Liu Tavern is located in a small alley in Dazhiqiao Hutong.

The door face is pitiful, and there are no men to greet guests outside, only a shabby disguise is hung outside. Inside, it was just as small, with only four tables, eight benches, and a few small stools. If the guests can't sit down, they move a stool around the jar and drink. Wine is not a good wine, and the dishes are only four or five simple ones such as fried peanuts and pork skin jelly, and those who want to eat better can help go out and buy them.

Because the market is not good, it is all the business of neighbors, and Lin Qingyuan and other translators of "Houyitang" are frequent visitors here. Datou, Yu Youfu, Xiao Shandong, Feng Xiaowhip, and Feng Xiaobao also come often, and they are more generous than the peddlers' pawns, so they see their boss and buddies, not to mention how enthusiastic they are.

But today, Yu Youfu, an old customer, did not drink, but sat at the table by the door, staring at the guests who politely refused to come to drink a few bowls of enjoyable guests, so as not to disturb Master Wen and Master Qingxian, who came for the first time. The boss took a handful of loose silver, and honestly hid in the back kitchen, although the environment is not very good, but it is a good place to talk.

Wen Xiang picked up a peanut and stuffed it into his mouth, then put down his chopsticks and took out a letter from his sleeve: "Heilongjiang is all done, Lord Chongshi and my Wenxiang still have to give this little bit of thin noodles, they will not embarrass Brother Ling, let alone let Brother Ling suffer and suffer." ”

Qingxi was assigned to Heilongjiang to serve as a drudgery, and it has been more than four years in a blink of an eye, and there is no news of this time, and the family doesn't even know whether Qingxi is dead or alive, and suddenly accepts his brother's letter, Qingxian's eyes are suddenly red, and his hands are trembling.

"Thank you for your care, and thank you for helping me, thank you, Lord Chongshi......"

"It's not an outsider, it's too much to say this." Wen Xiang picked up the wine bowl and said earnestly: "Yesterday afternoon, I received a letter from Zhixing, and the British, Buddha, Mi, and Russians provoked, and what he was most worried about was you, brother. Brother Ling can't return to Beijing for a while, and now this family is all pointing to you, so you must be calm, and you must not give someone another handle! ”

"Understood, you two bothered." Qingxian hurriedly arched his hand.

"I don't need to see the outside world, but there is something I don't know whether to say or not."

"My lord, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

"A few days ago, I was not very relieved, so I asked the old Yu family boy to go to your house to take a look, your eldest nephew Dejun, second nephew Dechang and fifth nephew Dehou are very sensible, it is said that they read very hard, and their handwriting is also good. But the third Dechong, the fourth Deji, the sixth Dequan, the seventh Debao, the eighth Deshen and the nine Dehan are a little ignorant, not only idle all day long with a group of fox friends and dog friends, but also dare to say anything, you are an uncle. ”

Qingxian didn't expect Wen Xiang to be so concerned with his family's affairs, and then thought that those nephews were really not like words, and said helplessly: "Adults don't know, I don't care, let alone don't want to care, but I can't control it!" ”

Wen Xiang can understand his difficulties, after all, it is difficult for a Qing official to decide family affairs, not to mention that it is a large family of hundreds of people. Although the family is now in the middle of the road, the Qifu in the Qianliang Hutong still has the style of a high-ranking family. There are three large courtyards in the middle, east and west, six layers of depth, the mansion is high and deep, the painting is harmonious, the carving is fine, and there are hundreds of large and small rooms.

The people in the family, because of the light of their grandfather and even great-grandfather, are used to living a pampered life, and they can't pick up their shoulders or hands, and what else can they do except be idle.

But thinking of their family's current situation, Wen Xiang felt that he couldn't sit idly by, and muttered: "Since you can't control it, brother, then I can only ask someone who can manage it to help manage it." But you have to say hello to Lord Ling Zun and Sister-in-law Ling, if those stinky boys are taken by the Yamen, please don't worry about Ling Zun and Sister-in-law Ling. ”

Qingxian reacted: "Your Excellency is saying that you will find a reason to lock them up for a few days first?" ”

"That's all there is to it."

"Okay, it's up to you."

"Then there is Lord Lingzun's side, I have to explain clearly to Dejun, Dechang, Dehou and your family Deben, Debi, and Dehu, don't say what you shouldn't say to Lao Zhongtang, no matter what happens outside, don't mention it when you get home, it's best to let six people line up and accompany Lao Zhongtang like on duty." Looking at Qingxian's thoughtful appearance, Wen Xiang reminded very seriously and seriously: "There are so many people in your family, who dares to guarantee that they will not chew their tongues, so there are some things that cannot be guarded against!" ”

"What the adults said is that I will go back early tomorrow morning, and I will explain it to them clearly."

"I don't have to wait until tomorrow, I'll go back tonight."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Seeing that Wen Xiang was so worried, Qingxian was very uncomfortable, and couldn't help asking: "Lord Wen, is the emperor angry again and mentioning me Ama again?" ”

"The emperor is not very happy, but this time he didn't mention Lao Zhongtang."

"What did the emperor say?"

Wen Xiang sighed and said helplessly: "The emperor reprimanded Peng Zhongtang and Cao Yuying, saying that the matter of Xiyi had already been decided, and that Xiyi was nothing more than a small profit from trade, and that he bluffed because he made less money, claiming that he wanted to come to Zhili to sue for injustice. Speaking of how to deal with it, the imperial court had already issued an edict to Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, and had ordered Ye Mingchen to handle it at his discretion and control it properly. ”

"It's a good control, what if Ye Mingchen can't control it?" Kyunghyun asked with a smile.

"The imperial court sent an edict to Wang Yide, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, ordering them to secretly punish the local officials under their control, and if the Yi ship arrives, they will remain silent and take proper precautions. If Xiyi came to sue Yuedong for constructing a provocation, they were convinced by reason. said that Xiyi knew that there was no gap, and he would definitely think about returning. ”

"Hahaha, it's really a foregone conclusion!"

"Brother Qingxian, what did we say just now?"

"Forgive me, I am ......"

"Don't talk about you, brother, I'm Wenxiang, but there are some words that can only be put in my heart." Wen Xiang didn't want to talk about these anymore, so he immediately changed the topic: "Actually, the emperor is not unprepared at all, otherwise he would never have summoned me to the palace the day before yesterday, and ordered me to help sort out the large boxes of maps and official documents that Enjun brought from Tianjin." ”

Speaking of this, Kyunghyun, who hadn't seen Eun-jun for a few days, couldn't help but ask, "What has Eun-joon been busy with these days?" ”

"He was promoted, the emperor rewarded him with the title of deputy commander, and ordered him to be the leader of Tarbahatai, he should be busy arranging family affairs these days, and when everything is properly arranged, he should go out of Beijing to return to Xinjiang to take office." Wen Xiang paused, and then said, "Rong Lu, brother should have seen it." His luck was not a little good, he quit his errand in the Ministry of Works, had to be an idle guard, and went to the palace gate every day to be on duty. ”

"I've heard the big head say this, what's wrong with him now?"

"Six days ago, the palace was flooded, the guards were in a panic, he rushed in to save him regardless of 3721, and happened to be seen by the emperor, and after the fire was extinguished, he sent someone to pass him to see him. Knowing that he was the son of longevity, and learning that the three generations of his family had served the country, two generations of sacrifices, and had worked as a principal and a member of the Ministry of Industry, he felt that it was too condescending to let him be a guard, so he was immediately promoted to the head of the household department and the treasury of the household department! ”

Qingxian knew something about Rong Lu, and couldn't help asking, "Isn't there no way to promote him to replace Eun Joon?" ”

Wen Xiang sighed lightly and said with a wry smile: "I was caught off guard by the same way, and even Eunjun couldn't speak again." Speaking of blame, I should have reminded him earlier. It's too late to say anything now, he's already received the order to thank him, and he also likes the errand in the household silver treasury, so I won't mention the matter of replacing Eunjun, so let's take it as no such thing. ”

"In the household silver treasury, it is a fat shortage in the fat shortage, even if this errand can be changed, he may not be willing to change it."

"So there's no need to talk about it again."

"Did the emperor say who would replace Eunjun?"

"The emperor didn't mention it, there is no suitable candidate for a while, and Eunjun is not easy to open this mouth." Wen Xiang thought about it, and sighed and said: "Houyitang has been reporting worries and not good news in the past two years, and it has always added trouble to the emperor. ”

"That's right, even Cao Yuying hasn't come back for the past few days, it seems that he knows that this big shopkeeper is not so easy to do."

"Don't talk about that, I should go back, and you should go home sooner."

"Okay, I'll go back."

As soon as the two of them stood up, Yu Tiesuo hurriedly ran in.

Yu Youfu didn't stop him, and was about to open his mouth to let him get out, so he said eagerly: "Master Wen, something happened to Lord Huang, something has happened!" Master Ji and Master Ao want to discuss with my fourth brother, but my fourth brother is not in the capital, so they can only ask me to hurry up and report to you. ”

"Huang Zhongyin has an accident?"

"Yes, it's Lord Huang Zhongyin!"

"What's wrong?" Wen Xiang stared at him and asked.

"I just received news from Guangxi, saying that Wuzhou had fallen, the deputy general Jiang Fuchang, the inspector Wang Xihui were martyred, and the officials such as Shen Bingyuan, the county Cheng Ding Ruishu, the inspector Wang Xie, and the Liucheng Dianshi Zhang Xiangji were arrested and executed by the Tiandihui bandits, and they also said...... also said that Lord Huang abandoned the city and fled for his life, but he didn't escape, and was also killed by the Heaven and Earth Society! ”

"Who told me that this news is true?"

"Guangxi Governor Lao Chongguang's excerpts have arrived in the capital, and this news should not be false." Yu Tiesuo wiped his sweat, and said cautiously: "Master Ji heard that there were so many civil and military officials in Wuzhou City, so Chen Ruizhi, the prefect of Wuzhou, escaped. Master Ji and Master Ao suspected that Chen Ruizhi wanted to get away with it, so they poured dirty water on Lord Huang and framed Lord Huang for being greedy for life and afraid of death, abandoning the city and fleeing for his life. ”

Wen Xiang had a good personal relationship with Huang Zhongyin, and he didn't think that Huang Zhongyin would abandon the city and flee for his life, so he was silent for a while before he said coldly: "It may also be a ghost caused by Lao Chongguang." ”

"What then?" Yu Tiesuo asked eagerly.

Wen Xiang weighed it and said with a gloomy face: "I have something to do today, I can't go to your Chongqing Hall, help me talk to Ji Yunfei and Ao Tongchen." Let's just say how Brother Yonghui died, sooner or later we will find out! As long as Master Han and I, Wen Xiang, are here, we will never let Brother Yonghuan under Jiuquan suffer injustice! ”