Pei Gonggui

The bright sun was shining on the bluestone slabs, transpiring the night rain on the ground into a humid stuffy air, which made the leaves of the elm trees along the street shiny green, and when the wind swayed, there was a burst of fragrance.

Pei Jun stopped at the gate of Zhongyihou's Mansion in a green leather carriage, got out of the car in a hurry and walked into the mansion, and was about to go straight along the porch into the Chuihua Gate, but was stopped by Liu Jin:

"My lord, someone has come to the palace and is waiting for you in the front hall."

So Pei Jun turned back to the front hall, and saw a little eunuch standing by the door of the front hall with his arms folded.

Seeing him coming forward, the little eunuch rushed over and said, "Master Pei, the younger one is here to deliver a message for Master. This morning, Mr. Zhang went to the palace to meet the emperor. Although the two of them didn't say anything, their actions were very strange. weird."

The little eunuch took a step closer, and said in a low voice: "Master is afraid that Mr. Zhang will make trouble and cause serious trouble, so I want Mr. Pei to investigate clearly."

Hearing this, Pei Jun frowned, and said lightly: "Okay, please trouble my little eunuch to go back and tell Director Hu, and just say that I know about it, and I will investigate this matter myself, so that he doesn't have to worry about it, and just serve the emperor well."

The little eunuch bowed his sleeves, said Mr. Pei to be polite, and hurried out of the house after saying that.

Pei Jun glanced at the leaving back of the little eunuch, lowered his head to think, and finally realized that Zhang Ling was a great hidden danger, so he hurriedly went to the inner courtyard to see Jiang Xuan. I have to get in the car and go back to the palace to have a look.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door of the mansion, he saw a young man with a green cloth bundle running towards him from the street.

This young man was wearing the blue mending coat of a fifth-rank civil official, and the black gauze cap on his head was skewed. Called: "Master! I'm back!"

Pei Jun recognized the appearance of this person, and the anxiety in his eyes suddenly turned into joy, he took a step forward and said with a smile: "Qian Siqi?"

At the same time, Zhang Ling returned home with a serious expression on his face. As soon as he entered the door, he was told by his servants that the third son had returned from handling the salt case.

Zhang Ling was surprised that the time was flying by, but he was pressed by the changes in the palace, he was not too surprised by Zhang San's return, he only responded lightly, and continued to walk in.

He walked around the large coffin with its head tilted in the front hall, and looked down at the inscription in gold ink on the coffin lid.The voices of the sons talking in the teahouse not far away became clearer as he approached, and when he turned around the corridor, he could already see Zhang He, Zhang Weizheng and Zhang San sitting by the wooden table in the hall , Listening to the words, it seems to be asking about the Zhang Sanyan case.

Zhang San's face showed a rare relaxation, but when he was asked by his brothers that Qian Haiqing, who was with him, was honest, his hand holding the tea paused, and he immediately put down the teacup, and said with a serious face: "Brother The second brother's words are wrong. Qian Sicheng is young and promising, and he is wise and human. He has made great achievements in this trip, and he will be promoted in the future. Without his help, I am a rigid person, and I may make some jokes along the way. The case will go smoothly if you don't see it, so I should thank him, brothers, this statement is biased."

Eldest brother Zhang He held his sleeves and said with tea: "Even if it is biased, but since the student has followed Pei Ziyu, no matter how good a seedling is, it will rot in the rotten ground. How much does it matter if it is biased or not?"

Zhang San frowned, and was about to talk to him, when the three brothers saw Zhang Ling walking in, and immediately got up together to meet their father.

Zhang San was about to report on the investigation of this trip, but Zhang Ling raised his hand to interrupt him: "Stop talking, now is not the time to gossip."

Zhang San tightened his face, looked at his father, but saw his father turned around and ordered Zhang Wei to say: "Go, close the doors and windows, and disperse the servants around."

Seeing his father's solemn expression, Zhang Wei exchanged glances with Zhang He and hurried away.

Zhang He asked: "Didn't father enter the palace to face the saint? Could it be that something happened in the palace?"

Seeing that the doors and windows were closed, Zhang Ling raised his left hand and looked at the three sons in front of him with heavy eyes.

Zhang San's eyes were sharp, and he saw that Zhang Ling's little finger was empty at a glance, and said in surprise: "Father's jade ring is gone."

Zhang Ling paused slightly, but corrected him: "That's not my father's jade ring, but my Zhang clan's jade ring. Have you forgotten its origin?"

Zhang Wei turned back from the window and heard the words: "Of course I haven't forgotten. In the past, the ancestors and emperors founded the country to suppress the rebellion, and the emperor personally conquered, but the foreign relatives secretly entered the palace, hijacked the prince, controlled the government, and changed the military defense. The whole court was under the influence. In the dark, only the grandfather Zhang Jin saw the clues, risked his life to enter the palace to rescue the prince, put order out of chaos, and finally punished his relatives and rebellious parties according to law. Mr. En Guo, because in this matter, only my Zhang family can discern loyalty and traitors, punish evil and promote good, so the emperor secretly rewarded grandpa with a jade ring and a jade talisman."

When he said this, Zhang He continued: "The name of the jade ring is Biteng, and the name of the jade talisman is Chixin. They have been passed down from generation to generation among the officials of the Zhang family. Only the Zhang family and the royal family know about this matter, and it is strictly forbidden to disclose it. Outsiders know it, and it has become a token of our Zhang family and the royal family since then. Before his death, the ancestor left a secret edict, saying, "The jade ring will be turned, and the loyalty and treachery will be broken." A treacherous and sycophant who fulfills his duties for the royal family, is loyal to the emperor and serves the country, once he senses danger, he can take the jade ring as his faith and mobilize the troops of the 'red' battalion in the imperial army to relieve the urgent need."

"That's right." Zhang Ling sighed with his hands behind his back, "but the current situation in the court is treacherous, I have given the ring to the emperor earlier, in case of emergencies, but I don't know that the emperor is already in danger when I face the saint today."

The third son was startled, Zhang San said: "What kind of danger?"

Zhang Lingdao: "Recently, the cabinet's memorials have been incomplete or unresolved, but most of the hearings of local officials skip the cabinet and are sent directly to the local government after being approved by the palace. When we got to the emperor, the emperor didn't answer the question and couldn't help himself; looking at the government affairs, the emperor ordered six departments to be investigated. This move was nothing more than to punish the Pei party, but Fang Mingjue and Yan Yuliang were reused again and took power again. , so I think, the emperor is probably controlled by treacherous people, even in the palace, there must be people monitoring the emperor."

This statement meant something, and Zhang San was shocked when he heard it, and Zhang He asked, "Who is so bold?"

Zhang Ling said: "Throughout my life, I have only seen one such daring lunatic——"

"That's Pei Jun."

Zhang San's complexion changed, and he was thinking rapidly, but Zhang Ling turned around and instructed him: "Old man, you go to the secret room to get the Chixin Jade Talisman immediately, and follow me to the Forbidden Army camp to dispatch troops to rescue him."

Zhang San's eyes flashed, and he forced himself to be calm: "How can father be sure that there is indeed a change in the palace? If the emperor is not in a dangerous situation, but is bewitched by others to lure my Zhang family to deploy troops indiscriminately to punish the crime of rebellion, then Isn't father's move in the middle of a traitor's plan?"

Zhang Ling said coldly: "No matter the villain or the villain, the current vision in the palace must have something to do with Pei Ziyu. Even if it is a trick, how can my Zhang family ignore it? Since the opening of the dynasty, the Zhang family has been fighting with treacherous officials all the time. Officials are fighting each other. In this generation, when the government is in shambles and the young master endangers the country, it is time for us to be loyal. Most of Pei Jun has colluded with the King of Jin. If he is not ruled at this time, he will wait until the King of Jin's class returns to the court. , he will have more military support, and the consequences will be disastrous."

Zhang San wanted to persuade him again, but Zhang Ling urged him: "Hurry up!"

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Zhang San had no choice but to bow his head in response, turned around and went to the secret room of Beiyuan study, and took out the Chixin Jade Talisman that was placed on the nanmu platform.

Half an hour later, Zhang Ling took Zhang He and Zhang San to the Forbidden Army Camp, and handed over the Red Heart Jade Talisman to Chang Ruxin, the commander of the Forbidden Army. The rest were sent to guard at Jiumen Gate in the capital.

At this moment, Mei Linyu, disheveled, with a bruised nose and swollen face, finally got rid of the shackles of the guards temporarily, and ran out of the Mei family mansion over the wall.He ran all the way from the west of the city to the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion in the east of the city. Just as he was passing through the main road in the city, he saw a huge procession led by Zhang Ling, showing a sign to enter the palace.

The guard at the palace gate was hesitant, so Zhang Ling ordered the guard to be arrested, showed the jade talisman, and said that he had entered the palace to serve the king in accordance with the edict of the late emperor.

In Mei Linyu's ears, the word "King Qin" sounded like an explosion.His mind suddenly turned sharply, and he slapped his thigh: "It's broken!" After saying that, he grabbed the hem of his clothes and ran towards Zhongyihou's mansion.

When Zhang's father and son and the forbidden soldiers broke through the palace gate and came to Zhongqing Hall, Jiang Zhan was already poisoned.At this time, there was no antidote for Pei Jun, he collapsed on the couch in severe pain, his face was pale and convulsed, panting and screaming for a moment under the pressure of Hu Li and the surrounding imperial physicians, layers of cold sweat oozed from his forehead .

Hu Li heard voices from outside, and thought it was Pei Jun who came back. He said "Amitabha Buddha" silently in his heart, and hurried to have a look, and saw that it was Zhang's family, and he froze in place in shock.

"Where is the emperor?" Zhang Ling asked him, "Where is Pei Ziyu?"

Hu Li was fighting between the two groups, and almost wanted to flee, but at this moment he had a quick wit, guessing that he had not exposed Pei Jun's activities in the palace, so he couldn't help but bite the bullet and muttered: "Zhang...Master Zhang, you can count Here we come, Your Majesty... is in the inner room. Mr. Pei left the palace in my carriage early in the morning, and right now...he hasn't come back yet."

"Sure enough it's that Pei Ziyu!" When Zhang Ling heard that the carriage happened as expected, he became even more furious. He had no time to take care of Hu Li's strange state. Jiang Zhan was twitching terribly, obviously enduring great pain.

Seeing Zhang Ling coming, Jiang Zhan lay in the wrinkled brocade quilt, angrily shouted with trembling lips: "Zhang Ling...you came at a bad time!"

Zhang Ling immediately knelt down with his son and the forbidden soldiers, kowtowed and shouted: "The old minister is too late to save you, please be punished by the emperor!"

Jiang Zhan was in severe pain all over his body. At this time, anxious and angry, he couldn't help slapping the bed, and roared tremblingly: "Pei Jun has poisoned me. He is not in the palace now. Without his antidote, I will be in severe pain." Convulsions to the point of death! You surrounded the palace with soldiers, and as soon as Pei Jun's eyeliner was reported, how could he come back with the antidote! You are killing me!"

"Your Majesty, forgive me!" Zhang Ling was startled, kowtowed one after another, "Don't be impatient, Your Majesty, the old minister will immediately arrest the traitor and bring him back to the palace, and he will surely find an antidote for the Emperor!"

Jiang Zhan said with hatred in his eyes: "Pei Jun is extremely cunning, he knows that if I kill him, I will not survive, so I am not afraid that I will hurt his life. You must block all roads and prevent him from escaping from the capital... ...You guys must capture Pei Jun alive for me! I will tear him to pieces with my own hands!"

Zhang Ling responded, and immediately ordered the people present to guard the hall, and under Jiang Zhan's order, he personally took people to the Zhongyihou's mansion.

He walked out of the hall in a hurry, imagining Pei Jun's movements, and pointed to Zhang Sandao beside him: "I will immediately order the servants of Yushitai to close the Jingmen, and you should go back to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to transfer people. It is necessary to strictly control the waterways of Jingguan to prevent Pei Jun Take advantage of the nine admirals to escape."

After finishing speaking, he hesitated for a moment when he thought that Zhang San was a disciple of the King of Jin, and then said to Zhang He: "Xuan Tong, you go with him, if there is any danger, there will be someone to take care of you."

After two sticks of incense, a total of 350 people from the Yushitai mansion and the infantry battalion deacon mansion under the jurisdiction of the cabinet, led by Zhang Ling, quickly enveloped the Zhongyihou mansion like a giant gray net.

When they surrounded Pei's mansion and shouted several times but no one answered the door, Zhang Ling gave an order, and the first few officials raised their feet and kicked away the huge mansion behind the loyal general.

Officials and government servants filed in, but saw that the mansion was empty, and went straight to the deepest part of the inner courtyard, only to see some handymen and maidservants crawling on the ground, struggling to grab several boxes of money placed in the courtyard.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Ling frowned: "Not good! Come on, go to the residence of Yan Yuliang and Fang Mingjue!"