In Zhenyuan Hou's Mansion, the heavy door curtain was lifted, and before seeing the other person's figure, he heard a loud laughter: "Master Hou, well, I'm here to greet you in the New Year."
Hearing the voice of the person coming, Fu Tingzhou immediately stood up and greeted him at the door in person: "Uncle Xu, it's actually you. Why don't you send someone to tell me when you're coming, please take a seat."
Xu Rong was Fu Yue's lieutenant, and he was the same age as Fu Chang. Fu Tingzhou was very courteous to his grandfather's former subordinates. He sat down with Xu Rong and ordered the housekeeper to fetch the best tea. After the tea was brewed and all the other people left the study, Xu Rongcai said, "Now that I'm getting older, my legs are becoming more and more inconvenient, and many walks are empty and powerless. I heard that the Marquis was attacked in Lu Mansion yesterday. When you told me about this, I was taken aback, so I hurried over to greet the Lord Hou today. Lord Hou, are you not injured?"
Yesterday, Lu Heng's big wedding was known to the whole capital, but Xu Rong's level was not enough to attend Lu Heng's wedding. In the same way, the incident that the Lu Mansion was attacked by an unknown assassin yesterday quickly spread throughout the circle.
Fu Tingzhou shook his head: "Uncle Xu has a heart, I'm fine. Those assassins are just a mob, they're not good, and there were no casualties among the guests, only Lu Heng was shot."
Many high-ranking officials of the court attended Lu Heng's wedding and were attacked. In the end, no one was injured. It was a fortune among misfortunes. If someone was injured in the Lu family, then Lu Heng, the master, would be even more embarrassed.
Lu Heng and Xu Rong belonged to different factions in the army, and have never had any friendship, but when they heard such words, it was not good to ignore them. Xu Rong pretended to be worried and asked, "Commander Lu is injured? Is it serious?"
Fu Tingzhou hoped that the arrow would kill Lu Heng, but unfortunately it only hurt his shoulder. Fu Tingzhou shook his head and said, "On the shoulder, it's not fatal."
Xu Rong snorted, it is not good to talk about this topic deeply or shallowly, so he stopped. Xu Rong said: "I heard people say that the city gate is under martial law today, and there are many more Jinyi guards in each gate, and strict inspections are required to enter and exit. Could this have something to do with what happened yesterday?"
Fu Tingzhou hasn't gone out today, he just heard about it. Fu Tingzhou glanced at the sky outside. Now, when he first arrived, Lu Heng had already reported to the emperor and gained control of the city gate? Fu Tingzhou couldn't help sighing: "The emperor really trusts him. It seems that those people yesterday really had another way."
When Xu Rong heard this, he hurriedly asked what was going on. Xu Rong came today, in addition to paying New Year's greetings, he did have the intention to inquire about the news. A large-scale attack suddenly occurred in the city. Everyone has relatives. Who dares to stay out of the incident
Fu Tingzhou understood in his heart, so he roughly said what happened yesterday. They all grew up in officers' families, and since they were young, Lu Heng could see where the assassins came from by touching weapons, and others could more or less.
Fu Tingzhou said: "I played against a few assassins yesterday. Judging from their martial arts skills and types of swords, they should be from Dongying."
"People from Dongying?" Xu Rong was surprised, "Aren't people from Dongying on the coast, what are they doing in the capital?"
These matters involved political affairs, and Fu Tingzhou shook his head and did not elaborate further. Judging by the indiscriminate attack of the dead soldiers in Dongying yesterday, combined with the emperor's ordering Lu Heng to seal the city, Fu Tingzhou judged that soon, the emperor should start a war against Dongying and completely rectify the Japanese pirates.
The Japanese pirates have been harassing the coastal areas for a long time. At first, they stole things and ran away after a vote. It was not worthwhile for the court to chase them for such a small amount of money, so they didn't care much. But as time passed, Japanese pirates became more and more rampant, and now they colluded with local gangsters, smuggled and sold, and robbed their houses, which has become a disaster.
The emperor Qingzhang's land was extended to the south. If the central order was to be successfully implemented, the Japanese pirates had to be quelled. The battle between the imperial court and the Japanese pirates was inevitable, and this attack was nothing more than advancing the time.
Seeing that Fu Tingzhou was reluctant to say more, Xu Rong could probably guess what he was avoiding. Although Xu Rong did not understand the struggle in court, he still understood the principle of tit-for-tat and eye-for-eye. The people of Dongying have all come to the capital to have fun, how can the court do nothing and let the Japanese thieves throw their fists in their faces
The emperor will definitely send someone to conquer the Japanese pirates, and they are more concerned about who to send.
According to the roughest division method, the court can be divided into Wen and Wu, North and South, nobles and Shilin. In fact, these three classifications mean the same thing. Civil servants are basically from the southern Shilin family, while the army is in the hands of military generals. Most of these people come from the northern aristocracy and are hereditary from generation to generation. This also led to the fact that many of the princes and nobles in the capital knew how to fight with the Mongols, and very few knew the navy.
Xu Rong tried to ask: "Master Hou, the Japanese pirates are in trouble, it is time to teach them a lesson. Who do you think is the right one to govern the Japanese?"
Fu Tingzhou thought about it for a while, then slowly shook his head: "I know very little about the navy, the emperor is wise, and he will definitely find someone who is capable."
Fu Tingzhou had just returned from the front line, and the emperor would not let him get in touch with real power so soon. There are also factions in the army. In order to check and balance, the emperor probably will not give Wudinghou this faction anymore.
Fu Tingzhou doesn't look down on Japanese pirates in his heart, what kind of climate can a group of pirates who steal chickens and dogs become? This expedition, obviously, is giving away credit for nothing, to gild the emperor's cronies.
Xu Rong nodded, realizing that this war had nothing to do with them. Since there is no benefit, Xu Rong no longer pays attention, but instead thinks of gossip.
In a joking tone, he said to Fu Tingzhou, "Master Hou, I heard that Lu Du commanded the judges and judges in Nanzhen all night yesterday. It was a wedding night, and he was even willing to do it. He really fought hard."
Fu Tingzhou smiled perfunctorily, but frowned secretly in his heart, feeling that something was wrong. Although Lu Heng said that he usually works very hard on errands, it is not Lu Heng's style to go to the cold prison to torture prisoners on their wedding night.
Fu Tingzhou's eyes flickered, and he probably guessed what was going on.
After sending Xu Rong away, Fu Tingzhou walked to the bookshelf and opened the hidden compartment silently. He had seen the contents inside countless times, but as soon as he opened it this time, Fu Tingzhou's face sank.
The wooden box in the dark compartment was wide open, and the contents were gone.
Fu Tingzhou narrowed his eyes, his expression frighteningly cold. Don't think, this must be done by Lu Heng. Lu Heng took the things inside and restored the mechanism to its original state. When Fu Tingzhou opened it from the outside just now, he didn't realize it was wrong.
This is a clear provocation. Lu Heng is telling him that if Lu Heng can silently take Wang Yanqing's household post and family letter, he can take Fu Tingzhou's life in the same way.
Fu Tingzhou stood in front of the bookshelf for a while, silently closing the hidden grid, and restoring the mechanism to its original state. What's the use of Lu Heng even if he threatens him, Fu Tingzhou is sure that Lu Heng does not dare to kill him now.
If Lu Heng really did it, it would be a big taboo for the emperor. Given Lu Heng's situation of making enemies, once he loses the emperor's trust, he will not feel better.
Fu Tingzhou called the housekeeper and calmly ordered, "Go and get Jade's life contract."
·
Wang Yanqing was ready to go to bed early yesterday, but she couldn't fall asleep while lying on the bed, and she finally squinted for a while until it was dawn.
She was awakened by the sound of birds chirping outside. Wang Yanqing sat up clutching his forehead, even after lying down for a long time, there was no sense of relaxation in his body at all, instead he was exhausted.
Since the amnesia, Wang Yanqing has rarely been able to fall asleep. Maybe this is the fact that the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. She forgot her past memories and only thought that she was a carefree little girl who was favored by her foster brother. She slept every day when she was full, without any psychological pressure. After restoring memory, sleep worsened again.
Lu Heng suddenly appeared in Wang Yanqing's mind, she was stunned and relaxed for a while, pressed down hard, and got out of bed.
She changed her clothes, but she couldn't keep her spirits up, and she couldn't even eat breakfast. Wang Yanqing once lived in this house for three days, and the maids and maids in it knew Wang Yanqing's identity. After Wang Yanqing came back suddenly last night, the whole house seemed to have amnesia. No one asked the reason, but silently served Wang Yanqing according to Wang Yanqing's preferences.
Today's dishes are completely Wang Yanqing's taste. Wang Yanqing slowly scooped the porridge, and heard two maids standing outside the partition, whispering: "Have you heard that the city gate is sealed, and you must show documents to enter and exit."
"Really, why is it suddenly being investigated?"
"I don't know, it seems to be looking for yesterday's assassin. Fortunately, there is still food in the house, so even if the merchants who do business can't get in, they can support it for a while."
The room was quiet, the two of them bit their ears quietly, and the sound reached Wang Yanqing's ears. Wang Yanqing lowered his eyes and blew the porridge. It seemed that Lu Heng did not cheat completely yesterday, and the passage out of Beijing was indeed restricted.
Wang Yanqing drank the porridge leisurely. She was ready to listen to these maids "inadvertently" reveal other news, but after that, the maids were very calm, serving the meal honestly, without saying a single extra word. Wang Yanqing was a little surprised that Lu Heng didn't arrange for someone to sell his misfortune and clean it up for him
After breakfast, the maid gently removed the pan. Jade was by Wang Yanqing's side. They were once inseparable, but now they are in the same room, but there is a wordless estrangement.
Fei Cui also noticed that Wang Yanqing treated her differently than before, even if Wang Yanqing was still gentle and kind when facing her, the two could no longer talk about everything.
A lot of things have changed in the past two years after being stolen by Lu Heng. Fei Cui felt that Wang Yanqing was different, and he couldn't tell exactly what was different. In the past, Wang Yanqing circled around Fu Tingzhou all day. When Fu Tingzhou was away, Wang Yanqing turned over the books Fu Tingzhou had read and studied the things Fu Tingzhou was interested in. Now Wang Yanqing also finds books for recreation in his spare time, but his style is very different from before.
Jade didn't know if this was another man's preference or Wang Yanqing's.
And neither of them mentioned the wedding day again.
At noon, the guards came in and reported that a man in plain clothes had left a box in the porter. Wang Yanqing took the wooden box, opened it, and saw a stack of old and yellowed papers.
It is a family letter from Wang's family, and Wang Cong's family letter from the battlefield in his early years.
Wang Yanqing took out the household registration and looked through it carefully to make sure that it was not a fake, but the original that she brought from Datong Mansion. Wang Yanqing closed the box and asked, "Where's the person who sent the things?"
The guard stood outside the screen, lowered his eyes and said, "Reporting Madam, that person has left."
"What does he look like?"
The guard described it hard for a while, and Wang Yanqing heard that it was someone close to Lu Heng. But this is even more strange. After Lu Heng got her household registration, he didn't bargain, but sent his subordinates to deliver it, put down the things and left
With such an important document, she thought he would come to the door for an excuse, but some of them didn't talk about it, but he gave her things so easily.
Wang Yanqing originally wanted Jade to put the box away, but suddenly stopped when he spoke, and changed his mind silently. Forget it, she should take care of such an important thing by herself. Feicui is from the Zhenyuan Hou Mansion, and the other maids are from Lu Heng, so they are not credible.
In this mansion, she is the only one who is completely on her position.
Holding the wooden box in his hand, Wang Yanqing asked, "Does he only keep this wooden box?"
"There is one more sentence." The guard lowered his head more deeply and said, "He said that Madam please rest in peace, Lord Lu will definitely catch the assassin as fast as possible, and never let the thief disturb Madam."
Wang Yanqing nodded, but his heart was actually calm. Leaving aside other things, Lu Heng's work ability is indeed impeccable, and Wang Yanqing is very confident that he will solve the Dongying assassin. As for the safety of this house... Wang Yanqing never worried.
Wang Yanqing didn't sleep well last night, and she had no appetite all day today. She took two bites of food at noon, and slept with only a bowl of porridge at night. Wang Yanqing was particularly worried about seeing Lu Heng when she opened her eyes in the middle of the night, or Lu Heng sent someone to remind her to eat well. Fortunately, until she woke up the next day, nothing she worried about happened.
Wang Yanqing had to say he was relieved. Lu Heng didn't keep monitoring her life—in fact, Wang Yanqing didn't want to think about it, but at least he didn't jump out to point fingers. The people in the house did not secretly instill in her the idea that Lu Heng was very kind to her and that she should return to Lu Heng as soon as possible.
Lu Heng behaved like a decent gentleman, saying that he would not disturb her, so he really stopped outside the gate and no longer invaded her life without authorization. Therefore, Wang Yanqing was able to calm down for a while and recuperate quietly in the house. Otherwise, whenever any of the above things happened, Wang Yanqing would pack up and leave the capital immediately.
After breakfast, Feicui asked, "Girl, you've been depressed these days, why don't you go out for a walk?"
The other maids in the room cast their gazes secretly. They called Wang Yanqing Madam, and Feicui called Miss Wang Yanqing. Wang Yanqing shook his head and said, "There are still tricks going on outside. According to Jin Yiwei's speed, it's almost time to close the net in the past two days. Let's not go out and cause trouble."
The Japanese wanted to wipe out all the high-ranking officials of the court, causing unrest in the central government. But Elder Ge, Xun Gui and the others sacrificed their lives one by one. Entry and exit were strictly guarded, and the guards would not leave the body at all times. If one person had an accident, others would be alert. If the Japanese want to assassinate one by one, the probability of success is very low.
So they set their sights on Lu Heng's wedding banquet. Originally, if Lu Heng didn't get married, Fu Tingzhou's wedding in February would be their goal. But Lu Heng was holding a wedding in the first month of the month. The rank was higher, the time was closer, and the guests gathered together. All of them were noble and defenseless, so he was selected by the Japanese pirates.
When they acted, they killed Lu Heng, the host. If Lu Heng died and the Lu Mansion lost the principal, it would inevitably turn into a mess, which would make it more convenient for Japanese pirates to commit murder. Later, they also intended to hold Wang Yanqing hostage, which shows that they did their homework before taking action.
At this juncture, Wang Yanqing should not go out and take risks. If they recognized Wang Yanqing, wouldn't they be rushing to send hostages
Wang Yanqing was reluctant to go out, she still stayed at home reading books, basking in the sun, and went to bed when she was tired. She is now a patient who has just hit her head. Lang Zhong specifically instructed not to consume energy, but to be calm and supportive.
Wang Yanqing had just woken up in the afternoon when he suddenly heard a message from the concierge saying that a visitor was coming.
It was Fu Tingzhou.
The author says:
Lu Heng: My heart is bitter, but I can't say it, so I have to pretend to be a workaholic.