Jiang Qing

It is the summer solstice, and the weather is getting hotter.

The forests in the mountains are deep and dense, which is much more comfortable than the city, but there are also many mosquitoes, rats and ants.

Mei Shao led the people in, and it took half a month to go there. He kept a low profile when he left, and he didn't make a big fuss when he came back. Even Chu Yan, who was guarding the residence, didn't expect him to come back today.

Originally, according to what Mei Shao said, it should be Chu Yan who wanted to take people to the vicinity of Weihu Mountain to check the diversion of the waterway, but as the day approached, Mei Shao changed his mind and decided to go by himself.

I don't know where Jian Shiliu was sent by him, and he never came back.Chu Yan guarded the residence, always feeling that Mei Shao's back in the mountain looked a bit fled.

He seemed not to care about Bai Bingchen's life and death, and devoted all his attention to the management of the Cangzhou flood, as if the only goal he pursued was political achievements.

Chu Yan was most afraid that he would have no news in such a state, but fortunately, he only lost weight when he came back, and he seemed to be in good spirits, and there was no major change.

After spending a long time in the mountains, I don't know where Mei Shao lived, but he was indeed tired, so he ordered someone to fetch water to take a bath, and fell asleep in the tub.

It wasn't until the water in the bucket gradually cooled that he woke up suddenly, most of his body was already cold.

But he didn't intend to get up, just soaked in the water in a daze.

Looking at the wrinkled fingers from soaking for a long time, Mei Shao was in a daze.

During these days, I led troops to ambush near Weihu Mountain, and secretly took advantage of the bandits in the mountain to change the direction of the river near Weihu Mountain by diverting the canal into the fields.

Weihu Mountain is right next to the lake, and there are many fields around the lake, but most of them are overgrown with weeds, and no one takes care of them at first sight.After Mei Shao and the others dug ditches in the field, they buried the hollow bamboos in rows in the ground, and then compacted the tops with soil to cover up the traces.

The lake itself is huge, and you can't see the edge from the highest sentry post on Mount Weihu, let alone the fields surrounding the lake.

Although Lin Hu sent people to inspect every day, so as to prevent some ambitious farmers from secretly planting their fields, but the people under his command were perfunctory, and only took a look at it from a distance for ten days and a half months. Seeing that everything in the field covered with weeds is as it was before, I no longer look closely.

It is precisely because of the inertia of these gangsters, and Mei Shao's arrangement is careful, there is no cottage that is too close to Weihu Mountain. Although there are many soldiers in the government, they can be divided into small groups, scattered around, and disappeared. There were no major problems for more than half a month.

It's also Lin Hu's complacency, there was only one official sent by Xianpingdu to control the water, and he was vigilant.Now seeing that the two officials sent here are fighting each other, it's either you are sick or I'm hurt, so I gradually put down my guard and spend my days in the cottage, happy and happy.

These days, there are no more than six or seven government soldiers digging canals with Mei Shao. They need to be vigilant all the time, and they have to pay attention to the rush of progress during the flood season, and they don't have the mood to joke.Such days are tiring but fulfilling, Mei Shao has no time to think about anything, he even thinks it is good to continue like this.

Now that he has returned to the city after the work is done, Mei Shao is a little rusty and doesn't know what to do for a while.

He was in a daze when someone tapped the screen blocking the tub a few times, bringing him back to his senses.

"Master, the matter you asked me to investigate has come to fruition."

It was Jian Shiliu's voice.

Mei Shao remembered that after she got out of trouble in the carriage, she sent Jian Shiliu to check the old man who gave her the scroll, but he never came back, and she looked through the scroll but couldn't find any clues.Later, because of trouble with Bai Bingchen, he was mentally tired and went to the mountains to find trouble, but he forgot about it for a while.

"My subordinates inquired about the news in a village ten miles away from Cangzhou City, saying that the old man died at the tea stand that day. The owner of the tea stand was an orphan without father and mother. When the old man was pouring tea, he smelled some fragrance and fell asleep looking at the fire without knowing it. When he woke up, he found that the person had died at his tea stall. Afraid of a lawsuit, he secretly buried him in the woods, so he went to Pack your bags and go elsewhere."

Fortunately, it was not too late for Jian Shiliu to go. Following the blood on the tea stall, he tracked down the owner of the tea stall who had just left the city, and pried out the news from him. There are no traces, so it is difficult to detect.

Hearing the news of the old man's death, Mei Shao, who was wearing the belt around her waist, paused, and an indescribable feeling crept into her heart.

That day when he suffered from Ruanjinsan, seeing the old man walking in a hurry, he guessed that he was afraid that someone would follow him and drag him down, so he went to lure him away and walked another way.

When Mei Shao had almost recovered in the carriage and was able to barely walk, there was no trace of the old man.He searched, but found nothing, and was afraid that he hadn't fully recovered. If Bai Bingchen's people found that he escaped and fell into their hands again, he returned to the city first.

Unexpectedly, in such a short time, the old man died suddenly outside.

Mei Shao didn't know what to say for a moment, subconsciously he felt that the old man's eyes were very familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere.In addition, the old man knew the situation of Burial Sword Villa so well, so he felt that he was an old friend of Master Xiao Guiyuan.But I searched for many friends in the rivers and lakes with Master in my mind, but there was no one who was him.

Mei Shao put on her clothes in silence, went to the table and poured a cup of tea to moisten her dry throat.

Jian Shiliu looked at his indistinguishable face, wondering what he was thinking in his heart, after a while, he continued: "I asked the tea stand owner to lead me to the place where the person was buried, dug up the body and found it It was a fatal move, the wound was in the throat, and there were still pieces of porcelain."

Glancing at Mei Shao again, Jian Shiliu finally said the rest: "Moreover, the same white powder that was found on the old owner's body was found on the corpse."

With a shake of his hands, half-warm tea splashed on Mei Shao's hands, but he seemed to be scalded, and his eyes widened, "Are you sure they are exactly the same?"

"I brought some back and showed them to Chu Yan, they are indeed the same."

Jian Shiliu's firm words made Mei Shao's deeply buried memory emerge.

That was when I had just raised my body in the cold city, and when the hatred was the most burning, I went to the Burial Sword Villa to ask my master to open the village, hoping to ask for sword revenge.

But the master who has always loved him, let him kneel until the snow covered his head and didn't let go. If Ji Pu, who picked the medicine, hadn't saved him, he might have died in the snowy night.

After that, he bid farewell to his master, changed his name to Jianshiliu, and used a Qingshuang sword to go up from the south to pick out swordsmen from all over the six states, intending to use this method to force the master to follow Zhuang's instructions and reopen the Burial Sword Villa.

When he went back to Buried Sword Villa, Xiao Guiyuan didn't turn him away and let him stay, and he didn't say anything about opening the villa.

Until one night, just as he fell asleep, there was the sound of fighting in the village. When he rushed over, the master had already died in front of the hall. The body was still warm, and it was fatal with one move. There was white powder on his body.

The Burial Sword Villa is very hidden, there are very few disciples and swordsmen in the village, most of them live elsewhere, only the owner lives near the Burial Sword Tomb, and he was the only one in the owner's courtyard that night.

For a while, thousands of people accused him, but Mei Shao couldn't argue with it.Xiao Guiyuan's swordsmanship is considered superior in the martial arts world, either because of the great difference in his skills, or because he used insidious moves to catch him by surprise and kill him with one move.

He felt that the white powder on Master's body was strange, so he sniffed it lightly, and a burst of strange fragrance came to his face, just a little bit made people dizzy and weak.

Mei Shao collected some and showed it to Chu Yan, who is good at making incense. After distinguishing, it was confirmed that there was a strong psychedelic herb in it, which could instantly charm the mind.

Chu Yan said that this kind of herb mostly grows in the north, and only in Liangguo.He was also inspired by this, and used "Ling Xiao", which also has psychedelic effects but is much less effective, as an introduction to create the fragrance "Lonely Pillow".

Not to mention Liangguo, even within the territory of Liguo, there are very few people who know the real residence of Jianjian Villa. When Xiao Guiyuan was alive, he had never opened a village. How could people from Liangguo, thousands of miles away, come to seek advice? its life?

This deduction is so shocking that Mei Shao himself finds it hard to believe it, let alone trying to use this reasoning to silence everyone in the world.

He had no choice but to bear the stigma of killing his master alone, making the Qingshuang Sword the No. 16 main sword of the Burial Sword Villa, and took the position of the owner of the Burial Sword Villa. Looking for the murderer who killed Master.

But these two incidents were strangely clueless. No matter how he investigated the Cangshan incident, he still didn't know the reason for his father's rebellion, and the death of the master was even more confusing.

After many years, the murderer appeared again, and he was in Cangzhou where he was, but he missed it for various reasons, and he was really unwilling.

Thinking of what the old man said before he left, he said that the scroll was left to him by the master, and he was killed by someone on the way to deliver the scroll.Could it be that the killer came for the scroll?

What kind of secret is hidden in this scroll, so that people are separated by thousands of miles, and they still have to fight for it after several years?

Mei Shao faintly felt that he seemed to have discovered a corner of the mist, he hastily dug out the scroll from a pile of scattered documents, and examined it carefully.

This is a very ordinary calligraphy and painting, the painting skills are clumsy, the inscription is not a famous artist, and the person who signed it is even less famous.

Last time, Mei Shao tried to find some clues on this painting, but no matter whether he split and assembled the characters or looked at the hidden characters, he couldn't find any useful information. .

Looking at the paper, it is also very ordinary, and there is nothing special about the frame.

Mei Shao read it over and over again, but still found nothing. Just when he wanted to put it aside for the time being, when he twirled the paper with his index finger and subconsciously rubbed it, he found something was wrong.

The paper in the middle seems to be thicker than the paper on the side.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, the secret could not be in the painting, but in the painting, right?

Picking up the dagger at the side, Mei Shao carefully pried open a corner along the edge of the framed paper, and tore off the whole painting along the edge.

Two solid letters fell on the table.

With just one glance, Mei Shao heard her heart beat violently.

Two letters written "My Son's Dear Parents" and "Tuer's Dear Parents" came into his eyes just like that.

Looking at the familiar handwriting lined up side by side, Mei Shao's astonishment persisted, and another burst of sourness welled up, warming her eyes.

These two letters were actually left by his father Meizhou and his teacher Xiao Guiyuan.