Pei Gonggui

In just a few days, mistakes and crimes occurred frequently in the official circles of Beijing and China: Cai Yang, a cabinet scholar, and Feng Jiru, a minister of the Ministry of Rites, were arrested for fraud, and then Cui Yu, a minister of the Ministry of punishment, was arrested for murder.Up to now, there have been three senior officials of the fourth rank and above in the imperial court who have been sacked one after another. In this way, Li Cunzhi traveled thousands of miles to Beijing to accuse the Ningwu Hou Mansion of a blood letter and an imperial certificate, and the previous assassination of King Jin and the murder of King Rui , Once it comes out, it is enough to make the court turbulent and the people speechless.

This undoubtedly exposed all kinds of decay under the scarred skin and bones of the Jiang Dynasty in the dim light of the precarious state of the country. It made Pei Jun sit in the da da carriage and frowned, vaguely aware of the current state of affairs. If the political situation becomes more and more precarious, in less than a year, it may almost catch up with the chaotic situation when he was about to die in his previous life...

Things started to get more and more unpredictable.

Pei Jun suddenly felt that from the moment he opened his eyes as a human being, those secrets that had been huddled in the dark corners of fate that he didn't know seemed to flow out one after another from the dark gap: Jiang Yue's love, Deng Zhun's betrayal, the Tang family's monstrous case, Pei Yan's mother and son have suffered for many years... Until now, Cui Yu, who was originally taciturn and solemn, was found out to be a person who abused people's lives and spent money to avenge them.

And this accusation added to his downfall in the previous life, but he only realized the truth at this moment.

Everything happened suddenly, but if you think about it carefully, you will find that there is a clue - if he had gone to investigate Cui Yu's uneasiness and fatigue after the Pei Yan case, if he had been like Cao Luan's instructions, "pay attention to the subtle changes around him" Well, long before this matter got so bad, he could at least take Cui Yu out of the Ministry of Punishment and then deal with it, so that Cai Yan would not let the Sixth Division be torn out by Cai Yan, let alone Pei Yan's case. Cui Yu stumbled...

However, these "what ifs" no longer make sense.Things still happened, and the hardships and dangers in the future will follow.

"Master, the Dali Temple is here."

A soft cry interrupted Pei Jun's thoughts, it was Qian Haiqing who got out of the car and opened the curtain for him.

Pei Jun put aside his thoughts for the time being, got out of the carriage, walked into the Dali Temple with long legs, and attracted the attention of the inner court staff, and saluted him one after another: "Master Pei..."

"Where did you invite Cui Shangshu?" Pei Jun cut to the chase.

Several people in the museum looked at each other: "Returning to my lord, Cui Shangshu has just been brought back, and now he is under the shackles in the lobby at the back, and Grand Master Cai is signing for it himself."

As soon as Pei Jun heard this, he walked around the screen wall in the front yard and stopped outside the main hall of Dali Temple. It turned out that Cai Yanzheng was sitting behind the table next to Beibi to sign the documents.And there was someone in the hall who shouldered the shackles and was surrounded by guards and stood in the middle. The demeanor that Pei Jun was familiar with was now more than half broken, but just by his stature, he recognized Cui Yu.

At this time, Cai Yan saw Pei Jun stepping over the threshold, and his gray eyebrows could not help but move: "Oh, Mr. Pei is here."

"Grand Master Cai invited the subordinates to come over in such a big battle, how dare the subordinates not come?" Pei Jun continued sarcastically, and looked sideways at Cui Yu who was standing beside him.

Cui Yu's face was ashamed, his back straightened in vain, and his expression suddenly moved when he saw Pei Jun coming in, but the momentary hope in his eyes was only a flash, and soon he was filled with guilt and embarrassment.Under Pei Jun's cold gaze, he finally lowered his head again, frowned and pursed his lips without saying a word.

Cai Yan took a panoramic view of the two people's ashamedness in the upper seat, his old eyes were silent, and he just followed Pei Jun's words and said: "Mr. Pei's words are wrong. Mr. Pei is tired from the exam and is just taking a break. What's the matter with the cabinet?" Do you have the heart to trouble Mr. Pei? But now, the fraud in Xinke has offended Sheng Gong, and the emperor accepted Mr. Zhang’s advice to thoroughly investigate all officials. This made Dali Temple cooperate with Yushitai to liquidate the treasury case... ...We did not expect Cui Shangshu to happen like this. The cabinet is just following orders."

"It's a good one to obey the order. According to Cai Taishi's intention, now I blame the Sixth Department to take the blame?" Pei Jun smiled, "But Cai Taishi's move hit the Sixth Department in the face and broke the way of the Criminal Department. How could the plan be so mere? It's just an investigation? Cai University's fraud was arrested. It's because of your Cai family's high-ranking officials and sons. Now Cai Taishi doesn't investigate his family and doesn't care about his family education. Instead, he criticizes the six ministries and falsely accuses his colleagues. Could it be that the hearts of our ministers have been chilled? Now that the new government has started, everything depends on the cooperation of all officials, but once this decree to prevent fraud has been implemented and hit your Cai family, you actually led the cabinet to do this—— The official dares to ask Taishi Cai, how will this allow our subordinates to work for the court and the New Deal with peace of mind in the future?"

Cai Yan finished signing the documents in his hand and handed them to the minister of Dali Temple. He stood up with trembling sleeves, and slowly walked down the hall with a stack of documents: "Master Pei is serious. It is true that all officials are doing things for the court, but the cabinet They are also working for the imperial court, the two are indispensable...so there is really no need for Mr. Pei to coerce you with this."

He walked up to Pei Jun, raised his head to look at Pei Jun and said, "Cui Shangshu is in charge of the Ministry of Punishment. He is well aware of the court's laws and punishments for wrongful crimes, but he knows how to break the law and do such evil things. Not only does he not repent, he also threatens and lures the people to sue him. He has nothing to fear. The bold and reckless behavior is enough to shock the government and the public. Now that the evidence of this case has been cleared in Dali Temple, Shen Shangshu of the Ministry of War may be invited to the court for a trial in the near future. Mr. Pei is a young Fu and leads the six departments, so he should know in advance. " Said After that, he handed the document in his hand to Pei Jun.

Pei Jun took the documents and looked down, and saw that among them were Cui Yu's deed of cessation of litigation, as well as the handprint pleadings of the old prostitute's family. Looking at Cai Yan with a cool look, he said:

"Taishi Cai's chess moves are so high that he can move a thousand miles. The officials really admire it. It's just that Cai Dashi is still in the prison of the imperial censor. You took Cui Yu and Shen Lao, and you are trying to destroy my six books. Are you not afraid of the six books?" As soon as the Zhang family is broken, will the Zhang family start? Or are you so sure that the Zhang family will not take the opportunity to attack the Cai family?... Cai Taishi, although it is a good strategy to encircle Wei and save Zhao, it is a good strategy for Qi, not Zhao. When Zhao State was trapped and asked Qi for help, if Qi State did not want to save Zhao but was willing to attack Zhao, or even waited for Wei State’s mantis to catch cicadas, and then a oriole came out, how could Zhao State be safe?”

Cai Yan smiled hoarsely: "The game starts, which one is Wei, which one is Qi, which one is Zhao, it is not clear yet, until the end, it is still unknown who will win the game... Why is Mr. Pei rushing to make a conclusion? For Tian Ji, Sun Bin and others, although they won this battle for the Qi State, they were later betrayed by Zou Ji and killed by Pang Juan, so how long will the victory or defeat last in the world? It’s just a temporary battle.”

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look far outside the door, looked towards the sky and said: "For now, Mr. Pei, it's better not to worry about other people's affairs, the most important thing is to take care of yourself."

"It's scary, I'm afraid that some people will not be able to see the officials and be safe, Taishi Cai." Pei Jun said sarcastically, "The deer-headed rats in the court will come to drill whenever they see a gap, and now they have drilled holes in six departments. Does Grand Master Cai think this is not something to worry about?"

"Then Mr. Pei thinks too much of that deer-headed rat." Cai Yan glanced at him, "The Ministry of Punishment is in charge of the law of punishment and prison, and every move is as heavy as a thousand weights. If the cabinet has not received the holy will to make a decision, how dare it Unauthorized arrest?"

He paused at this point, seeing that Pei Jun had no words, he continued: "Lord Pei, although a tiger is tall and fierce, it has lice on its body. If it grows two sharp claws and does not scratch itself, then no matter how many antelope and deer it catches. , Eating it will let the lice suck the blood... In the end, no matter how shiny the fur is, it is still full of holes when you peel it off. These holes are not drilled by others. After all, if others want to drill, they don’t dig out the bones and hearts... ...how can it stop?"

The words were already an indifferent and frightening threat, and when Pei Jun heard it, he raised his leg and took a step closer to him, and said in a low voice: "I only hope that your son, Master Cai, can get out sooner than my sister, otherwise, this hole is now a hole. How did I get on Pei Jun, how I will get on Cai Yang in the future - if Grand Master Cai sees it, don't feel bad."

Hearing the sound, Cai Yan turned his head and stared at Pei Jun eagle-eyed for a moment, his eyes were full of sharpness, and said quietly: "Then Mr. Pei, please pay attention to your feet, don't look too far...you will fall instead."

After Cai Yan finished speaking, he took another look at Cui Yu, then half-closed his eyes as usual, and stepped out of the threshold with the support of the disciples beside him.The next moment, the sound of "Farewell to Taishi Cai" sounded outside, and Pei Jun turned his head to look, only to see that Cai Yan, wearing a flying crane silver coat, had disappeared behind the screen wall.

The guard took the signed documents and sent Cui Yu to the classroom.Pei Jun silently followed behind, standing outside the prison door that separated the inside and outside, watching his old friend being pushed into the prison, and at this moment he suddenly remembered Cui Yu's appearance when he returned to Beijing several years ago.

In fact, Pei Jun and Cui Yu did not stay in Qingyun Prison at the same time.Cui Yu was almost ten years older than them. When he entered Qingyun Prison, it was when Cui Yu had just passed the examination and had a Jinshi background, and it was time for the leader to go to work.

At that time, Cui Yu married the daughter of his benefactor and was lucky enough to marry him. Shen Shangshu's family in the Ministry of War hosted a banquet for him to invite the same prisoner and the next generation to eat for him. Jun and Fang Mingjue brought them over together.It's called lively classmate friendship, but it's just for drinking, but it also made Pei Jun and Cui Yu get acquainted, and they will call him senior brother or old Cui in the future.

Cui Yu suddenly entered the official gate from a commoner, and he probably wanted to stay in the middle of the capital to become an official or an official, but his old father-in-law, Shen Shangshu, looked down on the clerks in the middle of the capital and the miscellaneous jobs in the school, so he went straight After this trip, he is useless, and his daughter will also be looked down upon by his colleagues in the court.

So Shen Shangshu entrusted the relationship of the Ministry of Officials and assigned Cui Yu to the local government as a promotion official. His original intention was to use this position as a judicial officer to let Cui Yu be promoted to the position of governor and take charge of one party.But later when he went to the place, Cui Yu realized that the two bottles of local Buddhas were on his head. There were also many sighs in the letters they wrote, which showed that they were depressed, and Pei Jun and the others were very worried.That's why later Pei Jun became a servant, and as soon as he heard Jiang Zhan mention that the Ministry of Punishment lacked a chief, he quickly entered into admonitions, asked for a piece of imperial order, and hurriedly summoned Cui Yu to Beijing.

Thus, after seven years, the brothers finally got together again.

It was autumn when Cui Yu returned to Beijing.Maple trees line the streets of Jingmen.Because he didn't dare to tell Elder Shen the news of his return to Beijing, the only ones who came to pick him up were a group of juniors who stayed in Beijing.

At that time, the dry wind in the capital rolled up the hem of Cui Yu's silk shirt, and it seemed that it was the moment when it blew on his face seven years later that the wind and dust on his face were blown out.

Behind him stands Shen's by the car.Shen frowned and coaxed the crying eldest son in her arms, and cowardly asked Cui Yu how she had the face to go back to her natal family and how to settle down, but Cui Yu was looking at the scenery of the capital at that time, but when she looked back, she just looked at Pei Jun and the others on the side trembled and said thank you.

This seems to end the mixture of luck and misfortune in the past, but unexpectedly, it is not the end.

Recalling this, Pei Jun leaned on the prison door in front of him with trembling hands, frowned and looked at Cui Yu in the prison: "Old Cui, have you ever...thought to tell me about this?"

Cui Yu sat down on the hay on the stone bed in the prison, clenched the cloth with his fingers on his knees, and sighed hoarsely: "...Why didn't I think about it? I was anxious to find you when something happened. , but Yu Niang reported to her father in a hurry, and she cried so much that she smashed dishes and bowls, and made a fuss at home. When her father came, she gave me another general training, and she just brought money and gave it to the victim, and ordered me Writing Zhang's deed and forcing people to print it—"

"Then you should tell me afterwards!" Pei Jun slammed on the prison door, "How many times have you seen me and senior brothers? How many times have you had the opportunity to tell me! Why didn't you tell? Is it because you were lucky? In the past, I blamed you why you didn’t visit Hualou anymore. When I asked you, you said that you couldn’t find anyone... I really believed it! I said earlier that the six parts and twelve people are all prosperous and all are lost. In one body, have you already ignored these words!"

"If I say so, will you still keep me in the punishment department?" Cui Yu looked up at him, with two smears of ruthless red in his eyes, trembling, "Ziyu...you dare say you won't?" Replace me? Dare you say you won't?"

"You did such a thing, why are you sitting in this seat!" Pei Jun glared at him angrily, "This is the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Cui Yu! This is the Ministry of Criminal Justice! You actually sit in this seat and kill people!"

"Who said I killed the man! Who said that!" Cui Yu stood up abruptly, rushed to the prison door and stared at Pei Jun with bare eyes and roared, "That old woman was the corpse I examined and the coffin I collected! She was originally If there is an old illness and you don't tell it, who dares to say that I beat her to death! What's more, which seat in this court has never killed anyone? Let alone the Ministry of punishment?"

Speaking of which, he grabbed the prison door and approached Pei Jun, opened his eyes wide and said, "Ziyu, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being able to return to Beijing in these years. I will take care of the cases that have been corrected and the people who have been arrested over the years. It’s all up to you. I’ve done it all... I’ve listened to you, I’ve had enough mud and blood on my hands, and I’ve had enough crying about those half-human, half-ghost things in my dreams... How many of them have become Shangshu? I have spent so many years of suffering in exchange for this position, and I deserve it... I just want to keep my position, what's wrong with it? I have paid so much, why should I I will be forced down by a group of untouchables who stole money!"

"...Cui Yu," Pei Junsa opened the cell door and stepped back half a step, looking at Cui Yu in disbelief, "You are crazy."

"I'm crazy!" Cui Yu's eyes were covered with tears, his ten fingers clasping the prison door turned white with force, and he choked up again and again, the seven-foot man finally cried out after years of depression:

"I'm crazy, Ziyu...But they forced me, they forced me! I can't help it...I can't help it..."

In the afternoon of spring day, the tide is muggy and rainy.

When Pei Jun came out from Dali Temple, Qian Haiqing was waiting at the foot of the stone steps outside the ministry courtyard. When he saw him coming, he hurriedly went up to ask him, but when he saw Pei Jun's expression, he stopped his voice in time and only called out softly. Say master.

Pei Jun raised his hand and rubbed his forehead, glanced sideways at the gloomy sky above his head, stood in the middle of the long street for a while, and finally said: "...Qian Siqi."

Qian Haiqing quickly agreed: "Hey, what is Master's order?"

Pei Jun looked back at the plaque on the head of Dali Temple, and said coldly: "Go back and tell Uncle Dong that I will treat Mr. Cao and Master Mei to dinner tonight, and ask him to prepare more food and wine, and send all the servants away." Walk."

Qian Haiqing quickly wrote down: "Okay, okay... Then, what about Master? Where is Master going now?"

Pei Jun withdrew his gaze from Dali Temple and said, "I'm going to Jinwang Mansion again, and then, to the Ministry of Punishment."