write a letter

The situation in the world is always changing in the blink of an eye. The martial arts exorcism conference that was raging in the floating lotus wall was already three years ago. From that time until now, there has never been a trace of a cult in the Central Plains .

Now all the discussion in the Jianghu is about the Eight Martial Arts Competition, which is less than a year away. There are a few candidates for the popular Eight Schools who are in the sky, their behavior is becoming more and more arrogant, and some small sects have been suppressed even more. Don't dare to say anything.

There is a Jingkeju in Fulan County. This is a teahouse that Chinese people in the county like to come to. They chat here on weekdays. It should be a common saying that things gather together and people are divided into groups. Today, a few people came to the teahouse. The five big and three thick guys whose behaviors are incompatible with this place, and as soon as they came in, they showed the momentum of smashing the place, and threatened to find the teahouse owner.

The owner of the teahouse, surnamed Chi, is a frail literati. Although he is quite proud, he can't do anything about these elders who are upset with his fist as big as half his head. So he was pushed and pushed by these people. After a while, I had no choice but to say: "Guests, this is a teahouse, not an inn and tavern. Please don't make any noise. If you have any requests, please mention them, and I will try my best to meet them."

The big man standing in front said: "Hey, just wait for your words. Our owner said that your tea is not dry enough and lied about it. The price should be lower."

Boss Chi's eyes showed embarrassment: "But this tea money... really can't be lowered."

"Ah? Although this teahouse of yours is a little rich, it is surrounded by our Fengwu Mountain Villa." The big man took a step closer to him, arrogant and domineering to the extreme, "Boss Chi, don't you want to toast and not eat fine wine."

At this moment, a young servant walked in quickly, and when he saw his boss confronting a strong man, he trembled, stood aside tremblingly and said, "Boss, boss...the distinguished guest has arrived..."

Boss Chi took a look outside, then looked at the few strong men blocking the middle of the aisle, and couldn't help but said: "I'll discuss this matter later, I have important matters to deal with..."

The big man immediately stretched out his hand and grabbed Boss Chi's lapel: "Isn't it because you want to run away, kid? Is there something more important than Master...!"

A hand suddenly reached out from the side of the big man, and the two fingers with distinct knuckles pinched the big man's thick wrist, and then everyone heard the big man let go of his hand with an 'ow'.

The big man looked at the blue spot on his wrist in horror, and then turned his head to see that the one who had pinched him just now was actually such a gentle-looking young man with a soft smile on his face, and this young man was holding a walking stick, beside him. There was also a servant girl supporting him.

When Chi Laoban saw the young master in Tsing Yi, he cupped his hands immediately, and said respectfully, "Young Master Li laughed at the trifles in the teahouse."

Li Wanshu smiled and waved his hand.

Boss Chi turned his head to the big man with a stern face: "Guest officer, please tell your owner that the price of tea is like this. I, Chi, will not be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door if I don't do anything wrong. If you are dissatisfied with an honored guest like the owner, go to another house!"

"You...!" The big man seemed to want to make trouble again, but he glanced at the mild-mannered young master who seemed to have a handicap. The good man gritted his teeth and left in dissatisfaction.

"Boss Chi, I haven't seen you in half a year. Why did you come here to make trouble?" Li Wanshu spread his fan and sat down slowly with the help of the servant girl beside him, who hurriedly served him a pot of tea. .

Boss Chi also seemed to be very helpless, he pulled out a chair and sat opposite Li Wanshu, poured a cup of tea for both of them, and said, "Young Master Li also knows how the candidates from the Eight Great Sects will behave outside this year, as long as the matter is not serious Well, the government turned a blind eye after accepting the benefits. Hey, aside from such boring things, Mr. Li is still the same this time?"

"Naturally, the color and price of your tea here are in line with someone's liking. I'm afraid it will be hard to find anywhere else." Li Wanshu lowered his head and took a sip of the pure tea-colored Biluochun, and said with a smile.

"Haha, that's good, Mr. Li will wait here for a while, and I'll get someone to move the tea to your carriage." After Boss Chi finished speaking, he went to ask someone to work, and he himself followed to supervise.

It was very interesting for Li Wanshu to sip tea alone. The place he was sitting in was not a cubicle, and there were people passing by his table. After a while, a man in blue walked past him with a fan, as if It was the guest who had already finished his tea and was about to leave, but in such an instant, Li Wanshu already had an extra piece of paper in his hand.

No one around noticed what the two of them were doing, so the person who handed the paper walked out of the teahouse unsteadily.

Boss Chi came back soon, and the two sat down and chatted for a while, then Li Wanshu took his leave and left. With the help of his maid, he walked slowly on a crutch, and only read it after getting into the carriage. After glancing at the small note just received, he lifted the curtain and told the people waiting by the carriage, "Let's go."

The carriage was walking unhurriedly on the street, Li Wanshu looked at the passing cars and crowd outside the window, and remembered his thoughts.

A year ago, he finally found out the location of the cult's main altar. After many searches, he only knew that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Without absolute certainty, he held back and did not make a move.

A few days ago, someone came to report that Mu Zhenghong had found clues about Liu Shangshu's end. If he hadn't been waiting for him, the minister of Dali Temple with a dog's nose might have found him.

Sure enough, it was too eye-catching to look around for the old department with the soldier talisman fished out of the underground palace, but time was running out, and he had to take advantage of Muguo's internal and external troubles to gather everyone to make preparations.

It is really unwise to engage in a protracted tug-of-war with the cult now, and the ambitious group of cult members seem to be unable to resist wanting to take a bite of the fat on the edge of the Central Plains nest.

He still endured it and looked at the situation from the side.

A figure rode over from a distance, and the man dismounted in front of his carriage, and then a clear female voice sounded from outside the curtain: "My lord, Ah Ling is here to return."

Li Wanshu still looked out of the window, and said, "Come in."

Ah Ling opened the curtain of the car and walked in with a cat on his waist. After seeing his expressionless owner, he half-kneeled and said: "...The subordinate is not doing well. A patrol team almost revealed their identity."

When Li Wanshu heard this, he turned his head and lowered the curtain, raising his eyebrows in surprise: "You have been lying around for so long without being noticed, why were you suddenly bumped into by a patrolling man?"

A Ling lowered her head even lower, as if she was very ashamed because she hadn't fulfilled the task given to her by the owner: "My subordinates... don't quite understand that the patrol team is actually the same as usual, with more than a dozen people riding on it. Immediately walked through the town and the main street according to the route. The subordinate was sitting in a tavern on the street at that time, but just glanced at them, the person in front suddenly turned back and looked in the direction of the subordinate."

Ah Ling was particularly impressed by that day. The wind and sand in the northwest was strong and the weather was cold. Many people would wrap themselves up in a ball and go out, with only a pair of eyes exposed on their faces, but she felt that the man's eyes seemed to be able to see through them instantly. With all her thoughts, she even saw her face covered under the cloth.

The face of the man in the black cloak was tightly covered by the hood, turned his horse's head, and walked slowly in her direction.Hearing the sound of horseshoes approaching bit by bit, Ah Ling's heart was pounding. She broke out in a cold sweat, but in order not to look more suspicious, she forced herself to sit still on the stool.

But when the man got behind her, he dismounted lightly, walked into the tavern and asked the boss for a small pot of wine, and rode away without even looking at her.

Li Wanshu listened to her quietly, without any change on his face, he just said: "In the future, don't get too close to the patrol team, it's best to hide."

Ah Ling answered yes, and quickly backed away.

Li Wanshu lowered his eyes, tapped his injured leg lightly, and frowned.

Ah Ling must have been discovered. At least, that person must have sensed that something was wrong. The imperial court has also secretly strengthened the strength of the northwest frontier defense recently, and they should also send people to investigate the situation.

Was it because the man didn't do anything because he was not sure which side Ah Ling was from?Or...

"Hiss..." Li Wanshu pursed his lips, the faint pain in his leg interrupted his thoughts.

This misty and rainy day in the south of the Yangtze River is really not friendly to his legs.

It was March, and the crabapple flowers in the imperial garden in the palace were in full bloom. Maybe it was because the pink flowers were so tender and tender that they inadvertently attracted Dali Siqing and the third prince Zhong Yu. .

Fan Yang was walking on the road covered by a large patch of pink, and Zhong Yu, who was walking slower, looked delighted: "When the emperor is busy, we should sneak in for a stroll once in a while, the begonias in the palace are no better than others. The land is being cared for and precious!"

Zhong Yu, who had been keeping a straight face, seldom teased him: "The cult is ready to move but its trace is unknown. The civil and military officials in the court are all nervous, and you are the only one free."

Fan Yang winked at him and waved his hands: "Hey, it's not that I'm not nervous, but this matter can't be rushed. I'm busy with the things the emperor ordered, and I'm so busy."

"Third prince! Lord Fan! The emperor called the two adults to go to the imperial study, ouch, why did the two adults run so far away?" The servant is not young, so he almost visited the imperial garden with them. At this moment, he could catch up and stop on the spot out of breath.

Fan Yang and Zhong Yu looked at each other, then raised their legs and walked towards the imperial study.

At this moment, the imperial study room was lighted with soothing incense. Mu Zhenghong rubbed his temples and frowned and sat on the chair. He turned his head to look outside when he heard the voice of Dali Temple Minister and the prince arriving.

To be honest, Fan Yang and Zhong Yu felt quite comfortable after visiting the Imperial Garden just now, but it is a pity that if this comfort is too obvious in front of the emperor who is always frowning, it will be time for them to be frowning later, no, It was he, Dali Temple Minister, who was frowning, and the expression of the third prince probably remained the same.

So the guy put on an expression of bitterness and hatred the moment he bowed his head in greeting.

"My lord, kowtow to the emperor."

Mu Zhenghong was really in a bad mood at first, but he smiled helplessly when he saw Fan Yang and the two: "Come on, Fan Aiqing doesn't have to twist her eyebrows more than I do, I was just nagged by General Liao. Headache, if Ai Qing has good news, report it quickly to make me feel relieved."

Fan Yang rolled his eyes when he heard the words, and showed a smile, but he didn't deserve a beating: "This time I went to investigate Liu Shangshu's life experience, and I did have some clues. Liu Shangshu's father was the late Liu Musheng and Liu Musheng. The Taiwei did have two sons, but when Liu Shangshu was young and weak, he was frightened by the gang of thieves, and when he came back, he fell seriously ill, and when he woke up, he forgot many things."

Mu Zhenghong somewhat understood what he meant: "You mean that it was very likely that Liu Taiwei's son was dropped by someone?"

Fan Yang: "It's a pity that both Liu's father and son have passed away. It is difficult for us to pursue the truth. It's just that when I went to Liu Shangshu's hometown to verify this matter, a huge mansion suddenly caught fire. I am afraid that someone has been paying attention to my actions."

"In the fire, the minister and the third prince could only rescue a strange letter that was hidden under the bed used to rest in the study, and because of the raging fire, there was only the last piece of this letter left."

After speaking, he took out a piece of yellowed letter paper from his pocket. There were scorched marks on the left and right sides of the paper, and some words in the middle could barely be read.

Mu Zhenghong took it over and took a look, but he didn't see anything special, so he looked at the two of them suspiciously.

Fan Yang: "Your Majesty, you can see that this is a letter written by someone else to Liu Shang. It only talks about some trivial things in Jiangnan life, and the person who wrote the letter agreed to go to a birthday banquet with Liu Shangshu. I suggest that Liu Shangshu The birthday ceremony of Liu Shangshu can be replaced by a jade whisk, so does the emperor know whose birthday banquet Liu Shangshu is going to attend?"

The emperor is in charge of the affairs of the world, but he doesn't care about everything. He doesn't remember who and when Liu Shangshu's friends have their birthdays.

Fanyang: "It belongs to Zhou Xiang."

Mu Zhenghong: "...His? I remember that when Zhou was appointed as a minister, there was a lot of civil and military discussions in the court. In terms of ability and qualifications, the position should have been taken by Liu Shangshu. I was also curious why Liu Shangshu recommended a A phase with someone who has no relatives and no reason for me? And judging from the back, this son is still repaying kindness."

Fan Yang: "That's right, so the ministers assumed that if Liu Shangshu's recommendation of Prime Minister Zhou was not out of his original intention, but he was forced to do it because of being held hostage?"

Looking at this incomplete letter, Mu Zhenghong's eyes suddenly brightened: "...Can Yu Fuchen replace 'calling'?"

Fan Yang nodded, thought for a while, and said: "As for the Mr. Huo who made his fortune in a bank that Zhou Xiang said was found out, the guards who followed said everything was normal. I think it might be to investigate Liu Shangshu's matter to scare the snake away. gone?"

"No problem," Mu Zhenghong said, "Now that the cult and our country are already confronting each other, this group of people will probably come to intervene when the time comes."

When Fan Yang and Zhong Yu came out of the palace, it was already dark. Mu Zhenghong wanted to keep them for dinner but was declined by both of them. The main reason was that Mr. Qing Fan of Dali Temple wanted to eat something made by the prince himself. vegetable.

"Zhong Yu, do you feel...the emperor's attitude towards people from the previous dynasty has changed a lot?" Fan Yang walked in front

Asked, "I remember that the emperor said before that he would deal with these rebellious officials and thieves. Why is it now more like looking for someone who can talk?"

"Maybe General Liao said something to the emperor." Zhong Yu looked at the back of the person in front of him with soft eyes.

Fan Yang raised his eyebrows, and ran back to him in small steps, with his hands behind his back as if thinking hard: "Then according to what the third prince saw, under what circumstances would the emperor put aside all the rats running around inside, oh, why not kill them all?" , but still looking for traces of mice?"

Zhong Yu glanced at him, rarely moved his brows slightly, and suddenly raised his eyes to look forward, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and it took a long time for him to highlight four words: "Foreigners knock at the gate."

Perhaps it was because the Third Prince was exceptionally foresighted in this respect. In less than half a year, that is, when summer was approaching, the cult suddenly launched an attack on the northwest border.

However, this battle was not as popular in the Mu Kingdom. It was just a branch of the Qibone Tribe of the cult. The one who acted as the vanguard of this foreign race was actually the Horse Race outside the border of the Mu Kingdom, which occupied almost the same area as the Mu Kingdom. - Huli.

Although the Northwest army had been prepared for a long time, it could only fight against Huli who suddenly launched an attack. The resources on the border are scarce, and the food and grass are decreasing circle by circle, but no one knows when the emergency food and grass will be delivered.

Huli was already aggressive this time, and with the help of those crooked sects during the period, the details of the Northwest Army had been found out a long time ago, and now they are fighting in a serious manner.

On Li Wanshu's side, he was going to take advantage of this great opportunity to send a team to explore the way.