Pei Gonggui

Chapter 123 The crime 77 · Revealed

Pei Jun originally thought that Cao Luan's request to see him would end like this, but three days later in the morning, the guards reported again, saying that Cao Luan was threatening him with a hunger strike in prison, begging Pei Jun to see him.

Cao Luan was born lonely, he was troubled in his early years, and he handled things well and harmoniously. He was seldom outspoken and arrogant. He usually treated him calmly when he was in a hurry. .

After much deliberation, Pei Jun thought that something was wrong. Although he was worried about the anxious situation and the awkward relationship with Cao Luan, he hesitated for a while, but he still put down the Chinese papers in his hand, got up and asked the guards to prepare Hu Li's carriage, and then went out of the palace. .

Hu Li often acted on Jiang Zhan's behalf, and this dark green silk-roofed carriage often entered and exited the palace. It was known to everyone in the imperial city guards, even the courtiers in Beijing and China.Therefore, when it drove out of Yuanchen Gate in a hurry, an old man who was walking into the palace on foot and passed by it inevitably raised his head and looked at it sideways.

The old man's rigid brows were then slightly frowned, and there was a trace of doubt in his eyes.

The servant at the side stepped forward to check his name tag, handed it back respectfully and said: "Master Zhang Wanan."

Zhang Ling took back the name tag, nodded slightly, and walked out of the Zhongqing Hall with his hands behind his hands, asking for an audience, after several conveyances and waiting, the little eunuch finally led him into the gate.

According to his usual habits, Zhang Ling thought that Jiang Zhan would definitely be replying to the memorial in the imperial study room, but he didn't know that he had just walked a few steps on the corridor, but he heard two low and short shouts not far away: "Master Zhang! Master Zhang! "

Zhang Ling turned his head to look, and saw the direction of the voice, Jiang Zhan was wearing a middle coat, standing behind the pillars outside the side hall of the Zhongqing Hall, his face seemed anxious.At this time, he was called, and Jiang Zhan cautiously turned his head to look in the direction of the hall behind him, and then waved to him again.

Zhang Ling was already frowning, but when he saw this scene, the word "Chuan" between his brows couldn't help but deepened a bit, he quickened his pace for a while, and in spite of the little eunuch's dissuasion, he reached the veranda of the side hall in a short while.He was about to ask Jiang Zhan why he was wandering here in disheveled clothes, but suddenly he heard an anxious cry from behind Jiang Zhan:

"The emperor is here! The emperor has found it!"

He raised his eyes and saw three young eunuchs rushing over, and looking back from the direction they were shouting, it was actually Hu Li holding Jiang Zhan's robe and chasing him anxiously from the palace gate.

Zhang Ling's eyes tightened.

——Didn't Hu Li go out of the palace?If Hu Li is still in the palace right now... then who will be the one who leaves the palace in Hu Li's carriage that does not need to be inspected by the palace guard?

Thinking of this, Zhang Ling suddenly felt chills, and immediately looked at Jiang Zhan beside him, and Jiang Zhan responded to him with an expression of wanting to speak but not daring.

At this time, Hu Li had already run to the front, and covered Jiang Zhan with the gold silk robe in his hand.He looked at Zhang Ling with his long and narrow eyes, panting, and sighed sadly: "Master Zhang laughed, we thought the emperor was resting, but after a while of busy work, he turned around, the emperor disappeared, and the clothes were not properly dressed. superior!"

As he spoke, he turned his back to Zhang Ling and faced Jiang Zhan, and raised his hands to fasten the buttons of Jiang Zhan's coat one by one. Fengchi, what should I do?"

"I'm in the palace all day long, and I'm bored to death. I just walked around." Although Jiang Zhan was answering him, his eyes looked at Zhang Ling, and he shook his head almost invisible to Zhang Ling, and motioned to Zhang Ling. Ling looked down.

Zhang Ling followed his instructions and lowered his eyes, only to see that Jiang Zhan was wearing the jasper ring on his left index finger that had just been stretched out from the cuff of his coat, while the index finger and thumb of Jiang Zhan's right hand were calmly Leaning gently on the jade ring, she held the jade ring and turned it lightly.

Zhang Ling's eyes were shocked, his lips quivered, and he looked at Jiang Zhan in disbelief.

At this moment, Hu Li has already adjusted Jiang Zhan's clothes, and in the name of the sun and geothermal heat, he wants to help Jiang Zhan into the palace to rest.Zhang Ling was about to speak out, but Jiang Zhan said one step ahead of him: "I believe that the cabinet has its own decision on matters in the court. If Mr. Zhang has other matters, he can just write a memorial and submit it. I am tired today, and I don't want to go any further." Discuss the matter, Mr. Zhang will go back first."

When Zhang Ling heard the words, his eyes flashed, he understood immediately, he quickly leaned over and said "retirement, old minister", then frowned and looked at Jiang Zhan, then lowered his eyes, stood up and backed away, forced himself to leave the palace calmly.

Behind him, Hu Li carefully helped Jiang Zhan into the hall, but at the same time looked back at Zhang Ling's back.After Jiang Zhan was settled, he went out of the hall to make people watch the door of the hall, and took out a thin tissue from his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Thinking of the actions of Jiang Zhan and Zhang Ling just now, I always feel uneasy in my heart.

After thinking carefully, he recruited a little eunuch and said: "You, go out of the palace and report to Lord Pei, saying that Lord Zhang has entered the palace again today, but he didn't say anything to the emperor, and the emperor didn't say anything to him either. , the two of them look very strange, please find out quickly, Mr. Pei, so as not to cause any bad things to them."

"Yes, Master." The little eunuch carefully wrote down his words, took the palace card from him, and ran out of the palace in a hurry.

At this moment, Pei Jun just walked into Jing Zhaosi's classroom where he was guarding the criminal.

The jailer in the prison was sneaking around. Seeing him coming, he hurriedly stepped forward, nodded and bowed, respectfully led him in, and took the key to open the wooden door of the second cell inside.

A few beams of sunlight shone in from the skylight on the top of the cell, casting several irregular square lights on the stone wall of the cell.Cao Luan, who was in the prison, heard a voice behind him, looked back, and saw that it was Pei Jun, his eyes lit up: "Ziyu, you've come."

It was sweltering in the prison, his wife Lin was taking her daughter Xuanxuan to sit on the quilt on the stone bed and shake a fan. Knowing that Cao Luan was going to talk to Pei Jun, she picked up her drowsy daughter, lowered her eyes and told Pei Jun He saluted and followed the jailer to the empty cell beside him.

Pei Jun's gaze was locked on the terrifying scar on Lin's side face until Lin walked out of the cell. He looked at Cao Luan, and saw that Cao Luan's originally tall and strong figure had disappeared, and the outline of his cheeks had sunken slightly. , I don't know how long I haven't eaten, and I don't know how long I have been worried, and the whole person shows a vicissitudes of life.

Pei Jun had a bit of resentment towards Cao Luan's betrayal in his heart, but now that he looked at it, that bit of resentment also turned into a sour thing, stuffed in his chest, against the door of his heart, for a while After being silent, he finally let out a sigh and asked Cao Luan, "My brother forced me to come here with his body, what is the reason?"

Before he finished speaking, Cao Luan stepped forward and pulled him to the side of the stone bed to sit down, took a deep breath, and said solemnly: "Ziyu, I know I lied to you before, but this time, you must trust me."

He leaned close to Pei Jun's ear, and said in a low voice: "I received news from the Cao Gang a few days ago - Cai Yan is not dead, and he is about to attack the capital right now!"

Pei Jun was startled when he heard the words, and his eyebrows gathered together: "Impossible. The spies of the king of Jin saw that Cai Yan was shot dead by an arrow and fell to the ground. Yan abused lynching, otherwise Cai Yan was cunning and calm. If he was not in a hurry, how could he act impulsively? Where did the Cao Gang get the news? How do you believe it? Since this matter is confidential, why did you tell it to you? How would you know? Not another plan?"

Cao Luan stared anxiously and said: "The king of Jin can fake death, why can't Cai Yan? You can pretend to be a turmoil, but why can't the Cai family? The Cao Gang still has a lot of goods in my hands. If you didn't order the whole department not to accept it." Bribes, they have already bailed me out of prison, and they told me about this because they were afraid that Cai Yan's men would break into Beijing and ruin their business, but they just wanted me to transfer the goods so as not to ruin their money. Although the matter of Cai Yan is a secret, under the soldiers, the food and grass go first, even if there is no abnormality among the officials, the Cao Gang and the grain merchants should always be aware of it."

Speaking of this, seeing Pei Jun hesitate, he sighed lightly and said, "You know, Mei Liu hasn't been here for five days."

Pei Jun's heart skipped a beat, thinking that he had never contacted Mei Linyu recently, he couldn't help squinting slightly: "You mean Mr. Mei..."

"How much risk did the Cao Gang take to ask someone to tell me about this matter? If it is true, then I think that Mei Liu must have been confined at home, and I went on a hunger strike. Apart from forcing you to come to meet me, there is also That’s why I don’t dare to eat casually.” Cao Luan’s eyebrows were lowered, and his voice slowed down, “Ziyu, although Mr. Mei is close to us, he is responsible for the entire Mei family. Under the current situation, several people covet the throne. No one is sure to win, so he is the head of the grain merchant and the head of the family, so he may only help you... You must know more about this matter than I do."

"There have long been rumors in the north that Cai Yan is powerful and ambitious. He has long refused to accept being suppressed by Lao Tzu. He has been disobedient for a long time. This time he contacted aristocratic families, powerful people, gathered people from the state capital, and was coming from the north They gathered all the way from all over the place and came to Jingguan Xiongxiong, roughly 15. They are determined to enter Beijing and change the dynasty! He didn't even tell Cai Yan, it was just to catch everyone by surprise. Think about it Ah, the internal strife in the northern garrison and the salt people's uprising in Cangnan Road, is this incident really so coincidental? Or, is there someone who is leading the layout, trying to divert the court's attention time and time again? Just imagine the food and grass in the world If everything is moving, then the food and grass he moves will be inconspicuous; if all the soldiers and horses in the world are walking, then his walking will be more natural. If this is the case, I don’t believe that there are no strange things among the officials; If it really doesn't exist, wouldn't it be even more shocking?"

As a lawyer, Cao Luan's words were logical and straight to the point, and his words "strange things in officials" made Pei Jun suddenly think that when he was criticizing the papers a few days ago, he didn't see the incident on Northwest Road.

Thousands of words can't be worth one piece of evidence. With this thought, Pei Jun's heart became even more chilled, and what he was thinking was indeed the same as Cao Luan's: if Cai Yan came here, the people would have noticed it, and the officials would have noticed it. But there is no sign at all, which means that its power is so great that it can already keep the center of the entire empire in the dark.

Seeing that Pei Jun was unsure, Cao Luan added again: "Cai Yuding has already blamed you and King Jin for his situation. I heard that his younger brother Cai Yang was also abolished because of you. The entire Cai family is now at odds with you. , then once Cai Yan enters Beijing, what will happen to you?"

As soon as this question came out, he could no longer sit still, and finally got up and sighed: "Zi Yu, I advise you to run away quickly."

Pei Jun thought about it for a while, but still had a trace of wariness: "Brother, are you going to persuade me to let your family go?"

Cao Luan shook his head again and again, and said very sincerely: "No, no! I know that I have betrayed you. If you don't believe me, you don't have to worry about me this time. Just be prepared, so you have nothing to lose."

Pei Jun's brows frowned slightly following these words, and Cao Luan continued: "But Ruo, you really listened to me and prepared a retreat. Next, leave a way for Xuanxuan and her mother to survive."

The daylight outside the prison was blocked by dark clouds, and it was half dark for a while.After Cao Luan's words, the cell fell into a brief silence.

The small sound of Lin's coaxing the children to sleep next door became more and more clear.Pei Jun closed his eyes, and a scene from the past seemed to emerge in front of his eyes.

Then he opened his eyes again, stood up in his robe and said:

"Come on."