Fan Jinchuan was very blocked, and walked back with his head depressed.
The rain is falling with a splash.
Feng Sheng sighed, and the old farmer's words "the world is not benevolent and treats everything as a straw dog" were still ringing in his ears.
"Uncle Yu, take him back." After speaking, he chased after him.
Her footsteps were slower than Fan Jinchuan's. When she arrived at Song's house, she saw Fan Jinchuan's bamboo hat and coir raincoat standing outside the door against the wall. She breathed a sigh of relief, took off her bamboo hat, and walked into the house.
Coming back here is like returning to another world. In order to keep out the cold and avoid humidity, a charcoal basin is burning in the house, which can add a bit of warmth in this rainy weather.
Fan Jinchuan was sitting in front of the brazier, the orange fire light illuminated his face, and water droplets condensed on his brow, crystal clear.
Feng Sheng came to sit down in front of the brazier, the lower half of her robe was soaked, she was close to the charcoal basin, a burst of warmth made her feel the cold all over her body retreated a little.
"You don't seem surprised."
She sighed silently: "What did your lord ask?"
"What the old farmer said."
Feng Sheng stretched out her palm and placed it above the charcoal basin to keep warm.
The dark red prayer beads slipped out of her sleeve, and under the light of the fire, it added a bit of charm.
"Why should you be surprised?"
Fan Jinchuan was silent, and his voice was desolate: "Sometimes I always wonder why you seem to see through the world's affairs even though you are several years younger than me, showing a kind of indifference like watching from the sidelines."
"That's because adults don't know what I've been through."
After a pause, she continued: "There are too many injustices in this world. My heart is too small, and I have no way or the ability to pay attention to other things. Since I know that I am powerless, then I simply ignore it."
"But I can't."
Feng Sheng's voice is still ringing: "As I told you before, this place is frequently hit by disasters, and the imperial court has repeatedly sent people to help, how could it be ignored. Since it has not been resolved, there must be some obstacles that cannot be resolved .”
"What obstacle?"
"People, money, official position, imperial court, community, country."
"You said the first three, I can still believe it, but the imperial court's society? Thinking about the vastness of Kyushu, the Great Zhou is more than two Huaihe lands!"
Feng Sheng is still indifferent: "But the taxes of the two Huaihe Rivers and one place account for half of the world's taxes. The territory of the Great Zhou is vast, and there are very few places that can collect taxes. However, the military expenses of the border gates and the barbarians in the open sea are not everywhere. Need silver?"
"You mean, the sage is aware of the chaos in the Lianghuai River, but he just turned a blind eye?"
"I have no idea."
After a while, she said again, "Maybe."
"I don't believe it! Your Majesty is making great efforts to rule the country. He is very diligent in government affairs. He gets up before dawn every day and is still reviewing memorials in the middle of the night. How can he know that the people are suffering, but ignore it?"
"Since you don't believe it, forget it. I'm a grassroots person. How can I berate the king of a country."
"Go back from here, and I will write a letter to report the chaos here to Your Majesty!"
"It's up to you. Well, I'll go back to my room and rest for a while."
…
Feng Sheng returned to the room, covered with a thick quilt and still felt cold.
She felt that she might be sick, and in the end she did.
She had a high fever and was in a daze. It seemed that she heard Uncle Yu calling her, and it seemed that she heard Fan Jinchuan talking to her.
She regretted it, she shouldn't have come to Taizhou with this nerd at the beginning, her purpose was to reverse the case for her father, but now she is stuck in the mud, unable to do what she wants to do, and is busy with the county government all day long.
Worrying about the autumn harvest today, and worrying about whose livestock is lost tomorrow, the two families will fight a lawsuit. There were also grain collectors, floods, and the inspection department. Gou Qing's words were too difficult to follow. She felt that there were thread ends everywhere, but she couldn't pull one out of the many threads.
The so-called reversal of the case for the father seems to be a joke.
She also dreamed that when she was a child, her father taught her how to read. But while reading it, her father suddenly had blood on his face, saying that he died a terrible death...
"Brother Fang Xian, Brother Fang Xian!"
Feng Sheng woke up leisurely, opened her eyes with difficulty, and saw Fan Jinchuan's guilt-ridden face.
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't been impulsive, you wouldn't have been exposed to the rain and the cold."
"I'm fine."
"You were in a coma for three days."
Feng Sheng was taken aback for a moment, and half propped himself up: "Has the rain stopped outside?"
"Stopped."
"Is there any disaster?"
"Many villages were flooded, but as Song Liangchang said, each village has a highland, but no one was killed. As for the rest, we will only know after returning to the county government." Fan Jinchuan He was full of energy, smiled, and patted Feng Sheng on the shoulder: "Your brother looks indifferent, but he is actually a person who cares about the common people. How come the first thing he asks when he wakes up is the disaster situation?"
Feng Sheng was stunned, and laughed: "I'm just worried about myself."
"What do you say, Brother Suixian? In fact, you are not very old, but you pretend to be indifferent. How can you not know that this is actually a cover-up?"
Feng Sheng really doesn't know what to say, in fact, she is very selfish, she can only pretend to reverse the case for her father in her heart, she has no energy to think about anything else. But she didn't know how to explain it, so she could only keep silent.
"Then when will you go back?"
Fan Jinchuan glanced at her in embarrassment, and said, "I thought I'd come back when you woke up, but your body..."
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I haven't returned for so long. I'm afraid the county government will be in chaos."
…
Under Feng Sheng's insistence, the group set off on their way home.
There is still a swamp country outside, but the impact of going by water is not great. After gradually leaving this area, there seemed to be no disasters on both sides of the road, which made Fan Jinchuan heave a sigh of relief.
When they arrived near Taizhou City, it was still so crowded and lively, it seemed that there were two worlds, which also made the group sigh.
The county government was not in chaos, and everyone thought that the adults were delayed in their inspections in the countryside. As for the flooding in the Xiahe area, because the water was not strong and the distance was far away, the news had not yet been sent back.
However, as the group returned to the county office, news came in one after another. Fan Jinchuan was busy, and Fang Fengsheng continued to recuperate.
The two girls felt sorry for Feng Sheng's illness, especially Zhiqiu, who complained about Fan Jinchuan, and of course they complained privately. On the surface, she and Zhichun kept Feng Sheng in the room and didn't let her go anywhere. They stared at drinking three bowls of medicine a day, so Feng Sheng had no chance to pour the medicine away.
Gou Qing also heard about Fang Fengsheng's illness and came to visit him on purpose, but when he stepped into the room, Fan Jinchuan followed. I can only put down the tonic and leave hastily.
And Fan Jinchuan, apart from dealing with the flood, didn't seem to have forgotten what he said. It took a few days to write a memorial and bring it to Feng Sheng for reference.
After reading it, Feng Sheng asked: "Can you hand it in?" A seventh-rank magistrate is not qualified to submit a letter directly.
"I'll ask someone to pass it up."
"It's best if there is no interest involved. This place involves too much. I'm afraid that if it is handed over to stakeholders, your memorial will never have a chance to see anyone." After a pause, she said again: "Have you thought about it? You Knowing what situation you might face when you hand it over? This situation may not be good, the news may leak, you will be retaliated by stakeholders, and the thing may not reach the hands of the Holy Master at all... "
"I've already thought about it. If Brother Xian is afraid of being implicated..."
"I'm not afraid of being implicated. Now that you've made up your mind, find someone to send you away."
…
Feng Sheng seems to be indifferent, but in fact has been paying attention to this matter.
But what surprised her was that she didn't know when the things were sent away, and it was only after two days that she asked Fan Jinchuan that the things were sent away.
Just send it away
It didn't seem to be as serious as she thought, and it didn't seem to be as serious as she thought. It was so plain that it made people feel a little at a loss.
What will be the result? Can she find an opportunity
No one knows these, the only thing to do is to wait.
It is already an old practice to worship heaven on the Winter Solstice, and this year is no exception.
Emperor Jianping, dressed in a majestic uniform, stands on the middle platform to pay his respects. Prince Zongduo stands on the steps, and on the lower side are all civil and military officials, along with the royal family, princes and princes.
Although the whole process was cumbersome, the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple and all the accompanying priests were used to it, and there was nothing wrong with it. But when Emperor Jianping offered his honor to the gods, he held the sacrificial bottle Prince Duo, who was presented, suddenly fell down.
That scene was simply unbearable to watch.
Fortunately, the Taichang Temple officials had experience, and soon offered new sacrificial bottles, so let's forget about it.
But everyone knows that this incident has never happened. When the prince wrestled in the Circular Mound Altar when offering sacrifices to the heavens, it could be said that the gods were dissatisfied with him at a big scale, and it could be said that the prince Duo was disrespectful to heaven.
All in all, it's a big deal.
At the end of the ceremony, Emperor Jianping got up and drove back to the palace.
Before Yu Jia entered the Forbidden City, there were rumors that offering sacrifices to heaven was supposed to fast for three days, but the crown prince had offended the gods by drinking alcohol during the fast. Not long ago, there was a scandal in the Eastern Palace. The majestic concubine actually got into disputes with a concubine Ji, causing her to miscarry her two-month-old baby.
Emperor Jianping was already dissatisfied with this matter, saying that the prince was not strict in running the family. This happened again. The queen received the news that Emperor Jianping had just arrived at Qianqing Palace, so she hurried over to plead guilty.
Emperor Jianping always loved the empress, but he didn't see her this time. The queen couldn't afford to kneel outside the palace for a long time, and in the end it was Chen Qian, the chief eunuch, who persuaded her to go back.
"The queen is gone?" Seeing Chen Qian walking in, Emperor Jianping asked.
Chen Qiandao: "Your Majesty has gone back."
Sitting behind the dragon case, Emperor Jianping sneered at first, and with a flick of his arm, he brushed all the memorials on the dragon case on the ground.
"Your Majesty calm down."
Calm down? !
How to appease your anger!
Emperor Jianping stood up, paced back and forth in the hall, his eyes fell on the memorial that had been blown to the ground.
He walked over, picked one up, and flipped through—
Minister Fan Jinchuan...
"Call the King of Wei."
Chen Qian was taken aback, and replied: "Yes."
…
Not long after, Zong Yue in formal attire arrived, obviously he hadn't had time to leave the palace yet.
"Greetings to the royal father."
Emperor Jianping threw the memorial in his hand on the dragon case: "Look."
Chen Qian bowed, and carefully handed the memorial to Zong Yue.
Zong Yue opened it, and the first thing he saw was the name on the brow, and the content written in the memorial afterwards did not surprise him too much. It was the time written on it that made him take a second look.
Judging from this time, Emperor Jianping had already received the memorial, but it didn't happen until today. Thinking of the prince's fall on the Circular Mound Altar, he closed the memorial with no deep taboo.
"What do you think?"
"Master Fan has always been upright, so what he said must be true."
"That's all?" Emperor Jianping looked at him with deep eyes.
"My son is stupid, please show me my father."
"You don't want to offend anyone." Emperor Jianping snorted coldly.
Zong Yue was silent.
"You go to Yangzhou..."
…
As soon as Zong Yue walked out of the Qianqing Gate, a young eunuch came hurriedly along the corridor.
"His Royal Highness King Wei, the Empress invites you to visit Kunning Palace."
Zong Yue pondered for a while, and followed the little eunuch.
When they arrived at Kunning Palace, not only the queen was there, but Zong Duo was also there.
The queen who is the lord of the six palaces is the original wife of Emperor Jianping. She is over fifty years old, her hair is still black and shiny, and only the corners of her eyes and slightly dark nasolabial folds show the traces of her youthful passing.
Zong Duo, who sat on the lower part of her head, was the only son of the middle palace, and also the eldest son.
He was born with an extraordinary status, and he was exceptionally superior to his brothers since he was born. He is the king, and the other princes are ministers. He sits, and the others can only stand. But today Zong Duo, who has always been extraordinarily majestic in front of his younger brothers, seems a little frustrated and embarrassed.
"Third, what did the emperor tell you to do?"
Different from Zong Duo's anxious attitude, the queen gave him a restrained look, and said, "What are you panicking about, the king of Wei followed the priest and finally returned to the palace, and when he arrived at the gate of the palace, he was called by your father to go to the Qianqing palace. I don't even have time to drink hot tea. Fuchun, serve the tea."
"Yes, ma'am."