Golden Stage

I haven't seen it for a few days. The Fox Fairy Temple still stands on the original hillside, but it is even more dilapidated. It looks like a pile of ruins in the night, and the river flows into a wide water area behind the mountain.

There is no wind or rain tonight, the moonlight is bright and clear, the shore of the lake is rocky, the lake is sinking without waves, and there is an indescribably gloomy coldness.Yan Xiaohan got off his horse and stood by the lake for a long time, staring at the deep blue water for a long time, before he finally remembered what was so strange about this place.

It was raining heavily that night, so they didn't get close to the lake to take a closer look, and Qi Wang and Yan Xiaohan and their party were all from the north, so they were not very familiar with the southern scenery, so they didn't realize that something was wrong: this lake appeared in the middle of the mountains, and it was still there. There is running water pouring in, but there is no grass on the edge of the water. There are neither reeds, aquatic plants, nor water birds to inhabit. There are even few fish and shrimps. The whole lake is like a pool of stagnant water, without any vitality.

Thinking of what the villagers did tonight, Yan Xiaohan suddenly had a terrible guess.

Not long after, there was the sound of rushing water in the river, Yan Xiaohan looked closely, and there was indeed a white shadow floating up and down in the center of the river.

Villagers in Xishan live near the water, and the quality of the water is excellent. Perhaps it was because his wife rushed up to obstruct him. The rocks on the man's body were not tied tightly, and after entering the water, they loosened a little, so that he has not sunk to the bottom until now. Relying on one breath, he drifted with the water to the lake.

Yan Xiaohan took off his outer shirt, filled it lightly with water, and swam to the middle of the river with all his strength, cut several strands of hemp rope with a little silver edge on his fingertips, let the big rock fall to the bottom of the river dragged by the rope, and then punched him unconscious. The man who was struggling indiscriminately grabbed him and floated to the surface, and swam towards the shore.

He rescued him in time, even though the man choked on the water, he was still breathing, Yan Xiaohan threw him to the shore, saw that he could only spit out water for a while and didn't have the strength to escape, so he turned around and submerged in the water again, heading not far away Swim across the lake.

The night outside was getting darker, and the lake water was even darker. Yan Xiaohan could only see about a foot around him. He held his breath and dived down, feeling the rhythm of the river flowing into the lake, and continued to explore the depths of the lake.

Swimming, he felt as if he had bumped into something, at first he thought it was a fish, but then the thing kept poking back and forth behind his back, he grabbed it impatiently, the touch was soft and slippery, and he pulled it closer Look, Bai Shengsheng looks like a tender lotus root, with forks at the end——

It is a human hand.

As soon as he came, he held hands with the residents at the bottom of the lake, Master Yan almost didn't push over on the spot, almost thinking that he was addicted to drugs, and had hallucinations again.He spit out a string of bubbles, feeling that he had just been shocked, and the air in his mouth was not enough to support him to face the next wave of shock, so he gave up decisively, kicked his legs in the water, and swam upwards.

A moment later, a big splash appeared on the surface of the lake, and Yan Xiaohan broke through the water, and just after he let out a long breath, he heard the sound of horseshoes coming from the shore.

Fu Shen didn't have time to stop, so he jumped off the horse and walked quickly towards the lake: "Menggui!"

Yan Xiaohan waved his hand at him, indicating that it was okay, and swam from the lake back to the river by himself, rinsing repeatedly in the clear water.He is not obsessed with cleanliness, but anyone who has been soaking in the corpse water for so long will inevitably feel nervous.Fu Shen followed him from the lake to the river, stretched out his hand to pull out the drenched Yan Xiaohan, grabbed his outer robe and covered his head with it, wondering, "Why are you making this extra trip?"

Yan Xiaohan grabbed his hand and refused to let go: "I won't tell you, otherwise you definitely won't let me hold it."

Fu Shen scoffed disapprovingly: "The matter is fine."

The wind was strong by the water, Yan Xiaohan was drenched all over, and when he was blown by the wind, coupled with the scene at the bottom of the lake just above, his hairs stood on end and he shivered.Seeing this, Fu Shen wanted to take off his outer robe and give it to him, but Yan Xiaohan still held him tightly, Fu Shen struggled a bit but did not let go, and said helplessly, "Still let go?"

"No," Yan Xiaohan said with a trembling, unwavering smile, "I'm terrified, I need Master Hou to hug me."

Fu Shen looked at the trembling "poor little boy" without a word: "Why didn't you scare you to death?"

Having said that, he still raised his arms to hug Yan Xiaohan, using his body to shield him from the wind, and the two of them left the lake bank like glue, and went to the place where the horse was tied, and there was an unconscious woman in plain clothes lying on the horse's back. people.Yan Xiaohan glanced at the man knocked unconscious by him, turned his face away, pretended not to notice the same brutality, and suggested, "Move them to the Fox Fairy Temple?"

The two carried him into the Fox Immortal Temple, one in each hand. Fu Shen found some broken wood from the backyard, built a fire, and pressed Yan Xiaohan in front of the fire to dry him.Yan Xiaohan briefly told him what he saw at the bottom of the lake, intending to scare him, but Fu Shen was much stronger than him, so he just frowned: "According to the villagers' habits, there may be more than one dead body at the bottom of the lake. One, how many people in the village are enough for them to throw it like this?"

Yan Xiaohan said: "It won't be too early. I guess it might be about the same time as when Bailusan spread in Beijing."

Fu Shen: "Tell me in detail."

Yan Xiaohan: "First, Taoist Chunyang entered Beijing and lived in Qingxu Temple about three and a half years ago, that is, at the end of the 22nd year of Yuantai; second, Jingchu's grain tax was reduced. This was last year The account should be settled in winter, but it has been delayed until this spring. If the reduction in production is due to the flood of autumn night white, then autumn night white has appeared here at least before the autumn of Yuantai 25."

Fu Shen said: "What does the grain tax have to do with autumn nights? The second clause is a bit arbitrary."

Yan Xiaohan explained to him: "Although Jingchu is not as rich as Liangjiang, it is also a rich place. Last year there was neither drought, flood, nor man-made disasters and wars, but the grain tax was reduced by [-]% for no reason. This is unreasonable. You have also seen it in Kuangfeng County, Qiuyebai is easy to become addicted, and the price is extremely high, and users who take it often go bankrupt and suffer from diseases. Is it possible that this may cause some farmers to go bankrupt?"

"Furthermore, Qiuyebai itself is a huge profit. If someone profited from it, every household followed suit and changed to Qiuyebai instead of growing food, which would lead to today's situation. It is easy to verify this. Let's go outside Jingzhou City another day. Let's go and see what is planted in the field."

Fu Shen nodded, indicating that he understood, and continued.

"Thirdly, according to Yi Siming, when Bai Lusan appeared in Beijing, it was about autumn and winter last year. It was after you were injured in Qingsha Pass and His Majesty bestowed a marriage for you and me. Taoist Chunyang has been lurking in the capital for several days. In order to avenge you, Qiu Ye Bai happened to have proven medicinal properties in the south, so he brought it into the capital."

He paused, and concluded: "Based on the clues we have found so far, Qiuyebai was first spread in the south, and then was brought into the capital by Taoist Chunyang. There should be no objection to this point."

"I took it for granted again," Fu Shen said, "According to you, Qiuyebai has existed for a long time, but it was hidden and muffled and refused to be taken out. Later, because of some kind of opportunity, it became popular in the Jingchu area, and it was also recognized by Chunyang. Taoists use it to harm people——Since Qiu Yebai is so profitable, why didn’t he use it to make him a lot of money, insist on being so ethical, and wait until I am injured before using it?"

"I don't take it for granted," Yan Xiaohan shook his head and reminded, "Jing Yuan, don't forget the identity of the person behind the scenes we guessed at the beginning."

Holding the murder weapon but not letting it out, it might be strange to put it on someone else, but what if the other party is Beiyan cavalry?

If it weren't for the deep hatred and unbearable hatred, how could he turn the butcher's knife facing the foreign enemies and aim at the world they guard with their flesh and blood?

Fu Shen may not be able to do the thing of turning against him until he dies, but it is indeed possible for the former Beiyan Iron Cavalry.

Yan Xiaohan guessed that he must be feeling bad, so he put his arms around his shoulders.Fu Shen thought for a moment, and said, "I still have one thing that I don't understand: if Qiu Yebai appeared in the south earlier than in the north, then the reason for this is not that I was injured, but something before that."

Really asked by him, Yan Xiaohan frowned and muttered: "Last summer... how did it affect my ability to go to the south?"

The two looked at each other, and an impressive scene flashed in their minds at the same time.

Yan Xiaohan: "Last June, the two of us had a quarrel in the court, and were fined by His Majesty for half a year."

Fu Shen continued, "It's because the DPRK and China are going to send supervisory envoys to the borders of the four directions, and some people flatter them, saying that it's best for you Feilongwei to come here for this job."

The past is so vivid, it seems like a lifetime away.

Who would have thought that a pair of enemies who had been quarreling in the court hall and wished to blow each other's dog's head off with a wat board, would be cuddling each other in front of the bonfire in a ruined temple today.

It can be seen that the world is indeed unpredictable. If you live for a long time, you can see any miracle.

Yan Xiaohan said: "It hasn't been a day or two since the emperor had the idea of ​​controlling the military power of the four directions. Although the temptation in Xia Tian was refuted by you indiscriminately, it failed to take place, but since this matter is brought up to the court, it is no different from Clearly declare to the world that the generals stationed in the four directions should tighten their tails and behave well."

Fu Shen said dissatisfiedly: "Hey, what are you talking about? Who is messing around?"

Yan Xiaohan was interrupted by his thoughts, and said dumbfoundedly: "Is this not true? You are being reasonable, the emperor originally planned to send military supervisors from the center to various places, but he just casually mentioned Flying Dragon Guards, You just hold onto it tightly and start picking on me, isn't that called nonsense?"

Thanks to Yan Xiaohan that day, there was a bit of a change, and at that time, he followed his will and led the topic to "Why did the Feilongwei group of dogs want to kill Zhongliang again?" .Who knew that Jingninghou would turn his face like a book, and now he would never admit it!

Fu Shen sternly nodded at him: "Being a minion for a tiger is not a thing."

Yan Xiaohan replied mockingly: "It's not as good as a beast to kill a donkey."

Seeing that the two were about to pinch each other again, there was a soft whine from behind.The two of them turned their heads together, and saw the woman who was thrown in the corner by them like a broken sack moved her fingers slightly, slowly waking up.