The wind blows outside the window at night, and the dark sky is dotted with stars. The crape myrtle in the yard seems to be blooming, filling the air with a rich fragrance. Occasionally, one or two birdsong can be heard.
Ji Yannuo spread out a piece of rice paper in his hand, and the handwriting had dried. The young man under the candlelight had thin features and thin eyes, and his figure was stretched by the candlelight. In the quiet night, the young man looked particularly lonely.
"Baizhu." The young man called the person in, folded the letter, and handed it to Bai Shu's hand, "Pass it to senior brother." After a while, he stood up and placed the letter sent by Yan Ruiyuan by the candlelight.
Quick tongues of fire spread all over the paper, turning it into ashes in an instant.
After coming to Nanhua City for so long, it's time to leave.
The pier was crowded with people, and everyone saw that a large and exquisite ship was docked. There was a faint shadow of a maid walking behind the hatch. The mother-in-law was busy, and the servants were moving things up and down. It must be that the female relatives of some wealthy family were leaving by water.
They all stopped and watched.
At this time, a green cloth carriage came slowly. The leader was a young man in a light green bamboo robe. He had handsome eyebrows, hair tied in jade hairpins, and a gentle and elegant temperament. For a while, people couldn't help but take a few more glances.
The carriage slowly stopped, and a beautiful young woman was carefully helped out. Then an exquisite and cute little girl was carried out. When she saw the young man, her mouth curled up slightly, a little aggrieved, "Brother, I want to follow you."
You go home."
"Xie'er, be good. My brother will take you home after finishing his work. You go back with your mother first. Be good and don't get into trouble." Ji Yannuo knelt down, looked at the little girl at eye level, smiled gently, and said reassuringly: "We weren't here yesterday.
It was agreed, why do you have to go back on your word today?"
"I don't want to live in Xuezhai." The little girl lowered her head and looked at the gold-threaded uppers of her shoes, which were embroidered with orchids. She didn't know why, but every time she stayed in Xuezhai, she would always feel frightened and couldn't express her feelings.
She was sad and had a feeling that she couldn't express.
"Okay, if we don't live in Xuezhai, we'll go back to Ji's house." Ji Yannuo said soothingly, "I made an agreement with my mother that I won't go back to Xuezhai. If anything happens, can you just write to your brother?"
"
After the death of Princess Luo'an, Ji Mianxi was seriously injured and fell seriously ill. After recovering, she forgot some things.
The little girl nodded with red eyes. When Ji Yannuo turned around, she reached out and grabbed his lapel and asked again: "Brother, are you really going to pick me up?"
"Of course." Ji Yannuo said with a smile, "When did my brother lie to you? Well, go back with your mother quickly."
He raised his eyes to look at Ye Qianxun and bowed slightly to her.
Ye Qianxun stepped forward, straightened the young man's clothes, and said softly: "Take care of yourself when you go out. Sometimes you can take this jade pendant. If you need anything, go to a store with the Black Bird logo. They will help you."
That piece of Xuanniao jade pendant is a token of Xuanxiao Pavilion. There are several members of the sect who were also founded by Ji Nanbei himself, one with Ye Xiuan, one with Xuanniao and the other with Blue Bird.
Ji Yannuo accepted the jade pendant and said, "Thank you, mother."
"Madam, it's time to set off." Danzhu said after decorating the things.
Ye Yanxun nodded and took Ji Mianxi to bed. Danzhu looked at the young man in front of him and said, "Young master, please take care of yourself."
He turned around and followed him.
After the person walked in, the young man got on his horse and walked in the opposite direction.
The countryside is sunny and sunny.
In the farewell pavilion, a young man in black clothes was standing on the armrest. Outside the pavilion, a maroon horse was munching grass with its head lowered. When he heard the sound of horse hooves not far away, he turned around and saw a young man in green clothes coming on horseback, full of high spirits.
"Senior brother." Ji Yannuo reined in his horse and turned over.
"Send the person away?" Yan Ruiyuan asked coldly.
Ji Yannuo strode into the pavilion and said, "That girl Xi'er almost cried. It took her a long time to coax her."
And he almost relented and agreed to take the little girl with him.
Yan Ruiyuan responded lightly. Seeing his worried look, Ji Yannuo straightened his expression: "Is the matter encountered this time very difficult?"
"Do you know the Zhu family?" Yan Ruiyuan asked coldly.
Ji Yannuo was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "I just learned not long ago that the Zhu family is good at using poison. If you calculate carefully, I have some connections with the Zhu family."
"Is this matter related to the Zhu family?" Ji Yannuo then asked.
"The Zhu family's mark was found at the hidden stake of the Yan family's trouble." Yan Ruiyuan told Ji Yannuo one by one what he had discovered in the past few days, "I suspect that there is a traitor in the Yan family."
"What's your next plan, senior brother?"
"Go back to Yan's house first and tell the family about this." Yan Ruiyuan said.
Ji Yannuo thought for a moment and said, "Then we will split into two groups. Senior brother will go back to Yan's house first, and I will go to investigate secretly. In the past few years, the Ji family has been protecting my identity from the outside world. It should be more convenient for me to investigate. Once
Once I find out, I will send a flying pigeon to pass the message to you."
The two teenagers discussed the countermeasures and then parted ways. Little did they know that a bloody storm would be waiting for them next.
For convenience, Ji Yannuo left Baizhu alone and asked Zisu to return to Yaoyu Valley to take care of the family.
"Sir, where are we going now?" Bai Zhu asked, looking at Zi Su's leaving figure.
"Take the water route to Ningcheng." The Zhu family is quite powerful in Ningcheng. If something really happens, Ningcheng should leave some traces, and taking the water route is the most hidden.
##
For the sake of safety, Ji Yannuo did not take a boat from Jiangling City to Ningcheng. Instead, he made a circle to the port in Quanzhou. Hundreds of small and large boats enter the port in Quanzhou every day. Ji Yannuo bought
He bought a medium-sized boat with everything in the cabin, allowing him to go to Ningcheng comfortably.
On the Yanbo River, the fishing fires sleep in sorrow.
Without saying anything, Ji Yannuo walked to the deck wearing a piece of clothing. The boatman saw him coming out and said with a smile: "Why are you coming out, sir? The river is cold at night, so be careful of catching a cold." The simple boatman looked at Ji Yannuo's thin body.
, dressed as a scholar, all the clothes on his body were brocade, and with the way he raised his hands, he had an extraordinary temperament, so he must be the son of a wealthy family.
"I can't sleep, so it's good to do something on this boat and look at the scenery." Apart from a few lights in the distance on the river, there is no scenery there. The boatman only thinks that scholars are different. Even in the dark, you can see the flowers.
Since they couldn't sleep, the two naturally started chatting. The boatman was also enthusiastic, "Looking at the young master's clothes, he must be from a wealthy family. What are you doing in Ningcheng?"
"Visiting relatives." Ji Yannuo said with a smile, "My mother is from Ningcheng. This trip is to return home for my mother."
"Boatman, have you been to Ningcheng?"
"To be honest, sir, I have been on this river for twenty years and have traveled back and forth between the two cities no less than a hundred times. I am quite familiar with Ningcheng." The boatman said with a smile while rowing the boat.
"Does the boatman know about the Zhu family in Ningcheng?" Ji Yannuo asked with a smile.
The boatman's face changed slightly when he mentioned the Zhu family, and he said, "Of course we know that the Ningcheng Zhu family is everyone in Ningcheng. They are one and the same in Ningcheng. Even the prefect has to give up three points."
"I heard that the Zhu family is good at poison and can kill people without knowing it. No one in Ningcheng dares to offend the Zhu family. However, the Zhu family knows how to use poison and see doctors. They often visit the poor people who have no money.
He can also set up tents to spread porridge, and his reputation in Ningcheng is pretty good." The boatman said with a smile, "Master, why are you asking about the Zhu family?"
"It's nothing. It's just that my father has some connections with the Zhu family. This time he specifically asked me to visit Ningcheng when I have time." Ji Yannuo put his hands in his sleeves, his brows were gentle, and his face looked harmless.
"Let me tell you, the Zhu family can be as far away as possible." The boatman shook his head and said, "Although the Zhu family has a good reputation in the past few years, I don't think it is that simple."
"Why did the boatman say that?" Ji Yannuo asked doubtfully.
"Once I went to Ningcheng and wanted to bring some specialties back to my wife and daughter. I accidentally saw the Zhu family arresting a beggar and not knowing what he was doing. I felt strange, so I waited nearby for a while.
I found Zhu’s family coming out carrying a sack, and it seemed like there was a person inside.”
"The boatman can't talk nonsense, human life is at stake." Ji Yannuo said, "Can the boatman see clearly?"
"I originally planned to follow him to have a look, but I was afraid so I didn't follow him." The boatman sat in front of Ji Yannuo and said, "Who knows, maybe I'm blinded. Anyway, it's better to be more cautious when you go out.
.”
"I'll note it down. Thank you to the boatman for your advice." Ji Yannuo stood up and saluted the boatman. The boatman quickly said, "It's just a reminder. You don't have to be polite, sir."
"I see that the young master is only about fifteen years old. He should go home as soon as he finishes his work. The world is not safe now," the boatman said.
"Is it unsafe?" Ji Yannuo asked, "Since the emperor succeeded to the throne, he has lightened taxes, reduced corvee labor, and imposed more restrictions on officials from various places. All the way I went south, there was a prosperous scene. How could it be unsafe?"
"Young master, you don't know something." The boatman said with a smile, "In the past few years since the new emperor came to the throne, the people's lives have indeed improved a lot, but the further south they get, the more chaotic they become. As the saying goes, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. After passing Nanhua City,
It gets more and more chaotic as you go south, especially near the seaside, where pirates often touch you. It's very chaotic. Lao Zhang, who went sailing with me in the past two years, was captured by thieves in Ningcheng and is still here today.
If I haven’t found it, I’m afraid it’s more likely to be in danger.”
Indeed, after Song Hanxiu came to the throne, he promulgated a series of policies that benefited the people. In recent years, whether in the capital or elsewhere, the people were living and working in peace and contentment. This time when going south, there was an obvious increase in beggars in the city, and there were also refugees going north.
Seeing that Ji Yannuo was deep in thought, the boatman said with a smile: "I see that the young master is a scholar. When he is named on the gold list in the future, he will definitely be a good official."
Ji Yannuo smiled when he heard this and said: "Although I am a scholar, I don't like going to court. I just want to help my father at home."
This was the first time I heard that a scholar did not want to be named on the gold medal list. The boatman became interested and asked: "I wonder what the young master does at home?"