I still remember the last farewell to Yingtian Mansion. Li Da proudly said that he wanted to join the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army. Fighting on the battlefield is the destination for the children of generals, not holding a broken pen.

Zhao Hongjie overcame his hesitation and made up his mind to join the army, preparing to find a way out in Fusi, Jinyiweinan Town.

In the end, Shen Yichen insisted on taking the imperial examination, watched off his two classmates, and agreed to meet again in the spring of the capital next year.

Looking back now, no one has fulfilled it.

Maybe this is life, you can never follow the track you planned.

But even if Zhao Hongjie joins Beizhen Fusi, it is not an unacceptable thing. Why is there a sense of irony and anger in Li Da's tone?

This made Shen Yichen very puzzled.

"Beizhen Fusi is also very good. Looking at Zhao Hongjie's appearance now, he is much more mature and experienced."

Shen Yichen said this not only to ease the atmosphere, but also sincerely.

In the past, Zhao Hongjie only knew how to have fun and had nothing to do. He would wander the streets after school every day, and would not go home until nightfall.

His status is not as good as that of a legitimate son like Li Da. There is no mine waiting for him to inherit the family. In addition to not causing trouble and bullying men and dominating women, he can be called a second-generation official with broken standards.

What's more important is that Zhao Hongjie is simple-minded and timid, which is an advantage among friends. There is no need to worry that the other person may have harmful intentions.

But if you put it in society and officialdom, I'm afraid it will be eaten up to the point where no bones are left.

When I saw Zhao Hongjie today, he at least felt a lot calmer. Maybe the special environment in Beizhen Fusi made him grow up very quickly.

"It's quite good. Is it bad to become the eunuch's pawn?"

Li Da's "eunuch" voice instantly brought the atmosphere to a freezing point. The guests at the nearby tables who heard it all looked at him in a panic, with a vague fear in their eyes.

Although Wang Zhen at this time did not reach the level of Wei Zhongxian in later generations, Jin Yiwei was not completely infamous. However, with the withdrawal of the Empress Dowager Zhang and the auxiliary minister "San Yang" from the stage of history, Wang Zhen was favored by the Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. Now, there is no power in the entire court that can check and balance him.

Moreover, as Wang Zhen began to eliminate dissidents, starting from the Liu Qiu incident, his reputation among the civil servants had gradually collapsed.

As we all know, civil servants may not have other abilities. As long as they master the pen, the right to speak is firmly in their hands.

On the surface, he did not dare to rebel against Wang Zhen, but secretly, the title of eunuch had spread. In addition, the commander of Jin Yiwei, Ma Shun, was a trusted member of Wang Zhen's support and came to power. By the way, Jin Yiwei's reputation was not much better.

Now if you shout it in public, can ordinary customers not be afraid?

"Li Da, be careful what you say!"

At this moment, Shen Yichen also looked serious and warned Li Da to speak ahead of his head.

At the feet of the Emperor of the Capital, no one can guarantee whether any of the restaurant guests have the ability to spread the words to Wang Zhen's ears.

Although Wang Zhen is now not as capable as later generation Wei Zhongxian in manipulating a secret service agency like Xichang to arrest people at will, once he is resented by him, the rest of his life will definitely not be easy.

Even if he has the nominal Duke Cheng Guo behind him, he cannot stop Wang Zhen's power.

You must know that when Wang Zhen was at the peak of his power before the Tumubao Incident, many ministers and relatives called him "father". This flattering title was almost as flattering as "nine thousand years old".

"snort!"

Li Da snorted bitterly, then turned his head aside and said nothing.

After all, now that I have left the school and entered the officialdom, no matter how simple-minded I am, I still have to understand that there are some things that cannot be said out loud.

"Li Da, we are all classmates from Yingtian School. Now that we are in the capital, we should unite and take care of each other."

"Even if Zhao Hongjie joins Beizhen Fusi, you can't call him an eunuch's minion. Now is no longer the time when we are schoolchildren. We can talk casually. Once word spreads, there will be extremely serious consequences for Zhao Hongjie and you!"

In the past, when he was in Yingtian, Shen Yichen could ignore the laughter and nonsense of his classmates. But after leaving the hothouse of the school in the capital, he had to be cautious in every move he made. Maybe he would become a student in the future. Get rid of yourself.

And whether Li Da was really angry or just like before, he was displeased by some of Zhao Hongjie's cowardly actions and habitually made sarcastic remarks.

Shen Yichen will not allow this situation to continue.

Classmates belong to a natural political alliance, not to mention those who have studied together since childhood. They know the basics. In a place like the capital, where tigers and dragons dominate, we must unite sincerely. The one who can be relied on in the end when there is real difficulty may be These childhood classmates.

"Brother, do you think I'm so angry because Zhao Hongjie joined Beizhen Fusi as a guard?"

"What I hate is that he worshiped the eunuch as his adoptive father, and helped the eunuch's nephew Wang Shan, and took away the Yue family, the wife of Lord Chiang, who was once the commander of the Imperial Guard in Beijing!"

"Can I not be angry with this kind of man who considers thieves as his father and has no conscience?"

In order to prevent being heard by the surrounding customers, Li Da lowered his voice, but from his red face, one could see the anger inside his heart at this moment.

Not to mention Li Da, even Shen Yichen looked at Zhao Hongjie in shock when he heard these words.

He never imagined that his innocent and cowardly friend in Yingtian would turn into a spy eagle dog in the capital in just a few months!

"Zhao Hongjie, is this true?"

Even if Li Da said it face to face, Shen Yichen still didn't believe it subconsciously. He had to hear Zhao Hongjie admit it personally.

Faced with Shen Yichen's questioning, Zhao Hongjie looked a little painful. He picked up the wine glass on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

Then he raised his head again, looked directly into Shen Yichen's eyes and replied, "Yes."

With a thumping heartbeat, Shen Yichen has seen too many stories about the collusion between eunuchs and Jin Yiwei in the Ming Dynasty in later generations. He could never have imagined that one day, his best friend in this era would become a lackey accomplice.

"I……"

Shen Yichen wanted to say something, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't know what to say.

Now he could finally understand why Li Da and Zhao Hongjie had weird expressions from the beginning.

Why did the first time I saw Zhao Hongjie, I felt that his temperament had changed a lot, even a little cold.

Now everything can be explained, Zhao Hongjie embarked on a path that he did not expect at all.

Seeing that Shen Yichen was speechless, Zhao Hongjie showed a wry smile, and then he said in a low voice: "Yichen, you don't need to say anything more. I chose the path myself, and I have no regrets."

After saying that, Zhao Hongjie stood up and said, "You and Li Da have a good time together today, and I will treat you to a drink next time."

After saying this, Zhao Hongjie turned around and left, his steps firm and without any hesitation.

"See, he never realized what he did was wrong!"

Li Da said something extremely painful, his eyes were red.

Maybe he once bullied Zhao Hongjie when he was in Yingtian, but that was more from the standpoint of being a fellow military commander. He felt that Zhao Hongjie was too weak and should be tougher so as not to lose the military commander's face.

Putting aside past conflicts and celebrating the holidays and coming to the capital, Li Da regarded Zhao Hongjie as one of his own and felt that he was a brother in the same trench.

Until one day, when he saw Wang Shan leading the Jin Yiwei, they broke into the residence of the deceased Jingwei commander Qian Shi, preparing to seize his wife and concubines.

And among the crowd of Jin Yiwei, stood Zhao Hongjie!

At that moment, brothers who went to the capital together and were in the same trench stood in different camps, even in a hostile state.

It can be said that the impact Li Da received at that time was far greater than that of Shen Yichen today.

"I think Zhao Hongjie may have his own reasons."

Even though the facts were before his eyes, Shen Yichen still defended himself by saying that he believed that Zhao Hongjie was definitely not a bad person deep down.

"Can hardship help the evildoer?"

This rhetorical question left Shen Yichen speechless. No reason could be an excuse to do evil.

This meal was thought to be a reunion dinner with old friends in a foreign country, but ended up feeling lonely at the end.

On the way back to Chengguo Duke's Mansion, Shen Yichen kept recalling the scenes of Zhao Hongjie in his mind, including the scenes of his classmates having fun in Yingtian, and the changes after seeing him today.

For a moment, Shen Yichen even wondered if he had done something wrong and should not have recommended him to the Zhenfu Division in the first place.

After all, the overall environment of the spy agency is such that not just anyone can escape the mire and remain unaffected, especially Zhao Hongjie's weak character before.

When you get the chance, you still have to have a good talk with him. If you become a knife for the upper class, you may suffer the consequences in the end.

In the next few days, Shen Yichen tried every means to find out the news and wanted to know why Zhao Hongjie became like this. This way, after the next meeting, he would know the basics and be able to better persuade the other party.

After asking around, he found nothing. Information about an organization like Jinyiwei was not easy to find out, so Shen Yichen could only give up for the time being.

The time came on the second day of September in the ninth year of Zhengtong. On this day, there was a lot of excitement in front of the Chengguogong Mansion. There were several carriages parked and there were many government officials opening the way and holding signs.

Those who don't know about this gesture must think that Zhu Yong, Duke of Chengguo, is going on a trip, but in fact this is not the case. Today's event is prepared for Shen Yichen!

I saw Shen Yichen wearing a round-collared green robe and a big hat on his head, walking out of the main entrance of the Chengguo Palace!

It can be said that since enrolling in the Duke's private school, Shen Yichen has been in and out of the two palaces for more than ten years. This is the first time that Shen Yichen has walked through the main entrance of the Duke's residence.

The reason why he gets this treatment is because today Shuntian will hold the Provincial Examination Luming Banquet, and Shen Yichen, as Jieyuan, is the protagonist!

As Shen Yichen came out, firecrackers roared, gongs and drums blared, and the Yamen who stood at the front holding a plaque also lifted the red cloth on his own plaque, and saw it read "Shuntian Prefecture Jiazi Ke Township Examination Jieyuan"!

Under normal circumstances, only formal officials can use this kind of official title plaque, but today Shen Yichen made an exception as Jieyuan!

After taking a seat, the carriage moved forward slowly. Shen Yichen's destination was Shuntian Gongyuan.

Along the way, Shen Yichen was packed with people, including ceremonial guards, music players, escorts, etc. Those who didn't know it thought he was traveling for some high-ranking official.

However, when the people on both sides of the road recognized the official title plaques and learned that it was Shuntianfu Township Examination Xinke Jieyuan, the atmosphere became more heated.

Ordinary people rushed to tell each other, word of mouth, and were extremely curious about what Jie Yuan looked like. Some even had young daughters at home, and they even wanted to catch their son-in-law, wondering if they could find a chance to catch him. Shen Yichen was kidnapped and taken to his home!

Through the curtains of the carriage, Shen Yichen looked at the dense crowds of people watching on both sides of the road. He finally understood why such a huge pomp was needed to transport him. Without the escort of these soldiers and government officials, it would be a problem whether he could reach the Gongyuan due to publicity.

"Have you seen clearly what Jie Yuanlang looks like?"

"Isn't Xie Yuanlang handsome and handsome, like a tree in the wind?"
To be continued...