"Zirui, you made a mistake in this plan..."Xia Yan lowered his eyebrows, sat in his seat and sighed, "I listened to your suggestion today, handed the emperor a sick leave fold, and asked to go back to my hometown to recuperate for a while, but instead of agreeing, the emperor was extremely angry and scolded me fiercely, what do you say to do now?" ”

"Oh? What did the emperor reprimand you? Peng Yue sat there, looking a little surprised. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"The emperor said that the imperial court is at the time of employing people, and this time I will take leave, which will definitely delay major events..."

"Oh... I see, isn't that good? Peng Yue smiled lightly, "The emperor is like this, it means that he values you, is it a good thing that the emperor will allow you to go home as soon as you resign to the emperor?" ”

"Of course I know, but... But the emperor also criticized me and said... I say that I don't know how to be sympathetic to the divine will, and only care about selfish interests..."

"Oh? How could the emperor suddenly say such a thing? Peng Yue frowned, "Is it possible that in the past few days, the courtiers have attacked and impeached Guo Xun, making Guo Xun say that he is sick at home, so the emperor is quite disgusted with this matter?" ”

"Maybe that's the case..."Xia Yan responded a little dejectedly, "Zirui, did you say that the emperor knew that I instigated the impeachment of Guo Xun, so he was angry with me, right?" ”

"Probably not, many of the people who impeached Guo Xun this time are not our people, and most of them are speech officials, they usually bite everyone, so the emperor shouldn't have any suspicions, right?"

"That's what I said, but there must be a reason why the emperor lost his temper with me, and it seems that it is not so easy to bring down Guo Xun this time."

"But this is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity..."Peng Yue took a sip of tea, "Huo Tao just died, Guo Xun can be said to be missing a big help, and Guo Xun offended Jingshan Hou Cui Yuan in the capital a few days ago because of the shop, and the matter is quite big, if you don't take this opportunity to bring Guo Xun down, when Guo Xun relaxes his breath, I'm afraid it will be difficult..."

"You have already told me this, so I also listened to your words, did what you said, and handed the emperor a sick leave excerpt, but the emperor disagreed, and reprimanded me, what can I do?"

"It was a surprise to me, but... Lord Xia, you must continue to present your sick leave to the emperor..."Peng Yue saw that Xia Yan's face changed, so he continued to explain, "This 'reverse Guo' action, if you stay in the imperial court, then it will be difficult to start. Because the emperor knows about your old grudge with Guo Xun, the courtiers are attacking tightly, and the emperor will naturally suspect you. As you know, the emperor has always been... Intelligent, he will never let the ministers take advantage of him, thinking of this, the emperor will not punish Guo Xun too severely, but will treat Guo Xun lightly because of you, even if it is considered the balance of the government and government, the emperor will spare Guo Xun's life..."

When Xia Yan heard Peng Yue say this, his frowning brows furrowed even tighter, but he had to admit that what Peng Yue said was very reasonable, paused, Fang Chang sighed, and said slowly, "That's it, then according to what you said, and then play to the emperor, but in case the emperor still disagrees, and reprimands me again, then what should I do?" ”

"Since it is not possible to hand the excerpt directly to the emperor, then you can't do it in another way?" Peng Yue said with a smile, "You give the emperor some tips on the disadvantages of the times, let the emperor know that you are not unwilling to ignore political affairs, and at the same time show the emperor that you are really seriously ill and have no other intentions, if this is the case, the emperor is not allowed to leave, then I really don't know what to do." ”

"Alright then, I'll give it a try." Xia Yan said with a wry smile, "I think he Zhang Fujing was for Zhishi, but he even came up with a way to vomit blood..."

At this time, the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, the left capital of the Imperial Palace, was already waiting in the living room of Guo Xun's mansion and was a little impatient.

"Lord Wang, the master invites you to the bedroom to meet." After drinking two cups of tea, a subordinate finally rushed to report in front of Wang Tingxiang.

"What? Going to the bedroom? Wang Tingxiang frowned, but still followed into the inner room with some reluctance.

"Lord Wang, please sit..."As soon as Wang Tingxiang entered the bedroom door, Guo Xun, who was still sitting on the bed, greeted him.

I saw that Guo Xun had just come down from the bed at this time, with a pair of black soap shoes on his feet, due to the high indoor temperature, he only wore a pair of loose and fat trousers, and a white cardigan had not been buttoned yet.

The two young women who were very handsome also got dressed and climbed down from the bed at this time, probably considering that Wang Tingxiang was already an old man over the age of six, Guo Xun was also a little embarrassed, so he didn't make any further light moves to the two women, so he waved his hand and let the two women salute Wang Tingxiang and went out.

Seeing this, Wang Ting couldn't help frowning, "Lord Guo, since you have already asked the emperor for sick leave, don't summon these women to the mansion again, otherwise you won't fall into the mouth." ”

"It's okay, are there still fewer of those officials who impeached me?" Guo Xun waved his hand impatiently, "Besides, isn't it true that I'm already staying at home?" ”

"That's it, don't talk about this..."At this time, Guo Xun had already gotten out of bed and sat opposite him, and his body leaned forward, "I am here to tell you that after you left the court, those courtiers still did not stop impeaching you, and the emperor looked very angry, it seems that this time the ministers have to force the emperor to give an explanation." ”

"Hmph, those bastards!" Guo Xun didn't take a sip of tea before he reached his mouth, and when he heard this, he was so angry that he threw the teacup on the table at once, and the tea lid and the tea that was still a little hot spilled on the ground at once, "I have nothing to do all day long, so I know to toss this!" ”

"It's useless for you to be angry now, the key is to think about how to solve this matter." Wang Tingxiang looked at the teacup that fell to the ground and frowned, "Anyway, if you are still the same as before this time, you will just leave the court temporarily, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape." ”

"And what haven't I been able to do?" Guo Xun looked at Wang Tingxiang angrily, "After all, those people say most things... It's still presentable..."

Speaking of the back, Guo Xun's own tone also weakened, because he knew that most of the things he was impeached were facts, and it was precisely because of this that he had no other way but to be violently impeached, so he called himself sick at home and avoided the limelight.

"I don't have anything to do, just to tell you the general situation of the court, so that you can prepare yourself first..." Wang Tingxiang was also a little embarrassed when he said this, and his eyes were a little wandering, "In short, Lord Guo should pay attention to himself..."

"Watch the fart!" Guo Xun slapped the table case heavily, "It must be Xia Yan's old thing who is making trouble behind it, except for him, who will have a hard time with me like this!" ”

"Not to mention who is behind the trouble this time, I just want to tell Lord Guo that you must pay attention to your actions in the future, and you must not be so impulsive and reckless..."

"What is this called! What do I have to do with them! Hearing this, Guo Xun glared at Wang Tingxiang fiercely, "What do you say is so great about a few of their businessmen that they dare to steal business with me in that area." Before, Peng Yue was there, but now that Peng Yue has sold the shop, those successive businessmen still dare to show off their might, I really can't swallow this breath if I don't teach them a lesson! ”

"Then you beat people and occupy the shop?" Wang Ting couldn't help but be a little angry when he saw Guo Xun's domineering appearance, "Do you know that it is actually the shop of Jingshan Hou Cui Yuan?" ”

"What's so great about Cui Yuan, it's just that he is a son-in-law who has joined the royal family, and he thinks of my Guo family for generations..."Guo Xun was halfway through his words, when he saw Wang Tingxiang pouting on the side, looking a little angry, he waved his hand impatiently, "Forget it, how did I know that it was Cui Yuan's shop at the beginning, if I knew in advance, I... Why am I so angry! ”

"Then now that you know, why do you still dominate the shop and not return it to others?"

"I... If I give it back to him, it's like... As if I'm afraid of him, where will I put my face? Besides, didn't I give him money privately? I didn't ask for his shop in vain..."

"Yes, your face has been earned, where should you put the face of the Marquis of Jingshan?"

"The problem is that Cui Yuan doesn't like to be quiet, he didn't tell anyone about the fact that the shop was his at all, I only found out when I negotiated in private..."Guo Xun raised his eyebrows, "Cui Yuan is also a master who doesn't like to make trouble, and he is quite low-key on weekdays, so he will never make a public announcement, so he can only suffer such a dumb loss." Besides, I have lost him a lot of money, what can he not be satisfied with? ”

"Yes, he suffered a dumb loss, but you are not afraid that he will retaliate?"

"He is a relative, what can he take revenge on me?"

"Hmph, hehe..."Wang Tingxiang couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard Guo Xun say that, "Lord Guo doesn't know yet, the emperor often summons the Marquis of Jingshan to Xiyuan to discuss matters these days, if he takes the opportunity to sue you, then..."

"What, Cui Yuan was summoned to Xiyuan to discuss matters?" Guo Xun frowned, as if he remembered something, "What about Xia Yan?" Xia Yan didn't react at all? ”

"It seems that Master Guo is really sick very thoroughly, and he doesn't care about the affairs of the court at all." Wang Tingxiang said jokingly, "You don't know yet, Xia Yan has already played to the emperor a few days ago, saying that he is ill and wants to leave the court for a while, but the emperor not only agreed, but also reprimanded him fiercely, and now Xia Yan's life is not easy." ”

"Oh? How could such a thing happen? Hearing this, Guo Xun straightened up from his seat all of a sudden, "Why did Xia Yan suddenly leave the court at this juncture?" Why did the emperor suddenly reprimand him? ”

"Actually, I'm quite puzzled, because no one in the court has impeached him now..."

"What about Zhai Luan? How is Zhai Luan? ”

"Lord Zhai, hmm... Recently, the emperor has summoned him to Xiyuan more often..."

"That's right!" Guo Xun clapped his hands excitedly, "I knew that this was the case, it must be that the emperor saw that I was impeached by the courtiers, and there were fewer people in the court who could restrain Xia Yan, so Xia Yan was unlucky." ”

"Lord Wang, do you know why every time I am impeached, I am unharmed? First, because of our Guo family, but thinking of the exploits I made before, and third, because I am the power of the court and the central government to contain the Wenchen, haha... Didn't he Xia Yan want to bring me down? Okay, I'll take advantage of his Xia Yan's bad luck to calculate him, he will sue, and I will sue! ”

"Uh... You're quite optimistic..."Wang Ting couldn't help but be a little speechless when he saw Guo Xun like this.

Notes: 1. It must be noted here that the Ming Dynasty did prohibit officials from doing business, but by the middle and late Ming Dynasty, this prohibition basically became a dead letter (for example, the Ming Dynasty also forbade officials to engage in prostitution... ）。 Because the officials of the Ming Dynasty were relatively low, in addition to corruption and bribery, opening shops and doing business was also an important way for them to make profits, such as this Guo Xun, it is said that he had thousands of shops in the capital at that time.