The big ship was crossing the Yangtze River, and Fang Jie stood at the bow of the boat and watched the waves cut by the bow below, and his mood still did not calm down. The inexplicable hallucination on Kaishantai made him feel a little puzzled all the time. The hallucination was so real that the picture in his mind has not dissipated for a long time.
Although Fang Jie has been on the run for more than ten years, he rarely takes a boat. At this time, the scene of overlooking the bow of the ship and breaking the waves made him feel a little more emotional.
At some point, the black boy Yan Kuang walked up behind him. Fang Jie didn't look back, but seemed to know he was coming: "Come explain why you lied to Chen Hun and Chen Ha?"
After saying this, Fang Jie turned his head to look at the two old urchins not far away. These two people seemed to be very afraid of this wobbly feeling. They sat on the deck holding hands with pale faces, and they were still talking in low voices. After Fang Jie listened, he couldn't help a smile from the corner of his mouth.
Those two guys were actually mocking each other. He said he was afraid of water, he said he was afraid of fish.
This reminded Fang Jie of what he said when he was in the imperial capital, tied up Chen Heng and Chen Ha and sank them into the river to feed the fish. Obviously these two people also thought of this, so they didn't dare to approach the ship's side at all. They were originally from the southwest, and they lived not far from Yongzhou. Logically, the two of them should be familiar with boats, but thinking about their father's death when they were young, their mother also died of illness, leaving only the two of them to depend on each other. Because of committing crimes and killing people, and being imprisoned in a cave by the loyal prince Yang Qi for more than ten years, he is also very unfamiliar with boating.
"My lord should have already guessed it."
Yan Kuang asked back after being silent for a while.
Fang Jie nodded.
Yan Kuang asked again: "Since your lord has already guessed, what do you plan to do?"
Fang Jie looked at Yan Kuang, smiled and said: "Since Chen Heng and Chen Ha killed people in the square that day, I know that His Majesty will never let such two people survive. They have no restrictions on their actions at all, and they are still His cultivation is amazing, if he can be tricked by Xiao Yijiu into making trouble in the imperial capital, he can naturally be tricked again by others."
"Your Majesty is right to do this..."
Fang Jie paused and asked, "Then why didn't you kill them both?"
"Because I can't beat them."
Yan Kuang shook his head and answered.
Fang Jie shook his head: "If you think this sentence can deceive people, you have to ask yourself if you have misunderstood yourself. I just want to ask you a question, will you be happy and relieved if you kill them both, or will you not kill them both?" Are you more comfortable?"
Yan Kuang didn't answer, so Fang Jie knew the answer.
"Your Majesty wants them to die, and we, the courtiers, naturally have to obey, otherwise it would be a felony of disobedience, right?"
Fang Jie smiled and said, "But Your Majesty didn't directly tell me to get rid of the two of them. Since Your Majesty didn't say so, why should I do it? As for whether His Majesty arranged for someone else to do this, I naturally wonder I don't know. Since I don't know... what do you think I'll do?"
Yan Kuang was stunned for a moment, then asked tentatively: "Whoever comes to kill them, my lord will kill whoever?"
Fang Jie nodded: "That's the same sentence, I will kill whoever comes to kill them. Of course you can tell Eunuch Su what I guessed was sent by His Majesty, but it will not affect my decision. This trip to the southwest will take half a year. If I don’t try to make Chen Heng and Chen Ha useful to Da Sui, then I will feel that I am at a loss. Yan Kuang...you followed My days are not short, since I know that you are not really stupid, you naturally know some of my temperament... I never do things like losing money. "
Yan Kuang frowned and said: "My lord has a bright future, why should the official career be affected by these two people?"
"Yan Kuang..."
Fang Jie looked at Hei boy and sighed: "You are here to persuade me, but have you ever persuaded yourself? If you really think so, you will not delay this journey until Weijun, and you will not Bring the two of them back alive. Although Chen Heng and Chen Heng's cultivation base is astonishing, the minds of the two of them are as easy to deceive as children. It is impossible to kill them two rivals, and it is not considered to be outsmarted. It's too difficult. Even if you don't have people who secretly support you, wouldn't you succeed in tricking them into taking poison by yourself? Even if you handed them a bottle of poison and told them it was sugar water, they wouldn't suspect you. But they didn't Die, not because they are not easy to kill, but because you don't want to kill them."
Yan Kuang remained silent, but his fingers were entangled and rubbing back and forth.
"I just pretend I don't know about it."
Fang Jie said to Yan Kuang word by word: "You can tell those friends in secret, I will not give them another chance. If Chen Hun and Chen Ha die on the way to Yongzhou, then I will use my life Time will dig them out of the dark, dig one and kill the other."
"I don't like threatening people, because the threats themselves don't have much meaning. I like to do it, and I will do it when I say it."
Yan Kuang was startled, then nodded: "I understand."
"What do you understand?"
Fang asked.
"My lord, you are not a qualified adult...but you are a good friend, my lord."
Fang Jie couldn't help but smile: "I don't have many friends, and my heart will feel bad if I lose one."
"But the temperament of an adult seems not suitable for being an official."
"maybe… "
Fang Jie stood at the bow of the boat with his hands behind his back: "I always don't believe what other people think of me. Why do people say I can't do something that I'm not sure about? Even if it's really not good, you have to do it before you know it. "
…
…
No matter how wide the Yangtze River is, there will always be another shore. The big ship first crossed the river at the request of Fang Xie, put down the people and set sail again, heading west along the river. To get to Yongzhou by water, you have to go upriver for 150 miles, reach the confluence of Luoshui River and Yangtze River, and then change to Luoshui River and go south. If there is no delay on the road, you can reach Yongzhou in less than 20 days.
It had only been thirty miles away from the upstream before it was completely dark. Even though it was a huge official ship and the sailors were all experienced local fishermen, no one dared to sail at night. There are always many legends about gods and ghosts among the people facing the big river, such as river gods and water monsters.
People along the Yangtze River have been circulating a story that many, many years ago, the gods descended to subdue the dangerous water monsters in the Yangtze River. But the water monster felt that it was unfair, and it said to the gods that since humans are living beings, I am also living beings, why do you want to favor human beings? They are not as strong as me, so it is only natural for them to be eaten by me. The gods said you were bullying, and the water monster said you wouldn't let me eat people, isn't it bullying
This sentence made the god of heaven speechless, so the god of heaven made a rule. The big river during the day belongs to humans, and the big river at night belongs to water monsters. If someone is eaten by water monsters in the big river at night, the gods will not punish them, and they can only blame themselves for not obeying the rules.
This story is of course false, and the story is just a story after all.
But the moral of this story seems to be very deep, the more you think about it, the more you think that what the water monster said is actually very reasonable. This world is such a world, and it is not wrong to be born strong.
Fang Jie heard this story from an old boatman when the boat was docking.
He recalled what the water monster had said to the god, and suddenly realized that if the water monster is real, then it must be a wise man.
"My lord, it is an absolute rule not to touch the boat at night, so we can only rest at the shore, but we will go at dawn, the waterway of more than 100 miles, because it is against the current, it will not be too fast, but there will be no accidents. If it takes another two days to reach the confluence of the two big rivers, the county governor has sent someone to notify the local government in advance, and there should be a big boat there to meet him."
The old boatman explained to the other party apologetically.
Fang Jie waved his hand and said, "I know, even if there is no rule against sailing at night, people will always be tired, and they should rest when they should."
Hearing what he said, the old boatman felt warm.
"Thank you for your sympathy, the grassroots leave."
Fang Jie nodded, looking at the endless Mangdang Mountains in the distance on the north bank, lost in thought.
On the north bank of the river about a mile away from the official ship, a small boat also stopped on the bank. The fisherman goes ashore first to tie the rope, and then prepares to light a fire for cooking. This is a couple. Because they live by the river all the year round, the man's complexion is darker and there is a layer of rust. He looks very strong. Even the woman is also very flexible and vigorous, and her skin is much fairer than the man's. Those plump thighs in the sarong would be terrible if they were wrapped around the waist.
The age of the fisherman is about 30 years old, but the people on the riverside have been exposed to the wind and the sun for a long time, and they look older than people in other places. Or the fisherman loves his wife very much, so the woman's beauty is still pretty good.
The woman greeted today's guests while lighting a fire.
This is a group of seven or eight people, male and female. The boatman's woman greeted and sent them all the year round, and she could tell at a glance that these people were not easy to mess with, and it was already dark when these people came, so she didn't plan to accept this business. Unexpectedly, these people made such a generous move, and directly threw out an ingot worth twenty taels of silver, which made it impossible for her to refuse.
Twenty taels of silver is the usual two-month harvest of the husband and wife.
The Sui Dynasty was prosperous and strong, so the prices of daily necessities were not high. Twenty taels of silver is enough for the couple to live normally for two years. You must know that in the restaurants in the town, it costs at most seventy or eighty yuan for a few dishes and a pot of wine for a delicious meal. Even in the imperial capital, it is reasonable to ask for a table of one tael of silver.
For the sake of money, the fisherman's woman agreed to come down, but she was always on guard because she accidentally saw weapons hidden in the packages of those people.
"Miss Boss, let's go ashore casually. You can just cook, and we'll just settle the bill. Prepare a few jugs of wine, and we'll settle the bill together."
The leader made an explanation, and then led the people away.
The woman watched them walk into the night, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief: "Master, I always feel that these people are not kind."
"who cares!"
The fisherman smiled and said, "Let's just make money, and we'll come back when we deliver it."
As he spoke, he pinched the woman's plump breasts. The woman shyly avoided her eyes, but she was full of happiness.
In the darkness of night, Li Huo rushed out with his people. With the help of the vegetation on the shore, he quickly approached Fang Jie's official ship. They hid behind the bushes and watched the boat.
"We can't delay any longer, maybe Fang Jie will have doubts now."
Li Huo frowned, and ordered in a low voice: "Lu Minglan, Gao Xiao, Li Sanxing, you three are the best at swimming, so you will quietly get on the big boat tonight. Although those two idiots are good at cultivation, they are not very vigilant. Find an opportunity to poison their food!"
"But... Will the poisoning implicate others? If Fang Jie is also poisoned to death, how can we explain to Mr. Su?"
"Those two people don't eat fish, the cook will definitely cook some special meals."
Li Huo sneered: "As long as you observe carefully, you won't make mistakes. If you can't poison the food, wouldn't you poison the water in their room when the two of them are away?"
"Anyway..."
He clenched his fists and said word by word: "Those two idiots must be sent to see Hades tonight!"
Just when he finished saying this, his face suddenly changed.
In the darkness, no one can be seen around.
But for some reason, Li Huo was sure that if he moved, he would be killed. He didn't know where this sense of crisis came from, but it was so real and clear. It was as if there was a weapon walking around him, not knowing where the weapon would pierce into his body in the next second.
Not just him.
Everyone under him felt this way.