Chapter 404 Fire in the Backyard

Han Ruzi suddenly gained a grandfather, three uncles, two aunts, many cousins, nephews, nieces, and several relatives recognized by the Ministry of Rites.

This is a big family. Because it is a farmer, there is no deep house compound. The children go out to establish their own business as soon as they get married, but they gather as a big family overnight and are escorted by the government to the capital. Many of them leave their hometown for the first time. , both apprehensive and excited.

There were forty-five people in the whole family, so they couldn’t all rush into the hall at once. The Ministry of Rites had made arrangements. First, the Queen Mother’s father came in alone. The old man was old and had inconvenient legs and feet. Two eunuchs came in with support.

His presbyopia could only vaguely see a bunch of figures, knowing that the Queen Mother and the Emperor were among them, he was shocked, and then his legs became weak, and he was about to kneel as soon as he crossed the threshold. The two eunuchs thought it was this. The old man was showing signs of physical weakness, he just got up and dragged him to the pointing position before letting him go to his knees.

"King Caomin, Wang Gan, meet Your Majesty, meet the Queen Mother!" The old man's original name was just a number, which was too simple. The local people specially found someone to recreate it. He didn't remember it very well. He was somewhat deaf and his voice was louder than ordinary people. much more.

The empress dowager calmly said, "Father get up quickly, it's all my own family, so there's no need to hold ceremony."

"You don't have to be restrained" is also etiquette. When the old man Wanggan kowtowed, the two eunuchs helped him up, and someone else brought a stool and let him sit down.

The atmosphere gradually became natural. The queen mother already knew all aspects of the Wang family, but she asked again, and she was moved again after hearing what her father said.

Han Ruzi also asked a few questions about his health and whether the journey was hard. Then he was fine. He sat next to his mother and glanced at Han Chou in the crowd from time to time.

When the relatives reunited, the queen mother cried with joy, and the people around would naturally accompany them to tears and sigh, but Han Chou's reaction was a bit too much. Father.

The ceremonial official felt that it was almost the same, took a few steps forward, and asked to summon others. The Queen Mother gave permission, took the silk handkerchief from the queen, and wiped away tears.

The Wang family came in in several batches, and Wang Gan introduced them one by one. After kowtowing, if the queen mother had anything to ask, she would leave a reply. After the questioning, the man quit, and the female relatives and children under the age of ten could stay.

The hall became crowded, and the mood was high. At first, it was still within the requirements of the Ministry of Rites, but gradually it exceeded the standard, and there was a lot of crying. After all, the previous drill and the real meeting were not the same thing. , even bystanders are also pouring out some real feelings.

A few children didn't understand the rules and cried so loudly that they were quietly taken out by the Ritual Officer. The one whose cry could be compared with these children was Mr. Zong Zhengqing Han, but the Rites Officer did not dare to ask him to move him. Really drag him out, can only keep whispering to persuade him to stop.

Finally, everyone's mood stabilized a little, and the ritual officer was able to move on to the next item. Liu Jie, the supervisor of the central division, stepped forward and read out a long list of rewards on behalf of the emperor and the empress dowager. Afterwards, it was given to the Wang family along with the second batch of rewards.

At this point, the emperor's duties came to an end. Han Ruzi got up, came to his grandfather, held the old man's hand and said a few words, which caused another burst of crying. He led the people away and left the hall to the queen mother.

The queen can't leave, she has to stay by the queen mother's side all day, and perform her duties as a daughter-in-law.

Walking out of the hall and breathing the cold air outside, Han Ruzi felt a lot more at ease. He didn't feel much about this group of extra relatives. It had nothing to do with status, but his mind was not on this at all, and he just wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

But he can't go yet. There will be a real family banquet later. He at least toasts the queen mother and grandfather, so he goes to the courtyard again, and the first order issued is to order the Minister of Rites, Yuan Jiuding, to take Zong Zhengqing Han Chou with him. come over.

Jin Chunzhong and Qiao Wanfu got some new news.

"The Holy Soldier has confessed, in addition to Luan Kai, Yun Mengze also sent a master who wanted to join Han Zongzheng to participate in the province of relatives, and took the opportunity to assassinate, but he was betrayed. "

"Yeah." Things went so smoothly, but Han Ruzi couldn't be happy, "Is that person really a holy warrior?"

"The initial judgment is him, and more evidence is needed. Wei Chen will look for him immediately."

"Don't worry." Han Ruzi left Jin Chunzhong behind.

Then Qiao Wanfu stepped forward. "Those businessmen burned the IOUs in the clubhouse, claiming that they were offering gifts to the Queen Mother. There were many onlookers, and the news had spread."

Han Ruzi nodded, the businessman's actions are beneficial to the country and the people, and there is really no way to forcibly stop them, but why they are willing to give up such a huge debt is really puzzling.

The only person who can solve the puzzle is Han Chou.

Yuan Jiuding lived up to the heavy trust, and finally brought Zong Zhengqing and Han Chou. Considering Mr. Han's obesity, this was indeed a "heavy trust".

As soon as he crossed the threshold, Han Chou threw himself at the emperor's feet, crying bitterly and calling out to His Majesty.

Han Ruzi was already prepared, retracted his feet, waved his hand slightly, Wang He and another guard stepped forward and dragged Zong Zhengqing a few steps away.

"Sinner Han Chou, His Majesty Fu Qi forgive me." Han Chou was still lying on the ground and kowtowed.

"What's your sin?" Han Ruzi asked.

The room was not big. Meng E, two guards, two eunuchs, Jin Chunzhong, Qiao Wanfu, Yuan Jiuding and others accompanied the emperor. It was a little crowded. Among the crowd, only Yuan Jiuding knew nothing about the matter. One of them was in an awkward position, unable to leave or express opinions, so he had to bow his head and pretend to be confused.

"The old minister is guilty of being arrogant and arrogant. He does his own thing without getting His Majesty's will. Although he is lucky enough to catch a few assassins, it is difficult to atone for his unsolicited crime."

Han Ruzi and Jin Chunzhong looked at each other, this was not the crime they wanted to hear.

Eunuch Zhang Youcai came in from outside. Like Yuan Jiuding, he didn't understand what was going on here, and said blankly: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother said that today's family reunion, your Majesty is busy, and the clan must be accompanied by a person of high moral character, if it's not important please let Han Zongzheng go back quickly, Your Majesty."

"Tell the Queen Mother, it won't take long for me."

Zhang Youcai stepped back and returned to the Empress Dowager Cining.

Jin Chunzhong said, "Han Zongzheng please explain the assassination in detail."

Han Chou kowtowed, "This matter needs to be started from the beginning. When the old minister first arrived in the capital to take office, he asked his old wife to enter the palace to greet the two queen mothers. The queen mother said at that time - please forgive me, the old minister dared to say it."

"Not guilty." Han Ruzi said coldly, already guessing what Han Chou was going to say.

"The queen mother asked her wife to tell the old minister that your majesty is young and expects all the ministers to help you. She also said that the old minister is an elder of the clan and must always think about your majesty's safety. Two months ago, Zuo Liansheng, a businessman from Luoyang, came to Beijing and introduced Yunxiong to the old minister."

The Holy Army teacher pretended to be a businessman Yunxiong, first to please Han Chou, and then slowly revealed his true colors. It turned out that he was the leader of the assassins sent by Yunmengze. Han Chou was shocked and decided not to scare the snakes for now. .

But things backfired. The assassin said that he would do it. The general Cui Hong and the queen became targets one after another. Han Chou felt that he could not wait any longer, so he made a plan to deceive the holy army division and sent it to Jingzhao Yin's house. He knew he had made a big mistake and did not dare. I came to see the emperor, and stayed outside the palace gate, hoping to ask the emperor to apologize to the emperor through the empress dowager.

This is his rhetoric. Han Ruzi didn't believe a word, but he couldn't find any obvious flaws for a while, so he looked at Jin Chunzhong.

Jin Chunzhong shook his head to the emperor, saying that it was not enough now. He had to examine the Holy Army division and compare the two before he could point out Han Chou's problem.

Qiao Wanfu said: "The debt collectors in the city burned the IOUs in their hands in public. Is it also at the order of Han Zongzheng?"

Han Chou raised his head with surprise, "Mr. Qiao should know, you asked me two days ago, I hope I can help."

"I visited Mr. Zongzheng and asked for your help, but you said at the time that the Luoyang merchant had a grudge against you, and you couldn't help, let alone..."

The tears on Han Chou's face were not dry, but he did not delay his smile, "Master Qiao misunderstood..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Youcai came again. Before he could speak, Han Chou smiled and said, "Please tell the Queen Mother Zhang Gong. Your Majesty has left the old minister to discuss something, and the old minister will go there as soon as possible."

Zhang Youcai nodded, glanced at the emperor, and exited again

Han Chou continued: "Mr. Qiao misunderstood, you said that a businessman accused me, of course I said that I have hatred, but I am also an official. If you have enemies in Luoyang, you will naturally have acquaintances. After you left, I thought about it carefully. Thinking about it, I felt obliged to do so, so I searched around, and I found a few businessmen who had a good relationship at the time. Please come to the house, show them the righteousness, and ask them to persuade other businessmen on their behalf. Finally, my friends did their best and they succeeded, but I It was only today that I found out that all the merchants are grateful for the emperor's grace, and they want to destroy the IOUs as a gift for the Queen Mother to save relatives. Anyway, this is a good thing, right?"

Qiao Wanfu was speechless and looked at the emperor.

"In this way, Han Zongzheng is not guilty, but meritorious." Han Ruzi softened his tone.

Han Chou kowtowed, "Acting without purpose is a serious crime. The old minister has been outside the capital for a long time. He has a sloppy temper and misbehavior. He knows he is guilty. How dare he take credit?"

"Flat body." Han Ruzi said.

Han Chou kowtowed again before standing up.

"Han Zongzheng should go to the Queen Mother's side first, and we will discuss your affairs later." Han Ruzi saw that Zhang Youcai was here again, and did not want to continue the trial.

"The old minister obeys the decree, no matter what crime His Majesty decides, the old minister has nothing to say." Han Chou reverently withdrew, like a minister with a magnanimous heart.

Zhang Youcai stood at the door, watched Han Chou walk away, and said to the emperor, "Is it because of the gift?"

"Gift?" Han Ruzi was taken aback.

"Yeah, since I passed Luoyang, there are people giving gifts to my uncle's house almost every day. Several cars have been loaded. I heard that there are more in the city."

"Who gave the gift?"

"Most of them are businessmen, and there are also some officials. The list is in the hands of the first emperor. Does your majesty want to see it?"

Han Ruzi finally woke up, his backyard was already on fire, he was preparing to clean up the court and all the merchants in the capital, but his uncle's family had already opened a "bribery" hole.