Haitang swept into the courtyard beside the street, gently stroked the hair on her temples, and looked at the ascetic monk who did not leave.
People who can live on both sides of this street are naturally rich or expensive. After some harassment, the owner of this house has already woken up and hid far away, not daring to light a lamp. At this time, the lights of the restaurant across the street reflected along the big hole in the wall, shone on the courtyard, and also shone on this person's terrified face after being injured.
Haitang looked at him, and asked slightly sadly: "Why?"
The ascetic just looked at her calmly and didn't reply.
Haitang was not in a hurry, although the sound of the iron chains of the officials from the Suzhou government had been faintly heard in the distance.
There are not many ascetic monks in this world. The ascetic monks headed by the chief priest of the Qing Temple have always preached in various places. These ascetic monks silently recite the scriptures and do good deeds. They have never been a force known for their force.
But in the past few decades, Qing Temple has also produced a different kind, that is, Master Sanshi. This person is born with supernatural power, and his internal and external kung fu has been cultivated to the top. In addition, he has a violent temperament and hates evil like hatred. However, due to his status as a sacrificial priest, few people have seen him. Few people know his true face and strength when he makes a move. Of course, this is also because the high priest of the Qing Temple has been admonishing him with scriptures and guarding him tightly. Most famous person.
After all, Qing Temple and Bei Qi Tian are both places where the temples are enshrined, and they can be regarded as passed down in the same line, so Haitang had met each other once in the past, and she knew it well. The ascetic monk in front of me, the second priest of the Qing Temple, the legendary master of the Three Stones, is an extremely noble figure purely in terms of status, but in terms of cultivation of heart, she is not a blood-eating person now, so she The most puzzling thing is why... a priest who has always been indifferent to world affairs will join the struggle of the inner treasury or the court today.
"Junshan Society... what kind of organization is it?" Haitang said with a slight frown, as if talking to herself.
The second priest looked at her indifferently, and said: "Don't bother thinking about these issues. Yes, I am a member of the Junshan Society now. The Junshan Society is originally a loose union. Maybe this organization has no specific organization. goal, and once everyone finds a certain goal, they will move towards that goal together.”
Haitang asked softly: "Then what is your goal?"
"Kill Xia Qifei." The second priest said indifferently.
Haitang smiled slightly and said, "It's just a dispute between businessmen, how could it attract you to take action?"
She asked calmly: "Xia Qifei has won the bid in the inner treasury today. You chose to snipe and kill in the street. Aren't you afraid of the Nanqing court's wrath?"
The second priest said with a blank expression: "Killing Xia Qifei is just to bring the affairs of the inner library back to the route we want."
Haitang was slightly startled, and said in bewilderment: "This sentence is not enough to convince me... I understand you and the high priest, you are not a person who is greedy for fame, wealth and honor."
The second priest fell silent.
Haitang said softly again: "The Ming family is not qualified to invite you."
The second priest raised his head slowly: "As I said before, this is just a loose cooperation, but my goal and the goal of the Ming family happen to be unified."
"You want to deal with Fan Xian?" Haitang frowned.
The second priest shook his head indifferently.
Haitang sighed in her heart, guessing the truth of the matter. The other party's status is special, since it is impossible to be instigated by others, and to intervene in the tendering of the inner treasury, it is naturally because of the problems in the capital. Since the target of the second priest is not Fan Xian, then the source of this matter is hidden Ready to come out.
Haitang shook her head and said, "It's really hard to believe that the priests of the Qing Temple would secretly fight against the Emperor Qing..."
The face of the second priest has already been scalded with countless fine bubbles, and there are blood streaks in the black ash. He looked terribly, the pupils in his eyes turned white, and said quietly: "The saint is smart, the imperial envoy has received the holy order before To rectify the internal treasury, what I think is to make this so-called sacred order never be carried out."
Haitang remained silent. It seemed that an undercurrent had begun to appear within the Nanqing court, and the direction of the undercurrent was naturally the man sitting on the dragon chair. Unexpectedly, he will stand on top of the front and face great danger.
The reason why the second priest was willing to tell so many secrets in front of Haitang was naturally because of Haitang's identity as a member of the Northern Qi Dynasty and the closeness between Qingmiao and Tianyi.
The second priest knew in his heart that even if Haitang and Fan Xian walked closer, but as a Northern Qi person, knowing that someone in Nanqing was planning to harm the emperor, he would definitely keep a very smart silence.
After Haitang was silent for a while, she suddenly said, "Master, it is unwise to seek skin from a tiger."
The Junshan Association, which is loose, has to go closer because of that very terrifying reason. For such a big event, there must be someone who takes the lead. According to Haitang's analysis, the leader may not have shown any great performance, but Fan Xian has been Beware of the eldest princess...
The second priest said indifferently: "In the eyes of flowers, insects are tigers, in the eyes of bamboo, fire is tigers, in the eyes of rivers, the sun is tigers... In my eyes, Your Majesty is a tiger."
Haitang frowned and asked, "What happened?"
What kind of things would make this second priest of the Qing Temple resolutely throw himself into this messy world? Let the ascetic who has always been merciful and sympathetic to the world become a Shura devil who beheaded people with a knife
A trace of sadness and nostalgia flashed in the terrifying eyes of the second priest, and after a while he said softly: "Senior brother has gone."
Haitang was slightly taken aback. The news of the death of the chief priest of the Qing Temple had spread all over the world a few months ago, but at that time the Qing court issued a decree saying that the chief priest had been preaching in the south all the year round, and had been in a bad miasma for a long time, accumulating hard work. He became ill, so he died in bed not long after returning to Beijing... And now, hearing what the second priest said, Haitang naturally understood that the inside story must not be so simple, maybe the death of the chief priest of Qing Temple had a lot to do with the Emperor Qing.
She clasped her hands together and saluted, knowing that she could not ask any more questions, the other party had already given enough hints, and she would not say anything more.
"Why didn't you prevent me from revealing your identity before?" Haitang said silently, "Don't you worry about killing people in Fan Street today, and the emperor of Qing Dynasty will notice some clues?"
The second priest of the Qing Temple raised three fingers expressionlessly: "There are three stones in the mountain, one is bright, one is upright, and one is abandoned."
"Sanshi was different from ordinary people since he was a child, and was chased into the wilderness by the villagers. If it wasn't for his senior brother, he would have been buried in the belly of wild dogs." I will be a troubled world, killing people with my skills, deceiving others with my righteous voice, and using myself as an outcast, killing a chaotic king and bringing peace to all people in the world."
Haitang understood the first two meanings of this sentence, and the last meaning was still unclear, but countless complicated emotions still surged in her heart. Although there were signs of division within the Qing court, the Qing emperor's strong control over the seven governors and the military showed that there was no fundamental problem with Qing's rule itself.
Master Sanshi killed people in the street tonight, and he was just using his skills to announce to the world that the priests of the Qing Temple and the court are no longer partners along the way—although the second priest is not enough to represent the entire Qing Temple and the believers in the world. Ascetic monk, but this statement still has a very strong symbolic meaning.
As for the last abandoned word, Haitang finally figured it out, Master Sanshi also knew in his heart that the behind-the-scenes messenger of the Junshan Society is not much better than the Qing Emperor, and what he did today was to kill Xia Qifei by sniping and destroy the Qing Kingdom. The emperor's great governance, the second is... resolutely abandoning himself.
Perhaps the second priest himself didn't know what he should do. After losing the teaching and restraint of the great priest, Master Sanshi couldn't kill the emperor, and... the priest of Qingmiao didn't want to let the people of the world be angry because of revenge. suffer.
For Grandmaster Sanshi, the people in the Jiangnan Water Village are blood-stained gangsters, they kill as soon as they are killed, without any mercy, but they have a strong desire for revenge, judgment of the situation, and concern for the people of the world. This Sanshi master fell into a kind of spiritual conflict, that's why he told Haitang about these things, and at the same time told her... that he was just willing to be an abandoned child.
"I'll go back to the capital to kill people and tell Guoshi Kuhe what I said today."
Grandmaster Sanshi remained silent, feeling melancholy in an extremely discordant manner with his magnificent figure, he turned and left the courtyard where a big hole had been opened.
Haitang stood quietly on the spot without any movement, thinking that the second priest of the Qing Temple had abandoned her so easily, but the Junshan Society must have some follow-up actions, but he didn't know whether it was aimed at Fan Xian who was far away in the south of the Yangtze River, or Directly aimed at Emperor Qing who sat in Kyoto.
It seems that there are many people in this world who don't want the Emperor Qing to live comfortably.
How should Daqi respond
※※※
"Three stones? Abandoned son?" Fan Xian looked at Haitang with a smile that was not a smile, but there was a dark fire in his eyes, "I can't understand the yin and yang conversations of you people, I only know... If he really wants to give up I, at this time, should go directly to the main gate of the imperial city, fight with the imperial army led by His Royal Highness, and Eunuch Hong in the palace, instead of running to Suzhou City to ruin my business! Kill my people! "
The voice of the last two sentences rose, and the tone was very severe.
"As for the word abandonment." Haitang looked at him and said calmly, "Junshan Society definitely doesn't want the second sacrificial priest to reveal his identity so early. If I wasn't there today, probably no one would have the opportunity to reveal this secret."
The meaning contained in this sentence is very clear, the enemy's estimation went wrong, and the second priest failed to kill, so he simply gave up and gave up, and pointed out all the problems in front of Haitang, and used himself to attract the attention of Emperor Qing. Force, and hide the rest of the existence of Junshanhui.
Fan Xian sneered and said, "This second priest thinks himself too important... Your Majesty may have nothing but the self-confidence he doesn't know where he came from, but he is stronger than everyone else. If I It's you, how can I let that bald head go away so peacefully? Just say a few plain words, and persuade you to ignore it. It seems that this second priest really has the ability to be a lobbyist. "
These words seemed ordinary, but in fact they contained the intention of punishing one's heart. While being angry, Fan Xian directly stated that in the conversation between the second priest and Haitang, there was a part of Haitang that did not directly say it. After all, this is Qing's internal affairs. As a Northern Qi native, no one can say what Haitang will do for the benefit of her own country.
Haitang was not angry either, and explained softly: "Junshan Society is definitely going to protect Ming's family, and that old matriarch also fell into your plan to invite someone to kill Xia Qifei... Isn't this all what you expected? Why are you still so angry?"
Fan Xian was stunned, he didn't expect Haitang to reveal all his insidious thoughts so mercilessly, he frowned and said, "That's right, I wanted to force the Ming family to take action, but I didn't expect that the Ming family would take action." The family can actually invite such a master... It seems that I still underestimated the so-called Junshan Society."
There were heavy casualties before Jiangnanju tonight. The hero of the Jiangnan water village that Xia Qifei brought into Suzhou City was probably killed by that sharp knife. The Overwatch Council also paid a heavy price in order to save Xia Qifei's life. One of the seven assassins died, and the other four fell into a coma at this time, and it was not known whether they would survive.
Since Fan Xian took over the Overwatch Council, this was the most costly action of the Overwatch Council. He couldn't help but feel angry and blamed himself. It was clearly something he had calculated. Unfortunately, he underestimated the opponent's strength in the end, which led to such a situation. .
And what makes Fan Xian most angry is... In the plan, once the Ming family is forced to take action, he can take advantage of the opportunity to attack, but all of these were destroyed on the long street. middle.
Second sacrifice
The second priest of the Qing Temple would at most deal with the royal family. If Fan Xian wanted to use this matter to find out about the Ming family, there would be no possibility at all. Convince the imperial court and court officials in Kyoto.
No one believed that a wealthy Ming family in the south of the Yangtze River could drive the second priest of Qingmiao to act as a killer.
This fact made Fan Xian feel absurdly frustrated. The enemies I faced in the past, even if it wasn't the other party's doing, I can plant the blame to make the other party admit it, but now it is clearly the other party's doing, and I pursue it openly, but no one will believe it!
He shook his head helplessly, waved his hand and said, "Duo Duo, go to bed first, I was in a bad mood earlier, so I spoke a little too aggressively, don't worry too much about it."
Haitang glanced at him in surprise, frowned and asked, "Tonight?"
Fan Xian took a deep breath, suppressed the burning feeling in his heart, and a gentle smile reappeared on his face, and said softly, "It's late, we'll talk about everything tomorrow."
For tonight, Fan Xian had been preparing for a long time, but at this moment he suddenly gave up. No one knew what was going on in his heart.
Haitang left the study feeling a little puzzled.
※※※
Fan Xian sat quietly at the desk alone, thought for a while, and then began to write on the paper. He had to report what happened tonight to His Majesty the Emperor in Kyoto. In my heart, I didn't think that the appearance of the second priest was such a great thing, but as a courtier, even if he was also a courtier with malicious intentions, he should show a certain attitude of concern and anxiety at the right time.
After writing the secret letter, he couldn't help but picked up the next letter.
The handwriting on the letter was very dry and ugly, and it was written by the old man named Chen Pingping.
In the letter, Chen Pingping didn't say anything about the government and the officialdom, but just told a small story, a story about a crow drinking water, and warned Fan Xian, who was not around, that no matter what it was, he should not be in a hurry. Sometimes there is even less water to drink.
Throwing rocks in a bottle
This is a game of taking it and giving it first.
Fan Xian looked at the letter and frowned. Ming Qingda left a deep impression on him today in the Neiku mansion. That old master of the Ming family's ability to stay calm is really worth it. study.
In comparison, the Ming old matriarch who was successfully aroused by himself and secretly notified Junshan that he would kill people in the street seemed to be a little overwhelmed.
It's just that the old lady is still in power in the Ming family. This fact made Fan Xian feel a little relieved.
It was the second sacrificial priest who did the work, and the matter involved a lot. It was not suitable to do it right away tonight. Fan Xian thought about it and decided to postpone the date for a few days. Go on, and the days go on.
After everything calms down, when the stone is plugged into the bottleneck, start drinking water by yourself.
…
…
"Go out." He took a cloak from Sisi and said.
Sisi looked at him in surprise, thinking that it was almost midnight, where should she go? But I knew in my heart that the young master must be in a hurry to go out at this time, there must be something important, so I didn't ask any more.
Wearing a crane cloak, Fan Xian hurriedly walked towards the front gate of the Ming Garden, and said to his subordinates all the way: "The matter has become serious, and a first-level court order will be issued immediately to search for the second priest in the southeast all the way." whereabouts."
The subordinate replied with a frown: "My lord, the Qing Temple has always been managed by the palace, so it's inconvenient for us to intervene."
Fan Xian was slightly annoyed, and scolded: "It's all on us, why can't I kill him?"
The subordinate quickly shut up and issued an order.
In fact, Fan Xian also had other thoughts in his words. Haitang said earlier that the second priest seemed to be planning to go to the capital to imitate Jing Ke, but Fan Xian asked the Overwatch Council to search all the way in the southeast.
The shadow was not in Suzhou, and the current staff of the Overwatch Council could not possibly keep that Master Three Stones. Fan Xian's move was nothing more than a gesture, to avoid his subordinates from being greatly damaged when they met this master again. Secondly, you can... put the second sacrificial priest into Beijing.
Obviously the second priest came to Beijing to play dragon slaying, but Fan Xian made such arrangements, I don't know what he was thinking.
Walking outside the main entrance, Tiger Guard raised the curtain for him. Fan Xian stepped on the carriage and stopped. He seemed to be thinking about something. After a while, he turned around and said, "The people who are prepared outside tonight Everyone shout back."
The inspector was slightly taken aback, wondering if tonight's plan had been cancelled? Based on his understanding of Master Tisi, if his subordinates suffer, he will definitely take revenge immediately... Could it be that Master Tisi suddenly changed his temper
Ignoring the astonishment of his subordinates, Fan Xian got into the carriage.
The wheels of the carriage rolled on the bluestone road of Suzhou City, making a sound of De De. At this time, it was already late at night, and there were no pedestrians on the street at all, only the servants of the Suzhou government who knew what happened tonight looked around with sleepy eyes, but they were not bad, at least better than the brothers in front of the street in Jiangnan. Let's take it easy, I heard that the brothers there carried the dead bodies and picked up the severed limbs tonight, and several of them have already vomited out in disgust.
Fan Xian leaned halfway on the back of the chair, gently rubbing the center of his eyebrows with both hands, forcibly dispelling the exhaustion in his mind and the strong urge to jump out and slash for a while, and let the carriage take him in the quiet Suzhou Walking on the night street.
Beside the carriage were a few Tiger Guards. Today Xia Qifei was assassinated, and the security work for Fan Xian's trip has also been strengthened a lot.
Not long after, the carriage came to the side door of Jiangnan Governor's Mansion, and before handing over any name stickers, Fan Xian directly used his face as a pass, and went all the way to the Governor's Mansion. Uncomprehendingly guarded, he came directly to the back garden hall of the governor's mansion for secret guests.
Before the tea was served, Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan who had already fallen asleep, rushed over.
Fan Xian raised his head and looked at Xue Qing's attire. He was startled and then laughed. The governor was dressed neatly, and he looked like he had just gotten out of bed by himself. It seems that tonight, Suzhou City Few of the officials can sleep well.
Seeing him laughing, Xue Qing couldn't help laughing, waved all the people back, took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and asked directly: "What's the matter with the imperial envoy coming here overnight? "
Fan Xian answered more directly, raised a finger and said, "Tonight, someone is going to kill my people, so I am going to kill someone."
The governor of Jiangnan was slightly stunned, and fell into silence. Of course he knew what happened in Suzhou City tonight, and he also expected that Fan Xian, who has always been vicious and protective, would attack the Ming family, but... he didn't expect that the other party would do it beforehand. To inform myself that this gesture made Xue Qing feel a little comfortable.
After pondering for a moment, Xue Qing said in a harmonious voice: "I can understand the mood of the imperial envoy at this time."
Saying this is tantamount to not saying it, and understanding certainly does not mean support. Fan Xian also understands this point. After all, the Ming family is a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River. There are tens of thousands of children in the family, and the assistance in the government and the opposition is even more numerous. The hands and feet of the Ming family have already been deeply implanted in the lives of the people in the south of the Yangtze River. If Fan Xian wanted to use the Overwatch Council's force to simply and brutally oppress the Ming family, it would definitely cause countless backlashes, and the situation in the south of the Yangtze River might cause major turmoil.
Jiangnan cannot be chaotic. Once it is chaotic, Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan, will naturally bear the brunt of it. He simply cannot explain to the court and His Majesty, so in front of Fan Xian, he can only say that he understands, but refuses to say anything else.
And for Fan Xian, the black cavalry was still in Jiangbei, and before the last step, he would never dare to risk the emperor's suspicion and the officials' uproar to send troops to Suzhou. So at this moment, he doesn't have much power at hand. To deal with a role like the Ming family, he needs the help of Jiangnan governor Xue Qing, at least with acquiescence, which is why he has to come to the governor's mansion overnight.
Knowing what Xue Qing was worried about, Fan Xian smiled and said, "Don't worry, Governor, although I am a bit bold and unrestrained, when I do things, I will also follow the rules."
Xue Qing was relieved, he was not from the eldest princess's side, so he was willing to stay out of the struggle between the Overwatch Council and the prince, but tonight the Ming family sent someone to assassinate the bidder in front of the Jiangnan residence... Although everyone knew that the businessman was actually It's a water bandit... But this fact still made the border official feel angry.
To be a merchant, one must have the role and boundaries of a merchant. The Ming family has crossed the line tonight.
What's more, the Jiangnan residence where the murderer is located is the property of the governor.
"Until the sixteen bids of the internal treasury are all set, I won't do anything." Fan Xian looked into Xue Qing's eyes and said in a harmonious voice, "The day after tomorrow, I will make the Ming family pay the due price for this matter."
"Just let them learn some lessons." Xue Qing sighed, like a sympathetic ascetic.
Fan Xian smiled, knowing that the governor still didn't want things to get too big, and he didn't have the extravagant hope to blow away the centuries-long rain from the big clan in a few days, saying: " Don't worry, my lord, I have my own measure."
"Evidence, the key is evidence." Xue Qing looked at the young imperial envoy in front of him, and couldn't help reminding that this matter is not a simple battle between officials and businessmen, but a struggle between court forces. If he wanted to cut the Ming family's flesh and blood, it would be very easy for some people in the capital to catch Fan Xian.
"In life, there is never a lack of evidence." Fan Xian said quietly, "It's just that they lack the eyes to discover evidence. The Overwatch Council has very bright eyes."
The two most powerful officials in the south of the Yangtze River talked secretly for a long time, and Fan Xian left when the two were tired. Today's situation in the south of the Yangtze River is becoming more and more turbid, just like the darkness before dawn. At a glance, it is pitch black and the bottom of the abyss is unknown.
Fan Xian leaned back on the back of the car seat and fell into a deep sleep, unaware that the sky outside the car had gradually brightened. In the early morning of Suzhou City, before the bells and drums rang, the dawn of spring had arrived.