Opposite the entrance hall

It didn't take long for the news of Fang Qingrong's death to spread throughout Lin'an. Many literati and poor students shed tears of pain and wrote poems and lyrics to commemorate.

Emperor Chengde got the news in the early morning of the next day, and Qi Kuangshan sent his servant to pass the pass. He glanced at the pass when he received the pass, and immediately fell into a daze and sat down on the dragon chair, as if in a daze. Asked in a light tone: "When did the news come?"

"In the middle of the night," Sun Hai replied in a low voice, "the book was handed over early in the morning, and when I went, Mrs. Qi and Mrs. Rong Jing were by my side."

Mrs. Rong Jing was the imperial order given to Zhong Quyun by the late emperor. In order to show Qingrong's deep love for his wife, she also loved his wife deeply.

Emperor Chengde didn't speak but had a gloomy face. He didn't know what he was thinking. After a while, he waved his hand to let the maids and eunuchs who were serving in the palace retreat. Even Sun Hai was sent out by him. When he was in the air, he opened the door and went out, and only ordered to be buried with national ceremonies.

On the day of the funeral, he personally went to the Taifu's Mansion to express his condolences. His body had been tormented by nightmares during these days, and he had to be supported by others when he got out of the car. The white lanterns, the soul-calling banners are raised high by bamboo poles and flutter in the wind.

The eunuch's thin and high-pitched voice dragged a long ending, and the whole courtyard knelt down to salute. Emperor Chengde waved his hands tiredly to signal everyone to excuse himself, pushed away Sun Hai's supporting hand, and walked slowly to the mourning hall .

Fang Qingrong lay peacefully in the coffin as if he had fallen asleep, he even looked less blood-colored, other things were the same as usual, the sound of the wooden fish and chanting was calm and slow, falling in people's ears, as if calming down those impetuous and anxious .

"Did you suffer when you went?" Emperor Chengde looked at the dazzling white around him, closed his eyes for a while, and then opened them again, asking a little uncomfortable.

Zhong Quyun cried out her tears, she was very calm at this moment, her eyes were a little red, she looked down at Fang Qingrong in the coffin, her eyes were tender like water, and said in a hoarse voice: "I went with peace of mind, I didn't suffer much. "

Hearing this, Emperor Chengde raised his eyes to look at the person in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "The Tai Tuo has devoted himself to his duties for the Jin Dynasty, and everything he does is for the Jin Dynasty and the people of the Li people. Losing the Tai Tuo means that I have lost my right hand. My heart hurts." It's unbearable, my heart is pierced like a knife, and Madam Rong Jing's heartache is a hundred times stronger than mine. In order to comfort the Taifu's spirit, the funeral will be a state funeral. Madam Rong Jing will ask if she has any needs. I shall be satisfied."

He had listened to Fang Qingrong's class for a period of time, and although he was not considered a student, he still respected him, and he even respected Zhong Quyun.

Zhong Quyun blessed Fushen, and first expressed his flattered gratitude, talking eloquently without losing his style, without any panic or embarrassment in meeting Shengyan, and there was nothing wrong with every word or deed, and then he got to the point, " The orderly wife first kowtowed to His Majesty on behalf of my master, what an honor it is for the Fang family, the orderly wife should not talk too much, but before the master left, he chatted with the orderly woman a lot, the master has been an official for decades and has never dared to slack off, He is innocent and rigorous in doing things, and he has almost never left the capital again. He said that he has been an official all his life and has no regrets at all..."

When she said this, she suddenly knelt down, and Emperor Chengde hurriedly bent over, making a gesture to read people up, frowned and said: "Madam Rong Jing, what are you doing, let's talk about it when we have something to do."

"Your Majesty," Zhong Quyun brushed his hand away, saluted respectfully, and made a dull sound when his forehead touched the ground, "People have the desire to return home, and trees have leaves and roots. Before the master died, he was thinking about his homeland. Thinking that it is a good season in the south of the Yangtze River, maybe we can still catch up with the late spring when we go back now, and I hope His Majesty will allow his bones to be buried, but forget about the master's concern."

"Mrs. Rong Jing, you get up first." Sun Hai said while supporting him.

"I beg Your Majesty to allow my master to return to his hometown for burial!" Zhong Quyun kowtowed again.

Emperor Chengde rubbed his brows tiredly, raised his hand, "Sure."

At the end, he added a sentence, "If there is a need, I will definitely satisfy it."

Zhong Quyun hurriedly kowtowed to express his gratitude, "My wife thanked Your Majesty."

Looking at the deadly white room, with the smell of joss sticks and paper money wafting in the air, Emperor Chengde was a little out of breath, oppressed, silent, restrained, his heart beat faster, he closed his eyes to suppress the discomfort, and was hoarse He called Sun Hai, and with the help of others, he staggered out of Tai Tuo's mansion.

After he came out of the mourning hall, Qi Kuangshan greeted him. His eyes were bloodshot and his face looked exhausted after a few days. If he didn't do something behind his back, would it pose a threat to the imperial power?

This incident disrupted all his thoughts, and now he just looked at Qi Kuangshan and said in a hoarse voice, "I'll have to worry about the matter behind the Taifu, Prime Minister Qi, if there is anything else, just let Sun Hai tell me."

The civil and military officials all wanted to salute and send off Emperor Chengde. The latter hunched over, as if he had aged a few years overnight. And other cries, sighs and talking are isolated behind.

When stepping out of the threshold of Taifu's mansion, Emperor Chengde suddenly said, "Back then, Fang Qingrong was nominated for the gold list in the palace examination, and Qi Xiang was slightly inferior and won the second place. When the two of them were young, the late emperor said to me and the princes more than once: Lin is not a thing in a pond. In ancient times, there were crouching dragons and phoenix chicks, and now there are sincere words and chanting winds. With these two people, the Great Jin Dynasty can be safe for another hundred years, and it will be peaceful and prosperous..."

Speaking of this, Emperor Chengde stopped, and suddenly recalled all kinds of things that day. What the first emperor said was justified. There has been less turmoil in the territory, and all of these are inseparable from the credit of the two. Fang Qingrong is the talent for governing the world and stabilizing the country, and Qi Kuangshan is the ability to save the world. It is precisely because of this that he is always wary of these two people, especially the Qi family.

The Qi family is easy to have a prime minister. Before Qi Kuangshan, there were three prime ministers successively. The power of prime minister has always been the biggest check and balance on the imperial power, and it was even worse when it was Qi Kuangshan's turn. He has a close personal relationship with the Qi family, and even almost married. All these relationships are threats to the imperial power in the future. The side of the couch allows others to sleep soundly, so he is always on guard. During these years, Fang Qingrong and Qi Kuangshan have also gradually become estranged. , far less close than in the past, I don't know whether to do it for myself or just like that.

In a trance, Emperor Chengde was thinking, what if he was not the emperor himself, but King Yong'an?If he hadn't been wary of jealousy at the beginning, would Da Jin's glory be far more than this? He didn't dare to think deeply, but pursed his lips and lowered his eyes.

After waiting for a while, seeing people's words come to an abrupt end, Sun Hai looked carefully at Emperor Chengde's expression, and said softly: "Teacher and Prime Minister Qi are both talents who can help the world and the state, but it is precisely because your majesty is a benevolent monarch that people can be loyal to follow, my lord." It is a blessing for all the people that Jinneng has such a holy, wise and well-informed monarch like His Majesty."

Emperor Chengde still didn't answer, listening to the chanting sound from behind, he seemed to be caught in the past memories, he remembered that the heir that the former emperor valued was not himself, but King Yong'an, who was superior in both civil and military aspects. There are quite a few other brothers, they have acquaintances all over the world, they are extremely talented, and they are born to attract attention, even Fang Qingrong praised them endlessly.

This throne is not so much that he fought for it himself, it is better to say that the man looked down upon him from the very beginning and abandoned him like a scumbag. Li Si looks very similar to his father, whether it is in temperament or ability, this made Emperor Chengde feel deeply. The land is weak, so I want to get rid of Li Si quickly to avoid any worries.

These days and nights, I often dream about all kinds of things from yesterday. The falsehood and reality made Emperor Chengde a little confused about today and night. Sometimes he felt that he was still a boy, as if he was still the prince in the East Palace; sometimes he felt that he had just succeeded to the throne, A lot of unfounded charges were found, and many brothers were killed or sent away. If Li Jianxuan hadn't held a heavy army but voluntarily guarded Shuzhou, he would not have fallen into Lin'an in this life, maybe sooner or later he would not be able to tolerate him.

In these few short steps, Emperor Chengde walked very slowly, as if he saw his life that was not magnificent but not peaceful, he sighed faintly, "If Ah Si is still here, the grand master's death in front of the mourning hall It's not so deserted, at least there can be someone with a filial piety, that child Ah Si is good everywhere, but he is more affectionate. If you give him your sincerity, he will return your sincerity. This temper is not good at all. Not like the descendants of our Li family, that's not right, his father has such a temper."

Sun Hai didn't answer. He has been with Emperor Chengde for many years, and he already knows what to say and what not to say. Sure enough, the next second, Emperor Chengde said, "He has been away for so many years, and now he says These are useless, that's all, let's go back to the palace."

The crowd walked away slowly, and they disappeared after a while.

Matters related to Fang Qingrong's burial were arranged the next day. Although the day was not completely hot, it was not too cold, and the corpse could not be parked for a few days. Everything was arranged very quickly.

The burial is extremely cumbersome, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Jiangzhou is far away from Lin'an, and the trip back and forth will consume a lot of manpower and financial resources. Therefore, Emperor Chengde rewarded a Dunxuan ice coffin to protect the body from decay. It took a few days of work to arrange the big and small things, and finally rushed to Fang Qingrong's burial on the first seven days.

In the past seven days, Ji Si never visited him once. He seemed to have automatically blocked all news about Fang Qingrong's death. He was dizzy from being busy in the household office, and his desperate efforts scared Sun Xing and the others. Jump, even Cao Weiyuan was secretly weird, thinking that Ji Si was holding back some bad tricks, thinking that he was almost scolded by those literati these days, so he felt that this abnormality was for whom? Seeing it, I poohed a few times in my heart, and no longer took it seriously.

Ji Si didn't know what other people were thinking, but he just wanted to make sure that he would not stop doing some things. Once he stopped, all kinds of emotions would come from all directions. Wrapped around, bit by bit, as if going crazy, his body deteriorated visibly with the naked eye, shuttling between Yamen and Jifu like a walking dead.

He heard other people discussing: Taifu Fang will go back to Jiangnan for his burial tomorrow, and Madam Rong Jing will go with him, so he probably won't return to Lin'an. Ji Si didn't listen to what he said later, but just bowed his head. Holding the pen in his head, the nib full of ink was full and round, and a drop of ink fell tremblingly, and the ink stains spread along the lines of the paper, as if confusing his thoughts.

The accounts were also spent, so Ji Si lost interest and packed up for a while. He declined the kindness of his colleagues to invite him to visit the flower house, and walked slowly along the long street back to the house alone.

Lin'an is still very lively. People will be sad because of Fang Qingrong's death at first, but they will put it aside when they turn around. It may not take three to five years, and there are only a few words in the history books that can remember him.

Ji Si sighed in his heart, and went back to his courtyard without saying a word. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard and raised his eyes, his footsteps stopped. There was a person standing with his back facing him in the courtyard. Hearing the sound of footsteps, the person turned back Turning around, it was Qi Ran who hadn't seen him for a few days, and the crescent moon hid in the clouds, hiding the moonlight, softly as if sleeping with the clouds, leaving only the afterglow around the sin, It's not bright enough or bright enough, but it's enough for Ji Si to see Qi Ran's face clearly.

The two stood one in the courtyard and the other stood outside the courtyard. They just looked at each other quietly for a while, but Qi Ran made a move first. He walked over and stretched out his hands to caress Ji Si's neck and pressed him towards him. The latter froze and subconsciously Leaning forward, being embraced by someone, his nostrils were filled with the faint fragrance of cold bamboo from Qi Ran's body, which immediately dispelled his exhaustion, and even his nose became sore.

The hand behind her pressed the tender flesh of her neck, itching a little, Ji Si closed her eyes and tried to absorb the temperature and breath of Qi Ran's body, buried her head in his arms and asked sullenly, "Why are you here?"

Fang Qingrong has no heirs, and he has no immediate family members in Lin'an. Qi Kuangshan is responsible for many affairs behind him, and Qi Ran is mostly responsible for other things that help the coffin and guard the spirit. I also want to do this kind of filial piety for Ji Si, and I will do it myself everywhere, not daring to be negligent, and I know it's not the time to act emotionally, so I waited until this time to have the time to come to find someone.

Qi Ran's voice came while pinching Ji Si's soft flesh, "Come and see you, I have to go back later, there are still some arrangements for the burial of the grand master tomorrow, I have to watch over it."

Ji Si bit his lips in the person's arms and didn't make a sound, but gradually tightened his hands holding the person, revealing his fear and resistance unconsciously.

This appearance in Qi Ran's eyes made him a little sad, thinking that although his little prince looks mature, he is actually not yet a weak crown, only nineteen years old, he will inevitably be a bit stubborn, and will deceive himself when things happen. He hid it by himself, as if as long as he didn't know it was not true, just like when Concubine Wan died, he locked himself in the room.

He hid it well in front of outsiders, but he gave Qi Ran all those willful, fragile, and unreasonable troubles, and showed them in front of this person without any concealment.

Qi Ran let go of the man, pinched his shoulders with both hands and said in a low voice: "The Taifu will be buried tomorrow, do you want to go and see?"

"I..." Ji Si opened his mouth, but suddenly didn't know what to say, so he turned his head to avoid Qi Ran's sight.

"Ji Si," Qi Ran called out his name, "Do you know what the Tai Tuo said?"

Ji Si raised her eyes and looked at Qi Ran with some urgency.

Qi Ran stared straight into his eyes, and slowly said: "He said he couldn't let you go, and he was afraid that no one would remember you after he left, and no one would burn incense for you to pay homage to you, so that his wife would light a pillar for you every year and festival. Xiang, I'm afraid you will be wronged below, he will miss you until his death, don't you really want to go and see?"

Every time Ji Si said a word, Ji Si's eyes turned red, but he could not let the tears fall, stubborn and stubborn, Qi Ran raised his hand to rub the red at the end of his eyes for him, "I'll accompany you, let's go It would be nice to see Mr. for a ride."

The moonlight peeked out from behind the clouds and looked at the lonely and prosperous world. The moonlight sprinkled the sky and the earth, covering the two people who embraced each other, forming a faint layer of hoarfrost, which was tasteless, but made people seem to be shining , even the night is no longer scary.

When the genius was bright, a lot of people gathered at the door of the Tai Tuo, and the servants went in several times, carrying large and small boxes into the carriage, and within a short time, several carriages were packed to the brim.

When everything was almost packed, Zhong Quyun, Qi Ran and Yang Yongtai came out of the mansion. Ji Si, who was in the dark, took a look from a distance, and his eyes immediately became foggy.

His teacher's wife has aged a lot, standing beside Qi Ran is thin and small, her expression is not very good, and she doesn't know if the teacher will have a good rest after leaving.

Perhaps this gaze was too hot, Zhong Quyun looked up and looked around as if feeling something.

Qi Ran suddenly felt strange, and quickly asked: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Zhong Quyun shook his head, thinking that he was worrying too much, and then blessed Yang Yongtai, "I've troubled Mr. Yang these few days."

"I can't, I can't," Yang Yongtai hurriedly avoided the ceremony, and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Is there any reason not to do what the emperor ordered, not to mention that I and the Tai Tuo have been friends for decades. Such trivial matters are within the scope of the matter, if Madam needs anything else, just let me know, this journey is far away, mountains are high and rivers are long, please take care of yourself along the way."

"Thank you, Mr. Yang," Zhong Quyun nodded, then looked at Qi Ran, and said in a more friendly and familiar tone, "Ziheng, if you have nothing to do in the future, remember to come to Jiangzhou to see me, I Now there is nothing to do alone, when you come, bring Nian together, I will make lotus paste golden jade cakes for you, don't forget."

"Of course not," Qi Ran smiled, "Master, please pay attention to your body, and leave it to the servants to do anything, don't tire yourself out, and send someone to send a letter if you need anything."

"Understood," Zhong Quyun patted him on the shoulder and smiled, then took out a key from his sleeve and handed it over, "This is the key of the mansion, although there is nothing valuable in it, But after staying for so many years, I still don’t want to give up, Lin’an doesn’t know that he hasn’t had a chance to come back, so I entrust this key to you, if you have free time, you can take a look at it.”

Qi Ran didn't shirk, nodded and took the key.

Zhong Quyun looked back at the high gate courtyard wall behind him. The word "Fangfu" on the door plaque was written by Fang Qingrong with a big hand, full of chic and unrestrained spirit. She looked at it very seriously, with a slightly Nostalgic and reluctant, as if seeing something through this door plaque, the corners of his lips raised a smile, then he retracted his gaze and walked down the steps.

Fang Qingrong has been an official for many years. He has a clean heart and is upright, and he doesn't have any behaviors of giving or receiving private money, so he doesn't have many things. All the odds and ends of his life are no more than two or three carriages, and there are no rare treasures. There is also no posthumous work of a famous artist, only some sundries are his possessions, and the most precious thing to him is only one Zhong Quyun.

Xu thought of something interesting, Zhong Quyun's smile deepened, she walked to the black ice coffin, slid her fingertips along the edge of the coffin, bent down, and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Master, let's go home."

The breeze was blowing, and even the birdsong on the book began to chirp, as if echoing this sentence.

The chariot and horse got up, Zhong Quyun told Qi Ran a few times in the chariot, shed tears when the car door was closed, the wheels rolled over the gravel on the ground, the horse's hooves kicked up the dust, and the sound of the wheels of the chariot gradually faded away After a while, it disappeared at the end of the street without a trace.

Yang Yongtai looked at the direction where the dust was rising and sighed, "This man, no matter what he was in life, after death he is just a wisp of smoke and a handful of loess, whether he is famous or not, whether he is born or not, he will not be brought with him after death." Go, alas! Don’t talk, don’t talk, let’s live a good life.”

While talking, Yang Yongtai waved his hands to find a reason to leave, and even returned to the palace with the people arranged by Emperor Chengde to return to the palace. There were a lot of people gathered at the door just now, and in an instant, only Qi Ran was left alone. Looking up at the closed door, there was a sound of footsteps behind him, the footsteps were very light, and they stopped at the steps.

Qi Ran followed the voice, and saw Ji Simu standing below with a face. When he looked closely, he could see some redness at the end of his eyes, which was inexplicably pitiful, and the hearts of those who watched softened.

"Want to go in and take a look?" Qi Ran asked.

Ji Si didn't respond, but quietly raised his legs and stepped up the steps to stand beside Qi Ran. The latter took a look, took out the key and opened the door of Fangfu. Go out for a while and be back later.

Every tree, table and chair in this mansion, Ji Si looked at it seriously, and walked quietly behind Qi Ran, every scene appeared in his mind, some strange and more familiar, he was here Practicing martial arts everywhere, practicing calligraphy there, being chased and beaten in front of the court, it seems like everything from yesterday, just like today.

"I almost can't remember what it used to be like here," Ji Si sniffled.

"It was repaired a few years ago for my husband's birthday, so it may be different."

"During the most important period of my illness, he and my teacher's wife came to see me several times. At that time, I must have been weak. My teacher cried when she saw me. The teacher said that I found someone to tell my fate for me. It is a long life. The fate of being a hundred years old, the undying Lord Yan dare not accept it, and he pretended to be relaxed and said that he spent all his time teaching me, and I have to bear it when he goes here to hold the coffin and guard the spirit..."

Ji Si stopped here, his voice was a little trembling, he tightened his sleeves, bit his lips and whispered, "I didn't hold his coffin to watch the coffin."

"I did it," Qi Ran said while holding Ji Si's hand, "I did it even for your sake, sir won't blame you."

He walked across the yard holding someone's hand, and stopped outside the mourning hall door. The surrounding white banners had been removed, and only a few white lanterns were left hanging under the eaves. There was a creaking sound when he pushed the door open, and the window lattice inside was covered by a cloth , was extremely dim, with only the light coming in from outside the door.

The mourning hall was empty, with only a few tables and chairs. An official hat was placed on the table in front of it. The jade on the front of the hat was worn smooth. It is not difficult to see that it has been used for a long time. Both of them recognized it. That was Fang Qingrong's official hat.

Ji Si withdrew his hand and took two steps forward with red eyes, looked at the hat and knelt down on his knees, kowtowed three times with a serious expression, and made a dull sound on the ground after a while, raised his head At first, his forehead was a little red and swollen, but his eyes still did not move away from the official hat, he just cleared his throat and said hoarsely, "Teacher..."

The first time he opened his mouth, there was a crying voice, tears flowed before he spoke, and he finished speaking with sobs, "I am Ah Si..."

"Teacher... I am Ah Si..."

There are only a few words, but Ji Si is full of sadness, and cries come out of his mouth. The mourning of the loss of a loved one makes the hearers feel sad.

Qi Ran stepped forward and lifted the hem of his clothes and knelt beside Ji Si, and also kowtowed three times, his Adam's apple moved up and down, swallowing the bitterness, and said in a deep voice, "Sir, Li Si and I are here to see you off." For a while, I hope you..."

He choked with sobs, his voice became hoarse for three minutes, and he swallowed before continuing, "I hope you take care!"

How long did Ji Si kneel in front of the mourning hall that day, and how long did Qi Ran stay with him, without saying too much, until the afterglow of dusk shone in, and the warm orange light shone on the backs of the two, dispelling the coldness brought by them. A trace of warmth.

Sending people back at dusk, the years change, and the palace walls are easily mottled.

Civil servants are heartbroken, military generals die, and only leave behind their names.

The country continues, the rise and fall of honor and disgrace, the past is all smoke.

Under the prosperous age, there are dense bones, the sound of mourning, and unfulfilled ambitions, but there is always someone who goes against the current to open a peaceful and prosperous age. Nothing in the world can last forever, only this heart, this mountain and river, this world, can be. Standing firm across the torrent of time.

Jiangshan has talented people on behalf of the people, and they have been leading the way for hundreds of years.

In the future, Da Jin will welcome his "Fang Qingrong" again.

As the sun set, the night enveloped the whole of Lin'an, the lanterns were lit, the wine glasses were full of joy, and it would be dawn soon.

After a few more days, the thunderstorm that had been delayed that day finally fell. It continued to rain for several days, and the river in the city rose a lot. This was the last spring rain. After all, Lixia would arrive in a few days. , the sky is gradually getting hotter, and the temperature difference between day and night becomes smaller, but it is still much cooler at night without the sun's rays.

Du Heng came in the rain, gathered the umbrella and shook the raindrops on it, then handed it to the servants of Ji's mansion, just now he opened the door and walked in, the room was burning with incense, that Ji's servant didn't put on his hat, and only used Her hair was tied with a hemp rope, and she was wearing a white summer dress with ink painting on the hem and cuffs. At this moment, her pretty face was a little less gorgeous and a little more elegant. She was standing in front of the desk and drawing a pen , behind is a bay window, and outside the window is a lush bamboo forest, the green bamboo leaves washed by the rain look gorgeous, each person has a scene, I don't know whether the scenery complements the person, or the person enters the painting.

"Now that you come to my servant's mansion in a big way, you are not afraid that others will see and ruin your reputation."

When Ji Si's voice came, Du Heng woke up from the painting. He walked closer and took a look, and found that what this person was painting was a picture of a bamboo forest, which was the one behind him. The facial features in the painting are not like Ji Si's figure, but they are still somewhat familiar, but it will be hard to remember for a while.

"When others ask, they say they want to talk to you about the rooftop." Du Heng glanced at it and retracted it, and said in a flat tone.

"I've been on the cusp recently, so don't come here in a short time, lest those people go crazy and scold you together." Ji Si asked without raising his head as he continued to paint.

Hearing this, Du Heng took a closer look at Ji Si, and found that this person seemed to be a little different these days, but if he wanted to ask what the difference was but couldn't tell, he left the desk and walked to a table beside him to sit. Next, he poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip and asked, "How have you been cultivating yourself lately?"

Ji Si was taken aback when he was writing, and then he returned to normal in an instant, and said with a light smile: "What is self-cultivation, I am obviously wearing hemp and filial piety."

Now it was Du Heng's turn to be stunned, he couldn't decide for a moment whether the words were true or not, and he forgot to put the tea in his hand, so he just held it in his hand.

Seeing the sluggish appearance of the man, Ji Si stopped writing and laughed out loud, "Do you believe my nonsense?"

Then he put down the brush, moved his sore shoulders, walked to Du Heng and sat down, picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea to drink in one gulp, and then said, "Is there something you are looking for?"

"Naturally, it's important." Du Heng put down his teacup, took out an envelope from his arms, and handed it over.

Ji Si looked at the envelope, then looked away from the envelope, and fell on Du Heng's face, feeling a little puzzled.

"I've seen what's inside, but I can't explain it clearly in a few words. You can open it and have a look yourself." Du Heng handed it forward again.

Hearing this, Ji Si raised his eyebrows, already knowing where this thing came from, when he took it, he took out a thin piece of letter paper from the envelope, and gently shook his lowered eyes to scan it.

The letter contains quite a few brief descriptions of Kong Lingqiu's life experience. If he hadn't known that it was Kong Lingqiu mentioned here, Ji Si would have thought it was "Master Ji" because the two were indeed similar, with the same birth mother's low status and the same unpopularity. However, the Kong family treated Kong Lingqiu too well. Even though he was a bastard of the collateral lineage, he never lacked food and clothing for him, let alone beating and scolding at every turn.

But it's normal, the Kong family is a big family after all, so it can't be compared with Ji Kang's small family. Thinking of this, Ji Si clicked his tongue in disdain, thinking that Master Ji is worse, so he continued to go Looking down, I was stunned when I saw the Kong family removed Kong Lingqiu from the family tree, and asked, "Kong Lingqiu was kicked out of the family tree?"

"Well," Du Heng nodded, "he took the imperial examination after me and Qi Ziheng, and he was the only student who was famous that year. I remember that he was alone at that time without the Kong family. Removed from the family tree."

Ji Si pondered for a while, then continued to read the last few sentences on the letter paper. The content stopped at Kong Lingqiu being excluded from the genealogy, and then stopped abruptly after taking part in the imperial examination. Thin Paper asked: "No more?"

Du Heng nodded at him, Ji Si angrily stuffed the paper back into the envelope, and said in a deep voice, "Why did the Kong family kick him out of the family tree?"

"do not know."

"Then why did he take the imperial examination?"

"do not know."

"A bastard has no family support, but he can still climb to the position of Minister of Rites. Do you think there is a problem?"

"Do not……"

"I don't know, do you?" Ji Si bent his index finger, tapped on the table lightly and finished speaking before others, "What do you think you know?"

"I really don't know," Du Heng sighed, and said helplessly, "That's what was said in the letter. I may not know more than you."

Ji Si rubbed his chin in thought, pursed his thin lips tightly, and finally said after a while, "The Kong family has a good reputation, even if Kong Lingqiu is a collateral child, he is still a member of the Kong family. Yes, it is not a trivial matter to kick this person out of the family tree. It must have something to do with face. Since he was not pursued by the government, it means that he did not kill anyone, set fire to it, and did not steal. This **** robbery may not be counted. It's probably a matter of bad conduct."

Du Heng frowned and said, "Then what do you think is the reason?"

This question stopped Ji Si, he subconsciously licked his dry lips, and rubbed the middle finger phalanx of his left hand with the fingers of his right hand, a ridiculous thought flashed in his mind, and said in a low voice: "For example, he has a habit of breaking sleeves. "

"If that's the case, the Kong family really can't tolerate him." Du Heng's expression was extraordinarily serious while speaking.

Unexpectedly, Ji Si raised his eyebrows instead, "I'm talking nonsense, why did you listen to it again?"

Du Heng glared at him for a few times before he rubbed his nose to restrain himself, and then Du Heng talked about something else, "However, since Kong Lingqiu is not protected by the Kong family, it must be said that he has some ability to climb to this position. "

"Do you really think he's capable?" Ji Si held a teacup with a faint smile on his lips.

Although he didn't finish what he said, Du Heng could still understand the meaning behind the words, and asked in disbelief, "Don't you suspect that someone secretly promoted him?"

After finishing speaking, Du Heng shook his head and denied himself, "But King Liang was demoted from Beijing, unless he still has a backup, could it be that Kong Lingqiu is his lifeline?"

"Who told you that it belonged to the King of Liang?" Ji Si raised his eyelids and took a look, then slowly said after taking a sip of tea, "Take Qi Ziheng from Dali Temple and Yan Huaizheng from Guanglu Temple as examples, they are all serious He was born as a child of a famous family, and he is not inferior to anyone in terms of status and talent, but he is also a fourth-rank Shaoqing, which is also reasonable. If you are still young, you need to accumulate experience, so that you can go up in the future."

He paused for a while, finished his tea, put down the quilt and moved closer, "Let's just talk about you, you got the job of inspecting the imperial censor after being in the second place for so many years, is it because you are not capable enough? Obviously because You came from a poor family and there is no one in the family, although the Great Jin Dynasty is not a hereditary successor, but the noble thought of the family is still deeply rooted, if there is an exception, I am the only one."

The tone sounded quite smug, which made Du Heng dumbfounded, "So you think Kong Lingqiu is as prone to inflammation as you...cough cough..."

"Following the trend, relying on others to be in power," Ji Si completed the words for him, smiling and not taking it seriously, "There is nothing to say about this well-known matter, whether you admit it or not, I did not take the imperial examination, but Relying on the prince's favor to please the emperor, he climbed up to the position of servant of the household department step by step. Without the protection of the prince, Ji Si might not even be able to leave Zhangzhou. Since the prince can train a servant of the household department, why can't others train one? Is there a servant of the Ministry of Rites?"

"Who do you suspect?" Du Heng asked, frowning.

Ji Si put his right hand on his chin, tapped his chin with his fingertips intermittently, squinted his eyes slightly, and spoke in a casual tone, "Do you remember Zhou Lang? I couldn't help but because he almost lost his life earlier. Pay attention, Kong Lingqiu was promoted not long after he died. It was a coincidence that there were so many children from the Hanlin Academy who were promoted to him, let alone a new policy as soon as he took office. If it was because of King Liang's promotion, Liang In the event of an accident with the king, he was able to avoid everything, not only was he not implicated, but the position of the Minister of Rites has become more and more stable, as if everything has been arranged in the dark."

There is another thing Ji Si didn't say, which is Master Ji's death. At first he thought Zhou Lang was going to be killed because of that ledger, and he wondered more than once whether there was something shady in that ledger, but with more money, With the appearance of the Xiqiang people, he suddenly found that he had fallen into a misunderstanding from the very beginning. The focus was not on the ledger, but on how to kill himself.

The account book was a lead and a gimmick, which made the death of "Master Ji" seem natural. If you think about it according to this logic, Zhou Lang's death is not just a death, but what can be made logical after his death. Looking at it now Come, it is Kong Lingqiu.

Du Heng's brows did not loosen, on the contrary, he frowned even more after hearing this, "If it's true as you said, isn't it true that they are working hard at every step, the throne?"

Ji Si raised his eyebrows and didn't respond.

But the meaning is self-evident. Du Heng was so confused that he lowered his voice and asked, "Who do you think set up the game?"

"Who do you think?" Ji Si did not answer and asked, "Maybe what you suspect is what I suspect."

Du Heng's face changed after he finished speaking, and he said in a panic, "Then Dajin has really changed!"

"Change," Ji Si looked at the bamboo forest outside the window, the raindrops fell on the bamboo leaves, and the leaves could not bear the weight and were gradually crushed.