On a sunny day, the winter sun finally came out of the sky in these days. The snow in the back garden of the palace has some momentum of melting, of course, the snow in the entire capital is not easy to melt in just a few days. Naturally, the people are looking forward to more such sunny days.

"Thinking about it, Commander Pu is a little unhappy today...... Yan Yu said.

Pu Mu said: "Miss Yan is really careful...... I do have unhappiness in my heart...... You and I used to be sons and daughters of the rivers and lakes, and the last time you told me, you don't want to recall the affairs of the rivers and lakes, but why do I miss it so much. ”

Yan Yu poured tea for Pu Mu and said, "In the palace, the princess told me that miscarriage is the norm for concubines. It's just strange to say, people who are good at giving birth and protecting a baby may not have a miscarriage. The concubines who are raised like this in the palace will also have miscarriages, and I heard what the princess said, two concubines had miscarriages last year......"

Pu Mu drank the tea, did not continue to fall, and said, "That's a life...... How could anyone be so ruthless - if I couldn't help but couldn't keep it, but I was ...... like this," he closed the teacup and sighed.

Yan Yu said: "Looking at you like this, I regret the letter I gave you at that time." ”

"Why do you say that?" said Pu Mu.

"I thought you would be happy after you had a clue and solved the case, but I didn't know it was ......like this," Yan Yu said.

Pu Mu said: "This is not due to your letter, if the case is really solved, I will be in a good mood, but now the case is still as inconclusive as before." ”

Yan Yu didn't reply, just looked at Pu Mu's face carefully. Pu Mu didn't reply, and looked up to see Yan Yu's eyes, which lost the charm of Longbi Pass, and only left clear. After Pu Mu saw his face, he turned his head to one side again, and Yan Mo also felt a little uncomfortable, so he turned his gaze away.

Yan Yu said: "Commander Pu...... There are things that need to be looked at, after all, this is no longer in the rivers and lakes. But I know that such persuasion may be futile for Commander Pu. ”

Pu Mu smiled: "Don't talk about this, review, and the next game-"

The sun set, and the Moon Dragon Pavilion was the same as in the past, except for the guards who came and went, there were only the commanders on duty to cultivate martial arts. Pu Mu returned to the Yuelong Pavilion, and Guo Yudao, who was on duty, said: "The Empress Dowager Fang Cai later ordered Brother Pu to go to Yongning Palace, and I told the inner attendant that Brother Pu went to the imperial garden to check the secret whistle, so that they could go back to the palace first, and when Brother Pu went to the Yuelong Pavilion, I would let Brother Pu go to Yongning Palace." ”

"Thank you so much, Brother Guo-" With that, Pu Mu quickly went to the barracks, put on his official uniform and hurried out of the Moon Dragon Pavilion again.

Pu Mu knew the way to Yongning Palace, so he walked on foot. Although it is night, there are lights everywhere in the palace, and there is an oil lamp in the corridor five steps, and the oil lamp is covered with glass, so beware of water. Pu Mu felt that this matter was a little strange as he walked: the inner chamberlain Zhang Gonggong was responsible for others, how could Guo Yu be able to let him out of the Moon Dragon Pavilion after a few words? Pu Mu stopped. He was the only one in the corridor at this time, and he secretly blamed himself for why he went out without thinking about it—he was in a much better mood after returning from the palace, and he didn't know why he was so relaxed and happy to talk to Yan Yu. It's just that after coming back like this, I heard that the Empress Dowager's edict was naturally a little hurried, so I didn't ask in detail who the inner chamberlain who came to pass on the Empress Dowager's edict.

The cold wind blew, and there was no snow outside the hallway, but the chill was enough to make people shiver. Pu Mu fell into deep thought: At night, if the people in the inner house rashly enter the harem, I am afraid that something is wrong; but if it is really the queen mother's edict, he will drag it here, and I am afraid that the queen mother will blame it again.

After thinking about it, Pu Mu continued to walk towards Yongning Palace, passing through the corridor, it was an open-air avenue, the river in front of it was flowing on thin ice, as long as he crossed the stone bridge, he could reach Yongning Palace.

From a distance, the lights of Yongning Palace seem to have been extinguished, how could the Queen Mother see it at this time? Pu Mu stopped, and there seemed to be movement behind him-Pu Mu turned around and saw a black shadow jumping away from the eaves of the corridor, this is not a dark outpost, they will not be the guards of the Great Interior-Pu Mu immediately gave an order, and Fang Yuan's guards came.

Team leader Yang came and asked, "What does Commander Pu command?"

Pu Mu said: "If there is something strange in the palace, I immediately ordered the secret sentry in the palace to guard it strictly." Hurry up and guard your area, leaving a team of men and horses to search around—"

Yang received the order and sent someone to start searching. Pu Mu knew that he had been fooled, but fortunately he did not completely fall into the trap of the other party.

After the search, all the guards were reinstated, and none of them found anything abnormal. Pu Mu knew that he couldn't search in the palace at this moment, so it would only startle the snake. "Inform the guards patrolling the palace and on duty everywhere to cheer up, and the secret sentry must not be slack. Pu Mu said.

With that, Pu Mu walked straight back to the Moon Dragon Pavilion. The wind was cold at night, and although the sky had cleared, the moon was back in the wane. Today's moonlight is a bit bleak, and this month will be the Spring Festival at the end of next month.

A black shadow jumped into the garden in the corridor, Pu Mu jumped into the garden, and saw the black shadow, a man in black of medium stature. "Your Excellency's light skills are good, so you are on top of the eaves. Pu Mu said.

The man in black said: "Compared with Commander Pu, it is a small thing." ”

"The person who wants to come to pretend to pass on the Empress Dowager's decree is Your Excellency. Pu Mu said.

The man in black said: "Commander Pu is smart, but sometimes he is so ignorant. Yesterday's case, you are really confused. ”

"Confused, please let me know how I handled the case in a confused way?"

The man in black said: "Yesterday, you should have shown the emperor, you have caught the culprit, instead of letting the emperor take a few teams of guards to Qixiu Palace to ask for the guilt." In this way, Concubine Ning was not punished at all, and she also made a big enemy in the palace. ”

Pu Mu smiled: "Hahaha...... I didn't expect that the eunuchs of Qixiu Palace still had some martial arts, but they couldn't hide their feet, so what was the use of wearing black clothes and masking their faces?"

The man in black was stunned for a moment before he spoke: "Since Commander Pu already knows my identity, I will open the skylight with Commander Pu and say something bright: I am indeed a person from Qixiu Palace, and today Niangniang asked me to inform Commander Pu." In the future, you and other people in the big house will take care of it, and the affairs of the harem are not as good as the rivers and lakes, so it's better not to interfere. Of course, if you and the others insist on protecting Concubine Rong, Qixiu Palace will be your enemy. ”

Pu Mu's nose hummed a breath, and the sound of that contemptuous breath in this cold night had been covered by the cold wind. It seems that Concubine Ning has not forgotten the prisoner who was secretly released by Pu, and now Pu and others have exposed their conspiracy. According to Concubine Ning's bearing, we have already been classified as enemies by her, so why did I come here to say this? My responsibility is to protect the stability of the royal family, maintain the stability of the rivers and lakes, and supervise the actions of the six departments, which is a royal gift from the emperor. Concubine Rong is not at fault, which concubine she favors is the emperor's wish, what does Concubine Rong do?"

The man in black said: "The emperor's wishes, the mother naturally does not dare to interfere." But how can the matter of this harem be said clearly, there is only one prince, and there can only be two future queen mothers at most. Commander Pu, this palace is so big, you only protect the harem group, the imperial garden, and the rest of the main hall of the front palace; have you been to the northwest corner? There are more things to know about Commander Pu. ”

"In the northwest corner, there are only a few warehouses and a washing factory, what else?" asked Pu Mu.

The man in black jumped into the corridor and said, "In the northwest corner, in addition to these, there are also some palaces, but Commander Pu doesn't know who those palaces are." ”

Pu Mu said: "Please also give me advice-"

The man in black said: "The concubines of the first emperor live in the dormitory, and they all live a cold life there. Some of them are fine, reading Buddhist scriptures, knocking on wooden fish, and the ancient Buddha with green lanterns to spend the rest of their lives, while some are not good, living in a trance all year round, and even going crazy. Think about the time when they entered the palace, some people were not as old as Jasper, but after the first emperor, what should they do? Those who are favored in the palace can be taken by the moon in the sky, and those who are not favored are not even as good as the maids in the womb of those favored concubines. But whose favor do they deserve? Commander Pu is a wise man, and he should know what I mean by this. ”

Pu Mu said: "The first emperor is gone, and the remaining concubines can be promoted to concubines, and the concubines all have examples to take, and those divisions are promoted step by step with the position of the concubine." Even women who have just entered the palace have examples to take. If it weren't for the excuses of deprivation, or wanton corruption, how could they make them live as well as these minions?"

The man didn't reply, and Pu Mu continued: "Of course, the matter of the harem can't be explained, because I don't know how many people in the assistant six palaces let the internal affairs deduct points everywhere, or those eunuchs in the internal affairs themselves deduct their points in order to please those favored concubines, and this will be the case everywhere in the Northwest Cold Palace." ”

The man in black was asked, and said, "Since Commander Pu has seen it so clearly, the road ahead will not be easy." Farewell—" With that, the man in black jumped onto the eaves with a light effort, took off his black clothes and veil from another place to avoid the eyes and ears of the night guards, and walked back to Qixiu Palace in the same open-air path as an inner attendant.

Pu Mu walked towards the Moon Dragon Pavilion, it was sunny tonight, naturally there was no snow, but the cold wind was cold, and the biting chill still filled every part of the palace.

Long Xiangtian had made tea in the Moon Dragon Pavilion, he had just returned from the Hall of Ten Thousand Flowers, and he was about to go back to the barracks to rest after resting for a while - drinking tea at night would not delay his sleepiness, but today his fatigue was not the same as a few days ago, and he was recalling his gaffe in the Hall of Ten Thousand Flowers that day. He sighed, trying to clear the distractions, but it was hard to do so.

Pu Mu returned to the Moon Dragon Pavilion, and when he saw Long Xiangtian sitting on the bookcase, he asked, "Brother Long has the responsibility of guarding the Ten Thousand Flowers Palace, how can he still be on duty here at night?"

Long Xiangtian said: "Today is Brother Chen's night, but Brother Chen has taken a bath, and he will come when he is young." Today's bath soup burns a lot, we have already bathed and changed into official clothes, why don't you burn some bath soup to get rid of fatigue?"

Pu Mu said with a smile: "Thank you Brother Long for your concern, Brother Long still needs to be on duty tomorrow, it is better to go back to the barracks to rest first, I am on duty here, and I will go to bathe when Brother Chen comes back." ”

"My tea has just been brewed, and I'll rest after drinking it. "Long Xiang Heavenly Dao.

"It's so late, isn't it difficult for Brother Long to fall asleep when he drinks tea?" Pu Mu said.

Long Xiangtian took a sip of tea and said, "This tea won't keep me awake." Do you want to taste this night's tea?"

Pu Mu shook his hand and said, "I don't drink tea at night, Brother Long, please forgive me-"

As he spoke, Chen Renhai had already left the barracks, and said as he went downstairs: "Brother Pu is here, what did the Queen Mother say to you?"

"It's still some polite words, in addition to saying that we are like gods in judging cases, and asking me to wait for the emperor's orders not to be brave...... It's the same as last time. Pu Mu said.

Long Xiangtian said: "Good tea, good tea-let's talk slowly, I'll go back to the room to rest-" After that, Long Xiangtian picked up the tea set and walked to the kitchen to wash it, and then went into the barracks to rest.

"Brother Pu is going to take a bath today?" asked Chen Renhai.

Pu Mu sat on the bookcase and stretched his upper body, and said, "I'm really tired these days, I still need to cook some bath soup...... After that, Pu Mu got up and wanted to go upstairs. Chen Renhai said: "No need, there is still a whole pot of boiling water left in the barracks water room, and the rest of the water is still a little warm, and the temperature of the water is just right." ”

"Thank you Brother Chen for that—" With that, Pu Mu went upstairs and entered the barracks—he didn't tell Long Xiangtian and Chen Renhai about the encounter with the eunuchs of Qixiu Palace on the corridor, and he understood that the less people knew about these things, the better. It's almost the New Year, and he understands that if he takes the initiative to start a dispute at this time, he is afraid that it will be disadvantageous to anyone, and he is not afraid of Concubine Ning's methods - he knows that it was the time when he released a death row prisoner privately that made Concubine Ning have feelings for him, and this time when the emperor arrived at Qixiu Palace, he was around the emperor, which made Concubine Ning even more hostile to him. Concubine Ning's hatred of him will definitely not be aimed at him alone, and her sloppy words when she was in Qixiu Palace have already targeted the eight of them with insinuations. His hatred can never let others get involved, this is his law of life - in the past few months, his law has been broken a little, and he doesn't want to even be unable to keep this bottom line.

Chen Renhai took out three recent letters from his family and opened them one by one -- the first one was sent when he went to Wudang to pay his condolences; the second one was sent when the class teacher returned to Beijing; and the third one was sent a few days ago. From Wudang's condolences to the reversal of the case in Dongting, and then to the thorough investigation of miscarriage when returning to the palace. Recently, the affairs of the palace and the rivers and lakes have been revolving around his mind, and he naturally has not had time to read these letters carefully.

He had been away from home for almost half a year, and when the emperor was enthroned that day, he said that he would have a month's family leave during the Spring Festival. It was almost time for him to return home.

He felt it was time to look at the letters, and he read that the first letter had been written by his mother. The mother's words were very gentle, and she asked very carefully—whether the food in the palace was palatable, whether there was a gap between you and the commanders, and whether her words were too stiff when explaining matters to her subordinates...... In addition, the mother also expressed her worries in the letter, the swords and swords in the rivers and lakes, the intrigue in the palace, and the mother's letter told Chen Renhai to be careful when dealing with people, and the affairs in the palace, especially the harem, still need to be confused...... Chen Renhai was laughing at his mother's letter - his mother was worried about his mother's birth, his mother was worried about him, and his mother's worries about him had not changed, although he didn't seem to care so carefully about him on weekdays, but once he was going to go far away, his mother would tell him a lot like in the letter.

The second letter was written by his brother, and the tone of the letter was much more casual, and there was no need to hide many words between the brothers—Chen Rensong talked about the health of his parents and the business of the family, and also said that last month, the uncle and uncle brought new manpower, and the father was considering expanding the sphere of influence of Chen Jiabao, and was discussing the matter of the Communist Alliance with the chamber of commerce west of Taihang. In addition, Chen Rensong also talked about his sister: My sister made the husband of the family angry twice, although she is smart, she should also read some poetry and books. Chen Rensong also said to him that if he had time to write back, it would be best to inform him of the martial arts he had recently realized.

The third letter was written by his sister - the words in his sister's letter are still naïve, and I want to learn to read and write for nearly half a year, although Chen Rensong's letter said that her homework and naughtiness gave Mr. a headache, but this letter made him look warm. In addition to this, his sister also said that he would memorize poems that were too white, and wanted him to go home to listen to his recitation; at the end of the letter, his sister also told him not to forget to bring some court pastries back to him.

After reading the three family letters, Chen Renhai sorted the letters into an envelope, folded them and placed them in the corner of the table. Chen Renhai stared at the glass lamp next to the Silong Wall, and then looked at the oil lamp next to the table, rubbed his eyes, and only let the tears stay on the eye sockets and not flow out.

He hadn't been home for nearly half a year, and reading the three letters naturally made him have a lot of thoughts. He not only thought of his parents and relatives at home, but also remembered the people he met along the way: Wei Lian Mink who helped him, Shen Lie who hid a knife in his smile, Qiu Pingdao who secretly killed him, and Yan Yu, who had abandoned the secret and surrendered to the light. I don't know where Wei Lianmink went, is the matter of Kingdee Village over?

People who are quiet are most afraid of memories, and the paper next to the bookcase is much empty, but there is no pen. At this time, the guards on duty in the palace all left the barracks, and after explaining some matters to the team leader, he asked them to go to alternate shifts, and after a commotion, the Moon Dragon Pavilion returned to calm. Chen Renhai performed light skills and jumped upstairs, softly went to the Zhishi House to get pen and ink, and after grinding the ink on the bookcase in the hall, he wrote a letter to his family:

Parents and friends, see the letter like a meeting.

Recently, it has been very cold, and the capital has been covered with snow for a long time. The snow in Jinan Mansion in Ludong is very cold, and parents need to take care of their bodies and not be infected with wind and cold.

Renhai has been in charge of the big inner side for more than three months, and Renhai has been valued by the emperor, and the official is under the command of Kan. Although the official position is not as good as the important minister, it can also live up to the name of the ancestors. When there is no case, we talk about literature and martial arts; when there is a case, we go to investigate the case together, cooperate with each other, and work with one heart and one mind. The officials of the six ministries in the capital all abide by the law and speak the law, so our supervision is also easy.

In the Dongting case, Renhai did not disgrace the family's reputation, made every effort to investigate thoroughly, and finally retried the doubtful case with his colleagues in Ouchi, arrested corrupt officials, and punished bad businessmen.

In the letter, the younger brother asked his brother about his martial arts insights, and the brother was ashamed that he had not learned more advanced martial arts recently. The younger brother also needs to carefully practice the martial arts at home, so that he can serve his parents and uncles.

Mei Renling asked her brother about the prosperity of the capital, the capital is vast, but my brother has been in the palace and has not been able to enjoy the downtown of the capital. My sister's letter makes my brother happy, and I want my sister to read and write has achieved initial results. Listen to my brother's words, my sister should not be naughty, she needs to study quietly to make her parents happy.

Grandmother has been in good health recently, don't move around much in winter, the charcoal fire in the house needs to be moderate, the food needs to be chewed slowly, the grandson has not returned, you can't be filial piety under your grandmother's knees, tell jokes with your grandmother and be happy, and ask your grandmother to forgive me.

The brothers in the family also need to abide by the family business: in the gang, they must abide by the rules of the rivers and lakes, the laws and disciplines of the court, and they must not be traitors; in the shopping mall, they must treat others sincerely, and they must not steal and play tricks and harm the villagers. Renhai did not work with the brothers, and the brothers still had to obey the orders of the castle lord and not be rude.

The middle of winter is heavy, and the Spring Festival is approaching. With the grace of God, Renhai will have to go home to visit relatives in January between the Spring Festival, and then talk to his parents and friends in detail.

Chen Renhai paused.

At the end of the day, a tear fell on a corner of the letter, Chen Renhai put the pen aside, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and gently wiped the corners of the paper with his fingers.

The ink is almost dry, the cold wind outside the attic has stopped, and the Spring Festival is coming.