Tu Hai, who was already ranked third among the fifteen scholars, suddenly fell, and the news that Tu Hai's entire family was locked up and imprisoned, it was like a gust of wind, which suddenly blew the festive atmosphere of the New Year in the officialdom of the capital clean, and the officials of the Tuhai faction were sad and trembling for fear of implicating themselves, needless to say, most of the officials of the neutral faction were also terrified, and once again witnessed with their own eyes what is called a companion like a tiger, and what is called an unpredictable situation. For the first time, I saw Xiao Mazi's slightly immature but extremely sharp devouring fangs!

There are also both joy and surprise, in the face of Xiao Mazi's self-cutting move, the officials of the Ao Bai party are overjoyed and inexplicable, and it is inevitable that they are surprised - last year, Xiao Mazi reopened Tu Hai against public opinion, just to use him to deal with Ao Bai, and Tu Hai did not embarrass Xiao Mazi, this nearly a year has not been less to Ao Bai himself and the party to find trouble and stumble, for this Ao Bai party hates the itch of teeth, but he is helpless, now why Xiao Mazi himself cut off this pillar? Isn't that puzzling and incredible?

Since they are puzzled, the reason why the Aobai party has to jump up and down is doomed, and in the case that it is destined to be impossible to quickly find out the truth, many people even suspect that Shangtuhai is actually a fellow party of Aobai, and was murdered after being discovered by Xiao Mazi. However, Ao Bai quickly came forward to deny this possibility, and at the same time, Ao Bai, who had long seen that Tu Hai was not pleasing to the eye, took the opportunity to fall into the well and ordered his comrades to impeach Tu Hai, intending to take this opportunity to get rid of this thorn in the flesh no matter what reason Tu Hai fell.

In this way, the result is very accidental and inevitable, the Aobai henchmen who were ordered to fall into the well had to mention the old incident of Shunzhi cleaning up Tuhai back then, and gave Tuhai an accusation of 'resentment against the emperor', and it was proved from the side that Tuhai deliberately leaked the news of Shunzhi's ordination location to Aobai, causing Xiaozhuang and Xiao Mazi to make up their minds that they must clean up Tuhai out of the body and want to die! And our poor Tuhai Chart Zhongtang has completely cut off the last ray of life in a daze.

However, you can't blame Lu Fatzi for pitting Tuhai like this, Tuhai's ass is indeed unclean, because Tuhai was arrested in the palace, and he didn't have time to destroy some sensitive things, so when he copied Tuhai's home, in addition to copying a large number of gold, silver and jewelry of unknown origin, he also copied out a large number of letters between Tuhai and foreign governors and generals - such as the letters of the monk's filial piety, and a list of Tuhai's internal lines installed in the major yamen in the capital - what made Tuhai want to cry even more was that The official in charge of copying the house is a wall-riding faction, in addition to handing over the original list to Xiao Mazi, he also secretly copied a copy and sold it to Aobai! As a result, it was natural that the Aobai party officials who had been placed in the family were scattered, not only desperately killing the internal annihilation of the family, but also joining hands to find Tuhai's new account and old account to calculate together, making the whole capital full of chickens and dogs, black smoke and miasma, and a mess.

At the same time that Tuhai became a rat crossing the street and everyone shouted and beat him, there were some small things happening in the capital, which were not very eye-catching, but the impact was far-reaching, no less than the fall of Tuhai. And the first of these things is that Xiao Mazi issued a holy decree, remembering that the former Zuodu Yushi Wang Xu, who was imprisoned for corruption, had been appointed for many years and had made many meritorious deeds, and allowed him to be released from prison and go home to be convicted, waiting for the verdict of the Three Law Divisions - that is, the legendary bail pending trial.

After only four or five days in prison, Wang Xu realized what it means to be hot and cold in the world, and what it means to be warm and cold, except for one or two of his subordinate colleagues who said a few fair words for him, the rest of them either pretended to be deaf and dumb, ignored them, or fell into the well, wishing to put him to death. In this regard, although Wang Xu has been prepared for the extremely bad popularity in ordinary times, he has also secretly wept many times, knowing that he was wrongfully imprisoned this time, and it is hopeless whether he can see his parents, wife and children again. It's just that what Wang Xu couldn't imagine was that on the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, a eunuch came to the palace to read out the holy decree, asking him to go home to reunite with his family for the time being, and wait for the trial and conviction of the three law divisions.

Hearing this news, Wang Xu was greatly surprised, and had to ask the eunuch about the ins and outs of the matter, and the eunuch was also quite honest, and told Wang Xu truthfully, saying that it was Lord Lu Yifeng of Qujing County who interceded with him in front of the emperor, and exchanged the emperor's grace for Wang Xu's release from prison. When Wang Xu heard this, he had to cry silently, and he couldn't express his gratitude to Lu Fatzi with pen and ink. And when Wang Xu walked out of the prison of the Criminal Department, he saw for the first time the smiling Fat Man Lu leading a large group of dogs, who had been waiting in front of the prison door for a long time, and his whole body was covered with snowflakes.

"Congratulations to Lord Wang for getting out of the sea of suffering and getting rid of prison." Fat Lu stepped forward and saluted, hugged his fists and bowed deeply to Wang Xu, and said with a smile: "I believe that it won't be long before Lord Wang can wash away his grievances and reinstate the official. ”

"Lord Lu." Wang Xu returned the salute with his fists, tears flashed in his eyes, and he wanted to say something thankful, but he couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude, so he could only choke up and said: "Lord Lu, if you don't thank you for your kindness, Wang Xu won't thank you. ”

"Lord Wang is polite, the lower officials just respect you as a clean official, a good official." Fat Lu continued to salute and said solemnly: "That's why I did something that I should do, but it wasn't for the sake of greedy for the adult's return." If the lower official violates the laws of the country, Lord Wang, please do not scruple about handling the case according to the law, and severely punish the lower officials. ”

"Lord Lu, Lu Sanhao ......." Wang Xu finally couldn't suppress the excitement and emotion in his heart, and exclaimed with tears in his eyes, "What a gentleman——! ”

"Your Excellency has won the prize." Lu Fatzi smiled modestly, and then arched his hand and said: "Lord Wang, I'm really sorry, it stands to reason that Xiaguan should send you home, but spring ploughing is about to start, Xiaguan will rush back to Qujing tomorrow to organize the people to carry out spring ploughing, there are still many things to do today, and the prince of Pingxi is still waiting for Xiaguan to do something in Xuanwumen, so Xiaguan will not send you, and he will say goodbye to you here." ”

"Lord Lu doesn't have to be polite, you go and get busy, Wang Xu can go back by himself." Wang Xu wiped away a handful of tears again, and said to Fat Lu: "Tomorrow morning, Wang Xu will definitely go to Yongding Gate to see you off, thank you for your rescue." ”

"Lord Wang is polite, you have just been released from prison, you should rest more, you don't have to get up early in the morning to see me off." Lu Fatzi was pretending to be polite, but Wang Xu insisted: "No, you must send it." By the way, Wang Xu still owes you a piece of writing, and tomorrow morning, Wang Xu will definitely present it. ”

"If this is the case, then the subordinate will be ashamed." Lu Fatzi couldn't resist Wang Xu, so he had to agree, and asked Xiao Erlang and Li Tianzhi to call a carriage, paid the silver in advance, and let the carriage send Wang Xu home, so he said goodbye to Wang Xu in tears and rushed to Xuanwumen to meet Wu Yingxiong. And behind Lu Fatzi, there was a string of admiring glances, and the officials and jailers of the prison of the Criminal Department all admired Lu Fatzi so much that they threw themselves to the ground - how many good people can there be in the whole world?

Today is destined to be an extremely busy day for Lu Fatzi, after returning to the Shishi Hutong of Xuanwumen, Wu Yingxiong and Lin Tianqing, who had made an appointment to go to Aobai's home to pay New Year's greetings, had already made perfect preparations and had been waiting for a long time. Fat Lu didn't even have time to catch his breath, so he quickly changed his clothes, leaving the Liu brothers and Li Tianzhi to pack their luggage at home, take Zhu Fangdan, Xiao Erlang and the gifts for Aobai, and hurried to Aobai Mansion with Wu Yingxiong and Lin Tianqing to pay New Year's greetings.

On the way, Wu Yingxiong deliberately called Fat Man Lu into his carriage to sit together, and Fat Man Lu knew that he must have something to say, so he acted honestly according to the order. Sure enough, after squeezing into the carriage, Wu Yingxiong only said a few words of gossip casually, and suddenly said with a smile: "I went to pick up Wang Xu from prison today, what did he say?" Are you so moved that you are about to burst into tears? ”

"Back to the world, I don't want to do such a hypocritical thing, I framed someone in prison, and rescued him under pretense to receive his favor." Lu Fatzi was so clever, he immediately heard the mockery and dissatisfaction in Wu Yingxiong's words, and hurriedly defended: "In fact, in all fairness, I admire Wang Xu's honesty and integrity, and I really want to emulate him. However, a few days ago, the salary was about to be discussed, and Wang Xu was the first person in the court to propose to reduce the salary of Yungui and Guizhou, and if he did not take advantage of Nan Huairen's case to temporarily get rid of him, he would inevitably cause big trouble to the prince when the salary was discussed. ”

"Now that he has rescued Wang Xu from his humble position, first, the matter of salary has ended, and it is too late for him to make trouble; The second is that he really admires him, but he is ashamed of him, and wants to do something to compensate him. As for the third, the humble position is to let everyone see, how generous and frank our Pingxi Royal Mansion is, Wang Xu and our Pingxi Royal Mansion are hostile everywhere, and at the critical moment, the humble post is still out of the western election official of the Pingxi Royal Mansion to help him, and you and the prince do not care about the past suspicions, and still allow the humble duty to rescue him, which is also very good for the reputation of the prince and the prince. ”

"Hehe, your mouth, you can really say that you can be alive if you are dead, so that I and the prince have to thank you." Wu Yingxiong smiled, waved his hand and said: "Forget it, for the sake of what you said is quite reasonable, and for the sake of Wang Xu really not ruining our salary plan, this matter will be settled." ”

"Xie Shizi is magnanimous and forgives the sin of being the master of his own duties." Lu Fatzi's mouth was like smeared with honey, and he slapped Wu Yingxiong's ass vigorously.

"But are you in a hurry?" Wu Yingxiong said again: "Yesterday morning, you used to make up that story to persuade the Aobai brothers to stand on our side, but the Aobai brothers must track down the source and reliable surname, and there is definitely a big matter of discussing the alliance with us, can you stay for a few more days and help me deal with this important matter before leaving?" ”

"Lord Shizi, it's not that the lowly job doesn't want to serve you, it's just that the lowly job has to go, and there are more important things waiting to be done in Qujing." Lu Fatzi smiled bitterly, and said: "As for Ao Zhongtang's side, you don't have to worry about the prince at all, the humble position will give you a trick - no matter what Ao Zhongtang asks or does, you will push it to the prince, and the source can be deduced that the prince told you, Ao Zhongtang wants to conclude an alliance with the prince, and you can also say that you can't be the master, at most provide a channel for Ao Zhongtang and the prince to get in touch directly." ”

"But in this case, will my father be displeased?" Wu Yingxiong frowned.

"Lord Shizi, you have to worry too much about this." Lu Fatzi said with a smile: "Shiziye, think about it, who is Ao Zhongtang, how powerful is the power in his hands, he takes the initiative to get closer to the prince, it is too late for the prince to be happy, what will be unhappy?" ”

"This is also true, although my father and Ao Zhongtang have an average friendship, they have never had a quarrel, and it is possible to walk together." Wu Yingxiong thought about it carefully, too-to pull a strong ally like Aobai for his father, for the Pingxi Palace, the benefits do far outweigh the disadvantages, and his father should not be dissatisfied. Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if Dad is unhappy and unwilling, he didn't make his own decision to agree to Aobai's request, and the sovereignty is still on Dad's side, Dad can still refuse it, and he can even package Aobai and sell it to Xiao Mazi for silver.

"Or are you clever and thoughtful." Thinking of this, Wu Yingxiong nodded first, and then sighed: "It's a pity that you insist on going back to Yunnan, otherwise, I really want to keep you by my side, so that I can be much easier." ”

"Don't worry, when you return to Yunnan, you will still not be serving under you? Serving you as a dog and horse? Fat Lu smiled and asked: "If you have a humble job, go back to Yunnan first to lay a good foundation, and when you go back to Yunnan, won't it be much easier?" ”

"It's better to talk than to sing, don't you think you have no power or power to stay by my side?" Wu Yingxiong smiled and patted the fat man Lu on the head, and said: "But you have this heart, it's rare, and when I return to Yunnan, I won't be able to treat you badly." ”

"Xie Shizi was promoted, but Shizi has orders, no matter what he does, he will go to the soup and go to the fire." Lu Fatzi replied with a pun: "Please also rest assured that when you return to Yunnan, you will definitely contact the prince by letter often." ”

"You're smart, you can do it." Wu Yingxiong nodded with satisfaction, and smiled again: "But you are sometimes a little too smart, my brother Wu Yingqi is different from Shang Zhixiao and Geng Juzhong, his ambition is not as big as these two bastards who committed trouble, and he was once a monk for fear that I would misunderstand him, and I wrote to persuade him, so he returned to his father to help, so I was very relieved of him." Of course, I am also a little afraid that the people around him will be restless, but it doesn't have much to do with it, with my father, Mr. Mao Yao, Ma Bao, and Gao Dejie, two generals, those little loaches can't turn up big waves. ”

Wu Yingxiong's words have already involved the dispute between the princes of Pingxi, and of course Lu Fatzi, who is a self-proclaimed loyal minister of the Pingxi Palace, did not dare to interject nonsense, but just nodded constantly, indicating that he had taken Wu Yingxiong's words to heart. And Wu Yingxiong's tone changed, and he suddenly said: "However, I'm quite worried about you." ”

"Shizi, you are worried about your humble position, why?" Fat Lu was a little puzzled.

"Have you ever heard of such a saying?" Wu Yingxiong smiled and asked, "I was not good in my previous life, but I am a county in this life." In his previous life, he did evil, and the county was attached to Guo. The evil is full of evil, attached to the provincial city of Guo. You govern the city of Qujing, but there is also a Qujing prefect yamen, the prefect Li Shuzu is the sworn enemy of our Pingxi Palace, and he is also a loyal lackey of the imperial court, Zha Rulong case, Li Shuzu sold my father, my father is helpless to take him, you are an official in the same city with him, can I not worry about you? ”

"And this?" Fat Lu scratched his head and said with a wry smile: "In this way, it seems that he has done something evil in his previous life. ”

"It's not just evil in the previous life, it's still full of evil!" Wu Ying Xiong said with a smile: "There is accurate news, the term of office of Bian Sanyuan, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, will expire at the end of this year, and the person who will replace him is likely to be Gan Wenkun of the Han Army's Blue Banner, and he is also a person who does not listen to my father's words." Three years before Kangxi, the yamen of the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was located in Qujing City, and later moved to Guiyang, and the emperor recently let off in front of the six ministries and nine qing, and planned to move the yamen of the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou back to Qujing City, the purpose of which was nothing more than to make it more convenient to monitor and restrain my father. ”

"If the court does that, then you can have fun! The Yamen of the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, the Yamen of the Prefect of Qujing and the Yamen of your Qujing Zhixian County are all in Qujing City, and you will have a lot of fun in this Qipin Zhixian County! ”

By the time Wu Yingxiong finished laughing again and again, Lu Fatzi's fat mouth was already open enough to fit three eggs, and he screamed miserably after a while, "What did I do in my last life, why did I have so many bosses in the same city as me?" ”

"Therefore, I advise you to stay in the capital to assist me, and I also want to help you." Wu Yingxiong gloated and said: "You still don't appreciate it, and you still want to go back to being the soil emperor on the one-third of an acre of land in Qujing?" ”

"Shizi, it's not that I don't want to agree, it's that the emperor wants me to go back to Qujing, and keep an eye on the prince and Lord Lin Tianqing for him. Fat Lu replied with a sad face.

Having said that, Fat Lu still had a little numb scalp, "It's troublesome, it's all because I don't study the Yunnan administrative system of the Tartars well, and I still expect to go back to Qujing to train troops, farm and build weapons, I can't imagine that so many Tartar officials are in the same city as me, how else can I do so many big things?" Am I going to go through the path of Wu Sangui, Wu Yingqi and the teacher, and ask them to transfer me to a place to be the magistrate of the county? ”

"Don't worry, it's useless to worry, expect you to be promoted and transferred after the three-year term, then you can be more or less relaxed." Wu Yingxiong smiled and said, "Aofu is almost here, get ready to get out of the car and go to him to entrust the snake." When you send him away, it seems that there is someone waiting for you in my house that gives you more headaches, right? ”

Note 1: Zha Rulong case, Zha Rulong, was originally an official of a certain ministry of the Hongguang regime in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and later went into exile, taking the opposition to the Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming Dynasty as his own ambition, and was active everywhere. In the early years of Kang Mazi, he forged the letters of the governors, governors, and admirals of all provinces across the country, falsely claiming that the governors of various places were willing to serve Wu Sangui as the emperor, and wrote a blood letter to persuade Wu Sangui to raise troops against the Qing Dynasty, but he was accidentally arrested in Qujing, and the hardcore Han annihilated Qujing prefect Li Shuzu burned the forged letters, and sent the blood book and Zha Rulong to Yanjing, Zha Rulong was executed by Ling Chi, and the Qing court was also more suspicious of Wu Sangui.

Note 2: The Yamen of the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was originally located in Qujing, and Kang Mazi moved to Guiyang in three years, and Gan Wenkun took over as the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou in December of the seventh year of Kang Mazi, and moved the Yamen of the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou back to Qujing twelve years before Kang Mazi. The book is needed for the plot, or there is time in advance.

(To be continued)