Pei Gonggui

After finishing the work in the Ministry of Rituals, Pei Jun was asked about the state banquet by some old men from Honglu Temple. He didn't know how to make it to the end of work. After leaving the imperial city, it was past the time of You when he saw misty snow floating on the top of the city wall, and the sky was turning dark. In the dark, when we arrived at Si Chongmen, a car was parked outside.

The servant girl in the car opened the curtain first and came out, and then helped a beautiful woman in an ocher coat with gold hairpins, and the woman carried a six or seven-year-old boy in her arms, and adjusted his small jacket for him, and then stood up straight.

For a moment, she saw Pei Jun, seeing that Pei Jun was also looking at her, she opened her mouth slightly in surprise, but before she could say anything, Pei Jun withdrew his eyes and continued to walk out.

The maid was handing the badge to the servant and smiled: "Today, the Empress Dowager Xuan came to visit the prince, and said that she would like to have a meal together."

When they passed by their carriage, Pei Jun also heard the servant Ji behind him: "Princess Rui, Ankang! Hey, Xiao Shizi has grown taller again, but he is different from the year before, and it will be even more so every year in the future." Year……"

What other compliments did they say, but they couldn't hear clearly as they walked away.Pei Jun got on the sedan chair parked outside Si Chong's gate. Seeing the snow on the ground outside the curtain, he remembered what King Jin had teased about him in the morning, so he said to the bearer, "Take me to Master Mei for dinner. You go back first."

The bearer thanked him with his arms folded, got up the sedan chair quickly, and took him to the biggest restaurant in Xifang with a cup of tea, called "Half Full Cook".As soon as Pei Jun got off the sedan chair and walked in, his eyes were full of carved beams and paintings, and the hall was full of guests. The noise was exactly the same as the previous life he remembered.

All the students in the building knew Mr. Pei, and after Da Li said auspicious words, Liu Yan'er ran to the second floor to find his master.Mei Linyu, the young master of the owner Mei, was drinking with someone upstairs, and ran out when he heard the sound, as if he was used to seeing Pei Jun, he greeted Pei Jun with a high-pitched voice and raised his fingers as he went downstairs: "Oh, brother, you This heartbroken man, you still have the face! Whose girl's white-haired cloak was taken this morning and asked me to repair it? Are you really not afraid of my sadness?"

He made Pei Jun laugh out loud when he heard Pei Jun's foul breath, and seeing him twisting his waist and walking up to him, he raised his hand and hooked his neck and rubbed his head: "You can have some virtue in your mouth, no? To be dragged out and hacked!"

One sentence scared Mei Linyu so that her face turned red and turned half white. She was caught in Pei Jun's arms and her phoenix eyes opened. Then she pulled her voice back to the right path, turned her head and asked harshly, "Why? Could it be that the clothes It's the emperor—"

"It belongs to Prince Jin. Didn't Uncle Dong tell you?" Pei Jun replied with a light smile, raised his hand and pushed him away, and snorted: "Which girl has such broad shoulders, you marry her."

"Look at my mouth!" Mei Linyu raised her hand again and again to slap her big mouth, "Drink too much, how can I, a grassroots man, have the fate to suffer His Royal Highness King Jin, repairing clothes is a blessing from a previous life..."

"Have you seen the clothes?" Pei Jun followed him to the private room, "Can you still repair it?"

"Look, it can be repaired naturally! There is nothing in this world that cannot be repaired." Mei Linyu casually recruited two people to prepare dishes, and lifted the curtain for Pei Jun politely, "I have found an embroidery worker." , silk thread is also complete, but my brother, where do you want me to find so many white ducks for you? And the potion on it, you have to ask Lao Cao!"

Pei Jun went into the room and sat at the table. Seeing the student come in quickly to pour tea, he leisurely smiled at him, "Old Cao still cares about ducks?"

Mei Linyu immediately lived up to expectations and said something nasty: "Tsk, Lao Cao doesn't care about chickens, ducks, donkeys and rabbits." After speaking, he laughed with Pei Jun, and Pei Jun slapped him on the forehead: " Lao Cao dares to make jokes, next time I will tell him to beat you!"

Mei Linyu immediately knelt and begged for mercy by pretending to cry "Brother, please forgive me", but was pulled over by Pei Jun and sat down. Then he rubbed his hands again and stood up, and personally brought all kinds of chicken, duck and fish meat in front of Pei Jun, and said with all his heart and lungs: "Brother came suddenly, so I can only bring the dishes from other tables first. Look, brother You are willing to fall into the grass and grab food for the bandits, brother, don't let me down!"

Pei Jun raised his foot and kicked him on the calf: "What about falling grass and grabbing food, it makes me look like your chicken."

When the chicken was mentioned, Mei Linyu's eyes lit up, and she gave Pei Jun the chopsticks carved with gold silk with both hands while persuading him: "Brother, my cockfighting ground has a good chicken again, when will you come to me to pick it up?" Are you fighting?" As he said, he slapped his thigh, and couldn't control his mouth again: "My chicken is so energetic, it screams!"

"What kind of chicken can scream, I'm afraid it has plague." Pei Jun took the chopsticks with a low eyebrow and knocked them together, and picked up a bunch of green vegetables to eat. .”

Mei Linyu finished his work for him, and sat by the side with his sleeves up, watching him eat: "But you haven't come for a long time, and our cockfighting team doesn't practice, and we have to lose a lot in the next year's competition. The former Prince Rui What more..."

Prince Rui, Jiang Xi, was born of a noble family, born and raised by Concubine Ling's Cai family, and he is the concubine brother of the young emperor Jiang Zhan.Although he is more than ten years older than Jiang Zhan, he spends his days idle, carrying cages and birds, and most of his clothes are spent in sensual dog horses, especially in the red buildings and green halls of Meilinyu. Not to mention cockfighting and betting on stones, so the court never dared to assign him any official position, all they asked was that he not cause trouble, but hung some money on him, and raised him to live a mediocre life.

Mei Linyu is a businessman, always joking with everyone, but when talking about Prince Rui with Pei Jun, the smile on his face was put away, and he only straightened the crooked hair crown just now, left a conversation, and then raised his head The snowflake silver porcelain ladle made a bowl of vegetable soup for Pei Jun, and placed it respectfully by his hand.

Pei Jun took a sip without joy or anger, and glanced at him: "What else did he say?"

"Aren't their relatives going to discuss military affairs in the martial arts hall every month? He has to go too." Mei Linyu raised her hand and rubbed the tip of her nose, snorting and laughing, "I heard that his son was He was scolded by Lord Jin in the lecture hall, but he couldn't explain what he scolded. He was probably just angry, but Lord Jin was so young that he wanted to oppress him for a lifetime and call him his nephew, so he was so angry that he smashed my Er Yue There is a room full of good things in the building, and they slapped their buttocks without leaving a single silver, and beat a few girls in my house, making it impossible to see people, and ruining the business."

Pei Jun put down the soup bowl, and Ping Ping took a mouthful of rice, "Usually you cheat him out of money, so you can just eat it."

Mei Linyu glared at him with her mouth pursed, making Pei Jun laugh in a low voice.

"But..." Mei Linyu put her hands on the edge of the table with her sleeves, blinked eagerly at Pei Jun, and asked cautiously: "Sister Yan has been married to Prince Rui's Mansion for seven or eight years. It's not long to see her... She didn't Why are you wronged?"

Pei Jun picked up the fennel beans on the plate with downcast eyes, without frowning: "I don't know. If you want to know, you can find out by yourself."

"Okay, okay, I won't ask, brother, don't be angry." Mei Linyu retracted her hand and changed the subject: "Hey, where did brother get rich recently? Is there any free way to show my brother?" chant?"

Pei Jun thought about it along the way, and he really thought about the Wuguang Salt Industry, so he asked Mei Linyu, "Is your shipbuilding business still in business?"

Mei Linyu nodded like a chicken pecking rice: "Do it, do it, what's the matter? Brother, do you have something to transport?"

Pei Jun had already finished his meal, and Mei Linyu personally handed over a piece of silk to wipe his mouth, stood up and looked at him with a smile: "Want to know? If you want to know, help my brother build a boat first."

"Go boating?" Mei Linyu took the silk back and said happily, "Success, what do you want brother? Red or green? Draw it for me tomorrow, and I'll find someone to make it right away."

"You're so good." Pei Jun raised his hand to pat the back of his head lovingly, and told him, "For the matter of Prince Jin's clothes, I will call Lao Cao recently and come back to look for you."

Mei Linyu agreed, and opened the curtain first to send Pei Jun out: "Brother, then you have to make it clear to Lao Cao-you want real white-haired ducks, and you want real duck down potion, It’s not the young rabbit skinny horse flower mud paste, otherwise he can call Jiangnan to pull you a car of thin-skinned and tender-skinned male dolls, and then he will be caught by Prince Jin, good guy, I can’t tell where to put it gone."

"Your mouth is really—" Pei Jun raised his hand and wanted to slap him, but seeing the smile on Mei Linyu's handsome face, he couldn't slap his hand, so he had to put down his hand twice again, "That's all, gone."

Mei Linyu nodded and smiled, and stuffed an oiled paper umbrella in his hand: "Brother, go slowly, brother often comes!" After she finished speaking, she raised her fingers and raised her voice, "I'm waiting for my brother to come on board!"

"Get out of here and go crazy!" Pei Jun finally laughed at him, raised his legs and walked out of the half-baked threshold, blocking the noise of people behind him for a while.

It was getting dark outside, night had risen, and it was really snowing.

Pei Jun lowered his eyes and exhaled whitely, held up a paper umbrella and headed back.At this time, the surroundings gradually quieted down, and the ochre-colored figure holding the child outside Si Chong's gate before dusk quietly entered his mind again, and even the sentence "Little Shizi is getting better every year"... …

And what is more year after year?

Pei Jun sighed lightly.

Not everyone has it year after year.

He remembered that the young man never made it past the end of the year.Later, Princess Rui adopted the son of her aunt who died early to be raised by her side. Pei Jun roughly estimated that before his death, the adopted child was probably nine years old.

The snow on the long street had piled up better, and Pei Jun's patch coat was covered with fox fur, and he walked along the street silently holding an umbrella. After passing a corner, he saw an old man pushing a chestnut iron stove Closed the stall and went home.

Braving the snow, the old man followed two little dolls behind him, holding the older one in his hand, and he was babbling: "...it's not easy to earn some money, for you, you don't want to study—" ——If you don’t study, how can you pass the exam!”

"What's so good about taking the exam?" The child in his hand raised his head and asked him, "Daddy, I'm so tired from studying."

"Tired! If you are not tired, how can you pass the exam!" The old man clicked his tongue, raised his voice and nodded his head: "There are many benefits in taking the exam. When you win the exam, you will be awarded Jinshi and Hanlin along the way. If you are an official, you will make money if you are an official—"

"Whose money is it? Is it the same as selling chestnuts?" The child interrupted him.

Hearing this, Pei Jun smiled softly, and looked up to see that the old father was holding the child's rough hand tightly, shaking off his only insight: "Of course it's the same. When you become an official, whose money will be paid?" Can’t make money? We also made money for the officials by selling chestnuts, look at the current—” He trembled and lowered his voice, “—then Pei Shangshu, doesn’t he even earn the emperor’s money! When you become a high-ranking official in the future, you still have to sit in court to try cases and beat people, and you go out to open the gong and shout, don't mention your prestige. If you don't study, don't take the exam, and don't be an official, where does the prestige come from?"

But the two or three dolls at his hand couldn't understand the old father's warning words, but they only heard a sentence from Pei Shangshu, and they laughed and sang:

"Pei Shangshu, Pei Shangshu! Said he is like a pig and not like a pig! He eats private and public, sooner or later he will become a big fat bug! Hahahaha!"

The old man was so frightened that he lost his car and went to cover their mouths one by one, but one person couldn't catch up with the three.The three dolls ran and danced on the corner of the street, and sang the nursery rhyme three more times, and then laughingly, the old man caught the eldest and led him by the back of his neck to the south alley.

And Pei Jun held an umbrella here and turned to the east. After walking for a stick of incense in the snowy alley, he finally returned to the Zhongyihou Mansion.

Uncle Dong in the mansion hadn't fallen asleep yet, so he hurriedly asked Liu Jin to fetch water to undress Pei Jun and wipe himself, and stood by himself to report the affairs of the mansion.Pei Jun listened and nodded, remembered something, untied his clothes and asked Uncle Dong, "Where's Deng Zhun?"

Uncle Dong said, "I've fallen asleep. Shall I go and wake up for your lord?"

Pei Jun raised his hands from Liu Jin to put on his pajamas, thinking of Deng Zhun's shrill acquaintance, he suddenly shook his head in annoyance: "Forget it, let him sleep, we'll talk about it after the New Deal is over."

Liu Jin went out with water, and Pei Jun sat at the table and drank the tea. He saw the dark green mending gown hanging on the hanger opposite, and the hem of the clothes could vaguely see a little bit of fine and redundant stitches, which were not very obvious, but I can still see that it has been mended, and I heard Uncle Dong take a towel to wipe the snow water on the patched coat, and whisper: "My lord, the six adults have delivered letters to the house again today. Now, I want to ask you about the vote..."

—— Vote discussion.

Pei Jun swallowed the tea in his mouth.

Next to him, Uncle Dong brushed the dust off his mending coat, and said, "They asked, are you against voting..."

——"How can Mr. Zhang manage to save face..."

Dust again: "I still have a ticket..."

——"...Don't you feel bad?"

Dust again: "Will you vote?"

——"...can you help me?"

——"...Help me, Pei Jun, Pei Jun, help me..."

"Okay." Pei Jun quietly put down the teacup, and smiled at Uncle Dong, "You're tired too, so let's just let go of mending your coat, don't tidy it up, let's rest."

Dong Shu put away the towel, frowned and scolded him: "Confiscated!"

Pei Jun bent his eyes: "Then I'm tired, can you let me rest?"

Only then did Uncle Dong gossip about poking the charcoal fire of the copper stove for him again, blowing out the big lantern, leaving only a small lamp in the corner of his couch, and kindly said: "Then rest, my lord." Saying this, he closed the door out.

Pei Jun lay on the couch and felt under the pillow until he felt a tingling sensation in his palm. Then he seemed relieved, looked at the closed doors and windows, and finally closed his eyes.

Three days later, at Maoshi, the bell of the majestic imperial city rang, and the gate of the palace with the bronze nails and animal ring in front of the Qinghe Palace opened with a loud noise, leading officials from all levels of the Hou Dynasty outside the gate to slowly enter. .

Pei Junxing was standing in the middle of the dark crowd of mending coats, surrounded by officials from the six ministries and discussing affairs solemnly. At this time, he raised his eyes slightly to the left, and saw a small mahogany door also opened on the pillared veranda on the left side of the main hall. The nine members of the pavilion, dressed in ribbons and looking very quiet, were walking in one file at a time, and one of them was hanging at the end without saying a word. Judging from his appearance and appearance, it must be Zhang Ling.

He turned his head and looked to the right again, and saw a group of people walking up the corridor with the long carved window on the other side—the group of people were wearing five-chapter beaded court clothes, with dragons on their shoulders and mountains on their shoulders, The golden beads on the crown are swaying, even through the long window, it seems to be able to fold the dazzling light gracefully.

Pei Jun starts counting from the first one, and counts backwards one, two, three, four——

The fifth person suddenly turned around as if aware of something, and for a moment the delicately carved lacquer-gold grilles on the long window in the porch cast a fine silhouette on his handsome face, hiding his deep eyes brightly and dimly. .These Qiongying shadows mottled with the light of the twilight on his body again and again, until the complicated and exquisite long window came to an end, he finally faded away from the shadows and stood on the stone steps in front of the Hall of Qinghe, with a long body. Yuli looked back at Pei Jun calmly.

At this time, a small cloud in the sky just moved across the rising sun, expelling the streamer of the sky to follow this man's smile filled the corners of his eyes, making him look like a verdant mountain bathed in the best morning sun, even speaking The tone is like the spring water in a cold pond:

"Lord Pei."

Pei Jun bowed to him in the midst of the noisy officials: "Prince Jin."

The next moment, the courtiers and ministers went to the hall in an orderly manner, and after a lengthy statement was announced, the political issue was finally changed to the New Deal.The chief of ceremonies sang loudly, first it was the votes of the royal family and princes.

From the first emperor's cousin, Prince Tai, to Prince Mu, they all looked at each other carefully, and only said "tickets", and the following Prince Rui followed him all his life.

After one round, the ceremonial officer counted the votes and found that there was still one missing. Then he finally thought of Prince Jin sitting behind the big golden pillar: "The prince of Jin has not discussed yet."

Hearing that after the case, Jiang Zhan, the nine cabinet ministries, six ministries, five temples and hundreds of officials under the hall all raised their eyes to that inconspicuous corner for a moment.

Under the heavy gazes of everyone, Jin Wangye Jiang Yue raised his right hand and propped his chin up, raised his brows slightly, and fixed his almost indifferent eyes on the person standing at the head of the six departments, seeming suspicious and apprehensive.

Suddenly, he parted his thin lips lightly.

"Lonely holding a ticket."

There was an uproar all over the house, and the Thai prince beside him immediately patted his arm back, stared at him and said nothing.There was a din of people downstairs, all wondering why the Prince of Jin was different from others today, and the five temples were so noisy that it was almost impossible to discuss, at least they all voted under the chanting of the chief of ceremonies.

So the ceremonial officer cleared his throat, and respectfully bowed to the six departments: "Next, I invite the adults of the six departments to vote."

For a moment, eleven pairs of eyes of the chief and deputy directors of the six ministries except Pei Jun were all on him. Not only that, the cabinet ministers and Jiang Zhan in the hall also stared at him. They all saw Pei Jun holding the wat board and bowing slightly. Ju Li, looking up and looking sideways, smiled slightly at Prince Jin who was sitting on the prince's seat.

This smile made Jiang Zhan's expectant eyes start to waver, and he couldn't help clasping the handle of the Golden Dragon Chair and leaned forward, calling out with trembling lips, "...Pei Qing?"

The question seemed to lift the heartstrings of all the ministers and courtiers present, telling Pei Jun that the unspoken words are like an arrow stretched on the string, without knowing the beginning, let alone the direction, but once the string is released, it will definitely make everyone on the field feel like an arrow. One party was seriously injured.

At this moment, Pei Jun suddenly had a desire to destroy everything.

The corners of his lips curled up slowly, he put down the wat board and said:

"Minister, votes."