Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 43 There is a demon
Kou Heiyi, who had just been promoted, raised his eyebrows slightly, glanced at Yang Che, and a fleeting smile flashed across his face.

He and Yang Che were close friends. Now that Yang Che had been promoted and was his deputy, he was naturally happy.

Yang Che clasped his fists and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "I, Ding Zuoshou Kou Dutou, will serve the court wholeheartedly."

Mu En smiled and nodded, then stood up again and said to everyone: "I have always punished those who made mistakes and rewarded those who made contributions.

I hope that you will not let the court down and be worthy of the salary the court gives you.

"All the people from top to bottom should work together, exert all their loyalty and wisdom, and dig out the snakes and rats of the Jin Kingdom who have sneaked into our Song Dynasty one by one, serve the government as hawks and dogs, and serve as the eyes and ears of the court!"

Cao Min and Liu Shangqiu left their seats together, and together with the other captains and deputy captains in the hall, they bowed and clasped their fists, saying in unison: "We will follow the instructions of the chief!"

Mu En finished his instructions and looked at Commander Cao Min meaningfully: "Commander Cao, please take charge of the rest. I have something else to do."

Mu En turned around and walked behind the screen. Everyone bowed and saluted: "Farewell, Tiju!"

After the imperial envoy left, Cao Min turned around and looked at his subordinates, but did not return to his desk and sit down.

He hesitated, with an awkward look on his face. He finally coughed, slapped his forehead and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have one more thing to ask Mu Tiju. The next thing will be arranged by Deputy Commander Liu."

After saying that, Cao Min slipped away and chased after Mu En.

Liu Shangqiu curled his lips and made a soft "tsk" sound.

He did not stand up either, but just sat there lazily. At some point, the jade handle of the boy holding a lotus appeared in his palm again.

Liu Shangqiu stroked the jade handle while smiling: "The Imperial Envoy and Commander Cao are both people who care about their reputation and are too embarrassed to say this. I don't care about my reputation, I will say it myself."

Liu Shangqiu yawned and continued lazily, "A cat was lost at Prime Minister Qin's house. It's been many days, but it's still not found. Prime Minister Qin has no appetite and can't even eat or drink!"

Liu Shangqiu's affectionate peach blossom eyes scanned the different expressions of the people and teased, "Our Three Yamen Commander General Yang wants to share Prime Minister Qin's worries, and has ordered the Three Yamen Imperial Guards to help the Qin family find the cat, hehe."

At this point, Liu Shangqiu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He quickly covered his mouth in a feminine manner and tensed his face.

"Hey! This time, our Imperial Envoy can't stand it anymore. There's nothing we can do. Please understand. This is just like giving a gift. If you give it, people may not remember you. But if you don't give it, they will definitely remember you in their hearts."

Liu Shangqiu waved his sleeves, bringing up a scented breeze: "So, the Imperial City has issued an order!"

The people below all straightened their bodies at the same time with a "swish" sound.

"Five thousand imperial officials, three thousand imperial attendants, all officials and servants of the Yellow Courtyard, Zao Courtyard, Inner Courtyard, Express Courtyard, and Long Courtyard, obey my order!
From now on, whether you are performing official duties or off duty, if you see or hear any news about a snow-white lion cat, you must track it down and do not neglect it! "

Everyone in the hall was suddenly speechless.

What happened to the promise of "serving the government as a hawk or dog, and being the eyes and ears of the imperial court"?

You just gave us a bowl of chicken blood, and now you're going to find a cat for the Qin family?
For a moment, some were ashamed, some were angry, and some were sad, but no one answered.

Liu Shangqiu didn't care. He stood up, put the folding fan on his belt, put his hands behind his back, and walked leisurely behind the screen.

But the way he walked, his feet were in a straight line, light and steady, and it was impossible not to twist his hips.

When a woman behaves like this, she is called graceful and charming.

Men are like this...

This is the cat walk, which was called "Zheluobu" in this era. It was invented by Ersun Shou, a beauty in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Shangqiu has six older sisters.

He grew up under the care of seven or eight aunts and six sisters.

Therefore, his speech and behavior are often somewhat feminine, which makes others feel uncomfortable, but he himself does not realize it at all.

He didn't even know that Kou Heiyi, Yang Che and other pawns of the Imperial City secretly gave him a nickname: The Imperial City's Demon Concubine!

※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At night, Prime Minister Qin's residence was utterly silent.

Because Qin Hui likes quietness.

In Qin Hui's bedroom, after passing a six-panel screen with pine, bamboo and plum paintings, one faces a plain red lacquered bed with elegant and flowing lines.

The curtains were half drawn, and there was a dressing table near the window, with a high-legged semi-circular table next to it.

On the table, there were a few fresh flowers in a long-necked white porcelain vase. The light cast the sparse shadows of the flowers on the beige window paper of the round window.

Qin Hui wore a moon-white Dingzhou brocade midi, and his gray hair was tied into a loose bun.

He was sitting on the edge of the couch, with two young and beautiful maids, wearing only small clothes, serving him on his left and right.

A little maid helped him take a bowl of medicine, and another promptly handed him a cup of light salt mouthwash.

While Qin Hui was rinsing his mouth, she had already knelt on her knees and held high up a silver spittoon with a pomegranate flower pattern.

Qin Hui rinsed his mouth and spat the salt water into the silver spittoon.

Another maid quickly handed over the handkerchief.

Qin Hui wiped the corner of his lips and ordered slowly: "Dim the lights, there's no need to turn them off."

"Yes!"

The two maids agreed and went to dim the lights.

Suddenly a voice came from outside: "Grandfather, are you asleep?"

"Oh, it's Xun'er, come in."

Qin Hui waved his hand, and the two maids hurriedly bowed and backed out holding the silver spittoon.

Then a young man walked in.

This young man was not yet 20 years old, and his face still showed a hint of childishness. He was none other than Qin Hui's eldest grandson, Qin Xun.

In fact, Qin Hui had no descendants, he had no biological children.

His wife Wang had an elder brother named Wang Huan, who had an illegitimate son, so he adopted him and renamed him Qin Hui. Qin Hui gave birth to several children for the Qin family.

The Qin Xun in front of you is Qin Hui’s eldest son. He just turned eighteen this year and is the third place in this year’s imperial examination.

"Mrs. Tong" Qin Jiayue is Qin Xun's sister.

Qin Jiayue was granted the title of "Lady Chongguo" when she was ten years old. Naturally, her brother received more honors than Lady Tong.

When Qin Xun was nine years old, he was appointed to an official position through imperial favor and entered the Zhimi Pavilion.

In the 20th year of Shaoxing, Qin Xun and his younger brother Qin Kan entered Xianmo Pavilion together.

Qin Xun was promoted to the editor of Youwendian, and Qin Kan was granted the editor of Mige. At that time, Qin Xun was only fourteen years old.

During the autumn examination last year, the imperial court held the "Lock Hall Examination".

This is an imperial examination specifically held for descendants of royal families, court officials, and children of high-ranking officials.

With Qin Hui's secret manipulation, the seventeen-year-old Qin Xun first won the first place in the provincial examination and was ready to become the top scholar.

As a result, during the imperial examination, Emperor Zhao Gou pushed him down to the third place.

Qin Hui's sense of crisis that "time waits for no one" began at that time...

Seeing his most trusted eldest grandson, Qin Hui laughed and stood up.

Originally, he always acted like he was dying in front of others, but pretended to be fine.

But at this moment, Qin Hui's spirit and energy completely changed, as if he had swallowed a golden elixir and was suddenly reborn.

He is pretending to be sick!

Qin Hui is now the Grand Tutor, Zuo Pushe, Co-Minister of the Secretariat and Privy Councilor, and is in charge of government affairs.

His adopted son Qin Hui was in charge of the Privy Council and held military power.

The father and son shared the political and military power of the Song Dynasty.

His grandsons are now all serving as officials in the court, and they are all noble civil servants.

It can be said that the family is full of nobles and their wealth is unmatched.

However, when he was confident that his grandson Qin Xun would be crowned the top scholar, Zhao Gou knocked him down to third place.

He suddenly realized how deeply the government feared him.

If it were in the past, he wouldn't care, because he had the support of the Jin people, and the government would not dare to touch him easily.

However, his increasing age and decaying body gave him a sense of crisis.

So, not long after this incident happened, Qin Hui began to pretend to be sick.

Not only did he pretend to be sick, but once he appeared in public, he tried his best to pretend that he was as healthy as before.

This made everyone believe that Qin Hui was ill and might have been ill for a long time.

Qin Hui used this to paralyze Zhao Gou, and secretly began to plan for the Three Yamen, which was the biggest obstacle for him to successfully inherit the power of the prime minister.

Now, in front of his grandson, there was no need for him to pretend anymore.

"Xun'er, sit down, sit down and talk."

Qin Hui sat down on the brocade cushion and asked with a smile: "It's so late, what's the matter?"

Qin Xun sat down on the edge of the couch and said worriedly, "Grandfather, I heard that you asked the Lin'an Prefecture to help look for the cat that Jiayue lost?"

Qin Hui smiled and said, "Is there such a thing? I don't know. Grandfather did offer a reward, but he only asked the people in the wing office to help find it."

Qin Xun heaved a sigh of relief: "I told you so. It must be someone below trying to curry favor with our grandfather that did such a ridiculous thing."

Qin Xun complained angrily: "Grandfather, you don't know that now Lin'an County, Qiantang County, and Lin'an Prefecture are all helping Grandfather to find the cat."

Qin Hui smiled and said, "So, what does Xun'er mean?"

Qin Xun said anxiously, "How can you use public property for personal purposes? And... you actually used it to look for a cat! This is ridiculous! Grandfather, this matter has caused a lot of discussion among the people, and it has greatly damaged your reputation. You should immediately order it to be stopped."

Qin Hui showed a sly smile in his eyes and asked, "Xun'er, your grandfather never ordered them to find the cat, but now he is going to give an order to stop it? Then... doesn't it prove that the person who abused public resources for personal gain is your grandfather?"

Qin Xun was stunned and said hesitantly: "This..."

Qin Hui smiled, stood up, walked to the couch, sat down next to Qin Xun, and patted his shoulder affectionately.

"Xun'er, you were second in the 'locking hall examination' this year. You were first in the provincial examination. But in the palace examination, you were also first, but the emperor chose you as the third place. Do you know what the emperor meant by this?"

In this year's "lock-hall test", Lu You was originally the first place.

As a result, when it came to the provincial examination, Lu You, who was highly favored, inexplicably failed.

The top brother on the list didn't even make it to the bottom this time.

As a result, Qin Xun, who originally ranked second in the lock-hall test, won first place.

When it came to the palace examination, Qin Xun still ranked first.

But when Emperor Zhao Gou personally selected him, he ranked him third.

The meanings of the top three places in the imperial examination are very different.

Everyone remembers the first one, but how many people will remember the third one?

Qin Xun has always been feeling aggrieved about this.

Now, hearing his grandfather suddenly talking about this, Qin Xun couldn't help but feel angry: "The government said that my grandson's policy is similar to the views of my grandfather and father in the usual preface. Because there is no unique point of my grandson, it is ranked third."

Qin Hui shook his head and smiled, saying calmly: "Haha, what a silly child! That's just an excuse from the government."

(End of this chapter)