The moon in early August is getting rounder and rounder.
As the clear light fell, Du Youlin and Xue Bai raised their glasses to each other, one drinking and the other drinking.
"My uncle wants me to find him a doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a fifth-grade official." Du Youlin muttered, "As for the minister of household affairs, the interviewer of the capital, the imperial censor, etc., he wants to Give Yuan Zai a concurrent role."
Xue Bai listened and was not surprised by this.
Now that he has not yet become an official, there are few talented people around Yang Zhen. It is true that only Yuan Zai has the ability to hold up Wang Zhi. And Yuan Zai is extremely ambitious and dares to do anything.
But he still reminded: "Yuan Zai is still young and has little qualifications. If the uncle relies on him so much, it can easily make people feel arrogant, which is not necessarily a good thing."
"Yes." Du Youlin said: "But now is the time to employ people. There are few talented and trustworthy people. It's a pity that you haven't joined the official position yet."
"I'm not jealous." Xue Bai said: "It should be noted that Ge Nu is still in power now, and then the East Palace will shrink its head. The thorn in Ge Nu's side is the uncle Guo, Yuan Zai and others."
"this……"
Xue Bai lowered his voice and said: "It may not be good to be promoted quickly."
Du Youlin nodded, understanding that Xue Bai regarded him as one of his own. At present, the atmosphere in the court was very bad, and people like Yang Dang attracted Ge Nu's attention, while they silently accumulated strength.
Thinking of this, his obsession with the fifth-grade red-robed officials became less intense.
Xue Bai said: "However, the position of doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs Examination is very important. We must get it."
Apart from anything else, if he passes the imperial examination and chooses a satisfactory official position, the official doctor can play a big role. What's more, there are so many cronies to promote.
Don't rush, just take it step by step.
The two discussed their official career in detail, and Lu Fengniang wanted to mediate with Xue Bai. Before she could find the opportunity, Du Youlin was already drunk, so she had to help him back to the house.
After a small family dinner ended, Xue Bai looked up at the sky and said, "The wind is so strong."
"Have it?"
"I'm going to sleep with the window open. If you don't mind the noise, go to the west wing."
Du Wulang said: "While you were away, I had someone repair the window."
Xue Bai didn't expect him to be so careful.
I looked back and saw that the Du sisters were not far behind me.
"Oh, then I'll go to the west wing."
"I've repaired the windows, but you want to go to the west wing?"
"Well, you also know that I have been writing plays recently, I think it will be inspiring."
"Your drama...well, is it a little too colorful?"
~~
The candlelight was swaying gently.
Li Jilan sat in front of the window, unfolding the play he had written, and was lost in thought while watching it.
She knew that the more she wrote the drama, the more colorful it became, but Xue Bai always indulged her. Sometimes he would give her a few words, but he would let her write it more colorfully...
"Ji Lanzi, are you still not sleeping?"
Li Jilan put away the scroll and turned around to look, only to see it was Li Tengkong.
"Didn't you even sleep when you were in the air?"
"Supreme Master Wushang will return to Wangwushan in a few days. Some Taoist scriptures have not been sorted out yet. I wonder if she will take them with her."
"That's what I should sort out." Li Jilan stood up quickly, "Look, I missed something."
"It doesn't matter, let's sort it out together."
The two senior sisters arrived at the sutra room and sorted out the sutra books brought back by Princess Yuzhen.
"Do I need to carry this baggage? It's so heavy." Li Tengkong asked.
"Ah, Supreme Master won't let anyone touch this baggage..."
While they were talking, the heavy package fell to the ground, and the scriptures were scattered all over the floor. The two of them hurriedly knelt down to pack them up.
All I saw were Taoist scriptures, such as "The Flower Camp Brocade Formation Ten Thousand Directions", "Dong Xuanzi", "Tianxia Zhidao Tan", "Su Nv Jing", "Sheng Penglai" and so on.
Li Tengkong was fond of Taoism, so he casually opened it and took a look.
"ah!"
Li Jilan looked up and saw that Li Tengkong's cheeks were red and he could see clearly at night. He was throwing away the scripture in his hand as if he had been stung.
She couldn't help but be curious, picked it up, opened it and looked at it, and instantly blushed.
The candlelight was shaking, and the picture in his hand seemed to be shaking too. In the picture, two women were having sex with a man... that...
She was at a loss and quickly wanted to throw the dirty thing away. The next moment, she caught a glimpse of some small poems beside the picture.
"It's half shy and half evasive. It's different from the ordinary wave."
"I turned around and whispered to hurry up, and told me not to tell others."
This poem is actually much more colorful than the drama she wrote, but it seems to be closer to the style of The West Chamber...it is actually worth observing.
Looking up and meeting Li Tengkong's eyes, Li Jilan quickly put it away.
The two sisters stopped talking and packed up the scriptures silently.
As they walked through the corridor, their hands accidentally touched. Li Jilan withdrew his hand as if he was electrocuted. When he turned around, he saw that Li Tengkong looked calm.
"Oh, have you heard?" She opened her mouth to talk about other topics and said: "Sir, he won the first place and the defendant went to Dali Temple."
"Well, when I found out, he was already fine."
"Amazing."
Li Tengkong looked back at Li Jilan. Inexplicably, the atmosphere became even more awkward. The two of them quickly dispersed and went back to their houses.
That night.
Li Jilan had a dream.
The moonlight was shining across the sky, and the garden was full of flowers. She crept along the corridor with her embroidered shoes, and saw Xue Bai and Li Tengkong hugging each other... kissing. She was startled, turned around and ran away, but Xue Bai chased after her.
Come up.
"Sir, I can't compete with you."
"I got a nosebleed because of you."
Looking up, I saw the two nosebleeds.
Then the picture changed, and the picture in the album kept shaking.
She held hands with her, like two lotuses swaying on the water.
Li Jilan was really frightened by this dream, and was so frightened that she broke into a thin sweat.
…
"Master, my disciple is probably sick, right?"
The next day, Princess Yuzhen was beside Li Jilan's couch, stretched out her hand on her forehead, and frowned.
"I have a fever."
"Perhaps...it was hot at night and I lifted the quilt."
Princess Yuzhen took out a pill and stuffed it into Li Jilan's mouth, and said, "I'll prescribe some medicine for you, it won't be a serious problem. Let's go back to Wangwu Mountain after the illness is cured."
"Don't delay the master's schedule because of my disciple. Can my disciple stay in Chang'an Yuzhen Temple with Teng Kongzi?"
Li Jilan whispered, glanced at Li Tengkong, and blushed inexplicably.
Thinking again that Teng Kongzi had no distracting thoughts, but he dreamed of that kind of thing, I felt very ashamed.
But at least I can stay in Chang'an and finish writing the play.
~~
On the fifth day of August, the Long Live Qianqiu Festival, the third-rank ministers and relatives of the emperor celebrated the saint's birthday.
The next day, a group of carriages and horses slowly left Chang'an City. Princess Yuzhen was about to leave again, and there were many people seeing her off at Shili Changting.
"Guzu." Li Yuetu stepped forward and said to Wanfu: "Brother, I promised to come a long time ago, but now he is grounded and cannot come out despite all possible means, so he has to ask me to see him off on his behalf."
"It doesn't matter. As the grandson of the emperor, it is more important for him to abide by the rules."
Princess Yuzhen knows more details than others.
Recently, the East Palace has been in a precarious state. First, Li Chu was banned, and then the Pei Mian case was widely involved. Fang Guan, Du Hongjian and others were all demoted and released.
It should be noted that in mid-July, the sage Fang appointed Li Bi to serve in the Imperial Palace and serve in the East Palace. Everyone in the court thought that the situation in the East Palace had improved, but in less than a month, the Mid-Autumn Festival had not even arrived. It was like a slap in the face of everyone in the East Palace.
Princess Yuzhen did not participate in this. She was influenced by Li Bai and hated Anlu Mountain. Moreover, she liked handsome people and hated ugly ones. She couldn't stand the way the saint was teased by the funny fat man, so she simply went back to Wangwu Mountain.
The carriages and horses have gone away, and the Chang'an ancient road has become quiet.
Starting from the next day, demoted officials continued to set off here, leaving behind many regrets and worries.
The sky is blue and the sky is yellow, the ground is yellow, the west wind is strong, and the wild geese from the north are flying south.
The woods beside the ancient road are getting more autumnal.
Finally it’s August 13th, two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the saint will hold a banquet in the main building of Qinzhengwu. This matter has become the most important event in Chang'an City.
All official duties at the imperial court were temporarily suspended to ensure the smooth progress of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
A middle-aged man rode a horse through the ancient road, coming from the east and heading west.
"The grass on the Lili plain dries up and flourishes every year. The wild fire cannot burn it out, but it grows again when the spring breeze blows."
The middle-aged man was reciting poems casually. Although his figure was shabby, the light in his eyes did not fade away. He looked extremely capable. He was Pei Mian.
He did not flee to Shuofang at all, because he knew that Suo Douji would definitely search for him to the west. Therefore, after leaving Chang'an, he headed east and hid near Lantian Post. Now that the wind had subsided, he set off for Shuofang.
After walking past the Ten Mile Pavilion for a long time, it was almost evening, and there was a posthouse in front of me.
Pei Mian dismounted and went inside, and said directly to the young man who came up to him: "I'm here to receive guests."
"Please come to your backyard."
Pei Mian walked into the backyard and took a look first. There were horses and camels tied to the stables, and goods were piled in the yard. It could be seen that the East Palace had indeed prepared a caravan to send him to Shuofang.
Only then did he feel a little relieved.
Because he was not stupid, he knew that since the prince had reconciled twice, it was not impossible to kill him. Moreover, the prince relied heavily on Li Jingzhong, and Li Jingzhong was surly and arrogant, and was not easy to get along with.
Of course, the people sent by the East Palace today may have made two preparations. They may kill him or escort him.
"Your Majesty, please."
Pei Mian opened the door of a room and glanced around. There were eight people in the room, all of whom were Uighurs. He knew the leader.
"Gu Wu Gu, Your Highness asked you to come and see me off?"
"If Mr. Pei is really willing to go to Shuofang, we will set off tomorrow." Gu Wu Gu said: "Come and have a drink."
Pei Mian went over to sit down, picked up the wine glass, but did not dare to drink.
Guwugu asked all his men to go down and asked: "Mr. Pei, Li Weng asked me to ask something. Last year you transferred the dead soldiers of Longyou out of Chang'an City. Where did you hide the armor and weapons?"
"I have already told Li Weng about this matter."
"Li Weng sent someone to look at it. There are no armors or weapons there."
"No?"
Pei Mian pretended to be surprised, arranging his beard and hair, and said thoughtfully: "However, if I go to check out those armors and weapons, it will be very dangerous if someone discovers them. After all, they are all Longyou weapons."
Gu Wugu looked up and saw that the sky was already dark.
"Mr. Pei has a bright future in Shuofang, and matters in Gyeonggi Province should be properly handed over."
"Don't worry, I guarantee with my life that no one can find those weapons unless I die."
"..."
At the same time, a Uighur man was walking to the stable to urinate.
There was only one lantern hanging in the courtyard of the post house, which illuminated his figure among the straw piles.
Suddenly, a hand suddenly stretched out from behind and tightly covered the He man's mouth. At the same time, a dagger slashed across his neck.
"laugh."
Blood spurted out from the wound on the neck, and because the breath was released instantly, it sounded a little like a whistle, but it was neutralized by the sound of blood flowing, and it was not as sharp as a whistle.
Soon, blood was sprinkled on the straw and the body fell on it.
"There are seven more, plus Pei Mian's eight." Lao Liang whispered.
"I can count."
Jiang Hai made a few quick gestures, meaning that he alone would kill the six people drinking in the veranda; Lao Liang only needed to kill Pei Mian and the leader, and don't let anyone escape.
Lao Liang didn't talk nonsense, nodded, and leaned close to the door of the main house.
Jiang Hai grinned, excitement appearing in his eyes.
He wore a piece of light armor under his clothes and held a Mo Dao in his hand, which was enough for him to kill the six drunkards.
Whistling cheerfully, I walked to the veranda, where the Uighurs were chatting and laughing. When the door opened, they turned around and said something, and then asked each other in Chinese.
"Who are you?"
What answered them was Jiang Hai's ferocious smile and the Mo Dao that he slashed down without hesitation.
"puff."
"尻!"
"puff."
In an instant, the knife rose and fell, splattering blood all over the room.
"Fuck him!"
"..."
Gu Wu Gu could never get anything out of Pei Mian's mouth.
On the other hand, he also felt that there was no need to silence Li Jingzhongzhong, so he decided to send Pei Mian to Shuofang.
Suddenly, there was a roar outside.
Guwugu immediately picked up the knife, opened the door and walked out.
"puff."
The sound of breaking wind came towards him and cut off the arm holding the door open.
His strong arms fell to the ground, and blood was pouring from half of Gu Wugu's body, and he screamed in pain.
The second knife was struck, and he rolled on the spot, trying to hide.
In terms of martial arts, he may be stronger than the newcomer, but this was a sneak attack, and the newcomer was ruthless and decisive, which completely made up for the gap in martial arts.
The bones in the bone house are still rolling around, and one leg has been chopped off.
He screamed in pain and tried to fight, but the attacker backed away with great experience, leaving him to bleed, and went after Pei Mian.
…
Pei Mian immediately wanted to escape through the window, so he jumped out of the window and received a heavy blow on his back.
It was a wine jar, which was thrown towards him and hit him on the ground.
When he thought about it again, a smelly foot had stepped on him, and a cold knife was pressed against his face.
"I'm useful!" Pei Mian spoke quickly, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Only then did he take a closer look, and someone happened to be leaning over to see him.
As soon as they met, Pei Mian was stunned.
It was Lao Liang who came.
The scene of poisoning these old soldiers in Yang Shenjin's house appeared before his eyes, which made Pei Mian's heart fall into the ice cave, extremely cold.
However, Lao Liang did not kill him immediately. He stabbed him with two extremely sharp swords and picked out his hamstring first. He ignored his screams and said, "I heard it. Where are you hiding those armors and weapons?"
Pei Mian was in pain and scared. Seeing a glimmer of hope, he hurriedly stopped screaming in pain and hissed: "Of course I can tell you... By the way, who are you following now?"
"explain."
"It's in the north of Chang'an City, near the Weishui River, and outside the Forbidden Garden. It's hard to tell. I can take you to find it. If I die, you won't be able to find it."
Lao Liang didn't say anything. He realized that he would suffer from playing tricks with Pei Mian, and he wanted to kill him with a knife.
But he was actually a scout, and his habit of spying on the enemy made him intuitively aware that Pei Mian could reveal some useful information to Lang Jun.
"You are Xue Bai's man, right?"
Pei Mian asked tentatively, observing Lao Liang's reaction, and then spoke quickly.
"I know something very important to Xue Bai. Li Linfu asked me to check his life experience. I found it, but I haven't told Li Linfu yet. It is very important to Xue Bai. You take me to see him..."
From the veranda at the back, Jiang Hai, covered in blood, walked out. He entered the main room and asked, "Are you from the East Palace, on the Shuofang line?"
"Eating dog intestines."
After a while, Jiang Hai came out and said: "The dog Huihe committed suicide. Old dog Pei, please give it to me after you ask. I still have grievances to avenge one by one."
Lao Liang raised his hand to stop him, thought for a moment, and said, "Take him away and torture you slowly?"
~~
Xue Bai stayed in Du's house for a few days.
When he woke up that day, he saw Du Jin sitting beside his bed.
"You haven't left yet?"
"A food box will be delivered at dawn, do you want to go and take a look?"
Knowing that it was important, Xue Bai immediately stood up, changed into a servant's attire, and quietly left Du's house with the carriage.
The carriage entered Fengweilou's branch in Huaiyuanfang. He walked into the warehouse and pushed open the bookcase. There was a secret passage behind it. Through the secret passage, there was another high-walled courtyard.
After passing through two courtyard gates, Lao Liang came up to him and whispered a few words to him.
"Is there anyone inside?"
"yes."
Xue Bai pushed the door open and saw Pei Mian tied to a pillar.
"We meet again." Pei Mian smiled and said, "I regret that you let me go once before, but I did not sincerely cooperate with you and foolishly believed in Dong Gong."
Xue Bai said: "Yes, I could have used the help of the East Palace to get rid of you, but I admire you very much."
"We are the smart people. If you and I can support each other, we will be able to show our talents. Do you want to support King Qing? Or one of the four grandsons he raised? I can help you. East Palace, Right Prime Minister, them
I know all the secrets.”
Xue Bai leaned over, looked at the injury on Pei Mian's foot, and frowned.
"It doesn't matter." Pei Mian said: "A man is born between heaven and earth, and he should not be broken by setbacks. A small injury will not affect you and me from fulfilling our great ambitions."
"What you just said is that you know my identity?"
"That's natural. I asked Dou Chong to order me to investigate you, but I didn't tell him many things."
Xue Bai listened silently.
Pei Mian said no more, he had to keep these secrets to save his life.
Xue Bai understood, smiled, and said: "You hid the weapons of the East Palace? If you die, will your people hand them over and identify the East Palace?"
"No, I scared Li Jingzhong, and you also know what he is like." Pei Mian said: "But when things happened suddenly that night, how could I make such an arrangement?"
"Can you tell me where the weapons are?"
"Yes." Pei Mian knew that he should always show some sincerity, and said thoughtfully: "Do you know Guangyun Tan? Water transport enters Guangyun Tan along the Weishui River, and can reach the Forbidden Garden directly. I am the judge of the Gyeonggi News Envoy, and I have some duties."
Xue Bai smiled and asked: "If something unexpected happens, can you directly enter the Forbidden Garden?"
"I don't dare. I just made some small arrangements and hid dozens of full armors."
"Where exactly?"
"Not far from Guangyuntan Pier, there is a warehouse outside Forbidden Garden..."
~~
Lao Liang and Jiang Hai were guarding outside the hospital. Jiang Hai didn't understand why Lao Liang brought Pei Mian here. At this time, he thought of a possibility and couldn't help but complain.
"If you want to ask questions, just ask. After being tortured for two days, you can't find out anything? What else can you tell Lang Jun to do? People will die here by then, and they will find Fengweilou... Could it be that you, a scout, have forgotten the hatred of the brothers?
?”
Lao Liang was a little embarrassed. Just when he was about to answer, Xue Bai came out of the house.
"Lang Jun." Jiang Hai was a little anxious, "Pei Gou can't believe it..."
Xue Bai patted the two of them on the shoulders and said: "He has told you everything that needs to be asked. You take the people away and avenge your brothers. I promised you this matter, but you must deal with it thoroughly."
Jiang Hai was overjoyed, and Lao Liang also breathed a sigh of relief.
The two of them saluted Xue Bai again, their eyes looking a little different than before.
Afterwards, they rushed into the house, quickly put Pei Mian into a sack and took him away.
All traces were quickly removed one by one. Xue Bai returned to Fengwei Building through the secret passage and hid in the carriage, still thinking about Pei Mian's incident in his mind.
Pei Mian is powerful, but there are too many reasons why he can't use Pei Mian. He is a snake that bites back, a thunder that can explode, and it may alienate the people he finally managed to win over.
Ultimately you have to make a choice.
In order to adjust, I slept for less than 5 hours yesterday. Finally, I reached 10,000 words today~~Please give me a monthly ticket and subscribe~~