The eunuch was tall, glanced at the crowd with an expressionless face, and sang loudly: "Fengtian carrier, the emperor said: Dazai has presided over the government for many years, cleared the chaotic party, and swept away the traitors; The outline is clear, and the advantages and disadvantages are really hard work. On the occasion of knowing the destiny of heaven, a plaque of the royal pen is specially given to praise the straight filial piety and honesty, and admire this. ”

The eunuch waved his hand, and two lean little eunuchs walked forward with a plaque, only to see four strong and powerful characters on the plaque: the pillar of the country. Dazai trembled all over, and with tears streaming down his eyes, he bowed three times and bowed nine times, and recited in his mouth: "Thank you, Lord Longen!" ”。 After getting up, he bowed down and invited several palace people to sit down at the banquet, and the eunuch politely said that the palace affairs were busy, and got up to say goodbye. Dazai hurriedly glanced at his subordinates, sealed a generous gift of thanks from several palace people, and personally sent him out of the mansion. Only then did he turn around and look at the few big words on the plaque.

A white-bearded old man who looked like a scholar in the Imperial Prison stepped forward and said, "Dazai-sama don't worry, the pillar of the country is the pillar of the country, which shows that the saint today is very important to Dazai-sama, and he is very satisfied with your political achievements!" ”。 The officials applauded unanimously, and Dazai-sama turned his worries into joy and warmly greeted everyone to the table.

The feast was closed, and the drunken ones dispersed, and Dazai left a small story in Li Hongchang's study. He first asked about some local bandits and tax collection, then paused for a moment, sighed lightly and said in a low voice: "That father-in-law of yours has been extremely restless recently, and he has contacted many old ministers to impeach him in front of the saint. You also know that today's saints hate courtiers the most for forming a party---- so listen to the teacher's advice, try to delay in the capital as little as possible, and return to your post as soon as possible, so as not to catch fire at the city gate and affect the pond fish. ”

Li Hongchang was taken aback again, remembering that his father-in-law had also mentioned that he had left the capital early, and with many years of experience in the officialdom, he knew that Dazai and his father-in-law had reached the point where they were incompatible with ice and fire, and they were ready to do it at any time. But how the emperor thinks about this matter, his attitude determines the life and death of both parties in the end. It's just that judging from today's situation, the emperor seems to rely on Dazai very much. However, although the old scholar of the country was in vain, Li Hongchang knew in his heart that the pillar of the country and the pillar of the country were completely different things, and even the opposite of each other, and it was unknown if the saint wanted to use this to beat Dazai. In any case, the county guard, who had already smelled the smell of blood, made up his mind: watching the fire from the other side, protecting himself wisely, and leaving Beijing with his wife and daughter as soon as possible is the best policy. After a few polite words, Li Hongchang got up and said goodbye.

He stepped out on his front foot, and several people came out from behind Dazai's tall bookshelves, and one of the armored generals said to Dazai, "My lord, if you inform him so early, will you startle the snake?" ”。 Dazai narrowed his eyes slightly, and said with a dark smile: "Do you still doubt the ability of the true appearance to recognize people?" I, a student, have always been at odds with his father-in-law, but a small favor can be used by me. Putting away his smile, Dazai asked solemnly, "Are the soldiers and horses ready for the city patrol?" The general hurriedly bowed his head and replied: "Don't worry, Xiangye, everything will be arranged according to your orders!" ”。

Dazai bowed slightly, turned his face and asked, "What's the news from Eunuch Gao?" What about the inner line of the palace? A mustache that looked like a master replied: "Xiangye, there is no news from the high eunuch for the time being, and the internal information is here, and several Shangshu are plotting in the palace, fabricating the so-called ten crimes of Xiangye, and preparing to collectively attack the saint tomorrow morning." ”

Dazai took the piece of paper that listed his crimes, looked at it, and suddenly turned pale, and said angrily: "How can this be reasonable, it's just nonsense!" This is to put the old man to death! After pondering for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said: "Inform Eunuch Gao, I will enter the palace tonight!" Whoever dies the deer, give it a fight here! ”。

The early summer afternoon sun is warm and lazy. Li Shiqing and Mrs. Li supported the old lady to stroll in the back garden, and more than a dozen maids and servants followed from afar. The old lady pointed with her hand: "These flowers are introduced from Yuluo, thousands of miles away, I thought that I would not be able to adapt to the water and soil, and it would not be easy to survive, but if you look at it, the one that opens is called a happy truth!"

Li Shiqingjiao said with a smile: "My grandmother Bodhisattva has a heart, her heart is related, she cares for her, and the flowers are also spiritual, and she naturally returns to her master." The old lady was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Look at this little girl's clever mouth, she loves to make me happy." He turned his head and asked Mrs. Li, who was in a trance, "Why don't you see my virtuous son-in-law today?" Mrs. Li hurriedly replied: "He went out early in the morning and said that he wanted to visit a few colleagues and old friends."

The reason why Mrs. Li was in a trance was that she recalled the tone that her husband had asked her to take her daughter for a few more days when she suddenly changed her mind last night, and instead urged her to prepare for her return to her hometown as soon as possible.

A sweaty little guy ran into the garden in a panic, out of breath and with a panicked face. The old lady lowered her face and reprimanded: "What kind of system is panicking? The little servant knelt down and kowtowed, "Tell the old ancestor that there is a large group of officers and soldiers with sharp blades in front of the door--- and there is also an old eunuch in ---, ---saying that he is going to talk back to the master here." ”

The old lady frowned slightly and asked, "Hasn't the old man come back yet?" Don't look at what kind of place this is, who dares to come and make a mistake?! ”

After that, he hurriedly went straight to the front yard with the support of his daughter and granddaughter. When he got closer, he saw an old eunuch standing proudly with a withered description, and a bunch of officers and soldiers holding swords behind him were menacing. The old lady gave a bow calmly and asked, "Dare to ask what the father-in-law is doing?" ”。

The eunuch did not return the salute, snorted coldly from his nostrils, and said in a hoarse voice: "There is a decree in the saint, the king of the household department Shangshu Wang Ruxiu has formed a party for personal gain, plotting against him, and has been sent to the prison of the criminal department pending trial. All family property was confiscated. ”

It was like a thunderbolt from the sky, and several people were stunned when they heard it. The old eunuch smiled and said, "Old lady, don't you hurry up and thank you?" In the next duty, how offended! After saying that, he viciously snorted behind him, and a group of wolf-like officers and soldiers rushed into the courtyard without any scruples, and began to rummage through boxes and cabinets, smashing pots and bowls. But whenever a servant gets in the way, he kicks him to the ground unceremoniously, and raises his sword to chop it. For a while, the whole compound cried and screamed, and the ping-pong was in chaos.

The old lady's face was pale, and her sweat was like rain, so she forcibly calmed herself, knelt on the ground, and muttered, "Sinner, thank you, Lord Longen." Suddenly, her body twitched violently a few times, and she lay motionless on the ground. Mrs. Li was shocked when she saw this, and rushed forward with a cry and tried her best to help her up, and sniffed her with her hand, but she was completely lifeless. Mrs. Li couldn't help but cry bitterly, her cry attracted the attention of several officers and soldiers who were passing by, and a scarface led by him glanced back, and couldn't help but say with joy: "The old woman is dead, and she has all valuable things on her!" Several people scrambled to push each other and bully each other, and when Mrs. Li saw this scene, her eyes were red and her eyes were cracked and she howled: "Get out!" Take away your dirty hands! Don't touch my mother! ”。

Without a trace of hesitation, Scarface grabbed Mrs. Li's already messy bun and raised her leg as a kick in her chest.

The delicate and expensive Mrs. Li was kicked out three feet away, and immediately fainted, and a trace of blood oozed from the corner of her mouth. Li Shiqing, who had already lost her face, screamed and pounced, and protected Mrs. Li with her body. Scarface took two steps forward, pulled out the knife, raised it high above his head, and was about to chop it down, when he suddenly heard the old eunuch behind him cough dryly, looked back, and spat on the ground fiercely, scolding and scolding, extremely reluctant to put the knife away again.

In the haze of tears, Li Shiqing watched a group of officers and soldiers rudely pull out the wrench, ring, jade bracelet, and earrings from her grandmother, who was still cold in bones, and even the golden hairpin on the top of her head. Handing over her fainting mother to her personal maid Pei Zhu, Li Shiqing wiped the tears on her face, bit her lower lip, knelt and crawled a few steps to the feet of the eunuch, and said in a trembling voice: "My father-in-law, since the Holy Lord has forgiven my grandmother's innocence, and now that she has returned to heaven, I hope that my father-in-law will make it convenient for me to move her outside the corpse, and wait for my father to return to deal with the aftermath, the little woman is grateful!." After speaking, he bowed deeply. The old eunuch hesitated for a moment, sighed softly, and waved his hand.

On the street outside the palace gate, a bunch of idlers gathered around to watch the excitement, while pointing fingers and talking about it.

Surrounded by a group of maids and servants, in the center sat a young girl with teary eyes, holding in her arms a noblewoman who was richly dressed, with a pale face and blood oozing from the corners of her mouth. A white cloth next to it covered a corpse, revealing only its two feet.

"The palace has been copied? That's great! Deserve! Another big corrupt official, right? You see that the officers and soldiers copied out a lot of valuable things! In the crowd of onlookers, Zhang San said to Li Si.

Li Si replied obscenely: "I think that little lady is quite beautiful, won't all family members and slaves be dragged to the West Street Market to sell after raiding the house?" If the price is right, it should be good to buy it back to warm the bed---hehehehe".

Amid the frolicking of the crowd, three carriages galloped from west to east. "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! The coachman waved his whip in a deliberate manner and dispersed the crowd. The carriage stopped steadily, and Li Hongchang stumbled out of the car. "Father." Li Shiqing snorted softly, stopped talking, and tears dripped like pearls with broken threads. She struggled to get up, maybe she had been sitting for too long, and she almost fell, but Pei Zhu hurriedly reached out to help her.

Li Hongchang looked down at Mrs. Li with a grim face, glanced up at Mrs. Li, looked up and glanced around, and waved his hand without saying a word. A moment later, the carriage rolled away, sending a cloud of smoke and dust. In this way, the ground was empty, only a pair of stone lions in front of the mansion gate opened their eyes angrily, coldly watching everything that happened in front of them.

In the gray-blue sky, the remnant sun is like blood.