Jiaochu

During the seven-day Kuixing Banquet, all seven Kuixing lanterns were lit, and the first two were lit by the same person. This person was the great talent from Jiangnan, Ruan Zhu.

On the day Ye Lingxi and his party went, the great talent had an appointment with his friends and did not show up. Some people even called it a pity that they could not see the exciting competition between this great talent from Jiangnan and the great talent from Qingzhou. picture.

However, the news that Xu Zilin surrendered to Su Shi soon spread. One was a well-known literary senior, and the other was the young master of the Shangshu Mansion. Their identities alone were enough to become the talk of the teahouse and restaurant.

In the next few days, neither of the two great talents showed up. Ruan Zhu had a lot of friends. Today he went boating on the lake with friend A, and tomorrow he went out to the city to enjoy the flowers with friend B. He didn't have time to come to Kuixing Tower to compete. Xu Zilin guessed I felt depressed after admitting defeat and wanted to retreat for a few days to have some peace and quiet.

A few days later, another strange thing happened in the city.

Mr. Guo didn't know what kind of evil he had possessed, so he ran to the door of the Shangshu Mansion and made a scene, attracting countless people to watch. He said that the Shangshu Mansion was bullying others and had locked up his friends and asked the other party to release them.

This good friend is the great talent of Qingzhou, Xu Zilin.

Su Shangshu is the Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, in charge of the promotion assessment of officials. In such a position, it is inevitable to have some enemies. These people are waiting to see the joke of the Shangshu Mansion, and they also brought this matter to Ye Lanchen.

In the morning, Liu Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment reported the disappearance of Xu Zilin to Ye Lanchen. Guo Huai first went to Shuntian Mansion to report the case. Because the person he sued was the son of Shangshu Mansion, Shuntian Mansion did not dare to easily resolve the case, so he reported it to the Ministry of Punishment.

According to what Guo Huai said when he reported the case, after the Kuixing Banquet, Xu Zilin received an invitation from Su Shi, the Master of the Shangshu Mansion, to attend the appointment. However, when he didn't come back the next day, he went to the Shangshu Mansion to look for someone but was stopped by his servants. , became angry from shame, and started making a fuss at the door of the house, insisting that it was Shangshu's Mansion that had locked people up.

"Impossible!" Ye Xingye categorically denied it, but when Ye Lanchen looked over at him, he fell silent.

Ye Qingran never expressed his opinions, while Ye Lingjue watched the changes quietly.

Liu Shangshu also brought Guo Huai, the reporter, and was quite well prepared.

When a guard led Guo Huai into the hall to meet the saint, Yan Fei glanced over there and saw the timid appearance of the other person. He tightened his grip on the flying fish knife slung around his waist. The next moment, he His eyes swept towards a pillar, and the person hiding behind immediately retracted the tip of his head. After a while, the person behind the pillar quietly revealed a pair of big black eyes.

Seeing that Yan Fei was not looking this way, Ye Lingxi continued to peek in the direction of the main hall.

After entering the palace, Guo Huai plopped down on the ground and cried out for injustice, begging the emperor to make the decision.

"Mr. Guo, don't rush to complain. Let's make things clear first." Guo Huai raised his head and looked at the speaker with a surprised look on his face. "You are...!" Shen Ning said with a smile, "It seems that Mr. Guo still remembers me." He reported to Ye Lanchen again, "Wei Chen happened to be present during the competition that day. Wei Chen saw with his own eyes that Xu Dacai was willing to admit defeat and then left. There was no trouble. The two never had any grudges. Why lock people up.”

"The invitation was sent by someone from the Shangshu Mansion. Brother Xu never came back after he left. Could it be that they locked him up?" Guo Huai said.

"What about the invitation? Can I have a look at it?" Shen Ning said.

Guo Huai ducked his eyes guiltily and said: "Brother Xu took the invitation to the appointment, but the person who came to deliver the invitation was a servant of Shangshu Mansion. I heard it with my own ears."

At this time, Su Shangshu came out and reported: "Your Majesty, Quanzi did not send anyone to send invitations that day, nor did the servants in the palace send them. I dare not deceive the emperor." "Master Su is eager to protect his son, but the Qing Dynasty will do it himself." "Qing, why don't you let your son come over and explain the matter clearly?" Zheng Mian, Minister of the Ministry of War, asked a little bit eccentrically.

Su Shangshu reported: "Your Majesty, Quanzi has no official position. He dare not enter the palace without permission and waits outside the Meridian Gate."

Ye Lanchen signaled to Eunuch De, and Eunuch De gave instructions to Xiao Anzi. Xiao Anzi quickly came out and explained to Yan Fei, and then Yan Fei left.

Seeing Yan Fei leave, Ye Lingxi became even more curious about what happened in the palace. When Yan Fei came back with Su Shi, she was a little surprised. After watching the two of them enter the palace, she silently thought to herself that it was okay...

Su Shi told the story of the competition between the two that day, but did not say that the other party took the initiative to provoke him. Yan Fei was also in Kuixing Tower that day and could testify for Su Shi. After that, Su Shi didn't ask anyone to send him an invitation. In fact, he didn't even know where the other party lived.

Guo Huai then said that Mr. Gu was suspicious. Su Shangshu did not hide it and revealed the identity of the other party. Guo Huai was even more convinced that several people had collaborated to deceive and win the competition. Afterwards, he still did not give up and had him imprisoned in the mansion. .

"Then it doesn't make sense. If they were collaborating to deceive, why did Master Xu win the painting that Mr. Gu chose? Besides, Mr. Xu took the initiative to admit defeat. So many people present saw it. He shouldn't give up. Is it Mr. Xu who lost the competition, but I see that Mr. Xu is also a cheerful person, not a coward." Shen Ning said.

"Knowing people but not knowing their hearts, maybe Mr. Xu lied about receiving an invitation and came to look for trouble, so he was locked up." Zheng Mian said.

Su Shangshu reported: "Your Majesty, there is no such person in Wei Chen's mansion." He also said, "If any of you sirs don't believe it, go back to find him with Su after you go to court."

Some ministers looked at each other and did not dare to take sides casually.

Ye Lanchen glanced at the ministers below, then his eyes fell on Rong Liang, the Minister of Household Affairs, "Does Rong Aiqing have anything to say?"

"The emperor is aware of everything, and the ministers dare not make rash judgments." Rong Liang said.

Ye Lanchen asked someone to take Guo Huai down first and let the Imperial City Division be responsible for investigating the case.

Ye Lingxi hid behind the pillar and saw a guard leading Guo Huai out first, followed by Yan Fei and Su Shi. She followed them quietly. After walking down the steps, she coughed to attract attention. When the two When the person turned around, she slipped over like a rabbit.

"Brother Su, are you okay? No one is making things difficult for you, right?" Ye Lingxi asked with concern.

Su Shi shook his head slightly, with a gentle look on his face, not a frown on his face, but a trace of thought in his eyebrows.

"I think there is something wrong with Guo Huai, so I need to investigate it carefully," Yan Fei said.

Ye Lingxi nodded in agreement. When he saw the other person in Kuixing Tower, he observed his words and deeds, and there was no lack of tendency to follow others. He must not be an upright person.

After talking for a while, they heard Eunuch De loudly announcing his withdrawal from the court. Yan Fei took Su Shi and left first. Ye Lingxi also quietly left through the hanging flower door on the side.