At three o'clock in the morning, a green-covered carriage with ram's horn palace lanterns hung at the gate of Gu's mansion.

In the carriage, a majestic man in his forties with a serious look on his face was holding a cup of tea and sipping it slowly.

The long attendant in gray clothes beside him refilled his tea and said: "Even if you are here to pick up Sir Gu, why do you have to be so high-profile? Who in Beijing doesn't know that Mr. Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Justice likes to hang ram's horn palace lanterns on the carriage."

"I must be so high-profile. Do you think those gangsters dare to raise their swords to kill me?" Tan Siyuan snorted coldly, "The chaos on Chang'an Street yesterday, Dongchang and Jin Yiwei really thought they were doing it. Are you really trying to hide the fact that we, the criminal department, are so easy to bully?"

Chang Sui, knowing that his lord had such a bad temper, couldn't listen to any words of persuasion, so he had to cut the conversation and start a new topic.

"I heard that Mr. Gu's injury is not serious. I don't know if he can survive today's morning meeting."

Tan Siyuan held the lid of the tea to stir up the foam and said, "I don't know about the people on the side, but Yunzhi That kid, just look at it, as long as he has a breath, and as long as Xu Li'er's case is not heard by the Holy Spirit, he will not fall." His tone was extremely determined.

"Have you ever missed what your lord said? Sir Xin, please make a pot of good tea for your lord Gu first."

As soon as the second cup of tea was brewed by the man in gray, he heard a deep voice coming from outside the car door.

"Talk to your lord."

The man in gray clothes hurriedly stepped forward and opened the car door. Outside the door, a tall and tall green figure stood in the vast night, Xiao Xiao and solemn, like the majestic autumn pine trees with thick ink.

The gray-clothed attendant couldn't help but sigh. No wonder his master couldn't help but talk about Master Gu when he reprimanded the young men in the clan. He was indeed handsome and handsome.

Gu Changjin made a long bow to Tan Siyuan.

Tan Siyuan put down the tea cup and said quickly: "Yunzhi, get in the carriage quickly."

When Gu Changjin got on the carriage, he looked at him carefully and saw that his face was as white as paper and his lips were bloodless, so he said coldly : "Don't worry, we in the Ministry of Punishments can't swallow this tone. Sooner or later, those eunuchs will have to pay the price."

Hearing his master saying some motivating words again, Chang Sui in gray coughed lightly and handed Gu Changjin a cup of tea. He said respectfully: "Master Gu, please have some tea."

Gu Changjin thanked him, and then listened to the chief attendant: "Yesterday, Mr. Zuo Shilang knew that you were assassinated on Chang'an Street, so he almost went to Dongchang to kill you with his sword. Take Yang Xu's head. "

Yang Xu is one of the six chief ministers of rituals. He was the admiral of Dongchang in the 15th year of Jiayou's reign.

It is said that when a person achieves enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven, and this is the case for Yang Xu's family. All the men in the family have received official positions. Even Yang Rong, the most unfavorable person, has also received the title of "Yu Sheng" and is waiting for Yang Xu to arrange an official position for him.

Yang Rong is the only son of Yang Xu's biological brother. He was born with a big body and a rough body. He is famous in Changping Prefecture for being lawless and domineering. As Yang Xu's status in the Supervisor of Ceremonies increased, he became more domineering and domineering, often bullying men and dominating women.

When Gu Changjin received the case transferred from the Beizhen Fu Division, he could see the strangeness of the case after reading it for a while.

The confession of the prisoner's wife Kim was unclear and inconsistent, and the details of the confession of the musician who appeared out of nowhere were completely inconsistent. One look at the handwriting on the two deeds of betrayal revealed that they were recently forged, not the ones the musician claimed were written two years ago.

Gu Changjin is astute as he has been in contact with hundreds of cases in the past two years, and has gone deep into the private sector to investigate more than a dozen unsolved cases. He has his own way of investigating and solving cases, and almost never makes any mistakes.

After reporting the doubts in the case to Tan Siyuan, he personally went to Changping Prefecture for an unannounced investigation. Tan Siyuan led the people from the Ministry of Punishment directly to the imperial prison in Fusi, Beizhen, to rob people, and imprisoned Jin in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.

Tan Siyuan sneered and said: "If you want others to not know, you have to do nothing yourself. Do you really think that others don't know what Yang Xu did? If it weren't for the mercy of the Holy Lord, his head would have fallen off so many times!" Turning around, he said to Gu Changjin: "Your chief attendant told me yesterday that you have evidence that Yang Xu sold his official position and was awarded a title. Can you bring it now?"

Gu Changjin nodded, took out an envelope from his sleeve and opened it. letter.

"On the day Xiaguan got married, someone mixed this letter with the congratulations and sent it to Xiaguan's mansion. The letter stated that Yang Xu had sold a total of twenty-eight official positions in the past five years and made a fortune of 150,000 taels of silver."

Tan Siyuan slowly scanned the official position, transaction price and transaction date mentioned in the letter. The anger that originally appeared on his face gradually dissipated, and his expression became solemn.

After all, he was someone who had been immersed in officialdom for more than twenty years, but he immediately noticed something unusual.

Gu Changjin had just returned from an unannounced visit to Changping Prefecture when someone quietly sent this letter.

There is someone who has been keeping an eye on the Punishment Department and wants to borrow the Punishment Department's knife to kill Yang Xu. But behind Yang Xu stood the big palm print, how could he be so easy to defeat?

Today's imperial court is in chaos, with several complex forces intertwined and undercurrents. Today's enemy can become tomorrow's friend, and a fellow traveler can part ways with you at a fork in the road, or even stab you in the back.

No one can be trusted easily, especially this letter from an unknown source.

Tan Siyuan lowered his hand, handed the letter to the gray-clothed attendant beside him, and said, "Have you seen clearly who sent the letter?"

Gu Changjin shook his head and said, "On the night when Xianguan got married, the people in the mansion There were many people and noisy people. The man who delivered the message was dressed as a young man. He bowed his head and handed over the gift, then turned around and disappeared into the crowd. "

Tan Siyuan also sent someone to deliver the gift that day, so he knew about the group from the Ministry of Punishment. How ruthless the chief officer made trouble in the bridal chamber. Under such circumstances, one would indeed not notice a person who is determined to fish in troubled waters.

"That's all, leave this letter with me first. If someone really wants to use the Ministry of Punishments to eradicate Yang Xu, he will definitely show up again in the future."

He picked up a piece of rose cake, looked at Gu Changjin with a smile, and joked: "These past few days, you have been busy with Xu Li'er's case and have been away from home all day long. That girl from the Marquis of Cheng'an didn't complain about you, right?"

Complained?

Gu Changjin's eyes half closed, remembering yesterday evening.

In such a peaceful and ordinary dusk, a thin golden light touches the girl's eyebrows. She stood tall and graceful under the tree, even her slightly raised skirt had an indescribable tenderness, and then he heard her say to him very meekly and politely, "Master, please go."

She never complained, never crossed the line, and always kept a distance that would not offend him.

Gu Changjin lowered his gaze by half an inch and said, "My wife is kind and generous. She is very considerate of my subordinates and has never complained for a moment."

Newlyweds should be inseparable and can understand the difficulties of their husbands. Is good. Tan Si Yuan didn't care about the affairs of the inner house, but his wife sent someone to deliver gifts that day, so she

couldn't help but say something to him - [The eldest daughter of Marquis Cheng'an has a bad reputation, and her grandmother didn't know what to say during the banquet. There have been many times when she has been arrogant and arrogant, but I don’t know whether it’s true or not. 】

So he asked more, Tan Siyuan patted the crumbs of pastry on his hand, nodded and said: "It's hard for her. Once Xu Li'er's case is concluded, you can rest at home for a while, and you can also take the opportunity to accompany her." Accompany your wife." Gu Changjin

lowered his eyes and changed the subject without leaving any trace: "It was thanks to the Shuntian Prefecture that I was able to escape smoothly yesterday." If the officials from Shuntian Mansion hadn't arrived quickly at that time, he would have been able to save his life. He would have had at least a few more injuries on his body, and he probably wouldn't have woken up yet. "Zhu E was originally the deputy commander-in-chief of Yunnan and Guizhou. He was very good at using troops. When the emperor transferred him back to Shuntian as governor, the first thing he did was to ruthlessly train the officials under him. You sent people to Shuntian Mansion to ask for reinforcements. You are really better than before. The Dongcheng Military and Horse Division must be wise."

Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses Division was closer to Chang'an Street, but Gu Changjin wanted to be far away from home. After thinking about it, he understood that Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses Division would probably do the job perfunctorily.

But Shuntian Mansion is different. Zhu E is the person who first tried Xu Li'er's case. He has already been involved in this case. Knowing that Gu Changjin was ambushed because of Xu Li'er's case, he will definitely do his best to save him.

Otherwise, how could it have come so quickly?

"The emperor transferred Zhu E back to Shuntian from Yunnan and Guizhou. He must have had his own intentions. The chief official of the Chief of Ceremonies originally wanted to win over Zhu E, but now Yang Rongyi interfered with it. He couldn't win over him, but instead ended It's a shame." Tan

Siyuan took a sip of tea and sneered: "Yang Xu's grandson has ruined his godfather's good deeds. He's probably just too anxious to ambush you on Chang'an Street."

Jin listened quietly and did not answer.

The tea cup is boiling hot and white mist curls up.

Tan Siyuan didn't know what he thought of

. He raised his eyes in the mist, looked at Gu Changjin and said with unclear meaning, "Have you ever regretted being ambushed yesterday?" Gu Changjin should not be in charge of Xu Li'er's case.

The old men in the Criminal Department were afraid of offending the factory guards and did not dare to take care of things, and they were also afraid of being known as timid, so they pushed the case into Gu Changjin's hands.

Gu Changjin could have left this hot potato to others.

It's his fault that he doesn't have it.

When Tan Siyuan went to the imperial prison to arrest people, Jin had already lost half of his life. He was hanging on for dear life now, just hoping for justice and hoping that they would rescue Xu Li'er from Yang Rong's hands.

Dongchang and Jinyiwei colluded together and killed countless people over the years.

A young descendant of the Tan Siyuan clan died at the hands of those gangsters. After being transferred to the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, he had to intervene in all cases related to factory guards.

He is a serious third-grade Beijing official, and he has the entire Tan family and the entire Ministry of Punishment to support him, so he has the confidence to dare to go against Dongchang and Jinyiwei.

But Gu Changjin was different from him. Although he had a promising future and was valued by the emperor and the chief minister, he was ultimately weak. Just like yesterday, if he hadn't made the immediate decision to move people to Shuntian Mansion, how could he be sitting here alive now?

Tan Siyuan's words were unclear, but Gu Changjin knew what he was asking.

He said: "Xiaoguan has never regretted it."

After saying this, he put his fist to his lips and coughed a few times. When the coughing stopped, he cupped his hands and said, "Xiaoguan, thank you for your guidance."

Tan Siyuan just said. These words are indeed reminding Gu Changjin.

He mentioned Emperor Jiayou, Zhu E, and the big palm seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, all because he wanted to tell him that Yang Xu was in a desperate situation now, so that he should not panic or be afraid.

At first, the emperor sent Guan Shaowei to another county to be a county magistrate, and then sent Gu Changjin to the Ministry of Punishment to be a seventh grade minor magistrate.

It seemed that he was angry at these two young men who didn't know the heights of the world, but in fact, he had the intention of cherishing their talents, so they were allowed to practice in the smallest details and polish them.

If Gu Changjin had become timid because of an assassination yesterday, then his official career would have come to an end.

Fortunately, this life did not disappoint him.

The horse's hooves made a crisp sound, and the ram's horn palace lantern gave off a shallow arc of light in the dark night. After a while, the driver made a "ha" sound and stopped the carriage steadily outside Cheng'an Gate. Tan Siyuan and Gu Changjin got off the carriage one after another.

Inside Chenganmen is the imperial city.

There was the center of Dayin's power, and the most powerful people in the dynasty lived there.

Tan Siyuan straightened the tooth tag on his waist, looked back, and asked in a deep voice: "Are you ready?"

Gu Changjin raised his eyes and looked at the majestic palace in the imperial city. After a long while, he lowered his eyes and cupped his hands and said: "I'm ready, sir ?" "It's

getting brighter and brighter, and the stove in Songsiyuan's small kitchen is turned on early in the morning.

Rong Shu didn't know what kind of bloodbath there would be in the Jinluan Palace today, but she knew that Gu Changjin would be carried back by several Han generals in the afternoon.

So I made preparations early, steaming a drawer full of lotus cakes, red bean cakes, and Bazhen glutinous rice cakes.

Gu Changjin refused to drink the ginseng soup that was simmered yesterday. After being sent back, Rong Shu shared it with Zhang's mother, Yingyue and Yingque.

In fact, she also guessed that Gu Changjin probably didn't know how to drink. In her previous life, she felt sorry for his hard work in handling cases and used a lot of expensive ingredients to make soup and dishes for him, but he just wouldn't eat.

Later, Zhang's mother reminded her that my uncle probably didn't want the girl to help with his dowry, so he refused to eat.

Afterwards, the food Rong Shu cooked for Gu Changjin used all the ingredients available in the big kitchen.

The Gu family is from a poor family, with no savings, and Gu Changjin's salary is not much, so the ingredients in the big kitchen are naturally low-cost ingredients.

But as long as it is made with these ingredients, Gu Changjin will eat it.

The pastries that were made in the small kitchen just now were naturally not prepared for Gu Changjin. When he was carried back in the afternoon, Rong Shu, as his wife, had to take care of him. Those pastries were what she would use to fill her stomach.

Rong Shu shook the fan in his hand and told Yingyue to go to the big kitchen to get ingredients.

"Use the things in the big kitchen to make soup for the second master. It can be any kind of soup. The second master doesn't choose. Let's make some minced meat porridge on the way." After a pause, he remembered the miserable state of Gu Changjin when he was carried back, and for a moment Feeling a little sympathetic, he added slowly: "Put more jujube and wolfberry in the soup, um, it can replenish the blood."

The large kitchen was at the end of Liu Miao Hall. Ying Yue was ordered to go out, and halfway there, she saw a man wearing a bean sprout. The girl in the green skirt walked over from the other end of the road carrying a bamboo food box.

When the girl saw the full moon, she said loudly and loudly, "Sister Yingyue."

This girl's surname is Lin, her name is Qingyue, she is the grand-niece of Aunt An of Liu Miao Hall. After her parents died, she came to the Gu family to seek refuge with Aunt An, and she is currently serving in Liu Miao Hall.

Yesterday when Rong Shu came home, Grandma An heard that Mother Zhang was ill, so she sent Lin Qingyue to deliver soup to Mother Zhang.

Nanny An is the steward of Gu Mansion, and Lin Qingyue is a relative of Nanny An and a member of Liu Miao Hall, so Ying Yue naturally wants to be friends with her. It just so happened that both of them had the word "month" in their names, and they felt quite close after chatting for less than a cup of tea.

Yingyue greeted her with a smile, lifted her chin to the food box in Lin Qingyue's hand, and said, "Sister Qingyue is here to deliver soup to Mother Zhang again?"

Lin Qingyue said with a crooked eyebrow, "I won't be delivering soup today. "Mother Zhang coughed a few times yesterday, so Grandma An gave me a piece of earthenware recipe to boil some herbs and let me give it to Mother Zhang to try."

Yingyue looked grateful: "Sister Qingyue is interested."

Lin Qing . Yue hurriedly waved her hands and said she didn't dare to take the blame, "Sister, I've been disgraced. I was just following orders, how dare I take credit?"

After being modest, she said, "Where are you going, sister?"

Yingyue told her. She was going to the big kitchen to get ingredients. After thinking about it, she asked again: "Sister, do you know what the second master's food preferences are?"

Lin Qingyue's eyes flashed slightly, and she said with a smile: "Sister, this is the right person to ask. Yes. Our second master likes to eat pork liver, pork belly and other pig meat. There is pork liver in the big kitchen today. I think it is quite fresh. My sister might as well go to the kitchen lady to get some. "