Brocade tears

During the end of summer retreat, the guest house of the temple is very empty, and everyone can be assigned to a room for each person.After settling down in their own private room and resting for about a quarter of an hour, Meng Kuang and others left the men's guest house, walked along the verandah passage through an open double wooden door, and came to the meditation hall.After entering the meditation hall, there is the hall of worshiping the Buddha. There are eight meditation rooms scattered around, where guests can study and practice alone, or have face-to-face Zen discussions with the master in the temple.

The guest monk Miaoqing specially arranged a meditation room for them. Meng Kuang and others entered to drink tea. After waiting for a while, all the female relatives came except for the seriously injured Ban Ruhua.After entering the table, the Zhike monk served tea for the female relatives, and then exited the retreat room.

Guo Dayou cleared his throat and took the lead in speaking:

"This time we were very lucky to take advantage of the chaos. But I believe everyone understands now that we were able to escape this time because Li Laosan created chaos at the top of the city. It seems that Li Laosan may be the He has been lurking in the city, watching our every move. This person is really unfathomable, I think he must have an eyeliner in Nanjing, otherwise, where would he find our whereabouts?"

"I guess he followed us earlier. He disappeared before we left Beijing and has been hiding in the dark." Bai Yuyin said.

Princess Xinyang listened to their conversation in silence, she didn't avoid her, and everyone didn't avoid her, everyone knew it.Because for the next long period of journey, she still has to rely on Princess Xinyang, she does not ask for anything in return to help everyone, but in fact, what she asks for is nothing more than the information that everyone has.Guo Dayou is now the backbone of everyone, he can make up his mind on everything, and of course he will fully listen to everyone's opinions before making a decision.Since Guo Dayou didn't intend to continue avoiding Princess Xinyang, everyone let the topic continue.

Guo Dayou said: "Miss Bai's guess is also my guess. Right now we can only be regarded as temporarily escaping King Lu's pursuit. After the riot at Shence Gate, King Lu may still stay in Nanjing, or he may be scared and die." Fleeing from Nanjing. But no matter how you say it, he will still scatter and hunt me out from Nanjing. But it can be said to be in vain. Thousands of thugs were brought out, and Shisan killed a lot of them. The city guards and Ying Tianfu police who cooperated with him in Nanjing City also suffered heavy losses. After suffering such a big loss, within a short period of time, he was He didn't dare to take any more actions. And Tang Fu'an was as timid as a mouse, and he had always been close to King Lu. After this catastrophe, he was as frightened as a bird. I am afraid that he would not dare to leave King Lu for half a step from now on, and would use King Lu to protect him. He himself. Therefore, what we have to worry about now is not Lu Wang, but Li Laosan. He created troubles to allow us to escape from the inner city. What is his plan? Where is he right now? Is he still staring at us? This is hard to say. Maybe he is lurking outside this Linggu Temple, this guy... is really unpredictable."

"Before he kidnapped Miss Sui'er, he let us go now, probably because he didn't want us to fall into Lu Wang's hands. This shows that he still hasn't given up on kidnapping Miss Sui'er." Lu Jingshi said.

Guo Dayou didn't comment yet, but Meng Kuang and Sui'er frowned at the same time.If it is said that Li Laosan does not want Sui'er to fall into Lu Wang's hands, it is natural.But does this mean that he must want to capture Sui Er again?I'm afraid not necessarily.If it was true what Bai Yuyin said, he secretly followed his group all the way to Nanjing City, if it was just to kidnap Sui'er, it would be unconvincing.In fact, they came all the way to Nanjing, and he had the opportunity to kidnap Sui Er. For example, when they went south by boat, they went ashore to buy in many towns, and there were many moments when Sui Er left Meng Kuang and Guo Dayou.If he wants to kidnap Sui'er, then he should do so in time to avoid long nights and dreams.But in fact, it didn't happen. Is it because he felt that he couldn't support Sui Er on his own?Or did he change tactics?After all, there was only one female friend Zhuyan left beside him at that time.

Meng Kuang believes that it is not difficult to kidnap Sui'er with him and Zhu Yan alone, without him and others being aware of their existence.Zhu Yan possesses amazing skills in acupuncture and moxibustion, piercing the acupoints can make people lose their resistance instantly.And Li Laosan is an experienced old Jin Yiwei, familiar with various investigative methods, and can design the perfect escape route and hiding place, this is not a problem.It is much more difficult for them to kidnap Sui'er in the middle of Beijing than it is for them to kidnap Sui'er on the way.What's more, according to Hu Fulai and Dongzi's confession, Li Laosan also has an accomplice, that is, the masked Mongolian Tartar who once fought against Meng Kuang in Jingletang.This person used to lurk beside the King of Nine Fingers, and now that the King of Nine Fingers has fallen and is arrested and imprisoned by Zhan Yu, he should return to Li Laosan's side.

So, if Li Laosan changed his strategy and planned to follow Meng Kuang, Sui Er and others all the way south, what was his purpose?Meng Kuang began to think downwards.

As soon as a thought came to her, she heard Sui'er who was sitting next to her say:

"I have an idea. Does Li Laosan want to follow us so that he can find out the truth about the picture of myriad beasts and flowers that I have mastered?"

Meng Kuang looked at Sui'er, with a slight smile in his eyes, this girl thought of going with her again, they really had a good understanding.

Guo Dayou groaned when he heard the words, then his eyes rolled slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said:

"I thought before that they might want to follow us to get in touch with the target of Thirteen and I's mission, that is, people suspected of smuggling arms and Japanese pirates in eastern Zhejiang. But it's not right when I think about it carefully. Fan's mission is a secret mission, and it was announced directly by the commander of Beizhen Fusi, and Li Laosan has no reason to know why we went south. Now it seems that what Miss Sui'er said is the key."

Sui'er, who was immersed in thinking, didn't notice Meng Kuang's gaze beside her. After Guo Dayou finished speaking, she nodded immediately and said:

"I was arrested by Li Laosan once, and I heard the conversation between Li Laosan and his accomplices. It seems that there is another master behind this person. They have been seeking to achieve some political purpose and reverse the situation in the court. They believed that Zhang Juzheng left the mystery of the picture of ten thousand animals and one hundred flowers as the key to changing the situation. Either a huge treasure was buried in this picture, or a huge government secret was hidden. After he failed to capture me in Beijing, he immediately changed it. Strategy, planning to hide in the dark again and follow behind us. He probably thinks that I am under the control of Brother Guo and Brother Thirteen. We must have come out of Beijing to solve the mystery of the pictures of beasts and flowers. They want to The praying mantis is catching the cicada, and the oriole is behind, so it is naturally less labor-intensive than taking me away and then torture and interrogate me."

Bai Yuyin nodded in approval and said, "That's right, Sister Sui'er is right."

Lu Jingshi couldn't help asking: "Then what should we do? Could it be that Li Lao San is allowed to follow?"

Guo Dayou smiled, and said: "If he wants to follow, he will follow. Our original mission is to investigate the smuggling of arms and Japanese pirates. Finding the pictures of thousands of beasts and flowers is only incidental, and the clues are all broken. , we have no way to check the pictures of thousands of beasts and hundreds of flowers. Only after the investigation of the arms case is completed, I will write to the elder brother and ask the elder brother to apply for a new task and send us to Jiangling to find Zhang Jianxiu, the fourth son of Zhang Juzheng. I got the news that the fifth brother, Zhang Yunxiu, has scratched his head."

Hearing what Guo Dayou said, Meng Kuang couldn't help slandering: The second brother had already checked Zhang Jianxiu, and he has been imprisoned and monitored without freedom. It is estimated that he may be completely ignorant of his fifth brother Zhang Yunxiu's whereabouts.

"Alas... I hate that Fang Ming made up a pretense that Zhang Yunxiu was haunting Shanxi in order to deceive Miss Xiaosui out of the palace. The world is so big now, we really don't know where to find Zhang Yunxiu." Meng Yan said softly.

At this moment, Meng Kuang raised his hand and started gesturing to express his opinion. Sui Er sat next to her, understood her meaning and relayed to everyone:

"Brother Thirteen said, if you don't use the trick, the other party wants the mantis to catch the cicada and the oriole. Let's come to Jiang Taigong to catch the bait. We will always pay attention to the pursuers behind. When they make a move, we can catch Li Lao Three catch, if it falls into our hands, we are not afraid that he will not reveal some secrets. Find out what he is planning, and who is the master behind him, we will also prepare more. "

"Hahahaha! Thirteen, you want to go with me." Guo Dayou couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Then Lu Wang and Tang Fu'an, how should we treat them from now on?" Bai Yuyin still asked a question that she was most concerned about.

Guo Dayou looked at Bai Yuyin, pondered for a moment and said, "Miss Bai, I know you have a deep hatred for King Lu and Tang Fu'an, but this is not the time for us to take revenge. King Lu can't kill him, and Tang Fu'an has to see if he wants to kill him." Depends."

"Why can't King Lu be killed?" Bai Yuyin said coldly.

"He is the most beloved younger brother of the Holy Majesty, and also the youngest son of the Empress Dowager Li. Killing him would turn the entire court upside down. How could the emperor and the empress dowager let it go? And anyone who has a grudge against King Lu will Was included in the arrest list. Miss Bai, do you think you can escape this arrest list? Can we, who are closely related to you, be able to wash away the ties? The three major cases involved how many people were involved and how many people were killed. Revenge is easy for a while, but it will cause endless entanglements and kill many innocent people. King Lu should be killed, but he cannot be killed. The purpose of not killing is to stabilize the court. Miss Bai, I know that what I said is harsh and ugly, but this is a reality that must be accepted." Guo Dayou said seriously.

Bai Yuyin let out a long sigh, and said, "Guo Qianhu, I don't know the benefits you said. But... after so many years, my Bai family can't be harmed to this extent for nothing. At least... King Lu must pay the price, If you don't die, you have to pay the price." She took a deep breath and said, "If I can't make him pay the price, I must also make the court that protects him pay the price."

As soon as such rebellious remarks came out, the entire meditation room fell into a horrified silence.Meng Kuang and Sui'er couldn't help but looked at each other tacitly. At this moment, their inner thoughts were the same, and they finally understood the ultimate purpose of Bai Yuyin's plan.In order to find Mencius Xiu for so many years, she had to rely on and restrain King Lu as her own umbrella, but in fact, she never gave up assassinating King Lu in private.If she really wanted to pursue it, she could be taken down as a traitor at this time, but now, whether it is Guo Dayou or Meng Kuang, who doesn't have a rebellion in their hearts?

"Ah... what I'm worried about now is whether everything will be as usual after we return to Beijing. If King Lu plays tricks on Beijing, the commander and my elder brother will not be able to keep us." Guo Dayou said worriedly, "not to mention Jinyi Weizhong There are still many people who want to catch Miss Sui'er. When we secretly protected Miss Sui'er in the capital, they didn't realize it for a while. But after a long time, they will be able to recall it. We came out this time , I am afraid there is no way out."

"That's right, Guo Qianhu, and Jing Shi and I were originally assigned to take up positions in Nanjing's Internal Officials Supervisor, and now we can't go. Not going to report for no reason is a big taboo. Jing Shi and I also You will become a criminal fleeing from the palace." Han Jiaer said worriedly.

The atmosphere in the meditation room fell into depression, and everyone was worried about the bleak future.At this time, Zhu Qingpei, Princess of Xinyang, suddenly spoke:

"Although I don't know what you have experienced in detail, but from what you said, it seems that you have formed a lot of enmity with my uncle and other nobles in the court, so that you were hunted down. In this way, I don't have to worry about it." Everyone’s position is inconsistent with mine. Don’t worry, Lu Zhongguan and Aunt Han, both of you were old people in the palace, and you must be thorough in your work. Dislike, you can follow me to do things in the future, as long as I don't fall, I will protect you from food and clothing."

Han Jiaer and Lu Jingshi looked at Princess Xinyang in surprise and lost their reaction for a moment.Princess Xinyang continued:

"I heard you mentioned the smuggling of arms and Japanese pirates in your words. This is what has bothered me recently. My business in Zhejiang and Hangzhou has recently received a large order. Someone ordered a large number of them from our porcelain store. Saltpeter raw material."

"Determine the raw material of saltpeter from the porcelain industry?" Guo Dayou was at a loss.

"Saltpeter is the raw material for making glazes. I have many private porcelain kilns under my management, and have long-term trustworthy cooperative relations with many saltpeter mines. The saltpeter mines are all government-owned and government-run, and they are controlled. Sales are rationed. Everyone must be registered in the book. If you are a serious businessman, if you want to buy saltpeter, you can go directly to the government-run mine to buy it. But this buyer turned a corner and went to a porcelain kiln to buy it. The amount of glaze used by normal private kilns. This is obviously to avoid the government's investigation. The shopkeeper of the porcelain shop under me felt that something was wrong and dared not sell it, so he reported it to me. But there are many porcelain shops Unable to bear the temptation of this interest, I have already traded with the other party."

"The princess suspects that this group of people bought saltpeter not to make glazes, but to make fire/powder!" Sui Er pointed out the key point.

"That's right, I hope you can help me find out this matter. I suspect that Japanese pirates are secretly collecting a large amount of raw materials for making gunpowder. Besides, in recent years, what I have been most concerned about is to open up commercial routes in Liaodong. Without him, my mother’s family is from Liaodong, and my grandparents have been doing timber business in Liaodong for generations. Until now, my uncle and cousin are still the largest timber merchants in Liaodong. But since Liaodong has become the front line against Mongols and Jurchen, my uncle and cousin Even if there is such a relationship as a prince and in-laws, my father has always kept a low profile, and my mother is a concubine, so I dare not ask my father for financial assistance. My uncle and cousin also dare not make mistakes , the family has been losing money year after year, and the house and a lot of fields have already been used up, and life is almost unbearable. I have to make a lot of offerings to the Liaodong army every month, and I can’t make ends meet. I can come out as a businessman, and I have developed so quickly. The industry has little to do with my father and king. In fact, a big reason is that I can’t ignore them because of the financial support and teaching of my uncle and cousin. Just a month ago, my uncle and cousin wrote a letter saying There is news that a large number of Japanese soldiers and horses have gathered near the harbor, and a huge number of ships are docking at the harbor. The situation is very tense. The Wa country is likely to cross the sea to fight North Korea. At that time, I, Ming and Liaodong, will also bear the brunt. They are worried and hope that we I can find out about this.”

She finally got up and said: "I only want three things: the safety of my family, the smooth flow of business routes, and the country's no major disasters. It's just that I am a daughter of the clan who was expelled from the imperial family. I have no connections in the court, and I have no reliable sources of information. Second, I don't have the ability to influence the court situation. But you are different, Qingpei... depends on you!" After finishing speaking, he bowed deeply.