Golden Stage

On the official road leading from Jingbei to Kuizhou, a skinny horse strolled unhurriedly. On the horse, a man wearing a sunshade hat was walking around boredly watching the flowers while throwing crispy and delicious sesame crisps into his mouth.

After a while, a pack of sesame cakes was gone. He took out a water bottle from his bag, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and said disgustedly: "What the hell, it's dead."

It was Fu Shen.

Two days ago, he and Yan Xiaohan parted ways outside Jingzhou City, and after walking two miles away, they deliberately turned back, just to tease people at the gate of the inn.When he was buying sweet-scented osmanthus candies, he happened to see sesame crisps next to him, so he bought a pack of them, intending to eat them as snacks on the road.

Thinking about it now, he himself is not addicted to sweets, and he might not be able to eat a piece of candy for three to five months, but he would buy sesame crisps. It was purely because he was dazzled by the aroma of osmanthus candies.

It is not far from Jingzhou to Kuizhou, the center of the southwest, and it only takes three days to go fast, but Fu Shen has been walking for six days.He hadn't walked slowly between heaven and earth so carelessly and freely in many years.Although he was still young, he spent the rest of his life like chasing ducks to the shelves, busy, shouting and killing, not to mention beautiful wives, beautiful concubines, high-ranking officials and generous salary, and he couldn't even go home a few times a year.

The trip to Jingzhou made both him and Yan Xiaohan change a lot, perhaps because he finally found sustenance and belonging, and understood that in this long world, he was not the only one walking alone.

Sometimes in teahouses and restaurants in towns by the roadside, Fu Shen could hear some news from Jingzhou, such as after the incident in Xishan Village, the government sent people to salvage the lake, and more than a dozen corpses were recovered.It is said that there are no insects and fish in the lake, only one kind of aquatic plants can grow wildly with the corpses as nourishment, tightly entangle the bones of the corpses, and suspend them in the water, like a forest of corpses that have not seen the sun.

Some people also said that the imperial envoy from the capital encountered heavy rain on his way and stayed overnight in the Fox Fairy Temple. A big case.

Fu Shen laughed secretly when he heard it, and thought "the fox said it", isn't that "nonsense"?

Most likely, some storyteller in Jingzhou City saw that there was a fox fairy temple by the lake, so it was far-fetched and made it up.

"Mr. Storyteller" Yan Xiaohan couldn't help muttering, he sneezed on the side of his head, and the tip of his pen flicked, leaving an ink dot on the snow-white page, completely destroying the half-written book.

He threw away the memorial and replaced it with a new piece of paper.The prefect of Jingzhou acted fairly quickly, and the trial of the case was almost completed in six days. He submitted the confessions, testimonies and other documents to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for decision, and he arrived in Beijing in about two days.He omitted Fu Shen's section in the memorial, and only mentioned that they were nearly struck by lightning in the Fox Fairy Temple, so they strayed into Xishan Village by chance.Yan Xiaohan heard the legend of the Fox Fairy Temple, and suspected that it was some kind of god's guidance, so he sent Queen Qi away and returned to Xishan Village to investigate.Although his body was white in autumn, he still managed to escape from birth.In short, thanks to God's blessing, they finally succeeded in finding out the truth and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Master Yan finished the nonsense without changing his face, and ordered his subordinates to send the booklet to the capital.King Qi should also have a memorial to deliver, but because the Feilong Wei Qincha envoy has the right to directly present the imperial court, the two did not go together, and Yan Xiaohan didn't bother to inquire further.

He walked to the window, looked at the shade of trees outside the window, let out a long breath slowly, felt his hands trembling again, so he touched a candy from his purse and pressed it on the tip of his tongue.

The sweet osmanthus fragrance permeated the air, possibly due to the influence of drug addiction. He felt that he had never missed someone so much, and his heart ached when he thought about it.

They had only been separated for six days.

Fu Shen once again showed his extraordinary foresight.Yan Xiaohan's drug addiction has not been completely quit, although it is not serious, but once Fu Shen left, he had no sustenance, and suddenly became difficult when he had an attack.Fortunately, there was still that bag of sweet-scented osmanthus, which left him with a little comfort.Yan Xiaohan has developed the habit of using sugar to quit addiction, but it is like a drop in the bucket for his body that eats marrow and tastes. The combination of physical pain and spiritual pain sometimes makes him wish he could just throw King Qi away. , chasing him to the southwest alone.

I hope that the case here in Jingzhou will be concluded sooner, and when he returns to the capital, he might be able to find an errand to go to the southwest again.

The idea is good, but the cruel reality tells him: think well.

Within two days, the special envoy of Beijing and China rushed to Jingzhou with an imperial decree. First, they removed the black yarn from the magistrate and county magistrate officials. King Qi and Yan Xiaohan.

Since March, Bailusan has appeared repeatedly, causing catastrophe, first in the capital, then in Jingzhou.As early as the Jinwu Guard case, Yan Xiaohan had made a note, asking the emperor to order a strict investigation of Bailusan in various places, so as to avoid future troubles, unexpectedly it was a prophecy.

Emperor Yuantai was not yet confused, and Qiu Yebai had flooded to the point where it affected Jingchu's grain tax.To the east of Jingchu is the Huguang Liangjiang area, which is the world's granary and rich wealth. If we continue to let it go, I am afraid that all these places will be hard to escape.Therefore, he issued another imperial decree, ordering King Qi and Yan Xiaohan not to return to Beijing after finishing their errands, and to travel eastward along the Yangtze River to patrol the Jiangnan area, and make sure to eliminate potential dangers in the autumn night and white, and to allow him to act urgently. .

Like a thunderbolt from the blue sky flashed in mid-air and fell with a bang, Mr. Yan's shattered wishes and tears drifted away in the warm spring breeze of Jingzhou.

Southwest, Kuizhou.

Fu Shen rode a skinny horse into the city at a leisurely pace. Most of the Han people here lived mixed with Miao, Bai and other ethnic groups, and the scenery and customs were quite different from those in the Central Plains.Fu Shen originally thought of many ways to meet the king of Xiping County, but when he reached the gate of the palace, he put all his previous thoughts behind him, walked to the gatehouse with a big hand, held his bamboo hat, lowered his head slightly, and said, "Excuse me Notification, I want to see the King of Xiping County."

As the saying goes, the seventh-rank official is in front of the prime minister.Although the concierge of the county prince's mansion was not as snobbish as the watchdog in the capital, Fu Shen looked poor from head to toe, and covered his face with a bamboo hat, so he didn't look like he could associate with their master.The man rolled his eyelids indifferently, stretched out his hand and said, "Name post."

Fu Shen had seen many servants like this, so he poured out a piece of broken silver from his purse, put it into the porter's rough palm, and said with a smile, "There is no name card, you just said that it was Du Leng, a military doctor from Beiyan, who came to visit."

The concierge weighed the silver in his hands, a little joy flashed across his face, his attitude was still arrogant, but his tone was relaxed: "You wait here for a while, I will go in and inform the prince."

Not long after, the man came out with a tense expression, this time he didn't even dare to fart, he nodded and bowed and invited Fu Shen in, leading him to the flower hall on the west side of the main courtyard.

Someone was already waiting for him in the house.Duan Guihong, King of Xiping County, is now close to the year of his destiny, but he is well maintained, his body is slender and powerful, and his face is still like a man in his prime. He stared at the man in black wearing a hat, frowned slightly, and asked doubtfully, "Who are you?"

Fu Shen took off his bamboo hat, revealed his face, and smiled politely and sincerely at him: "Your Majesty, please don't blame me for disturbing you."

Duan Guihong: "..."

He was taken aback for a moment, then immediately dismissed all the servants, closed the doors and windows, his brows were almost knotted: "General Fu suddenly came to the humble house, what can I teach you?"

"There is nothing to teach." Fu Shen pulled a chair and sat down, "Your Highness, you don't have to be so unfamiliar, you are my elder, just call me by my name."

Duan Guihong's eyes moved down, staring at his legs: "You...Jing Yuan, why did you come to the Southwest instead of recuperating in the capital?"

Fu Shen lifted the hem of his clothes, showed him his boots, and said casually, "The injury is almost healed. As for why I appear here... you should know better than me?"

Duan Guihong's eyes flickered, his whole body was introverted and majestic, facing Fu Shen, the two did not give in.He said coldly: "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, no, you should only know that I am in Jingzhou," Fu Shen patted his thigh, "Look at my memory, I only told Du Leng that I was going to Jingzhou to find Yan Xiaohan, but forgot to tell him that I would drop by for a while. Go to Kuizhou."

He smiled and said, "Why, the lord doesn't seem to like me very much?"

Duan Guihong was silent for a moment, as if he had given up on making false claims with him, and asked straightforwardly, "When did you find out?"

The smile on Fu Shen's face remained the same, but there was no smile in his eyes at all, and there was even a hint of imperceptible coldness in his voice: "I found quite a few, which one is the prince referring to? Is it that Du Leng was placed in the house?" Come to my side, or send Taoist Chunyang to assassinate the emperor at the Longevity Banquet?"

"... Or, deliberately spreading Autumn Night White in Jingchu, intending to overturn the chessboard and completely disrupt the Jiangnan area?"

Every word he said was like a knife, stabbing straight at Duan Guihong's bottom line of silence and tolerance.

The king of Xiping County has led troops for many years, and his temperament is resolute and serious. Although he has cultivated a little bit of self-cultivation these years, that is to blame, but Fu Shen still seems to be unaware of it, and he is desperately trying to pull out the tiger's beard.

Duan Guihong gritted his back teeth and said, "Fu Shen, you're not afraid...you won't be able to get out of this door today?"

"Look, isn't this a coincidence. I didn't intend to go out of this sect today," Fu Shen said confidently, "I came to Kuizhou alone. I didn't have much money to spend. I was worried about having no place to live. I planned to borrow from your residence. How many nights to stay in Baodi, I wonder if the prince will allow it?"

Duan Guihong: "..."

Fu Shen choked on his words. Although Fu Shen didn't come here with hostility, he still felt that he was about to get over it. After finally calming down, he tried to speak calmly, "Since you know these things, You should also understand that I didn't mean to harm you."

Fu Shen said, "Naturally. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here today."

Duan Guihong relaxed slightly, and sat down opposite him: "What I have done is nothing compared to what the emperor did to Beiyan's iron cavalry."

"The commander of Beiyan is sitting in front of you," Fu Shen said coldly, "Although I'm lame, I'm not dead yet. My lord, have you asked me what I mean when you want to avenge Beiyan's army?"