After a while, several household officials came one after another, and Li Junxian was also among them, Nangong Yu turned a blind eye, afraid that he would not be able to help but beat him up when he saw him. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info" Hai Rui said: "Lord Wang, please come to the inner hall and sit down, and leave the matter here to us." Nangong Yu patted him on the shoulder and said, "You have been busy alone for so long, it's time for them to contribute, you come in with me, I have something to say to you." ”

The two came to a secluded place in the inner hall, and Nangong Yu told the court about it. Hai Rui was puzzled when he heard this: "The lower official is just a recital, this is a common thing, I really didn't know it would have such a big impact." Isn't there usually no one to give the emperor a recital?"

Nangong Yu said with a smile: "There must be a song, but the content is all carved, and the good news is not reported, this is the New Year, you report that the treasury is empty, and the Beijing officials have no money, isn't this embarrassing to the emperor?" Hai Rui spread his hands and smiled helplessly: "But the truth of what the lower officials said, shouldn't such a big thing be reported?"

Nangong Yu said: "I know that Brother Hai is upright, but sometimes it's better to be tactful, and when you say things, you have to pick and choose." Hai Rui said slowly: "Resist, death can be called uprightness, my song is just a narrative of the truth, and it has nothing to do with rigidity." By the way, can the prince tell the household what the money is used for?"

Nangong Yu looked at him deeply and said, "It is used to decorate Wanshou Palace and Renshou Palace." Hai Rui was stunned, and said in shock: "One million taels of silver! Just to decorate two palaces?" Nangong Yu sighed and nodded. Hai Rui suddenly got up, walked back and forth in the house with his hands behind his back, suddenly angrily knocked over the tea set on the table, turned around and said: "More than a dozen counties in Hebei and Shandong are suffering from disasters and famines. The common people can't even drink gruel, how many people will freeze to death on this snowy day in Layue? How many people can be saved with a million taels of silver? Have you counted, Lord Wang?"

Nangong Yu knew that what he said was reasonable, but now he had to persuade him not to play any more, otherwise no one would be able to save him, and said: "Yan Shifan has asked Yan Maoqing to go south to patrol the salt, and I believe that enough disaster relief food will be raised before the Qingming Festival." Hai Rui said with a smile: "The people of Jiangnan have already been pressed by heavy taxes, and they have to increase taxes." And it's still before the Qingming Dynasty, it's still early, how many people will starve to death in these days? Who will be responsible? Who can be responsible!" In front of his selfless heart, Nangong Yu also felt embarrassed, and sighed: "Being with the light and dust is the way to be an official, Brother Hai should not be too sharp." ”

Hai Rui smiled bitterly: I really didn't expect that a small letter would cause such a big wave, even I, a small household official, know that hundreds of officials are in arrears, and there is a famine in the two provinces, how can those adults in high halls not know? Everyone knows about them, but everyone does not say anything, not because the edge of the lower officials is too exposed, but because their 'swords' have long been rusted and cannot be pulled out!"

Nangong Yu was silent for a long time, and muttered: "Can you ask Brother Hai for one thing?" Hai Rui said: "The prince is serious, the prince is not only the boss of the lower officials, but also a rare good official with a conscience, although he is instructed. Nangong Yu said: "Brother Hai, can you let me read it before going up next time, let's polish it together, sometimes gentle words can achieve good results, or if you have any ideas, tell me first, I'll see if I can achieve it through other channels?"

Hai Rui said: "Of course you can, as long as the country and the people are safe, even if the lower officials are not negligent for the rest of their lives, what's the matter." Nangong Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good, it seems that my trip was not in vain." Hai Rui said: "The lower officials don't know the prince's protection, and they are really grateful." Nangong Yu said with a smile: "Brother Hai is someone I admire, but it's a pity that I only have you in the Ming Dynasty, so you are too eye-catching." Hai Rui also smiled, the atmosphere diluted a lot, and said: "I went to visit my sister these days, and I saw that she was worried, as if she had something on her mind, and I didn't say anything when I asked her, Li Junxian didn't go home for a few days, and the prince is a friend of my sister, do you know what happened?" Nangong Yu said: "I can't say much about their family affairs, if Miss Hai wants to say something, she will tell Brother Hai." After Nangong Yu left the household, she wanted to turn around several times on the way back to visit Haiqiong, but finally gave up.

Two days later, in the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Guoguo always wanted to go to the back garden of the Forbidden City to see, Nangong Yu wanted to take the whole family into the palace, first play in the back garden for half a day, and then go to the Baohe Hall for a banquet. At noon, when the lady and the children were picking out clothes, Xiao Jiu came to report: "Mrs. Zhu, she has entered the palace." ”

Nangong Yu changed color and said, "How did she enter the palace?" Xiao Jiu said: "She has been sitting in front of a small vendor this morning, and after a while, a little eunuch came to drink bean juice, and the two talked, and then Mrs. Zhu took the little eunuch home. Speaking of this, he paused and said embarrassedly: "At that time, we were not sure of the situation, we didn't dare to guess, and we had to wait until the truth came out before we dared to tell the prince." Nangong Yu knew what he meant, and was sure that Zhu Xinqi was not that kind of person, and said, "Let's talk about the point." Xiao Jiu said: "Yes, we didn't know that we guessed wrong until half an hour later." Mrs. Zhu changed into the eunuch's clothes and entered the Xuanwu Gate with a waist card. We think that Madame has been observing the people entering and leaving the capital in the hut these days, and that the little eunuch must have often eaten bean juice in front of the peddler, so Madame waited there in advance, and Madame must have obtained some information during the chat, so she did not hesitate to sneak into the palace in broad daylight. ”

Nangong Yu's face changed slightly and said, "She is going to the banquet of the Baohe Palace." Xiao Jiu said suspiciously: "Madame can enter the palace with the prince, why do you want to act alone? Does she want to do something hidden? Prince, you have to give the villain an explanation, in case something happens, the villain can't afford to do it." Nangong Yu dared to say that Zhu Xinqi was going to assassinate the emperor, but he couldn't hide Xiao Jiu anymore, so he said: "Your surveillance ends here, everything has nothing to do with you." ”

Xiao Jiu said: "I will also enter the palace tonight to be on duty, and I will still keep an eye on her when the time comes, and it is also my duty to be responsible for the security of the palace." After Xiao Jiu left, Nangong Yu told Wei Yurou and Ouyang Shan about it, and the two daughters said that they couldn't enter the palace, so it was more convenient for Nangong Yu to act alone. Nangong Yu said: "The emperor said clearly that he would bring his family members into the palace for a banquet, everyone knows about your first arrival in the capital, and if you don't enter the palace to meet the saint, I'm afraid that it will be inappropriate." Ouyang Shan said: "Since there is danger, don't go to the child, just Sister Yurou will accompany you into the palace, I will watch the child at home." Nangong Yu also thought that this move was appropriate, so he nodded in agreement.

That night, Nangong Yu and Wei Yurou were dressed in civilian clothes and came to Xuanwu Gate in a warm sedan chair, but they saw a person standing next to the city gate, it was Hai Rui. Nangong Yuqi said: "Brother Hai, why don't you go in." Hai Rui smiled bitterly: "The soldiers guarding the door said that I can't go in with my clothes." Seeing that he was still wearing the patched clothes, which were even more torn than those worn by ordinary people, Nangong Yu turned to the Janissaries and said, "This Lord Hai was invited by the emperor to have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, how dare you dare not even listen to the emperor's will?" Janissary Nuo said yes and made amends to Hai Rui.

The three of them entered Bauhinia City together and came to the Baohe Hall under the leadership of the eunuch. The hall is brightly lit, as bright as day, the musicians are playing softly, all the officials are wearing casual clothes to greet each other, and the family members are also chatting on the side. When they saw Nangong Yu all come over to salute, they all thought that Hai Rui was the servant he brought, and they were secretly surprised, how could the servants of the palace wear such shabby clothes.

The little eunuch said to Nangong Yu: "Lord Wang, please take a seat." Nangong Yu nodded, and said to Hai Rui in a low voice: "I know that there are many places that you can't look through, and I hope to be patient." Hai Rui sighed, nodded, and sat down in the last seat.

After a while, hundreds of officials entered the table, and after the silence in the venue, someone announced that "the emperor has arrived", and Zhu Houxi, who was dressed in civilian clothes, came to the middle with his concubines and eunuchs and sat down. Nangong Yu saw that he had brought two concubines, and Leng Yueji was sitting on the right, and it seemed that her status and degree of favor were not as good as the concubine on the left.