When he got the edict, Du Jinning was full of emotion.

Although this edict does not necessarily guarantee that her life will be saved when her true gender is revealed, it is at least somewhat guaranteed.

Qi Muyuan hugged her from behind: "Although we have a handful of instructions, we still can't take risks." When the time comes, you hide first, and your grandfather will talk to the emperor. If the emperor can ensure your safety, it's not too late to come out again. Otherwise, let's change our identities and marry first, and then slowly figure them out. ”

Du Jinning nodded obediently and responded, "Okay." As for the second path Qi Muyuan said, she naturally had to consider it. Let's take one step at a time.

"Your cousin, do you want me to tell you?" Qi Muyuan asked.

Du Jinning shook his head: "He has seen your appearance in Lishui County, and it is not easy to have a sense of awe in his heart. I'll have to trouble my brother about this. It's better for you to go and tell my brother. ”

Qi Muyuan said: "It is not appropriate to go to the yamen again this time." I'll tell him when he's done." ”

Du Jinning agreed.

Like last time, Qi Muyuan quickly whipped to Runzhou, it was already afternoon, and it was only time to wait for a while.

In order not to alarm too many people, Du Jinning had already sent Yao Shuqi to guard at the gate of the Guan Mansion, and when Guan Jiatian went home, he was notified that Guan Jiatian came to Du's house in an official uniform.

Naturally, Guan Jiatian can't let Guan Jiatian know, and the will to win love is only Zhao Yu's dictation, and it will not be written on paper.

However, about Du Jinning's worries, Qi Muyuan explained it clearly last time, and now Qi Muyuan only conveyed Zhao Yu's message, and Guan Jiatian explained it, and he agreed to help explain to Du Jinde without saying a word.

Du Jinning pulled him and muttered for a while, Qi Muyuan sat next to him and listened, wanting to laugh in his heart.

Du Jinning, this guy, is planning to fool people again.

……

In the courtyard next door, Du Jinde sat weakly in the yard, very depressed.

He is in good health, he can endure hardships more than his brother, and he has more thoughts, thinking about coming to Runzhou, getting along with Du Jinning and the Chen family day and night, enhancing the relationship, and the benefits in the future are indispensable.

So when someone was needed to come to Runzhou to inform Du Jinning, he did not hesitate to take the initiative to ask for help.

He calculated very well: Du Jinning is now an official, and he has a lot of things to do, and he always needs someone to help. Du Jinning has no brothers, his sisters are married, once his cousin gains his favor, then he still doesn't keep himself by his side as a deputy?

Following the cousin who is an official and can rise to prominence in the future is much better than guarding the one-third of an acre of land in Lishui County. When he was in the capital of Gui Province, Du Jinning was able to buy such a big mansion, and now he is an official, not to mention the rights, but also in terms of money. As long as he pointed out a little leakage, it was much better than the property he had obtained by stubbornly guarding Lishui County.

Besides, even if he is not in Lishui County, once his parents die, he will split up the family, and with Du Jinning as his backer, his brother will not dare not give him his share.

But what Du Jinde didn't expect was that although he had worked hard all the way and was in good health, he collapsed when he arrived in Runzhou, and he had a headache. Steward Yao invited Lang Zhong to say that he was infected with the wind cold, drank the medicine and was groggy, and lay down for so many days.

Fortunately, what comforted Du Jinde was that Chen and Du Jinning were very concerned about him, and Chen didn't say anything about the cold and warmth, Du Jinning was so busy that he would come to visit him twice a day.

"Second Young Master." Chimu, the little servant of the Du family, walked in from outside and said, "Lord Guan of the Prefecture has come to see you, do you want to go back to the room to change your clothes?" ”

"Lord Zhizhou Guan?" Du Jinde's eyes widened.

Akagi nodded: "Exactly, Master Guan is our young master's superior, and today I received the emperor's decree, and I specially came to the mansion to pass the decree, and I will take a look at you by the way." ”

Although Du Jinde is a small citizen, he has also studied for a few years. It's just that I don't have the talent to study, and I went to the children's exam several times and didn't get into school.

It was precisely because of this that he knew how difficult the road to the imperial examination was, how powerful his cousin was to get the title of champion at the age of fifteen, how awe-inspiring the officials from the Jinshi were and how awe-inspiring the idea of loyalty to the monarch made him know what kind of god-like existence the emperor was.

These are out of reach. But now, not only did he see his living cousin, but Lord Zhizhou, who was several levels older than the official of the county order, actually came to visit him in person. What made him tremble even more, there was also a will. Cousin Du Jinning was able to receive the holy decree issued by the emperor himself!

Akagi's words suddenly made him extremely nervous.

Seeing that he was stunned, Akagi couldn't help but ask again: "Second Young Master, do you want to go back to the room to change your clothes?" Lord Zhizhou came over immediately. ”

"Huh? Oh good. Du Jinde came back to his senses and nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice, "Yes, yes." ”

He got up from his chair, took two steps blankly, turned his head and said, "Akagi, you come to serve me to change my clothes." ”

His little servant and his entourage are still lying down to recuperate.

Akagi entered the door, helped Du Jinde pick out a dress for him to change, combed his hair again, and cleaned up the house according to his instructions, then saw Yao Shuqi walk in from the outside and said, "Second young master, Lord Zhizhou has come to visit you." ”

"Please, please." Du Jinde immediately greeted him.

Although Akagi didn't give him medicine today, his body couldn't recover all of a sudden, and his legs were weak when he walked, so Akagi hurried to help him.

Du Jinning had already entered the door at this time, stepped forward and helped the other side of him, and said, "Second brother, you are not in good health, don't get up." ”

Du Jinde waved his hand, his eyes looked outside, and he saw a man about thirty years old dressed in an official court walking in, and he hurriedly smiled: "This is Lord Guan Zhizhou, right?" If you miss the distance, please forgive your sins. ”

Qi Muyuan didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, so he didn't follow Du Jinde.

Guan Jiatian said a few words to him, then sent all his subordinates out, and said to Du Jinde: "I came this time to receive the emperor's decree to pass on the decree to Lord Du, and at the same time I came to ask you about the situation." ”

Seeing Guan Jiatian's serious expression and the holy decree, Du Jinde's heart suddenly became nervous, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva: "Lord Guan, please speak." ”

"When the family was separated, did your grandfather sign a severance document with Master Du?" Guan Jiatian asked.

"Huh?" Du Jinde was stunned for a moment, turned his head to look at Du Jinning, but saw Du Jinning with his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

He turned his head and looked at Guan Jiatian, seeing Guan Jiatian with a straight face and sharp eyes, he nodded in a panic: "Yes." ”

When the family was separated, as the male of the Du family, he was also present, and he watched Du Chensheng and Du Jinning sign the severance document with his own eyes. He didn't dare to lie to Guan Jiatian.

"As the children and grandchildren of the Du family, when the family was separated, Du Jinning's branch not only did not get any of the Du family's property, but also gave your grandfather and grandmother forty years of pension money at one time, which can be regarded as buying out the grace of the bloodline, but is there such a thing?" Guan Jiatian asked again, his attitude quite aggressive.

"Yes." Du Jinde had no choice but to say, but his heart became more and more panicked. He turned his head and glanced at Du Jinning again, but Du Jinning still hung his head, looking like he had been severely reprimanded, and he looked a little depressed.

Du Jinde became more and more flustered.

"That being the case, Du Jinning has nothing to do with your Du family, and has nothing to do with the deceased Du Chensheng. You went to Runzhou to report the funeral, and Du Jinning also reported to the emperor to ask Ding Wei, what is the reason? Guan Jiatian's tone became more and more stern.

"This, this ......" Du Jinde Khan came out, "I, I, I...... I do not know. My dad told me to come, and I came. ”

Du Jinning lowered his head and explained in a low voice: "I thought that even if he signed the severance paper, he would be my own grandfather anyway......"

"If you don't become an official, you can keep filial piety for him as much as you want. But now that you are an official of the court, you are reporting to Ding Wei for a person who has nothing to do with you, what is this taking the court for? Where to put the emperor? Guan Jiatian's reprimand voice became louder.

Du Jinning lowered his head and did not speak.

"If everyone is like you, reporting for a person who doesn't matter, who else will do things? One by one, they all ran back to their hometown to rest. Guan Jiatian still refuses to give up.

Du Jinde was originally a person who was sheltered under the wing of his parents and had never experienced any major events, and he was only eighteen or nineteen years old, and he couldn't help but tremble when he was reprimanded by Guan Jiatian. He also lowered his head, not daring to move.

Guan Jiatian was not finished, and continued to reprimand Du Jinning: "The emperor originally planned to allow you to worry about it, but when someone checked, he found that you had broken off the relationship with Du Chensheng, and he was very angry, and specially ordered me to reprimand you." If there is any such action again, he will be dismissed from his post and investigated and dealt with in order to set an example. ”

"Yes. The minister didn't dare anymore. Du Jinning hurriedly stood up and saluted in the direction of the capital.

Guan Jiatian bowed slightly, glanced at Du Jinde, and still said to Du Jinning in a cold tone: "You have to reflect at home for two days, and come back to the government in two days." As he spoke, he turned and walked away.

Du Jinning sent him to the porch, stood for a while, and then returned to Du Jinde's room, looked at him, but did not make a sound.

The panic in Du Jinde's heart still did not subside, and he asked Du Jinning: "Does this matter have an impact on you?" ”

"The impact is definitely there." Du Jinning smiled bitterly, "I have left a bad impression on the emperor, and if I want to be promoted in the future, I am afraid it will not be easy." ”

Du Jinde fell silent.

After a long time, he said, "I'll go back when I'm well in a few days." You can be an official here. He apologized again, "My uncle and grandfather and my father sent me to report the funeral without figuring it out, which affected you, and I am really sorry." ”

"Second brother, don't say that." Du Jinning said, "Who knew it would be like this." I thought that although I signed the severance paper, the blood was separated. Who knew it would be like this......"

She shook her head.

"The third aunt ......," Du Jinde asked again.

Du Jinning thought for a while: "I'll let my mother go back with you." But I'm not worried, because I have severed relations with you, and this point must be made clear to the prefect and even the prefect, otherwise someone will impeach me for not being filial. In the future, the county commander and the prefect will ......" He looked at Du Jinde and said very guiltily, "Maybe I won't be able to take care of you." ”

“……”

Du Jinde was shocked and stammered, "You, you mean to say that you want to tell the county magistrate about severing relations with us?" ”

"That's for sure." Du Jinning nodded and said, "If you don't tell them, they will definitely impeach me." As magistrates, they have such a supervisory responsibility, and to do otherwise would be a dereliction of duty. ”

Du Jinde's heart suddenly became a mess.

Because Du Jinning became the champion at a young age, entered the Hanlin Academy, and had a bright future, the county order naturally wanted to sell favors to Du Jinning, not only regarded Du Chensheng and the Niu family to death, and did not let them go to Beijing, but also took care of Du Yunyi's family, and sent people to condolence every New Year's holiday.

Zhang is a very shrewd and capable woman. At the beginning, she was able to seize every opportunity to climb the big tree of Du Jinning, and at this time, when the county order intersected, she immediately hit the snake with the stick, and often went to the county order to visit the county lady, and gave some gifts during the New Year's holidays. When people look at Du Jinning's face, they are naturally hospitable and prepare gifts of equal value in return. After coming and going like this, the two families can be regarded as moving around.

Because of this, Du Yunyi's family has a lot of face in Lishui County. The three of them, father and son, are all bookkeepers, and they used to look at the faces of the owners, but now they look at their faces. The owner couldn't solve the trouble, so Zhang went to the county magistrate's wife, and as long as there was no matter of principle, the matter could be resolved. So Du Yunyi's salary directly quadrupled, and the owner treated him as an ancestor.

Several families in the county, because of Du Jinning's relationship, also treated Du Yunyi with courtesy.

Now, the Chen family is going back to the county, saying that their branch has cut off contact with the Du family and has nothing to do with Du Yunyi's family. Those county orders and families who treated the Du family politely in front of Du Jinning, didn't they just turn their faces and deny people, and then don't give Du Yunyi face? originally wanted Du Yunyi to help, but Du Yunyi refused, or bullied the weak and afraid of the hard, and was jealous of their family, wouldn't they have to bully them?

Thinking about these consequences, Du Jinde shuddered.

"Fourth, fourth brother, can you, can you think of a way, don't tell them?" After Du Jinde said this, his face turned red. He also knew he was asking too much.

Unexpectedly, Du Jinning pondered: "Let me think about it." ”

Du Jinde immediately rose to hope, and at the same time sighed in his heart: The fourth brother is really a good person. In the past, his grandfather and family treated him like this, and he could still think about his family, regardless of past suspicions, he was really a big-hearted person. Maybe such a person can do great things.

Du Jinning seemed to think of something, and his eyes lit up: "There is." ”

"Fourth brother, have you thought of a good way?" Du Jinde asked with interest.

Du Jinning nodded, and then looked at Du Jinde apologetically: "But my method may not be good to you, second brother." ”

Du Jinde was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why is it not good?" ”

"Actually, if you say that you have gone a fork in the road, you haven't found Runzhou, and you haven't seen me, so you can only go back while trying to make money. I haven't received your funeral report, so naturally I don't have to go back to worry. It's just that then you have to be responsible. ”