Once the psychological defenses begin to crumble, it will be like the collapse of a river embankment. However, the two of them were very difficult about how to do it. Now that the two are confined to the family ancestral hall, there seems to be no way to do it.

But in fact, Zheng Qiushan had already designed everything, and after the Cui brothers raised the concern that they couldn't do it, Zheng Qiushan stroked his beard and smiled: "Two nephews, there must be a way, but it needs the cooperation of the two nephews." The old man heard that tomorrow is the death day of the two nephews, although your biological mother is only a side room, but he and Cui Weng had a very strong relationship before his death. As this is the case, the two nephews wrote a letter and sent it to the house, asking Cui Weng to come to the family ancestral hall tomorrow to worship your biological mother, he will definitely come. ”

Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong were silent, Zheng Qiushan even knew the death date of his two brothers and his mother, which showed that he seemed to be scheming. But at this point, it's useless to say anything, and this is a good solution. The three brothers of the Cui family are not siblings of the same mother. Cui Yuanbo is the descendant of the Zhang family in Cui Daoyuan's main room, and Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong were born to the Wang family in the side room. The Wang family was deeply favored by Cui Daoyuan during his lifetime, but unfortunately he died too early, and died of illness in his thirties. For so many years, although it is not worshiped every year, every death day, Cui Daoyuan will sit quietly for a moment with a stick of incense in front of the tablet in his home to support his feelings of mourning.

"After Cui Weng came to the ancestral hall to pay respects, the two of you left him here to eat. I think that even if Cui Weng hates the two of you very much, for the sake of your deceased mother, you must still be willing to have a meal together, so you can do it at the banquet. Zheng Qiushan said in a low voice.

The Cui brothers' hearts are like deer, and sweat is like rain. But I also know that this may indeed be the only opportunity to see my father recently, the only opportunity to get close to him.

"Zheng Shibo, are we going to raise a knife at the dinner table to kill the old man? This...... It's not going to work. To tell you the truth, although the old man is over the age of old, with my two brothers, he may not be his opponent. Besides, when the old man only glanced at us, we were terrified, let alone use knives and guns with him. Cui Yuanping snorted.

Zheng Qiushan sighed and said, "Don't worry, two nephews." Although we have to take Cui Weng's life, we can't let you two use knives to cut Cui Weng. No, I have a packet of medicine here, and tomorrow at the banquet, you pour the medicine into the jug, and Cui Weng will be poisoned after drinking. It's a whole corpse, and it can be regarded as your two brothers finally fulfilling their filial piety. Ay...... I know it's going to be difficult, but now that it's here, what's the solution? What do you think, two virtuous nephews? ”

Zheng Qiushan took out a small paper bag from his arms and put it on the table, Cui Yuanping opened the paper bag with trembling hands, but saw that the paper bag was wrapped in a small pinch of yellow powder, and knew that it must be a highly poisonous medicine. The two brothers hesitated for a long time, and finally under Zheng Qiushan's forced gaze, Cui Yuanrong reached out and put the paper bag into his arms.

Zheng Qiushan smiled and comforted the two in a low voice: "Two virtuous nephews, don't worry, this matter will definitely not be spread." The old man will also help you deal with the aftermath. You have to think about the good, after this matter is done, tomorrow you will be the head of the Cui family, and you have also saved hundreds of Cui clansmen, you are not sinners, on the contrary, you are the heroes of the Cui family. ”

The two brothers were silent, their faces as dead ashes. After Zheng Qiushan and Du led the people away, the two brothers sat opposite each other in the room, looking at each other in horror, trembling until dawn, without closing their eyes for a moment.

……

Cui Daoyuan, the government affairs of Jiangnan Province and Hangzhou, rarely did it himself, and it was usually the officials under Cui Daoyuan who handled the matter, and it was enough to report it to Cui Daoyuan if he knew about it. But even so, Cui Daoyuan still maintained the habit of going to the yamen to sit in the hall at the hour and leaving on time at the beginning of the afternoon. Every day he appeared in the yamen, that is, for one or two hours. Never late, never late, never in the afternoon, this habit has not been shaken since he took up the post of Jiangnan Provincial Inspector and Hangzhou Assassin.

But today, when the time came, Cui Daoyuan couldn't sit still. Because today is the death day of the deceased concubine Wang, Cui Daoyuan will go to the Buddhist hall at home every year today to sit in front of the Wang's tablet and talk to the Wang family to express his sorrows. Although this Wang family is a woman from a small family, she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and her temperament is gentle and virtuous, gentle as water.

Cui Daoyuan was short-tempered and irritable when he was young, but as soon as he came to this Wang family, he immediately changed into a person and became extremely gentle. It can be said that since the Wang family has been established, it has played a great role in shaping the cultivation of Cui Daoyuan's character. Cui Daoyuan himself thinks so, he thinks that if he hadn't met the Wang family in this life, maybe he wouldn't have become the Cui Daoyuan he is today. The relationship between him and the Wang family was so good that the main room and other wives and concubines were extremely jealous, but Cui Daoyuan disagreed, the Wang family's residence was the place where he stayed the most, and even the Wang family gave birth to two sons for him one after another, while the main room Zhang only gave birth to one son.

However, there are always some shortcomings in the world, perhaps because God was jealous of this beautiful marriage, and the Wang family fell ill and died in the second year after giving birth to Cui Yuanrong. This was a bolt from the blue for Cui Daoyuan. After Wang's death, Cui Daoyuan was decadent for several years, and it was difficult to recover. Because of Wang's death and the loss of qi and blood caused by the birth of two sons in a row, Cui Daoyuan was even angry with Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong. In the future, Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong were harsh and harsh, and part of the reason was also related to this.

In order to express his value for the Wang family, Cui Daoyuan even ignored the opposition of the clansmen, and after taking over as the head of the family twenty years ago, he moved the Wang tablet into the ancestral hall for worship. Originally, according to the rules of the clan, a side room like the Wang family could not enter the ancestral hall in advance, and only the main room had the qualifications to enter the ancestral hall to worship, but Cui Daoyuan didn't care at all. This shows how deep Cui Daoyuan's feelings for the Wang family are.

"Someone, prepare the car and go home." As soon as the time came, Cui Daoyuan got up from the hall and instructed his entourage.

The entourage also knew that the old man was going home to sacrifice the deceased concubine today, so they had already made preparations. Under the hand-off of the officials, Cui Daoyuan went out of the yamen and got into the carriage to return home. Soon after returning to the house, the housekeeper Cui Qi had already prepared for worship, and prepared the sacrificial fruit incense case and other things in the Buddhist hall in the back garden, and invited the Wang tablet to come. Cui Daoyuan cleaned his hands and burned incense, worshiped the dead, and then sat quietly on the futon in the Buddhist hall. According to his habit, he had to sit here for an hour before he could express his sorrows.

Everyone in the Cui family didn't dare to disturb and retreated. Cui Daoyuan sat quietly in the Buddhist hall alone, recalling Wang's voice and smile in his mind, his heart fluctuated with emotion, and his thoughts were full of thoughts. Just when he couldn't extricate himself, suddenly the door of the Buddhist hall behind him was pushed open, and Cui Yuanbo walked in gently with a bowed body.

Cui Daoyuan was interrupted from his thoughts, unhappy in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "What are you doing?" Don't you know what day it is? ”

Cui Yuanbo hurriedly said: "Father, of course Yuanbo knows what day it is, today is the death of his mother, and his son should not have come to disturb him, but his son has something to report." ”

Cui Daoyuan was very unhappy, frowned, and said, "Can't you wait until I go out?" ”

Cui Yuanbo hurriedly said: "I'm afraid that I will miss the time." I can only report to you now. ”

Cui Daoyuan was stunned and said, "What are you afraid of missing the time?" ”

Cui Yuanbo said in a low voice: "The second brother and the third brother sent someone to send a letter back, they said that today is the death day of the concubine, and the two brothers want to worship the concubine at the family ancestral hall. They would like to invite you to the ancestral hall to worship together. said that this year is the death anniversary of my mother's 60th birthday, and it is a big day. So the son can only come to ask the old man to show it, after all, if it is a worship, it can only be before noon, and it will not be done after noon. ”

Cui Daoyuan was stunned, frowned, and said, "How did the two of them become so grand?" They didn't pay much attention to their mothers before. ”

Cui Yuanbo said: "It may be that Yuan Ping and Yuan Rong have thought about it behind closed doors in the family ancestral hall and have repented." Look, old man, to go or not to go? If you go, you will prepare the offerings and sacrifices, and you will be ready in half an hour, and you will still have time before noon. ”

Cui Daoyuan thought about it and sighed: "That's it, it's rare for them to have such filial piety." After all, they are their biological mothers, and they are also filial piety, how can I refuse. You go and arrange it, and we'll go to the family ancestral hall to worship in a while. Again...... It's been a long time since I've seen them. ”

Cui Yuanbo nodded and agreed, turned around and ordered people to prepare items and prepare carriages and horses, just like that, Cui Daoyuan and Cui Yuanbo arrived at the family ancestral hall with more than a dozen servant guards.

Knowing that Cui Daoyuan and Cui Yuanbo were coming, Cui Yuanping, Cui Yuanrong and Cui Yaozu were busy bowing down in front of the courtyard gate to greet them. Cui Daoyuan got out of the car, and when he saw the two brothers Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong, who were pale, blood-red, and had scattered hair, he was shocked. How did the two sons become so decadent and sloppy, it was like a serious illness.

"My son asks my dad for peace." Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong stepped forward and knelt down and kowtowed.

"My grandson said hello to my grandfather. Say hello to Daddy. Cui Yaozu also cried and kowtowed on his face.

"That's it, get up. Yuan Ping Yuan Rong, why do you two look like this? Sick? Cui Daoyuan frowned and asked.

"No, no, daddy is worried." Cui Yuanping said busily.

Cui Daoyuan frowned and said: "Even if you are confined here and don't see outsiders, you must be neatly dressed and act in moderation, this is personal cultivation, how can you be so decadent?" ”

"Yes, yes, daddy taught me." Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong agreed repeatedly.

Cui Daoyuan sighed, seeing the appearance of his two sons, he was actually very unbearable. But they have made great mistakes, and they will not succeed without severe punishment. It was not because they assassinated Wang Yuan, but because they colluded with the court privately in order to seek the position of the head of the Cui family, which was the root of their guilt.

"Have you arranged for the offerings? It's almost noon, so let's hurry up and pay homage to your mother. Cui Daoyuan waved his hand.

Everyone opened the main gate of the ancestral hall and came to the west side room. The tablets of the Cui family's daughters are enshrined here, the fruit offerings and other things are placed on the incense case, and the father and son go to the incense in turn to worship, Cui Yuanbo and Cui Yaozu are the younger generations, although they are not born in the Wang family, but they are also followed by the pillar incense.

Soon after, after the worship was completed, Cui Daoyuan led everyone to the courtyard, turned around and said to Cui Yuanping, Cui Yuanrong and Cui Yaozu: "You three don't blame me for being ruthless to you, I want you three to think about it here behind closed doors for your own good, and when you figure it out, I will naturally let you out." If you are here to reflect on what you need, order someone to go to the house to get it, and I will prepare it for you. I had something to do in the afternoon, so I went back. ”

Cui Yuanping hurriedly stepped forward when he heard this: "Daddy, it's hard to see Daddy, today is my mother's death day, can Daddy stay and have dinner with his sons?" The sons had already ordered someone to buy some food and wine in the side room, and asked their father to appreciate his face. ”

Cui Daoyuan frowned and said, "That's it, I don't have much appetite today." ”

Cui Yuanrong hurriedly said: "It's easy to see my father, although the sons are at fault, they are your sons after all." It's okay if Daddy doesn't want to have a meal with us, it's just that today is Mother's death, and Mother's spirit in the sky must hope that we can have a meal together, only once today, Daddy won't either? ”

When Cui Daoyuan heard this, his heart suddenly softened. Looking at the decadent appearance of the two brothers, I also felt a little sorry in my heart. So he nodded and said, "That's it, just have a meal." ”

Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong hurriedly led Cui Daoyuan, Cui Yuanbo and others into the house where Dongshou lived. Some of the food and drinks that had been prepared in advance had already been placed on the table, and everyone sat down in turn. Cui Daoyuan really didn't have the appetite to eat today, after all, he was in a bad mood. I only ate a few bites with chopsticks and then stopped eating.

Cui Yuanping toasted Cui Daoyuan with a wine glass, Cui Daoyuan raised his glass and drank the wine, put down the glass and was silently distracted. Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong each toasted Cui Yuanbo with another glass of wine, and several people drank a few glasses one after another, and drank the wine jug on the table dry.

Cui Yuanping secretly gave Cui Yuanrong a look, and Cui Yuanrong stood up and went to the table to pretend to add wine. By the cover of his body, he took out the paper bag from his bosom, and spilled a bag of poison into the flask with shaking hands. When he turned around, his face was already covered with cold sweat, and his expression was very panicked.

Cui Yuanrong's heart pounded and poured wine for Cui Daoyuan and Cui Yuanbo, and he almost dropped the wine bottle in a panic.

Cui Yuanping was also afraid of death, but at this moment, he had to send an arrow, so he gritted his teeth and got up and picked up the wine glass and said, "Thank you Daddy for coming here today at the request of me and Yuan Rong to worship my mother, and my son toasts you." The son swears here that he will change his mind and reflect on it, and no longer make his father sad. ”

Cui Daoyuan picked up his wine glass and nodded: "You can say that, I feel much more relieved." Yuanping Yuanrong, Yaozu, don't think that I am deliberately harsh to you, what does my Cui family's thousand-year-old family rely on to this day? It depends on the strict family rules and the fact that everyone abides by the precepts of the ancestors. In any case, the family must not be allowed to have internal strife on their own. You're bad at breaking this rule. Now that you know this, there is still something to be done in the future. I also say a word today, if you can really change your mind, I will not seriously let you be grounded here for ten years. We are flesh and blood, can I really be so ruthless to you? ”

Cui Yaozu shouted happily and thanked him repeatedly. Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong had ghosts in their hearts, and they were even more ashamed when they heard their father's words. Cui Daoyuan took the wine glass and sent it to his mouth, and Cui Yuanping suddenly shouted in a trembling voice: "Daddy! ”

Cui Daoyuan stopped the wine glass to his lips and asked sideways, "What?" ”

Cui Yuanping trembled his lips and couldn't speak, Cui Yuanrong hurriedly said when he saw this: "It's nothing, it's nothing, the second brother thinks it's exciting in his heart, our father and son haven't been together like this for a long time." ”

Cui Daoyuan smiled: "I see, Yuan Ping, you are still good, don't be arrogant, what if people make mistakes?" It's good to know that mistakes can be corrected. Back then, my father and I also made a mistake, and your grandfather was also punished by your grandfather for thinking in the family ancestral hall for a year, so what's the point? The descendants of my Cui family are all responsible, and to outsiders, there is nothing that my Cui family's descendants can't compare. ”

Cui Yuanping finally couldn't hold it anymore, tears were gurgling down, and he couldn't cry.

Cui Yuanbo smiled: "What's wrong with the second brother today?" It always feels a little weird. When I was incense just now, I almost knocked over my mother's tablet, and I was shaking very much when I sat here, and my face was also very bad. How can someone you never cry so much today? Second brother, when you were a child, you were scolded by your father, and you still stuck your neck and refused to admit defeat. ”

"Yes, I also think Yuanping is a little strange today. Is it really sick? Cui Daoyuan also smiled.

Cui Yuanping turned his heart sideways, gritted his teeth and wiped away his tears: "Forgive my son for being rude, come, let's make this cup together." Wish...... I wish my father a long life and a hundred years of life, and I wish ...... The eldest brother has a prosperous official fortune. ”

Cui Daoyuan smiled, not doubting him, several people raised their glasses and drank in.

After putting down the cup, Cui Daoyuan smacked his lips, his mood was a little better, and he raised his chopsticks to pick up the vegetables and eat. Cui Yaozu's eyes were sharp, and when he saw that the wine in Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong's wine glasses was still full, he was immediately dissatisfied: "Second uncle and third uncle, what about the wine that you said would be drunk together, why didn't the wine in your wine glass move?" ”

Cui Yuanping and Cui Yuanrong's faces were like ashes, the two of them slowly got up and left the wine table, took a few steps back, and suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Cui Daoyuan and Cui Yuanbo were very surprised, Cui Daoyuan glared at the two of them and said, "Yuanping Yuanrong, what are you doing?" ”

Cui Yuanping kowtowed, raised his head and was already covered with tears, crying a lot of snot and tears. Whimper: "Daddy, please forgive Yuan Ping and Yuan Rong for being unfilial." Big brother, Yaozu, please forgive us for our injustice. The future has come to the spring, and it is up to you to dispose of it. ”

Cui Daoyuan was stunned: "What are you talking about? What are these words? ”

"Daddy, forgive us. We can't help it. For the sake of the whole Cui family, the sons have to do it as a last resort, and I hope that your father and eldest brother will not be your ancestors