Murder

Because of Chi Yebai's words, Sima Feng staggered with his heart hanging, and finally arrived at Yingbeishe.

Seeing the person in front of Yingbeishe's door from a distance, he immediately knew why it hurt.

A black-faced Sima Liang was right ahead.

Sima Liang knew that these things were purely accidental.After Sima Feng went to Shaoyi League, the information sent back was always not detailed enough, especially when the Shaoyi League was over, he only said in the letter that he and Chi Yebai were going to Jiezilou, and there was no news after that.It was only then that Sima Liangren found out that Chi Yebai had also gone with Sima Feng.Due to being under surveillance, he couldn't leave Pengyang City too far, so he went to Yingbeishe to find Chi Xingjian, trying to persuade Chi Xingjian to help again.After arriving at Yingbeishe, Sima Liang knew that Chi Yebai had sneaked out. Although Chi Xingjian and Yingsuo probably guessed where he went and who he was looking for, it was not until they met Sima Liang. Face to face to understand the whole story.

Except for a letter saying "Go to Jiezilou", there is nothing else. A group of people are anxious, but finally what they wait for is the vague message "Chi Yebai is injured". It is impossible not to worry of.

Chi Xingjian and Ying Suo still cared about their son's injury, so they didn't get angry, but Sima Liang didn't care.Seeing Sima Feng get off his horse, he immediately yelled, "Nizi! Get out of here!"

Chi Xingjian persuaded him from behind: "We've been exhausted all the way, let's rest first and then talk."

Sima Feng thought of his father's ten thousand warnings not to spread the matter of Shenying Ce, but in the blink of an eye, he had already told many people, and felt even more disturbed for a while.

Chi Yebai was helped out by Murong Hai and others, he was able to stand and walk as usual, and after landing, he walked towards his parents by himself.Chi Xingjian's face was gloomy, but his eyes couldn't hide the look of anxiety, while Yingsuo rushed over directly, holding Chi Yebai by his arm: "Why are you in such a mess!"

Chi Yebai had nothing to say, and it's inconvenient to say more here, so he just whispered: "Mother, I'm fine."

When everyone entered the Yingbei House, Chi Yebai found no trace of Qing Yuanzi, knowing that his master might have gone elsewhere, so he briefly told his parents about Qing Yuanzi's departure from the island.

Sima Liangren wants to listen to Sima Feng's recent events in detail. Chi Yebai was ordered by Chi Xingjian to go back to his room to rest because of his physical condition.

After lying in the room for a while, Murong Hai came to visit him and told him what happened to Ying Beishe.

Because of Chi Yebai's departure and Sima Liangren's visit, Chi Xingjian had to get serious about Shenying Ce and Wen Xuanzhou.Blindly avoiding the matter is useless, even though there are thousands of unwillingness, Chi Yebai has already voluntarily been involved in this matter.What's more, Wen Xuanzhou and Chi Yebai still have some connections, which must make Chi Xingjian and his wife worry.

Chi Yebai wondered what his parents would say after hearing Sima Feng's explanation.

"Master, my wife is going to be offered a few days ago, she is a girl." Murong Hai said suddenly.

Chi Yebai Yixi: "Really? Are the mother and daughter safe?"

"Everything is safe, the child is white and fat, my wife has been laid off yesterday, and there is no serious problem." Murong Hai said, "Only when a person lives for the rest of his life will he still have a wife and son, so he can feel at ease."

Chi Yebai sat up on the bed, silently looking at Murong Hai.

Murong Hai felt guilty when he saw him, coughed twice, and turned his eyes away.

"What did you tell my parents?" Chi Yebai asked.

"I didn't say anything." Murong Hai shook his head hastily, "These are the words in my heart. But whether the master and wife know, I... don't know."

Chi Yebai was silent for a moment, then chuckled.He almost walked through the gate of hell this time, and his thoughts on some things have changed. "Murong, you have a wife and son, are you happy?"

"Happy." Murong Hai said softly.

"I'm happy too." Chi Yebai replied, "People have thousands of ways to live, and they also have thousands of ways to be happy."

After hearing this sentence, Murong Hai knew that he could not convince him any more, so he sighed lowly.

Chi Yebai said softly: "Murong, I thank you. Only you will tell me such a thing, and I understand what you mean."

Murong Hai scratched his head: "Why don't we let our next child follow you?"

Chi Yebai: "...what?"

Murong Hai blushed: "No, no, just pretend you haven't heard of it. I haven't discussed it with Madam yet..."

Chi Yebai laughed out loud, pulling at the unhealed wound on his neck, and immediately stopped his voice.He waved his hand: "Thinking too far...too far."

Murong Hai laughed along with him, feeling very embarrassed.

On the other side, Sima Feng has explained to Sima Liangren and others what happened to Shaoyi League and Jiezilou.

"This man was looking for money..." Sima Liangren turned to look at Chi Xingjian, "Do you have any clues here?"

"No." Chi Xingjian said.

He and Yingsuo had indeed investigated Shenying Strategy and Shenying Camp back then. Although they realized that the source of money behind it was very complicated, they had various concerns and did not go deep into it in the end.

"At that time, I didn't expect that Wen Xuanzhou would have such a deep connection with Shenying Ce." Insuo said in a deep voice, "But since Wen Xuanzhou has already been in contact with Yebai and has not received any information, he probably won't look for him again. The night is white."

Chi Xingjian glanced at Sima Liangren: "Where else would he look for things that Ying Beishe didn't know about in the imperial court?"

"In the palace, or Jiezilou." Sima Liangren quickly said, "Although Wen Xuanzhou doesn't seem to have the slightest doubt about Jiezilou now, the possibility exists."

"We can't let him go to Jiezilou." Chi Xingjian said immediately, "Let him always focus on Ying Beishe for information."

Everyone in the room was silent for a while, Yingsuo frowned tightly, and finally swallowed the words on his lips.

She understood Chi Xingjian's meaning: Jiezilou is far away from Pengyang and Yunyang Town, if Wen Xuanzhou turns to Jiezilou to investigate, it will be very inconvenient for them to move.And in Chi Xingjian's opinion, the value of Jiezilou is far greater than that of Yingbeishe.

But this also means that Chi Yebai will always be watched closely by Wen Xuanzhou, shrouded in danger.

"Wen Xuanzhou is in the dark, but in fact we are also in the dark." Sima Liangren said, "Wen Xuanzhou's goal has never been Muya, let alone Yingbeishe. He wants to take away the gold that belongs to the court. The opponent is the imperial court."

"But he didn't know that the imperial court had started to investigate this matter." Sima Feng continued, "This is our advantage."

"But we can't rely on the power of the imperial court. We must not rush to inform them of the progress before there is a result... This will put us and you in great danger." Chi Xingjian frowned, "We must avoid cunning The ending of the rabbit dies and the dog cooks."

Sima Liangren glanced at Sima Feng, seeing Sima Feng's expression, he understood that his son finally understood the real intention of telling him not to spread the matter at this moment.

No matter how good their martial arts are and how powerful they are, they are always people from the rivers and lakes like loose sand, and it is wishful thinking to fight against the imperial court.

This matter was on the top of the Sima family, and Sima Liangren immediately understood: he needs to be prepared to burn everything.But Sima Feng still didn't understand that he was different from himself, he was too deeply involved in the Jianghu, and he was used to thinking about problems and solving things with the thinking of Jianghu people, so he thought that as long as the people he helped were his trusted friends, the more the better.

This kind of direct and simple thinking, on the contrary, caused Chi Yebai, Lin Shaoyi, Tian Ku and others, like the Sima family, to fall into this huge crisis.

"Now that Jie Zilou has agreed to find the flow of the gold in the records, then we can do something else." Chi Xingjian looked at Sima Feng and said, "Don't be upset, don't waste time on useless things We must race against time, not only to run ahead of Wen Xuanzhou, but also to run ahead of the court."

Insuo was startled: "Wait!...You mean, we are not the only ones investigating?"

"Since the present day is also inextricably linked to the Shenying Camp of the old year, then I don't think he can simply entrust such an important matter to you."

Sima Liangren also agreed with Chi Xingjian's thoughts: "Yes, I think so too. The Shenying strategy is the court's strategy, so naturally it is the fastest way to start with the court. But why did he ask me to investigate? There are two reasons. One is that factional disputes within the imperial court are getting more and more intense, and he is not at ease in entrusting it to anyone, so he can only entrust me by taking hostages; the other is that he has other channels, starting from the inside, and I started from this world , is to trace the outside."

"Inside?" Sima Feng got rid of his annoyance, and immediately followed Sima Liangren's train of thought, "It was King Lu who was in charge of the Eagle Battalion back then... Do you doubt the little King Lu now?"

"Yes." Sima Liangren pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Besides, he is Wen Xuanzhou's 'friend'."

After some discussion, several people immediately decided on their respective division of labor: Chi Xingjian and Ying Suo used Ying Beishe's intelligence network to track down Wen Xuanzhou.Sima Liangren and Sima Feng turned to contact King Lu.

"I have to trouble Shuanghua again." Sima Liangren said, "King Lu likes her very much."

Sima Feng recalled Shuanghua's identity as an informant, and asked in a low voice: "Is she your informant specially used to investigate the information of Prince Lu's Mansion?"

"That's natural." Sima Liangren nodded.At this moment, the two were standing at the gate of Yingbeishe, and Sima Feng was seeing him off. "After this incident is over safely... I plan to find a good home for her." Sima Liangren said, "I heard you like her very much?"

Sima Feng was embarrassed: "I follow your orders every time."

Sima Liangren felt a little regretful: "That was too difficult. She has the most contact with you, and it is not easy to find someone who is better than you."

"Father, don't think so much." Sima Feng said, "Have you visited Mother?"

"I can't go, but your cousin-in-law sent a letter back, and she's staying with Shuangtong over there, so there's nothing wrong with her." Sima Liang frowned, "I heard that the food in the Qu Mansion is very delicate because of the wife's pregnancy. Mother is still a little heavier, I'm afraid that after returning home, we will force you and me to eat fast with her again."

Sima Feng heard it and smiled.Regardless of whether these words are true or not, he believes them all.

"You really don't want to go back?" Sima Liang turned his head immediately, "It's very annoying for you to stay here."

"I know..." Sima Feng said, "But Xiaobai's injury this time has a lot to do with me. I can't leave like this, at least I have to take care of him for a few more days."

Sima Liangren frowned and looked at him: "Suspicious."

Sima Feng felt guilty: "What is suspicious?"

But his father didn't continue talking, turned around and rode away.Sima Feng watched him from the side of the road until he was no longer in sight, then turned and walked back to Ying Bei She.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly heard someone calling his name: "Sima Feng."

He turned his head and saw Chi Xingjian standing in the yard with a sword in his hand.

"Uncle Chi." Sima Feng stepped forward, "Is there anything you want me to do?"

"Nothing." Chi Xingjian stared at him, "Are you free now?"

"Yes." Sima Feng was confused.

"Okay then, take your sword and let's go to the training ground." Chi Xingjian said, "Uncle Chi wants to learn from you."

The author has something to say: July and a half small theater

****

On the night of the Ghost Festival.Seven Star Peak.

Zhang Ziyun sat by the stream, looked at the big round moon above his head, and dipped a bronze mirror in his hand into the cold stream.

The bronze mirror is very ordinary, nothing special can be seen, but some crooked words are embedded on the mirror.

After soaking for about half an hour, Zhang Ziyun took out the mirror, put it in his arms, turned around and walked back.

He jumped up to the opening of the rock wall and landed on the side of Zhang Ziqiao's coffin without a sound.Just at night, there was a gust of wind, and the flying brocade on the coffin dropped some leaves, which Zhang Ziyun brushed away carefully.

He looked at the moonlight again, sat on the edge of the coffin, took out the bronze mirror, and looked at the coffin.

The bronze mirror is silent, and the coffin is also silent.

Zhang Ziyun held it up for an hour before slowly putting it down.

"Bastard Diren wizard," he whispered, "lied to me again."

He put the bronze mirror in his pocket, thought for a while, and said with a smile: "However, what if it is real?"

He patted the coffin, and he said in a whisper: "It cost three liang of silver to buy a mirror, and it was your apprentice Tang Ou who honored me. Have you seen it? He is now a man, amazing..."

After the moon passed, Zhang Ziyun was tired of talking.He was also getting older, and his throat, which he had injured many years ago, was getting worse, and his voice was also hoarse.Leaning on the coffin, he was silent for a moment, then grabbed the bronze mirror, still looking at the coffin.

"...you really lied to me." He chuckled softly, "That wizard is really, really bad."

****

On the night of the Ghost Festival.Little League.

"What are you doing?" Lin Shaoyi raised his head and asked as he walked through the osmanthus tree in the Jingmeng.

"Purdue Lordless Lonely Soul." Li Yijin said.

"You are no longer a monk."

"Thank you for the reminder." Li Yijin jumped off the tree, looked at the thing in his hand, "This is?"

"It's for Ah Che." Lin Shaoyi said, "It's all her favorite food."

The usual sacrificial ceremony is over, this is what Lin Shaoyi insisted on doing.The two spread out the food one by one under the tree, when they suddenly heard strange noises from the bushes beside them.Li Yijin took out Xin Zhong from among the bushes.

"why are not you sleeping?"

Xin Chong looked at him, then at Lin Shaoyi, and stretched out his hand to Lin Shaoyi: "Brother Lin."

Lin Shaoyi squatted on the ground and did not respond to him.

Xin Zhong withdrew his hand with a timid expression.For some reason in the past two days, many people in the Shaoyi League ignored him. He didn't understand why, but felt scared, so he sneaked out to find Lin Shaoyi and Li Yijin.

Li Yijin picked him up and walked to Lin Shaoyi's side.Xin Chong looked at the small bowls, saucers and candles on the table with curiosity.

"These are for a sister." Li Yijin whispered, "A sister you have never met."

Xin Zhong sniffed his nose: "Does it look good?"

"It's very beautiful." Li Yijin said calmly, "The martial arts are on par with your brother Lin, and she is a very powerful heroine."

"Isn't she here yet?"

"I can't come."

"Where did she go?"

Li Yijin looked at Xin Zhong, and slowly said, "She's dead."

Xin Chong didn't know what "death" meant, and he asked in a daze, "What is 'death'?"

Lin Shaoyi had already stood up and looked at Xin Zhong: "'Death' is a bad thing, it hurts a lot."

He finally paid attention to himself—Xin Zhong immediately forgot about the good-looking sister and "death", and quickly took out a paper bag from his pocket, holding it in both hands and handing it to Lin Shaoyi.

Lin Shaoyi: "?"

He opened it and found several purple-black grapes in the paper bag.

A few days ago, Tang Ou and Shen Guangming came back from Qixing Peak outside Xinjiang and brought Lin Shaoyi some grapes outside the border.He remembered that Xin Zhong liked to eat very much.

"Have you eaten it?" Xin Zhong asked earnestly, "This is delicious, very delicious."

After he finished speaking, he remembered Li Yijin who was hugging him, and quickly raised his head and asked, "Brother Li, have you eaten yet?"

Li Yijin smiled and said, "I've eaten, thank you."

As soon as he finished saying this, Lin Shaoyi stretched out his hand and took Xin Chong away from his arms.Xin Zhong hurriedly clutched the paper bag in his hand, for fear that the grapes would roll to the ground.

Lin Shaoyi didn't speak, and hugged Xin Zhong tightly, only feeling tears welling up.Li Yijin stretched out her arms to hold him in her arms, and gently patted the back of his head.

The white candle on the table flickered lightly, reflecting the shadows in the wine glass.

Xin Chong blinked.He really saw a sister who had been sitting at the table at some point, eating something from the dishes on the table, and staring at the three people hugged together.

It's really pretty...Xin Zhong blushed: This sister is very pretty when she smiles.

****

On the night of the Ghost Festival.Naihe Bridge.

Granny Meng was stirring the soup pot with a big spoon, standing up from time to time and beating her waist.

"Put some meat, at least it's delicious." Fang Dazao said.

Po Meng gave him a white look: "It's because it doesn't taste good, so you don't drink it all the time, right?"

"Bitter." Fang Dazao frowned, pinched his nose and waved his hands.

"There are candied fruit!" said Granny Meng.

"Candied fruit is 300 taels!" Fang Dazao yelled, "You earn black-hearted money!"

"Let your apprentice burn more paper money for you!" Granny Meng swung her spoon and shouted, "It's so interesting to hide all the paper money you collect for use!"

Fang Dazao grinned, still sitting on the big rock by the bridge and scratching his feet.

Ah Sui who was on the side looked up at him: "Brother Shen, master, I am not afraid of hardship, can I drink first?"

"No." Fang Dazao glared at him, "I finally found you, and I happened to be begging your elder brother for favors, so don't run around."

"But I heard that if you don't reincarnate as soon as possible after death, you will become a lonely ghost." A Sui said.

Fang Dazao: "Is that what Po Meng said?"

Ah Sui: "Yes."

Fang Dazao: "You don't understand, Granny Meng's wages are calculated on a per-person basis. For example, if 100 people crossed the bridge after drinking her clear soup today, she would get a hundred dollars. So in her eyes, you and I are just Money is not a person. Do you think it is hateful or not?"

Ah Sui: "We are indeed not human."

Fang Dazao: "...you child, you are very boring."

The two waited for several more days, and finally met Xin Muyun and Bailiji.

Seeing Xin Muyun, Ah Sui had a weird expression on his face, and quietly hid behind Fang Dazao.

After he came to Hades, he was immediately seen by Fang Dazao who had been guarding the bridge.The reason why Fang Dazao refused to cross the bridge was because he had not found Liu Shushu.After hearing Ah Sui's story about how he died, Fang Dazao insisted on keeping him by his side, persuading him to wait for his elder brother.

Not long after that, Xin Muyun really came too.He found Ah Sui immediately, but he didn't dare to go forward, only dared to look at him from across the road.Because Bailiji was also waiting for someone by the bridge, Fang Dazao saw them meet, so he made a request to Xin Muyun and Bailiji through Ah Sui, asking them to help find Liu Shushu.

It's hard to find Liu Shushu, because she still hasn't changed her nature in the underworld, changing her appearance every day, stealing this and that, and disappearing like a ghost.

Bailiji and Xin Muyun grabbed her very hard, and finally pulled her to Fang Dazao.

Po Meng waved a spoon on the bridge: "It's time to call it a day! You can't cross the bridge yet!"

"Pass it!" Fang Dazao pulled Liu Shushu and jumped onto the bridge, rummaged through his body, and took out a pile of gold and silver paper money, "A total of 4 taels."

He handed it to Granny Meng.

Granny Meng took it away with a smile, scooped out two bowls of soup, and put something into the soup, and it was fragrant for a while.

"A bowl of 2 taels. After drinking it, even if you cross the bridge and reincarnate, you will still remember each other. Even if the world is busy, you will be able to renew your marriage."

Fang Dazao happily accepted it, and Liu Shushu said in astonishment, "Who wants to remarry with you?"

Fang Dazao was shocked: "Aren't you going to marry me?"

Liu Shushu was even more surprised: "Who said that I want to marry you?"

Fang Dazao didn't know what to do, when he suddenly saw Liu Shushu took the bowl from Granny Meng's hand, raised his head and drank it.

"I have never said it in this life, you work hard to let me say this in my next life."

Fang Dazao was so happy that he could see his teeth but not his eyes, and was about to pull Liu Shushu forward when he suddenly saw Liu Shushu took out a pile of gold and silver coins and jewelry from his arms, and stuffed them all into the hands of Ah Sui behind him.

"Good boy, use these to buy a good bowl of soup from Meng Po." Liu Shushu said softly, "You will find a good family in your next life."

After speaking, he left with Fang Dazao hand in hand.

Ah Sui looked at the things in his hand, turned around and handed them all to Xin Muyun.

Xin Muyun: "???"

Ah Sui didn't make a sound, he stuffed something into his hand, turned around and walked in front of Granny Meng.He also took out a lot of silver coins from his pocket.

"You have so much too?!" Granny Meng was taken aback, "This can buy the best bowl of soup, the kind that can be reincarnated into the best family in the world."

"Brothers from the Beggar Gang and Big Brother Shen cooked it." Ah Sui paused, "I want the best bowl of soup."

Granny Meng was scooping happily when she looked up and saw the skinny little beggar pointing at a young man behind him.

"I, I want to be brothers with him again." Ah Sui said with a trembling voice, "This time I want to be a brother."

Xin Muyun was stunned for a moment, almost dropped the thing in his hand, and Baili Jikuai grabbed it in his arms.

Granny Meng glanced at Xin Muyun, smiled and shook her head: "My good boy, this is not acceptable. This man is too murderous to be with you. But if you have a chance to meet, it will last forever."

Ah Sui turned his head and took one last look at Xin Muyun, took Po Meng's soup, and drank it all in one go.

There were only two people left on the bridge, and Bailiji gave all the money in his bosom to Granny Meng.No one burned these things for him and Xin Muyun, they were truly penniless.

"This is not enough for two bowls." Meng Po said.

"Just a bowl, give it to him." Bailiji said, "The kind that can cast a good pregnancy."

"No matter what, you can't have a good pregnancy." Meng Po said, "The crime of killing is too heavy."

Xin Muyun kept looking at the other side of the bridge, looking at the direction Ah Sui left.Hearing what Po Meng said, he answered slowly: "Then don't use that kind of soup."

Meng Po: "Then what do you want?"

Xin Muyun looked at Baili Ji.Bailiji was also looking at him curiously.Bailiji was naked and covered with scars, maintaining the state when he was tortured to death.Xin Muyun said: "I want that kind of soup, after reincarnation, we still remember each other."

"Just like the liar and thief just now?" said Granny Meng.

"Same." Xin Muyun said, "It's the kind that can renew the marriage."

(Finish)