Dali Temple.

Liu Congyuan, the young minister of Dali Temple, has been arrested and is being tried by the Ministry of Punishment. Now the person in charge of the daily work of Dali Temple is another young minister named Liu Jin. This man is also an old man. He is 33 years old this year and is from the Liu family. However,

He was a concubine and his seniority in the family was very low. The difference between him and Liu Jie was less than twenty, but Liu Jie was his grandfather.

It was noon, and Liu Jin was drinking alone in the public room.

"Liu Shaoqing, are you not celebrating the New Year at home today?"

Liu Zhigu came in and was surprised to see Liu Jin. He said in surprise that he was on duty yesterday. There were two officers and three officers in Dali Temple. Apart from Liu Congyuan, there were also two young ministers. Since Liu Jin was on duty yesterday, he should not be there today.

here.

During the Chinese New Year, all ministries and yamen are on holiday, and few people are there. However, some departments have to have people on duty, such as Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and Zongzheng Temple. If you have no one to guard you here, wouldn't it be possible for the people detained inside to escape?

?

Liu Jin smiled bitterly and said, "Wang Shaoqing is sick at home today. What will happen if I don't come?"

Liu Zhigu nodded and said nothing more.

Liu Jin glanced behind Liu Zhigu. The two clerks were holding many things in their hands, including wine and meat.

"Master Liu, who are you giving this much food to?"

"Look at my old friend, Liu Shaoqing. You should be busy first. I will take over for you later. For the Chinese New Year, go home and get together with your relatives!"

Liu Zhigu smiled, waved his hand, turned and left.

Liu Jin drank a glass of wine with a thoughtful look on his face.

Since Huang Zhen stopped insisting and implicated many officials in his exit, his treatment has been greatly improved. The cell has been cleaned very clean, he has quilts and cotton-padded clothes, and his three meals a day have become normal, and he can still eat occasionally.

Ordered some meat, but no wine.

Huang Shen was reading there. This book was given by Liu Zhigu. It was not a novel ancient book, but for Huang Shen who was in prison, it finally had something to relieve his boredom.

When Liu Zhigu and Huang Zhigu were young, the relationship between the two was actually very good. However, as Huang Zhigu was disgusted and ostracized by Zhao Zhi, and his career went from bad to worse, Liu Zhigu gradually became alienated from him. It cannot be said that Liu Zhigu is so

Is it right or wrong to do it? After all, everyone has different ideas and views on friendship. As far as Liu Zhigu is concerned, he is extremely motivated and values ​​career and reputation very seriously. For his own future, he

The little friendship with Huang Zhen is not worth mentioning at all.

The cell door was opened and when he heard the noise, Huang Zhi turned around and glanced at the items in the hands of the two clerks behind Liu Zhigu. He put down the book in his hands and said quietly: "It seems that there is wine to drink today. This

Finally, the year was not in vain.”

Liu Zhigu nodded silently and said nothing. He and Huang Zhen once had a deep friendship, but since many things have been done, there is no possibility of recovery. For example, the friendship between the two can never be restored.

What's interesting is that Xiao Zheng, the political counselor, and Yang Yu, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, happened to be locked up opposite Huang Zhi. When they saw Liu Zhigu bringing a lot of meat and wine, they couldn't sit still, and they shouted loudly one by one.

He said: "Liu Zhigu, why do you treat Huang Zhu so kindly but turn a blind eye to us?"

"Liu Zhigu, you can't care about one thing at the expense of another."

Liu Zhigu looked at them and said with a smile: "I was negligent. I will ask someone to bring food later, so you don't have to worry."

Xiao Zheng waved his hand and said: "Let's eat together. It's the Chinese New Year, and it's really lonely to be alone."

Yang Yu nodded in agreement: "Exactly, exactly."

Liu Zhigu looked at Huang Zhi and asked, "Let them come over?"

Huang Zhen said nonchalantly: "This place is heavily guarded. They will definitely not be able to escape from Dali Temple. If Mr. Liu doesn't feel embarrassed, there is no harm in letting them come over and eat together."

"Send the two adults over."

Liu Zhigu smiled, waved his hand, and ordered his subordinates to let the two of them go to Huang Zhi's cell, and asked people to go out to buy some more food and drinks.

A few people sat together. Except for Liu Zhigu, who only drank wine and did not eat vegetables, the others directly grabbed food with their hands. This scene was very strange. If outsiders saw it, they would probably be shocked. After all, they are all imperial officials of third rank or above.

Xiao Zheng took a roast duck and gnawed it. While eating, he said vaguely: "How long will the emperor intend to imprison us?"

Yang Yu said: "I can submit a letter of resignation immediately. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. Maybe I can go home to have a New Year's dinner and get together with my family."

The tone of both of them was very relaxed. Although it was very hard to be imprisoned here, at least there was no danger of killing. Also, Zhao Zhi was extremely strict with the generals and his methods were cruel, but he was much more lenient with the civil servants. In this dynasty for more than 20 years, as long as it was not involved in unforgivable crimes such as treason, not many civil servants were killed. At most, they were dismissed from office. Xiao Zheng and Yang Yu had considered themselves officials for many years, and they had some petty corruption. But overall, they were conscientious and did not make any big mistakes. Zhao Zhi probably wouldn't kill them.

Liu Zhigu smiled and said: "The emperor will decide for himself what is right and wrong. You two adults should not worry too much."

Except for Huang Zhen, who was drinking quietly there and saying little, Xiao Zheng and the others were chatting happily. From the beginning to the end, Xiao Zheng and Yang Yu did not question Huang Zhen as to why he wanted to slander them, but instead smiled at him. welcome.

The two of them seemed to be very generous, but they were not. After being imprisoned in Dali Temple due to the accident, the two of them calmed down, thought about many issues, and gradually came to the conclusion that they were dismissed from their posts and imprisoned, but in fact they were not much different from Huang Chong. relationship, even if there was no Huang Zhen, there would be other people to complete this work. In the final analysis, it was the political struggle in the court that implicated them.

Yang Yu shook his head and said with some regret: "The emperor locked me up here. To be honest, I don't have any complaints. I only blame myself for being too greedy. I am already a third-grade official. I just do my duty well. I still want to do that. What more to do?”

Liu Zhigu drank a glass of wine and said silently: "If everyone can do their duty, the emperor will not have so many worries."

"Lord Liu, what are the emperor's plans?"

Xiao Zheng asked. This topic should not be raised openly, but he had already guessed from Liu Zhigu's attitude towards them that Zhao Zhi obviously did not intend to beat them to the end, and they still had value. , in this case, it doesn’t matter if some words are said directly.
Chapter completed!