Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 41 The real murderer behind the scenes
(PS: The second update is delivered. I wish my friends a happy World Cup, and Argentina will win!)
"What? My father said that he would give Jiuqiantui 4 taels of silver to buy his life?" Xiong Hu jumped up, blushing and shouted: "Nonsense! This is impossible! Let's not say that my father never asked My brother mentioned this matter, even if my father has the heart to do this, my family will not be able to come up with so much money, where can I find 4 taels of silver to give to Jiu Qiansui?"

"Are you sure?" Eldest Young Master Zhang asked Xiong Hu with a rare serious tone, "Recall carefully, did your elder brother say anything about this? This is the key to saving your father, you must not make a mistake."

"Absolutely not!" Xiong Hu shook his head resolutely, and muttered: "4 taels of silver sounds scary. Unless my father sells me, where can I get so much money?"

"Sold you?" Young Master Zhang looked the graceful Xiong Hu up and down, and said with a sly smile: "The live pigs on the market are only more than 20 yuan a catty, so you probably don't have a hundred catties, right? Well, if you suffer a little, you can count on it." One hundred catties, more than 2000 Wen for a hundred catties, and the official price of one tael of silver is exchanged for one thousand Wen copper coins..."

"I'll kill you!" Before the young master Zhang's account was settled, Xiong Hu, who was so pink to the neck, had already rushed forward, pinched young master Zhang's neck and gritted his teeth, asking, "Why, are you going to treat me as a fool?" Selling a live pig? Or are you going to buy me as a live pig?" It's a pity that Xiong Hu pinched him too tightly in his rage, so Young Master Zhang didn't express his intention to buy me as a live pig.Fortunately, just when Young Master Zhang was about to have his neck cut off by Xiong Hu, Zhang Shitou, who was sent out by Young Master Zhang to handle errands, came back. He opened the door and saw that Xiong Hu was pressing half of his body on Young Master Zhang. Shouted, "Master, Miss Xiong, I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything!"

"Okay, stop making trouble, Zhang Shitou is here." Young Master Zhang struggled hard, and finally drove away the red-faced Xiong Hu from his side, and asked Zhang Shitou: "Shitou, how is it? Has the matter been completed?" ?”

"It's done." Zhang Shitou took out two pieces of paper from his pocket, and explained: "Master Xiao took me and spent 70 taels of silver, 50 taels to Master Xu Xianchun, the commander of Jinyiwei, and 20 taels to the person in charge of the documents. The book office finally got Wang Wenyan's detailed resume and family situation. Originally, I wanted to give Mr. Xiao 50 taels, but he didn't want it, and said that he would just ask you to buy him a drink next time."

"Xiao Chuan, interesting enough." Young Master Zhang snapped his fingers crisply, very satisfied.Xiong Hu was baffled by what he heard, and asked, "Why are you spending money on Wang Wenyan's resume? There is so much money that there is no place to put it?" Young Master Zhang didn't answer, but ordered Zhang Shitou: "Shitou, read it to me. listen."

"Yes." Zhang Shitou agreed, opened the document and read: "Wang Wenyan, also known as Wang Shoutai, was born in the second year of Wanli Emperor Shenzong in Shexian County, Huizhou Prefecture, Southern Zhili Province (now Shexian County, Anhui Province). The commoner has no fame. It was originally Shexian County. The jailer, nicknamed Little Song Jiang because of his urgency and righteousness, fled to the capital to join Yu Yuli, a doctor of the Ministry of Punishment, because he coerced a female prisoner to become a prostitute. Appreciated by Wang An, he had a close relationship with Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong and other Donglin party members. He donated 300 taels of silver to buy the status of a supervisor and entered his official career. In the 43rd year of Wanli, Wang Wenyan won the cabinet chief assistant Ye Appreciate it to Gao, and recommend him as the secretary of the cabinet..."

"Wait." Young Master Zhang interrupted Zhang Shitou, and asked again: "Ye Xianggao? Is that Wang Huazhen's teacher Ye Xianggao?"

"Yes." Zhang Shitou replied truthfully.Young Master Zhang smiled wickedly, nodded and said, "That's right, take a look at Shitou, why does Ye Xianggao appreciate Wang Wenyan?"

Zhang Shitou flipped through the transcribed Dongchang intelligence records again, and replied: "Because Wang Wenyan used tricks to drive a wedge between the Qi Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Chu Party, which were contending with the Donglin Party, and caused them to split among themselves. The party is dominant in the imperial court and has made great contributions to the Donglin Party. Ye Xianggao is a veteran of the Donglin Party, so he is appreciated and recommended. However, Dongchang has no record of what strategy Wang Wenyan used."

"Xiong Hu, if I remember correctly, your father seems to be from the Chu Party?" Young Master Zhang asked Xiong Hu.Xiong Hu nodded, and replied: "My family's ancestral home is in Jiangxia, Hubei, so my father is a member of the Chu Party in the court." Young Master Zhang nodded with a smile, and gestured to Zhang Shitou to continue reading.

"During the years of Taichang and Tianqi, Wang Wenyan relied on Liu Yixiu in the outer court and Wang An in the inner palace to get involved in the Hongwan case." Zhang Shitou continued: "In September of the first year of Tianqi, Wang An died, and was attacked again. Zhejiang party official Shao Fuzhong and Qi party official Liang Menghuan were impeached one after another. Wang Wenyan was demoted and imprisoned. After being rescued by Ye Xianggao, he was acquitted and reinstated. Shao Fuzhong and Liang Menghuan were afraid of retaliation, so they threw themselves into the sect of Nine Thousand Years to protect themselves In the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Han Jing created the Donglin Point General Record and listed Wang Wenyan as the Donglin local thief star."

"Wait." Young Master Zhang interrupted Zhang Shitou again, and asked, "During the years from the first year of Tianqi to the fourth year of Tianqi, why is Wang Wenyan's record blank? Is there any record of him being involved in the Xiong Tingbi case?"

"No, neither Zhen Fusi nor Dongchang has any records in this regard." Zhang Shitou replied flipping through the documents.Young Master Zhang sneered and said: "It's really clean, but it's a pity that the person he met was my Young Master Zhang. Forget it, don't read it, let me see for myself."

"What are you talking about?" Xiong Hu became more and more confused the more he listened, and asked suspiciously: "Why are you investigating this Wang Wenyan? How is he involved in my father's case? I remember that my family has no grievances or enmities with him." what?"

"I didn't tell you just now, but do you know who is the person who told Jiuqiantui that your father is going to give Jiuqiantui 4 taels of silver? It's this Wang Wenyan!" Young Master Zhang sneered again and again, "Also, Wang Wenyan is I have no grievances or enmities with your Xiong family, but Ye Xianggao has the grace of knowing and rescuing him! Who is this Ye Xianggao—the teacher of Wang Huazhen who framed your father! Why did Wang Huazhen become Liaodong in the first place? Governor, it is because of Ye Xianggao and the Donglin Party! If you think about it together, you will understand why I want to investigate Wang Wenyan, right?"

Xiong Hu analyzed according to Young Master Zhang's train of thought, and after thinking for a while, Xiong Hu opened his mouth wide and stammered, "Could it be... you, you mean, it's this... this Wang Wenyan who is framing my father ?”

"Who else is it?" Young Master Zhang spread his hands and said with a sneer, "The biggest doubt about this matter is the 4 taels of silver! Let's not say that your family can't come up with so much money, even if you can, what is your father doing?" Why didn't you just ask your two elder brothers to give money to Jiu Qiansui directly? Why did you ask a member of the Donglin Party to thread a needle in the middle? And after Wang Wenyan brought the words to Jiu Qiansui, your father went back on his word You didn't give the money, which made Jiu Qiantui fly into a rage——your father is stupid and wants to court death by himself?"

"So I can conclude that this is Wang Wenyan's bottom-line plan!" Young Master Zhang slapped the table and said decisively: "According to my speculation, the truth should be like this——Wang Wenyan secretly rescued Ye Xianggao in order to repay Ye Xianggao." Wang Huazhen, but Wang Wenyan also knew that Wang Huazhen’s guilt was unavoidable. To save him, your father must take the blame for Wang Huazhen! So Wang Wenyan ran to Jiu Qiansui and said that your father was going to save his life with 4 taels of silver, because your father You were wronged at all. Jiu Qiansui thought it was easy to agree to it. After Jiu Qiansui spoke for your father in front of the emperor, Wang Wenyan ran in front of Jiu Qiansui and said that your father had repented. , Nine thousand years old, of course wanted to kill your father in a fit of anger! Poisonous, such a poisonous scheme is really rare!"

"Master, then Wang Wenyan is not afraid that Master Xiong will meet Jiu Qiansui and expose his plot?" Zhang Shitou interjected cautiously.Young Master Zhang snorted coldly, and replied: "Wang Wenyan is not afraid of being exposed. Even if Xiong Tingbi Xiong Gong said that there is no such thing in front of Jiu Qiansui, Jiu Qiansui will think that Xiong Tingbi is continuing to lie and renege on debts, and will only hate Xiong Tingbi even more. Mr. Xiong—this is also the most clever part of Wang Wenyan's plan to draw a salary from the bottom!"

"Wang-wen-yan! I'm fighting with you!" Xiong Hu finally burst out, roaring and rushing out the door.Young Master Zhang hurriedly grabbed the tigress who was as irritable as her father, and asked, "Where are you going? Because of framing me, Wang Wenyan has already entered the Dongchang Prison. You want to go to the Dongchang Prison and fight him desperately?" , you can go in too?"

"I..." Xiong Hu froze for a moment, and immediately shouted angrily: "Then I will sue the officials and let the court know that it was Wang Wenyan, a thief, who framed my father!"

"Do you have evidence? What I just said is just my reasoning, without any real evidence. If Wang Wenyan categorically denies it, what can you do with him? Don't forget, bribery is something that even Nine Thousand Years himself can't do." I won't admit it." Young Master Zhang's words left Xiong Hu speechless.After standing in a daze for a while, Xiong Hu said shyly: "It's my fault, and my temper is impulsive again, so what do you think should I do?"

"Sit down first, let me think about it." Young Master Zhang was afraid of Xiong Hu's violent temper, so he forced her back to the seat and sat down.But Xiong Hu couldn't wait to say: "Aren't you Jiuqiantui's godson? You go to Jiuqiantui and explain, your analysis is very reasonable, Jiuqiantui will definitely believe it."

"It's not that easy." Young Master Zhang didn't dare to say that Wei Zhongxian planned to use the Xiong Tingbi case to punish the Donglin Party, so he could only say vaguely: "Nine thousand years old is also a person who talks about evidence. Presumably, how could Nine Thousand Years listen to my side? And I also found out that there are people inside and outside the court who want to kill your father, and Nine Thousand Years alone may not be able to rescue your father so easily."

"Then? What should we do then?" Xiong Hu wept again.Young Master Zhang comforted: "Don't worry, now we know who framed your father, let me think about it, there will always be a way. How about this, let Zhang Shitou order a table of wine and food for us, we How about eating and talking?"

"No, I have to go back quickly." Xiong Hu said shyly: "I didn't go home the night of your palace examination, but when I went back the next day, my eldest brother and second brother punished me to kneel in front of the ancestral tablet for a whole day. I'm green, and my sister-in-law begged to forgive me."

"Your knees are blue?" Young Master Zhang's eyes lit up, he habitually pulled up Xiong Hu's trousers, and said with a distressed voice, "Then let me see, do you want me to apply some medicinal wine for you... ...Ouch, you said you had a bad temper just now, why are you doing it again now...Ah!"

When Young Master Zhang was being severely beaten by Xiong Hu, someone knocked on the door of the inn room. Zhang Shitou went to open the door and saw that the person came was a middle-aged man dressed as a servant, holding a With a red invitation card and a wooden box, he nodded and bowed to Zhang Shitou and said, "My little brother, may I ask if Mr. Zhang Haogu lives here?" What's up?"

"The villain is the steward of Mr. Yao Zongwen, the servant of the Ministry of Officials. By the order of the master, I came to invite Tanhua Gong to the banquet." The middle-aged man held the invitation card and the wooden box with both hands and handed it to Zhang Shitou, smiling: "There is also My master respects Tanhua Gong for a little gift, please accept it with a smile."

"Oh, someone finally delivered something to my young master." Zhang Shitou was amused, and quickly took the wooden box and opened it—the wooden box was full of silver ingots, at least 200 taels.But at this moment, Xiong Hu, who had just let Young Master Zhang go, suddenly shouted with a livid face: "Zhang Shitou, drive him away! Throw things back and return him!"

"Why?" Young Master Zhang and Zhang Shitou asked in surprise together.Xiong Hu snorted with a livid face: "If you don't drive away Yao Zongwen's lackeys, then I will go!"

"No, but at least give me a reason." Young Master Zhang replied with a wry smile.Xiong Hu said with a straight face: "In the first year of Tianqi, it was the old man Yao Zongwen who colluded with the censor Yang Yuan, Feng Sanyuan, and the scholar Gu Zhen to spread rumors and slander that my father raised taxes under a false name in Liaodong and blackmailed the people, which made my father go down. Heavenly Prison! My father was not beheaded because there was no real evidence later. Our Xiong family and Yao Zongwen have a sworn feud!"

"Ah! It turns out that it was this old thing that caused my old Taishan to enter the prison for the first time!" Young Master Zhang was furious, and immediately jumped up and shouted to Zhang Shitou: "Shitou, listen to your young lady's words, put Yao Zongwen's dog leg Call me out, and throw the money he gave me on the street! Damn it, even my old Taishan dares to slander and frame me, you want to die!"

"Tanhuagong, I misunderstood, this is a misunderstanding." The housekeeper sent by Yao Zongwen was anxious, and hurriedly explained, but Zhang Shitou was eager to please the future young mistress, so he punched him without saying a word, and the young master Zhang also rushed up, kicking and The beating knocked Yao Zongwen's housekeeper out of the inn, and the 200 taels of silver he sent was thrown on the street, scattered all over the floor.Young Master Zhang also took the opportunity to shout in front of people all over the street: "Go back and tell your master, although I, Zhang Haogu, have no official position, I will not accept a penny of dirty money! Being an official is not for the people, it is better to go back The family sells red..."

"Sun, I almost forgot that there are no sweet potatoes in most places in China in this era." Young Master Zhang changed his words in time and shouted: "Being an official is not for the people, it is better to go home and sell radishes! I, Zhang Hao, has been an official since ancient times. It’s not for money! Get lost! If you dare to bribe you Young Master Zhang with money, I will join you in front of the emperor!”

"Okay, okay." Young Master Zhang's wonderful performance won applause from all over the street, and countless people who didn't know the truth applauded Young Master Zhang. Compliments with the father-in-laws who are full of the palace, this is a later story for the time being.The only bad thing was that Yao Zongwen's housekeeper was beaten by Master Zhang's master and servant, and even ridiculed by the people all over the street. Later, he was too embarrassed to stay any longer, so he had to run home in despair to bring the letter. , He didn't even pick up the money that Young Master Zhang threw on the street, which made the people of Daming on that street cheap.

…………

When Yao Zongwen's housekeeper ran back home in disgrace, Yao Zongwen, the head of the official department who had participated in Xiong Tingbi's death, had already set up a banquet at home and waited for him - another guest who accompanied him was Chen Wenfan, who had once had conflicts with Young Master Zhang. Master, Yao Zongwen and Chen Wenfan couldn't help being surprised when they saw the butler came back with a bruised nose and a swollen face. After the butler told the story in tears, Yao Zongwen and Chen Wenfan couldn't help being surprised again, and gasped together.

"Zhang Haogu is Xiong Tingbi's son-in-law? Are you sure you are right?" Chen Wenfan asked Yao Zongwen's housekeeper sharply.The housekeeper wiped his nosebleeds and tears, and replied in tears: "Master Chen, it's absolutely true, Zhang Haogu himself admitted it himself. And when I went in, I saw with my own eyes that Zhang Haogu and Xiong Tingbi's daughter were still hugging each other Sitting together, if they weren't husband and wife, would they be so affectionate?"

Yao Zongwen and Chen Wenfan looked at each other, and gasped again.After waving his hand to let the butler go down, Yao Zongwen sat down on the chair and said with a mournful face: "It's over, I never thought that old man Xiong Tingbi would have such a son-in-law as Zhang Haogu—he is a big celebrity before nine thousand years old! Other companies of the Supervisor of Rites They all treat Zhang Haogu like a family member, and maybe he will turn over Xiong Tingbi's case."

"Don't let him turn over!" Chen Wenfan said with a green face: "You have to do it immediately, contact all the officials of the court who can be contacted, and submit a form together, asking your emperor to kill Xiong Tingbi as soon as possible! Otherwise, wait until Zhang Haogu enters As an official in the court, he has greater influence in the court, maybe this case will be reversed for him!"

"Kill Xiong Tingbi now? It's still half a year before the Autumn Judgment?" Yao Zongwen said with a mournful face.Chen Wenfan snorted coldly: "I don't care about it, but you can imagine for yourself—if Xiong Tingbi's case is overturned by Zhang Haogu and the official is reinstated, then Zhang Haogu will have the eunuchs who are headed by Wei Zhongxian to support and love him. With Xiong Tingbi holding the military power to support him outside, wouldn't it be easy to deal with an enemy like you?"

Yao Zongwen shuddered, nodded tremblingly and said: "Okay, I will contact other officials immediately, and ask them to submit a form together tomorrow morning, and ask the emperor to execute Xiong Tingbi as soon as possible." Speaking of this, Yao Zongwen glanced at Chen Wenfan again, cautiously Said: "Just for this activity, you need..."

"Don't worry, no matter how much money you spend, I will reimburse you." Chen Wenfan said lightly, "Sibeile has already explained that as long as you can kill Xiong Tingbi and bring down Sun Chengzong, you will have as much money as you want."

(End of this chapter)