Zheng Rong was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand indifferently and said: "These two things, I have to do them, but they are in order, what can be done?" ”

"Lord Wang, this is wrong!" Shi Liangzhi straightened his chest and said.

As soon as he said this, the three sons of Zheng Hua and Zheng Rong, the king of Heluo, Zheng Xin, Zheng Sen, Zheng Miao, and other court officials, were all in their hearts: I thought that this Shi Liangzhi actually cross-examined King Youyan face to face at this juncture, is it really broken and broken, and he doesn't want to die?

But hearing that Shi Liangzhi was no longer nervous, he said very fluently: "The difference between this cannot be ignored. The prince is the true dragon emperor, and sooner or later he will ascend to the ninefold pole. If you go to pay homage to the body of Emperor Daxing now, then the prince will call the emperor 'brother and brother', and a hundred years later, there will naturally be fools who ask: 'Why didn't Emperor Daxing pass on the throne to his heirs?' However, if the prince goes to pay tribute to the ancestral tablet first, then when he ascends to the pole, it will be 'the son inherits the father's business', and the name is justified, and who dares to do the song of the horse? ”

Shi Liangzhi said that, kowtowed again, and said: "This is a little foolish opinion of the criminal minister, and please ask the prince to admonish him!" ”

Although Zheng Rong was full of poetry and books, he was not very proficient in these red tapes, so he turned his head and asked Zhong Li Kuang beside him softly: "Sir, look at this surname Shi, can he speak reasonably?" ”

Zhongli Kuang twisted his beard and said: "Although this Lord Shi does not dare to compliment his conduct, he has learned etiquette very well, and what he said is indeed reasonable. Please also think twice. ”

Zheng Rong nodded, and pointed at Shi Liangzhi, who was kneeling on the ground with a horsewhip, and said: "Gu has always been magnanimous and obedient. Lone and ask you: As the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Lone is going to pay tribute to the ancestors' spiritual position, can you arrange the ceremony properly? ”

Shi Liangzhi hurriedly kowtowed and said: "The ritual utensils such as the axe and axe used by the emperor have been burned by Zheng Yao, but the Ministry of Rites still has two sets of spare; Other ceremonial instruments, Huang Zhong Da Lu, etc., are ready-made. If the prince can allocate 500 elite soldiers to the guilty ministers, the guilty ministers will definitely be able to handle this matter. ”

Zheng Rong asked again: "Although Gu is now subject to 'Jiuxi', he is still just a prince. You use the etiquette of the Son of Heaven everywhere, aren't you afraid of trespassing? ”

Shi Liangzhi kowtowed and said: "Extraordinary things, you should treat them as unusual." When I entered Beijing with Emperor Taizu, before I ascended to the pole, I also worshipped the heaven and earth with the etiquette of the Son of Heaven. Although the criminal's handling is controversial, it is not without precedent. ”

Shi Liangzhi cited such a precedent, obviously looking for an allusion to his own adoption of such a ritual, but secretly praising Zheng Rongde for being comparable to Emperor Taizu. This kind of ability to pat on the back can be regarded as "sneaking into the night with the wind and moisturizing things silently".

Zheng Rong was naturally happy when he heard it, and said, "Okay! In that case, don't kneel here. If you can't do this before noon, don't come to see Lonely, just find a rope and hang it! ”

Shi Liangzhi heard the hope of "life", and immediately kowtowed on the ground countless times, thanked him countless times, and then led the elite soldiers to trot all the way to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

Zheng Rong saw Shi Liangzhi leave, but when he heard Qiu Yizhi walk to his side, he asked softly: "Is my father-in-law going to Taimiao to pay tribute to my ancestors of the Han Dynasty?" ”

Zheng Rong nodded "yes".

Qiu Yizhi said again: "Yizhi is not a person on the jade plate nameplate, it is inconvenient to go with my father-in-law and several brothers, I want to ......"

Zheng Rong knew that his righteous son had a lot of thoughts, so he smiled and asked, "Where do you want to play again?" ”

"I want to meet Yang Yuanzhi, Prime Minister Yang." Qiu Yizhi replied.

When Zheng Rong heard this, he immediately restrained his smile: "What are you going to do to see this old man?" ”

Qiu Yizhi said: "Yang Yuanzhi is a person who is about to die. When he identified his father-in-law in the prison of the Criminal Department, he may not have been coerced by Zheng Yao. Since the father-in-law can spare Shi Liangzhi, the shameless villain, why not forgive Yang Yuanzhi? ”

"This old thing, he talks about the education of saints every day, but he can't be 'mighty and unyielding', he is really a hypocrite!" Zheng Rong said hatefully, and sighed again, "Alas! Nian also has a teacher-student relationship with him, and killing him will not do him any benefit. You will spread the word of Lonely, and ask him to spend his old age in the capital, and don't ask about government affairs! ”

Qiu Yizhi was happy when he got Zheng Rong's approval, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, so he said goodbye immediately, and did not wait for Yu Chi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao, and went to Yang Yuanzhi's mansion alone.

I don't know how many times Yang Mansion Qiu Yizhi has been here, and he easily found the small alley where Yang Mansion is located. I saw that heavy troops had been deployed in front and behind the alley to prevent idle people from approaching Yang's Mansion.

Qiu Yizhi is naturally not an "idle" person, and after saying a few words to the leader of the garrison, he calmly walked to the door of the Yang Mansion. The lintel of the Yang Mansion, which is not wide, is still the same as it was a few months ago, but the pair of "Thirteen Taibao" stone lions that were originally placed on both sides have not been moved to where they have been moved.

Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi sighed secretly in his heart, and stretched out his hand and knocked lightly on the wooden door of Yangfu a few times.

Not long after, the wooden door was pushed open a crack, and a child's face peeked out of it, but it was Yang Yuanzhi's grandson Yang Jin.

When he saw that the visitor was Qiu Yizhi, who had visited a few days ago, his eyes widened, showing a surprised expression, and he asked, "Huh?" Why is my brother here? ”

Qiu Yizhi raised his hand and pushed the wooden door in slightly, and replied with a smile: "What? Isn't my little brother welcoming me? ”

Yang Jin scratched his head and said, "My grandfather has been in poor health for the past few days, and he has closed his door to thank guests, and he didn't see anyone originally. But since my brother...... That's my friend, my grandfather is gone, I want to see it. With that, he pushed open the door and ushered Qiu Yizhi in.

Qiu Yi saw that the courtyard of the Yang Mansion was full of fallen leaves, and the moss growing in the shade was not cleaned, showing a bit of depression and messiness.

When Qiu Yizhi saw this scene, he sighed secretly in his heart, and said to Yang Jin: "People who are already high in the Spring and Autumn Period will inevitably have occasional minor illnesses in their bodies. Prime Minister Yang has always been healthy and energetic, and he must be able to recover soon. ”

"Brother Ji Yan is more than that. But in my opinion, most of my grandfather's illness came out of worry. In the past few days, the situation in the court has been turned upside down, and grandpa often locks himself in the study for a whole day, so how can he not hold back his illness? Yang Jin said, "I, as a grandson, am also very worried, I want to go to ask for peace more, and I am afraid of annoying my grandfather." Alas......"

Qiu Yizhi couldn't help but feel sour when he heard Yang Jin's sincere and filial words, but he couldn't tell Yang Jin the real reason for Yang Yuanzhi's illness, so he only said softly: "I haven't seen you for a few days, and the little brother has become so sensible......"

The two of them were talking sentence by sentence, and before they knew it, they had gone deep into the Yang Mansion and walked to the door of Yang Yuanzhi's study.

The door of the study was not closed, and Qiu Yizhi saw an old man, hunched on his back, holding a brush and not knowing what words were written on the rice paper - it was the old prime minister Yang Yuanzhi himself, but he looked at least ten years older than when he first met him.

Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi's heart was sour again, and he called softly: "Old Prime Minister, the younger generation has come to visit you!" ”

Yang Yuanzhi heard this familiar call, and the hand holding the brush couldn't help but shake violently, and a drop of ink the size of a bean fell from the tip of the pen. He hurriedly took a crumpled piece of waste paper in his hand and wiped it, but stained the ink even bigger. So he finally gave up cleaning up, sighed, looked up and said to Qiu Yizhi: "It turned out that His Royal Highness has come down, and the old man has missed the distance, what a sin and sin!" ”

Qiu Yizhi hurriedly stepped forward into the house and said, "The old prime minister said this, how can the younger generation afford it?" However, the younger generation has been in the city for many days, but because of the busy secular affairs, it is very rude to come to ask the old prime minister for peace until today! ”

After saying that, Qiu Yizhi was deeply moved, but when he looked up, he saw Yang Yuanzhi's eyes sunken in his eye sockets, staring at him tightly. It is these eyes, I don't know how many winds, frosts, rains and snow they have witnessed over the decades, but today they are full of sadness and confusion.

Qiu Yizhi couldn't look directly at such a gaze, and quickly moved his gaze to the rice paper on the bookcase.

saw that Yang Yuanzhi's handwriting just now was just "spring sleep is not aware, and birds are heard everywhere"; "The window contains a thousand autumn snow in Xiling, and the door is berthed in the Dongwu Wanli ship"; "Boundless falling trees and Xiao Xiaoxia, endless Yangtze River rolling" and other ordinary ancient poems - but the calligraphy is in regular script, line script, cursive script, each pair of characters are written in both god and form.

Qiu Yizhi reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said: "Old Prime Minister Yang's calligraphy has really entered the realm. The calligraphy of Mr. Zhongli, the master of the younger generation, is also unique in the sea, but it is inferior to the words of Prime Minister Yang! Can the younger generation invite a few paintings back? ”

Yang Yuanzhi didn't answer, and said: "When His Royal Highness came to my humble house, the old man asked His Highness to go boating on the lake. I wonder if Your Highness is still interested in doing the oars for the dry bones in my grave today? ”

Qiu Yizhi couldn't think of any reason to refuse, so he had to agree, and took Yang Yuanzhi to board the Yiye flat boat moored on the lake, and after paddling the paddles a few times, he had reached the center of the lake.

A cold wind blew, bringing a cool air on the lake, which made Yang Yuanzhi, who was old and long-bell, cough lightly, but said, "Has Your Highness seen those dead leaves on the lake?" ”

Qiu Yizhi looked at it, and saw countless fallen leaves of unknown species of trees floating on the lake, red, yellow, and purple, drifting with the tide, sinking and floating, so he nodded and said, "I see." ”

I also heard Yang Yuanzhi say: "The old decay is originally extremely trimmed, whether it is in the lake or on the path, as long as there is a fallen leaf or a silt, someone must be ordered to clean it up." Who knew that such hypocrisy would lose its natural taste and inevitably fall into the vulgar trap. This truth is realized by the old decay these days, it can be seen that 'there is no end to learning and there is an end to life', and the ancients were honest and did not deceive me. ”

Qiu Yizhi didn't expect Yang Yuanzhi to pull out such a large piece of idle article, and felt that there was another deep meaning in it, so he didn't know how to respond, so he only said: "The younger generation has learned." ”

"Let's take the old decay as an example." Yang Yuanzhi nodded and continued, "The old man has lived for dozens of years, and if the second son of the emperor is counted, he has served a total of four emperors, and he always thinks that he has understood the scriptures and the people. But I don't even understand the truth that 'the community is the most important, the people are secondary, and the monarch is light'. only guarded a little bit of foolish and loyal thoughts, and stopped the bewitchment of the second son of the emperor, and slandered the prince of Youyan. Alas! This saint's quote really reads into the dog's belly! ”

Qiu Yizhi heard that the respected old Cheng of the Three Dynasties and the two prime ministers were so self-deprecating, and he didn't know how to answer, so he paddled twice silently, and then said: "Why should the old prime minister be like this." This is all Zheng Yao's sin, and my father-in-law knows it in his heart. No, as soon as his old man entered the city, he specially sent me over to inform the old prime minister: Please also ask the old prime minister to take care of his life, and there is no need to take this matter to heart. ”