The outer city of Jingshi. In a gorgeous manor, in the study, a middle-aged man about forty or fifty years old, dressed in a robe, paced back and forth restlessly. He is Gao Jie, the imperial history of the dynasty.

Suddenly, two men walked in from outside, and one of them greeted us: "Lord Gao, you are in a hurry to call us, but the matter is done?" ”

"Alas! Lord Yuan, you're here! Things aren't good! Gao Jie said with a sad face. After the three of them sat down, Gao Jie said with a little trepidation: "Lord Yuan, Lord Shi, Wang Shiqi is back, he said that Yuan thief's wife was rescued by a group of big men on horseback!" ”

"What?!" Both men were taken aback. One of them is called Yuan Hongxun and the other is called Shi Yan, and they are colleagues with Gao Jie. During the Apocalypse, the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch of the ceremonial superintendent, leaned towards the government and the opposition, called himself nine thousand years old, flying and domineering, no one in the Manchu Dynasty dared not to curry favor, the three of them had committed to Wei Zhongxian for their own interests, after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he quickly eradicated Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs, those who had climbed Wei Zhongxian were also more or less implicated, many people were dismissed, the head was killed, and the exiled were exiled, Gao Jie and the three were not dismissed because of their crimes, but they were also sad in the court, and they were worried and afraid all day long.

"Who are those?" Yuan Hongxun asked.

Gao Jie shook his head and said: "Wang Shiqi doesn't know, he only knows that the other party is very fierce, as if he kills people without blinking, and of the more than fifty people he brought, only a dozen or so escaped in the end." ”

Yuan Hongxun and Shi Yan glanced at each other, and their hearts trembled. When Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, the first assistant was Qian Longxi, although he had criticized Yuan Chonghuan for his poor appearance, but he had always been very supportive of Yuan, Yuan Chonghuan had discussed with Qian Longxi about killing Mao Wenlong, Qian did not object, only advised him to deal with it carefully. The case of punishing Wei Zhongxian and his gang for committing adultery with the party is called the "reverse case", and the cases of Gao Jie, Yuan Hongxun, Shi Zhi and others are famous, and Qian Longxi is one of the main figures in handling the "reverse case". Gao Jie and his gang wanted to turn Yuan Chonghuan's case into a "new reverse case" and include Qian Longxi. As soon as the "new reverse case" is completed, many big officials will be falsely accused, and the stench of the old reverse case will be diluted. As a result, the new reverse case was not completed, but Qian Longxi also lost his official position and was imprisoned, convicted of capital crimes, and later commuted to confiscation.

Gao Jie and the other three did not expect that they strongly advocated the killing of Yuan Chonghuan at the beginning, and strongly supported the proposal of Wen Tiren, Liang Tingdong and others to execute Yuan Chonghuan, although they finally got their wish, Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Ling Chi in Caishikou, but the three of them intended to use Yuan Chonghuan's case to completely mess up the government and eliminate the adverse effects of Wei Zhongxian's "reverse case" on themselves, but their purpose was not achieved at all, but they stood on the cusp of executing Yuan Chonghuan. The so-called one does not do two endlessly, no matter whether Yuan Chonghuan should be killed or not, whether he is guilty or not, now that he has been killed, then he can't let his remnants have a chance to overturn, so the three of them discussed and decided to send someone to intercept and kill Yuan Chonghuan's wife and children, as long as the grass is cut and eradicated, I believe that his old department will not be able to set off any storms. Yuan Chonghuan's only son died, and they were not afraid that he would have any descendants to take revenge.

But now Yuan Chonghuan's wife and children have been rescued! Did anyone anticipate their actions? Or was it leaked?

"Lord Gao, has this matter leaked out? How else would anyone know that we had laid an ambush there? Shi Yan said suspiciously.

"Impossible, huh? Only the three of us know about this, who will leak it? Gao Jie's face suddenly changed.

Yuan Hongxun also hurriedly said: "Lord Gao, Lord Shi, let's not suspect each other here, we are all in the same boat, how can it be leaked!" It was Wang Shiqi who only knew it on the day of the action, and it was even more impossible for others to know! ”

"Indeed, then, who robbed Yuan's wife?" Shi Yan said again: "Could it be that Yuan Thief's old department guessed that we were going to act?" ”

Gao Jie nodded and said: "This is indeed possible, two adults, we still have to think of a perfect way now, if the old department of the Yuan thief rescues the wife of the Yuan thief, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not make trouble!" ”

Yuan Hongxun said: "This is easy to do, since they dare to rob the imperial court, then ask the imperial court to order the arrest of the anti-thief Yuan family!" ”

Gao Jie nodded and said: "This is natural, but we have to find out whether it is the old department of the Yuan thief first, otherwise once the emperor asks, you and I can't prevaricate!" ”

"No matter who they are, now that they have robbed the Yuan thief's family, they are against the imperial court, and the imperial court must spare him!" Shi Zhiyin said testimoniously.

"Master Shi is right! Hahaha...... Then, Lord Shousuke, there must be a trip to Lord Laoshi......" Gao Jie said.

The three of them deliberated for a while before they dispersed.

In the Wenhua Palace, the young Emperor Chongzhen was standing in front of the screen in a daze. Yuan Chonghuan died, and was personally ordered to be executed by Ling Chi a few days ago. Chongzhen thought, barbarian! Do you still hold a grudge against me? You may think you don't deserve to die, but if you don't, how can I explain to the rest of the world? It's the first seven days in two days, don't come back to me, blame yourself if you want to blame, arrogant and unknowing.

A white-faced eunuch in his thirties and forties walked over quickly and said softly, "Your Majesty." ”

Chongzhen didn't look back, put his hands behind his back, and said weakly: "Huachun, what's the matter?" ”

The eunuch was Cao Huachun, and I saw him say in fear: "Your Majesty, the old slave should die!" ”

"Huh?" Chongzhen glanced at him a little impatiently, his face a little ugly.

"Your Majesty," Cao Huachun hurriedly said, "That Yuan Chonghuan's wife and child were robbed!" ”

"What did you say?" Chongzhen was furious and said, "Didn't you send someone to escort you?" How can this happen? ”

"Your Majesty forgive your sins! The old slave was ordered by His Majesty, and specially sent more than ten Beijing camp infantry to assist Wang Ke in escorting Yuan Thief's wife and child, just for fear of more trouble on the road, but who would have thought that something would happen, according to Zhong Zhide, the captain of the Beijing camp who fled back, said that he met a group of masked people who wanted to intercept and kill Yuan Thief's family at the boundary of Zhending Mansion, Wang Ke just reasoned with them for a few words, and was killed. But later I heard that the Yuan family was rescued by a group of strongmen on horseback. Cao Huachun hurriedly knelt down and said.

"Rescued?" Chongzhen frowned and asked, "Who are those who want to kill the Yuan family?" Who rescued the Yuan family? ”

"This ...... Back to Your Majesty, the old slave is investigating the matter. Cao Huachun said tremblingly. With what he knew about Chongzhen over the years, he knew that this young Son of Heaven would definitely be furious again. Since the emperor ascended the throne, he has become less calm than before, especially recently, he is more prone to anger, even if he is favored like Cao Huachun, he is also worried at the moment.

Sure enough, Chongzhen showed an extremely disgusted look on his face, but he just scolded in a low voice: "Useless dog minion!" ”

Cao Huachun lay on the ground, and he didn't dare to come out.

After a long time, Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Get up!" As soon as there is a result of this matter, I will report it immediately. ”

"Wow. The old slave retired. Cao Huachun got up and said respectfully.

Chongzhen waved his hand, and Cao Huachun lowered his head and retreated gently.

Chongzhen was the only one left in the Wenhua Palace.

Chongzhen paced irritably, his heart was actually full of confusion. Zu Dashou, the chief officer of the Liaodong Forward, said that Huang Taiji, the lord of Houjin, had withdrawn his troops, and the crisis on the Ningjin front had been resolved. This was originally a great thing, but Zu Dashou also mentioned one thing, saying that Mo Li, the guard general of the Da Ling River, had been expelled from the army because he had killed Shangguan Liu Tianlu without permission, but the reason was that Liu Tianlu colluded with the Tartars to kill Mo Li, which made Chongzhen very unhappy, Liu Tianlu deserved to die, but it should not be killed by a junior officer, he violated the national law and military discipline, and naturally it should be dealt with by the imperial court.

Earlier, He Kegang of the Ningyuan Dao Chinese Army had just reported, saying that this Mo Li adopted a new tactic to break the Tartar cavalry and achieved a new "Jinzhou victory". Is it that after making a little effort, all the eyelids are in the sky? Well, this Mo Li is still a direct subordinate of the barbarian, and it seems that he has also learned the arrogance of the barbarian!

Chongzhen thought to himself, if the barbarian is still there, but I don't know what he will think of this Mo Li?

Suddenly, I thought that Cheng Benzhi, the protégé of Yuan Chonghuan, had asked for Yuan Chonghuan's exoneration several times without success, and after Yuan's death, he angrily asked Yuan to die, saying something: "Overturning the two Zhili, stepping all over the thirteen provinces, begging him to bear the burden and bear the burden of being like Yuan Gong, I am afraid that he will not be able to get it again." Therefore, Yuan Gong is worthy of Cheng Benzhi's death. ”

Chongzhen was furious, and then fulfilled him, and ordered someone to give death to Cheng Benzhi.

It's stupid.