As soon as Zheng Peng returned to the gate, the housekeeper Cui Er immediately greeted him: "Uncle, you are back, if you don't come back, the old slave will send someone to find you." ”

Cui Er is an old loyal slave who came with Lu Shu, serving as the second housekeeper of Zheng Mansion, because Zheng Fu is already old and in a state of retirement, only taking care of Yuancheng's mess, in fact, Cui Er has become Zheng Peng's most powerful assistant.

"Looking for me? What's so urgent? ”

"If you go back to my uncle, Old Man Cui is here, and he is in the side hall." Cui Er said respectfully.

Zheng Peng said with some surprise: "He's here?" Okay, I'll go right away. ”

The old man Cui is Cui Yuan, in the seven years that Zheng Peng went to Tubo, Cui Yu, the big boss of the Cui family, passed away first, Cui Xiong and Cui Wei of the three tigers of the Cui family also drove to the west, and now Cui Yuan has become the only one left of the older generation of the Cui family in Boling, so the younger generations call him the old man.

Zheng Peng and Cui Yuan had some disagreements, every time they met, they had a feeling of not being speculative, and when they returned to Chang'an, they deliberately ignored him, but they didn't expect that they didn't go to him, he took the initiative to find him.

This bad old man, seeing that the Chinese New Year is coming, won't he go back to Boling if he is Zhishi?

Soon, Zheng Peng saw Cui Yuan lying on the leisure chair with his eyes closed and humming a little song in the side hall, hesitated for a moment, but still stubbornly said: "I don't know if the old man has arrived, I will miss the welcome, and I ask the old man to bear with me." ”

When I saw Cui Yuan, the first feeling was that this old boy was getting younger and younger, Cui Yuan, who was lying on the leisure chair, had a ruddy face and a pleasant demeanor, I don't know if he didn't have to work hard for official business after being a priest or if he was well-maintained, as if he was younger than Zheng Peng when he went to the Western Regions.

"General Yunlu, the champion, promoted and promoted, this official has been promoted, the shelf is also bigger, there is no old man in his eyes, there is no way, if you don't come to the door, the old man can only visit in person." Cui Yuan didn't raise his eyelids either, and said a little coldly.

Zheng Peng thought that you guessed accurately, and he really didn't want to see you, but he still said wrongly: "Don't dare, the junior just came back from Tubo, there are too many things, I didn't greet the old man in time, I wanted to visit the old man with Shu'er in the past two days, but I didn't expect the old man to come first, and I asked the old man to be more considerate." ”

After all, it is an elder, not to look at the face of the monk but also to look at the face of the Buddha, in addition, there is another point, whether it is in Xiaobolu or in Tubo, Zheng Peng has the full cooperation of bad people, but he does not break it, Zheng Peng also knows that Cui Yuan has helped a lot from behind, that is, the most powerful cardinal around him who has saved his life several times, and he is also trained by Cui Yuan, and he owes him a lot of affection.

Thirty and stand, forty is not confused, fifty knows the destiny of heaven, sixty ears are obedient, seventy indulgence does not exceed the norm, Cui Yuan is already over seventy years old, and when he reaches the age of indulgence and does not exceed the norm, there is no need to worry too much about an old man.

Cui Yuan suddenly opened his eyelids and stared at Zheng Peng, and said with a smile: "It's really busy, busy looking for your subordinate Huang San, right?" ”

Zheng Peng paused for a moment, and said with a shocked face: "Old man... You know this? ”

Cui Yuan's personality is unpleasant, cunning, and domineering, Zheng Peng doesn't like him at all, but there is one thing Zheng Peng has to admit, that is, Cui Yuan's ability is very outstanding, from his adviser who has been in charge of bad people for more than 20 years, even if he retires, he can see his ability, he even said Huang San's name, Zheng Peng knows that there is no need to deny it.

No wonder Huang San told himself that he felt something wrong recently, but he couldn't find anything wrong, and now the answer is about to come out, it is Cui Yuan secretly watching.

Only a character like Cui Yuan can play Huang San in the palm of his hand.

Seeing Zheng Peng's slightly changing expression, Cui Yuan's eyes showed a look of satisfaction, and he said unhurriedly when he heard the words: "If you want to know what's so difficult about this, your methods are still tender, and besides, the person you picked is more than loyal, but not enough, what's so difficult to know?" ”

"Old man, is the matter of the investigation curious to you, or is it the will of the above?" Zheng Peng said a little nervously.

If Cui Yuan is curious to check it himself, this is nothing, I am afraid that Li Longji asked Cui Yuan to check, I am afraid that Li Longji has other ideas, Zheng Peng did not deny it: first, Cui Yuan must have checked it clearly to be so sure, and it is useless to deny it; The second is that Cui Yuan is his own person, and there is nothing to explain to him; The last and most important point is that Huang San is to collect a little intelligence, and he has not done anything that is not visible, even if it is exposed, it is nothing.

The dignitaries and nobles of the Tang Dynasty, who have no property openly and secretly, if they rely on that little money alone, let alone glory and wealth, it is estimated that it will be difficult to support their families.

Cui Yuan waved his hand and said: "It's nothing, the old man knew that you were not the kind of person who followed the rules, he just wanted to see if you hid it from Shu'er, don't be upset, the old man secretly wiped a lot of your butt for you, otherwise with that Huang San's ability, it would have been exposed a long time ago." ”

After that, he said intentionally or unintentionally: "Now the crown prince and Concubine Hui are not interested in you a lot." ”

Zheng Peng saluted Cui Yuan: "Thank you, old man, for your advice." ”

With Cui Yuan's ability, there is no need to lie about this kind of thing, Zheng Peng did not suspect that Cui Yuan was secretly helping him.

"Hehe, I didn't expect your little slippery head to have a day of respecting the elderly, it's just that, the old man is old, and there are still some good people in his hands, why don't you transfer it to you while you can still speak, how about it?"

Zheng Peng hesitated for a while, and finally shook his head with difficulty: "Thank you for the old man's kindness, if there is a need, I will ask the old man to borrow someone." ”

Cui Yuan's character is to be discussed, but his ability and vision are top-notch, he said that good manpower must be the elite of the elite, Zheng Peng was very moved when he heard it, but then he thought that he couldn't rely on others for everything, to be honest, Cui Yuan was willing to give, and he was a little constrained to use it.

Cardinals are the best example of this.

As long as it is needed, Cui Yuan's people can use it at any time, because he is an immediate family member of Lu Shu, and if he wants to keep it, he will definitely leave it to Lu Shu, although Huang San's ability is not good, Zheng Peng already has a new idea in his heart.

Cui Yuan seemed to have anticipated Zheng Peng's words, and he didn't get angry when he heard the words, he sat up, looked at Zheng Peng, and asked directly: "What is the purpose of taking the initiative to resign in the court?" ”

Zheng Peng said calmly: "So many people impeached me, there must be someone behind me, what the emperor must know, to be honest, what to do is not good, but in general it is good for the Tang Dynasty, the so-called crime of wanting to add, what trouble is there, saying that it is a resignation, in fact, it is to retreat, you can also see what the emperor thinks in his heart, if those people are instructed by the emperor, everything is in vain, if it is not instructed by the emperor, It's useless for them to just talk about it, the initiative is all in the emperor's place. ”

"Oh, it's quite thoughtful, tell me, guess who's behind it?"

"If it's usually okay, just made that great contribution, and there are still people who are so ignorant, the power of the people behind the command will definitely not be small, not only powerful, but also definitely not to deal with me, combining these two conditions, there is a ** prince in ten."

Cui Yuan nodded with satisfaction: "The analysis is good, so what are you going to do?" ”

"Cold salad" Zheng Peng said disapprerovingly: "The prince is testing my bottom line, and he is also observing the emperor's bottom line, presumably Concubine Hui has recently won the emperor's favor, which makes the prince anxious in his heart, in fact, he thinks too much, the emperor is still in the prime of life, the road is still so long, there are many variables, now I am standing on the emperor's side, and others can stand as much as they like." ”

"Okay" Cui Yuan snorted, and then lowered his voice and said: "The analysis is very good, in the old man's opinion, although the prince has the body of a prince, he lacks some imperial energy, mainly because his background is too controversial, and even the emperor's talent as an immortal emperor cannot be controlled." ”

The ancients not only valued etiquette and righteousness, but also divided respect and humility, Li Longji was not the eldest son and ascended to the throne, there has been a lot of controversy among the people, and the biological mother of the crown prince Li Ying, Zhao Lifei, was born as a prostitute, Zhao Lifei was young and beautiful and was favored by the emperor, and now it is Concubine Wu Hui who is favored, and Li Longji, who has been criticized, will not take risks easily.

The crown prince has been established for so long, and Concubine Zhao Li has been unable to support the queen for a long time, so a lot of information can be revealed here.

"Thank you, old man, for your advice."

Cui Yuan saw that Zheng Peng did not raise his eyebrows with him, his attitude has always been very respectful, nodded with satisfaction, saw Zheng Peng's somewhat serious appearance, and smiled: "Don't be so nervous, the old man came this time, not to ask you for a teacher, but to send you good things." ”

"Good stuff?" Zheng Peng couldn't believe his ears, Cui Yuan, an old boy, was willing to give him good things, didn't he only have Lu Shu in his eyes?

Cui Yuan didn't speak, but just looked at the desk next to Zheng Peng, Zheng Peng saw that there was a gift slip on the desk, picked it up and opened it, and there was a feeling that he didn't know what to say on the spot, only to see that the gift list read:

twenty tiger whips;

30 jars of tiger bone wine;

fifty deer whips;

30 catties of deer and deer tendons;

One hundred jars of wild honey.

Nima is all a tonic for aphrodisiac and kidney.

"That, old man, the younger generation is in the prime of life, and there is no need to make up for it now." Zheng Peng said a little depressed.

Cui Yuan snorted coldly, and said with some hatred: "There are clouds in the old saying, there are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is the greatest, how long have you been married to Shu'er, and now it has not come out, that is, you don't want to be faceless, Boling Cui's family still wants, Shu'er also wants to, look at you, everything is in front, that is, the child is left behind, your second brother has already had a child, and now even your sister has given birth to a big fat boy, let's make a deal with you, the old man has found a lot of people to see Shu'er in the past two or three years, Shu'er must be no problem, since Shu'er is no problem, then there is a problem** With you, it never hurts to take more supplements. ”

There are enough winds and waves experienced in his life, and now Cui Yuan wants to enjoy the joy of family, so he wants to tease his grandson, and he made an appointment with Zheng Peng at that time, Lu Shu's second child will be surnamed Cui, the problem is that the first child has not yet, and the second child is even more far away, Cui Yuan is in a hurry, and he can't care so much, so he asks people to collect some tonic and send it to Zheng Peng in person.

For fear that Shu'er would be embarrassed and unhappy, Cui Yuan specially picked Lushu to bring it when she went out to offer incense.