Chapter 294 295. Blue-faced people are the root of trouble...
Lei Zhouzhou was also happy.
The last time I met Lin Zhong was seven days ago.
Princess Henghuan had kept Lin Zhong in the Duke Su's mansion on some pretext, and he was unable to get away for the entire day. He only had a quick meeting with her before the palace gates were locked, and he had to return to the palace to end his rest.
Lei Zhouzhou is the young master of the Marquis of Changning's mansion, but he cannot enter or leave the palace without an imperial decree.
If there were concubines or royal heirs in the harem, he could enter the palace from time to time and take a look at Lin Zhong under the pretext of visiting a concubine or princess, or by getting in touch with the empress dowager.
But the current emperor has only the empress in his harem, no concubines, and not even a royal heir. The princes of the previous emperor, that is, the emperor's younger brothers, were all sent out of the palace when they came of age, and the princesses and noble ladies were all married.
The emperor's biological mother died young, and the former queen disappeared shortly after he ascended the throne. The position of empress dowager has been vacant ever since, with only a few old concubines living out their days in the palace.
When Lei Zhouzhou missed Lin Zhong, she could only write him a letter and ask the female official in charge of purchasing outside the palace to take it in, and then bring Lin Zhong's letter out two days later.
It's okay now.
They served under the same emperor and saw each other every day. When you counted, they spent more time together than after their engagement and before Lin Zhong became an imperial guard. After all, they had to avoid suspicion before they got married, so Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou could not see each other every day.
There are four ranks of imperial guards, from first to fourth ranks decreasing from third rank to sixth rank. The highest first-rank guard is also called the first-rank guard, who can serve as the chief guard and manage the second to fourth-rank guards under him.
Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou, as fourth-rank guards, also have captains of guards.
The captain of the guards gave them a convenience and arranged their shifts together, including going to and from get off work, taking breaks, daily training, and even arranging their days off on the same day.
The imperial guards were all sons of noble families, so their food, clothing, housing and transportation were naturally not bad. However, since Lei Zhouzhou was a boy, he did not live in the guards' quarters, but lived in Luoyu Garden with a female official in charge.
The two places are not close to each other, and Luoyu Garden is closer to the harem.
On his duty day, Lin Zhong would wait for Lei Zhouzhou at the road he had to take when coming from Luoyu Garden, then have breakfast together and then go to gather with the other imperial guards to take up their posts.
During the shift change, Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou went out to eat together. After get off work, he sent him back to Luoyu Garden, and then they parted reluctantly.
The two of them walked close to each other, but their behavior was polite. They didn't hug each other or say anything sweet when no one was around.
Lin Zhong would not move in with Lei Zhouzhou either, just like before they got engaged, he would not move into Lei Zhouzhou's Qiufeng Courtyard. This was both to follow the rules and avoid suspicion and to respect Lei Zhouzhou and the female official who lived with him.
Moreover, if people saw him entering Luoyu Garden or being alone with Lei Zhouzhou, even if there was nothing going on between them, gossip would spread.
Although……
There was already a lot of gossip inside and outside the palace about Lei Zhouzhou being able to enter the palace and serve as an imperial guard.
Even among the imperial guards, there were those who looked down on Lei Zhouzhou, thinking that as a young man with an engagement, instead of staying at home to learn how to take care of a husband and children, he ran into the palace to hang out with a bunch of men.
"Did you see Lei Zhouzhou's look?"
"Who didn't see it? A guy, sticking with a guy all day long. He's not even married yet and he's already pushing it like this. Who knows how much more flirtatious he'll be after he gets married!"
"You guys entered the palace long ago so you don't know. Lei Zhouzhou often hangs out with Lin Zhongzhou outside the palace, and her reputation has long been ruined. Otherwise, why would the Duke of Suguo delay the wedding? Isn't it because they don't like Lei Zhouzhou?"
"He looks so pure and noble! Two years ago, my uncle's family came to propose marriage and was looked down upon. I think marrying him would be a misfortune for our family!"
Of course, these people didn't dare to say it in front of Lin Zhong.
No matter what, Lei Zhouzhou was born in the Marquis of Changning's Mansion, and is the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Su's Mansion. Of course, Lei Zhouzhou must be protected, otherwise the Duke's Mansion will be slapped in the face.
But if you walk by the river often, your feet will get wet.
After Lin Zhong sent Zhou Zhou back to Luoyu Garden, he just returned to the guard office when he heard someone inside slandering Lei Zhou Zhou with vulgar and vicious words.
He suddenly opened the door, looked around at everyone with an expressionless face and without saying a word.
Everyone looked embarrassed.
Especially those who spoke the loudest, either looked away out of guilt, or bluffed and talked loudly about other things in an attempt to change the subject.
Lin Zhong said nothing, strode forward, raised his hand and started punching.
"ah!"
"Lin Zhongzhou, are you crazy?!"
"You dare to hit me?"
"Don't think that I won't hit you just because you're the governor of Duke Su's mansion!"
Lin Zhong just kept beating without saying anything. He hit anyone who slandered Lei Zhouzhou where it hurt the most. He also beat up anyone who tried to stop the fight. A room full of big men couldn't stop Lin Zhongzhou.
"Who else mentioned Lei Zhouzhou just now?"
Lin Zhong had an indifferent expression as he looked at them one by one. Seeing that none of them dared to say anything, he wiped the blood off his hands nonchalantly.
"I, Duke Suguo Mansion, have taken note of today's account. We have a long way to go, and we will slowly settle it."
He was so careful with Zhou Zhou, the person he held dear to his heart, that he dared not bump or touch her in any way, for fear of breaking her, and he would not tolerate any slander from others.
He didn't like using the power of the Duke of Su's Mansion to bully others, but some people actually treated him as a soft persimmon and Zhou Zhou as entertainment. He really gave them face.
Squeeze right.
Suppression.
Cold violence.
Anyone who had slandered Lei Zhouzhou, regardless of whether Lin Zhong heard it or not, had been made to feel deeply what it meant to be in dire straits and what it meant to be overpowered by a higher-ranking official.
The Duke of Su's Mansion, a hereditary first-class noble family, even more prestigious than the Marquis of Changning's Mansion, was using its power to oppress others.
Although Princess Henghuan didn't like Lei Zhouzhou very much, she would not tolerate anyone riding on the head of the Duke Su's Mansion, and Lin Zhong also told Lei Li about these things.
If Princess Henghuan's method of suppressing people is to remain silent and make people fall into the trap unknowingly, then Lei Li's method is weird and sinister, with an open and legitimate strategy, which makes people anxious and helpless.
The Transport Ministry is very powerful.
As a national department, it can provide a strong economic source and a large amount of tax revenue to the national treasury, and provide a large number of jobs for the people. The number of officials in the Transport Department is also the largest among the seven departments.
The Transport and Logistics Department supported economic circulation within the Daisuke Dynasty.
More than 70% of the goods have to go through the transportation department, especially those shipped from various prefectures to Kyoto, or from Kyoto to other prefectures.
Those who were able to gain a foothold as officials in Kyoto all had their own shops and businesses in Kyoto. If they were shops, they would have supply channels, especially those that had connections with maritime merchants and sold overseas goods.
As long as Lei Li gave the order, any company's goods would be stuck at any checkpoint in any prefecture city, and would arrive much later than expected, causing economic losses.
Lei Li also particularly likes to complain.
Whoever offended him would be reported to the emperor, and he would also find a few more incidents and list more charges. He found reasons to report all those who had been found to be playing tricks on the marriage, fanning the flames, and spreading rumors behind the scenes.
——Even if it was a trivial matter, as long as it was against the rules, he would write a memorial to complain.
If the emperor didn't care, he would pretend to be pitiful and have a miserable life, and wanted to retire and return to Sanlihe Village to retire. The emperor had no choice but to send those memorials to the Hanlin Academy and let the Hanlin Academy come up with a set of rules to solve the problem.
The Hanlin Academy is not a library, and the officials inside are not librarians. They only need to copy and organize books every day. They are also responsible for giving advice to the emperor.
Memorials from various prefectures were also first reviewed by the Hanlin Academy before being categorized and submitted to the emperor. Of course, this was the job of the Hanlin Academy's senior officials and had nothing to do with the lesser officials of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks.
Lei Li read Lin Zhong's letter and was immediately amused when he saw that someone dared to bully his own Zhou Zhou in the palace. He thought, "What a great guy! He dared to touch anyone in Marquis Changning's Mansion. Are they all fed up and tired of living?"
Who in Kyoto doesn't know the name of the trouble-making king Lei Li?
When those nobles discovered that both the Duke of Suguo's Mansion and the Marquis of Changning were targeting them, they were furious and puzzled. When they investigated, their eyes suddenly turned dark. They quickly sent their sons home as soon as they had a rest, and took them to the Marquis of Changning's Mansion to apologize.
“……?”
Lei Zhouzhou was still confused when he was apologized to. He didn't know what had happened. He only figured it out from the other party's words. He was not the kind of person who liked to make things difficult for others. He would apologize and forgive others whenever he saw them.
——Anyway, he wouldn't care about these people, let alone what they said. It didn't matter to him whether they forgave him or not.
But Lin Zhong was still very angry, feeling that he had failed to protect Zhou Zhou well, and later apologized to him solemnly.
"I'm sorry, Zhou Zhou. Those people lived in the same room with me, but I failed to discipline them properly, allowing Zhou Zhou to suffer humiliation for no reason."
"Why are you apologizing?"
Lei Zhouzhou looked puzzled. "This isn't your fault. You weren't the one who talked behind people's backs, and you beat them up to vent your anger."
Lei Zhouzhou thought the matter was over, but some people in the court used it as a scapegoat.
It was said that it was against etiquette for a boy like Lei Zhouzhou to serve as an imperial guard, and it also caused chaos and led to a fight between several young men from aristocratic families. He was truly a disaster caused by a handsome man. The emperor was asked to revoke his order and expel Lei Zhouzhou from the palace.
Lei Li immediately sneered, "What do you mean by 'impertinent'? Are you saying that His Majesty's words are impertinent, or that His Majesty's words are final and unconditional?"
"Your Majesty's words are as good as gold, and they are naturally in accordance with etiquette. However, I am afraid that some treacherous villains will be at work, spreading slander and deceiving His Majesty!"
"Your Majesty is a wise and enlightened ruler."
Lei Li retorted sharply, "Slanderous words or honest advice, treacherous ministers or loyal subjects, is it possible that His Majesty is not as good at distinguishing them as you are? His Majesty personally issued an order, but you claim it is against etiquette and want to revoke it. Are you saying that His Majesty is wrong?"
Lei Li retorted word after word, nearly choking the man to death.
The emperor watched the show for a long time, and finally rejected it, saying, "Okay, if there are any suitable young men in the future, you can send them to the palace to be selected as imperial guards."
"Absolutely not, Your Majesty!"
"Why not? The emperor issued an order and you objected. The emperor said it was okay but you refused. Will the civil and military officials listen to you or the emperor?"
"Don't mess around!"
The pedantic and conservative ministers were furious and started arguing again.
Duke Suguo quietly stood at the edge again, but he didn't expect Lei Li to be so quick-witted and pull him into the fray. "If you have the guts, say it again in front of the Duke!"
Duke Su: “……?”
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