"Ziwei, Zihou, you two are so unkind that you actually had a drink here behind my back, but I caught you."
A teasing voice came from the door, and then a handsome boy holding a folding fan came out from the door. He was wearing a slim white brocade robe with cloud pattern, his black hair was tied up with purple jade, a piece of warm jade hung around his waist, and there was a smile in his eyes.
He can be described as a graceful gentleman with an elegant appearance.
Seeing the person coming, Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei both stood up and greeted him with a smile. The person coming was Wang Shizhen.
"Listening to what Wensheng said just now, he seems like a resentful woman who came to catch an adulterer..." Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei welcomed Wang Shizhen in, then raised the corners of their lips and joked.
Wang Shizhen, who had just walked in, almost stumbled when he heard this... Then he looked up at Zhu Ping'an with a helpless look on his face and said, "Zihou, you are really a disgrace."
"Hahaha, Wensheng, shouldn't you be drinking and writing poetry with Lord Li? Why are you willing to come to my humble abode?" Zhang Siwei laughed.
"The housekeeper reported that Zihou had returned, so I asked for leave from Lord Li and the others and came back. I thought Zihou must be with you, so I came directly here." Wang Shizhen replied, and then looked at Zhu Ping'an with a helpless look and said, "Zihou, you are still in the mood to joke. Do you know how much commotion your memorial caused?"
Because the Ministry of Justice had sent several reminders, Wang Shizhen estimated that Zhu Ping'an would be back soon, so before leaving, he specifically told the housekeeper to report to Lord Li Panlong in time if Zhu Ping'an came back. As soon as Zhu Ping'an left Wang Shizhen's house, the housekeeper of Wang Shizhen's house went to report to Wang Shizhen, so Wang Shizhen came back so quickly.
Zhang Siwei ordered the servants in the mansion to add a pair of chopsticks and tableware, and asked the kitchen to add a few more dishes. The three of them sat down around the desk.
"Okay, let's get back to the topic. Let's talk about Zihou's memorial. Wensheng must have found out a lot about it from Lord Li in the Ministry of Justice. It's a good opportunity for us to discuss together and see what to do." After the greetings, Zhang Siwei spoke.
Wang Shizhen nodded in agreement, then looked at Zhu Ping'an seriously and asked, "Zihou, do you know how much of a commotion your Feng memorial caused?"
Well
Why do you always ask me this question? Zhu Pingan touched his nose speechlessly.
"You are still laughing. Do you know that the Zhao Daying you impeached was promoted to a captain by Yan Song after the Gengxu Incident? You should look at the owner before beating a dog. You impeached Zhao Daying for killing innocent people and claiming credit. Doesn't that mean Yan Song is blind and helping the tyrant? It's obviously a slap in Yan Song's face. Where does that old villain Yan Song stand?"
Wang Shizhen had never been nice to Yan Song, and since there were only three of them here, he unceremoniously added the word "old thief" in front of Yan Song's name.
"I only found out about this later." Zhu Ping'an replied honestly.
"You, Zihou..." Wang Shizhen sighed speechlessly, "The old thief Yan Song is the most careful about his reputation, and the little thief Yan Shifan is the most greedy about money. It is said that Zhao Daying sent several carts of gifts to Yan Shifan alone."
"After you impeached Zhao Daying, two more memorials directly impeached Yan Song. One was submitted by Zhao Jin, the imperial censor who inspected Yunnan and Guizhou. He impeached Yan Song for controlling the government and seeking personal gain, which led to the deterioration of officialdom, poverty of the people and national famine, and requested the removal of Yan Song. The other was submitted by Zhou Mian, a doctor in the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War. He impeached Yan Song's grandson Yan Xiaozhong, who was still breastfed. In fact, Yan Song's followers pretended to be the court's military merits and granted Yan Xiaozhong the title of Jinyi Zhenfu and Qianhu. "
"On the day that the impeachment memorial of Zhao Jin, the inspector of Yunnan and Guizhou, arrived in the capital, he was arrested and thrown into the imperial prison on the charge of 'defying heaven and slandering the emperor', tortured, caned 40 times, and dismissed from his post. Zhou Mian, the doctor of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, was also arrested and thrown into the prison, and likewise dismissed from his post."
"You impeached Zhao Daying for killing innocent people and claiming credit for it, but Zhao Daying's merit in killing the enemy was recognized by Yan Song and he was promoted to a thousand households..."
When Wang Shizhen said this, he looked at Zhu Ping'an, feeling very worried, fearing that Zhu Ping'an would follow in the footsteps of Zhao Jin and Zhou Mian.
Three memorials were sent to impeach Yan Song, and the owners of two memorials were imprisoned and demoted to civilians. How could he not worry about Zhu Ping'an? Although Zhu Ping'an did not directly impeach Yan Song, it did not make much difference. After all, Zhao Daying was promoted by Yan Song because of his merits in being impeached. Impeaching him was a slap in the face of Yan Song.
"Yan Song's followers are spread throughout the court and the country. Once things are related to Yan Song and his son, it will be difficult." Zhang Siwei agreed with Wang Shizhen's words and was equally worried about Zhu Ping'an.
Slurp...
Baji…
Oh shit, what’s that sound
Is there an animal in the house
The two were extremely worried. When they were considering what to do, they heard a discordant sound. Turning around, they found that the person involved, Zhu Ping'an, was concentrating on the plate of sweet and sour fish in front of him and had already finished half of it.
“Zihou, you can still eat…” Wang Shizhen’s eyes almost popped out when he saw this, and he even had the urge to push Zhu Ping’an’s head into the plate.
"If you don't eat enough now, how can you have the strength to go to jail?" Zhu Ping'an raised his head from the plate, wiped his mouth and joked.
"You..." Wang Shizhen was speechless, feeling very disappointed with his friend.
"Okay, I see the atmosphere is quite tense, so it was just a joke. Wensheng, Ziwei, thank you for worrying about me. I have already arranged the memorial. Since you dare to submit it, you must have a foolproof plan." Zhu Ping'an thanked the two of them solemnly, and then comforted them.
"Have you made all the arrangements? Come on and comfort us." Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen asked suspiciously.
"Of course I'm not trying to comfort you. I've already arranged it before I submitted the memorial. Don't worry. When have I ever done anything that I wasn't sure of?" Zhu Ping'an replied confidently, "I'm young, and I can outlast Yan Song and his son. How could I put myself in danger?"
Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen nodded first, but then shook their heads immediately, then looked at Zhu Ping'an with a wry smile and said, "Zihou, just comfort us. When you impeached him, you didn't know the relationship between Zhao Daying and Yan Song..."
"I'm not talking about people, I'm talking about the matter." Zhu Ping'an smiled. "I'm impeaching people for killing innocent people and claiming credit for their crimes. This is different from what Lord Zhao and his friends did. Lord Zhao impeached Yan Song for several crimes, but there was no evidence. Lord Zhou from the Military Selection Department impeached Yan Song too hastily. Although Yan Xiaozhong was still in his infancy, Lord Zhou gave him the title of patron saint. Besides, it was the emperor's decree that bestowed the title, so how could your majesty be wrong? I'm different from them, don't worry."
"How can we be assured? If His Majesty will not admit his mistakes, how can Yan Song admit his mistakes? You said Lord Zhou was careless, but you, Zihou, were careless too." Zhang Siwei shook his head, "Why did you submit such a memorial when His Majesty was fasting and offering sacrifices? After the Gengxu Incident last year, the scars of the capital have not yet healed, and you have opened them again."
Wang Shizhen also looked at Zhu Ping'an in confusion, waiting for Zhu Ping'an's answer.
In response to their questions, Zhu Ping'an took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then told them the whole story.
Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen were very nervous when they heard that Zhu Ping'an and Li Shu had fallen into the hands of bandits. Although Zhu Ping'an was still safe and sound, they were still nervous about the danger. When they heard that Zhu Ping'an had resolved the crisis with fine wine, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Later, when they heard that the hunter was fighting hard at the front line to kill the Tartars, but his parents, wife and children at home were being killed by the soldiers of the Captain Zhao Daying, they both clenched their fists with resentment in their eyes, especially Wang Shizhen, who could not help but slam the table in anger after hearing this. How could this be!
"No wonder Zihou submitted the impeachment memorial. In order to gain credit, Zhao Daying even spared no babies. He is totally inhumane and has no conscience at all!" Wang Shizhen was so angry after hearing this that fire almost spewed from his eyes.
"Alas, when a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people suffer..." Zhang Siwei heaved a long sigh after listening to Zhu Ping'an's story. (To be continued.)--( )