The late autumn midday sun shines warmly on the earth.

An old man wearing gray linen clothes walked down the narrow alley in Huaishan County.

The old man just wandered on the streets paved with bluestones, looking left and right, as if he was very curious about this place.

Huaishan County is not big.

It has only three streets, two vertical and one horizontal.

The streets are not long, so some people say that you can urinate from the street to the end of the street.

This statement is of course a lot of exaggeration, but it can indeed be seen from the street to the back of the alley.

Huaishan County is not lively either.

Because it is a full five days' walk from Kyoto, and behind it is the towering Qi Mountain that stretches for hundreds of miles. There are no roads leading to other places, so it is not a transportation hub and there are almost no business trips. Therefore, Huaishan County

There are not many residents.

The old man in gray and white linen now walked to an alley called Xiaobei Street.

Half of the shops on both sides of the alley were open and half were closed.

He seemed to be walking leisurely and came to a restaurant. He looked up and saw a flagpole stuck beside the door of the restaurant.

A string of faded lanterns hung on the flagpole.

There are several big words written on the lantern:

The place is full of fragrance!

He stepped inside.

The shop is not wide, and there are only four tables inside. It is noon, but there is not even a single diner in the shop.

He sat at the table in the innermost corner, and a fat middle-aged man who was both the shopkeeper, waiter and cook came over.

He pulled off a dark cloth from his shoulder, wiped it casually on the table, and asked without enthusiasm:

"What to eat?"

The old man raised his head and glanced at him.

"Half a pound of beef, half a pound of soy pig tail, two ounces of soju, two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge, and a salted duck egg."

When the slightly fat man heard this, he curled his lips: "There is no beef, but there is pig tail, but it is not sauce, but braised. Do you want it or not?"

"don't want!"

"good."

The slightly fat man turned around, and after a moment he brought a plate and placed it in front of the old man with a clang.

But the old man was not angry.

He ate slowly for about half an hour, then dropped a piece of broken silver, got up and walked to the door.

"Too many, only thirty-two copper coins, can't be found!"

"No need to look for it. I still owed Mr. Ding sixty-six copper coins last time."

The fat man was suddenly startled, "...Are you the person who owed money twenty years ago?"

"Yes, where is Mr. Ding?"

"Dock, fishing!"

"good."

…

…

Huaishan County Pier.

It's almost deserted here.

Because water bandits in Shuangjiao Lake have blocked the Yuguangdao Canal, and this is a small tributary of the Yuguangdao Canal, few ships have anchored here.

Right on this pier, under this autumn sun, there is a small canoe in the river.

On the bow of the small awning sat a fisherman, also dressed in gray and white linen. There was also a small stove on the bow, and there was a small pot on the small stove, and hot smoke was rising from the small pot.

The old man on the shore looked at it for a moment and suddenly laughed.

He jumped up and landed lightly on the small awning.

Diao Weng turned his head and said, "The grandson Jinghong!"

"You're still here!"

He is Sun Jinghong, the eldest son of the Imperial City Si Tiju!

He left the Imperial City Division, which he had guarded for twenty years, and came to this remote place.

"Well, you've been fishing here for twenty years, and I'm afraid you've caught all the fish here!"

Mr. Ding looked away and looked at the motionless float on the river, "Have you paid back the money?"

"Give it back."

Changsun Jinghong sat down on the side of the boat and looked at the floats on the river. After a while, he asked: "How have you been these past few years?"

"Fortunately...I feel much more comfortable now that I have left that hellish place in the Imperial City Division."

Once upon a time, there was a world-famous judge of life and death in the Imperial City Division, his name was Mr. Ding Da!

When Queen Lu planted the big-leafed banyan tree in the Imperial City, Mr. Ding Da disappeared without a trace and has even been forgotten now.

Some people said that he had done too many evil things and was secretly executed by Zhang Sun Jinghong.

Some people also said that he was killed when he was investigating the case of Lu Zhanxiao.

No one knows he is still alive.

He lived in Huaishan County and opened a restaurant. The business was not good, so he spent most of his time fishing in the river.

"I heard that the Imperial City Department has another deputy chief minister,"

Mr. Ding Da turned to look at Changsun Jinghong again, "So, you are finally willing to leave that ghost place?"

"Um,"

Changsun Jinghong nodded, "Leave the Imperial City Division to him, so I can rest assured."

"He can't be Queen Lu's son!"

"I know."

"Then...why did you hand over the Imperial City Division to him?"

"Because I don't have time to find Queen Lu's son."

Mr. Ding Da was not surprised. He looked at Changsun Jinghong for three breaths, turned around, took a wine bag from his side, took a sip, and handed it to Changsun Jinghong.

"I can't help you."

Changsun Jinghong took the wine bag and took a sip:

"I didn't want you to get involved again and come to find you. I just asked you to leave here early."

Mr. Ding picked up the fishing rod, dug out a small box beside him, took out an earthworm, squinted his eyes, hung the earthworm on the fishhook and threw it out.

"I'm older than you."

"I'm very used to living here."

"Although the business of the shop is not good, the money saved in the past is enough for me to support myself in my old age..."

"I have spent my whole life wandering around. I have finally stabilized in the past twenty years, but you want me to leave again..."

"No!"

Changsun Jinghong grinned:

"I just hope that you can still be well for the rest of your life."

Mr. Ding Da turned his head, looked at Changsun Jinghong, and said very seriously:

"There are tens of thousands of rats in the mountains...you are seeking death!"

Changsun Jinghong reached out and opened the lid of the pot that was smoking white, and a strong aroma of fish soup floated in. He picked up a spoon, filled a bowl, and blew on it: "I must seek death!"

"Support that Mr. Li?"

"Not really."

"To save the emperor?"

"Not entirely."

"That means they all have some. What's the reason for the rest?"

"I feel sorry for my brother. After all, I failed to protect him."
To be continued...