Chapter 29(1/2)
A Dong is a greedy guy, exactly the same as Tang Fan. When she was at the Li family, she went to the Li family chef to get food every day. The chef made pastries for his wife and men. After serving them, he had one or two extra pieces, which often made A Dong cheaper, so that she is now eight years old and has not seen the slimness of a girl at all. Instead, she gradually develops in a round and round manner.
However, life in the kitchen is not in vain. At least A Dong also stole a piece of trick from the Li family chef, which could fully meet the various needs of her foodie brother. For example, this locust leaf Tao, she was a little greedy after hearing Tang Fan's description. One of the brothers and sisters climbed a tree and the other pulped the juice and dough, and finally she made it for them.
The white jade-like bowl contained the rolled thin and thin noodles with locust leaf juice, and then drizzled with minced garlic and sesame oil and vinegar. The vinegar smell was everywhere. Tang Fan and A Dong closed their eyes and looked intoxicated, saying that they were brothers and sisters they recognized halfway, but no one believed them.
"Come on, eat and have a look!" Tang Fan personally served a bowl of Suizhou, and pushed the seasonings and spoons to him with a smile.
Suizhou didn't say anything, and lowered his head and tasted it. It tasted very good. The freshly picked locust leaves also had a fragrant fragrance of plants and trees. After pounding, they penetrated into the noodles. Even the noodles tasted a locust fragrance, which was fresh and delicious, and the best summer. No wonder Tang Fan would never forget it.
Seeing him nodding, Tang Fan's eyes lit up: "Then let's try the golden rooster next time!"
Before Suizhou could speak, A Dong beside him had already started calling: "Brother, don't forget that your hand was scratched when you climb a tree in the morning. I'll catch the chicken next time, so I'll be pecked by the chicken?"
Tang Fan glared at her: "I haven't climbed a tree for a long time, and my memory is just unfamiliar. I'll be proficient in it a few more times."
Adong wailed: "Come on again. In the morning, I took care of you and felt very up and down. I was afraid that you would fall down. Later, it fell down. Don't have another time, I'm afraid I'll be scared to death!"
Tang Fan reached out to grab her ear: "It's good to eat with the little girl, and she's still nagging all day long, be careful not to get married in the future!"
Although A Dong was white and round, his movements were surprisingly quick. He jumped up and went to hide behind Suizhou, and grimaced at Tang Fan with a smile.
Suizhou asked: "Are you injured?"
Tang Fan shook his head: "Don't listen to the nonsense of Adong, it's just a cut by a branch."
Suizhou nodded and said nothing.
Sophora leaves, cold cucumber, beef sauce, one meat and two vegetables, and are all refreshing and appetizing dishes. Even if you are already full of heat, you will feel refreshed after eating.
In Suizhou, when I live alone, even if I know how to cook, I am busy. I often pay attention to dealing with it. I either just solve it casually in the yamen. I often go through the files and prepare the meal without even taste any taste. Few people can sit together like now, chatting while eating, and the food can also taste carefully prepared.
At first he felt that it was unnecessary to come back for dinner until late in business. It was because of Tang Fan's insistence that he did this. But now he got used to it, he would come back no matter how late he was.
Unconsciously, subtle.
After dinner, Adong went to clean up the dishes, while Suizhou said to Tang Fan: "Come with me."
He brought Tang Fan to the study.
"Sleeve." Suizhou Road.
He always speaks concisely and to the point where he can speak without saying anything. When he has to speak, he can simplify the words and sentences.
Lord Tang thought to himself that it was thanks to his intelligence, otherwise it would be difficult to understand his meaning from these words without beginning or end.
When he rolled up his sleeves, he saw a long hole on the outside of his right arm. The hole was not deep, but probably he had a lot of blood flowing before. Now, after stopping, there was a blood scar on his head, which looked a bit scary.
Sui Zhou took a look, took out one of the plasters from the bottles and jars on the table, dipped them a little with his fingers, and evenly applied them to Tang Fan's wound.
The wound was so painful, but the pain could be held back. Lord Tang did not show a grinning expression. However, after the plaster was applied, a comfortable and cool feeling immediately came from the wound, as if even the pain had been relieved a lot.
"Your medicine is really effective. I won't have to worry about falling again in the future."
Tang Fan joked, but Suizhou glanced at him coldly and immediately shut up.
Suizhou: "I want to have a next time?"
Tang Fan: "..."
Lord Tang endured it again and again, but still couldn't help it: "But the locust leaves are really delicious, don't you think?"
The accent was aggrieved. Sui Baihu couldn't help but raise his lips slightly, but he just turned around and didn't let Lord Tang see it.
"If you want to eat in the future, tell me." After a while, Suizhou could only hear this.
Tang Fan smiled: "It's indeed a good brother!"
Sui Baihu, who was given the title of "good brother" because he was willing to climb trees and pick leaves, was helpless: "Aren't you going to talk about the Li family?"
Lord Tang said oh twice, remembered the serious matter, and then adjusted from the foodie mode to a serious and serious situation.
He said all his guesses from beginning to end, and finally said: "I once heard from Lao Li that when Li Man gave up the imperial examination and changed to business, he suffered a lot of losses due to lack of experience and also lost his capital. The Li family was heavily in debt and was on the verge of despair. Later, he didn't know what business he had done. The Li family got better overnight. Lao Li was just a housekeeper, so he didn't know it. But now I think about it, maybe the reason why Li Man was able to survive in a desperate situation is probably the help of the White Lotus Sect. The two sides had colluded long ago. Otherwise, with Li Man's current wife is virtuous and his son is filial, how could he be bewitched to the point of killing his wife and destroying his son?"
Suizhou nodded: "I will report this matter and continue to investigate the whereabouts of Li Man and Chen. In recent years, the White Lotus Sect has become more and more rampant. During the Tumubao Incident more than ten years ago, the shadow of their collusion with the Oirats was indispensable."
When he mentioned the huge change decades ago, Tang Fan sighed.
When this big event that shocked the world happened, he was not born yet, but it did not prevent him from understanding this matter. Not only him, but he was afraid that when people all over the world would sigh like Tang Fan when they mentioned this matter.
Because of the emperor's willfulness and ignorance, hundreds of thousands of people died, including civil and military officials, meritorious officials, and the three camps of the capital were almost wiped out. Later generations took out the benevolent politics of Emperor Yingzong in the later period and said it again.
But Tang Fan felt that if a person's growth requires the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of lives, it would be too tragic. If he had done it or done it, it would not be able to cover up the mistakes he had made. The emperor was captured by others and became a shame to the whole country. At that time, the Oirats rushed in and the capital had no defense. If Yu Qian had not stood up, resisted the opposition, insisted on not moving the capital, and established a new emperor and led the way to launch a defense battle, what would happen to Beijing now and what would happen to the Ming Dynasty now? It would be hard to say very well.
Tang Fan reminded: "From the matter of Tumubao, we can see that the White Lotus Sect has a big plan, and I am afraid that Li Man's affairs are just the tip of the iceberg."
Once it involves the White Lotus Sect, it is not something that Tang Fan can solve alone. The Beizhen Fushi has more experience in this area, so it is obviously more appropriate to leave it to them to investigate.
Suizhou nodded and said coldly: "With Li Man's nature, even if he did not have the Chen family or the White Lotus Sect's instigation, he would probably have done that kind of thing."
He clearly has no good impression of such a man who kills his wife and kills his children.
Tang Fan said: "There are many people in the world like Li Man, so there is an opportunity for the White Lotus Sect to take advantage of."
When he saw Sui Zhou's face looked tired, he asked, "But what difficult thing has happened?"
Sui Zhou shook his head: "That is what I told you last time, the demons of the White Lotus Sect used the Fengyue script to mix rumors and charm the world. Recently, they are just seizing books."
Lord Tang said a little flatteringly: "Guangchuan, can we discuss it? If you see a book called "Lihuayuan Ji", if there is no problem after reading it, can you not seal it? There is another book called "Flying Sword Ji"..."
His voice became smaller and smaller under the expressionless gaze of the other party, and finally showed a guilty expression.
Suizhou said: "There is an order from above that any Fengyue storybook will be sealed. Those who go to check just read it casually, and it is difficult to find out if there is any problem inside, so they would rather kill it than let it go."
"And," he paused, looking at Tang Fan, his cold expression finally showed a hint of helplessness, "You, a court official, ran to write that kind of storytelling book anonymously. If you are discovered, you are afraid that your reputation will be lost."
Tang Fan smiled and said, "What's that? In fact, it's not just me. There are many people in the court who are doing this kind of thing. Anyway, no one can recognize anyone. Otherwise, relying on their salary alone, how can they support their family? If you don't want to be corrupt, you can only find another way. Let me tell you, "He Shishang of the Moon" is written anonymously. I also wrote anonymously in the same year, who was originally a Hanlin editor, but now it has been released. He has also written one or two stories for his livelihood. Because his writing is more relaxed than me, his content is erotic, and he is very popular with booksellers. He also has more money than me. There are also people from the Ministry of Rites who will sell the answer sheets of the highest ranking to the bookstore every time the exam is completed, so they can earn the fees. They want high school students to buy them one after another to refer to and ponder. That's much better than those we wrote a storybook!"
Suizhou heard that the other party knew everything and had a blank face.
He naturally remembered that Tang Fan mentioned that He Shilang of the Ministry of Justice, who was famous for his uprightness and seriousness. It was hard for Suizhou to imagine that Old Man He would write such romantic stories in private, and with the interrogation methods of the Jinyiwei, he would not know about such things. It seems that he also needs to reflect on it.
I heard Tang Fan sigh and gain sympathy: "So, look at us civil officials, who look so powerful. In fact, we have been studying hard for decades. Once we become officials, we can't move without money. If you don't give gifts, it's equivalent to offending people and making progress in the future. If you want to give gifts, you have to go to search for them. The people will suffer. In the end, we can't blame them. But I am not pioneering them. After all, few people can be as smart as me, and can write a book and get the money for money..."
Suizhou: "I have a salary."
Tang Fan continued: "Did you say that, Guangchuan...ah? What did you just say?"
Suizhou: "I have a salary, so don't worry."
The Jinyiwei is different from the civil servants. They have monthly food and business food.
Monthly grain is like civil servants, which is the monthly salary, and the food is a business trip subsidy. For example, the Beizhen Fushi Office who often has to go to foreign affairs to handle cases will not be less travel expenses, not to mention that there will be various filial piety and gray incomes. Moreover, the initial responsibility of the Jinyiwei was to guard the imperial court, and it must be bright and beautiful at any time. In addition, the Jinyiwei's men are vicious and afraid of everyone, so even if the court is in a tight position and the Ministry of Revenue cannot pay the money and grain for the Jinyiwei for a while, they will definitely not dare to deduct the money and grain of the Jinyiwei. Everyone knows that persimmons need to be picked up and pinched.
Tang Fan lives alone and doesn’t have to support the whole family. In addition, A Dong can’t eat much, but he tastes delicious food himself, so sometimes he always runs out and doesn’t save much in the end.
In contrast, Suizhou is a good example of thrift and thrift, because he lives alone, but has no bad habits, and does not even have extraordinary love for food like Lord Tang. He goes home every day except in the yamen, and lives are as simple as ascetics. According to the rules, he sends New Year gifts to his family and Shangguan during festivals. After a year, he still has a lot of savings, which completely throws Lord Tang out of eight streets.
Tang Fan was stunned for a while after hearing his words, then laughed wildly. Finally, he had to hold Suizhou's shoulders to stabilize his body, rubbing his stomach: "Oh, then my brother and sister will depend on Sui Baihu in the future. When I really spend all my salary, you have to help me!"
Suizhou: "Yes."
Tang Fan couldn't help but want to laugh, but was also moved. He knew that not everyone was qualified to let the other party say such words.
"Guangchuan, to be honest, I used to have an ordinary impression of the Jinyiwei, but since I met you, I realized that there are actually real men like you who are worthy of making friends with and being a confidant among the Jinyiwei!"
Sui Zhou's cold eyes had a hint of warmth, and although he still nodded concisely.
"In two days, my grandmother will celebrate her birthday. Would you like to go there together?" he asked.
The grandmother of Suizhou, whose surname is Zhou, is very unique in her identity. She is the sister of Queen Mother Zhou today.
The Zhou family was originally an ordinary family and had rules in the Ming Dynasty. All the women in the harem were selected from good folk families, not high-ranking officials, so as to avoid the harem's relatives from unification. Zhou family was awarded the title of concubine from a harem woman, and finally became the queen mother as the emperor's mother. The Zhou family naturally followed the ranks and became prosperous. In addition to the father of the Empress Dowager Zhou, the brothers were also granted the title of Marquis. Because of the Zhou family, the grandfather of Suizhou also had to be granted the title of Jinyiwei Commander.
The commander of the Jinyiwei is the highest official position of the Jinyiwei, but not only one person can be the one. For example, the younger brother of Concubine Wan, Wan Tong, is now the commander of the Jinyiwei, but he is a real power faction. There is also a commander named Yuan Bin. He once saved the life of the late emperor and has a great influence in the Jinyiwei, and is also a real power faction.
In addition to these two people, there are many commanders of the Jinyiwei, most of whom are void positions awarded by the emperor and are famous. They just take money without doing anything, and of course they have no real power.
This kind of title of foreign relative is among the nouveau riche, and is incomparable to the Lord Wu'an who inherited his merits. He has no real power at all, just called it nice. He has money and food every year, and that's all.
The Sui family entrusted the blessing of Empress Dowager Zhou, and the father and brother of Suizhou also held a false position in the Jinyiwei. This false position was just about paying money and not doing things, which was also very eye-catching. They were not the direct relatives of Empress Dowager Zhou, nor were the surname Zhou, and they were separated from each other by one layer. Therefore, after Suizhou joined the Jinyiwei, they could only start with a small flag and slowly promoted.
He has no real power and is a relative of the foreigners. Most civil officials are unwilling to interact with the Sui family, one is to avoid suspicion, and the other is to not want to demote themselves.
However, after hearing his words, Tang Fan said without thinking: "Brother, your grandmother will naturally be my grandmother. In two days, you can call me and go there together."
Suizhou's heart was slightly warm and he nodded.
Because it was related to the White Lotus Sect, the Beizhen Fushishi attached great importance to the matters of the Li family through Suizhou. However, as Tang Fan expected, Li Man and Chen had already made plans and must have made complete preparations. When the people of the Beizhen Fushishishi caught up with the carriage suspected to be the Li family in Baoding Prefecture, they found that only Aqiu and several other Li family servants were left inside.
According to A Qiu and others, "Li Lin" as the master, after leaving the capital, did not move his family to Nanjing as originally agreed. Instead, he immediately distributed some money to each servant, dismissed everyone on the spot, and asked them to go in different directions. He went north alone in a carriage, missing.
And Aqiu and the others still don’t know that the “Young Master Li” they saw, and it is very likely that they have changed their individual inside.
At this point, it was not a day since he found "Li Lin" and Chen, nor was it within the scope of the power of Shuntian Prefecture. After Suizhou handed over the matter to his colleagues, Tang Fan could leave his hands alone, but every time he saw A Dong, he would occasionally think of Zhang, A Xia and others, and he couldn't help but sigh that good fortune was arousing.
With Suizhou coming forward to testify and the suspicious things, the case became a unsolved case, and the impeachment of Tang Fan was left alone. Pan Bin specially sent Lao Wang and others to find Tang Fan to return to re-employment. Although this senior brother of the prefect often caused various troubles for Tang Fan, he was not bad and had a friendship with his classmates. If it were not for this, Tang Fan would not have given up his position as a Qing noble official who was an editor of the Hanlin Academy and came to his senior brother's command.
Two days later, on the birthday of Mrs. Zhou, Tang Fan took Adong with him and went to the Sui family along with Suizhou to celebrate his grandmother's birthday.
Old Mrs. Zhou gave birth to only one son and one daughter, and her daughter was Suizhou's mother.
After the Sui mother married Sui father, she gave birth to three children. Suizhou ranked second, with an elder brother Sui An and a young girl Sui Bi below.
Although he had a relative with Empress Dowager Zhou, the Sui family was an ordinary family after all, and they did not have three wives and four concubines like the Marquis of Wu'an and Li's family. The father of Suizhou had only one wife, Sui mother, and the grandparents of Suizhou also passed away.
To be continued...