Wu Changshi understood the twists and turns in his heart, and said gratefully: "If Mr. Mu Zhai hears his father-in-law's words, he will be overjoyed. It's just that he has recently been framed, riddled with lawsuits, and is at a loss. ”

"Oh?" Cao Huachun was surprised: "Mr. Mu Zhai is all over the world, why dare to provoke him?" ”

"Naturally, he is a big man." Wu Changshi deliberately looked out, and then lowered his voice and said: "This person is extremely powerful, although he is in the capital division, but which of the Jiangnan affairs is not controlled by him behind the scenes?" I really can't afford to mess with it! Needless to say, Mr. Mu Zhai is just a waiter of the Ministry of Rites who has resigned from his post and returned to his hometown, which is the six Shangshu of the current dynasty, which one is not only a promise, dare to have half a complaint! ”

"What you said turned out to be Elder Wen Ge, and I can't complain about being so careful. The two have a deep grudge, but Mr. Mu Zhai lives in seclusion in Jiangnan and writes books for his own entertainment, how can he have anything to do with Wen Ge Lao? ”

"In recent years, the momentum of the Restoration Society has grown day by day, four years ago at the Tiger Hill Conference, Mr. Mu Zhai and his disciple Qu Shiyun came, Wen Ge Lao must have been afraid that he would make a comeback with the help of the power of the Restoration Society, so he instigated Changshu Zhang Hanru to soothe the accusation, and escorted Mr. Mu Zhai and Qu Shiyun into Beijing and locked them in the prison of the Criminal Department."

"Oh, we don't know about it yet." Cao Huachun secretly felt uneasy, such a big thing happened, Dongchang didn't get the slightest rumor, it was really a bit embarrassing, he admired Wen Tiren's old and spicy methods, and asked quietly: "What evidence did they collect?" ”

"Not afraid of clear opinions, not afraid of clear discussions, sucking people's blood, feeding the country, controlling the government, turbidizing official comments, and so on, there are no less than 58 articles. Zhang Hanru is the master of the Yamen, and fabricating accusations is his forte. ”

"How far has this come about?"

"Yingtian Governor Zhang Guowei and Inspector Lu Zhenfei both defended Mr. Mu Zhai's grievances, and Mr. Mu Zhai also had two tricks in prison, but they were all pressed down by Wen Tiren, and they couldn't reach the emperor's hands."

"Well, I know everything about this, it's not a big deal, you two go back first, pass the word to Mr. Mu Zhai, and teach him to rest assured." Cao Huachun said, took out a stack of silver tickets from his sleeve, pushed them in front of Wu Changshi and Dong Tingxian, and said: "This is the 40,000 taels of silver that you entrusted Zhou Yingbi to give us a few days ago. ”

"This, this...... How to make it? "Rao is Wu Chang's timing has changed, and he has also experienced many years in the officialdom, but he is also unspeakable and embarrassed.

Tang Zhizheng grabbed the silver ticket, stuffed it into their hands, and persuaded: "Since the factory has promised to come down, you can go with confidence." The two hesitated and looked at Cao Huachun blankly.

Cao Huachun said with a smile: "We also have something to ask Mr. Mu Zhai, ask him to write a Shinto inscription for Mrs. Tai with a big stroke of the pen, and mourn with a stone." In this way, the power should be evened out, and there is no debt to each other. ”

Wu Changshi and Dong Ting were full of joy, nodded again and again, and left with a thousand thanks.

Early the next morning, Cao Huachun got the inscription written by Qian Qianyi overnight, Qian Qianyi was imprisoned, and there was nowhere to dismiss his grievances, so he took this opportunity to spit out the block in his chest, and wrote the inscription with emotion, sadness and poignant, Cao Huachun read it emotionally, as if his grandmother who had just died was in front of him, and couldn't help crying. was crying, a little eunuch rushed in and said, "Long live the lord's mouth, Lord Xuan will enter the palace immediately." ”

Cao Huachun hurried to the palace and entered the Qinghui Residence, Chongzhen didn't wait for him to give a salute and knock to see him, so he threw a piece of paper in front of him and said, "Xiao Chunzi, you are getting more and more promising." Stretching out your hand is 40,000 taels of silver, what a big spirit! ”

Cao Huachun hurriedly picked up the piece of paper from the ground, it turned out to be an anonymous post, and hurriedly read it from beginning to end, which said that Qian Qianyi used 40,000 taels of silver to "hit Cao Wen", and when he was in a cold sweat, he knelt down and kowtowed: "The slave and maid have no such lawlessness, it must be a traitor who maliciously framed him, long live Lord Mingjian!" ”

"You won't be ignorant of this truth." Chongzhen's face was gloomy, and his voice was very stern. Cao Huachun thought carefully about Zhou Yingbi's silver ticket and returned it yesterday, I don't know what went wrong, it will be leaked to people, and I want the emperor to reveal the post, it is really a great grace, it is necessary to take advantage of the emperor's half-belief and doubt, carefully dissect it, he stabilized his mind, and asked softly: "Slave and maid, where did this unveiling come from?" ”

"Mr. Wen played it."

"The unveiling post clearly stated that the slave and maid were impeached according to the head of the Wang Domain, but the slave and maid couldn't remember, who was the Wang Domain? The old rain and the new knowledge that the slave and maid knew, there is not a person with this name. It's amazing that this man spoke as if he had seen it with his own eyes! Cao Huachun scratched his head and thought about it for a long time, feeling that this matter was too strange and there were many doubts, but when he sorted it out, it was chaotic, and he didn't know where to start.

"Do you remember Grandpa's admonition?"

"The slave and maid dare not forget at all times. In the seventeenth year of Hongwu, the grandfather ordered someone to cast a three-foot iron plaque of 'ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and the offender will be beheaded', which was hung high in the palace gate. When Grandpa Cheng moved the capital, he brought this sign to Beijing and stood in the eunuch duty room next to the Qianqing Palace. ”

"Just remember. I was trapped in the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division back then, and you died to report the news, and I also remember it in my heart. But I can't show favoritism, saving the driver is saving the driver, greedy ink is greedy for ink, it's not the same thing, if this matter is true, don't blame me for turning my face and being ruthless! ”

Cao Huachun kowtowed and said: "Long live Lord, if the slave and maid really have such a thing, where can you be worthy of your old man's reward and love, you don't have to move your old man's mouth, and he will die of shame." But the slave and maid saw that this matter was really strange, Mr. Wen was the first to take the lead, but like those Taiwan officials, just based on some rumors, he hurriedly entered the performance, which was very contrary to the norm, and it seemed that this matter had a lot to do with him. The slave and maid ask for a thorough investigation, one is to explain to the Lord of Long Live to understand, and the other can also clear themselves. ”

Chongzhen pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "It's okay, I'll give you a chance, but this matter is very important, don't disturb it everywhere." Besides, the Qing soldiers are still taking captivity in Gyeonggi, and the people's hearts are in danger, so they must not give the Qing soldiers a loophole. Let's go! ”

Cao Huachun returned to Dongchang, discussed with his eunuch Wang Zhixin, sent stall heads and fanzi to pretend to be all kinds of vendors, Langzhong, and warlocks, and investigated around the Wen Mansion, monitored and tracked all the personnel who entered and exited the Wen Mansion, and then went to the celebrant to meet the palm print eunuch Wang Dehua, and asked for orders to go to the inner clerk's room to transfer out the red Zhang Hanru manuscript, and the book was copied and brought back. The sparse manuscript was full of words, listing the six major harms and 58 articles of the charges, looking at them one by one, I faintly felt that it was a bit exaggerated, and it was not true, but I didn't know how to refute it, racked my brains, repeatedly looked at the sparse draft, was so tired that I was dizzy, and kept wiping my face with a wet hand towel to wipe my sweat. At sunset, the stall came to report: "The two sedan chairs were carried straight into the Wen Mansion." ”

"Who is in the sedan chair?" Cao Huachun came to the spirit when he arrived.

"The sedan curtain is tightly covered, and it is impossible to see clearly, but listening to the accent of the question when entering the door, there is no doubt that it belongs to Wu language."

"Let's go!" Cao Huachun changed into civilian clothes, walked out of the house quickly, and took a few stalls in civilian clothes and went straight to Wen Tiren's mansion.

The Shida Hutong where the Wen Mansion is located was named after the gift of Shi Heng, a powerful minister in the house. During the Tianshun period, General Shiheng, the prince of Zhongguo, supported the restoration of Yingzong because of the change of seizing the door, and the power leaned towards the government and the opposition, and was rewarded with this mansion, which was in the north of the alley, and occupied almost half of the alley. After Wen Tiren became the first assistant, he bought Shiheng's old mansion, repaired and renovated it, and converted it into a mansion. Cao Huachun ordered a few stalls with him to eat tea at the tea stall in the alley, walked into a small braised fire shop diagonally opposite, ordered a bowl of hot braised fire, covered most of his face with a wide-brimmed cool hat, and looked at the opposite side while eating. In the twilight, the tall elm and locust trees in the Wen Mansion filled the courtyard lushly, and the leaves flickered with golden afterglow from time to time. At the end of the shift, the door in the left corner of the Wen Mansion creaked open, and two small sedan chairs with green cloth came out, leaving quickly towards the southwest. Without waiting for Cao Huachun's signal, the two stalls had quickly followed, and they followed the sedan car if they left the ground. Cao Huachun paid the bill and went out of the store, and then chased after him. For more than half an hour, the two sedan chairs crossed Qianmen Street, turned to an alley, two people got off the sedan chair, sent the sedan chair back, one took the lantern, one person held a bundle of things, and frowned into the alley one after the other. The alley is dark and dark, especially deep. Cao Huachun carefully followed in the shadows of the alley, and by the faint light of the lantern, he found that the alley was no more than a zhang wide, with dead and living bends; There are straight bends and oblique bends; There are also bends and turns, which are like a labyrinth, without the hustle and bustle of Qianmen Street, and extremely secluded. The two stopped in front of a slightly higher gatehouse, and the lantern-wielding man stepped forward and tapped the door twice, and the black lacquer door opened a crack, poking out a head, and greeted: "The master is back, the young master was still talking just now!" ”

"Hmm!" The man burped a few times, handed the things he was holding in his arms to the house slave who greeted him, and beckoned: "Han Ru, go to the study first, presumably the little dog is still thinking about it." ”

The two men went in with lanterns, and the house slaves closed the door tightly. Cao Huachun waved his hand, and the stalls and fans jumped into the courtyard, quietly opened the courtyard door, and Cao Huachun walked in lightly. Here is a small courtyard, three main houses in the north, two side rooms in the east and west, the flowers and trees in the courtyard are sparse, and for a time I can't tell what flowers and plants are, only smell the sweet fragrance of roses. Cao Huachun looked at the lights and shadows in the west wing, there was just a grape under the flower window, growing luxuriantly, flashing under the grape trellis, sure enough, he heard someone laughing, and was about to attach it to the window to listen carefully, suddenly heard a sound of footsteps, hurriedly hid his figure, but saw the slave cooking tea, entered the house, came out in a moment, and went back the same way. Cao Huachun waited for a long time, and there was silence all around, before he got out from under the grape trellis, approached the flower window, and heard only one person say: "Brother Luqian, you are still thoughtful, and you have found such a secluded place." ”

"The thirteen twists and turns of the nine-bend alley, more than one zhang wide place, only one person can live in the narrow place, ordinary people are impatient to walk, it is a good place to be quiet in the middle of noisy, and it is more convenient to talk and do things."

Cao Huachun gently soaked through the window paper and saw three people sitting in the room, two middle-aged scribes in their forties, and a junior in his early twenties. A stall head whispered in his ear: "Governor, the tall, fat and long-haired man is called Chen Luqian, and the thin and slightly bearded man is called Zhang Hanru, and the young descendant is Chen Luqian's only son." ”

I only heard the young descendant say with envy: "What a noble figure Wen Ge Lao is, he is so polite and virtuous, leaving his father and uncle in the mansion to eat, it is a pity that such a glorious junior can't bow down!" ”

"Virtuous nephew, it's not just a meal, Elder Wen Ge also took out the imperial wine rewarded by the emperor for the two of us to drink! The royal wine is really fragrant, I have traveled from south to north, and I have eaten countless wines, but it is the first time I have drunk such good wine. ”

Chen Luqian said: "Can that Ge cloth be put away?" ”

"Put it away, see May and June, tomorrow find a tailor with good craftsmanship and make a robe for my father and uncle to wear."

Zhang Hanru pinched his sparse beard and said with a smile: "Good nephew, you have thought about it thoroughly, and your uncle is also stained with some light." It's just that such a good kudzu cloth is made into a robe, and I am reluctant to wear it! Don't be careful, and when you return to the township in the future, you can boast. ”

The three of them served tea and ate, and Chen Luqian said: "Qian Qianyi really has some ways, and he actually bought off the lord and the prince Zhu Guobi, and participated in the impeachment of the old man of Wen Ge for bullying the monarch and misleading the country. ”

"Although Zhu Guobi is the founding minister, his words have some weight, but he only has such an excerpt, there is no evidence, there is no evidence, and the emperor will not be moved. Over the years, have there been fewer people involved in impeachment? Who's got it? Ni Yuanlu, Huang Jingfang, Chen Zizhuang, Liu Zongzhou...... Even the cabinet ministers Wen Zhenmeng and He Wusu were not all demoted or cut because they offended Wen Gelao. Brother Xuqian, you can wait for this great wealth with confidence! As soon as Qian Qianyi beheaded the West Market, Wen Ge Lao would not treat us badly. How many taels of silver is your old house worth? Zhang Hanru said with a smile.

"That house is not worth much, but I can't swallow this bad breath. I prepared a gift and begged the old thief to speak for us, and he promised to do well, but when I arrived at the county office, he sold me, spoke for others, and lost the lawsuit. Annoying, you say? ”

"Daddy, now let's use the power of Elder Wen Ge to send him to the prison of the Criminal Department, which can be regarded as removing the thorn in the eye of Elder Wen Ge, killing two birds with one stone, and what are you thinking about in that house? The capital is much better than Changshu's hometown. ”

"Yes, yes, yes...... Makes sense. Let's stay in the capital, there is the big tree of Wen Ge Lao, no matter how you say it, it is good to enjoy the shade. ”

"There are a lot of interesting places in the capital, how can you do it without seeing it?" Cao Huachun pushed the door in, startled the three of them and stood up suddenly, and said with a change of color: "You, who are you?" How do you trespass on a private house? ”

Cao Huachun sneered: "Needless to say, you will know who we are, you will naturally know when you get to the place." ”

"Where?"

"Beizhen Fusi Prison or Dongchang Prison, you can choose whatever you want."

Jinyiwei and Dongchang are enough to make people famous, not to mention the cruel punishment of Beizhen Fusi Prison and Dongchang Torture Room. The three of them were so frightened that they trembled, their faces were colorless, and when they saw that the person who came was dressed in Confucian clothes, like a down-and-out scribe, they couldn't see the appearance of the fierce god at all, and they were relieved, Zhang Hanru said in a sullen voice: "This brother Tai is in Confucianism, I think it is a waste of science, living in Beijing, and I can't live a life, so I made this decision and broke into the house to blackmail." If you ask loudly, you can't see the feelings of your colleagues, and give you a few taels of broken silver to save the emergency, but you are so rude, we have to send you to the official for punishment. ”

"Hahaha...... You framed Qian Muzhai, but you can't frame us! Which yamen do you want to go to, we must accompany you, but you have to go to Dongchang first. ”

Chen Luqian is more stable after all, he heard that the fans of Dongchang often disguise themselves and enter everywhere, and said with a smile: "Brother Tai has something to say, the three of us are ordered by Wen Ge Lao to do things, and please ......."

"What are you doing? I'm going to take you back and ask for an explanation. Cao Huachun waved outward, and the stall head and fanzi hula outside the door rushed in, surrounded the three of them, and could not be separated, cut their hands back, put them in a big pocket, and carried them away. Cao Huachun took the rest of the fans to search the house carefully, and found the draft of the unveiling post, which was circled and dotted, and the six characters of "Cao, Chen, and Wen" were vaguely visible, and the word "Chen" was smeared, and the word "and" was changed to the word "hit", which was written by Wen Tiren himself.

Back in Dongchang, Cao Huachun, together with Wang Zhixin and Jinyiwei's palm print, commanded Wu Mengming to interrogate overnight, Chen Luqian and Zhang Hanru relied on Wen Tiren's support, gritted their teeth, and refused to confess. Cao Huachun sneered and shouted: "When you come here, you still dare to be hard-mouthed, and you are not allowed to understand the punishment, how can you be willing to spit out?" Come on, give me a real fight! More than 20 Jinyi guards wearing tight sleeves came up from the hall, each holding a wooden stick with the thickness of a wrist, majestic and murderous, first stripped off Chen Luqian's clothes, pressed them to the ground, put on a linen bag, and tied their arms and backs tightly, unable to move at all, only exposed their mouths and noses and panting, and then tied their feet, two Jinyi guards held down firmly, one Jinyi Wei pressed two arms, and another Jinyi guard rode on his neck, and his legs clamped his head. The two brocade guards each had a wooden stick, and saluted upwards: "Governor, how much can you fight?" ”

"Hit forty."

With a shout, the two big sticks were slashed down alternately, and the three of them couldn't help but scream in unison.

"Chew it!"

Jin Yiwei each put a leather strip about two fingers wide into the mouths of the three people, and tied it tightly behind their heads, no matter how much the three of them shouted, they couldn't make a sound.

"Change sticks!"

According to the rules, if you change people with ten sticks, you are afraid that you will not be able to do so, and there will be drawbacks under the stick. After more than a dozen sticks, the three of them had already opened their skin and flesh, and the blood stained the cloth pants red. Chen Luqian watched his son and himself being tortured, half a hundred years old, there is only such a son under his knees, once he starts hard, it is bound to break Chen's incense, he shakes his head desperately, and wants to say that he is moving, the brocade guard who is sitting on his neck still thinks that he is struggling hard, and his legs are clamping his head hard, and Chen Luqian faints. After forty beatings, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and all three of them fainted. Jin Yiwei sprayed the three of them with cold water, and Cao Huachun asked, "Do you want to move?" ”

Chen Luqian pleaded: "I'll recruit, I'll recruit!" Asking the public to disclose the grace of heaven, it was all done by me and Zhang Hanru, and it has nothing to do with my son, so I ask my father-in-law to let him go! ”

"Nothing? Let's clearly see that the three of you are conspiring together, how can you say that it is nothing! Cao Huachun slapped the table, and his voice was violent.

Zhang Hanru widened his eyes and scolded viciously: "Lao Chen, don't talk nonsense, after so much painstaking work, seeing that a big thing is about to happen, you must not soften your bones, and see that a wealth is lost." ”

Wang Zhixin left his seat, paced in front of Zhang Hanru, and ordered: "Pull it up!" The two brocade guards pulled Zhang Hanru's arm and pulled him to sit on the ground, just beating his ass to pieces, how can he sit down? Zhang Hanru wailed, cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and he gritted his teeth to support it. Wang Zhixin nodded and said, "What a tough man!" But it was in vain, Dongchang has always acted on secret orders to arrest people, and when Wen Ge Lao knows, he may not come to save you, even if he comes, I'm afraid it's too late, and then there is a splash of wealth, how can the three dead people enjoy? You'd better be smarter! ”

Cao Huachun raised the manuscript paper in his hand, slapped the Ge cloth on the table, and said: "Now that people have obtained stolen goods, even if you don't recruit them, we can also finalize the case." There is no other way, let's just send this draft and Gebu to the Wen Mansion, Wen Ge Lao will want to exculpate it, why do we need to do it, he will not be able to spare you. ”

The two sang and harmonized, and Zhang Hanru's face was like ashes, and he was silent. Wu Mengming shouted: "Factory man, there is no need to be verbose with such people, just beat him to death with a stick, and the death of a person in the East Factory is not like four ants." Put him down and see how long he lasts? ”

The two brocade guards let go of Zhang Hanru's arm, Zhang Hanru fell to the ground, the blood on his buttocks kept dripping, he gasped for a moment, closed his eyes and said: "I recruited, this matter was done by me and Chen Luqian, originally we didn't want to impeach Qian Qianyi, and it was Chen Biqian's cousin Chen Biqian, the governor of Henan, who began to sue Chen Luqian's cousin, Henan Governor, thinking that the draft must be sent to the cabinet through the General Political Division, and after Wen Ge's old hand, he had a deep grudge with Qian Qianyi and Qu Shiyun, and Chen Luqian also had a holiday with them, so he added them. Wen Ge Lao saw it, and actually ticked off Chen Biqian, and folded the two of them to participate in Qian and Qu. ”

"Why do you want to sue Chen Biqian?"

Chen Luqian replied: "He was originally my cousin, I used his name to do something, but he was furious when he heard about it, and posted a notice, saying that he had nothing to do with what I did, I went to ask to see, and he also ordered the concierge not to report, and the six relatives did not recognize it, so hateful!" ”

Cao Huachun secretly thought: They belong to their own brothers, they are very related by blood, and they don't agree with each other, so they went to Beijing to complain, how vicious their hearts are, such a femme fatale, don't leave him alive! After making up his mind, he asked, "What about the anonymous unveiling post?" ”

"That's my idea, I wrote an anonymous post, found a friend Wang Fan and sent it to the General Administration, saying that Qian Qianyi used 40,000 taels of silver to ask Zhou Yingbi for help from his father-in-law, and Wen Ge got the post, wrote a secret fold overnight, and presented it to the emperor."

"So, from beginning to end, this matter was manipulated by Wen Ge Lao?"

"Without his support, where would we have such guts!" Chen Luqian drew a monogram on his confession.

Cao Huachun and the other sons of Zhang Hanru and Chen Luqian all painted the monogram and shouted: "Beat sixty more sticks and put on the flail!" ”

The three of them were scattered when they heard this, and it was a fluke that a hundred sticks could survive, and if they were put on a flail weighing two or three hundred catties, they would have no physiology.