Rui Hegui

Chapter 75

When Han Ting and Xiang Mian returned to Beijing, it had been nearly three or nine days, and the cold was unbearable, and few people went out. Because Emperor Ping Chong could not catch the cold, he stopped court and changed to the warm pavilion meeting once every five days.

Zhao Liangyue was invited to pick up the two outside the Donghua Gate, and Jing Mo personally delivered them in a horse-drawn carriage, which was fully equipped with thick blankets, hand stoves, and all kinds of food and tea.

Jing Mo parked the carriage in a wide area outside Donghua Gate, turned his head and said, "Master Zhao, you stay in the carriage first, I will watch, and I will let you know when General Han and Lord Xiang appear."

"It's work."

Zhao Liangyue touched Ah Bai in his arms when he went out, frowned slightly, Youbai said: "Young master, why don't I go east for a while to pick them up?"

Jingmo outside heard the words: "There are several forks in the road, let's wait here, and according to the letter, it should be here now."

Youbai retracted his feet and sat down, and changed a cup of hot tea for Zhao Liangyue.

Not long after, the sound of horseshoes came from a distance, and the sound was particularly obvious in the silent world.

Zhao Liangyue put Ah Bai in the car, put on a cloak and pomelo, and came out. When he raised his eyes, he saw two figures returning on horseback. They were both dressed in plain white robes, and behind them came an awning and two attendants.

Zhao Liangyue stepped on the thick snow, trotting with one deep foot and one shallow foot, Youbai and Jing Mo followed behind.

"Brother Zhao!"

Xiang Mian and Han Ting got off their horses and walked towards Zhao Liangyue in two steps.

Zhao Liangyue got closer this time, only to find that the two of them were unkempt, with green stubble on their faces, chapped lips, Han Ting's hair bun was even fixed with tree branches as hairpins, and the same was true for the three who followed. The officials ordered by the imperial court and the rich son returned to the capital, as if they had fled famine.

Xiang Mian sighed softly: "The departure time is a little late. If you come back with a large group of people, the mountain will be blocked by heavy snow and the road will be blocked. Besides," Xiang Mian said, looking at Han Ting, and said , "Let's rush to Lishan first."

Mount Li is more than [-] miles east of Beijing, and the important ministers of the Jingji generation were buried there after their death. After Wei Xinglin was posthumously conferred by Emperor Ping Chong, the coffin was carried by a group of important officials in the court.

Zhao Liangyue looked at the plain white robes of the two, nodded, and said nothing, but his frowning eyebrows did not relax.

Han Ting smiled and said, "Brother Zhao, don't worry, I heard that the teacher left very peacefully."

Xiang Mian raised his hand and patted Han Ting's shoulder, and said to Zhao Liangyue: "Although he is stubborn, he has digested many things on the way back, and now he is alive and kicking, waiting to spend a good year with everyone in Beijing. "

Digesting two words is actually too short and coping.

At that time, when Xiang Mian accompanied Han Ting to Mount Li, the snow was falling heavily, and he couldn't see clearly ten steps away. Han Ting ran too fast, and his mood was unstable, so he fell directly to the bottom of the hillside. Xiang Mian followed When he went down, Han Ting's hairpin had already fallen there, his black hair was scattered on his shoulders, messy by the wind, his eyes were red and cloudy with tears, but he seemed to be holding back something and refused to cry.

Xiang Mian leaned over and hugged him in his arms, and said softly: "In front of Master Wei, you will always be just a child, so don't hold back."

The sound of mourning immediately leaked out of clenched lips and teeth, passed through the boundless snow, and resounded through the empty halfway up Lishan Mountain.

"Mian Zhi." Han Ting's voice was hoarse and deep, "After the treason case was closed, the teacher actually didn't expel me from the school because I was a child of the Han family. It was I who took the initiative to break the teacher-student relationship. , teacher, he..."

"Teacher, he has never had the slightest resentment towards me."

After an unknown amount of time, the snow was still falling, Xiang Mian helped Han Ting up, and walked towards the top of the mountain step by step, every step was heavy.

That day, Han Ting stayed in front of Wei Xinglin's tomb for a long time, and Xiang Mian accompanied him quietly. Snow fell on the two of them, and it looked as if they had turned gray from a distance.

When going down the mountain, a dead branch protruded and caught Han Ting's hair. The crown was not untied, so he simply folded it into a hairpin and tied up Han Ting's black hair.

Han Ting turned his head to look at the vast expanse of flying snow, but he couldn't see the teacher's grave, so he bowed his hands in the direction of the grave, and then left with Xiang Mian.

"There are gatherings and parting, and now there is a beginning and an end, that's enough." Han Ting said, looking at Donghuamen, heaved a sigh of relief into the palm of his hand, and said, "The road is too cold, let's go back to the city quickly, let's go to Zhaozhou first." In the brother's house, Uncle Song must have prepared hot soup and good wine."

Zhao Liangyue nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "It's all been prepared early."

While talking, the three of them got into the carriage. Youbai and Jingmo sat on the shafts of the carriage and drove the carriage back to the city. Qiu Chan took the shochu that Youbai handed over, warmed himself up with two entourages, and rode to follow behind.

Zhao Liangyue poured shochu for the two of them and handed it over. He saw that both of their hands were chapped, and Xiang Mian had old and new stab wounds protruding from his arms.

Xiang Mian noticed Zhao Liangyue's gaze, and said directly: "The border defense situation in the south of the Yangtze River is worse than we imagined before. The main reason is that the coastal defense is too poor. The navy's warships and combat capabilities are stretched. In the past five years, people from Dongyi have been going west to Daxu. , working together with the pirates, has formed a strong Japanese pirate group, which has repeatedly threatened the local people, but the government is powerless."

Han Ting: "I also told me about this on the way of Mian. Since he arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, he has fought those Japanese pirates three times. Although he has made a lot of preparations each time, he has been defeated."

Zhao Liangyue frowned deeply when he heard the words, and said in silence, "The money in the treasury is not enough."

In recent years, the power of Wang Han has been dominant in the court, and corruption has become common. From the central government to the local government, it has long been rotten. Now the court has just started to get on the right track, and the Southwest Protectorate is in urgent need of construction. Daxu really can't stand the toss anymore.

Xiang Mian and Han Ting looked at each other, sighed, and said: "Speaking of which, state officials and local gentry also eat delicious food, but they are blind and cannot see the country and people of Daxu."

From time to time, a new wind would rise and blow the curtains of the carriage, Zhao Liangyue looked at the white sky outside, a stern look flashed in his eyes, and said: "The waste is imminent."

Feixia Tower in the east of the city.

In the private room on the north of the second floor, delicacies were delivered one after another, and the waiters were very careful, because they knew that the guest inside was Xiao Rong, the owner of Xuefang, a nobleman who was famous in the capital, and he could not have Half difference.

When all the dishes are served, Dong Chan picks up the vegetables to test the poison.

Testing poison is a very common thing, and nothing happened in the past, but today the silver needle turned black, Dong Chan and Hou's servants were startled.

Dong Chan immediately grabbed the servant and questioned: "The food in your restaurant is poisonous, could it be that you want to poison my son to death?"

The boy knew that the attendant named Dongchan next to the master of Xuefangyuan, even though he was a child, was excellent in martial arts. Now that he was grabbed, half of his body was forced to bow down, so he hurriedly said: "Don't dare, Mr. Xiao is a distinguished guest, how can a young man dare to do such inappropriate things?"

Dong Chan kicked the little servant's knee, and the little servant suddenly knelt down on the ground, feeling that his kneecaps were about to be shattered, screaming in pain, and soon another boy in blue came in from the door ——This blue-clothed boy is better dressed than the boy in the room, and he looks much more exquisite, so he should be in charge of the class.

The little servant in blue bowed and kowtowed to Xiao Rong as a big gift, and said with a smile: "Young Master Xiao, but that servant is not good enough? I will take you here."

Xiao Rong smiled lightly, and said: "The food you served to me was poisonous."

Dong Chan directly handed the silver needle just now to the boy in blue, and the boy in blue immediately kowtowed to Xiao Rong a few more times, saying: "This happened in the Feixia Building, you guys can't escape the responsibility, but the boy You guys definitely won't poison Young Master Xiao, I'm afraid someone with a heart will do it on purpose, why don't we report to the officials now?"

But Dong Chan refused, and shouted: "What official should I report to? It's clearly you, all the dishes have passed through your hands, and if you still can't argue, call your shopkeeper."

The boy in blue can now see that Xiao Rong came here today to eat and drink, and he clearly came for their shopkeeper, but Ruan Yue was called to the East Palace by several adults in the court in the morning, how can she get back now? ?

The young boy in blue kowtowed to Xiao Rong and cried out his grievances, while rolling his eyes, thinking about how to solve this matter.

Finally, the young boy in blue had an idea, and said to Xiao Rong: "Mr. Xiao, the shopkeeper has something to go out today, but I will teach Mr. Lu about the restaurant temporarily. Why don't you take him lightly and give Mr. Xiao an explanation?"

Dong Chan said angrily: "Mr. Lu? Could it be that you are in charge of the accounts here? Why do I want you in charge of the accounts? Call the shopkeeper out." Then, Dong Chan raised his hand and took a priceless emerald cabbage next to him. The ornaments were smashed.

The boy in blue looked at Xiao Rong with a crying face, Xiao Rong took a sip of tea and said calmly: "Then you go and call."

Thank you so much for the little guy in blue, and dragged the kneeling guy back out.

Not long after, the door was opened again, and a man in a brown robe appeared. It was Lu Qing, Lu Ming's luthier.

Lu Qing came in, bowed his hands to Xiao Rong, and smiled apologetically, "I heard from my servant that Mr. Xiao found poison in the food. Is it true?"

Xiao Rong got up, walked towards Lu Qing, smiled, and said: "The food is not poisonous, I know."

Lu Qing said: "That was a misunderstanding."

Xiao Rong: "I made such a commotion just to see Mr. Lu."

Lu Qing looked suspicious, and said: "This is just a small person, Mr. Xiao can see you whenever you want, how can you use such a big noise?"

Xiao Rong disagreed with him, saying: "I sent people to Huatian County, Hezhou, and the people there said that there was only one family named Lu in the area, and the Lu family had only one son named Qing, but five years ago, Lu Qing He suddenly died of an old illness, so..."

Dong Chan's hand was already on the handle of the knife at his waist.

Xiao Rong half-closed her eyes and looked at the smirking face in front of her, she was more sure of her guess, and continued: "So, who is the 'Lu Qing' in front of me?"

'Lu Qing' laughed twice, and said: "Then, who is Mr. Xiao? At that time, the plague in Maozhou spread to half the state. Yes, if someone wants to do something about it, it shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"That won't bother you." Xiao Rong said coldly, "Young Master Ming, I may call you Kriti."

Kriti was startled when she heard the sound, as if no one had called him that for a long time, she laughed suddenly, drew out the dagger in her sleeve and stabbed at Xiao Rong, and then was blocked by Dong Chan, who had been on guard for a long time.

Kriti took a vicious look at Xiao Rong, turned around and walked out the door, the hidden guards dressed as servants rushed in and rushed towards Xiao Rong. The cicada sent an arrow outward to announce the news.

Outside the Feixia Building, Bandit Chu personally led people to lie in ambush for a long time. When he saw the arrow shot from the second floor, the encirclement began to shrink inward.