In order to be able to lay out nearby, facilitate the rescue of Pei's family, and at the same time escape the emperor's urging from time to time, Wang Gongnai asked for orders to leave Luoyang and go east to Xufang, which is only a river away from Jiankang.

Xu Wei's plan had already been sent across the river through Pei Ren and others, but it was just an idea, and there was a lack of specific processes - the key was when Stone Town was disturbed, everything had to change according to the opportunity, it was impossible to plan in detail first, and it was impossible to inform Wang Gong of the specific plan - so Wang Gong led the people to camp on the river southeast of the Jiangshui Temple, and they had been waiting for half a month, and they couldn't help but feel apprehensive and couldn't sleep well.

In fact, if Pei Shi can save it, he can't save it, and even whether he will die in the chaos, Wang Zici doesn't care very much. Although this may cause the emperor's thunderous wrath, the Son of Heaven is not a violent lord after all, and he also knows that this matter is difficult to do, and in the end, he Wang Gong's buttocks can't fall too heavy with a board. But if he tried to rescue, but there was a leak in the process of action, resulting in Pei's murder, the matter would be completely difficult to explain, and Wang Zici would feel a cold chill on his neck every time he thought about it......

Finally saw a boat docking, and hurriedly sent someone to investigate, and after a short time, his subordinates led Xu Wei and others to meet, but they didn't see Pei's or even Pei Ren follow. Wang Gong couldn't help but "chuckle" in his heart, and hurriedly asked, "Is it Mr. Xu?" Where is the lady? ”

He also held on to the hope of what happened, hoping that Pei's self-respecting identity would not leave the boat, but would go to greet him himself. Unexpectedly, Xu Wei smiled bitterly and said: "Wei has failed Your Excellency's trust - the concubine resolutely refuses to cross the river, what can I do?" ”

When Wang Gong heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief—he refused to cross the river, he didn't die on the river—and hurriedly inquired in detail. So Xu Wei informed Daoming of the process of saving people, and finally said that Pei and Sima Chong were both picked up by the warships of Wuchang, and Pei Ren's father and son, husband and wife couldn't bear to say goodbye, and they also followed.

Wang Gong's heart settled down for a while, but his expression became cold, and he snorted lightly: "Mr. Xu used himself to rescue Mrs. Tai, but now Mrs. Tai is gone, then Mr. Xu is difficult to resist, and he is still a sinner in the court, what else can he say?" "Drink the soldiers and tie up Xu Wei and the others.

Xu Wei hurriedly said: "Mrs. Tai really has a token for me, prepare to go to Luoyang, and present the Son of Heaven." ”

You said that you had indeed rescued Pei's family, but as a result, no one was alive, no body was dead, and even Pei Ren and others failed to cross the river, so how do I know that you are not lying? Xu Wei also knew that it was difficult to win the trust of the Chinese, so when they were about to separate, he asked Pei Shi to give him a word, so that he could have an explanation with the Hua Dynasty.

Wang Gong asked, "What kind of token is it?" I'll look at it when I search it out. ”

Xu Wei clasped his hands around and firmly protected his chest—it was obvious that the token was in his arms—and he said in a loud voice: "This letter can only be seen by the Son of Heaven, and the prince must not open it!" ”

Wang Gong smiled secretly: Are you afraid that I will steal the token, and then give you a knife, and present the token to the Son of Heaven to take the merit, right? This kind of worry is not unreasonable, but now that you have fallen into my hands, if I really want it, is there any reason why I can't find it? Where can you hide? If you die, you can cut the flesh and stuff it into your body, I want to cut every inch of your skin, it's not a troublesome thing.

So let Xu Wei complain bitterly, but he didn't respond, the soldiers were relieved to search, and sure enough, they took out a paper roll from Xu Wei's arms and presented it to Wang Gong with both hands. Wang Gong unfolded it and took a look, there were only twelve words on it, almost unrelated to each other, and it was impossible to read through them at all—could it be that this was some kind of hidden language?

asked Xu Wei: "What do you mean by this?" ”

This scroll of paper was not written by Pei Shi temporarily—in the boat, on the way to escape, where did the pen and paper come from—it was originally hidden on his body, and when he was separated, he took it out and handed it to Xu Wei, who had already read it at that time. Wang Gong was instructed by Pei Gai to engage in passwords and code words, Xu Wei had no experience in this area, so he couldn't understand it at all, and said in his heart that most of it was a draft of the concubine's calligraphy, just to let the Son of Heaven identify her handwriting.

However, just a few words, it doesn't explain anything at all, take 10,000 steps back and say, not only did I not save people, but I assassinated the concubine, and I can still search for a note from her, pretending to be a token. Because of this, he begged Pei Shi to give a few more words - no paper? It doesn't matter, you can tear the placket of the villain's clothes; No pen? It doesn't matter, the villain can bite the blood and use it as a pen for the concubine.

However, Concubine Pei said: "Qing Dan presents this to the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven knows it." He then ignored it and boarded the battleship on the Wuchang side.

Therefore, Wang Gong asked Xu Wei what these twelve words meant, and Xu Wei smiled bitterly: "I don't know, the concubine Danyun, when the Son of Heaven sees it, he will be able to prove my innocence." ”

Wang Gong didn't have the idea of robbing the token and going back to take the merit - he didn't take the Pei family over the river, what merit? On the contrary, keeping Xu Wei can always prove that I have put my mind to the rescue and failed to do my best, which is also the responsibility of the surname Xu, and it has nothing to do with me. He was just curious, and wanted to see what tokens Pei had left for the Son of Heaven in a hurry.

It's a pity that I don't understand...... Maybe it's really a hidden word, and if I make a hindrance from it, the hidden word will be suspected by the Son of Heaven, and it will not be known.

So he handed the paper scroll back to Xu Wei and said, "If you hold on to this thing, you may be able to get away with it, but only the Son of Heaven has a division to deal with you, and it is inconvenient for me to act on my behalf." "Ordered Xu Wei's slaves to be tied up, Xu Wei didn't need to be tied up, forgive him if he couldn't escape, he could be escorted to Guangling County, temporarily build a threshold car, and send him north.

The car dealer will eventually return to Luoyang. Along the way, Wang Gong did not treat Xu Wei harshly, in addition to taking a sill car and sitting on the grass, there was no shortage of daily food and water offerings. After entering the city, Wang Gong did not return home, and first went to the palace gate to ask for advice.

At this time, Pei Gai was discussing things with Pei Xiong.

——————————

Pei Xiong was deeply trusted by Pei Gai, and served in the forbidden army, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and could enter and leave the palace at will.

Most of the envoys in the palace are inherited from the Jin family - but Zhu Fei insists on continuing to serve Sima Ye and follows the public mansion - all men are naturally eunuchs. Pei Gai was very disgusted with the eunuch system, and he was disgusted when he looked at those guys who were neither male nor female, but after all, this was the old system that had been going on since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and according to his understanding, not only China or countries such as North Korea and Vietnam influenced by Chinese culture, but also ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Persia, and India, as well as ancient countries such as Turkey and Ethiopia in the inner palace, also used eunuchs. It can be seen that this is the practice of slavery or feudal dynasties, and the impact of breaking this "four olds" is not great, but the resistance will not be small, and the gains outweigh the losses.

INTERVIEWER I still need to gradually accumulate my reform "points" and apply them to more important aspects.

Therefore, he only ordered the secretary to write an essay about the cruelty and inhumanity of the eunuch system, and then issued an edict to reduce the number of eunuchs and prohibit them from interfering in political affairs. Even so, there are still many courtiers who play and advise, saying that the palace will use less eunuchs, and more palace people will be used.

Pei Gai immediately retorted: "Qing and the others think that the eunuch temple has yang energy? ”

Therefore, a small number of eunuchs in the palace are only prepared to sprinkle and sweep, as well as serve the queen, the crown prince, and the princess - An Niang has also been taken to Luoyang, because she is young, and has not yet been officially canonized as a princess. The number of normal men who are qualified to enter the inner palace at any time is not small - the palace system at that time was not as strict as that of later generations - Pei Xiong is not a special case.

On this day, because of the news of Tuoba Tou's death, the Helan Ministry sent someone to officially notify the Luoyang side, so Pei Xiong was specially summoned to the palace to meet him and asked him: "Do you want me to avenge Uncle Qing?" ”

Pei Xiong replied respectfully: "Although he is a distant relative, he has always protected the villain, how can he not want to avenge him?" This is clearly a conspiracy by the head of the mist to assassinate Tuobatou, but he lied to the court and perfunctory. However, the country is plotting to attack Meiji, and it is not necessary to expand to the west, and it is still necessary to contain the west to contain the east Tuoba, and the villain does not dare to mislead the state affairs with personal feelings. Everything is dictated by His Majesty. ”

Pei Cai laughed and said How many times have I told you, you are my subordinate, no longer my house slave, why are you a "villain"? It should be called "minister".

Pei Xiong replied: "The villain's surname is the slave of His Majesty, not from today. Regardless of whether His Majesty is the Son of Heaven or not, villains are all servants of His Majesty. ”

Pei Gai made a face and asked rhetorically: "I am now the Son of Heaven, and the male servant is only a eunuch, is Qing willing to cut himself into the palace and serve me?" ”

When Pei Xiong heard this, he couldn't help but gasp. Of course, in terms of his background habits and cultural level, he will feel that the so-called monarch and minister are just another way of expressing the master and servant, there is no difference, and the life of the slave is in the hands of the master, so why pretend to be a "minister"? But even if he was willing to die for Pei Cai, he cut off that words by himself, and he couldn't be a normal man from now on, he still felt that his liver trembled, and it was impossible to make such a decision.

Pei Cai saw his embarrassment, and couldn't help laughing, and at this time, the palace gate came to report: "Wang Gong in the cardinal waiting for the change of Shilang, please ask for advice in front of the que." ”

When Pei Gai heard this, his spirit couldn't help but perk, and he said that the prince had given him this for a few months, and this must have brought back the news of his aunt, so he rushed to see him. Wang Gong entered the palace, first bowed to worship, and by the way, he asked for sin, and the general passed by before and after, prepared a description, and said: "The minister has taken Xu Wei to Luoyang, waiting for His Majesty's interrogation." ”

Pei Gai was somewhat disappointed when he heard that Pei refused to cross the river, and at the same time he was worried that Wang Gong or Xu Wei was lying, so he immediately summoned Xu Wei. Xu Wei entered the pilgrimage in the suit of a sinner, kowtowed to the guilt, and first repeated the process of rescuing the Pei family's ancestors and grandsons—focusing on the details, so as to win the trust of the Son of Heaven—and then presented the paper scroll that had been kept close to him with both hands. Pei Xiong had not yet left, he was still sitting, and instinctively took over the duties of the attendant and took over on his behalf; Pei Gai took it from his hand, unfolded it and looked at it, and saw that there were only twelve words on it, divided into three columns: right and left:

"It's not what it's like now

Bird falls

Lip to lip to lip to par with each other"

He was stunned on the spot, and then his eyes turned red, and he almost burst into tears.

Wang Gong and Xu Wei peeked at the expression of the Son of Heaven, and they couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and said in their hearts that the Son of Heaven can really recognize the meaning, in theory, Pei Shi will not deliberately say bad things about us.

Pei Caiqiang pressed the surging waves in his chest, pinched the paper scroll in his hand, slowly raised his head, and bowed to the king first: "Although Qing's trip has not been completed, it has not lived up to my expectations." Then he turned to Xu Wei: "Although Qing is rebellious, he can repent and get rid of my aunt in the tiger's den in Longtan, and his merits can not only be resisted, but I will also be rewarded." ”

Xu Wei kowtowed and said: "The minister does not expect a reward, but asks for the continuation of his loyal duties for His Majesty." "This means that he is asking for an official.

So Pei Gai instructed Pei Xiong: "Qing can lead Xu Qing down, so that he can be placed in order to wait for the court." "According to the imperial court system, the more petty the official, the more he should not be ordered by the Son of Heaven himself, but must go through the procedures of the Ministry of Officials, no matter how great Xu Wei's merits are, it is impossible to directly mention the three grades or more, right? In this regard, the emperor only needs to express his attitude, and he does not need to, nor can he make a wish on the spot.

After the ministers retreated, Pei Gai sat alone, still holding the piece of paper in his hand, rubbing it repeatedly, sighing.

He naturally remembered that when he was in the camp, he once wrote the same note and quietly handed it to Pei's family, using the word splitting method to convey the intention of "aunt and nephew...... Pei should have burned the note at that time, but now what he has in his hand is clearly Pei's own handwriting.

But Xu Wei said that Pei Shi did not write it temporarily, but carried a scroll of paper early in the morning, and theoretically speaking, it was impossible for her to think about giving Xu Wei something in advance to win her trust. In other words, my aunt misses me day and night, but imitates the hidden words of the old days, so that it is convenient to see things and think about people...... How can you repay this kindness?

Queen Xun is in charge of the six palaces, so Wang Gong's entry into the Hajj naturally can't be hidden from her, and when she heard the report, it is estimated that there is news from her aunt, so she also hurriedly came to see Pei Cai to ask. When I came in, I saw the emperor holding a small note, hanging his head there, as if he was crying. Empress Xun was startled and hurriedly asked, "Is my aunt okay?" ”

Pei Gai raised his head, glanced at his wife, and nodded slowly: "My aunt is fine, but she refuses to cross the river to meet me." ”

Empress Xun breathed a sigh of relief, she had expected such a result, so she comforted Pei Gai and said: "After all, my aunt is the Sima family, and when the north and the south are fighting, it is really inconvenient to come north to see Your Majesty, and it is reasonable that it will be the same plan for me." I expect that even if Sima Rui kills his parents and sons, he will not dare to treat his aunt harshly, Your Majesty should not worry. ”

Then I asked, what is that thing in your hand?

Pei Gai handed the note to Xunhou and said slowly: "This aunt's mother also writes the words of me." ”

Xun Hou took it and looked at the old man for a long time, I don't know why. asked Pei Gai again, but Pei Gai just shook his head and asked for the note back, refusing to explain - he said in his heart that your wife has a lot of strength and a lot of eyes, but in terms of knowledge, it is not a little bit worse; I think that when I paid such a note to my aunt, she quickly (in fact, not necessarily soon, purely out of Pei Cai's brain) to figure out the meaning.

Empress Xun reluctantly returned the note to Pei Gai, and couldn't help but feel a faint sour tide in her heart.