The bustling and noisy streets are full of people, teahouses, wine shops, and shops. The roadside vendors, the charlatans who sell their arts, the old men who play monkeys, the coolies who pull the carts, the nobles who ride horses, and the officials who patrol are so busy with traffic.

The carriage of the Zhong family walked slowly in the crowd for a while, and Zhong Ziyuan suddenly said, "Fu Bo, go around the yamen of the criminal department." ”

Fu Bo said puzzled outside: "Childe, it's not easy to go to the yamen of the Criminal Department, at least you have to walk for more than half an hour!" ”

Zhong Ziyuan smiled: "It's okay, it's okay left and right, it's okay to go and see the excitement." ”

"Great!" Although Fu Bo didn't know what kind of excitement the Criminal Department could have at this moment, he still agreed with a smile, flicked his horse's head, and walked in the direction of the Criminal Department.

After half an hour, the carriage came to the vicinity of the yamen of the criminal department. In the end, it is the Criminal Department, which is prestigious, and the people who usually walk around here subconsciously hold their breath and speed up their pace. I am afraid that I will anger those guards at the door, holding a killing rod and a shining waist knife, like a fierce god.

But today, I don't know what's going on, the gate of the yamen of the criminal department is actually crowded, and the voices are full of people, and the most prosperous canal wharf is not far behind.

Seeing that the carriage couldn't pass, Zhong Ziyuan simply jumped out of the car and said to Fu Bo: "This road is impassable, you just go home the same way." I'm going to see the excitement! After speaking, she didn't wait for Fauber to object, she squeezed into the crowd, and disappeared in three or two clicks. Fauber had no choice but to drive home in an empty carriage.

Zhong Ziyuan relied on his dexterity to break through left and right in the crowd. It caused a round of disgruntled complaints. At this moment, she suddenly felt something fluttering on her head, and she looked down. But it's half a peeled peanut shell. She covered her forehead and looked up sadly, and saw the fence on the third floor of a restaurant opposite, where Zhu Fei was lying there and waving at her with a smile.

Zhong Ziyuan glanced at him, trying to convey the dissatisfaction and accusations in his eyes, but looking at the smug smile, he knew that he didn't have the slightest sense of guilt. She had to turn around and continue to squeeze into the crowd. Her head was cold, and this time it was the osmanthus cake with tooth marks that hit her.

Zhong Ziyuan turned around and glared angrily at Zhu Fei, who was particularly hateful with a condescending smile. I saw him glaring and raising the sesame ball in his hand again. Zhong Ziyuan rolled her eyes dissatisfied, and didn't rely on him anymore, estimating that she was going to open a dim sum shop on her head. She had no choice but to turn around and squeeze out of the crowd again.

The first floor of the restaurant. The second floor was crowded with people, but the third floor was exceptionally quiet. But looking at the two guards standing at the top of the stairs, you can know the reason why the third floor is quiet.

Fortunately, these two guards were extremely familiar with Zhong Ziyuan, and they respectfully retreated a few steps. Said: "Doctor Jia." Please inside, our prince has been waiting for a long time. ”

Zhong Ziyuan couldn't help but wonder: "How did you know that I would come?" ”

I heard Zhu Fei say lazily inside: "I can see the father and son unlucky, how can you not come and see with your own eyes such a beautiful and lively scene." Zhong Ziyuan smiled and strode in.

Except for Zhu Fei and the guards and maids he brought on the entire third floor, there was no one else. When she walked over, Zhu Fei had already returned to the chair and sat down, while Xue Ji and Yu Ji were obediently boiling wine and tea. Zhong Ziyuan sat down directly across from him. smiled: "Why don't you hide in the house to read and draw." Self-cultivation? ”

Zhu Fei picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip, and said with a smile: "The teachings of Sage Kong are nothing to comprehend later, but it is not so common for the bad luck of the third-grade masters. ”

Zhong Ziyuan hurriedly looked out, and sure enough, the line of sight here was excellent, and he could pass through the crowd and directly see the situation at the gate of the Criminal Department. I saw that the gate of the criminal department was closed, and there were two fences outside the gate, and more than a dozen officials were firmly guarding the gate with killing sticks.

Lan'er's elder brother was wearing a white filial piety suit, with a conspicuous white cloth tied to his head, and a huge word "injustice" was written in blood in the middle of the white cloth. He was holding a sign full of words in his calloused hands, and was kneeling outside the fence and shouting injustice.

Lan'er's mother was accompanied by a young woman with a white cloth tied around her head, patting her thighs and scolding and crying. At her feet knelt a little boy who was also dressed in filial piety clothes, and the little boy was obviously frightened by the situation before him, and only tugged at the corner of the young woman's clothes, and looked around with two tears in his round eyes and two tears in fear. Behind them, the three outer floors were full of people watching the excitement, at least hundreds of people.

From time to time, someone in the crowd shouted at the officer, "Hey, what are you doing standing there stupidly?" Why don't you take it! ”

"Fuck, it's really the officials protecting each other. is still a dignified criminal department, and when I saw that people were suing the court officials, they didn't even dare to accept the lawsuit, which made us people find someone to reason with. ”

"That is, we are good citizens, not those cheap slaves raised by the eunuchs, not you adults who kill when you want, and abuse you whenever you want."

"That's it! This must be explained to us. Open the door, open the door"

From time to time, there were people in the crowd who were clamoring, and everyone's faces were full of excitement and excitement, and their emotions were already a little out of control. The dozen or so officials were obviously also a little nervous, they stared at the angry faces in front of them, and the killing rods in their hands were about to burst out of the water.

Zhong Ziyuan saw more than a dozen familiar faces in the crowd of black pressure, and she couldn't help but be surprised: "Aren't the few over there, and the five on the left, the guards and maids in your house?" Why are they making trouble down there? ”

"Shhh That's not just a few people in Lan'er's family, it's really weak, how can it be possible to fight that old fox. That's why I'm here to give them a strong voice! ”

Is that okay too? Zhong Ziyuan couldn't help but roll her eyes. In fact, what she didn't know was that if Zhu Fei and Guo Chengsi hadn't secretly sent people to protect Lan'er's family in advance, they would have been assassinated by the people sent by Zhang Shilang, who jumped over the wall in a hurry.

The lobby of the Criminal Department was full of officials, big and small. They are all in the criminal department, outside the staff, and in charge. Ling Shi, Pavilion Chief, Duguan Ling Shi, etc., sitting in the center is naturally Zhu Shangshu, the highest official of the Criminal Department, and the two waiters on the left and right.

In this peaceful and prosperous world, there was a case of people shouting grievances blocking the gate of the Criminal Department, and the situation seemed to be out of control. The officials of the Criminal Department, large and small, were all anxious. If one is not careful, they may be unlucky together, so they are all sitting on pins and needles now.

Zhu Shangshu's face turned pale. He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, and said hatefully: "Diao Min, Diao Min, they are all some Diao people who have no king and no father. They don't go up and down the streets. What does it mean to be blocked at the door of our criminal department? ”

The reason why Zhu Shangshu was able to sit in this position was not because of his high ability. On the contrary, he is a man who is so slippery that he does nothing. He never easily offended his colleagues who held real power, so he also won the title of jack-of-all-trades behind his back.

At this moment, his heart was extremely depressed, and this Zhang Shilang of the Ministry of Officials was too ignorant. Previously, a concubine from the house came to sue him, and he was accidentally taken by himself. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, and immediately pushed the case file to Guo Chenghe, who also didn't know anything. Otherwise, the impeachment of the temple will be directed at him.

You said that there was such a storm. You are a dignified servant, you should sneak around and wipe your ass clean! But it was only a few days after it stopped, and someone sued him again. There was such a big commotion. Now whether he accepts this situation or not, he feels extremely embarrassed.

One of the principals arched his hand at Zhu Shangshu and flattered him: "Since it is a disturbance by Diao Min, it is better to ask your Excellency to send a post to the commander of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division, and ask them to come and disperse the crowd." ”

Zhu Shangshu's eyes lit up, and he just wanted to applaud. Guo Chengsi, who had been clasping his arms and closing his eyes to recuperate, opened his eyes suddenly, his face was so cold that he could scrape off a layer of frost, and said lightly: "At the feet of the dignified son of heaven, there was actually a scene where hundreds of people gathered to make trouble, but I am afraid that the commander will not dare to hide it from the current emperor." The emperor has made it clear at court meetings several times that if there is peace today, it is necessary to take light taxation, heavy production, and strict laws as the foundation of the country. If the emperor knows why these people are making trouble, I'm afraid that Lord Zhu will not be able to explain it in front of the emperor! ”

Zhu Shangshu glared and shouted angrily: "Who said that there are people here who gather to make trouble? Who said there were people gathering here to make trouble? ”

The person who wanted to slap himself on the back had to obediently give himself a slap and reluctantly smiled: "Look at my mouth, I just can't speak." Of course, no one gathered to make trouble, it was just a group of good people who did not know the truth who were deceived. ”

"Yes, it's been deceived, it's been deceived." Zhu Shangshu immediately pointed to the principal and said, "This time you are right, they were deceived by those one or two Diao people and did not know the truth, so they were used." ”

"Your Excellency." Guo Chenghe, who knew his panacea characteristics, couldn't help but roll his eyes secretly, he raised his voice and said, "The emperor also knows about this case, and he can't hide it. ”

"What, how could the emperor know about this case?" Zhu Shangshu was completely dumbfounded.

Guo Chengsi said simply: "Since he was impeached inexplicably in the main hall that day, the emperor specially summoned his humble position into the imperial study to inquire about the relevant events of this case. After the humble report, the emperor was furious. It is said that this squire occupies the most important position in the ministry, and is responsible for the management, assessment, and promotion of officials of the fourth rank and below. But he couldn't even figure out the matter in his own backyard, how could the emperor rest assured that he would be entrusted with such a heavy task? Therefore, at that time, the emperor issued an edict that if he wanted to humble his position, he would investigate this case to the ground. ”

Since you have an oracle, why didn't you say it earlier, the people in our room have been struggling for so long to find out whether to accept this state or not. Although the room is full of Zhu Shangshu, down to the small pavilion chief, they are secretly slandering Guo Chengsi. But they couldn't see it on their faces at all, one by one they were still praising the emperor's sage from afar, and the nonsense of all the people returning to their hearts.

Even Zhu Shangshu was stunned, and shouted loudly: "If the official is not the master of the people, it is better to go home and sell sweet potatoes." Come on, go and deal with the case, let's work together in the Criminal Department to properly try this tragic case of torture and murder. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a servant who was originally on guard outside ran in with a strange face, and reported: "Lord Shangshu, the sedan chair of Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites has arrived outside the gate of our Criminal Department. ”

"What! What's wrong with that old guy? Zhu Shangshu said in astonishment, and the momentum gathered before immediately disappeared.

The reason why Zhu Shangshu hesitated before was of course not because he was afraid of the third-grade Zhang Shilang, but he was a dignified second-grade master, a whole two levels higher than that Zhang Shilang. What he taboos is Zhang Shilang's teacher who is like father and son, Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites.

Although Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites has no real power, his life is also poor. But he has gone through two dynasties and served as the chief examiner of several spring festivals, and his protégés are all over the world. Especially those Hanlin, the imperial historians mostly look at him as the horse's head. If he doesn't like anyone, he just needs to quietly glance at them, and those people will attack them like mad dogs.

So if you want to move this squire simply, I'm afraid that I will accidentally stab that hornet's nest, and then the impeachment will fly all over the sky, and I don't have such a deep holy family as Guo Chenghe, I'm afraid that I will have to peel off my skin if I don't die.

Just when Zhu Shangshu hesitated, Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites had already walked in tremblingly. Zhu Shangshu hurriedly stood up and arched his hand, and said, "Master Yang, what kind of wind blew you here?" Come on! Sit down for Lord Yang. Immediately, a servant brought a chair and placed it under Zhu Shangshu.

Yang Shangshu took two longevity pills in a row, and his complexion was very good-looking. The originally yellow and thin cheeks still had two traces of redness on them. He coughed twice, sat down on the chair unceremoniously, and then said: "Originally, I was the Ministry of Rites, this is the Ministry of Punishment, and our two families have always been well water and not river water." But I came here today because I heard that something that shouldn't have happened outside the gate of this criminal department, and I couldn't help but come. ”

Although Zhu Shangshu's face remained unchanged, he was secretly complaining in his heart: Come, come, the old guy is really coming to make trouble. He secretly gave Guo Chengsi a fierce look. Don't you have an oracle? Take it out and put it in the mouth of this old fellow!

Who knew that Guo Chengsi was like an old monk at the moment, without saying a word, just looking at the floor in front of him in a daze. made Zhu Shangshu grit his teeth with hatred secretly, but he was helpless.

Over there, Yang Shangshu trembled and stroked the three strands of beard under his chin, first sighed, and then said indignantly: "As the saying goes, the Son of Heaven is guilty of the same crime as the common people, not to mention that the lower officials are breaking the law, and they cannot be spared." The old man is really ashamed! I didn't expect such a vicious person to come out of the door. But fortunately, the old man knew his mistakes and could change them, and he made a clear relationship with this criminal early. Please also accept this statement today, and you must uphold the law impartially, and do not indulge this murderer in vain. ”

After speaking, as soon as he made a look, someone next to him immediately held a note and sent it to Zhu Shangshu's case. Zhu Shangshu only glanced at it, and was shocked to find that this picture was actually the one that had made the Criminal Department entangled for a long time, and Lan'er's family sued Zhang Shilang for torture and killing.

Looking at the hot potato in front of him, Zhu Shangshu couldn't help but blurt out: "Are you taking the wrong medicine?" ”

"Ouch" Yang Shangshu's hands trembled, and he pulled off a few gray beards, making him sore teeth. (To be continued......)