Tang riddles

On the morning of May 21st, in the drizzle, a tall figure holding an oilcloth umbrella appeared at the gate of the Jin Kingdom Princess Mansion in Changlefang.The visitor wore a light blue thin silk cross-collar gown with a rhinoceros girdle around his waist, a white gauze double-breasted burqa outside, and a green gold crown to tie his hair. On his jade-like face, there was a faint smile.She didn't have any followers by her side, she came alone, and she didn't carry any weapons on her body.

The general of the Jinwu Guard standing guard at the main entrance saw her with his eyes, and he was stunned for a while before he recognized who it was.He smiled and said hello:

"Brother Bo Zhao, long time no see."

"General Wang, I haven't seen you in five years. Congratulations on your promotion." Shen Sui slightly raised his oil umbrella, and clapped his hands coolly.

This General Wang was General Wang Zhongsi who had worked with Shen Sui for a day in Luoyang Palace in the past.At that time, he was only a low-ranking general in the Jinwu Guard.But he is the son of Wang Haibin, the general who fought against Tubo.After Wang Haibin died, he was adopted by the sage as a adopted son, and his reputation and status in the army were not low.In the 18th year of Kaiyuan, when Shen Sui and others were in the Western Regions, another conflict broke out between Tubo and Datang.At that time, Xiao Song and Prime Minister Xiao personally led the army to fight against the Tibetans, so Wang Zhongsi recommended himself and became the vanguard of the army.In the Battle of Yuchuan, three hundred light cavalry defeated thousands of Tubo troops, causing Tubo Zanpu to flee in panic, thus making great military exploits.About three months ago, he had just returned from the front line against Tubo, and now he has been promoted to the third rank Youjinwuwei general, and he is the first lieutenant under Yang Shuo.This time, because the Right Jinwu Guard had taken the task of guarding the Princess Mansion of the Jin Kingdom, his soldiers happened to be on duty this morning, so they came to check on the situation, so they appeared here.

Shen Sui seized the time to come to Jin Princess' Mansion, but actually had the intention of meeting this person by chance.Qianyumen's intelligence analysis is still very accurate. Although they don't know the internal deployment of the Jinwu Guard, they can speculate based on the recent movements of various ministries.This morning, I really met Wang Zhongsi.

The princess mansion is blocked, not only is it difficult for people inside to get out, but it is also difficult for people outside to get in.Although Shen Sui is the investigation coordinator of Concubine Wu Hui's case, he has not obtained the pass order from the Princess Mansion, and he has no privileges.So Shen Sui wanted to find Wang Zhongsi, after all, he had some friendship with him, and it would be more convenient to enter the princess mansion.

To be precise, Wang Zhongsi and Shen Sui actually had some quarrels. When investigating the Luoyang red-tailed lizard case, Wang Zhongsi even lost his temper at her.But later this person also made a special trip to apologize to Shen Sui, and it was considered reconciliation.In his heart, Wang Zhongsi had a lot of admiration for Shen Sui.And the one who really has friendship with Wang Zhongsi is Shen Jin, and she is the one who worked side by side with Wang Zhongsi to investigate the red-tailed lizard case.However, Shen Jin is not currently involved in the case, which is quite different from the investigation of the red-tailed lizard case back then.Her appearance here would appear abrupt and deliberate, so she did not come.

After so many years, generals are straight-tempered, Wang Zhongsi no longer cared about what happened back then, Shen Sui was naturally happy not to mention it, and proposed the idea of ​​going to the princess mansion to meet Li Jinyue.Wang Zhongsi thought about it, probably felt that Shen Sui was the investigator of the case, and it was a legitimate reason to go to the mansion to question the suspect, so he let him go, and even led Shen Sui to the mansion himself, which can be said to be a great convenience.

"Brother Bo Zhao is dressed so suavely and elegantly today, why?" Wang Zhongsi couldn't help asking with a smile on the way to the mansion.

"Hehe, I know that there is a young lady Yang in the princess's mansion, she is peerless and elegant, and I thought that I can't be sloppy to meet a beautiful woman, so I deliberately tidied it up." Shen Sui replied.

"Hahahaha..." Wang Zhongsi laughed loudly, "Brother Bo Zhao, you are such a wonderful person. What's the matter, you have the most beautiful woman in Chang'an in your family, and you have moved your mind?"

"Where is it, Brother Zhong Si must never talk nonsense, if it gets into the ears of my wife, it will be a disaster." Shen Sui hurriedly denied.And what is "the number one beauty in Chang'an back then", my lotus maid is also the number one beauty in Chang'an now.

Wang Zhongsi smacked his lips and said with a sneer, "Another unfortunate Fang Wenzhao (Fang Xuanling, the Prime Minister of the early Tang Dynasty, who was famous for fear of internal affairs and passed down through the ages)."

"How can I compare to Fang. My wife is gentle and virtuous. To have such a wife is the blessing of my life." Shen Sui laughed.

Wang Zhongsi shook his head to express his incomprehension with an expression of being abused.He is a typical man of the Tang Dynasty. If he doesn't marry a concubine of three or four at home, he is too embarrassed to come out to meet people. He really can't understand Shen Sui who lives with one wife.

"I heard that brother Bo Zhao had a daughter four years ago?" He changed the subject and asked.

"Yes." Shen Sui smiled.

"Oh, I really want to meet her, she must be a very beautiful girl." Wang Zhongsi's eyes lit up.

Shen Sui complained: I will let you see Huang'er?

"Why didn't you have another son?" Wang Zhongsi asked again.

The corner of Shen Sui's mouth twitched, I would really die if I regenerated my mind, and I would not be able to give birth to a son.He smiled and replied:

"My wife is in poor health, I don't want her to suffer any more."

"It's a pity, I still have to regenerate, how can I not have a son." Wang Zhongsi shook his head.

Shen Sui rolled his eyes inwardly: why is this guy so talkative, like a aunt in the market.

After finally arriving at Li Jinyue's study yard amid Wang Zhongsi's long-winded chat, Wang Zhongsi said:

"I'll send Brother Bozhao here. Brother Bozhao, please go ahead and leave the mansion immediately after the talk. No one will stop you."

Shen Sui cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Brother Zhong Si."

Wang Zhongsi grinned and said, "Then invite Brother Bo Zhao to have a drink some other day."

"Okay, Brother Zhong Si invites you to a banquet, and Sui Ding will go to you."

The two said goodbye outside the courtyard, Wang Zhongsi turned and left first, Shen Sui watched his figure disappear into the distance, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared. She darkened, breathed a sigh of relief, straightened her robe, and stepped into the courtyard , to the study.

Shen Sui didn't knock on the door of Li Jinyue's room, but pushed the door open and walked in.As soon as the door was opened, a strong smell of alcohol rushed over.Shen Sui frowned immediately.Li Jinyue's study occupies a large area, the right ear room is covered with banquets and books, it is a place for writing and ink.Across the middle hall, the ear room on the left is the collection of books. There are several rows of bookshelves inside, and a large number of books are stored here. Shen Sui came here to read them earlier. Most of those books are military books, geomantic records, water and soil records, etc. , There are also some books on the strategy of governing the country, the collections of anthologies and poems loved by literati today, it may not be possible to see them.

There is also a small couch in the library for the owner to take a nap, and now the owner is indeed lying on the couch, holding a jar of wine in his hand, and is slowly drinking.In the right ear room, Xu Jie is sitting behind the desk, writing vigorously, not knowing what he is writing.Shen Sui pushed the door open and entered, but she didn't even look up.And Li Jinyue didn't even care about someone coming in.

"Yujie." Shen Sui didn't call Li Jinyue, but Xu Jie.Xu Jie raised his head in shock, seeing Shen Sui couldn't help showing joy, he hurriedly got up from behind the desk, got up in a hurry, his head was a little dizzy, and his body was swaying. Fortunately, Shen Sui took a step forward to support her, so she avoided falling on the ground.

"Yujie, don't worry, be careful." Shen Sui said.

"Bo Zhao, thanks to you, otherwise last night, I would have made a big mistake!" Xu Jie said in a very grateful and grateful tone.

"She sent out the troop dispatch order last night?" Shen Sui glanced at the library on the left and asked expressionlessly.

"Yes, I didn't notice for a while, but she actually tied the pigeons and wanted to pass on the military order. But the Jinwu Guard found out, and almost shot the pigeons down with one arrow. Only by taking that arrow and taking that pigeon, we were saved." Xu Jie explained.

"How could she be so impulsive?" Shen Sui frowned.

Xu Jie looked miserable, and sighed, "Alas... she and Young Lady Yang... also suffered a lot. Earlier, she didn't want to show her feelings for Young Lady Yang, but after going through these things, she wanted to confess her love yesterday The true feelings in her heart were not accepted. Miss Yang felt that she was feeling pity, not true love. She was even more depressed because of this, thinking that Miss Yang would enter the palace like this, but she herself could do nothing , the more I thought about it, the more grief and indignation I felt, and I couldn't restrain my emotions, so I did stupid things impulsively."

Shen Sui sighed deeply, walked into the library, came to Li Jinyue's bedside, and took the flagon from her hand.Seeing her dull expression and not looking at himself, Shen Sui took a sip of wine and said:

"What are you doing now? Are you serious about admitting defeat? Let me tell you, the matter has just begun, and we still have a lot to do. Do you still want to save Yuhuan?"

"Why, do you still have a solution?" Li Jinyue said with a wry smile.

"Yes." Shen Sui replied firmly.

Li Jinyue frowned, slowly raised her eyes, and looked at her.

***

On May 21, in the afternoon, the rainy weather turned sunny.After the rain, the air in Chang'an City is fresh, and the sweltering weather of the past few days has also eased.Shen Jin, who had been bored at home all this time, wanted to go out for a walk, so he asked his wife Qianhe, sister-in-law Zhang Ruohan, and maid Wuya to go out with Xiao Huanger.Originally, she wanted to call Yingniang, but she was assigned a task by Shen Sui in the morning, to study the method of artificially manufacturing Yang Yuhuan's body fragrance. After lunch, she went out to the largest spice market in Chang'an, located in Xishi.

They didn't have any specific purpose when they went out. The group strolled, talked and laughed, and walked eastward along Chongyi Avenue where Shen's residence was located. They walked along the street and experienced the lively atmosphere of Chang'an in summer.The summer solstice has passed, and every household in Chang'an has delicious cold food, and you can smell the aroma of fried cold rice toppings when walking on the avenue outside the workshop.Wu Ya pushed Shen Jin's wheelchair, Zhang Ruohan hugged Huang'er, and walked on both sides of her with Qian He.Sitting in a wheelchair, Shen Jin remembered that after experiencing the fire in his early years, his skin was extensively damaged, and it was especially difficult in summer. Shen Jin almost survived by relying on the cold washing done by his mother.Now that I think about it, Lengtao is also extremely delicious.

"Sister-in-law, I remember that you liked to eat Lengtao." Shen Jin turned to look at Zhang Ruohan on the left and smiled.

"Our family loves Lengtao." Zhang Ruohan smiled, and glanced at Huang'er, who was lying in her arms, drowsy. This little guy also loves Lengtao.But she can't eat too much of this thing, every time she only eats a little, the little guy seems to be full of it.

"Why don't you just eat it tonight? I'll make it. After I came to Datang, I opened my eyes and realized that this barley can be ground into powder for consumption. In Dongying, everyone cooks barley to eat. Think about it." It’s a world of difference. The first time I ate soup cakes was in Honglu Temple. I will never forget that delicacy. Later, I tried my best to learn how to make soup cakes. I thought I would learn this skill , I will never die of hunger or get tired of eating in my life. I dare not say anything else, but I am capable of making soup and pancakes.” Qianhe introduced himself with a smile.

Shen Jin knows that Qianhe can cook. Although she is blind, her ears can replace her eyes. As long as she is familiar with the layout of the kitchen, she will have no problem cooking, especially her knife skills, which are better than people with eyesight.In her early years, she worked as an oddball in Honglu Temple, and she did everything, including the work of the back kitchen, so she is very familiar with the work of the kitchen.Hearing Qianhe's suggestion, she was so hungry that she immediately responded:

"Good idea, that's it."

Right now they were walking on the avenue, and although there were three or five people around them, they were all far away, and they couldn't hear what they were talking about, so it didn't hurt that Shen Jin let go of his voice to speak.If she was in front of people, she would have to continue pretending to be dumb.

When they reached the gate of Dongshi, the crowd increased, and Shen Jin stopped speaking, and the group turned into Dongshi, intending to buy some writing and ink for their home.

The East Market is not as lively as the West Market. The shops here are all high-end, and the goods you buy are also expensive.However, there are still some popular snack shops.In addition, a corner was also set up in the northwest corner of Fangshi, which is a place where vegetable farmers gather, providing convenience for some people who live near Dongshi.

Shen Jin and his party entered the Wenmo shop they frequented, bought some paper and ink, and then walked north along the Cross Avenue in Dongshi.Just when she was about to leave the north gate, a woman dressed in coarse linen suddenly came out carrying a vegetable basket. She didn't notice that there was a man pushing a wheelbarrow in front of her, who was about to turn a corner, and bumped into it.The woman trembled and fell to the ground, and all the vegetables in the basket were scattered on the muddy ground.

"Oh! How do you walk? You don't even look at the road?" The man complained, put down the wheelbarrow, and went up to check on the woman.

The woman got up in a panic, bowed her head repeatedly and nodded, gesticulating with her hands indiscriminately, but didn't say a word.When Shen Jin saw it, she frowned. This is a dumb girl, and she felt pity immediately.

"Wu Ya, go forward and help that woman." Zhang Ruohan called Wu Ya because it was inconvenient for Zhang Ruohan to come forward to help while holding the child.

"Yes, San Niang." Wu Ya stepped forward and cleaned up the vegetables on the ground for the woman, and the woman thanked her a thousand times.Wu Ya said a few words to the man, and threw two copper coins to him, the man happily accepted it, and without further pestering, he pushed the wheelbarrow away.

At the end, the woman was thankful endlessly, her hand gestures were chaotic, and she didn't seem to know sign language.In the end, she hurried over with a vegetable basket. She knew that Wu Ya belonged to Shen Jin and his party, and she bowed and nodded gratefully to Shen Jin, Zhang Ruohan and others.At the end, go east.

Shen Jin and the others didn't pay too much attention to it, and continued to go north, left Dongshi through the north gate, turned around the periphery of Xingqing Palace, and then went south, intending to go to Daozhengfang and find a familiar tea shop to sit down and rest.When the sisters Shen Sui and Shen Jin first entered Chang'an because of the strange ape case of kindness, they lived in a property owned by Qin Zhen in Daozhengfang, so they had a special affection for Daozhengfang.Now the Shen family bought a new house in Chongyifang, but no matter Shen Sui or Shen Jin, they like to go back to Daozhengfang every three days to meet old acquaintances here.

The tea shop was next door to the Xinyuanchun Restaurant, but the restaurant has already changed its owner. The owner of the Xinyuanchun Restaurant, Cheng Xi, and his father, Liu, have already left Chang'an.For such a long time, Shen Jin has never entered Xinyuanchun Restaurant again, and he always feels empty in his heart.

I found a secluded place on the second floor of the tea shop and sat down. The tea doctor had just brewed tea and served it, Wu Ya suddenly looked out of the window and said in surprise:

"Huh? Isn't that the dumb girl just now?"

Everyone looked in the direction of her finger, and saw that not far away in a small yard separated by a narrow alley, the woman in coarse linen that they had just met in Dongshi was fetching water from a well.They sat facing the backyard of the restaurant next door, and this dumb girl seemed to be a rough servant in this restaurant, earning some wages.

"Oh... life is not easy." Shen Jin sighed, "We can only save the emergency, but not the poor. I hope this woman will have a better life in the future."

Zhang Ruohan nodded slightly, just as Qianhe was about to respond, at this moment, a strange sound came into her ears.Her ears moved immediately, and she listened carefully, but the voice did not resound.The sound seemed to be someone striking metal, a crisp golden sound.From the direction of the restaurant, the location is relatively high, at least higher than the second floor where they are now.As for the restaurant, Qianhe remembered that it should have three floors, with an attic.

It seemed that only she heard the voice, Zhang Ruohan, Shen Jin and Wu Ya didn't hear it.Doubts arose in her heart, but she did not bring it up. She picked up the tea cup and took a sip silently.

The author has something to say: the next chapter will be updated on Thursday