The backyard of Zhang's house. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

At this time, Zhang Wenming's bedroom was already occupied by the female relatives who rushed to hear the news, and they all sobbed in low voices, and under their gaze, their own family members stepped forward to put on the shroud for Zhang Wenming, whose body was already stiff. Everything seems to be very similar to the situation after the death of ordinary old people, but it is always a little weird.

Because the crying in this house is so small, you can only hear the faint cry in the backyard, and out of this yard, you can't even hear the slightest movement. The women who wanted to show how filial they were to the old lady were crying red and swollen at the moment, but they didn't dare to let out a loud cry, and only cried quietly there, which made the atmosphere in the whole courtyard even more depressing.

And what is even more surprising is that at this juncture, those people who are in charge outside the Zhang Mansion in Jiangling are not in front of Zhang Wenming. They were in the study room separated by a wall from Zhang Wenming's bedroom, although they all looked solemn, but they did not show too much sadness, but were more worried and surprised.

After the door is closed, the Zhang family is all here, so there is nothing to avoid some words. Everyone knows very well what the old lady Zhang Wenming means to the Zhang family, although in terms of seniority, he is much taller than everyone else, but including several grandchildren, everyone still has some opinions about this grandfather, and it is precisely because of some of his previous perverse actions that the Zhang family's reputation in the local area is not so good.

But for the Zhang family, this old lady is also indispensable. He is here, which means that nothing will change, Zhang Juzheng is still the first assistant of the dynasty, and the Zhang family is still an existence that no one dares to disrespect in the local area. But once he fell, a practical question was quickly put in front of everyone - should Zhang Fu mourn?

Once the funeral is hanged, it will not take a few days, and everyone in the world will know that Zhang Juzheng's father died of illness, and at that time, he will also face the biggest test - Ding Wei. Everyone in the Zhang family is aware of the fact that the reason why their family has today depends on Zhang Juzheng's current status. And once he returns, their biggest backer will be completely gone, and their situation will be extremely difficult for the next three years.

And three years later, earth-shaking changes will inevitably take place in the imperial court, and Zhang Juzheng's previous fame may still be able to enter the court, but it is almost impossible to regain today's power.

But what if there is no mourning? Concealing such a major event, not to mention that Zhang Juzheng, who was in Beijing, refused to agree -- it was his biological father who died, how could he have a reason to hide such a major incident from his son? -- And once this kind of thing is spread out, the blow to the Zhang family and Zhang Juzheng will be fatal, and their problems will be even greater......

Therefore, when Zhang Jingxiu quickly gathered the important people in the family and asked everyone's opinions on this matter, everyone fell silent. No one dared to take responsibility for this, and naturally no one dared to express their opinion on this matter.

For a while, except for the faint sound of crying outside, the study was so quiet that even everyone's breathing could be heard clearly. Everyone lowered their heads, but at the same time, they were peeking at the people around them, especially Zhang Jingxiu, who was now the de facto person in charge of the Jiangling Zhang Mansion, and became the protagonist of everyone's wait-and-see.

After not seeing everyone speak for a long time, Zhang Jingxiu finally couldn't hold his breath a little bit: "You are all Jingxiu's uncles, and you are people who have made many contributions to the Zhang family. As he spoke, his gaze turned and fell on Zhang Shouli's body.

With a wry smile in his heart, knowing that some things still have to be done by himself, and some unpleasant words can only be said by himself, Zhang Shouli said softly: "This happened to the old lady, and none of us want to see it." But...... Now this matter is not only a family matter, but also a national matter! My lord, he now has an important position, and he is the pillar of the imperial court, and once the matter spreads, it will inevitably give some people in the court an opportunity to take advantage of it, so that there will be variables in the state affairs that are thriving. So, I thought it would be better to cover things up first. Fortunately, now the matter is limited to my Zhang Mansion, and I am not afraid of the matter getting out......"

The faces of the other people showed embarrassment, this kind of practice is really contrary to human morality, once it is discovered, the reputation of the entire Zhang family will be ruined, so they are quite embarrassed for a while, and they dare not accept this conversation.

But Zhang Jingxiu obviously wouldn't let them just sit and don't speak, so he named them and said, "Fifth uncle, what do you think about this?" Do you think we should hide it? ”

The one who was named was a cousin of Zhang Juzheng, who also had a certain prestige in the clan, and had also helped Zhang Jingxiu deal with a lot of affairs before, so he was a person with some talent. But this time, when faced with such a big problem, this Fifth Uncle Zhang obviously couldn't make up his mind: "If we think about the country, our Zhang family can indeed make some sacrifices, but ...... There are no impermeable walls in this world. ”

Just one sentence made everyone's hearts tremble, and the possible consequences of the revelation of the matter were not something they could afford.

"Another point," since someone started this, some people were bold enough to say, "We also have a lot of entertainment on weekdays, especially after the old lady fell ill recently, there are always people from the county government and the government who come to send medicine to visit, we can't hide it from them for too long, right?" ”

This point is indeed the crux of the matter, as Zhang Juzheng's father, even if he is sick in bed, sometimes he is not completely invisible. In order to show their respect and friendliness to the Zhang family, those local officials will also invite some so-called famous doctors to treat him from time to time, so how should they send these people away?

Zhang Jingxiu was also confused because of this sudden change before, thinking that it would be more beneficial for his family and father to conceal it, and completely ignored these details. Now listening to them one by one, the expression on his face became more and more solemn: "According to your meaning, this funeral still has to be opened?" ”

When he asked, the few people who spoke shut up again. They don't dare to be the master, they can take this idea, and the only one who dares to take this idea is Zhang Jingxiu. They are still very clear about this point.

After listening to it for a while, Zhang Shouli spoke again: "In my opinion, we can put this matter on hold for a while and not mourn." At the same time, he immediately sent someone to send the news to the capital and asked the master for instructions. I wonder what you think? ”

This is indeed a compromise and feasible strategy, with the channels of the Zhang family, it should not take three or five days to transmit this urgent news back to the capital. Within ten days, with the ability of the Zhang family, this news will definitely be completely blocked. Next, it depends on what Zhang Juzheng's idea is.

Zhang Jingxiu and others could not come up with a better idea, so they agreed with this countermeasure. did not delay, immediately arranged for someone to deliver the news, of course, this person is the most reliable slave in the family, and he is the one who will not betray the Zhang family even if he loses his life.

It wasn't until all this was done that Zhang Jingxiu and the others returned to Zhang Wenming's corpse and mourned with the woman, but these people really couldn't see much sadness on their faces.

Zhang Wenming's life, because of the birth of Zhang Juzheng's son, and the scenery is infinite, from a small Zhou Wangfu guard to become the old lady of Zhangfu admired by the locals, it can be said that he enjoys all the glory. It's just that he never dreamed that he would suffer this sin after his death, and in a short period of time, even his death had to be concealed by his children and grandchildren, just waiting for his most proud son to make this final decision.

This may be the fixed number in the dark, and what is owed in life must be returned after death......

With this decision from top to bottom, the news of Mrs. Zhang's death did not come out, which made the entire Jiangling County not make any noise, and it was still peaceful.

When all this fell into the eyes of a scar-faced man who had returned to the place two days later to investigate the news, his brow couldn't help but furrow.

If at this time, the old shopkeeper of the Sun Family Inn would be extremely surprised when he saw this man dressed as a woodcutter selling firewood: how could this merchant who had a lot of money before, and many brothers, and quick minds become like this two days after leaving his inn?

This disguised person is naturally Xiang Ying. After succeeding two days earlier, he quietly left the city with his companions who had been found on the road. Then, after sending the guys away, he returned to Gangneung to find out the news.

Although Xiang Ying only got the order from Yang Zhen to kill Zhang Wenming, he knew very well that this was only a means for Yang Zhen to deal with Zhang Juzheng, not an end, and only when the news of Zhang Wenming's death was transmitted back to the capital, this matter could really play a major role.

But judging from the current movement in Gangneung City, things are definitely not what he wants to see.

Xiang Ying was sure that he had indeed scared Zhang Wenming to death that night, but how could the Zhang family be so calm? It's as calm as if nothing happened?

Although Xiang Ying couldn't understand what the Zhang family thought, there was one thing he thought of - they must have covered up the matter. This is not what he wants to see, and in this way, won't he be busy in vain?

"There is only one way...... After going around the vicinity of Zhang's mansion, Xiang Ying made up his mind and left in a hurry.

That night, a Jinyi guard stronghold hidden in Jiangling City suddenly came, told them an astonishing news, and instructed them to spread the news of Old Lady Zhang's death through various channels with the token of commanding the servant Yang Zhen.

Three days later, the news of Zhang Wenming's violent death at home spread all over the city, and even the government heard about it......