Li Zhang saw that Kong Daofu was forcing himself to open the door, and he was a little angry in his heart, and said: "Li Zhang is just a small official who looks at the door, but he obeys his orders, why should the imperial history force each other?" ”

Fan Zhongyan stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "You guard the gate, you have both power and responsibility, how can you compare yourself to a small official!" If it is said that it is only obeyed, and now there are dozens of people at the front desk of the temple gate, so why do they come here? The Holy One has issued a clear edict, and it is enough to follow the order. Why do we have to talk late at night, don't we Taiwan officials know that it shouldn't be? After being abolished for no reason, it is not a peaceful and beautiful thing, it insults the reputation of the Son of Heaven, and corrupts the holy virtue of this pilgrimage. You are a close relative of the Son of Heaven, and at this time, you should stand up and implore the Holy Lord to take back your fate, and don't listen to the encouragement of one or two traitorous ministers! ”

Li Zhang looked at the imposing Taiwanese official in front of him, took a breath and said: "What the priest said may be reasonable, but the Great Song Dynasty has the rules of Taiwanese admonition, and there is no rule for officials to open the palace door privately. The princes should be outspoken and have the courage to serve, but why do they need Li Zhang to accompany his life? ”

If you open the palace door privately, you can be punished as a conspiracy. Kong Daofu can not take this seriously because Li Zhang is a close relative of the emperor and will not be severely punished no matter what, but Fan Zhongyan can't do this kind of thing, and he is speechless for a while.

Kong Daofu saw that although Li Zhang had always been respectful, he was guarding the palace door and did not open the palace door, he was inexplicably angry in his heart, walked quickly to the door of the closed vertical arch hall, clapped the copper ring with his hand, and shouted loudly: "Abolish the queen for no reason, it is not the holy virtue of the Son of Heaven, why not let the Taiwanese officials enter the palace to face it?" The Son of Heaven is immoral, the minister is humiliated, and he can't enter the palace tonight, so we will stay outside the palace gate! ”

Seeing that the situation was frozen, dozens of ministers were blocked outside the palace gate by a small official, and some people began to scold Li Zhang.

Right Zhengyan Liu Lian pulled the sleeve of the servant Yu Shi Jiang Tang, and pointed to Duan Shaolian, the servant of the palace next to him, and said: "Duan Dianyuan is from Kaifeng, and his house is not far from the house of Xu Ping, the deputy envoy of salt and iron. The Xu family and the Li family are world friends, and Deputy Envoy Xu grew up with Li Zhang, who guarded the gate, and their friendship is not shallow. Why don't we go together and invite Deputy Envoy Xu, and let him persuade Li Zhang to open the door and let us in to face the saint, it is better to freeze here. ”

Jiang Tang said: "Deputy Envoy Xu may not follow us. ”

Liu Jian said: "How do you know if you don't try it?" Xu Ping Tiansheng five years of Jinshi, within a few years to the deputy envoy of the third division, the most lacking in the court is popularity, there is this opportunity, may not reject us. ”

Anyway, it was not a way to stay here, so Jiang Tang and Liu Lian together found Duan Shaolian. A few big hats were pressed down, Duan Shaolian couldn't refuse, and the three of them left the crowd and walked straight out of the palace.

The three of them had already said their whereabouts before leaving, and the others were in favor and disapproving, but there was no reason to stop them.

It was getting darker and darker, and the cold wind of the evening blew and made the people in front of the arched hall tremble.

Kong Daofu was lying on the palace gate, and it was already sobbing, and several officials from the Imperial History Observatory were behind him, constantly pounding on the palace door.

Fan Zhongyan looked at Kong Daofu and said to Li Zhang, who had been standing beside him: "Kong Xian is nearly fifty years old, and he is about the same age as Ling Zun, and his body is weak. Shilin is public, I am afraid that you will be blamed in the future. You are duty-bound, you can't open the palace door without permission, and I can't force it. It's better to let your subordinates take care of the palace gate, and how about entering the palace yourself? ”

Li Zhang looked at the chaotic situation in front of the palace gate, knowing that he could not stop tonight, and after listening to Fan Zhongyan's words, he thought that there was no other way, so he had to agree.

Returning to the small side hall of the gate, Li Zhang instructed the guards not to open the door under any circumstances. After thinking about it, I still didn't feel at ease, so I took the key to the door and took it with me, and then I bypassed the vertical arch hall from the corridor of the door and went to the depths of the inner hall.

Duan Shaolian took Liu Jian and Jiang Tang out of the imperial city, found their respective horses, and galloped all the way to Xu Ping's house near the Bianhe River.

At this time, it is not too late, and it is approaching the end of the year, and the pedestrians on the street are bustling, and it is a lively scene. Hawkers selling food and bits and pieces of food and bits and pieces weave through the streets with their burdens, and the cries of hawking come and go.

The three of them were not fast on horseback, and they were in a hurry.

After going straight for more than half an hour, I finally got off the avenue by the Bianhe River and entered the alley where Xu's house was.

When I arrived at the door of Xu Ping's house, I saw that the door was closed, and there was no movement at all. Only a few lanterns carried in front of the door swayed in the cold wind, with "Yongning Marquis Mansion" written on them, and the word "Xu" written on the other side.

Duan Shaolian saw this scene and said to the two people beside him: "In recent days, Deputy Envoy Xu has built a new mansion outside Wansheng Gate, and he often rests there. It doesn't seem like we're living in the city today, so why don't we go back. ”

Liu Jian said: "Since you have already come, why do you have to knock on the door and ask, how can you go back like this!" ”

The three of them got off the horse, and Duan Shaolian stepped forward to knock on the door.

After a while, the door opened, and a small servant poked his head out of it and looked at the three people: "A few officials, what is the important matter of coming to our Yongning Marquis Mansion late at night?" ”

Duan Shaolian looked at the two people beside him, stepped forward and said: "Duan Shaolian, who serves the imperial history in the lower hall, these two are my colleagues, we have something important to find the marquis, please let me know." ”

The little servant looked at the three of them and shook his head: "It's unfortunate that the official came, the county marquis is resting outside the city today, and now only his wife is in the mansion." If it is convenient, you can inform the lady by a small message. ”

Duan Shao was interrupted by a loud voice, and was about to turn around and say goodbye.

Liu Jian said: "No, Xu Ping is just a young man, and I haven't heard that he once took a concubine, how could he be separated from his wife for no reason, one lives in the city and the other lives outside the city?" ”

Jiang Tang asked, "How did Brother Liu say that?" ”

"This is clearly hearing about today's incident and deliberately avoiding us! With such a rhetoric, find a little guy to send us away, and he doesn't take us seriously! ”

Hearing what Liu Lian said eloquently, Jiang Tang was also suspicious in his heart, and said to Duan Shaolian: "Liu Zhongzhang is also reasonable. ”

Duan Shaolian said: "Regardless of whether it is reasonable or not, Deputy Envoy Xu has closed the door, so let's go back quickly!" ”

Liu Jian grabbed Duan Shaolian, who turned around and was about to leave: "Xiyi, tonight we will admonish all the officials in Taiwan, and we will not hesitate to offend the prime minister in power. If Xu Ping is in the mansion and doesn't dare to come out to see us, then he must also think that what we are doing is reasonable, but he is just afraid of the powerful! Since he is here, why don't we force him out and join us in persuading the Holy Lord to withdraw his destiny and make the emperor holy! (To be continued.) )