Qian Du was flustered, stepped forward to look at his clothes, and turned his face to look at He Li's without any abnormality, and it happened that He Li's gaze also swept over, and he hurriedly asked in disguise: "This is Lord He's clothes?" ”

"Yes......" He Li lowered his head and wiped his tears, and said: "This is sent back by the old store of the Shen family, saying that it has been inspected by the government...... I was groggy and groggy at the time, and I just felt that the world was spinning, and the whole family was crying together, as if I had lost my soul. When I asked who was my lord's long-term follower, he said that the case had been closed, and the long-term follower was sent away.

"My lord is a man, although he is upright and strong, but he has never sighed when he encounters difficult things, and he can fall asleep with a pillow. He didn't hurt anyone, and he wasn't greedy for money and lust, so why wouldn't he want to take this path? The man who came was called Xiao Luzi. I left him behind, and entertained him, and interrogated him carefully, but he could not say anything.

"God helps! The road was drenched in rain and fever on the road, and he couldn't walk for a while. I was afraid that these clothes would be moldy, so I put them on the patio to dry, but who knew that this drying would cause something strange, attracting green-headed flies all over the yard, and I couldn't get rid of them. I looked carefully one by one, it turned out that there were blood stains on the collar, elbow bend, and even on the back shoulder of the court dress, but people carefully wiped it, and they couldn't see it if they didn't pay attention - Master Qian, you see that there are still blood scabs on the red tassel of this hat, it must be that the murderer was in a hurry at the time and didn't wipe it off!

"I haven't seen a man hanged. My sister-in-law was hanged, I went to see it, ugly is ugly, but it's clean, not to mention blood, even phlegm can't gush up - Master Qian, at that time, I was covered in sweat and hair, and my heart, intestines, liver and lungs were about to burst! Turning around, he went to look for the little way, but he was so hot that he was faint, and his mouth was full of gossip...... Say, 'Hodotai...... I know...... Know your ...... I'm no match for others...... I can't save you......

"After discussing with our old lady, we found a family member who looked and figured similar to my master, and changed into my lord's official uniform in the middle of the night, and woke him up under the lamp. Xiao Luzi was so frightened that he fell to the ground at that time, and crawled under the bed and complained, 'You old Mingjian, I just saw it through the window, there are four strong men in Liufutai's family, and they are all from other people's families outside...... Please, go ahead...... I make a great wish for you to spend the thirty-three altars of Luo Tian for you...... If you don't come, I'll see you night and night. You scared me to death, who will feed my mother? ’……”

Speaking of this, He Li couldn't cry anymore, holding his head and whining. The two children also screamed. Qian Du thought about it, and felt ashamed and sad in his heart, and nodded and said, "This clothing will be sent to the house for inspection again." Now that there are witnesses, this case is easy to handle. What about the little path? Is he here too? He Li cried so much that he choked hoarsely, and said intermittently: "He...... He fled overnight. Poor my mother couldn't afford to hear about this murderous loss, and I was so busy with the funeral that I couldn't find anyone to chase after me. I was a legless crab, rushed from Ningbo to Jinan, and then went to Dezhou, but I couldn't find anyone in the old store of the Shen family. When I sued the company, people said that I was obsessed with my heart, and some said that I was poor and crazy, and I was counting on the lawsuit to be the bitter master to make money - Huangtian Bodhisattva! My man has been an official for 14 years, and I didn't expect him to make a black fortune, and when he died, did I come to blackmail money? Ah......" Although she was reserved, when she said this, she couldn't restrain it anymore, and she crouched on the desk and desperately grabbed her husband's relics, "Master...... You are born as a hero, and you are a ghost when you die, why don't you manifest your spirit......"

"Mrs. He, don't be too hurt. I heard it all. Li Wei stood in front of the door and said melancholy. It turns out that he has been in front of the door for a while. His face was unusually pale, and he said in a muffled voice: "Killing people pays for their lives, and it is unreasonable to be reasonable." As you say, murderers will not escape justice. Although this case is no longer under my control, I still have to inform Yue Jun and ask them to retry it. When I go to Beijing, I will play the emperor, and I will definitely seek justice for you. Seeing He Li looking at Li Wei with teary eyes, Qian Du hurriedly said: "This is our Li Zhitai." ”

"Li Qingtian!" He Li pulled a child in one hand and knelt on the ground with a long sound, but he only wept and couldn't say a word. Li Wei gently pounded his chest, stepped forward to check He Luying's bag of clothes, nodded heavily, and said with a sigh of relief: "Mrs. He, Xiao Luzi is on the run, and he is the only witness. It is difficult to close the case in a moment and a half. In this way, I will take your case, and go back to my hometown to bury my mother and raise the child, and I will tell you as soon as I have a letter, don't stay here. Then he called Goshha, who was outside the door, and "took her to the account room, and paid three hundred taels from my money." Master Qian, Ming'er sent two proper people to send Mrs. He home. ”

Seeing off He Li's family, Qian Du immediately rushed to the signing room to see Li Wei. Li Wei was lying on the easy chair, he seemed to be in a bad spirit, coughing dry one after another, and when he saw Qian Du coming in, he closed his eyes and pondered after just one glance. Qian Du was relieved: "This is not a case in Dong Weng's hands, and the case has not been closed so far, you-"

"It's over." Li Wei said coldly, "Don't look at my fame and prestige. In fact, when the officials of Shandong and Liangjiang heard that I was going to be transferred, they couldn't wait to burn vinegar charcoal! You have strung so many yamen, can't you see that they are happy? The prefect surnamed Liu is a clothed servant under Prince Zhuang, and he is Yue Jun's protégé, as long as the money is available, what can't be covered? I've already sent someone to Texas again, and the deficit is really filled, and you can't disobey him. Hmph, it's really worthy of being born as a famous criminal master! ”

Qian Du's eyelids twitched, and he thought that he was not talking about himself, and hurriedly said: "This matter will be revealed sooner or later, and some people can't hide it even if they want to." The yamen are happy, and I think it's because after you leave office, they can fill the vacancies one after another. Where is the hatred for you? Dong Weng, you have too much heart. ”

"Yes. There are people like that. Li Wei gritted his teeth and sneered, "I'm picking at the word 'cheap' tightly." It's true that people are relieved - the system of raising incorruptible silver that I created blocked their way to make a fortune on fire, so they had to make up their minds from the life lawsuit! ”

Li Wei was lightly dressed and simple, and only took Cai Ping and Qian Du, who were waiting for the envoy in the signing room, to set off. His body was already very weak, so he had to use a warm sedan chair to carry it to the Xinhe Wharf, then abandon the sedan chair and board the boat, along the canal waterway to the Chaoyang Gate in Beijing. This has delayed some time, and it is already the autumn season. When the group got off the boat, they felt that the cold wind was biting, which was very different from Jinan. In the twilight, I saw the gray arrow tower of the Dongzhi Gate, and it stood straight in the sky. Before it got dark, the wharf was lit up everywhere with "dead wind" lights, flickering and faintly seeing boats moored everywhere in the water, and the bustling crowd on the shore was endless. Li Wei entered the post house and settled down a little, then called Qian Du and said with a smile: "Seeing you fool entering the city, it is the first time to return to the feet of the Son of Heaven, right?" Ask Cai Ping to take you to the left and turn around. After a day on the boat, get dizzy and evacuate - if I wasn't afraid of the wind, I would like to move around! ”

"Xie Dongweng!" Qian Du smiled with joy, bowed to the ground and said, "This place is really eye-opening, I will come back when Lao Cai and I go out for a walk." When he was happily walking out, Li Wei stopped him again and ordered: "Don't delay too long, tomorrow I will see the emperor, there are many things to play, you have to open an abridged catalogue - go." Here, Li Wei ordered someone to go into the city to inform the two prime ministers, Ortai and Zhang Tingyu, and reported that he had arrived in Beijing.

After dinner, Li Wei rinsed his mouth with green salt water, asked for hot water and was about to burn his feet to rest, Yi Cheng trotted in and said, "Prime Minister Zhang Xiang has come to visit the master of Taiwan." Li Wei hurriedly put on his socks and boots, and didn't care about wearing a robe, so he walked out of the living room. Seeing that the two of them were generally thin, they were both red-topped first-class officials in their sixties who entered together from the main entrance. A little taller is Ortai, and a little shorter is Zhang Tingyu. Seeing that Li Wei was about to go down the stairs to greet him, Zhang Tingyu smiled and said to Ertai: "Look at this person, you still have to make a fool of yourself with us!" Ortai also smiled and said, "Youju, do you think we are disturbing and want to drive us away?" ”

"Where." Li Wei was in good spirits at the moment, not at all like a patient, laughing and letting the two of them enter the room to sit, and ordered people to "watch tea" one after another, and said: "I want to take a closer look and see how many grooves have been added to the faces of the two Zaifu!" As he spoke, the three of them looked up and laughed.

The three of them talked happily and seemed to be very good friends. But those who know the inside story know that they have a deep bitterness with each other. At that time, Zhang Tingyu's cousin Zhang Tinglu presided over the Shuntianfu tribute test, greedy for ink and selling officials. Deputy Chief Examiner Yang Mingshi walked out of the Thorn Courtyard with his sleeves in his sleeves, met Li Wei at night, and sealed the Gongyuan. Zhang Tinglu was beheaded by Yongzheng in the alley of Chaishi because of the east window incident. Yang Mingshi and Li Wei originally had a very good relationship, but later Li Wei offended Yang Mingshi and a large group of bureaucrats by trying to "return to the public with fire consumption" when he was the governor of Liangjiang, and even went to the council to impeach Li Wei for "being so happy and deceiving his colleagues". At that time, Ortai was ordered to investigate and deal with the deficit of Zhejiang Province, but was tricked by Li Wei's envoy, and he was so tired that he got nothing for three months and returned to Beijing empty-handed. Ma Qi, the former minister of the study, told Lao Zhishi to vacate a seat for the prime minister, and Ortai was full of hope that Zhang Tingyu would recommend him to be recommended, but Zhang Tingyu secretly recommended his protégé to be selected, which made Yang Mingshi very unhappy. Later, Ortaiyin was a Manchurian nobleman, and he had the merit of cutting through the passes, and he entered the cabinet to worship the prime minister with his real skills, so he naturally had a secret grudge against Zhang Tingyu...... These public and private resentments are clear in their own hearts. It's just that everyone rolls out of the sea of eunuchs, and they understand the invisible mystery of joy and anger. And Yongzheng is the most evil party for people, and no one dares to touch this mold. Therefore, even if it is useless in his heart, he strictly guards the city government, and it is difficult for outsiders to see the slightest bit when he encounters chance. The three of them exchanged warm greetings for a while, and Li Wei bowed down and asked, "Is the master's body and bones okay?" After Fu Liuye entered Beijing, I got two Zhu approvals from my master, and the emperor said that there were small bumps under my chin, and he said that he asked me to recommend doctors, but I never got a good one. I'm really thinking about it out there! ”

"The emperor's body is still healthy." Ortai clenched his fists, frowned and said: "It's just that since February, because the affairs of Miaojiang have not been smooth, the master's mood is not good. Well-Hengchen, the two of us also came to discuss with you, should you not take office for the time being, go to Gubeikou first, and still parade the army as the governor of Zhili, and see what is still lacking in the military supplies. If it is made, it will be played by the emperor. ”

Originally, southwest Guizhou is the place where Miao Yao lived, and it has always been hereditary ruled by the local Tusi Tuguan Tumu, nominally under the control of the imperial court, but in fact, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and each occupies the mountain as the king. Therefore, since the fourth year of Yongzheng, an edict was issued to be presided over by Ortai to abolish the Tusi system. In the Miao District of Guizhou, the establishment of departments and prefectures and counties is unified with the inland government decrees, which is the so-called "changing the land and returning to the stream". Zhang Guangsi, Ha Yuansheng and others slaughtered and slashed in Miaojiang, operated for several years, opened up 3,000 li of land, and set up eight halls and counties, accounting for almost half of Guizhou Province. Unexpectedly, in December last year, the Miao people came out of an old bag, spreading the word that "Miao Wang" was born, gathering people to make trouble and drive away the court officials, and by February this year, the whole province was full of beacons, and Yongzheng was naturally very unhappy.

"Since the two Zhongtang said so, of course I, Li Wei, have to share the emperor's worries." Li Wei subconsciously stroked his chest and sighed, "At that time, when the hall was set up, I had a letter to the study, Miao is a strong person, and he is not easy to mess with, so he wants to send the most capable official." It's not that I'm complaining to my face, who did you go? Han Xun is the chief soldier, with 3,000 men and horses, watching Lao Bao make trouble and not moving; Zhu Dongqi, the prefect of Pingyue, was full of energy when he knocked out the Miao people to reach out to make money, but he said that he was 'sick' and resigned; and Qiu Zhongtan of Qingping Zhixian was even more surprising, and Niang Xi Pi Miao people were killed, and he ordered all officials to 'not escape', but his feet were smeared with oil. Zhang Guangsi wanted to take care of Ha Yuansheng, but Ha Yuansheng did not listen to Zhang Guangsi's orders, and the main general was in charge of the tired soldiers of the two provinces, but the deputy general was sitting on the troops of the four provinces...... Alas! I won't say anything, this mouth is already bubbling up......" After that, he glanced at Zhang Tingyu and Ortai. He does have something more difficult to say: the main general Zhang Guangsi is still pressed by a minister Zhang Zhao who pacified Miao Jiang, and he is a well-known talent. He is good at poetry and songs, but he is neither Zhang Tingyu's protégé nor Ortai's personal friend. In order to avoid suspicion, the two actually pushed this white-faced scholar to reconcile the Zhang and Kazakh armies. Zhang Zhao supported Ha Yuansheng to suppress Zhang Guangsi, and Ha Yuansheng didn't listen to Zhang Zhao, so that the 100,000 heavenly soldiers in Miao Jiang were pacified, but they were a rabble without a leader!

Zhang Tingyu was silent for a long time, and sighed: "What Gong Yu said is that I don't shirk, this is my responsibility. Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read! Ortai immediately continued: "I didn't expect Zhang Zhao to be incompetent and humiliate the country. This is not Hengchen's responsibility alone. Again, Zhang Gong and I have already written a secret letter of self-impeachment and sent it to it. Naturally, the imperial court had a punishment. So far, the only way to do this is to fight again with the whole army. As far as you can see, who is the best general? After saying that, he stared at Li Wei intently, and Zhang Tingyu also swept his gaze over. The two of them thought that Li Wei would definitely recommend Ha Yuansheng or Zhang Guangsi, but Li Wei smiled and said, "I think Yue Zhongqi is a good person." The three of them each had a secret scheming, and they couldn't help but laugh so far. Before we could talk in detail, I heard a commotion outside the door. The three of them were stunned, but they saw Gao Wuyong, the eunuch of the Heart Cultivation Palace, striding in, his face was blue and gray, and he was as ugly as a dead man, and he hurriedly stood in the south of the central hall, and said in a strange tone with a male duck's throat: "There is a will, Zhang Tingyu and Ortai kneel and listen!" This sudden change frightened the three of them to stand up, Li Wei hurriedly retreated to the side to avoid, Zhang Tingyu and Ortai knelt down with their robes, kowtowed:

"Slaves Zhang Tingyu and Ortai listen to the holy oracle!"

"In order for Prince Yunlu of Zhuang, Prince Yunli of Guo, Prince Hongli of Bao, and Prince Hongxiao of Yi to pass on the holy order, Zhang Tingyu and Ortai hurried to the Old Summer Palace to face the king. Chin this! ”

"Slaves obey!"

The two men bowed their heads together. Gao Wuyong didn't speak, turned around and left. Li Weiping and Gao Wuyong were very familiar with each other, grabbed it, and asked with a smile: "Old gelding, didn't you see me here?" Are you doing this, is it the other way or the sky is falling? Gao Wuyong was so anxious that he tore it open and said, "Hurry up!" Hurry up, hurry up! As he spoke, he ran, but he tripped over the threshold, and a few bones fell straight to the bottom of the stone steps in front of the hall, and he didn't dust off his ashes, but he rode a horse in the courtyard and added a whip, and a rush of hooves disappeared without a trace!

Ortai and Li Wei knew that a big change was imminent, and the two of them were so nervous that they stood opposite each other with their waists straight, and they both maintained the posture of saying goodbye to Gao Wuyong. Zhang Tingyu has never encountered such a thing in the thirty years since he entered the cabinet, and his face is pale, but after all, he is an old minister of the two dynasties, and he has suffered a major change in the palace, so he strode out of the dripping eaves without hesitation, stood on the steps and shouted: "Who is the post officer?" Is there a horse? Walking a mule is also a success! The post man climbed out with a rolling belt and kowtowed, saying, "This is a waterway post station, and it is not equipped with horses." But tonight there is a coal delivery man who lives in the back room, and there are a few mules in the lowly office......"

"Who listens to you chew your wife's tongue?" Zhang Tingyu was so anxious that his voice changed, "Hurry, hurry up, hurry up......" The post man ran to the backyard without touching the ground, and in an instant, he personally pulled the two mules, and said with a sad face: "Without a saddle, how can the two bare-backed mules ride ...... the middle hall?"

Zhang Tingyu and Ortai didn't say anything, and took a few steps down the stairs to lead a horse, and rode up the steps of the hall. The two looked at each other, flicked the reins, and rushed out the door. The family members brought by Zhang and E, Goshha, and the guards left one after another silently. When Li Wei took out his pocket watch and looked at it, it was already the end of the year and the beginning of the year, Cai Ping and Qian Du had just returned to the post, and they witnessed this scene with their own eyes, which was really thrilling, and they entered the living room of the upper room after looking at each other. Seeing Li Wei leaning forward and sitting on the easy chair, Qian Du snorted and swallowed his words back.

The Old Summer Palace is in the north of Changchun Garden, there are still forty miles away from Xizhimen, and it was originally a garden rewarded by Kangxi before Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne. Yongzheng is afraid of heat and cold by nature, there is a large sea in the east of the garden, the name is also auspicious, called "Fuhai", it is convenient for Yongzheng to issue an edict in three years, and the Old Summer Palace is the place to listen to the government in spring, summer and autumn. Outside the garden, there is a court office, and there is a "bright and upright" hall inside, and there is a "diligent government and pro-sage" hall on the east side of the main hall. Zhang Tingyu and Ortai rushed here from Dongcheng to about 70 miles, and it took more than half an hour until they were next to the road of the palace gate, Fang turned over and rode down, and saw Gao Wuyong and Zhao Hontian, two eunuchs, with more than a dozen small Sula attendants holding the lamp, looking at the south with their eyes piercing. The two of them threw the reins and hurried forward, and Ortai asked, "Where is the emperor now?" ”

"At the Apricot Blossom Spring Pavilion." Gao Wuyong agreed, only holding the glass lamp and walking forward, but no longer spoke. Ortai opened his mouth and swallowed the words back. Zhang Tingyu suddenly rose up with a sense of ominousness that a major event was coming, and he didn't have time to change his mind, and he had already seen Yunlu, Yunli, Hongli, and Hongxiao four old and young princes welcome them to the entrance of the palace, all of them were pale, and they were busy kneeling down with Ortai to ask for peace, and said: "Long live summoning ministers and others into the palace late at night, I don't know what important things to face?" ”

"It was a meeting of the four princes of ours, and in order to prevent the discussion from being shocking, we specially summoned you here." Yunlu said slowly, word by word, he has always been very fluent, and he didn't know how many times he thought about this sentence before saying it. Yunli saw Ortai and Zhang Tingyu stunned at each other, and said in a heavy tone: "Long live Yongzheng, Lord Yongzheng has already been a guest - you can come in and take a look." We haven't moved anything here. Zhang Tingyu listened, only felt that his legs were weak and his body trembled, and he glanced at Ortai blankly, and saw that his face was also snow-white like a ghost-they didn't dare to say anything, and they didn't dare to think about anything, they tiptoed into the hall like a thief, and they were immediately shocked like a wood carving clay sculpture.

Next to the high threshold is a pool of blood, along the speckled blood stains forward, a female corpse is displayed underground, her eyebrows are frowned, her beauty is like life, only the corners of her mouth are slightly upturned, and her face is full of tears, as if she had cried before she died. She had wounds on her chest, but no blood spots on the ground. There were no other things in the hall, only a seat fell to the ground, and there was a purple-red pill on the plate on the table, which could be identified at a glance as the "Nine Turns Returning Pill" refined by Taoism, about the size of a walnut. The scene in front of the couch is even more amazing, Yongzheng Shang is stiff on the couch, and the front of the couch is dripping with blood stains and coagulated into blood scabs. Emperor Yongzheng had a knife wound under his chin, the scratch was about a minute deep, and there was a knife wound on the back of the shoulder, which was stabbed in. But the strange thing is that the murder weapon dagger is tightly held in Yongzheng's own hand, straight into his heart! The two of them looked down at the emperor who had met him with a smile that day, as if in a dream, and saw that there was no fear or anger between his eyebrows, his lips were slightly purified, as if he was still talking before he died, and his eyes were closed on his smiling face. Zhang Tingyu tried his best to hold his breath and calm himself. When I looked closely, I saw Yongzheng's left hand clenched, but he didn't dare to break it, took a candle, lit it, and saw that he was holding a longevity stone lock in his hand. Zhang Tingyu was frowning and couldn't understand it, and Ortai exclaimed softly on the side of the case: "Hengchen, come and see!" Zhang Tingyu hurriedly walked over with a candle, only to see a few blood words written on the Qingyu case:

Don't make it difficult for this woman to be buried thickly!

Both of them are powerful ministers who serve Yongzheng's side every day, and it can be seen at a glance that this handwriting is indeed the last handwriting of Emperor Yongzheng's fingers dipped in blood!

"Love to death!" Ortai muttered softly, and when he looked at Zhang Tingyu, Zhang Tingyu gritted his teeth and shook his head: "Don't say anything." As he spoke, he pointed his finger at the elixir and said nothing. The two men looked at each other and walked out of the temple together. Zhang Tingyu said to the prince who was standing outside the hall like four fools: "Please come into the palace to talk-Gao Wuyong guards this door, and no matter the palace guards, they are not allowed to eavesdrop." ”

The four princes rushed in one after another, as if they were afraid of alarming the deceased, bypassing the female corpse, and carefully following the two prime ministers to stand in the southwest corner of the hall. Zhang Tingyu's eyes danced faintly in the candlelight, and he said for a long time: "Ladies and gentlemen, everyone must have taken a closer look at the situation here, it is obvious that this palace concubine killed the king. But the emperor is benevolent and righteous, and there is already a blood edict that is not allowed to be difficult. Therefore, not only can the matter not be investigated deeply, but also cannot be publicized. He said, his tone had become extremely grim, "We are all people who have read a lot of historical books, and this is the critical moment for the safety and survival of the society. Tingyu thought that the first priority was to obey the last order of the first emperor, and went to the Qianqing Palace in the starry night to dismantle the edict of the throne. Yunlu listened and said, "What the prime minister said is extremely true. However, the edict was read out according to the routine, and all the kings and Baylor should be summoned, should they be notified separately, and they would gather in the Qianqing Palace to announce the edict at dawn? "It can't be like this." Zhang Tingyu's face was as cold as a layer of frost, "This is an extraordinary change." There is also the right to the rites, and now it can only be followed. Now the main hall of the Xinghua Pavilion is sealed, and the eunuchs and palace maids here are not allowed to enter and leave with the guards. When the new monarch is positioned, everything will be handled according to the will. ”

When everything is agreed, it is time to hand it over. The seven princes and nobles rode back to the Forbidden City. At this time, Zhang Tingyu felt distressed between the two strands. When I touched it, I was stained with blood on the back of the mule, and when I looked at Ortai, I was also frowning and gritting my teeth when I got on the horse. But there was no word. When everyone saw them get on their horses, they let go of the reins, and together with the guards, dozens of horses immediately disappeared into the cold wind and cold moon.