Fang Jie got off the carriage, smiled and asked the guarding captain who was quickly chasing him, "Master, what else can you do?"
The captain, who looked about forty years old, strode up, looked at Fang Xie in silence for a while, and said, "If you can go back, congratulate everyone for me... I was a pawn under Prince Zhong's command. On the opening day of Hongxiu Zhao, not to be humble as us little pawns, we specially opened dozens of tables to invite those of us who can't make it to the stage to have a drink... After the banquet was over, we were divided into various armies, and we have not seen each other since My lord, it's been eleven years, and I can often still dream about the drunkenness that night."
This person turned out to be a soldier of Prince Zhong back then!
Fang Jie's heart was shocked, and he said solemnly: "Don't worry, I will tell everyone when I see you."
"Thank you."
The school lieutenant clasped his hands together, turned and left.
The big dog let out a long sigh of relief, and took off the steel thorn gloves that had been quietly worn and stuffed them into the cuffs. Fang Jie looked at the back of the school lieutenant leaving, and for some reason his heart was filled with a sense of sadness. In the past few days, he has heard the name of the loyal prince Yang Qi many times, and every story about this man makes his heart surge.
Assisting the current emperor to become a great treasure is unmatched in his achievements. If he didn't leave the court, he would always be the one standing in front of all civil and military officials. But when he was about to stand at the peak of his life, he quietly went down the mountain and managed his own piece of scenery at the foot of the mountain.
The more he thinks about it, the more Fang Jie becomes curious about what happened ten years ago to make such a wise man abandon everything he owns and go away.
There has been no news for ten years, where has he gone
is he still alive
But soon, Fang Jie shook off all these sad thoughts. What he has to consider now is not whether the legendary figure of the Sui Dynasty is still alive, but how people like himself can live well. Shen Qingfan said that the person behind the scenes had set a deadline of fifteen years, and after fifteen years, the person behind the scenes would have a way to let Fang go back. Fifteen years had passed before Fan Gu came out, but half a year had passed and nothing seemed to have changed.
So Fang Jie was even more worried.
Since that person spent so much effort to arrange this fifteen-year situation that makes people feel clueless, it makes no sense to give up halfway. And what kind of role is he in this game, what kind of identity was imposed on him when he came to this world. All these make people feel very tight in their hearts all the time.
It's just that no matter how he analyzes and speculates, he can't guess why there will be a change in the fifteen-year period.
Because of one person, a certain place in the west has been turned upside down. The person who arranged the layout back then had to deal with the immediate crisis first, and temporarily ignored the control of the other party's solution.
But that doesn't mean he's giving up.
The carriage left Chang'an City smoothly, and several people couldn't help but breathe a little bit of relief. Sitting in the carriage, Fang Jie looked back at the majestic city, at the city wall so high, at the people coming and going at the gate of the city, at the soldiers in armor, and at the The flag of the Sui Dynasty waving above the Wangcheng Gate... the meaning in the eyes is very complicated.
During the three years in Fan Gu, he spent all of his preparations on how to establish a stable foothold in the imperial capital, but he had to leave this place after only entering the city for half a month. All the previous efforts have turned into water flowing eastward, rushing to the sea and never returning. All the planning and calculations are nothing compared to the unstoppable change. The dream is washed away by a bubble of yellow urine and disappears without a trace.
"Fang Jie, why didn't you inform Henggun and Qilin?"
Big Dog couldn't help asking.
"If the four of them were informed, the strength around us would not be so weak. It's a long way to go to Qingle Mountain... The four of us seem a little powerless after all."
"Now there are four people. When we came from Fan Gu, there were only three people."
Fang explained.
Big Dog was startled, and was interrupted by Fang Jie just as he was about to say something: "Everyone has the right to choose how they will live in the future. The four of them managed to get rid of my dream that has caused them pain for fifteen years. Pull them back by force? And... to this day, even if you try to pull them back, you may not be able to pull them back."
The big dog was silent, he knew that Fang's explanation was correct.
The 15-year period has passed, and the four of them, Henggun and Qilin, managed to survive until today. They have no reason and no need to follow Fang Jie to take risks. Now they follow Mo Ningzhi, beside the Taoists of Qingle Mountain, and they are in the imperial capital, so they are safe.
Only fools continue to take risks.
Fang Jie smiled and said: "Most people in this world are normal, idiots are always rare. Now it is not easy to get together four idiots, at least there are enough people to fight when you are bored. Playing leaf cards. Four idiots playing cards . . . must be interesting."
At this moment, Fang Jie's eyes suddenly froze.
Right in front of the official road, a man squatted in the middle of the road.
He squatted there with his head down, not knowing what to focus on. This person held a small wooden stick the thickness of a finger in his hand, and drew circles on the official road. He was wearing a black Taoist robe with intricate patterns embroidered on it. Those lines can't see where they started and where they end up. Continuous and endless, round and round.
Daoist Taoists can tell their identity by looking at their clothes. Those wearing gray cotton robes are the most common disciples, and those in blue robes have higher status. The blue Taoist robes can only be worn by the elders of the sect, while the bright red Taoist robes are the attire of priests, and their status is respected. There is only one person in Yiqi Temple who can wear the black Taoist robe, and that is Daoist Xiao.
But the person squatting in front is obviously not the famous Taoist leader.
Fang Jie waved his hand to signal the carriage to stop, and he walked over slowly.
"Xiang Qingniu, what are you doing?"
Fang Jie walked up to the fat man who was squatting on the ground and asked.
Xiang Qingniu raised his head and glanced at Fang Jie, then pointed to the official way. On the official road, he drew several circles layer upon layer, and there were a few ants running back and forth in the circle, as if they couldn't find their way home.
"I just want to see if a few panicked ants can rush out of this circle."
Xiang Qingniu replied seriously.
Fang Jie looked at the ants in the circle that were crawling back and forth but couldn't find their way, and said silently for a while, "No matter how big the circle is, the ants will still be able to crawl out after all."
"wrong."
Xiang Qingniu said word by word: "The ants can climb out of the first circle I drew, but I can draw the second circle, the third circle, and many circles. No matter how hard the weak ants work hard, they will always I can’t escape either. Because I have a small wooden stick in my hand, I can draw hundreds of circles casually. How can ants escape? One circle can’t circle, how about a hundred circles?”
Fang Jie didn't answer, because he knew Xiang Qingniu was right. Ants are too weak, and people who draw circles are too powerful compared to ants. As long as the person who draws the circle wants to, he can keep playing like this until he loses interest. If he gets bored, tired, and bored, he will easily crush all the ants to death with that stick.
"How about it, isn't what you just said very profound? I squatted here and drew a circle to enlighten you. Isn't this movement very elegant?"
Xiang Qingniu, who was squatting on the ground, asked.
Fang Jie nodded and said: "There seems to be nothing wrong with the reasoning, but your image of squatting here drawing circles and playing with ants... is really stupid."
…
…
"Why are you here?"
Fang asked.
"Isn't it just to pretend to be an unfathomable Daoist, and then steal a dark black Taoist robe and squat here to play with ants, waiting for me to come and pretend to be a force for me to see?"
Before Xiang Qingniu, who was so angry and had nothing to say, answered, Fang Jie suddenly turned serious and asked seriously: "If you are really waiting for me, then...how did you know I would come?"
Xiang Qingniu snorted coldly and said: "I said for a long time that you still don't understand at all. It was a waste of me bragging for you in front of my senior brother that you are the most intelligent person in the world. Let me ask you, what did I say just now?" What are you doing?"
"Draw a circle and play with ants."
Fang Jie answered.
Xiang Qingniu asked again: "Who is the ant?"
Fang Jie was silent for a while, raised his finger and pointed at the tip of his nose and asked, "You mean me?"
"Congratulations, you are finally not hopelessly idiotic."
Xiang Qingniu snorted and said, "You think you can leave the imperial capital without anyone noticing, just pretending that you have never been here before? Shit! Did you see this stick in my hand? The strength to crush you ants to death. For example, the Ouchi Guard Office, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment. These yamen are all this stick. Just poke you lightly and you will become a pile of rotten meat, and It's unremarkable rotten meat."
"The reason why this stick is only drawing circles and not crushing you to death is because someone has spoken for you at a very high level that you don't know, so that the stick has not been pressed so far, but it doesn't mean that it is not will press down."
Fang Jie frowned, and then asked: "It seems that the only thing that can keep the stick from coming down is the hand holding the stick."
Xiang Qingniu couldn't help applauding and laughing: "I just said you are smart enough, then guess who stopped the hand holding the stick temporarily and didn't stab you to death with a small wooden stick?"
"Could it be you?"
Fang Jie asked in surprise.
Xiang Qingniu took a deep breath and straightened his breasts that girls would be jealous of, saying proudly: "Of course it's me!"
"Let's go."
He said.
"where to?"
Fang asked.
Xiang Qingniu smiled dejectedly and said: "There is a tea shop on the side of the road not far ahead, although the tea they sell is only the cheapest tea bricks, but pedestrians who walk there and see that they are about to enter Chang'an City, Because I have been walking for a long time, I must be thirsty, so the sound of this tea shop is ridiculously good. It is said that at least a few hundred bowls of tea can be sold every day, and a penny for each bowl of tea is not a small income... Of course, this is not the case. The point, the point is... there's a stick waiting for you ahead, a very hard stick, and if you don't want to get stabbed, you'd better move fast."
Xiang Qingniu said seriously: "If he doesn't like you, or if you don't show the strength to let him decide to show mercy, then he will still stab you to death."
"Then why should I go?"
Fang Jiebai said with a glance.
"Because you can't run away."
Xiang Qingniu turned around and walked first, and said as he walked, "If you don't believe me, you can try it."
…
…
Several wooden sheds built by the side of the road, a dozen clean tables and dozens of wooden benches constitute the tea shop that welcomes and sees at least a few hundred people every day. Boil water.
Fang Jie asked Mu Xiaoyao Dagou and Shen Qingfan to stay where they met Xiang Qingniu, and he followed Xiang Qingniu here.
Far away, Fang Xie keenly noticed that there were a few people in this tea shop who deserved special attention. At the table to the right, sat four men in brocade robes. There were large tea bowls in front of them, but the water in the tea bowls was still full without drinking a sip.
There was only one person sitting at the table in the middle, a man of indeterminate age. At first glance, he looked only thirty years old, but if he looked closely, he was already fifty years old. There are no wrinkles on the face, but the vicissitudes in the eyes would never be so strong if they had not experienced many sorrows and joys, right and wrong, and even life and death.
There is also a person sitting at the table on the far left.
A handsome and flawless young man dressed in white. Sitting quietly, like a white lotus independent of the world. He was drinking tea with his head down, looking at the tea bowl in his hand. But for some reason, Fang Jie always felt that this person's eyes were fixed on him.
There is a circle of curtains around the innermost part of the tea shop, which is obviously a resting place for the owner of the tea shop. I could vaguely see a person sitting inside, sitting very straight.
"Let's go."
Xiang Qingniu pointed to the man sitting next to the table in the middle and said: "Death and life are only in his mind. I can only help you to let him listen to your explanation, as for whether he can listen to it or not." …do your best.”
After saying this, Xiang Qingniu turned around and left, Fang Jie asked in a low voice, "What are you doing?"
Xiang Qing said without looking back: "Three things, the first is that I can't help but have to take a shit. The second is to use the time of shit to recall the prayer mantra in "Taozu Shuo". Recite. Third... go buy the cheapest thin willow coffin and prepare it, I can only help you so far.”