In the blink of an eye, the Chung Yeung Festival is coming. The blue clouds, the yellow flower land, the Danfeng Mountain, the clear water, the sultry people ascend the feelings, and the scholars in the capital have carried pots and wine to climb to the heights to cool off. The winter events in the palace are prepared earlier than those of the people, repairing the warm kang, setting up a hearth, digging a cellar, and the upper and lower people are busy one by one. On this day, Xiao Mao Ziyin got up at the beginning, wiped his face with cold water, and hurried to the main room of the Heart Cultivation Palace. Kangxi had already woken up, and he was busy putting a green felt satin crown on Kangxi. Seeing Kangxi open his arms, he quickly put on the sauce-colored Jiang silk brocade robe for him, covered it with a stone blue satin small wool sheepskin coat, tied the gold thread tie for him, put on soap boots, and finally put a string of beeswax on Kangxi's neck, and then stepped back and stood with his hands down. Kangxi doesn't seem to care much about Xiao Maozi in the past few months, and he often gives him color at every turn, so he is also very careful to wait.

Dressed neatly, Kangxi took Xiao Maozi, first went to the Qin'an Hall of the harem to pay incense, and then went to Cining Palace to ask the Empress Dowager to say goodbye, and then turned to Yangxingzhai to meet with the newly transferred military department Shangshu Moluo, and then saw Zhu Guozhi and Fan Chengmo, because they had a lot of words to say to each other, they chose this secluded place. After discussing it for a long time and reading the draft again, Kangxi ordered to drive to Chuxiu Palace and have breakfast with the queen.

"The three ministers summoned today," Kangxi said as he ate, "Mo Luo and Zhu Guozhi are also gone, but somehow, Fan Chengmo has a sad look on his face. ”

The queen put a chopstick of yam wine stewed duck in Kangxi's bowl, paused and asked, "Long live the lord didn't ask him?" ”

"No," Kangxi smiled, "It's just my suspicion, he will go back to the south tomorrow, and it's common for him to love his family and his master." The queen smiled: "He and the Geng family are in-laws, and there are some things that should be asked." Kangxi was stunned, and then smiled: "Don't worry about it, Fan Chengmo is an upright gentleman, loyal and good for generations, and Hong Chengchou and Qian Qianyi are different from those who are cadres." ”

The queen wanted to speak, but Xiao Maozi, who was standing beside her with a scarf, suddenly smiled and said: "Long live the master just asked about the master's mother, and the slave knows a little about the festival!" ”

"Huh?" Listening to Xiao Maozi's interjection, Kangxi stopped, turned his face and asked with a smile: "What do you know?" ”

"Lord Fan's mansion ran into a tiger a few days ago—"

"Nonsense!" Kangxi scolded with a smile, "Now is not the beginning of the founding of the country, will there be tigers in Beijing?" ”

"Really." Xiao Maozi smiled and said seriously, "Lord Fan's family lives in the Jade Emperor Temple, which is very remote. I heard that the hunters dug up a nest of tiger cubs in the West Mountain a few days ago, and the tigress went crazy, and went down the mountain day and night to find trouble, and if she didn't want to, she jumped into the garden of Lord Fan's house, and called the family members to surround and kill - the tiger also bit to death a donkey in Lord Fan's house! ”

"He's not happy about this?" Kangxi said, glancing at the queen.

"Later," Xiao Maozi continued, "Mrs. Fan asked the monk Shuiyue about the good luck, and Shuiyue gave Master Fan a lesson, saying that it was 'okay', but she just told the adult a word: the big insect in the mountain can be beaten, and the big insect in the door will be provoked-Lord Fan must have known about this when he came back, so he was not happy." ”

"What do you mean by a 'big worm in the door'?" The queen asked.

"I heard that Fujian is called 'Fujian'," Xiao Maozi said with a smile, "It's not a big worm in the door-"

Before he finished speaking, Kangxi turned around fiercely and slapped Xiao Maozi in the face with a "snap"! Xiao Maozi was beaten to a stumbling point, and it was also thanks to his dexterity, he staggered back a few steps, fell to his knees with a thud, and kowtowed again and again. The queen and the surrounding eunuchs and palace maids were listening with relish, and when they saw Kangxi angry for no reason, they were stunned one by one, and their faces turned pale.

"Bastard thing!" Kangxi's face turned red with anger, "Where did these cheap words come from?" ”

"Yes, minion bastard Wang Ba!" Half of Xiao Maozi's face was flushed, and he trembled, "The slave is cheap, but the slave is telling the truth!" ”

Kangxi sneered and said: "Fan Chengmo came to His Majesty to say goodbye, reluctant to give up, with a smile on his face. I just talked to the queen casually, and you said such a big thing! You are called an internal supervisor to discuss politics and slander the bureaucrats! He said as he approached Xiao Maozi, "Now that people haven't been on the road yet, I'll call you slut to curse him!" ”

"The minions don't dare to curse Lord Fan!" Xiao Maozi said aggrievedly, "It's really a lesson from Monk Shuiyue!" ”

"Listen, what kind of rules are these!" Kangxi said to Hesheri. He was so angry that his hands were shaking, "I am talking to the queen, why are you here to interject - drag him out, whip him a hundred lashes, and see if he dares to talk back again!" ”

At the beginning, the queen also felt that Kangxi suddenly turned her face, so for no reason, at this time, listening to Kangxi's reasoning, and thinking that Xiao Maozi did have a problem with rapping, she wanted to beg for him, so she opened her mouth and didn't squeak.

"What are you doing in a daze?" Kangxi's eyes widened, and he shouted: "Drag it out!" ”

At this time, the eunuchs standing at the door did not dare to slack off, and put up the teary-eyed little hair and left. Before Xiao Maozi left, he glanced at Zhang Wanqiang, who was standing next to the queen, with a face full of grievances. Zhang Wanqiang didn't feel a softening in his heart, so he bowed down and said, "Long live, is it okay for the slave to go to the execution?" ”

"You don't need to go—I don't know what tricks you eunuchs are doing?" Kangxi sneered and sat back in place, picked up the chopsticks again, searched for a long time on the plate, took a piece of bamboo shoots and chewed slowly, and said to everyone in the hall, "Taizu Taizong has long had a family law, and I and the queen have not taken care of governance because of many things, and the eunuchs have become more and more presumptuous!" If you go on like this, will you pay it back? ——Send a decree to the Shen Penal Division, and make an iron sign of Emperor Taizu's edict of 'beheading those who interfere with the government and politics such as concubines in the inner prison palace' and erect it under the corridors of each palace! Only then did everyone know that Kangxi was using Xiao Maozi today, and they were silent one by one.

At this time, the execution had already been carried out outside, and the sound of whips and human howls came in, and Xiao Maozi cried out in pain, with a cry for help: "Master, master, mother-ouch, the slave doesn't dare anymore!" Ouch! "There are dozens of eunuchs and palace maids inside and outside the palace, some of whom have always been friends with Xiao Maozi, and their faces are unbearable; Some of them are not in harmony with him on weekdays, or they are envious and jealous, and their hearts are ironed, and their faces are bright; His "vegetable household" Mo Ju couldn't listen, couldn't be saved, couldn't stand, and quietly went back to his house and covered his head with a quilt and sobbed.

The queen couldn't bear to hear it, and while adding food to Kangxi, she smiled and said, "What Lord Banzai said is that the lesson is right." However, this little hairy man has always been diligent and cautious, and if he reads this little affection, he can teach a few whips. Besides, it's not too big or too small today, and it's worth a lot if the emperor is angry. ”

"Look at you, minus thirty lashes!" Kangxi said with a blank face, "Still ask him to go back to the imperial tea room to wait-Zhang Wanqiang, can you see it?" Tell them to be careful: this is the case! Eunuchs who talk about the government and leak the secrets of the palace will be dealt with like Xiao Maozi! After speaking, he got up, didn't greet the queen, raised his feet and went.

On the second watch of the night, Kangxi returned to the Palace of Nourishing Heart after approving his official business. Zhang Wanqiang silently unloaded the pearl for Kangxi, except for the robe, served him half lying on the big pillow, and carefully bowed to retreat, but Kangxi stopped him:

"Zhang Wanqiang—a companion is like a tiger—right?"

"Where...... Where? Zhang Wanqiang looked at Kangxi and saw a smile on the corner of his mouth, for this emperor who he had grown up with since childhood, he could no longer judge his inner joy and anger with his facial "smile" or "annoyance". Seeing that Kangxi's words were not good, Zhang Wanqiang thought that he was going to find his own business again, so he was so flustered that he didn't know what to do, and he stammered when he spoke: "Xiao Maozi is that he doesn't grow up by himself, which makes Wan Sui Ye angry, and it is the master's grace if he doesn't kill him." ”

Kangxi looked left and right at no one, and suddenly laughed happily: "You are so scared!" I am a dragon, not a tiger! Haven't you heard people say that 'the dragon sees the head but does not see the tail'? ”

"Long live the meaning of the ......"

"What do I mean," Kangxi said in a deep voice, stroking his freshly shaved head, "You get some gold sore ointment and quietly send it to Xiao Maozi to see if he can come." Arise and bring him—but not for others to see. ”

Zhang Wanqiang opened his mouth wide in surprise, almost dropped the clothes that had just been unloaded in his arms on the ground, and hesitated for a while: "I heard that the fight was fierce today, I'm afraid I can't." It's just that if you can come, it's easy to hide it from other places, but the people in the Heart Cultivation Hall can't hide it! ”

"Well, that's right." Kangxi sat up straight, "Take me for a trip!" ”

"Huh?" Zhang Wanqiang opened his mouth wide, unable to speak for a long time, looking at Kangxi's face, not like laughing, busy and said, "Tsk-"

Kangxi stood up and put on a big coat, paced out of the hall, and said loudly: "Zhang Wanqiang, I am upset, take me to walk in the inner house!" After saying that, the two of them went out of the weeping flower gate.

It was just at the right time, the half moon hung in the middle of the sky, trembling in the flying dark clouds, and the Forbidden City was silent, only the eunuchs of the guard shouted from afar from time to time, "Be careful of the lights, be careful of the lights!" "The eunuchs believe in ghosts and gods the most, they don't have their turn to be on duty at night, they don't go out of the door at night, and they even have special porcelain pots for peeing. In order to save, Kangxi laid off a large number of eunuchs, and there were only more than 1,000 people in the huge Forbidden City, so at this time, there was no one outside, except for the lights in the Qianqing Palace, it was dark and gloomy elsewhere. A gust of wind blew, slightly chilly, causing Zhang Wanqiang to get goosebumps, and listening to the sound of Kangxi's boots behind him, his steps were steady, and he suddenly remembered the words of the storytellers outside that "the Holy Son of Heaven and a hundred gods help", and his mind gradually settled down.

Turning a few dark alleys, I saw a row of low houses in the distance, and I listened to Xiao Maozi's intermittent ** sound. Kangxi stopped and asked, "There won't be anyone, right?" ”

"He was only beaten today," Zhang Wanqiang said busily, "who wants to provoke his bad luck at this time?" Hooray rest assured! Then he stepped forward and knocked lightly on the window lattice, and whispered: "Little Maozi, Little Maozi!" ”

Xiao Maozi was whipped seventy times, and the skin on his buttocks and back was opened. He is a smash hit person, he has been beaten and has been beaten more, and he is less distressed, today's flying disaster, his face was swept away, and he didn't dare to complain about the pain in his body, and he limped back to his original place in the imperial tea room step by step, found a bowl of old rice wine and poured it down, and was lying on the bed in a daze - his back hurt so much that he didn't dare to go to bed - hum, he heard someone calling outside, his two arms were propped up, and he looked up and asked, "Is it Grandpa Zhang?" The door is not latched, and it opens when you push it, so please come in - ouch! ”

Kangxi heard that there was no one inside, motioned to Zhang Wanqiang to look at the wind outside, took the gold sore medicine, and gently pushed the door open. Under the lonely lamp, Xiao Maozi was lying on the quilt with his eyes closed sideways, his eyes were red and swollen, and his face was thin. Seeing him like this, Kangxi took two steps and stood in front of the bed in contemplation.

"Grandpa Zhang, sit down!" Xiao Maozi didn't open his eyes, and patted the bed along the road with his hand, "If you want to be buried, there is a stool over there, where can it be compared to the Palace of Heart Cultivation-ah?" Emperor! His eyes widened suddenly, as if even his pupils were about to jump out, and he froze on the bed.

"It's me." Kangxi smiled, and saw Xiao Maozi struggling to get up, so he hurriedly held it down with both hands, "Don't-you just lie down, but it hurts, right?" ”

"It doesn't matter!" Xiao Maozi's eyes lit up. What a clever person he is, seeing Kangxi personally come to see the disease, he knew that the beating he received today had a reason inside, even if it hurt, he couldn't cry out for pain! Xiao Maozi gritted his teeth and sat up and said, "I know that Lord Banzai treats me well in his heart, and it is also for my good to teach me a lesson." The master is so gracious, Xiao Maozi is willing to die! ”

Kangxi smiled slightly and said: "I have something to hand over to you, if you don't do this, you have no complaints, you can be regarded as a loyal minister!" ”

"The slave knows!" Xiao Maozi was so excited that she was smacked on her buttocks, and her mouth grinned in pain, "Zhou Yu beat Huang Gai, the family is willing to fight, and the family is willing to suffer." Just tell the minion first, wouldn't it feel better? ”

"You're smart." Kangxi said with satisfaction, "That's what it means, if you don't hit Huang Gai, can Cao Cao believe him?" Originally, I wanted to do this three months ago, but I was afraid that it would be too urgent and arouse suspicion, so it was delayed until today - you have to feel better, I'm afraid it won't be so similar. Xiao Maozi rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Three months ago, it must have been Niu Jie!" There are many eunuchs in the palace who believe in that Zhong Sanlang, and you want the servants to go in and find the head - it must be Wang Zhenbang, Ah San, and Huang Si Village! ”

"For the sake of a few of them, will I cause you to suffer such a sin?" Kangxi smiled, "They are Jiang Gan at most!" I intend to let you defect to them and find that great Cao Cao, what is this messenger doing? ”

"The master believes in me and sends me, what do you do?" Xiao Maozi was in a very good mood at this time, "Do it even if you die!" ”

"Good!" Kangxi said, "Little Maozi, I know that your brother is not a talent. You are a eunuch again, you have an empty heart, and you can't get a good result in the end, which is very pitiful. However, you just have to do this errand, and you don't have to worry about anything else. On your mother's side, I assign someone to help you often. After the deed is accomplished, choose one from your nephew to pass on to you, what about your mother, and then seal her a fate, wouldn't it be glorious and glamorous? ”

Xiao Maozi is the most filial to his mother, it was because he had no money for his mother's medical treatment that he was a slave, listening to Kangxi Kenshi's great kindness, he turned over and kowtowed on the bed, and couldn't pick out any good words to thank him, "woo" cried, hurting the liver and intestines, very sad. Kangxi was about to be comforted, Zhang Wanqiang stepped in from outside and hurriedly covered the doorway:

"Long live Lord, someone is coming!"

Xiao Maozi was startled, and then cried even higher, while crying, he scratched the quilt with his hands and threw and beaten, and arched his head over the pillow. The cry was mixed with a whisper: "The key is on the bench...... Woo - long live the lord and sit in it...... Ouch, my Buddha! - Don't make a noise...... Zhang Wanqiang didn't wait for him to finish "crying", pulled Kangxi and got into the dark tea utensils warehouse.

The people who came were Ah San and Huang Si Village, and Xiao Maozi was very familiar with these two people. That year, Xiao Maozi stole a piece of Jun kiln porcelain from the imperial kitchen because his mother grabbed medicine to pay off his debts, and Ah San, who was in charge of the imperial kitchen, asked his godfather Nemo to search in the tea warehouse, but was locked in by Xiao Maozi and made a fuss. After Ne Mo was executed, Ah San was kicked out of the imperial kitchen, and the wooden clock that I didn't know who hit it was transferred back to the imperial tea room - Xiao Maozi had risen to the Palace of Nourishing Heart to wait, and as soon as Ah San saw his face, thousands of grandfathers and grandmothers said two cars of words of repentance, and Xiao Maozi treated him leniently. Huang Sicun was originally a friend of Xiao Maozi, and the position was originally above Xiao Maozi, and Xiao Maozi couldn't eat it for a while, and the two of them could still say a few private words. Later, Xiao Maozi rose to the top and became a first-class celebrity, he was jealous in his heart, and said a lot of things that Xiao Maozi didn't like. Xiao Maozi, who is becoming popular, doesn't take him seriously, and the two are separated.

Huang Sicun and Ah San, one made a watermelon lantern, and the other came in with a bag of sore medicine. Seeing Xiao Maozi lying on the bed crying and sweating, Huang Sicun blew out the lamp and put it on the ground, sat on the edge of the bed, and told Ah San to "put the medicine on the table", then comforted Xiao Maozi and said: "Wow! No wonder you're sad, I'm going to see your mother tomorrow, but she doesn't know yet, and she's still thinking that tomorrow is your birthday. ”

At the mention of his mother, it touched Xiao Maozi's sore spot, and the original fake howl turned into a real cry, and he suddenly sobbed, choked hoarsely, blushed, coughed and blew his nose. Zhang Wanqiang in the warehouse next door couldn't help but smile secretly and whispered: "Long live the lord, this little hairy man is really unambiguous!" Kangxi shook his head secretly: "It's not like it's pretending, it's like it's a real liver fire." The two were talking in a whisper, listening to the little hairy man outside gradually stop crying, sobbing and saying: "Fourth brother, third brother, others saw that something happened to me, and they couldn't hide, but you came to look at me—what does this person's friendship say?" ”

"This is called the chaos of the world to see loyal ministers, and Bandang to know heroes!" Ah San smiled so hard that his eyes were squeezed into slits, and said, "Xiao Maozi, since the fight, I have taken a closer look at you, you are really a conscientious person, unlike the Wu Liangfu who was called Banzai and killed, who blindly bullied people as soon as he gained power...... This heart-to-heart character is not admirable! Huang Sicun saw the gold sore ointment next to Xiao Maozi's pillow at a glance, and said with a smile: "Ah San's words are not false at all!" Look at this pack of medicine, except for the Heart Cultivation Palace and Chuxiu Palace, where can I get it? If you are not a good person, who is willing to deliver medicine at this time! ”

This question surprised even Kangxi and Zhang Wanqiang in the warehouse.

"This medicine ......" Xiao Maozi stroked his back, grinning and wanting to cry, but he couldn't help it, "This is the Mo Ju in front of the mother who asked Xiaohong to take it the next night - Long live Lord has been very angry in the past few months, I am careful and careful, I don't know what evil I have done, but I still touched his moldy head." ”

Listening to Xiao Maozi's words, Kangxi secretly shook his head: "It's too much to breathe." ”

Huang Sicun said: "Mo Ju is an honest girl with an excellent heart, but unfortunately you are a eunuch, so you can only be a husband and wife with her." ”

Xiao Maozi leaned over, sat up with difficulty, grabbed a towel and wiped the tears on his face, took a breath in a trembling voice, and said: "Actually, Long Live Lord and Niangniang treat me well, I don't know which donkey day is running the wildfire below - you are not in it, you don't know what is going on inside, it's evil!" Some time ago, even Father-in-law Zhang was unhappy, and the master almost drove him back to Cining Palace to wait! ”

"Just now we were eating wine and playing cards with Wang Zhenbang," Ah San said with a smile, "He said the same - Long live Lord not only treats you well, but also has Grandpa Zhang to take care of him, maybe he will ask you to go up and wait!" ”

Xiao Maozi rubbed his eyes, nodded and sighed: "Maybe, it's hard to say." Father-in-law Zhang was originally a Lafayette person, and there were people in it to take care of him. I am a single person, just an aunt of Su Mala, who is out of the house; Wei Guard's mother, Mama Sun, is a good person, she is an old man, to ask for a favor, the emperor Xu is willing to give her face, but she took it home again - this matter has to wait for the emperor to be angry before he can think about it again! Listening to Xiao Maozi's analysis is reasonable, and the water does not leak, Kangxi can't help but nod and smile.

Where are these two people's opponents of Xiao Maozi? After three or two talks, he drilled the circle of Xiao Maozi. Huang Sicun and Ah San exchanged glances, then got up and smiled: "It's not early, we should go—this is how things are in the world." Whatever, let's take one step at a time, who knows what will happen next? For example, Grandpa Ao, who was still a god on the first day, took it on the second day, and could only watch the Quartet in the courtyard - you take care of it well, the big thing is that the body and bones are important. Saying that, he lit the lamp and went out, Ah San turned around and said: "Don't worry about your mother, we have a plan, if you don't tell her in advance, just say that there is something inside and can't leave, and you will go back to enlighten her in a few days!" ”

"Thank you!" Xiao Maozi listened to their chatter, and was so anxious that he was dying, but he smiled in his mouth, "When you come to say this, I am also relieved: isn't this what people are like?" Killing people can't fall to the ground, and being stabbed can't be scarred, what's the big deal? In the past few days, you and Zhenbang's father-in-law have been diligent to take a look at my mother, and I am grateful here. ”