The summer solstice is approaching, and the five drums have just been handed over, and the Forbidden City is already bright. The little eunuch who held the lamp blew out the lamps hanging in front of the palace and in Yongxiang one after another, and the eunuch who kept vigil also stretched his waist and yawned and went back to sleep. Yesterday, Wu Ciyou was invited to a banquet at Suo'etu Mansion, Kangxi was very happy, and he got up early in the morning to practice in the imperial garden. He was wearing a tight-fitting jacket and took Zhang Wanqiang with him, and as soon as he turned out of the east gate of the Yangxin Palace, he saw Su Malagu coming towards him, so he smiled and said: "You even have a time when the whole army is destroyed!" Do you dare to underestimate the people of the world again? Su Malagu said with a smile while giving a salute and asking for peace: "How dare a slave be presumptuous if he doesn't follow Yi's order, and he will be happy if he loses!" I'm a woman, of course I can't cultivate a Buddha, and I just want to be a bodhisattva. Kangxi smiled and turned back to Zhang Wanqiang and said, "You go and bring the banner that Mr. Wu wrote yesterday." ”

Zhang Wanqiang promised to say "yes", and a little eunuch had already run in and took it out. Su Malagu didn't understand what it meant, and when she took the paper scroll and unfolded it, it was a couplet, and she couldn't help but move in her heart, just silently examined it. Kangxi had already led people to the back.

Su Malagu walked through Yongxiang, went out of the gate, and saw two little eunuchs whispering beside the gilded copper jar. When he listened carefully, one said: "You ask Lao Zhao to beg the Seventh Prince to open up the net and save your younger brother, isn't it." ”

"Boom!" The other neck twisted and said, "What is the Seventh Prince, it's useless!" ”

"And who's in charge?"

This one lightly pounded the cylinder with his hand: "Lao Zhao said, tell me to find the Nemo guards to talk to-" As he was talking, he looked up and saw that it was Su Malagu standing in front of him, and was startled: "Yo! Didn't you see that it was Sister Su, waiting for the emperor to go out? ”

Su Malagu sneered: "Don't be vague with me, don't you hear me?" Honestly, how nice it is! The little eunuch knew that she heard it, and hurriedly smiled: "Actually, Sister Su must know, something bad happened to Su Zhongtang, and his brother in Huangsi Village followed and asked someone to take it, and wanted to ask the Nemo guards to say a favor." ”

Su Malagu was shocked in her heart, but her face refused to show it, and she smiled: "What should I do!" Lord Sukh Saha hasn't been dismissed yet, so what kind of crime is he convicted? ”

The little eunuch hurriedly said: "What! You don't know yet, the people from the Criminal Department and Shuntianfu have all gone out and raided the house of Master Suke Saha, saying that he is a rebellion-" As he was talking, he swallowed and refused to speak.

Su Malagu's face turned pale, she forced herself to calm down, and reluctantly smiled: "This is also a big deal!" The Seventh Prince will come to play later, just ask for a favor. Huang Sicun said with a smile: "It is the order of the Seventh Prince who takes Su Zhongtang, and he is willing to intercede?" Su Malagu became more and more suspicious, and she didn't care to ask any more, and said, "Isn't Ah San on the chef the godson of the Nemo guard?" Go to him and ask for it, there is no one, you can go! Then he turned and hurried towards the Imperial Garden.

However, Kangxi is no longer in the Imperial Garden. The eunuch Zhang Wanqiang was Zhang Luo, and the little eunuchs were cleaning up the swords, guns, swords, halberds and stone locks and stone balls used for practice. Su Malagu panted and asked, "What about the emperor?" Zhang Wanqiang said: "You don't know? Just now, the messenger said that the seventh prince asked for a discussion, and the emperor ordered him to wait in Yuqing Palace, so he drove away. ”

Hearing about Yuqing Palace, Su Malagu felt a little relieved. It was originally an errand for the Wahe, but now that the Uhe is gone, the original team is still led by the guards; Temporarily transferred Sun Dianchen from the worship room to the general manager. This man is just a little timid, but he is actually quite loyal. After thinking about it, he asked, "Who went with the guards?" ”

Zhang Wanqiang shook his head: "Then there is naturally someone on duty, how-"

Before he finished speaking, Aunt Su Mala panicked: "Don't say it, send someone to find Xiao Weizi to Yuqing Palace, don't soak here, hurry up—just say that I came to serve at the behest of Yi, I will go to Cining Palace, there is no one who is not allowed!" ”

Zhang Wanqiang had never seen Aunt Su Mala in such a hurry, and he was also frightened, and while ordering someone to find Wei Dongting, he said, "You guys come after packing up." He turned around and ran to Yuqing Palace.

Kangxi danced for a while, relaxed his body, put on a camel-colored kudzu robe, and drove to Yuqing Palace. Suo Etu, Xiong Cixu, Tai Bitu and other ministers of the ministry waited outside the hall to see him, and when they saw him coming, they knelt down.

Kangxi climbed the steps comfortably, smiled at Suo Etu, but saw Suo Etu looking at him strangely, he was stunned, and hurriedly stepped into the hall, but saw Ao Bai and Jieshu kneeling side by side on the ground, and his heart suddenly became suspicious, hesitated and stopped, stabilized his mood, sat on the royal chair in the middle casually, and smiled faintly: "Erqing, please speak, Uncle Seven, please see, what is there to play?" ”

Jie Shu looked up and saw Kangxi's sharp gaze, shrunk away, knelt down and bowed his head, and said: "Suke Saha, please guard the tomb case, the servants and others have already been drafted, please ask the Holy Lord to send a decree." Kangxi glanced at Aobai, and saw Aobai standing solemnly, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, knowing that something was wrong, and then said slowly: "How can 'slaves wait'?" Didn't I just entrust you? But since you've waited for the meeting, read the recitals to me. ”

Jie Shu trembled and unfolded the fold, and read it in the future: "I am here to serve the ......" Fang read half a sentence, and Kangxi interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "I don't need to read my criticism." How are you going to send out Sukh Saha? ”

"Yes......" Jieshu kowtowed, "The slave waited for it to think again and again, Sukh Saha, as an auxiliary minister, was entrusted by the previous emperor, and he didn't know ...... but they barked wildly and despised the Lord ......"

"Slow!" Kangxi shouted in a trembling voice, "I didn't hear clearly, read it aloud!" He was shocked and angry, gritted his teeth and said, "How to deal with such a big crime?" ”

Seeing Kangxi's change of color, Jie Shu became more and more frightened, and looked back at Aobai, who also stared at him with a smile, with a fierce light in his eyes, and couldn't help but think of the high-legged silver cup that had broken his waist, so he stubbornly played: "Bully...... Bullying the Lord, conspiring against the Lord, and bullying ...... Ling Chi was executed, and the whole family was beheaded ......"

For a time, the huge Yuqing Palace was as dead and silent as an ancient tomb, and only a gilded Western self-striking bell in the corner of the hall mechanically "clicked". The ministers of the ministry kneeling outside the hall looked at each other, and Suo Etu forced his extremely nervous mood to carefully spy on the movements in the hall.

Kangxi grabbed the back of the chair with both hands, pinched out the sweat, forced himself not to scold the case, and only asked with a slight stutter: "Su ...... Sukh Saha asked to guard the tomb of the first emperor, but his words were a little fierce, how could he be involved in rebellion? Besides, I just sent a decree to ask you, how did you even condemn yourself? ”

Jie Shu kowtowed again and again, only saying "this-" but could not answer.

Ao Bai looked at the prince's nest appearance, and secretly laughed in his heart, feeling that it was his time to speak, so he flicked the horse's hoof sleeves briskly, knelt down in his robe, and raised his head and said: "Suke Saha has failed the grace entrusted by the previous emperor and disrespected the current emperor, which is no different from rebellion, and there is nothing improper here. The slave thinks that what the king of parliament has played is very good! ”

Yesterday, the class started, and Wu Ciyou's first article was "The Mean". At this time, Kangxi sneered: "Punish people to death, Shang Yan 'Zhongyun'." Which sage are you reading? I want to know what enmity Sukh Saha has with you, and I will get rid of him! ”

Ao Bai thought for a moment and then said loudly: "There is no enmity between the minister and Suke Saha, just deal with it impartially!" ”

"What a loyalty!" Kangxi sneered. Ao Bai did not kowtow, knelt down and arched his hand: "It seems that if thieves like Suke Saha are not dealt with heavily, their subordinates will be bullied in the future!" ”

Before the words fell, only a "snap" sound, Kangxi slapped his palm on the dragon case, and his eyes seemed to be on fire: "The bully is reckless, why not in front of you!" I see that Sukh Saha still has some rules! ”

Ao Bai was also on fire, thinking to himself, today is the dark sun, and Su Ke Saha must be killed, otherwise this heel will be planted to the end. He jumped up from the ground, rolled up his horseshoe sleeves, waved his fist and said, "Didn't the emperor say that I was bullying the king?" As he spoke, he approached the throne with a menacing attitude.

Kangxi couldn't help but gasp. Sun Dianchen, the guard on duty, was also shocked into a cold sweat. Take a step forward to block between Aobai and Kangxi. Almost at the same time, the wolf swooped out.

The guards standing outside the hall, Mu Lima and Nemo, had already heard it clearly, and the two of them gave each other a look, and each stepped into the temple door with a knife on his waist. Jieshu, who was kneeling on the ground, didn't know them, and hurriedly shouted, "What are you doing? Retire! Mu Lima replied with a smile: "The guards of the Qianqing Palace, Mu Lima and Nemo, are here to serve!" As he spoke, he walked towards Kangxi without stopping.

When Kangxi saw the two guards coming in, his heart was relieved at first; As soon as he heard that it was Mulima, he suddenly felt that the situation was serious, and cold sweat immediately oozed out of his forehead, and he shouted: "What do you want to serve, retreat!" Jie Shu also got up, and scolded with a blue face: "You are the poor of the Qianqing Palace, what is the matter with you here, go out!" ”

The Emperor and the King of Parliament both spoke, and Mulima and Nemu had to hesitate to stand still and act at the gesture of Aobai. At this moment, I heard Xiong Cixu outside the hall playing loudly: "Your Majesty, the guard Wei Dongting, please meet!" ”

Kangxi's spirit suddenly perked up, and he commanded sharply: "Come in!" Before the words fell, Wei Dongting was covered with sweat and stepped into the hall. As soon as Mu Lima saw Wei Dongting, his eyes were on fire, and he blocked sideways, but somehow Wei Dongting had bypassed it very quickly. Ao Bai turned around and looked at the young man, Gege smiled and asked, "What's the matter with the emperor?" ”

Wei Dongting didn't seem to hear it, knelt down, and said to Kangxi: "If you don't retreat from the dynasty so late, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager will send their servants to come and see." Kangxi waved his hand and said, "Since you are here, you will wait here first, and then return to the palace together." ”

"Chi-" Wei Dongting agreed, then stood up, and then said to Ao: "Go back to the middle hall, follow the order of the two palaces, and come to wait for the long live lord." With that, he walked past him with a big grin, and stood directly on Kangxi's left side, his eyes scanning the hall with bright eyes.

Kangxi was a little relieved, he wanted to take this opportunity to behead Aobai, but when he saw that Mulima and Nemo retreated to both sides, and they were both carrying waist knives, he thought about it for a long time and finally felt that the force was too single, and if he really started, the success or failure was unpredictable. When he looked at Aobai, he still had a fierce face, and sighed in his heart: "I have to take a step back first!" As soon as his heart calmed down, he spoke more fluently: "You don't have to be so impetuous, even if you are guilty, you won't be executed in Lingchi!" ”

At this moment, Ao Bai also quickly assessed the situation, and he was making a big move here in front of him, and the certainty of killing Kangxi was very small. Let's say that there is a Wei Dongting, and dozens of guards under Sun Dianchen are all under the porch outside, how can they deal with it? Besides, there are still Suo Etu and a group of military ministers standing outside the hall, how can they stand by and watch? After weighing for a long time, he looked left and right and replied: "According to the law, Suke Saha is the crime of Ling Chi, but since the emperor is merciful, it will be exempted and beheaded instead!" ”

Kangxi listened to Aobai's words and eased up, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief: his safety problem is not big. But at the thought of killing Sukh Saha, he couldn't bear it, so he just kept a straight face and muttered. Jieshu, who was kneeling on the side, knew that if he didn't kill Sukh Saha, he might make a big mess if he was entangled, so he kowtowed and said, "If you are foolish, you will ...... Hang it! ”

Kangxi's body shook for a moment, gritted his teeth and still didn't speak. Ao Bai smiled and said: "Look at the faces of the emperor and His Royal Highness, cheap him with a whole corpse!" After speaking, he didn't bow down, and a long man said, "The minister will go to prison!" Turning back to Mulima and Nemo, he roared, "Bastard boy! What are you doing standing here, and you don't come with me? He stomped his foot and took his uncle and nephew away.

Looking at the arrogant figure of Ao Bai going away, Kangxi was so angry that he softened, he got up and wanted to leave, but when he saw that Jieshu was still prostrate and didn't dare to move, he paced slowly and said coldly: "Prince Jieshu, you raise your head!" ”

Jie Shu raised his head in horror, dodging Kangxi's forced gaze, and wanted to speak a few times, but he didn't say anything. Kangxi wanted to kick him to death at this time, thought about it, sighed and waved his hand: "You...... Kneel down! ”

The summer solstice of the sixth year of Kangxi was a dull and cloudy day. The clouds are pressed low. The willow branches by the sea hung motionless to the water, and the fruit vendors on the street also changed their usual wide and elastic voices, and shouted weakly, "Xiangsi'er-hemp candy-" and "Who wants to paste cake fritters and twist flowers-"

After falling asleep, he got up and asked the Queen Mother to say goodbye, so Kangxi took Su Malagu and Wei Dongting according to the old rules, took a small sedan chair out of Shenwu Gate, and quietly went to Suofu in Xizhimen to attend classes.

There is a servant who specially welcomes Kangxi at the door of the back house of Suofu, who is the second-generation slave of the Suo Etu family. Although they have long since retired, they have been reinstated for this errand. A few plainclothes guards lived here to help take care of it, so you didn't need to alarm the rest of the house, you could go straight into the inner courtyard of the back house.

This is a large back garden, with more than a dozen acres of land. Several pavilions of varying heights are scattered around the pond, including a pressurized arch bridge leading to the center of the pool. Bypass the exquisite rockery, and then pass through a tortuous stone bridge to the study, where Wu Ciyou lived to teach Kangxi.

When the three of them reached the bridge, they heard the sound of a tinkling piano from the study. Wisps of fragrance waft in this mountain pavilion water stone, which really makes people feel like walking into a fairyland. Kangxi stopped, and the three of them stood on the bridge holding the stone railing and listened to the sound of the piano.

The sound of the piano was sometimes tight and sometimes slow, provocative and sketching, and I couldn't tell what it was like. Sometimes it makes people feel fluttering and immortal, and there is a sense of riding the clouds in the sky; Sometimes I feel as if there is a depression that is pressed on my heart and cannot be excluded; Sometimes it makes people feel as relaxed as if they were suddenly opened; The aftertaste of repeated arias is endless, but I feel that the turbidity in my chest is swept away.

Wei Dongting listened for a while, and suddenly lightly touched Kangxi's sleeve. When Kangxi looked back, he was smiling at Su Malagu. Kangxi saw that Aunt Su Mala was dumbfounded, and asked in a low voice, "Wanniang, what are you thinking?" ”

Aunt Su Mala didn't know what to say for a while, and after hesitation, she blushed and smiled: "Listen to Qinbei, what do you think?" ”

Because he had never seen Aunt Su Mala's appearance, Kangxi was surprised. Wei Dongting next to him smiled and said: "Long'er doesn't need to ask, this is on the Book of Songs." There is also a footnote, the Tao is 'once the sea is difficult to water, except for Wushan is not a cloud'. Sister, do you say yes? Su Malagu blushed and said, "You are not a good person!" Instigated the master to make fun of people, see if I go back and don't tell Grandma Sun! ”

Wu Ciyou could hear the chattering voices outside the window, so he stayed at the piano, stood up and pushed open the window and said with a smile: "No wonder the sound of the piano is different, the strings are obedient, it turns out that someone is eavesdropping, please come into the house!" ”

Kangxi stepped in the door and asked, "What kind of music did Mr. just play, I have never heard such a good piano!" Wu Ciyou smiled: "What is good, the sound is not sad and musical, the listener has a heart, what does the player mean!" The three of them laughed when they said this, but they had different thoughts in their hearts. Seeing that Long'er and Wei Dongting sat stunned and didn't speak, Wu Ciyou felt funny, cleaned up the things on the table and said: "Let's continue to talk about the Book of the Later Han Dynasty today, starting with the Emperor Ji." ”

This is the official start of the course. Kangxi sat down, Su Malagu took the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" from the shelf, spread it in front of him, and poured a cup of herbal tea for Wu Ciyou and Kangxi respectively, and sat on both sides of Kangxi with Wei Dongting.

Wu Ciyou briefly analyzed the reasons for the death of the Western Han Dynasty, and said with a smile: "Ban's "Book of Han" can definitely be drunk, but according to foolishness, there are also many chapters in Fan Yezhi's "Book of the Later Han" that are wonderful words and can be immortalized. It's a pity that one thing has greatly damaged his own reputation. Kangxi hurriedly asked: "How can the article be changed with personnel?" ”

"Yes!" Wu Ciyou replied, "This is a clear proof. Fan's suffered from the word 'proud'. In his letters to his nephews in prison, he boasted that his Book of the Later Han Dynasty was even more brilliant than the Book of Han and that it was a "wonder work of the world", saying that the middle chapters in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty were not inferior to Jia Yi's Treatise on the Passage of Qin, and even he could not choose the right words to describe this strange book, and there was no one in the ancient history books that could be compared with the Book of the Later Han. ”

"Listen, how big a cow did he blow?" Wu Ciyou paused for a moment and then said, "It is a virtue for the literati to be high and self-respecting, but if they think too highly of themselves, they will become arrogant and ignorant, which will inevitably lead to the ridicule of future generations. This is really caused by Fan Ye's self-destruction. ”

After talking about this festival, it can be regarded as an introduction to the author, and then he will omit the lineage of Emperor Chen, and comment on the history according to his own views one by one. When talking about Emperor Qian's ascension to the pole at the age of eight, a smile flashed in Kangxi's eyes, his hands pressed his knees, leaned forward, and asked, "Isn't that the same as today's saint?" ”

Wei Dongting knew this story, and he was very taboo, and repeatedly handed over his eyes to signal Wu Ciyou to perfunctory past. Where did Wu Ciyou know what this meant, took a sip of tea and continued: "This little emperor is very smart, if he can grow up, he will definitely become a generation of commander......s" Wei Dongting walked over and refilled the tea for him, and said with a smile: "Mr. Wu, after the series of talks, do you break them one by one?" Aunt Su Mala had already noticed it, and hurriedly said: "Xiao Weizi is also so sneaky, how can you interject when Mr. talks about books, don't you know what to say?" Kangxi also smiled: "Yes, yes!" What is this, the quality emperor is the quality emperor, and today's saint is today's saint! Wei Dongting had no choice but to blush, smile, and sit down to listen.

Wu Ciyou then continued: "It's a pity, this little emperor is too sharp, and he denounced the general Liang Ji as a 'Bahu general' in person, and was hated by the Liang family to the bone, secretly used poison cakes as bait, and died in the palace......," he sighed and said, "It's really a pity!" When Kangxi heard this, his heart was pounding, and he was a little scared when he remembered the situation of fighting with Ao Baiting.

Wu Ciyou saw that he was stunned and didn't say a word, as if he was distracted, so he smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this, let's talk about Emperor Huan." Kangxi hurriedly said: "I also want to ask sir, that Liang Ji is so tyrannical, which has harmed the emperor, why didn't he take the throne and become the emperor himself?" ”

"Because at that time, the Qing Dynasty was at the beginning," Wu Ciyou said with a smile, "people's tongues are very powerful." In addition, the Eastern Han Dynasty has not yet exhausted, and Wang Mang's past is still there, and Liang Ji can't help but have scruples. ”

Kangxi didn't understand the word "clear discussion", and hurriedly asked: "What is the clear discussion method?" Wu Ciyou smiled: "Xiong Dongyuan[1]

The impeachment of Aobai's 'political affairs are chaotic and the legal system is undecided', and my 'discussion of enclosing the land and destabilizing the country' is today's 'clean discussion'. Later Han Qing discussed the evil path and became empty talk. However, when the emperor was the emperor, there were still many people who were not afraid of death among the hundred officials who dared to boldly criticize the government. ”

Kangxi paused for a moment, and then asked: "Even if you want to get rid of Liang Ji in terms of the quality emperor, what is the best policy?" ”

Wu Ciyou couldn't help but glance at Kangxi in surprise, and wondered why he held on to this problem. After pondering for a while, he replied: "Judging the current situation, with the evil of Liang Ji, he has made enemies on all sides, which has offended the anger of the people and lost the hearts of the people. If you can wait for the opportunity, be wise and foolish on the outside, dare to die on the inside, recruit virtuous ministers, and support the Qing Dynasty, when the time comes, you can punish Liang Ji, and only use a few wrestlers. Kangxi listened and couldn't help but smile and bow.

[1]

Xiong gave the number "East Garden", so it was called Xiong East Garden.