Golden Stage

Chapter 24: Clearing ┃ Mr. Yan who added a filter

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In the capital, it is time to hold the lanterns at night.

There was a whole table full of documents on the case, Yan Xiaohan buried himself in it, and was extremely busy. The porridge in the tray was already cold, and the old servant of the housekeeper hesitated for a long time outside the door, finally bit his head and tiptoed in.

"Master, you've been watching for a day, so rest your eyes and use something."

Yan Xiaohan was unmoved. After writing the last few lines, he tossed the pen and rubbed his wrist. He leaned back lazily on the back of the chair, his slender upper body bent in an arc. He let out a long breath: "Okay, it's finally done."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly turned his head and sneezed. The housekeeper panicked: "Oh, what's the matter? Don't catch a cold... I'll ask someone to cook you a bowl of ginger soup?"

Yan Xiaohan wrinkled his nose and waved his hands, "It's okay to make a fuss."

The housekeeper smiled and said, "Everyone said 'one thought, two curses, three rants', that means someone is thinking of you."

Just after finishing speaking, Yan Xiaohan sneezed again.

Old servant: "...I'd better cook ginger soup for you."

Yan Xiaohan chuckled: "Forget it, come back. Isn't this normal?"

At first, the housekeeper wondered why it was "normal", but after a while, he understood the meaning of the words, looked at his expression, and said with amusement, "Master Hou is afraid that he has arrived in Yanzhou at this time, and he is thinking about your lord."

He added, "My lord forgives the old slave's talkativeness. You are so busy, lighting the lamp and boiling oil, that it hurts your health. If Lord Hou was here, I would never let you work so hard."

"Huh?" Yan Xiaohan raised his eyebrows and sneered, "I said... Madam hasn't come through the door yet, so you're going to use him to press me first?"

Seeing that he didn't look angry or sneer, the butler seemed rather happy, so he boldly said: "You and the Marquis will raise their eyebrows in the future, support each other for a lifetime, there is someone who knows the cold and the hot, and is considerate to you—this is How can it be called oppression?"

Yan Xiaohan smiled at his flattering remarks. After laughing, he said, "It's almost the end of the year, I see the villagers coming to give New Year gifts one after another. The Marquis of Jingning is celebrating the New Year in the north this year, and it's even colder there. Pick up some thick fur and satin and send it to him. And what about the craftsman I asked you to find?"

The talent has been gone for a few days, and I am afraid that the dry food brought from Beijing has not been eaten yet, so I am thinking about sending new things. The housekeeper said goodbye to see that their master is usually very dignified, and when he really loves people, it is also tender and considerate, and he can't let go and let go.

The housekeeper, while beautifying Yan Xiaohan in his heart, replied, "Yes. All the craftsmen have been found, since it doesn't require a lot of construction work, only two or three craftsmen can make it. Only the pond you mentioned needs to be drawn first. Buying stone, you have read the drawings and they are correct, so they can start the construction, it has to be slower."

"Don't worry, just do it before the twelfth of February," Yan Xiaohan said, "You guys have been working harder these days, you just need to pay for whatever you need. If there is no one from Yingguo's mansion, you can follow up with you. People from the Ministry of Rites will discuss it."

After Fu Shen left, Yan Xiaohan suddenly had more things to deal with. In fact, before Fu Shen moved in, he lived like this. It was only later that there was an additional patient in the family who needed to be served. Yan Xiaohan was afraid that he would not be able to take care of him, and was unwilling to disturb Fu Shen's recovery with common affairs, so he pushed back many things until now.

When Fu Shen lived in Yan Mansion, except for summons from the palace, Yan Xiaohan basically didn't stay out of the house, didn't socialize with people, and went home immediately after the work, accompanied him to eat and take medicine, and supported him in the yard to move his legs and feet. , wait for him to wash and bathe; even though the two live in separate rooms, he must go to Fu Shen's bedroom to take a look before falling asleep, and then leave after everyone falls asleep... Some of these things can actually be done for the next person, and some can not be done. However, what kind of life did Fu Shen live in the Jingning Hou Mansion? Yan Xiaohan had seen it with his own eyes. Since it fell into his hands, he would not let Fu Shen suffer any more.

He watched the man's back go away again and again, knowing that he couldn't keep it. Now that Fu Shen can't walk anymore, can he try to keep him and stop him from leaving

In addition to official business, he was dealing with some private matters recently. One was the rumor that Wei Xuzhou had been asked to investigate, and the other was the fact that Fu Shen was assassinated. In the latter case, the emperor had ordered the three judicial divisions to conduct a strict investigation. Two months later, the three judicial divisions did not close the case until yesterday. Yan Xiaohan also read that story, it was all bullshit. The Dali Temple of the Ministry of Punishment took in the generals of the local garrison, found several Tartar spies, made confessions, and then blamed all the crimes on the Eastern Tartarians. Check it out.

As for who ordered the assassination mission, where did the gunpowder that caused the landslide come from, and whether the target of the assassination was the little prince of Dongtar or Fu Shen, these questions were still in the dark.

The chief officials of the three judicial divisions had a tacit understanding, and they were unwilling to make a big fuss about this case. Probably, they had seen the emperor's fear of Fu Shen from the marriage. Only a censor named Gu Shanlu from the Metropolitan Procuratorate insisted that the case was suspicious and asked for further investigation, but his memorial was never presented to the sage at all, and was already put on the record by the eunuch with a pen.

Yan Xiaohan couldn't use the Flying Dragon Guard to investigate it, and it would take more time to investigate it secretly, but the results were minimal. Because it was about the secrets of the Beiyan Army, and Fu Shen had always guarded Feilongwei closely, it was difficult for his people to find out any useful information. The only gain in the past two months is to dig out a "grass road" for private exchanges between the army from the same state and the border horse bandits.

"Grass Road" corresponds to "Official Road". As the name suggests, it refers to the secret transactions between officers and soldiers and private merchants. Merchants traveled from place to place, and the army could buy food, medicine, foreign firearms, and swords from these people. Some people even helped the Eastern Tatars and the Han army to link up, exchanging food, tea, salt and other items for war horses.

In the early years, the official road opened and stopped, and the tax was extremely high, so the grass road came into being, and it was repeatedly prohibited. It is no exaggeration to say that every border guard in Dazhou has at least one "grass road" in the hands.

If gunpowder really flowed out from the "grass road", Qingsha Pass is located at the northernmost end of Tongzhou, and the most suspects are the defenders of Tongzhou.

According to Fu Shen, the emperor's eyeliner was the middle and senior generals of the Beiyan Army. The Tongzhou Army had been separated from the Beiyan Iron Cavalry in the early years, and it was the Beiyan Army's western defense line and the Yuanzhou area that were closely connected.

Maybe Fu Shen already knew who that person was. But Yan Xiaohan didn't need to know too much, he couldn't get involved in the affairs of Beiyan's army.

But if Fu Shen can't get rid of that person, whether it's for Fu Shen or himself, for both the public and the private, Yan Xiaohan will have to go up and make up for it.

As for the other thing, it was quite unexpected to him. Rumors of broken sleeves first came from Fu Shen's stepmother, the Qin family. Her daughter was a liangdi in the East Palace and blew the pillow wind for the prince, so the prince was able to come up with such a bad trick of giving marriage to "share the worries" for Emperor Yuantai.

There is no need to check the extras. I also know that Qin shi tried his best to harm Fu Shen, but he wanted her own son to take the title. He was afraid that Fu Shen would obstruct it, so he took the lead and wanted Fu Shen to "cut off his sons and no grandchildren".

A selfish and vicious woman, who played a secret trick of the back house, almost became the beginning of the change of military power in Beiyan, stirring up the situation in the court.

How ironic, how stupid.

However, when Yan Xiaohan first heard the news, the most angry thing was not that she spread the rumor that Fu Shen had broken his sleeve, which led to today's disaster, but that he remembered the sentence "I don't have a mother" that Fu Shen said in the cave back then.

Even if he doesn't have a mother, he has to be rubbed by an unkind and vicious stepmother. How did he come here all these years

Yan Xiaohan calmed down for a moment in the Feilong Guards Courtyard, then found a subordinate and instructed, "Marquis Jingning has a brother named Fu Ya, I heard that he often fights cock-fighting lackeys outside, and he is already a romantic figure at a young age. Your Majesty never likes the publicity of Yingguo’s mansion, and since the Marquis of Jingning has promised me, don’t treat his brother badly.”

The subordinates are personal, and they understand it at a glance: "The subordinates understand. Dare to ask the adults whether they want him to be useless immediately, or to take medicine to slowly hollow out his body?"

"No hurry," Yan Xiao laughed coldly, "Slow down. It's best to wait until the time of the seal, but I want to see who can afford the three 'Ying Guogong' in the future of the Fu family. Character."

Doesn't the Qin family like to kill people and cut off their children, so let her precious son have a taste first.

As for Fu Liangdi, Yan Xiaohan originally planned to clean up with Fu Ya. Unexpectedly, there was news from the Prince's East Palace that Fu Ting practiced witchcraft in the palace, trying to murder the Crown Princess, and was exposed by the confidant maid, and the matter was exposed. For the sake of her origin in the Fu family, the Crown Princess spared her life, seized her position, and punished her to be a sweeper.

The prince is confused, but the prince concubine Cen is a smart person.

I wonder how Qin Shi will feel when he sees the fate of her two children

Yanzhou City.

Although Fu Shen returned to Northern Xinjiang in the name of offering sacrifices to his ancestors, he still did not resign as commander of the Beiyan Army. As soon as he entered the city, he was welcomed back to the Yanzhou Admiral's Mansion by his subordinates who had been waiting early. Except for a few generals who were on tour, the rest of the generals rushed back to Yanzhou City, wishing him a long life and an early birth of a precious son, almost angering the Hou Jingning to stand up from his wheelchair.

The group of big monkeys quarreled for a long time, and finally they were kicked out of the door by the angry General Fu, who told Xiao Wei to take people out for half a mile.

In the afternoon, Beiyan military doctor Du Leng checked his leg injury. After reading it, he smiled and said, "Congratulations—"

Fu Shen has formed a conditioned reflex, and said indifferently, "Tong Xi."

Du Leng: "..."

The two stared at each other for a moment, and Du Leng coughed awkwardly, holding back a smile and said, "I mean, congratulations, Lord Hou, the wound is recovering well. The one who healed you must be a famous doctor, and most of the bones have grown back. , the muscles are strong, and after a half-year of maintenance, you can leave the wheelchair and walk like an ordinary person."

Fu Shen: "..."

He pretended to be okay: "How long will it take to recover?"

"Complete recovery is impossible," Du Leng said patiently, "It depends on your recovery situation. If you follow the method I originally proposed, the six or seven achievements are the limit."

Fu Shen pondered, noncommittal, only said: "Mr. Du has worked hard."

After Du Leng went out, not long after, another young man pushed the door and came in. That person was slightly older than Fu Shen, with a handsome and clear face, and a gentle and amiable expression - not the mask-like gentleness of Yan Xiaohan, but a natural gentleman's demeanor. Seeing that it was him, Fu Shen was relieved half-heartedly. He pointed to the chair and said, "Qingheng is here, sit down. You've worked hard this time."

The man's name is Yu Qiaoting and his courtesy name is Qingheng. He is a close friend of Fu Shen and a capable general. During the period of Fu Shen's departure, Beiyan's military affairs were managed by him, so as not to be in a mess.

Yu Qiaoting didn't even have the time to sit, so he wanted to reach out and pick Fu Shen's collar: "What's going on in Beijing now, and what's going on with the marriage?"

Fu Shenchoi told him the general situation. After Yu Qiaoting heard it, his face was not good, and he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty is really... what good is it for him to destroy the Great Wall by himself?"

"He is the king of a country, and what he sees is different from what we see," Fu Shen said. "Fortunately, he only thinks that I am dazzling. If one day the Beiyan Army is dazzling, then it is really over."

Yu Qiaoting shook his head and asked, "Then what are you going to do?"

"Me?" Fu Shen said inexplicably, "I'm married, can I still resist the decree and not marry?"

Yu Qiaoting: "...I know you're going to get married, so don't show off. I mean, are you going to hand the Beiyan army back to the imperial court like this, and let the emperor do whatever he wants?"

Seeing Fu Shen's delay in answering, he hinted again: "The emperor is already old... Jingyuan, you should think about the future."

Chapter 25 Li ┃ The blind cat hit the dead mouse, don't brag about it like a good fate

"Thanks to the fact that the two of us know the bottom line, or else we would have kicked you out now," Fu Shen said, "intervention in abolition, this is what you should say, General Zhengbei?"

Yu Qiaoting said: "The knife is on your neck, what else can you say? I never found out that you are such a sloppy person. Did you accept your fate, or did you have a plan?"

Fu Shen was caught by him and smiled: "What do you mean?"

Yu Qiaoting: "The prince loses his virtue, the King of Jin has no talent, and the rest are mediocre, only—"

"King Qi." Fu Shen snatched his words and said, "Gong Yu, His Royal Highness King Qi is known for his reputation, Yu Si, my sister is his concubine, so you think he is suitable for inheriting the throne and can be a leader in the future. good emperor?"

Yu Qiaoting nodded.

Fu Shen: "Qingheng, stay awake. If His Royal Highness King Qi finally ascends the throne, I will be a relative. How many relatives can have a good end since ancient times?"

"Don't look at how polite he is to me now. When he sits in that position, I'm afraid it will be another way," he said. "As generals of an army, you and I have many concerns. He is the master of all people. , I think a lot more than the two of us. Back then, the emperor and Xiankao were still known as 'the monarch and the minister', but now that his son has been harassed, isn't he still not holding back?"

Yu Qiaoting was getting more and more worried by what he said, and his hair was turning white: "According to you, King Qi can't do it, who else is suitable within the orthodoxy?" ! You don't want His Royal Highness to..."

Fu Shen admitted frankly, "I thought about it."

Yu Qiaoting: "General, you really dare to think about it."

"But it's impossible," Fu Shen said. "Just one's background is a big problem."

Yu Qiaoting: "Then you..."

Fu Shen: "I often think, whether it is the emperor, the prince, or the king of Qi, no matter who sits on the dragon chair, whether it is a wise man or a faint man, why does the Beiyan iron cavalry always turn into a stick that makes people swallow? The fish bones that can't go down? To tell you the truth, I have even been shaken, thinking that maybe it is not the emperor's problem, but the existence of the Beiyan Iron Cavalry, which is a mistake."

Yu Qiaoting felt the same and sighed.

"But the Beiyan Tieqi has been stationed in the northern border for so many years, working diligently to protect the family and the country. What's wrong with this?" Fu Shen said, "The Beiyan Tieqi is the sharp edge of the country. There is nothing wrong with the knife, but the person who holds the knife. One day in the hands of others, we must live forever in suspicion."

Yu Qiaoting was stunned by General Fu's remarks that were even more outrageous than himself, and said tremblingly, "Jingyuan, you...you are going to rebel..."

"What are you panicking about? I haven't done anything yet?" Fu Shen smiled lightly, "Besides, I'm going to get married, so I'll have a good life, why don't I want to be alone."

Yu Qiaoting couldn't hold back, and said sarcastically, "General, hurry up and put it away, don't brag about a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse."

Fu Shen: "..."

After talking a lot of nonsense, the conclusion is that you can't rebel, you can't force the palace, what can't be solved still can't be solved, and what you should worry about must continue to worry. Fu Shen actually had a vague idea, but it was too shocking. When he said it, he was afraid that Yu Qiaoting would ask Du Junyi to treat his brain. After thinking about it, he shut up at the right time.

The New Year's Eve is approaching, and the atmosphere in Yanzhou City is festive. The residents of the city have always been close to Beiyan Tieqi, and they send things to Fu Shen's house all day long. When the servants of Yan's mansion drove into the city and found the Admiral's mansion, they were almost overwhelmed by a large number of chickens, ducks and geese at the entrance.

Fu Shen was in the courtyard, drinking and chatting with Yu Qiaoting, Xiao Yu and others over the croquettes made by the cook. He heard that someone in the capital came to give gifts, and the wine he had just drank rushed to his head.

He forgot that he was still in a wheelchair, holding the table, and unconsciously wanted to stand up, but Xiao Yi quickly pressed him down: "General, I will push you out."

Yu Qiaoting wondered, "What are you doing out? Call in."

The person who came was the long attendant who was always by Yan Xiaohan's side. When they came up, they first asked Fu Shen to kowtow, called him Marquis, and said a lot of auspicious words. At the end, they said, "Our Zhuangzi is giving a gift, and the lord has specially ordered a villain to come here. Lord Hou will give you some early adopters. Although Lord Hou is not in the capital, he can taste the flavors of his hometown. This is a gift list, please take a look at it.”

The words "our family" instantly ironed Fu Shen's chest. Yu Qiaoting laughed and said teasingly: "Look at what you said, you are far away from each other. The general still said every day that Yanzhou was the place where he was born and raised. Now you see it, hey, Jingyuan, where is yours? Hometown?"

Fu Shen squeezed the corners of his mouth, kicked him out, took the gift list without any humiliation, rewarded the long attendant, and ordered him to go down to rest. Review what Yan Xiaohan had brought.

Yan Xiaohan is a steady and well-mannered person. The relationship between the two cannot progress too quickly, and the surface skills are sufficient. Therefore, these boxing rules and regulations are all common game and fur, and there is nothing out of the ordinary. Can't pick the slightest mistake.

Fu Shen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little inexplicably disappointed, and chuckled to himself that he had grown out of hair. When he was distracted, he suddenly heard Yu Qiaoting's "yo" sound: "It's strange, there are geese in this season?"

The first box of game contained a pair of frozen wild geese. Xiao Yu and Yu Qiaoting carried one each and tsk tsk: "We have a lot of deep mountains and old forests here. If you don't want any game, I said that the thoughtful Mr. Yan is not a pick. The game is sent here, and it is for these two geese that have been making trouble for a long time! Isn't it, Chongshan?"

Xiao Yu nodded sharply beside him: "Yes, for Dayan."

Fu Shen said coldly, "What are you talking about, don't act like you've never seen a wild goose? It's a good thing."

Yu Qiaoting was about to shout, "Is this an ordinary wild goose? This is a wild goose used for the Six Rites, Lord Hou!"

"Shut up, why don't you tell me, I didn't know there were geese in Liuli?" Fu Shen pretended to pull up the big fur cloak, letting the fur collar cover his ears, and said, "There are comings and goings, Chongshan will find two deerskins, and bring them back together when the fifteenth returns to him."

Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan frowned, but in the end it was Xiao Yi who was unlucky. General Xiao Xiao was very unwilling, and he had to hold back when he died, so he dragged the troublemaker Yu Qiaoting away together.

Fu Shen finally calmed down, and slowly let out a hot breath from his throat, feeling that his internal organs were about to be burned by the alcohol.

He leaned over to look at another box, and sure enough, under the tanned fur, he found another gift: a pair of hand-stitched fur knee pads.

A pair of geese and a pair of knee pads are worth only a few taels of silver, and the other two big boxes are all foils for these two gifts.

Fu Shen didn't know whether to sigh about his good intentions or to scold him as a prodigal. Thinking about it carefully, Yan Xiaohan has always had this kind of virtue. His tenderness and thoughtfulness are like squandering, and he is not stingy in giving sweetness, but his sincerity is only a little bit, not too sweet, and he is all hidden in deep and dark corners. .

However, this sincerity is like jade under the skin of a stone. Once it sees light, it will turn everything around it into stone.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Yan Xiaohan received a gift from Yanzhou in return. The real gift was also mixed in with a large pile of northern products: two deerskins, and one... Ling Xiaohua jade pendant.

Fu Shen's ingenious gift frightened Mr. Yan almost to fall asleep, and at night he looked at the jade pendant in surprise. For a while he wondered what he knew, and for a while he felt that Fu Shen might be trying to express his desire to "rebuild old friendships". After thinking about it again, I thought about it again, and remembered Fu Shen's resolute look when he threw the jade - wouldn't he plan to make a complete break again and again

Yan Xiaohan reached back to the cabinet by the bedside, found a small sandalwood box, opened it, and found an old jade pendant wrapped in crimson satin. The jade pendant was completely broken back then, and even if Yan Xiaohan found the best craftsman, repairing it with gold would not be able to save it. The jade pendant looked bumpy and uneven. Compared with the piece that Fu Shenxin gave away, it was a little bit worse, but Yan Xiaohan kept it like a treasure.

He can still remember the regret when he squatted on the ground and picked up the pieces of jade piece by piece, and there was a handful of pieces lying in the palm of his hand, and the despair when he found that he could no longer put together the complete shape. If it wasn't for the memory of the person who repaired it, Yan Xiaohan would probably regret it for the rest of his life.

Seven years ago, not long after he entered Feilongwei, he was still young, and was criticized and ridiculed by Qingliu every day. Because of this, he is rebellious and has no bottom line. Feilongwei has always been unscrupulous in handling affairs, and Yan Xiaohan has followed suit. Whether it was luck or misfortune, the first case he sponsored was the Jin Yunfeng case.

For the first time, he "unscrupulously" kicked the iron plate of Fu Shen.

For the past seven years, the past has been like a shackle tied to his feet, and like a spider silk that hangs his life. It has drawn a clear and profound bottom line for him, so that Yan Xiaohan will not step into the quagmire completely, and his feet will be deeply immersed. .

This piece of jade pendant, which was almost smashed into pieces and was barely put together, seemed to entrust his humble wish that was buried deep in his heart but could not be expressed. That was an apology he owed Fu Shen.

sorry.

I don't want to... cut off with you.

The two pieces of jade pendant are placed side by side in the box. Whether they are broken or intact, they are very shiny and beautiful under the lights, as if they came from the far north, from old memories, and from the silent consolation of someone who is always stubborn. .

Fortunately, he is coming back.

The author has something to say: The wild goose that Yan Xiaohan gave was a gift for the harvest, and it was about the same as coming to the house to propose marriage. Fu Shenhui's deerskin, also known as "Lipi", is a gift for the requisition.

Both felt that they were marrying each other, tsk tsk tsk.

No change tomorrow, the day after tomorrow they get married~