On the eve of Muchun's departure, Yingyangwei held a farewell party for him to send away the god of plague, sincerely wishing that this shameless boss would die at the border and never come back.
The Yingyang Guard was just as lively as when the Jinyi Guard saw off Mu Chun in August, with loud gongs and drums, firecrackers blasting, and officers and soldiers from top to bottom all showing relieved smiles.
When they were half drunk, Mu Chun said, "I was recommended by Duke Wei to go to the border. This is a rare opportunity. Who among you is willing to go with me?"
Everyone played finger-guessing games and drank, pretending not to hear.
Mu Chun used his eloquence to persuade his subordinates, "I know that you are from military families, and your family's military rank is at least a thousand households. With your family background, you can serve as imperial guards in the capital, or be transferred to the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum to guard the mausoleum. You will be promoted quickly and have no worries about your future. But, are you really willing to live a life that you can see clearly for the rest of your life when you are still in your teens?"
Most of the soldiers burst into laughter, raised their glasses and said, "We are happy with this, really. This kind of life with guaranteed income is pretty good. Even if we are doing badly in the capital, it is still much better than the vast majority of ordinary people. If we go to the border, we probably won't be able to come back alive to enjoy life."
Mu Chun turned a deaf ear to these sarcastic remarks and continued, "If you want to surpass the achievements of your father or grandfather, you must go to the real battlefield to accumulate military merit. Now there is a great opportunity in front of you. If you don't cherish it, you will regret it in the future."
"When you are old, your grandchildren will ask you, 'Grandpa, what were you doing during the Ming Dynasty's Fourth Northern Expedition?' You will say, 'I was young and strong, drinking with Hua Niang in the Qinhuai River.' Would you dare to say such a thing?"
Everyone laughed again: "How can you say that!"
But there was always a small number of people who did not laugh along and thought that Mu Chun's suggestion was very good.
So, when Muchun set out the next day, about a hundred people volunteered to follow him to the northwest to guard the border and seek a better future.
They all came from high-ranking military families, had meat to eat every meal, were physically strong, had received a good education and training, and their ambitions had not yet been wiped out by the comfortable life. They were the elite of the Yingyang Guard.
The team set out in a mighty procession. After walking two miles out of the city, Xiping Hou Mu Ying and several people caught up with them. Mu Chun ordered the team not to stop and to continue on their way. He stayed at the end of the team to greet his father.
Mu Ying said coldly, "You went to the northwest to guard the border without telling your family. This morning, I heard from other people's gossip that you were leaving today. The northwest border is most dangerous in winter. The Northern Yuan army takes advantage of the cold weather to riot at the border and deliberately provoke. You must not be impulsive. Once you are fooled and chase them, you will freeze to death, starve to death, or be ambushed and killed in the vast grassland and blizzard."
Mu Ying was the commander-in-chief of the Third Northern Expedition, which brought a great victory. These were all based on his experience.
Sometimes when he was so angry, he wanted to beat his son to death, but beating his son to death and having someone else beat his son to death were two different things.
Muchun did it on purpose. He didn't dare go home because he had severely insulted his father at the review yesterday.
Mu Chun said against his will: "I didn't expect the mission to come so soon. I had planned to write a letter to my family on the way to tell them about these events and inform them of my whereabouts."
Mu Ying rarely failed to expose his son's clumsy lie. He pointed to the dozen people behind him and said, "These are ten guards who often fight against the Yuan army, and one military doctor I usually use, with superb medical skills. These eleven people will follow you to the northwest."
Mu Chun stretched his neck backwards, as if looking for someone.
Mu Ying asked: "What are you looking at?"
Mu Chun said: "I am looking for my nanny when I was a child. My father should have sent her to the northwest."
Mu Chun thought that his father was being hypocritical and had no good intentions.
Mu Ying heard the sarcasm in his son's voice and became furious: "Rebellious son! Rebellious son!" Just as he was about to whip his son, his men risked their lives to hold him back.
Mu Chun spurred his horse and ran, catching up with the team. He would not be fooled by his father's hypocritical warmth and reconciliation with his father - could all the beatings and scoldings he had received over the years be written off
Mu Chun refused to take it, but Mu Ying insisted. Eleven people followed the team and could not be driven away.
On the afternoon of October 23, Hu Shanwei and his group of more than 300 people arrived at the post station in Zhuoying County, Xi'an Prefecture, which was the place where Liu Siyan and his group disappeared.
The postmaster checked the certificate in Hu Shanwei's hand and received him warmly, saying, "People from the Qin Palace also live here. They go to the nearby mountains and rivers every day to look for Liu Siyan and others. They come back after dark, but there is no news so far. Alas, I'm afraid it's not a good omen."
As you travel quickly along the way, you will find that the Northwest is obviously different from the south of the Yangtze River. This place is vast and sparsely populated, and has experienced long-term wars, with many fields being deserted. It is completely different from the south of the Yangtze River, which has been recuperating for more than ten years and has regained its prosperity.
Ji Gang asked the postmaster: "I heard there are bandits here?"
The postmaster nodded and said, "Zhouzhen County has too many mountains and rivers, and we are poor here. Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people. There are so-called Eighteen Strongholds in the mountainous areas. When the imperial court suppresses bandits, they take their money and flee to the deep mountains and old forests, or disappear in the market, or go to other places. As soon as the imperial army leaves, they come out to cause trouble again. When the caravan passes through here, they must first find a local broker to pay tribute to the Eighteen Strongholds, or spend a lot of money to hire an escort agency, so that they can pass smoothly. Now that the soldiers of the Qin Palace have come here, the bandits in the Eighteen Strongholds have all fled, and the mountain strongholds are empty."
Ji Gang slammed his fist on the table, "How can this be possible? Is there still law to enforce the law when this is rampant?"
Hu Shanwei said to the postmaster, "Take me to the room where Liu Siyan stayed that night."
There is no use being angry, finding clues is the most urgent task.
The postmaster looked embarrassed and said, "After Liu Siyan and his companions left, our post station received several groups of officials. That room was the best guest room in the post station, specially used to entertain high-ranking officials. We changed more than a dozen guests, and we cleaned it every time the guests left. Besides, people from the Qin Palace also went to see it, but they didn't see anything special about it."
Hu Shanwei said, "Take me there."
Ji Gang pretended to be powerful: "What are you talking about? Hurry up!"
Seeing that it was still early, Ji Gang immediately ordered the guide of the post station to take two hundred Jinyiwei to search the nearby mountains, and the remaining one hundred people stayed at the post station to protect Hu Shanwei and search the post station itself.
Ji Gang said, "Cleaning out the basement, stable, toilet, well, even every beam and rat nest in the house!"
The subordinate asked, "What about the manure pit at the post station?"
Ji Gang waved his hand and said, "Look for it too."
Ji Gang, who had fair skin, beautiful face and long legs, was not suitable for such dirty and tiring work. He and Hu Shanwei went to the room where Liu Siyan lived.
It was called a room, but it was actually a quiet little courtyard deep inside the post station, with a small patio in the middle. Judging from the dried branches and leaves in the patio, there were two grapes planted there. The main house had a bedroom, living room, bathroom and study.
Hu Shanwei wiped the table with a handkerchief and found it was clean and dust-free. It had indeed been cleaned in advance.
Hu Shanwei "did not hesitate to ask questions" and asked Ji Gang: "You Jinyiwei are responsible for investigating imperial cases, you should be the most experienced. When you encounter a situation like this where you have no clue, where do you usually start?"
To be honest, along the way, Hu Shanwei looked at Liu Siyan's route map again and again, but had no clue at all. She had to rely on the power and wisdom of the Jinyiwei.
Ji Gang was a little embarrassed and asked, "Does Hu Dianzheng want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Hu Shanwei said: "I don't want to hear nonsense."
Ji Gang cleared his throat and said, "In fact, we, the Jinyiwei, rely on beatings and scolding to investigate cases. When we throw people into the imperial prison, most people will confess when they see the torture instruments. For those with harder bones, it will be more troublesome. We knock their teeth and pull out their nails, and they will eventually talk after being tortured over and over again."
Hu Shanwei asked: "Aren't you looking for evidence?"
Ji Gang chuckled and said, "If you confess, there will be evidence. If there is really no evidence, we will make it ourselves. How can we not solve the case entrusted by the emperor?"
It seems that wisdom is of no use.
Ji Gang said: "Don't worry, Hu Dianzheng. When we catch a local bandit, we will use all the tricks of the imperial prison on him, and there will definitely be clues."
Hu Shanwei said, "Didn't you hear what the postmaster said? The people from the Qin Palace have been looking for bandits recently. All the people from the Eighteen Villages have escaped, and no one has been caught."
Torture is useless because there is no way to catch the person.
Ji Gang scratched his head, "What should we do then?"
Alas, no one can be relied upon, I can only rely on myself. Hu Shanwei rolled up his sleeves, walked to the bed, lifted up all the bedding, and began searching from under the bed.
Ji Gang cut the quilt open with a knife and took out the cotton inside.
When it was dark, the guide returned with two hundred Jinyiwei. The bandits were gone, but they did kill two wild wolves and several wild rabbits.
Hu Shanwei found a lost silver ear pick in a drawer. It was crudely made and definitely not something Liu Siyan used.
Ji Gang found a nest of mice and several centipedes in the beams of the house.
Inside the post station, there were no unexpected gains except for a few copper coins found in the manure pit.
The postmaster sighed repeatedly, "I really didn't lie to you. After the incident, we searched the palace ourselves and the Qin Palace as well. There is not even a louse that can hide here."
The five hundred soldiers of the Qin/Prince's Palace also returned to the post station. The two armies joined forces. Even the woodshed was crowded with people tonight, and there was still no place for them to stay. The Qin/Prince's Palace was hospitable and took the initiative to set up camp outside, leaving the post station to the guests who came from afar.
The Qin/Wangfu troops were led by a commander named Lu. At night, Hu Shanwei, Ji Gang, and Commander Lu sat down to exchange information.
Hu Shanwei asked, "Commander Lu, I heard that when Liu Siyan and his party returned to Beijing, the King of Qin and his wife asked them to deliver more than 20 carts of gifts to the Emperor and Empress. Does the palace have a list of these gifts? If the bandits robbed something, they would definitely sell it off. We can start from the pawnshops in various places and track down the gifts to find the bandits."
Commander Lu said: "Our prince had already secretly distributed the gift list for investigation. Once there was any news, he would inform Hu Dianzheng and the Jinyiwei. After the incident, our prince and princess felt very guilty. The princess has already written a letter of apology, which should be on the way to the capital..."
Commander Lu was respectful. No matter what questions Hu Shanwei and Ji Gang asked, he answered them one by one without any impatience. He was very cooperative and did not leave until late at night.
Ji Gang was Hu Shanwei's personal bodyguard and slept in the study next door. Ji Gang also set up a small mechanism. He tied a rope to Hu Shanwei's pillow, which crossed the beam and had a bell hanging on it at the other end, which was the study.
Ji Gang pointed at the rope and said, "When you are sleeping at night, if you feel something is wrong, no matter what happens, don't hesitate, pull the rope immediately, and I will come running when I hear the bell."
Hu Shanwei nodded.
Ji Gang went to the study. Tired from the journey, he fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the pillow. Just as he fell asleep, he heard a bell ringing in his ear.
Ji Gang didn't even open his eyes, his brain wasn't clear yet, but his muscles reacted habitually, he drew his sword, jumped up, and rushed into the bedroom barefoot without even wearing shoes, "Who are you, little thief?"
Hu Shanwei was curled up in his quilt reading a book. He pointed at the rope in his hand and said, "There is no thief. I will try this mechanism to see if it works."
Ji Gang breathed a sigh of relief, hugged himself tightly, stepped barefoot on the cold floor, and shivered. "The autumn nights in the northwest are colder than the winter in Nanjing. There is a layer of white frost outside. Don't try again, I'm freezing to death."
Hu Shanwei said: "I see, go back to sleep. By the way, help me blow out the candles."
Ji Gang blew out the candle and walked to the door. He felt something was wrong and turned around to ask: "You were just afraid of the cold and didn't want to get up to blow out the candles, so you used the excuse of trying out the mechanism to wake me up, right?"
Hu Shanwei hugged the warm hot water bottle under the quilt and acquiesced. Is this really autumn? It's even colder than the coldest days in Nanjing!
Ji Gang sighed: "Sure enough, the more beautiful a woman is, the more cunning she is."
There was no conversation that night and the bell never rang again. Ji Gang slept soundly. When he got up the next day, the waiter from the post station knocked on the door and brought him hot water and breakfast.
After Ji Gang finished washing up and having breakfast, he went out and saw another waiter waiting outside the bedroom with a kettle and a lunch box.
It's strange. Hu Shanwei is used to getting up early and practicing a set of basic kung fu in the house to stretch his muscles and strengthen his body. Why hasn't he gotten up yet
A terrible thought flashed through his mind. Ji Gang kicked the door and entered. The bedroom was empty. He touched the quilt and it was cold. There was Hu Shanwei's figure there!
The author has something to say: Where is my sister going~~~~
I read the comments and found that many people have misunderstandings about Xun Ge'er. The Xun Ge'er I am talking about is Lu Xun, Zhou Shuren, not a certain actor. I don't know when she got the nickname Xun Ge'er. Please read the article casually and don't be picky. I also admire the acting skills of this actor.
In 1952, Premier Zhou said to Xu Guangping (Lu Xun's wife): "In terms of seniority, I should call you aunt."
In 1969, Premier Zhou said to Zhou Jianren (Lu Xun's younger brother): "I have checked. You are the 20th generation descendant of the Shaoxing Zhou family. I am the 21st generation descendant of the Shaoxing Zhou family. You are my elder, so I should call you uncle."
Congratulations to reader Ying for receiving a 100-point bonus
№1 Netizen: Ying Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Rating: 2 Published: 2018-12-06 20:56:06 Reviewed chapter: 45
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