Little San'er...... Although it sounds awkward, in any case, this is a way for Katsubo to express his affection, and he can't show any unhappy looks. Swallowed his saliva at the moment, got up, and shouted with a little restraint: "Fourth uncle." ”

"Hmm." Katsuho nodded and motioned for him to sit down. For Guan Zhuofan, Shengbao had never really regarded him as a relative before, and it was not until after the "dissatisfaction" of Baliqiao that Shengbao was impressed. Shengbao's personality is the best face, and Guan Zhuofan's scolding of Gong Xiaogong in the lobby of the Ministry of Rites has already spread all over the capital, and Shengbao, as his sponsor, has a great sense of brilliance on his face, so he unconsciously recognized this "clan nephew" in his heart.

"I heard that you did a good job in the infantry commander Yamen," Sheng Bao looked at Guan Zhuofan, stroked the two beards on his lips, and said, "Wen Bochuan has already told me about this transfer to Rehe." I also gave the order, I will go to Shandong to suppress the twist in a few days, it is far away, I can't take care of everything, and you will have to rely on yourself in the future. ”

"Yes." Guan Zhuofan agreed.

"Speaking of which, Wen Bochuan has always been fair, but this time......" Sheng Bao shook his head disappreciatively, "The hall of the Ministry of Rites has made peace, and your credit is not small, but you have only been promoted to a sixth grade, which is a bit too much to say." ”

"Naturally, it can't be compared to staying by the side of the fourth uncle." Guan Zhuofan praised Shengbao, thinking to himself, although he didn't know what kind of plan Wen Xiangbaojun did to suppress his official rank and send himself to Rehe, but at least the intention of burying a nail in Rehe could be guessed, this layer, I am afraid that Shengbao still does not understand.

This sentence was just right, Sheng Bao was very useful when he heard it, thought about it, and said: "You don't have to worry, after the New Year, I have settled in Shandong, and I can transfer you to the military department again." Field feats, promotion is still easy after all. ”

The words were well-intentioned, but Guan Zhuofan was taken aback. Most of the bandits are horse teams, fluctuating back and forth, even if they want to catch up and fight, it is extremely difficult, where can they talk about any field feats, and it is easy to be promoted? What's more, in his historical memory, he really can't remember what great victories Shengbao has won, and most of the years have passed, and it is absolutely impossible to spend a lot of time in it.

However, how to refuse this kind of kindness requires a tactful statement.

"Xiexie Fourth Uncle Cultivation!" first foreshadowed this sentence, and then continued: "It's just that when we arrive in Rehe, we will be under the jurisdiction of Su Zhongtang and Prince Zheng, I don't know if Lord Wen's words are still counted?" In addition, I am in Rehe, but I also have a benefit, if there is anything to do, I can send a message to the fourth uncle at any time. ”

"What kind of thing is Su Shun! Duanhua is even more confused. "Shengbao's character is rigid and arrogant, and he doesn't take the power of Su Shun in his eyes. However, Guan Zhuofan's latter sentence touched him, and after complaining, he pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "It's okay, if there is anything wrong with Rehe, you can send a letter to my house, and naturally someone will send it to Shandong." With that, he clapped his hands and called the official outside the door in.

"You go to the account room to pay five hundred taels of silver, and then ask Mr. Liu from the copywriter to come over."

The butler answered, turned around, and returned after a short time, placed the silver ticket on the table beside Katsubo, and withdrew. Shengbao beckoned to Guan Zhuofan, and when he came over, he handed him the silver ticket: "Fourth Uncle didn't reward you for anything." Seeing that the Chinese New Year is coming, you can take it and add something to the house. ”

"Fourth uncle, this ......" Guan Zhuofan was about to excuse himself, but Sheng Bao smiled and waved his hand, not letting him continue. Guan Zhuofan had to thank him, and said in his heart, this is probably the information fee in the future.

After a while, the leather curtain at the door was lifted, and a green-shirted scribe came in, looking like he was in his forties, who must be Mr. Liu in Shengbao's mouth. Sheng Bao made an introduction for the two of them, and specially explained to Guan Zhuofan, if there is any news in the future, just report it to this Mr. Liu.

Guan Zhuofan knew that some commanders would arrange a trustworthy staff member in the government in Beijing to handle some important matters and forward some secrets about the court situation, and this Mr. Liu was naturally such a figure. Katsubo looks like a rough character on the surface, but the scheming inside is actually very profound. And judging from his attitude towards Su Shun, most of them are also King Gong's faction, no wonder Bao Jun hinted at himself last time, he might as well walk around with this fourth uncle.

*

*

The second thing to do was to visit Ma Eqi's widow, Ming.

According to Alhatu and Lao Cai, Ma Eqi, who died in the Battle of Bali Bridge, was his most friend, and he left orphans and widows after his death, which was very pitiful, and he should have come to visit him a long time ago. It's just that he has never really seen Ma Eqi, and he lacks that real comradeship in his heart, and he has heard Bai say that Ma Eqi's family has many relatives in Beijing, so they must be able to take care of it, so he didn't treat this matter as an urgent matter.

Another reason is that after seeing Ming, it is likely to listen to a heart-rending cry. He has never been good at dealing with women's tears, and he inevitably has a fear of such a scene in his heart, so he has put it off again and again, until now, it has been four months. Seeing that he was about to drive to Rehe, if he didn't go, he would have no chance, so he made up his mind to take this trip.

According to the address that he had previously taken out of Bai's mouth, Guan Zhuofan walked into a car and found the flag camp in the area of Zhoudianfang in the east of the city. The families in this area are all banner people, and the houses they live in are also official houses, which are specially allocated by the imperial court to the banner people from poor families to live in. Guan Zhuofan thought that since it was an official room, of course it would not be too good, but when he saw these rows of houses, he was still startled by the dilapidated scene in front of him.

There are about a dozen rooms in each row, and it seems that each room is inhabited by a family. The walls of the roof were patchy, and the roof was full of defects, which were only repaired and clogged with yellow mud and thatch. On the front wall, the house was blackened, apparently by using a tandoor to light a fire outside to cook on a hot day. Now it is about to enter the wax moon, but there are still curtains hanging on the doors of every house.

In front of the house, there were two or three people chopping wood, and a few children were playing, and when they saw Guan Zhuofan, who was dressed in bright clothes, they all looked at him. Guan Zhuofan's steps were a little heavy, and he slowly paced to the first house on the left, and saw that there were some dry firewood piled up by the door. He hesitated for a while, but still raised his hand, knocked on the door, and smiled bitterly in his heart: I am "knocking on the widow's door".

The door creaked open, and came out answering the door of a young woman, a little haggard, but very well-born, with her hair in a bun at the back of her head, and a coarse cloth gown with patches, which was cleanly washed. He had a thimble on his left hand, and he seemed to be doing needlework. Behind him was a three or four-year-old boy, hiding behind the woman's legs, leaning out half of his head, and secretly looking at Guan Zhuofan.

When the woman saw Guan Zhuofan, she was stunned for a moment, her face became expressionless, and she looked at him coldly. Guan Zhuofan was beating a drum in his heart, not knowing if he had gone to the wrong door, and he couldn't call out "sister-in-law". Looking beyond the woman into the house, it was so dark that it was impossible to see clearly.

After an awkward stalemate for a while, the woman suddenly turned around, pulled the child, and went into the house, but the door was not closed. Guan Zhuofan breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he hadn't knocked on the wrong door, he hurriedly followed in, and was about to close the door, but heard the woman say coldly: "Don't close the door, save others from gossiping, and make your young master Guan lose face." ”

"Sister-in-law...... Sister-in-law," Guan Zhuofan called out bitterly, hesitated for a moment, thinking that it was cold outside, after all, he still closed the door, and then followed, and it took a while to gradually adapt to the light in the house, and looked inside the house. I saw that the furnishings in the house were very simple, and there was a small window on the wall, and a stove was built under the window to keep warm. On the table by the window, there was a basket of sewing and thread, and some scraps of cloth, which were obviously Ming's work just now. A small door is separated from the inside, presumably where Ming takes the child to sleep.

Ming sat in the chair, still tilting his head and ignoring him, the child snuggled up to Ming's side, his eyes flickering, smart and cute.

Guan Zhuofan didn't expect her mother and son to have such a hard time, and she was ashamed, and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be so difficult......"

"It's not difficult," Ming said plainly, "I have the imperial court's pension money, and the two of them will not starve to death." Lao Ma owes a few debts, I will work slowly to pay them off, don't worry about it, brother. ”

Guan Zhuofan knew that the Ming family was very angry with himself. Come to think of it, as Ma Eqi's most haode friend, he has ignored it in the past few months, and it can't be said anyway. Now when he heard Ming's words be hard, he admired and was ashamed, suddenly raised his hand, slapped himself hard, and said from the bottom of his heart: "Sister-in-law, no wonder you are angry, what I did is not a human matter, I am really sorry." You have a lot of adults, don't hold grudges, no matter what, give me another chance to be brothers. ”

Ming Shi listened to his palm firmly, and his words were extremely sincere, so he turned his head, glanced at him, his face gradually softened, lowered his head, and said softly: "I also know that you are busy." If you can't say anything else, you can come and see our mother, and I'll be content. ”

Without the expected tears and crying, Guan Zhuofan felt a lot more settled, and hurriedly said: "Not busy, not busy, I'm here to ...... this time."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Ming stand up, took a rag doll from the cupboard and stuffed it to his son, and said softly: "Xiaohu, play obediently here." He picked up the needlework basket again, pointed to the small door, sighed, and said to Guan Zhuofan, "Let's go to the back room and talk." ”

"Okay." He quickly stood up and walked into the back room, Ming following behind. Guan Zhuofan entered the small door, and only took a step, a sharp pain suddenly came from his right arm, and he was shocked, and when he turned his head, he was screwed by Ming.

"You...... You have no conscience. Ming looked at him with teary eyes, and his voice was already crying, "You are finally willing to come?" ”