The new house is very large. We just moved and there are lanterns hanging everywhere, but not many people live there. Only the embroidered building on the east side and the courtyard on the west side are occupied by people.
After the housewarming party, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. The huge mansion had already quieted down, and it was already late at night.
The lights in the master bedroom of Meihuayuan have been turned off, but the lantern hanging outside the door still brings some light.
The light golden curtain was hung on the tent hook, and the Chilong ring-headed sword was hung next to the bed frame.
Ye Jingtang leaned on the pale golden pillow embroidered with mandarin ducks, looking at the carvings on the top of the bed, secretly thinking about the messy things.
Sanniang put on a gauze nightgown and lay on her side with her back to her. It was not cold and the quilt was only draped around her waist. Her plump breasts were still faintly visible.
After eating last night, the two of them went back to their room to rest.
Sanniang drank a little too much, and I don’t know if she was emboldened by drinking. After making out once, she actually kept her promise and let him do whatever he wanted. She even went to take a bath and made herself white and clean, ready for you to pick and choose.
Pick.
Ye Jingtang was afraid that Sanniang wouldn't be able to bear it, so he didn't plan to do it for real, but he overestimated his own strength, and Sanniang cooperated obediently, so he naturally took advantage of Po.
It’s hard to describe the process in detail, but Sanniang was indeed awakened from her drunkenness, and afterwards she said that he was unruly and acted haphazardly while the girl was drunk, and refused to admit that such a shameful thing was voluntary.
Ye Jingtang got an advantage, so he naturally had to take the blame. After coaxing Sanniang to sleep with tears in her eyes, he lay on the pillow and secretly practiced the Jade Bone Dragon and Elephant Diagram, which was considered a half-dream and half-awake state.
After practicing for an unknown amount of time, there were light footsteps on the veranda outside the courtyard. They stopped at the courtyard door to look at it, and then someone shouted softly:
"Master?"
Xiuhe's voice.
Ye Jingtang opened his eyes, turned to look at Sanniang who was sleeping beside him, then stood up gently, covered Sanniang with a thin quilt, then put on his robe and came to the door.
Because it was the first day of moving, lanterns were hung everywhere in the house, and according to custom, the lights had to be on all night.
The courtyard was very bright at this time. Xiuhe, wearing a light blue skirt, stood at the round door at the end of the crosswalk, holding a stack of papers in her arms and looking at it.
Ye Jingtang closed the door and waved Xiuhe in. When he got closer, he asked:
"You didn't sleep all night?"
"I also went to bed. Someone came over just now and said that they had found out the information overnight. They were afraid that the young master would need it urgently, so they sent it here specially."
Ye Jingtang took the paper, and because it was inconvenient to see things in the yard, he and Xiu He went to the study room in the main room.
Sanniang is responsible for everything in the house. Basically, she can use the expensive ones and not choose the cheap ones. The furniture is all made of precious wood. To say that luxury is too light, it should be a bit arrogant. For example, Jin Shennan is like this in the Wei Dynasty.
It is reserved for the exclusive use of princes and princes, and common people will be punished for misuse.
However, the imperial court sent the canonization edict two days ago. Although the title of Marquis Yunzhong is false, the privileges of food, clothing, housing and transportation are still calculated according to the actual title of the servant. For example, you can drive a four-horse cart or an eight-carat sedan in other places.
, in the capital city you can also use a three-horse carriage and a sedan carried by four people.
For this reason, Sanniang made a special trip to replace him with a set of furniture in the past two days, making the home look like a marquis's mansion. As for things like desks, because they are very important to the nobles, even if the Night Jingtang is basically useless,
On the table, he made a very particular one. There were unopened pens, inks, papers and inkstones on the table, as well as the little turtle and wooden donkey ornaments he bought for the birds.
Ye Jingtang sat down behind the desk, and Xiuhe skillfully lit the lampstand and placed it on the table to help him grind the ink.
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang raised his hand slightly: "No need, I won't write anything. Please sit down and tell me about these people and their official positions."
"Okay, Master."
Seeing this, Xiuhe quickly moved a round stool from the side, sat next to the Taishi chair, picked up the paper and explained carefully:
"Chen Cang, a foreign minister of the Ministry of Rites, whose ancestral home is in Ningyuan County, Yanzhou..."
The Pei family has been doing business in the capital for many years, and has a secret background in Honghua House. They don't know everything about the officialdom, but they do know who the officials are, where they are from, and where they live. This information is basically ready-made.
Xiuhe has been working as Sanniang's secretary all year round and is very professional.
Ye Jingtang listened carefully to Xiu He's explanation and secretly analyzed the feasibility of these people committing rebellion. For example, they could mobilize troops, police officers, or people related to the Forbidden Army. As long as there was a possibility of assassination, they would rather kill the wrong person than let them go.
Write them all down and review them one by one.
Because the major imperial examination provinces were in the central and southeastern part of the Wei Dynasty, and Yanzhou was a frontier fortress, there were not many high-ranking officials holding important positions in the capital. After hearing this, Ye Jingtang felt that these people were guilty of rebellion, and it was not until Xiu Xiu
The Dutch reported the last person:
"There is also a Yanzhou native who has a high status in the capital, and the crown prince of Yan, named Dongfang Shuoyue, came to Beijing ten years ago. After studying at the Imperial College, the court gave him a sinecure in the Ministry of Rites, but he has a loose personality and has never been to the Yamen. He often goes to
Playing in Wutong Street, people give him the nickname 'cup opener', and his gambling skills are unparalleled in Yun'an..."
Ye Jingtang had heard the nickname "cup opener" before. Hearing this, his eyes moved slightly and he took the paper and looked at it carefully:
"Is Prince Yan very powerful in the capital?"
Xiuhe thought for a while: "It's hard to say what the power is, but the status is very noble. In the past dynasties, the two kings of Yan and Liang were respected. The crown prince of Yan will be the future king of Yan. In the capital, he is probably only one head shorter than King Jing. The other princes will
Everyone has to bow when they meet.
"But I heard that Prince Yan is very easy-going, has no airs, and is generous with his money. As the top oiran on Wutong Street, whenever he hears that Prince Yan will come, he will not see the guests and will not start work until Prince Yan has finished choosing... But now
There should be exceptions. If the young master goes to Wutong Street, I guarantee that Prince Yan will have to step aside, and those courtesans will definitely surround you..."
Ye Jingtang shook his head, did not accept the joke, and continued:
"Where does Prince Yan live?"
"It's hard to say. The Crown Prince Yan is very good at gambling and has won a lot of properties in shops, Yayuan, and outside the city. Because he loves to play, he runs around all day. He basically sleeps wherever he goes. If there is no property nearby, he sleeps.
Inn and restaurant...I heard from the people below that Prince Yan will be on Wutong Street tonight."
"What experts are there around Prince Yan?"
"All the princes and princes are surrounded by expert guards. I heard from Sanniang that the person beside King Yan is named Fang Shijie. He was originally a knight errant, but later became a disciple of King Yan's palace. Because no actual achievements have been reported for many years, his martial arts skills are unknown.
…”
After listening to the information, Ye Jingtang felt that it would be very difficult for such a person who has not left the capital for ten years and worked tirelessly to make things worse, to secretly contact the Pingtian Sect or even use the Hongshan Gang. It is more likely that King Yan is the mastermind behind it, but no matter what
, this person must check it carefully.
Remembering this, Ye Jingtang looked at the sky, stood up and said:
"Keep asking and tell me if you have any news. If Sanniang wakes up, tell her that I have gone to the Yamen and let her have a good rest."
"Okay, young master..."
"You should also go to bed early. Don't stay up late at home. What will happen if you don't look pretty in the future?"
"Hee~"
…
——
It was late at night, and most of the streets and alleys in Yun'an City were closed, while Fengyuechang, including Wutong Street, was open all night long. Although there were fewer pedestrians than in the evening, people could still see the brightly lit streets.
I saw the carriages and horses going by and the drunken gentry.
The Jinping Building in the middle section of Wutong Street is filled with the chatter and chatter of romantic people, while in an elegant hall at the back, several rich men from Wende Bridge, accompanied by beauties, are enthusiastically pushing Pai Gow.
The Crown Prince of Yan, Dongfang Shuoyue, was invited to have fun today. He had a few drinks during the dinner, but he was not very drunk, so he went to rest in a nearby room halfway.
Because he had no choice but to gamble, and his status was too noble, the owner of Jinpinglou did not think smart enough to arrange for the girl, but only gave her sobering soup and tea.
There was constant laughter around, and some ambiguous sounds could be heard faintly, but the room with a gorgeous environment was quite quiet.
The lights in the room have been turned off, Dongfang Shuoyue has not fallen asleep, she is sitting on the tea couch very awake, her brows furrowed.
Fang Shijie, the old butler with a goatee, sat on the chair opposite, gently rubbed his fingers and whispered:
"The leader of Pingtian doesn't want to be with us, which is a bit troublesome. There are two military commanders in the capital. If we want to deal with them, the risk is too high after all..."
Zhong Sunyan sat behind the sea of tea, slowly brewing tea and pouring it himself:
"You people in the Wei Dynasty all like to make long-term plans here to save face. If you put it in Beiliang, if you want to divert the tiger away from the mountain, you will dig up the graves of people's ancestors. If your ancestors are dug up, no matter how big the devil is, you will most likely have to go back and bury it yourself...
…”
Zhongsunyan was good at strange and obscene skills, and his ideas were always clear. Several people were used to it and did not comment on it.
On the other side of the tea couch, there was a rather tough man with sword-shaped eyebrows and tiger eyes, who was born with a bit of murderous intent. His name was Teng Tianyou. He was the liaison between the green bandits and the Crown Prince of Yan. At this time, he said
:
"It is a matter of life and death for the empress. Not to mention digging graves, if Yuxu Mountain collapses, Master Xuanji will not leave the capital at this time. Killing people can only be done in an instant, and it can be done if Master Xuanji cannot rush to rescue for half an hour. I will let the superiors do this.
Just think of a solution, Your Majesty, don't worry about it."
The Green Bandit is a very mysterious organization. Not only does the court know very little about it, but even Dongfang Shuoyue, who is an accomplice, does not know its specific structure or who its leader is. Even the name of the "Green Bandit" was given by the court.
Fang Shijie is the personal bodyguard of the Crown Prince of Yan. He is inevitably wary of unidentified allies. He strongly suspects that the Green Bandit is behind the Prince of Liang, who secretly borrows knives to kill people in order to pick fruits.
However, the power of the Liang King was in the northwest, and most of the people recruited by the Green Bandits were from the Northern Liang Dynasty. It was more like the Northern Liang court was manipulating the situation. It has been difficult to draw a conclusion on this speculation.
The prince actually has doubts in his heart, but the prince has been in the capital for ten years. The empress obviously has no intention of letting the prince return to the fiefdom. In the end, it depends on whether the empress or King Yan can't bear it first. No matter who takes action, the prince will be the first.
Abandoned son.
If the prince waits until then, what he will get will not be back to his hometown, but a sword and axe. If he wants to survive in this predicament, he has to break the situation by himself. If he succeeds, he will get everything, if he fails, he will escape far away from home and start from scratch.
In the beginning, it was better than waiting to die in the capital.
So even though he knew that the Green Bandit might be a double-edged sword, the prince still had to use it without any help.
Seeing that Teng Tianyou took over the matter, Fang Shijie thought about it for a moment and said:
"I have always had a doubt. If this happens, King Yan will gain the imperial throne, and the prince will become the crown prince. It is reasonable to strive for the imperial power. But what Brother Teng and the people behind the scenes have done in the past ten years seems to be
I just want to get the empress off her horse, but Fang doesn’t have a clear idea of what he will get when the thing is done.”
Teng Tianyou said about this: "The organization above is so strict that I only know an old man who brought me in, and I have never seen his true face. I joined it because the people above have great magical powers and rescued me from Beiliang Death Prison.
He helped me clear my identity and gave countless families a place to live.
"As for what the above wants, I don't know very well... As far as I know, the green bandits didn't just appear ten years ago, and their purpose seems to be just to prevent someone from dominating the world. The northwest royal court collapsed before Jiazi, and it is said that there are shadows from above behind it.
And now it’s the same reason for dealing with the empress.”
Fang Shijie frowned slightly when he heard this: "Do you think that the empress was able to dominate the world and only emerged ten years ago?"
Dongfang Shuoyue answered this and said: "The empress is very ambitious. The three steps of enriching the people, cutting down the vassals and centralizing power, and pacifying the world are almost obvious. However, these three steps are usually completed by three generations of emperors. The empress wants to
The possibility of completing it all within our lifetime is too low.”
Teng Tianyou said: "Teng is a warrior in the martial arts world. I don't know much about how the superiors arranged for me to communicate. I don't know much about other things..."
Puff puff puff~~
While he was talking, from behind the noisy Jinping Tower, there were suddenly several sounds of flapping wings, and the reflection of a jackdaw appeared on the window paper.
The four people in the room were silent. Zhong Sunyan looked back, frowned slightly, then looked at Fang Shijie, gesturing with his hands.
Fang Shijie knew that there was an uninvited guest, so he stood up, straightened his robes, picked up a cane from the side of the chair, and quietly left the room...
——
Behind Wutong Street is a deep and dark alley.
Although it is only a thin line away from the most prosperous streets in the capital, the gap between the two sides is like two completely different worlds.
The main street is a place where people live in fine clothes and angry horses, while the back alleys are the residences of turtle slaves and handymen. Sundries can be seen everywhere in the winding alleys. There are even several dark kilns open to provide food for those who live in Wutong Street.
Foreigners who cannot afford to spend money but want to visit Wutong Street to brag about their return to their hometown.
It was estimated to be around three o'clock in the morning, and the moon had already reached the horizon. Half of the lane was moonlight and half was dark, and no pedestrians could be seen.
Ye Jingtang wore a bamboo hat on his head and put on night clothes, and his sword was wrapped in black cloth. He walked in the darkness of the alley, and from time to time he heard the noise from deep in the building complex:
"Hmm~~Ah——"
"Are you happy or not..."
"Come on, keep drinking..."
Niaoniao, who was forced to work overtime again, obviously had no energy at this time. He stood directly on the bamboo hat in the Night Terror Hall, looking left and right, observing the surrounding clues.
The purpose of Ye Jingtang's trip is to investigate and find the primary target. He just learned from Xiuhe that Prince Yan is on Wutong Street. Because Prince Yan never travels secretly, he came over to inquire and asked for the exact information.
Location.
Seeing that there was still half a mile away from Jinping Tower, Ye Jingtang, in case someone was watching, his footsteps became silent, like a ghost floating slowly through the alleyway.
But when I walked behind Longyin Tower, I heard several loud voices coming from deep inside the house:
"To be honest, Brother Ye just came to the capital, and I had a sparring match with him. My sword was three inches away, and his sword was on his neck. Although Wang was defeated, you should know the weight of this battle in your hearts.
…”
"Brother Wang, please stop bragging. It was obviously you who was sent by Prince Jing to win over you. You reached for a knife from behind and almost got chopped in the street..."
"Hey! If it were you, could you touch the Dao Chief's sword from behind? That's a contemporary Dao Chief. He treated me to a drink last time on Wutong Street and ordered a dozen girls to accompany me. Are you so lucky?"
"That's not true... By the way, Lord Ye is allowed to play here, is he allowed to do so?"
"This kind of thing can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words..."
"Oh, I see……"
??
Ye Jingtang paused and said to himself: What do you understand?!
Last time he invited Wang Chihu to drink flower wine, but he didn't even touch it. He only went to drink with him. This word reached Dabenben's ears, and he had to tear up his painting.
But Ye Jingtang also knew for the first time that the first time he was stopped by Wang Chihu when he was passing by the Hei Yamen, it was Benben who was secretly directing...
Ye Jingtang was recalling the scene when he first entered Beijing. Birdie, who was standing on the bamboo hat, suddenly raised his head and looked into the depths of the alley.
Ye Jingtang suddenly came back to his senses, raised his eyes and stared at the buildings deep in the alleyway, but saw a small bird flying in the direction where the bird was looking, and then disappeared into the house.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Gu."
Birds are birds of prey, and they may have thought that the birds were afraid of hunting at night so they ran away, so they shook their heads to disarm them.
Ye Jingtang frowned secretly, because he had been using falcons to plot people all the time, and he was much more wary of birds in the sky than ordinary people in the world. If the other party was good at this, he would probably be the same.
The investigation has just begun. Night Jingtang is afraid that the identity of the opponent will be exposed, so as to scare the snake. Thinking of letting the bird show his head first, he flew up to the wall, looked around among the buildings, and took off a pendant from the waist of a drunken young man.
Sword, and then continue to walk to Jinping Tower...