Xiahou Rong spent a long time, and Zhu Shunzi poured out all the words.
Zhu Shunzi is the young master of a country rich man. He came to Beijing for the scientific examination. After four or five years, he was unable to get the back of his head on the gold list. I had nothing to do, so I went to listen to the storytellers in the teahouse for a few ears, saying that once I entered the East Factory, I would become a big man who would be able to make a lot of salt books in two years. He gritted his teeth and was cruel, handed over the name book, and became a neutered dog that everyone got and killed. Facts have proved that he was deceived, worked for a year and a half, did not see the shadow of promotion, and was still wasted in the position of the junior officer, only a little better than the hooligan.
In order to stand out, he spent a lot of money to set up a line straight in front of Weide, and showed him in front of Weide with the cleverness of stealing corn and catching loach when he was a child. It happened that Yan Xiaobei was also nearby. Yan Xiaobei was the clerk under the Maozi in Dongchang, and he owned a medicine store at home. Zhu Shunzi was affiliated with the ugly character. The two met each other, but they didn't talk much. I only heard that Yan Xiaobei's swordsmanship was very good.
The two knelt in the yamen and begged Weide for an errand. Weide lifted his eyelids and brushed the tea foam with the lid of the teacup, and said, "Sure, can Shen Jue recognize him? Go, send his head to our house. Come."
Shen Jue didn't get his head back, and he almost didn't save his own. Thinking of the assassination that day, Zhu Shunzi still has lingering fears. Zhu Shunzi kept emphasizing how unpredictable Shen Jue's swordsmanship was. He didn't need to say it himself, but even Yan Xiaobei hadn't gone through five moves under Shen Jue. The two of them ran away in a hurry, but fortunately, Shen Jue's servants were all gone, and he was alone and did not chase after him.
Shen Jue is a genius in swordsmanship, Xia Houlin has known it since he was a child. He didn't speak any more, and the two broke up in Yunxian Tower.
Zhu Shunzi went home to pack his bags, Xiahou Rin took the opportunity to help Ah Chu dispose of Yan Xiaobei's body, then went to the city gate to catch up with Zhu Shunzi, and hurried along the official road to Jiading. We set off in the early morning, passed three inns, changed three horses, and arrived at the inn in Shili Village on the starry night.
After all, it's just a village post in the suburbs. It's not big. It has a main hall, a back hall, five corridors on the left and right, and ten stables behind it. Looking at the dark night, there are only two red lanterns hanging in front of the red lacquer gate, glowing faintly. Go forward a dozen feet before you can see other people. Entering the hall, there were a few greasy black lacquer tables with a small oil lamp on them, and an unknown little bug slammed into it mindlessly and burned to ashes. There seemed to be no other officials staying at this inn except for the two of them. After they were full, they went back to their houses and slept. After riding a horse all day, it was so tiring that Zhu Shunzi couldn't hold it any longer.
But Xiahou Lin couldn't sleep, he lit the lamp and turned over the letter that Weideto and the others gave to King Fu. In order to keep the envelope unsigned, it was sealed with wax, and it was estimated that there was only a piece of paper inside, which was light in my hand.
He didn't think it was right.
King Fu is His Highness. It is said that he is a lame fat man. He was named the king a long time ago. . There is also a second highness, only ten years old, who is still climbing up and down barefoot in the palace. The old emperor is about to get his braids up, and Weide wants to speculate. King Yingfu returns to the capital. It is unlikely that they will send a little ant that can be trampled to death with one foot.
Xia Houlin thought about it under the lamp, and decided to run away tomorrow and go to Nanjing to find Shen Jue.
There was a strong wind outside, which blew the windows open. The inn was high, and the woods on the hillside were blown by the tides and waves, and the leaves on the mountain were tossed and turned over, making a crackling sound. The egg-yolk moon was half covered by dark clouds, and after a while, the whole face was gone. Xia Houlin pressed his forehead against the window lattice, watching the dark night. He and Shen Jue hadn't seen each other for so many years, and their past friendship had long since faded. Originally too iron to wear a pair of trousers, but now he has become an enemy. Xia Houlin had mixed feelings in his heart, not knowing how to meet Shen Jue when he arrived in Jinling.
Forget it, it's useless to think more.
Xia Houlin went to bed. In a daze, there was a commotion downstairs, the squeak of the stairs outside, the sound of men's shouts, and the sound of ring armor hitting each other.
The footsteps stopped at the door, the door was kicked open, there was a slam in the air, and a whip was swept over with a strong wind. Xia Houlin was startled and got up from the bed, but he still couldn't dodge, his back was swept by the tail of the whip, and it hurt a lot. Xia Houlin fell from the bed, rolled on the ground, and the whip followed behind him as if it had eyes, crackling loudly. Xia Houlin picked up a round stool to block the blow of the whip, and a layer of the patent leather on the stool was instantly knocked off. Xiahou Rong was still using the whip, grabbed the foot of the stool and swung it, and the stool hit the man on the forehead. Xia Hou Rong picked up another thorn and stuck the man on the wall.
A knife light flashed behind him, Xia Houlin turned back, and saw a group of Jinyi guards pulling their knives out of their sheaths, the tip of the knife pointed at Xia Houlin.
Could it be that something happened to Yan Xiaobei, and Jin Yiwei came to arrest him? Xia Houlin frowned.
"Release." The man with the whip pointed to the tug in front of him, touched his forehead, and gasped, "If you dare to hit your grandfather, you will die?"
"Misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!" Zhu Shunzi ran in from the outside, his body was still messed up, "Oh, why is it still marked!" Zhu Shunzi pulled Xiahou Rong away, took out a handkerchief and covered the man's forehead, "You Look at my brother, I don't know anything! I collided with the General Manager Gao, and I hope you have a lot of adults, please spare him this time!"
"Who are you?" Gao Zongqi looked at Xia Houlin with malicious intent, "If you sign up, I want to see, who the fuck is so capable, dare to smash your grandfather."
"Who are you?" Xia Houlin raised his eyebrows, "I slept well here, but you rushed in and beat people indiscriminately. What's the matter?" Xia Houlin glanced at the Jinyi guards surrounding the room, "There are so many people. Bullying less?"
Zhu Shunzi poked Xiahou Lin and winked at him vigorously.
Gao Zongqi showed his teeth, "Master, I am Jinyiwei Zongqi Gao Sheng. Jinyiwei Nanzhen Fusi Zhenfu is my godfather, and Mrs. Wei Dewei is my godfather. What the hell are you? Are you talking nonsense with me here?"
"Don't dare, don't dare, he has a brain and can't turn around, don't take it offense!" Zhu Shunzi accompanied him carefully.
These days, the civil and military officials are rushing to be Weide's son. Some people can't win the name of their son, so they recognize Weide's godson as their father and are willing to be a grandson. However, in the past few years, Wei De's filial sons and grandsons have blossomed everywhere, and they have been able to count to the eighteenth generation.
It was a turtle. Xia Houlin couldn't help but sigh.
"We from the Dongchang factory are here on errands under the order of Eunuch Wei." Xiahou Rin threw Yan Xiaobei's waist card on the table and emphasized the words "Eunuch Wei".
Gao Sheng was indeed apprehensive, glanced at Dongchang's waist badge, and gritted his teeth.
"Zongqi Gao, look, we are all from our own family! Why bother each other? Let's not talk about it, it's alright, it's alright!" Zhu Shunzi greeted him with a smile.
Gao Sheng pushed Zhu Shunzi away and sneered at Xia Houlin: "Since you're helping my grandfather with errands, of course you have to give some face. It's fine if you occupy my house..."
"Occupy your house? This house has your name written on it?" Xia Houlin also smiled.
"This is the only upper house in the Shili Village Station. You dare to live here!" Gao Sheng stepped aside, "Well, I don't care about you. Our brothers have been running around for a day, and the station is small. It just happened to be full, but unfortunately, there is no shop for the two of you. Please make room for the two of you and go to the woods for yourself!"
"It's easy to say, easy to say, isn't it just moving a place!" Zhu Shunzi pulled Xia Houlin's sleeve.
"..." Xia Houlin stood there for a while without saying a word.
The Jinyi guards held their arms and looked at them playfully.
Gao Sheng passed Xia Houlin with his hands behind his back, bumped his shoulder on purpose, and laughed softly, "It's just two dogs, how can they not be a nest?"
Xia Houlin looked up at him, his dark eyes looked a little scary.
Zhu Shunzi hugged Xia Houlin's hand and said, "Lao Yan, calm down! Calm down! We can't have trouble!"
Xia Houlin stood for a while, then turned around and picked up the clothes and baggage hanging on the mahogany shelf, as well as the goose ling knife on the wall, and pushed aside Jin Yiwei and went out the door. Zhu Shunzi went to his own room to get a bag, chased after Xia Houlin, and said, "Slow down! Lao Yan, slow down! Wait for me!"
He led the horse, left the inn, and trotted along the avenue. Zhu Shunzi sighed: "The first-level official crushes people to death, not to mention that he is the grandson of Eunuch Wei. Let's just bear it!"
Of course Xia Houlin understood, otherwise he wouldn't have swallowed this bad breath. This is the way the world is. He has been displaced for a few years, and he is the most humble refugee. He has endured many scorns. After all, he is no longer a reckless assassin. With the knife in his hand, if you can see blood, don't see blood.
He looked up at the dark sky, and said nothing.
"Oh, I was going to recognize a godfather and godfather."
Xia Houlin turned his eyes and asked him, "Then why didn't you recognize it?"
"When Shen Jue was still in power, I went to hold his stinky feet. But people have high vision and put on airs, ignoring me!" Zhu Shunzi shook his head, "It's still Eunuch Wei who knows heroes with his eyes! Fortunately, Shen Jue confiscated me, and asked Otherwise, I'll have to follow him today and be unlucky."
Xia Houlin was stunned by these people's thick skin as a city wall, and said no more. The two of them rode their horses and ran slowly to see if they could go to the house in front of them to spend the night.
The rear suddenly lit up, and there was a commotion in the distance. Xia Houlin turned his head and saw that the direction of the post station was ablaze with fire, almost reflecting half of the sky red. Zhu Shunzi was stunned, and Xiahou Lin was vigilant and said, "Enter the forest, hurry up!"
The two urged the horse to enter the forest, and Xia Houlin dismounted from the horse, climbed up the tree, crouched on a high place and built a pergola to look at the inn. In the blazing fire, there were assassins dressed in black and wearing white masks walking around. The flames reflected on their masks, and a red light like blood flowed. Each one was like a hell Shura bathed in blood and flames. The couriers screamed and fled, but were overtaken by the assassins and had their necks severed. Jin Yiwei resisted stubbornly, but could not resist the attack of the assassins, and fell into the flames one by one, letting the flames lick their clothes and body.
Zhu Shunzi looked terrified and stammered, "Jia... Jialan assassin!"
"No, they didn't use the kalan sword." Xiahou frowned.
"How do you know?" Zhu Shunzi asked in surprise.
Xia Houlin didn't answer, he just took out the letter in his arms and tore the seal. Zhu Shunzi hurriedly stopped him and shouted, "You're crazy!" Xia Houlin avoided Zhu Shunzi's hand, shook out the letter, and at a glance, Zhu Shunzi Dumbfounded, the letter was blank and nothing.
Zhu Shunzi grabbed the letter, turned it over and over, and asked Xiahou Rin, "Did you take it wrong?"
Xiahou looked at him silently.
"It's impossible! Why is there nothing? Wait... I know! It must be the invisible ink, I heard that this kind of ink needs to be watered to show its shape!" Zhu Shunzi said decisively, hesitated for a while, and untied it. I urinated on the letter paper with the waistband of my pants. After a long time, the paper was rotten, and the words still didn't show.
"How could this be?" Zhu Shunzi cried and grimaced.
"What else can we do, we've been tricked!" Xia Houlin pinched his nose, Zhu Shunzi must have gotten angry recently, and the smell of urine was very bad, "That old thief Weide didn't want us to meet His Royal Highness Fuwang at all, let's There are only two targets to attract people from all over the world. There must be someone else to pick up the King of Fortune."
"You mean, those assassins are here to kill us?"
Xia Houlin nodded and said yes, "Fortunately, we were driven out by Jin Yiwei because of our fate. Otherwise, we will be the ones who will die."
Zhu Shunzi had lingering fears, Xia Houlin slipped down the tree trunk, mounted the horse again, and said, "Let's run before those assassins react."
"Where are we going?"
"Go to Jinling!" Xiahou Rin galloped on his horse, his black clothes blending into the night.
The two walked all the way south. In the summer, the sun is high, making them dizzy, but they have to walk non-stop. The inn did not dare to live, and every night he slept in the woods and was bitten to death by mosquitoes. They ran against the sun, the bushes rustling over their ankles. The forest leaves were piled up in clusters, green as if they were about to drip. The clouds in the sky are thin and thin, and behind it is the duck-egg blue sky, which looks like cloud shadows embroidered on cotton blue clothes.
Zhu Shunzi frowned and sighed every day. It's no wonder that he thought that Weide was his once-in-a-lifetime Bole, but he didn't expect it to be a life-threatening Yama. His dream of promotion and making a fortune was all in vain, and now he can't even save his life.
Xia Houlin didn't react, as if he hadn't encountered this unfortunate incident. Zhu Shunzi peeked at him and felt that this old Yan was not the same as before. Although the old Yan was not very talkative, he couldn't speak. Now he is silent and has a stern taste, and sometimes laughs, but always feels a kind of sadness carved into his bones.
Zhu Shunzi guessed that something must have happened to him at home, either his parents or his daughter-in-law died.
"Hey, Lao Yan, how do you know that those people are not Jialan's assassins." Zhu Shunzi asked for something to relieve his boredom.
"I've seen real assassins a few times when I was in the rivers and lakes before." Xia Houlin perfunctory him.
"Oh." Zhu Shunzi rode his horse and Xiahou Rin side by side, "It seems that Jialan has not been around in the past few years. The "Galan's Ghost Book" wrote that the nameless ghost is gone, and I want to continue watching. Have you seen the nameless ghost? "
Xia Houlin shook his head.
Zhu Shunzi still wanted to ask, but suddenly there was the sound of hooves in the distance, and a group of people rushed out from the place where the sand and dust were churning. The two stopped their horses and watched the team from a distance on the hillside.
It was a group of extremely powerful men, with black splatters tightly wrapping the strong and taut muscles under their clothes. Everyone was like a knife in a sheath. Once it was pulled out, it would definitely be unparalleled and unstoppable.
"Dongchang Fanzi?" Xia Houlin frowned.
Zhu Shunzi's eyes lit up, and without waiting for Xia Houlin to react, he slapped his horse down the mountain, shouting, "Wait! Wait!"
The Dongchang Fanzi on the official road may be another team sent by the Duke of Wei to greet King Fu. Even if not, if the two of them can walk with them, the water drops into the sea, and the trail is hard to find, and it is difficult for those assassins to find them.
Zhu Shunzi's stunned mind turned faster than ever before, and before he could talk to Xia Houlin in detail, he rushed down the mountain like an arrow, leaving Xia Houlin behind him and stretched out his left hand to grab the air. Xia Houlin hesitated for a while, but still couldn't let go of the stupefied young man, and followed him down the mountain.
Hearing the shouting, the team stopped. Zhu Shunzi shook his hands excitedly and said, "Thank you all for waiting, we are..."
Xia Houlin caught up from behind and interrupted Zhu Shunzi: "We are from Jinyiwei, and we will go to Jiading to handle the case. The subordinate is Gao Sheng, the general banner of Jinyiwei, and this is Zhu Xiaoqi. This is the tooth card of the subordinate position." Xia Houlu handed the tooth card, a Fanzi took it, took a few glances and returned.
Zhu Shunzi watched Xia Houlin put the tooth card in his arms like a ghost. When did this person come from Gao Sheng's Shun? On the other hand, he reacted very quickly, and followed Xia Houlin's remarks: "Yes, yes, yesterday, the two of us encountered gangsters on the way and almost died. Now it's good, I met all of my colleagues, and I don't know if we can go together for a while, or not. There is an answer."
Fanzi was silent and looked at the two of them with expressionless faces. Zhu Shunzi didn't notice anything, and even accompanied him with a smile, Xia Houlin was already worried.
He really wanted to knock this scumbag head next to him. At first glance, this group of idiots were not ordinary people, and they were completely different from Zhu Shunzi, who was abducted and deceived. With dried blood on their scabbards and clothes, it was obvious that they had done some shady deeds.
Could it be Wade's? still…
Fanzi gave way, and a man jumped out of the crowd. His face was chiseled like a knife, every line was extremely cold, and when he frowned, he looked indifferent.
"No, please go back." The man said coldly, leaving no room for him.
Zhu Shunzi had a bitter face and opened his mouth to speak, but Xia Houlin stopped him and motioned him to leave quickly with his eyes. Zhu Shun Ziyan refused to move next to him, and planned to intercede.
At this time, a cold voice suddenly came from the crowd, low and cool, like a flowing spring.
"Situ, don't be rude. Since you are Jin Yiwei's friend, you should do your best to help."
Xia Houlin turned his head, his eyes passed through the crowds, and fell on the last person hidden.
The man turned his back to them, and he was also dressed in black, but he wore a different bearing. It is not shrewd, nor graceful, but indescribably arrogant. He turned his face to the side, revealing slightly upturned eyes, as if the ink brush swept across, outlining a style of romance, but his eyes were a little too cold, revealing a calm indifference.
"Thanks to the two of you not giving up, we just happen to be going to Jiading, so let's go for a ride together."