Tang Fan froze in his heart, the other party is only a seven-rank general flag, but his tone is so big, there must be something behind him, he stopped joking, and said directly: "Thank you for the kindness of Sui general flag, it's just that Master Pan knows me well. Well, I can never be ungrateful."
Suizhou: "As you like."
Facing his indifferent attitude, Tang Fan didn't take it seriously, and handed over his hands: "I'll invite Sui Zongqi to have a drink when I have time another day. I'll take my leave now."
Suizhou got up: "Master Tang walk slowly, I won't send you far."
At this moment, a Jin Yiwei hurried in. "Big brother!"
Tang Fan recognized him as one of the people who followed Suizhou when he arrived at the drugstore that day. His name was Xue Ling, his complexion was dark and his face was sharp.
Suizhou: "What's the matter?"
Xue Ling glanced at Tang Fan.
Tang Fan was trying to avoid it, but Suizhou said, "If it's related to the murder of the Marquis of Wu'an, it's okay to say it."
Xue Ling said: "Someone from Dongchang took Zheng Cheng's body away!"
Tang Fan showed a surprised expression.
Sui Zhou's expression sank: "What's going on?"
Xue Ling smiled bitterly: "Someone came from Fangcai's East Factory, saying that they were ordered by the Admiral. In order to solve the case as soon as possible, we should borrow Zheng Cheng's body to investigate."
The Admiral of the East Plant is the boss of the East Plant, and the current Admiral is Shang Ming, who has always been at odds with Wang Zhi of the West Plant.
Once the eunuch takes power, there will be no wind and three feet of waves, not to mention that there is now an excuse for the murder of the Marquis of Wu'an. Since Wang Zhi has intervened, Shang Ming is of course not to be outdone. In order to win favor in front of the emperor, everyone is working hard.
After hearing this, Sui Zhou sneered: "Take chicken feathers as an arrow!"
I don't know if I'm scolding Dongchang for coming, or if I'm scolding Dongchang Admiral Shang Ming.
Tang Fan sighed softly, since Zheng Cheng's body is no longer there, there is no need for him to come to Suizhou tomorrow. I'm afraid the case will have to be broken through from the person who bought the Chaihu.
"Sui Zongqi, I'll go first. The person who bought the Chaihu, I will ask Shuntian Prefecture to send someone to investigate. If you find someone here first, please let me know."
Sui Zhou nodded slightly: "Master Tang walk slowly."
When Tang Fan got home, he realized that he had been running around for a long time today. Except for the half bowl of white porridge he ate in the morning, there was almost no water in it. Now that he was free, his stomach growled immediately, and he was too lazy to cook by himself. There was nothing to eat for a long time, but in desperation, I had to wash a basket of pears that A-Xia sent in the morning, pick it up and eat it.
The sweet pear juice entered his throat, and the thirsty and painful throat immediately felt much more comfortable. After eating the pears, Tang Fan took out the bottle of ointment that Suizhou gave him, and smeared it on the scar on his neck.
As soon as it was painted, there was a knock on the door.
When he walked over and opened the door, he first smelled a tempting aroma, and then saw the girl with the food box.
Tang Fan: "A-Xia?"
A-Xia: "I've come to disturb Master Tang again. Our family ordered some noodles to eat today. My mistress heard that you just came back and guessed that you were busy with business and might not have time to eat, so she asked me to bring a bowl of wontons over, Master Tang. Eat while it's hot!"
The two families are only separated by a wall, and even the bigger ones can be heard clearly. Although the ancestors of the Li family were officials, they are only ordinary businessmen in this generation. Living in the capital city where officials are everywhere is even more inconspicuous. A family of old and weak women and children encounters people in the government's yamen. It is inevitable that they are weak. Because Tang Fan has helped them several times, the Li family is grateful. Knowing that Tang Fan is not married yet, he must be negligent in cooking, so they send maids from time to time. Xia came over to deliver some food, and they went there, and the relationship between the two was not bad.
Tang Fan took the food box: "Pharaoh's cooking skills have always been unremarkable. It's just that it's not good to bother you all. Please tell Aunt Li, and you won't have to be so troublesome in the future."
A Xia pursed her lips and smiled: "What did Master Tang say, you have helped us so much in the Li family, we are just bringing some food, so why bother, you don't have to be polite, eat it while it's hot, later It's time to let Xiaohuzi come and get the food box!"
The two exchanged a few more words, A-Xia said goodbye and left, Tang Fan carried the food box into the room, opened the lid, brought out a bowl of fragrant spring onion and pork wontons, and took out a copy of "Bodhisattva Man" from the bookshelf .
This "Bodhisattva Man" is not a song from the Song Dynasty, but a novel written by an unknown person in this dynasty. It writes about a scholar who was a guest in the palace of the county king, was slandered for having an affair with his maid, was wrongly killed by the king of the county, and turned into a ghost after the scholar died. He tried to clear up his grievances, and even went to the front of the imperial court to reveal that the king was plotting a rebellion. In the end, the king was punished for his evil, and he was beheaded by the court, and the scholar also went to the underworld as a ghost.
No one would have thought that Master Tang, who entered the Hanlin Academy as the first in the second class and was praised by the emperor himself, would like to read this kind of dog-blood novel that combines romance, suspense, ghosts, and immortals.
Turning his slender and fair fingers to the place he saw last time, Master Tang lowered his head and took a small sip of the hot soup, sighing happily.
Life is like this, what more can I ask for!
Early the next morning, Pan Bin called Tang Fan over to inquire about the progress of the case.
Tang Fan briefly talked about the discovery and progress, and also mentioned that the East Factory took Zheng Cheng's body away.
Pan Bin actually looked very happy: "As soon as the East Factory intervenes, the case will become more complicated!"
Tang Fan: "..."
Pan Bin also seemed to realize that it was inappropriate for him to be too happy, so he quickly coughed as a cover: "Shuntian Prefecture doesn't have to get involved too deeply in this matter, and the West Factory will not give up if the East Factory intervenes."
But from another point of view, this is precisely because he regards Tang Fan as his own, otherwise, with his years of experience in the officialdom, he would not have lost his temper so easily.
Tang Fan nodded and sighed: "Xiaguan also thinks the same way, the East Factory and the West Factory have never dealt with each other, and this time the East Factory robbed Jin Yiwei, and Jin Yiwei must not be happy, the court is full of talents, but everyone If you don't give in to each other, you can't do things, and even investigating cases is so difficult!"
Pan Bin: "There's nothing wrong with this. Thanks to your idea, now Shuntian Mansion only needs to watch the fire from the other side. If there is no result in the end, the law will not blame the public, and Your Majesty can't just hold Shuntian Mansion responsible. The best."
Tang Fan guessed that his senior brother might have reached an agreement with the Marquis of Wu'an in private, so he couldn't help but reminded politely: "Sir, that maid A Lin, although she seduced Zheng Cheng with bad intentions, was not guilty of death."
A-Lin is still in the Shuntian Mansion Prison, but the Marquis of Wu'an is still haunted by the death of his son and does not want to face the possible murderer, but stubbornly believes that it was the maid who killed him. Tang Fan is worried that the matter will be over in the end. , Alin will be directly handed over to the Marquis of Wuan by Pan Bin to vent his anger.
Although many parties are now intervening in the investigation, in the end it is just a struggle for power and profit. Who cares about the fate of an insignificant maid
Pan Bin raised his face and said displeasedly: "Runqing, why are you so dead-headed, don't forget what your identity is, what identity is that A-Lin, is it worth it to build your own future for a maid?"
Tang Fan said sincerely: "Senior brother, I didn't mean to make it difficult for you, it's really a matter of life. If I can't find out the truth, my conscience will be uneasy!"
Pan Bin sighed: "Runqing ah Runqing, can't you think of me as a hard-hearted person? I think that when I first entered the officialdom, I was as enthusiastic as you, thinking of reporting to the court and protecting the people, but this world is unfair! Factory, West Factory, Jinyiwei, and the people above our heads, which one can we afford? Whether the maid will die in the end depends on your majesty's sentence. It's not that we kill people with knives, so don't worry about that. More, it is not bad to be able to protect yourself these years."
He paused and lowered his voice: "I might as well tell you a heartfelt word, don't look at the chaos in the imperial court, the cabinet does nothing, and the West Factory is domineering. In my mind, Your Majesty is happy to see this situation. If the courtiers are of one mind and go against His Majesty, what is the benefit to His Majesty? Officer, you have to figure out the emperor's will to act in everything. In this case, whether it is Dongchang, Xichang, or even Jinyiwei, it's better than us. It's fine to let them have a headache. You can participate, but Don't rush to do everything, when the credit is taken by others, and the fault is yours, who are you going to seek justice for
There was no expression on Tang Fan's face, he just nodded and said calmly, "Senior brother, Runqing has written down everything from the bottom of his heart."
Pan Bin said a lot of words bitterly, and suddenly felt his mouth dry, took a big sip from the tea cup on the table, and then smiled: "Actually, this time is not without gain, since Jinyiwei is the general flag of Suizhou. I have a good impression of you, you should take good care of it, and get close to him in many ways, it will not be of great use in the future, do you know where this Suizhou came from?"
Seeing Tang Fan shaking his head and saying he didn't know, he said, "He is the grand-nephew of Queen Mother Zhou, and his mother is Queen Mother Zhou's niece outside her family. There was also an uncle in the family who used to be the minister of military affairs and entered the cabinet during the orthodox years, but it's a pity Later, he died in the change of Tumu Fort."
Tang Fan suddenly said, "Sui Anlan?"
Pan Bin nodded: "Because of this relationship, this person can talk both inside and outside the imperial court. Unlike ordinary Jin Yiwei, I heard that even Wantong must be friendly when facing him."
Wantong is the current commander of Jinyiwei, that is, the boss of a group of Jinyiwei.
He is the younger brother of Concubine Wan, and now Concubine Wan dominates the harem. Although she is seventeen years older than the emperor, the emperor loves her very much, and almost obeys every word.
With this legendary love as a backer, Vantone, the commander of Jinyiwei, made nature feel like a duck to water, and it was more moisturizing.
But his wife never has an old mother. Since Suizhou has the relationship with the Queen Mother Zhou, if he is a little capable, he will be able to get ahead.
Tang Fan saw that although Suizhou had an indifferent attitude, he was quite capable in his work. He never imagined that he had such a strong backer. It can be seen that there are dragons and crouching tigers hidden everywhere in the capital. Suizhou was half a level higher and bossed at him, and now he might be slaughtered.
But Tang Fan was a little speechless about this senior brother's words. He wanted to say, "Sir, do you know that people look down on us in Shuntian Prefecture? It's not going to work in a hurry.
However, Tang Fan didn't say anything in the end, he just stood with his sleeves up, smiled and listened, nodding from time to time to show his agreement, this kind of eagerness to learn made Pan Bin very satisfied.
Pan Bin explained again and again, Tang Fan heard a buzzing sound in his ears, and even his footsteps were a little light when he stood up. He was about to leave when he saw the old king of the yamen from Shuntian Prefecture hurried in from outside. .
"Sir, it's not good, something happened!"
Pan Bin hated hearing such words the most, and tightened his eyebrows: "What's wrong, something happened, won't you say something nice!"
Old Wang showed a little secret excitement, but he didn't dare to show it too clearly. As a result, his whole face seemed to be twisted, very strange: "No, my lord, it wasn't that there was an accident in our Shuntian Mansion, it was the East Factory, and the East Factory caught fire. It's gone!"
Pan Bin: "What! What's going on, hurry up!"
Pharaoh: "As it was almost dawn today, it is said that there was a fire in the East Factory, and the fire was quite big. A fire burned most of the west of the East Factory. I don't know what happened, and they are still fighting the fire! "
Tang Fan's heart moved, and he asked, "Do you know where the corpse is placed in the East Factory?"
Old Wang shook his head blankly, wondering why Tang Fan suddenly asked such a question.
Pan Bin asked a few more questions, and seeing that Pharaoh didn't know anything, he waved his hand and let him go down.
"Runqing, what do you think about this?"
Tang Fan: "Yesterday, Zheng Cheng's body was just taken away by the East Factory, and it caught fire today. It's too coincidental. There must be some problems in it. We have to find out the details before making a conclusion."
Pan Bin tapped on the table and nodded: "The water here is very deep. It seems that Dongchang is not monolithic. If you walk a lot at night, don't you run into ghosts?"
His tone of gloating on misfortune and watching the fun without taking it too seriously made Tang Fan a little speechless.
Brother, I know you don't want the case to be solved, but you don't need to be so obvious!
.