Sidao clapped his palms and sighed: "I can't think of these eight words, after all, the fourth master is the only one who loves beauty! Please rest assured, the destiny is fixed, who can't reverse it!" Yinzhen smiled, then became gloomy again. He thought of his thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang.But Wu Sidao just said: "The fourth master thought: If the crown prince is really established, can everyone in the study do things with peace of mind? The edict has already come down! What is the fault of the thirteenth master? He is imprisoned! It is not because he is afraid that he will be outside To 'fight' for Fourth Master?!" This strike hit Yinzhen's deepest worry, and one day the dark clouds were cleared away, he was stunned for a while, and said after a while: "Today I broke through the side door and saw the bright moon like a wash!"