The King of Liang, the feudal lords outside the town, and the generals inside

The white horse passed by, and when summer came, Bai Yu and Shen Qing walked to the boat track near the sea.Bai Yu leaned on the window of the carriage and looked outside for a while, and said, "Master, my disciple almost died here when I was young."

When he talked about the events of that year, Shen Qing said briefly: "It's also predestined."

"It's just a little short." Bai Yu squeezed two fingers together, "Tu'er and Yan Xun can get to know each other now."

"What's the use of that, you're still so young."

Bai Yu smiled "hehe", "Yeah, that's inappropriate."

What he didn't tell Shen Qing was that besides revisiting his hometown, he proposed to come here to have another purpose, which is to hope to have the opportunity to solve his doubts for many years:

How did the county magistrate know that there was an ingot of gold in his hand?

Putting Shen Qing in an inn and leaving Wei Shiba to take care of him, Bai Yu took Qiu Ye to the local county government.

He came here when he was eight years old, and now he still has a little impression that the county government hasn't changed much, it's just that the officials in the government office have changed.The catcher at the gate read Baiyu's seal and hurried inside to report to the county magistrate, which frightened the county magistrate, the sesame official.

Bai Yu pulled the county magistrate up with a pleasing expression, and said, "My lord, don't panic, I just happened to come here. The officials in the yamen should go to their own affairs."

Although he said so, they still guarded outside and stood in several rows in the courtyard.

The county magistrate invited Bai Yu into the lobby, and the servants served tea. The county magistrate stood aside and said in awe, "Your Highness is here, and the lowly ranks are not greeted far away. It is really indecent."

Bai Yu signaled the county magistrate to sit down, and said with a smile, "I'm the least respectful of rules, please relax, my lord."

There seemed to be a steel plate on the county magistrate's back, Bai Yu shook his head helplessly, and said, "I came to bother the magistrate today because I want to ask him for advice on something."

The county magistrate jumped up again, "The humble official must know everything and say everything!"

"What year did your lord take office?" Bai Yu pulled him back and sat down again.

The county magistrate said: "The humble official has been here for ten years."

"Oh..." Bai Yu thought for a while, and then asked, "Then where did the last county magistrate go after leaving office, does your lord know?"

"He has returned to his hometown to retire, not far away in Qiuhua County, he is still alive, he must be in his [-]s. If His Highness wants to see him, it is better to send someone to invite him immediately, and he will arrive within three days at most. "

He spoke in an orderly manner, without Bai Yu asking again, he said everything he had to say.Talking to such a person is quite worry-free, Bai Yu nodded, and said with a smile: "Then I will take care of you, sir."

"I don't dare to be humble." The county magistrate hurriedly said, "This is a matter of humble duty."

Before Baiyu left, the county magistrate asked Baiyu about the situation here, and if he needed to arrange meals at the residence, but Baiyu naturally refused.

Three days later, the county magistrate led Yuan Zhuo, the former county magistrate, to the inn where Bai Yu lived, and quickly withdrew after he was introduced.

Yuan Zhuo had changed a lot, but Bai Yu could still recognize him, after all, he was the one who almost killed him.Yuan Zhuo still didn't know the relationship between the King Liang in front of him and himself, so he knelt down and kowtowed to the ground slowly, saying: "Yuan Zhuo, a grassroots man, pay homage to His Royal Highness King Liang."

Bai Yu remained silent for a long time, and let him kneel down.

Yuan Zhuo was puzzled, but he didn't dare to raise his head, so he could only wait quietly.

Bai Yu curled up the corner of his mouth as a smile, and said lightly, "Let's calm down, Yuanwai."

After Yuan Zhuo stood up, Bai Yu said again: "I haven't seen you for many years, is Yuanwai still in good health?"

Yuan Zhuo was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion, "Why does Your Highness say that you haven't seen Caomin for many years?"

"I haven't seen you for many years." Bai Yu said, "Back then, I was eight years old and lived with my master in the Taoist temple in the mountains. Yuanwai was the county magistrate at the time, and he framed us for stealing a gold ingot and almost killed us. Why, Yuanwai Can not remember?"

Yuan Zhuo's face turned blue and then pale, his legs gave way and he fell to the ground again, begging for mercy repeatedly: "Your Highness, forgive me! Your Highness forgives the crime! The grassroots were confused for a while, but now they are guilty! Please forgive the grassroots, Your Highness! "

He started to cry as he spoke, and Bai Yu laughed out of his tears, "This king is just reminiscing about the old days, why are you still crying?"

Yuan Zhuo was still urging "Liang Wang, forgive me", Bai Yu sighed annoyedly, and said, "Okay, it's been so many years, this king didn't come to ask you to blame me. Get up, I have something to say ask you."

Yuan Zhuo was still lying on the ground, trembling: "Caomin dare not..."

"Okay, then you can kneel down." Bai Yu didn't bother to persuade him, and asked, "It's not a big deal, I just want to ask you, how did you know that the king and the master had gold in their hands? The Taoist temple is in the mountains, uninhabited, only the two of us and Yan Zun were present at the time, he just left, and soon after, the police came to arrest us. Where did the outsiders get the ear to repay the gods?"

Yuan Zhuo recalled for a moment, and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, the grassroots also felt very strange about this matter. That day, a beautiful woman in her thirties suddenly came to the county government to beat drums and file a complaint. Naturally, the grassroots wanted her to go to court. She said that she saw a The Taoist priest stole other people's money, so the grass-roots sent a yamen servant to follow her."

"Beautiful woman?" Bai Yu's first reaction was cinnabar, but he knew that the difference was far behind after calculating his age. He thought for a while and said, "Did that woman leave her name?"

Yuan Zhuo said: "She said that she has no name, only a surname, Wusun's."

Bai Yu was stunned, and then asked, "Does she look like me?"

Yuan Zhuo raised his head and looked at Bai Yu for a moment, then said: "There is one thing, it doesn't look very similar. But that woman is definitely the most beautiful woman Caomin has ever seen in his life, so Caomin remembers it so clearly." He paused, and said in shame: "Originally Monks and Taoists have committed crimes, and the government generally does not pursue them. The grassroots are also afraid that killing a monk will damage their virtue. However, that woman is so beautiful. Her few words have attracted the indignation of all the officials and yamen servants, and the grassroots people are also attracted by her Bewitched, I still think that if I do what she wants, I might be able to hug the beauty back."

"You're honest." Bai Yu sneered, "Then where did she go in the end?"

Yuan Zhuo said: "After the grass people sent out arresters, she led them to the Taoist temple and left. The grass people don't know where she went."

"Wusun's family..." Bai Yu muttered to himself, "Is it a coincidence? But this surname is unique to Weiyan, how could there be such a coincidence?"

"Is there anything else you want to ask, Your Highness? Caomin knows everything."

Bai Yu got up and took out a scroll from the closet, unfolded it and asked him, "Does it look like her?"

Yuan Zhuo looked at it and said: "Like, like! It's just that the woman is rather haggard, and she looks like an ordinary woman in clothes, not as expensive as the person in the painting."

That was naturally the portrait of Empress Shuyuan, which Bai Yu always carried with her.

He put away the scroll, waved his hand to let Yuan Zhuo go, Yuan Zhuo was very grateful, and almost tripped over the threshold when he went out.

Bai Yu called Qiu Ye in, and said, "Take a hard trip, go to Weiyan and ask, my mother's concubine's natal family is a well-known wealthy businessman in Weiyan, so it must be easy to inquire. I want to know if my mother's concubine has any real sisters, if so, Where is it now?"

"Yes." Qiu Ye packed his bags and left immediately without asking any further questions.

Empress Shuyuan has a sister of the same father and mother, who is only two years older than her.Her father, Wusun Rufu, was a party, and his only regret was that all his wives and concubines had only daughters, and all three sons died young, which made him think that he had some kind of disease that was passed on from male to female.

But after a long time, Wusunru's depression at the beginning was put aside, and he adopted a brother's son, so he no longer insisted on this matter.But what made him a little relieved was that the two daughters born to his first wife were like two fairies who descended to earth, born with the beauty that can overwhelm the country and the city.After they reached Ji, the princes and aristocrats who came to ask for marriage broke through the threshold.

Kui Zheng's original surname was Xia, and his father had helped Wusun Ru when he was in distress many years ago.As a token of gratitude, Wusun Ru promised to marry a daughter to his son.Therefore, although the Xia family is not prominent and is not worth mentioning compared with other suitors, Wusunru's second daughter still made a marriage proposal with Kuizheng.

That afternoon, Empress Shuyuan went to her sister's pavilion to talk to her, only to find that her sister was sitting on the bed crying, her eyes swollen into walnuts.

She hurried over to inquire, and her elder sister waved her hand to signal the maid to go down, stared at her for a long time, and said, "I heard that the family my father betrothed you to is not a high-ranking official, but it's reasonable, and it's a scholarly family. You The future husband-in-law is extremely handsome and matches your age."

Empress Shuyuan blushed, lowered her head and said, "Sister, how did you say that, how embarrassing."

The elder sister forced a smile, and said: "Our Weiyan girls are not considered human beings, and they are not even worthy of a proper name when they are born. Even though you and my sisters are born beautiful, they have just lived a hard life like this."

Empress Shuyuan was puzzled and said, "Why did my sister say such sad words?"

When the elder sister said this, tears came down again, and she choked up and said: "The monarch wants to curry favor with the powerful Dazhou, collect good things from all over the country and send them there, and I am one of them!"

Empress Shuyuan turned pale with shock, and hurriedly asked: "Send my sister there? Will you give it to the Emperor of Zhou as a concubine?"

Elder sister desolately laughed at herself: "What kind of concubine, it sounds so nice, it's just a panting tribute, not much different from those silk and satin. I can only die of old age in the Great Zhou Palace in my whole life, there is no other hope. "

Empress Shuyuan was speechless in a daze.

"I really hate this face. Why can't I just have an ordinary face, why should I be chosen? I don't want to, but does anyone care? Has anyone asked me a question?!" My sister became more and more excited as she spoke, her hands clenched into fists, He kept beating the bed, "I'm a living person! Not an object! Why, why am I—!"

Empress Shuyuan quickly took her hand and persuaded: "Sister, sister, don't worry, I'll go and ask my parents! There are so many beautiful women in the world, maybe there will be a turning point!"

"It's useless, the imperial decree has been issued, our family must give away a daughter!" The elder sister cried heartbreakingly, hugging her younger sister tightly, helpless and pitiful.

Empress Shuyuan also cried, gently stroking her sister's back.Gradually, my sister stopped crying, her eyes were a little straightened, she stared at the corner without moving, and her beautiful face gradually became cold and silent.

Just now her own words lingered in her ears over and over again:

"Our family must send out a daughter."