Shanglin Night Snow

Before noon, the sun was already strong, and the porters on the Junyi Bridge were sweating profusely with only their single clothes on.

Suddenly there was a stern reprimand from the crowd, some idlers stopped to watch, and saw in front of a small sedan chair with a green cover, an old man with a stooped figure was clapping his hands to accompany him, it seemed that his old eyes were dazed and his road bumped into it.The bearer scolded the old man a few words, or urged him in the sedan chair, and then he gave up and went his own way.

After getting off the bridge, the old man wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked forward, there was a mansion a hundred feet ahead, with an open and imposing courtyard, it was Kaiping Mansion.He lowered his head and stroked his gray beard, and his back bent down a few inches, making it difficult to walk.After walking about ten steps, a shadow fell in front of him, the old man stopped just in time, fortunately he didn't bump into that person, and immediately surrendered his hands to apologize.

"Officials stay here, please." The person blocking the way said in a dry voice, raising his sleeve to reveal a bronze medal hanging on his wrist.

The old man was startled, but he didn't say much after all, and went forward.

When they crossed the Junyi Bridge, they saw a blue-covered carriage parked in front of the fruit shop by the side of the road.The old man was pushed up by the people behind him, and the carriage drove away in a hurry.

There is only one person in the car, with white hair and beard. Although he is well-raised, his age is still visible.

"Master!" Kneeling and bowing to the sitting person, the visitor lowered his eyes and waited quietly for orders.

"Sit down." The old man pointed to the side seat.

Come and obey.

Closing his eyes, the old man spoke casually: "Do you want to go to Kaiping Mansion?"

The people sitting next to him dare not deny it: "Mr. Hui, I saw the notice of the Kaiping mansion identifying the corpse in the city this morning. I suspected it was Mingxia, so I decided to go there and identify it."

The old man shook his head: "You can't go."

If I knew this was the case, the person sitting next to me was still in a hurry: "Mingxia is my cousin, she is missing now, how can I ignore it? Besides, I have already disguised myself." Touching his gray beard, "Going like this It's okay!"

The old man opened his eyes, his eyes were cold: "What if it's her, so what if it's not her?"

The ten fingers of the hand on the knee curled up slightly, and the person sitting next to him looked sadly: "It's not her who is the best, it's her, I have to collect it alive, and I have to find out what happened, so that she can't die in vain!"

There was a moment of silence.

"In troubled times, don't just add trouble!" The old man closed his eyes again, paused every word, and then his tone slowed down: "Kaiping Mansion will not let her die in vain, and if no one recognizes her body within a few days, she will be collected and buried for her. You Feel at ease." Rubbing his sparse beard, "You showed your face in Kaiping Mansion because of Qin Liuzhi's incident. If someone remembers your appearance, wouldn't it be risky to show up now? With the current situation, uncle and nephew of the Shao family are like trapped animals. When you are dying, you will become more violent and suspicious, you must think twice before acting, and be cautious!"

Knowing that what he said was not unreasonable, and there was no room for his own refutation, the person who heard it had to cross his hands: "Xie Xianggong made a point, I will remember it."

The old man nodded and changed the topic: "Didn't Mingxia communicate with you after she left the Jiawang Mansion?"

The person sitting next to him shook his head: "Ever since she blocked the pursuer in the alley for me that day, I have never had the opportunity to meet her face to face." With a light expression on his face: "Mr. Could it be King Jia? After all, Mingxia will do whatever she wants, if..."

"Don't say that King Jia has always believed in Buddhism, and his nature is cowardly and weak." Interrupted, the old man showed disdain for him: "Take a step back, this is what he did, and to cover up the crime, it should be said that Mingxia died suddenly due to illness." , or destroying the corpse, leaving the corpse in the river like now, once the corpse is taken out, how can he escape suspicion?"

It sounded reasonable, the person who heard it sighed and said, "If it wasn't for King Jia, could it be that he really met a bad person on his way?"

"The matter has already happened, and it is useless to think about it, so let the Kaiping Mansion investigate it." The old man pinched his brows, "The so-called matter is urgent, you should concentrate on your own duties, the situation may change drastically recently, the imperial court sent troops to raid it two days ago Returning to Yungu, exterminating thousands of thieves and bandits, all outside courts thought this was Shao Jingheng's privately recruited soldiers. The so-called people rush to burn incense, dogs rush to the wall, in case he is in a hurry to break the boat, we must preemptively collect evidence to prove Shao's uncle Nephew's treason!"

The people sitting next to him were puzzled: "The thieves have been wiped out, but they still can't hold the evidence that the Shao family is a disaster?"

The old man sighed: "Shao Jingheng's mind is deep, the Tibetan army is a dangerous game in the suburbs of Beijing, how can he not defend? But fortunately, the Infantry Division sent troops into the mountains to take advantage of his unpreparedness, so he won a big victory. Unfortunately, the leader of the bandit is dead now. , and no one else knows what's going on behind the scenes."

"Infantry Commander?" The listener pondered for a while, "So, Guo Kai has already been trusted?" His eyes flashed, showing luck: "In this way, Xianggong may report the past to the superior and intercede for Su Qing'an ?”

"This is not the right time." The old man shook his head: "Even if he attempted to rob and kill an official ordered by the court, it is not a small crime. Besides, his whereabouts are still unknown since he absconded in fear of crime. Doesn't it make the superior think that I am deliberately protecting you?" "If you want to save Su Qing'an, the only way is to make up for your mistakes, so you must do your best. When the Shaw Clan is destroyed, the old man will declare everything before he becomes a saint. At that time, Su Qing'an will be saved, and your brothers and sisters will have future generations." Blessings to enjoy!"

The person sitting next to him made a bow: "Thank you Mr., but my brother and sister only want justice for their grievances. Once the Shao Party is destroyed, I will take my sister and go back to the countryside. From then on, it will be better to live a peaceful life."

"It's up to you, too." The old man insisted unintentionally.

The carriage moved forward for a while, and put down the person who got on at a street corner.It was still early, and after watching for a while, the old man hunched his back and continued on his way. About a quarter of an hour later, he stopped in front of Shao's backyard and knocked on the gate.

The boy who answered the door was surprised when he saw the visitor: "Why is the old man here today?"

The people outside the door clasped their hands: "The two flowers and trees in the back garden are newly planted. Recently, there has been drought and little rain. The old man is worried that he will not survive, so he came to have a look and see if there is any need for remedial measures."

The little servant stepped in and said: "It's only the old man, won't Chen Weng and others come?"

The old man bowed again: "Xie Xiaolang is accommodating, the old man transplanted those two flower trees with his own hands, and said that today he only watered some water and adjusted the branches and leaves, and he didn't need to bother others."

The boy had no doubts, so he let him in by himself.

Exiting the view wall is the back garden, but the visitor did not stay, and continued to walk out of the garden to the east. After walking for a short time, he suddenly saw two people walking towards him in front of him: one was young and strong, and the other was a little older. However, the gait is heavy and domineering.These two are exactly Shao Jingheng and Shao Chenye's uncle and nephew!

It was too late to dodge, the old man could only step sideways to the side of the road and bowed his head to salute.Seeing the two passing by, they didn't look directly at themselves, secretly relieved, turned around and wanted to take a step, when they suddenly heard a voice behind them: "Wait a minute, old man!"

With a shock in his heart, the old man turned around and cupped his hands: "What orders does the officer have?"

Shao Jingheng took a few steps forward, with a puzzled look on his face: "How does the old man look unfamiliar? Is he a newcomer to the mansion?"

The old man bowed his head: "The old man is a gardener. He doesn't come here often, so the official has never seen it."

"That's how it is," the man nodded, seemingly casually speaking: "So you are going to the front yard at this moment?"

The old man replied: "The flowers and trees in the central courtyard are growing just right, and the grass has just been removed. There is no need to tend them recently. The old man is going to the flower gardens in the east to see how the newly planted flowers and trees are growing recently. He will have to go back to the back garden to water them later. Water pruning." After saying this, he felt regretful: he asked only one sentence, but he answered everything, isn't it a guilty conscience?

Fortunately, Shao Jingheng didn't look suspicious, he only said that it was too hard to work alone in the hot weather, so he ordered to call a servant to accompany him.The person who heard it thanked himself, so he didn't say much about going there.

Saying goodbye to the old man, Shao Jingheng took Shao Chenye all the way to the west courtyard, entered the room and sat down, Shao Chenye's expression was gloomy.

"How do you plan to deal with the aftermath of returning to Yungu?" With the utmost forbearance, he asked what he had been holding back all the way.

Shao Jingheng said indifferently: "It has nothing to do with me, so how can we talk about the aftermath?"

The questioner was in a hurry: "Now, you still want to hide it from me?! I went to the courtyard today and found out that the 2000 men and horses of Guiyun Valley have all been wiped out, and dozens of generals have been captured. Once the truth is revealed, are you and I going to be slaughtered?"

Sighing, he felt helpless to the person sitting there: "Why does Third Uncle think that I did this?"

Shao Chenye tremblingly stretched out two fingers, speaking incoherently: "Two thousand soldiers and horses! I found out that there were Hu soldiers among them. Didn't you recruit the White Dragon Department of Qiang Hu back then? In this way, who else can organize such a battle except you?" Big plan?" Sighed bitterly, "Ding Zhibai was the only one who knew when the imperial decree was issued, and he signed the document and issued the military amulet. It can be seen that he believed that this matter has nothing to do with me, the Shao family! Now you say 'and I have nothing to do, so I can stay out of the matter? You must know that if you don’t make plans at this moment, if you are convicted of the crime, it will be impossible to recover!"

"However, I have never done it before, so how do I plan it?" The man shook his head bitterly, "Third Uncle, don't be fooled, maybe this is the official's intention to test us. At this moment, I am in a panic, and trying to defend myself, wouldn't it be a guilty conscience? And he's in the arms of some slanderers." Seeing that the person sitting opposite was still worried, he turned around and said, "Let's not say whether the White Dragon Department is true or not, third uncle, why don't you think about it, I have [-] relatives by my side. Even if I want to break the boat, Guiyun Valley is only tens of miles away from the capital, how can I hide my troops there with peace of mind? Besides, even if I am careless, I will not even notice that the imperial court sent troops into the mountains, and ordered two thousand Elite soldiers just sit and wait to die?"

"This..." Shao Chenye stroked his beard and murmured, "It's really not true, but... now all the courts think that you did this, so it's hard to guarantee that God won't use this as an opportunity to impose a crime on me!"

Shao Jingheng said: "Don't worry, third uncle, there will never be any evidence pointing to me here, and he said that he has no chance of winning against me, because he will not rush to accuse him of crimes. But at this very time, we must not get confused , This matter, but there is no concern from the higher authorities, it is only an outside discussion, third uncle must remember not to argue, I will care about the future."

Although Shao Chenye didn't know what was going on in his mind, but seeing that his calm demeanor didn't seem to be fake, he felt a little relieved, so he just told him not to be careless.

After sending Shao Chenye away, Shao Jingheng went for a walk in the garden alone, but he didn't see the old gardener just now. Thinking that he had left so soon, he felt a little puzzled.Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard movement behind him, turned around and saw a figure coming out from behind the flowers, and came quickly - it was the spy he sent early in the morning.

Standing at the same place and waiting for him to approach, Shao Jingheng said succinctly: "What can you find out, one by one, don't make mistakes."

"Yes!" The visitor clasped his fists and said, "We found out that seven days ago, the Infantry Commander sent [-] troops to return to Yungu in a surprise attack. Very well, when the bandit army entered the mountain, they were completely unaware, so that the three camps were breached in one fell swoop, hundreds of people were killed and injured, and more than a thousand were captured. Dozens of generals have been handed over to the Imperial City Division for interrogation, and the rest were locked up in the infantry division. The outer battalion is waiting to be dispatched. According to the news from the Infantry Division, most of the captives are newly recruited soldiers, but there are also more than a hundred Qiang and Hu people mixed in. It is said that they are from the Kemin tribe, and this has yet to be verified."

"The Ministry of Obliteration—" Shao Jingheng frowned: "I ordered to investigate the whereabouts of this department earlier, but there is no news from the Northwest?"

The waiter replied: "General Xing has a new message. It is said that it is possible to deploy troops, but he did not mention the Ministry of Kemin. Presumably there is nothing to be found."

Shao Jingheng took a few steps and returned calmly: "Recently, all the spies have been sent to search in and around Beijing. When they see the Qiang Hu people, they will be detained immediately and brought back to the barracks for interrogation. This matter must not be known separately!" Turning around: "Otherwise , five hundred miles to send an urgent order to the northwest, and there are changes in the capital, and the planning must be done step by step, and we must not act too hastily, and we must be vigilant against the spies from the imperial city who sneak into the army!"

"Yes!" The other took the order.

"One more thing!" Shao Jingheng suddenly remembered: "There is an old gardener in my house who is quite unknown, you take the opportunity to find out his background."

After the spies left, Shao Jingheng wandered alone in the garden for a while, but was inexplicably depressed. He had a ten-day holiday and didn't need to be answered by the office secretary, but he was also bored, and he didn't know how to pass the time alone.In the past, Mu Yunqi either came here in the afternoon, or invited him into the palace, and the two of them drank tea and played chess, or went fishing, and sometimes even went to another garden for sightseeing.

My mind wandered all the way, and I returned to the west courtyard before I knew it, and just sat down, I heard a cat meowing outside, I was inexplicably happy, but I couldn't believe it, so I probed and listened again——

"Meow--" There was another sound, this time it was real, the sound came from under the tree in the west.

Striding out the door, he easily found the ball of white velvet under the shade of the tree, picked it up and looked around, but there was no one there, just wondering, when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him, he turned around and was taken aback: "Why is it you?"

The woman on the opposite side greeted him with blessings, and seemed deeply disturbed by her recklessness: "Little sister's new cat is lost, and I am looking for it now." She cast her eyes on his arms, moved forward with lotus steps, and spoke as if Annoyed: "Xue'er, you are running around again, next time you do this again, I will lock you up!"

"Xue'er?" Shao Jingheng frowned and looked into his bosom, only then realized that the cat was smaller than Patch, so he knew he had made a mistake.

Seeing his bewilderment, the woman hurriedly reported: "Big brother said last time that if you like cats, you might as well raise one yourself, so I asked Li Weng to find this lion cat outside. I just neglected to tell my brother about it for a while, so I don't think it's strange."

Shao Jingheng smiled: "It's just a small matter, I said earlier, if you need anything, just ask, and Li Weng will take care of it." Stretching out one hand to pinch the cat's ears, his eyes lit up, and he raised his head: "You cat, Can you lend me half a day?"