Cao Huachun, a native of Weiwuqing County, Tianjin, has a poor family since he was a child, and there are five brothers in the family, and he ranks fifth.

is also the fifth brother, the same is the eldest in the family, Cao Huachun's fate is completely different from Zhang Bin, because his family is too poor, when he was still very young, the third brother Huafu and the fourth brother Huaqin died in hunger and cold one after another, in order to support his relatives, he participated in the selection of eunuchs at the age of twelve, and finally "fortunately" was selected, and entered the palace after castration.

He was gifted and intelligent, diligent and studious, received a good education in the palace, was proficient in poetry, calligraphy and painting, and was deeply appreciated by the eunuch Wang An, and relied on as a cronie, and later was fortunate to be selected as the companion of the five emperors' grandson Zhu Youzhen, which is the companion as the saying goes.

If everything goes well, when the Fifth Emperor Sun Zhu Youzhen succeeds to the throne, he can be promoted to the rank of companion and tilt his power towards the government and the opposition.

It's a pity that fate played a big joke with him, in the first year of the Apocalypse, Zhu Youzhen, who was the fifth brother of the emperor, had not yet been named the king of letters, and Wei Zhongxian, a steward eunuch who was promoted by Wang An in the palace, actually killed his benefactor Wang An in order to ascend the throne, and he, as Wang An's cronies, was also expelled from the capital by Wei Zhongxian and sent to Jinling, the southern capital, to be punished.

At this time, he has been coming to Jinling for nearly five years, because he is a guilty body, he has completely lost his money, and even the ideal of entering the palace to support his family can not be realized, he can only order free paper inkstones from the palace, write some calligraphy and paintings, take them to consignment, exchange for some wine to drink, in order to drown his sorrows.

On this day, he sold a few more calligraphy and paintings on consignment, and he could barely get drunk, so he couldn't wait to take a little eunuch to the palace gate, on the bank of the Qinhuai River, and the Jixian Restaurant by the bridge, ordered a plate of five-spice bean drum and a plate of sugar garlic, and asked for a few pots of the cheapest barley chong, and drank it slowly.

Although this Jixian Restaurant is known as a restaurant but it is not a noble place, at this time Jinling City drinking is a common practice, and there are many people who drink and have fun or feast with wine, this Jixian Restaurant is a cheap restaurant facing the low-level ordinary people, in addition to the upstairs seat, most of the people sitting in the lobby on the first floor are the low-level people such as peddlers and pawns.

The wine was slightly drunk, Cao Huachun couldn't help but sigh again, he looked at the little eunuch who was eating with relish, and sighed: "Chengen, I have wronged you, if you didn't follow me at the beginning, you wouldn't have been sent to Jinling together, if you can stay in the palace, even if it's a chore, life will not be so hard." ”

This little eunuch is Wang Chengen, he is about the same age as Zhu Youzhen, the fifth grandson of the emperor, so he was taken by Cao Huachun to play with Zhu Youzhen, and as a result, he also suffered from the pond fish and was sent to Jinling.

Wang Cheng's benefactor, as his name suggests, is the kind of person who is particularly grateful, he did not resent Cao Huachun for implicating him with Jinling, but comforted: "Engong, don't say that, if you didn't take care of me, I don't know what it would be like to be bullied, now it's okay, leisurely, unrestrained, and you can follow Engong to learn literature and martial arts every day, which is much better than being cheated in the palace." ”

Wang Chengen was only fifteen years old at this time, but he could be so knowledgeable, Cao Huachun couldn't help but regret it: "Alas, it's a pity, with your qualifications, no matter which master you follow, you can get ahead, but now you are suffering here with me, alas." ”

Before Wang Chengen could be comforted, a young man in a straight robe suddenly stepped forward and said, "Dare to ask, but Mr. Zhixu?" ”

Cao Huachun said that he was a virtual son, so the name on the calligraphy and painting was Zixu, and he was called Mr. Zixu, who must have bought his calligraphy and paintings.

He glanced at the young man up and down, the clothes were bright and the materials were exquisite, this was definitely not an ordinary person, because the imperial court had strict regulations on the color and materials of clothes, and it was a crime to dare to dress like this without any identity.

What is the identity of the other party?

Cao Huachun couldn't figure it out for a while, so he had to stand up and arch his hand: "Mr. doesn't dare to be, I don't know what this adult has to do with the miscellaneous family." ”

It's obvious what he said, didn't you see me wearing the regular clothes of a eunuch, and you still called me sir, what do you mean?

When the young man heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "I'm not an adult, it's our adults who invite you to go upstairs to talk." ”

If he is in the capital, even if he is just a small eunuch, he can not dump any adults or adults; But this is Jinling, and he is still a guilty body, no matter what adult, he can't afford to offend.

If you can't afford to offend, then go and take a look, Cao Huachun only hesitated slightly, and then explained to Wang Chengen: "Chengen, you sit here first, and I will pay the bill." ”

With that, he lifted his feet and was about to leave.

The young man continued to smile and said, "Let's go together, I've already paid the bill." ”

When Cao Huachun heard this, he had to beckon: "Then come with me to have a look." ”

The two followed the young man to the second floor, but as soon as they arrived at the door of a private seat, Cao Huachun's face changed instantly.

Because there are still three young people standing at the door, although the service is ordinary, each one is very strong, and at first glance it is a practitioner.

He only reacted at this moment, it seems that the young man who went down to call them is also quite strong, could it be Jinyiwei!

If it was Jinyiwei, it would be over, and it must have been sent by Wei Zhongxian to clean him up.

It's a blessing or a curse, it's a disaster that can't be avoided, even the prince is in the hands of that beast, and it is impossible for him to hide from it.

Thinking of this, Cao Huachun looked back at Wang Chengen behind him, then sighed and strode into the seat.

There is no imaginary knife, and there is no room full of brocade guards, there is only a young man with a heroic face and a sumptuous banquet in the elegant seat.

What does this mean, is there anything else that cannot be interrogated?

When Zhang Bin saw Cao Huachun coming in, he quickly stood up and said enthusiastically: "Mr. Zixu, come, please sit, please sit." ”

Cao Huachun didn't sit down, but asked with disdain, "Are you from the capital?" ”

Zhang Bin is so strange, how did Cao Huachun know that he was from the capital?

However, at this time, he is doing everything possible to win Cao Huachun's favor, so naturally he can't turn a deaf ear to other people's problems.

He thought about it for a moment and smiled, "So to speak. ”

When Cao Huachun heard this, he immediately said with grief and indignation: "Wei Zhongxian, a traitor, finally remembered the miscellaneous family?" ”

As soon as Zhang Bin heard this, he finally understood, it turned out that Cao Huachun thought that he was sent by Wei Zhongxian to kill him!

This misunderstanding was a bit big, he pretended to be surprised and said, "Wei Zhongxian? I'm afraid that Mr. has misunderstood, I just want to ask Mr. about calligraphy and painting skills, and it has nothing to do with the traitor. ”

When Cao Huachun heard this, his eyes were about to pop out, and he was stunned for a long time before he asked in disbelief: "You, what are you, Donglin Party?" ”

Zhang Bin is naturally not a Donglin party, the reason why he followed Cao Huachun to call Wei Zhongxian a traitor is just to get closer to the relationship between the two.

Seeing Cao Huachun's appearance, he hurriedly explained: "I'm not a Donglin party. ”

Cao Huachun still asked in disbelief: "Then how dare you call that traitor like that, aren't you afraid of death?" ”

Isn't this to win your favor, Zhang Bin said in his heart, of course, he wouldn't say that, he pretended to be righteous and awe-inspiring, and said fearlessly: "What's this, all righteous people can't get used to what that traitor did, what's wrong with him being a traitor, he was originally a traitor." ”

When Cao Huachun heard this, he praised it: "Okay, what a righteous man, come, the miscellaneous family will give you a drink." ”

After that, he took the initiative to pick up the wine jug and pour a glass of wine for Zhang Bin, and poured himself another glass, and then raised his glass and said, "Come on, it's done." ”

Zhang Bin was so excited, he didn't expect to win Cao Huachun's favor so easily, he didn't hesitate to pick up the wine glass and touch Cao Huachun, and then drank the wine in one gulp.

The so-called wine is both a character, Cao Huachun saw Zhang Bin so refreshing, and his eyes couldn't help showing an appreciative look, this young man is good, full of righteousness, heroic and dry, worthy of a hand.

He took a sip of the wine, and then beckoned Wang Chengen to sit down, and he didn't see anything outside.

Seeing this, Zhang Bin hurriedly beckoned them to eat, and then took the initiative to pick up the wine jug and pour wine for Cao Huachun.

Maybe he was aggrieved for too long and needed someone to talk to, or maybe Cao Huachun fell in love with Zhang Bin's character at a glance, and after a few glasses of wine, he regarded Zhang Bin as a close friend who talked about everything, and he did not shy away from scolding Wei Zhongxian's traitorous behavior.

Zhang Bin is also out of the way, anyway, this is Jinling, he doesn't believe that Wei Zhongxian can still spread the secret agents of Jinyi Wei everywhere, scold it, the more you scold, the more you scold, the more you regard me as a friend!

Cao Huachun may have drunk too much, and from beginning to end, he counted what Wei Zhongxian did after entering the palace, and the one he scolded was called a hearty one.

In later generations, many people were actually spreading falsehoods, saying that Cao Huachun said good things to Wei Zhongxian, and asked Emperor Chongzhen to help Wei Zhongxian rebuild the mausoleum, not to mention that Cao Huachun had already returned to his hometown in the last years of Chongzhen, and he was not in the capital at all, so in terms of Cao Huachun's character, he would not be able to help Wei Zhongxian speak.

You must know that Cao Huachun is a cronie cultivated by Wang An, just by virtue of Wei Zhongxian's killing of Wang An, he is already on the same page as Wei Zhongxian, plus Wei Zhongxian sent him to Jinling, and the contradiction between the two is even more irreconcilable.

There are also historical records later, Cao Huachun is responsible for handling the unjust cases of the eunuch party, and there are more than 2,000 cases of rehabilitating Zhaoxue alone.

It can also be seen from the struggle between Qian Qianyi and Wen Tiren that Cao Huachun's gratitude to Wang An and his hatred for Wei Zhongxian.

Just because Qian Qianyi once wrote an inscription to Wang An, Cao Huachun did not hesitate to stand on Qian Qianyi's side, and because Wen Tiren enabled the remnants of the eunuch party, Cao Huachun did not hesitate to make a statement to Emperor Chongzhen, and gave Wen Tiren, a powerful minister who had been the first assistant of the cabinet for eight years.

Such a person will say good things to Wei Zhongxian in the end, which is a strange talk for the ages!