[Comprehensive] leaning on flowers and bamboo

It snowed all day and stopped at noon.

Gongsun Ce wrapped his clothes tightly, hid his hands in his sleeves, and walked forward with his head down and his chin in his mouth. Huamanlou and Bai Yutang next to him didn't bother him.When passing the porridge shop yesterday morning, Gongsun Ce stopped for a while, looked up at the busy proprietress, and continued walking forward.

"Once Fang Jin dies, the case will be solved."

"But it's not over yet."

Hearing this, Gongsun Ce remained silent, raised his head to look at Huamanlou and said, "Mr. Zhang is very thoughtful. If it weren't for the help of Zhang Zhifu, I am afraid that I would not be able to take down the county magistrate by myself."

He is not Bao Zheng, he has the privileges granted by the emperor, and he is restricted in many cases. Fortunately, Gongsun Zhen had many friends when he was an official in the court. Easy to do.

"If you have time tomorrow, it's not too much to come and thank you."

"kindness."

Bai Yutang was very sleepy when he heard the two talking, "Since the case has been solved and the murderer has been caught, Fang Jin died as soon as he died. If the person who killed him wanted to kill him, he must have known about other people's crimes." It’s not something we should care about, the culprit of those lives is caught, Brother Gongsun, you have done a good deed.”

"As long as you know, well, let's go back." Gongsun Ce put his shoulders on his shoulders, walked a few steps and remembered that they were going to Dingyuan County, then turned to Huamanlou and said, "It's already the twelfth lunar month, what time are you going?" Go to Dingyuan County with us, won't your elder brother have any objections?"

"I mentioned this matter to him. The Hua family has never cared about these things, so it's okay."

"That's good, otherwise, if the Hua family accuses me of human trafficking, I won't be able to afford it."

"Brother Gongsun, Brother Hua and you are good friends. I will definitely not let you be in danger alone. You, it's better not to chase Brother Hua away. It's good for him to follow us. Look at you, every time You have become the target of the murderer, fortunately Brother Hua can save you in time, otherwise you would have met Lord Yan several times."

"Crow's mouth."

Gongsun Ce refused to admit it, but after thinking about it seriously, he indeed owed Huamanlou several lives, and he almost died in the yamen just now.

Taking a peek at Huamanlou next to him, seeing the smile on Huamanlou's face, he curled his lips and turned his head, "Isn't it good enough for me to provide for him along the way?"

"Enough! Brother Gongsun, don't pinch me—!" Bai Yutang broke free from Gongsun Ce's clutches and ran to Huamanlou.

Hua Manlou shook his head and said, "You two are the same age at heart."

"Hahaha, Gongsun Ce, did you hear, why are you so childish!"

Gongsun Ce felt that the two were in the same camp, and they joined forces to deal with him.

Just after returning to Hua's house, Uncle Hua saw them, came forward and took out a letter: "Master, Gongsun Gongzi, this letter is for Gongsun Gongzi, from Dingyuan County."

Dingyuan County?Isn't that Bao Zheng!

After Gongsun Ce thanked him, he took the letter and opened it, glanced at it roughly, and his face changed drastically: "Yutang, Huamanlou, pack your things and prepare to go to Xiangyang."

"Xiangyang?"

"Aren't you going to Dingyuan?"

Gongsun Ce put the letter away, "I'll talk about the details later. Let's set off for Xiangyang first and pack up our things. We won't be able to leave today. We will leave early tomorrow morning and rush to Xiangyang. But before that, we will go to Zhang's house now, and we will go tomorrow." That's too late."

Bai Yutang and Hua Manlou nodded, and the three of them left in a hurry as soon as they came back.

The snow at the door of Zhang's house had been swept away, and a servant was standing there, holding a white lantern in his hand, standing on the stairs about to replace the lantern in front of the door.On the white lantern, there is a touch of black, which is particularly eye-catching.Gongsun Ce was startled, and stepped forward a few steps and asked, "You... where is your master?"

"Young master, Master... is gone, hey..."

Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou were stunned when they heard the words, Gongsun Ce was about to ask something more, but Hua Manlou stopped him, shook his head and said, "Don't worry, let's go in and have a look."

The servant looked at the two of them, looked up and down and asked, "Are you the two young masters who came yesterday?"

"Exactly."

"My lady said, if you come, please go in, the lady is waiting for you."

"Thank you."

Not daring to delay, the three hurried in and were led by the servants to the side hall.The Zhang family has become quite desolate overnight, making people feel cold to the bone, the white silk mourning hall, and the black coffin in the mourning hall just now.Gongsun Ce took a deep breath, and the palms of his hands were sweating.

In the side hall, Zhang Yan, who was still very clever and playful yesterday, was dressed in sackcloth and filial piety, with a dull expression and red and swollen eyes, it seemed that she had been crying all night.Standing in the middle of the side hall, when he saw them coming, he saluted with blessings.

"Gongsun Gongzi, Playboy."

"Miss Zhang, my condolences and condolences."

"Grandpa is gone, and I should go too. I will go to my father's place, and I will leave it to my second uncle to take care of it. I will leave after seven days." Zhang Yan smiled bitterly: "You two sons, yesterday grandpa Seeing you, do you know...why did he behave like this? The doctor clearly said that his condition has improved."

Of course they knew, but since Zhang Yan didn't know, they couldn't take the initiative to tell Zhang Yan about it.

Gongsun Ce shook his head and said, "I don't know, Miss Zhang, don't be too sad."

Bai Yutang stood there, looked at Zhang Yan, then looked at Huamanlou, but it was strange to see Huamanlou thoughtful.

While thinking about it secretly, Hua Manlou said, "Miss Zhang, Mr. Zhang's death was just an accident. Maybe he just didn't want to involve his family. After the first seven days, Mr. Zhang must be very happy when you leave to go to your father's place. You have been with him for many years, he is naturally filial, but if you go to accompany your parents, he will know and be happy."

"Young man, grandpa, he, he... died of illness, I know it wasn't, he, he committed suicide!"

Zhang Yan's words were astonishing, Gongsun Ce and Hua Manlou didn't expect that Zhang Hengdong actually committed suicide, thinking of Fang Jin who was killed before, the matter...the two didn't dare to think deeply, put back the thoughts that were spreading in their hearts, and faced Zhang Yan shook her head.

"Sorry, I was rude." Zhang Yan wiped away her tears and lowered her head.

The four of them were in the side hall, and no one spoke. Gongsun Ce was not good at comforting people, and this matter was beyond the scope of his current intervention, so he only felt a pain in the head.

"By the way, before Grandpa sent me away, he told me to give this to you. He will rest for a few days and see no visitors."

Zhang Yan took out a letter and handed it to Gongsun Ce.

There was no signature on the envelope, but it was sealed with wax paint. When Gongsun Ce and Bai Yutang caught a glimpse of the red paint, they already had a guess in their hearts.

After bidding farewell to Zhang Yan, the three returned to Hua's house and packed their luggage.

Gongsun Ce sat on the stool, holding the letter in his hand, hesitating whether to open it or not.A gust of cold wind blew in, looked up at the door, saw Hua Manlou was closing the door with his back turned, and asked, "Did you talk to your elder brother? What did he say?"

"Brother naturally agrees."

"It treats you very well."

Hua Manlou smiled and sat down, poured a cup of tea and said, "Aren't you going to open it?"

"... not sure yet."

Hua Manlou knew the reason for Gongsun Ce's hesitation, but he didn't expect that Gongsun Ce hadn't made a decision yet, "Since you have an idea, let's open it up. No matter what the consequences or troubles, we can always get together if we are together. Don’t you always say that it’s resolved, the truth is revealed, and you’re not ashamed of yourself?”

"If it were Bao Zheng, he would definitely not hesitate."

"Because you know those people better than him, you hesitate."

Hearing this, Gongsun Ce looked at Hua Manlou and smiled with all his teeth: "Hua Manlou, why didn't I know that you are so good at complimenting others."

"Gongsun Gongzi, there are still many things you need to know, don't worry, the days ahead are still very long." Hua Manlou was very frank, frankly, people couldn't bear to refuse and do things that made him sad at all.

Gongsun Ce lowered his voice and said, "Thank you, Huamanlou."

It was rare for Hua Manlou not to refuse this thank you, but just took out something from his bosom: "This is for you."

Gongsun Ce looked over and was stunned, looking at Hua Manlou, "You—"

"Is Mr. Gongsun satisfied with this thing?"

"Satisfaction is satisfaction, but it is too expensive."

"Mr. Gongsun took care of my food, clothing, housing and transportation all the way. This thing is not expensive, what do you think?" Hua Manlou said with a teasing smile, which reminded Gongsun Ce of what he had said, and wished he could take it back.

What a guy with a good memory.

Reaching out to take the jade pendant, holding it in his hand, he felt a little hot in his palm.Hua Manlou withdrew his hand and put it on the table, "This is the same as mine, but there are some differences."

This time not only the palms of the hands became hot, but even the roots of the ears became hot.

Staring at Hua Manlou in a daze, he found that even though this person was blind, his eyes were exceptionally bright, as if... the Milky Way in the sky at night was embedded in it, and when he stared at it, he felt somewhat lost.

Early in the morning, the three of them bid farewell to Hua Yixuan on horseback, and ordered Chao Mahan to return to Beijing to help Bao Zheng. They arrived in Xiangyang, and they would rush back to the capital as soon as possible after getting the evidence.

It would take ten days at the fastest from Yangzhou to Xiangyang. Gongsun Ce and Huamanlou Bai Yutang went all the way to Xiangyang non-stop. When they finally arrived in Xiangyang City, they got off their horses and led the horses towards the city.Gongsun Ce looked at the situation in Xiangyang City, and was about to talk to Hua Manlou, when Hua Manlou took him aside.

"Did someone follow us all the way here?"

"It's not like that."

Bai Yutang ran back to the two of them: "Brother Gongsun, are you alright?"

"It's okay, let's find an inn to stay in first."

"kindness."

The three of them came to the inn in the city and talked with the shopkeeper in front of the counter. Hua Manlou never asked about these things, but listened to the diners around him, when suddenly the fan in his hand fell to the ground and stood there in a daze.Bai Yutang and Gongsun Ce were taken aback for a moment, then looked at each other, "Hua Man Lou, what's wrong with you?"

Unexpectedly, Hua Manlou actually smiled, bent down and picked up the fan on the ground, "Nothing, let's go upstairs."

"Brother Hua, you don't look like you're okay, because you're smiling so happily."

"Have it?"

"Hua Man Lou, did you overhear just now—" Gongsun Ce was about to ask, but felt that it was not the place to speak, so he changed his mind and said, "Let's go up and talk about it."

Hua Manlou nodded, and the three of them walked up.

The diners downstairs were still chatting, the clerk came over with a plate of melon seeds and said, "Guests, don't bluff people, there are no people with four eyebrows in this world!"