prosperous age

Chapter 301 Chapter 300
Wei Guangde and his party slowly headed towards Bao'an Prefecture, but Li San was not like this, and rushed all the way to the capital.

Although he didn't know what was in the box on his back, he could guess from what he had heard and seen in the past few days that it might have something to do with the life and death of Mr. Shen, otherwise Wei Guangde would not have let him fly back to the capital.

Along the way, Li Sanxiao stayed overnight, and his three meals a day were settled immediately, without daring to waste any time. On the fourth day after he was separated from the brigade, he had already rushed into Beijing.

Of course, when he got to the gate of the capital, Li San had already slowed down his horse. If he rushed into the city like this, it would be a big taboo, and he knew he couldn't cause trouble for his master.

After entering the city gate, Li San didn't care to go back to Wei's house first, so he went directly to Xiyuan, and waited by the side when he got there. He can't go in and out there casually, he can only go there when Chen Ju comes in and out.

Of course, he is not stupid. After all, Chen Ju is the eunuch next to Emperor Jiajing, and he cannot be sent to run around, so Li San still has some scattered silver in his arms, ranging from a few dollars to one or two taels. When the servants entered Xiyuan, they asked them to write a letter to Chen Ju. Naturally, the money was needed, but there was no reason to find someone to run away in vain.

Having been in the capital for a long time, Li San also knew that these eunuchs were extremely greedy for money, and they looked down on the copper coins in their arms, but a little silver was the favorite of these eunuchs.

This is a palace, and there are many eunuchs coming in and out on weekdays. In a short time, Li San invited two groups of people to talk inside.

After all, he didn't know these eunuchs, and he didn't know if they would take the money to Yongshou Palace, so Li San didn't just find a group of people to talk to and finish the job, in case that person took the money and didn't do anything Well, he was left hanging here.

At this time, he can't be in a hurry.

There are many rules in the palace, these eunuchs must have their own errands to come and go in and out of Xiyuan, they will either drop by when they bring a message, or they will only go after their own work is done.

I found a big tree not far from the gate of Xiyuan, Li San tied the two horses to the tree stump, squatted under the shade of the tree, staring at the direction of the gate of Xiyuan, although he was anxious, he could only be patient I waited desperately, hoping to see Chen Ju coming out of the gate of Xiyuan in the next moment.

The things in the wooden box on his back should be very important, otherwise the master would not let him come back and hand them over to Chen Ju himself.

It's just that more than an hour passed after waiting. During this period, Li Sanyou stopped two groups of eunuchs who were about to enter Xiyuan, and asked them to go in and talk to Chen Ju in Yongshou Palace.

Li San only hoped that one of these groups of people would have a little conscience, and it would be great if he could help him get the word out after collecting the money.

After squatting outside the gate of Xiyuan for so long, he had already attracted the attention of the guards guarding the gate, but the location Li San chose was far from the palace gate, and would not threaten the safety of the palace, so the guards did not come out to question him. .

As for the guards guarding the gate, it is impossible to go in and pass on messages. They have their own areas of activity during their on-duty period, and it is impossible for them to run around. Only the eunuchs in the palace can come in and out freely so that they can talk.

There are eunuchs at the gate of Xiyuan Palace, but they have to survive the interrogation of the guards at the gate. It's not that a servant like him can ask the eunuch at the gate to pass a message to Chen Ju.

The relationship in the palace is actually more complicated than that in the imperial court. Maybe except for Huang Jin, the other eunuchs are also introverted. When they meet, everyone is smiling and peaceful. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes.

Most of the eunuchs sent to the gate to communicate are the sons and grandsons of the chief eunuchs in the palace. They also help to collect information. The other eunuchs noticed.

Although Li San is a rough soldier, but at this time he showed a side that he thought was very wise.

The master probably doesn't want more people to know that he was sent back to deliver things, so he should be more careful, and a little delay should not cause trouble. Well, when he sees someone going in later, he will spend some money to clear it.

But what he didn't know was that such an old man had been squatting outside Xiyuan Gate for more than an hour. The eunuchs and guards in the palace were lazy and ignored him, but the captains in Jinyi who were in charge of monitoring the surrounding situation had already reported it. .

Li San's clothes looked like the servant of some official, and he must be waiting for someone as he was squatting outside the palace gate.

It didn't take long for someone to recognize Wei Guangde's servant.

There is no need to marvel at how Jinyiwei found out Li San's identity. In fact, Jinyiwei has specially selected people with good memories to form a recognition team. A group of them not only memorizes the appearance of the Beijing official, but also knows the family members around them. Have an impression and be able to recall quickly.

Of course, the same is true not only for officials and their families, but also for some outstanding figures in the capital.

While Li San was still squatting outside the gate of Xiyuan, the Commander of Jinyiwei, Lu Bing, had already received the information from his subordinates.

Wei Guangde sent his servants to wait outside the gate of Xiyuan. What does this mean?
Wasn't that kid sent to drink tea and go to the border guards in Ji Town?
Could it be that something happened?

But it's not right, if something really happened, the servant shouldn't be staying at the gate of Xiyuan, but should go to the Tongzheng Envoy to deliver the memorial.

Such a small matter, but in Lu Bing's view, it is not small.

"Send someone to keep an eye on him to see who he's waiting for, and tell me immediately if you see him."

Lu Bing gave an order, put the note in his hand aside, picked up a book on the table and continued to read.

Lu Bing’s daily work is to check the information sent back from the bright and dark lines of Jinyiwei in various places. He will classify the information, select some that he thinks are important, or that it is necessary for the emperor to know, and have someone copy it and send it to the palace. go.

Not all information had to be read by the emperor. Emperor Jiajing was busy cultivating immortals, but he couldn't see it.

Li San had been waiting outside the gate of Xiyuan for nearly two hours, and it was already past lunch time, so he could only take out two steamed buns and water bags from his bag and gnaw on them, his eyes not moving for a moment. Dare to leave the gate of Xiyuan.

Finally, after he didn't know how many times he called out in his heart, a familiar figure appeared at the gate of Xiyuan. The man just stood inside the gate and looked out. Naturally, he soon saw Li San under the shade of a tree in the distance. , and then waved to him, signaling him to go over.

Li San didn't have to turn around and go back to lead the horse. He touched the burden on his back and got up and walked over. Maybe he squatted for a long time, and he felt a little dazed when he got up.

When they arrived at the gate of Xiyuan, there was Chen Ju, a high-grade eunuch, and the guards beside him didn't stop Li San, and let him walk in the gate.

"Didn't you go out with me? Why did you come back suddenly?"

Of course Chen Ju had an impression of Li San, he was Wei Guangde's groom.

"My lord has something to hand over to my father-in-law."

Li San respectfully unloaded the burden on his back, which contained a small wooden box, and then handed it over with both hands.

Wei Guangde sent him to deliver it?
Chen Ju was still a little strange, "Come with me."

Chen Ju couldn't take Li San into Xiyuan, but took him to an empty room next to the gate and asked him to sit and rest. Then he opened the wooden box, and a memorial and a letter appeared in front of him.

The memorial has a special cover, so it is easy to recognize it. As for the letter,
Chen Ju picked up the envelope naturally, tore it open and took out the letter paper for a quick look.

He came from the inner study, he was naturally literate, and in fact, his knowledge was not low, so Wei Guangde's judgment is that it is possible to take the Jinshi exam.

Chen Ju frowned after reading the letter. The content of the letter was that he had arrived at the Xuan Mansion, and the memorial asked Chen Ju to hand it over to Emperor Jiajing. They all heard the news from the Xuan Mansion, and at the end of the letter it was mentioned that Shen Lian beheaded for public display. As for the situation of his family, the youngest son was married to the extreme side with Shen Lian's wife, the two sons were killed with sticks, and now the eldest son has also been sent to the Xuanfu because of his reputation as a scholar.

Chen Ju is a person who knows how to measure and is very honest. Although he has seen a lot of intrigues in the palace, he just sticks to his duty, is strict with himself, and does not give others a chance to punish him.

So far, perhaps because his rank is too low, or because of the eunuch Gao's face, no one has made things difficult for him.

However, after Chen Ju read Wei Guangde's letter, he felt dissatisfied in his heart. He naturally saw that the Xuan Mansion meant to kill the grass and root out the roots, and to kill Shen Lian's family members. It's a chance for revenge.

Yunzhou, where the youngest son was assigned, is actually Datong, which is a place of war, and the Alda Department launches attacks there several times a year.

Shen Lian's wife and children were dispatched from Baoan Prefecture to Yunzhou, that is, they were even farther away from the capital. When they arrived in Yunzhou, they would most likely be assigned to the military fort in the border town to die.

As for the remaining eldest son, Shen Xiang, Chen Ju could almost imagine that if he entered the magistrate's office in Bao'an Prefecture, he would be beaten to death directly in court.

Regardless of whether Shen Lian was a member of the White Lotus Cult or not, it was impossible for his son who was far away in Zhejiang to know about it. Is it worth interrogating?

Why spend so much effort to bring people to the Xuan Mansion just to kill people?
Thinking of this, and thinking of Wei Guangde's intention to send someone back with the letter, Chen Ju knew that Wei Guangde wanted to leave a queen for the Shen family.

But this is not a small matter, Chen Ju dare not directly hand over Wei Guangde's memorial to the emperor.

"You go home first. It looks like you haven't gone back yet. Go home and rest first. I'll send someone over if there's news."

After Chen Ju said something to Li San, he put the letter back in the wooden box, turned around and left the room.

He wants to discuss it with his godfather Gao Zhong first. From his heart, he is naturally similar to Wei Guangde. He hopes that good people will be rewarded, and he doesn't want Shen Lian's family to be punished like never before.

Li San got Chen Ju's words, and after Chen Ju left, he also left Xiyuan and went back to Wei's house to rest. He was also exhausted these days.

When the item was in Gao Zhong's hands, Gao Zhong frowned slightly, which was against the rules.

Zuo Shu didn't go to the Secretary of General Administration and went directly to the Supervisor of Rituals. If the outer court found out about this, he still wouldn't know how to make a fuss.

The memorabilia was sealed, and even if Gao Zhong was a eunuch with a pen, he didn't dare to open it to read it at this time, but he still read Wei Guangde's letter to Chen Ju.

"What did you tell him?"

Gao Zhong suddenly asked Chen Ju.

"No."

Chen Ju replied instinctively.

"No, the wording of Wei Guangde's letter is somewhat different from his previous style. Did you tell him that the person I analyzed with you earlier may have changed his attitude towards the Yan family?"

Gao Zhong shook his head and continued to ask.

"That's it, I said it."

Chen Ju really can't lie, after Gao Zhong asked that, his face changed slightly, and he admitted it immediately.

"You are too honest."

Gao Zhong shook his head, he loves and hates this Chen Ju, he likes his love and righteousness, but he is also worried that he will get involved in the end.

"Go to Eunuch Huang, it's not easy to deal with."

Gao Zhong shook his head, and then said to Chen Ju.

Gao Zhong was in front, and Chen Ju followed back to Yongshou Palace with the wooden box in his hand.

At this time, Lu Bing had also received the news that Wei Guangde's servant had met Chen Ju and handed him a wooden box with a letter inside, but he didn't know the rest.

Chen Ju didn't take out the memorial, but just opened the letter and looked at it, and others didn't know what else was in the wooden box.

Just by looking at the size, you can tell that there should be something in it, but Chen Ju didn't take it out, otherwise, if it's just a letter, there's no need to put it in a wooden box.

Lu Bing had known about Wei Guangde's relationship with Chen Ju, and he had secretly reported it to Emperor Jiajing, but he didn't say anything about himself, which is why Emperor Jiajing asked Chen Ju to pass on the news.

In fact, the first time Wei Guangde was called into the palace, it was Chen Ju who led the way, so Emperor Jiajing was not surprised when he saw Lu Bing's secret report.

Soon, Gao Zhong and Chen Ju entered the Yongshou Palace. Gao Zhong was waiting outside the palace. Chen Ju quietly walked to Huang Jin's side and pulled his sleeve. When Huang Jin looked over, he pointed to the direction of the palace door. .

Naturally, Huang Jin knew that someone was looking for him outside, so he nodded and motioned for Chen Ju to take his place temporarily. At this moment, Emperor Jiajing was still dozing on the couch, so Huang Jin carefully exited the hall.

After learning the details from Gao Zhong, he also sighed slightly after reading Wei Guangde's letter.

Such an obvious purpose, he can't see it there.

He also understands Gao Zhong's meaning, it's just this memorial, it's really troublesome to think about it.

Of course, they could also hand over the memorandum to the members of the Wei family right now, and let them send it directly to the Supervisor of Rituals, but Wei Guangde obviously knew that if he did this, it would definitely be too late.

Yan Song didn't dare to hide this memorial, but he could suppress it and delay the time for a few days, then everything he did would be in vain.

It's not that Huang Jin doesn't understand the nasty things of the inner and outer courts. Although he was able to get to this position because he followed Emperor Jiajing in the early years, it's a natural thing to get to this point, and he doesn't need to intrigue or compete with others. know many things.

It is precisely because of this that Huang Jin's heart is not as cruel as those admirals and eunuchs who competed for posts by unscrupulous means in the past. He understands the value of time, and that is a life.

Filled with compassion, Huang Jin looked at the memorial in the wooden box, "Send it up when the emperor wakes up, put the letter inside and hand it in together."

(End of this chapter)