Pei Gonggui

Steep luck is like fire, colorful clothes are like fate, everything is a fan of the authorities.

Pei Jun looked down at the patched gown with the broken corners in front of him, and the altar suddenly became clearer than ever before—he realized that he had accepted the patched gown when Jiang Zhan gave him it, and put it on He has been wearing it for so many years, if he hadn’t been forced to enter the cabinet due to the situation, he would never have thought of taking it off, even now that he has found that the clothes are damaged in his second life, all he thought about twice was to repair them , mend, not replace—

It turns out that when the clothes are worn on the body for a long time, people will feel comfortable, so it is difficult to think about the original inappropriateness of the clothes; and since he was still in the sun for many days, he thought that he had followed a calm, sober, and superhuman mind to go to bed. All the things he did, maybe they just continued the habits of the previous life, living in the body that he couldn't get rid of in the previous life, reluctantly lingering on his last breath.

He bullied the emperor, provoked, corrupted ink, cheated, what did he do?He seemed to be just being mischievous.He thinks he has taken all kinds of opportunities, but he doesn't know that when others look at him, he is still a power traitor who uses the imperial power to manipulate politics like a wave, a sycophant who forms a party for personal gain and bully others - and in their eyes, he is the sycophant who is loyal to him. The emperor Jiang Zhan has long left his cronies as secret chess pieces, making him think that every step he takes to escape control is actually walking in the emperor's scheming plan.

Cai Yan, Zhang Ling, and Jin Wang are still in power in this court, and his small actions have not fundamentally changed all of this—the New Deal is still to be implemented, and the leaders are still Cai and Xue Zhang. It's just to be among them, and the seemingly inexhaustible Wuguang salt industry is just like a thirst-quenching plum that seems bright and dark. , become passive, become pinched.If he allows everything to continue, then his fate in the last life will also become his fate in this life, and if the clothes that are repeatedly torn are not discarded, they will become like his body and destiny. God bound him with the inescapable obscurity and shackles.

At this moment, he only felt that everything was so clear.What he saw was no longer just the mended gown in front of him, nor was it what kind of patterned pattern the patch would be replaced with—he suddenly seemed to see a bigger situation in the government. Chess, he began to think: at least the balloting step has gone well, and now he has switched to a front with the royalist party, hiding his own wishes in the wishes of those in power, as long as the one in power Jiang Zhan implements the New Deal One day, he will be able to grab power and gold and silver from it, and he will not have to face enemies between the Cai family and Qingliu.

And as for King Jin... this sinister character who has always been thinking about usurping the throne and seizing power, if he doesn't try to win him over or pretends to be a snake, he will always stand on the opposite side of Pei Jun no matter what, and he will never let him in the future. His way is easy to walk, so for such an opponent, he should let his exposure to the outside world become a handle he dreads, let his own crisis become his crisis, and even let part of his own interests, become his interests.

Once interests and crises interlink, there will be no eternal enemies in this world.

He finally understood.

In this life, he will no longer be a dog with an iron chain that bites and barks - he will keep his tail between his legs, he will give way, he will pretend to be true, treacherous and loyal, and be a hero in front of the emperor. Admonisher, to be a close friend of the rebel, and in the end, he will be the final winner who can tear down both ends, and push all these people of all colors who are above him in the previous life to the cliff of no turning back ...

"Uncle Dong," Pei Jun walked to the window sill table, took out a piece of paper sprinkled with gold, raised his wrist and took a pen and ink, and began to write eloquently, "Tomorrow morning, ask someone to deliver this post to Prince Jin's mansion properly. Tonight, you find me the court clothes of my origin, and I will go to the palace tomorrow morning to send Suixi back."

"Send it back?" Uncle Dong stared and became startled, "Isn't it because the emperor has fulfilled your crimes and made him even more suspicious?"

Pei Jun handed the finished post to Uncle Dong, and said with a smile: "The emperor still wants to use the manpower in my hand, and he won't be willing to touch me yet, and according to the emperor's heart, if I don't send Suixi back, I will pretend Since nothing happened, it would make him even more suspicious."

Uncle Dong took the paper uncomfortably, looked at it for a while, and then asked hesitantly: "My lord, are you and the emperor—"

"I told you not to ask about this before." Pei Jun walked over with a smile and pushed him away from behind, "The less you know about some things, the less you worry, and the less you worry, the more sleep you get. Look. It's too late, you should just go back to the house and have a rest, just call Liu Jin to come over and take care of you."

Uncle Dong had no choice but to agree, and before going out, he turned around and gave Pei Jun a worried look, and then he took the door to say goodbye.

The snowless night was extremely cold, as if the cold wind blowing between the palace walls of the imperial city had been frozen to silence, leaving only silence and solemnity.

In the Chongning Hall of the Forbidden Palace, the great eunuch Hu Li was on his last shift tonight, just like every night after he became the Ministry of Internal Affairs and both provinces knew about it, standing on the generous dragon couch of the emperor’s bedroom. Beforehand, he changed the young emperor Jiang Zhan into plain pajamas, and after Jiang Zhan lay on the embroidered leaf soft pillow, he gently covered him with a warm quilt.

Just when he finished all this and was about to turn around and leave, his cuffs were suddenly gently held by the emperor lying on the couch.

Turning around, he heard Jiang Zhan asking him abruptly and ethereally: "Eunuch Hu, do you think Pei Jun will...will never come again?"

Hu Li quickly knelt on the side of the couch to comfort him and said, "My master, how could this happen? We only know that Mr. Pei drove Deng Zhun away, and even if Sui Xi was really detained at the mansion, it might be because of Mr. Pei's sudden anger. But it’s all about the master’s actions. In the future, the master will talk to Mr. Pei, so it’s okay? Mr. Pei cares about the master so much, what is this?”

Jiang Zhan, who was lying in the warm quilt of the dragon couch, stared blankly at the precious-eyed golden dragon on the top of the couch, slowly retracted the hand holding Hu Li's cuff, nodded slightly and said, "Okay, I know It's gone. You can step back."

He turned over and lay on his side, and after hearing the door of the palace close behind him with a creak, he slowly reached under the pillow, took out a short knife with a curved handle that was intricately carved, and gently stroked the delicate and treacherous engraving on it with his thumb. After a while, he finally closed his eyes slowly.

The dream did not know when it arose, and it brought him back to that fiery night several years ago—in this dream, he heard the desperate screams and begging for mercy of the emperor's brother again, and saw the blue bricks on the floor splashed everywhere. dark gray blood.

He has had this kind of dream many times, and it is almost a habit so far. He can stand silently in the long corridor that turns endlessly in the dream, watching the surrounding palace servants fleeing in a hurry, watching his bloody face. Brother wails in front of him, losing all the dignity of a prince of a country, screaming for injustice, screaming for father and mother, screaming for mercy, until he loses all anger——

He also forgot which time it was a few years ago, when he suddenly woke up from this eternally similar dream, he found himself lying on the wide desk in the imperial study room, very close in front of him, a man dressed in bamboo from the Hanlin Academy Pei Jun in the blue coat was leaning over to look at him, raised his hand to brush a strand of sweaty hair on his forehead, and smiled gently at him:

"I'm guilty of making the book so boring that the emperor fell asleep and kept calling me brother."

For a moment, it was as if someone had discovered the most hidden secret. From that moment on, Jiang Zhan was startled and evasive, and could no longer face this always keen waiter calmly.But on the second day, when he took his afternoon nap from the Chongning Hall and was about to get up to go to Pei Jun's afternoon lecture, the palace attendants suddenly reported that Pei Jun had come by himself, and that he hadn't waited for him to get fully dressed. Standing up in his clothes, Pei Jun walked into his bedroom regardless of obstacles, stood beside his couch, and quickly took out a short knife from his sleeve——

"Big—bold! You...you want to assassinate me?" Jiang Zhan fell back on the dragon couch with a pale face, thinking for a moment that all the horrible past that had happened to his emperor brother and the deposed prince would be repeated again. It happened to his puppet-like emperor.

Fear and despair instantly occupied his whole body, causing his eyelashes to tremble and his eyes to widen. For a while, he only waited for the fatal sharp pain to come... But in the end, all he waited for was Pei Jun slowly approaching and approaching him. A little gravity from leaning over.

While he was holding his breath in panic, Pei Jun looked down at him again with a calm face. When he flinched back in fear, Pei Jun had already crouched on top of him, and quickly thrust the dagger in his hand into him. Under the imperial pillow behind him, he leaned back a little at this time, as if he finally remembered how treacherous and outrageous this move was, then he chuckled with a bit of disdain, and confessed in the evening: "The minister has overstepped, I hope the emperor will forgive me."

This side of him was still in shock and hadn't come back to his senses, but Pei Jun on the other side was still lying on his body unchanged, and had already raised his hand and curled his fingers to scrape the tip of his nose, comforting him softly:

"Don't be afraid, Your Majesty. Hold the knife in your hand, and you can sleep peacefully in the future."

……

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

A soft cry woke Jiang Zhan up, and he opened his eyes suddenly, only to find that the sword eye in his dream was now in his hand.

The windows of the main hall outside the draped veils of the couch cast a little morning light, and it was already the next day.He turned his head and saw Hu Li kneeling beside the couch, and heard his urgent report: "Your Majesty, Mr. Pei is here."

When Jiang Zhan heard the words, he thought it was a dream, but when he woke up for a moment, he suddenly put the dagger under the pillow and ran out, but when he reached the outer hall, there was only a shivering Xixi standing in the hall.

He almost felt his heart go cold, and he couldn't help asking: "Where's Pei Jun?"

The palace man knelt on the ground in an instant, fell on the ground tremblingly with joy, and said, "My lord Pei heard that the emperor is still sleeping, so I, I will take my leave first."

Jiang Zhan's sharp eyes immediately fixed on him: "He already knows? What did he say?"

Suixi never dared to raise his head, but continued to shake his throat and said: "Master Pei asked the servant to tell the emperor that if the emperor doubts him, he can ask him directly, and there is no need to send someone to watch him; Double-minded."

"Then why didn't he come into the palace to see me!" Jiang Zhan stepped forward and kicked him away, angrily said: "You stupid slave, if you didn't expose Xingzang, how could he find out!"

Sui Xipu crawled on the ground and knelt again, crying and kowtowing repeatedly: "Slave, this slave was not discovered by Mr. Pei. The slave was knocked out as soon as he left the palace, and when he woke up, he was bound with his hands and feet covered in sacks and knelt on the ground. In Mr. Pei's mansion, I only heard Mr. Pei call the person who caught the servant... called Mr. Zhang."

"Which Master Zhang?" Jiang Zhan suppressed his anger and asked him through gritted teeth.

Rejoicingly said: "It's a young Mr. Zhang, who speaks coldly..."

"Zhang San?" Jiang Zhan only guessed it for a moment, and after thinking about it, he couldn't help but said in shock: "...It must not be Zhang Ling's intention, but is it King Jin?"

Behind him, Hu Li asked respectfully and in a low voice: "Your Majesty, what should we do now? This Eunuch Suixi and that Deng Zhun..."

When Jiang Zhan heard the words, a rather impatient coldness flashed across his eyes, and when he was young, he waved his sleeves and said, "No one will stay, not a single one will be kept."

Sui Xi, who was kneeling on the ground, was startled, and immediately shouted "Master, spare me", but only after the second yell, the servant covered her mouth and dragged her down.After staying for a while, Hu Li heard the young emperor murmuring softly again: "If King Jin knows about Pei Jun...how can they..."

The next moment, Jiang Zhan squeezed the trembling fist under the sleeve, and said in a deep voice:

"Eunuch Hu, there is another person beside Pei Jun, you go and find him for me."

Two days later, it was Friday, and it was time for morning court again.Chao Tun hadn't risen yet, but the officials who wanted to go to court had already rushed to the palace with the cock crowing as usual, and waited in line at the gate of the palace one by one.

Jin Wangye Jiang Yue was always one of the last ones to arrive. After the peak of the previous officials entering the court had passed, his sedan chair stopped leisurely outside Yuanchen Gate, and then he dusted off his clothes and walked down. The little palace man raised the lantern and led them respectfully, and walked slowly towards the Hall of Qinghe. When they arrived at the gate of the hall, they met the old minister Cai Yan, and the two of them humbly gave way, and the servant shouted, "King Jin, Grand Master Cai has arrived." Then he stepped into the hall half a step ahead, and he did not forget to turn around with a smile and help Cai Yan who was about to enter through the door, and thoughtfully said: "Mr. Cai, be careful where you step."

But Cai Yan was not surprised by the deep meaning in his words, still just smiled and bowed to thank him: "My lord is kind."

The hour was approaching, all the officials stood still in the palace, and the palace servants served tea to the royal relatives, but as soon as Jiang Yue sat down, he found that one person was missing from the six heads.Just as he was about to turn around and order someone to go to find out why, he heard the servant outside the hall shouting again: "Minister of Rites Pei Jun is here!"

For a moment, all the people standing still in the main hall looked over more or less, and saw Pei Jun straddling his long legs and entering the hall with a smile on his brow. It's a sin to be late."

All of this was not much different from the past, but Zhou Siqing of Taichang Temple was sharp-eyed. At this time, he quickly glanced at Cai Yang, who was in the first nine seats, and asked Pei Jun, "Master Pei, what are you doing?" What's wrong with this patch?"

When everyone heard this, they all looked sideways at Pei Jun, and they saw that the front hem of Pei Jun's dark green men's coat was blackly curled up with broken threads, which was obviously burnt.

"The appearance of the pilgrimage has been ruined because it is disrespectful to the emperor. Mr. Pei is also an old man in the Ministry of Rites, so he shouldn't be ignorant of this law? Why is he still wearing a torn mending gown to go to court?"

Zhou Siqing idly asked two questions during the hundreds of officials' discussion, but before he could finish his sentence, Pei Jun took it up as he walked:

"Oh, Zhou Siqing laughed! I was in a hurry to go out. I stepped on the brazier without paying attention. It's too late to mend it. It's a sin." While they looked at each other anxiously, they cast a look of "Be safe and don't be impatient", and then continued to greet Zhou Siqing with a smile: "So, it can be seen that this person - if you really can't be in a hurry, the more you are in a hurry If you want to catch up with something, the easier it is to get angry with Siqing Zhou."

Zhou Siqing suddenly felt his ears dry and angry, and before he opened his mouth to argue with him, he heard that the imperial bell in the hall had struck nine times at this moment, the servants cleared the way, and the ceremonial officer arrived, and it was early morning.

The King of Jin looked away from Zhou Siqing who had shut his mouth. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Pei Jun who was standing opposite him looking at him and smiling. The hypocrisy and flattery that Bing Ma Siwai had quarreled with him a few days ago had long since disappeared from that smile. On the contrary, it is tranquility and freedom, and there is even a hint of cunning in it.This made him frowned slightly, and only nodded slightly to Pei Jun on his face, but he wondered what kind of medicine this Pei Jun was going to sell in his gourd.

The sage Jiang Zhan on the throne has arrived, and the ceremonial officer immediately announces that all officials will start playing.As soon as Pei Jun heard this, he took a step forward holding the wat board, and clearly reported the matter at hand:

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has prepared and sealed the rosters of tribute students from various places in Qiuwei and the invigilators of the Central Beijing Examination. The Jingzhao Division has also cleared up the idle land and buildings. It is urgent for the imperial court to divide them up again and communicate with the Ministry of Households. , The Ministry of War has checked and recorded the food and military pay of the military camps of all parties, and with Honglu Temple on the regulation of the state banquet at the end of the year—”

"Wait, wait, Lord Pei," Cai Yang in the cabinet heard something was wrong, and interrupted him loudly, "The upper court is to invite you to ask questions, not to show your merits. Lord Pei has many duties. Everyone knows that you have made great achievements through hard work, but do you have any important matters to bring forward to participate in business? If not, please give your colleagues more time to talk, and don’t let one person take the limelight.”

"Yes, yes, Master Cai, don't worry." Pei Jun smiled and took out a pocket book from his sleeve, and raised his hand at the servant in the corner of the hall, "This has to be said about the state banquet. This state banquet Naturally, the meritorious ministers were commended as usual, so the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials jointly counted a piece of political achievement, and first handed it over to the emperor for review."

All the officials are well aware that commendation of political achievements is really a trivial matter, and it is enough to pass the cabinet and submit it to the imperial court. There are naturally some articles in it.

How could Jiang Zhan on the throne not know?At this time, the servant handed over the booklet that Pei Jun had presented to him, he opened it and looked around for a while, as in previous years, he did not see Pei Jun's name on it.At this time, he raised his head again and looked at Pei Jun who had just retreated into the six parts, and finally noticed that he was mending the hem of his gown, raised his eyebrows slightly, stood up with his hands on the imperial case, and asked, "Pei Qing, what are you doing?" What happened to the clothes?"

Immediately, all the officials in the hall exchanged unspeakable expressions, and at this moment, King Jin, who finally expected what Pei Jun was thinking, just raised his eyes, and saw Pei Jun kneeling down straight while holding the wat board:

"Reporting to the emperor, I deserve death for my crimes! I didn't notice for a while, and accidentally encountered a small fire at home. It burned and the patch was not repaired in time, resulting in damaged appearance and dirty eyes. This is disrespectful. Please The emperor condemned and reprimanded!"

With this statement, Cai Yan, the head of the nine cabinets, raised his head, Zhang Ling, the last of the nine, frowned, and Jiang Yue, who was among the princes, had a clear vision, but gradually clenched his fists.

"Pei Qing, please get up quickly." Jiang Zhan on the throne repeatedly raised his hand and ordered Pei Jun to flatten himself. After thinking about it for a moment, because he knew the truth, he compared the little fire in Pei Jun's words to Deng Zhun, who was driven away, Compared with Pei Jun's self-confessed official fortune, Pei Jun couldn't help being secretly surprised that Pei Jun wanted to abstain from power.Thinking of this, his eyes turned slightly, and he said softly, "Pei Qing doesn't need to panic. Pei Qing is always busy for the people of the court, so it is inevitable that there is something careless about it. It is not unusual to have no time to mend clothes... From my point of view, although this mending gown is bad, it is God's will for Pei Qing."

All the officials were agitated at once, wondering what might be God's will, and then Jiang Zhan continued: "Pei Qing has been in the court for several years, and has been in charge of several major events. In the Ministry of Rituals, I have to do my duty to avoid suspicion, but I have never claimed credit for myself. This makes me really ashamed of Pei Qing... Now that the gown is damaged, isn't it God's will to ask me to change Pei Qing's clothes? ——In that case, Pei Qing As long as he remains in his old job, I will give Pei Qing the title of Second Rank Young Fu, and I will use it from now on."

For a while, there were naturally objections among the hundreds of officials in the hall, even Pei Jun himself knelt on the ground and refused in every possible way, but Jiang Zhan only said "My intention has been decided", the official of ceremonies and the eunuch Hu Li looked at each other, and heard that After seeing the holy will, he quickly called the next official to play, so the matter of Pei Shangshu's relocation to Pei Shaofu was settled.

When the court was over, Jiang Yue got up from the princes and went out. He had already expected that the follow-up of Deng Zhun's incident would be different from what he had imagined. When he walked to the gate of the palace, he saw Pei Jun wearing his scroll The tattered gown, which had fallen off the thread, stood on the stone steps in front of the hall and looked at him with a smile, as if waiting for him specially. When he saw him coming, he quickly bowed respectfully and said: "Lord Jin."

Jiang Yue raised his hand and gave him a vain support, and smiled at him: "Pei Shao Fu Sai Weng loses his horse, but he knows it's not a blessing, and now it's really good luck."

Pei Jun raised his hands and clasped his fists again and again, cautiously: "My lord's praise, this minister is also a blessing of the lord's generous gift. Otherwise, how can I report to the court again with my humble capital? I'm here to disturb the lord. I want the lord not to forget about tonight's appointment—I have already prepared a big banquet at half full, I just hope to thank the lord well, I beg the lord to give me the honor, and I wait for the lord to drive me respectfully."

Jiang Yue smiled and nodded politely: "Don't worry, Shaofu Pei, Gu will definitely be there."

After all, he saw Pei Jun's straight back as he saluted and retired was covered with a layer of golden sand by the rising sun, and when he walked down the stone steps, it seemed as if he was about to be embraced by the sky into the morning light, so leisurely and determined, completely It was Pei Jun's usual appearance.

This scene suddenly sounded so familiar to him, the only difference is that the young man in his memory has now raised his figure and entered the vast officialdom under thousands of black veils, and the clear long gown on his body has long been replaced by a dark green patched gown. In the future, the peacock standing on the golden branch on the patch coat will be replaced by a golden pheasant with a yellow top and a red belly, or it will turn into a silver one, and then a crane will be welcomed to stand alone. At that time, at that time... …

Jiang Yue went out of the palace in silence, and after taking a sedan chair to inspect Wucheng Bingmasi and Beichengying, he finally returned to the palace in the rising twilight.One by one, he changed into a fine sable fur shirt, jade waist and silver boots, and was going to Pei Jun's banquet.

The semi-full cookery in the night was brightly lit, and almost the moment he stepped into it, the big boss Mei Linyu rushed over respectfully and with a smile, chattering auspicious words from all over the world with a pleasing sharp mouth, and kept raising her hands to bow Lead him to the second floor: "Your Majesty, tell Mr. Pei to arrive early and wait for you. The dishes ordered are all the best. I'm just waiting for you, my lord!"

It is difficult for ordinary people to keep a straight face in the face of Mei Linyu's ardent enthusiasm, so Jiang Yue also smiled, nodded and thanked him for his hard work, but he had to thank him in every possible way, and finally led him to a beautifully carved leaf painting In front of the folding door, there was a light knock, and while pulling the door, he said: "Brother, Prince Jin is here!"

Because of this sound, Jiang Yue felt a little embarrassed for some reason. He guessed in his heart what kind of posture Pei Jun was sitting alone behind the door, and wondered whether he had warmed the wine or started using it, but when The door in front of him was finally pulled to the far left. When he raised his head, he saw that Pei Jun was not the only one in Fang Ya's room.

He didn't even see Pei Jun for a while, because the place was full of people——

Jiang Yue almost thought that he had walked into a court meeting in the imperial city by mistake, or a banquet in the palace, because all the people present were officials from various ministries in the court. They all stood up and saluted him respectfully and shouted:

"See His Royal Highness King Jin!"

In the astonishment that Jiang Yue tried to suppress, a hand tugged at his sleeve by his side.

He turned his head to the side and saw Pei Jun leisurely leaning against the inner side of the door, smiling slightly at him with raised eyebrows: "Prince Jin, I have been waiting for you for a long time."