When Lin Bonian drank the sixth glass of wine, he heard the sound of footsteps on the path leading to the back house behind the rockery, and the light of the lantern was flickering slightly. Lin Bonian put down his wine glass and shouted, "Why are you bothering me again?" Go and tell Xiao Qi that if she makes trouble again, I will get her out of the house tomorrow with a letter of resignation. Bastard thing, is it true that my Lin family has no family law? ”

Lin Bonian thought that the Seventh Lady had asked the maid to find her back to the room, and she had already come here not long ago. However, Lin Bonian guessed wrong this time.

"The head of the house. It's me. The one who spoke was Lin An, the old servant of the family, who followed Lin Bonian from Hangzhou to the capital to serve so far, and followed Lin Bonian for many years Chinese New Year's Eve. When Lin Bonian was a drooping child, Lin An, who was in his prime, was his personal follower. Now Lin An is past the age of sixties. He was the only valet who had the right to serve in the back house.

"Oh, it's Lin An. What are you doing at such a late hour? Why don't you stop? Don't try to persuade me to go back, I want to be here for a while. Lin Bonian said.

Lin An stood under the pavilion with a lantern and said respectfully: "Family master, it's not that you are persuaded to go back, but there are guests in front." I want to see the head of the house. ”

Lin Bonian was stunned and waved his hand: "It's so late, who is so short-sighted?" No, no, I'm annoying. ”

"The head of the family, it's Wu Chun from the Political Affairs Hall who came to Lord Wu, is it really missing? The old slave went back to him. ”

"Wu Chunlai?" Lin Bonian stood up suddenly, and said to himself in astonishment: "What is he doing? I don't have much of a relationship with him. He doesn't want to see me on weekdays. ”

"Head of the house......" Lin An shouted.

"Go...... Go and ask him to sit down in the flower room. By the way, tell Xiao Qi to wait for me to change my clothes and meet guests. I'll be there right away. Lin Bonian said hurriedly.

"Hey, hey." Lin An agreed and turned around and walked away quickly.

Not long after, Lin Bonian, who washed his face, combed his hair in a bun, and changed into neat clothes, took on a new look, swept away the sloppy appearance when he was drinking, and came to the second flower hall with wind under his feet. The giant candle in the flower hall was hot, and a middle-aged man with a clear appearance sat on a chair and drank tea, it was Wu Chunlai.

"Oh, it's really Lord Wu, what kind of wind blew Lord Wu here? Why don't you let me know in advance, and the official will welcome you in advance. Rude, rude. Lin Bonian walked into the house quickly, bowed down from afar, and said loudly.

Wu Chunlai stood up, smiled and saluted: "Visiting in the middle of the night, it is very disturbing, and it is the official who is rude." Lord Lin won't be surprised. ”

"What are you talking about? Lord Wu is a rare guest, and he can't be invited on weekdays. Sit down, sit down. Come on, make tea. Lin Bonian said loudly.

"Master, the tea has been brewed." A maid next to him said busily.

Lin Bonian stretched out his hand to open the lid of the teapot on the table, glanced at it and exclaimed, "What kind of tea is this?" Lord Wu is a distinguished guest, why don't you make this spring's West Lake Longjing? It's going to change. ”

"Uh-oh." The little maid hurriedly stepped forward, took the teapot and trotted to change the tea. Lin Bonian looked at Wu Chunlai and said with a smile: "Lord Wu, forgive me, these maids are all clumsy and don't know how to be polite. ”

Wu Chunlai smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay." In fact, I don't pay attention to tea, so adults don't have to. ”

Lin Bonian said: "That's not possible, you have to treat your guests as honored guests, how can you lose your courtesy." ”

Wu Chunlai said with a smile: "In the end, it is a big family with everyone's great business, and the etiquette is also comprehensive. It seems that a small family like this official comes out, so naturally he doesn't understand. ”

Lin Bonian shook his head and feigned: "What is this?" Heroes regardless of origin. Although Lord Wu was born poor, he is not inferior to others. Lord Wu is now the mainstay of the imperial court, and his talent and learning ability are superior, and the saint and his colleagues are highly praised. In the future, he will be the one who will worship the prime minister. It can be seen that the background is not important, the important thing is ability. ”

"Hehehe, Lord Lin praised it falsely." Wu Chunlai said with a smile, and he was at ease with Lin Bonian's praise.

On the new tea, the green tea juice is clear and mellow, and the flower hall is filled with the aroma of new tea. At Lin Bonian's suggestion, Wu Chunlai took a sip, only to feel that his mouth was fragrant and continuous. I couldn't help but praise: "It's really good tea." ”

Lin Bonian said proudly: "That's, this is the authentic West Lake Longjing." And it is a new leaf picked from a thousand-year-old tea tree in the dense forest of Wansong Mountain. The tea tree has survived for thousands of years and is still thriving today. It's just that you can only get less than three catties of tea every year, so it's extremely expensive. My Lin family bought that tea tree, so they can feast on it every year. ”

Wu Chunlai smiled and said: "It seems that everyone's great cause is good, the thousand-year-old tea is drunk alone, and ordinary people can't enjoy it." The tea tree is probably worth a lot of silver. ”

Lin Bonian smiled and said: "It's not much, my eldest brother bought it for 10,000 taels of silver." It's not expensive either. ”

Wu Chunlai's face twitched, and he said with a smile: "No wonder Lord Lin's mansion is so luxurious, your Lin family's property is huge, so naturally you don't care about this mere 10,000 taels of silver." But if it were an official, he wouldn't be able to eat this tea for the rest of his life, and he wouldn't be able to live in such a big house. ”

Lin Bonian didn't notice the change in Wu Chunlai's mood and the faint meaning in his words, and said with some pride: "Lord Wu said that he was smiling. My house is nothing, and I don't know how much of a better mansion in Beijing is better than mine. It's not difficult for Lord Wu to live in a big house. I have a manor in the West Outer City, and I can take it to live if I like it. ”

"Oh? Lord Lin is so generous? Can I live if I like it? Wu Chunlai smiled.

"Of course, if you give it to Lord Wu, isn't it just a house? These are all things outside the body, and the most important thing is to make Lord Wu happy, hehehe. Lin Bonian stroked his beard and smiled. The big manor in Xicheng was originally bought to pay bribes, and it has not had a chance to make a move for so many years.

"So generous, a manor mansion is worth at least 100,000 taels of silver, right, Lord Lin just gave it away? It's incredible. Wu Chunlai smacked his lips and said.

"Hehe, the so-called red powder is given to the beauty, and the sword is given to the hero. Things are dead, people are alive. As long as Lord Wu can be happy, what is that thing? Lin Bonian said smugly.

"Then ...... That's how Lord Lin bribed Prime Minister Zhang Jun, and then asked Zhang Jun to hand over the transportation business of Liangzhejiang Road to your Lin family, right? Wu Chunlai suddenly said coldly.

"What?" The smile on the corner of Lin Bonian's mouth had not yet had time to fade, condensed on his lips like a frost flower frozen by the cold.

"The three divisions of the yamen falsely reported the number of silver taels of freight transportation on the two Zhejiang roads, and the extra tens of thousands of taels of silver were allocated every year, and you and Lord Zhang divided it, right? In recent years, the three divisions of the yamen allocated all kinds of money in various places to receive a kickback, this silver has been divided by several of your three divisions and yamen, isn't it? Also, you allocated the queen mother's 2 million taels of silver to build Gen Garden, and even you took 150,000 taels of this silver kickback, didn't you? You are so bold, do you treat the money of the court as your own? You rats, lying in the treasury of the imperial court sucking blood, the imperial court trusts you so much, and let your three divisions and yamen take charge of the affairs of the Great Zhou Dynasty money and grain, you are so crazy and unscrupulous to corrupt and accumulate wealth? Is this how to repay the emperor's trust? The trust of the imperial court? ”

Wu Chunlai's face was cold, and his sentences were like knives. Every word was spoken, like a leather whip whipped on Lin Bonian's body, Lin Bonian's face was frightened and defeated, his body shook violently, and his face was colorless.

"I ...... I...... If there is no thing, Lord Wu should not be open-mouthed. How can Lord Wu ......?"

"Deny, if I didn't have hard evidence, would I say that? To tell you the truth, your three envoys have my people in the yamen, and what you have done has already attracted the attention of Lu Xiang and me, but we have been expecting you to stop. After all, it is not easy for you to get to where you are today, Lu Xiangzhai is kind-hearted, and he is unwilling to participate in you, so that you will lose your official position and die. But that doesn't mean we don't know, and it doesn't mean we can condone you all the time. If you still want to deny it, then the official has nothing to say to you. Wu Chunlai reprimanded.

Lin Bonian's legs trembled and weakened, where did he think that Wu Chunlai's visit in the middle of the night tonight was actually to expose his old bottom. What Wu Chunlai said is indeed true. In the past few years, several chief and deputy envoys of the three divisions have indeed obtained a large amount of illegal income under the name of a name, and they have also shared a lot of silver. I didn't expect Wu Chunlai to know all these things. There are traitors in the Sansi Yamen, that's for sure. It is rumored that Lu Zhongtian and Wu Chunlai have planted eyeliner in various yamen, I am afraid that this matter is true.

"I have evidence for all these things you have done, Yan Zhengsu is investigating your affairs, Fang Dunru can't help but refer to your book first, if I tell them about these things, I don't know what will happen. Hehe, Lord Lin, I'm afraid your good life won't last long. Wu Chunlai sneered.

Lin Bonian couldn't hold it anymore, his knees bent down involuntarily, and he knelt in front of Wu Chunlai, crying and whispering: "Lord Wu, don't say it, ask Lord Wu to raise your noble hand." Those things are all Zhang Jun, Ren Daoyuan, Huang Qianyuan, and they have to do, I am just an errand boy in the Sansi Yamen, how dare I do these things. I can't help it, if I don't agree, I'll block their money, and I'll die without a place to bury. I, Lin Bonian, have no backing and no power in the DPRK, what can I do? If Lord Wu had informed Yan Zhengsu and Fang Dunru of this, they would have put me to death. The lives of my family were gone. Lord Wu, you are merciful and compassionate. ”

Wu Chunlai sat there, coldly looking at the deputy envoy of the third division who was kneeling in front of him and begging him, and he was very proud. This guy is still showing off his family background and wealth, but now he is kneeling in front of him like a pug and begging. This further confirms what I have always believed in, holding power is the most important thing, and following the right talent is the most important.

Although his betrayal of Fang Dunru brought spiritual torment and attacks from many people's backs, it turned out that he was on the right path. If he hadn't taken that step, he might still be outside the center of power. Perhaps like the deputy envoy of the three divisions in front of him, he pleaded like a pug in the face of his official position lower than himself.

It's ridiculous that this Lin Bonian is still showing off his wealth in front of him, this kind of person doesn't know what it means to be low-key, he doesn't understand that wealth without the protection of power is actually fragile and can be lost at any time. He also doesn't understand, in fact, power is the best wealth, they are stupid enough to grab money, but they don't know that if they want to be greedy, they should be greedy for power, the biggest treasure. With power, anything can be exchanged at any time. In fact, he only needs to open his mouth, and someone will send him a big mansion, a large field and manor, and a large number of lovely women to enjoy himself. These people just don't understand that.