Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

It's hard to believe that something so important to the lives of the nobles of the aristocratic family would be hidden in the body of Song Chen, the fourth-rank magistrate of Yangzhou.Perhaps ordinary people think that the magistrate is not a small official, the official who was called the prefect in ancient times is, but the magistrate is only in charge of the affairs of a government, commanding the subordinate counties. , After all, he is not a feudal official.

Among the official positions in the Jing Dynasty, the step from the fourth rank to the third rank is not a small hurdle. If you can pass it, you will have the opportunity to directly enter the center, enter the court, and become a person who controls the power of the country in the true sense. Affecting the fate of tens of millions of Qianshou.Even if he was a little bit close and didn't enter the center, he could still become a big official of the frontier, truly guard the pastoral side, and manage the life and death of a place.

But if you can't make it through, then ashes to ashes, dust to dust, just a small role of no great use.Even if he becomes a local magistrate, he is not much bigger than an ant. There are not only a few in the whole country, and he is not regarded by the court at all.

But Song Chen, such a small character, actually grasped something that could subvert several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River and control the two huge powers of the honorable family. I have to say that he was lucky if he was not assassinated. The grass is as tall as a man.It is probably because he hid things so well that the two parties have never found them, otherwise the twenty Song officials would have been assassinated.

No matter how well something is hidden, it can't hide the truth. This Song official is also a model of the minister who is not secretive.If it wasn't for the news that he held important items in his hands, it would have come to this.

Now for a while, because he hid things well, he was able to keep his property and life, and even use this to balance the power of the aristocratic family and the nobles, so that they would be on guard against each other and dare not attack him.But the situation will change after a long time. If he has been caught but can't taste the sweetness, one day the aristocratic family and nobles will give up what he has in his hands, and maybe they will join forces to take his life.

No matter how much a living person can keep a secret, it’s not as good as a dead person who can’t open his mouth. As long as Song Chen dies, his family members also die. The more tightly his things are hidden, the better it will be for the family and noble ?The big deal is that I can't take advantage of it myself, and I can't let others take advantage of it anyway.Isn't it the same to leave that thing in dust as it is without it?

If the aristocratic nobles were really forced to this point, then Song Chen would not be able to save the lives of their family.

Song Chen's life is indeed not a pity, and there are many braids behind him. Based on what he did for the Zhen family back then, even if he died a hundred times, he might not be able to atone for his sins. It's not easy to be silent like this.

In order to destroy the relationship between Song Chen and the Wang family, the stewards of the Liu family even snatched letters and killed people to silence them. It is conceivable that the Liu family is already dissatisfied with Song Chen's attitude, otherwise a small The little steward might be able to kill someone with a knife, but how could he have the courage to do it himself?

If this kind of hopeless waiting can be endured temporarily for only a few months, the Liu family may not be willing to wait any longer.The Liu family is like this, and the Wang family is not far behind. Other noble families and nobles can hardly continue to wait. If it is not because Jiang Yuan is still in the south of the Yangtze River, these people are afraid to startle the snake and lead Jiang Yuan to investigate. Chen has been dead for several rounds.

However, if Jiang Yuan left Jiangnan and returned to the capital, these aristocratic families and nobles would probably just find an assassin from the Qianxiang Kingdom, a bandit Jiangbandit or other excuses to send the whole family of the prefect of Yangzhou to see the King of Hades.It doesn't matter whether the capital believes it or not, as long as they do a good job, no matter how much they don't believe it, they can't find anything wrong.

"We must test Song Chen's reaction first, maybe we can get those things without making too much noise." Lin Jun thought for a while and said.

This Song Chen is now standing at the bottom of a cliff with a thin line of sky. On the left are untouchable high mountains and on the right are cliffs that cannot be climbed. If he wants to avoid being squeezed to death by the two sides, he will be crushed into meat , maybe he would be willing to accept Situ Sheng's cable.Even if it's possible for Situ Sheng to turn his face and deny anyone, it's better than dying now.

"I find it difficult." Jiang Yuan shook his head. It's not that he looked down on Song Chen, it's that this person is not very smart and a little too greedy.If he was willing to hand over those things to the Liu family right away, how could he be brought to this point?

Referring to the time of Wang Zipeng's first letter sent to Song Chen by Chen San, it is estimated that he fell into hesitation after receiving the letter from the Wang family. On the one hand, he felt that the weight given by the Liu family was not enough. On the one hand, they disliked that the Wang family promised too little benefit, so they simply decided to sit on the ground and raise the price, temporarily waiting for the price to be sold, and let the Liu family, the Wang family, and even other noble families give a higher price before deciding whether to sell, but I don't know Those greedy eyes couldn't see that his own death was approaching.

The more benefits others promised, the more Song Chen felt that someone would offer a higher price, and the more greedy he became, the more reluctant to let go. At this time, no matter who persuaded Song Chen, he would not listen, otherwise he would I am afraid that they have agreed to hand things over to one of them.And what about Shijia and Xungui?After paying so much, how can he allow Song Chen to jump to the other side or choose neither?This matter has fallen into a catastrophe, and it cannot be resolved with a single contact.

Hehe, even if Song Chen voluntarily handed over those things to Situ Cheng's side, he would leak the fact that the things had been handed over to the aristocratic family and nobles in order to save his life.This is not conducive to their future plans...

"It is very easy to scare the snake by making it clear with Song Chen. If our actions are discovered by the aristocratic family and nobles, then the following plan may not be easy to carry out. Therefore, we must not do it ourselves, but through the aristocratic family and the nobles. Xungui's hands and some little-known tricks forced Song Chen to show his flaws." Jiang Yuan said with a smile.

The steward of the Liu family thought he made a good move and killed the opponent's big dragon, but he didn't expect that the chess piece of this move fell into Jiang Yuan's hands.He didn't catch any fresh river fish with this fishing rod, but he caught a big living person, and he was able to follow the words of this living person to catch the whole Jiangnan!

Situ Ye listened to the conversation between Jiang Yuan and Lin Jun with half understanding, his eyes were always bright, as if he had discovered something interesting.What the teacher is doing now seems to be more interesting and exciting than the stories he told in the past. Situ Ye did not feel bored or disgusted when he came into contact with schemes and darkness for the first time. Instead, he found these things so interesting.Well, who knows what he will grow into in the future?

Jiang Yuan asked with a smile: "Where has that Song official been to during this time?"

Lin Jun replied: "He didn't dare to wander around during this time. Apart from his own mansion and the magistrate's office, he has only been to Daming Temple. I heard that Song Chen is a very devout Buddhist believer. I don't know how to donate money to the temple. How much money did he spend on sesame oil? However, there are many temples in Yangzhou, but he only loves Daming Temple. It is suspected that he hid those things in the Daming Temple, and almost searched the entire Daming Temple, but still found nothing."

Believe in Buddhism?Jiang Yuan smiled disdainfully. If Song Chen really believed in compassion, how could the words of saving sentient beings help the Zhen family to do so many outrageous things?It is said that believing in Buddhism is just spending money to buy peace. If the Buddha is really alive and believes that all living beings are equal, how can he bless Song Chen, a thief in the name of an official?If a person like him can live a safe life, God has no eyes.

Jiang Yuan pondered for a while, government offices, mansions and Daming Temple?If it was him, where would he hide such an important thing?

"Has anything happened in these three places recently?" Jiang Yuan asked with a frown.

Lin Jun didn't take it seriously, and said, "There's nothing special about it."

"The steward of the Liu family lived in the Song Mansion a few days ago, and pestered Song Chen every day, forcing him to hand over those things. Chen San also said that he was also ordered to live in the Song Mansion. In the guest room, Song Chen was entangled with Song Chen for more than a month at the longest time, and the others are nothing special."

"The government office of the prefect of Yangzhou is currently undergoing repairs. I heard that the main hall has been in disrepair for a long time, the roof is leaking from wind and rain, and the walls are also cracked and moldy. That's why Song Chen ordered a bricklayer to repair it a few days ago. By the way Also tidy up other houses in the government office."

"People come and go in Daming Temple, many people come in and out every day, and many of them are spies sent by the Wang family and Liu family. According to the report, every time Song Chen went to Daming Temple to burn incense, several spies would follow him, although I couldn't follow into the meditation room, but I kept guarding the door, for fear that Song Chen would run away. Daming Temple has only done a few religious ceremonies recently. There's nothing special about it."

Jiang Yuan closed his eyes and thought for a while, then smiled, "I probably know where those things are hidden. But if you want to confirm the exact location of the things, you need to test Song Chen again. Chen San, that's a good move." ah."

Lin Jun couldn't help but widen his eyes, just after hearing a few words, can he know where those things are hidden?Isn't Master Jiang a little bit too powerful, with such a powerful insight, is this, is this still a human being?

Yangzhou City, the residence of Song Chen.

Song Chen had a headache, and it got even worse when he saw Guanshi Liu who lived in the guest room of his mansion.

This Guanshi Liu has no official position, but is just a slave. He has a slave status, and his status is more than one level lower than that of a commoner. I am afraid that even the beggars on the street are higher than him, but he is a slave of the aristocratic Liu family, and He is the confidant of the head of the Liu family, so his status is higher than that of ordinary officials.

As the saying goes, a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door, although the Liu family has never produced an official with a third rank or higher in this dynasty, Guanshi Liu's power is much greater than that of ordinary seventh-rank officials.The Liu family's power in this three-acre area in the south of the Yangtze River can be said to be overwhelming. Although they can't cover the sky with one hand, if they unite with the rest of the family, they can poke a hole in the sky in the south of the Yangtze River.As a result, Guanshi Liu became public, let alone Song Chen, a fourth-rank official, even if the prince came, he might not be willing to take it seriously.

There is an official talisman in Jinling, with the names of the four major families written on it. How can other places in the south of the Yangtze River escape?

In order not to be pulled down from the official position, the black yarn will be removed, and even the head will fall to the ground. No matter how clear the officials who came to the south of the Yangtze River were at the beginning, they will only end up with two endings in the end. Dismissed from office and returned to his hometown to eat himself.

It's not that everyone is so cheap and wants to add a master to themselves so they compromise, but they have to compromise.Even if you are not convinced, what's the use of reporting to Beijing?At most, the imperial court could only hit the family and nobles and say a few words that were neither serious nor serious, but in the end, these forces were able to control most of Jiangnan, making them, officials who came to Jiangnan, breathless.

It was because there was no other way that Song Chen chose to join the Zhen family.Song Chen thought he understood clearly. Compared to being forced to take refuge with a master, and finally getting red-faced and really angry, it is better for him to take the initiative and send it to the door automatically, at least to save some kindness, and I really want to see him in the future .

What's more, the Zhen family still had a concubine in the palace at that time, holding the eldest son of the emperor in their hands, and they all said that the prince would be the eldest son. Only the first assistant Feng Ao can secure his position, but Feng Ao is already old, who knows how many days he can live, if Feng Ao dies, wouldn't the Zhen family be the mother's family of the future emperor?

Therefore, he tried his best to do things for the Zhen family, whether it was to deceive the superiors, to collude with outside thieves, or even to kill people to silence... He got used to dirty things after doing a lot. How can there be clean officials in this world? Not all of them are like this, since everyone is like this, who can point out that I am wrong?Do two more things for the Zhen family today, even if you have a position in front of the new emperor in the future, you can be regarded as a confidant even if you don't count as Conglongzhigong...

Song Chen's plan was very good, but the plot didn't develop as he thought.

The crown prince did fall and became some kind of loyal prince, and even disappeared early, leaving only a bastard to inherit the throne.He had just been rejoicing for a while, but the winter solstice palace coup happened, the eldest prince actually conspired to rebel, and was killed by the same unforgiving fifth prince!The Zhen family was not saved, and was ransacked and beheaded, and the rest of the clan were also driven to the border to survive. How could they, the henchmen of the Zhen family, have a way out? !

Fortunately, Song Chen was holding a particularly important item entrusted to him by the Zhen family, which gave him an extra bargaining chip.That Zhen Yingjia, who claims to be the head of the family, is actually a big fool!He thought that he was his confidant, and would take good care of those things for him, and help the Zhen family to make a comeback and enter the court again.Bah, he's not stupid, how could he honestly guard the Zhen family who had no chance at all?

So Song Chen didn't feel guilty at all when he received the invitation from the Liu family. What was the downfall of the Zhen family?Even the nobles who founded the country are not big figures!The Liu family and the aristocratic family still hold at least one Shun Wang Situhui, isn't it a thousand times stronger than the empty-handed Xungui?If King Shun can ascend to the throne with the help of what he has in his hands, he will be a minister of the dragon!He must control the authority of the world, one person is under one man and ten thousand people are above him!

However, he soon discovered a problem. Although the Liu family planned to accept him, they simply took a fancy to the things in his hands, and planned to use his past as a threat to take away the things in his hands. I didn't intend to give him a chance to "conglong".

And that damned Zhen Yingjia, before he died, even secretly entrusted the family property to the noble Wang family. By the way, he also let the Wang family know the secret in his hands, which made Wang Zipeng come to pester him.

But that's okay, with the entanglement of the Wang family, he has a bargaining chip to ask for benefits from the Liu family. Those little tricks in the past can't do anything to him at all. What he wants is not money and empty promises, but real power!He wants to be the confidant of King Shun, he wants to be the minister of Conglong, and he wants to be the chief minister of the future dynasty!

How can a small place in the south of the Yangtze River satisfy his appetite? He is different from the short-sighted aristocratic family and nobles. What he wants is power, and what he wants is to reach the top!

...But what did this damn Guanshi Liu tell him?This terrible servant dared to kill Chen San who was sent by the Wang family to contact him!

Although he knew that Chen San's death was not enough to shake the Wang family's will to contact him, but after learning about it, he felt chills.

Manager Liu didn't have any expression on his face, but there was a murderous look in his eyes, and he said calmly: "Chen San, that servant of the royal family... Humph, I've already killed him. I'm afraid I've already fed him by now. fish."

Song Chen shivered, only felt a chill come in from the tailbone and go up, rushing straight to the top of the sky.It's just a small letter delivery manager who dares not to take human life seriously, and kills him if he says he will kill him, so what about the descendants of the Liu family?Where is the head of the Liu family?Do they take human life seriously?Or would they take the lives of their whole family seriously?

Until now, Song Chen, who had been dazzled by fame and fortune, realized that the one who had been negotiating with him was not an ordinary person, but the local emperor in the south of the Yangtze River, a powerful family who had taken the lives of countless officials and civilians!

Song Chen was frightened, but if he turned to the aristocratic family at this time, would Xungui let him be a traitor?The Liu family is not easy to provoke. Could it be that the forces of the Wang family can provoke them at will?Him, what should he do now? !

Whoever offends will die, but if he doesn't choose, he will die even more.At this time, Song Chen was extremely regretful. He had made such a big mistake in a moment of brainstorming, and even planned to snatch food from the tiger's mouth and join forces with tigers and wolves.What now?If the food is not taken, his own life will be filled in.

Song Chen was sitting in the hall and sighing, when a door rushed in, rushing in, shouting, "Master, master, it's not good, the official... yamen, the magistrate's yamen is on fire!"

Song Chen jumped up from his chair when he heard it, "Fire? How did it happen? Where did it go? Is there anyone to put out the fire?"

"My lord, I don't even know the little one. Just now a servant from the yamen came in to report. He only said that the fire was very serious. Let the lord go back to the yamen to take charge of the overall situation." Menzi was confused by Song Chen's question, and hurriedly Said.

Hearing it is true, this little doorman has been guarding at home, how would he know about the affairs of the yamen.Song Chen hurriedly ordered: "Hurry up, prepare the carriage for the master, the master is going to the government office now!"

Manager Liu who lived in the guest room frowned and was about to follow up to see what was going on, but another door rushed in to report.As soon as Menzi saw that Guanshi Liu was also here, he quickly closed his mouth, held back a word without uttering it, blushed from the suffocation, and swallowed the words that had already reached his mouth.

Liu Guanshi felt that something was wrong, but Song Chen was in a hurry to rush to the Yamen. He flicked his sleeves to show his official authority, and shouted: "What's the matter, why don't you report it quickly?"

The doorman swallowed his saliva, and then said in a low voice: "Master, someone is asking to see you outside the mansion, and it is that Guanshi Chen." Guanshi Chen?To be called so, isn't it referring to Chen San, the little steward who delivered the letter at Wang Zipeng's house? !

Song Chen's eyes widened, and he quickly looked at Guanshi Liu who was standing beside him in shock.That means, didn't you say that Chen San was killed by you a few days ago?Okay, you've been playing tricks on me for a long time, aren't you?I was so scared that I was out of my wits. I thought you were so cruel and merciless, but in fact you were fooling me, trying to scare me and make me completely fall for the Liu family, right?

Song Chen was so angry that he completely forgot the previous fear of the aristocratic family. He flicked his sleeves and went out without paying any attention to Guanshi Liu, leaving only one sentence, "Guan Chen, please go to the guest room to rest first."

That Guanshi Liu was also taken aback. He was the one who tied up Chen San with his own hands and threw him into the river. He saw Chen San submerged under the water. How could he still be alive?This is absolutely impossible, right? !He thought about it, and just wanted to walk out of the hall to follow Song Chen, but he bumped into Chen San who was walking towards the hall!

Guanshi Liu was so frightened that his hairs stood on end, he, he, he is really alive!Is he a man or a ghost?Could it be a ghost who took his life...

As soon as Chen San walked in, he brought a smell of lamp oil, and it was this smell that made Guanshi Liu hesitate again.The winter in the south of the Yangtze River is not as dry and cold as in the north, it is still very humid, and it just rained heavily yesterday, how could the magistrate's government office suddenly catch fire?Could it be that Chen San used kerosene to ignite the house and set the fire, otherwise why would he have such a heavy smell of kerosene?

When Chen San saw that Guanshi Liu, his eyes darkened for a moment, but he immediately withdrew a stiff smile. His smile came and went quickly, but he was still spotted by the sharp-eyed Guanshi Liu.Chen San greeted casually, "Guard Liu, are you going out?" The words were ordinary, but there seemed to be a hint of color between his brows, as if he had a chance to get something important.

Guanshi Liu couldn't help feeling tense, did this Chen San set the fire on purpose?In fact, he already knew the location of those things, and those things were hidden in the Song Mansion, so he planned to set fire to distract Song Chen and himself, so that he could take the opportunity to take the things away?

People's brain power is very powerful, and the more they supplement, the more afraid they become. This time, Guanshi Liu didn't dare to leave. He decided to keep an eye on Chen San here, for fear that Chen San would find those people when he was away. Something dealt a fatal blow to the family.

It doesn't matter if you can't get it yourself, but Chen San can't get it no matter what you say!Guanshi Liu gritted his teeth fiercely, so what if you, Chen San, come back to life?No one on the boat saw me throwing you into the river that day, and I burned the clothes that were missing the placket very early. You had no witnesses or physical evidence, so there was nothing you could do against me.

Guanshi Liu has a fierce look in his eyes, he is in a hurry, I will let you die again!