When the old lady took what I had written, her face flushed, and she was also a smart person, and of course understood why I should not tell her in person. After reading it, she folded the paper and put it under the pillow: "There is a long way to work, I must recite the mantra every day, and I will tell him to recite it together when the master comes back." Zihan, I'm tired, you can send the Taoist chief out, tell Steward Lan, let him come in, I have something to order. ”

said goodbye to the old lady and followed Wei Zihan to the main hall, where the old man was still drinking tea leisurely and happily, humming an unknown song. Seeing the two of us come in, the old man said, "How are you doing, let's go back if it's okay." Wei Zihan said: "What is the worry about my father-in-law when he goes back, you sit down first, I'll go to Steward Lan, and my aunt will find him something." ”

Wei Zihan walked out of the hall and went to find Butler Lan, only me and the old man were left, the old man asked me how Mrs. Wei's illness was, I whispered again, the old man sighed after listening to it and said: "This is the reason why I don't take concubines, don't look at these wealthy families on the surface, brocade clothes and jade are arrogant, who is not messy at home, you must also remember in the future, don't have three wives and four concubines." ”

I didn't say anything, I don't know this kind of thing when I'm often in the mountains, it's difficult for a Qing official to cut off family affairs, so let Wei Zihan and her uncle handle it themselves.

After a while, Butler Lan and Wei Zihan came out of the back hall together, Butler Lan carried a blue cloth baggage, looked very heavy, came to me and put the burden on the table and said: "Dao Chief, this is what Madame asked me to give you, Madam asked me to thank you, there is not much silver, please accept it, and today's Madame's illness is also asked to keep it secret." ”

As soon as I saw this, I was not polite, the cottage was short of silver, like them who were officials, the silver did not come the right way, and it was accepted if it was collected, but the kind words still had to be said, so I stood up and said: "The housekeeper is not good for this cashier, you still tell the old lady, take it back." ”

Wei Zihan said on the side: "Brother Lei, you can accept it, you need money everywhere in the capital."

The old man on one side knew that when people took out the silver, they drove us away. also stood up and said: "We will accept the silver, but we should also say goodbye, Zihan and you Brother Lei will live in my house temporarily, if you have something, you can ask Shunzi to come over and call us." ”

Wei Zihan was embarrassed to keep us when he first arrived, so he had to say, "Then my father-in-law and Brother Lei should also go back and rest, and I will go to see you in a few days." ”

I said goodbye to the old man with my baggage, and Wei Zihan sent it to the gate until he couldn't see us before he went back.

The old man's mansion is not far from the Wei Mansion, and it is only two streets away.

When I entered the house, there were still four or five family members left in the house, and the old man asked them to clean up a clean guest room for me, and I was not polite, I didn't sleep all night, and I was really sleepy. I washed up, lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

I didn't wake up until sunset, put on my clothes, washed my face, and pushed open the door, but the courtyard was deserted, and there was no one in sight.

I walked around the courtyard at random, carefully looked at the old man's mansion, it is also the courtyard of Sanjin, but there is no garden in the backyard, it is a martial arts field, there are two weapon racks in the martial arts field, which are full of swords, guns, swords, halberds and eighteen kinds of weapons, the venue is paved with yellow sand, and there are several stone locks and stone hammers on the edge of the field to practice arm strength. It was cleaned up, even the stone benches on the side of the field were wiped clean. I sat down on a stone bench at the edge of the field.

I wanted to practice swordsmanship, but I was afraid that the old man would not get up from sleep and disturb him, so I sat down on the stone bench next to the venue.

Looking at the tall walls of the palace city in the west, I was thinking in my heart, now that I have arrived in the capital, it is time to find a way to enter the palace to find the master's posthumous work. No, I couldn't wait, I got up and wanted to go to the old man, and as soon as I walked out of the backyard, I met a family member hurrying to the backyard. "Dao Chief, the master is looking for you, I went to your room to see if you were not there, so I came here to find you, you can come with me. The old man is waiting for you in the front hall. ”

I followed my family to the front hall, but I saw the old man sitting on a chair, and on the table in front of him, there were already several hot dishes, as well as a few cold dishes.

The old man saw me come in and said, "Come and drink a pot with me, I haven't drunk in the past few days, and my mouth is faint." ”

I was not polite, sat down and picked up the wine cup, and touched one with the old man, drank it, and said: "Old man, now that I have also arrived in the capital, I want to enter the palace in the next few days." ”

When the old man heard me say that he was going to enter the palace, he stopped the chopsticks that were holding the vegetables, and said: "You can enter the palace, do you know how big the palace is, can you not get lost when you go inside, you drink with me first, tomorrow I will be the model in the palace, after you are familiar with it first, I will call you into the palace." ”

"How to make a model, do you have to be so troublesome, if you go in, there is a way."

"Boy, don't be unconvinced, if you are not familiar with the road, you will not be able to get out if you go in, I will put all the roads and the main hall for you, the old man has been in the palace for decades, there is no unfamiliar place. Where else is there a lot of defense, where is the weak point, you have to know, you don't know the location of the imperial study. ”

"Then listen to your old man, tomorrow you will teach me the way in the palace." I also understand that it is not very easy to actually get in.

"This is almost the same, there are three imperial study rooms alone, one is where the emperor usually deals with the folds, one is the place where the royal books are stored, and there is a small study in the emperor's bedroom, where is your master's posthumous work you know?"

"I really don't know, old man, there are so many study rooms, as for the master's posthumous writings, I don't know where the study is, the senior brother is just guessing."

"That's it, you don't know how to find it in that study, let me tell you, after the death of the first emperor, all the books and codex calligraphy and paintings in his study will be stored in the royal library, which is also the largest imperial study. Your master's accident occurred when the first emperor was, and now seven or eight out of ten of his posthumous works are in the royal library, which is in the Wenhua Palace. ”

"So, don't worry, I still have to go out to find an acquaintance to get the recent palace guard duty schedule, I resigned after the death of the first emperor, and now a few years have passed, and it is not certain whether the palace defense is still the same as before."

"For a period of time, you can rest assured that you are here, and don't go there, until I feel that you can go, and you can go."

Don't talk to the old man while drinking, I have been drinking for two hours, and seeing that the old man is already drunk, I said goodbye and went back to the room, not that I drink more than the old man, but most of the time I am watching the old man drink, I don't drink much.