Chapter 45 The forty-fifth round of Qingfeng Jue Ao's mansion, displaying lanterns and leading secret edicts to supervise the government and arrest rebellion

After several consecutive winter snows, there was another continuous spring rain.Calculating with one's fingers, it has been the eighth year since Kangxi ascended the throne.With the change of seasons, the desolate Beijing has quietly recovered. Wu Ciyou slept on the hot kang for a whole winter. After changing the bed, he felt cold. He couldn't help thinking of a saying: "Southerners are better at eating than northerners, and northerners are better at living than southerners. It's true." He wanted to sleep again. After a few days of hot kang, he saw that He Guizhu brought a few people here, desperately trying to dismantle the kang, so he swallowed it back without mentioning it again, and said, "Don't dismantle it, I think this cold kang would be fine." Zhang Aiji put it on the kang, burned two sticks of incense, sat cross-legged, took a book to read, and circled and commented on it casually.Suddenly someone called softly: "Brother is working hard!" When Wu Ciyou looked up, Mingzhu had already entered, and it seemed that he had taken good care of himself this winter.Although the body is still weak, but the spirit has recovered.He patted the edge of the Kang and said with a smile: "You and Zhu'er came together, please sit down!"

"'Red sleeves add fragrance to reading at night', the eldest brother only needs Wanniang to wait here." Mingzhu laughed, and with a flick of her robe, she sat beside Wu Ciyou.When I looked around, I saw Wu Ciyou holding a copy of "Tai Gong Yin Talisman" in his hand.He smiled and said, "Brother's reading is getting more and more complicated, don't you plan to enter the arena for a test, and lead troops to fight?" Wu Ciyou smiled and shook his head and said, "I believe in both Confucius and Mencius, and I also believe in Zhuangzi. When I am hot, I believe in Confucius and Mencius, and when I am cold, I believe in Zhuangzi. When I enter the examination room at the age of thirty-four, I will not be proud, but will be harmed by others. The word "Gong Ming" is getting weaker and weaker. Now I just want to teach this student well—I will teach whatever Long Er wants to learn."

"This Long'er is too," Mingzhu said with a smile, "What's the use of learning such complicated things?" "I don't quite understand either—if you don't serve as an official, you won't need to read these books. Could it be that the court will let commoner men lead the army to go to war? So I just pick some useful and emotionally cultivated comments in the books. Just talk more." "Big Brother's knowledge is nothing to say." Hearing Wu Ciyou's words, Mingzhu was very happy, "It's just that I have been an emperor's teacher for a few years, and I haven't even noticed some clues. Without saying a word, Wu Ciyou put away the book, and said seriously: "Brother Mingzhu, what are you thinking?Do you want Aunt Cui?You should take care of your business, what is it that is neither cool nor hot? Mingzhu's face darkened, she shook her head and said, "Brother, you don't know that Cuigu has passed away!" "

"Really!" Wu Ciyou was taken aback, jumped up and almost stood up from the kang, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Mingzhu sighed: "Firstly, people cannot be brought back to life after death, and secondly, I am afraid that my eldest brother will be surprised when he is ill. I took three hundred taels of silver from Zhu'er to arrange her funeral affairs, and only kept it from my eldest brother. ——She A firework girl, I am worthy of her." "What are you talking about?" Wu Ciyou was displeased with the words behind Mingzhu, and changed color, "Didn't you also be a beggar who died of freezing? You read the books of sages, how can you treat people's identities like this ?”

"Brother taught me a lesson." Seeing Wu Ciyou getting angry, Mingzhu realized that what she said just now was too indecent. After two years of complacency, she was afraid that others would bring up her history as a beggar, but in front of Wu Ciyou, she couldn't say anything. I had no choice but to apologize, "Actually, I'm not sad, but she still does it for me..." Wu Ciyou didn't speak any more.He had a vague feeling that this sworn brother seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him in thinking, doing, and talking after his success. Mingzhu didn't speak either, he felt very unhappy.The elder brother in front of him was once his savior, and he was also the emperor's teacher, so he was a person who could not be offended.However, Long Er is the window paper of the emperor, and sooner or later it will be pierced, depending on the emperor's intention, he also wants to betroth Lagu Su Ma to him.Aunt Su Ma is extremely favored in front of the emperor and the empress dowager. If she and Wu Ciyou get married, given their special position in the emperor's heart, will there be a bright future for me?Today I said something inappropriate, so he will teach me like this. In the future...he dare not think about it anymore, a new idea.Suddenly flashed into Mingzhu's heart...

I don't know when the wind picked up outside, and with the light rain, the window lattices rustled.The two listened quietly, both feeling chills. Suddenly, the door squeaked, and Wei Dongting stepped in, and said with a smile, "Hey, what's the matter, brothers, two mud bodhisattvas are sitting facing each other meditating." Wu Ciyou forced a smile, "Come up and sit down, please." Wei Dongting leaned over and sat on the edge of the kang, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and said: "I'll tell you a letter, today the sage has issued a decree that Aobai was granted the title of Grand Master and First Class Duke by the Jin Dynasty. I just passed by there, and the Ao's mansion was in full swing. The banquet was decorated with lights and festoons, as if it were daytime...Hexi's sedan chairs and cars were placed all over the street."

Mingzhu quickly took over the conversation, "Brother Wu is annoyed, can't you talk about something good?" Wu Ciyou said indifferently: "It's nothing to worry about. Years ago I said that Oboi's success was extremely difficult to continue. With this addition, I'm afraid he will be doomed. According to my cold eyes, either the emperor is extremely smart, or there are extremely brilliant people." Give pointers." "Why? How do you say this?" Wei Dongting stared at Wu Ciyou with wide eyes, and Mingzhu also said, "Brother, I also find it hard to understand."

Wu Ciyou said with a smile: "What's so difficult to understand. Oboi has been recuperating at home recently, and he has no achievements of any size. Why did the court seal it as the best? According to his original intention, if he could swallow the emperor, he would have done it long ago. Lu, he actually accepts it without any doubt, he is truly deluded by the authorities!" Wei Dongting and Mingzhu looked at each other suspiciously.These words of Wu Ciyou are too mysterious, what a coincidence!Seeing the surprise of the two, Wu Ciyou smiled and said, "Second gentleman, why should you be serious! I'm just making a judgment based on reason. You come back every day and talk about the situation in the court, so why don't I have a few words?"

The admiral of the Nine Gates, Wu Liuyi, is nervously preparing for his son's soup cake meeting these days.Wu Liuyi got married very late, his wife Qing's first two children were all girls, and she didn't give birth to this baby until she was forty-three years old, so I am very happy.During the three-day banquet, more than 200 invitations were sent out.The strange thing is that there are not a single foreigner invited, all of them are his old friends or new generals.But he has always acted perversely, and people will not be surprised. In the afternoon, when the cards were closed, guests came to pay their respects one after another, and the east and west corridors were colorfully filled with gift boxes from various houses.Wu Liu accepted without hesitation, and all the members of the family were amazed: the master has always been honest and honest, and has not received any private gifts in his life except Cha Yisun, why is he so uncharacteristic today?

Many of the guests were Lun's former subordinates, and now they are all in various yamen in Beijing.Some are on duty in the imperial army, and some have already surpassed him in rank, but they still respect him very much.When they came, they only exchanged a few words, or presented the gift list, and then said: "I have important business, I can't have a banquet before the evening, please Haihan" and left.Wu Liuyi knew that they would go to Aobai's mansion to entertain, but he didn't reveal it, and dealt with them with a smile on his face, and then sent them away one by one.When it was nightfall, except for Wei Dongting who was considered a foreign guest, the rest were a group of lieutenants, generals, guerrillas, and generals under his command. These people did not dare to leave without an order.

"Everyone!" As soon as Wu Liu saw that everyone was seated, he stood up from the chairman and raised a big glass of wine. He spoke with a non-southern and non-north accent, and said in cadence: "Today, I will make soup and cakes for the children. Thank you Appreciation, everyone, I am so happy to see the brothers who have followed me for more than ten years!" General Liu Shen, who was sitting at the first table, got up and arched his hands: "Junmen! Today's soup cake meeting is honored by Mr. Wei. This is because Mr. Wei looked down on us for raising the stage and didn't go to climb high branches. Come on, brother first." A toast to you!" After speaking, he filled a large glass of wine and handed it over with both hands.The generals and assistants in the court also urged in unison: "Master Wei is a close minister of the emperor, and it is rare to come here, so please ask Mr. Wei to please the young master first!" "Okay!" Wei Dongting saw that Wu Liuyi's generals were all heroic, very kind to his taste, raised his glass and drank it down, lit the bottom of the glass and said: "Brothers will take the first drink, everyone please!" So toasted and staggered, choked five and drank six.In the hall, only the first iron beggar had a glass on the left and a glass on the right, eating wine with a calm air.He Zhiming sat by the side of the table with Wei Dongting, constantly persuading him to drink and add food. When the wine was half drunk, Wu Liuyi blushed slightly, said "It's convenient", and then resigned from everyone and went out.Except for Wei Dongting, no one noticed his move.Seeing that Wei Dongting was in a daze, Mr. He got up to pour the wine, and whispered in a low voice: "Master Wei, our military sect is going to make a contribution first, I'm afraid it will be too late." Wei Dongting's heart sank suddenly, and the wine surged up , his heart was beating wildly, he forced himself to be calm, nodded and smiled and said: "Sure enough, the reputation is well-deserved, 'iron' is very good!" While speaking, Wu Liuyi had already returned to the living room. He was wearing a red-topped hairpin tassel, a Jiangya seawater robe, a long sword around his waist, and a pair of brand new black satin palace boots. walk in.The most conspicuous thing is the yellow mandarin jacket that covers the supplementary suit, which is golden and dazzling under the light.The generals who were drinking had a premonition that something big was about to happen, so they stopped drinking and stared blankly at their chief general, wondering what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd. Forty or fifty generals in the hall were stunned, watching Tie Beggar walk into the middle as if no one was there.Without saying a word, the muscles on his face twitched and his eyes shone fiercely. With a wave of his hand, more than 30 school captains in full uniform had already spread out in a "swish", sealing all the halls. aisle. "Please order!" When Tie Gai gave an order, the generals immediately stood up and withdrew from their seats, standing on both sides.Several school lieutenants behind who were protecting Wang Ming's flag roared "Zha——" and slowly lifted out an exquisite dragon pavilion carved with red sandalwood.In the middle is a sapphire blue order flag with a bright yellow border, on which is written a yellow "Ling" in Manchu and Chinese. This is the king's order flag specially bestowed on Wu Liuyi by Emperor Shizu Daxing.As soon as the dragon pavilion fell, Liu Canjun took the lead and sang loudly: "Long live!" He knelt down with a chirp.The rest of the people also shouted, kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times, and listened quietly to the orders. "Li Yiping, Huang Kesheng, Zhang Yifei, and Liu Cang are all good people, forming cliques for personal gain, messing up the army and government, and plotting wrongdoings-the left and right have been taken down!" "tie--" The four of them hadn't figured out what was going on, and several captains who were like wolves and tigers came up viciously, grabbed one by two, twisted their arms back skillfully, and were tied tightly in the blink of an eye. Li Yiping is a real lack of lieutenant general, and he is of the same rank as Wu Liu.At this time, he was intimidated by Wu Liuyi's power. When he woke up, he jumped up suddenly, twisted his neck and asked, "You said that we have been serving traitors and conspiring against others. It’s not that easy to order you to kill someone!” "Search for them!" Wu Liuyi ignored them, pointing at the captured people and ordering Ghoshha. A search will understand.In addition to a sharp dagger, Li Yiping also had a pack of powdered medicine on his body.Wei Dongting has been with Shi Longbiao for several years, and he has been fascinated by it, and he knows it is poison at a glance.Smiling and sitting down, he took a deep breath.Looking at Zhang Yifei and Liu Cang, they were both wearing inner armor for body protection, each hiding a short sharp blade.It goes without saying that they had already made an agreement before going to the banquet.Only Huang Kesheng didn't find anything on him, and he just stood there dumbfounded. Wu Liuyi suddenly became furious, and said with a sneer: "Mr. He, take out the list and read it, read one and take one!" "Yes!" He Zhiming stood up suddenly in court, his eyes gleaming like black beans." He took out the list from his sleeve and read it aloud. A total of eleven people were tied up like rice dumplings by the school's gate, and they were searched. There are eight people with murder weapons! "Okay!" Wu Liuyi asked with a smirk, "It's a daring thing to come to the banquet with such things in your arms! What else do you have to say?" "The dagger is for self-defense, and the poisonous bait is for poisoning rabbits!" Li Yiping shouted loudly, "Even if they are here to kill you, is it a conspiracy?" "Hmph!" Wu Liuyi sneered, and his anger came out from his dantian, making him even more fierce.He walked up to Li Yiping with his sword and said: "I wanted to take your head, but you are not as good as a rabbit after death; if you keep your tongue, it will be of some use—come on!" "Zha!" The captain in the corridor responded thunderously. Wu Liuyi suddenly raised his sword, stabbed horizontally, and the long sword pierced Zhang Yifei and Liu Cang's waist and hips.With a scream, the two of them fell over with a puff—then yanked out the bloody sword, rubbed the soles of their boots back and forth with ease, and inserted it into the sheath calmly, "Take the corpse, it will be given to them tomorrow!" The family members sent three thousand taels of money." All the generals in the hall saw that he was extremely ferocious and that he was ordered by the king to behead him, so no one dared to come out to persuade him. "General Huang!" Wu Liuyi turned his face and said with a sinister smile: "Your affairs are unknown, so go back to the back hall to rest for a while. Guerrilla Chief Qian, please go to the west wing, and I will reserve another seat for you. Those without weapons will follow General Huang!" As he spoke, he waved his hand, dragging corpses, leading people, and in the blink of an eye. Then I cleaned up. "Business is over, let's continue to drink!" Wu Liuyi stretched his waist and said with a chuckle, "Everyone, come on, come on, it's none of your business, let's drink!" Even though the generals under his command are all murderous generals, when has he seen such a battle?For a moment, it was like eating the Queen Mother Lu's banquet, the flesh was jumping and the heart was frightened, and they returned to their seats with weak legs.He Zhiming, the behind-the-scenes adviser, quickly raised his glass and said: "Generals! Let's drink to the longevity of the young master!" Just now he said something, suddenly a voice from outside came in, "The imperial decree has arrived!" Wu Liu said to everyone with a smile: "I didn't expect to come so fast! You sit down and drink in peace, I will receive the decree!" Then ordered: "Fire the cannon to welcome the order!" There were three "dong dong dong" horns fired, and Taibitu came in with a smile on his face, and said, "Tie Gong, I have become a magpie to report the news today. I will issue an edict to Taishi Ao in the morning, and I will give it to you in the evening." Come to deliver the imperial decree, we will ask for a cup of wedding wine later!" Wu Liuyi laughed loudly and said: "Naturally!" Then he ordered the shop to set up the incense table.All the generals inside could still eat and drink, they all stopped their glasses and listened carefully. Taibitu saw that Wu Liuyi was talking softly with Yan, without any nervous look on his face, and his heart was already half relieved.After waiting for the incense case to be set up, he walked to the top, stood facing south, and slowly unfolded the imperial edict and read: Here is the decree: Wu Liuyi is the real leader of the Ministry of War, the Minister of the Ministry of War is lacking, and he is given the title of Shangshu, and he is given Hualing with both eyes. The remaining nine admirals are missing, and Li Yiping will take over temporarily.This! All the generals in the hall were shocked when they heard this decree.Li Yiping, who was tied up in the east wing, was secretly happy, but his mouth was full of walnuts, so he couldn't make a sound. Wu Liuyi kowtowed to accept the letter, and didn't bother to read it. He smiled and said to Taibitu: "The official business is over, let's have a wedding wine. Come, let Lord Tai clean up the dust!" A school lieutenant came out with a plate of wine in both hands.Taibitu drank a cup and said with a smile: "Master Li, please come out, and let's congratulate each other." Before he could finish speaking, he stopped abruptly. It turned out that Wu Liuyi was reading the imperial edict, and his face became more and more gloomy. "Taigong!" Wu Liuyi weighed the imperial edict with one hand and asked, "Why isn't it written by the emperor himself?" "Except for the edict, how can I write it myself? It was all drafted by the Hanlin, and then handed over to the study for the emperor to review and use the seal." Taibitu said in amazement, "How many brains do I have, how dare I use a fake edict to deceive the emperor?" "That's not right!" Wu Liuyi suddenly changed his face, his eyes widened strangely, and even his voice was extremely harsh, he turned to greet the generals who were drinking in the hall: "Come out!" The generals were confused by what happened tonight, when they heard the shouts, they all came out one by one, bowed their heads and stood in the corridor. "I have a message, all generals listen carefully!" Wu Liuyi said loudly, and took out a secret edict from his bosom and said, "Fire the cannon to receive the order!" After a while, three loud bangs were heard.Where the flames and smoke rose, the west wing room had been blown to the ground, and the eight guerrilla masters who came to drink with murder weapons had been reduced to ashes!All the generals in the corridor turned pale with fright, fell down on the ground and shouted loudly: "Long live!" Wu Liuyi read out the secret edict in public, and shouted: "The emperor wrote the secret decree to me; for the position of admiral of the nine gates, I will not accept the imperial edict if I don't accept the imperial edict written by myself! Drafted by the study: This is strange!" Then he passed the two edicts to the generals: "Look at it all!" Taibitu was so frightened that his legs trembled, he quickly laughed and said: "I don't know that the emperor has this secret edict. I must have made a mistake in the study. I will check it later and it will be clear. Wu Gong will not obey it tonight." It doesn't matter if it's an imperial edict." "Taigong, don't you know that I, Wu, is called an iron beggar?" Wu Liuyi smiled, "The 'iron' one is one of them. The heart is like iron, and the 'beggar' has nothing to ask for. Since I came Now, it’s not so easy to leave!” "I'm an official of the Ministry of War. No matter how powerful you are, you are still my subordinate. What will happen?" Taibitu knew that today's affairs could not be good, and his attitude became tough. "It's not that bad," Wu Liuyi said with a smile: "You and General Li have been together, and you have to endure for a while in the east wing of our mansion. Tomorrow, the matter is clarified, and I will make an apology to you!" Waved, "Take it!" "Bold!" Taibitu is the Minister of the Ministry of War after all, he shouted loudly, several school lieutenants looked at each other, froze and did not dare to make a move, the iron beggar was very angry, he took off his saber and held it horizontally in his hand with a "shua", shouted loudly : "Take it!" The school captains didn't dare to neglect any more, they stepped forward and pushed away. "Slow down!" Wei Dongting walked out of the hall with a grin, "Please write a note to Ao Zhongtang, the Thai servant." "What to write?" Seeing that Wei Dongting was here, Taibitu asked in a trembling voice, knowing that the important matter had passed. As soon as Wei Dongting raised his hand, a young servant in the hall took out a pen and inkstone and laid it on the steps, "You write, just write down the eight words 'the beggar's business is already harmonious, act according to the plan'." Taibitu had no choice but to shake After writing it by hand several times, Wei Dongting smiled with satisfaction and said to the generals: "The brothers are too refined, and Tai Shilang going in like this will make General Li jealous, please settle down." Tie Gai only nodded, and the captains followed Li Yiping's example and bundled him to the east wing. After the treatment is completed, the sky will be bright, which is the time when the five drums are exhausted.Time was running out, Wei Dongting said to Wu Liuyi with a smile: "The general is really quick to do things, but there is one more thing, I need the general's help." "What's up?" "In addition to doing as we agreed the night before, Mr. He has to take a dangerous trip." "Me?" He Zhiming was a little baffled when he saw himself, but when Wei Dongting shook the note in his hand, he immediately understood.After hesitating, he muttered, "I'm not up to the task?" "Your scheming is very careful, this matter is up to you." Wei Dongting said with a smile: "After the edict, you will be the head of the Ministry of War, and you will be rewarded with the title of servant. Can you see the master empty-handed?" He Zhiming said: "It's not that I don't dare to go, Oboi is the most suspicious person, I'm afraid that after repeated questioning, I will miss the important matter of the Lord." "Zhiming!" Wu Liuyi said with emotion, "This game of chess can only be played well if we cooperate with each other. We must not be suspicious, and we must not be soft-hearted. Whether a man succeeds or fails depends on one move!" After He Zhiming heard this, he arched his hands high and said, "Then brother, just resign to his life!" After speaking, he went to take off his green clothes, put a note on his sleeve and left.