Female Official In the East Palace

The eldest brother, Yinyu, was properly groomed and came out of the house. He saw Jingxi sitting crooked in the lobby, acting boldly and sloppily.

Jing Xibai yawned boredly, looked up to see the elder brother come out, did not get up, casually folded his hands, and greeted: "Eldest prince, you can figure it out, waiting for you to have breakfast together Woolen cloth."

The rest of the guards did not dare to be as frivolous as Jingxi, and stood up to greet the elder brother respectfully.

Big brother looked around, only Jingxi's table was empty, so he could only walk over and sit opposite him.

: "Don't Prince Xi need to go back to the house to make up for sleep?"

Jingxi still swaggered behind them, and said recklessly: "It's just a night of fighting, how do you need a rest, there is an invitation tonight."

The eldest brother was expressionless, like a kind reminder, and said, "Isn't it more necessary to rest? So as not to lose face in front of Suzhou women."

Jingxi looked complacent, "I am extremely strong, and I can go on the wheel!"

Several guards who were close heard it and winked at each other. The elder brother gave Jingxi a blank look and went straight to the horse, followed by Jingxi.

?"

Jingxi jokingly kicked him and said half-truth: "As soon as the lights are turned off, they're not all the same, you people don't want to teach the little ladies in Suzhou to be obsessed. If you lose your eyes, you will lose your mind, otherwise the eldest prince and the young master will teach you to look good!"

"Don't dare!"

"How dare you subordinates?"

"That is, the subordinates all know the priorities and ensure that they will not be confused."

As soon as a guard said "sitting without confusion", he immediately taught the guards next to him a lesson, and when they were on the crowded street, the guards resumed their recovery period. An arrogant and mighty gesture.

At this time, the elder brother said leisurely: "Do the errand first, the master will not treat you badly."

Jingxi looked at their sudden excitement and didn't say anything. The first prince promised to give them time to relax. Could he stop him?

Meng Fan told the trooper to bring someone here, and the clerk took the order to leave, but within a quarter of an hour, he was anxious and ran back in a hurry.

"Report to your lord, then, that Zhang Erhui died in the prison..."

Meng Fan had a bad premonition when he came back alone from the sergeant. After hearing his reply, his face turned blue, and when people were not paying attention, he glared fiercely at Tongzhi Xin Dayuan .

"Yo, what a coincidence..." Jingxi's tone was a bit lucky.

The eldest brother looked at Meng Fan, the prefect of Suzhou, and sneered: "Isn't this prince said yesterday? Even if he is dead, he has to carry it to this prince!"

"Yes, yes, the lower official will send someone to carry it!" Meng Zhifu immediately shouted at the servant, "Don't hurry and carry people over!"

Jingxi shook her legs, approached the eldest brother, and asked, "Your Highness really wants to see a dead person? I don't know what kind of torture he suffered in the prison, I'm afraid it's unbearable."

The eldest brother looked at him coldly, "Xi Jun Wang has never been on the battlefield, he probably doesn't know what kind of body is unsightly, the head and body are separated, the limbs are absent, the chest..."

"I was wrong, I was wrong." Jingxi quickly begged for mercy, "It's because I don't know, I shouldn't offend His Highness the First Prince."

The eldest brother took his eyes back, looked at the Suzhou prefect and other officials, and said sarcastically: "Knowing that this prince was arraigned, but he failed to take good care of the prisoner, this prince really has reason to doubt whether someone deliberately followed suit. This prince is against..."

"The lower official dare not." Meng Zhifu wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained: "Zhang Erhui suffered serious injuries when he was arrested, and then the official ordered the staff to punish him. , the prison is rudimentary, and it only deteriorated without being treated, it is definitely not a deliberate act against His Royal Highness the First Prince."

The eldest prince asked arrogantly: "Is this prince's name and surname what you did? This prince does not want to hear your explanation."

Meng Zhifu lowered his head in embarrassment, "Yes, yes, the lower official knows what's wrong."

After the elder brother sat down on the table, he played with gavel and ordered, "Bring the file up."

The prefect of Meng stopped saying unnecessary words, and immediately ordered someone to fetch it, and then stood awkwardly in the middle of the lobby, like him standing in the lobby, and other officials in the prefecture. notice, notice, etc.

Jing Xi looked at this scene, touched her nose, and finally made a relief: "The first prince and I have arrived here with the will of the emperor. I originally thought that the errand could be completed in a timely manner and go back, but now People are suddenly killed, and it’s impossible to say anything about returning to their lives, isn’t Meng Zhifu embarrassing us?”

Meng Zhifu raised his head and glanced at the cold-faced eldest prince, and smiled bitterly: "Xijun Wang Mingcha, I don't know if this matter is an official..."

"Is it that the king of this county believes in Meng Zhifu, and others believe it?" Jingxi sighed, "His Royal Highness The first prince has a bad temper. Please cooperate with the people of the prefectural government."

When he said "not very good tempered", the elder brother gave a gavel, but did not interrupt Jingxi's pretense.

Afterwards, the two officers carried a stretcher to the lobby, the elder brother glanced at the guards, and finally fell on Jingxi, and ordered: "Xi Jun Wang, check one or two Bar."

Jingxi opened her eyes wide, pointed to herself, and confirmed with her eyes: Is it me?

The big brother nodded decisively and said excitedly: "A corpse is nothing to be afraid of. You are the king of Xi County who can fight on wheels, aren't you afraid?"

Will Jingxi be inspired by him?

Of course it will.

So Jingxi took the long knife from a guard, and used the handle of the knife to slowly lift the white cloth on the stretcher, and when he saw the face of the man under the white cloth, he felt disgusted come up.

He didn't know when he died, but his whole face was not the blue and white color of a normal dead person, but because he was punished before his death, the color of Yuqing was all over his face, and he looked very miserable.

The white cloth has not been completely lifted, I don't know what he looks like, but one thing is certain, even the prefect of Meng said that this man was punished with a rod before his life, and it will never be much better than his face .

Many of the guards present did not have seen dead people, but it was obvious that they had been beaten and abused like this.

But a larger part of them were very calm. After asking the elder brother for instructions, they took over Jingxi's position and lifted the white cloth with their own hands.

Hold your arms up and cover your nose with your sleeves.

The elder brother held his breath secretly, looked at Meng Fan without any fluctuations on his face, and asked, "Meng Zhifu, is this the responsibility of your prefect in Suzhou?"

"This..." Meng Fan clenched his hands in his sleeves, and then he made up his mind to release them. He turned to fellow clerk Xin Dayuan, and said angrily, "Why did this officer ever order the prisoners to be beaten? Xin Dayuan! This person has always been It's up to you, how do you explain it?"

Because, after all, they have always been harsh on the prisoners in prison, and this is not the first time..."

"

The prefect Meng Fan glared at Xin Dayuan, clenched his fists again, but clenched his teeth and said nothing.

The elder brother looked at the expressions of the people in the hall, and suddenly asked: "Has the file not been sent yet? Could it be written temporarily?"

Tongzhi Xin Dayuan responded immediately, turned around and gave Song Yuan a wink, and said, "Song Tongjian, please go and give me an order."

Song Yuan was ordered to leave the lobby, and finally brought the file back without a cup of tea.

At this moment, Jingxi covered her nose and suggested, "Why don't you take this... out first?"

The big brother opened the file without stopping, glanced at everyone in the hall casually, and nodded to allow Jingxi's proposal.

When Jingxi heard his promise, he hurriedly urged; "Hurry up and take it out!"

When the body was carried out, most of the smell in the lobby dissipated, and Jingxi released her hand covering her nose, as if she was saved.

The big brother didn't pay attention to them at all, but frowned while watching the records and confessions on the file.

Disobedience to discipline, gathering crowds to make trouble, completely without the responsibility of the cloth shop and Baotou and others, and even rewriting the losses and injuries they suffered...

Before the eldest brother left Beijing, the information he learned from the prince was that the cloth shop and Baotou were exploited, and the kick craftsmen could not eat enough, so they gathered to demonstrate, just to increase their wages.

It's just that the elder brother didn't ask Meng Zhifu and others. They didn't have any evidence, and they couldn't ask anything. Instead, they might have listened to him like a fool.

For a time, the entire hall of the government office was quiet, only Jingxi yawned, and everyone couldn't help but look at him.

Jingxi didn't feel ashamed at all, waved his hands at them casually, and urged: "When will you arrive? I made an appointment with a few young masters from Suzhou to drink in the painting boat in the evening. Woolen cloth."

?"

Xin Dayuan ordered people to rush him again, and soon several works came one after another. The elder brother didn't bother to be seen by them, and directly urged him to conduct an autopsy on the open space in front of the lobby.

"This..." The older one looked at the prefect of Meng and whispered, "In such a solemn place, it may be disrespectful to conduct an autopsy directly?"

If the eldest brother insisted on doing an autopsy in front of the court, no one in the audience dared to refute it, but the eldest brother did not insist, so the officer lifted the stretcher again and took it to the post-mortem location.

However, the elder brother did not sit in the court and waited, but taught people to directly move the chair to the outside of the autopsy room. The windows and doors were all open, and everyone listened to each autopsy result. .

"Judging from the corpse of the deceased, the time of death should be between five and seven hours."

"There is a bruise on the top of the head, which is severely injured by a long hard object. The skull is not broken. Judging from the color of the bruise, the injury has been at least three days."

"The third and fourth ribs of the left rib were broken, inserted into the internal organs, and there was a lot of congestion in the abdomen, which was the cause of death of the deceased."

"The feet..."

The eldest brother listened silently all the time, waited until the autopsy was over, took the autopsy report, and said to Meng Zhifu: "You are limited to seven days to find out who did it, this person's Punishment does not lead to death."

Meng Zhifu bowed and replied: "Yes, the lower official will find out the perpetrator as soon as possible."

The eldest brother kept a few guards and followed the government office to strictly investigate the matter, then rejected the government office’s invitation to hold a banquet and left the government office directly.

But it was done by a certain jailer as the fellow acquaintance said, and it won't work."

The elder brother quietly listened to Jingxi's ramble, until he returned to the inn, and then said to Jingxi: "So, before the official investigation results come out these three days, please trouble Xi County. Wang and I went out on patrol in small clothes, secretly investigating the contradiction between the kicker and the cloth shop Baotou."

"The eldest prince is right." Jingxi agreed, "You can send a few guards to disguise and go deep into the workshop, and then go privately to check whether there is anyone in the government who has anything to do with those businessmen. Hook up."

The big brother nodded, "The most important thing is to get the evidence, otherwise I can't be convicted."

Not a small mouse.

Jingxi didn't know that the elder brother was thinking about digging the mouse hole, but he still suggested seriously: "Send a few more people to visit the houses of these officials in the government office, maybe you can find direct evidence... "

"What else?"

Jingxi was about to, when suddenly she felt that something was wrong, when she looked up, she saw the elder brother's eyes fell straight on his face, his eyes were also very strange, and he asked speechlessly: "You are like this Look at me, don't you want to check it out for yourself?"

The big brother nodded first, then shook his head again, and said seriously: "It's right to check it out in person, but it's not me, but you, King Xi."

Jingxi twitched the corners of her mouth and snorted embarrassingly, "I have an appointment at night, so I can't lose my trust in others, right?"

Peeping in secret is not conducive to action.”

"We live here, and there will be many people watching..."

The elder brother smiled and said: "I have arranged it properly, you can just do it. The martial arts of the King of Xi County are by no means comparable to that of ordinary guards. I am very relieved."

Jingxi never underestimated the big brother, but he said "it has been arranged properly", presumably no matter what he gets in the government office today, he is only ready to act according to his own steps.

And so far, it has not departed from the prince's expectations...

But he did not cancel the original invitation, went back to the house and slept for a while, and then went out on horseback with someone.

After listening to the report, the elder brother only made a "hmm" to indicate that he understood.

Two hours later, Jingxi, who was full of alcohol and looked drunk, was sent back by a carriage.

The two guards helped him in, and as soon as he touched the bed, Jingxi opened his eyes immediately and asked, "Where is Big Brother? What have you prepared for me?"

The two guards looked at each other, and one of them replied: "Report to the king, the elder brother is in his room, wait a moment, the subordinate will bring you the night clothes."

"And night clothes?!"

really carefully.

Jingxi couldn't help but hehe, then changed into night clothes, took two guards who were also wearing night clothes, climbed the wall and left the inn, and got into the carriage arranged by the elder brother, Go straight to Tongzhi Xin Dayuan's house.

The light in the elder brother's house was on, and he unhurriedly wrote everything that happened in Suzhou in the past two days on the book, and when he heard a knock on the door, he shouted softly ,"Enter."

A high-spirited scholar, he kindly invited a few people to the painting boat, and one of them was a son of the famous Suzhou family, the Weng family in Changshu."

"Wong?"

The black-clothed guard explained: "In the fifteenth year of the Weng family, there was a man named Weng Shuyuan."

"Weng Shuyuan? Weng Shuyuan, former minister of the Ministry of Industry?"

"Yes."

The eldest brother was slightly surprised, this Weng Shuyuan was the Minister of the Ministry of Industry for 27 years, and he returned to his hometown to recuperate in 26 years. The ability to squeeze years of construction projects is very impressive.

"I don't know, this Weng Shuyuan is actually from Changshu..." The elder brother couldn't find any clues for the time being, so he asked again, "Is there anything else special?"

"It is the children of the Weng family who invited the King of Xi County to gather in the painting boat tonight, and there are three people in the painting boat today, one is the second son of this Weng Shuyuan, Weng Ji; and the other two are both It comes from the famous Suzhou family - Changzhou Peng family."

Cheung Chau Peng’s…

The eldest brother repeated this surname in his mind, and he felt familiar. After a long time, he suddenly realized: "But the family of Peng Long, a great scholar in Suzhou? I heard that many officials from Suzhou are his students. "

"Yes." The black-clothed guard added, "Peng Long's son, Peng Dingqiu, is the champion appointed by the emperor for fifteen years.

"Fifteen years again? Both the champion and the third flower of the fifteenth year came from Suzhou?" The elder brother frowned and recalled carefully, "I don't really remember this person."

The master is Tang Bin, the counselor of His Royal Highness, and his younger brother Peng Ningqiu is now a subordinate of Zuochunfang of Zhanshifu."

Prince's Attendant…

Big brother leaned on the Taishi chair and sneered.

By chance?

In such a large area of ​​Suzhou Mansion, I first met the children of the Weng family in Changshu, and today I was drinking with the children of the Peng family in Changzhou. Do you think he is a fool?

He had previously wondered why Jingxi, who had never approached him, asked for a special order to accompany him. Now it seems that the prince must have something else to explain to him.

The Weng clan in Changshu and the Peng clan in Changzhou belong to the nobility, and the well-educated people in the clan have students all over the world.

Why lure him to Suzhou? Don't you worry about being noticed by him?

The eldest brother was lost in thought, but he was really confused, so he asked the guards to continue to follow Jingxi.

For the next few days, Jingxi still went to the banquet every evening, and the people who participated in the banquet gradually expanded from the gentry to most of the famous families in Suzhou, whether it was a gentry or a businessman, it can be said that all comers are welcome.

The eldest brother was more and more sure that the prince definitely wanted to make friends with the nobles in Jiangnan, but he never thought that the prince who was far away in the capital had already made friends, and this time he had another purpose.

After going to the banquet every day, Jingxi followed the request of the elder brother to visit the Suzhou government officials' homes at night, and indeed found some letters in the account books of corruption and bribery, but he did not dare to take back the evidence rashly.

And one night, I overheard the secret conversation between the prefect Meng Fan and Tongzhi Xin Dayuan.

It turns out that Xin Dayuan has always received benefits to protect those Baotou officials and businessmen, but after Meng Fan took office in Suzhou, he asked Xin Dayuan and others to hold some kind of handle, so he joined in with them. It is almost equivalent to being suspended in the government office.

However, with such reluctance, conflicts and disputes will inevitably arise.

At the same time, other guards who went to investigate also brought back news.

The conditions of employment proposed by Baotou who hired kickers were to include room and board, but the places where kickers lived was extremely simple, and the food they ate was extremely bad. That’s all, after all, ordinary people It's not easy to be able to eat and eat, and I don't ask for much.

Those kicking craftsmen are all good people, not slaves, and they are all adults. I am afraid that it is really unbearable to resist.

Jingxi finished eloquently and said: "Listening to Meng Fan and Xin Dayuan's quarrel, that Zhang Erhui should have been bribed by the jailer for revenge, so he received so many heavy sentences."

The elder brother thoughtfully said: "If Meng Zhifu quits the jailer tomorrow, I am afraid this person will die without any evidence."

"Exactly." Jingxi nodded and said, "So I have ordered people to go to the jailer's house to search for it. I think there will be news when people come back."

"Okay." The eldest brother affirmed his behavior, and when he raised his eyes, he saw the slightly bluish black under Jingxi's eyes, and suddenly asked, "The king of Xi County is ordered by the prince, every time Seeing so many people at night and still following me in the daytime, so loyal and energetic, is really admirable."

Jingxi pretended to be confused and said, "Perhaps it was my acquaintance, His Royal Highness, the first prince, who had misunderstood."

"Misunderstanding?" The elder brother narrowed his eyes slightly and threatened, "Let's not talk about others, if Pope Ama knows about the relationship between Peng's and the prince in Changzhou, you can say, Will Ma misunderstand the prince?"

Jingxi smiled without changing her face: "If you want to add guilt, there is nothing to worry about, His Royal Highness is so aggressive, Jingxi may also suspect that you are deliberately targeting the prince."

The eldest brother said calmly: "I am the eldest son of the emperor, and the whole dynasty knows that I am opposed to the prince."

Jing Xi did not expect him to be so straightforward, so he controlled the smile on his face and continued: "We are here in Suzhou, we should support each other, instead of being suspicious of each other and teaching people to take advantage. "

The eldest brother said: "I am the eldest son of the emperor. If you hurt me, it may be that the nine clans are affected."

Jingxi was upset and pressed down, "We are both descendants of the Aisin Gioro family. In terms of seniority, I should be your elder..."

"I am the eldest son..."

"..." Jingxi's forehead jumped and she stood up, "I know you are the eldest son of the emperor!"

The eldest brother saw that he was angry, and said leisurely: "Jingxi, you must think clearly, no matter what the prince does, if I deliberately stumble in the middle, it will ruin what he planned. Not to mention, maybe he will teach the prince to cause trouble... If I think about it like this, I should be very happy to see it."

Jingxi knew that the elder brother was right, and after a long time, his face calmed down and asked: "His Royal Highness did not destroy secretly, he must be thinking, I wonder if you can tell Jingxi?"

"Of course." The elder brother said very readily, "I can pretend not to know, but if you want me to cooperate, it is impossible for the prince without any effort."

"What does Your Highness want?"

Promise, no matter what I ask him in the future, he must agree."

This kind of condition, Jingxi never dared to agree on behalf of the prince, after thinking for a long time, he said: "I need to ask the prince for instructions before I can give the prince an answer."

The elder brother raised his hand and raised the corner of his mouth, "I also want to know if the prince dares to agree..."