Just after dawn the next day, the people sent by Jusshoin arrived. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info This time I came to deliver the letter is Zhuang Feifei's personal maid, called Hongluan, Hongluan's heart-warming Hongluan. It's a girl who looks particularly easy to blush.,A year or two older than An Zheng.,Very white skin.,Big eyes.,It's the type that is particularly attractive.。 It's just that when I talk to strangers, I'm a little shy.

"This is for you, Mr. Big asked me to send it. ”

Hongluan stuffed a small package into An Zheng's hand, then lowered his head and looked at his toes and said: "Mr. Big said, there are some things that don't need to be too careful, and if you don't do it, it's because the impact is relatively big and it's a little troublesome, so it's over to endure it." Now that it has been done, Jushangyuan will never sit still, and it ...... It's not necessarily as serious as you fear. Mr. Big, let me tell you something...... Jusshoin is more capable than you think. ”

An Zheng nodded: "Go back and tell Mr. Big, just say I thank her." ”

Hongluan sighed, raised his head and glanced at An Zheng, and then quickly lowered his head: "Mr. Big also said that Jushangyuan owes you a favor, and you still owe it, because it is too big." ”

An Zheng couldn't help but ask: "What kind of favor is it?" ”

Hongluan didn't seem to expect An Zheng to ask this, how could he help others forget the truth. But she may have felt that An Zheng had a good relationship with Jushangyuan and Mr. Big, so she said a few more words: "Our proprietor was seriously injured when he was competing with others a few years ago, and he tried everything he could at that time, and he barely let the proprietor live. But the injury is still getting worse, because the person who injured the proprietor of my family is too bad, so if he can't find a suitable medicinal alchemy, the proprietor won't be able to survive for long. ”

In the past few years, Jushangyuan has tried its best to maintain the life of the proprietor, but he has not been able to find all the medicines, until Mr. Big returned from Cangman Mountain and found the last few medicines. Although the proprietor is still unconscious, he has begun to show signs of improvement, so Mr. Big is very happy. The proprietor and Mr. Big are very affectionate, and they are always inseparable. Now the proprietor is about to recover, and Mr. Big's hard life is coming to an end. Over the years, Jushangyuan has relied on her hard support, a woman, it is too difficult. ”

As if sensing that he had more words, Hongluan hurriedly said goodbye.

An Zheng felt a little emotional, Zhuang Feifei looked like a hot and charming person, but she was so loyal in her bones. Her love for the proprietor of Jushang Yuan is the truest and truest kind.

An Zheng opened the package and looked at it, and there were two lists of people inside.

The first one is those geniuses worthy of An Zheng's attention in this autumn ceremony, An Zheng found that the first one in line was Su Feilun of Dading Academy, the second was Taishang Dojo Feng Xiuyang, and the third was Nie Qing of the Shangwu Academy of the Military Department. There are many more names in the back, at least a hundred and ten people. It seems that Zhuang Feifei has little confidence in An Zheng's cultivation, so the list of people is very long. And the last time Chen Shaobai came, he reminded An Zheng that he only needed to pay attention to three people.

However, on this list, An Zheng did not find Chen Shaobai's name.

An Zheng walked into the courtyard, flipping through the second list as he went.

The first one was Hao Ping'an, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and the second was Chen Zaiyan, the squire of the Ministry of War, and there were many officials of the Ministry of War. But the strange thing about An Zheng is that there is no confidant of the Iron Flowing Fire General Fang in this list. However, there is the Fang Daozhi who An Zheng has met, and this person's identity is the deputy general of Tieliuhuo, and he is also the general of the fourth grade.

An Zheng flipped back, and found a list of the Ministry of Rites in the back, and one of the names entered An Zheng's field of vision.

It's not a big deal, Li Yannian, the host and guest of the Ministry of Rites.

The ceremonial department is divided into four divisions, of which the host and guest officials department is responsible for the reception of foreign guests. Lang Zhong of the host and guest Qing Officials Division is the position of the fifth grade, although it is not high, but he has real power in his hands, and it is a real official position. The arrears needed to receive foreign guests were to be distributed to him. This person has been an official in Yan Kingdom for more than ten years, so when Chen Chongqi, the king of Daxi Hui, came to Yan Kingdom, all the receptions were arranged by Li Yannian.

An Zheng put the list back in his room, then sat down and thought carefully for a while.

The original matter, the important ministers of the Yan State must know. The heavy character of this important minister also symbolizes that it is not easy for An Zheng to find out the truth at that time. Relatively speaking, contacting Li Yannian is the best choice.

An Zheng packed up the necessary things, explained to Du Slender and the others continued to practice, and then he left the sect alone.

Passing through the flow of people and through the streets and alleys, An Zheng appeared outside a restaurant. Diagonally opposite is the home of Li Yannian, the host and guest of the Qing Dynasty, a Beijing official of the fifth grade, but the residence here is not big. There are so many Beijing officials that even if he has money, he doesn't dare to be presumptuous. The size of this courtyard looks similar to that of ordinary wealthy families, with two courtyards in front and back, but the area is really limited.

An Zheng entered the restaurant, directly found a window seat on the third floor and sat down, ordered a pot of wine and a few side dishes, leaned against the window and looked outside.

At this time, it was the time of the early dynasty, and today was the great court meeting, so the Beijing officials above the fifth rank had to participate. Ordinary officials of the five grades of the court meeting are not qualified to participate, and they go directly to the yamen where they work early in the morning to report. An Zheng is not just waiting for Li Yannian, he also has to see the environment of the Li family clearly.

There are two men sitting by the window not far from An Zheng drinking, Yan is a bold person, so he never drinks at any time. In other places, restaurants are closed in the morning, but in Yan Kingdom, restaurants are closed for almost twelve hours.

One of them must have come from out of town, constantly asking this and that. And the person who entertained him should be from the capital, and the answer was also detailed.

The one with the most questions was the beard, and he asked the middle-aged man sitting opposite: "I heard that there are many officials in the capital than ordinary people, and if you step on a person's foot on the street, you may not know which official of the yamen." ”

The middle-aged man smiled, although he looked gentle, he drank very generously: "This is a bit excessive, but there are indeed a lot of Jingguan." Do you see the courtyard diagonally opposite, it is the mansion of Li Yannian and Lord Li of the Ministry of Rites. The yard is not much bigger than my yard, and Mr. Li travels in plain clothes and never takes a sedan chair, so even if you walk on the street, you can't tell that he is an official of the fifth grade. ”

He said nonsense: "Lang Zhong of the host and guest Qing Officials, that is a complete fat shortage, and every year he hands over a lot of silver, and he can put some in his pocket casually, and he is also rich in oil." ”

The middle-aged man put down his wine glass and said, "Don't say that, Lord Li Yannian, I have seen many officials, but there are too few people like him." My family is almost next to Mr. Li's house, and they have been neighbors for more than ten years. But over the years, I have never seen a person come to the door to give a gift to Master Li. His family is dressed plainly, and unless there are particularly important guests, they never go into the restaurant to eat. The second son of his family is seven years old this year, and the clothes he wears are all leftover from his brother, and he has not added a new piece of clothing until now. ”

"Master Li's clothes are the same, they are clean, but they have been worn for many years. Other people's backyards are planted with flowers and plants, and Lord Li's backyard is planted with vegetables. I remember one time, someone from Madame's mother's house came, and Master Li had a banquet here. At that time, the second son of the Li family was only four or five years old, and it was the time to be greedy. But in the restaurant, sit upright, adults don't speak, and they never dare to move chopsticks first. ”

"Later, I heard Lao Zheng, the housekeeper of the Li family, say that the second son wanted to eat the lion's head of this family several times, but the lady never bought it once. That's right, the amount of money that Master Li has handled is only terrifying, but he hasn't even taken a copper coin. Over the years, no one in the neighborhood knows that Master Li is notoriously honest. The main thing is...... As an official of the Ministry of Rites, he must have a lot of contacts, so he uses it a lot, so that the family is coarse tea and light rice...... It's sad to think about it, a clean official, a good official, but the life is hard, where is there any heavenly reason. ”

An Zheng's heart moved, and he had a little more respect for this Li Yannian in his heart.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites do have more communication than the officials of other ministries, especially the officials of the Department of Officials of the Host and Guest, who have to receive all kinds of visitors almost every day.

The beard was stunned for a moment, and sighed: "In these years, corrupt officials have lived a good life, and clean officials have suffered, alas, ......"

The middle-aged man said: "Everyone says that if Master Li is willing to give some gifts, he will be promoted a long time ago, and with his knowledge and ability, promotion is also a matter of course." But because he refused, he has been on this son for more than ten years and has never moved. ”

An Zheng put down the wine money and left the restaurant.

When he arrived on the street, An Zheng stood on the side of the street and stayed for a while, and just as he was about to leave, he saw a man about fifty years old hesitate for a while, walked to the door of Li Yannian's mansion and knocked.

The side door opened, and an old man came out of it: "Mr. Deng, why are you here?"

The man known as Mr. Deng stopped talking, apparently hesitating for a while before saying, "That's the case...... Last time, my son was sick, and the consultation fee has not been paid...... I also know that I shouldn't come to ask for this money, but a few days ago, there was a fire in my shop and a lot of medicinal herbs were burned, which is really ...... It's really hard to turn around. ”

The old man was Lao Zheng, the steward of Li Yannian's family, his face changed, and he clenched his fists and leaned over: "Mr. Deng...... I'm really sorry, I'll go and ask Madame in a moment. Come to my room later...... Alas!"

His long sigh contained endless desolation.

Lang Zhong entered the door and sat in the gatehouse in a daze, he came to ask for an account, but his face was full of guilt.

Not long after, An Zheng saw a little maid running out of the yard in a hurry, holding something in her hand. An Zheng followed her and found that she had deliberately run two more streets and went to a pawnshop farther away from Li Yannian's house. An Zheng saw her hand over a hairpin, and then the man gave her a few taels of silver. The hairpin is not a valuable price, so the pawnshop is not too black-hearted to give a lot of money.

An Zheng walked in the door and stopped the little maid to press: "You dropped something." ”

He handed the little maid a silver ticket, and then walked to the counter to redeem the hairpin.

The little maid looked at him blankly, then looked at the silver ticket in her hand, and was startled by the number on it.

An Zheng pulled her out of the door: "Lord Li once had a favor to me back then, and I came to repay the favor to Lord Li." It's just that I didn't dare to come to the door rashly, and I have been hanging outside the house for a few days. Today, when I saw that Lang Zhong came to ask for debts, I was really sad. When my family was poor, it was Master Li who helped me, and I should only repay the money. ”

The maid refused to ask for anything, gritted her teeth and went back, returned the hairpin to the pawnshop, and ran back with the few taels of broken silver in her hand.

Looking at it, tears fell backwards as she ran.