On the eighth day of September in the 40th year of Kangxi, Cao Yan, who had been kidnapped for nearly two months, finally returned to Jiangning. The carriage of the Cao family was already waiting at the dock, and Cao Yin brought someone to greet his wife and children in person. Seeing that Cao Yin's injuries had healed, Cao Yin also breathed a sigh of relief. There is only this one son, in case there is a little disability in his body, not to mention what happened to the old lady, even he can't bear it in his heart as a father.

Sitting in the carriage, Cao Yan remembered the experience of the past two months. Traveling through the confusion, he was originally at peace with the encounter, wanting to be a spectator, but now the various tribulations he has experienced remind him that this is a bloody and real world, and he is already a part of this world. Unless he dies, he can only rise and fall in this world. He has no "king" ambitions, and now it is the Kangxi Dynasty, the period when China's feudal imperial power is most concentrated, how can it change history after YY. He just wants to live, not die of illness in his twenties, and not be raided after Yongzheng comes to power. With this goal in mind, he decided to start working on it.

On Xuanrui Hall, the old lady had already been talking for a long time, and the concubines of the eldest lady Cao Yan and Cao Yin were all waiting with the old lady. Hearing the little maid outside report that the wife and uncle were back, the old lady got up and walked to the door to look. Seeing Cao Yan's figure from a distance, the old lady was already with tears in her eyes, and muttered in her mouth: "Grandson, my life!" Cao Yan heard that her mother was sick when she was in Suzhou, and she was very worried, and she was relieved when she saw that she was only a little thin now, and there was nothing unusual.

When Cao Yan followed Li to the door of Xuanrui Hall, without waiting for Cao Yan to see the salute, the old lady leaned down and held Cao Yan in his arms, and the old tears were all over the place. The old lady said that although she was loving, she was not dignified, where had everyone seen her so out of shape. No matter what, everyone knows that Cao Yan is indeed the meat of the old lady's heart. It's just that Cao Yan is a little strange, what's wrong with grandmother, even if the grandparents are separated for two months, they don't have to be like this.

Several of Cao Yin's concubines stepped forward to greet the Li family, and Liuli followed the two aunts of the Feng family and the Qian family in pink clothes, with their hair in a bun on their heads. When Li saw her dressing up, he knew that she had accepted the room, and he was faintly unhappy.

Xifu Zhaojia heard the news and brought the children over. Cao Ying was okay, like Cao Yan, she thought that Cao Ying just went to her grandmother's house in Suzhou and asked about the customs of Suzhou. Cao Song still remembered his brother's disappearance in the school, and his heart was full of questions, but because his mother had instructed him not to ask questions indiscriminately before he came, he closed his mouth and looked at Cao Song curiously.

The old lady wiped away her tears, glanced at Li a few times with a little meaning, and sent her back to the room to change her clothes first. Before returning home, Cao Yan and his mother had already exchanged words and were ready to deal with the old lady's questioning. What is surprising is that the old lady did not ask, but just looked at Cao Yan carefully, and saw that there was nothing wrong with him, so he was relieved. Cao Yan was full of thoughts, although Cao Yin and the Li family had mentioned that he was kidnapped and concealed it from the old lady, but for some reason he always felt that the old lady knew the details, so he was like this.

The Li family changed his clothes and came over, mentioning that the person sent by the Li Mansion to ask for peace was already waiting. The old lady nodded and asked someone to invite them over. The two mothers-in-law often went to Jiangning during the New Year's Festival, asked the old lady to say goodbye, and talked about their son's gossip.

The old lady followed the words of the two and asked about the physical condition of the two mothers of the Wen family and the Gao family, and thanked the Li family for taking care of Cao Yan. The two mothers-in-law didn't dare to say anything, and presented the gift list prepared by the Li family. The old lady smiled and asked someone to pick them up, and ordered someone to take them to the guest room to settle down.

Zhao Jia's body is more than four months old, and his body is easily tired, so after staying for a while, he took the children back. Li wanted to ask her about Liu Ping, but she didn't know how to speak. Before going to Hangzhou, she recuperated in Xifu, thanks to Zhaojia's dedicated care, and almost had a miscarriage. Although Li didn't say anything, he was grateful, and the two of them were not the same now, and there was no estrangement. Right now, Aunt Baodie in Xifu has just given birth to a son, and mentioning Xiao Liu Ping's matter again doesn't add to Zhaojia's blockage? Besides, the old lady was not fake to the Zhaojia family, if she knew that she had caused the Cao family to be left behind, I was afraid that it would be another turmoil. After thinking about it, Li decided to discuss with her husband at night and then see how to settle Liu Ping.

Cao Yan saw that Liu Ping disappeared after entering the house, and asked his mother in a low voice, knowing that he was placed in his mother's courtyard first, so he put his mind at ease. Because of hiding his injury from Lao Taijun, it is not easy for Xiao Liu Ping, the "benefactor", to enter the house, how can she think of a reason to arrange a reasonable excuse for her, so that she can settle down in the Cao family.

Weaving house, front yard, study.

Cao Yin took a slow sip of tea, with a smile on his face that couldn't be hidden.

Zhuang Chang watched it from the sidelines, sighing in his heart. Cao Chang was safe and sound, in addition to the Cao family, Zhuang Chang was also very happy. After teaching Gu Na for two months, he was very satisfied with this wise disciple. Cao Yan's matter, in the final analysis, is the fault of Gu Na's father. If Cao Yan has a mistake and Gu Na's identity is embarrassing, Zhuang Chang will not be able to keep him by his side. In the two months after Cao Yin was kidnapped, Cao Yin's rush was haggard, and he saw it in his eyes, "pity the hearts of parents in the world". It's just that it's too early to be happy now, Zhuang Chang shook his head and put a secret report from the General Administration Department in front of Cao Yin's desk.

Cao Yin picked it up, glanced at it a few times, and looked solemn. There are two news on the secret report, one is from Jiangbei, and heaven and earth will open in Xuzhou, Anhui; In Hangzhou, there was a rebellion in the eight halls of the Heaven and Earth Society, and the chief helmsman Wan Yunlong was poisoned and disappeared after fleeing, and his personal disciple Bu Jing died. The inner eight halls were divided, and the left protector Su Hongguang led Wan Yunlong's descendants to go to sea from Fuzhou by boat, and Mu Dajiang, the master of the torture hall, gathered the forces of the remaining five halls and based them in the south of the Yangtze River.

Heaven and Earth Society, the boss is Wan Yunlong, known as "Heaven and Earth Society" externally, and "Hongmen" internally, the mountain opened in Fujian in the thirteenth year of Kangxi. Because of his secrecy, by the time the court noticed it, there were already tens of thousands of people. When Cao Yin's father, Cao Xi, was there, he repeatedly folded to Emperor Kangxi on this matter. After many discussions, the monarchs and ministers all thought that it was better to block than to slacken. Even if the Heaven and Earth Society is destroyed, the warriors all over the south of the Yangtze River are still innumerable, and it is better to hold them in their hands to gather the forces of all parties. Therefore, since the twentieth year of Kangxi, the imperial court has sent a certain number of secret agents to infiltrate the Heaven and Earth Society every year. Twenty years later, the Heaven and Earth Society, which was originally mysterious, has become transparent.

The rebellion in the Inner Eight Halls is still Zhuang Chang's handwriting, because he saw that the Heaven and Earth Society has developed rapidly in recent years, and there is a trend of developing to Jiangbei, he planned this matter after consulting with Cao Yin, and the step who was killed by Wan Yunlong was the first secret agent to join the Heaven and Earth Society. Originally, he wanted to make concessions and took the opportunity to grasp the power of the Heaven and Earth Society, purge the anti-Qing elements in it, and turn the Heaven and Earth Society into an opposition force in the imperial court. Unexpectedly, things did not go as expected, although the heaven and earth would be damaged, but the highest identity of the secret agent was killed, and Mu Dajiang, who now holds real power, is a fanatic who "opposes the Qing Dynasty and restores the Ming Dynasty".

It's really troublesome, Cao Yin rubbed his forehead and asked, "What about Wai Batang, what is the news?" ”

Although the eight halls in the Heaven and Earth Society are all backbones, the number of people is not large, and if there is chaos, it will not be widespread; If it involves the outer eight halls, it will be complicated. The eight halls outside the Heaven and Earth Society are distributed in the eight southern provinces, and there are 100,000 people under the jurisdiction of the hall, if they get out of control, local turmoil is inevitable.

Zhuang Chang sighed: "What I am talking about is the Outer Eight Halls, Zhejiang Hall is attached to Mu Dajiang, Suzhou Hall is eradicated by Mu Dajiang, Hunan Hall disappears, and Hubei Hall is returned to the imperial court." The distance between Liangguang and the four provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou is too far, and there is no news yet, but the masters of Yungui Hall are all people from the imperial court, so there should be no chaos. ”

"Hunan Hall, Wu Tiancheng!" Cao Yin read the name and understood why Zhuang Chang sighed. Wu Tiancheng, the master of Hunan Hall, is the adopted son of Wan Yunlong, and his reputation in the Heaven and Earth Society is second only to Wan Yunlong and Su Hongguang, and the strength of the Hunan Hall under his jurisdiction is the first of the eight outer halls, and the management is the most tight, and the secret agents sent by the General Administration Department have not been able to enter the Hunan Hall for many years. Hunan Tang disappeared and broke away from the control of the imperial court, which is afraid of big trouble.

"Jiangnan is not peaceful, the capital is involved too much, and the bottom is so unstable, you and I will bother in the future!" Zhuang Chang touched his beard and said.

Cao Yin nodded, this time Emperor Kangxi used the matter of the Cao family to remove the governor of Jiangsu, Ha Zhan, and the prefect of Hangzhou, Shi Guozhu, which has its own deep meaning. Ha Zhan is a student of Mingzhu, and he is considered to be the eldest brother's faction, and Shi Guozhu is the prince's in-law, so he is naturally the prince's faction. The two of them did their best to win over each other in Jiangnan officialdom, and did their best for their own sons. Although the eldest brother's maternal uncle Mingzhu was dismissed last year, the eldest brother accompanied Kangxi on the western expedition earlier, and his military achievements were outstanding. The crown prince has always been wary of his eldest brother seizing the heir, and with the support of his maternal uncle Zu Suo Etu, he vigorously developed his henchmen in the central part of the DPRK to compete with the eldest brother Mingzhu faction.

Thinking of the changes in Jiangnan, Cao Yin and Zhuang Chang glanced at each other and said in unison: "Suo Etu is stepping down!" ”

Others don't know, Cao Yin is the one who knows Mingzhu's exploits best. The pacification of the three times, the recovery of Taiwan, and the negotiation with Russia, the pearl merit lies in Sheji. Later, he changed from a prime minister of energy to a minister of power, and the governor of the whole country was vacant, and he had to go his way to find a job. Six books, half of which are pearl henchmen. No matter how great Mingzhu's merits are, what he has done has already touched the dragon's scales, and the emperor certainly can't tolerate him. Last year, Guo Xiu, the imperial historian of the capital, participated in the impeachment of Mingzhu's eight major crimes, all of which could cause Mingzhu to die. The emperor was annoyed that he "favored too much profit, made too many friends, and could not abide by the official motto", but "remembered that he had praised the military affairs when he pacified the 'three feudatories'", and thought that "right and wrong are not concealed", so he was dismissed from the post of Mingzhu University Scholar, and let him hang up the false title of Minister of the Interior.

Regarding Mingzhu's encounter and Suo Etu's future, although Cao Yin has relatives, he doesn't take it to heart. He was bent on being a pure minister, only knowing that he was loyal to the emperor and did not care about the power disputes between the court and the court. At this time, he didn't know the impact of the changes on the Cao family.

Before arriving in Jiangning, Cao Yin thought that he would talk to Cao Yin as soon as possible after he came back, he didn't want to live the original life of "Little Cao Yin", and was raised by the old lady in the inner house, so he could only talk about it in the maid's heap. There are too many things to learn, the aspect of literature, the aspect of martial arts, and the art is not pressing, no matter what happens in the future, you must always have some real kung fu.

On the first day of returning home, except for meeting him at the dock, Cao Yin only saw Cao Yin at dinner, but he didn't have a chance to talk to him. After dinner, the old lady asked the Li family to take someone to send Cao Yin to the east bedroom to rest, leaving Cao Yin to speak alone.

Only the mother and son were left in the room, and the old lady stared at Cao Yin for a long time before sighing: "Thank God, ancestors bless!" ”

Cao Yin was shocked in his heart and asked in surprise: "Mother? ”

"Humph!" The old lady glared at Cao Yin, took out a piece of jade Guanyin from his sleeve, put it in his hand, and said angrily: "Until now, do you still want to hide it from me, I really can't be a deaf and dazzling old woman!" ”

The jade Guanyin is what Cao Yin has worn since he was a child, and after Cao Yin was kidnapped, he was pawned by Gu San to a pawnshop in Suzhou, and was later redeemed by Cao Yin, and somehow got into the hands of the old lady.

Cao Yin saw that the old lady was angry, and hurriedly knelt down to confess.

Seeing Cao Yin's sideburns and white hair, the old lady couldn't bear it, and waved her hand: "Get up, I asked someone to inquire, and I can't complain about you." Fortunately, I am safe, and I have eaten these two months of fast in vain! When Cao Yin got up, he said: "Mid-Autumn Festival, forcing you to take a concubine, just in case." If there is any mistake in the child, leaving the blood as soon as possible is also worthy of the ancestors and ancestors. I have wronged your daughter-in-law, these words must be that she is also frightened, you can comfort her! ”

"Yes, Mother! It's all the son's unfilial piety and family affairs, which will cause you to bother! Cao Yin's eyes were sour, and he felt very guilty. Listening to the meaning of the old lady's words, she had already known the truth, but because she didn't want to worry about herself, she pretended not to know and ate a long fast for two months.