Let's say that Li Xianzhi and Huang Jingfang, Zhang Fengyi and others guessed the riddle in front of Zhou's house for a long time, and when Zhengjue chatted, Huang Jingfang said: "We have guessed enough, let's see if others guess." As he spoke, he handed the written note to the servants of the Zhou Mansion and brought it inside.

After a while, the servant came out and gave a deep salute and said: "Our master is doing a mystery inside, and he must not be vacant, so he will invite a few masters to sit in the house." ”

Although this bachelor Zhou is usually handsome, he specializes in meeting friends with riddles, but whenever he encounters a good guess, he must ask him to tell about it.

After receiving this invitation, a few people couldn't refuse, so they made an appointment to enter. Fang walked into the courtyard, and a thin old man came out of the hall, and said with a smile: "Please ask!" Ask! ”

Huang Jingfang hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully bowed and said, "How dare you!" How dare you! Late life and other sacrifices are ugly! ”

Seeing this, Li Xianzhi secretly thought that this person was Master Zhou. So he came forward with all the people to give salutes and give their names. After seeing the ceremony, he gave way and went into the house. But seeing that there was still a lamp hanging in the hall, before he could take a closer look, Master Zhou led them to sit in the flower hall next to them.

When I entered the flower hall, I saw that there were seven or eight guests inside, busy making riddles and handing out colorful things. Greet each other slightly, and don't ask for surnames, and they are busy with their own things.

Li Xianzhi didn't know any of them, and seeing that they were all well-dressed, he couldn't help but be curious, and asked Zhang Fengyi secretly, knowing that they were all protégés of Bachelor Zhou, and there were no very talents in them, so he sat on the side. After a while, the family brought tea.

Huang Jingfang and Bachelor Zhou were in the same Hanlin Academy, although they did not have a very good relationship, they were also familiar with each other, so they were the two of them who spoke back and forth, and the rest of them were listeners.

Bachelor Zhou said: "Some of these lantern riddles have been put on for a few days and no one has shot them, but today they were easily shot by Dongya's virtuous brother and a few friends, and the old man admired it very much." ”

Huang Jingfang said: "Lord Zhou has an overreputation. It's just that the luck of the late birth and so on, and the accidental shot. ”

Bachelor Zhou said: "Virtuous brother, don't be humble. He turned around and said to the group: "I checked the list of lottery bets and took the lottery items." ”

In a moment, a subordinate was holding a red-painted wooden plate with all kinds of small objects on it.

Huang Jingfang excused himself and said: "It's just guessing and playing, how can you let Lord Zhou break the bank?" ”

Mr. Zhou said: "The spotlight riddle is colorful, this is the rule, and it is not a valuable thing, but it is just a festive and auspicious picture." ”

On the other hand, Zhao Shiweng interjected: "There are so many things, it is really inconvenient for us to take them." I have an idea, Brother Dongya and Brother Zhang shot the most tonight, so it's better to be chosen by the two of them, so they should be collected on behalf of all of us. ”

As soon as these words came out, the two conveniences no longer pushed, Huang Jingfang chose a plain fan with Xiangfei bamboo as a bone, and Zhang Fengyi chose a small jade pendant.

Mr. Zhou waved his hand, ordered the colorful objects to be taken aside, and said some gossip about guessing riddles, and gradually turned to the knowledge of making articles. After talking for a long time, it was already late at night, and several people gave each other a look, got up together, and said goodbye. Mr. Zhou left a few words and sent them out.

Several people left Zhou's house, paced back to Zhengyang Gate, looked for the carriage, boarded the carriage and went to the inner city, and each took the road and returned.

Zhang Fengyi sent Li Xianzhi back to his apartment, and after walking not far, he suddenly thought about it, and after a moment, he asked: "When I was patrolling Zhejiang, the words of Brother Xian are still in my ears today. ”

Hearing this, Li Xian was a little confused, and he was stunned.

Zhang Fengyi said with a smile: "How did Brother Envy forget? You said that it is up to the king of faith to exterminate the eunuchs and save the society, that is, to be the saint today. What puzzles me is that at that time, the first emperor was in the spring and autumn period, and the crown prince was newly established, how can you assert that His Majesty is now in charge? ”

Li Xianzhi then remembered that he was in a hurry to lose his words, but he didn't expect Zhang Fengyi to remember today, he didn't know how to answer correctly for a while, and thought for a moment before saying: "At that time, I was just in a hurry, and I couldn't take it seriously." ”

Zhang Fengyi shook his head and smiled: "What Brother Xian said has now come true, it can be seen that what he said is true, how can he perfunctory me." ”

Li Xianzhi had no choice but to say: "I have already told Brother Zhang at the beginning, but I just had a dream, and there were immortals in the dream. ”

The ancients were very popular in response to dreams, and Li Xianzhi wanted to be so prevaricated, but Zhang Fengyi listened to it and shook his head frequently, but he didn't believe it. Li Xianzhi had no choice but to get drunk, talk nonsense, and say something irrelevant.

While he was talking, the car had stopped in front of the apartment, Li Xianzhi said goodbye and got out of the car, and said goodbye to Zhang Fengyi. Zhang Fengyi couldn't ask any more, so he had to ask the coachman to drive away.

Li Xianzhi returned to the house and saw that Han Chuan and Jin Shun were already asleep, so he didn't ask them to get up and serve, but went back to the room and lay down to sleep in his clothes.

After that, but when they had free time, Zhang, Huang and others would come to invite Li Xianzhi out for a banquet, and Liu Ruozai and Shi Kefa would enter the field, but they were often absent because they had to study and prepare for the exam. Li Xianzhi also had to ask back a few times. Coming and going, it was more than February again.

At this time, the spring list has been released, as they joked, Liu Ruozai really won the top prize in high school and ordered Hanlin. Shi Kefa was also in the top three and was awarded the official of Xi'an Prefecture.

It turned out that a group of friends naturally gathered together to congratulate the two. A few days later, Shi Kefa set off for his post, and Li Xianzhi personally sent him off, thinking of Shi Kefa's future fate, he couldn't help but sigh and feel sad.

However, he said that Li Xian had lived in Beijing for a long time, and he had nothing to do, and he was about to take leave and return to his hometown, when an official document from the Ministry of Officials was sent out, and Li Xian was ordered to be appointed as the head of the Criminal Department.

It turned out that Emperor Chongzhen was bent on re-establishing the eunuchs after removing Wei Zhongxian. However, many of the officials who undertook the undertaking were implicated and colluded with each other, so there was a great sense of being passive and slack. So the emperor was furious and dismissed a number of ineffective officials. As a result, many seats were vacated. Zhou Langzhong took the opportunity to sponsor him, and Li Xianzhi got this errand that really lacked the main job.

Thanks to Zhou Langzhong's kindness, Li Xianzhi naturally thanked him for his great kindness, first bowed to Zhou Langzhong's mansion and thanked him heavily, and then followed the rules of officialdom, went around to greet guests and banquets, and went to the ministry to take office, and he was busy for more than ten days before he stopped. After that, I had to find a small courtyard to rent in the alley of the Criminal Department, and there were two colleagues from the Criminal Department living in the same courtyard, so I didn't have to come to visit and get acquainted.

There is a long story, and nothing is short. Although Emperor Chongzhen was bent on eradicating the eunuchs, hundreds of officials in the court were implicated, injured one, and involved a string, so it was still a perfunctory mind from top to bottom. In addition, at this time, the Houjin offensive in Liaodong was urgent, and the war was tight, so the matter was shelved again. Until the first month of the following year, the war slowed down a little, and Emperor Chongzhen resubmitted the eunuch case. and transferred a new waiter with vigorous means to the Criminal Department to host the eunuch case.

This new waiter's name is Hui Shiyang, and he is the brother of Li Xianzhi's friend Hui Xianyang, who was originally a cadre of the Donglin Party. When the eunuch party was in power, he compiled a "Record of Donglin Point Generals" and listed him as one of the five tiger generals. He was imprisoned several times and almost died. Chongzhen was the country, was appointed as the Shaoqing of Dali, and was immediately promoted to the left waiter of the Criminal Department.

When the new waiter arrived, the officials naturally wanted to go to the worship, and saluted, first said some official words, and then turned the conversation to official business, and only then discussed two things, and before he could come up with an eyebrow, Hui Shilang's face showed a lack of state. All the officials were sophisticated in their observations, and they all got up to say goodbye and dispersed in a hurry. Hui Shiyang didn't send it either, and got up and went back to the back.

Li Xianzhi was wrapped in the crowd, and when he walked to the gate, a subordinate quietly came over, pulled his sleeve and said, "My lord asks Master Li to stay." ”

Li Xian was surprised, and it was not good not to stay, so he had to follow the subordinate back to the flower hall and sit down, come up with refreshments, and had no intention of eating. After sitting for a long time, I saw Hui Shiyang change into civilian clothes and come back. Hurriedly got up and saluted again.

Hui Shiyang returned the salute and said: "Virtuous brother, don't be polite, please sit down." ”

Li Xianzhi heard that Hui Shilang was so commensurate with brothers, and couldn't help but be terrified: "Please advise." ”

Hui Shiyang smiled and said: "What about advice, it's just a talk about the friendship of fellow villagers." Our hometown is bitter cold and remote, and we often have to do the battlefield, and the martial artists are the best in the world, but there are few people who read. It is even rarer to enter the temple of the Son of Heaven from the way of the imperial examination. The younger brother tasted the family letter, praised the virtuous brother for both civil and military, and could be called a model for the villagers. ”

Li Xianzhi hurriedly said humbly: "Cheng Daren praises falsely, how dare you be an official?" ”

Hui Shiyang said with a smile: "You don't have to be humble, Zhejiang Hu has a lot of dealings with me, and once talked about what you did in Pinghu County. Zhou Langzhong, the official department, also strongly recommended you in front of me, which shows that you deserve this reputation. ”

The words seemed to be an understatement, but Li Xianzhi couldn't help but be secretly surprised, he didn't expect that Hu Zhicha also had a deep relationship with Donglin, and he didn't expect that Zhou Langzhong actually got an errand for him from Hui Shilang.

Although Li Xianzhi didn't know whether Hui Shilang had the intention or unintentionally to say this relationship, he couldn't help but admit this kindness, so he had to get up again and bow: "Your Excellency, the lower officials have not forgotten." ”

Hui Shiyang said: "Don't be polite, you and I have the friendship of fellow villagers, and we should support each other, not to mention the ups and downs of officialdom, and it is always unpredictable to advance and retreat." Then he said, "You've been away from home for a few years, haven't you?" ”

Li Xianzhi said: "There is Lord Lao's concern, and the lower officials have not returned home since they entered the Beijing examination, and it has been more than four years so far. ”

Hui Shiyang asked again: "Have you ever had a letter back home?" ”

Li Xianzhi replied: "Recently, because there is no convenient person, I haven't sent a letter back for a while. ”

Hui Shiyang said: "It just so happens that I have a letter to send back these days, you can write it and send it back, and bring it back together." ”

At this time, the war was frequent, and a letter from home was comparable to ten thousand gold, Li Xianzhi was worried about this matter, so he did not shirk it, and immediately said: "Your Excellency Xie is compassionate." ”

Hui Shiyang said: "You don't need to thank you, just do it." ”

Li Xianzhi thanked him again, and then got up to say goodbye. When he returned to his apartment, he wrote two letters and sent them to Huifu to be brought home.

Within a few days, the emperor appointed a number of major cases of eunuchs and asked the criminal department to handle them strictly. However, he said that this Hui Shilang had a handsome temperament and had always hated the eunuch party, so he was filled with righteous indignation and strongly advocated the re-establishment of the eunuch party. Unexpectedly, Han Ge Lao, who did not expect the main court, still tried to be gentle on the grounds that he did not want to make enemies too widely, so he pressed them down one by one. When the emperor heard this, he was furious, convicted him of six crimes, and sentenced several of the main culprits to death in court, and the rest of the main accomplices were also convicted separately.

In this way, the ministers no longer dared to do perfunctory things and did it seriously. Despite this, the emperor had limited energy after all, and he was constantly distracted by border troubles and the affairs of the displaced people. Therefore, some not-so-decent case handlers have the opportunity to get up and down.

Those who have committed the most heinous crimes, those who are known to the emperor, those who have no backstage, and those who have no money, are all official and do things to set the record straight. Other than that, the less conspicuous ones that are given with silver are a different matter. These adults who handle cases should also be benevolent, and make it convenient for others and themselves. It is a wide open door.

The adults have already decided who will be sentenced to what crime, and all Li Xianzhi and the other people of the Criminal Department have to do is to complete the case file.

Li Xianzhi's case assigned to him was not very difficult because of Hui Shiyang's relationship, but one of them surprised him. This person is his original boss in Pinghu City, Hao Zhifu. This prefect Hao belongs to the hardcore eunuch party, and it is very common for him to be brought to justice. However, turning around, it turned into Li Xianzhi's hands, which he didn't expect.

Out of curiosity, Li Xianzhi first found the case file of the Hao Governor's Mansion to look at, which surprised him even more. It turns out that this Hao Governor's Mansion is really powerful. I don't know how he planned to reduce the charge by a few levels. On the case file is a comment written by the master of the Criminal Department, Zhu Bi - "Sitting in the ancestral hall, exempting officials from Beijing to await trial, waiting for the case file to be completed, and the trial of Dali Temple will be completed." The "Ancestral Song" here refers to the construction of the "Ancestral Hall" for Wei Zhongxian, which ranks seventh and the lightest among all the crimes. Li Xianzhi saw it, and already knew the hidden reason, so he couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head.

A case file is to be filed, and the offender is routinely brought to trial again. Li Xianzhi didn't want to see this Hao Zhifu again, and he was even more worried that Hao Zhifu was so exonerated that it was very likely that someone would turn it over and settle old accounts after a long time. He is also one of the handlers, and he will inevitably be implicated. Therefore, he was thinking in his heart to find a reason to transfer his case with someone else, so he threw the case file aside and copied another copy.

The criminal in this case is a magistrate in Zhili, who was originally from a juzi background, but because he repeatedly failed to pass the entrance examination, he moved his crooked mind, attached himself to the eunuch party, and spent a lot of money to find this official. Less than a year after he took office, Ben had not yet recovered, and the eunuchs fell, were dismissed, and were imprisoned for the sixth degree crime, waiting to be released.

In terms of this person, the crime is lighter than that of Governor Hao, but the crime is more serious, presumably it is not true in the bag, and it can't be counted. Starting from this case, Li Xianzhi went to the prison for arraignment several times, but the prisoner cooperated, and based on his confession, he finished writing the case file and handed it over to the ministry for reconsideration.

From beginning to end, Li Xianzhi was just doing some writing work, what crime should be sentenced, Shangguan had already written a note in it, and he had tried some cases at night in Pinghu, so it was not difficult.

After Li Xianzhi finished what he was doing, it was still early. At this time, Jin Shun brought civilian clothes and waited to pick him up. So I changed my clothes and thought about going back to my apartment early to bathe and rest. Because of the short distance, there is no need for carriages and horses, and it has always been on foot. When they arrived at the entrance of the alley, they saw a carriage that they had never seen before guarding the door. Visitors who thought they were residents of the hospital did not care and wanted to enter the hospital through the main entrance. When he was about to walk to the door, he saw Han Chuan suddenly slip out of the half-hidden corner door and block the front.

Li Xianzhi was tired and tired, and he was unhappy in his heart, so he suddenly rushed out, frightened, and became more and more displeased, so he asked: "You are so sneaky, what are you like?" ”

Han Chuan said aggrievedly: "The little one has been waiting here for a long time, and he is thinking about the old man wholeheartedly. After that, he muttered as if he was complaining.

Li Xianzhi asked: "Tell me, why do you think about me?" ”

Han Chuan waved his finger and pointed to the carriage road: "The master has a case in his hand recently, so naturally someone will come to the door to plead." The little one knew that the lord was unwilling to deal with these people, so he stayed here early, thinking of reporting in advance and asking the lord to decide. ”

Li Xianzhi smiled: "In this way, you little guy is quite clever." Who's coming? ”

Han Chuan smiled mysteriously and said, "This person is an acquaintance, you might as well guess." ”

Li Xianzhi said: "I don't have a lot of effort to play dumb riddles with you, so who is it?" ”

Han Chuan said: "It is the Hao Prefect of Jiaxing who is constantly in trouble with the master." ”

Li Xianzhi hurriedly asked, "Where is he now?" ”

Han Chuan said: "I don't think he is like a person who has been convicted, he is very comfortable and calm." waited for the old man to disappear in the house, and then went to the neighboring courtyard to the house of Lord Zhao, and was talking about it at this time. ”

Li Xianzhi said: "I don't want to see him, if you go back, just because I didn't come back." Hao asked someone, don't say it. ”

Han Chuan said: "Where is the master going?" ”

Li Xianzhi said: "I haven't seen Master Zhang for a long time, so I just took this opportunity to visit." Then he said to Jin Shun: "You don't have to wait, go back together, if someone Hao asks, he will say that I have a lot of official business today and will not come back." Later, I will lead the horse to Zhang's Mansion to pick me up. ”

Han Chuan and Jin Shun each agreed, and went back.

Li Xianzhi remained silent, turned outside the street, waited for a while, rented a passing horse, and went to Zhang Fengyi's mansion.