On the day of the summer solstice on the twenty-fifth day of May, it is also a good weather.

Twenty days have passed since the stabbing on Flyover Street. Just seven days ago, a group of hundreds of cavalry drove into the Chongwen Gate and escorted a car into the Forbidden Imperial City.

Although many people saw this group of people entering the city, most of them did not know who was in the carriage. The news of the prince's robbery has always been strictly blocked, and now his return to Beijing is of course a secret.

In the following days, the people and horses of the state capitals that had been searching for martial law near the capital were evacuated one after another, and Lu Xiangsheng also led 3,000 "Tianxiong Army" from Beizhili back to the Shanxi garrison.

And Zhu Yousong, the son of King Fu, also left the capital two days ago and returned to Luoyang King Fu's mansion.

Things came and went quickly, and now the city of Beijing has returned to its former calm, as if the carjacking had never happened.

The only difference is probably in front of the Cao Mansion on Liuyin Street by the Shicha Sea, which is more lively than before, and every day when you come here to see officials, you can discharge a long queue of more than ten zhang outside the mansion gate.

It was nearly noon, a black-painted carriage galloped into Liuyin Street, but it did not stop queuing in the back, but drove directly through the long queue and stopped at the gate of Caofu. The curtain was raised, and a richly dressed man in a brocade coat wearing gold and jade came out of the car, and next to him was a young man with a broadsword at his waist, presumably his bodyguard.

The brocade-clothed boy jumped out of the carriage, only glanced at the officials lined up on the street, and walked up the stone steps in front of the Cao Mansion. This person is not wearing an official uniform, he is just a civilian, and it is really a bit rude to swagger over in front of these many officials!

"Hey, boy, give me zhanzhu!"

Seeing that the road was uneven, someone was in charge, and a military attache with a beard on his face in the long queue immediately shouted.

This military attache was originally a rough man, he got up early in the morning and lined up here, and spent two hours in the sun for two hours.

However, before he could finish his sentence, his arm had been pulled heavily.

"Don't scream, do you want to get into trouble!"

The military attache looked back and saw that it was a civil official surnamed Tang who was pulling him behind him. The two of them have the same rank, and the relationship between Ping Suri is not bad.

"Lord Tang, that guy cut in line for no reason, why can't I call him, who is he?" the military attache asked.

"I don't know who that person is, but his relationship with the Cao family is definitely not shallow. Last time, I saw him come once, and the prince of Duyun personally went out to greet him, and you offended this person by calling indiscriminately, I'm afraid it won't end well!"

"And such a thing?" Hearing this, the bearded military attache couldn't help but be frightened in his heart, "That kid seems to be just a rich man, and he has such a big background, I'm afraid that he is not a relative of the emperor?"

But seeing that the young man in brocade did not stop and walked up the steps directly, it seemed that he did not hear his call just now, and the heart of the bearded military attache relaxed a little.

When the steward at the gate of Cao's Mansion saw the boy coming, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute and welcomed the boy in brocade into the door, and the young man with a broadsword at his waist also followed.

Now the power of the Cao family is so great, even if the court officials come, they have to wait honestly to receive them, and that person was let into the mansion without notification, which is really unusual.

The military attache Hu was a little scared in his heart, and he was also grateful to the civil official surnamed Tang, and said: "Thanks to Lord Tang's reminder, Hu almost got into trouble!"

The civil official surnamed Tang said: "Everyone is a minister in the same hall, Brother Hu is too polite!"

At this time, he heard someone next to him: "Where is that person who is a relative of the emperor?" Hmph, he is just a person in the rivers and lakes!"

The civil official surnamed Tang and the military attache with a beard turned their heads together when they heard this, but they saw that it was an old man with a long beard who spoke. Both of them knew that the old man's surname was Ouyang, and among the Qing officials in the ancestral hall of the official residence and ritual department, he was from the official rank of the fourth grade, which was one level higher than Tang and Hu.

The civil official surnamed Tang hurriedly bowed and said, "Could it be that Mr. Ouyang knows the origin of that person, please advise." ”

The old man surnamed Ouyang said: "Advice is not to talk about, a few days ago when the old man came to Cao Mansion also happened to be present, seeing that Duyun Gongzi personally went out to greet him, it is also the same as you, only when his identity is definitely extraordinary, he ordered his subordinates to inquire about his origin, only to know that the person is just the eldest young master of a Jianghu sect 'Evil Dog Gate', what is the name of Hua Bushi, and there is also a bandit known as 'Evil Dog Boy'." ”

"The eldest young master of the 'Evil Dog Gate'?" the civil official surnamed Tang was stunned when he heard this. Most people in the government are not familiar with the Jianghu sect, especially the Beijing officials.

However, the bearded military attache suddenly slapped his face and said: "Yes, I remember! Didn't there be a big drama a few years ago, called 'Iron Sword Yaoqin Fighting Zhuge ', and there was this 'evil dog boy' Hua Bushi in it, that is, the guy who drilled the dog hole and was kicked off the stage!"

Speaking of Peking opera, these Beijing officials are no strangers, and the civil official surnamed Tang also suddenly said: "Yes, I have also seen that play." ”

The bearded military attache said: "That guy is really funny, he was kicked in the ass, and I almost burst into laughter every time I see it!"

He was stroking his palm, but when he turned his head, he saw the old man surnamed Ouyang sighing with a gloomy face, and quickly suppressed his smile and said, "Lord Ouyang, why are you sighing, haven't you ever seen that play?"

The old man surnamed Ouyang said: "That play is so famous, how can I not have seen it." The old man sighed, just because today's Ming Dynasty is not ancient and the dynasty is not right. ”

The bearded military attache was a little confused when he heard this, and said, "What is not ancient, Lord Ouyang, please make it clear." ”

The old man Ouyang said: "This Cao family is the most powerful family in the dynasty, and it has won the favor of the saints. We are all important ministers of various ministries, and we went to Cao's Mansion to ask for a meeting just for important matters related to the national economy and people's livelihood, but we were not received, so we could only wait on this street, but that 'evil dog boy' is a young master of the Jianghu sect, who is greedy for life and afraid of death, but he can directly enter Cao's Mansion without being hindered, this is not the world is not ancient, and the dynasty is not right!"

The civil official surnamed Tang said: "What Teacher Ouyang said is extremely true! I think Cao Duyun is also greedy for fun, and the young master of the vicious dog can just do what he likes, hey, the Ming Dynasty has today's troubles, all because of such arrogant eunuchs!"

Although the military attache came to Cao's Mansion only to get an official position for his brother-in-law, Ziyi was probably not a major matter related to the national economy and people's livelihood, but he was already impatient to wait for the sun in the morning on the street.

For a while, the three officials all sighed.

Hua Bushi didn't know the resentment of the officials and masters on the street outside the door, and at this time he had come to the backyard of Cao's Mansion and saw Cao Duyun, and Li Hu was standing beside the eldest young master.

"I have made all the arrangements for the face of the saint, let's set off immediately, Brother Hua only needs to do what he said before. Cao Duyun said.

Hua Bushi said: "Then there is Brother Lao Cao!"

Cao Duyun said: "If this matter can be done, it will be of great benefit to the Cao family, but the younger brother should thank Brother Hua a lot." ”

He turned his head and commanded, "Come, bring that suit of clothes." ”

A servant next to him answered the call, and soon returned with a set of clothes.

Cao Duyun said: "If you want to enter the palace to face the saint, the clothes that Brother Hua is wearing are not very appropriate, so the younger brother specially prepared a set and asked Brother Hua to change it." ”

Hua Bushi has always been a rich young master's outfit, and if you talk about the taste of clothing, it is far inferior to Cao Duyun, the eldest son of a family who was born in the capital. But at this time, when he saw the suit, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

The clothes brought by the servant were a nondescript gray robe, not only of ordinary fabric, but also very old, with two holes in the elbow sleeves and patches. No matter how you look at this kind of clothes, they are not high-end things, and they are very inferior to the clothes that Hua Bushi is wearing now.

Cao Duyun also seemed to see the confusion in Hua Bushi's eyes, and said with a slight smile: "Brother Hua, don't be surprised, the saint doesn't like luxury today, so you and I have to change into such frugal clothes when we go to see him." and the gold and jade ornaments worn by Brother Tai must also be temporarily removed. ”

It's okay not to wear gold and jade jewelry, and you have to change into patched torn clothes to face the saint, isn't that Emperor Chongzhen the leader of the beggar gang?

Hua Bushi stared at Cao Duyun carefully, but saw that although this "Duyun Prince" was also dressed in a white robe, the clothes were also cheap and rough, and the corners of the clothes were also patched, which was far from his usual luxurious appearance.

Although he felt a little funny in his heart, Cao Duyun said so solemnly and prepared a change of clothes, Hua Bushi would not object. At that moment, he took off the jade pendant and the ring and other ornaments, took off his coat, and put the gray cloth robe on his body.

Seeing that the eldest young master had finished changing his clothes, Cao Duyun said, "The carriage is in the courtyard, let's set off!"

Hua Bushi and Cao Duyun went out of the house together, Li Hu followed him, among the three people, Li Hu was the most decent in a light silk robe, if you judge only by the clothes, it would be as if he was the master, Hua Bushi and Cao Duyun were both servants.

The three of them boarded the carriage in the courtyard, and the coachman drove out of Cao's Mansion and went straight to the Forbidden Imperial City.

The Cao Mansion is located in the west of Beijing, but the carriage did not go directly to the west gate of the palace, but drove out of more than ten streets, made a big circle, and came to the east side of the Forbidden Palace. Hua Bushi knew where to enter the palace from the most appropriate, Cao Duyun must have known it, so he didn't ask much.

Along the way, Cao Duyun kept talking about Emperor Chongzhen's preferences and habits on weekdays, as well as many matters that needed to be paid attention to when facing the saint, Hua Bushi listened to it in his ears and wrote them down one by one.