It was late at night, and the emperor did not leave them alone. After ordering a strict investigation of the murderer, he went back to the bedroom to rest surrounded by the maids and eunuchs.
Du Lingchun put his hands into his sleeves and glanced lazily at Yan Fu. Seeing that his hair and beard were all white, he was rickety and old, and he was no longer the prime minister who responded to every call. The corners of his lips were slightly hooked, and he said sarcastically: "As the head of all officials, Yan Xiang has always been the most strict, and Tang Feishhuang is not an official. Shouldn't have interfered in the affairs of the DPRK and China, you recommend him, aren't you afraid of breaking the rules?"
When Du Lingchun first recommended Gongsun Zhuoyu to temporarily take over the position of Jingzhao Yin, Yan Fu took his qualifications one by one, and one by one was not in compliance with the rules. Now that it is his turn, he is willing to break the precept.
Yan Fu is already old, and more often he has begun to avoid confrontation with Du Lingchun. In addition, he has been immersed in officialdom for many years, so he is naturally not an impulsive person, nor will he compete with Du Lingchun for a while. He only stroked his beard, looked at his nose and his heart, and said, "Follow the power in a hurry, and the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty can't find a second person to solve the case. This old man has no choice but to do this. Du Company should understand this truth."
After speaking, he nodded slightly: "It's not early, the old man left the palace first."
Tang Feishhuang actually wanted to go to the company's office to see the situation, but the masters of the Jinglu Division had already gathered together. Thinking of seeing the situation tomorrow morning, I also turned and left.
The wind in the palace is always colder than outside, probably because the hall is too empty and the corridor is too long, it will never be filled with people, and it will never end.
Du Lingchun's clothes were thin, and the night wind blew the corners of his clothes, making his back even more slender. When he walked slowly, he felt a little more lazy.
Gongsun Zhuoyu followed behind, stepping down the stone steps, the white sleeve robe was blown away by the wind, and asked him in a low voice, "Is the company cold?"
Du Lingchun glanced at him strangely after hearing the words, thinking what to do with the cold, this is the palace, Gongsun Zhuoyu can't just warm his hands in front of everyone. He raised his eyebrows and reminded: "This is the palace."
"I know," Gongsun Zhuoyu took a step forward, turned to block the cold wind for him, and then smiled, "If the company is cold, I will block the wind for the company."
Du Lingchun paused when he heard the words, then turned his head away and looked away: "As you wish."
His hands were hidden in his sleeves, and his fingertips rubbed lightly for a moment, with slight tension and unexplained sweat.
Before they took two steps, they saw a lady in green waiting not far away, holding a food box in her hand. When the palace maid saw them walking out of the Promise Palace, she immediately walked in small steps and bowed to Du Lingchun in a salute: "This servant has seen the company."
She was the maid of honor beside the imperial concubine.
Du Lingchun recognized her: "But the imperial concubine has something to do?"
The palace maid shook her head: "My lady heard that the company asked to see His Majesty late at night. I was afraid that you didn't have dinner, so she sent the servants to bring you some hot cakes."
Although Du Qiuwan was very popular, she was a concubine in the end, and she was usually not seen with Du Lingchun. I heard that when he entered the palace, he would occasionally send some things.
When Du Lingchun heard the words, he was about to reach out to pick it up, but Gongsun Zhuoyu already took it first. He also smiled at the palace maid: "Excuse me, girl, I'll take it for the company."
The palace maid had never seen him before, but she expected to be with Du Lingchun, and she must be a close confidant. Seeing that Gongsun Zhuoyu was handsome and polite, he didn't dare to look at it, so he hurriedly bowed and retired.
Du Lingchun could only withdraw his hand, shook his sleeves, and said without a smile: "I can't tell, Lord Gongsun is a kind person."
Every time he called Gongsun Zhuoyu "Master Gongsun", he must have a strange feeling of yin and yang in his heart.
Gongsun Zhuoyu touched the food box, but it was still warm. Hearing this, he subconsciously said, "I'm clearly pitying the company."
It's not that he was afraid that Du Lingchun's hand was sour.
He was originally unintentional, and he said something baldly. After he finished speaking, he was stunned for a moment. After reacting, he raised his eyes subconsciously, only to see Du Lingchun also looking at him with a dazed expression.
Gongsun Zhuoyu moved his lips and tried to explain: "Company, I..."
"What are you," Du Lingchun turned around with a flick of his sleeves, "go back to the carriage soon."
Du Lingchun walked in front, secretly scolding Gongsun Zhuoyu for being a piece of wood. He should have been angry when he heard this sentence, but now he was angry, but he was not angry. An unknown emotion spread in his heart, throbbing and slightly hot.
Gongsun Zhuoyu followed behind with the food box, scolding himself for being stupid. After getting on the carriage, seeing Du Lingchun sitting in the innermost position, tentatively, he moved to his side little by little: "Company..."
Shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg.
The hand in Du Lingchun's sleeve moved, but he didn't hide, pretending he didn't see it.
Gongsun Zhuoyu opened the food box and was stunned when he saw a plate of rice cakes inside. He thought that the desserts sent by the imperial concubine must be exquisite and expensive, but he didn't think that it was just the cheapest rice cake among the people, and he could buy a large piece for a few pennies.
Gongsun Zhuoyu handed the food box to him: "Do you want to eat some?"
Du Lingchun glanced at it, took a small piece from the food box, took a bite, and finished it in three or two.
He and Du Qiuwan were poor when they were children, and the best thing they could eat was rice cakes. Later, when they entered the court, although there were delicious delicacies, they only preferred this kind of dessert.
Maybe Du Lingchun is also a nostalgic person in his bones...
Gongsun Zhuoyu asked, "Does the company like to eat rice cakes?"
Du Lingchun raised his eyelids: "Why, it's very strange?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu smiled and shook his head: "I thought... the company would like to eat something delicate and delicate."
Du Lingchun closed his eyes lightly, leaning on the wall of the carriage to rest: "I used to be poor and couldn't eat those delicate things. Rice cakes are the cheapest."
It was the first time that Gongsun Zhuoyu heard him say such a thing, so he paused and said, "I remember."
Du Lingchun opened his eyes: "Remember what?"
"The company loves to eat rice cakes," Gongsun Zhuoyu pursed his lips and smiled, "I'll buy it for the company in the future."
Fool…
Du Lingchun inexplicably popped these two words in his heart. He has countless gold and silver, and is rich enough to rival the country. Could he still be short of a piece of rice cake. But looking at Gongsun Zhuoyu's smiling eyes, but said nothing, the inexplicable throbbing feeling came up again, making people feel at a loss.
Taking advantage of the candlelight in the carriage, Gongsun Zhuoyu carefully looked at Du Lingchun's feminine eyebrows, and finally found that there seemed to be some rice cake residue left on the other's lips, and hesitantly said, "Company..."
Before Du Lingchun could react, his face became hot, and a palm was attached to it. His pupils shrank slightly, but he saw Gongsun Zhuoyu leaning over and wiping the corner of his lips with the pulp of his finger, explaining, "There is something on the company's face."
Du Lingchun had no choice but to freeze, waiting for him to clean up.
Gongsun Zhuoyu just wiped it for him at first, but seeing that Du Lingchun's lips were red and soft, he unconsciously rubbed it for a moment. At the same time, the line of sight slid down and landed on a cinnabar mole on the other's neck.
"… "
Gongsun Zhuoyu's mouth was inexplicably dry. He couldn't tell whether it was because of lust or something else. He only knew that he had never felt this way in front of others. In the dim candlelight of the carriage, he slowly approached Du Lingchun, and his voice suddenly became hoarse: "Company..."
Their shallow breaths are intertwined, ambiguous and indistinguishable.
Du Lingchun clenched the fleece blanket under him, not knowing what he was going to do, except nervous or nervous.
At this moment, the carriage suddenly jolted heavily, causing the person to become unstable, and Du Lingchun almost fell out. Gongsun Zhuoyu grabbed his arm subconsciously: "Be careful, company!"
There was a somewhat panicked voice from the driver outside: "Company, there was a pit on the side of the road just now, the villain didn't see it, didn't he bump you."
Du Lingchun instinctively frowned and was about to get angry, but thinking of Gongsun Zhuoyu beside him, he endured it. Coldly said: "Look carefully at the road, are your eyes a decoration!"
But fortunately, this bump broke the ambiguous and embarrassing atmosphere just now.
Gongsun Zhuoyu appeased Du Lingchun: "Don't be angry at the company."
He only said this sentence, and did not explain anything for the driver. Seeing that Du Lingchun was sitting firmly, he slowly retracted his hand. Having nothing to do, I simply remembered the case.
If according to what Tang Feishhuang just said, the murderers were all corrupt officials who oppressed the people, then Song Xitang and Leng Wuyan would not be able to meet this condition anyway. Although they work under Du Lingchun and have many contacts with officials, they are only advisers to the outside world, and many things are secretly done in private, and their reputation outside is not bad.
But Gongsun Zhuoyu carefully compared the piece of paper, and it was indeed sent by the murderer, so it cannot be faked.
So what's the reason...
According to Song Xitang, he and Leng Wuyan went to the teahouse to discuss with officials of the Ministry of Rites. They picked it up and looked at it, only to find that the names of the two of them happened to be there.
Pressed under the tray...
Then the murderer may have quietly put the paper in the past when he pretended to be a buddy and served tea...
Several people must sit at the same table when discussing matters, and officials of the Ministry of Rites...
Um
Rites officials? !
Gongsun Zhuoyu didn't know what to think, and suddenly sat up straight with a look of surprise. Seeing this, Du Lingchun also sat up straight, frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu wanted to express his guess, but there was no basis for it at the moment, so he could only whisper: "I'll talk to the company in detail when I return to the mansion."
The company's mansion was not far from the imperial city, and it didn't take long to arrive. There are three floors inside and three floors outside, surrounded by first-class masters from the Jinglu Division, and even archers are ambushed on the roof ridge.
Gongsun Zhuoyu was afraid that the murderer would be cunning, so he deliberately left Shi Qianqiu in the mansion. He jumped out of the carriage, turned around to help Du Lingchun down, and the two of them whispered as they walked towards the mansion.
Gongsun Zhuoyu: "Does the company know who Mr. Song and the others met that day?"
Du Lingchun naturally didn't know: "It's probably some people from the Ministry of Rites. You have to ask them who they are."
Gongsun Zhuoyu walked quickly into the mansion and saw that there was no sign of a fight around, and expected that the murderer hadn't come yet. Passing through the lengthy hand-chasing corridor, I went straight to the room where Song Xitang and Leng Wuyan lived.
Because it was not clear which of them the murderer was going to kill, he simply let the two of them stay together and concentrated on protection.
When Gongsun Zhuoyu opened the door, he found that neither of them slept. Leng Wuyan sat at the table drinking tea, Song Xitang held a knife in his hand, and sat on the edge of the bed tremblingly, his eyes widened, obviously he had become a bird of fright.
The author has something to say: Gongsun Zhuoyu: Wow, you two are not dead yet.
Song Xitang & Leng Wuyan: …