Chapter 186 I pity the company

It was late at night, and the emperor did not keep them longer. After ordering a strict investigation of the murderer, he went back to the palace to rest surrounded by the palace maids and eunuchs.

Du Lingchun put his hands into his sleeves and glanced lazily at Yan Fu.Seeing that his hair and beard were all white, and he was rickety and old, he was no longer the prime minister who responded to every call. The corners of his lips were slightly raised, and he said sarcastically: "As the head of hundreds of officials, Prime Minister Yan always pays the most attention to rules. Tang Feishuang is not an official.He shouldn’t have interfered in the affairs of the DPRK, so you recommended him, aren’t you afraid of breaking the rules?”

When Du Lingchun recommended Gongsun Zhuoyu to temporarily replace Jing Zhaoyin, Yan Fu's remarks were inconsistent with the rules. Now that it was his turn, he was willing to break the rules.

Yan Fu is already old, and he has begun to avoid direct conflicts with Du Lingchun more often.In addition, he has been immersed in officialdom for many years, so he is naturally not an impulsive person, and he will not compete with Du Lingchun for a moment's verbal contention.He just stroked his beard, looked at his nose and his heart, and said: "In urgent matters, power must be followed. The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty really can't find a second person to solve the case. I have no choice but to do this. Mr. Du should understand this truth."

After saying this, he nodded slightly: "It's getting late, so I left the palace first."

Tang Feishuang was interested in going to the Company Mansion to see the situation, but the masters from the Jinglu Company had already gathered together. His martial arts was not top-notch, so he wouldn't be able to do much even if he went there, not to mention that it was still Du Lingchun's territory.Thinking of seeing the situation again tomorrow morning, he turned around and left.

The wind in the palace is always colder than outside, probably because the palace is too empty and the corridors are too long, so it will never be full of people and will never reach the end.

Du Lingchun was wearing thin clothes, and the night wind blew up the corners of his clothes, making his back look even more slender. When he walked slowly, he had a more lazy look.

Gongsun Zhuoyu followed behind and stepped down the stone steps. His white sleeves were blown by the wind, and he asked him in a low voice: "Is it cold, sir?"

Du Lingchun gave him a strange look when he heard this, thinking it didn't matter if it was cold, this was the palace, Gongsun Zhuoyu couldn't warm his hands in front of everyone.He raised his eyebrows and reminded: "This is the palace."

"I know," Gongsun Zhuoyu took a step forward, turned sideways to shield him from the cold wind, and then smiled, "If it's cold, I will protect you from the wind."

Du Lingchun paused after hearing this, then turned his head and looked away: "It's up to you."

His hand was hidden in his sleeve, and his fingertips rubbed it gently for a moment, with a slight nervousness and unexplained sweat.

Before they took two steps, they saw a palace maid in green waiting not far away, holding a food box in her hand.When the palace maid saw them walking out of the Wuji Hall, she immediately walked up to them in small steps and bowed to Du Lingchun: "I have seen you before."

She is the personal maid next to the imperial concubine.

Du Lingchun recognized her: "But is there something wrong with the noble concubine?"

The palace maid shook her head: "The queen heard that the company asked to see Your Majesty late at night, and was afraid that you might not have dinner, so she sent a slave to bring you some hot cakes."

Although Du Qiuwan was extremely favored, she was still a concubine and was not allowed to see Du Lingchun on a regular basis. I heard that when he came to the palace, he would occasionally send someone to bring something.

When Du Lingchun heard this, he was about to reach out to take it, but Gongsun Zhuoyu had already taken it first.He also smiled at the palace maid: "Excuse me, miss, I'll hold it for the company."

The palace maid had never seen him before, but she expected that if he was with Du Lingchun, he must be a close confidant.Seeing that Gongsun Zhuoyu was handsome and polite, he didn't dare to look at him, so he hurriedly bowed and left.

Du Lingchun could only retract his hand, shake his sleeves, and said with a smile: "You can't tell, Lord Gongsun is quite compassionate."

Every time he calls Gongsun Zhuoyu "Master Gongsun", he must feel strange in his heart.

Gongsun Zhuoyu touched the food box and found it was still warm. Hearing this, he subconsciously said, "I clearly feel pity for the company."

It's not that Du Lingchun is afraid that his hands will get sore.

He said something carelessly and smoothly. After saying it, he was stunned for a moment. When he realized it, he subconsciously raised his eyes, only to see Du Lingchun looking at him blankly.

Gongsun Zhuoyu moved his lips and hurriedly tried to explain: "Company, I..."

"What are you doing?" Du Lingchun turned around with a flick of his sleeves, "Why don't you get back on the carriage?"

Du Lingchun walked in front, secretly cursing Gongsun Zhuoyu as a piece of wood.He should have been angry when he heard these words, but now he was annoyed, but not angry. Unknown emotions spread in his heart, throbbing and slightly hot.

Gongsun Zhuoyu followed behind carrying a food box, secretly cursing himself for being stupid.After getting on the carriage, I saw Du Lingchun sitting in the innermost seat. He tentatively moved to his side little by little: "Company..."

Shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg.

The hand in Du Lingchun's sleeve moved, but he didn't hide. He pretended not to see it.

Gongsun Zhuoyu opened the food box and was stunned for a moment when he saw a plate of rice cakes inside.He thought that the snacks sent by the imperial concubine must be exquisite and expensive, but he did not expect that they were just rice cakes, the cheapest among the people. You can buy a large piece for a few pennies.

Gongsun Zhuoyu handed the food box to him: "Do you want some, sir?"

Du Lingchun glanced at it, took a small piece from the food box, took a bite, and finished it in a few seconds.

When he and Du Qiuwan were poor, the best thing they could eat was rice cakes. Later, when they entered the palace, although they had delicacies, they only preferred this kind of snack.

Maybe Du Lingchun is also a nostalgic person at heart...

Gongsun Zhuoyu asked: "Does the company like to eat rice cakes?"

Du Lingchun raised his eyelids: "What, is it strange?"

Gongsun Zhuoyu smiled and shook his head: "I thought... the commander would like to eat something delicate and delicate."

Du Lingchun closed his eyes lightly and rested against the wall of the carriage: "I used to be poor and couldn't eat those fine things. Rice cakes were the cheapest."

This was the first time Gongsun Zhuoyu heard him say such words. He paused and said, "I remember."

Du Lingchun opened his eyes: "Remember what?"

"My company loves rice cakes," Gongsun Zhuoyu pursed his lips and smiled, "I will buy them for my company in the future."

Fool……

These two words came to Du Lingchun's mind inexplicably. He had countless gold and silver and was as rich as his country. How could he still be short of a piece of rice cake?But as he stared at Gongsun Zhuoyu's smiling eyes but said nothing, that inexplicable throbbing feeling came back, making him at a loss what to do.

By the candlelight in the carriage, Gongsun Zhuoyu carefully looked at Du Lingchun's feminine features, and finally found that there seemed to be some rice cake residue on the other person's lips, and hesitantly said: "Company..."

Before Du Lingchun could react, his face felt hot and he put a palm on his face.His pupils shrank, but he saw Gongsun Zhuoyu leaning over, gently wiping the corners of his lips twice with his fingertips, and explained: "The company has something on his face."

Du Lingchun had no choice but to freeze and wait for him to clean it up.

Gongsun Zhuoyu just wiped it for him at first, but when he saw Du Lingchun's lips were red and soft, he unconsciously rubbed them for a while.At the same time, his eyes dropped down and landed on a cinnabar mole on the other person's neck.

"..."

Gongsun Zhuoyu's mouth felt dry for no reason. He couldn't tell whether it was because of lust or something else. He only knew that he had never felt this way towards others.In the dim candlelight of the carriage, he slowly approached Du Lingchun, and his voice suddenly became hoarse: "Company..."

Their shallow breathing was intertwined, so ambiguous that it was difficult to distinguish between you and me.

Du Lingchun tightened his grip on the fleece blanket underneath him. He didn't know what he was going to do, other than being nervous.

At this moment, the carriage suddenly jolted heavily, making him unstable and Du Lingchun almost fell out.Gongsun Zhuoyu subconsciously grabbed his arm: "Company, be careful!"

The driver's panicked voice came from outside: "Sir, there was a pothole on the roadside just now. I didn't see it, so I didn't bump you."

Du Lingchun instinctively frowned and was about to get angry, but thinking of Gongsun Zhuoyu beside him, he somehow managed to endure it.He said coldly: "Look carefully at the road, are your eyes just for show?"

Fortunately, this bump broke the ambiguous and awkward atmosphere just now.

Gongsun Zhuoyu comforted Du Lingchun: "Don't be angry, sir."

He only said this sentence and did not explain anything to the driver. Seeing that Du Lingchun was sitting firmly, he slowly withdrew his hand.With nothing to do, I simply thought of the case.

If according to what Tang Feishuang said just now, the people killed by the murderer were all corrupt officials who oppressed the people, then Song Xitang and Leng Wuyan would not be able to meet this condition anyway.Although they worked under Du Lingchun and had many contacts with officials, they were only counselors to the outside world. Many things were done in secret and secretly, and their reputation outside could not be said to be bad.

But Gongsun Zhuoyu compared the piece of paper carefully and found that it was indeed sent by the murderer and could not be fake.

So what is the reason...

According to Song Xitang, he and Leng Wuyan went to the teahouse to discuss matters with the officials of the Ministry of Rites. While drinking tea, a piece of paper suddenly appeared on the table, just under the tray.They picked it up and took a look, only to find that it happened to have their names on it. Their faces turned pale with fright, and they immediately rushed back to the company's house.

Pressed under the tray...

Then the murderer probably pretended to be a waiter and quietly put the paper over when serving tea...

Several people must sit at the same table to discuss matters, and officials from the Ministry of Etiquette...

Um?

Official of the Ministry of Rites?!

Gongsun Zhuoyu didn't know what he thought of, and suddenly he sat upright, looking a little surprised.When Du Lingchun saw this, he sat up straight, frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Gongsun Zhuoyu wanted to tell his guess, but there was no basis for it at the moment, so he could only whisper: "I will discuss it with the company in detail when I get back to the house."

The company's mansion is not far from the imperial city, and it didn't take long to arrive.The surroundings, three floors inside and three outside, were all surrounded by top-notch experts from Jing Lu Division, and there were even archers ambushed on the roof ridges.

Gongsun Zhuoyu was afraid that the murderer was cunning, so he deliberately kept Shi Qianqiu in his house.He jumped off the carriage, turned around and helped Du Lingchun down. The two of them walked towards the mansion, talking in a low voice.

Gongsun Zhuoyu: "Does the company know who Mr. Song and the others met that day?"

Du Lingchun naturally didn't know: "It's probably some people from the Ministry of Rites. You have to ask them yourself who they are."

Gongsun Zhuoyu quickly walked into the house and saw that there were no signs of fighting around him, so he expected that the murderer had not come yet.After walking through the lengthy corridor, we walked straight to the room where Song Xitang and Leng Wuyan lived.

Because it was unclear which one of them the murderer wanted to kill, he simply let the two of them stay together and concentrated their protection.

When Gongsun Zhuoyu opened the door, he found that neither of them was sleeping.Leng Wuyan was sitting at the table drinking tea. Song Xitang was holding a knife in his hand and was sitting on the edge of the bed tremblingly. His eyes were wide open and he was obviously frightened.

The author has something to say: Gongsun Zhuoyu: Wow, you two are not dead yet.

Song Xitang&Leng Wuyan:...