After the flood, it was full of devastation, and the damage reported in various places could almost make Chu Rui sleepless at night. The queen watched Chu Rui's temper becoming more and more irritable, and there was a faint worry in her heart.

Li Rui, Xiong Ping and Qiu Mu all came back and returned to the palace, and the eldest prince finally didn't have to be alone, and listened to the lectures with Qin Bin alone every day.

"It's good to come back, how are your relatives now?" The eldest prince, Chu Chengxuan, asked a few companions with concern.

"My mother is good when she receives my father's letter home, and her head doesn't hurt anymore." Xiong Pinghan said with a smile, "But my sister was so scared that she had nightmares for several nights, and I stayed with her for a few more days." ”

Xiong Ping is an only child at home, and he has been pampered by his parents since he was a child, but he has not raised the temperament of a gentleman, which can be regarded as a blessing.

"My grandfather didn't have a big deal, and several elders in my family took turns to serve the sick, and they thought I was in the way and drove me back to the palace." Qiu Mu said a little unhappily. The most annoying thing about him is that adults don't respect him, and they always think he's a child.

"But you really can't do anything to stay." Qin Bin grinned and said, "Adults still have to take care of you as a child, of course I hope you leave quickly." ”

"You! You!! ”

The eldest prince saw that this pair of enemies was about to quarrel again, so he hurriedly interrupted. "What about Li Rui, how is Li Rui, your grandmother?"

"My grandmother ......" Li Rui's face was not relaxed. The royal doctor said that my grandmother had another stroke and was afraid that she would collapse in bed. Now my grandmother is fine, but her left hand is constantly shaking and she can't hold anything. ”

Qin Bin patted Li Rui and could only comfort: "When people are old, they will have all kinds of problems." My grandmother has phlegm, and she has been tossing for a long time and is not good, and we can only do more filial piety as younger generations, so that the old man can live happily. ”

Qiu Mu also agreed: "My grandfather can't move his legs for more than ten years, isn't his old man living well?" At most, if your grandmother can't move, I'll ask my family to make a wheelchair for your grandmother. ”

"Qiu Mu, you are simply lacking in heart!" When Qin Bin heard Qiu Mu's words, his eyes rolled, and he didn't know what to say.

"Where am I missing my heart, this is reality, can I escape it? Your words of comfort are vain! ”

"Where am I talking about nothing......

"Okay, okay, stop arguing." Li Rui was also conquered by the two classmates who quarreled all day and night. His cousin is also straightforward, but he never quarrels with others, and when others say that what he says is wrong, he doesn't say it, and he doesn't argue with others.

I really don't know if this Qiu Mu is only like this with Qin Bin, or with everyone.

"I know that Qiu Mu has good intentions, if my grandmother really has that day, I will not be polite to you." Li Rui arched his hand at Qiu Mu, "I thanked my grandmother first." ”

Qiu Mu gave Qin Bin a smug look, and then solemnly replied to Li Rui: "You and I are classmates and close friends, so why be polite." ”

Li Rui also smiled. Qin Bin was half dead in anger on the side. This hateful monster has only been so unkind to him for a long time, and he is still humble and polite to others!

It's infuriating!

"Qin Bin, do you know what the situation of the Lu family is now?" The eldest prince suddenly thought of the recent changes in the Lu family, and couldn't help but ask him.

He has been banned from leaving the palace since the last time King Xiang Cheng, he is curious about what the situation of the Lu family is, but he can't ask his mother directly, and it's not easy to go out to find out the news.

Lu Yuanhao, as a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, was once the head of the Hanlin Academy, and had a high prestige in Shilin, plus he was indeed a person who loved talents, and recommended many Hanlin from poor families to enter the court as officials, and many people were grateful for his kindness and called him "teacher".

Such an important member of the imperial court, but now that he has been closed for almost a month, how can the eldest prince not be curious?

Qin Bin's grandfather is the leader of the Chinese army, and his father is also the Shence general of the Chinese army.

Hearing about the Lu family, although he had already resolved the matter with his young lady, Li Rui was still secretly concerned and couldn't help but look at Qin Bin.

Coincidentally, Qin Bin would care about the Lu family, and it was also because the young lady of this family had been engaged to Li Rui before, so he would inquire about it.

"I heard that Miss Lu had some strange disease, and she had red pimples all over her body. The Lu family didn't know what was wrong with Lu Dao, and they invited a doctor to come and see it, but they couldn't diagnose it. There were several old doctors in the hospital who said that the disease could be transmitted to other people, and suggested that the house be closed, so the door of the house was sealed and no entry or exit was allowed. ”

"I don't know what's wrong? Didn't you say it could be smallpox? Xiong Ping's cousin Wan Ning and Lu Jun are good friends, and he heard that it was smallpox, so he closed the door.

"At the beginning, it was rumored that this was the case, and I don't know where the road came from, but the lady doesn't go out on weekdays, where will she get this. Besides, I didn't die after half a month, where could it be smallpox, it's just that the symptoms are similar. Qin Bin said disappre一门ly, "My mother said that whether it is smallpox or not, this Miss Lu family will not be able to marry in the future." The doctor said that even if this strange disease is cured, it will inevitably leave scars on his face and body. ”

"In this way, Li Rui did not marry Miss Lu, but it is a good thing." Qiu Mu said with affection, "If you have a strange disease, it's nothing if you have a scar." It's that if this strange disease is passed on to children, it's called bad. ”

"Qiu Mu!" Li Rui said with some disapproval, "If she really has a relationship with my family, my family will not dislike her because of this." Illness is not something you can control. ”

"I don't think it's like a disease, it's like being poisoned." The eldest prince pondered for a while, always feeling that this situation was very strange. "If it was smallpox, the Tai Hospital would have let the Lu family go out of the city a long time ago, how could it just be a closed house."

"Poisoned?" Several people cried out in surprise.

Poisoning is almost the last resort.

"I'm just guessing. Maybe the imperial doctor didn't know how the poison was spread, so he asked Lord Lu to seal the mansion. If it is poisoned, at most a month, Lord Lu will return to the court. Now that he is about to fall, the Lu family has no hope at all. ”

"Why do you want to do it to a young girl?"

"I don't know. Maybe Miss Lu is an easier target to target. "The eldest prince didn't understand why this thief wanted to attack Miss Lu.

Speaking of which, the Lu family has indeed suffered a lot of blows this time, and most of the Sun family's fertile land has also been destroyed. I heard that the Jiang family is ready to take out money and food to assist the imperial court in disaster relief in Jiangnan this time, and the tenants affected by the disaster have also been exempted from this year's rent. Qin Bin pursed his lips.

The Jiang family is probably starting to be scared as well. This time, the Jiangnan family has suffered heavy losses, only his family has suffered little loss, and now the court and the family are looking at the Jiang family, waiting for his family to express their position. He was willing to spit out some benefits, which finally made several parties happy.

Li Rui quietly listened to a few people talking about the Lu family, thinking carefully about the meaning.

Unlike several other companions, he does not have a sociable mother like Xiong Ping, and he is well aware of the internal and external forces in Beijing; is not like Qin Bin, his father and ancestors are all the emperor's henchmen, and he is the only son in the family, and he has been influenced by all kinds since he was a child; He is not even as good as Qiu Mu, Qiu Mu's family is a big family, and the in-law relationship is complicated, and it is much easier to obtain information than him.

He is undoubtedly inferior to several children in terms of obtaining information. But he was good at thinking and listening, so he quickly found the crux of the problem.

"The accident at Mr. Lu's house was after the flood. The Lu clan was reprimanded by the saint this time, first lost the sacred heart, and then the saint ordered the Jiangnan clans to dig the polder's enclosure to discharge the flood, and the Lu clan suffered the greatest loss. I'm afraid that the previous opponents felt that they couldn't get up this time, so they made the Lu family worse, and wanted the Lu family's family to have an accident, so as to cut off the last back road. ”

Everyone knows that after the grange in the south of the Yangtze River was destroyed, the Lu family could only rely on the imperial court to compensate his family for a chance to breathe. But how to fight for the compensation of the imperial court still has to fall on Lord Lu.

Li Rui's thoughts were very deep, and he also saw the situation very clearly, but he never thought that Lu Jun would be poisoned, because the queen mother revealed the news that Lu Jun wanted to marry into the royal family.

The emperor can indeed ignore this abandoned son, but the emperor can't help but show the appearance of appeasing the Lu family. Therefore, the emperor may not care about the future of the Lu family, but he will not care about Lu Yuanhao's future future. Otherwise, no clan would dare to join again.

If the daughter of the Lu family marries into the royal family, the Lu family will barely be considered a relative in the future, and unless there is a rebellion, there will be no danger of extermination.

These people may be worried that the emperor will find a weak but noble princess for several princes in order to balance the strength of his relatives, so he made the first move and ruined the daughter of the Lu family.

The Lu family has truly become a victim of the ambitions of two generations of emperors. Of course, there are reasons for their own improper development, short-sightedness and self-righteousness, but it is more that the two generations of emperors do not trust the Lu family and a certain persimmon picking up soft pinch mentality, which will make the Lu family be despised to such an extent.

It's a pity that no one will tell Li Rui and the Lu family about these truths and truths.

Zhang's house.

Zhang Ning has also been troubled recently. Not only because there were a few officials in Jiangnan who were greedy for special funds, and the officials were not strictly censored, but more because of his family.

Since this spring, the money in his father-in-law has been taken away in batches, and judging from the procedures in the accounting office, it is his mother who took the money. Each one is not large, as little as a few thousand taels, and as many as 10,000 taels, but the number of times it is taken is particularly frequent. Especially in the last few months, 30,000 taels of silver have been withdrawn every month.

The money in his father-in-law is the accumulation of three generations. Over the years, it has only been 200,000 taels, which is used for weddings and funerals, as well as for future generations to build a government and establish a business.

In just one year, the money in the public middle school was moved cleanly, but no one in the family, from the housekeeper to the account room, reported to him, how could this not make him angry?

Now he is the helmsman of the Zhang family!

Not only the silver in the public school, but also the production of the family's grange and shop was also purchased by her mother in her hometown. Sacrificial field, all the children and grandchildren who have a good income, after starting a family and starting a business, will buy some for the clan, one is for fame, and the other is that there has never been a family in this world that is not decaying, if the children of the family have no interest in the future, there is still a sacrificial field in the township, and they can support their families.

But I have never heard of a family member who would spend so much money to buy a sacrificial field during the heyday of the family.

Unless you have seen that the family is about to decline, or if something happens in the family, the family property will be confiscated soon, so you will leave such a backhand for your family.

He Zhang Ning is not confused now, it is when he is in the prime of life, and he thinks that he is not leaky, and he is not offended on both sides, and his family has climbed the family affairs of the Jiang family, a giant in the south of the Yangtze River, and it will not decay for at least a few generations.

Why did his mother buy so many sacrificial fields? This amount is almost equal to the amount of land produced by ordinary families.

Thinking of Li Mao's words when he questioned him at that time, the gloom in Zhang Ning's heart became even heavier.

Where does all this money go? It's not a few hundred taels of silver, a few boxes of silver are carried out, and there are always clues.

Examine! Must be checked!

Zhang Ning's mother, Mrs. Cui, has been going out a lot lately. Most of the people who went to Zhang Ning's uncle's house were also home.

Zhang Ning's uncle and his father are brothers, but because they have no inheritance rights, they went to live in separate houses before the age of twenty. Mrs. Cui and Zhang Ning's aunt Lu are fellow villagers and have always had a close relationship. For the old lady who often goes to this relative, Zhang Ning and his wife have a positive attitude.

It's easy to get sick in the house all day long, and since the old lady is willing to run and her body is tough, she went with her.

And Mrs. Cui also went out today, and it was still this concubine's mansion that went there.

It's just that what she saw was not Lu's.

"Father-in-law, the money has been given to you this month, why did you call me again?" Cui's received a post from her uncle's family yesterday, and she knew in her heart that it was her father-in-law looking for her, and she couldn't help but have a nameless fire in her heart.

He has now lived to be more than 80 years old, why can't he take good care of his body, he has to run around, what is the great cause of restoring the country?

Is Da Chu bad? No matter how strong the Yin Dynasty is, can it be stronger than the current Da Chu to his family?

"Jing Zhi is investigating the matter of the public in the mansion. I'm going to find out here. You'd better think of an explanation and don't slip through the cracks. Zhang Tingyan stroked her long beard and said something that made Cui's unable to let go.

Seeing that his father-in-law actually said this, Cui's couldn't bear it anymore.

"Father-in-law, whoever you change to will be checked! Yuanniang will marry at the beginning of spring next year, and the house is buying a dowry, and you are going to leave all the money in the public at this time, how do you call your daughter-in-law to take care of the house? What do you want my daughter-in-law to do? I've been perfunctory last time, but my family Jingzhi is not a fool, I always have to know where the money went, right? If you ask your daughter-in-law to think of an explanation, then please teach her how to tell her where the money went. ”

Every time she brought money over, she put it in her own carriage, and then took the opportunity to visit relatives to come here, and then transferred to the same carriage of the Lu family to go back. If the number of times is less, it is naturally not noticeable, but when the number of times is too much, there will always be a time when people will fall into the eyes.

She has been a housekeeper for almost 20 years, but now, from the steward to the accounting room, and even to the stable at home, she is still the old man's henchman. She herself was constrained from taking more than 1,000 taels of silver, not to mention that now the old man asked for money, and these henchmen immediately prepared the money for her to take away.

What the hell is she? Do they carry the animals of the house?

"Now we're one step away from being done. Now that there is another flood in Jiangnan, I am afraid that the price of grain will grow wildly, so I have to stock up on more grain and grass. I only embezzled the money for a while, and when it came to the end of autumn, I returned the money. Zhang Tingyan also knew that his daughter-in-law had always been dissatisfied, but because of his residual power, she had never dared to attack.

He didn't want to involve himself in the first place, but just made a secret move to use. Whether he cheated to death or arranged for Zhang Jing to marry into the Xinguo Mansion, it was all to protect his family.

It's just that they can save their own family and build on the basis of being able to get things done, if this group of people can't see hope, once they get out of control, it's really called setting themselves on fire.

"Father-in-law, I still say the same thing, I don't care if you and Uncle are thinking about planning this, but don't involve Jingzhi and Gongda. Uncle has been sick for more than ten years anyway, and no one will think of him, but my two sons are now members of the imperial court. Cui Shi had a cold face, "Don't call me again, there is no silver in the public and private." My dowry has the mark of my father's work, and once it flows out, it is called causing trouble for the family. ”

Also, Li Mao seems to have known that Zhang Jing's identity is wrong, and he once asked Jingzhi. The matter of silver is small, if Li Mao's foolish minister told the Holy ...... about it"

"You don't have to worry about it." Zhang Tingyan smiled and comforted her. When Jing was dressed as a man, she deliberately leaked her identity in front of the emperor, and expressed to the emperor that although she was a woman, she also wanted to be loyal to the country. The first emperor was afraid of Li Shuo's military power at that time, and Jing'er had a good relationship with Li Meng, so he took advantage of the situation to make her a spy in the shadows. Li Mao's identity is afraid of this. ”

"Zhang Jing is also pitiful, she has a good daughter's family, she is both talented and beautiful, she is well married, she gave birth to her eldest son as soon as she entered the door, she should have lived a happy life, but she was ...... by you" Cui Shi just nagged for a few words and then kept silent. Because Zhang Tingyan's face was already black, it couldn't be darker anymore.

She knew that her father-in-law was a ruthless person, and if she was malicious, she didn't care if you were a daughter-in-law or not. Gongzhong has no money, and now she has no value in use, this old thing is so old, if she is confused for a while, it is possible to kill her.

Thinking of this, she was also very scared in her heart, so she had to squeeze out a smile: "After all, I have raised her as my own daughter for so many years, and I feel uncomfortable when I see her end up like that." ”

"She could have had a better life. Women are just unreliable, once they get married, they don't care about the righteousness of the family and the country. Zhang Tingyan was also full of regret when she thought of Zhang Jing's death. She has a noble status, and she didn't have to end up like this, because the eldest prince was too eager. It's just that it's been so long, don't mention it again. ”

Zhang Tingyan's ancestors were all prime ministers in the Yin Dynasty for several generations, and there were many clan daughters who married into the royal family. He wholeheartedly helped the little master recover the rivers and mountains, and this dream of recovering the country has been done for a lifetime, and now he can't let him go.

He has been planning for a long time, and with the accumulation of two generations, he didn't need to move money from his own family at all. It's just that since last year, there have been frequent forks, first the money bureau and the hidden piles of private coins have been found out one by one, and then traitors have appeared, and several salt mills have been implicated. If it weren't for the fact that several copper mines were still being mined, I am afraid that the supply of grain and grass would not be available.

Now that there is another big flood in the south of the Yangtze River, the autumn harvest is blocked, and the price of grain is bound to be inflated. Da Chu has granary adjustments, so naturally it will not have much impact, but they don't have the strength to keep hoarding grain and grass. Several major grain merchants who were originally good friends with him were also implicated in private coinage and were arrested in prison, and it was difficult to even turn around.

It's just that now it's troublesome to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall, and it's really not good, so you have to accept the covenant over there, and the two sides will do this big thing together.

It's not easy to get along with over there, and I'm not prepared for a while, I'm afraid I'm going to make a wedding dress for someone. This is also the reason why he has been hesitating for so many years and not allowing the little prince to contact over there.

I just don't know what they planned outside the gate, if it goes well, they will take advantage of the successive disasters in Dachu and delay the autumn harvest, otherwise they will start to do something to him next year. Whether it succeeds or not, it depends on the will of God.

He is old, and he sees that he will not live long, the two factions of the Jin State Mansion and the Xinguo Mansion are in flames, the monarch and the minister cannot be single-minded, the prince has not been established, and the prince is young, this is all an opportunity.

The main thing is that they can't afford to spend and can't afford to wait.

The red lady defected, and his most powerful assistant in the capital, Ghost Face, went to chase the traitor, but was unfortunately arrested, and then more than a dozen corpses of tortured and killed were thrown into the mass grave in the Xinguo Mansion, and Ghost Face was also among them. At this time, he was equivalent to breaking an arm, and the strongholds and spies in Beijing were uprooted one after another because of the traitor's confession, forcing him to drag his old body back to Beijing for deployment.

Fortunately, there is now another ally in Beijing, and now there are contacts inside and outside, and tens of thousands of troops outside can be used at any time.

Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed.

In the temple of Zhiyun.

Gu Qing suddenly felt dizzy today, and he really couldn't stand up. Fortunately, after Li Rui returned to the palace, the Hu family doctor had been invited into the North Park at any time, and when he heard that the old lady had something, he hurriedly came over to administer the needle.

"Mrs. Tai, you are on the top of the storm, just take a rest." After the Hu family doctor finished administering the needle, he was relieved to see that Mrs. Qiu's face returned to normal.

"Don't be too tired on weekdays. The account book, if you can't read it, don't read it. ”

When Dr. Hu saw the stack of ledgers on the table, he knew what the old lady was dizzy about.

Gu Qing looked at the pile of accounts worriedly, now Mama Hua has a lot of things to do, and this matter of checking the account books bothers her again, I am afraid that there will be another one in the family.

Fang's has just come out of confinement, and now he is personally taking Li Mei with him. Fang's recovery this month was not very good, and she was often in a trance, Gu Qing wanted her to raise for a while longer.

Thinking of Li Zhao, who had been studying mathematics with her for a while, Gu Qing suddenly had an idea.

"Come on, go to the West Garden and find Zhao'er!"