On the official road from Jingbei to Kuizhou, a thin horse strolled leisurely, and a man wearing a sunshade hat on his head threw crispy and delicious sesame cakes into his mouth while walking boredly watching the flowers.
After a while, the bag of sesame cakes came to an end. He took out a water bottle from the sack, poured a few saliva, and said in disgust, "What is it, it's dead."
It was Fu Shen.
Two days ago, he and Yan Xiaohan parted ways outside the city of Jingzhou, and after walking out of Erli, he deliberately turned back, just to provoke others at the door of the inn. When he bought the sweet-scented osmanthus candy, he happened to see sesame cakes next to it, so he bought a pack and planned to eat it as a snack on the road.
Now that he thinks about it, he is not fond of sweets, and he may not be able to eat a piece of candy for three to five months, and he will buy sesame cakes.
It was not far from Jingzhou to Kuizhou, the center of the southwest, and it only took three days to go fast, but Fu Shen kept walking for six days. He hadn't been so carefree and walked slowly between heaven and earth for many years. Although he is still young, he has spent half his life rushing ducks to the shelves, busy, shouting and killing, not to mention a sweet wife, concubine, high official and rich salary, and he can't even go home a few times a year.
The trip to Jingzhou has changed both him and Yan Xiaohan a lot. Perhaps he has finally found sustenance and belonging, and understands that in this long world, he is not the only one walking alone.
Sometimes in the teahouses and pubs in the townships along the road, Fu Shen could hear some news from Jingzhou. For example, after the Xishan Village incident, the government sent people to salvage the lake and found more than a dozen bodies. It is said that there are no insects and fish in the lake, and only one kind of aquatic plant can grow wildly with the corpse as the nourishment, and firmly entangle the capital of the bones and suspend it in the water, like a corpse forest that does not see the light of the sun.
Some people say that the imperial envoy from the capital encountered heavy rain on his way and stayed at the Fox Fairy Temple at night. Suddenly, a little fox fell into a dream, spit out human words, and told his grievances. When the imperial envoy woke up, he felt very strange. A big case.
Fu Shen laughed secretly when he heard it, thinking "what the fox said", isn't that "nonsense"
Eighty percent of it was made up by some storyteller in Jingzhou City who saw there was a Fox Immortal Temple by the lake.
"Mr. Storyteller" Yan Xiaohan couldn't help but mutter, and sneezed on the side of his head. The tip of his pen flicked, leaving a dot of ink on the snow-white page. The half-written book was completely destroyed.
He threw away the memorial and replaced it with a new piece of paper. The prefect of Jingzhou moved fairly quickly, and the case was almost completed in six days. After submitting a whole file of testimony, testimony and other documents to the Ministry of Punishment for decision, he would be able to arrive in Beijing in about two days. He concealed the section of Fu Shen in the memorial, and only mentioned that they were almost struck by lightning in the Fox Immortal Temple, so they strayed into Xishan Village by chance. Yan Xiaohan heard the legend of the Fox Immortal Temple and suspected that it was some kind of divine guidance, so he sent Queen Qi away and returned to Xishan Village to investigate. Although he was white on the mid-autumn night, he still managed to escape. In short, it was all God's blessing, they finally succeeded in finding out the truth, and made the perpetrators fall under the law.
Master Yan finished talking nonsense without changing his face, and ordered his subordinates to send the book to the capital. King Qi's side should also have a memorial to hand over, but because the Feilongwei Qincha envoy has the right to directly file the royal front, the two are not going together, and Yan Xiaohan did not go to ask more.
He walked to the window, looked out at the shade of trees, and slowly let out a long breath, feeling that his hands were shaking again, so he took a candy from his purse and pressed it on the tip of his tongue.
The sweet scent of sweet-scented osmanthus permeated the air, probably due to drug addiction. He felt that he had never missed a person so much, and his heart ached when he thought about it.
They were only separated for six days.
Fu Shen once again showed his extraordinary foresight. Yan Xiaohan's drug addiction hadn't been completely cured, although it wasn't serious, but as soon as Fu Shen left, he had no sustenance, and the attack suddenly became difficult. Fortunately, there was still the bag of sweet-scented osmanthus, which left him a little comfort. Yan Xiaohan has developed the habit of using sugar to quit addiction, but for a body that eats the marrow and knows the taste, it is a drop in the bucket. The combination of physical pain and spiritual pain makes him sometimes wish he could just throw King Qi away. , a person chased to the southwest.
I hope the case here in Jingzhou is concluded sooner, and when he returns to the capital, he may find an errand and go to the southwest again.
The idea is good, but the harsh reality tells him: think beautifully.
Within two days, the special envoy from Beijing came to Jingzhou with an imperial decree. First, the officials of the prefect and magistrate took off the black gauze and waited for their release. They also ordered the escort of the chief criminals from Xishan Village to Beijing. Finally, there was a special decree for King Qi and Yan Xiaohan.
Since March, Bai Lu San has repeatedly appeared, causing tragic disasters, first in the capital, and then in Jingzhou. As early as during the Jinwuwei case, Yan Xiaohan had written a book, asking the emperor to order Bailusan to be strictly investigated in various places to avoid future troubles. Unexpectedly, it was a prophecy.
Emperor Yuantai was not yet confused, and Qiu Yebai had flooded to the point of affecting the grain tax of Jingchu. To the east of Jingchu, is the area of Huguang and two rivers. It is the granary of the world and the land of great wealth. If we continue to let it go, I am afraid that all these places will not escape the evil hands. Therefore, he issued another imperial decree, ordering King Qi and Yan Xiaohan not to return to Beijing after finishing their errands, and to travel eastward along the Yangtze River to inspect the Jiangnan area. .
Like a thunderbolt from the blue flashed in mid-air, it crashed down, Master Yan's broken wish and tears drifted in the warm spring breeze of Jingzhou.
Southwest, Kuizhou.
Fu Shen rode a thin horse into the city slowly and leisurely. Most of the Han people here mixed with Miao, Bai and other ethnic groups, and the scenery and customs were very different from those in the Central Plains. Fu Shen originally imagined many ways to meet the Prince of Xiping County, but when he reached the gate of the palace, he put all his previous thoughts behind him and swaggered towards the doorman, holding the hat in his hand, bowed his head slightly, and said, "Excuse me, please. Announcement, I want to see the King of Xiping County."
As the saying goes, a seven-rank official in front of the prime minister's gate. Although the concierge of the county prince's mansion was not as snobby as the watchdog in the capital, Fu Shen looked poor from head to toe, and covered his face with a bamboo hat, which did not look like he could communicate with their master. The man rolled his eyelids nonchalantly, stretched out his hand and said, "Famous Post."
Fu Shen saw many such domestic servants. He poured out a small piece of silver from his purse, put it in the porter's rough palm, and said with a smile, "There is no famous post, you just said that Du Leng, a military doctor from Beiyan, came to visit."
The concierge weighed the silver in his hands, a little joy flashed on his face, his attitude was still arrogant, but his tone was relaxed: "You wait here, I will go in and report to the prince."
It didn't take long for the man to come out with a tense expression on his face. This time he didn't even dare to let out a fart. He nodded and bowed to invite Fu Shen into the door, leading him to the flower hall on the west side of the main courtyard.
Someone was already waiting for him in the house. Duan Guihong, the king of Xiping County, is now nearing the age of destiny, but he is well maintained, his body is slender and strong, and his face is still like a man.
Fu Shen took off his hat, exposed his face, and smiled politely and sincerely at him: "If you dare to disturb me, don't blame my lord."
Duan Guihong: "..."
He was stunned for a moment, then immediately dismissed all the servants, closed the doors and windows, and his brows were almost tied: "General Fu suddenly came to the poor house, what advice do you have?"
"No advice," Fu Shen pulled up a chair and sat down, "Your Highness doesn't have to be so unfamiliar, you are my elder, just call me a word."
Duan Guihong lowered his gaze and stared at his leg: "You... Jingyuan, you are not in the capital to recover, why did you come to the southwest?"
Fu Shen lifted the hem of his clothes, showed him his boots, and said casually, "I'm almost healed. As for why I'm here... Aren't you supposed to know better than me?"
Duan Guihong's eyes narrowed, his aura was restrained and majestic, and when he faced Fu Shen, the two of them did not give in. He said coldly: "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, no, you should only know that I am in Jingzhou," Fu Shen patted his thigh, "Look at my memory, I just told Du Leng that I was going to Jingzhou to find Yan Xiaohan, but forgot to tell him that I had to stop by the way. Go to Kuizhou."
He smiled and said, "Why, the lord doesn't seem to like seeing you very much?"
Duan Guihong was silent for a moment, and seemed to have given up on being ignorant with him, and asked directly, "When did you find out?"
The smile on Fu Shen's face remained the same, but the smile in his eyes was completely gone, and there was even a hint of coldness in his voice: "I have found a lot, which one is the prince referring to? Come to my side, or send Taoist Chunyang to assassinate the emperor at the longevity banquet?"
"... Or is it deliberately spreading Qiu Yebai in Jingchu, intending to flip the chessboard and completely disrupt the Jiangnan area?"
Every word of his is like a knife, straight to the bottom line of Duan Guihong's silent tolerance.
The Prince of Xiping has led the army for many years, and his temperament is resolute and serious. Although he has cultivated a little self-discipline in these years, it depends on who, but Fu Shen seems to be unaware, and he is trying to pull out the tiger's whiskers.
Duan Guihong gritted his back teeth and said, "Fu Shen, are you not afraid... Can't get out of this door today?"
"Look, isn't this a coincidence? I didn't plan to go out this door today," Fu Shen said confidently, "I came to Kuizhou alone, I didn't have much trouble, and I was worried that I had no place to live, so I planned to borrow your residence. How many nights will you stay in Baodi, I wonder if the lord will allow it?"
Duan Guihong: "..."
He said that he was choked by Fu Shen. Although Fu Shen didn't come here with hostility, he still felt that he was about to pass out, so he finally managed to straighten out his breath, and tried to say calmly, "Since you know these things, You should also understand that I didn't mean to harm you."
Fu Shen said, "Naturally. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here today."
Duan Guihong's expression loosened slightly, and he sat down opposite him: "What I have done is only a drop in the bucket compared to what the emperor did to the Beiyan Iron Cavalry."
"Commander Beiyan is sitting right in front of you," Fu Shen said coldly, "Although I am lame, I am not dead yet. Your Highness, you want to avenge the Beiyan army, have you asked me what I mean?"