Beijing, Dongzhimen North Street, Needlework Hutong, Shell House.

The sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother came together and were ordered to visit the twelfth elder brother who was sick. On the seventh day of the first month of last month, the two of them went on a tour of Xinggidian with the fifth elder brother, the eighth elder brother, the fourteenth elder brother, and the fifteenth elder brother, and returned to Beijing at the end of the month.

Previously, the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother had not heard the news that the twelfth elder brother was sick, but now the younger brother and the younger brother still received the imperial father's dictation and came to visit the patient.

The chief housekeeper of Beizi Mansion heard that the two princes and elder brothers came on the orders of the emperor, so they hurriedly sent someone to the master to open the middle door to greet him.

The twelfth elder brother opened the mansion in the fiftieth year of Kangxi, although he was ten years older than the sixteenth elder brother and twelve years older than the seventeenth elder brother, but he was still very kind to the younger brothers in the early years of the elder brother. Even after the opening of the mansion, he also had contacts with several elder brothers in the palace.

The sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother were dressed in regular clothes, and they didn't let the big butler toss, but directly asked him to lead the way and wait for the hall.

Although I haven't seen the twelfth elder brother yet, the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother have also roughly guessed that this brother is afraid that it is a bad heart disease, otherwise the imperial father would not have specially sent their little brothers over.

As early as last autumn, an official wrote that those who should be sentenced to Ling Chi were left unpublished.

On the tenth day of the first month of last month, the former Nine Gate Admiral Tuo and Qi died of illness in the prison of the Zongren Mansion. Later, the Yamenti of the Zongren Mansion, because of his "wanton rebellion and serious crimes", should be crushed and scattered, and he should not be allowed to be buried; His son Shu Qi, relying on his father's might, ran rampant, and should be hanged and imprisoned. From above.

Although Tuo Heqi is a supporter of the abolished prince and is implicated here, he is the uncle of the Twelfth Elder Brother after all.

Kangxi has always governed the country with "benevolence and filial piety", and has always been generous to his courtiers.

The twelfth elder brother has always been responsible, not mixed with those ghosts, and the biological mother is low, but she is also at ease, and there is nothing to complain about.

I don't want to fight for the heir in the past few years, but he can't avoid it if he wants to. His father-in-law, Shi Ma Qi, was dismissed and detained for being involved in the 48th year of Kangxi as the crown prince, and was only released in the past two years.

Now, his own uncle is in this fate again. With the lessons of the thirteenth elder brother in front of him, how can he not be afraid? I heard that he had left Beijing since he left the city, and he didn't leave the house again, and he didn't know why he was sick again.

The twelfth elder brother heard the two little brothers coming with the emperor's order, and came to the hall dressed neatly. He was only twenty-nine years old this year, but he had a lot of gray hair on his head, and his face was a little frighteningly pale.

The sixteenth elder brother faced south and turned his back to the north, and stood with his hands solemn.

The twelfth elder brother picked up the placket of his clothes, knelt on the ground, and said, "St. Ann? ”

The sixteenth elder brother said: "Saint Gong'an! Then he said: "I heard that Er is sick, take a good rest, so as not to worry about me, and ask Fujin to go to the palace to ask the queen mother to say goodbye." ”

The twelfth elder brother clenched his fists tightly, almost shed tears, endured it, and replied in a dumb voice: "Erchen's order!" ”

After passing the holy decree, the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother hurriedly helped the elder brother up, and the brothers met again, and the guest and host sat down in the back.

The sixteenth elder brother said angrily: "The twelfth brother is really, since he is sick, why don't you give a letter?" It seems that those of us who are younger brothers are ignorant. ”

The twelfth elder brother squeezed out a smile and said, "Thank you for the two younger brothers, or because of the change of seasons, the diet is a little uneven, and now it is much better!" ”

The sixteenth elder brother looked at the twelfth elder brother's expression, and comforted: "The twelfth elder brother has always been an open-minded person, why can't you think about it this time?" Not to mention anything else, when Suo Etu was convicted, the second brother was not implicated; After Mingzhu stepped down, the eldest brother was more valued. We are the sons of Huang Ama, do we have to stay away from the relationship between father and son for the sake of relatives? ”

This was said a little bluntly, and the twelfth elder brother was even moved, nodded with a smile, and said, "The sixteenth brother has always been tricky, but now he has grown up!" ”

The sixteenth elder brother said with a smile: "My brother doesn't dare to praise my brother, I heard that my brother has wine from Oros in the house, so it is a great good thing to send two jars to my brother." ”

The twelfth elder brother remembered that the sixteenth elder brother drank heavily last year because of the loss of his son, and couldn't help but say: "In the end, you can't be greedy for too many things in this cup, otherwise it will not be beneficial to the body, and the sixteenth brother still needs to be temperate." ”

The sixteenth elder brother waved his hand and said, "My good brother, my younger brother is also a person who will be twenty, where do you need to worry about these people?" I can save it in my heart, brother, and be relieved! It's not just asking my brother for wine and food, but it's for a reason! ”

The twelfth elder brother listened to it rarely, and when he saw the sixteenth elder brother smiling and groaning, thinking about the dictate of the emperor's father, it was good news.

Before he could open his mouth to ask, he heard the seventeenth elder brother say with a smile: "The sixteenth brother should be kind, this joy is still reported by the younger brother!" The sixteenth brother wants to beg for wine, and the younger brother also wants to beg! ”

Seeing that the seventeenth elder brother smiled and showed a row of white teeth, he couldn't help but hold his forehead and said, "Don't say that you are my brother, look at your unclosed appearance, needless to say, you must be begging for your daughter-in-law!" ”

The seventeenth elder brother nodded with a smile and said to the twelfth elder brother: "Twelfth brother, are there any other Oros skins that you sent to various families in your house last year?" If it's convenient, give your seventeen brothers and sisters a copy, okay? ”

Regarding the matter of the seventeenth elder brother's two sons, the twelfth elder brother had heard Fu Jin mention it before, just as a newlywed Yan'er, an ordinary thing, and now he was surprised to see him begging for leather goods for his daughter-in-law, and then he was only grateful.

This little brother is not very old, he doesn't like to talk much since he was a child, although he is also from a concubine, but he is quite strong and rarely talks to others.

Now, although the seventeenth elder brother opened his mouth to ask for leather goods to love his daughter-in-law, he did not mean to treat the twelfth elder brother as an outsider.

The Twelfth Elder Brother has been closed for most of the month, and the courtyard is very deserted, and many people who were originally related to Beizi Mansion are waiting and seeing, for fear of getting his bad luck.

But it is a real good news, the seventeenth elder brother said: "Although there is no official decree yet, but looking at the meaning of the emperor, it is to wait for the twelfth brother to recover from his illness, so that the twelfth brother will be in charge of flag affairs." ”

The twelfth elder brother was stunned when he heard this, and he didn't wake up for a while.

You must know that the flag affairs of the lower five flags are in charge of the prince of the clan, and if he is put in charge of the flag affairs, it will be the upper three flags held by the emperor's father, which is not an ordinary honor. Even a few noble-born princes and brothers may not be able to get this dignity.

The sixteenth elder brother smiled and said, "This time, the twelfth brother should be down-to-earth!" It's just that after all, the holy decree has not yet been issued, and it is not easy to publicize it, and the twelve brothers will do it if they know it in their hearts. ”

The twelfth elder brother nodded, thanked the two younger brothers again, and immediately called the housekeeper to come up and go to the warehouse to find the wine and leather goods that the two wanted.

The sixteenth elder brother hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Why is it so urgent?" The younger brothers can't rob it, so they have to wait? We still have to play in the street and then go back to the palace, the twelfth brother remembers these things, and then send someone to the palace. ”

The twelfth elder brother smiled dumbly, looked at the regular clothes on the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother, and said, "Yes, my brother is anxious!" Are the two younger brothers going to exchange for longevity gifts? ”

The sixteenth elder brother replied: "Well, although I have prepared a few things, it is not in my heart, and I still need to turn around again." ”

The twelfth elder brother raised his eyebrows and said: "Why bother so much, who doesn't know that you have a winter tea garden, and the tea produced is good, and it is directly dedicated to Huang Ama to celebrate his birthday." ”

The sixteenth elder brother shook his head with a wry smile: "How many acres of land is that?" I can't get out of it all year round, so I don't have to get in the way of that eye. That's it, someone has given Cao Hao eye medicine in front of Huang Ama. ”

The twelfth elder brother smiled and said, "Sixteenth brother, don't you know, now everyone calls Cao Hao 'tea boy' in private!" ”

The sixteenth elder brother heard this allusion for the first time, after all, everyone knew that he had a good relationship with Cao Hao, and no one would tell Cao Hao about Cao Hao's rights and wrongs in front of him. Therefore, he couldn't help but have doubts in his heart, but when someone had bad intentions, he asked, "What is wrong with Brother Twelve?" ”

The twelfth elder brother said: "I don't know how to fight the news from the south, saying that the tea gardens that the Cao family made in Fujian and Taihu Lake in the early years were all the places that Cao Hao pointed to. At the beginning, he was only a teenager, and he said that he knew from reading local chronicles, and there was good tea in these places. However, the big guy pulled through the local chronicles of more than a dozen provinces, and did not find similar records. Last year, he went to the Dongyanna Mountain to go out, and everyone only thought that he couldn't bear the hardships of the place and wanted to move the door back, but he didn't think that he would make a winter tea that was difficult to change. In the various palaces in the capital, there are not ten families that make people go to Dongyan to find tea gardens, but there are also eight families. As a result, except for the dozens of hectares of land you occupy, there are no tea trees in other places, and there is no place where tea can be grown. ”

Speaking of this, the twelfth elder brother said with a smile: "Now that someone has inquired, they know that the ministers who entered Beijing to celebrate their birthday have the father and son of the Cao family, waiting to block the gate of the Cao family, and they want to ask Cao Hao to point out the people who are not old or young in the realm of raising tea." Look, maybe Cao Hao's post has gone up, and everyone is counting on him to make a fortune, if you can stay in Beijing, wouldn't it be more convenient? ”

The sixteenth elder brother was dumbfounded when he heard this, but he really didn't expect that Cao Hao had only been away from Beijing for more than a year, how could he become a sweetheart? And it's a ridiculous nickname. is already a child's father, this is too far from the "child".

However, thinking that the twelfth elder brother had received an errand from the Internal Affairs Office before, the sixteenth elder brother asked, "In addition to the outer palace, are there people from the Internal Affairs Office involved?" ”

The twelfth elder brother nodded: "That's right!" These tea gardens handed over by the Cao family have been heard to be fruitful in recent years, and a lot of tea going to Mongolia also comes from there. Those people who have oil and water, and can make money for the inner treasury under the guise of making money, naturally have to pay special attention to the rumors of the 'tea boys' in the outside world. ”

The sixteenth elder brother remembered that when Cao Hao entered Beijing last year, he didn't have these words, and thought that there was a grandfather of the clan who loved tea in Layue last year, and sent a gift worth hundreds of silver dollars to him to ask for tea. However, because there was little interest in the tea garden, and there were more places for him to pay homage everywhere, he really couldn't get out, so he returned the gift and politely refused.

It's just that being remembered like this, presumably Cao Hao is going to have a headache again. The sixteenth elder brother smiled a little unkindly, thinking about the mountainous land that Cao Hao bought in Changping, who would have thought that the land price would rise like this earlier, could it be that this cousin is really a "golden boy" who gathers wealth.

However, although the sixteenth elder brother was smiling on his face, he became more and more vigilant in his heart, there are people who want to count on Cao Hao to make a fortune, and there should be many people who hate him. If someone wants to use a knife behind his back, he has to weigh his own weight.

* Cao Hao sat in the middle of the boat, sneezed several times in succession, and thought to himself, I don't know who was muttering about himself.

They came out of Yizhou on the third day of March, and boarded the ship at the wharf on the fourth day of March in Daxing Town.

In addition to Cao Yin and his wife, Cao Hao and his wife, Wu'er, and Tianyou, Cao Song's previous girls all went to Beijing with him. Amethyst also brought a few family members to wait.

Due to the inconvenience of living on the boat, Cao Hao took one of the boats with his father, and Chu Yu waited for his mother-in-law Li to take another boat. Two boats, followed by cargo ships loaded with tribute, followed along the canal, all the way north.

Because he knew that the second room was going to enter Beijing in the summer, after Li and Chu Yu discussed, after setting the Wanshou Festival, Li returned to the south to help, and Chu Yu took Wu'er to wait for Zhaojia's family to enter Beijing and settle down before leaving Beijing.

Cao Quan had never lived in the capital much before his death, and except for Cao Song, who followed his brother in the capital a few years ago, the others returned to the capital for the first time. Some clansmen and relatives must always know each other.

Yizhou Daotai Mansion, the inner house entrusted the Tian family, and the yamen entrusted Mr. Zhuang, and the arrangement was appropriate.

Because he thought that the cabin was stuffy, Cao Hao walked to the deck, and for some reason remembered Ning Chun and Yongqinglai. Ming said that it was the anniversary of Ning Chun, and it had been a whole year, but he still hadn't been able to find the reason for the Ning family's accident. Listening to what Cao Fang said, Yongqing seemed to know some reasons, although he had written and asked in the past year, but Yongqing was only vague about the past.

That is, Jiazi is longevity, and it is inevitable to come to amnesty to the world. Yongqing is not a "heinous" crime, and when it is calculated, it should be in Beijing at the end of April or early May at the latest.

Cao Hao's side will stay in the capital until the end of March at the latest, and this time I am afraid that he will not be able to wait until Yongqing. Old friends get together, and I don't know what year it will take. After all, if there is no will or errand, a foreign minister like him cannot easily leave the station, let alone enter Beijing at will.

If the three-year term of Daotai expires, and then he becomes an official in the southwest and northwest provinces, then he can return to Beijing even farther away. Thinking of these, Cao Hao couldn't help sighing, and began to miss the words in the capital, although he was not as comfortable as outside, but his relatives and friends were old, and there were many things that he couldn't let go.

Cao Yin woke up from a nap and wanted to talk to his son, but he didn't see Cao Hao. After asking the little servant, Xiao came up to the deck, and he also came out of the cabin, just in time to hear his son's sigh.

Cao Hao heard the footsteps, turned around, saw his father come out, and said with a smile: "Father doesn't sleep more?" It's really sleepy. ”

Cao Yin said: "It's okay, but it's Hao'er, what are you feeling?" ”

Cao Hao smiled bitterly: "Father, it's strange to say, earlier in the capital, I was looking forward to being released, and I was very impatient to deal with the exchanges of the powerful, I just felt that everyone was empty and boring. Now, after a long time away from Beijing, I am a little panicked. There are some things that can only be explored and understood in Beijing, and it is easy for people to be confused outside. ”

Cao Yin frowned slightly and asked, "Where is Hao'er's confusion?" ”

Cao Hao looked at the distant sky and replied: "My son has lived tremblingly for more than ten years, and he has never been able to feel at ease. I am always afraid of waking up from a dream, and my destiny cannot be violated, leaving me sad in vain. Now, I seem to feel that something is different, my heart is much less afraid, and I am much more at a loss, and I don't know where to go from here! ”

"Destiny cannot be violated? Is it our family? Or is it a father? Cao Yin asked.

Cao Hao didn't know why his father asked like this, as if he had just missed a sentence.

He was thinking about what to say, when he heard Cao Yin say: "Thinking about it now, for the future of our family and our father, Hao'er seems to have a number in his heart, otherwise he wouldn't have thought about the deficit in his teens; A few years ago, I begged for cinchoa in front of the emperor early. Could it be that according to the mandate of heaven, going to Xia should have been for the ...... of my father" Speaking of this, he paused and said, "Should I have died for my father?" Not only is this the case for family affairs, even for the second elder brother, even for the father, it cannot be said that the long-lived master is completely disappointed in the prince, but Hao'er has twice and repeatedly exhorted the father to avoid the prince and the other princes. These are not things you can know, so where does Hao'er know about them? ”

Even though the relationship between father and son is quite close, Cao Hao didn't dare to say it, I am not your son, I am a ghost. It's hard to say whether he can scare the other party, but he has long regarded himself as the son of the Cao family.

However, there are some words that are uncomfortable to hold in my heart. Therefore, Cao Hao said in a relaxed tone as much as possible: "It's strange to say, my son often had some strange dreams when he was a child, dreaming about things that would happen in a few years or even ten or twenty years. In the dream, my father was in the summer of the fifty-first year of Kangxi and contracted malaria and traveled westward; The son died a few years later, leaving his wife Ma and giving birth to a posthumous son. Our family...... Our family was copied by the new emperor due to a deficit when he ascended the throne. When I was a child, I was not sensible, and I was always afraid that my nightmare would come true, so I was worried about it all these years. Now, no matter what, it's different from the dream! ”

Cao Yin was silent for a while, and then said, "In Hao'er's dream, the new emperor ...... The new emperor is the fourth elder brother? ”

Cao Hao was startled when he heard this. Cao Yin put his hands behind his back and said with a smile on his face: "Maybe the ancestors are virtuous and deliberately point out the trouble to solve the crisis of our Cao family." ”

(To be continued)