Madam Huarui hurriedly applied thick powder on her face to cover up the bruises. She looked carefully in the bronze mirror and found that the corners of her mouth were still slightly swollen. She could not care less and hurriedly told Meng Chang: Alang, you must act very scared. If you don't hold it back, people will definitely see it. Well, you must also act very regretful and submissive.
Meng Chang frowned and said: Didn't you say that the person who came to see me was Zuo Shaoqing
This person is Guo Shao's aide, Alang. Didn't you notice him in Chengdu and on the boat? Madam Huarui put her hand on her forehead and said worriedly, "I was careless and didn't expect someone to come to visit me, otherwise I should have taught you how to act."
Meng Chang said with a sad face: I, the great Emperor of the Great Shu, have fallen to the level of an actor.
Madam Huarui pondered for a moment, completely disregarding his feelings, and hurriedly reminded him: "Alang, don't act too obviously. As long as you think about it, people will naturally see through it. Think about how you felt when they sent you poisoned wine last time. This time you have committed such a serious crime, will they really send you poisoned wine
Sure enough, Meng Chang showed fear when he heard this.
Seeing this, Lady Huarui was very satisfied and said, "It's too late to regret. If you had known that it would be so easy to be discovered, would you still do it? And Guo Shao is a terrible person. He came to Chengdu in less than two months and took you away. Would Alang be awed and fearful?"
At this moment, the eunuch said at the door: I have welcomed Zuo Shaoqing and Jingniang to the hall.
There was a sudden hint of surprise and relief in Madam Huarui's eyes of Jingniang, and she immediately said, "Alang and I will go to meet the guest together. Alang will talk to Zuo Shaoqing, and I will talk to Jingniang."
Soon, the two of them came to the hall together, and Zuo You stood up and bowed politely. Jingniang looked at Madam Huarui, and her expression was a little cold and arrogant, but Madam Huarui already knew Jingniang, and this woman was not good at expressing her thoughts.
After the men had finished their polite exchanges, Madam Huarui bowed and said, "My concubine greets Shaoqing Zuo and Lady Jing."
Zuo You made an exaggerated gesture of supporting, his waist bent, and said hurriedly: "No, no, my madam, you are too polite, please stop it."
Madam Huarui saw his expression and felt that this official was more polite to her than to Meng Chang.
Zuo You took his seat after he finished speaking, took out a letter from his bosom and placed it on the table: Duke Qin lost something, and I happened to have found it. I am returning it today. Can you take a look and see if it is what you lost? Then he pressed his finger on the envelope and pushed it forward.
Meng Chang's expression changed drastically, his face turned pale, and he looked at the letter without saying a word. He didn't know whether to accept it or not, and his face was shaking. After a while, he asked in a trembling voice: What does the Queen Mother want to do to me
Unexpectedly, Jingniang ignored their conversation and suddenly asked: "What's wrong with Madam's face?"
Madam Huarui said evasively:
Meng Chang said anxiously: "It was the governor Wang from the Xuanhui Court who beat me. He wanted to rape Furong and he also blocked our money, so that we had to pay three strings of coins to buy a pound of salt. He was too much to push my salary. We can't afford to eat. I was so angry that I did this in a moment of confusion. I had no choice but to write to Gao Yanchou."
Zuo You was surprised to see such a thing.
Jingniang was furious, and her knuckles made two snapping sounds. Zuo You was stunned, turned around and saw her murderous and angry face, and said hurriedly: "Be patient, it's not good for you to show up to such people." Officials are most afraid of officials.
Meng Chang was greatly encouraged by what he heard, and immediately began to complain again. Jingniang went to Lady Huarui's side, and the two of them talked in a low voice.
After a while, Meng Chang wanted to invite Zuo You to dinner again, but Zuo You politely declined and left with Jing Niang.
After leaving the inner courtyard, Wang Zhenfu was waiting outside, and he came up to see Zuo You off with a flattering look on his face. Jingniang was not in a good mood at all, and looked cold, but fortunately she did not lose her temper and did not say a word.
Zuo You, however, was much calmer. He remained calm and even spoke a few words to Wang Zhenfu without any unusual tone.
When the group arrived at the gate, Wang Zhenfu bowed and said: "Goodbye, Shaoqing Zuo. Please take your time."
"Okay, okay, there's no need to be polite, Governor Wang." Zuo You said with a pleasant face, and suddenly stopped, standing in front of Wang Zhenfu and sighed: "I say, Governor Wang is too bold. How can you abuse your power? Those prime ministers and dukes are not as arrogant as you."
Wang Zhenfu's face turned pale and he wiped his forehead with his sleeve: Zuo Shaoqing
Zuo You said: "You have really stepped too deep this time. Let's see how you end up." Then he left.
Wang Zhenfu stood there blankly, unable to utter a word, and could only watch Zuo You's back.
It took Wang Zhenfu a long time to come back to his senses. He felt a chill on his back and broke into a cold sweat. He thought that he had been in the officialdom for many years and was not ignorant of the dangers of the officialdom, but he had been too rich and stable recently and was a little relaxed. As the saying goes, when you are well fed and well clothed, you will think about sex. When he saw such a charming woman like Madam Huarui, he was confused and too anxious.
Now Wang Zhenfu no longer had any desire. The pleasures of sex can only be enjoyed when one is rich and bored. Suddenly he found that his feet were on thin ice. He had no other thoughts and only wanted to cross the hurdle.
He rode his horse home in a hurry, found his pocket, filled a sack with money, and returned to the Duke of Qin's Mansion.
He did not dare to be arrogant and asked to see Lady Huarui at the gate of the inner courtyard. An eunuch hurried in to report and was allowed in soon. This time Meng Chang and Lady Huarui were both there, and Wang Zhenfu walked in dejectedly, like a pickled vegetable.
Madam Huarui looked over. She was a smart woman. She probably understood what was going on when she saw Wang Zhenfu's expression. So she didn't even bother to be polite and just asked, "What do you want to say, Governor Wang?"
Wang Zhenfu just wanted to resolve the crisis as soon as possible. He no longer cared about his face and wanted to kneel down to admit his mistake, act pitiful, and try every means to gain forgiveness. But for some reason, his legs felt like they were filled with lead and he couldn't kneel down.
Perhaps it was because Meng Chang and others were too weak before. A king of a fallen country who could be killed at any time, and a bitch. Wang Zhenfu always acted superior in front of them. Suddenly, he was asked to kneel down and beg for mercy from a bitch whom he completely despised. It was really uncomfortable.
Wang Zhenfu finally couldn't swallow his pride and said shamelessly: I just learned that those villains took the money from Duke Qin. We were wrong. Now we are asked to spit it out and return it to Duke Qin. We apologize to you and hope that Duke Qin will not bear grudges against us.
After he said this, he was thinking about finding a nice excuse to apologize for slapping Madam Huarui that day.
Unexpectedly, Meng Chang said: Look at your dog-like behavior of bullying the weak and fearing the strong. You are such a corrupt and lawless dog official. If it were in the past, I would have just said one word to you and killed you.
Wang Zhenfu swallowed his apology and felt angry. It was more humiliating than being slapped in the face. If he was beaten and scolded by someone he respected, he would not feel wronged. But if he was suddenly insulted by someone he looked down upon, his anger would be magnified a hundred times.
Wang Zhenfu cursed in his heart: Mr. Meng, I can only humble myself to apologize because your woman was played with by someone else; as expected, the bitch is shameless, and after selling her, her man is still proud of himself. Damn it
Considering the crisis of the matter, although he suppressed his anger, he no longer wanted to say soft words. He had always made arrangements with Wei Changqi, the Xuanhui Northern Courtyard envoy. Wei Changqi was a relative of Wei Renpu, the Deputy Privy Envoy. Someone above him also admitted his mistake. Those high officials could not give them no face at all for a singing girl.
At this time, Madam Huarui said in a low voice: Alang, please say less.
Wang Zhenfu felt much better when he heard this, and thought that Madam Huarui was sensible. His anger subsided a little, and Wang Zhenfu endured the humiliation and said: Madam, please be generous. I am ashamed. I was disrespectful to you last time, and I know I was wrong.
Meng Chang said angrily: "Put some urine in your mouth and look at it. You want to insult my wife with your appearance? You can just say you are wrong and it will be over."
Wang Zhenfu gritted his teeth and said: What do you want
Meng Chang said: Fan yourself, fan yourself, it won't work if you are too gentle.
Wang Zhenfu suddenly raised his head and looked directly at Meng Chang, who was frightened and took a half step back. Wang Zhenfu finally endured it. A little impatience can ruin a big plan. It is worth it to endure a little anger to make a big thing smaller.
He held it in for a while, thinking of slapping her to resolve the issue. Unexpectedly, when he looked up, he suddenly saw the expression on Madam Huarui's face. She inadvertently revealed a kind of satisfaction on her face, and looked at him expectantly, as if she was waiting to see him slap her to vent her anger.
Bitch Wang Zhenfu cursed in his heart again, saying, "I'll live on a breath, but I won't fan it." He said, "I hope Duke Qin and Madam Huarui will calm down. I'll take my leave now."
Wang Zhenfu turned around and left. As he walked out of the courtyard, he was still worried and scared, and very ashamed. His mood was extremely bad.
He thought about it for a while, and hurried back to Xuanhui Court to ask Wei Changqi for mercy. At this time, Wei Changqi was in charge of Xuanhui Court. The most powerful person in the government was Xiang Gong, who was in charge of the Southern Court. He was the governor of the Southern Court and had the power of the governor. Now he was leading troops in Chengdu and had not returned yet. For a long time, the Northern Court had held the power, Wei Changqi.
Wang Zhenfu was the person promoted by Wei Changqi. He usually gave a lot of filial piety and was easy to talk to in front of the North Courtyard Envoy. Wang Zhenfu found Wei Changqi in the North Courtyard Office.
When Wei Changqi saw someone coming in, he looked up and recognized the person. As expected, his attitude changed greatly. He immediately put the brush on the inkstone and said: "Governor Wang is here. Please sit down and talk."