Fengyang, the central capital, also has an imperial city.

Although the capital of the Ming Dynasty has never been located here, the hometown and ancestral tomb of Emperor Taizu are here. The "waste prince" Gao Chi's family who came to Fengyang lived in this imperial city.

The imperial city was strictly guarded by eunuchs sent by the Central Capital Guarding Division and the Beijing Division, and it was impossible for ordinary people to enter it; The people inside could barely get out. The huge imperial city is like a cage, and like a cemetery, lifeless!

When the eunuch Wu Zhong walked outside this imperial city, the first thing he saw was a stone tablet; The text on the stele is an article written by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang himself, and then asked the craftsman to engrave it.

The preface has already written the intentions of Taizu, and I am afraid that the civil and military forces of later generations will only know how to whitewash and praise, and future generations will forget their roots, so they will personally write it to wake up future generations:

"In the past, my father's emperor lived in Fang, agriculture was hard, and he was hesitant day and night. The Orr natural disaster epidemic is a disaster, and the emperor's filial piety is finally four out of sixty, and the emperor's concubine is nine out of fifty. Brother Meng (eldest brother) died first, and the family held a funeral.

The landlord does not care about me, and he is angry, neither with the land, nor with the neighbors. The generosity of the history of Kuyi has benefited this yellow soil. There is no coffin. was dressed in evil clothes, floating three feet, laying what a food pulp.

After the burial, the family was in a panic. The middle brother (second brother) is weak and has no livelihood. Sister-in-law Meng took the child and returned to her hometown. There is no rain in the sky, and the locusts are soaring. The people in the village lack food, and the grass and trees are food. What is there to give, I am frightened. It is a plan with a brother, how is it constant. Brother Yun went here, and each was ferocious. My brother is my instrument (weeping), and I am hurting for my brother. The emperor is in the sky, crying and breaking his heart.

Brothers' exhibits are on the road, and the clothes are far away. Wang's mother, for me to raise money, send it off, prepare fragrant fragrance. Empty door to worship the Buddha, in and out of the monk's room. After two months, the temple owner sealed the warehouse. Everyone has their own plan, and the clouds are fluttering. I don't know what I can do. According to the personal humiliation, the sky is boundless. Neither can be relied on, but the shadow of the couple will ......"

Every time Wu Zhong read this inscription, he was very sad.

In the article, Taizu bluntly wrote about the embarrassment of the year, and the founding emperor was simply miserable when he was young! Parents and eldest brother died due to natural disasters, and there was not even a cemetery, and the surviving Zhu Yuanzhang and his sister-in-law and second brother's family had a hard livelihood; The brothers fled the famine, went through hardships, and were displaced. However, no matter what, the family loves each other, and when the brothers are desperate and can only separate, they are even more "crying".

Although the article is so sad, Wu Zhong is full of family affection. No wonder Emperor Taizu was so kind and trusting to his family, he probably thought that his family always valued their feelings as important.

Wu Zhong thought that King Yan was chasing after Emperor Jianwen's family and killing them all, and Gao Chi did not let go of Wen Gui, who was a few years old, and suddenly sighed and felt uncomfortable. I only think that after only one or two generations, the royal clan has forgotten its roots!

The love of the world is so strange, the hardships and hardships when there is nothing cannot wear out the family affection; On the contrary, everyone has a lot, and the test has really begun, and relatives are ruthless for power and interests!

"Ahem, ahem!" Wu Zhong coughed a few times in a suppressed manner, and hurriedly took out a handkerchief from his sleeve pocket to cover his mouth. When he took away the handkerchief, he gently opened it and looked at it, and saw the blood on the handkerchief; Then he hurriedly squeezed the handkerchief in his palm and put it back in his sleeve pocket.

He turned his head to look at the two eunuchs behind him. Their expressions were no different, and one of the old eunuchs said flatteringly: "Gonggong Wu can actually read and write!" ”

"Nowadays, there are many eunuchs who are literate, and those who are illiterate can only do some rough work." Wu Zhong said quietly.

The old eunuch bent down and said, "Our family is old, so we can only run errands with Gonggong Wu and wait for the old man to die in Fengyangli." ”

They said a few words, and walked to the small gate next to the city gate. The military general guarding the gate knew Wu Zhong and greeted him with a smile, before calling someone to search for the things they had purchased......

The people who stayed behind in the division, as well as the eunuchs in the imperial city, have changed a lot after the new monarch ascended the throne. Like this military general guarding the door, he said when chatting that he used to be an errand boy in a yamen called "Shouyufu" in the Han Palace, and the former Shangguan was Wang Yu, one of the newly crowned marquises.

And Wu Zhong was in Fengyang, and he gradually mixed up. Not only will the previous civil and military give him face, but the newcomers are also willing to befriend him; The reason is very simple, Wu Zhong is Ma Enhui's person!

As soon as the new emperor ascended the throne, he sent the general Wang Yu to Fengyang, the central capital, to welcome Ma Enhui; When Wang Yu came, everyone saw Ma Enhui's respectful salute and pomp with their own eyes. What's more, the emperor said that the Ma family has a great favor to him! None of these things are fake.

With this level of relationship, the officials and eunuchs of the Central Capital all feel that Wu Zhong has a way to heaven, and who else wants to offend him? There are a lot of people who want to get close to and climb some friendships, and everyone may not be able to get benefits from Wu Zhong right away, but it doesn't hurt to expand your network!

Wu Zhong is not an idle person, he used to be a close confidant of Emperor Jianwen, and of course he also listened to the dispatch of Empress Ma Enhui. After the "Battle of Jingjing", he was sent to Zhongdu, where he has lived for nearly ten years!

When Ma Enhui was still imprisoned in Zhongdu, Wu Zhong gradually got a little relationship here, and his situation began to improve.

When the new emperor Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne, Ma Enhui was picked up by the general; Wu Zhong immediately turned over!

It didn't take long for Wu Zhong to have a friendship with the left-behind division and the newly sent civil and military forces. As soon as they were summed up, Wu Zhong got a fat difference: he procured money for the people detained in the imperial city.

How many things are bought and how much is the price of each, it is all active, and the means are diverse, and it is not easy to check. Wu Zhong can more or less dip some oil and water on his hands, and then take care of the relevant civil and military affairs, then his errand will be better......

When the three eunuchs returned to a courtyard in the imperial city, Wu Zhong said quietly: "The tung oil jar has been moved to our house." Tung oil is used to light lamps, but the smoke is big and smelly, how can it be used by nobles? It is appropriate for us to use such slaves and maids. ”

The old eunuch immediately nodded and said, "The old slave understands! ”

The two looked at each other, and everything did not need to be explained.

The old eunuch asked again: "These fresh fish, fruits, and vegetables must also be sent to the 'Easy City' as soon as possible." ”

"We'll send it over." Wu Zhongdao.

The old eunuch immediately replied, "Good! Let Wu Gonggong do the work. ”

"It's just a matter of duty." Wu Zhong said indifferently.

The old eunuch smiled and nodded. Wu Zhong looked at his appearance and guessed his thoughts: Even a piece of meat has to be greedy for half a piece?

"Easy City" is in the southeast corner of the imperial city, where there were originally some corridors. Construction began at the beginning of the year, and a fence was built there, turned into a courtyard, and changed the name: Escape City.

Inside is the family of the abolished prince Zhu Gaochi.

People were already very strict in entering and leaving the imperial city; There are also people in the "Easy City" who are specially guarded, even if they are on duty, they have to search their bodies when they enter and exit the gate! As a result, the waste prince's family can be said to be difficult to fly.

Wu Zhong walked to the door with his things and saw the plaque with three red characters written on the gate of the courtyard, and suddenly felt a little ironic. The new emperor gave such a name to the place where Gao Chi's family was imprisoned, but I don't know what it means!

The eunuch guarding the door checked it and said politely, "Let's send the things to the kitchen." ”

"It's okay, it's okay, our family is idle anyway." Wu Zhong said with a smile.

He didn't go anywhere else, he went straight to the kitchen, and when he saw an old cook, he said a few more words.

At this moment, a young woman in a plain satin dress walked in and greeted, "Hey! You, that's you, I have a few words to say to you. ”

She obviously didn't know Wu Zhong. But Wu Zhong knows her, her surname is Zhang, and she is still the concubine Niangniang of the "Waste Prince"! Wu Zhong bent down very respectfully and said, "What do you command?" ”

Zhang said: "The next time you buy meat, buy more fatty meat, is it okay?" ”

Wu Zhong immediately nodded and said, "The slave must have remembered." ”

Zhang glanced at the old cook, plucked a hairpin from her hair, and stuffed it directly to Wu Zhong and said in a deep voice: "Buy more fatty meat." Wu Zhong refused: "The slaves and maids don't dare to accept things, and things must be done." The meat I bought today was also fat, and there was wine. ”

Zhang nodded approvingly and thanked him, with a little emotion in his eyes.

Wu Zhongxin said: When this person is down, he can understand a lot of things. When their family was calling for wind and rain in the Jingshi Palace, how could they have taken care of the difficulties of these relatives in Fengyang?

Zhang left the kitchen. Wu Zhong didn't leave in a hurry, he slowly walked around the kitchen, checked the storage of firewood and rice, and then left the "Easy City".

When he returned to his lodgings, he was not serious for the day. Wu Zhong went straight back to the bedroom to rest, he closed the door of the bedroom, and then took out the handkerchief from his sleeve pocket, quietly unfolded it, and sat there stunned.

After a while, a scene gradually emerged in front of Wu Zhong's eyes.

It was the day Ma Enhui left Fengyang, and Wu Zhong was on the side of the road to say goodbye. Ma Enhui sat in the car of the heavy guards, she picked the corner of the curtain and looked at Wu Zhong for a while. The two couldn't say a word, and Wu Zhong could only say goodbye.

There was no smile in her eyes, she looked at Wu Zhong for so long, as if she had something to say?

At that time, Wu Zhong thought that he could leave Fengyang; After all, even the emperor is grateful for Ma's great kindness, and it shouldn't be difficult for Ma to bring a eunuch back to the palace. And Wu Zhong is the most trusted eunuch of the Ma family, she should also want to take Wu Zhong by her side, if she wants to do something, it is more convenient.

But Mars didn't do that!

Wu Zhong never blamed the Ma family, because he believed that the "Queen Mother" kept him in Fengyang and had his own considerations.

Wu Zhong still thought carefully to himself, what did the "Queen Mother" want to do by herself?

He thought for a long time, glanced at the handkerchief again, couldn't help but sigh secretly, and said in his heart: Our family still has a chance to serve the queen's mother?