Battle of the Red Chamber Ring III

Peng Lai pointed to a town on the map, and gave Jia Huan another letter, asking him to go with Jiang Yan.Jiang Yan, who was squatting on the side, obviously had not received any hints before, so when he said this, his face was full of surprise, but he quickly put away his face, and only looked at Peng Lai with a sullen face.

Not long after the death of the Supreme Emperor, the rebel Rob Zangdan once took advantage of the fact that there was no commander in the army, and crossed the whole line of Astanmu. Most of Qinghai was killed by the rebels. The northwest garrison had no food and clothing. It is said that the deserters, from soldiers to generals, urged the emperor to send a general to the northwest. The emperor had no choice but to order that the son of the Southern Prince escorted a large amount of food and distributed it to various places after arriving in Xining. By the way, he also served as the deputy capital.

It's just that the national treasury is empty, this is the line, the tired Zhen's mansion, Jia's mansion, Wang's family and other aristocratic families were confiscated one after another. Before the Holy Majesty didn't want to hand over the position of General Fuyuan to Nian Yao because of some things, but As soon as the generals in the northwest were posted, the military situation was extremely urgent. In the end, they had no choice but to send the general there to be his local emperor.The filth in it is also beyond the comprehension of others. Peng Lai can figure it out because he has information in the army, and Jiang Yan naturally knows about it. He intended to go to various places to inquire about this food shipment. If he is lucky enough to meet him A few, those who understand the truth, know most of the situation and save the lives of the soldiers under their hands.

This is a fight between gods and gods, and it is naturally the people below them who suffer the disaster.But for someone like Peng Lai, if he doesn't make a big mistake, he will be successful in this life, and he still thinks that when he gets older, he will carry a box of things back and smash those despised people in Jiang's family to death.

"You two will change your clothes and go back early. It's only thirteen days' journey from my place to the destination. You take a detour." Peng Lai said, "You know the Chujiang River, and you know the road well. Go back early, remember to hand over this letter to him in its entirety, and remember to keep everything you want in a safe place." Peng Lai handed the letter to Jiang Yan while talking, then looked at Jia Huan and said, "This is It’s the first time you go out, if there is any matter, if you two disagree, Jiang Yan’s opinion will prevail.” After he finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Yan: “I know you are always thoughtful, but I think Zeng San seems to be quick-witted , if possible, listen to him, they are familiar with your personality, I am afraid that if something happens, it will be easy to be caught by them."

From the corner of Peng Lai's eyes, he saw Jiang Yan's slightly frowned eyebrows, and after thinking about it, he finally said, "There shouldn't be anything wrong, this errand is not dangerous, you just need to walk carefully." Then he waved to Jia Huan Let's go first, Jia Huan went to pack his luggage, Peng Lai pulled Jiang Yan aside: "When you get to the Chu River, you contact Li Dadao under his hand, and be careful, don't let others hear your conversation, Just ask him one thing. When Chu Jiang served as President Wei Qian three years ago, did you still have the account book of the grain allocated by hand?"

Jiang Yin looked at Peng Lai and asked, "What are you doing?"

Peng Lai sighed helplessly: "I don't want to either, but the news is wrong. If something happens to you and me, it will be too late to worry. Now that you are going to die, you can't die in an unclear way. The general is not benevolent." , you and I should make plans early."

Jiang Yan looked at Peng Lai and said, "I thought you were going to follow him all the way to the dark, but I didn't expect you to want to go now, and you have your own plan."

Peng Lai sighed and said, "If I'm just one person, it doesn't matter if I pay this life to the general. It's a pity that I still have [-] generals under my command. I can't let them die with me. Since General Nian returned After the Northwest became the General of the Northwest Fuyuan, something went wrong. Not to mention, the Zhongyong King and Zhongshun King in the capital fell one after another. Now the Southern King has disappeared. At the beginning, everyone said that the Supreme Emperor chose Jinshang Being an emperor is because the Holy Majesty is the most merciful, but now it seems that he is the most tolerant rather than gentle."

Not long after the Supreme Emperor’s funeral, those who jumped up and down in the past were all accounted for by Qiu Hou. He didn’t think the general could run away. Eighty-nine times there is no good end.Those who had a good end all went to become emperors themselves. He didn't think that Nian Yao was the kind of person who could succeed, and being an emperor of Tu was already the ultimate.

Jiang Yan only looked at Peng Lai silently, and said, "Since you have done this, you can't turn back."

Peng Lai said with a smile: "Once this matter is over, you and I will resign and return to our hometown. Rather than dying early, I hope you live a long life and wait until you and I are full of children and grandchildren in their [-]s and [-]s."

Seeing that Peng Lai did not speak, Jiang Yan turned his head to look at the grain cart beside him in silence, and after a while he picked up his things and put them on the horses.Each of them used a horse, which was fed and tied to the back of the cart, so they didn't make any effort on the road.Jia Huan's horse seemed to be spiritual. Seeing Jia Huan put things on his back, he kept turning the horse's head, flicking its tail, and snorting.Jia Huan thought for a while and took out a few pieces of sugar cake from his pocket and tried to feed them, but the horse stretched its neck and rolled up the snack in Jia Huan's palm, licked it and swallowed it.

It seems that these two pieces of sugar cakes satisfied Uncle Ma's mind. After that, no matter what Jia Huan did, he would act as he wanted, occasionally lowering his head and nibbling a few bites of grass, and then rubbing on Jia Huan's waist. It seems that this is the place The candy cake that was just taken out.

The two set off when night fell, which happened to be when everyone was not paying attention. Of course, the few Peng Lai who were guarding at the side had said hello, but the excuse they used was just some personal affairs.

It was only during this trip that Jia Huan knew what it means to travel day and night.After the two of them got on the horses, they never went down again, eating, drinking and lassing did not count, and they sat on the horses at night. After driving for a day and a night, Jia Huan wanted to speak several times on the way, but was blown away by the strong wind. The words stuck in his throat, and as soon as he relaxed a little, Jiang Yan ran away and almost disappeared. Fortunately, there was only one pipeline, so he caught up with him.

When we arrived at the edge of the city, it happened to be early in the morning, and the officer in charge had just opened the door when he saw two men with red eyes leading their horses towards him.

"Are you two going to the city?" the guard asked carefully, he looked at Jia Huan for a while, and Jiang Yan for a while.

Jiang Yan handed his ID badge to the officer and said, "It's important in the army, please let me go."

The guards didn't even look carefully, and almost no one on the northwest side dared to stop the people in the army, so they let them go quickly.Jiang Yan took Jia Huan and led the horse to Dongkou and handed the horse to Xiao Er, while he took Jia Huan to the Chujiang mansion.

Naturally, Jia Huan didn't know what Jiang Yan was doing in there, but sat in the living room for a while, drank three bowls of tea, and found a problem after drinking it.The maid who served her tea seemed to be in a hurry, and every time she bit her lip and gasped tremblingly, she kept apologizing to herself.And he always looked outside, although he was holding a tray in his hand, but his body was always turned outward, and he didn't even know that the water on the tray dripped onto his clothes.

He felt something was wrong, but he didn't ask. After all, he didn't know each other. Maybe this maid was in a hurry, but the house had guests who couldn't leave. After a while, Jiang Yan appeared at the door and called Jia Huan to leave.

When the two of them left the gate of the Chu Mansion, Jia Huan took a look inside the gate that was about to close, and sure enough, there were several servants running back and forth in a hurry, and a middle-aged man was standing in the middle anxiously and yelling at two wipers. The maid in tears.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Yan saw Jia Huan's movements and asked suspiciously, frowning.

Jia Huan followed Jiang Yan out of the street, looked back and saw no one was following, and then said to Jiang Yan: "My lord, there may be changes here, why don't you and I leave as soon as possible?"

Jiang Yan looked at Jia Huan and frowned, and was about to say something, but a group of soldiers rushed over from the east and drove away the idlers on the street. Seeing that the Chu Mansion was besieged tightly.

After a while, a man wearing a fifth-rank military officer's uniform rode a tall horse from the corner of the street to the gate of the Chu Mansion, followed by an army of hundreds of people, and ran to the gate neatly, and stood in two separate teams, just waiting for orders.

Not a while after the man got off his horse, Jiang Yan saw Chu Jiang coming out under pressure. It was only a blink of an eye. With a chain on his waist, he pressed down in front of the man.

The man looked at Chu Jiang and said with a smile: "We met again, Mr. Chu, don't come here without any problems."

Chu Jiang poohed and said: "Little man, it is because of you people that the general will sink into the mud day by day. If it weren't for you, how could the general be like this to us old people? Today is me Unfortunately, you died at your hands, and you will die one day in the future!"

The man just smiled and didn't care. He just looked at Chu Jiang and touched the corner of his mouth thoughtfully and said, "Master Chu has colluded with Fanbang and revealed the information. The general already knows, no matter how you explain today Such crimes cannot be erased, and the general who passed away that day is now waiting to be reunited with Master Chu in the underworld."

He said while smiling, and leaned close to Chu Jiang and said softly: "No matter when I die, Mr. Chu will not be able to see me, but now I have something to say to my family. I said it early, and I'm afraid there will be nothing in the future." Here's the chance, you and I are together, this little thing can always take care of you."

Na Chujiang said: "I stand upright and act upright. Fan, you will regret it one day!" After that, a series of curses followed, and the man surnamed Fan winked and asked the guards to cover Chu Jiang's mouth, put a torture tool on him, and then walked away in a mighty way.

As soon as he left, the guards outside the door ran in one by one, and after a while of jumping around, hundreds of people in the Chu Mansion were escorted out by officers and soldiers one by one.

Seeing this, Jiang Yan told Jia Huan, "You and I will go back to the inn first, pack up and leave early."

Jia Huan glanced back at the Chu House and then at Jiang Yan, feeling that the two of them might not be able to leave so easily at this moment, and could only see if the other party's reaction was not so timely.

When the two returned to the inn, they just took the luggage in the inn. When they were about to go out, they found that officers and soldiers in the city had already started searching from house to house. Jia Huan frowned slightly, and ordered the dishes to be served Xiao Er: "Why is the street suddenly becoming so nervous at this time, why don't you run for us and get a look at the market?" While talking, he stuffed the silver taels to Xiao Er, and Xiao Er agreed with a smile when he saw the money. .

The little boy looked outside, then ran around, and came back and said, "Don't blame me, sir, just posted a list at the gate of the city, and I heard that two spies from foreign races have come, and they have nothing to do with us ordinary people, they are the city officials." The gate is strictly guarded, I'm afraid the two of you will have to wait for a while when you leave the city."

Jia Huan sighed: "In that case, let's open a room for us to go to the room, and buy a few more sets of clothes. I want to bring one for the wife at home, so as to save her from thinking wildly at home. Yes, she wants two sets. She is now four. You are five months pregnant, so you can buy more loosely."

Xiao Er responded cleverly, and then ran out the door after taking Jia Huan's money.

Not long after Jia Huan and Jiang Yan stayed in the house, there was a bunch of bustling voices outside, and someone was talking below. After a while, their door was knocked. Jiang Yan looked at Jia Huan and touched his waist. go.

Jia Huan frowned slightly and thought for a while: "My lord, go to the window and I will open the door. If something is wrong, you can jump out of the window and run!"

Jiang Yan shook his head: "How can I keep you, how about we run together this time."

Jia Huan said: "I don't know anything. Even if I run away, I will be a drag on my lord. Why don't you go first, so that you can come and save me at that time." Anyway, it's all framed, and I'm obviously not a foreigner, even if I get caught That is to say, he was locked in a prison, and he could only hope that Jiang Yan would come back sooner.

If he runs by himself, Jiang Yan doesn’t run, and when he gets to Mr. Wei Qian, he will die. If the two of them run together, it’s okay if they run out. If they don’t run out, it’s their own responsibility. They’re all dead anyway, so it’s better to go obediently In prison, at least his identity can make the other party dare not frame him at will.

The two couldn't stop arguing, Jiang Yan frowned and was about to tell Jia Huan that Peng Lai had told him to listen to him when he set off, but why didn't he listen now when something happened.I also thought that although this person's origin is unknown, he is also a loyal person after all.

The two couldn't stop arguing, and as a result, the knock on the door became louder. Seeing that the door hadn't been opened for a long time, the soldiers outside became concerned.All five of them drew their bright knives, and several soldiers glanced at each other, and the one who was leading after him was about to kick the door, when a waiter outside shouted: "The door is left at the official's feet, we are a small business, and we live inside." It must be someone who is responsible, just wait a moment."

The sound spread into the house, and seeing that the door was about to break in, Jia Huan had no choice but to open the door as soon as possible, smiled and said: "No wonder, no wonder, the little one is just taking care of himself. In fact, I didn't have time to open the door for the adults." .”

The officials outside were cold-eyed, the leader pulled Jia Huan's collar and threw it out, and then entered the room, only to see a man standing in the room, so he put the knife back into the scabbard, Just hearing the sound of brushing made the hair on Jia Huan's back stand on end.

"Official messengers, did you see a sneaky person?" The man looked at Jiang Yan, then looked back at Jia Huan.

Jia Huan quickly shook his head and said: "This is an inn, how can there be sneaky people? The place I just arrived with the young master is probably a harmful thing in the city. It's a big deal. Let's go back, young master. You have a good or bad thing, how can the slave explain to the master, even if it is a small one, it is not enough to deserve a few lives."

The officer and soldier snorted, and said: "We are waiting for the jurisdiction, we will have such a mess, it's just that some spies from foreign races have come to the city to inquire about news, you two are out, be careful." After saying that, he waved his hands, Order the other three to retreat.

As soon as the officers and soldiers left, Jia Huan and Jiang Yan couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. They glanced at each other. Jia Huan felt a little numb because Jia Huan was digging his palm vigorously with his fingers when he was talking just now. It hurt, he looked down, and saw a touch of red. Sure enough, when life is at stake, it is not enough to just talk, he smiled and shook his head, closed the door, looked back at Jiang Yan, He felt strange again: "How come they don't seem to know who they are going to arrest, and besides, it is another person who said that. Could it be that something went wrong?"

Jiang Yan said: "It's very strange. It is estimated that the time for this matter is still short. They just charged Chu Jiang with an unfounded charge. No matter whether there is this spy or not, they will do this scene."

Jia Huan thought it was unlikely to make a mistake before, and he couldn't figure it out. Now that he heard Jiang Yan's analysis, it was probably the case. , the natural target is much smaller.

Jia Huan thought for a while and said, "In this case, they should not have portraits of you and me. Your Excellency might as well wait here, and I'll go outside to have a look."

Jiang Yan nodded: "After you go down, tell the waiter in the store to bring me a basin of hot water, and I will change and wash some clothes."

After Jia Huan responded, he let Jiang Yan stay in the room by himself, and went out to inquire.

After leaving the room and going down to the lobby, he saw Xiaoer wiping the table. Jia Huan stepped forward and asked, "What happened when the officers and soldiers came here just now, my son was so scared."

The little boy looked back and saw Jia Huan and smiled and said, "Nothing, our place is more chaotic than other places. The officers and soldiers come here every few days. If you come here often, you will know the rules here." .” His tone was nonchalant, as if he was talking about something that was not his own.

Jia Huan looked at the child's calm face and felt that he was really naive, so he asked subconsciously: "I don't know the reason for this search, I am new here, if my young master asks, I don't know what, You will also be punished."

As soon as he said this, Xiaoer looked at Jia Huan with pitiful eyes, and he replied while wiping the table: "I didn't hear anything from others before, but it seems that General Chu is a little bit bad. , I don’t know why, the people in our street have all been favored by General Chu, he is a real person, I don’t know if he has been wronged, I hope nothing happens to him.” After finishing speaking, Xiao Er sighed and said, "Nowadays the world is not good, this job is getting harder and harder to do."

Jia Huan did not expect to be able to find out about Chu Jiang's life. Originally when Peng Lai ordered them to come here, Jia Huan thought that he was just walking along and wasting his feet. Now he heard that there is a place where he can know something. As for the cause and effect, I followed Xiaoer to inquire about it.

The matter is indeed very simple. When Chu Jiang established his residence here, the street was originally going to be demolished. How could it be possible for some small merchants to gather in this place where the nobles lived, which would be detrimental to face, but Chu Jiang He said no, and then he paid for the road repairs himself.Xiao Er was full of praise and now there is finally something to fall down on. He wiped his face with his sleeve as he spoke: "If it weren't for Mr. Chu, who would care about us poor people."

Jia Huan nodded and said, "It's not easy for you, and it's not easy for me either! Our young master was taken aback today and lost his temper. If you don't ask me to find out, I can't. I can only ask you gone."

Xiaoer said: "You and I are both serving people. If you want to know the details, go to the gate of the city to have a look. I guess the people over there know something. If nothing else, every time you arrest someone, you will post it on the bulletin board. Paste the text on it."

After Jia Huan inquired about the place clearly, he cupped his hands and thanked him: "Young Lao, my second brother, will send hot water to my young master for him to wash in a while. So that I won’t be taught by him when I come back.”

Xiaoer knew that the young master had a temper, and always felt that Jia Huan was pitiful, so he patted Jia Huan on the shoulder and comforted him: "Don't worry, I will order the kitchen to boil hot water for your young master in a while, you can look for it." Go ahead. Inquire clearly earlier, and come back to save your young master from scolding you again."

Jia Huan sighed and said, "I'm used to it. I smoke three times for nothing, and beat me up for something." He spoke so painfully that Xiao Er also trembled. Jia Huan waved at Xiao Er: " Then I'll go out." Xiaoer groaned, and then Jia Huan left the inn and walked a dozen steps outside.

Sure enough, as Xiaoer said, the hawkers outside are used to it.The officers and soldiers asked one by one, and they responded easily.After the officers and soldiers left, they continued to do their own business. The gate of the city was not far from the inn. Jia Huan naturally knew the direction because of the road he walked in the morning. After walking along the street for half an hour, he arrived at the gate of the city. .

There were a lot of people inside and outside the gate of the city, and there was a row of arrest warrants posted on the city wall, most of which were about spies from other races, and there were portraits on the arrest warrants, how should I put it.Jia Huan looked at the portrait and sighed, if this can also catch someone, how unlucky that person must be.This white row is basically abstract facial features, if you say it doesn't look like a human being at all, Jia Huan saw the latest announcement, not even a profile picture, he felt relieved and walked back.

After a few small vendors packed some snacks, and inquired about the current situation by the way, no one seemed to think this matter was serious, and everyone held a dispensable attitude.When the waiter at the inn saw Jia Huan coming back, he greeted Jia Huan again, and secretly told Jia Huan that the search was over, you can tell your young master, don't worry.Jia Huan was overjoyed when he heard the surprise, nodded repeatedly, and handed a bun in his hand to Xiaoer as a thank you gift.

Jia Huan went back to the house and met Jiang Yan, he had already changed his clothes, put on a scholar's cap on his hair, and changed into a popular scholar's coat.Seeing Jia Huan coming back, he got up and walked over, looked up and down to see if Jia Huan was injured, and then asked, "It's dangerous for you to go out."

Jia Huan put the things in his hand on the table, and looked back at Jiang Yan: "Don't worry, my lord, the notice outside is not your face, and now my lord is going to change our clothes, most people will not have any doubts about us. "

Jiang Yan's eyes were very dark, looking at Jia Huan, he seemed to want to know whether the other party was telling the truth or a lie, he nodded after watching for a while and said: "In this case, why don't you and I stay a few more days to see what's going on? I know what happened to Chujiang in the end." Probably because Jiang Yan felt the same way, Jia Huan looked at the other party's gloomy face and guessed like this.Suddenly Jia Huan moved his right ear, raised his index finger to Jiang Yan, and pressed it to his lips, while he carefully leaned against the door and listened for a while.

After a while, the waiter came up with three or four dishes, and was about to knock on the door, but Jia Huan pulled the door open. After being startled, the waiter hurriedly said: "The shopkeeper ordered the kitchen to make some hot dishes. I ordered the younger ones to deliver dishes to everyone as an apology, because the officers and soldiers disturbed us today, although it was not our shop's fault, everyone was shocked after all, so drink some wine to calm down the shock, it's our shopkeeper who brewed it himself. "

Jia Huan hurriedly smiled and picked it up: "Thank you, little brother." The little second smiled and said it's all right, and went back after speaking.Jia Huan watched Xiao Er walk down the stairs, then walked towards the back of the store, which should be the kitchen, then turned around, put the food in his hand on the table, and called Jiang Yan to come to eat, but Jiang Yan didn't What mood to eat, sitting at the table with chopsticks motionless.

Seeing Jiang Yan not moving, Jia Huan knew that he still couldn't let Chu Jiang go, and he didn't know what to persuade.At the beginning, Peng Lai gave the two of them half a month, and it didn't matter as long as they joined the brigade within fifteen days. Now three days have passed, and there are five more days to go. They can only stay here for a while. Seven days, Qi Tian thought about doing nothing, Jia Huan knew it in his heart, but he didn't say anything, just ate some food by himself, then packed up and went back to his room to sleep.