"My lord, Wei Guogong is back!"

"Oh?" Yu Xin raised his head from the case file: "Wei Guogong? There he is? ”

"Kneeling before the noon gate?"

"Kneeling? Lunchtime? Yu Xin got up suddenly, walked to the door, and was about to push the door, but hesitated, turned back to his seat, was silent for a long time, and said: "You go to the door and keep an eye on it, if there is a situation, report it to the official quickly!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

"Ahem", Yu Xin coughed twice, looked out the window, and had a lot of thoughts in his heart.

It was snowing heavily, and the entire capital was wrapped in wind and snow. But colder than the wind and snow is the heart of the hundred officials, the emperor just returned to the capital yesterday, he was furious, dispatched the Guards, Jinyi Guard, Investigation Department, Intelligence Department and Security Department to carry out a large-scale arrest in the capital. It wasn't until dawn that the sound of horses' hooves, slamming doors, and cries gradually subsided.

Now the officials of the Jianwen Dynasty, except for a very few people, have already entered the government in the Hongwu year, so for them, this scene is not only not unfamiliar, but also fresh in their memories, so many old ministers have sighed, is this the true face of the emperor today? Or is it that in addition to eloquence and foresight, there is also endless killing and widowhood in the blood of the Zhu family?

Last night, the Mansion of the King of Chu, the Mansion of the Duke of Cao, and the Mansion of the Founding of the Kingdom were surrounded and no one was allowed to enter or leave; Everyone in the Cao State Mansion was arrested and put in prison; Chang Gui, the housekeeper of the Founding Mansion, was arrested, including his son-in-law Yulin Wei Qianhu Ma Donglin; Among the civil officials, there are more than 20 people, including Xia Yuanji, the head of the household department, Yu Shiji, Li Wenyu, and others, as well as more than 20 people, such as Shangshu Jianyi of the Criminal Department and Li Qing, a member of the Criminal Department; Among the military generals, there were commanders of the guards in Beijing, more than 10 people from 1,000 households, plus all of them's families, as many as 5 or 600 people, all of whom were imprisoned in the prison of the Criminal Department. Now all the Qin criminals are stepping up their interrogation, and I heard that the emperor intends to close the case as soon as possible.

……

Xu Huizu didn't kneel long in the snow before he was helped up, and when he looked up, it turned out to be Liu Jing, the son of Liu Ji, the sincere uncle who was on duty at the military aircraft department. Xu Huizu was stunned for a moment, and arched his hand: "Lord Liu, the last general wants to meet the emperor in person, and he hopes to do it on his behalf!" ”

"Hehe, Wei Guogong has worked hard, the emperor is not in the palace, he went to Xiaoling."

"Xiaoling?"

"Yes, the emperor has some doubts in his heart, so he wants to meet Emperor Gao and Emperor Xingzong." Liu Jing paused slightly, then looked around, and said in a low voice: "Huizu, you hurry up and go home to deal with family affairs, and then, if you have something to meet the emperor, go out of the city overnight and go to Xiaoling!" ”

"Family matters?" Xu Huizu sighed slightly, nodded, and arched his hand: "Thank you, second brother, if the Xu family can escape this catastrophe, I will definitely come to thank you!" ”

"Alas!" Liu Jing sighed slightly, reached out and patted Xu Huizu's shoulder: "Huizu, things are more serious than you imagined, everything is in a thought, go back quickly!" ”

"Okay."

Xu Huizu was a little puzzled, but he knew that now was not the time to be polite, so he said goodbye to Liu Jing, got up and got on the horse, hurried home, and died of longevity, and the family didn't know what the chaos was like?

Xu Huizu was very tired, he dozed off on his horse, and he hadn't slept well for several days.

On the night of December 27, Xu Zengshou sent someone to deliver a letter to him, telling him that the previous messenger was missing, which made him sleep all night, Xu Huizu knew that someone was secretly dealing with him and the Xu family, but he didn't know who it was, and he was not able to fight for the time being;

On December 28, the third brother Xu Yingxu sent another letter, and the fourth brother Xu Zengshou died, dying under the knife of the guard Zhang Kai, and the culprit was actually the Security Division, and it was their intentional connivance that gave Zhang Kai a chance. After Xu Huizu received the letter, he was not only saddened by the tragic death of his fourth brother, but also worried that this was a harbinger of the imperial court's cleansing of the Xu family, but he did not dare to act rashly, nor did he dare to show his sadness, so he still went to the yamen to deal with government affairs as usual that day.

However, at the end of December 29, the emperor's decree came from the 600 li of the capital in an urgent manner, ordering him to return to Beijing immediately without delay.

After receiving the order, Xu Huizu did not dare to hesitate, and only took two personal soldiers to rush to Beijing, and caught up with heavy snow on the way, stumbling all the way, and only arrived in Beijing on the afternoon of the 29th.

After arriving in Beijing, he did not go home first, but first went to the palace to ask to see the emperor, but he did not expect that the emperor had already left Beijing, but Liu Jing, the second son of his father's old friend Liu Ji, came out and said some inexplicable words to him.

The Mansion of the Duke of Wei.

"Big brother, you're back, I can't hold it anymore for the past two days!"

"Well, Yingxu, you're tired, I'll go and see how longevity will be added first!"

"No, big brother," Xu Yingxu grabbed Xu Huizu's sleeve and said in a low voice: "Big brother, something is wrong, please come with me!" ”

"What's wrong?" Xu Huizu felt that Xu Yingxu was a little abnormal, and he was even more worried in his heart, and couldn't help asking, "Yingxu, what's wrong?" ”

"Big brother, you'll know in a moment!"

Xu Yingxu took Xu Huizu to the back house, turned left and right, and walked to the door of a small courtyard in the depths of the back house, there were more than ten family members standing at the door, although they were not wearing armor, they were all in good spirits, holding steel knives in their hands, and there were some blood stains on the blades. Seeing this scene, Xu Huizu couldn't help but shrink his pupils, and looked at Xu Yingxu suspiciously.

Xu Yingxu smiled bitterly and said in a low voice: "Big brother, this is the eldest sister's yard, the eldest sister is dead!" ”

"What? How did the eldest sister die? ”

Xu Yingxu's face was a little strange, looking at Xu Huizu's face, and said word by word: "She is very guilty, she has already broken herself last night, but she left a letter for the eldest brother, you can take a look!" ”

"Oh?" Xu Huizu felt that he couldn't support it anymore, why did the Xu family have so many disasters? The fourth brother is dead, why is the eldest sister also dead? He took the letter, glanced at it slightly, and found that the fire paint was intact, indicating that no one had opened it, and then gently tore open the seal, ten lines at a glance, and soon finished reading the letter, and in an instant, Xu Huizu's face became pale, he couldn't stand, he stumbled, and almost fell to the ground, but fortunately Xu Yingxu helped him.

Xu Huizu froze, looked at the guards at the door, and said in a low voice, "Are these people reliable?" ”

"Reliable, they are all dead soldiers of our Xu family for many years!"

"Well, well!"

Xu Huizu nodded, then pushed open the courtyard door and walked in.

There was a coffin in the main hall, and in front of the coffin knelt a woman in filial piety, who was crying in a low voice. When she heard the sound of the courtyard door opening, the woman turned around and found Xu Huizu, quickly got up and ran over, threw herself into Xu Huizu's arms, and cried loudly: "Big brother, why did you come back!" The fourth brother is dead, and the eldest sister is also dead, my heart is about to break! ”

"Miaojin, Miaojin, it's okay, big brother is back, everything will be fine." Xu Huizu comforted his sister repeatedly, but his eyes were staring directly at the coffin, and his heart was full of anger, and he wanted to burn the coffin clean.

Xu Miaojin was crying very sadly, and couldn't stop for a while, but was quickly stopped by Xu Yingxu: "Miaojin, the eldest brother has just come back, and there are still a lot of things to deal with, don't pester the eldest brother!" ”

"Well, Miaojin, eldest brother has some things to deal with, come back later, okay?"

"Okay!" Xu Miaojin was a little stunned, in her mind, what could be more important than the death of the eldest sister and the fourth brother? But after all, she Bing Xue is smart, and the atmosphere at home is really not normal these days, so she wiped her tears, bowed down, and then turned back and continued to guard Xu Yihua's spirit.

Xu Huizu looked around, walked into the west wing with Xu Yingxu, and closed the door.

"Have you read this letter?"

"Nope!"

"Okay," Xu Huizu read the letter in his hand again, and after printing it all in his mind, he threw Xu Yihua's letter into the brazier and burned it.

"Have you dealt with all the people around the eldest sister?"

"It's clean, according to the list she provided, I put them all to death on the charge of poor guards, and none of them escaped!"

“……”

Xu Huizu was silent for a long time, then suddenly slapped the table heavily, pointed to the outside of the house and said, "Xu Yihua did this kind of thing, didn't the house notice it at all?" I've been away all year round, haven't you found any clues? ”

"Big brother, it's the little brother's omission, I really didn't find it. The eldest sister's mind and city government are above me, you see the Miaojin who gets along with her day and night, don't you know nothing? ”

"This Xu Yihua, why didn't the emperor give her to death at that time? Raised in the house, and as a result, he caused such a disaster, and he was willing to destroy our Xu family! ”

"Yes," Xu Yingxu smiled bitterly a few times and said, "Originally, I still had some resentment about the death of Zengshou, but what the eldest sister told me last night really frightened me." However, I didn't dare to send a letter to my eldest brother, so I could only follow her instructions and execute all the people involved in it, so as not to leave future troubles! ”

"But the problem now is that the emperor probably already knows what the eldest sister has done, so he summoned me back to Beijing in the starry night. I believe that there is no rebellion against longevity, then things will always be figured out, although I am worried, but I don't think much about it. But what I never expected was that Xu Yihua turned out to be, alas! ”

“……”

After a long time, Xu Huizu came to his senses, sighed, and said, "The matter has come to this point, it's useless to think about it!" Our Xu family can only wait for the emperor's delivery! I hope that the spirit of the ancestor in the sky can bless our Xu family! ”

"yes, my brother doesn't know what to do!"

"Well, by the way, what's the situation in Kyochu? Who are the anti-party people? ”

"This, this morning, I sent a lot of family members to the city to inquire, and indeed many officials were arrested, such as Shangshu Jianyi of the Criminal Department, Xia Yuanji, the head of the household department, etc., by the way, there is another thing, Wang Du of the Military Aircraft Department died of a violent illness last night!"

"Wang Du? He's dead? ”

"Hmm!"

"Wang Du is dead, Wang Du is dead!" Xu Huizu thought for a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said: "I understand, it seems that the death of longevity is not the emperor's intention, it is likely that Wang Du made his own opinion, then our Xu family still has a glimmer of life!" ”

"Really?"

"Quite possibly, quite possibly!" Xu Huizu stood up happily and walked around the room, his excitement uncontrollable.

"Yingxu, you clean up the affairs of the eldest sister, and don't leave any beginnings and tails. I'm going to go to Xiaoling and meet the emperor! ”

"It's so late, I'm afraid the city gates are closed! Moreover, what about meeting the emperor? Could he really change his mind? ”

"I don't know, big brother doesn't know, it's unpredictable, but you have to try, otherwise our Xu family can only wait to die!"

"Okay!"