"Sir, Sir?" Zhang Tang stood in front of the long table,
He leaned forward slightly,
He called out to him louder and louder.
Lord Chen had been a little absent-minded for the past few days,
He would often start to daydream as he sat.
At this moment, it was even worse. He actually sat here in a daze, and his face even turned red.
"Hmm?" Chen Jue suddenly came back to his senses,
He raised his head and frowned at Zhang Tang.
It was as if he was blaming Zhang Tang for interrupting his reminiscing.
Zhang Tang rubbed his nose,
He cleared his throat,
He handed a file to Chen Jue.
"Sir, this is the beginning and end of the dried corpse case that I have completed,
Please take a look. "
Chen Jue looked at the file in front of him,
He frowned,
Recently, he had even been avoiding the finishing work of this case.
"Sir, the case has to be closed." Zhang Tang sighed. Although the case could be considered as settled,
There had to be an end to it,
The file had to be put into the file.
Chen Jue was silent for a while before he held the file in his hand,
"Has the House of Liu searched repeatedly?"
"They dug three feet into the ground,
Sir. "Zhang Tang pursed his lips. Recently, Xu Ting had been leading people to dig the ground in the House of Liu.
But..,
There was indeed no tunnel in the House of Liu,
There was no underground mechanism,
Once it was dug out, it would be solid soil.
Chen Jue sighed,
He grunted and was a little distracted.
After a while, he opened the file and read it.
After reading the inference at the back, he frowned and stared at the column where Li Yu killed the people.
Zhang Tang only wrote two words: family feud.
"Is there a problem, Sir?" Zhang Tang licked his lips and asked nervously.
Recently, Xiaoxiao was not in the Dali Monastery, and no one came to distract Lord Chen's attention.
Not only was he not used to it, but more importantly … Lord Chen's temper was usually much better when she was around.
"Forget it." Chen Jue put the file aside. "File it."
"Yes, sir," Zhang Tang replied.
He walked out of the screen and heaved a sigh of relief. These days, the entire Dali Monastery was in a gloomy mood.
Everyone knew that Xiaoxiao's … um, Lord Chen's … brother-in-law was dead.
When Zhang Tang thought of this, he couldn't help but shake his head. Why did he kill someone for no reason?
His sister had caught the eye of a man like Lord Chen. She had a bright future ahead of her.
Why bother …
He was such an elegant and handsome young man. Sigh.
Zhang Tang filed the documents and came out of the archive room. He saw Zhao Hu leading a slightly thin horse through the courtyard.
"Hey, why aren't you leading the horse to the stables? Why are you leading it to the main hall?"
As Zhang Tang spoke, he had already walked up to Zhao Hu. He patted the horse's butt and couldn't help but mutter, "This horse is a little short."
It's not as impressive as Lord Chen's horse.
Zhao Hu turned his head and saw Lord Zhang patting the horse's butt. He couldn't help but laugh. "What a coincidence, Lord Zhang. I was looking for you too."
"Why are you looking for me?
Nothing good. Bad luck, bad luck. "Zhang Tang waved his hand and put on a straight face. He walked forward with his hands behind his back, a little unhappy. He wanted to go around Zhao Hu.
Zhao Hu laughed. "Lord Zhang, don't you want this horse?"
"No —" Zhang Tang shook his head and wanted to go along with Zhao Hu's words to refuse. However, he only said one word before he turned his head in disbelief. "What did you say?"
"I said, my lord, don't you want your horse?" Zhao Hu said as he shook the reins in his hand.
"My horse?" Scholars usually didn't give horses to people, unless they had performed meritorious deeds or were of a certain rank.
He didn't have a horse.
"I heard that Lord Zhang complained that he didn't have a horse to ride, so Lord Chen specially applied for one for Lord Zhang. It's under the Dali Monastery's name. It's specially for you to ride." Zhao Hu smiled and reached out his hand to Zhang Tang, indicating that he wanted to pass the horse to him.
Zhang Tang's eyes widened and his fists clenched. He stared at Zhao Hu in disbelief.
Zhao Hu couldn't help but laugh again. "My lord, if you don't want it, then I'll tell Lord Chen —"
"Don't, don't, don't." Zhang Tang hurriedly walked over and snatched the reins from Zhao Hu's hand.
He was still worried and even wrapped the reins around his palm a few times. He only stopped when it was tight.
He turned his head to look at the horse.
Wow, it's really tall!
It's really handsome!
It's even more impressive than Lord Chen's horse!!!
He reached out and stroked the horse's long face and mane repeatedly. The horse shook its head meekly and snorted.
It stomped its feet majestically, then stuck out its tongue and licked Zhang Tang's palm perfunctorily as if it was rewarding him.
Zhang Tang was so happy that he danced with joy. He raised his head and laughed happily.
As a scholar, he, Zhang Tang, had a horse!
It was a majestic horse that Zhang Tang could ride under the Dali Monastery's archives.
He was being treated like a general!!!
Zhang Tang led the horse to the front hall. Zhao Hu hurriedly said, "Lord Zhang, since you've recognized this horse, you can send it to the stable. There's no place to tie it up in the front yard."
Zhang Tang stopped in his tracks and turned to walk towards the stables.
However, when he reached the stable, he circled the horse and was reluctant to leave. He didn't mind the stench in the stable. He stayed there for a full quarter of an hour before he was willing to leave.
He even looked back with every step, as if he was bidding farewell to his lover.
Ma Si 'er looked at Zhang Tang and couldn't help but laugh. Zhang Tang didn't mind at all. He was in an exceptionally good mood and laughed foolishly for a long time. It wasn't until they turned into the corridor that he became a little less foolish.
When they returned to the main hall, Zhang Tang stood behind the screen and faced it. He was extremely moved.
Behind the screen was the awe-inspiring, upright, brave, and handsome Lord Chen.
He really wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Lord Chen. What should he do?
How could there be such a dignified, capable, and considerate superior in this world?!
He had only mentioned it once, but Lord Chen actually took it to heart.
He really wanted to repay Lord Chen, but Lord Chen was the most perfect man in the world. He didn't lack anything.
Wait a minute …
Zhang Tang suddenly tilted his head, and his expression became serious.
Should he communicate with Lord Chen about how to express his feelings to girls?
Ah, what if Lord Chen felt that he had been seen through and flew into a rage out of humiliation?
How could he teach Lord Chen about the matters between men and women in a way that wouldn't seem deliberate and make Lord Chen oversensitive? Would it still be effective?
Zhang Tang was facing the screen and thinking about serious matters when Chen Jue suddenly came out from behind the screen. He was startled when he saw Zhang Tang standing there, and his expression immediately turned ugly.
"What are you doing?" Chen Jue looked at Zhang Tang with disdain.
"Ah, my lord." Zhang Tang was also startled and hurriedly took a step back. "I was thinking about Li Xiao …"
"What?" Chen Jue frowned and narrowed his eyes.
Zhang Tang's face suddenly turned red, and he hurriedly waved his hand. "No, no, I was thinking … I was thinking about Li Xiao's brother. Um … should we build a cenotaph for him?"
Chen Jue's expression didn't improve. Instead, it became even more gloomy.
Zhang Tang silently sighed in relief.
After a moment of silence, Chen Jue said coldly, "If we can't find that person's body, it means that he's not dead. Building a cenotaph for the living, do you have nothing better to do?"
After that, Chen Jue walked out of the main hall with a straight face and a gust of wind.
Zhang Tang looked at Chen Jue's back and his shoulders slumped.
After all this time, is Lord Chen still not willing to accept the fact that Li Yu is dead?
Or … does His Excellency really believe that that person can still be alive?
Shaking his head, Zhang Tang returned to his desk and stared blankly.
The joy of having a horse as a mount was temporarily put aside. He took a piece of paper and began to casually write a few names on it.
Liu Tianping, Shaoqing of the Dali Monastery, exterminated.
Su King, killed his wife and child with his own hands and was arrested for the crime of murdering many people.
Zhao Zhifang, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, his only son, dead.
Minister Fang of the Ministry of War, his second daughter, dead.
Ge Rong, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, his two daughters were killed.
Minister Liu Xuansheng, his younger daughter committed suicide.
Nine Gates Commander Zhang Minglei, lost his right arm.
…
Zhang Tang suddenly remembered the last time the court was in turmoil. That was the case of the Min family 19 years ago.
Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Min's family was executed …
Now, the families of the top officials in the capital were in trouble one after another.
Especially Su King and Liu Tianping …
Pursing his lips, Zhang Tang placed the brush on the inkstone and thought, "In today's court, there are seven officials related to the Min family's case —"
Back then, Liu Xuansheng was in charge of the confiscation.
Su King accompanied Liu Xuansheng and handled it personally.
As the Shaoqing of the Dali Monastery, Liu Tianping provided evidence for the trial.
Zhao Zhifang replaced Minister Min.
Nine Gates Commander Zhang was in charge of the case.
Minister Qian of the Ministry of Works was also involved in the case back then.
And …
Zhang Tang wrote another two words on the paper: Peng Tao.
The reason why these six people in the court were able to pull Lord Min down was because of the grain shipment for the Great General of the North, General Peng. However, many people were well aware of what was going on with the grain shipment case.
When the old Emperor appointed the Crown Prince, the court and the people in the court were forming private parties. The seven officials who pulled Minister Min down were probably on the same side.
Among these officials, only Lord Chen stayed out of the matter. He really thought of himself as an honest and upright official, upholding justice, redressing injustice, and upholding the law …
However, the old Emperor was old. When the time came, how would the new Emperor treat Lord Chen?
Would he trust him as much as the current Emperor?
As he was thinking, Chen Jue came back after changing his clothes.
Zhang Tang hurriedly rolled the paper into a ball and threw it into the bucket beside him.
Chen Jue rolled his eyes at him and went around the screen to return to his seat.
Zhang Tang was still worried. He took the paper out of the bucket and tore it into pieces.
Looking at the paper in the bucket, Zhang Tang was a little stunned.
The Min family case 19 years ago was a disturbance before the appointment of the Crown Prince. Now, the capital was not peaceful again. What was the reason?
…
It was another evening when they were anxious to return home.
Chen Jue got off the carriage with a stick of candied haws in his hand.
The setting sun in the west burned half of the sky red and purple. It was extremely gorgeous.
He stopped at the door and looked around before walking into the house.
Stepping into the house, he asked the servant beside him, "Whose horse is that at the door?
Is there a guest? "
The servant closed the door and hurried to Chen Jue. He answered, "Lord Chen, Crown Prince Qiao is here."
It was rare to have guests in the House of Chen.
"Who?" Chen Jue raised his eyebrows.
The servant was a little confused. However, when he saw that Chen Jue was unhappy, he shrank his shoulders.
"Qiao … Crown Prince Qiao."
"Who let him in?!" Chen Jue suddenly raised his voice.
"Ah …" The servant's face was full of fear.
Chen Jue had already taken large strides towards the rear courtyard.
The steward was walking out when he saw Chen Jue. He quickly bowed and saluted, "Lord, you —"
"Where's Qiao Fang?" Chen Jue quickly interrupted Steward Chen and asked unhappily.
"Ah … it's with Sister Li Xiao —" Steward Chen was a little confused.
"Who let him in?" Chen Jue scolded angrily.
"Ah … he … Crown Prince —" Steward Chen stammered. A layer of sweat appeared on his palms.
The House of Chen rarely had guests. Those who came to visit were always directly invited in.
The other party was Crown Prince Qiao Fang …
Moreover, Lord Chen didn't say that he wasn't allowed to come.
"You let an outsider like him go to Li Xiao's courtyard?" Chen Jue suddenly stopped and turned around to glare at him. He was clearly furious.
"…" Steward Chen opened his mouth. His expression showed that he was stunned.
Sister Li Xiao was also a guest. Lord Chen didn't say that she wasn't allowed to see people …