Bright Spring

The inspector glanced at him, "That's all! You should be more careful on the road."

Zhu Gaoxu thanked him, stepped into the carriage again, patted the wooden boards of the carriage, and Wang Bin in front of him slapped a whip in the air, and the carriage continued to move forward.

It's less than a thousand miles from here to the capital, and the group of people took a car to walk along the post road really quickly. They drove every day, and it took another six or seven days to reach the ground of Yingtian Mansion.

...They found an inn outside the Jiangdong Gate first.

Zhu Gaoxu claimed to be husband and wife with Du Qianrui, so he lived in the same room with her.After Fang settled down, he asked Zheng He and others to discuss matters in the room.

When several people came in, they locked the door first.Zhu Gaoxu was standing by the back window, from here he happened to see the majestic Jiangdongmen tower, as long as he entered the city gate, he would be the capital... At this moment, the situation was tense, and he felt somewhat worried.

Zhu Gaoxu turned around, closed the window, and said in a deep voice: "Based on my experience in the capital, I have never been checked when entering or leaving the city gate, and the gatekeepers usually only check suspicious people. It is reasonable for us to enter the capital this time. There will be no mistakes, but at this time the north is fighting, and the capital will guard against spies. We must not be careless, we must prepare well in advance...'Zheng Zhong'?"

Wang Bin and others looked sideways at Zheng He.Zheng He said in a low voice: "The person who meets us is a monk from Xuanzang Temple, with the name of Qingyuan. Qingyuan has a house in Jilong Mountain not far from Xuanzang Temple. The owner of the land deed is Zhong Bin. In fact, There is no such person in the world, Qingyuan just claims that the owner of the house is doing business with the chief envoy of Zhejiang.

If we are interrogated, we will say that we live in Jilong Mountain.The fake Yingtianfu road guide can't be taken out, it is easy to be seen through in the capital, but Zhong Bin's name and address can stand the investigation. "

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "In this way, our identities can stand a little bit of scrutiny. If we don't go to the city today, we will take a bath and change clothes in the inn first, so as not to be suspicious of our dusty appearance."

The person who responded was a monk, and Zhu Gaoxu guessed that it might be Yao Guangxiao's person.But this matter is very important. Zhu Gaoxu and Yao Guangxiao have no conflicts in dealing with the court... In addition, the concubine Wang Ning has been found guilty of espionage by the court secret agents. Now that he is in prison, Zhu Gaoxu dare not find Wang Ning's son, Wang Zhenliang, is here; if he needs someone to help him, he can only find the spy Qingyuan monk arranged by King Yan.

After discussing, Zheng He and the three left and went back to their rooms.

For the sake of prudence, Zhu Gaoxu tried not to show up outside as much as possible, and only asked Zheng He to buy dinner and bring it to the inn room to eat.Zheng He has almost never been to the capital, and no one knows him here. However, he learned a mandarin in the Yanwang Mansion, and he is more secure in his activities.

At dusk, another servant of the inn knocked on the door bringing hot water for the guest officer to bathe and change clothes.

Standing by the window outside, Zhu Gaoxu first observed the Jiangdongmen tower through the window, and soon became a little flustered... There is a warm pavilion in this room, which is blocked by a partition.Originally, I couldn't see anything outside the Nuan Pavilion, but it was different when a lamp was lit inside. Du Qianrui's shadow was reflected on the layer of cloth.The movement of her holding a ladle to water the inside can also be seen clearly.

Along the way, the two pretended to be a couple, covered in sweat and dust on the way, not to mention Zhu Gaoxu was worried about things and was very tired, so he didn't do anything to Du Qianrui.At this moment, he couldn't help but keep looking at the partition.

After a long time, Du Qianrui got dressed, and when she came out from the partition, she was slightly surprised to see Zhu Gaoxu blushing, and when she was about to speak, she followed Zhu Gaoxu's gaze and looked back.

Du Qianrui's face immediately turned crimson, and she didn't dare to look at Zhu Gaoxu anymore.

"I didn't see anything..." Zhu Gaoxu blurted out, and immediately realized that he was trying to cover up, so he pretended to be indifferent, "I only saw shadows."

His tone was calm, and he thought he had controlled his emotions properly, but he couldn't control his youthful body.Du Qianrui glanced at him quietly again, her face turned even redder, and she couldn't even speak.

After a while, Du Qianrui tremblingly said: "The people at the inn said that they only fetch water once, and I asked Mr. Zhong to take a bath first, but Mr. Zhong refused..."

Hearing that gentle and tense voice, Zhu Gaoxu felt dizzy for a while when the shadow on the partition door appeared in his mind.But the partition wall of this inn is relatively thin, and Wang Bin, Wei Da, and Zheng He live in the rooms on both sides, and I am afraid that if the voice is a little louder, it will be heard.What's more, not far away is the gate of the capital, and the situation cannot tolerate any negligence. Zhu Gaoxu realized that the timing was not right, and finally restrained his impulse.

He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "The water used by Ms. Du is fine, it's good...well, don't worry too much about the details when you're out."

"My lord..." Du Qianrui bit her red lips and looked up at him, "This concubine will help you take a bath and change your clothes."

Zhu Gaoxu reached out his hand to touch the bulging blood vessels above his temple, suddenly felt his nose was slightly itchy, so he stretched out his hand to touch it, took it off and saw that his finger was stained with blood, he blurted out: "I am Cao!"

"Is it important?" Du Qianrui's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly took a handkerchief to wipe it for Zhu Gaoxu.He smelled the pleasant fragrance on the handkerchief, and hurriedly said, "Stay away from me, let me calm down, and I'll be fine soon."

Chapter 1: Rules and Precepts

The bright red sun had just risen above the tower of Jiangdongmen, and the crowd of horses and chariots at the gate of the city had already formed a long queue.There were quite a few people at dawn, most of them were traffickers, and after the sun came out, there were more people of all kinds.

Zhu Gaoxu and Du Qianrui sat in the carriage, Wang Bin drove the carriage, Wei Da and Zheng He each led the horse, and the group waited for nearly half an hour before reaching the city gate.There were two rows of armored soldiers lined up at the gate of the city, and they were questioning and searching one by one. No wonder so many people were blocked.

The group of people were stopped without exception, and the general at the door said: "Everyone in the car get down!"

Zhu Gaoxu stooped out of the carriage as he said, and then turned around to help Du Qianrui get off the carriage.Immediately, a soldier opened the curtain with a tasseled gun, and looked into the car for a few moments.

The general asked, "What are you doing in the capital?"

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I live in Shangyuan County, and I just left the city yesterday."

As soon as he spoke in official language, the general turned his head and saw the soldiers beside the carriage nodding, he immediately waved and said, "Hurry up, there are many people behind."

Zhu Gaoxu and Du Qianrui got into the carriage and entered Jiangdongmen safely.After a while, he couldn't help raising the corner of the curtain, and looked back at the capital city tower.

... They entered the outer city, but did not go to the gate of the inner city, but detoured to the vicinity of the Taiping Gate on the north side of the inner city, and arrived at Xuanzang Temple.

Zhu Gaoxu was waiting in the carriage, and after a short wait, Zheng He brought a monk over.Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the monk, and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. Seeing the monk slowly walking to the side of the carriage, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly remembered: In the spring of the first year of Jianwen, the prince was poisoned in the mansion of the capital, and he followed the monk who came to visit the prince with his fourth uncle Xu Zengshou , is this person!

"Master Qingyuan, please get in the car and talk." Zhu Gaoxu immediately confirmed the identity of this person.

Qingyuan lifted the straw curtain, saw Du Qianrui, and immediately said: "Amitabha!" After a moment of hesitation, he still came up.Zhu Gaoxu slapped the carriage, and the carriage left immediately.

The monk did not look sideways, avoiding the woman in the car, and said to Zhu Gaoxu: "We have met before, do you remember, Donor Zhong?"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "My fourth uncle is also from my father, but I didn't know it before he went south."

Qing Yuan also nodded, and then took out a key from his bosom and handed it over. Zhu Gaoxu took it and put it into his bosom silently.

After a while, Qingyuan said again: "The benefactor is waiting for the poor monk on the road south of Jilong Mountain, and we will meet later..." He lifted the curtain of the car and took a look, "Stop the car first, the poor monk and the benefactor will enter the Taiping Gate separately. .”

Zhu Gaoxu patted the carriage twice, Wang Bin made a "wow" sound, the carriage stopped slowly, and Qing Yuan went out immediately.

Zhu Gaoxu and the group continued to walk forward, and they didn't even encounter interrogation when they entered the Taiping Gate.The gates of the inner city are not as strict as the outer city, which is almost the same as usual. The officers and soldiers only look at those people with strange shapes.

After waiting for a while at the foot of Jilong Mountain, he was greeted by Monk Qingyuan.

Zhu Gaoxu has never been here before, but he has memories of the former King Gaoyang, and he has a little impression.The first thing he thought of was that there was a nunnery on the mountain. The nunnery was called Jiming Temple, and there was a pharmacist tower in it, which was very famous in the capital.

Qingyuan is a monk, why did he buy a house next to the nunnery?This really made Zhu Gaoxu unable to bear his imagination, what he thought of was a sentence: The monk can touch it, but I can't touch it?

But this is an illusion, if this Qingyuan is a fake monk, he doesn't care about the rules and regulations, there is no need to find a nun... Taizu out of population considerations, stipulated that women under forty cannot become a nun.

The mansion is in Jilongshan, probably because Jilongshan and Xuanzang Temple are close, so they are inside and outside the Taipingmen respectively; moreover, the mansions in this place are quieter than other places, with fewer eyes and ears and fewer people.

Jilong Mountain is not high, and you can see the Medicine Master Tower at the foot of the mountain.They walked northwest along a main road for a while, and they saw a group of buildings. One of the streets was full of shops selling incense, candles and paper money, apparently for the pilgrims of Jiming Temple.Qingyuan simply said the words "left" and "forward" in the car, and the carriage and riders passed through the paved street and turned into a quiet alley.

After a while, Qing Yuan said, "Here we are."

Zhu Gaoxu opened the curtain and handed the key to Wei Da.As soon as the gate opened, carriages and horses entered the yard one after another.

After Qingyuan got off the car, he looked at Du Qianrui again with appraising eyes.Zhu Gaoxu didn't understand what it meant, and doubted Du Qianrui's identity?Or give Du Qianrui a score?Anyway, Qingyuan didn't ask, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to explain either.

The house is indeed ordinary, not too big, just a small yard, a row of brick houses, the walls are painted white, and there is a two-story pavilion on the east side.The sound of wooden fish in Jiming Temple can also be heard faintly, but the place is very quiet and peaceful.

At this time Zhu Gaoxu asked: "My father said that someone in the capital had contacted Li Gong, so it wasn't Master Qingyuan who did it?"

Qing Yuan shook his head: "There is someone else."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu felt relieved, and walked with him to the second-floor pavilion. Wei Da tried a few times and opened the door.A smell of dust and rotting wood immediately spread over the inside, and it was obvious that this place had not been lived in for a long time.

Qing Yuan walked into the hall and said, "Young Master Zhong, see benefactor Li or benefactor Chen first? When will we meet?"

The benefactor Chen he was talking about was Chen Xuan from the Governor's Mansion.Before Zhu Gaoxu left, the King of Yan meant to meet Chen Xuan if he had an opportunity...Emperor Jianwen didn’t have many people who could use him. Chen Xuan had a lot of memorials in river defense, water warfare, etc., and he might be the commander of Dajiang Jiang Defense in the future duty.