Seeing Zhu Hejian show up to greet him in person, Huo Zhengyuan and Song Chengren were both flattered. Although they are hostile to Zhu Hejian, after all, Zhu Hejian is a prince who has a high chance of succeeding as crown prince. This attitude can be said to give them enough face. Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan and Song Chengren hurriedly saluted and said hello. Song Chengren was the first to say: "It is so alarming that His Highness the Seventh Prince personally greets him, and so many wise men and women from Nanjing appear together. It is too grand, too solemn!" Huo Zhengyuan also nodded repeatedly: "I can't afford it! I really can't afford it!" Zhu Hejian laughed and said: "What nonsense! Senior Song was the head of the Jin gentry in Jiangnan. He was also an important minister in the court at that time. He was highly respected and respected. As a junior, I took the initiative to welcome him. It should be" While speaking, Zhu Hejian turned to look at Huo Zhengyuan again: "There is also Academician Huo, who is a rare wise man in the temple. I also respect him, especially since Academician Huo almost encountered an accident the evening before yesterday. , it¡¯s even more heart-wrenching, and I should express my concern.¡± When it came to Huo Zhengyuan¡¯s almost unexpected incident, Zhu Hejian¡¯s expression was full of concern, but there was an implicit scrutiny in his eyes. Zhu Hejian also received news not long ago that Huo Zhengyuan wanted to drive the "United Shipping Company" to cause trouble, making the conflict between the wealthy Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang public, and further intensifying the conflict between the two parties. After receiving this news, Zhu Hejian was naturally surprised. The accident that Huo Zhengyuan encountered was due to Zhu Hejian's behind-the-scenes plan. Originally, he wanted to intimidate Huo Zhengyuan so that Huo Zhengyuan would never dare to act rashly again, and then completely eliminate the variables of the "Zhao Party" forces. But I didn¡¯t expect that after Huo Zhengyuan encountered this accident, not only was he not scared out of his wits, but his life changed drastically and his courage greatly increased. He changed his past cautious and cautious style and became a resolute and decisive person. In this way, Zhu Hejian not only failed to successfully eliminate the variable of the "Zhao Party" power, but also made the variable of the "Zhao Party" increasingly uncontrollable. Zhu Hejian hates this unexpected situation - if the world cannot run according to his own ideas, it means that his methods are not strong enough and his interference in the world is not powerful enough! Only a world that operates completely according to your own ideas can be a world that satisfies you. Therefore, one of Zhu Hejian's intentions in holding a banquet tonight is to test Huo Zhengyuan's temperament changes, and at the same time, he also wants to do his best to prevent Huo Zhengyuan from using the "United Shipping Company" to make things worse. On the other side, feeling Zhu Hejian's eyes scrutinizing, Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but tremble in his heart, but on the surface he had no fear. He just shook his head and sighed: "Alas! Xiaguan has indeed been in bad luck recently. Not only did he encounter an incident the evening before yesterday, In an accident, five of Xiaguan's followers who had been following him for many years were killed in a trampling accident. They were either tragically killed on the spot or seriously injured. Moreover, Xiaguan had three other followers who were hit by floods on their way to Nanjing last night. Either he drowned on the spot, or he disappeared Hey! When Xiaguan left the capital to serve as the patrol envoy to the southeast, he only had ten followers with him, and now only two of them were lucky If it weren't for these two Both of these accidents were accidental, so I might have mistakenly thought that someone was deliberately targeting me to intimidate me! Alas! Although my close followers suffered heavy casualties, it was not a big deal after all. But there was one incident. A young scholar named Jiang Zheng has been traveling in Nanjing with his subordinates for a while. He is not only an aide to Zhao Gechen, but also a disciple of Yang Xun and Yang Daru. He was also seriously injured in the trampling accident the evening before yesterday. He is still alive today. He is also unconscious and his life or death is uncertain, so he must do something, otherwise he will not be able to explain to Zhao Gechen and Yang Daru! " Huo Zhengyuan believed that whether it was the trampling accident he personally experienced or the one that broke out outside Nanjing last night! Zhou Shangjing and Zhu Hejian both had suspicions and motives about the flood, but in comparison, he still suspected Zhu Hejian more, so Huo Zhengyuan also had a hidden agenda when he expressed his stance at this time. However, Huo Zhengyuan also did not expect that after hearing his words, Zhu Hejian did not show any abnormality. He just shook his head and sighed along with Huo Zhengyuan, feeling sorry for the heavy losses of those around Huo Zhengyuan, but everyone behind Zhu Hejian The guests suddenly became restless. I saw an imperial eunuch wearing the attire of a seventh-grade eunuch. He immediately took a step forward and said with a sneer: "The two accidents that the great scholar Huo and his entourage encountered, and the trampling accident the night before yesterday, maybe It was indeed just an accident, but the flood outside Nanjing last night was not necessarily just an accident!" As the eunuch showed up to express his position, several other eunuchs from the Huangzhuang around him also started to make noises, or some strange things happened.?, or they were all referring to something, all of which hinted that the flood outside Nanjing last night was deliberately caused by someone. ¡°Moreover, when these Huangzhuang eunuchs expressed their opinions, they all deliberately stared at Song Chengren beside Huo Zhengyuan. They seemed to think that Song Chengren was the mastermind behind the deliberate destruction of the dam and causing floods to submerge the Huangzhuang! At the same time, among the guests at tonight's banquet, there were also many wealthy noble families from the Southern Zhili territory. After seeing this, they all expressed their opinions and sternly refuted the intentions of the eunuchs of Huangzhuang. As the conflict between the eunuchs of Huangzhuang and the wealthy Jin gentry broke out again, the situation quickly became chaotic. Seeing this situation, Song Chengren suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart. He first raised his hand to stop the noise of the noble gentry, and finally turned to stare at the eunuch of Huangzhuang who was the first to speak up, and asked: " "Jiang Dawei, what do you want to say?" It turns out that the seventh-grade eunuch who was the first to speak out was Jiang Dawei, the eunuch in charge of the largest imperial village in Nanjing. The flood that broke out outside Nanjing last night also made the imperial village under Jiang Dawei's rule bear the brunt. Thousands of hectares of fertile farmland were flooded. There will be no harvest this year, and several people were drowned. With a co-organizing eunuch and a tenant farmer in Huangzhuang, it is no wonder that Jiang Dawei became angry at this time. After hearing Song Chengren's question, Jiang Dawei became even more emotional. He raised his finger and pointed at Song Chengren and cursed loudly: "You old dog, you still have the nerve to ask what our family wants to say? The flood last night was because of you, this old dog." It was caused by the dog sending people to dig up the dam!" After hearing this, Song Chengren's expression changed slightly and his face turned cold. After receiving the news of a flood outside the city, Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren both had a premonition and believed that the flood was most likely the deliberate act of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. The reason why Zhu Hejian deliberately caused the flood was not just He wanted to disrupt the situation and create an image of the eunuchs of Huangzhuang as victims, and he must also want to take the opportunity to blame the wealthy gentry families in southern Zhili. As the head of the Jin gentry in Jiangnan, the Song family is naturally the most likely target to blame. Song Chengren had been mentally prepared for this situation in advance, so it was not particularly unexpected. But what Song Chengren couldn't accept was that Jiang Dawei had no respect for him and directly referred to him as an "old dog". Naturally, he was very angry. On the other side, Zhu Hejian also looked dissatisfied. But Zhu Hejian was dissatisfied not because of Jiang Dawei's rude remarks, but because Zhu Hejian was testing Huo Zhengyuan at this time, but Jiang Dawei interrupted the topic and diverted his attention. Of course, there was still a matter of superficiality, so Zhu Hejian immediately turned around and walked quickly to Jiang Dawei. First he raised his hand and slapped Jiang Dawei hard twice, and then kicked Jiang Dawei to the ground. Then, Zhu Hejian showed anger and scolded him sternly: "Senior Song, was he a former important minister of the imperial court, or the head of the Jin gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and someone like you, a humble domestic slave, could offend him? Now, kneel down to Senior Song immediately. Apologize, or I will never let you go!" "But maybe it was because of the heavy losses at Huangzhuang under his rule that Jiang Dawei was angry and lost his mind at this time, or maybe it was because Jiang Dawei had already received certain promises. , so he was arrogant and acted deliberately In short, after hearing Zhu Hejian's stern reprimand, Jiang Dawei not only did not retreat, but instead stiffened his neck and directly refuted: "Your Highness, our family is not convinced! Our family is not convinced! Obviously! It was the Song family who dug up the embankment and flooded the Imperial Manor. The evidence of this matter is conclusive. Why can't our family tell the truth? No matter how high Song Chengren's status is, his deliberate destruction of the royal estate should be an unforgivable crime. , how can you protect him!" Then, another old eunuch standing not far from Zhu Hejian also stood up and spoke. This person is wearing the attire of a fourth-grade eunuch. He is tall and thin, with a gloomy temperament. Although he is nearly sixty years old and has gray hair, he still has a straight back, bright eyes, and a strong aura when he raises his hands and feet. In the entire southern Zhili territory, there was only one fourth-grade eunuch, and that was Xi Cheng, the eunuch guarding Nanjing. "Your Highness, please calm down! Although Jiang Dawei's statement is somewhat inappropriate, it is also excusable. He is the eunuch of Guanzhuang, responsible for managing the royal farmland for Your Majesty. He has made outstanding achievements over the years, and he is regarded as the most respected person in Southern Zhili. The imperial estate pays the largest amount of money and food to the internal funds every year, which can be said to be diligent and loyal. Now that he sees the serious losses of the royal estate under his management, he is naturally furious" With a few words, Xi Chengcheng turned Jiang Dawei to Song Chengren's vicious offense is described as an impulsive display of loyalty. Afterwards, Xi Cheng turned to stare at Song Chengren and said coldly: "Master Song, there is something I need to let you know."??Not long ago, the Jinyiwei who went to the flood scene to investigate the situation had received news, saying that they were certain that the flood last night was caused by someone deliberately destroying the dam, and a body was also found nearby. This body was also drowned in the flood, but he was still holding a shovel tightly in his hand when he drowned. He was most likely involved in digging up the dam. The most important thing is It has been found that , this corpse is not a nearby commoner, but a tenant farmer of your Song family, so Jiang Dawei suspected that it was your Song family who deliberately dug up the dam and flooded the imperial village at night! But I don¡¯t know, what explanation does the head of the Song family have for this matter? " After seeing Xi Cheng's appearance, Zhu Hejian shook his head and sighed, as if he didn't want to see such a situation happen, but he also took the opportunity to turn around and look at Song Chengren, and no longer forced Jiang Dawei to kneel down and apologize to Song Chengren. He slowly Xu said: "I believe that the destruction of the dam and the submergence of the imperial village had absolutely nothing to do with the Song family leader. There must be some misunderstanding here. I also believe that the Song family leader will be able to prove his innocence and explain the matter clearly But everyone Instead of sitting in the vestibule blowing the cold wind, let¡¯s go back to the hall and sit down to talk! " After saying that, Zhu Hejian began to greet the guests to return to the front hall of Zhanyuan. Seeing this situation, Song Chengren was not too panicked. He just turned to look at Huo Zhengyuan and whispered softly: "Sure enough, there is no good banquet This dinner is clearly a Hongmen banquet for my Song family! " Huo Zhengyuan also turned to look at Song Chengren and promised in a low voice: "Senior Song, don't worry, I will advance and retreat with you on this matter! " In Huo Zhengyuan's plan, it is best for the fight between Zhou Shangjing and Zhu Hejian to be evenly matched and both sides lose, so naturally he will not let Zhu Hejian easily overthrow the Song family. Song Chengren smiled and nodded lightly, and then followed together. Behind Zhu Hejian, we walked side by side towards the front hall of Zhanyuan PS: In recent days, Chongzi¡¯s family members have been infected with influenza A continuously. Everyone is suffering from depression, abdominal pain and diarrhea. In addition, we have to take care of our families. Because of this, there is only one small chapter today¡