On the first day of October, the Great Pilgrimage Meeting.

The east is gradually whitening, and there are already hundreds of officials gathered outside the Taihe Gate. Today is the promulgation of the 53rd year of Kangxi's constitutional calendar, and a full set of honor guards are placed on both sides of the Taihe Gate.

If it was in the past, Cao Hao could stand forward in the official uniform of Heshuo, but now as the chief official of the yamen, it is a little inappropriate. Therefore, he wore a five-grade supplement suit and stood very calmly on the side of the subordinate officials of Taifu Temple.

Tang Zhiyu and Yi Duli were both a little embarrassed and didn't want to stand in front of Cao Hao. Cao Hao smiled and pointed to the supplement on his body, and stood back with a pause. In his heart, he was thinking about one thing.

Among the guards when the second elder brother was the prince, there was a man named Delin, who had served the second elder brother for many years, and had always relied on the second elder brother the most. After the second abolition of the prince, this Delin was also ordered to be locked up at home by Kangxi because of his "arrogance".

Because Delin's father, Ahazhan, made up for the defense of Fuling, and after asking Kangxi's will, he brought his son to Fengtian. Soon, Delin's uncle Buddha Bao played a song, saying that his nephew was "not evil", and he asked him to hand it over to General Fengtian for rectification.

When Kangxi received the excerpt, he issued an order to Ahazhan and ordered him to execute Delin. Ahazan falsely claimed that his son had hanged himself, and privately asked his grandson Bai Tong to take his son to escape.

Someone secretly reported the matter to the imperial court, and Kangxi sent officials from the Criminal Department to arrest Delin, and finally captured him in Jiaozhou, Shandong. The father of Delin has hanged himself in fear of sin at this time.

After the investigation of the criminal department, the father and son of Delin were convicted of great rebellion, and Delin Lingchi was executed, although the father of Delin died, he could not be exempted from responsibility, and the coffin should be opened and the corpse should be killed; Bai Tong, the son of Delin, proposed to be hanged and imprisoned; The local civil and military attaché in Jiaozhou who committed the crime of negligence was investigated by the governor of Shandong.

Jiaozhou is adjacent to Yizhou, and most of its civil and military officials, Cao Hao, have also seen it. However, now he is not lamenting for those unlucky guys, but secretly lamenting Kangxi's imperial methods.

It's just killing chickens and monkeys, Delin is just an old subordinate of the East Palace, if there is really any heinous crime, he will not be allowed to be confined at home, and he will be dealt with directly.

The reason for such fanfare is that Kangxi is also expressing his stance to the imperial court and local officials. In the year of the abolition of the crown prince, because the throne was not decided, it was inevitable that some officials would speculate on the emperor's thoughts.

Although the eighth elder brother is in the limelight and is the most popular among officials, Kangxi's side has never favored any prince, and everyone is a little bottomless in their hearts.

Thinking that Kangxi and Empress Yuan have a deep relationship, and the second elder brother who is to be abolished has been tolerant since childhood, some people wonder whether Kangxi will reinstate the second elder brother as the prince again.

After the Wanshou Festival, there is an undercurrent surging in Beijing. How many long-lived emperors can there ever be? Kangxi has been on the throne for fifty-two years, and he has reached the end of his sixtieth year.

The disposal of the Delin family is Kangxi's reply to the court, and the second elder brother is completely out of power. Even if someone wants to shout for the second elder brother again, the Delin family is a lesson from the past.

The Xunmen family pays attention to the rise and fall of the family, even if there are children who have the intention of clinging to the second elder brother and want to come to their eldest father and brother, they will not allow the family to have such a disobedient son.

However, the consequences of doing so are afraid that it will make the hearts of those princes who peep at the storage position itch even more. Except for the second elder brother, who is the concubine of the Empress Yuan, the other princes are all concubines, although the identity of the mother family is different, but they know that relatives are not the key.

After the partisan dispute between Suo Etu and Mingzhu, Kangxi is far less dependent on his relatives than in the past, and even a little wary.

Now, Kangxi's fifty-two years are about to pass, the fourth elder brother was not visible before Kangxi's death, and the eighth elder brother is now looking at the scenery, but he is just walking on thin ice. In two years, there will be chaos in Tibetan Province, and then the Fourteenth Elder Brother will lead the troops to the battle, and his strength will increase greatly.

Cao Hao thought about the history he knew, but it was only a general trend, but he didn't know much about the specifics.

According to Hongshu, the fourteenth elder brother was particularly resentful of him. In addition to Yongqing's matter, Cao Hao didn't know what went wrong and provoked this prince and brother.

The fourteenth elder brother wants to be so beautiful that Yongzheng comes to power, if he really wants to shoot the yin people, then he can't be beaten passively.

Cao Hao made up his mind in his heart, and he wanted to talk to Mr. Zhuang about this matter, but if it could reach Kangxi's ears, it would not be good.

I heard the drums playing in unison, and Kangxi went to court.

First, the 53rd year of the Kangxi Constitution was promulgated, and then the two folds of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials were dispersed.

If it was left in previous years, why didn't it take more than half an hour, but this year it was only a quarter of an hour. The princes and officials were puzzled, and they all tested each other in twos and threes to see if they could find out the reason why the emperor had dispersed so early.

The answer is varied, some say that the old lady in the palace is seriously ill, and the emperor is filial to ask about the disease; It is said that there is a grandfather who has served as the minister of the guard, who is seriously ill, and it is also said that the emperor is sad and unbearable when he thinks of the second elder brother because of the great rebellion of Delin.

In short, everyone just used cryptic language to express their guesses.

Cao Hao listened to it, and he only said funny in his heart, the emperor is also a human being, tired and tired, and impatient with the cumbersome court meeting. Everyone is trying to figure out the Sacred Heart, but what if they really guess it? In the eyes of the emperor, a dull courtier can always be relied on more than a clever courtier.

Cao Hao didn't think about it so much, he still had to be busy today. First of all, I have to go to the Yamen to make a fussing, I have to go back to the Fuguo Gong Efei Mansion to visit the sick, and finally I have to go to the Thirteenth Elder Brother's Mansion to pay homage.

Fortunately, there were not many affairs in the yamen, and after staying for an hour, Cao Hao finished his errand. He greeted Tang Zhiyu and Yi Duli, and then walked out of the yamen of Taifu Temple.

Just past the Xidan archway, Cao Hao rode a horse to meet him. Seeing Cao Hao, the man looked at him carefully, turned over and dismounted, and asked, "May I ask if you are Lord Cao of Taifu Temple?" ”

Cao Hao looked at it, but it was a little familiar.

Just listen to the man: "The small one is from the Fuguo Mansion, and the old master is now dying, and he is talking about seeing the adult." The master ordered the little one to come to the yamen and invite Lord Cao to come over. ”

Cao Hao then remembered that he had seen this person in March, and he was the long-term follower of Eqi, the heir of Efei.

Cao Hao was taken aback, only then did he get the news that E Fei was lying ill, why was he dying? Now, but he didn't have time to think about it, Cao Hao hurriedly urged the horse to follow the chief to the Fuguo Mansion.

Efei's mansion is in Fangjia Hutong, not far from Xidan. Because it was morning, and there were few pedestrians in the streets, the crowd hurried to arrive in less than two quarters of an hour.

When the epidemic ravaged the capital the year before last, Cao Hao had been to this mansion. At that time, I just thought it was a lifeless mansion, and it was terrifyingly deserted.

Today, the gate has been repainted, and there are more people coming and going inside than in the past. Maybe it's because the Fuguo Mansion has now added the heir Eqi and his family, and the house here looks a little bleaker.

Cao Hao didn't care about these, although he had only a few face-to-face relationships with Efei, and his contacts were not intimate. But perhaps it was because of that conversation that he knew that the reason why E Fei was lonely for half his life was that it was his parents, and he felt a little guilty.

In addition, E Fei's loneliness that he couldn't say to others made Cao Hao feel emotional. In his own heart, he also hides a big secret, and he can't tell his parents, wife and children.

When Eqi got the news and knew that Cao Hao had arrived, he hurriedly greeted him in person: "Lord Cao, it's really presumptuous to bother Lord Cao this time, don't blame me, I don't know what the reason for Amma, since last night, I have been shouting to see Lord Cao." ”

In fact, in his heart, he was also puzzled, he hadn't heard of the old man's dealings with the Cao family, how did he think of looking for Cao Hao?

Cao Hao saw that his clothes were wrinkled, a little tired, but his expression was full of worry. It seems that he is serving by Efei's side. Thinking that the old man who had been lonely for half his life finally had his family by his side to take care of him, Cao Hao only felt pantothenic acid in his heart.

"There is no need to be polite in the capital of Edu, Grandpa Guo is Cao's boss, and he has a lot of criticism for Cao, and he originally wanted to come to visit." Cao Hao said to Eqi.

E Qi was suddenly correct, and said secretly in his heart: "It's because of this, I can't complain about the old man like this!" ”

E Qi knew that Cao Hao was the old man's old subordinate, so he no longer spoke politely to him, and said: "A few days ago, the old man was affected by the wind, although he invited the imperial doctor to come and see, but he only said that it was irrelevant, but the previous said that he was suddenly seriously ill, and now he can only ask Lord Cao to move to the bedroom in the inner courtyard. ”

Cao Hao remembered what he heard when he was dispersing, and it seemed that the minister of the guard who was seriously ill was E Fei. He was worried, and asked Eqi: "Lord E, Grandpa Guo, he ......"

E Qi sighed, his expression was slightly heavy, and said, "Master Cao, let's go with me, the old man doesn't look very good." ”

Cao Hao nodded, and followed E Qi into the inner courtyard.

With a pale face and sunken eyes, E Fei was lying on the bed with his teeth closed.

The smell of medicine in the room, mixed with an indescribable stale smell, and the dim light caused by the curtains drawn, made people feel depressed and unstoppable.

Both Eqi and Cao Hao unconsciously lightened their steps, and Eqi walked to the edge of the kang, leaned down, and called in a low voice: "Amma, Lord Cao is here!" ”

With the "cooing" sound in E Fei's throat, he slowly opened his eyes and asked in a dumb voice, "But Cao Hao...... Cao Hao is here? ”

Cao Hao walked two steps forward, and gave a junior salute in front of the bed, saying, "My lord, the boy has come to see you!" ”

E Fei turned his head, his eyes were a little scattered, and he muttered, "Cao Hao...... It's Cao Hao......"

"Hmm!" Cao Hao nodded heavily and replied, "It's the kid who came to see you!" ”

E Fei looked straight at Cao Hao, his expression was a little complicated, and he couldn't help coughing, his face was smeared with blood, but he seemed more energetic.

He held on to the edge of the kang and wanted to turn over and sit up, but he was a little powerless. Cao Hao and E Qi hurriedly stepped forward to help, and E Qi took a pillow and put it behind E Fei.

E Fei leaned there, panting, looked at Cao Hao, waved his hand at E Qi and said, "I want to say a few words to Cao Hao...... You go down and make a pot of good tea and bring it to ......."

Although E Qi was not at ease, he also knew that the old man wanted to talk to Cao Hao alone, so he said to Cao Hao: "Lord Cao, please take care of it here first, and I'll go down to make tea!" ”

Cao Hao nodded: "Please take care of the capital of Edu!" ”

After seeing E Qi exit the house, E Fei beckoned to Cao Hao and said, "Come on...... You come and sit next to me......"

Cao Hao obeyed and sat sideways on the side of the kang.

E Fei took out a dagger from under the mattress and rubbed it, his face full of nostalgia.

After a while, E Feifang said, "I know...... I'm going to be able to do it...... I'm going to go into my Ama Eniang......"

Cao Hao listened to the sour heart and persuaded: "Don't make such a sad sound, you still need to have a good life and recuperate." Adults are not yet in the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, and they still live for a long time, so they should not be like this. ”

When E Fei heard this, he said softly: "I am a person born in the year of Jiyou...... It's forty-five years old...... I've accomplished nothing in my life...... It is a shame on my father and ancestors......"

Cao Hao didn't know how to persuade him, so he heard E Fei say again: "Now...... I'm going to see Ama and Eniang, but I'm a little scared......"

"Don't think about this, my lord, let's recuperate! The boy still wants to wait for the weather to get better, and go hunting on horseback with the adults. Cao Hao said earnestly.

E Fei looked at Cao Hao, with a smile on his face, and said, "We two want to go together...... A few days ago, I also tried my best to wait for you to run horses and shoot hunting, and test your riding and archery kung fu in the school......"

Cao Hao couldn't help but respond: "Well, then let's talk about it, let's go to Xiaotangshan in the past." The hot springs over there are the most pleasant to recuperate, and adults say that they go over there to recuperate, and they are not afraid of any diseases. When the time comes, the kid will show his hands to the adults, fry a few good dishes, and come to accompany the adults to eat and drink. ”

When E Fei heard this, he couldn't help but show a look of yearning. He looked down at the dagger in his hand and sent it to Cao Hao: "This...... You keep this as a thought......"

Cao Hao saw him like a relic, and felt very uncomfortable: "My lord......"

E Fei's face showed a little love: "If there is no creation to make people...... If...... Maybe I'll have a son like you...... Eqi has inherited my blood, but I still think of old things...... You, would you like to be my son......" Later, his voice was already extinguished.

Cao Hao thought that he had been lonely for half his life, his eyes were sour, and after hearing this, he got up from the kang, knelt down on one knee, and said solemnly: "Cao Hao has seen his father-in-law......"

E Fei slowly closed his eyes, and the joy from his heart was permanently fixed on his face......

(To be continued)