Chapter 128 Chapter Thirty-seventh: The phantom strikes, the soul is frightened

After watching the play in You Yi Zhai, it's time to pass the time.Dozens of people, big and small, took sedan chairs and carried them out of Donghua Gate in a swarm.These relatives of the emperor who were favored by the emperor bid farewell at the gate of Donghua, and each chose their own way to go home.Feng Bao's eight-person palanquin was the last to be carried out of the Forbidden City.At this time, the night was as cool as water, the lights on the street were dimmed, the stars were twinkling in the sky, and the thin floating clouds half covered a cold moon.In a temple somewhere, there are occasional sounds of a distant and deep Buddhist bell, which adds to the profoundness and mystery of the capital.Sitting in the sedan chair, Feng Bao suddenly felt his knees were cold, so he picked up a piece of velvet felt to cover his knees, and stuffed a pillow behind his waist.

After sending Empress Dowager Li back to the Palace of Compassion in the afternoon, Feng Bao rushed to Suzhou Guild Hall on Qipan Street to watch the troupe's rehearsal and review the repertoire for the evening performance.Then go back to You Yi Zhai to check the stage, set up seats for the emperor invited by the emperor, prepare refreshments, in short, everything must be arranged personally.By the time the theater troupe kicked off, he was so tired that he felt like he was spreading mud.Even so, he couldn't find a place to lie down for a while, and had to wait on the queen mother and the emperor, and arranged for them to take care of them.It can be said that while others are watching the show, he is watching people.Feng Bao asked the opera troupe to prepare two operas, but just after one was performed, the emperor asked the queen mother for instructions, saying that it was dark and should the royal relatives go home.Empress Dowager Li is addicted to watching operas, but remembering the rules of the palace, the royal relatives must withdraw before entering the harem, so she agreed with the emperor's suggestion and let the theater troupe stop playing.Seeing all the royal relatives leaving their seats to say goodbye, the emperor deliberately walked up to Feng Bao and said with concern: "Dear Companion, you have been busy all day, you should go back and rest early." Feng Bao was moved and took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, According to the queen mother's order, tomorrow an old slave will send a decree to Zhang Jing, free his eunuch who holds the pen, and send it to Nanjing, do you think it is appropriate?" The emperor replied: "Just do as the queen mother said, and he will be on duty tomorrow. You first come to Qianqing Palace to get the decree." After saying that, he urged him to go home to rest.Only then did Feng Bao return to the Prison of Rituals to sit in a sedan chair, and left the Forbidden City excitedly and tiredly.

Unknowingly, the sedan chair was carried across Fugui Street.From the nearby brothel, a little girl's slightly desolate voice came out: Who is thinner? The morning is also sad, the evening is also sad In my heart, those who are disgusted are always in front of my eyes what you want is impossible Tears, a little bit drenched the sleeves of the shirt My heart is higher than that day, my life is not free I am a strong heart lagging behind others Iron, iron the clothes evenly But I can't iron my slave's frown Scissors, cut a mess But I can't cut off my slave's sorrow...

The sound of this little song spread far away in the quiet night, Feng Bao's big sedan chair was carried out for more than half a mile, and the voice of complaining about Ai Ai was still piercing into his ears. "Since ancient times, beauties have been unlucky," Feng Bao thought in his heart, "How many girls' wishful thinking have been buried in every brothel." From this to that, he thought of the situation in the court after Zhang Juzheng's death, and suddenly felt his own insecurities. The mood is not much different from that of the girl in the brothel.Feng Bao can be called a master in fighting and killing.But how easy is it to remove a thorn in his side? Just to say how much thought he spent to get rid of Zhang Jing around him, he made this "game".Although the chances of winning are now in hand, before the decree is issued, one should not take it lightly.He saw that the emperor still cared about Zhang Jing, but he had no choice but to agree to expel Zhang Jing under the pressure of the queen mother: the most important thing now is to get the holy edict as soon as possible.At this time, he really wished for a god to show up and drag the sun out of Dongshan.Just closing his eyes and thinking about it, he suddenly heard someone slapping on the car window, and when he lifted the curtain, he saw that it was Shi Dayu, the head of the guard.

"What's the matter?" Feng Bao asked. Shi Dayu was slightly nervous, and said in a low voice: "Master, looking at the street, I feel something is wrong." "What's wrong?" "Look, there are sergeants on patrol everywhere." Feng Bao put his head out of the sedan window and squinted his eyes to look at the street, and he saw a group of armed soldiers hurrying past.The shiny gun tip shone with a terrible cold light under the dim yellow light.He didn't think deeply.only said: "Today is the Double Ninth Festival, and there are so many royal relatives going to watch a theater in Da Nei. For the sake of safety, it is reasonable for the five cities to send more soldiers to patrol."

"But these soldiers are not the soldiers under the jurisdiction of Wucheng Bing Ma Si." Shi Dayu pointed to another group of soldiers approaching and said, "I asked, they are soldiers from the Beijing camp stationed outside Desheng Gate. In the evening, he was ordered to enter the city." "Ah?" Feng Bao tensed in his heart, and said to himself, "Soldiers from the Beijing camp, without the emperor's decree, no one can be transferred. At this time, there are neither bandit police nor fire hazards. Let the soldiers from the Beijing camp be transferred into the city." What are you doing?"

"That's right, the little one is also suspicious." Shi Dayu said. "Let's not care about these, let the bearers hurry up, let's get home early." Shi Dayu gave instructions to the head of the sedan chair, and the sedan chair moved forward like flying.After about a stick of incense, Feng Bao arrived at the gate of the mansion.The big sedan chair had just settled down in the sedan chair hall, when the butler Zhang Dashou stepped forward and opened the sedan chair door, and saw Feng Bao sitting firmly inside, so he let out a long breath, helped Feng Bao out of the sedan chair, and said: :

"Seeing the master, I feel relieved." "Why are you uneasy?" Feng Bao asked. Zhang Dashou didn't answer immediately, but ordered the door to be closed, led Feng Bao to the living room to sit down, took out the milk jug soaked in it from a wooden bucket filled with hot water, and held it to the master with both hands.It was only then that Feng Bao realized that the house was brightly lit, and although it was late at night, no one was sleeping, and the faces of the servants showed panic.Suddenly feeling strange, after taking a sip of the human milk sent by the nanny's house, he asked Zhang Dashou:

"What happened?" Zhang Dashou replied: "Report to my lord, Xu Jue is gone." "Ah, where did he go?" Feng Bao asked in surprise. "If the little one knew, he wouldn't be in such a hurry." Zhang Dashou was so anxious that he dropped his claws, and told the whole story, "Today is the Double Ninth Festival, Xu Jue agreed, and he will come back to the house tonight, and the same person My brothers had a meal of chrysanthemum wine, but from Shenshi to Youshi, there was no sign of him. The brothers thought that he was entertaining in the yamen and couldn't get away, so they didn't wait for him and ate on their own. Who knows At this time, someone from the Nanzhen Fusi yamen came to the door and asked Xu Fuye if he was there. He said that he got up in the sedan chair and left the yamen in the middle of the afternoon and told his subordinates to come back here. After he left, the town Fusi filed a case , waiting for him to sign the ticket and detain him all night long, but he couldn't come, so he came to the mansion. When I heard it, I was surprised. Xu Jue was not such a confused person, why did he suddenly disappear? The little one was worried, so he sent people to look for him everywhere. There are four places he likes to go to the most, one is the residence of Yushi Wang Zhuan of Youdu; Mr. Zhang’s six sons have all gone back to their hometown to guard the University Scholars’ Mansion. Now there is only one You Qi left to watch the house, and Xu Jue often goes to chat with him; the fourth is to go to Dongchang to find the master Chen Yingfeng. There is no sign of Xu Jue in these four places. What's even more strange is that Feng Bangning and Chen Yingfeng are both missing. The villain doesn't know what happened, so he sent a dozen groups of people to hunt down all the troublemakers in the capital. I searched all over the place. Not long after the master came back, the people who went out to search also came back one after another, but there is no news."

Hearing that so many people disappeared together, and thinking of the Beijing soldiers he saw on the street, Feng Baodun felt something was wrong, put down the half-sipped milk pot, and asked Zhang Dashou: "Why didn't you report it earlier when such a big thing happened?" Zhang Dashou replied: "When I noticed these abnormalities, I once rode a horse and wanted to go to the Forbidden City to find you. But at the gate, I was blocked by the soldiers guarding the gate, saying that there was a play in the palace tonight, and there were a lot of idlers. Don’t let them in.” "Don't you have a dental card for entering and leaving Ouchi, and you didn't show it for them to see?"

"It's on. They said that tonight, no sign will be allowed in." "Which door did you go through?" "The little ones usually go to the Xuanwu Gate. After being blocked there, we went around to the Donghua Gate and were also blocked." "Ah, there are such things!" Feng Bao was stunned for a while, then got up and walked a few steps in the hall, suddenly turned his face to the side, and ordered, "Prepare the sedan chair!" "It's late at night, where is the master going?" Zhang Dashou asked cautiously. "Dongchang. The old man went to look for it himself, but we didn't believe it. Three big living people were hooked by Hades in a blink of an eye." Zhang Dashou didn't dare to neglect, and went to the wing room in the front yard to call out all the bearers and guards who had just rested.Everyone packed up the flags and guards of honor, and just opened the gate, the people standing in the sedan chair hall were all stunned for a moment—only outside the gate, there were soldiers from the Beijing camp standing in black.Standing in front of the queue were three people, with Zhang Jing in the middle, Xu Yunlong, the capital governor on the left, and Zhao Wenxiang, the governor of Jinyiwei on the right. But in the middle of the afternoon, Zhang Jing rushed to the cabinet immediately after receiving the imperial decree from Xinuange to remove Feng Bao, and informed Zhang Siwei of this important news.Time was running out, and the two decided immediately that since Feng Bao's three confidants Xu Jue, Feng Bangning, and Chen Yingfeng controlled the East Factory and part of Jinyiwei, they must be secretly arrested before Feng Bao's investigation.In order to prevent accidents, they also asked the emperor to issue a special decree immediately to transfer 3,000 Beijing soldiers stationed outside Deshengmen into the city to patrol and arrest.After discussing it properly, Zhang Jing went to Xinuange to report again, and the emperor agreed with all of them, and secretly issued an order to the relevant civil and military officials involved in the operation.Since the incident happened suddenly without any warning, it took no trouble to arrest Xu Jue, Feng Bangning and Chen Yingfeng.Today, these three people have been secretly sent to Fusi prison in Beizhen.When Zhang Jing sent someone into the palace to secretly report the progress to the emperor, Feng Bao, who was also sitting in the Youyi Zhai, was still in the dark.The emperor stopped acting in the name of late at night, nominally because the royal family could not stay in the palace after midnight, but actually wanted to urge Feng Bao to go home.After leaving Donghua Gate, Feng Bao felt that disaster was imminent due to various signs.After he went home and asked about the situation, he made a decisive decision to go to Dongchang. First, he wanted to find Xu Jue and the others.Unexpectedly, when he opened the gate, hundreds of soldiers in full armor were waiting for him. Seeing this posture, Zhang Dashou's first thought was to close the door.As soon as he pouted, some handymen pushed the door open, while others lifted the door handle.Feng Bao waved his hand to tell them to retreat, then went out with his clothes straight, walked up to Zhang Jing, stared at him and asked coldly: "Zhang Jing, what are you doing?" Don't look at Zhang Jing's high-spirited and smug belly, every time he sees Feng Bao, he lowers his eyebrows and lowers his eyes and bends his legs.At this moment, it took a lot of effort to pull up the waist, and shouted as if arguing: "Master Feng, let's deliver the decree." "What about the order?" Feng Bao was aggressive. "Here," Zhang Jing took a scroll of yellow silk from a small servant behind him, pulled his hands away, and shouted in a high-pitched voice, "Feng Bao listens to—" Feng Bao hesitated for a while, bent his legs and knelt down, only to hear Zhang Jing read: Feng Bao is old and his mind is getting faint.Doing things in front of the imperial court has repeatedly failed.Today, the seal of the supervisor of ceremonies will be removed, and I will go to Nanjing to live leisurely.This is it. When Zhang Jing read the last two words, he deliberately dragged his tongue.There was a certain insult and provocation in the sound, which spread far and far in the silent night sky.After reading it, he smashed the imperial decree into Feng Bao's hands heavily.In an instant, Feng Bao's whole body felt like he was being shocked by electric shock.The imperial decree with a few dozens of words was like dozens of thunderbolts, exploding in the heart of this authoritative old man.At that moment, one thought after another turned in his mind like a revolving lantern. He thought of the lottery he drew at Baiyun Temple, and the reminder from the abbot of the Madame Temple, Miao Ni, that he should not commit evil spirits before the severe cold. Zhang Juzheng's extreme worry about the court situation before his death, thinking of the emperor's faltering expression in front of the queen mother at noon today, and thinking of the song "Ancient Temple Cold Spring" that he spent two years meticulously composing...In an instant, he seemed to understand everything up.He slowly got up from the ground, threw the imperial decree to Zhang Dashou, looked at Zhang Jing and said: "The old man promoted you to the Supervisor of Rituals at the beginning, it was because of shit." Although Zhang Jing was frightened, he forced himself to be calm, and said with a dry smile: "Master Feng, you are getting old, so what's wrong with going to Nanjing to enjoy Qingfu?" Feng Bao sneered, and said sharply: "You spent a lot of money to buy Burmese bells in Yunnan to give to the emperor, such a traitor who seduced the emperor and corrupted Tsunaki, how can he stand in front of this old man and speak!" Zhang Jing became angry from embarrassment, his face turned red and white, and he threatened in a strong manner: "Old man, this prison is here to deliver the decree according to the emperor's order. If you disrespect this prison, you are bullying the emperor." "Bah!" Feng Bao spat heavily, gritted his teeth and cursed, "You didn't cheat out of this decree!" Zhang Jingqing knew that if he continued to fight like this, he would be at a disadvantage in the end, so he retaliated fiercely with an eye for an eye: "Old man, I don't have time to listen to you. You can also see clearly that the soldiers standing next to us are all soldiers from the Beijing camp. The mission given to them by the emperor is to escort you to the Zhangjiawan Wharf in Tongzhou. There will be a long time ago for you." An official ship has been prepared to take you to Nanjing." Cursing, scolding, Feng Bao himself knows that the situation is over now.He looked at the soldiers who were staring at him, heaved a long sigh, and told Zhang Dashou beside him: "Go, go to the living room and help the old man." Holding the imperial decree in his hand, Zhang Dashou withdrew and turned around sweating profusely.Feng Bao took a few steps on the spot, left Zhang Jing behind, and said to Xu Yunlong, governor of the Beijing camp: "The old man is going to say goodbye to his subordinates in the mansion. The military gate will wait here for a while." Xu Yunlong, a third-rank military officer, used to want to curry favor with Feng Bao, but he couldn't find a way out.Although Feng Bao has become a "prisoner" at this moment, his majesty remains undiminished. Xu Yunlong was intimidated by his aura, and bowed to please him and said: "Even though Eunuch Feng goes back to the house to say goodbye, he's just humble... Hey, I just have the emperor's life as the governor, so I hope Eunuch Feng will cooperate." Feng Bao didn't answer, and walked back to the living room of the mansion leisurely.At this moment, nearly a hundred servants in the mansion were waiting in the courtyard.These people never dreamed that their master, the most important companion of the emperor, would be abandoned by the emperor.This is really an unexpected disaster from Tianwei, so everyone's faces turned pale with fright.At this time, the embers in the living room had already been set up, Zhang Dashhou understood the master's thoughts, and it was the embroidered embers from the Tang Dynasty that Pan Sheng sent.Feng Bao sat down and plucked the zither string lightly, the gentle zither sound was like a purple swallow gliding over willow branches.He squinted his eyes and looked around, and asked: "What about the fragrance?" With tears in his eyes, Zhang Dashou replied, "I forgot to order the little one." He hurriedly moved the Xuande Crane Incense Burner, and found the Wusi Tibetan tribute incense in the mansion, and lit it. Feng Bao sniffed, smelling the exciting fragrance, and asked again: "Where is Lan Zhi, why don't you see her?" Lan Zhi is the singer Wang Zhuan brought back from Yangzhou to Feng Bao two years ago.She is good-looking and has a clear singing voice, so Feng Bao likes her very much.At this time, Lan Zhi was standing in the corner of the living room: Hearing that the master was looking for her, she hurriedly squeezed out from the gap between the people and saluted, and said sadly: "The servant is here." Feng Bao looked at her red eyes, and said with a smile: "Farewell is not sad, life and death are nothing, just wipe away your tears." Waiting for Lan Zhi to wipe the corners of her eyes, Feng Bao said again: "Lan Zhi, do you still remember the "Four Seasons Music" that I taught you last time?" "Remember." Lan Zhi's voice trembled. "Okay, the old man is stroking the sere now, you can sing this song." Feng Bao said and ordered Zhang Dashou, "Turn out all the palace lanterns, and only light one candle." Suddenly, the Feng Mansion, which was brightly lit and bright, suddenly became dark: Zhang Jing, who was waiting anxiously outside the door, was startled, and was about to order the soldiers to rush in, but he heard rustling in the living room, A woman's shy voice sang desolately: see through the world, Rest and retreat, From summer to cold, to spring and then to autumn, A hundred years of time will not be left for me. stay in the clear stream, paddle a boat; Arrange a couch, Travel around the world. What famous mountains and scenic spots are you looking for? What kind of dance pavilion to climb; Talk about heroes and heroes, fame and wealth, What to read "Five Classics", "Ba Suo" and "Nine Hills". When spring comes, you only need to read Li Taibai's "Preface to Taoyuan", Drunken moon in cow clothes, night tour with candles. In summer, you only need to read Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface", Lush forests and bamboos, jade belts clear streams. In autumn, you only need to read Ouyang Xiu's "Autumn Sound Fu", The stars and the moon are bright and clean, and the Milky Way is in full swing. In winter, you only need to read Meng Haoran's "Xing Ya Zhi", Stepping on the snow to find spring, poetry and wine. The snow is on the top of the mountain, and plum is the leader, Plum snow contends for spring, holding a pot of wine idle. Bai Xueshi, Plum Blossom Wine Talk with Lao Toutuo What do you mean by worrying so much? The day and night of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting; What do you say to confer the title of Marquis and Prime Minister? Fishermen and woodcutters have read the Spring and Autumn Period. Look at the boundless mountains and rivers falling under the rustling trees, A master of learning sits arrogantly at the south window and is a princely prince. Looking back, how many fans in Vanity Fair, The hustle and bustle is endless. I always envy him, the old fisherman by the wild grass stream, When I came back from stepping on the moon, I said that it was a cool autumn. After the song was played, most of the candle that was shining alone on the table had been burned out.Feng Bao put his hands on the piano and was stunned for a long time, neither raised his head nor spoke.After a long time, he raised his eyelids, and through the low flames, he saw that there were servants and servants kneeling everywhere in the living room, and he stood up slowly and said to Zhang Dashou: "The people below have been with the old man for many years, you arrange more money to distribute to them, and let them make their own living." Feng Bao usually treats his subordinates very well, helping them solve their problems, giving money and money, and never treating anyone badly.Therefore, once something happened to him suddenly, all the servants in the mansion would be astonished like wooden people, and no one would take pleasure in other people's misfortune.At this moment, hearing his order to Zhang Dashou, he couldn't help crying.I don't know who couldn't hold back the lead and let out a loud voice. In a short time, everyone in Feng's house was screaming and crying.Feng Bao's heart was sour, looking at the crowds kneeling here and there, he thought of the words "the tree falls and the monkeys scatter", so he took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and wept for the people standing in front of him. The childlike Lan Zhi wiped her face, forced herself to smile, and said: "Lan Zhi, the old man taught you the song "Four Seasons Music". No matter how you sang it before, you felt that it didn't feel right. Tonight, you finally sang the song "Sexy." "master!" Lan Zhi screamed, dropped the cloud board in her hand, knelt down on the ground and cried bitterly.Feng Bao didn't care about her anymore, but turned around abruptly, picked up the brocade ser with both hands and slammed it on the ground fiercely, it shattered, and the candle flame jumped out and went out suddenly.In the unfathomable darkness, only Feng Bao said softly: "Queen Mother, this old man is going to the south of the Yangtze River. I am afraid that the bones will never return, so I can only say goodbye to you here."