――February 27, the first year of the Great Zhou Jingzhi, the Great Prison Temple——

It has been five or six days since Gou Gong took the position of Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple, but he still does not have a thorough understanding of the affairs in the Great Prison Temple, but as the judge of the criminal trial, Gou Gong has gradually figured out a set of rules.

The cases submitted to the Great Prison Temple can be roughly divided into two categories: civil trial and criminal trial, the document trial is based solely on the public case scrolls submitted by the local government, or summarize the case, or find out the omissions and deficiencies of the local criminal officials, and remand for retrial; As for the criminal trial, it is the real case that is accepted by the court, and the suspect and the bitter master are presented to the court for confrontation.

Earlier, when Xie An served as the Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple, because he was the only Shaoqing, it was Xie An's responsibility to conduct both a literary trial and a criminal trial, and the daily workload must be said to be very heavy.

And at present, in the Great Prison Temple, because Xie An promoted Zhou Yi, the former prisoner of the Great Prison Temple, and Gou Gong, the former Dongling People, to the Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple, and called Zhou Yi to be responsible for the literary review, and Gou Gong to be responsible for the criminal trial, therefore, whether it is Zhou Yi or Gou Gong, it is not as busy as Xie An used to, but in comparison, Zhou Yi's task is heavier, and Gou Gong's task is lighter, after all, there is a Weiwei Temple in Jijing, and not all trivial things will be submitted to the Great Prison Temple, which also makes Gou Gong seem to have nothing to do after taking office.

But no matter how idle he is, Gou Gong can only honestly stay in the second hall of the Great Prison Temple, after all, he is reluctant to have a hard-won career now, although since he became an official of the Great Zhou, his personal freedom has been quite restricted, and he is no longer as free and chic as he was when he was a member of the Dongling Mountains.

"Ha ......" stood by the window with a teacup, and Gou Gong yawned boredly, when he suddenly heard a slight sound of footsteps behind him.

Is there finally something interesting about it?

Desperate in his heart, Gou Gong subconsciously turned around, and he was shocked to find out. The person who came was not someone else, it was the former Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple, the current top boss of the Great Prison Temple, and Xie An, the secretary of the Criminal Department.

"Your Excellency?" Hurriedly put aside the teacup in his hand, Gou Gong looked surprised, and bowed, "Why is the adult here?" ”

"What? Can't you come to this house? ――It's boring, isn't it? This government has recently taken office in the Criminal Department, and it is the same, suffocated, no, come and take a look, and see how you deserve to be the Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple! Xie An teased when he heard this. When he returned to the Great Prison Temple, he felt like he had come to his back garden, and he was indescribably relaxed.

"Thanks to the importance of the lord, the subordinate has the honor to hold an important position in the DPRK, but ...... As adults see. Nothing to do......"

"That's Zhou Yi and Zhou Shaoqing who shared most of the work for you," Rolling his eyes, Xie An said angrily, "When this government was in the Great Prison Temple earlier, it was not as easy as you, and I was tired of looking through the case files submitted by various local governments every day!" ”

"Xiaguan and Zhou Shaoqing are naturally inferior to adults......" Gou Gong laughed. He served Xie An a cup of tea very interestingly, and then asked curiously, "I heard that the Criminal Department has been busy with official business recently, and adults have no time to separate." Therefore, the lower officials did not dare to go to harass...... Why do adults have leisure to visit again today? ”

Xie An sighed when he heard this, and said with a look of lack of interest, "The Criminal Department has been busy with official business recently, but it's nothing. Most of them are cases in the field of document review, and most of them are not even considered to be document review. They are all summaries of the case files submitted to the Criminal Department during the reign of the Shaoqing of this government earlier, and you only need to take the seal of the Criminal Department to stamp a seal and you will be done......"

Hearing this, Gou Gong smiled and said with a little remorse, "If I knew this, Xia Guan should have visited the Lord in the Criminal Department a long time ago, and then called the deputy general Xiang, hehe......"

Xie An's face showed a bit of yearning when he heard this, then he coughed and sighed, "There is a chance, but not now...... Recently, the house has had a hard time at home, but I don't want to make any more trouble, and there are complications, besides, the third brother Xiang led many brothers of the Eastern Army out of the city to practice riding a few days ago, and it will take many days to come back, and there is no third brother Xiang to carry the black pot...... cough, in short, I'll talk about this matter when Third Brother Xiang comes back! ”

"Yes, my lord......" Gou Gong smiled, and then saw Xie An's hesitant face, his face was straight, and he asked in a low voice, "Xiaguan Guan has a look on your face, as if you have something on your mind?" If the adults don't give up, the lower officials are willing to share the worries for the adults! ”

"Well, this government came to you today, it's just something...... Gou Gong, sit down and explain to you slowly! ”

"Yes!" Gou Gong sat down as he said.

No one would have thought that it had only been a short month since the Dongling people took refuge in Xie An, but Xie An trusted Gou Gong a lot, and the reason for this was nothing more than because the two were like-minded, had similar personalities and ambitions, and in Jin Ling'er's words, they were both lustful.

But because of this, Gou Gong and Xie An's friendship is not shallow now, if you want to say who is Xie An's first cronie among the people in Dongling, it is understandable that it is Gou Gong, not that Di Bu, Mo Fei, and Qian Xi are not close to Xie An, but these three people are not very similar to Xie An's temperament, so it is difficult to consider some things in agreement.

It's like Di Bu, this guy can't be said to be careless after serving as the warden of the Great Prison Temple, but in addition to his own duties, this person is more interested in practicing martial arts and drinking, and when he stays with Xie An, there are not many topics between the two; There is also the famous murderer Mo Fei in Dongling, this guy has become the eyeliner of the second lady of Xie An's mansion, Changsun Xiangyu, and sometimes the words of Changsun Xiangyu are even more effective than Xie An and Li Shou; As for Qian Xi's house, needless to say, this guy has been completely returned to the heart of the eldest grandson Xiangyu's discipline with a whip in one hand and silver in the other, and he doesn't even want an official position, and is willing to be the number one errand under the eldest grandson Xiangyu, and sometimes, Xie An has to admire that his wife, the eldest grandson, is indeed more clever than him in the ability to buy people's hearts.

“…… You're all there to do! -- Fei Guo and the others are currently in positions in the Jizhou Army, and they are not allowed to enter Beijing without permission if they have nothing to do, and you also know the three guys Di Bu, Mo Fei, and Qian Xi......

Hearing this, Gou Gong smiled, in his opinion, his third brother Mo Fei in the Dongling Crowd is still good, he has the position of Beizhen Fusi Jinyiwei, the leader of the spies next to the emperor, but his fourth brother Qian Xi ......

Sighing with tears and laughter in his heart, Gou Gong wondered, "What is the matter, my lord?" ”

I saw Xie An hesitate for a moment and said in a low voice. "That's right, yesterday, Duke Lu invited this mansion to his mansion for a family banquet...... Do you recognize Lu Gong? ”

"Lu Gong...... Nanguo Gong? Gou Gong asked tentatively, and when he saw Xie An nodding, he said in surprise, "I don't want adults to get acquainted with many big names in Jijing...... Is there something wrong? Lu Gong invited adults to the banquet, this is a good thing! ”

"You housewives don't think much of it...... With a wry smile, Xie An briefly explained some things to Gou Gong about him and Su Wan, the daughter-in-law of the Lu family, and only listened to Gou Gong gasp. A look of shock on his face.

"Uh, that's not quite right, is it? Asked the lower official to accompany the adults to the banquet...... "Secretly removed half of his body, and saw the meaning of Gou Gong, and he actually had the intention of fleeing immediately."

Xie An obviously noticed that something was wrong with Gou Gong, and said angrily. "Want to go? Stay for this house! ”

"Yes......" Gou Gong smiled, and then said with a bitter face, "My lord, it's not that the lower officials don't talk about morality, it's just this matter...... Adults also know that my eldest brother Dibu is strong in martial arts, but what is the result? The great mistress alone took him down; The second master mother is now tidying up my third brother and fourth brother and obeying them. Three main mothers...... To put it bluntly, the third lady had many conflicts with the lower officials earlier......"

Seeing that Gou Gong poured bitter water vigorously, Xie An said angrily, "There is a lot of nonsense!" -- This is to ask you to accompany me to the feast. Let's put it this way, do you go or don't go? ”

"Just for a feast?" Gou Gong looked at Xie An nervously, and said strangely, "Nothing else?" -- What does Xia Guan mean? Xia Guan just accompanied the adults to Lu's house for a meal, but he got up to say goodbye? ”

"......" stared at Gou Gong for a long time angrily. Xie An nodded helplessly.

"......Huh" In Xie An's gritted teeth, Gou Gong breathed a sigh of relief, and then saw Xie An staring at him viciously, and said with a sneer, "It's not that the lower officials are timid and afraid, it's just that the three ladies in your mansion are not fuel-efficient lamps, and the lower officials need to think about their lives, right?" -- If the lord just asks the subordinate to be a witness, the subordinate official is duty-bound, but if there is anything ......?"

"Nothing else!" Xie An interrupted angrily.

I have to say that Xie An was in a bad mood at this time, and he couldn't understand why everyone felt that he still had feelings for that gentle and graceful woman.

Yes, Xie An used to be quite in love with that woman, but she was already the daughter-in-law of the Lu family, so how could he have any thoughts?

But Liang Qiuwu, the eldest grandson Xiangyu, and Jin Ling'er are good, and they keep asking questions about this matter, although Xie An was surprised that the three daughters who didn't like each other suddenly united, but the problem is, he doubted him and Su Wan like this, and he didn't feel good in his heart, right?

In order to show his innocence to the women, Xie An planned to bring a trusted person to the banquet together, firstly, to avoid embarrassment in the Lu family, and secondly, even if the ladies asked afterwards, Xie An had someone to testify.

And speaking of this trusted person, at the moment when Fei Guo, Su Xin, Li Jing and other generals are still on duty in the Jizhou military barracks outside the capital of Jijing, that is, Gou Gong is the most suitable, therefore, Xie An came to find Gou Gong, but he never thought that this guy even suspected that he Xie An would have something to do with the daughter-in-law of the Lu family......

How can it be?!

This is by no means possible......

Hmm, it shouldn't be possible......

It's not what she meant, it was Lu Gong who invited herself, so ......

Well, probably not......

Not......

"My lord? My lord? Seeing Xie An lowering his head and thinking about something, Gou Gong called in a low voice.

"Huh?" Hearing Gou Gong's whispered call, Xie An raised his head abruptly and asked with a look of astonishment, "What's the matter?" ”

"Xia Guan just wants to ask, Duke Lu invited the adults to the banquet, is it a luncheon or a dinner?"

"This ......" Xie An was stunned, took out the invitation sent by Lu Gong from his arms and read it again, shook his head and said, "I didn't write the date, and I didn't write the luncheon and dinner......"

"Huh?" Gou Gong poked his head and glanced at the invitation a few times, and guessed, "The implication is that you are invited to go when you are free, right?" ”

"That's probably what it means...... Gou Gong, what do you think? - Anyway, we don't have anything to do right now, now go? ”

"Right now, it's ...... in office"

"That'...... So what? Won't you be able to rest and eat in two hours? ”

It was only two hours to go to work early in the morning and rest and eat before noon......

Gou Gong muttered in his heart, and then glanced at Xie An, seeing that he had already replaced the first-grade official position of the Shangshu of the Criminal Department, and secretly gave himself a big mouth.

What a stupidity!

The adults have changed their official uniforms, don't you understand? And say this, say that......

Come to think of it. Gou Gong coughed lightly and said with a loyal look, "Your Excellency has a point! ――Please wait a moment while the official changes into his official uniform......"

"Well, let's go!"

After about a stick of incense, Xie An and Gou Gong rode towards the Lu family's mansion in Nangongfu.

When he came, Xie An didn't take the carriage in his house, after all, the carriage with the wooden plate of [Criminal Department Shangshu] on him was too public, you must know the reason why Xie An changed his official uniform. It's just to hide people's eyes and ears, how can they take care of one or the other?

Turning to Chaoyang Street, Xie An and Gou Gong found four well-made carriages coming towards them, and there were many guards riding tall horses in front of the carriages, looking arrogant.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! ”

At the shouts of the guards. The people on Chaoyang Street retreated to both sides, and they knew that there must be a few big people sitting in the four carriages that they could not afford to provoke.

Not long after, the dozen or so guards rode to Xie An and Gou Gong, and saw that although Xie An and Gou Gong were holding the reins of their horses, they were still riding on horseback. He said angrily, "Hey, you two, don't have long eyes!" - Quickly dismount and step aside! ”

"What did you say?" Gou Gong's eyes flashed with a little fierceness.

Also. You must know that Xie Anke is the object of their allegiance to the Dongling people, in other words, they are the head of the family, and their Dongling people are the retainers, in front of him Gou Gong. yelled at his head of the family, Xie An, which was clearly a slap in the face of his Gou Gong.

Unexpectedly, the more than ten guards were even more arrogant than Gou Gong. Seeing that Xie An and Gou Gong were only wearing ordinary scholars' clothes, they reprimanded angrily, "What are you staring at? Let's talk nonsense, Lao Tzu will send you two little rabbit cubs to the Great Prison Temple, and you two will not be able to come out for the rest of your life! ”

It's kind of there......

Gou Gong licked his lips, his eyes flashed with a bit of cruelty, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

And at this moment, a hand reached out from the side and stopped Gou Gong.

"Your Excellency?"

"Gou Gong, dismount!" The first to turn over, Xie An took the reins and retreated to the side of the road.

"It's kind of knowledgeable!" After the arrogant laughter of those guards, Gou Gong held back the anger in his heart, turned over and dismounted, retreated to Xie An's side, and coldly watched the four carriages drive through the middle of Chaoyang Street.

"Damn it!" Looking at the four carriages driving away with cold eyes, Gou Gong looked stunned, and said to Xie An in surprise, "My lord, this kind of arrogant person should teach a lesson!" - Why did the adults stop you? ”

"Didn't I tell you? Call me [Childe] outside," patting Gou Gong's shoulder, Xie An said with a smile, "The mad dog is blocking your way, you just tell it to go first, and you won't be ashamed to fight with the mad dog?" You're the Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple right now! ――There's no need to be angry about such a trivial matter! There are so many arrogant people in the world, do you have to teach them one by one? With this spare time, it is better to call a few beautiful sisters, eat and drink, and have a good time......"

Gou Gong was dumbfounded when he heard this, and said sincerely for a long time, "My lord...... No, the son is open-minded and ...... the lower officials No, the villain admires! ”

"It's not that he's open-minded," Xie An shook his head and said with a smile, "Ben Gongzi wants to be a person who will take revenge and have a small heart, but as for those people, they are not worthy of Ben Gongzi's anger...... If you want to open up, people live to have fun, you have to find yourself uncomfortable, how boring it is to live! ――As the so-called Hades is good-looking, the little ghost is difficult to shake, in the future, you, the Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple, will have to be angry, want to open a little, this mansion ...... Ahem, that's how Ben Gongzi came over! ”

"That makes sense!" Gou Gong smiled when he heard this, put aside Fang Cai's anger, and turned on his horse.

"But......" Glancing back at the carriage team, Xie An frowned and said, "In broad daylight, arrogant and domineering, the group of people Li Xian is looking for are really unscrupulous...... Forget it, this matter will give Li Xian a headache himself, and it is not appropriate for me to tear up with Li Xian and his party for the time being! ”

Seeing that what Xie An said was a high-level countermeasure, Gou Gong was inconvenient to interject, nodded again and again, and just said as if his hatred was still in his last days, "I hope those guys had better not do it in my hands, otherwise...... Hum! ”

"Huh!" Xie An smiled slightly, noncommittal.

In fact, Xie An did not have such an open-minded instrument at first, in a sense, the change of the former crown prince [Zhou Aiwang] Li Wei's successive instruments also made Xie An's mood change slightly, so it also made Liang Qiu Wu and the eldest grandson Xiangyu sincerely praise, Xie An is no longer like a nouveau riche compared to the person who was already in the top position back then.

Take Fang Cai's matter as an example, of course, Xie An can also make a big deal about it, after all, with his current power and status, if he really wants to argue with Li Xian and the four princes, isn't it more true, in the end, most of the four princes will apologize to him Xie An in a low voice, but the question is, is this good for him Xie An?

Just to teach a lesson to a few guards who let themselves go, delay a few hours to theorize and argue with the other party, and afterwards let the four princes hold grudges and not say anything, and also destroyed the rare temporary peace situation in the DPRK and China, and affected the current Li Shou court's unanimous plan to confront the upcoming four princes Li Mao, is it worth it?

It's better to take a step back here, and tell those arrogant and domineering people what to do, what about Xie An's side, it's better to go to the Lu family in Nangong Mansion, and catch up with Lu Gong and Su Wan well, why bother looking for trouble?

I have to say that Xie An is no longer the stunned young man who did things regardless of the front and back, and did not distinguish between the previous and the serious, thinking about it, after being an official for more than a year, he did have some commendable changes in some aspects.

After a not-so-pleasant episode, Xie An and Gou Gong came to the Lu family in the Nangong Mansion, and during the period when they handed the invitation to the Lu family and asked them to enter the mansion, Xie An stood outside the gate of the mansion and silently looked at the mansion that was still fresh in his memory because of some things.

When he stepped through the gate of the Lu Mansion, Xie Anxin couldn't help but feel a little nervous, you must know that since he left the Lu family compound in Nangong Mansion in a fit of anger, he has not been to the Lu family for more than a year, and even the funeral of Lu Fan, the only son of Lu Gong, Xie An only asked Liang Qiu Wu to come forward on his behalf, and he never went here in person.

Come to think of it, Xie An is still haunted by it, the daughter of the Guangling Su family who should have married into his Xie family, Su Wan......