Out of the noon gate, Wei Dongting rode on his horse and added a whip, and hurriedly ran to Yuepengdian, Mingzhu, who was waiting in front of Tiananmen Square, saw him running quickly, stomped his feet and complained: "I thought you would come when you went, but it was delayed for a long time!" Let's go back and take a look at the fourth, hey, where did this start! Wei Dongting didn't say much, only said: "Why are you still here, let's go!" Then the two of them galloped side by side.

The guards at the door of the Yue Peng store were also heavily guarded, which was expected. The people nearby didn't know what was going on with this special inn, so they looked inside, but they didn't dare to come and watch because they couldn't guess the head. Wei Dongting and Mingzhu came to the door to rein the horses and dismount from the saddle. The gatekeepers had already been instructed by the wolf, and one by one they stood with their hands down.

He Guizhu was standing under the corridor and arranged a banquet. Seeing the two of them coming back, he hurriedly stepped forward, and said according to the etiquette of the official of the Si Jian Hall, "They are waiting for the two of them inside!" ”

"Come along!" Wei Dongting said with a stiff face, "Make the feast richer!" With that, he took Mingzhu's hand into the back hall. Although Mingzhu was calm on the surface, Wei Dongting's hand was cold and wet when he touched him, and he was full of sweat.

is still in the place where Wu Ciyou was talking about back then, but the main seat was replaced by the intoxicated Hao Laosi. Sitting on either side were Mu Zixu and the donkey, with gloomy faces and silent faces. However, Wu Ciyou was still a little more free, and when he saw them coming in, he got up and said, "The fourth brother Hao has been waiting for you for a while, let's sit and talk." As he spoke, he saw He Guizhu come in and direct the cook to serve the food, but it was a full table of land and water, with large pots and small bowls on the table, and there were more than 40 cold dishes. The crowd just stayed, and no one wanted to move.

"Fourth brother!" Mingzhu raised his glass and said first, "The brothers know the matter!" The eldest husband dares to do it, and regards life and death as child's play, I think the fourth brother is a good man. Come, brother, I will toast you first! ”

Hao Laosi raised his glass and looked at the people around him, and suddenly smiled: "It's still Brother Mingzhu!" The first to die is respected, I will be the first to steal this glass of wine! As he spoke, he stretched his neck and drank, "Please!" ”

Everyone drank together. He Guizhu's eyes were blurred with tears, and it was difficult to drop alcohol, and he whimpered: "It's good, how could such a thing happen, it's really hard to think!" Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke.

"Pillar!" Wei Dongting knew that as soon as he cried, everyone couldn't control it, so he ruined the banquet and hurriedly stopped: "Today is the happy day of the fourth child's ascension to heaven, you can't do this!" When Wu Ciyou heard this, he secretly hurt himself, and forced back his tears and said: "What Brother Huchen said is true." Brother Hao Xian said goodbye today, we can send him drunk. The fourth brother violated the king's law, and we can't save him, can't we even do our best? Come! Brother, I toast you too! ”

Hao Laosi shook and took the glass of wine and drank it, and said with a smile: "I do have a good relationship with Bambul, I'm sorry for the emperor, I won't give in even if I die!" Those who are dying do not speak, I dare to swear to the heavens, and I will never harm your brothers! ”

"This is what I wanted," Wu Ciyou said, "You just didn't estimate the general trend, but I'm afraid you want to open up another way for your brothers." That being the case, we don't need to blame, there is no meeting today, you can have a few more drinks. Saying that, he offered another cup, and Hao Laosi drank it without hesitation.

Mingzhu stood up calmly and said: "I still have half a bottle of jade pot spring, and I kept a little bit of it when I had a conversation with Mr. Wu around the fireplace back then, I thought -" He couldn't go on. He originally wanted to save this half bottle of wine for drinking with Aunt Cui when he was named on the gold list, but at this time he had to change his words and said: "I thought that after the big event, our brothers would drink together, but today I had to go to the fourth brother!" Then he turned and went back.

Hao Laosi was drunk, he was already a little drunk at this time, and turned his face to ask Mu Zixu: "Second brother, why don't you and the third brother have no words?" Do you resent your brother? ”

Mu Zixu's face was as white as paper, and he smiled bitterly: "Brother, Brother Wei is busy with things, and he can't take care of it, I always take care of it, so you end up like this!" Wei Dongting listened but felt dizzy for a while, but he had nothing to say. The donkey brought the spirit of wine, slammed the case, stood up and said: "The fourth brother has a merit and a merit, why can't he forgive!" Is it greater than the sin of worship? I'm looking for the emperor and saying! Turning around and leaving, Wei Dongting hurriedly grabbed him. The sergeant outside heard the noise, and without knowing what was going on, he poked his head in to see that it was all right, and then retreated.

Seeing this, Wu Ciyou dissuaded: "The heart of heaven is difficult to return, the power of heaven is unpredictable, and it has been ...... since ancient times" He wanted to say "Accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger", but swallowed it back and held a glass of wine to Hao Laosi, "Brother, drink this cup, my brother will make an elegy for you!" Seeing that Hao Laosi had drunk, he got up and chanted in a trembling voice: "There is no perfect person in ancient and modern times, it is sad that the sergeant is punished, and there are people under the Nine Plains; ……”

"Wait." Wei Dongting was really burned at this time, and said proudly, "Mr. Wu is in the next league, and several of our brothers will go to the court tomorrow, and if we don't do it, we will get back the life of the fourth brother, and maybe we can save the heart of heaven." At this moment, Mingzhu came in with half a bottle of wine. When he heard this, he couldn't help but be amazed. Today, this matter has been confirmed in front of the Long Live Lord, how can it be turned around again? He pondered while pouring wine, but said in his mouth: "Yes, ask the emperor for permission to make meritorious contributions, maybe it will work." ”

As he was saying this, he heard the sergeants outside the door scolding: "Where did the ugly Taoist priest come from, he doesn't look at the place when he turns into a fate, go quickly!" Wei Dongting heard the noise, went out to look, and saw Hu Gongshan dressed in Taoist clothes, unkempt, and said madly: "The emperor still has a poor family, can't I eat the good wine and good food here?" As he spoke, he rushed in. When the sergeant guarding the door is busy, where can he stop him! The people who were eating and drinking in the house were stunned for a while, and Wei Dongting motioned to the sergeant guarding the door to retreat, and asked the chief inspector in court, "Where did the crane come from?" ”

"Come looking for the apprentice!" Hu Gongshan said with a smile, "What crane doesn't drive, this table of good wine and food has made me poor again." ”

"Master!" Hao Laosi suddenly remembered that he had encountered Hu Gongshan in Baiyun Temple, and shouted: "Master is here, haha!" Master is here! Everyone in the room was stunned, not knowing what was going on, Hao Laosi was already kneeling on the ground.

Hu Gongshan came in in a big way, and only said to He Guizhu: "Master He, the poor road is going to disturb you, are you willing?" He Guizhu was sweating, and hurriedly responded: "Of course, of course...... Wei Dongting said with an idea: "In the past, Hu was worshipped, and today he is a dog Taoist." There's a pork shoulder here, can you still eat it? Hu Gongshan sat down and said with a smile: "You still have the affection of an old friend, and a cooked pork leg is naturally happy to gnaw!" He Guizhu hurriedly went to the kitchen and brought out a freshly stewed Jinhua ham on a large plate.

"Good!" Hu Gongshan only glanced at Hao Laosi, who was kneeling on the ground, and looked at others as if they were nothing, grabbed the ham and chewed it with his hands, and asked with a sigh in his mouth: "Master Wei, when will this little guy return to heaven?" When Hu Gongshan spoke, the wolf outside had already been reported, and he walked in with his sword. Hearing this, he said: "The emperor ordered him to commit suicide tonight." ”

"Why do you need to be in time?" The ham in Hu Gongshan's hand was almost finished, so he asked: "Disciple, I promised you to do this on your behalf, are you willing?" ”

Hao Laosi is no less intelligent than a pearl, and he already knows his intentions, so he hurriedly kowtows like pounding garlic and says: "The apprentice is willing!" ”

"You get up, eat this glass of wine, Master will send you on your way!" Hu Gongshan picked up the wine and said to everyone: "Please, please, everyone is a friend of my apprentice Hao Chuncheng, and they are not outsiders, come!" ”

Everyone didn't know what trick he had made, and they hesitated to look at each other and pick up the wine bowl. Wei Mingzhu looked at the bowl of jade pot he poured in a daze.

"The pearl benefactor," Hu Gongshan said with a smile, "Please drink it too, Song Hong, the minister of Han Guangwu, said: 'The poor and lowly friends must not be forgotten, and the wives of the chaff will not go to court.'" You can't fail to deliver on a word! ”

"Brother Hu is too good at laughing," Mingzhu's face turned red and white, "Can you still drink wine?" And he took it, but he refused to drink.

"Poisoned wine!" Although the donkey is stupid and smart, when he saw Mingzhu so embarrassed, he suddenly came to his senses, slapped the table with a "snap", jumped over, grabbed Mingzhu's chest, and scolded: "You brute, what enmity does he have against you, so he will do this?" Mingzhu was dragged out of breath, only shook his head with a wry smile, and said intermittently: "Third brother is wrong...... Blame the Wrong Brothers...... Finish! ”

"Yes!" Hu Gongshan took the wine and said with a smile, "Let go of Master Ming, people outside the poor road have a compassionate heart, this poisonous wine is used in the poor way!" He opened his mouth and shook it, and the wine had been drunk cleanly. pushed a bowl of wine to Mingzhu again, "You drank this bowl and saw off your fourth child!" Seeing Hu Gongshan like this, Mingzhu dared to return to his mouth, so he had to drink it.

"Good, good!" Hu Gongshan laughed while gently tapping two palms on Hao Laosi's back, and Hao Laosi fell to the ground unconscious without snorting. The wolf was immediately startled, called the coroner with him, stepped forward to touch his nose, knocked his pulse, and when he rolled his eyes, his pupils had already dispersed, so he got up and replied: "Your Excellency, this person is dead!" ”

Everyone immediately made an uproar, and the donkey's eyes were red and he pounced on Hu Gongshan and grabbed Hu Gongshan: "You demon, what method did you use to kill my brother?" It also shows that the beads have a bad heart, I think you are a bastard! This sentence touched Mingzhu, he beat his chest and cried, and threw himself on Hao Laosi's body and scratched and scratched: "Fourth brother, don't ...... Don't blame your brother! You are bitter...... Brother can't stand it! Wu Ciyou was a little suspicious of him, but seeing him so sad, Hu Gongshan drank the jade pot of spring wine again, and at this time he was relieved, and he couldn't help but sit down in the chair and cry. Wei Dongting knew that Hu Gongshan had a great martial arts that could cause people to fake their death, but at this time, he had to pretend to be confused, so he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his tears.

"Dead?" Wolf Look, he asked the coroner again.

"Back to the adult's words, there are no six veins, and the breath is gone!"

"I'm asking if you're dead!"

"W-yes, dead!"

"Then I'll pay the order!" The wolf turned his face to Hu Gongshan, "I have heard for a long time that the old Taoist martial arts are clever, and it is a great good thing to send you back in vain without pain and pain." We have a very good relationship with the fourth brother, and I thank you here. After that, he took the people from the criminal department to leave and pay the order.

"Ming-sama!" Hu Gongshan said, "This Hao Laosi was originally Shi Longbiao's disciple, and now he is my apprentice, so I want to ask you to give me a face, let me take his body back to Emei Mountain, and incinerate it according to the rules of our Taoism." ”

"This ...... Brother Wei, what do you see? ”

"You don't need to ask the surname Wei, you just agree, who else can stop me?" Hu Gongshan said, flicked his sleeves, and threw out a few drops of wine on the ground. Mingzhu saw it and hurriedly said: "Then it should naturally be done according to your rules, but this is just what I said, and it depends on what your brothers mean." ”

"Who dares to stop me?" Hu Gongshan's eyes suddenly widened angrily, and he shouted, "My disciples died in your hands, are you not allowed to collect the corpse!" As he spoke, he picked up Hao Lao Si and walked out. The donkey wanted to rush up to stop it, but Wei Dongting gently pulled it from the side, looked at Wei Dongting's eyes, and stopped pestering. Hu Gongshan walked out of the hall, and the stepping stones he stepped on had been disconnected one by one. Seeing that this ugly Taoist priest had such ability, everyone was shocked.

Regardless of the fate of these people themselves, the Chaogang is becoming more and more purged. The thirteen yamen were withdrawn, and Kangxi ordered the formation of the Shanpu Battalion. Mu Zixu and Donkey were each promoted to third-class guards, and they were good at fighting the camp of 4,000 men and horses, guarding the Forbidden City full-time, and they were still led by Wei Dongting. He was demoted to a co-organizer of the university, and co-authored Suo Etu and Xiong Ci walked in the study on the Maoqin Palace. Yangxin Temple stopped receiving foreign ministers, and Kangxi changed to listen to politics in Qianqingmen every day. The top and bottom are connected, and there is no stagnation. After issuing an edict in May strictly prohibiting land enclosure and occupying houses, it was followed by the exemption of 45 prefectures in Zhili, Jiangnan, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang and other places. In August, Kangxi suddenly issued another edict, Ren Mingzhu was the imperial history of the left capital, Qin sent Xi'an, and locked Mo Luo, the governor of Shanxi, and Bai Qing, the governor of Shanxi, to enter Beijing to punish crimes, and interviewed the people by the way. Qia Wu Ciyou was also going back to the south, so Mingzhu asked him to go all the way. Wei Dongting invited Suo Etu, Xiong Cixu, and the Mu brothers, picked up wine and food, and served them together.

It was the golden autumn of September. Yellow flower land, blue clouds, Yongding River a bay brocade belt murmuring east, lined with Yanshan light dyeing, clouds thin floating. As soon as the autumn wind passes, the yellow leaves on the weeping willows fall one by one, falling on the withered yellow withered grass, curled up and trembling, and it seems that the heaven and the earth are slaughtered, and the parting is long.

When the banquet moved, Wu Ciyou got up and said: "I have been in Beijing since the seventeenth year of Shunzhi and have been seeking fame in vain, for more than eight years. I don't want to be self-conscious and deviant, but the ups and downs of life have been tasted and the Holy Lord has been recognized, and this life is no longer wasted! I am from the lake and the sea, and I still go to the lake and the sea, why regret it? As he spoke, he looked at Xiong Ci and said, "The moral article of the king is admirable, and he will be able to be pragmatic, govern the country and the people, and lay the foundation of my Chinese eternal life." This is what we scholars hope for! ”

Xiong Cixu is a famous physicist, and he has always had a headache for Wu Ciyou's "miscellaneous", but today's farewell, seeing Wu Ciyou's expression so solemn and sincere, although there are rules in the language, it is also a correct theory, and the little mustard that exists on weekdays can't help but be swept away. Seeing Wu Ciyou talking to himself, he hurriedly bowed down and replied: "Mr. Wu's eloquence and strategy have won the appreciation of the Holy Lord. ”

"Where did I get my ambition?" Wu Ciyou said with a smile, "He may meet you in the future, if you don't give up, your wish is enough." Step down or come to Jiangnan, I will discuss with you more carefully, and make a few more exchanges! This means that when Kangxi was studying in Suofu, he sometimes brought Xiong Ci cloth to accompany him, and often debated when they met, and there was no ending yet. Xiong Cixu couldn't help but smile and said, "Okay, a word is a certainty!" ”

Suo Etu went to the river and broke a willow branch, turned around and said: "Having said that, it won't take long for Mingzhu to come back, and I don't know when I will see Mr. again!" Wu Ciyou said with a smile: "Master Suo can't get rid of his children's affection!" As he spoke, he took the willow branch and pondered, "I think that although the willow is good, it will always drift with the wind, but it is better than bamboo." Jun gave me willow, and I also gave me a bamboo poem. This is what Guan Shengdi wrote, Yun:

Xie Dong Junyi,

Danqing is an independent name.

Don't be afraid of lonely leaves,

It will never wither! ”

Wei Dongting was listening, and felt even more sad in his heart, and said with a smile: "We are saying goodbye for a while, these words and these poems are too bleak." If there is an urgent need, it can also be transmitted by the post road, and it is convenient for fish and geese to come and go. So saying, he took wine and offered it to the two of them. Mu Zixu and the donkey also stepped forward to hold hands and cherish each other. Only then did everyone shed tears and say goodbye. Mingzhu ordered: "Lead the horse!" ”

More than 30 entourages on both sides heard the order of the minister to set off, and lined up the honor guard of the halogen book with a thunderous "chirp". Mingzhu helped Wu Ciyou get on the horse, and he also turned over on his mount, and the three cannon shots sounded, and the team began to walk. Wei Dongting and the others waited until they couldn't see their backs before returning to the city.

Mingzhu looked back on the horse, glanced at the Dongzhi Gate that was getting farther and farther away, and looked at the towering dangerous buildings in the deserted suburbs, which also aroused his own thoughts. I entered Beijing from here in the first place, and I was alone and scattered, with no relatives and no food and clothing, what a tragic scene it was! Today, he came out of this gate again, and he was already a brilliant messenger who went out on patrol on behalf of the Son of Heaven. The green-maned horse with nine pythons and five claws of the hedgehog god sheep supplement, behind the top of the sapphire flowering coral, dragged a green peacock feather straight, really has the spirit of "crown floating hole green sky and fine wind"! "This is how a husband should live in the world, and I have to do a few good things for the people in a down-to-earth manner, and it is not difficult to live for a hundred years!" Mingzhu thought about turning around, raising the whip, and just wanted to say, "It may not be the spring breeze to be proud, and walking in the autumn scenery will also make people happy", but when he saw Wu Ciyou's depressed face, he swallowed back.

Wu Ciyou was already somewhat aware. He smiled slightly: "Eighty-three rains in the wheat harvest, Gyeonggi has retreated from the fields, and the people have the heart to farm, and the rain a few days ago was very good." ”

Mingzhu frowned and said, "What the eldest brother said is true." But the people still seem to be suspicious. We've been walking more than 30 miles, haven't we? There are not many people who plough in autumn along the way. ”

"People who have arable fields but no cultivated fields are not only directly subordinate, but also in our hometown." Wu Ciyou paused for a moment and sighed, "How many years of fighting, plus the enclosure and entanglement, now it is full of mourning, extremely desolate, and the people's livelihood is waiting for Su!" ”

One is "proud of the autumn wind", and the other is "desolate in the sky". The same scene, the two people have different moods, and their feelings are different. Mingzhu is an extremely smart person, and immediately realized this, and felt that he should adapt to Wu Ciyou's emotions, and said with a smile: "The eldest brother always thinks about the people's livelihood, and the younger brother admires it." The younger brother should follow the example of the eldest brother and do something beneficial to the people. ”

"What do I think about people's livelihood?" Wu Ciyou smiled, "That's Long'er's business." But this little wish of yours is good for the people, and the foolish brother will look at you! In my opinion, if we don't fight, we can recover in five years, but if we start fighting again, it's hard to say. ”

"The battle is no longer fought." Mingzhu continued, "If you fight again, the people and the court won't be able to stand it." ”

"It's up to you and me, and it's not up to the emperor, it depends on what Wu Sangui thinks." Wu Ciyou said, "But the common people don't want to go to war again, which is indeed true." Heaven listens to its own people, and heaven sees itself as its own people. Wu Sangui dared to risk this big disapproval, which seemed to be a dead end. He's crazy and incompetent. At the beginning of last year, I visited Baiyun Temple and saw his inscription, I said that he was 'not virtuous, not measured', and the end would not be better than Aobai. Mingzhu nodded silently.