Li Zhaocheng opened the car curtain, took a look outside, and whispered to Jiang Fan: "I'm going, look to see if there is a tail."
"Be careful."
"Do not worry."
Li Zhaocheng quickly got off the carriage, quickly passed through the crowd, and rushed towards the group of people coming out of Prince Zhong's Mansion.
Before anyone could get closer, a loud shout was heard.
"Get him!"
Li Zhaocheng was kicked in the abdomen and fell to the ground, his body already being pinned down.
He remained calm and looked up at the sixty-year-old official in front of him.
"Mr. Ye, I am the brother of Sichuan Li Jieshuai. I have something very important to discuss with you."
Ye Mengding was about to get on the sedan when he turned back, his eyes thoughtful.
Li Zhaocheng allowed people to search him, and he spoke quickly and said: "Today, a cricket bit King Zhong."
"Let him come over." Ye Mengding stroked his beard and thought for a moment, pointed to the sedan and said to Li Zhaocheng, "How about riding with me?"
…
In the distance, Jiang Fan saw Li Zhaocheng getting on Ye Mengding's sedan with his own eyes, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He glanced around, looking for suspicious figures in the streets.
"The scholar in green shirt at the entrance of the alley, the vegetable vendor on the corner, the candied haws seller, and the old woman... follow them to see which one is going to Renshoufang."
~~
Renshoufang.
Ouyang Hui pushed open the courtyard door and looked down the alley.
Her father is Ouyang Shoudao, the headmaster of Bailuzhou Academy, who is from the same clan as Ouyang Xiu.
Bailuzhou Academy was founded by Jiang Wanli. Later, when Jiang Wanli revolted, Ouyang Shoudao stayed in the academy and taught many outstanding talents of the day, the most outstanding of whom was Wen Yunsun.
Ouyang Shoudao admired Wen Yunsun very much and married his daughter to Wen Yunsun early, which was regarded as a wise man.
Ouyang Hui didn't care whether she was the wife of the number one scholar. She was deeply in love with Wen Yun and Sun Kangli. She was more concerned about her husband.
At this time, the night was getting darker, but Wen Yunsun had not returned yet, and she couldn't help but have a look of worry in her eyes.
Finally, a sedan slowly came over in the darkness.
Ouyang Hui hurriedly retreated back to the yard. When she saw that the person getting off the sedan was Zhao Yumin, the prefect of Lin'an, she came out again to perform a blessing.
"I've met Uncle Zhao."
The reason why she was called this was because Ouyang Shoudao and Zhao Yumin had always been close friends. Wen Yunsun now rented the small courtyard that belonged to Zhao Yumin.
"It's Hui'er." Zhao Yumin got off the sedan and warned, "Song Rui hasn't come back yet? Ask the servants at home to wait. Don't come out at night, in case you encounter a thief."
"Thank you, Uncle Zhao, and please wait a moment while my niece goes to collect the money for renting the house..."
"Well, it's boring to see outsiders."
"The officials have told me that they must be given."
Zhao Yumin smiled, waved his hand and said, "Let Song Rui tell me tomorrow. Go back quickly."
After saying this, he turned back to his mansion.
Ouyang Hui glanced at the entrance of the alley again, and saw that the sky was getting darker, and she became more and more worried.
"May I ask if it's Mrs. Wen?"
Suddenly a woman's voice sounded from behind.
Ouyang Hui turned around and saw a woman coming from the other end of the alley. She had a pretty figure.
But when the other party came closer, he saw that half of her face was covered with scars, which was quite shocking.
"Madam, go back." The maid behind him whispered, pulling Ouyang Hui.
Ouyang Hui was not afraid, but felt a little sorry for the other party, and said: "Who is this lady?"
"I was originally a singer in Jia Sidao's palace, but I offended him for some reason... I came here tonight to inform Madam of something."
Ouyang Hui stroked the hair beside her ear, as if she had a premonition of something.
She raised her head, her posture seemed a bit strong.
"Please invite this lady to come in and talk..."
~~
Over there, Zhao and Min turned back to their mansion.
His great-grandfather Zhao Bogui was a brother of Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty. Although Emperor Xiaozong was adopted by Gaozong, after Zhao Bogui died, Xiaozong still posthumously named him King Chong and gave him a mansion in Huzhou.
Therefore, Zhao Yumin's home was also in Huzhou, and he came to Lin'an to become an official, and he only had a few younger children with him.
Among them, his favorite was the seventh son, Zhao Mengfu.
Zhao Mengfu is only five years old this year, but he is already very talented in calligraphy and painting. At this time, he is sitting in the courtyard practicing calligraphy with a candle.
"Father."
Although Zhao and Min liked the child, they responded with a straight face: "It is necessary to work hard, but don't damage your eyes."
After saying this, he turned to his stepmother Qiu and said, "Light more candles for the child at night."
"Yes, officers, please eat first."
"Don't worry, let Fu'er finish writing this post, and I'll change my clothes first."
Zhao Yumin took a deep look at his son who was showing off his beauty at such a young age, and sighed quietly.
Seeing that the official family has no heirs these years, he is not without thoughts.
It felt like they were very close recently. If Wu Qian and Li Xia could work together, even if the seventh son was not allowed to be an heir to the official family, it would be better to let the fourth son born to his deceased wife Li be adopted...
It's a pity that the success fell short.
Now that Prime Minister Jia Sidao is in charge of the world, it won't be long before he, the prefect of Lin'an, will be replaced.
The clan...the ancestral temple of the Song Dynasty has become a one-man world.
With this thought in mind, suddenly, the concierge hurried over.
"Alang, I heard that Madam asked for a meeting and said that she had something important to do..."
Before he finished speaking, Ouyang Hui hurried over and was about to kneel down.
"Uncle, please save the lives of our officials."
"Quickly, support her." Zhao Yumin quickly asked Mrs. Qiu to stop Ouyang Hui from kneeling and said, "What's the matter? Speak slowly, go to the hall..."
~~
Zhao Mengfu, who was sitting in the vestibule studying calligraphy, put down his pen and turned his head to look at the hall. He saw that all the other servants had been pushed back. In the hall, only the Wen family's sister-in-law was talking in a low voice to her father, while her mother was sitting outside. .
He ran to the hall with the written words in his hands, wanting his father to read it so that his sister-in-law could have dinner with him.
As he ran to his father's side, Zhao Mengfu heard a few words, but he didn't understand them at all and didn't care.
"...The lady only heard the word 'wind disease', so Jia Sidao ordered the news to be suppressed and the officials detained."
"Where is she?"
"I left because I was afraid of being implicated."
The next moment, the copybook held high in Zhao Mengfu's hand was slapped away by his father...
~~
On the carriage, Jiang Fan squinted at the alley and watched a scholar in green shirt walking towards Zhao Yumin's mansion.
The door of the mansion opened with a "squeak" sound.
"It doesn't have to be so perfect." Jiang Fan murmured in a low voice.
~~
Over there, Zhao and Min just rushed out of the mansion. When they saw the scholar in green shirt walking towards them, they whispered.
"My lord, Prince Zhong has been summoned to the palace. Li Xia sent someone to tell Ye Mengding that the crickets are going to bite Prince Zhong..."
Zhao Yumin nodded, turned around and told his entourage: "Prepare the sedan and enter the palace."
~~
Inside, in the Xuande Hall, Zhao Yu was still kneeling in front of Zhao Yun and trembling.
"Ghost... I really saw the ghost of Wei Guansun..."
"I'm not asking you this now." Zhao Yun said: "Let me say it again from the beginning, telling what I just remembered."
Zhao Fu lowered his head, recalling it with difficulty as if he was reciting something, and said: "The husband said that my uncle's employment for the child... was very hard, and it was time to visit him. The husband then arranged for his entourage, and two of them followed the child all the time. But they have obviously never been seen before... When they arrived at my uncle's house, after the child was born, they disappeared..."
"That night there was auspiciousness. Did you really see the immortal?"
"No...no." Zhao Yu said: "The child is studying...not studying. The child is playing hide and seek. When someone shouts, 'The water is gone, the water is gone', the child runs. Running, the teacher said, there is an immortal."
I gave you the elixir..."
"Is this what you want to dedicate to me?"
"No...my husband asked the child to donate it, saying it would be good for my father's health."
Zhao Yun's face became darker and darker, and he turned to look outside the hall, waiting anxiously.
He has not yet decided whether to issue an edict to mobilize troops to pursue Li Xia on the charge of "collaboration with the enemy and treason."
This is a major matter and must be determined first. Finding out whether Li Xia is colluding with Ye Mengding is the fastest way.
You must ask Ye Mengding.
Finally, He Zhongjing hurried into the hall and knelt down.
"The humble position is guilty, Your Majesty..."
"Where's the Ye Mengding people?"
He Zhongjing kowtowed heavily and said: "Not in Prince Zhong's Mansion. I only found out that he met Li Xia's people... I don't know where he went after that. I have ordered people to take control of his mansion."
Zhao Yun's face changed, a rare stern look flashed in his eyes, and he shouted: "Continue to investigate secretly. Once Li Xia and Ye Mengding are discovered, they will be killed without mercy."
"I accept the order from my humble position!"
Zhao Yun stroked his forehead and paced back and forth.
He couldn't believe that things would develop to this point. The Imperial City Division alone was no longer enough to suppress the matter.
Deploy troops?
It turned out that Li Xia wanted to defect and took away several ministers.
"Pass the decree to recruit ministers, and the commanders of the three yamen palaces will immediately enter the palace to perform their duties."
"According to the decree."
"Dong Songchen, please change Wen Yunsun's memorial to...Li Xia has secret contacts with Mongolian Li Fen..."
~~
To the north of Miyagi City, go to the church.
"Hit the score! Feiyu is amazing."
A shout sounded in the barracks.
After playing kettle for a while, more than 20 guards and soldiers who were friends with Yang Zhen were already drunk. On the contrary, the more than 10 guards accompanying Li Xia were still sober.
Seeing this scene, Li Xia stopped accepting the arrows from Yang Zhen.
"It doesn't really matter if Dingfan is playing around like this?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm just an honorary officer without actual duties. Tonight, the palace is to strengthen the defense. The general went to lead the people in person. His new officer has taken office. It's a good performance. He wants me to guard the camp... come again."
"No more fun, it's not that interesting, I'm leaving."
"Where to go?"
"I'm sleeping in flowers and willows." Li Xia said: "My people have already set off. While they are slow to travel by water, I will play for another three to five days before arriving at Huating County to meet up."
"Then it's time to spend more time with me, don't be unfaithful."
"Okay, then I'll go outside and take a breath."
Li Xia walked calmly outside the camp, walked up to the observation deck, and raised his eyes to look towards the palace city.
This place is on Fenghuang Mountain, from a high position, with a panoramic view of the Ouchi Palace.
I saw the torches on the inner city wall of Lin'an, the outer city wall of the Great Inner Palace and the inner city, which looked like long snakes, which was quite spectacular.
Previously, it was only possible to count over 10,000 troops garrisoning the palace city. Tonight, there should be at least 30,000 troops stationed near the palace city.
Not including the troops in the north of the city and the outer city...
Yang Zhen also walked over and said with a smile: "The night wind is so cold."
"Yes, Lin'an is really not suitable for being a capital. How can there be a palace built at the foot of the mountain? If you climb up and take a look, you can clearly see the strength of the troops."
"There is also the Huaihe River, and the Yangtze River is naturally dangerous." Yang Zhen disagreed and said with a smile: "I really think who will guard Lin'an when enemy soldiers cross the Yangtze River?"
"Too."
"How about some more fun?" Yang Zhen murmured to himself and said with a smile: "Yes."
"Huh?" Li Xia looked into the distance and snorted casually.
Yang Zhendao: "I've heard that you have poetic talent, but I haven't heard you compose a poem in this period of time. In this situation, and on the occasion of parting, please give me a poem."
Li Xia looked around and saw a group of people holding torches from a distance, heading towards the Xuande Hall.
The emperor summoned his important ministers overnight, and it is self-evident for what purpose.
His eyes finally showed some anxiety, he turned his head and looked east towards the wine warehouse.
After a while, I finally saw a flash of fire.
"Feiyu?"
Li Xia turned around, with only calmness in his eyes, and said with a smile: "That's good, this situation and this scene do remind me of half a line of the poem I read in the book, but I can't remember it clearly."
"Read it to me quickly."
Li Xia put his hand on the wooden railing and muttered something casually.
"I dare not stretch my legs late at night, for fear that the mountains and rivers will penetrate my feet."
The words were not spoken yet.
"boom!"
"boom!"
"boom!"
"..."
Explosions were heard one after another, the observation tower underfoot was swaying, and the sky on Phoenix Mountain seemed to be falling apart.