Survival countdown

Chapter 8

Lin'an County Prince's Mansion.

The adjutant hurriedly pushed open the door of the study room, facing a strong smell of medicine rushing into his nostrils, the doors and windows were closed tightly, and the four stoves were burning at the same time, burning the room like a steamer.

The big wool quilt on the couch was hanging down to the ground, and Huo Jingtang just wrapped himself in the wool quilt and closed his eyes to rest his mind, his lips were still livid from the cold in the steamer-like room.

Adjutant: "General, Liu Laoba, the question seller, has died suddenly for more than half a month. Some people who asked questions at the Flower Tea House also committed suicide at home. The question sellers in the market and those who accepted bribes to help find ways to cheat disappeared overnight."

Huo Jingtang fiddled with the Buddha beads: "I said earlier that if you didn't arrest him immediately that day, it would be difficult to catch him later."

The adjutant was ashamed: "This subordinate wants to put a long line to catch big fish."

Huo Jingtang: "In the season when everything is in danger, everyone is in danger, and they will give you time to catch big fish?"

The adjutant buried his head even lower, failed in his errands, and was ashamed to see others. He suddenly remembered something and said: "My subordinates also found out that Mr. Liu's real name is Liu Congde, and he recognizes the crown prince's nanny as his adoptive mother. Both of them are easy to gamble on." , both owed thousands of taels of gambling money. But two months ago, they paid off their gambling debts and had money to have fun. The subordinates wanted to send Donggong nurse for questioning, but Donggong said that she was too sad to lose her son, and she was already unconscious. But before I left the East Palace, I heard the chief eunuch of the East Palace reprimand a piece of dental plaque that was lost for two months and no one reported it, I checked the records and found that the last person who used that dental plaque was the crown prince's nanny!"

"Also," the adjutant hesitated for a while and said, "This subordinate sent people to other provinces for a trip. On the way, they met a scholar who was seriously injured. He came from Jiangxi and was going to Beijing to sue Chen Zhizhou, the chief examiner of Jiangxi Province, for taking bribes and blatantly cheating. , Violently suppressed the candidates who offered sacrifices to the Confucius Temple, causing the candidates' legs to be disabled, and even sent someone to intercept and kill the scholar who sued the imperial court - our people were too late to save him, and only took away the Jiangnan 450 that he carried with him. Three candidates jointly sued Chen Zhizhou blood book."

Huo Jingtang remained motionless, and after a while he said, "Look for someone to keep an eye on Zheng You. He stretched his arms too far, and dared to touch the imperial examinations of other provinces. Apart from the Jiangnan examination room, I don't know how many other provinces he touched - I remember their rules." Is half of the money collected and half refunded, and the final payment will be made after it is placed in the bank, etc., and it will be returned if it is not won?"

Adjutant: "Yes."

Huo Jingtang: "If I remember correctly, the governor of Jingdu Quan is a disciple of Uncle Ten. You go to the capital with Uncle Ten's name and ask him to check the gambling houses, restaurants, and theaters in the east and west cities. Where Zheng is famous Check all the property. When he has no income and is short of money, he will use the remaining balance. As long as he has moved, he will be arrested."

The adjutant hesitated: "But general, you also said that everyone is in danger now, how dare he call someone to take money at this juncture? The money might expose their accomplices in other provinces, does Zheng You dare to take the risk?"

Huo Jingtang: "Duke Zheng's mansion is used to extravagance and waste, and is used to using money to run things up and down. He especially likes to curry favor with His Majesty on the grounds of reducing military expenses and rations. It is all thanks to the money that Zheng You sent over that the Yizhou Army will not be disbanded in place. .”

Dozens of millions of mouths are waiting to eat, and burn money at fixed times every day. Once the income stops, one can imagine the serious consequences that will happen.

Mentioning that Zheng Guogong and his son jumped out every time when the court allocates military expenditures, they said that they would reduce military expenditures and food salaries, cut down the army, and that they should focus on excellence. Call one.

"Obey! I want to see how they pretend in front of His Majesty this time!"

After less than a stick of incense, the adjutant was already sweating profusely and felt deeply unwell. Seeing Huo Jingtang's face was bloodless from the cold, he felt depressed and filled with grief and indignation: "It's only April now, and the poisonous poison has begun. If you have an attack, why don't you send someone to look for Dr. Xu?"

When Huo Jingtang was 21 years old, he was poisoned by Gu poison in his body during the battle against Nanjiang, and his face developed malignant sores, so he was called General Shura.After being poisoned by Gu poison, the body will have high fever in winter, and it will be as cold as in an ice cellar in summer, and it will not die for a while, but the victim will suffer endless torture before dying painfully.

Returning the military power and staying in the capital, His Majesty and King Kang both sent people to search for an antidote. They found the miracle doctor Xu Mingbi at the border of Jiaozhi and Dajing. Every year in the eleventh, twelfth, and seventh and eighth months, I have to suffer.

In previous years, the poisonous poison would only attack during the hot summer, but this year it only started to appear in April, which means that the suppressed medicine is no longer effective.

"It's useless." Huo Jingtang's voice was very low and his speech was very slow. He was extremely weak at this moment, and he had to be extremely strong to stay awake.

Not to mention that Xu Mingbi's whereabouts are uncertain, he is unwilling to become an official, and he was hurt by love three years ago and even avoided seeing others. He said before that it's not impossible to eradicate the poison, but he lacks a blind medicine: Ten Thousand Years of Blood Amber.

Ten thousand years of blood amber is even rarer than Sui pearls and biscuits. It once appeared in the treasure house of the richest man in Jiangnan, but disappeared four years ago when the richest man in Jiangnan destroyed his family. Over the years, countless secret guards have been sent to search for it, but nothing has been found.

The adjutant gritted his teeth, helpless.

"Get out, don't suffer from heat stroke in my room." Huo Jingtang opened his eyes, half-closed his eyelids, and his eyeballs, which seemed to be embedded in clear glass, swept over at will, like the eyes of a compassionate Bodhisattva.

The adjutant felt sad, and when he left the courtyard, the eight-foot man was about to cry with a wrinkled face, but was spotted by Kang Wang who came to visit.

King Kang was the tenth oldest, and was raised under the empress dowager's knee since he was a child. Although he and Emperor Yuanshou were not born of the same mother, they were siblings, and he always loved Huo Jingtang, his nephew.

"Yo yo, your prince is not dead, so you start crying first."

The adjutant hurriedly saluted, couldn't help telling the whole story about Huo Jingtang's terrible situation, and only mentioned the errand that he had explained.

King Kang originally wanted to see Huo Jingtang, but when he thought that his nephew was suffering and the poison was getting worse, he was so worried and disappeared, he hurried out of the mansion and said that he would send another wave of hidden guards to search for the Wannian Xuepo.

While talking and complaining, Emperor Yuanshou even threw Huo Jingtang the errand of missing questions in the imperial examination. Is he cultivating people or trying to grind people to death?

The adjutant only thought he was deaf the whole time.

***

Before Zhao Baiyu managed to sneak into the East Palace, there was a new development of the case from Dali Temple.

The yamen servant who was on duty told him quietly that a few days ago someone went into the prison at night to meet Wang Shangshu, and the next day Wang Shangshu took the initiative to confess that the mastermind who missed the title was Chen Shilang.

Chen Shilang had an affair with the nanny of Donggong, and he sold the test questions in order to pay off her gambling debts. Because the nanny is from Donggong, and half of the cases involved in the fraudulent buying of questions were related to princelings, he succeeded Out of the prince.

The latest progress of the case was somehow known to the Qin royal party. In the early dynasty, a large group of officials joined the crown prince together. Emperor Yuanshou was so angry that the crown prince was scolded bloody. He even asked for leave. He was also angered and scolded him for being derelict in his duties when he only stepped into Dali Temple one day after receiving the post for more than half a month.

However, the anger was mainly concentrated on the crown prince. First, he was ordered to investigate himself, strictly restrain the subordinates, and find out those who were involved in the imperial examination fraud. He was also asked to hand over his nanny to cooperate with the Dali Temple investigation. The official hat of the minister, including the honorary titles obtained by Chen Shilang from serving the three dynasties, ordered the confinement of the Chen family, and found out whether the achievements of Chen Fangrong, the son of Chen Shilang, were genuine.

After the case is over, Chen Shilang will be executed in Qiuhou, as a warning to others!

As soon as these words came out, it was tantamount to condemning the teacher to death, and no one dared to intercede.

After the Chen Mansion was imprisoned, Chen Fangrong climbed out of the tree to meet Zhao Baiyu and said that he was going to knock on the drum to complain: "The entanglement in the court can be clearly seen by all the officials. They know which party my father does not belong to. My father Innocent and innocent, but none of them will stand up and accuse King Qin of attacking the prince, even the elders of the three dynasties can slander! The Qin royal party will only use my father to bring down the prince, and the princelings will try their best to get rid of the relationship between the prince and my father, my father It has become a weapon for them to attack each other. No matter what the truth is, the result will be a dead end. Unless I personally go to the palace to complain - the only person who can save my father now is the king of Lin'an County. He does not belong to any party, let alone offend everyone official."

Chen Fangrong held a death-defying determination and pleading in his eyes: "Zhao Baiyu, I beg you to go to Lin'an County King and ask him to return my father's innocence."

He knew that the king of Lin'an was a man, and he knew that this move was to force Zhao Baiyu, but he really had no choice.

His father is in a desperate situation, as a son of man, how can he remain indifferent?

Knocking on the drum and complaining about grievances can't change anything, unless Chen Fangrong smashed his head into the Chuigong Palace and exchanged his life for the attitude of Emperor Yuanshou to explain to the world.

"Don't be so full of death and death, there is a chance to reverse the case before the case is over. Wait, the prince should fight back, let them fight for a while. As for the king of Lin'an County, I have looked for it, but no one is there. I."

Speaking of this, Zhao Baiyu had a headache.

He managed to overcome the fear of Huo Jingtang in his heart, walked to the door of the county prince's mansion with trembling calves, knocked on the door under the staring eyes of the two stone lions, and was immediately rejected.

When the concierge heard about his identity, he rolled his eyes and then slammed the door. After entering the mansion to report, he rejected him on the grounds that he could not meet before marriage.

Zhao Baiyu wanted to stop Huo Jingtang on the way back home, but the other party didn't go out for three or four days.

What's more, even if he gets blocked, what reason can he use to persuade Huo Jingtang to help him save his benefactor?

He was on an errand, so he hid far away, and would rather be reprimanded than get involved, his attitude was obvious.

Zhao Baiyu waved his hand, asked Wei Bo to escort Chen Fangrong back to the mansion, and promised: "Don't worry, if there is no change within five days, I'll go beat Dengwen drum."

Chen Fangrong has only one child as his mentor, and he doesn't want his mentor to lose his son before he is released from prison.

Guaranteed that even though he would go out, if he wanted to intervene in this case, he would have no way at all as a sixth-rank official.

Huo Jingtang couldn't get through, so Zhao Baiyu could only go to Shangfeng.

Coincidentally, just as Shangfeng was seeing off the honored guest, Zhao Baiyu stepped forward to say hello with his goatee pinching his face sadly.

"Master Ji, what are you worried about?"

Ji Zhifu sighed: "Being entrusted by others, you can't refuse. Some things are easy to handle, and some things are difficult - what are you doing here? Today is not a day to report on official duties, so how can you go to the government in person? But you have something to ask for."

"Master Ji is very discerning, Goro can't hide it from you!"

"Stop flattering, talk about what's going on first."

Ji Zhifu admired Zhao Baiyu very much. He had a smooth official career in recent years, and he was praised several times for presenting good ideas. Because Zhao Baiyu is a good subordinate, he has outstanding ability and is not greedy for merit. How could he not like it?

Therefore, he can give a little face to what he asks for.

"My lord, do you know a friend who can intervene in the case of missing questions in the imperial examination?"

Ji Zhifu looked at Zhao Baiyu in horror: "Hurry up and get rid of your thoughts of courting death! What are you thinking? You don't have to take this evil path if you want to make contributions!" Master Chen Shilang?"

"Yes." Zhao Baiyu leaned down and bowed: "The teacher is suffering, and the student cannot sleep or eat. If he sees death and does not save him, the student will have a lifetime of conscience. Please help me!"

Prefect Ji expressed a lot of emotion: "You are so sincere. Once something happened to Chen Shidao, even the dogs avoided his door, but you took the initiative to go up to him... Sigh, although I am in charge of the affairs of the capital, I have no right to intervene in the case of Dali Temple. What's more, this case is no small matter, even the crown prince is involved, who would dare to help you?"

It is really rare to see Zhao Baiyu not giving up, and trying his best to save his teacher. If he is given a kindness, he will be in trouble in the future, or he will run for him today.

Living in court, precarious, who doesn't envy a friend who can give charcoal in a timely manner?

Ji Zhifu said to him: "The ten princes just came to my house and asked me to find a rare thing for a nobleman, called Wannian Blood Amber. If you can find it and give it to me, then the nobleman will definitely help you."

Are there any rare treasures for the princes and nobles?

If they couldn't even find them, how could Zhao Baiyu, a powerless little man, find him?

Thinking of this, Ji Zhifu felt that he had come up with a bad idea, and sighed inwardly.

Zhao Baiyu asked: "What does Wannian Xuepo look like?"

You don't even know what it looks like, let alone find a treasure?Ji Zhifu: "Red, like moldy ordinary wood, with a foul smell. But after being roasted by fire, and then scalded with ice water, it is made of transparent glass and has a strange fragrance."

red?block?smell?

A little familiar, as if seen somewhere.

Zhao Baiyu thought hard, and finally remembered the thank you gift from Li Yiru, hurriedly said goodbye and ran home to find the box, experimented with the method Ji Zhifu said, and finally got a ten thousand year blood amber that was crystal clear like a ruby ​​and had a strong fragrance.

As soon as the magistrate Ji sat down to drink tea, he saw Zhao Baiyu go and come back, holding a wooden box and excitedly said: "Master Ji, can you see if this is the blood amber of ten thousand years?"

Look, before a stick of incense, he didn't know what the ten-thousand-year blood amber is, but after a stick of incense, he said that he found it, so don't be tricked by street vendors and treat the worthless rags as treasures.

That ten thousand year blood amber is a rare treasure that his mentor has been searching for for several years, so how can he say that he will find it when he finds it?

Ji Zhifu said disapprovingly: "Wulang, I know you are eager to save people, but you can't go to the doctor in a hurry and take the stinky wood from the street as a treasure. , to anger the ten princes, ten lives are not enough for you to cut—"

The voice stopped abruptly when Zhao Baiyu opened the wooden box and stared in front of his eyes.

Ji Zhifu looked at the blood amber shaped like glass, smelled the strange fragrance, and looked up at Zhao Baiyu with smiling eyes.

"Look at this thing? Does it look like ten thousand years of blood amber?"

Ji Zhifu: "..." He was dumbfounded.