There is less than a month left on the Queen Mother's birthday, and it sounds like there is plenty of time, but in fact it is really not enough at all.

Xijing City is busy with the birthday celebration ceremony of the Queen Mother, and the officials of all ministries are so busy that they can't wait to grow up in the yamen every day, and they rarely go back to their homes.

The officials of the various ministries were especially grateful for the wisdom of the Queen Mother, and made an early decree that they would not accept the birthday gifts offered by the local officials, nor would they accept the tributes of the subject countries, otherwise, they would definitely be so busy that they would not even have to sleep, and it is very likely that they would do their best.

Song Jue was very supportive of the Empress Dowager's decision, and at the same time issued a holy decree that in addition to the officials and generals who were ordered to be summoned to Beijing, no feudal king or official was allowed to leave his own territory.

At the same time, under the instruction of Song Jue, Jingzhao Mansion issued a curfew in Xijing, starting from the first 20 days of the Queen Mother's birthday, Xijing City implemented a curfew, after the shift, except for the patrolling soldiers, no one was allowed to wander on the street, and violators were severely punished.

Even if it is said to be a heavy punishment, there are many people who are lucky, thinking that as long as they are careful and cautious, they will not be caught by the forbidden army and the patrol battalion, so in the first three days of the curfew, the forbidden army and the patrol battalion arrested many violators, and the sum of the front and back is almost two or three hundred. Among these two or three hundred people, there are ordinary people, there are ministers, servants of wealthy merchants, and occasionally a few officials who are late on duty and do not want to sleep in the yamen. The last one was usually treated with kindness and sent home by the soldiers of the forbidden army or patrol battalion themselves.

Commander Bai has had a very difficult time in the past few days, and there are deep shadows under his eyes, if he hadn't gone to the Guogong Mansion every night to find Shen Haolin and Shen Cha to spit out bitter water, it is estimated that it would have erupted long ago. Even so, Bai Meng's resentment is still very deep, and he always complains that these people in Xijing are too ignorant, which invisibly causes them a lot of trouble.

"Let's talk about it, it's the same curfew, why can the people at the border pass obey it so easily? Look at these bastards in Xijing again, the curfew is like killing them, and when they are caught, they don't honestly admit that they were wrong, and they jump to their feet one by one, saying that it is wrong to issue such a ban. ”

"Calm down, next time there is such a person, you can ask him if he will regret it if he really died because he didn't obey the curfew." Shen Cha glanced at Bai Meng lightly, "Great Commander, you must understand that the border pass and Xijing are different. The people at the border gates, even those children, know that the moon is dark and the wind is high, which is a good time to kill people and sell goods, and almost all the detailed works of various countries come out at that time, and the curfew just ensures the safety of the people at the border gates. ”

"And the people at the border said that those who went out after the curfew were unscrupulous. Even if he was killed by mistake, he did not deserve sympathy or pity. Song Qiyun, who had been languishing, yawned, saw that the two cushions next to him were useless, reached out and dragged them over, put them under his head, and after lying down, he said, "But the people of Xijing have always lived and worked in peace and contentment, there is no hidden unknown danger, and they don't have to worry about when their lives will be inexplicably ended. Don't complain, O Commander, you need to give the people a process of adaptation. ”

"What Your Highness said makes sense, but I'm in a hurry." Bai Meng sighed, "It's just that I've been crazy during this time, so I'm very irritable, and I can't tolerate their behavior at all." ”

"Fortunately, I don't have to receive those foreign envoys, otherwise, I would be even more busy." Song Qiyun yawned, "I'm so hungry." ”

"Didn't you just eat? Why are you hungry again? Bai Meng looked at Song Qiyun carefully, "Your Highness, have you lost weight in the past few days?" And it doesn't look very good, haven't you slept well these days? ”

"It's not that he hasn't slept well, he's tired these days." Shen Haolin threw Song Qiyun a blanket and asked him to cover it so as not to freeze, "The birthday banquet process set by the Ministry of Rites is too complicated, and this kid can't stand it anymore." ”

Song Qiyun nodded at Bai Meng, flattening his mouth, that little look was really aggrieved.

"In the past few days, I have to work with all of you Uncle Wang, Brother Wang, and Brother Wang, and follow the people of the Ministry of Rites to familiarize yourself with the whole process of the ceremony and birthday banquet. Like Uncle Wang, they only need to sit and watch us, but we, the juniors, must follow the standards set by the Ministry of Etiquette. Song Qiyun stretched out his thumb and index finger, "You don't know, the process of the Ministry of Rites is so thick, it's so wordy, I haven't understood it after watching it for a night." ”

"I've seen the process of the Ministry of Rites, and it's really too thick." Shen Cha nodded, "Actually, people like Brother Yaojia, who live in Xijing all the year round, can participate in many such major ceremonies, and they are already accustomed to this. But Xiaoyun is not, he and Xiao Jiu left Xijing when they were very young and went to Jiaping Guancheng, and in the years at the border, there are almost no times to return to Xijing and catch up with such a major ceremony. There is nothing wrong with their most basic and commonly used etiquette, but this kind of complicated etiquette is not suitable for sure. ”

"That's it." Song Qiyun hugged a cushion and turned over, "Moreover, these people in the Ministry of Rites don't know what to think, one practice is a day, and they are not allowed to eat during the break." If it weren't for the presence of all Uncle Wang, I really wanted to kick them to death! ”

"No food?" Shen Haolin and Shen Cha glanced at each other and frowned at the same time, "Why is this?" Uncle Wang is not allowed to eat either? ”

"Of course not, only we don't give us food." Song Qiyun pursed his lips, "I said that I would be sleepy when I was full, and it would not be easy to concentrate." ”

"Didn't you tell Your Majesty about this?" Seeing Song Qiyun shaking his head, Bai Meng's brows furrowed even deeper, "Your Highness, don't worry, when I enter the palace in a while, I will ask Your Majesty this question, these people in the Ministry of Rites are really going crazy!" ”

"It's crazy!" Shen Cha's face also sank, "If you starve them, will the people from the Ministry of Rites be responsible?" They have a lot of responsibility and don't want to make mistakes at birthday feasts and ceremonies, which we can all understand, but we can't pay such a price. ”

"There's nothing more than that!" Song Qiyun pursed his lips, "We also know that once I am too hungry, my temper is not very good, and then my face is relatively bad." They didn't dare to talk about me to my face, they would murmur to me behind my back, saying that I was squeamish, and I didn't look like I had led troops or fought in battle. They thought it was quiet, but I had good ears and I heard it. ”

"Grand Commander, I'll go into the palace with you." Shen Cha closed the file he was reading, "No matter what, I have to seek justice for Xiaoyun today." ”

"Boss, don't be so troublesome!" Shadow Thirteen pushed the door and came in from the outside, saluted a few people in the room, and said, "Those guys from the Ministry of Rites were denounced by Prince Lian and are now in prison in the Criminal Department. ”

"Oh?" When Song Qiyun heard this, he immediately came to his senses, sat up and looked at Ying Thirteen, "What's the matter?" ”

"The prince of Lian Wang told all the situation in the past few days, and His Majesty Long Yan was furious, and directly sent the brothers in the capital to raid the homes of those officials." Ying Thirteen sneered, "From their respective homes, they have all copied out huge amounts of property that are seriously inconsistent with their fortunes, the most one has 100,000 taels of gold and more than 3 million taels of silver, not counting antiques, calligraphy, paintings and gems. ”

"Just a few of their petty officials from the seventh grade, they actually have such a high net worth?" Song Qiyun snorted, "The Ministry of Rites is not a yamen!" ”

"What Your Highness said is that Your Majesty has ordered the Shadow brothers in the capital to strictly investigate, and the forbidden army and patrol battalion will assist!" Ying Thirteen looked at Bai Meng, "The Great Commander can go directly to the Criminal Department now." ”

"Got it!"

"Sure enough, the wicked have their own harvest, if they weren't so excessive, they wouldn't have caused such a big trouble!" Song Qiyun stretched his waist, "Well, this king is in a slightly better mood now." ”

"There is one more thing that can make His Highness's mood a little better." Ying Thirteen smiled slightly, "There is news from the palace that His Highness can rest for a day, and he doesn't have to go to the Ministry of Rites to study tomorrow." ”