red cliff top

The bright fireworks soared to the sky, burst into bloom in the night, and the flowing fire splashed like a shower, scattering golden light all over the ground.

"Actually, I..." The corners of Shen Si's lips curled up and his eyes were bright, staring at the opening and closing of King Jin's mouth. Unfortunately, the sound of firecrackers and cheers by the lake was so loud that King Jin couldn't hear what he was saying at all.

Soon Shen Si also realized that this was not a good time to talk, the two of them met their eyes, and immediately reached a tacit understanding, each smiled helplessly, and patiently waited for the burst of noise to dissipate.

Suddenly, as if he had discovered something in deep thought, he tilted his upper body and poked out his neck slightly, frowning behind King Jin.King Jin turned his head and followed his contemplative gaze to search the past. The place was crowded with spectators, three floors inside and three floors outside, occasionally mixed with a few small vendors selling food along the street with baskets hanging on their chests.

Before King Jin could see what was going on, Shen Siju leaned over to his ear and quickly said, "Wait for me a moment, I'll come as soon as I go." Then he ran down the stone bridge briskly.

Looking at the contemplative figure from a distance, King Jin was full of satisfaction.Covered in an iron-gray satin cloak, Shen Si was much taller than ordinary people. She walked a few steps with straight shoulders and strong wind under her feet, which was indescribably pleasing to the eyes of King Jin.

This day is Yuanxi, and it is also Wei Lu's 36th birthday.He was born in a reckless family, grew up in troubled times, and had a rough half of his life. Although he raised his arms and responded to thousands of people, no one under the lamp expressed his heartfelt heart.But at this moment, on the stone arch bridge in Jinyang City, his life was about to come to an end.

After the fireworks were over, a fire dragon team composed of hundreds of people came windingly from the street, singing and dancing. The team crossed the arch bridge, blocking King Jin's sight.The crowd boiled up again, the gongs, cymbals, suona and drum music shook the sky, and the thunderous cheers were so lively.

The leader is a big man dressed in colorful clothes, holding a jewel in his hand and jumping from left to right, luring the giant dragon to come and snatch it.The faucet is made of bamboo strips, with a few exquisite fan leaves attached to each eye, which flickers and flickers in the wind, vividly.Dozens of dragon bodies with candles and candles are dragging behind, tumbling and jumping controlled by wooden handles. Sometimes it is a golden dragon wagging its tail, and sometimes it is a dragon coiling on a jade pillar. trend.

Watching a dragon dance, King Jin was in a good mood, and even his smile was extraordinarily happy.But until the tourists surrounded the dragon lantern team and turned to the next street, there was still no figure of meditation.He raised his hand to beckon a few guards, ordering them to meet Shen Si.After waiting for a long time, the guards turned back one after another, and they all said that they had not found Mr. Shen.

King Jin was not in a hurry, maybe Shen Si was just a kid who was playing too much and just watched the excitement and forgot that he was still waiting for him, or maybe it was the crowds of people who pushed him far away, and he couldn't get back to the place for a while.Don't look at that kid who is shrewd and smart in big things, but extremely confused in small things. He can memorize the thousands of ravines in Jinyuan and command the army calmly. I don't know where I wandered around foolishly.

The only regrettable thing is that the important conversation just now was interrupted, and King Jin hadn't heard Shen Si's answer with his own ears, so he was a bit uneasy.Well, well, I have been delayed for several years, but this moment is not bad.

Since Shen Si couldn't wait for a long time, King Jin had no choice but to leave some people waiting in place for the time being, and went back to the mansion first.If you think about it, if you really lost your way, you just need to inquire all the way. After all, no one in Jinyang City knows where the palace is, even if you close your eyes and open your mouth, you can definitely find it.

When I went to the mansion to ask, they all said that Mr. Shen had not returned, and the King of Jin felt depressed.When it was almost midnight, there was still no news of meditation, and he gradually couldn't sit still.

Ordinarily, Shen Si should not encounter any danger. Under this big festival, Jinyang is full of people, mountains, seas and brightly lit lights. How can there be gangsters who dare to commit crimes in the street? Eight strong men can't get close easily.Could it be said that a living person can really lose himself?

The most urgent task is to quickly spread out the people and go out to search, not only to search the streets and alleys carefully, but also to call the officials and guards everywhere to inquire about any suspicious things that happened that night.

From time to time someone reports back on a galloping horse. After nightfall, numerous troubles of all sizes occur in the city, such as disputes over failure of business, verbal clashes, violent fights, or accidental fires, but none of them can be related to meditation.The four city gates also sent people to take the portraits to interrogate, and the soldiers on duty said that they had never seen such a person as Shen Si.

The person who was chatting and laughing with me a few hours ago disappeared as soon as he said he didn't see him, and he was still on his own territory. In frustration and self-blame, King Jin slammed his palm on the table with a "bang", shaking The cups were overturned, and the hot tea dripped out all over the floor.This movement was too big, and he accidentally pulled the unhealed wound on his shoulder, and his flesh throbbed in pain, which made him even more annoyed.

Seeing this, Sun Rushang quietly asked someone to clean up the debris on the ground, and carefully persuaded: "My lord, rest assured, maybe Mr. Shen just encountered some accident suddenly, got caught for a while, and will return on his own later. .”

King Jin raised his hand angrily, he didn't need such meaningless words of reassurance at the moment.

During the time when Shen Si lived in the mansion, he never restricted his freedom, but just pampered and pampered him, for fear that he would feel uncomfortable, so he never had any reason to leave without saying goodbye.Even if you can't get away, it's okay to ask someone to send a message back. Who would dare not buy it in Jinyang City when you bring out the name of King Wei Lu of Jin?

Could it be that...it was my own confession that scared people away?But after thinking about it, it wasn't Shen Xiaowu'er's temperament after all.Shen Si is frank and upright, if you like it, say you like it, if you don't like it, say you don't like it, how can you run away?

A figure flickered at the door, and Tu Mo'er came in silently, holding a black satin forehead band inlaid with black jade in his hand, and King Jin recognized it as something of meditation at a glance.Shen Si doesn't do much dressing up on weekdays, most of her hair is pulled up casually, and she is also lazy to tie a crown, and only occasionally tie a forehead band to tie up the broken hair at the sideburns.

"Where did you get this?" King Jin asked eagerly, grabbing the forehead strap.

Tu Moer lowered his eyelids, half of his face would be exposed from under the loose hair, and he glanced straight at the tea set on the table.

King Jin looked at Gu Zhuozi suspiciously, and Gu Zhuozi explained on his behalf: "Ah Qu meant that he found it at a tea stall."

King Jin asked eagerly, "Where's the owner of the tea stall? Did he bring him back for questioning? Is there any news about Nian Qing?"

Tu Moer shook his head slightly towards Gu Zhuozi, Gu Zhuozi sighed lightly: "It seems that the building has already been emptied."

Holding the forehead band tinged with contemplation in his hands, King Jin's brows were furrowed and he fell into deep thought.There are many possibilities for the forehead strap to fall; either lost it in too much haste, or pulled it off while doing it, or deliberately marked yourself...

Shen Si came to Jinyang only for a few months, rarely went out, and never had any quarrels with anyone.If there is anyone who has made enemies, only Tan Tianliang's elder brother Tan Tianming knows.After all, Tan Tianliang ordered to be executed in deep thought, and it is understandable for an older brother to be concerned about this.But Tan Tianming is an extremely cowardly and cowardly person, even if he wanted to make a move, he would not choose to act under his nose.

Besides Tan Tianming, who else would be unfavorable to Shen Si?Speaking of it, Zhang Shijie was somewhat suspicious.Zhang Jinyu, the nephew of the Zhang family, was loved and domineering in the palace, but after Shensi came, I put all my thoughts on him alone. Ge Xiaobai and Zhang Jinyu both complained about this. It is hard to guarantee that Zhang Shijie will For the sake of his nephew's future, he tried every means to deal with Shen Si.But Zhang Shijie has always been the most cautious. How could he choose to act at such a time when such a person has many eyes and is easy to leave criminal evidence?

Although these two inferences were difficult to establish, the King of Jin still quickly sent capable people out, ordering them to sneak into Tan and Zhang's mansions to inquire about news, and strictly ordered that no action should be taken unless absolutely necessary, in case Shen Si's life would be endangered.

King Jin has rarely been so powerless. In the past, even if he was on the verge of life and death, he could always drink wine calmly and wait for a turnaround. Only this time he was really afraid, afraid that happiness within reach would come so suddenly Disappear.Just a moment ago, he was hanging out with Shensi intimately. They listened to books, ate sweets, watched plays, and guessed riddles together. Otherwise, how could he smile so beautifully?At that time, his eyes were shining brightly, with colorful streamers reflected in them, and the sky was full of fireworks...

King Jin had no intention of resting, and had been sitting in front of the desk waiting for someone to report the progress of finding someone at any time.

The flickering of the candlelight made people feel uneasy.In a daze, it seemed that someone came to say that he had found Shensi, and King Jin followed the visitor without saying a word and ran out.The man led him all the way out of the palace, across the street, and up the city wall... Shen Si was standing on top of the high wall, crooked by the strong wind, crumbling.The city wall was five or six feet high, and looking down, it was covered with misty white mist.He wanted to call Shen Si's name and tell Shen Si that it was too dangerous there, but his throat seemed to be stuffed with dough, and he couldn't make any sound at all.So he exerted all his strength and ran towards Shensi, although he was only a few steps away, but he couldn't get close no matter what, his legs were extremely heavy, and every step seemed to be stepping on the sticky mud, stuck in the thick mud. If you can't move, you can't move.And Shen Si just looked at him with a smile from the beginning to the end, seeing him trekking hard, seeing him struggling in embarrassment.Suddenly, Shen Si gave him a faint smile, and then fell straight backward without any warning...

"Nian Qing can't do it!" King Jin raised his head from the table in a jerk, his chest hurt like a prick, and he was stunned for a long time before he realized that it was just a nightmare.

It was dark outside the window, and the revolving lantern that was won by guessing together with Shen Si at the corner of the table was still on, the paper wheel spun around, the objects on the screen changed and the scenery changed, people and horses competed, turning around, it was all about that name, that face... …Ning Cheng first met, Shen Si waved the battle flag and roared, outside the gate, Shen Si's eyelashes were stained with frost, and endured the torture. In my spare time in the afternoon, Shensi played with the little fox and splashed ink all over her face...

Nian Qing... Nian Qing...

I miss Qing, where is Qing going?

There was a sound of chaotic footsteps outside the door, and Gu Zhuozi hurried in. Before he could speak, King Jin stood up abruptly: "A Yuan, is there any news from Nian Qing?"

"Don't worry, my lord," Gu Zhuozi replied in a low voice with a look of embarrassment on his face, after pondering for a moment, "my subordinates have just received a secret report that the front line of Liaodong has won a great victory, and more than [-] rebels have been wiped out. A few days ago... Gu Mingzhang found out the hiding place. Huo Duan and others in the mountains are planning to be sent to the capital after several interrogations."

This time, Haribah suffered heavy losses in Jinyuan, and the Tatars would not invade again in the short term, and the rebels lost their use value.Without the support of the Tatars to provide food and weapons, the rebels would be wiped out sooner or later.Never should, never should, how could Huo Duan fall into Gu Mingzhang's hands!King Jin was surprised: "But what did the trial find out?"

Gu Zhuozi shook his head helplessly: "Gu Mingzhang acted very carefully, and none of our people could do anything about it. We only knew that Huo Duan was covered in blood when he was brought out under heavy punishment, and he only had half his life left."

Since Huo Duan was able to join the enemy in front of the battle, he is probably a soft bone, and under heavy punishment, he still can't beat him into a trick?In this way, Gu Mingzhang could wantonly fabricate false testimony to persecute Shen Wei.Although it is true that Shen Wei secretly sent Huo Duan's family to the enemy's camp, Shen Wei's loyalty to the court and the little emperor is absolutely undeniable.

King Jin's face was gloomy: "No, you can't let Huo Duan enter Beijing! Immediately send someone to ambush Huo Duan on the way, and give Gu Mingzhang a death sentence!"

"This..." Gu Zhuozi covered his chin with a feather fan, and seemed to have something to say.

King Jin immediately understood Gu Zhuozi's concerns, frowned and said to himself: "Yes, yes, I don't know if Huo Duan is true or not. If it is true, it's fine, but if this is a deliberate trick by Gu Mingzhang To lure the snake out of the hole, to set a trap to see if Shen Wei will make a move, wouldn't it be more realistic for us to act rashly..."

Gu Zhuozi went on to talk to the King of Jin: "My lord, this is just one of them. There is another two. If the little emperor already knows about this and wants to use it as a bait to test the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, it will be a big trouble. The lord should know this little one The emperor is suspicious and self-willed by nature. He was afraid of the three dynasties of the Shen family holding heavy soldiers, so he made Gu Mingzhang suppress Shen Wei everywhere. If the little emperor finds out that the prince is secretly protecting Shen Wei, he may immediately investigate and deal with it indiscriminately. Shen Wei."

So far, the King of Jin has deeply understood what the princess said, it is really hard to like someone.In the past, he was happy to see people in the court fighting each other, and the more fiercely others fought, the more he could benefit from it.But this time it was different, Shen Wei was Shen Si's father, so he couldn't just sit idly by.If he didn't take action, if Shen Wei was harmed by Gu Mingzhang, Shen Si would blame himself in the future;

Suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed in King Jin's mind, and Shen Si disappeared unexpectedly at this time. Could it be related to Shen Wei's incident?He tapped on the table: "Get the map!" He then ordered Zhan Shitai who was waiting outside, "Take all the people out of the city, and follow the line from Liaodong to Runing carefully. Don't miss the roads. Whether it is Gu Mingzhang's person or the emperor's person, they will all be killed!"

After Zhan Shitai took the order to leave, the King of Jin called Sun Rushang again: "You immediately disguise yourself and send a secret letter to Old General Shen for me. Remember to hand it over to Old General personally, so there must be no mistakes..."

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the festive meaning of the streets and alleys of the capital has not yet dissipated, and there are lights and festoons everywhere, but there is no joy at all in the former abandoned prince's mansion and today's Xiangfan County prince's mansion.

The three brothers Wei You, Wei Xiang, and Wei Qian stood facing each other in front of the case in the study, discussing important confidential matters in a low voice, all of them had dark clouds on their faces.

Gu Mingzhang caught the news that Huo Duan was going to be sent to the capital, and Wei Qian, who was a close minister of the emperor, also learned that the little emperor ordered Shen Guan, the eldest son of Shen, to lead most of the troops to the southwest to guard the frontier. Shuai himself needs to lead the remaining troops to wipe out a group of bandits near Ruyang before setting out.This is clearly a plan to divide and destroy the Shen family's army.

The second eldest, Wei Xiang, has never set foot in the officialdom, and has devoted himself to managing the family affairs and money transactions all these years. He has the most kind temper. Hearing that the Shen family is in trouble, he can't sit still: "Brother, it's better to inform Shen Shibo of this matter as soon as possible. It can also make him take precautions early and think about countermeasures."

The third brother, Wei Qian, disagreed: "Second brother's idea is wrong! There are not many people who know about this matter. Once it is leaked, the emperor will be the first to suspect our brothers. The most fearful thing is that the clan will form a party with the generals in private."

"But this..." Wei Xiang was dumb-mouthed, and looked at Wei You as if asking for help, "Big brother was trapped in Ningcheng a while ago, thanks to Shen Nianqing's disobeying the imperial decree and sending troops to rescue him, we brothers can't do nothing now, can we? ?”

Wei You stood behind the table with his hands behind his hands, looking past the two younger brothers and looking out of the window, with an unpredictable expression, as if he didn't take the dispute between the younger brothers to heart.

Wei Qian snorted and said with a sneer, "Don't save him? I'm afraid we'll be the ones who saved him. The second brother doesn't hear what's going on outside the window. Do you think that we, the deposed prince, still retain the prestige of the past? Father go Afterwards, everyone died and dispersed, leaving the three of us to survive to the present position. The elder brother was trapped in Yueshan Mountain for several years, and he had nothing to do. After returning to Beijing, he was suppressed and excluded everywhere. I followed the little emperor and pretended to be crazy and foolish to please him. He asked me to be a dog, so I lay on the ground and barked. He called me a stupid pig, so I crawled into the mud and rolled a few times. I was forced to drink it! What am I for? It’s not because I want to take back the throne one day and avenge my father!" Wei San turned to look at Wei You, "Brother, remember that the overall situation is the most important thing, and you must not let your emotions fall short!"

Wei Xiang was speechless, opened his mouth for a long time, and then said incoherently: "After all... After all, Shen Nianqing and elder brother are brothers and sisters. If we can save the Shen family this time, we can become a solid army when we fight against the Shen family army in the future." backing."

Wei Qian curled his lips in disdain: "The Shen family's army is only hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and Shen Wei is extremely pedantic. Do you think he will openly raise troops to fight against the court? Now the emperor intends to give the eldest brother Liu Yuexian, the daughter of the governor Liu Mao, as his concubine. Apart from our Wei family, the Gu family and the Liu family are the most powerful in this week. Liu Mao is only one daughter, and everything he owns will fall into the hands of our brothers in the future!"

While the two younger brothers were arguing endlessly, Wei You had already silently written a letter. He folded the letter and stuffed it into a special sheepskin pouch to seal it. Fang calmly said, "Don't quarrel. I have my own opinion. I will ask Ah Sheng to deliver this secret letter to Elder Shen personally later." He looked at his third brother Wei Qian, "Shu Yuan, you should pay special attention to the movements of Gu Mingzhang and others in the near future." Summoned his second younger brother Wei Xiang, "Zhong Chang, come with me, I have another matter for you to handle."

Seeing Wei You holding Wei Xiang's shoulders out of the study, Wei Qian's expression became even more gloomy.He was the only one left in the room, and the surroundings were surprisingly quiet. A lotus clepsydra in the corner was ticking non-stop, arousing subtle echoes in the empty study.Wei Qian moved to the side of the desk step by step, carefully pinched the secret letter hidden in the sheepskin bag with two fingers, his brows were deeply locked, and his expression was strange...

At this moment, on the canal that leads directly to the sky, several small fishing boats are lined up and moving forward at full speed.The wind blew across the river, the waves were choppy, and the fishing boat was pushed and swayed from side to side.

Shen Si woke up from the drowsiness, his chest was throbbing, and he was about to vomit, and wanted to raise his hands to cover his mouth, but found that his hands and feet were tightly bound.His mind was muddled, his forehead throbbed and hurt like a hangover, coupled with the dizziness caused by the waves of the boat, he felt even more powerless.

He barely opened his eyes and looked around. This is a low and simple cabin with old fishing nets hanging above his head.

"Nianqing, are you awake?" A vague figure appeared in the field of vision, with an extremely familiar voice, "I'm sorry..."