〖In the 14th year of the 14th year of Tongtai, in the August of Dinghai, the lord of the country, Long, was married, and the Cai family was registered as the queen, the second daughter of Situ Cai Kai, and the imperial concubine Ji.
On the 18th day of the eighth month, the lord of the state was in charge of the government, and the Imperial Palace received congratulations and benevolence inside and outside.
— "The History of Chu in the Southern Dynasties: The Biography of King Chu Min"〗
In July of the 14th year of Tongtai, there was a fire in the south of the Yangtze River, the heat wave was rolling, and the river was flowing eastward. It was noon. There were few boats on the river, but under a big willow tree by the river, there was a girl in green. Although she looked She is not yet the age of cardamom, but she is beautiful and vulgar, and her charm is like a pearl of fairy dew. Her clothes are the summer shirts that ordinary girls in Jiangnan love to wear. They are simple and unpretentious. Ordinary small jasper. Sitting on the bluestone with her knees crossed, she looked at the young man pacing up and down the river with her clear eyes, completely ignoring the scorching sun on her head, her eyes were full of doubts. That young man was handsome and handsome, at the age of thirteen or fourteen years old. Although he looked immature, he already had a heroic bearing, but at the moment he was pacing around the riverside, looking anxious and urgent. The girl in green finally couldn't bear it any longer, and raised her voice: "Second brother, didn't you hire a boat, why haven't you come yet?"
The young man said with a bitter face: "It is clear that we have agreed to meet here today, and half of the shipping fee has been paid in advance. How can you be so untrustworthy."
The girl complained, "It's all you. You must take me to Shouchun to see my sister-in-law, and I don't tell my mother about it. If not, we can go on the road with Uncle Yi, and we won't be here to bask in the sun."
There was a hint of helplessness in the boy's eyes, but he quickly covered it up and said, "But as you said, my mother won't let you go to Shouchun, I was going to see my elder brother in Zhongli, so that I could fight with him to kill the enemy, if it wasn't for you If you insist on following me, I can swagger on the road, and I don't have to hire a boat here in private."
The girl's pretty face was flushed with anger. She was originally a gentle and elegant young lady. Although she had fantasized about the vast sky outside, she didn't have the courage to run away from home. Going out with him, I even lied to my mother. Thinking of this, she wanted to scold her, but she was gentle by nature, and she was not used to scolding people, so she was so angry that she was speechless.
At this time, the young man suddenly pointed to the river and said, "That's great, the boat is here." The girl was overjoyed when she heard the words, she stood up and looked at the river, and saw a small passenger ship rushing toward the river, and it stopped a short time later. On the side, the young man said to the middle-aged boatman standing on the bow: "Uncle Gu, why did you come?"
The middle-aged boatman said, "Mr. Lu, today, the little three suddenly had a stomach ache and couldn't get on the boat. The villain couldn't drive the boat by himself, so he had to find a nephew to help him temporarily. It was a waste of time. I ask your son to forgive me."
The boy's face softened and he said, "So that's the case, is the third brother okay?"
The middle-aged boatman smiled and said: "It's nothing, I must have eaten something unclean, please get on the boat, son."
The young man glanced at the stern of the boat. The young man on the rudder had bronze complexion, strong and straightforward, and then he turned his head and said, "Meier, get on the boat."
The girl in green heard the voice and replied, "I know." After that, she came over. Although she was young, she was very beautiful. Although the middle-aged boatman was well-informed, he couldn't help but praised secretly and jumped on the springboard. Let the two brothers and sisters get on board. Neither of the two young girls noticed that the young man with the rudder bowed his head slightly, hiding the gleam in his eyes.
When I got on the boat, a small boat went upstream, the sun was like fire, and the river wind was also scorching hot. The two boatmen drove the boat forward for more than ten miles, and then turned into a small river. The wind is blowing from all directions, the green willows on both sides of the river are like shade, the branches and leaves cover the sky, reflecting on the river surface, shrouding a coolness, it is the best place for boats to rest in summer, and now there are more than ten large and small passenger ships or cargo ships in Hanoi. , among them there is a gorgeous painting boat, black wood painted with gold, the beautiful and narrow hull is like the slender body of a girl in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are several palace lanterns hanging on the bow. visible. The girl saw it at a glance, and whispered: "Like a dream painting boat." With a look of envy on her face, she said, "Second brother, what a beautiful painting boat, it would be nice if you could go up and have a look."
The young man next to him heard a wry smile on the corner of his mouth. He was not like his younger sister, who did not go out the door, and did not walk through the second door. He usually traveled inside and outside Jianye City. It's not the place you should go." The girl's eyes showed a strange look, she looked at the second brother, and said, "The second brother is not lying to me, right?" The expression on her face was full of suspicion. The teenager wanted to justify that he never lied, but found that he couldn't say it. After all, what he said to his sister in the past, often nine out of ten sentences were false, so he could only say with embarrassment: "Mei'er, that is the number one oiran in the south of the Yangtze River. Liu Rumeng's painting boat."
Although the girl was young, she had heard of Liu Rumeng's reputation. Although she didn't understand Fengyue, she also vaguely knew the meaning of it. She couldn't help but blushed and was about to escape into the cabin. At this time, the beautiful and mournful Xiao sound came from above the painting boat, and the touching melody flowed into the heart like cold water. The hot summer seemed to have lost its power, and then came the same sound from above the painting boat. singing.
"Keep the lotus escort, and ask to open the leaves on the orchid boat. When I came to Pukou Yunsuizhuo, I stopped picking the riverside full moon. The flowers are silent, the water is empty, and I am struggling every year. When the west wind is blowing, it fights against Zhu Yan and cannot bear the autumn. (Note 1)”
The girl listened fascinatedly, and said to the boy, "What a beautiful singing voice, such a touching Xiao sound, second brother, today is a rare opportunity, let me see Miss Liu, please?" After speaking, her eyes showed hope. .
There was hesitation in the boy's eyes, but when he saw the girl's expression, his heart softened, and he finally sighed: "Okay, Miss Liu is famous in Jiangnan. Even if you see her once, Daddy won't blame him too much." The middle-aged boatman sailed towards the painting boat.
Not long after, the boat approached the boat, and a beautiful boat lady on the boat saw the boat and said crisply, "This little boy, what's the matter with you?"
The young man sighed, looked at the look of pleading in his sister's eyes, and said, "Please tell Miss Liu, Lu Feng and Lu Mei passed by here and heard the girl's sound, and wanted to see her on the boat." As he spoke, he pressed Qian Qian. Bag, I don't know if the money is enough.
The boat girl burst out with a smile and said, "Little Young Master, at your age, don't be joking, right? Besides, my girl is just here to rest and has no intention of meeting guests."
The boy's face flushed, he glanced at his sister, and said, "Don't dare to hide it, it's really because the sister-in-law listened to Xiao's song and was fascinated, so she wanted to see Miss Liu."
The boat girl smiled slightly, looked at Lu Mei, her eyes flashed, she walked to the cabin door and said a few words in a low voice, then turned back after a while: "My girl said that since she is a bosom friend, please get on the boat and take a rest. ."
The young man Lu Feng felt relieved, whispered a few words to the boatman, took Lu Mei to the painting boat, walked out of the cabin, a beautiful maid, raised the bead curtain, and the two walked in, only to feel a coolness in the cabin. Breathing in.
Lu Feng took a closer look, and saw that the cabin was very spacious, with simple and elegant furnishings, with a rattan bed on the inside, a small square table on top, and a silver plate on the table. There is an ice basin, no wonder the coolness is infinite. A girl was leaning on the table, dressed in plain clothes, with no splendor. In the cabin, there was also a man in blue clothes, standing in front of the window, staring at the Yanliu River bank beyond the bead curtain, his blue shirt reaching to the ground, with a bamboo flute hanging from his waist, he had an indifferent and lofty demeanor.
Lu Mei, however, looked at the furnishings in the cabin unintentionally. She walked a few steps to the rattan bed and said happily, "Are you Sister Liu? You sing really well!"
Liu Rumeng had no intention of seeing the guests, but Song Yu, the violin master just now, motioned her to meet the two of them, so she invited the Lu brothers and sisters to board the boat, but seeing Lu Mei's unintentional joy and praise, she couldn't help but be moved. He smiled and said: "Rumeng is relying on these to make a living, this is a misunderstanding, Miss." After saying that, she stretched out her slender hand and pulled Lu Mei to sit beside her. I feel that this girl is beautiful and beautiful. Although she is young, she is a natural beauty. If she is thirteen or fourteen years old, she will definitely be stunning. What makes Liu Rumeng even more tempted is that this girl is pure and unpretentious, and there is a kind of deep down. The graceful and elegant temperament revealed, at first sight, you will know that she is not the daughter of an ordinary family.
The more she looked at it, the more she liked it, Liu Rumeng asked with a smile, "Is your name Lu Mei? Sure enough, you are who you are. I see You Lian, where are you going?"
Lu Mei glanced at Lu Feng, saw him shaking his head slightly, and said, "Second brother and I went to see my eldest brother and sister-in-law. We passed by here and heard my sister's singing, so I asked my second brother to bring me to see my sister."
Liu Rumeng naturally did not miss the subtle expressions between the two, but with her scheming, she naturally knew that it would be better to pretend not to know, and said, "Do you also like to sing?"
Lu Mei nodded and said shyly, "I can't sing well..."
Lu Feng was impatient, his eyes fell on the man in Tsing Yi, and he stepped forward a few steps and said, "This must be Mr. Song Yusong. I have heard the name of Mr. for a long time. I am lucky to meet today."
After Yu Lun heard the words, he turned his head and said lightly, "Second son Lu is a general, how could he pay attention to such a small person as me?"
Lu Feng was shocked. Although he was young, he was very smart. He knew a lot about Jianye's characters. Naturally, he knew the name of Song Yu, and he knew that this person was Shang Chengye's confidant advisor. With his help, Chengye has achieved great success in the court, and he is no longer a noble child who used to do nothing. Just now, Lu Mei wanted to get on the boat to see Liu Rumeng, and Lu Feng thought that the person who played the flute must be Song Yu. This person was uninhibited. Except for occasionally offering advice to Shang Chengye, he was by Liu Rumeng's side almost all the year round.
Yu Lun also saw the change in his expression. He said in his heart that it was rumored that most of Lu's dark forces in Jianye were in the hands of this young man. Now it seems to be true. You must know that Song Yu is Shang Cheng. The matter of the strategist is very secret, and no one knows about it except for a few people, and this Lu Feng can know, it can be seen that he can penetrate into the hidden power of the Lu family in Jianye.
After getting this answer, Yu Lun didn't ask any more questions, turned his head to look out the window, his expression was indifferent, as if he had no interest in the people behind him. Lu Feng was thinking hard in his heart. When Dao Zuo met today, maybe he was caught in a trap and couldn't help but feel remorse.
After nearly an hour, the sun slanted westward, and the heat wave on the river subsided, and Lu Feng took Lu Mei to say goodbye. When Lu Mei parted, she looked reluctant. At this hour, Liu Rumeng taught her a lot of knowledge about rhythm, singing and dancing, which made her feel grateful, and Liu Rumeng was good at words, which made people feel like a spring breeze and couldn't bear to separate. But Lu Feng had long wanted to leave. At this hour, he was living like a year. He was interested in listening to Song Yu's depth. Unexpectedly, this person was cold and unwilling to talk to him, which made him very cold and embarrassed. At this moment, he naturally left in a hurry.
Looking at the two approaching figures, a trace of sadness flashed in Yu Lun's eyes, Liu Rumeng walked closer, exhaled like a blue, and said, "Do you recognize these two?"
Yu Lun said indifferently, "Have you not known their identities for so long?"
Liu Rumeng raised her eyebrows lightly and said, "I'm too lazy to ask, not to mention that this little girl is gentle and lovely, and I don't want to use any scheming, anyway, it's just a chance encounter."
Yu Lun said indifferently, "That's Lu Can's second son Lu Feng and his beloved daughter Lu Mei."
Liu Rumeng was slightly startled, and said, "It's rare to be a child of a general, and Lu Mei's identity as a princess is not necessarily more noble than her, but she doesn't have a trace of arrogance, she really deserves to be the daughter of a famous family, that's all. My daughter, how could she leave home alone with her brother?"
Yu Lun said lightly: "What about the daughter of a famous family, she can't escape the struggle for power and profit. Recently, the king is going to get married, and after the big wedding, he will be in charge of the government. This big wedding is extremely important, and who is the queen is the most important thing. "
Liu Rumeng suddenly realized: "So it is, with her status as a general, could it be that Miss Lu is going to be the queen? But she seems to be less than thirteen years old, isn't she a little younger?"
Yu Lun said coldly: "What does the age matter? If Miss Lu is not yet thirteen years old and not yet ready to be elected, I am afraid that she has already been included in the post-election roster. After this time, the court was arguing endlessly. Although Shang Weijun intended to make the clan's daughter the queen, Lu Can wrote to him to stop her, after all, the Shang family already has a queen dowager, and it would be too much to have another queen."
Liu Rumeng said thoughtfully: "If the general intends to make Miss Lu the queen, why is Miss Lu wandering outside now?"
Yu Lun said indifferently: "The general doesn't mean this. The Queen Mother signaled to Madam Lu a few days ago that she intends to choose Miss Lu as the queen. Now it seems that the Lu family is unwilling, but she probably doesn't want to openly oppose it, so she made the decision. Miss Lu, leave Jianye."
Liu Rumeng's beautiful eyes flowed, and she said, "The Queen Mother has such an intention, but she was secretly rejected by the Lu family. Did the general offend the Queen Mother?"
Yu Lun sneered: "There's no way to do this, you know that Shang Xiang's heart is in his heart, and he absolutely does not want to see Lu Mei as the queen. Once Lu's family becomes a relative of the state, I'm afraid that Shang Xiang will wake up even from a dream, so he On the grounds of Lu Mei's young age, he stopped and advocated to appoint Cai's daughter as queen, but if Lu's family did not marry the royal family, Shang Xiang would also be uneasy, so he actually proposed the absurd idea of appointing Lu Mei as a noble concubine. Married with the Lu family, but succumbed to Shang Xiang's wishes and wanted to grieve Lu Mei as a noble concubine. It is no wonder that the Lu family indulged Lu Mei to escape Jianye. Lu Can's position in Nanchu is so high now, if his daughter enters the palace, If you don't become a queen, you'll lose face."
Liu Rumeng thought again and again and sighed: "In this way, no matter what, the Lu's monk and prime minister will have hatred. It is rumored that in the past, the prime minister had intended to match his righteous daughter to Lu Yun, but was rejected by the general. She intended to make Princess Lu Yunshang Shuning, but was rejected by the general on the grounds that General Lu was engaged. Now that Miss Lu is escaping the election, I am afraid that the empress dowager and the king will think that the general is despising the court. After all, this matter is endless. "
When Yu Lun heard the words, the sadness in his eyes became more and more intense, and he said, "Nowadays, the rotten rat has become a taste, and the suspicion of Kun Peng is endlessly discussing, how can the general be a person who is greedy for power, and has no heart to climb the dragon and phoenix, but a person like Shang Xiang is not I will trust the general's will."
Liu Rumeng also sighed softly, and it took a long time to say: "You might as well ask Lord Shang to explain to Shang Xiang, now that the general is out of the army, facing Dayong's millions of iron cavalry, if something happens in the court, I am afraid that the building will collapse. ."
Yu Lun let out a long sigh without words, thinking of the order he received yesterday. The familiar handwriting on it made his heart tremble.
"Zhao Long is about to take charge of the government, and the big marriage is imminent. The Lu family is the only one in the south of the Yangtze River. The Shang family must want Lu Can's daughter to be the concubine. Can be the head of the country, and must have the heart of rebellion, so as to cut off the intention of marriage."
Yu Lun meditated many times in his heart, and smiled bitterly: "Sir, in your mind, if you become your enemy, wouldn't you have any mercy? Then Lu Can was your student, but now you want to put him in your place. Damn, why are you so indulgent to me?"
Thinking of the three orders he had received in the past three years, Yu Lun's heart felt piercingly cold.
In the 12th year of Tongtai, Xiangyang fell, and the news reached Jianye. Shang Weijun was terrified and wanted to put Rong Yuan, the defender of Xiangyang, in prison. The man sent the first order and asked himself to offer advice and take the opportunity to spread rumors, saying yes Lu Can intends to ask the court to convict Xiangyang soldiers, but let Shang Weijun come forward to subdue Rong Yuan. This move not only makes Rong Yuan hate Lu Can even more, but also gives Shang Weijun the support of the military and himself. Shang's trust.
In the thirteenth year of Tongtai, Ba County was lost, Yu Mian was clinging to Jiange, and the defenders of Chengdu were not surrendering. Nanchu, and was willing to return Bajun to Nanchu, Lu Can decided against it and wanted to send the navy into Shu for rescue. , If there is a long-term battle, once the Dinghai Yong army takes the opportunity to attack, I am afraid that it will endanger Jianye. After the successful peace negotiation, he followed the instructions and took the opportunity to persuade Shang Weijun to commit crimes against Yu Mian. Lu Can was furious. doubts.
Now, with this third order, Yu Lun knew that Shang Weijun's suspicion of the Lu family was about to reach its peak. With Zhao Long taking over the leadership, Jiang Zhe, who had been inactive for three years, was afraid that he was about to launch a counter-offensive.
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Note 1: "Butterfly Loves Flowers" by Yan Jidao