Chapter 106 The Old Man’s Prank
These two groups of people are naturally the Chen family who hate the Cui family, and the second young master Cui who hopes that the Cui family will fall into chaos and go to hell with him.
There is no need to talk about the Chen family. In the past few years, the Cui family has repeatedly suppressed the Chen family. The Cui family still owes the Chen family a life, so they naturally hate the Cui family.
As for the Second Young Master Cui, he was the original heir of the Cui family because of his precocious intelligence and understanding. He was raised with great respect and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was treated as a favored child of heaven. Everyone told him that he would become the head of the family in the future.
However, due to the persecution of Master Cui, he fell from the altar in despair and was abandoned by his family, becoming a useless waste.
Such a huge psychological gap made him jealous and crazy.
When Elder Maoshan came to Beijing to give lectures, the head of the Cui family took the opportunity to send several of his children to him for him to choose, which naturally did not include the already abandoned Second Young Master Cui.
In the end, old man Maoshan chose Cui Xin, the youngest and most talented boy.
The second young master Cui was like a passerby, standing aside and watching his younger brother snatch the position that should have belonged to him.
Before Cui Xin left with Elder Maoshan, he came to see the second young master Cui. The child was only seven years old, but his expression was much more mature and stable than other children of the same age.
He looked at the Second Master Cui steadily, and suddenly laughed. He said, "Brother, I will definitely take your place and learn from Elder Maoshan. In the future, I will take over my father's responsibility and become the new head of the family."
Many years have passed since that day, and Young Master Cui still doesn't understand what Cui Xin meant by those words.
Is it provocation? Or is it just a statement of fact?
But no matter what the truth is, in the memories of the second young master Cui over the years, Cui Xin has been demonized by him into a scheming demon child. He said those words before leaving just to show off and stimulate him. Maybe his fall from the horse that year was also related to him.
Every time Cui Xin sent a letter home, Cui Ershao would masochistically ask him what he said in the letter.
When he learned that he was highly respected as Master Maoshan's disciple, and was warmly received wherever he went, and that Master Maoshan valued him and taught him everything he knew, Master Cui's heart felt like it was being stabbed by needles, as if his flesh was about to be rotten.
The better Cui Xin lived, the deeper the hatred that Cui Ershao felt for him.
Maybe Cui Xin is really innocent, but the Second Master Cui has already convicted him in his heart, and he must die even if he does not deserve to die.
The second young master Cui is no longer a normal person. He was previously involved in persecuting the Cui family. Sometimes he would worry in the middle of the night that after he died, he would go to the underworld and be punished by his ancestors.
But now he is not afraid anymore. When he was alive, he could make the Cui family live in chaos. Even after his death, he is not afraid of those old guys.
If they really have spirits in heaven, why didn't they appear to protect him when he fell off his horse?
So his ancestors were just a bunch of useless guys, so why should he be afraid?
Two months ago, Cui Xin's letter was once again delivered to the Cui family.
The second young master Cui found out that Cui Xin was going to accompany old man Maoshan to Anchang County to secretly visit an old friend. In addition, it has been raining a lot recently, and it is easy to encounter danger if they continue on the road, so they plan to spend the rainy season in Anchang County before setting off to other places.
Knowing Cui Xin's whereabouts and knowing that he would stay there for a long time, an evil idea immediately emerged in Cui Ershao's mind.
He secretly revealed the news to the Chen family. There was no way the Chen family would let go of such a great opportunity to take revenge on the Cui family.
Cui Xin is the life of the Cui family. Isn't taking their lives the best way of revenge?
A son of the Chen family died, so let's exchange him for a son of the Cui family.
It’s just that both the Cui and Chen families don’t know it for now, but strictly speaking, these two people died at the hands of the second young master Cui.
The flood problem in the south became more and more serious. Because Cui Xin was in the south, the Cui family not only did not cause any trouble in flood control this time, but also actively cooperated with Zong Zhengxi's actions.
They thought that Cui Xin would escape danger early like millions of other southerners, but even Cui Ershao did not expect that Cui Xin would be so unlucky as to meet an unreliable county magistrate.
When the news of Cui Xin's death came, Cui Ershao could not tell for a moment whether he died in the flood or at the hands of the Chen family.
But it didn't take long for him to find out the answer.
The assassination of Cui Xin for revenge was actually arranged by the eldest and third young masters Chen.
The two of them were the first to receive the news secretly revealed by the Second Young Master Cui. After knowing Cui Xin's situation, they immediately decided to kill him.
Fearing that their father would stop them, the two brothers did this without telling him. The grief of Chen Ershao's death still lingers in their hearts. If they miss such a good opportunity to avenge their relatives, they will never be able to get rid of it, and will never forgive themselves.
The brothers' confidants went to Anchang County with the secret order and killed Cui Xin's guards according to the original plan, and finally cut Cui Xin's throat personally.
They did not touch old man Maoshan. After all, he was a great scholar of the time. If he died, it would definitely cause public outrage, and the case might even be traced back to the Chen family. Moreover, the feud between the Cui and Chen families had nothing to do with him, so why bother involving an innocent person?
Coincidentally, the killers acted at night and escaped from Anchang County before dawn. Less than two hours after they left, the people of Anchang County were killed forever in their sleep.
The flood provided a good cover for the Chen family's assassination. No one would know that Cui Xin had actually died before the flood came.
Father Chen only found out what his two sons had done after the incident in Anchang County. The eldest and third sons of the Chen family knelt in front of Father Chen and admitted that they should not have kept the secret from their father, but even if their father beat them to death, they would not regret killing Cui Xin.
Chen's mother pleaded for her two children with tears in her eyes. She had already lost one beloved son and could no longer bear the pain of losing a loved one.
Looking at his crying wife and stubborn son, the Chen family head remained silent for a long time, and finally heaved a long sigh. He did not hold anyone accountable, nor did he punish anyone.
He himself couldn't explain clearly whether he felt angry that his two sons had brought disaster to the family, or subconsciously approved of it, when he heard that his two sons had killed Cui Xin.
He is far less rational than he thinks, and like ordinary people, he is swayed by his emotions.
The group of cronies who went to assassinate Cui Xin were sent away from the capital overnight. The Chen family kept an eye on the disaster relief situation in the south, especially in Anchang County. They didn't want anyone there to show up alive.
If Cui Xin's death drove the entire Cui family crazy, then the news of the death of the Maoshan old man caused students all over the world to mourn.
Because Mr. Maoshan traveled everywhere, many students had listened to his lectures and were considered half of his students.
The poetry and essay collections of Mr. Maoshan are must-reads for the imperial examinations. Now, those in the Dasheng officialdom who have not read his works are rarer than the tears of mermaids.
Most students have never seen him in person, but they can glimpse his noble character from the words he wrote, and thus silently admire him.
Not only in the capital, but almost all the students in Dasheng gathered together tacitly to hold a memorial service for Mr. Maoshan. While recalling his glorious past years, they prayed together for God's blessing, hoping that he could be born into a good family in the next life and live a peaceful and smooth life.
Out of respect for the scholar, Zong Zhengxiao also attended the memorial service held by the Imperial College. Although he only stayed for less than half an hour, he had already expressed his attitude as an emperor.
The pen of scholars is the most terrifying thing. Because he killed old man Maoshan and the people of Anchang County, the county magistrate was cursed by almost all the scholars in Dasheng. Many people also wrote articles to criticize him and secretly reminded the remaining officials to do their jobs conscientiously and not to be a useless waste, otherwise this county magistrate will be a lesson for you.
The officials were naturally not afraid of this group of powerless scholars, but Zong Zhengxiao on the throne seemed to support them, so the officials had been on tenterhooks in recent days. Even for the idle posts, they had to find things to do for themselves, and they didn't even dare to be late or leave early.
Everyone was afraid that they would make a mistake at this time and be caught by political enemies and reported to the authorities. If they lost their official position because of this, it would be a huge loss.
In this flood, more than one corrupt official was caught, the magistrate of Anchang County. Some of them embezzled disaster relief funds and supplies, some took advantage of the displacement of the people to extort money from the people, and some failed to do their job properly, resulting in unnecessary casualties and even tried to cover it up.
These guys were caught red-handed along with the evidence by Ji Xie, who was secretly investigating under the orders of Zong Zhengxiao. The report letters were sent to Zong Zhengxiao's desk in the capital as if they were free.
Zong Zheng was ruthless and merciless. No matter which party in the capital the arrested people belonged to, once they were caught, they would all be punished according to the law, and no one would be spared.
None of the civil and military officials in the capital dared to question Zong Zhengxiao's actions. Even if they were implicated, they dared not say a word, because they knew the seriousness of the incident. If they accepted the punishment honestly, they could live in peace. If they dared to resist, they would only have death as their fate.
One night in August, Rong Yin, who was sleeping soundly in Zong Zheng Xiao's arms, seemed to sense something and suddenly opened his eyes, awake without any sleepiness at all.
He pulled away Zong Zhengxiao's hand that was on his waist, lifted the bed curtain, glanced out the window, and muttered in a dreamy voice, "It's going to rain."
"Boom——"
Before Rong Yin finished speaking, a thunderclap so loud that it hurt people's ears resounded through the sky, followed by cold blue lightning that almost illuminated the entire capital city.
Zong Zheng Xiao woke up in shock and saw Rong Yin standing in front of the window, so he opened it.
A strong wind blew in, Rong Yin's long hair and robe fluttered in the wind, and the falling lightning illuminated half of Rong Yin's body.
有一個瞬間，宗政逍忽然産生了一種如果自己眨一下眼睛、戎音就會消失在他面前的錯覺。
宗政逍下床，手碰到戎音肩膀的瞬間，烏雲裏像是憋了許久的雨就嘩啦一聲落下，狠狠砸在泥地上，帶起了陣陣塵土的氣味。
狗崽們雜亂的叫聲傳了過來，不像是害怕，更像是興奮。
戎音轉過頭看向宗政逍，眼淚已經奪眶而出。
“宗政逍，下雨了，我們有救了。”戎音的聲音幾乎哽咽。
宗政逍将戎音擁進懷裏，笑道：“嗯，我們前進路上的困難又解決掉了一個。”
半夜落雨，幾乎将全京城的人都吵醒了，但沒有一個人是生氣埋怨的，他們看着掉落的雨滴，就像是與親人久別重逢，心裏全是激動與喜悅。
北方的旱情雖然因為有水庫支撐，沒有像南方的水患那般嚴重，但長時間的高溫幹旱，還是影響到了莊稼的成長。
宗政逍的政令很快就下達到了各地，南方受災區免除今年糧稅，來年官府還會借種子給百姓播種，五年內還清即可。
北方也在考量了旱災情況後，酌情降低了稅率。
今年的莊稼雖然欠收，但也沒有嚴重到顆粒無收的地步，感覺就是比肥料出現前的收獲少了一成左右，是以百姓們都還承擔得起。
京城糧價免不了上漲，但有官方控制，都在合理範圍內，百姓們也沒什麽怨言。
晚秋時節，天氣逐漸變冷，戎音本想着今年的生意怕是不太好做，但等開始營業了才發現，自己幾家店的生意竟比往前還要紅火。
戎音詫異之餘也沒忘記叫人去打聽這是怎麽一回事。
打聽的人回來說，這幾家店鋪忽然多出來的新顧客大多都是平民百姓，他們來店裏消費，一方面是感謝戎音在旱災時的仗義相助，他幫助許多窮人度過了難耐的高溫時期，還維持住了京城的物價，讓百姓們不至于在危難時還被敲骨吸髓。
另一方面，戎音店鋪裏的食物确實是美味，之前他們舍不得消費，現下剛好趁着感謝戎音，大膽消費一把，偶爾也享受一下肆意的生活。
戎音知道真相後，立即讓幾家店鋪都做起了打折活動，盡量給那些支持感謝他的人減輕經濟負擔。
這陣“感謝熱潮”過去以後，生意又恢複到了原本的樣子，那群新顧客只有極少一部分轉換為了老顧客，不過這也正常，畢竟他們的消費能力在那裏。
但戎音還是覺得很欣慰，自己幫到了那麽多人，他們也感念着自己的恩情，這是善意在良性循環。
京城下了入冬的第一場雪，當天宗政逍和戎音一起在宮裏涮火鍋吃，等吃了個半飽，兩人才開始聊天。
宗政逍道：“季燮的來信裏說，這次他暗中調查南方官場，李楚給他獻上不少計策，幫了他不少忙，有次他被人發現，差點慘遭滅口，也是李楚救了他。”
戎音喝了口冰飲，挑眉問道：“季燮這是被他感動了，來向你幫他求情的？”
宗政逍搖了搖頭，笑道：“季燮說，他直到現在才明白我們為什麽那麽防着李楚，這家夥實在是聰明過了頭，連苦肉計都用上了，要不是他心志堅定，還真要被李楚蠱惑了。”
戎音道：“看來李楚是想通過季燮，向你示弱，求你重新啓用他。”
“他應該就是這個心思，不過季燮知道他曾經做過什麽，不會輕易被他迷惑的。”
戎音夾了塊肉放進宗政逍碗裏，一臉憐愛地道：“辛苦我們陛下和他鬥智鬥勇了，來，吃塊肉補一補。”
宗政逍吃過肉，一雙銳利的眼眸看向戎音，聲音帶着一點魅惑，“這點肉不夠，我還想吃。”
戎音不解其意，爽快地從鍋裏撈出一大勺的肉，全堆在了宗政逍碗裏，笑眯眯地道：“不就是肉嘛，絕對管夠。”
宗政逍眼神變得幽怨：“阿音……”
戎音驚訝：“這麽多還不夠啊？要膳食均衡，不能光吃肉，還要多吃蔬菜。”
說着，戎音又給宗政逍夾了幾筷子素菜。
看着幾乎快把鍋撈空的戎音，宗政逍無奈地耷拉下了眉眼。
飯後，宗政逍想起還有奏折沒批完，就回了小書房。
戎音吃飽喝足，等消化完以後，才一個人去洗漱泡澡。
泡澡泡到一半，他想起了吃飯的時候宗政逍的表情。
忽然，腦子裏像是有一個死結被解開了，戎音一下子就明白了宗政逍那句話的意思。
宗政逍想吃的肉，是他啊！
戎音忍不住扶額。
因為前段時間兩人都很忙，算起來，他們已經三個月沒有過X生活了。
宗政逍向來重欲，現下得了空，本想和他調一下情，再順理成章地滾到一起，結果他當時成了榆木腦袋，硬是沒有聽懂宗政逍的暗示。
戎音想，宗政逍肯定特別無奈。
戎音差點沒忍住笑，但又覺得宗政逍可憐巴巴的，像個沒人要的小狗，得不到心儀的玩具，也不鬧騰，而是自己默默躲到了旁邊去。
既然現在他已經反應過來了，那就去安慰一下委屈的小狗吧。
戎音從浴池裏起身，換上那套黑色的衣服，又在外面套了一件外袍，借着送東西的名義，敲開了書房的門。
四喜來開門，看見是戎音，原本有些愁苦的臉立馬就揚起了笑容，語氣還有些雀躍，“小主子，您來了。”
“嗯，我給陛下送東西。”
四喜看戎音手裏空無一物，知曉這只是他的借口，也識趣地沒有拆穿。
兩人一起進去，聽見腳步聲，宗政逍擡起頭來，瞧見戎音正笑意吟吟地看着他。
他有些驚訝，也有點疑惑：“阿音怎麽過來了？”
戎音道：“當然是來找你的。”
宗政逍不明所以，但還是讓四喜先退了出去。
看見戎音的着裝，四喜隐約猜到了什麽，這一退退得很徹底，直接把自己關到了大門外面去。
等四喜走後，戎音才走上前，弱柳扶風似地坐到宗政逍懷裏，軟聲哼哼唧唧：“對不起啊陛下，我剛剛才反應過來。”
宗政逍這下知道他是為什麽而來的了。
“沒關系，是我說得太隐晦，阿音沒聽懂也正常。”
戎音面對着宗政逍騎坐在他腿上，擡起雙臂摟住他的脖子，寬大的衣袖滑落，露出一截白皙的小臂。
“那這會兒，陛下還想吃肉嗎？”戎音說完，水潤的舌尖自嘴角一閃而過。
宗政逍被晃得眼眸暗沉，握住戎音腰肢的手悄悄收緊了些。
他問：“回去，還是在這兒？”
戎音壞笑：“我可是跟四喜說了是來送東西的，這東西陛下還沒享用，就想離開？”
宗政逍也笑：“我倒是想享用，就把阿音你受不了。”
“哼，小看誰呢。”戎音輕咬他的耳朵，挑釁似地道：“老男人，可別把腰給閃了。”
宗政逍呼吸一窒，那處火焰幾乎是爆燃，他咬牙切齒地道：“好啊，那我們就看看是我先閃了腰，還是戎音你先求饒。”
外袍剝落，裏面是一件幾近透明的黑色紗衣，正是兩人初次，戎音特意定制的那件。
時光飛逝，衣服如舊，人也如舊，兩人還是深愛着對方。
戎音主動吻住宗政逍的唇，輕聲道：“陛下，這是我們第一次在這裏做，你可別讓我失望呀。”
宗政逍垂眸回吻，只留了一句：“絕對讓阿音終生難忘。”
門外寒風呼嘯，四喜躲到了擋風的柱子後去，身上披着披風，懷裏抱着小暖爐，都是他的小徒弟送來的。
掐指算來，陛下和小主子許久不曾放松過了，估計又得折騰到大半宿，他吩咐宮人時刻備着熱水，然後在角落裏站好，等候裏面的人差遣。
屋內溫暖如春，戎音躺在桌上，歪頭看向旁邊的那根紅燭。
明明無風，紅燭的燭焰卻不停飄動，像是有人在握着它搖晃，一滴滴燭淚順着燭身滑落，全都堆疊在漆黑的燭托裏，成了黏膩的一團。
不等戎音多看，他就被宗政逍抱起 ，從躺換成了跪。
外面吹着寒風，庭院裏的小樹被動地搖晃着樹枝，節奏越來越快、越來越快，快到幾乎都成了殘影，小樹被折騰得發出了不堪的動靜，像是哭泣，又像是快樂。
終于，寒風第一輪玩夠了，重重壓過一陣風後，暫時停止了吹拂，只慢條斯理地掠過小樹的枝丫和樹腰，像是在為自己的粗魯道歉，也在安撫顫抖的小樹。
不過寒風的好心并不多，他還沒玩鬧夠，小樹今晚注定逃不過這一劫。
因為寒風實在強勁，小樹身上的雪花被吹落了好幾次，落到地上，逐漸從厚重的一層白，變為了輕薄幹淨的透明。
為了不讓小樹身上的雪都被吹落，寒風半是好心半是捉弄地束縛住小樹堆滿雪的枝丫，然後繼續瘋狂地吹動小樹的樹身，簡直像不要命、發了瘋。
In the end, it was the little tree that compromised first and begged the cold wind to spare it. Only then did the cold wind feel satisfied and released its restraints on the little tree while making its final sprint.
"No, no, change direction, there is a memorial ahead!" Rong Yin's voice became hoarse. Seeing that the memorial approved by Zong Zhengxiao was not far from where he was kneeling, he was so nervous that his heart was about to jump out.
His heart tensed up, and so did another part of him. Zong Zheng Xiao took a deep breath and almost couldn't hold it in, but he managed to grit his teeth and get through it.
"It doesn't matter. It won't be visible after the wind dries up." Zong Zhengxiao said this deliberately, speeding up his movements.
Rong Yin was held tightly by him and couldn't break free at all. In the end, she could only close her eyes, and cried out in shame at the moment the white light descended.
“No, no, no… um—”
At the same time, Zong Zhengxiao also exploded at the deepest point.
After a long time, Rong Yin finally came out of the feeling of almost dying. He looked down in fear and found that Zong Zheng Xiao's big hand had firmly caught his things, not a drop of it fell out.
Zong Zheng Xiao was just teasing him on purpose.