After a few winter snowfalls, there were then spring rains. On his fingers, Kangxi has been on the pole for eight years. With the change of seasons, the sparse city of Beijing has quietly recovered.

Wu Ciyou slept on the hot kang for a winter, and when he changed the board bed, he felt cold, and couldn't help but think of a saying: "'Southerners can eat better than northerners, and northerners can live better than southerners', which is really true at all." He wanted to sleep on the hot kang for a few more days, but when he saw He Guizhu bring a few people, he was about to dismantle the kang, and he swallowed back and didn't mention it again, so he said: "Don't dismantle it, I think this cold kang is fine." So he put a low table on the kang, burned two sticks of incense, sat cross-legged, took a book to read, and made annotations on it. Suddenly, someone whispered: "Big brother is working hard!" When Wu Ciyou looked up, Mingzhu had already come in. It seems that this winter, he is recuperating well. Although the body is still weak, the spirit has recovered. Then he patted the edge of the kang and smiled: "You come with Zhu'er, please sit!" ”

"'Red sleeves add fragrance to read at night', the eldest brother is only waiting here for Wanniang at the moment." Mingzhu smiled, lifted his robe, and sat on Wu Ciyou's side. When he squinted, he saw Wu Ciyou holding a copy of "Taigong Yin Fu" in his hand. said with a smile: "Big brother's reading is getting more and more complicated, aren't you going to enter the field again to test, and you can't lead the troops to fight?" ”

Wu Ciyou shook his head with a smile and said, "I believe in Confucius and Mencius, and I also believe in Zhuangzi. When the heart is hot, you will believe in Confucius and Mencius, and when your heart is cold, you will believe in Zhuangzi. When he entered the examination room three times at the age of thirty-four, he couldn't be proud, but was harmed by others, and the word fame became more and more faint. Now I just want to teach this student well - I will teach what Long'er wants to learn. ”

"This dragon is also weird," Mingzhu smiled, "What's the use of learning so much?" ”

"I don't quite understand it either-if you don't read these books as an official, you can't do it, will the court let the cloth boy lead the troops to the battle? Therefore, I only pick up some useful and emotional criticisms in the book, and talk more about it when I talk about it. ”

"I didn't say anything about my eldest brother's knowledge," Mingzhu said in her heart, "I've only been an emperor for a few years, and I haven't even noticed some clues, which is silly enough." Seeing Mingzhu smiling and silent, Wu Ciyou accepted the book and said very seriously: "Brother Mingzhu, what are you thinking?" Do you want to Miss Cuigu? Your business should be done, and it will not be done if it is neither hot nor cold. Mingzhu's face sank, and he shook his head and said, "Big brother, you don't know, Aunt Cui has passed away!" ”

"Really!" Wu Ciyou was taken aback, his body jumped, and he almost stood up from the kang, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" ”

Mingzhu sighed: "First, people can't be resurrected after death, and second, I'm afraid that my eldest brother will be surprised when he is sick." Zhu'er took three hundred taels of silver from here as a funeral, and only hid it from his eldest brother. - She's a fireworks woman, and I'm worthy of her. ”

"What are these words?" Wu Ciyou listened to the words behind Mingzhu very uselessly, and said with a sudden change of color, "Aren't you also a beggar who froze to death?" When you read the sages, how can you think about human identity in this way? ”

"The eldest brother taught me a lesson," Seeing that Wu Ciyou was angry, Mingzhu hurriedly admitted his mistake. Although he was tired of listening to that period of beggar history, he couldn't say anything in front of Wu Ciyou, so he only thought in his heart: If you knew your identity, Xu wouldn't lose your temper, but said in his mouth: "Actually, I don't feel sad in my heart, she still ...... for me."

After listening to Mingzhu talk about Cuigu's death, Wu Ciyou didn't speak for a long time, only staring at the wisps of cigarettes in front of him. After a while, Fang breathed a deep sigh of relief: "She's not alone for you, so you don't have to be too uneasy." From her poems, it seems that there is a greater reason for this, and I do not quite understand it. ”

The "sake" is self-contained, Mingzhu is clear in her heart, but she can't explain it in detail, so she has to be silent. Outside, the wind picked up at some point, and the light rain made the window lattices rustle. The two of them listened quietly, and they both felt a chill on their bodies.

Suddenly, there was a "creak" on the door, and Wei Dongting stepped in, and while taking off the oily leather mud shoes on the outside of the deerskin boots, he smiled and said, "What's wrong with the two brothers?" The mud bodhisattva sits on the opposite side and participates in meditation. ”

"It's nothing," Wu Ciyou smiled reluctantly, "Please come up and sit." ”

Wei Dongting said: "Just sit here." He also sat on the edge of the kang and suppressed the excitement in his heart and said: "Let me tell you a letter, today's holy oracle, Jin Fengao worships as a master, a first-class duke." Just passed from there, the Ao Mansion held a feast, and the lanterns shone as if it were daytime...... He Xi's sedan chairs and sedans were all over the street. ”

"If Liu can't be the king, it's only one step away." Mingzhu said, "Brother Wu is annoyed, can't he pick up a few good things to say?" ”

Wu Ciyou said lightly: "There's nothing annoying. Last time, I said that it is extremely difficult to continue Ao Baisheng, and if this abacus bead is added, it will be about to return to one in ten. As far as I can see, either they are extremely smart today, or they have extremely clever people to guide them. ”

"What? How do you say that? Wei Dongting stared at Wu Ciyou with wide eyes, and Mingzhu also said: "Big brother, this is difficult to understand. Wu Ciyou smiled: "What's so difficult to understand about this, Ao Bai has been recuperating at home recently, and he has no size to work, why did the imperial court seal the best?" According to his heart, if he could swallow the emperor, he would have done it a long time ago. He actually accepted such a futile, he actually accepted it, and he was really fascinated by the authorities! ”

Wei Dongting and Mingzhu glanced at each other suspiciously. Wu Ciyou's words are too mysterious and too coincidental! Wu Ciyou saw the surprise of the two, and smiled: "Why should the second gentleman be serious!" I'm just right. Every day when you come back, you talk about the situation in the DPRK and China, so why don't you let me discuss a few words? ”

Wu Liuyi, the commander of the Nine Gates, has been preparing for his son's soup cake conference these days. Wu Liuyi got married very late, and Mrs. Qing's first two children were all girls, and it was not until she was forty-three years old that she gave birth to this Lin'er, and she was happy. During the three days of the banquet, more than 200 invitations were sent out. It's strange that there is not a single outsider invited, all of them are his old or new generals. But he has always behaved perversely, and people have seen evil as evil.

In the afternoon, the guests came to congratulate one after another, and the gift boxes of each family were filled with colors under the east and west corridors. Wu Liuyi did not give up, and everyone in the family was surprised: the old man has always been honest and self-professed, and he has not received any personal gifts except for Cha Yihuang in his life, how is it abnormal today?

Many of the guests were his former subordinates, and now they are all in Jinghua, some are on errand in the forbidden army, and some have long surpassed him in rank, but they still respect him very much. When they came, they only exchanged a few words of greeting, and most of them presented the ceremony in a single form, and then said "I have important things to do, and I can't have a table at night, please ask Haihan" and so on. Wu Liuyi knew that they still had to go to Aobai Mansion to socialize, but he didn't reveal it, dealt with them with a smile on his face, and then sent them away one by one. When it was nightfall, except for Wei Dongting, who was considered a foreign guest, the rest were all subordinate groups of deputy generals, staff generals, guerrillas, and Qianzong, who did not dare to leave without permission because they had not been ordered by Jun.

"Everyone!" As soon as Wu Liu saw that everyone had sat down, he stood up from the chairman and raised a large amount of wine, spoke with an accent that was neither south nor north, and said in a low voice: "Today's soup cake meeting for children, thank you for your appreciation!" I am so happy to see that most of them are brothers who have been crawling out with me for more than ten years! ”

General Liu, who was sitting at the first table, got up and arched his hand: "Military Gate!" Today's soup cake conference is thanks to the presence of Lord Wei. This is Lord Wei who can afford to lift the platform and didn't go to climb the high branches. Come on, come on, brother toast you first! After speaking, he poured a large glass of wine and handed it over with both hands. The court generals also urged in unison: "Lord Wei is a close minister of the Son of Heaven, and it is rare to come, so please ask Lord Wei to bless the young son first!" ”

"Good!" Wei Dongting saw that Wu Liuyi's generals were all heroic and bold, and even to his spleen and stomach, he raised his glass and sucked it dry, lit up the bottom of the cup and said: "Brother Mian takes the first cup, everyone please!" ”

So they staggered and shouted. In the first hall, only the first iron beggar has a glass on the left and a glass on the right, and he eats wine calmly. He Zhiming sat on the side of the table with Wei Dongting, and kept persuading him to drink and eat.

When the wine was half-drunk, Wu Liuyi's face was slightly drunk, and he said "convenient", and then resigned from everyone. Except for Wei Dongting, no one paid attention to his move. Seeing that Wei Dongting was stunned, Mr. He got up and poured wine, and whispered in a low voice: "Lord Wei, our military gate is going to be launched first, and I am afraid that it will be too late if it is too late." Wei Dongting's heart sank suddenly, the wine gushed up, his heart was beating suddenly, he forced himself to calm down, nodded and smiled: "Sure enough, it is worthy of its name, 'iron' is very good!" ”

While speaking, Wu Liuyi had already returned to the living room, only to see him wearing a red-topped hairpin, a Jiangya sea robe, a long sword tied around his waist, and a pair of new black satin official boots on his feet, and he walked in with a sway. The most conspicuous thing was the yellow coat that covered the outside of the supplement, which was golden and dazzling in the light, and the generals who were eating and drinking had a premonition that something big was going to happen, so they all stopped their cups and looked at their main generals in a daze, not knowing what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

Forty or fifty generals in the hall were stunned, watching the iron beggar walk to the middle as if no one was around. He didn't say a word, the muscles on his face twitched and trembled, his eyes were full of fierce light, and with a wave of his hand, there were already more than 30 full-fledged captains, "brushing" and scattering, sealing all the passages in the hall.

"Please, King!"

As soon as the iron beggar gave the order, the generals immediately got up and withdrew from their seats, standing on both sides. Several school captains holding the royal flag behind them roared, and slowly lifted out a delicate dragon pavilion carved with rosewood. In the middle, there is a royal blue order flag with yellow edges, and a yellow "order" is written on it in Manchu and Han characters, which is the royal flag of Wu Liuyi specially given by Emperor Shizu Daxing. As soon as the Dragon Pavilion fell, Liu joined the army and sang: "Long live!" He knelt down with a bang, and the rest of the people also chanted, knelt three times and bowed nine times, and knelt on the ground to listen to the order.

"Li Yiping, Huang Kesheng, Zhang Yifei, and Liu Cang are traitors, forming parties for personal gain, disrupting the army and government, and plotting against each other - they have taken it left and right!"

"Wow-"

Before the four of them could figure out what was going on, several wolf-like lieutenants came up viciously, grabbed one by two, skillfully twisted their arms back, and in the blink of an eye they were tied up firmly.

Li Yiping is a real deputy general, with the same rank as Wu Liuyi. At this time, he was frightened by Wu Liuyi's might, and when he came to his senses, he suddenly jumped up, twisted his neck and asked, "You say that we are traitors and plotters, what evidence do you have?" This is in Kyoto, and you want to kill people without an edict, it's not that easy! ”

"Search for them!" Wu Liuyi listened but did not listen, and pointed to a few captured people and ordered Goshha.

A search will make you clear. In addition to a sharp dagger, Li Yiping also had a pack of loose medicine. Wei Dongting has followed Shi Longbiao for a few years, and he has been exposed to it, and he knows that it is poison at a glance. He smiled and sat down, breathing a deep sigh of relief. Looking at Zhang Yifei and Liu Cang, they are also wearing inner armor and protecting themselves, each with a short sharp blade. Needless to say, they had already agreed before they went to the banquet. But Huang Kesheng didn't find anything on him, and stood dumbfounded.

Wu Liuyi was suddenly furious, and he sneered: "Mr. He, take out the list and read it, read one and take one by one!" "Yes!" He Zhiming stood up suddenly, his black bean-like eyes flashed with burning light, and he took out the list from his sleeve and read it aloud. There were eleven people in total, all of whom were tied up like rice brown by the captains. When I searched my body, there were eight people with murder weapons!

"Good!" Wu Liuyi smiled and asked, "Carrying such things in your arms to the banquet can be regarded as a thief's eye!" What else do you have to say? ”

"The dagger is a thing for self-defense, and poison is used to medicine rabbits!" Li Yiping shouted loudly, "Even if I came to kill you, is it a bad intention?" ”

"Humph!" Wu Liuyi sneered, and his anger came out of the dantian, which was even more fierce. He walked to Li Yiping's side with his sword and said, "I wanted to take your head, but you are not as good as a rabbit when you die, if you leave your tongue is somewhat useful-come!" ”

"Wow!" Captain Langxia replied thunderously.

Wu Liuyi suddenly raised his sword, stabbed horizontally, and the long sword went straight through the hips of Zhang Yifei and Liu Cang. The two of them screamed and flipped over—and then pulled out their bloody swords violently, slammed them on the soles of their boots with ease, and calmly inserted them into the sheath, "Collect the corpses, and Ming'er will send three thousand taels to their families." ”

The generals in the hall saw that he was extremely fierce, and he was ordered by the king, and no one dared to come out to persuade him.

"General Huang!" Wu Liuyi turned his face with a smile and said, "Your matter is unknown, go back to the back hall to rest for the time being, I really wronged you, and the iron beggar can bear the guilt!" - A few guerrilla brothers with hidden weapons, please come to the west wing, and I will prepare another table for you. Those who didn't bring the murder weapon followed General Huang! With a wave of his hand, he dragged the corpse, led the people, and cleaned up for a while.

"It's business, let's continue drinking!" Wu Liuyi stretched his waist and said with a smile, "Everyone, come on, come on, it's none of your business, let's eat!" ”

Although all the generals under his command are murderous generals who don't blink an eye, when have you ever seen this kind of battle? For a while, it was like eating the Empress Dowager Lu's feast, the flesh was beating and frightened, and they returned to their seats with soft legs. He Zhiming, the behind-the-scenes strategist, was also the same as Wei Dongting, he was dizzy and shaken, but at this time he calmed down, and hurriedly raised his glass and said, "Generals! Cheers to the young man's longevity! ”

Fang said a word, and suddenly a voice came in from outside: "The holy decree has arrived!" Wu Liuyi smiled and said to everyone: "I don't want to come quickly!" Sit down and eat and drink in peace, and I'll take the order! Then he ordered: "Fire the cannon to welcome the order!" ”

After three horns sounded here, Tai Bitu came in with a smile on his face and said: "Tie Gong, I have become a magpie to report the news today, and I will issue an edict to Taishi Ao in the morning, and I will send you a holy decree in the evening, and I will ask for a cup of wine for a while!" ”

Wu Liuyi laughed and said, "This is natural! As he spoke, he ordered the incense table to be laid out. Where can the generals still eat and drink, and one by one they stop their glasses and listen carefully.

Tai Bitu saw Wu Liuyi's kind face, without any nervous and guarded look, and his heart was half relieved. Just waiting for the incense case to stop, he paced to the top, stood facing south, and slowly unfolded the edict and read:

Present the edict: Wu Liuyi actually led the military department to serve the shortage, and added the title of Shangshu, to dazzle the eyes. The remaining nine admirals were vacant, and they were temporarily signed by Li Yiping. Chin this!

The people in the hall were shocked to hear this. Li Yiping, who was tied up in the east wing, was secretly happy in his heart, but his mouth was stuffed with hemp walnuts, and he couldn't make a sound.

Wu Liuyi kowtowed to his hand, and he didn't read it, and said to Tai Bitu with a grin: "It's business, eat and drink." Come, wash the dust of Lord Tai! ”

A lieutenant came out with a plate in both hands. Tai Bitu took a drink and said with a smile: "Please come out, Master Li, everyone will congratulate each other." Before the words were finished, they suddenly stopped, and it turned out that Wu Liuyi was reading the edict, and his face became more and more gloomy.

"Taigong!" Wu Liuyi flipped the edict with one hand and asked, "Why isn't it written by the emperor himself?" ”

"Except for the special purpose, how can there be a personal writing? It's all drafted by Hanlin, and then handed over to the emperor in the study for the seal to see. Tai Bitu was stunned and said, "How many heads do I have, dare to use a false edict to bully the king?" ”

"That's not right!" Wu Liuyi's face suddenly changed, his strange eyes widened, and even his voice was extremely harsh, and he turned around to greet the generals who were eating in the hall: "Come out!" ”

The generals were confused by the events of the night, and when they heard the shouts, they all came out one after another, bowing their heads and standing under the porch.

"I have a word, and the generals will listen quietly!" As soon as Wu Liuyi said loudly, he took out the secret edict from his bosom and said, "Shoot the cannon and receive the order!" Suddenly, he heard three loud noises like a shock. Where the fire and smoke began, the west wing room had been blown to the ground, and the eight guerrilla thousands who had come to eat and drink with murder weapons had been shattered into ashes! The generals under the corridor were all frightened, and they fell to the ground and shouted: "Long live!" ”

Wu Liuyi read out the secret edict in public, and shouted: "The emperor personally wrote the secret decree with me, the post of the commander of the Nine Gates, and the edict will not be given if you do not follow the handwritten edict!" Today, Taibitu Shilang came to give an edict, but he went to the study, which is strange! As he spoke, he passed the two edicts to the generals: "Look at them! ”

Tai Bitu was so frightened that his legs trembled, and he hurriedly laughed and said: "The lower officials didn't know that the emperor had this secret edict, so he must have made a mistake in the study." A little back will make it clear. Wu Gong will not obey the edict tonight. ”

"Taigong, don't you know that my name Wu is called Iron Beggar?" Wu Liuyi said with a smile, "Those who are 'iron' have a heart like iron, and those who are 'beggars' have nothing to ask for." Once you're here, it's not so easy to go! ”

"I'm an officer of the Ministry of War, no matter how powerful you are, you're just my subordinate, what should you do?" Tai Bitu knew that he couldn't be good, and his attitude became tougher.

"It's not very good," Wu Liuyi said with a smile, "You and General Li went all the way, and you endured patience in the east wing of our mansion for a while, Ming'er has figured out the matter, and I will make amends to you!" With a wave of his hand, he said, "Capture!" ”

"Bold!" Tai Bitu is the squire of the military department, and with a loud shout, several captains looked at each other, and froze and did not dare to move. The iron beggar was furious, took off the sword with a brush, held it in his hand, and shouted: "Capture!" The captains didn't dare to slack off any longer, so they stepped forward and pushed away.

"Slow!" Wei Dongting walked out of the hall with a smile, "Please ask Tai Shilang to write a note to Ao Zhongtang." ”

"Write what?" Seeing that Wei Dongting was also here, Tai Bitu knew that the general trend had gone, and asked in a trembling voice.

"You write," Wei Dongting raised his hand, and a small guy in the hall took out a pen and inkstone and paved it on the steps, "just write down the eight words 'beggars have been harmonized, act according to the plan'." Tai Bitu was helpless, so he had to shake his hands and write a few times, and Wei Dongting smiled with satisfaction and said to the generals: "A few brothers are too gentle, Tai Shilang went in like this, wouldn't it make General Li red-eyed, please also settle it." ”

The iron beggar only nodded, and the lieutenants followed Li Yiping's example and tied him up to the east wing.

After the disposal is completed, the sky will be bright, and it is the time when the five drums are leaked. Time is quite urgent, Wei Dongting smiled at Wu Liuyi: "The general is really happy to do things, but there is still one more thing, I want to ask the general to help." ”

"What's the matter?"

"In addition to doing what we agreed on the night before, we also have to take Mr. He on a dangerous trip."

"Me?" He Zhiming was a little inexplicable when he saw himself, and when he saw Wei Dongting shaking the note in his hand, he immediately understood. After hesitating, he muttered, "I'm afraid I'm not up to the task, right?" ”

"You're very scheming, and you have to do this." Wei Dongting said with a smile, "Edict, you are the head of the Ministry of War, and you are rewarded with the title of waiter, can you see the master empty-handed?" ”

He Zhiming said: "It's not that I don't dare to go, Ao Bai is the most suspicious, but I am afraid that I will miss the major events of the Lord by asking three questions and two questions." ”

"Zhiming!" Wu Liuyi said angrily, "I have 'put my eyes' on it, it's time for you to 'kill', don't be suspicious, don't be soft, the success or failure of the husband is in this move!" ”

When He Zhiming heard this, he arched his hands high and said, "That brother reluctantly obeyed his life!" After speaking, he went to change into a green coat, and said goodbye with a note on his sleeve.