After Jiang Liwei met Concubine Hua, she began to plan how to deal with Chen Xi.

He was preparing to rely on Liu Jin to achieve his goal. After all, Chen Xi was Liu Jin's biggest enemy at present, but unfortunately, Zhang Wenmian, who Liu Jin sent to contact him, was not in the capital at this time. Jiang Liwei had no choice but to go to Liu Jin's mansion to visit him, but he had no chance to meet Liu Jin himself.

The servants in Liu Jin's mansion alone were difficult to get close to, and they repeatedly kept Jiang Liwei out.

The disciple in Liu Jin's mansion was named Liang Hong. He was very domineering. I don't know where to know that Liu Jin had a bad impression of Jiang Liwei, so he used the same kind of accent, just like the master treating a slave, and he often scolded and drove away, which made Jiang Liwei very unhappy.

However, Jiang Liwei could only swallow his anger.

The seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's sect, Liu Jin's status is no longer just the prime minister. It is no exaggeration to say that he is "nine thousand years old". Anyone who sees Liu Jin must be respectful, and Liu Jin can take care of things that the emperor cannot control.

"What should I do? If I can't see Eunuch Liu, I can't use his power to kill Chen Xi's child... If things continue to be delayed, Chen Zhe's position in the prime minister will be more stable, and it will be difficult to take action at that time!"

After being rejected in the Liu Mansion, Jiang Liwei immediately thought of currying favor with the people around Liu Jin and seeking a further relationship with Liu Jin.

If Jiang Liwei is very interested, after inquiring, he learned that Liu Jin had an elder brother named Liu Jingxiang, who is nearly 60 years old this year. Because Liu Jin gained power, Liu Jingxiang has also gained wealth and prosperity.

However, because Liu Jin is usually cautious and does not want to be honest, the fact that he has a brother has not spread, and Liu Jingxiang's mansion is deserted and no one has ever visited him.

On this day, Jiang Liwei prepared a generous gift and personally brought people to Liu Jingxiang's mansion to give gifts at dusk. In order to avoid being known to others, he did not dare to go to the main entrance and gave gifts directly from the back door.

Liu Jingxiang is not as arrogant as Liu Jin. The servants in the mansion only know that his master's younger brother is in the palace. He seems to have a very status, but he doesn't know what the specific is. They have never met an official before. They heard that the person who came was a fifth-rank Jinyiwei poliest. The servants in Liu Jingxiang's mansion quickly let Jiang Liwei enter the mansion.

Liu Jingxiang came out to greet him in person.

Jiang Liwei looked at the old man who was nearly sixty years old but was in good spirits and felt a little scared.

Unlike Liu Jin who is in the court with high power and great honor, the old man in front of him looks very ordinary, and he looks like he has never seen the world before.

"Old Liu, I'm here to give gifts today to congratulate you on your house move." After Jiang Liwei knew Liu Jingxiang's identity, he immediately smiled and went forward to salute.

Liu Jingxiang was a little puzzled, but he still smiled and said, "Sir, you probably got through the wrong door?" I have a younger brother who is now in the palace and can't come here. If you have something to ask for, I will go to him, and I have never welcomed guests here."

"As for the joy of moving in the house you mentioned, I don't know the reason... Our family has lived here for quite a while."

Jiang Liwei smiled and said, "I have always admired Mr. Liu. In fact, the one who came to see you today is Mr. Liu... Come on, bring the gift in!"

A large number of people from behind gave gifts to the backyard and left after putting them down... There were so many big boxes of small boxes, and Liu Jingxiang's eyes were a little straight when he saw it.

Although Liu Jin was greedy for a lot of money, he did not dare to squander it. Especially before, Zhu Houzhao had threatened him once and turned the Liu Mansion to the sky. Liu Jin was cautious and hid the money in another courtyard. In order to cover up, Liu Jin did not send too much money to come here. He just sent a large mansion and then bought a slave. He bought hundreds of acres of land outside the city, which was similar to the usual gentry.

No one has ever come to give gifts here in Liu Jingxiang. After seeing these good things, he was moved for a moment.

"Mr. Jiang, please... go in and have a cup of hot tea. The humble house is simple, please don't be surprised!"

Liu Jingxiang had no idea how to deal with the powerful people in the court, so he respectfully welcomed Jiang Liwei to speak in the main room.

Jiang Liwei came to win over Liu Jin's brother, but he didn't know whether Liu Jin and Liu Jingxiang were brothers. He only knew one thing:

Liu Jin was not surnamed Liu, but his surname was Tan. Later, he changed his surname to Liu Shun, the eunuch in the palace.

Jiang Liwei knew that Liu Jin had such a brother, but he didn't know that Liu Jin had a father and was still alive at this time.

Liu Jin changed his surname to Liu Empress. In order to curry favor with the eunuch Liu Shun, Liu Jin's father actually changed his whole family to the surname Liu. The person who made such a ridiculous move was Liu Rong.

Because Liu Jin is over fifty years old, Liu Rong is nearly seventy years old now. His father is noble because of his son. Liu Rong now lives in Liu Jingxiang's mansion to support his elderly care.

After Liu Jin took power, he deliberately covered up the situation at home, so it was difficult for outsiders to find out his background. If Jiang Liwei was not in the factory guard, he would not know these secrets.

...

...

On the way to the living room of the front yard, Jiang Liwei carefully looked at the layout on Liu Jingxiang's mansion.

Jiang Liwei has a high vision. In his opinion, with Liu Jin's status, his brother actually lived so ordinary, and even said that he was a little shabby. Perhaps Liu Jingxiang was not Liu Jin's brother, so he was inevitably disappointed. After all, he was here to curry favor with Liu Jin's relatives. If he was just the adopted son of the eunuch Liu Shun, there was no need to curry favor with him at all.

Liu Jingxiang didn't know what Jiang Liwei was thinking. After he asked the servant to carry the gift into the inner room, he came to the living room and asked, "Mr. Jiang is now in the Jinyiwei. Does he have any connection with his younger brother?"

Jiang Liwei's attention turned back and carefully observed Liu Jingxiang. At this time, the servants of Liu's mansion had lit the candlestick in the hall.

The living room was not big, and Jiang Liwei saved even the etiquette and said directly: "Eunuch Liu is the chief etiquette supervisor of the company. He has a high position and a powerful position. He is just a small person who works under his account. It is really not worth mentioning."

Even if Liu Jingxiang didn't have much knowledge, he understood what was going on. It turned out that the visitor was just a subordinate of his younger brother, so he smiled and said, "No wonder, no wonder."

After saying that, he waved his hand directly: "Why don't you serve tea to Lord Jiang quickly?"

Even if he knew that Jiang Liwei was under Liu Jin, Liu Jingxiang did not look down on others at all. After all, Jiang Liwei was an official, and he was a civilian. After Liu Jin took power, the greatest convenience for Liu Rong and Liu Jingxiang was to live in a big house and have servants to serve him, and Liu Jingxiang did not get any more benefits.

Now someone comes to give gifts, but Liu Jingxiang cannot ask for it. He will not turn the money out, but it is normal to be disrespectful.

The two of them sat down and served tea.

Liu Jingxiang looked a little nervous when he held the teacup in his hand because he rarely had the experience of dealing with officials. After calming down, he said:

"My son is in the palace and has little time to go home. In just one or two years, I can barely meet a few times... Oh, by the way, how can Lord Jiang know where the humble house is?"

When Jiang Liwei heard this, she felt that Liu Jingxiang and Liu Jin had a bad relationship, so she no longer had the intention to continue to be perfunctory, and thought to herself:

"It's also my fault that I didn't investigate clearly. I didn't know the exact identity of Eunuch Liu, the brother... However, it is obviously not so appropriate to carry the gift away. If Eunuch Liu knew about it, even if he had a fair relationship with this person, he would hold a grudge against me."

Jiang Liwei replied: "I just occasionally heard that Eunuch Liu has a brother like you, and I came to visit you... Eunuch Liu is very concerned about us subordinates, so those who are subordinates naturally have to express their concern to my father-in-law's family."

Liu Jingxiang smiled and said, "Mr. Jiang is really interested. How about staying here for a meal? Come on, go and prepare. Today, Lord Jiang, Jinyiwei, will have a meal here!"

Jiang Liwei's purpose was to flatter Liu Jin. In his opinion, Liu Jingxiang and Liu Jin were not very close, so he didn't want to waste his time anymore. He immediately stood up: "Old Liu doesn't need to prepare anymore. I just came here to visit him politely. I have to go back now, so I won't bother you."

Liu Jingxiang didn't want to waste his own things to entertain guests. He pretended to keep guests for a test, and he was afraid that Jiang Li would have no bad intentions.

In the eyes of people like Liu Jingxiang, it is best for guests to leave directly after sending the gift.

Just as Liu Jingxiang sent Jiang Liwei out of the living room and was about to walk out, an old voice suddenly came from the backyard: "Is it my son back?"

This voice immediately attracted Jiang Liwei's attention, but saw an old man with white hair appeared at the Moon Gate and walked over with the help of the Liu family servants.

When Liu Jingxiang saw this person, he immediately met him: "Sir, why are you out?"

Jiang Li's only face was stunned and began to guess the identity of the old man: "Is it Liu Shun and Eunuch Liu? It's impossible. Eunuch Liu has passed away long ago, and this man has a beard under his jaw. Obviously, he is not an eunuch. Liu Jingxiang calls him his father. Could this be the biological father of Liu Jin and Liu Jingxiang?"

Thinking of this, Jiang Liwei's unhappy mood immediately improved because of the loss of the gift. She walked over with a smile and bowed to greet her: "Old sir, I am from Eunuch Liu, here I come to visit you today."

Liu Jingxiang looked at Jiang Li's only eyes and felt confused: "Are you here to visit me today or to visit my father?"

The old man is not someone else, but Liu Jin's father Liu Rong.

Liu Rong's face was full of disappointment: "So it's not my son, you are my son's disciple? He... didn't he come?"

Without waiting for Jiang Liwei to reply, Liu Jingxiang went up first and said, "My father, my younger brother is in the palace and he is a deacon, so I'm afraid he doesn't have time to come."

"nonsense!"

Liu Rong raised his arm and knocked on the crutch, "My son said that he has lived outside the palace now and can come over at any time."

Jiang Liwei became happier and happier. Today, she not only met Liu Jin's brother, but also Liu Jin's father. If she could curry favor with these two people first, it would be of great help to his future.

Jiang Liwei smiled and said, "Old sir, Eunuch Liu has a high position and is very powerful. He has to take care of the government affairs every day. He is so busy that he doesn't have time to come back yet, so he asked me to send some gifts over here. Come and have a look?"

Liu Jingxiang felt more and more inappropriate and asked, "Mr. Jiang, did you send the gift from me?"

Jiang Liwei pretended that he had not heard Liu Jingxiang's words, and in his heart, he even felt a little disgusted with this vulgar and stupid Liu Jingxiang.

Liu Rongze had a smile on his face, and walked to the living room under Jiang Liwei, and asked as he walked: "Where is the things my son asked you to send?"

Liu Jingxiang quickly ordered the servant: "Hurry up, go and carry the things out and show them to the old man!"

After the servant got the order, he hurried to carry the gifts.

...

...

Jiang Liwei decided to stay in Liu's house for this supper.

After returning to the living room and sitting down, Jiang Liwei began to chat with Liu Rong. Soon he became clear about the members of the Liu family, and even figured out what relatives Liu Jin had, and understood why Sun Cong got Liu Jin's full trust.

Before leaving Liu's mansion, Jiang Liwei had a clear understanding: "If I want to curry favor with Liu Jin, I must start with the people around him. Before, Zhang Wenmian was not greedy and took a lot of money from me but didn't do anything. If I specifically guided Sun Cong, things might be much easier."

With a clear understanding, Jiang Liwei prepared 5,000 taels of silver and sent the gift to Sun Cong's mansion early the next morning.

He thought Sun Cong would look at him differently, but the final result was that Sun Cong returned the money intact.

Only then did Jiang Liwei realize that Sun Cong is not so close to him, so he quickly went to Sun Cong's mansion to visit him in person, hoping to see Sun Cong himself. Who knew that he had waited for nearly a day before he could get what he wanted.

Although Sun Cong was just the head of the Ministry of Rites at this time, he acted as the "hidden image". When Sun Cong came back from Liu Jin's mansion and saw Jiang Liwei standing respectfully at the door, he did not give him any good looks, and entered the mansion by himself, and then he asked the guest to invite Jiang Liwei into the door.

Jiang Liwei came up and curled up with Sun Cong, and then asked someone to carry the gift he had prepared into the mansion.

Sun Cong seemed very cold: "Jiang Zhenfu, as a general of the Jinyiwei, you don't think about the country, but come to our mansion to give gifts. What do you mean?"

Jiang Liwei said: "Mr. Sun is a think tank around Eunuch Liu. He wants to join his father-in-law but has no way. He can only come to Mr. Sun for help, hoping that Mr. Sun will recommend it on his behalf."

Sun Cong narrowed his eyes and looked at Jiang Li's silence, thinking: "This man was ordered by his uncle and repeatedly robbed and killed his father on his way back to Beijing. Later, I discovered the clue... Now, he has no place to betray the foreign relatives, and he actually wants to join Eunuch Liu by cursing me. How shameless is this? Could he conclude that Eunuch Liu has not noticed his evil deeds and will accept him?"

"No, no, it's not appropriate. Such a sinister and cunning villain is not to be involved with him too much. Just send him away earlier, so as not to make Eunuch Liu suspect that I have an ulterior motive with this person."

Thinking of this, Sun Cong said coldly: "Since Jiang Zhenfu intends to join his father-in-law's name, I will convey it to you and his father-in-law... Keep the gifts, and I won't give them any more."

Jiang Liwei didn't know much about Sun Cong and really didn't want to give the gifts for nothing. After all, he had already spent too much money to curry favor with Liu Jin.

He thought to himself, "Sun Cong is not as greedy as Zhang Wenmian, right? I sent money, but he didn't even want to entertain me. He just asked me to leave the gift. If he didn't recommend me to Eunuch Liu to know, wouldn't I have lost all my money?"

At this moment, Jiang Liwei could no longer compare with the prosperous and energetic moment when he first entered the officialdom. At that time, he seemed extremely free and confident, and he didn't take it seriously at all.

During the officialdom, after several ups and downs and downs, Jiang Liwei felt deeply the malice of the powerful and powerful towards him. Even if he was filial to dozens of taels of silver, he began to be petty.
To be continued...