"Cai Wusheng has been promoted to a deputy thousand households, leading the leopard house warriors. was equal to his father's official position, so the emperor raised his hand, and his father was promoted to a thousand households. ”

Reading Zhang Hui's letter, Shen Rui smiled dumbly. There is no meaning of sour grapes between the lines.

It's not that Zhang Hui himself thought of this position, Zhang Hui took over the Jingwei martial arts business, and Xiyuan Qinwei naturally lost his position. And in contrast, Zhang Hui not only wants to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield, but Jingwei martial arts is more suitable for his long-term planning.

But who doesn't want the position of the emperor's close people to be reserved for "his own people", Zhang Hui really wants to seek this position for his fourth uncle Zhao Hongpei.

"Uncle is guarding Nanjing, and Brother Zhao is already in the vanguard of the government army." At that time, Shen Rui had already said this to Zhang Hui.

Although the words are euphemistic, the meaning is very clear - it is impossible for the emperor to give all the benefits to the Zhao family.

Zhang Hui also knew it in his heart, but at this time, the dust had settled, and there were no regrets in the end.

Although it is a pity, but in real terms, this candidate is also impossible for everyone to find fault.

Cai Wu in this letter is talking about Cai Liang, the eldest grandson of the eldest princess of Chun'an.

Because the princess is virtuous, the descendants of the Cai family who marry are ranked according to the clan, so Cai Liang is the eldest in the family, and he is the fifth in the clan, and he is called Wulang at home and abroad.

The eldest princess of Chun'an is undoubtedly the first person in the clan, and Cai Zhen, the concubine, is now in charge of the Zongren Mansion, and the Cai family is the closest to the Heavenly Family.

Moreover, in recent years, the eldest princess of Chun'an has had several conflicts with the queen mother and her maiden family, the Zhang family, which fully shows that the eldest princess of Chun'an is faithfully on the emperor's side.

In the clan, with the support of such seniors, high-level and high-class elders who dare to speak, the emperor will be much easier in many things, and of course he will return the favor.

It is not surprising that Cai Liang can get this position.

And, regardless of the others, the degree of loyalty and reliability alone is truly unparalleled.

The three sons of the eldest princess of Chun'an were sealed by a thousand households at the beginning, and even the concubines were sealed with the shade of a hundred households. Cai Liang's father, Cai Yu, is the eldest son of the eldest princess, and at this time, it is nothing to be promoted to a thousand households because of his son.

"Cai Liang can also be regarded as our own people." Shen Rui replied.

Indeed, in the confrontation in Kunning Palace on last year's Halloween Festival, after the eldest princess of Chun'an scolded the Zhang family and united with the empress dowager to move Mrs. Jin out of the palace in one fell swoop, the emperor deliberately promoted the Cai family brothers, Cai Liang and his younger brother Cai Yu followed out of the palace many times, not to mention the close relationship with Zhang Hui, and also had a good relationship with Shen Rui.

Cai Liang's sister-in-law, Cai Miao, the monarch of Qinghe County, is a very good close friend of Zhao Tong and Yang Tian.

And after Yang Tian was injured, the eldest princess's mansion asked for a warm recommendation to the doctor to send medicine, which also expressed full closeness.

Cai Liang got such a position this time, and it is still a very good result for Shen Rui and Zhang Hui.

"Since you are your own person, you should be a foil or two. You can talk to Cai Liang, mention our vision of martial arts, and tell him that if the Leopard Fang warriors are just 'Han generals', then there is no need to choose these people alone. Cai Liang will be interested, and I will thank you for your help, and I will get closer to us. Shen Rui was quite nervous about time before leaving for Songjiang, and he didn't have time to have a good chat with Zhang Hui.

During these days, he couldn't read books on the way, so he pondered these things carefully, wrote down his thoughts one by one, and sent them back to Zhang Hui.

"These people want to become the real personal guards of the Son of Heaven, if they are one in a hundred, or even one in a thousand warriors, they should learn the things in martial arts, and they should be promoted to the leader of a team at any time, so that they can fight for the country on the battlefield at any time and be loyal to the Son of Heaven."

Since he was personally selected by the emperor as a close person, he would definitely have to master military power to a certain extent in the future, so he should be trained according to the standards of military attachés, not just be a good-looking "Han general", and he can't just protect that kind of kung fu.

The Ming Dynasty has come to the present, in fact, the military system has begun to deteriorate, just look at the defeats in Shaanxi to know how the current combat power is.

In order to make the Ming Dynasty strong, it is also necessary to improve the combat strength of the army.

Although combat effectiveness is not cultivated in a day, it cannot be improved in three or five years, but as long as the seeds are planted, there will always be a chance to sprout, and there will always be hope for growth!

"There is also Gao Wenhu among the warriors of the leopard room, but it makes me think, can you knock on the side and mention it to the saint, and choose more ordinary children to enter the leopard room? Let me say one more thing, second brother, don't be too careful, the noble relatives marry each other, the relationship is complicated, choose such a child, one has a lot of thoughts, and the relationship that needs to be paid attention to is more, and it will be a bad thing if you don't use it at a critical moment; In addition, the children of rich and noble families can't endure hardship, and because of various relationships, teaching is inevitably constrained. ”

"Ordinary people ask for such an opportunity but can't, once they are selected, they will be excited, and they will come with the ambition of serving the monarch and the country. The emperor comforted him a little, and he was bound to protect him. And in this way, people also cherish the hard-won opportunities more and work hard to learn everything. Just like Wen Hu, he had to take the Xiucai exam at the beginning, but now he is very good at practicing kung fu, and it is 'Shibei should be impressed for three days'. Where is his talent? Without it, only with the ears and ears, only with the ears. ”

Speaking of what virtues are of Xungui's children, Zhang Hui and Cai Liang will know better than him Shen Rui. But there are some things that Shen Rui can say, but they can't say when they are in it.

Shen Rui didn't mind saying these words to Brother Shou, but he was afraid that if he didn't buy the accounts of Xungui's children, Brother Shou would be even happier.

Shen Rui wrote a reply letter, packed in a special bamboo tube, this bamboo tube has a simple mechanism, if people who do not know how to disassemble rashly open the lid, there will be ink in it to dye the paper black, what is written will naturally be invisible, it is a very basic but very practical secret device.

Shen Rui sealed his mouth according to the mechanism, and asked the little servant to find the man who delivered the letter in the second-class guest room in the back.

Because the situation in Beijing was unpredictable at that time, and there were Jingwei martial arts and leopard warriors, Zhang Hui would send people to catch up with Shen Rui every three or two days to deliver letters.

The messengers are basically from Du Laoba's side, and they are low-level people, and they will not attract much attention when they go out to Beijing as a footman.

Since Zhang Hui got married, the British government will treat him as an adult according to the old practice, and all kinds of manpower should be like his uncles.

When Zhang Hui took over the Jingwei martial arts study, the British official Zhang Mao also attached great importance to it, and specially allocated a capable cadre to him.

And his own brother, his grandson Zhang Lun, handed over Du Laoba's entire line across the Ming Road to Zhang Hui.

Of course, there are other dark lines that others don't know.

Du Laoba also knew that his identity as a bastard was impossible to follow the future British Duke to ask for an official again, so he didn't regret his awkward feelings, but comfortably and loyally assisted Zhang Huilai.

He also followed Zhang Hui to do things, and he was well versed in this young master's style, which was to fully implement Zhang Hui's words, and he didn't discount at all.

Du Laoba's side is a carefully selected confidant who has dealt with the Shen family to deliver the letter.

The messenger caught up with Shen Rui's team, he was a familiar face, and made the right incision to ensure that the letter was not forged, and after handing over the letter, the messenger followed Shen Rui and his party as a servant to continue to move forward, and waited for Shen Rui to write a reply, and then returned to Beijing from this person.

As Shen Rui moved away from Beijing, more and more messengers were dispatched. Shen Rui also served Du Laoba, and there were so many manpower available.

You must know that the gang at the feet of the Son of Heaven is difficult to grow, if there are too many people, it will become the source of turmoil, and the government cannot allow the emperor to have such an armed force under his nose, so as long as the scale is slightly larger, it will be severely knocked out by the government.

Du Laoba has been an errand boy in the British Gongshisun, and this rule is naturally very clear, although his Green Wolf Gang is famous in the west of the city, there are only a few dozen people in the gang.

Of course, this is on the bright side.

can send more than a dozen people to deliver letters back and forth, and send more than a dozen people to follow the British Ministry to save Wang Yue, and there are still people at hand who can maintain the daily operation of the Green Wolf Gang.

However, sending letters in this way is really too manpower-consuming, and because he wrote some confidential words, it was not easy to transmit them at the post station, Shen Rui couldn't help but secretly sketch out in his heart whether he could build his own special line for transmitting information, and it would be possible to send letters to Shandong, Songjiang, and Liaodong in the future.

Thinking about it here, the door of the room was knocked six times by the triple and three light.

Shen Rui responded, and the man who delivered the letter entered the door respectfully and saluted.

Taking the bamboo tube handed by Shen Rui, he briefly turned it twice and saw that the mechanism was closed, then took out a piece of oilcloth, stuffed it into his backpack, and arched his hand: "The little one will leave early tomorrow morning." ”

Shen Rui said hard work and handed over the red envelope. The man did not politely refuse, and directly took the red envelope to thank the reward, and then withdrew.

Shen Rui stretched his waist, came in by the little guy to fetch water, and was taking off his socks to soak his feet, but saw that the messenger ran in again without waiting for the pass.

"Second Master Shen, our 'Stick Master' is here." The man gasped and said urgently. "He came all the way quickly, he was so tired that he drank saliva to moisten his throat and came up, and he called the little one to speak first, and then he came to ......."

As he spoke, another guy ran up, glared at the man fiercely, and pleaded with Shen Rui out of breath: "...... The second master forgives the sin, this eldest brother is really running too fast, the little one ...... Didn't keep up......"

Shen Rui didn't care about this, his feet didn't soak anymore, and he hurriedly sent someone to carry the water down, so he asked the man to invite the "stick master" to come.

No wonder he was so anxious, just because this person was Du Lao's cousin, and he had an agreement before, if Wang Yue's incident happened, he would send the letter.

*

Du Laoba originally pulled a group of brothers, cousins, and cousins out to beg for a living, and these blood brothers worked together to fight the world, which was the reason why he was able to quickly gain a firm foothold.

It's a pity that it is not easy to save his life in the chaotic world of turf grabbing, and his blood brothers died on the streets one after another in a brawl, and when he finally became the leader of the Green Wolf Gang, only the youngest cousin was left by his side. Du Laoba also treated this surviving cousin as his own brother.

This little cousin's surname is Wang, and he has four lines in the family, and he has a milk named Four Dogs. Later, Du Laoba had the nickname of the eighth master because of his eight fingers, and the name of Cousin Wang was not very easy to call - the prince couldn't be called, the dog was not good, and the fourth master crossed over his brother again.

In the end, there are still organic spirit people on the rivers and lakes, because of the size of Cousin Wang, he gave him the nickname of a stick, he laughed when he heard it, and he also recognized it, and the Green Wolf Gang called him a stick master.

Therefore, just listen to the name of the stick to know the appearance of Cousin Wang, he really has no resemblance to his meaty cousin Du Laoba.

This cousin Wang is tall and slender, with long hands and long feet, a narrow face, and slightly sunken cheeks, as if he has never eaten in his life.

And everyone said that this person was more ruthless than Du Laoba, and he was beaten all the way, and he was indeed a "stick" of the Green Wolf Gang.

This time to "save Wang Yue", Du Laoba's side is Wang Stick's full responsibility.

After sending away the little servant, and sending the people of the Green Wolf Gang to take charge outside, the king of the stick hurriedly saluted and said bluntly: "The second master forgives me, I have to sit down and rest for a while to catch my breath, these two golden poles don't obey the call." Without waiting for Shen Rui's permission, he spread it out on the chair.

The golden bar is a black word in the rivers and lakes, which refers to the legs. Although Wang Gongzi has tried his best to communicate with Shen Rui in official dialect, it is inevitable that he will bring out the habits of the rivers and lakes.

At this moment his face was red from the gale, his lips were chapped, his voice was hoarse, and his steps were heavy when he entered the door, and he was obviously tired.

Shen Rui didn't pick any questions, and personally brought tea for him, looked at his expression carefully, and saw that although he was tired, he was not anxious, and he couldn't help but feel relieved.

Wang Stick was not polite, thanked him, directly lifted the teapot and poured half a pot, choked and coughed a few times, his throat was better, and sure enough, he reported the good news: "Second master, rest assured, it's done." ”

Shen Rui was already extremely calm, smiled and nodded: "Eighth Master is doing things, Second Brother Zhang and I are at ease." ”

Wang Stick immediately looked proud, arched his hand to thank him, breathed a sigh of relief, and slowly explained the process.

Although it was Dongchang who revealed the word that Liu Jin and Qiu Ju secretly drew people to rob and kill Wang Yue, Fan Heng, and Xu Zhi, this kind of thing is usually the time for the people sent out to temporarily decide to rob and kill, and it is impossible for Liu Zhong to know the time and place.

In accordance with the agreement with Shen Rui, Zhang Hui found Du Laoba on the one hand, and the old department that broke away from the British Mansion on the other hand, and Changshou and others around Shen Rui were divided into two teams, one team stood in front of Wang Yue, walked in front of Wang Yue and the others, paid attention to the movement, and the other team tiptoed behind Wang Yue and rushed out to save people at any time.

Wang Yue was sent to prison for a while, and then he was demoted to Nanjing, so he naturally had no momentum in the past, but with about 20 followers, he dragged his feet all the way very slowly.

The people in Dongchang are really patient, and they didn't do it in Beizhili until Shandong.

"The people of the Guogong Mansion are worthy of coming from the battlefield, they are really smart, and Brother Gao (the leader) said in a bald mountain col that this is the first place where you can do it. I haven't believed it yet, the county seat is not far away, and there are Zhuangzi around.

"Brother Gao said that in this kind of small place, there are few bad people, and it is too late to hide when he sees the fight, so he will not take care of it," Wang Stick grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, more and more like a skeleton, and his tone was also full of Sen Ran, "I'm afraid that I will wait until someone dies before I dare to come and see it." Sure enough, he expected it, but later Wang Yue and the officials who went to report to the government themselves, the county order was so frightened that he was about to pee. ”

"The people brought by Wang Yue are really wretched, and the ghost who jumped out with a masked face and the guy cried wolf, so it's strange if you don't call people round." Wang Stick looked disdainful and said, "If you look at this group of people over there, you will also underestimate the enemy." Brother Gao asked us not to move first, and when we got the idea to circle those who ran away, and when Tiqingzi (weapon) chopped people and had no defense, we would take action and kill them by surprise. ”

"Brother Changshou is really good! There are two hard ideas that he cooked. Wang Stick gave a thumbs up as he spoke, speaking sincerely.

Shen Rui sighed in his heart, although Changshou had done many things for him, it was the first time that he had killed someone like this. Shaking his head and putting aside those meaningless thoughts, Shen Rui put his mind into Wang Stick's narration again.

The East Factory is really light on the enemy, and there are not many guards with Wang Yue themselves, and they probed again, knowing that they are all incompetent, and this time they beat the water dogs, and the East Factory did not send many people, let alone any first-class masters.

On Wang Stick's side, it is the convergence of the three parties, and there are a lot of people in it, there are many soldiers who are born in a hundred battles and know how to arrange troops, and there are some good hands in the rivers and lakes of Du Xiaobayang, and their kung fu is not weak, so they have the advantage.

However, the East Factory is not given for nothing, and it has a good foundation in the end. The two sides were still in a vicious fight, and Wang Stickzi reluctantly killed all the people in Dongchang, and his own side inevitably suffered losses.

According to a statistic after the war, five people were killed and wounded under Du Laoba, and one was killed and one wounded under Changshou's men.

It's just that there are also people who are practicing in the East Factory, and when they saw that they were dying, they simply didn't fight back, and went straight to the mission goal, trying to kill Wang Yue and the other three, which can be regarded as earning back.

This change was beyond the expectations of Wang Stickzi and these people, although they finally killed that person, Wang Yue and Fan Heng were both injured to varying degrees.

Xu Zhi, who was closest to that person, was the most unlucky, and his arm was cut off by Shengsheng, if he hadn't been dragged by Changshou, he was afraid that half of his body would have been cut off.

When Wang Gongzi left, Xu Zhi had a high fever in the guest room of the county government's house, and the small county town lacked medical treatment, and he didn't know if he could survive it.

"The idea has been arranged a long time ago, destroy a small hill nearby, hide the corpse nearby, I think it is ready to be Wang Yue and them, and then throw some corpses over, pretending to be a bandit robbing the road. It's a pity that this corpse ended up replacing themselves. ”

Wang Gongzi said coldly, and a chill flashed in his eyes, "The people in Dongchang are all dead, then the prince is okay, say burn it, don't leave the corpse." That Father-in-law Fan is really a ruthless character, so he told us to chop up all the Dongchang and throw them on the mountain to feed the wolves......"

"More than that," he paused, and his voice lowered a little lower: "I know that we are Xiao Liu's father-in-law's people...... Father-in-law Fan directly asked us to do all the work around him. That's all his own people, I look at the straight hair, no matter how ruthless we run the rivers and lakes, we won't touch our own people. ”

Shen Rui couldn't help but shudder.

Although it is said to be kept secret, in this way, human life is really regarded as a mustard.

"I discussed it with Brother Gao and Brother Changshou, and each of the three of us came up with a few clever ones, changed into the clothes of the followers to protect Wang Yue and them to the south, and then thought of getting out in Nanjing. The rest of the people dispersed, not returning to Beijing first, hiding from the limelight and then going back. Brother Changshou said that he was not good at showing up here, so according to the second master, you ordered him before, his people went in several batches, went back to Songjiang first, and waited for the second master in Songjiang. ”

Wang Gongzi smiled again, pointed at himself and said: "My brother said that I should follow the second master first, and I can also worship the mountain and burn incense along the way, and make a few good fortunes for the second master." In the future, it will not hurt for the second master to use what he can't use. ”

When Shen Rui heard this, he knew that he wanted to put aside Du Laoba and dig up a few more people in the rivers and lakes, but he was afraid that it would fall into Du Laoba's eyes, but this kind of thing is not very good to say, it is understandable that he wants to cultivate some forces that belong to him, and Du Laoba can't pick this thorn.

Now Du Laoba has sent Wang Stick to pull the strings for him, which is also a show of goodwill.

After Wang Yue's incident, in fact, Shen Rui, Zhang Hui and Du Laoba were also in the same boat.

Shen Rui smiled when he figured it out, thanked him, and accepted Du Laoba's "kindness".

Because he asked about the follow-up disposal, the key to Wang Yue's matter was that Liu Jin could not be traced back to them.

Because it is the East Factory, there may be an inspection of Jinyiwei in the future - I remember that in the history of the previous life, not long after, Jinyiwei changed the commander, and all the factory guards fell into Liu Jin's bag.

In the face of such a full-time agent, the slightest uncleanness in doing things may lead to burning.

In this way, Fan Heng's ruthlessness is also a good protection.

What kind of pro-confidant, he was kicked out of the palace, and it's hard to say whether there is a real "body of his own people".

And only the dead who can't speak are the safest.

"The corpse is according to Father-in-law Fan's, chopped up and thrown into the mountains." Wang Stickzi is a fighting man who began to run the rivers and lakes when he was a teenager, he has seen a lot of blood, and he is notoriously cold-blooded, and when it comes to breaking a corpse, it is as easy as smashing a walnut.

The stakes were high, and Shen Rui endured the discomfort that welled up in his stomach and forced himself to listen to his every word.

As Wang Stick said, Dongchang chose to kill a group of thieves as scapegoats in order to cover up his tracks, and in the end, these were used by Wang Stick.

Not a single person left in the East Factory was chopped up and thrown away in the place where wild beasts were infested in the mountains.

The dead and wounded on the side of the king stick were cremated and their ashes were taken away.

Wang Yue and his slain guards and servants were treated as victims, and the bodies of the bandits were placed at the scene as robbers, leaving such a scene for the officials who came later.

As Brother Gao expected, in such a remote and small place, there was a fight, and from the government to the people, they didn't even dare to look at the excitement, so they closed the doors and windows, hid indoors, shivering, and prayed that the thieves would not come to their homes.

After Wang Stick and his entourage finished taking care of everything, pretending to be an entourage to guard Wang Yue and Fan Heng, and carrying Xu Zhi, who had lost too much blood and was unconscious, into the city to the county office, the county commander and the county Cheng only cowered and came out to salute.

"Except for Wang Gonggong and Fan Gonggong, no one knows our identity. Wang Gonggong and Fan Gonggong thought that they had entrusted something to Brother Gao's side, and when I went south to deliver the letter, someone from the Guogong Mansion had already brought it back to Beijing. "As for our brothers, before they came out, they didn't know what they were going to do, and they all went to the place to give instructions and didn't tell who was on the other side." Second master rest assured, my brother has always been benevolent and righteous, and he always gives money to buy his life before doing things, and the family of the dead and injured brother will only be grateful to Dade and will not ask questions. ”

Shen Rui thought about it carefully, and repeatedly asked Wang Stick about the details to confirm that there were no clues, and then he was completely relieved.

"It's really hard for you, so let's go and rest. Tomorrow I will inform the two brothers, and you will follow us, and if others ask, you will only say that you have come from Beijing to deliver a letter to me. Shen Rui said to Wang Stick.

These days, Zhang Hui and Shen Rui in Beijing have frequently sent messages, and others will not suspect anything.

After sending Wang Stick away, Shen Rui invited Shen Ying over and told him the matter briefly.

Hearing that Wang Yue had something to bring back to the capital, Shen Ying breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "It's finally not in vain. After that, it's up to Xiao Liu's father-in-law. ”

After thinking about it for a while, he said: "Since the emperor sent Wang Yue and others to Nanjing, his subordinates showed mercy and wanted to spare them." Liu Jinzhi's honor and disgrace and authority are all thanks to the emperor's grace, and he does not dare to disobey the emperor's intentions, and he will never dare to speak out or investigate with great fanfare. If the emperor knows that he is doing this behind the emperor's back, his future will be gone. ”

"Wang Yue has been in the master of ceremonies for many years, and he was in charge of the East Factory before, so it is not surprising that someone protects him. And the British Mansion not only has a bad relationship with Wang Yue, but can even be said to have a grudge, although it is Qiu Ju's matter, but in the end, Wang Yue is in charge of his nephew and the position of the third master of the British Mansion, Liu Jin Qiu Ju can never think of the British Mansion. And our family has always had nothing to do with them, and we are good friends with Zhang Yong's father-in-law, and there have been a lot of red and white things recently, and they don't have skills, so they won't think about us. ”

Shen Rui nodded frequently as he listened, and sighed, "I think so too." It's just that I'm afraid that I will be sparse and show my flaws. ”

Shen Ying patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't think about that much." The matter is over, they are now a headache, since Wang Yue is not dead, how can he not deal with them! They are afraid that they will not start to investigate anything for a while. After a few months, everything was clean at that time. ”

*

Several heavy snowfalls this winter slowed down the trips of the three brothers of the Shen family, and it was already Laba when they entered Nanzhili.

Shen Jin couldn't help but get anxious.

Although it was too long to send the letter to Beijing and wait for him to return because of the long distance, Zhang Lao'an would not have stopped for many days before being buried - even if it was winter, with some ice corpses to survive, it would not be able to delay for 7749 days.

But as a burden-bearing grandson, Shen Jin's delay in returning is still very inappropriate.

Unlike Shen Rui, Shen Jin has real feelings for his grandmother Zhang Laoanren.

Although he admitted that Zhang Lao'an was a little confused when he was old, when he was young, his grandmother treated him well and put him first in everything. - Of course, this is naturally the key to his and Shen Rui's completely different attitudes towards Zhang Laoanren.

In his heart, Shen Jin really wanted to hurry back to send his grandmother on her last journey.

But in such a road situation, no matter how anxious he is, he can't do anything.

He once learned Shen Rui to abandon the car and ride a horse, hoping to travel faster, but he didn't have a kung fu foundation, and after riding for a while, his leg hurt hotly, and his waist was hard and sore, so he had to go back to the car.

Shen Jin is so anxious, Shen Ying also sees it in her eyes.

He also understands this mood very well, just like when his father died, he also had no life to drive back, so his words of consolation were not easy to say, and he felt that persuasion was useless.

Although Shen Rui hated Zhang Lao'an, and had recently stayed away from Shen Jin because of the Shouning Marquis Mansion, he couldn't help but sigh when he saw Shen Jin like this, and finally he came forward to persuade Shen Jin.

"It's useless for Brother Jin to be anxious. If you are freezing today, when you are most susceptible to wind and cold, if you don't take good care of it and fall ill, won't it delay things even more? The fourth old lady has also been buried in the earth, and she can only hope that Brother Jin will be better in the spirit of heaven. How can Brother Jin make the old man uneasy. ”

Although it was obviously polite words, after listening to Shen Rui's words, Shen Jin still showed gratitude, and called out "Brother Rui" with some choked up, but he shook his head and couldn't go on.

Shen Rui's estrangement from him is clear to him, and he doesn't want to make amends, but he also knows that this younger brother can't pull back the nine cows when his temper hardens, so he has no choice but to admit it, thinking that this is his own brother no matter what, as long as he always adheres to this heart.

This is the first time since he decided to marry Shen Rui and turned his face, he has been comforted by such gentle words, and Shen Jin didn't know what to reply for a while.

He stabilized his emotions, and finally just said, "Brother Rui, my grandmother is gone, I feel uncomfortable in my heart, and I always want to do something for her." Don't worry, I'll save myself. ”

Shen Rui was silent and didn't say more.

Shen Jin is naturally good in his bones, even if he sees the evil side of human nature, he chooses to be tolerant many times.

Although Shen Rui looked down on him like this, and felt that many times it was good and evil, but he also had to admit that such kindness made Shen Jin seem much safer—no one wants to deal with a naturally evil person, does it.

Although there are only a few sentences in this conversation, the relationship between the two brothers seems to have broken the ice, and the sense of estrangement has disappeared a lot when they communicate every day.

In late December, the three brothers finally entered the Songjiang territory.

It is inconvenient to wear filial piety during the journey, and there are many taboos in shops, so the three of them only wear plain clothes when they are in a hurry. At this time, the door of the house was close in front of them, and the three of them changed into formal mourning clothes in the car.

Shen Qi, the patriarch, sent people to meet at the intersections of various intersections early, and a servant here received someone, and someone over there immediately rushed back to the fifth room to report the news. Shen Qi and Shen Quan's brothers were also busy and rushed to meet.

Everyone had seen each other, but they didn't have time to speak, and according to the etiquette, they first led Shen Ying and Shen Rui to the fourth room.

Zhang Lao'an has been buried for many days, and the funeral shed at home has also been removed, leaving only a tablet in the small family ancestral hall.

There are many particulars about going to the grave, especially with Shen Jin, the bearer grandson who has just returned, and he has to choose a special date. Therefore, Shen Qi first brought Shen Ying and Shen Rui to the fourth room to make incense with Zhang Laoanren's tablet.

Shen Yuan stood in the small Buddha hall, he could see that he had lost a lot of weight at a glance, and he was even more haggard with heavy filial piety.

Shen Jin saluted and called "father", while Shen Rui only saluted with Shen Ying and shouted "Uncle Yuan".

Shen Yuan looked at Shen Jin and Shen Rui brothers, his expression was complicated, and he was silent for a moment before he slowly raised his hand and only said, "Let's go to the incense." ”

Shen Ying took Shen Rui to the incense, politely said two words of condolences and the like, and said that she had not gone home to see her mother, and said goodbye first.

Shen Yuan has been locked up in the family ancestral hall for more than a year, and he is a lot more honest, and seeing that Shen Ying is still a little afraid, he responds and lets them go.

When Shen Ying and Shen Qi left, Shen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had removed something heavy on his shoulders and suddenly straightened his waist.

He looked at Shen Jin, couldn't help but show Lao Tzu's momentum, pulled out his waist, coughed, and said, "Your marriage, but I only heard about it later......

Shen Jin looked up at Shen Yuan fiercely, his brows locked into Sichuan characters, if it weren't for this father "selling his son for money", how would his marriage be so difficult!

No matter how good Rao is temper is, Shen Jin couldn't help but coldly cut off his father's words, and said: "The son's marriage is the son's teacher, the former servant of the Ministry of Ministers, Zhang Yuanzhen, and the queen mother is the woman's big matchmaker. The old man must have heard about it too. ”

He no longer called his father, but changed his name to his master, and threw out such a loud name.

Shen Yuanden was dumbfounded, and said again after a while: "Is my daughter-in-law coming back with you?" ”

"The road is slippery and difficult to walk on snowy days, and the female dependents change to slow down by car. The son rode back alone to send his grandmother first. Shen Jin replied. Then he asked, "My wife is ahead of us, but she has arrived home?" ”

Seeing that everything was in order in the fourth room, he also knew that Xiao He's family must have already returned, but when he asked at this time, he was just looking for a step, and stopped talking to Shen Yuan on the grounds of visiting him in the past.

The expression on Shen Yuan's face changed slightly, and he said for a while: "I'm back." Your grandfather is here today, so let's go to the back hall and see it. ”

Grandfather? Shen Jin was slightly stunned, and then reacted that it was Xiao He's father and Mrs. He Jiu who came over, and immediately responded in a low voice, turned his head and left.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, he heard Shen Yuan sigh and muttered to himself, "...... It's a shame that it's in the Hanlin Academy, and it's cheaper to go back to the Hanlin Academy, so you don't have to bother with finding a shortage of children......"

Shen Jin stood on his feet and turned around to look, Shen Yuan was standing in front of Zhang Laoanren's tablet, and the regret on his face had not been withdrawn.

The flesh on Shen Jin's face shook unconsciously, his grandmother passed away, but what his father thought was whether his son could keep his son this time.

He gritted his teeth, but he still couldn't bite the sentence, "I'm afraid that the master didn't get the latest letter, and my son had transferred the right Yude of Zhan Shifu to the right Chunfang before." It's just that I caught up with Ding Wei. He will recover, and he will not be able to seek Zhan Shifu again, and he is afraid that he will have to worry about where to go. ”

Shen Yuan's face also changed with Shen Jin's words, hearing that Zhan Shifu was first surprised and delighted, opened his mouth slightly, and then learned that the duck in his hand had flew, and his eyes suddenly widened, his face was stunned, and then he was disappointed.

He blurted out: "I knew it was ...... like this"

But it stopped abruptly and swallowed all the words that followed.

The swallowed words seemed to choke Shen Yuan, he stared dryly for a long time, Fang lowered his head, waved his hand, and said weakly: "Go, I've seen your grandfather." ”

Shen Jin stared at every change in his expression, and when he saw that he was finally depressed, he felt a little happy in his heart, but then he felt bored.

Such a wolf-hearted Shen Yuan, where is it worth being stimulated.

Shen Jin responded coldly, turned his head and strode away.

Only Shen Yuan was left in the small ancestral hall, looking at Zhang Lao'anren's tablet, sighing.

*

Shen Rui followed Shen Ying out of the fourth room, and the whole person felt relaxed.

The fourth room has never left him with any good memories.

Stepping into the fifth room, you immediately feel like home.

Seeing Mrs. Guo Shi of Wufang Hong looking at the door from afar, his heart was warm, like a teenager, he ran over quickly, and was about to kneel down when he picked up his clothes, but was dragged up by Guo Shi.

The corners of Guo's eyes and eyebrows were full of joy, and he said with disgust: "You kid, don't make trouble!" If you do this again, you're going to be beaten! ”

Shen Rui has always regarded Guo as a second mother, and when he heard her kind and reproachful words, he felt like he had returned to his childhood, because he smiled and said: "I haven't seen my aunt for a long time, so I should kowtow to my aunt." ”

Looking at the young man in front of him who was much taller than last year, Guo's eyes were already red, and he stretched out his hand and patted his arm, "It's all adults, what are you kowtowing!" Come into the house. After that, he led Shen Rui to the upper room.

She turned around and saw her daughter Sister Fu standing aside.

Without waiting for Guo's glare, Sister Fu had already stuck out her tongue, walked over, bowed with a blessed body, and said crisply: "I've seen Second Brother Rui." ”

Sister Fu will be ten years old in the New Year, but she hasn't grown up, and her fleshy little face is still like a little girl.

And behind her was a real little girl, the little radish head looked like she was four or five years old, and she was ignorant and called "Second Brother Rui", but Sister Fu turned around and clapped her hands, glared and said: "You are called Second Uncle, I have taught you!" ”

This gaze is very similar to Guo's.

The adults all laughed, but the little radish head was Shen Ying's youngest daughter, and her face couldn't help but blush when the little aunt said it, and when she saw the elders laughing, she was in a hurry, and her flat mouth was about to cry.

Shen Rui hurriedly patted the head of the little radish head, and said with a smile: "The second uncle came back in a hurry this time, and he didn't bring anything to the girl, the second uncle should be punished, and the second uncle will take the girl to the street to buy something fun another day." ”

The little radish head is still small, and I haven't seen her for more than a year, and I don't remember Shen Rui anymore, at this time, seeing Shen Rui's kind smile, and willing to lead her to the street, I immediately broke into tears and smiled, with tears on my eyelashes, my mouth was already grinning, and I replied loudly: "Okay." Second uncle is good. ”

Everyone laughed again, Guo Shi walked over with a helpless smile and reached out to pick up the little radish head, and said to Shen Rui: "You, you don't have to spoil the child!" It's cold outside, come inside. ”

Shen Rui laughed, squeezed his eyes at Sister Fu again, and said, "Second brother came back in a hurry, and Sister Fu'er will also make up for it when I go back." ”

Sister Fu'er's eyes were shining, and she immediately said: "Second brother can say okay, I want to ...... the new mud doll."

Shen Rui smiled and responded, "Buy you two pairs and pick them yourself." ”

Guo Shi turned his head and glared at his daughter and then at Shen Rui, "I just said don't get used to children!" Hurry into the house. ”

Shen Quan also laughed and dragged Shen Rui into the house, and said in his mouth: "Don't take Sister Fu'er's stubble, this little girl is so shrewd now, you can't tell her how many things to go around for a while." ”

Sister Fu followed behind her, pursed her lips, and said angrily: "The third brother is the worst, he is reluctant to buy me something at home, and he is not allowed to buy it for me!" ”

Shen Rui almost burst out laughing, looking at Shen Quan playfully.

Shen Quan was not embarrassed, he pointed at Sister Fu and replied with a smile: "This is without conscience, you went to open your box, how much I didn't buy it with you!" I bought that box! ”

Because of the age difference, almost all the brothers in the fifth room treat this little sister like a daughter, and they are spoiled tightly.

Sister Fu is a lively and cheerful person, and she laughs a little bit for a while, and her teeth are sharp.

Guo Shi handed his granddaughter into the hands of the nurse, told her to take it down, turned around and poked her daughter's head, and said, "How do you talk to your brother?" It's not a good look! It's as if nothing was given to you. How many things did you deceive your brothers, and you came to deceive Brother Rui again! Talk, don't talk here, go down and do needlework. ”

When it came to needlework, Sister Fu immediately wilted, and bowed to the brothers to retire bitterly, and blinked before leaving: "Second Brother Rui must not forget." ”

made Shen Rui laugh: "And you are indispensable!" ”

Guo looked particularly young when he talked to his youngest daughter, and when the youngest daughter left, facing the older son and nephew, she looked like a loving mother again, and pulled Shen Rui to ask about the Shen Mansion in Beijing.

Shen Rui answered one by one, saying that everything was fine at home, and the aunt didn't have to worry about it.

Speaking of which, it is inevitable to mention the current situation.

The news of the two elders has not spread all over the country so quickly, so Guo only learned at this time that Xie Qian had stepped down, and before Xie Qian left Beijing, his brother Xie Di was dismissed, which shows that he was retaliated against by the middle official.

Guo Shi was worried about Shen Lilai, and when he heard that Shen Li had been released from Shandong, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's better to stay away from the land of right and wrong." ”

Speaking of Shen Li, Shen Jin was naturally mentioned.

In this year, the Shen family won the lawsuit and was given cotton cloth as a tribute, which was really lively, and the officials and gentry of Songjiang Mansion came to say that they had a relationship.

This is also the reason why the fifth room of the Shen family held the Shen Hong anniversary festival in a low-key manner.

But the most lively time was when the news that Shen Jin had set the daughter of the Marquis of Shouning was transmitted back to Songjiang, and there was an endless stream of people who came to visit the fourth room and the fifth room where the patriarch was located, and the threshold could really be stepped on an inch.

The four-room Xiaohe family wanted to enter Beijing to take care of Shen Jin's marriage, and the clan had to release Shen Yuan to take care of Zhang Lao'an.

Sure enough, as expected by Shen Ying, Shen Rui and others, although Shen Yuan has been locked up for a long time and is honest, but when he is touted by everyone, he can't help but be fluttering again, and he thinks of himself as the in-laws of the Hou Mansion of Shouning.

Fortunately, Shen Qi watched closely and didn't let him take the opportunity to make money.

Although the whole Songjiang Mansion is currying favor with the Shen family, the fifth room knows all kinds of grievances between the Shouning Hou Mansion and the second room, and he can't help but worry about it. Shen Ying, Shen Qi, and Shen all went to Shen Rui.

When Shen Rui replied, he just understated the clansmen, and when he saw Wufang, he didn't say much.

At this time, there were no outsiders in the house, so Shen Ying told her mother what happened to Shen Jin in Beijing in the past two months, Guo sighed again and again, and couldn't help but say: "This is a close ...... This kinship...... Qi Dafei ...... Alas......"

After a pause, Guo Shifang sighed and said: "That's it, she is already the daughter-in-law of my Shen family, and since she is back, she will treat the daughters of the clan well." He sighed again, "I just pity Brother Jin." …… Xiao He is also a poor man. ”

Shen Ying shook her head and said, "If you have gains, you must lose something, and it's nothing." In the end, his father-in-law is also a help, if there is no Ding worry, the right envoy of the Zhan Mansion is really lacking, and it is indeed paved a green cloud road for him. ”

He turned his head and asked Shen Qi, "Before we left, the fourth old lady looked fine, how could she say that it was gone?" ”

Although Zhang Laoan was paralyzed in bed after a stroke, his condition has not deteriorated for more than a year, but he has seen some better, and can say some words vaguely.

When Xiao He's family went north to take care of Shen Jin's marriage, they released Shen Yuan, also considering that if there was no master in the fourth room, the subordinates would definitely not be satisfied with serving Zhang Laoan.

didn't think about it, but it was at this time that Zhang Lao'an died.

Shen Qi shook his head and said to his brother: "The fourth old lady has been sick, and the doctor comes once a month, and I haven't heard about it, so I just said that I will raise it." On September 19, the first watch, the fourth room came to report the funeral, and the third child and I passed. It was said that the four old ladies were angry with the maid again, smashed the medicine bowl, and the maid hid out, and when the maid came in again, the four old ladies had already choked their breath. The doctor died of holding his breath. ”

Zhang Laoanren's temper has been getting worse and worse since he had a stroke, and it is common to beat and scold the maid.

Shen Ying only shook her head and sighed when she heard this, and said in her heart that she had done her own wrong.

Shen Rui said strangely: "I heard the funeral report that the person was gone, and I didn't care too much about the day, but then I only said that I remembered it wrong. Is it really September 19? How did it take a long time for Beijing to get the letter? ”

Shen Qi snorted coldly and said, "Uncle Yuan said that he would send the letter himself, so he doesn't need us." I counted that the eldest brother and they took the waterway, took the north wind fast, and the kung fu was almost to Beizhili in ten days, and it was too late to chase, so Uncle Yuan's own food sent the letter. Now looking at the day you come back, I'm afraid that Uncle Yuan didn't send the letter early. ”

Seeing Shen Ying and Shen Ruiqi frowning, he said coldly: "If you want to come, if you take the post station and send it to Beijing quickly, in case you rush to report the funeral before Brother Jin'er gets married, this family matter doesn't have to be over......

Shen Yuan's in-laws in the Hou Mansion are doing beautifully, and where is he willing to make the marriage empty.

Shen Rui smiled sarcastically, "This has dragged on long enough, and in a month, the messenger should climb to the capital." But the timing of this climb was just blocking Brother Jin's Qingyun Road. The Zhang family may not be less resentful than learning of the funeral before they got married. ”

Shen Ying shook her head, but this time she said it out loud, "I did my own thing." ”

(End of chapter)