Brocade tears

Guo Dayou and Qiu Bai visited seven commercial firms in the city of Hangzhou on the afternoon of June [-]th. Although they obtained accurate invoices for trading with the Japanese, they failed to find the businessman who bought for the Japanese with a Fenghua County accent. trail.The only clue I got was that a guy said he knew that the businessman had stayed at the Baiyun Inn in Hangzhou for a few days.

So the two rushed to the Baiyun Inn. It was already sunset, and the city gate would be closed in a short time.It seemed that they would not be able to go back to the lakeside mansion of the princess outside the city tonight.Guo Dayou is not in a hurry when he thinks about it, he will stay at the Baiyun Inn tonight and ask slowly.

The two entered the Baiyun Inn, Guo Dayou did not rush to find the innkeeper directly, but first looked around at the lobby on the first floor of the inn.Just like other ordinary inns, the lobby on the first floor of this inn is no different from ordinary restaurants and restaurants, it is a dine-in place for guests.Xu Shi has a relatively large passenger flow, and more than 20 square tables and stools are densely arranged.At this time, more than half of the seats had customers, most of them were travellers, who could be distinguished at a glance, and their bodies were dusty, and most of them had accents from this area of ​​Zhejiang, and they could also distinguish one or two dialects from farther places.

His eyes fell on a table of guests. Based on his experience, he judged that this table of guests was a bit weird.The guests at this table were old and young, and the old one was dressed as a Taoist priest. Although he was not wearing a Taoist robe, he could tell by looking at his bun.The young man looked in his early twenties, a little frail, he should be a scholar who had studied, he was facing the door of the inn, Guo Dayou could only see his profile, but somehow felt that his profile was very familiar.

When he walked in and scanned the entire lobby, the old Taoist made a movement of bending down, which caught his attention.He didn't pay too much attention to it, leaving an impression in his mind, and judged that there were no other suspicious people in the lobby, so he led Qiu Bai to the front desk and asked the shopkeeper about the businessman with a Fenghua accent.

The shopkeeper seemed a little hesitant, and said: "My lord, there are more than ten Fenghua people coming and going here every day in our small shop. They are all businessmen. Which one do you want to ask?"

"That businessman has a white face and no beard, a fat figure, and a soft voice, like an eunuch. Do you have any impression?" Guo Dayou told the shopkeeper the details about the comprador's appearance that the firm had told him before.

The shopkeeper seemed to remember it, and said: "There is indeed such a person, but he came to stay in the store a few days ago, and he has already left... It may take seven or eight days."

"Do you know where he is going?" Guo Dayou hurriedly asked.

The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "How can I know that, that person never talks much with the people in the inn, and we can't find out."

Guo Dayou was helpless, thought for a while and asked again: "Then do you know how he got there? Did he have his own carriage or hired a carriage?"

"He has a mule cart himself, and there is a servant who drives the cart for him. The fellow is thin and small, and he looks like a monkey."

The shopkeeper had just said this, when the waiter guy came to the counter to deliver the money for the customer's checkout, the guy heard what the shopkeeper said, and interjected:

"Don't look at him like a monkey, he may have been drinking, our local spirits, he drank a whole jug, and his complexion didn't change."

The shopkeeper scolded: "What are you talking about, go to work!"

But Guo Dayou's eyes lit up, he quickly stopped him and said, "Little brother, have you had a drink with that driver?"

"I didn't drink with him. He was pestering me and insisted that I give him the best wine in the store. The price is quite generous."

"Then what did he talk to you about? For example, did he mention where he came from, or where he was going?"

The buddy recalled for a moment, then hesitated: "He seems to have mentioned that he will go to Pinghu, Jiaxing in a few days, and said he doesn't want to go there, because there is no good wine to drink there."

Jiaxing Pinghu!Guo Dayou couldn't help being overjoyed, and took out a small piece of broken silver from his bosom and gave it to the guy.

The shopkeeper frowned unhappily as he watched the guy happily receive the reward.He urged him to go to work quickly, and then said:

"Officer, let me ask a little extra, did the person you inquired about do anything wrong? Today you are the second batch to inquire about this person."

"The second batch? Who is the first batch?" Guo Dayou asked.

"Oh, they're just sitting in the store to eat, right there..." The shopkeeper pointed to the corner of the lobby, but was surprised to find that the person had disappeared, and couldn't help saying, "Ah, this...was there just now? It happened so quickly gone?"

Guo Dayou looked in the direction pointed by the shopkeeper, wasn't it just where the old and young diners were sitting at the table he noticed just now?And the cash that the waiter sent for the check just now was paid by the guests at this table.Guo Dayou watched from a distance that the dishes and meals they ordered were still steaming, and they left without taking a few bites, feeling something was wrong right away.So he immediately turned back and left the gate of the inn, looking outside at both ends of the street.The streets are bustling with pedestrians rushing home before the curfew, as well as many small vendors closing their stalls and preparing to go home.But he looked around for a while, but he didn't see the two people just now, he knew that he missed it after all.

He went back to the inn and asked: "Those two guests just came to fight?"

The shopkeeper nodded and said: "As soon as they came in, they asked me about the Fenghua businessman, and then ordered food."

"Did you tell them about Jiaxing Pinghu?"

The shopkeeper shook his head: "I didn't know that the Fenghua businessman was going to Jiaxing." The waiter at the side said:

"I told them. I served them food just now, and they asked me."

"You're the one who talks too much!" The shopkeeper scolded angrily, and the guy was embarrassed, smiled and turned around to continue working.

Guo Dayou secretly thought it was not good, who is also inquiring about the Japanese people, is it an enemy or a friend?It seems that he must make a trip to Jiaxing as soon as possible.As he spoke, he grabbed Qiu Bai and said:

"We won't stay overnight tonight. Let's go back overnight and prepare to go to Jiaxing."

……

At night, when you go out on a painting boat on the West Lake, a series of red lanterns hanging on the side of the boat dot the lake surface, reflecting a hazy and beautiful picture.

The two men with swords who had stood on the Yingbo Bridge of the Su Causeway before now appeared in the largest painting boat on the lake.Under the guidance of a waiter, they walked through the corridor outside the cabin and came to the outside of the largest banquet hall above the painting boat.The grille door was opened, and the lights in the banquet hall were bright, and two singers were stroking the pipa and playing the zither.On the main seat, a very fat young man with a thin beard is sitting on the head. He is dressed in a dragon brocade robe, a golden crown on his head, and is elegantly dressed.Those sitting beside him are all elderly servants.A tall and fat man, dressed in brocade and satin clothes, with white hair, sly and flattery gleamed in a pair of squinted eyes that could not be opened.A horse face with triangular eyes, with a fierce and mean face, also wearing a brocade costume not inferior to the former one, and still playing with a piece of blood jade in his hand.

Two men with sabers entered, and the leading dark elder bowed his hands and said:

"Your Majesty has met His Royal Highness King Lu."

The young man beside him also saluted.

They never saluted the servants sitting on both sides, and the fat and white servant showed displeasure in his eyes and a mocking smile on his face.

Lu Wang, who was the leader, stared at them with half-closed eyes, and spoke with a strange tone of voice: "Wang Daoming Wang Zhenfu, it's really not easy to see you."

"Don't dare, His Royal Highness King Lu has a call, how dare I not obey." Wang Daoming bowed his head respectfully.

King Lu snorted softly, and said, "Do you know who these two are next to me? I don't need to introduce you, you have been working with him for many years." He pointed to the horse-faced triangular eyes The old servant said.

Wang Daoming cupped his hands with a smile, and respectfully said, "Second Grandpa Zhongguan."

The old servant with a horse face and triangular eyes said with a smile, "I'm no longer an official in the East Factory, Wang Zhenfu doesn't have to be so polite." After speaking, he looked at the young man next to Wang Daoming and said, "Fang Ming Fang Qianhu, long time no see?"

"Second Grandpa is okay?" Fang Ming saluted with a smile, and the fat and white servant on the other side gave him a glance, which he pretended not to see.This old man with a horse face and triangular eyes was once the object of his allegiance - Zhang Jing, the former middle official of the East Factory.He once betrayed Zhang Jing and took refuge in Wang Daoming, but now he has met Zhang Jing again. It is obvious that the former East Factory official is still holding grudges.

And the chubby servant next to him was Tang Fu'an. He had been deceived by Wang Daoming's news. It was Fang Ming who sent the news at that time, and he also hated Fang Ming very much.Fang Ming knew that his betrayal had offended many people. At first, he was sandwiched between Zhang Jing and the current eunuch Zhang Cheng, who was in charge of the ceremonies.When Zhang Jing's power was at its peak, he was loyal to Zhang Jing on the surface, but in fact he voted for Wang Daoming.Wang Daoming asked him to be a double agent and continue to work for Zhang Jing and Zhang Cheng at the same time.So he also received orders from Zhang Cheng to pretend to work for Concubine Gong. It was during that time that he betrayed Zhang Jing, rescued Li Sui'er from Zhang Jing, and sent him to the palace. It was all arranged by Wang Daoming behind the scenes.

The reason why Fang Ming is valued and used by so many people is because he has the value of being used.He is capable, ambitious, scheming, and courageous.Such a person is very difficult to control, but he is a good hand at doing things.

He was born as a literati, quite talented in reading, and he has read a lot of poetry and books, so he could have gained fame in the exam. At the age of 17, he passed the college examination and obtained the status of a scholar. He was preparing for the provincial examination, but unexpectedly, the woman he loved that year could not wait for him and was about to enter the palace.

This woman is Concubine Wang Gong. Concubine Wang Gong was born in the family of a junior officer of the Jinyiwei, and Fang Mingben, who was also from the family of a junior officer of the Jinyiwei, was a close match.The two live very close, and the parents also intend to talk about marriage.But Concubine Wang Gongfei's father has always been quite ambitious and wanted to let his daughter enter the palace for a beauty pageant, so the marriage has been dragged on and never reached.Even so, the juniors grew up together as childhood sweethearts and have a good impression of each other.

But fate played tricks on them.During the draft in the early years of Wanli, Concubine Gong was sent to the palace by her father. She was finally selected and assigned to the Palace of Compassion and Ning as a maid.But Fang Ming, who was preparing for the township examination, unfortunately encountered his father's transfer order to move to Jiangnan, and his family moved to Hangzhou.He gritted his teeth, holding back his energy, and wanted to crawl back to Beijing.But he failed in the provincial examination here in Hangzhou, and later his father died of illness.His father's military position could not be inherited. His family had no source of income and was poor. He had no choice but to sell calligraphy and paintings by the West Lake to make a living, but he was ridiculed by his classmates and suffered humiliation by the lake.

Everything is inferior, but reading is high, but Fang Ming can't wait, he wants to climb back to Beijing as quickly as possible.He finally gave up the imperial examination, and even gave up all his lofty persistence and bottom line of virtue, and passed the martial arts examination by relying on the martial arts that he had practiced with his father since he was a child.Later, through lobbying and bribery, the vacancy of Fusi in Jinyiwei South Town was filled.And the money he used for bribes was stolen from the homes of those rich kids who had taunted him by the West Lake.

He's a thief, mean and shameless, but that's the only way he can crawl back.But when he really crawled back, he never thought that the woman he had been thinking about day and night had been blessed by the emperor, and would never have the chance to leave the palace, and had completely become a concubine in the palace.However, she still did not get the favor of the emperor despite her humiliation, and lived in depression in the palace.

Fang Ming's heart died. From then on, he only thought about money and power. His feelings for his former lover were exhausted. He just wanted to be superior to Concubine Wang Gong and her family, and mocked their choices back then. .He betrayed Concubine Wang Gong and deceived and used her. If he went back to ten years ago, he would never have imagined that he would do such a thing.But now, he did not change his face, and there was no disturbance in his heart.

He glanced at Wang Daoming beside him, thinking that he was tied to this person for the rest of his life.This is a very capable person, and his plan is to become the second Lu Bing.Now he is circling among Zhang Cheng, Zhang Jing, Lu Wang, and Tang Fu'an. What kind of tricks he is playing, he is a little confused.But what is certain is that he kept stirring the water, and he must be trying to make a profit from it.

The only thing Fang Ming can be sure of is that what Wang Daoming wants is the "inheritance" left by Zhang Juzheng.But he is a smart person, knowing that he can't get it clearly, otherwise he will become the target of public criticism, so he prompts many parties to compete for it.He will meet Lu Wang, Tang Fu'an and Zhang Jing tonight, and he doesn't know what to plan.

Wang Daoming said with a smile: "His Royal Highness Lu, Second Grandpa, Tang Zhongguan, I have a very good piece of information here, I wonder if you are interested in it. If you can use this information to do something, you will not only be able to achieve success in the court in the future, but you will also be able to achieve great success." Get the iron coupon of the Danshu in the heart of the Holy One, and you can rest easy from now on."

"What information?" Neither King Lu nor Zhang Jing answered, but Tang Fu'an asked aloud.

"Information about Zhang Yunxiu, the fifth son of Zhang Juzheng who is missing." Wang Daoming showed a sly smile.