Notes on Evil Fox

The moon in late autumn is as cold as the face of the dead on the mass grave, with some indescribable desolation.

The dilapidated temple next to the mass burial mound was blown to the point of collapse by the wind, and the sound of sobbing was like a hundred ghosts crying together.

The thin boy shrank in the corner of the dilapidated temple, his eyes were red.

The moonlight fell tremblingly on the broken Buddha statue, not only did people not feel compassion, but it showed a bit of terror.

Suddenly, the door of the ruined temple was blown open by the wind, and the corpses on the mass grave seemed to come to life, rushing towards the ruined temple with claws and teeth bared.

Seeing those terrifying evil spirits approaching, the boy flinched into the corner in panic, and shouted with his mouth open: "Don't come here, don't..."

But it was as if someone had strangled his throat, and he couldn't make a sound.He looked at those broken limbs in fear and despair, when he saw that they were about to touch him.But suddenly, it was as if someone had embraced him into a warm embrace, and the evil spirits, ruined temples, and Buddha statues in front of him disappeared in an instant.

When Rong Shiyin was about to fall asleep again, he suddenly felt something was wrong.He opened his eyes suddenly, and his beautiful eyes were full of fierceness.

Tilting his head slightly, he saw a handsome young man who was sleeping peacefully with his head on his shoulder.An arm was still around his shoulder, holding him tightly in his arms.

Rong Shi unceremoniously pushed that head away vigorously, sat up, his whole body was sore and tired.Glancing at the room in the brothel with its beautiful spring scenery, recalling the previous events, his eyes gradually sparkled.

Seeing the person who turned over on the bed and continued to sleep soundly, Rong Shiyin frowned a little.

He raised his leg and kicked the opponent's ass mercilessly.

"What's the trouble early in the morning?" Someone who was sleeping soundly wrapped in the quilt complained dissatisfied and sat up.But when he saw Rong Shiyin, he put on a smile, "How is your health, brother, but you are fine?"

Rong Shiyin stared at the person on the bed with a sullen face.

The latter smiled with a guilty conscience: "What happened yesterday was purely unintentional."

……

Jiaxing 32 years, March.

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said: Today there is a new scholar, Rong Shiyin, who is outstanding in virtue and ability, and is the leader of the world. Because of his three-yuan talent, he also has the wisdom of loyalty and righteousness. He was named a bachelor of the fifth-rank Hanlin Academy. A mansion house, a hundred taels of gold, two lotus pens wrapped in gold and jade from the South China Sea, a royal carved dragon tail inkstone, and several servants. Here you are." Standing above the hall, the eunuch dressed in a purple court uniform preached in a thin voice .

On the resplendent and solemn court hall, hundreds of officials stand neatly.As soon as the decree came out, they all whispered to each other, causing a commotion.

In front of the hall, the man called Rong Shiyin was tall and slender, with straight eyebrows and handsome eyes.The lips were slightly thin, but they did not appear mean and unfeeling, on the contrary, they were a bit more noble and indifferent and majestic.

Wearing a navy blue robe, her temple hair is neatly tied.Standing on top of the solemn and solemn hall at this time, the whole person looks like a lone pine on a cliff.Cold and cold, lonely and towering.

He was stunned for a moment when he heard the decree, then knelt down and said: "The grassroots accept the decree, long live my emperor, long live, long live."

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is out of etiquette." Suddenly someone came out from the hall and said.

Rong Shiyin looked at the middle-aged man who spoke out from the corner of his eye. It turned out to be Wang Baoyin, the current court counselor.

Wang Baoyin was the son of Wang Cao, a veteran of the two dynasties. Although he was an official in the same dynasty as his father, his style of conduct was quite different from his father's.Wang Cao is cautious and never speaks easily in court.But Wang Baoyin has always been sharp in his words and likes to show off, and he has repeatedly admonished him in court.

Emperor Xia Tuo sat lazily on the dragon chair, squinted at the hall, and said, "Wang Aiqing thinks something is wrong?"

A sentence that is light and fluffy, but it makes people feel like it weighs a thousand catties.

"Returning to Your Majesty, since the founding of the Dachang Dynasty, all those who participated in the imperial examinations, who participated in the imperial examinations, will be presided over by the emperor after the palace examinations, and the emperor will preside over the golden palace to pass on the people, roll the name and give the title, and then the new subjects will praise the officials. , Qionglin gave the banquet, and finally the officials will be awarded official positions after the unified consideration by the official department." Wang Baoyin did not live up to the legend's reputation, and glanced sharply at the crowd. It is unheard of to sing directly in the hall, not to mention awarding a position when the list is announced, which is really inconsistent with the etiquette. And since ancient times, the number one scholar has always started from the sixth-rank official position. Even if you appreciate the talent of the number one scholar, Your Majesty There is no precedent for jumping three levels."

Xia Tuozhao was still lazily leaning on the dragon chair, looked around slightly, fixed his eyes on Rong Shiyin, and said with deep meaning: "Rong Aiqing, you are a Hanlin bachelor named by me personally. What do you think of this matter, am I out of courtesy?"

Rong Shiyin was slightly surprised, and looked up, only to see that the emperor who had sat on the dragon throne for 32 years and had experienced countless bloody storms in his life was looking at him with great interest.

It became clear in my heart that the emperor was really a master who watched the excitement and didn't think it was a big deal.

He was thinking endlessly in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I feel that I am young and superficial. I am not as good as Wang Shenyi, who is proficient in the etiquette of the dynasty, but I also know that 'the country cannot be governed, and the people cannot be established', so The minister has no objection to Wang Shenyi's words."

After a pause, he said again: "It's just that there are exceptions to everything. I know that this year is the year of His Majesty's destiny. On this festival of longevity and eternal life, His Majesty's actions show the mighty grace of the dragon and are a blessing for me."

The emperor smiled slightly, making people unable to guess his emotions or anger. He glanced at Rong Shiyin and said, "What Rong Aiqing said is exactly, and I think so too."

Turning to Wang Baoyin again, he said disgustedly: "It's almost done, there are still many future pillars of my country waiting to be named. An old-fashioned old man like you, I don't know how to get into this position."

There were many low laughs from above the court hall, Wang Baoyin couldn't say any more, so he stood back with a red face.

A few ministers who were accustomed to winking and wind direction were flattered by the emperor, and no one said more.

The second-best Hua Ming didn't want to be an official in Beijing, so he voluntarily invited him back to his hometown to take care of his parents.Luo Qingyun, the Tanhua Lang, was appointed editor and editor of the Imperial Academy, and he was a seventh-rank official, and the rest of the Jinshi were handed over to the Ministry of Officials.

It was almost noon when Rong Shiyin walked out of the hall.Facing this upstart of the imperial court, many officials, regardless of their rank, came to congratulate him and made an appointment to visit him at another day.After all, if they become officials in the same dynasty in the future, who knows who will not be prosperous tomorrow.

Rong Shiyin responded with a smile one by one, although not many sincerely congratulated him, but he had the same thoughts as them.

Once you have entered the game, there is no turning back.

After a rest, when Rong Shiyin was about to leave, Wang Baoyin called to him from behind and said, "Zhuangyuan Lang stay."

Rong Shiyin turned around to look, frowning slightly inadvertently, not knowing why he called him.

Because Wang Bao was born with a Chinese character face, although his appearance was not outstanding, he was still upright. He was nearly middle-aged, and with the blessing of experience, he looked a bit like an upright elder.

Logically speaking, a character with such a face should never be boring.But Rong Shiyin didn't know why, and always felt that there were some unspeakable things hidden under that decency, which was extremely annoying.

Suppressing the displeasure in his heart, he bowed and saluted and said: "It was originally the king's counselor. I have heard for a long time that the counselor is also a man of courage. The above court speaks out and advises. He is a rare and virtuous minister in Dachang. When I saw you today, it is really true." Let the subordinates be convinced."

Wang Baoyin laughed and said, "Where did Zhuangyuanlang say that? It's just your majesty's benevolence that allows me to say a few more words with a thick skin. A talent like Zhuangyuanlang is the future of our great prosperity." The pillar of the country."

"Where is it, the councilor is polite." Rong Shi said with a smile.

"But speaking of it, Li Shang's father appreciated his talent and learning before, and he intended to promote him. But who knows, he is such a ignorant and unscrupulous person that he colluded with the harem empress. He did his best for the superior. He almost lost his head by using some dirty tricks. However, after hearing about these things, it seems that someone intends to instigate him, but if something happens, he can’t be protected.”

Smiling pretending to be embarrassed, glanced sideways at Rong Shiyin and said earnestly: "Hey, look at me, I have committed this talkative problem again, just let the bachelor listen. How treacherous, you have to keep your eyes open when you act as a bachelor."

Rong Shi said with a faint smile: "Thank you, sir, for your suggestion, it's too late."

How could Rong Shiyin not know the meaning of Wang Baoyin's words.

Nowadays, there are severe disputes between parties in the court, and they are basically divided into three factions. Xia Changming, the second prince left behind by the first empress, and the father and son of the right minister are in one group; A group of veterans are one faction.

The former two are fiercely fighting for the establishment of the reserve, but only Xu Shi, the general who defended the country and a group of veterans who followed the emperor when he was young, is sincere for the country.

It's just that the emperor is old now, and he is no longer decisive when he was young.In this court, there will be a few more days of stability.

Wang Bao seemed surprised and disdainful when he heard his answer, so he said indifferently: "I believe that Bachelor Rong is a smart person, and he will definitely not act stupidly like Li Shang."

"Your Majesty, remember the counselor's teachings." He bowed his head and sent them off, and suddenly caught a glimpse of Wang Baoyin's jade pendant with twin dragons playing on his waist, and smiled stiffly.

There was a bit of uncontrollable pain and resentment on his face, which was always moody and indifferent. Just looking at the muscles bulging from clenching his teeth, it was not difficult to guess how much effort he had exerted on this moment. hold yourself.

Rong Shiyin stared at Wang Baoyin's leaving back, his headache was splitting, and he suddenly felt dizzy.

Suppressing the feeling of being on the verge of collapse, he thought it would take a lot of effort to find that person, but he didn't expect to meet him so easily.

Nightmare-like images surged up together, making him unable to relax for a while.

Rong Shiyin walked forward step by step, as if someone had greeted him, but he was in no mood to deal with it.

Naturally, he didn't know that since he came out of the hall, he had been looking at his four eyes from behind his back.

Liang Xiao first looked at Rong Shiyin's back, and said to Lu Kun: "What does Prime Minister Zuo think of this person?"

Lu Kun didn't seem to understand what he meant, and said: "What does General Liang mean by this, the number one scholar chosen by His Majesty can't be wrong."

Liang Xiaoxian snorted disdainfully, but there was no deep meaning in his words: "The person chosen by His Majesty can't be wrong, the old man just thinks that the number one scholar is really lucky, if it wasn't for that old man Li Shang who was framed, he would be alone A mere number one scholar, what qualifications do you have to sit directly on the seat of a Hanlin bachelor?"

"The general's words are wrong. The truth is that I heard that Li Shang, the former Hanlin scholar, was fired for personal gain, colluding with concubines in the harem, and even murdering the queen." He paused, and lowered his voice, as if It is an exhortation, "Although the general is high and powerful, he is also cautious in his words. Now it is only you and me. I will pretend that I have not heard these remarks. If others listen to it, it will be necessary to label the general as a cover-up for criminals. The gain outweighs the loss."

"Then the old man really has to thank Mr. Zuo Xiang." Liang Xiaoxian sneered with a bit of contempt on his face, "After all, no one in the dynasty knows the whole story better than Zuo Xiang."

"Where is there?" Lu Kun's face turned into a smile again, but it didn't reach his eyes. Be clear about the incident. If you are not a general, you are guarding my great country, and all you handle are guiding important matters on the battlefield, so naturally you don’t bother to know about these trivial matters.”

After finishing speaking, he took his leave and left. Liang Xiaoxian was blocked and speechless, but after Lu Kun left, he looked at the majestic and cold imperial city in front of him, and said slowly: "It's time."