The two sat for a while, and Wan Qian said, "Young Master Fang, do you want to go to Kaifeng Mansion to see your friends?" Fang Jinshi remembered that Zhang Bangchang had asked him to go to Kaifeng Mansion to find an official named Lu Gu to handle the case of Jin Tongda for him, and he hadn't been there yet, so it was better to take the opportunity to meet this Lu Gu, try his style, and by the way, he also visited Jin Tongda, so he agreed.

Wan Qiaoduo wanted to get to know him as much as he could, and wanted to show that he had a wide range of skills, so he invited him to visit the prisoner in Kaifeng Mansion Prison.

The two came out of Fangfu, only to see that Wan Qian outside the gate had hired a big carriage when he came, and he had saved up enough energy to come to Beijing this time, and he wanted to make friends with officials and nobles at any cost, and he was not stingy at all.

Fang Jinshi sat in his carriage, the two chatted casually, and came to Kaifeng Mansion, Wan Qiaoyu tried his tone several times, wanting to ask Fang Jinshi if he knew those high-ranking officials and nobles, and he was just playing haha, pretending to be mysterious.

Kaifeng Mansion Yamen Fang Jinshi is no stranger, his current identity is still a small official in Kaifeng Mansion Cangcao, Cangcao is a subordinate department that manages the warehouse materials of the government, and the law Cao who is in charge of the prison does not have much intersection, it is the Kaifeng Mansion of Enoch, the people he knows are limited to his own small circle, and he does not know that Lu Gu.

Wan Qian had a friend of the same year who held a high position in Kaifeng Mansion, Wan Qian first went to find someone who came out in the same year, and met the two, Fang Jinshi asked about Lu Gu, this person heard the name, and hurriedly said: "Today is the day he is on duty to judge the case, and he may be able to leave the court later." ”

This Lu Gu is a magistrate in the left and right halls of Kaifeng Mansion, Kaifeng Mansion belongs to the left and right halls, each hall has a member of the magistrate, and the case is tried in turns every day, Kaifeng Mansion is not always judged by Kaifeng Mansion Yin himself, most of the time the case is decided by the magistrate, no wonder Zhang Bangchang asked Fang Jinshi to find this Lu Gu.

Anyway, it was boring, Fang Jinshi brought yì to see how this Lu Gu decided the case, and the two walked to the south yakou, only to see that there were many onlookers at the gate of the south ya, Kaifeng Mansion, where the case was tried, and most of them were Taoists.

I don't know why there are so many Taoists who suddenly come to the gate of the Yamen to watch the case, and there are a large number of people, it seems that all of a sudden the Taoist temples in Bianliang City don't need to meditate and draw talismans, all of them are crowded to the Kaifeng Mansion to see the excitement, the dark blue Taoist robes are pressed by a large area, and there are all the old and young men and women.

Fang Jinshi squeezed to the front, and heard the roaring cheers, Fang Jinshi took a closer look, no wonder there was such a person, it turned out that the prisoner who was interrogated today was Guo Jing, and I don't know where he suddenly came from, his reputation was really soaring, and no one in Bianliang City called him Guo San anymore, most of them were respectfully saluting, shouting "Guo Zhenren" or "Guo Xianshi".

Last time, he took advantage of the government's curfew to instruct Taoists to make trouble on the streets, coupled with Liu Tong's efforts, although he was becoming famous, he was still arrested by the officials of Kaifeng Mansion, and today it happened to be this Lu Gu to interrogate him.

At this time, he was sitting on the ground in the lobby of Kaifeng Mansion, holding a whisk in his hand, the futon under the buttocks was very large, with a diameter of almost nine feet, and half of the hall of the official office was paved, and the yellow, red, and black colors were divided from the outside to the inside, and the complex lotus flowers were embroidered with silk threads.

There are many Taoists watching, Guo Jing is extremely pretentious, and Lu Gu is under great psychological pressure during the interrogation, if he is rich and powerful, it is fine, even if he is a big official, but the key is that Guo Jing is a Taoist, and he is still a famous Taoist, which can't help but let Lu Gu weigh it.

One of the biggest reasons for this is the dynasty's admiration for Taoism, to the Song Huizong period, reached another peak, even the emperor himself named himself the emperor of the Taoist, all the monks of the court are issued to the Taoist, according to the rank of a total of 29 levels, Guo Jing is a broken family is willing to become a Taoist, is to fancy the money to take.

At this time, Guo Jing was sitting in the lobby of the Kaifeng Mansion, Lu Gu asked three questions and he replied, his attitude was extremely arrogant, but as soon as he answered, no matter what he said, even if it was a "yes", the group of onlookers behind him were all shouting loudly, and it took a long time to end, and Lu Gu couldn't interrogate him at all.

Fang Jinshi saw a thin Taoist sitting on the right side of Lu Gu's table, who looked seventy or eighty years old, with a feeling of immortal wind and bones, Lu Gu said a few words, once Guo Jing couldn't answer, this Taoist person would speak for him, Lu Gu didn't dare to refute him, this Taoist person had a very high status, and even Emperor Song Huizong often invited him to the palace to teach the Fa.

Lu Gu later saw that the case could not be tried any longer, so he had to hastily announce his withdrawal from the court and re-detain him, Guo Jing stood up, pointed to Lu Gu in the hall and said: "Huangkou Xiaoer, next month, the envoy of the Goryeo Kingdom will come to invite Ben Zhenren to come to preach the Fa, why do you take responsibility after knowing the period?" ”

This Lu Gudu is already more than fifty years old, and a dignified court official actually let him be scolded like a yellow-mouthed child, no matter how heavy he is, he can't stand it, and he replied angrily: "A thief dares to be so domineering, the Goryeo Kingdom has long since stopped coming to our court to pay tribute to the court thirty years ago, before the matter of Liao, now the matter of gold, please go and teach the Fa?" What will a nasty prankster say? "He is also covered, and the scolding is not vicious.

Guo Jing said coldly: "Dao Ye said that there is. ”

The old Taoist who was sitting on the other side immediately said, "Immortal Master Guo, is it true that there will be an envoy from Goryeo next month?" ”

Guo Jing said: "This immortal master pinched his fingers and calculated, this group of envoys has already set off, so the Goryeo Kingdom not only brought a large number of tributes, but also sent two beauties to accompany them, and it is inconvenient to walk, so it will arrive in Tokyo next month." ”

As soon as he said this, and what he said was extremely true, even Lü Gu hesitated a little, Goryeo paid tribute to the Great Song Dynasty before, because it was robbed by Liao on the way to tribute, and then caused a war, the king of Goryeo asked Song for assistance, and the Song Dynasty was afraid of Liao and ignored it, so Goryeo turned to Liao to pay tribute, and the connection has been broken for more than 30 years.

The old Taoist next to him said to Lu Gu: "Poor Dao wants to be a guarantor, first protect Guo Xianshi and return to Yanqing Temple, I don't know if Lu can judge things?" ”

Lu Gu said: "Su Jian Dao is a guarantor, so dare not obey?" Guo Jing said: "Why do you need to protect me, Lu judges, how about we make a bet, if there is no envoy from Goryeo next month to make a pilgrimage, or the tribute is not what I said, even if I lose?" ”

Lu Gu said: "What do you want to bet on?" Guo Jing said loudly: "Just bet on my head, if Lu loses, don't want your head, just resign immediately and get out of Bianliang City, never come back." ”

Lu Gu was suddenly annoyed, angry, and shouted: "I'll make a bet with you." Guo Jing laughed and said, "It's so tough, and how wolf you are when you see it." He got up on the futon and said, "With Su Jian Dao Chang as a guarantor, can this immortal master go?" ”

Lu Gu did not speak with a calm face, Guo Jing saluted to the old Dao Su Jian, and then strode out of the hall.

A government official immediately stepped forward to stop him, and Su Jian hurriedly said, "I'll write a guarantee." Lu Gu waved his hand, these officials and officials got out of the way and let Guo Jing leave, he walked down the hall, and those onlookers surrounded him at once, and the stars held the moon to escort him away.

Wan Qian said: "This Taoist is so arrogant. Fang Jinshi just sighed, and after a while, after the yamen retreated, someone had already gone to report to Lu Gu, and Lu Gu asked Fang Jinshi and Wan Qian to come in and meet each other.

Fang Jinshi and the others came to the back hall, the two sides politely said a few words, Lu Gu looked a little tired, and the other party entered the stone and said: "Zhang Shaozai and Cai Zhige are all related, and the matter of your friend is just a misunderstanding, just go to the hall the day after tomorrow." ”

Fang Jinshi thanked him solemnly, and Lu Gu said: "That's it, you also know about the prison of Kaifeng Mansion, it's really troublesome to visit the prison, they can go out the day after tomorrow, and they are not in a hurry, you can meet them again when you go out." ”

Fang Jinshi thought about it, if he went to see Jin Tongda and Fu Xuan, the traces of the invitation would inevitably be too obvious, but it was not good, if he didn't see it, he and Wan Qian said goodbye to Lu Gu, and Fang Jinshi kindly reminded Lu Gu: "Be careful with Lu Judge Guo San." ”

Lu Gu said: "A ploppy Taoist, I'm afraid of where he will come from." Fang Jinshi saw that he was stubborn, so he didn't say much.

Fang Jinshi and Wan Qian came out of the Kaifeng Mansion, it was almost noon at this time, Wan Qian said: "Fang Gongzi, I know that there is a restaurant two streets away, and the wine and food are very delicious, how about inviting Fang Gongzi to try the dishes together?" ”

Fang Jinshi had nothing to do, he had to eat wherever he went, so he agreed, and the two of them took the carriage and turned two corners to the restaurant in the back.

Full of wine and food, the two of them went out of the restaurant together, and Wan Qian walked into the stone and said, "I'll call the coachman to come over." The coachman hid in the alley across the road to rest, and Wan Qian crossed the street, ready to go to the alley.

The street outside the restaurant is a big steep slope, the entrance of the restaurant is at a low place, the avenue paved with bluestone slabs, there are pedestrians on the road, Wan Qian walked to the middle of the road, heard someone shout: "Get out of the way." ”

Fang Jinshi stood at the door of the restaurant and looked, only to see the pedestrians on the road dodging, it turned out that three or five men pushed a big wooden wheel car from the steep slope straight down, the wooden wheel car with a rope tied to a big stone tablet, these big men are strong men, all of them used all their strength to pull the wooden wheeled car, want to push the car down the steep slope slowly, but the stone tablet on the car is too heavy, the road is steep, can only struggle to pull the wooden wheeled car, let it go downhill as slowly as possible, and shout to let the pedestrians dodge.

Wan Qiwei drank a few glasses of wine, slightly drunk, and didn't even notice that the wooden wheel car rushed straight over, and he didn't see it until it was very close, and wanted to avoid it, but his legs and feet didn't obey the call.

Several big men pulling the car saw that they were about to hit someone, and this person was only concerned about walking, and there was no intention of avoiding it, and the big man pushing the handlebar had no choice but to twist the direction of the wooden wheel and turn the direction of the wooden wheeled car to the side.

The wooden wheel car turned sharply, rubbing Wan Qiao's side, this stele is too heavy, and the speed is fast, these big men can't hold it, the front of the car fell heavily to the ground, the handlebar turned up, the stele suddenly broke the rope, from the car overturned and slipped to the ground.

The people in this cart were all dressed in coarse cloth, with dust and mud on their clothes, and their shoes were worn. The cart was a man in his twenties, this person looked good, giving people a sense of honesty and honesty, he waved his arms a few times, raised it and tried to raise it, his face immediately showed a painful look, the stone tablet was too heavy, and he tried his best to twist the wooden wheel to avoid pedestrians, but it hurt his arm.

A few farmers looked at the stele and the wooden wheeled cart that fell to the ground, you look at me, I look at you, all with helpless expressions on their faces, this stele is thick and big, and several people want to help it on the wooden wheeled cart again, although it cannot be said that it cannot be done, it will also take great effort.

As soon as the stele fell to the ground, there were pedestrians who loved to watch the excitement and came up to take a look, and a farmer said to the man with the cart: "Yue Turn, how are your hands?" Is there something wrong? ”

The man named Yue Fan said, "It should be nothing. The farmer said, "I'm afraid that a few of us won't be able to lift it, so let's go and ask the fifth brother to come over quickly." When the other farmer heard this, he immediately walked briskly up the steep slope from which they had come, and called for help.

Wan Qian was also startled, and now he came back to his senses, if he changed someone else, it would be fine, but when he saw that these men were all country farmers, he suddenly became energetic, he squeezed into the crowd and shouted to a few men: "You country guys, don't you want to live?" ”