Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

As soon as the words came out, Rong Youtang was startled by the presence of Qi Zhiyang and the imperial guards. He knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, and hurried to make amends. His expression did not change, and he continued without a pause: "Could it be that Xia Xiaoman is a well-known figure in the Jianghu? A last resort reason to retire from the world?"

Qi Zhiyang shook his head and couldn't help laughing. He regarded himself as being from a family of decent military generals, and he didn't take the "evil ways" seriously. He joked, "Brother Rong, you're a quack, don't you listen too much? Where did you get so many so-called people with great powers!"

"She did just go through a dystocia, her vitality was severely injured, she was so weak that she couldn't get up from lying down." The guard Xiaoshan dutifully reported: "At present, I don't see any ability, just a weak young woman."

young woman?Song Shen curled his lips, expressionless, pinching the small white porcelain medicine bottle, turning it over and over for a closer look, dusting his fingers, and asked indifferently: "Who is Xia Xiaoman?"

"It seems that she is not a famous person." Rong Youtang collected himself, put down his pen and stood up, walked to Cao Shangfei, and asked another way: "What kind of poison is this?"

Song Shen remained silent, leaned back on the desk, lowered his eyes, covering his long and narrow eyes that were shining brightly, and pressed his lips tightly under his tall humped nose.

"Oh, the bandits we met yesterday used poisoned arrows. It is said that there is no cure for it. There was an unlucky guy who got hit by an arrow. I saw it with my own eyes. He died of poison in less than a quarter of an hour!" Rong Youtang sighed. Tell me, look down and look at a box full of bottles and cans.

Song Shen snorted and asked, "It is said that there is no cure? Who said that?"

"He Shuo."

"Everything in the world is interdependent, how can there be no solution? At most, the cure is not as good as death." Song Shen said calmly, paused, and told him in a flat tone: "Master Rong, yesterday's arrow was smeared with snake venom. It is difficult to catch it, not to prepare it. You go to the black market to pay for money, and you can have whatever you buy.”

"So that's how it is." Rong Youtang suddenly realized, he took a moment out of the corner of his eye, carefully picked up a blue porcelain gourd bottle, and read: "Qingninglu? The name sounds very nice, I don't know how to use it."

Song Shen snatched it away with his hands, lightly tapped his index finger, and pointed at the word "Tai" that Rong Youtang missed.

"Oh, so it's called Taiqing Ninglu." Rong Youtang touched his nose in embarrassment, and explained embarrassingly: "The words are blocked." But he shouted in his heart: I knew it!You are clearly familiar with the poison in front of you.

"Don't move around, be careful to accidentally open the medicine bottle and be poisoned to death." Song Shen warned solemnly, and closed the wooden box with a "slap".

"That's right. Don't be poisoned to death by the bandits, but lost your life during the inspection of physical evidence." Rong Youtang followed the good example and solemnly warned: "Xiaoshan, put it in the warehouse for investigation, remember to post a note to write it clearly, don't Hurt one's own people by mistake."

"Hey, okay." The guard restrained his excitement that the investigation went well, held up the wooden box with both hands, and carefully took the physical evidence to the temporary warehouse.

Afterwards, the two imperial envoys continued to write the memorial, talking nonsense with the flustered Song Shen without saying a word.

Song Shen was holding a plate, stuffing pastries and dried fruits into his mouth non-stop, pattering, wandering around, looking around inside and outside the study, acting as if no one else was there, laughing and cursing as he pleased.

"Shameless and corrupt officials!"

Song Shen raised his foot and kicked the simple and elegant nanmu armchair, and then nestled in comfortably. He was bored, shaking his legs leisurely, peeling chestnuts and eating, while scolding: "Obviously the magistrate of the Great Poor Province, but he lives in such extravagance and pleasure. , no wonder everyone in the world wants to be an official, 'Three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflakes'! I also want to be an official, but unfortunately I have no connections. Hey, General Qi, Lord Rong, can you two introduce me to you?"

Qi Zhiyang was racking his brains to consider the words of the Shangzuo. Hearing the words, he raised his head and seriously advised: "The mistakes of the past are the lessons of the past, and the lessons of the past. If you go for corruption, Qi Mou advises you to let it go, You Dang is likely to be beheaded by ransacking your house." of."

"Do you want to be an official?" Rong Youtang wrote quickly and said slowly: "It's not difficult. There are several ways to become an official, either imperial examination, military examination, or donating an official—but most people have to go through qualifications. It can be as short as a few years, or as long as half a lifetime. In fact, you have entered the Northern Camp now, as long as you are steadfast and diligent, perform more meritorious deeds, and you can gradually rise up."

Qi Zhiyang expressed his feelings: "It's not easy to achieve anything. Those who study in the literature need ten years of cold windows, take the exam in the end, pass five passes and kill six generals; those in the army need to hear the chicken dance, fight bravely, practice three times in winter and practice three days in summer."

"Tsk, it's so troublesome! I still don't want to be an official anymore." Song Shen trembled all over, and spat out a fruit pit with a "bah".

so good!Qi Zhiyang let out a sigh of relief, sincerely happy, and very relieved that he persuaded a possible corrupt official to leave.

"Crackling", "clicking", Song Shen shook his chair, chattered again, and hummed an out-of-tune tune, making countless movements, which was extremely annoying.

Rong Qi and the two of them were completely focused on writing the memorial, preparing to send it out in a hurry, waiting for the emperor's order, and had no time to entertain guests.

After more than an hour, Rong Youtang put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and carefully reviewed the densely packed, finger-thick memorial content; Qi Zhiyang let out a long breath, threw away the Langhao pen, shook his arm vigorously, and muttered: "I haven't breathed for a long time. After writing so many words, my hands are so tired."

"Brother Qi, please take a look, I wonder if the younger brother's writing is appropriate?" Rong Youtang handed over the memorial.

"You also take a look at mine, focusing on whether there are any rude or inappropriate words." Qi Zhiyang took the companion's memorial, and when he opened it, the neat and elegant pavilion rushed towards him, and he was immediately convinced, and praised: "You are worthy He is the number one scholar! Alas, I joined the army when I was young, and I only learned from my master in those few years. Fortunately, my family was strict with me, so I was lucky not to become blind."

"Brother Qi is too modest." Rong Youtang said with a smile: "Your handwriting is vigorous and crisp, just like this person, my younger brother is very envious."

Qi Zhiyang laughed happily: "You just know how to talk!"

At this time, it was the middle of Haishi, the night was quiet, and the wind was blowing in the garden, and the flowers and leaves were whirling.

Song Shen nestled in the armchair, holding the fruit plate, restless and angry, deliberately tossing for a long time, but unfortunately failed to anger the two imperial envoys as he wished.He closed his eyes, listened to the whirling of flowers and leaves outside the window, and fell asleep in a trance.

In his sleep, he returned to Shimen Mountain in his hometown:

As the sun sets, the twilight rises everywhere, the tired birds return to their nests and the chicks cheer, and the smoke rises from the mountainside.

The South Xuanwu Gate is hidden in the deep mountains of southern Yunnan. The dense forests that cover the sky and the sun completely block the sun. The scenery is beautiful and dangerous, and there are countless dangers.

"Hey!"

"Hehe, hahaha~" Song Shen was very energetic and mischievous when he was young. He grabbed a thick vine, slid it, and swung from one tree to another, and then to the next without stopping. tree, very fond of the pleasure of flying for a short time.

"Monkey? Monkey?" Master's loud call came from the place where the smoke rose.

"Hey!" Xiao Song Shen was shirtless, his shirt had been lost somewhere.

"Come back for dinner!" Master shouted.

"Oh."

Two quarters of an hour later, Xiao Song Shen had a great time playing and was still swinging vines in the dense forest.

"Monkey? Mischievous monkey?" Master called again, full of helpless pampering.

"Junior Brother? Little Junior Brother? If you don't come back, I'll feed Erhei your food." The voice of the only senior sister was clear and melodious.

"Don't, don't! I'll go back right away." Xiao Song Shen shouted.Reluctantly, he ran back to Shimen, which was his home.He was an orphan accidentally adopted by the head of Nanxuanwu when he was traveling down the mountain, and he was pampered and raised like an old man.

"Oops~"

The beautiful and delicate senior sister is standing on the small terrace on the third floor of the Diaojiao Bamboo Building, which is her exclusive boudoir.When Xia Li saw the dirty junior brother, she stamped her feet, painted her fingernails with bright red Kodan, played with the ends of her hair, smiled like a flower, and said angrily, "Master, look quickly, the junior brother lost his clothes again! Don't buy them for me!" It's a new one, let him be naked, throw it into the forest and live with the monkeys."

Little Song Shen raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, made a grimace towards the third floor, stuck his tongue out, and said with his head held high: "If you don't buy it, don't buy it. I like to be naked!"

"Come in and eat quickly, you little monkey, the food is cold." The hale and hearty old man came out of the bamboo building against the light, smiled wrinkled, and held the sweaty and slippery little Song Shen by the arm brought it in.

……

After being carefree for two years, Song Shen woke up early one morning and ran downstairs to look for food, but saw the master sitting sadly with a letter on the table.

"Master, what is that?"

"Your senior sister went down the mountain privately."

The old man had a bent back, white beard and hair, and said sadly: "She is tired of the hard life, and resents me for not asking your senior brother to take her out of the mountains, but is it easy to wander the rivers and lakes? Isn't it easy to be safe? A young girl's family, What are you wandering about!"

Song Shen picked up the letter, read it silently for a while, hugged the old man's arm, and solemnly promised: "Don't worry, I will always be with you. I like this place the most, and I don't want to go anywhere! Let the senior sisters and brothers go down the mountain to seek glory Be rich, I won't leave."

"Good boy." The old man hugged the child lovingly, and said: "When you grow up, you still have to go down the mountain for a walk, open your eyes, see the world, and marry a virtuous wife."

"What's so good about a daughter-in-law? Both my mother and senior sister dislike poverty in the mountains, and only like prosperity and wealth, so they left books and ran away."

"Shut up! You are a junior, don't be rude." The old man feigned anger and reprimanded him.

……

Song Shen nestled in the armchair, sleeping very restlessly, his brows were tightly frowned, his face was raised up, always showing a cynical and mischievous childishness, his dreams were grotesque, mottled and broken, and suddenly flashed: "Master? Master? Wake up, wake up quickly Wake up, don't scare me." The young Song Shen knelt in front of the sick bed, holding the sect leader's token in his hand, facing everything alone, he was terrified and helpless, mourning and weeping.

However, the old man passed away suddenly and died in the deep mountains of southern Yunnan.

After more than ten years of farewell, the souls of relatives come to dreams.

Qi Zhiyang took the two written memorials, hurried out to arrange reliable cronies, and sent the memorials to the capital accurately and urgently.

Rong Youtang tidied up the messy desk, stretched his waist, was so sleepy that he couldn't stand up, his eyes were sore and stinging, and suddenly he heard suppressed sobbing from outside: "Master, Master! Don't die..."

Master?

Rong Youtang stopped rubbing his eyes, was confused, and walked out lightly, he knew Song Shen didn't leave, but he was too busy to greet him.

"Master, master..." Song Shen curled up in the armchair, immersed in the memory of his teacher's death, with big tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes.

Rong Youtang was stunned, at a loss, and very apologetic——inadvertently bumping into others and crying, very abrupt.

"Don't die, don't die." Song Shen muttered to himself, tears streaming down his face.

How to do?

To avoid embarrassment, I should pretend I didn't see it!

Rong Youtang made up his mind and tiptoed out.Who would have thought that when he had just walked a few steps and was ten feet away from Song Shen——

Song Shen was awakened, he jumped up, without saying a word, his figure was extremely fast, he rushed forward, strangled Rong Youtang's neck viciously, his hand was so strong that he pinched the peeping eyes on the spot!

"Uh, uh cough cough." Rong Youtang let out a weak choking sound, was pinched so that stares appeared in his eyes, his feet were off the ground, and he kicked his legs indiscriminately.

"It's you?" Song Shen frowned and let go, turned hastily, raised his sleeves and pressed his eyes, cursing angrily, "You're so rude, how did you get the first prize? How can you make a fuss back and forth while I'm sleeping? You're so tired ? Deserve it by strangling!"

"Cough cough cough."

Rong Youtang's voice was hoarse and weird, some were pinched, but he was also very angry, and argued with reason: "This is clearly our temporary study, I've been busy in it, it's definitely not on purpose—"

"That's enough, that's enough!" Song Shen waved his hand impatiently, and said impatiently, "I'm too lazy to argue with you, it's unreasonable."

Who is unreasonable? !

Rong Youtang sighed and twisted his neck uncomfortably.

for a while

Song Shen calmed down and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"I think you want to strangle someone!" Rong Youtang said angrily.He walked to the round table and poured a cup of cold tea to moisten his throat.

"The next time you see me falling asleep, don't get close, lest I accidentally kill someone."

Song Shen reminded resentfully, walked up to Rong Youtang, lifted his chin with the edge of the fruit plate, and said, "Let me see." He stretched out his hand to press his throat, and comforted him: "It's okay, I'm still far away from death .In the past two days, eat warm, soft and rotten food, and avoid yelling."

Rong Youtang looked up, he was half a head shorter than the other party, just happened to see a pair of red eyes——

"What are you looking at? I dug out your eyeballs!" Song Shen withdrew his hand, threatening fiercely.

Rong Youtang took two steps back, and said firmly, "You must know Xia Xiaoman, or the medicine she made."

Song Shen stretched his waist, and said wearily, "I'm not interested in listening to your nonsense, I'm going back to sleep." Then he walked out.

"It's okay to tell you." Rong Youtang revealed to himself: "She lives in the summer house on Tong'an Street, and was hidden by Ji Ping's golden house for seven or eight years. In the dead belly, two days ago, another dystocia occurred, and the baby was not kept. She was seriously injured and was recuperating in bed."

Song Shen couldn't help walking more and more slowly, standing in front of the threshold, paused for a while, and said coldly: "What's the matter with me?" After finishing speaking, he stepped over the threshold without hesitation, and walked away quickly with the hem of his robe flying.

You must know her!

Could it be that Xia Xiaoman is Nan Xuanwu's disciple?

"Hiss~" Rong Youtang held his throat, cleared his throat, and immediately decided to go to the summer house on Tong'an Street tomorrow morning.

next day

Rong Youtang fell asleep for less than three hours, when he was suddenly shaken awake by the head of the guard. He had a splitting headache, hugged his head, and asked drowsily, "What's the matter?"

"My lord, He Shuo wants to see you by name." The head of the guard told me excitedly.

"Huh, huh?" Rong Youtang woke up suddenly, got up with a grunt, and hurried to visit the prison after washing up.

That afternoon, the imperial envoys seized a time-honored pawn shop in Guanzhou, and took away the shopkeeper and a small iron box.

in a few days

Inside the imperial palace of the capital, the imperial study room

With a "bang", Emperor Chengtian's face turned ashen, he slammed several memorials on the table, got up suddenly, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, the golden and jade crown on his head flickered rapidly.

Several important officials and princes got up one after another, and stood aside with their hands down, completely silent for a while.Taifu Han spoke first and persuaded: "Your Majesty calm down, please take care of the dragon's body."

Marquis Pingnan secretly scolded You Guanying for being useless, followed closely behind, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, please calm down, the imperial envoy is only a preliminary report, and the specific crimes need to be thoroughly investigated."

Emperor Chengtian took a few steps, calmed down a little, and said expressionlessly: "Accidents happen every year in Hejian, either natural disasters or man-made disasters. I have high hopes for You Guanying, and every time I allocate money and food for disaster relief and support, unexpectedly I have raised a child who is useless." De Wuliang deceives those who lie above and below!"

The eldest prince Yun glanced at Ping Nanhou, stepped out and bowed, "Father, thanks to you sending imperial envoys to investigate, you were able to uncover a bunch of corrupted things. The two imperial envoys matched the memorials of the guards, It can be seen that there is indeed such a thing, once it is discovered, it must be eradicated.”

King Qing's face sank like water, he suppressed his anger and worry, and said loudly, "Father, He Shuo's son, He Zhongxiong, is an accomplice of the thieves seized by my ministers. The evidence of the crime is convincing, and there is no reason to die. You Guanying is so insane that he bribed the bandits to assassinate him." Imperial envoy? Thanks to the guards’ desperate protection and courageous resistance, otherwise the person sent down will die wronged, and he will report and fabricate the cause of death, and he will be able to sit in the governor’s position safely.”

"Hmph! He is so courageous, the crime of deceiving the emperor is unforgivable." Emperor Chengtian said coldly, and pondered for a long time.

Different fragrances are smoked in the imperial study room throughout the year, and the aromatherapy in late summer is refreshing and refreshing, but after smelling it for a long time, it is a bit boring, so it is better to open the doors and windows to breathe freely.

King Qing never liked incense.Wearing a pro-royal uniform, he is tall and straight, unsmiling, but in fact he is anxious and worried-You Guanying deserves death!How dare you send someone to rob and kill the imperial envoy?The two groups of people who followed had an accident, which was almost irreversible... Fortunately, they got along well in the end...

The second prince hung his head for a long time, distracted, feeling weak all over. He quietly stretched his girdle and straightened his hair crown. His fingertips trembled slightly, and he couldn't control himself, so he quickly retracted into his sleeves.

"Father, imperial envoys have limited powers, and this matter is of great importance. My minister proposes to bring You Dang back to the capital and hand it over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for trial, severely punish the corrupt criminals, and clean up the bureaucracy!" The eldest prince suggested righteously.

It was rare for Taifu Han to be active. He frankly agreed with his grandson, and said earnestly: "Your Majesty, it turned out that 69 people actually died in the Guanzhou Rebellion last month. It is conceivable that the local officials were responsible for the bloody fighting at that time! You have a heart of kindness and love for the people, but you have been wantonly damaged by the party, not killing is not enough to anger the people, not killing is not enough to revive the government."

Emperor Chengtian faced Duobao Pavilion and turned his back to the crowd, without saying a word for a long time.

"Royal father?" The eldest prince asked worriedly.

"I gave the imperial envoy a month, and now there is half a month left, but they acted very quickly and did their best." Emperor Chengtian said slowly.

"There is an order from the Holy Spirit, so they will naturally go all out." The First Prince laughed.

"Alas." Emperor Chengtian sighed, completely calmed down, slowly walked back to the desk, and asked with his hands behind his back: "Yong'er, tell me what you think."

King Qing said with a straight look: "If the evidence is convincing, it is appropriate according to what the eldest brother wants. The governor is a provincial official, and he should be handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for trial. In addition, as for those accomplices with complete personal and material evidence, they can be dealt with on the spot. Public anger, appease the people of Guanzhou."

"Hmm." Emperor Chengtian sat down with his hands on the table, very tired, he was old after all.

Li Deying, the head of the inner court, offered a cup of ginseng tea, and Emperor Chengtian took it, slowly put it aside, and took a few sips.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, the imperial envoy has urgently dispatched five hundred soldiers from Guanzhong to assist, presumably the rampant bandits will never dare to make trouble again." Gao Xin, Minister of the Ministry of War, comforted him.

"Fortunately, they were a bit clever, otherwise, if ten people were killed unjustly, it would be a great pity even if we bring the criminals to justice afterwards." Emperor Chengtian pointed out without haste.

"Your Majesty's sage and benevolence is really a blessing to the country." Hubu Shangshu praised.He has always adhered to the way of being an official of "a thousand clothes and a thousand clothes, but no flattery".

Emperor Chengtian leaned back on the back of the chair, glanced at the second son of the emperor who bowed his head cautiously from the corner of his eyes, sighed secretly, and ordered in a deep voice: "Immediately draw up an order! Let the imperial envoys and Rong two thoroughly investigate to the end, and act cheaply. The thirteen criminals who imposed taxes, bullied the people, and caused heavy casualties were executed on the spot, and the people were outraged. In addition, we must fully grasp the evidence of corruption and party chaos led by You Guanying, and eliminate the officials in Hejian."

"Yes."

"Your Majesty is wise."

"Father is wise."

Amidst the sound of flattery, Marquis Pingnan's grandfather and grandson bowed their heads deeply, King Qing was solemn and dignified, remembering people thousands of miles away day and night.

At noon on August [-], the sun was shining brightly.

Outside the Guanzhou Execution Ground, there was a huge crowd of people. Thirteen criminals lined up, kneeling limply, gagged, sobbing and begging for mercy.

Countless people who have been oppressed and oppressed share the same hatred and applaud:

"Yes! Yes!"

"Finally waited until today, God finally opened his eyes!"

"Bastard, it's not a joke. Wearing an official uniform, you think you are a master. You are so crazy. You can beat and scold you if you want to."

"Hey, there is someone in their yamen, the one named Gan."

"Hahaha, this is great, the corrupt officials have been taken away! If the imperial envoys came a few years earlier, maybe killing the corrupt officials will bring a few more clean officials?"

"Just dream!"

……

Happy!At the same time, the family members of the deceased who died in the bloody melee last month still couldn't understand their hatred. They held their spirits and wore mourning. They were emotional and were frequently stopped by Guanzhong soldiers.

The execution ground was noisy and difficult to suppress.In addition to the imperial envoys, there are also officials such as the acting prefect sent urgently by Emperor Chengtian.

"Longyan is furious." Qi Zhiyang sighed.

"Everywhere in the country is waiting and watching. This case is related to the New Deal and the administration of officials. Severe punishment will not be enough to calm the situation." Rong Youtang said in a low voice.

A quarter of an hour later, it was noon.

"The time has come!" Rong Youtang shouted.

"Cut!" Qi Zhiyang ordered decisively.

On the [-]th, the imperial envoy was ordered to lead the Guanzhong soldiers to raid the homes of You Guanying, Ji Ping, Gan Hongxin and others. The gold and silver treasures were enough to fill two large boats.

In the early morning of the [-]th, several official ships left Hejian Province and entered the canal all the way northward. They parted from Sang Jiacheng's soldiers at the Guanzhong Ferry.

In the rickety cabin, Rong Youtang smiled, full of joy, and wrote on the small scroll one stroke at a time: "Fortunately, everything is fine, and we will return soon."

Then, he skillfully stuffed the paper roll into the thin tube, opened the window and let the carrier pigeon fly. Looking up, he watched the pigeon soar high and gradually disappear into the sky.

"Tsk, I'll be in the capital in a few days, how about Hongyan passing on the letter?" Song Shen teased lazily.

Rong Youtang said vaguely: "I am delivering important news."

"Oh, is that so?" Song Shen dragged the soles of his shoes, slowly moved to the window, lying on his stomach without any bones, staring blankly at the torrential river.

Rong Youtang asked curiously: "Ahem, how old is your senior sister? She claims to be 24 years old."

"Ha ha."

Song Shen sneered, and said sarcastically: "When I was five or six years old, she was seventeen or eighteen, and the more she lived, the younger she became, and she became my junior sister!"

"Then she is actually nearly forty?" Rong Youtang couldn't believe it, and exclaimed, "You have the skills to keep your face!"

"The medicine stone hurt her body, and she paid a great price for her beautiful skin."

Rong Youtang hesitated for a while, smiled wryly, and whispered:

"I talked to her several times. She knows the whereabouts of Zhen Qianbao, but the exchange is your understanding, otherwise she will not help."