Jiang Qing

Knowing from the maid at the eldest princess's mansion that Zhao Jinghe went to Luofengzhai today, Mei Shao remembered that today was the end of summer.

It is the death day of King Jing Zhao Jue.

Mei Shao didn't want to disturb him at first, but after thinking about it, with such a day to cover up, if he asked Zhao Jinghe himself, he would not leave marks in the eyes of outsiders.

Thinking of this, he rode his horse to Luofengzhai.

From a distance, I saw the carriage of the princess mansion parked outside the room.

After getting closer, Mei Shao realized that Ling Che was also there.

He didn't go in, he just led a horse and guarded outside Luofengzhai, when he saw Mei Shao coming, he stopped combing the horse's hair.

"General Ling is also there, and the eldest princess is inside?" Mei Shao got off the horse, looked at Ling Che and asked.

On the second day of his wedding with Zhao Jinghe, Ling Che rushed back to Jinxi to handle Wu Ce's funeral. Fortunately, he had always been in charge of Jinxi's military affairs, so it didn't take much effort. After dealing with everything, Ling Che Then he returned to Pingdu.

"En." Ling Che looked up at him.

It was still the taciturn appearance in Mei Shao's memory, but there was a little more calmness in those eyes.Thinking of what Bai Bingchen said about King Jing's suicide in the carriage back to Duli, Mei Shao couldn't help but feel a little sigh in his heart.

Stepping into Luofengzhai, along the trail of swaying maple trees, Mei Shao turned to the incense place in the backyard.

The door of the incense hall where the offering was made was tightly closed, and it seemed that Zhao Jinghe hadn't come out yet.

In the yard, Qingxuan and Wuwo each sat on a stone, painted the ground as a chessboard, and each held a branch to draw chess pieces to pass the time. Zhao Jingning was sitting on the side watching, but watching them play chess was really sleepy. After a while, she ran to other places in Zhaizhong to play.

When King Jing rebelled, Zhao Jingning lived here for a while, and was very familiar with Luofengzhai, so he didn't need anyone to take him with him, so he could find fun by himself.

Wu Wo glanced at Zhao Jingning who ran away, then at his apprentice, and asked: "Is this little girl still pestering you to learn fencing?"

Qingxuan didn't raise his eyes, thought about clicking a piece on the right side of the chessboard, and then said: "Master, why do you ask these questions?"

Although it is a rhetorical question, it also acquiesces in the statement of no self.

Rubbing his beard, Wuwo sighed inaudibly, and said, "Anyway, you always have to teach her. What's the difference between early teaching and late teaching? In a few months, the maple leaves in Luofengzhai will turn red." , when the time comes, the old man will drink a pot of hot wine and watch you two dolls dance swords under the red maple, how seductive it is!"

Qingxuan was used to his disrespectful appearance, so he didn't take his words to heart, and followed him and said: "Master is highly respected, and he has been invited to the palace banquet every time, but he refuses to go. Singing and dancing are just to Master's taste."

Wuwo's ​​eyes darkened slightly, and he sighed: "I don't have that blessing, every time I go to that palace, I always feel uncomfortable, as if I am going to be locked in it, it's so boring."

He said it was uncomfortable, but Wuwo didn't show mercy, took advantage of a loophole in the Qingxuan chessboard, and died all of a sudden.

Qingxuan loosened the branches and stopped playing, sighed: "Master's chess skills are really good, I don't know how to win or lose when playing against His Majesty?"

Without self-esteem, he laughed, "A chess game with His Majesty..."

He paused for a while before saying: "Nine times out of ten, your Majesty's victory was only half a point. It was a tragic victory."

Wu Wo finished complimenting himself, glanced at Mei Shao who was standing in the distance, and waved to him, "What are you doing standing there, looking for the eldest princess?"

Mei Shao was not surprised that he was able to tell the reason for his visit. Although this Taoist priest always speaks incoherently, most of them are efficacious.

He stepped forward and saluted, and the raised arm just made Wu Wo see the string of green sandalwood beads.

"This old monk from Yueshan gave it to you?" Wu Wo squinted his eyes, and as Mei Shao approached, he looked at it carefully.

"He is really willing, but I gave him this to prevent disaster, and I gave it to you." Wu Wo glanced at the two people with surprised eyes, a little strange, "Why, don't you believe it?"

"Isn't Master the favorite to compete with Master Xiaoci?"

Wuwo glanced at Qingxuan sideways, and said with a half smile but not a smile: "He has been compared to me a long time ago, okay? When I saw me, I was not respectful, but I was competing with him alone. When you devoted yourself to Buddhism , the old monk refused to accept you and threw you to me, doesn't that mean that he is not a good teacher?"

Hearing this, Mei Shao raised his eyebrows, he had heard about this incident before, when Xiang Wandi quit the rivers and lakes, he originally wanted to become a monk in Qianfo Temple, but Master Xiaoci said that he had not finished his life and refused to accept him, In the end, he couldn't stand his soft and hard thinking, so he asked him to come to Pingdu to worship under Wuwo's ​​sect, and then he became a Taoist priest.

"Speaking of this, there is something puzzling about the apprentice, and I just need the master to explain it. At the beginning, Master Xiaoci refused to accept me, saying that I was not bound by the world, what happened?"

"Oh, that's what I said." Wu Wo replied without changing his face, "When you were apprenticed to the teacher, I met you in Xiaoci's wing room and thought that you have nothing to do with Buddhism, but you have nothing to do with Taoism. It was fate, so I said this sentence."

Seeing him brazenly say the matter of robbing his apprentice so openly, Qingxuan's brows couldn't help but twitch. He vaguely felt that the reason why his master tricked him back was purely because he didn't want to deal with the cumbersome royal sacrifices. But I can't bear to part with the favor of the royal family.

"I did the calculation for you seriously, you are indeed in the world." Wu Wo said with a serious face, "The hexagram said, what did you put down the Panlong Sword for, and you will pick it up again for the same thing in the future? sword."

Seeing his focused expression, Qingxuan was a little convinced, and the next moment, he heard his master add a sentence.

"I think the time is now." Wu Wo pointed to Mei Shao and said, "Isn't your sword in his place? Right now, I want to return the sword, teach the little girls how to practice swords, and show the master a maple leaf sword this fall." Is the law good?"

Sure enough, he couldn't listen to his nonsense, Qingxuan lowered his eyes and ignored him.

On the contrary, Mei Shao listened interestingly and asked, "Why did the priest give Master Xiaoci this pair of prayer beads?"

"Oh." Qingxuan didn't feel that it was an embarrassing thing for his apprentice to ignore him, and Mei Shao turned his attention directly, and said: "I made a fortune for that old monk, and the divination said that he will be consummated , not a happy ending."

Glancing at Mei Shao who seemed to understand half understood, Wuwo said directly: "It means that he died early, I feel very pitiful, so I gave him this string of Buddhist beads."

"Can it solve the problem?" Mei Shao was aroused by curiosity.

"No. It's just that with this string of beads, can relics be produced by cremation after death?" Wu Wu himself was dubious, and continued: "I have never seen relics, so I want to see them."

Mei Shao: "..."

"But he gave this to you. It seems that he can't be cremated after death. What a pity." Wuwo added silently.

"When I returned to the capital, Master Xiaoci also made a fortune for me, saying that my journey to the north was difficult and dangerous, and advised me to turn back."

Maybe some time ago, he accepted the legend of Fudi Pavilion, which seemed like a god but not a god. For some reason, Mei Shao also believed in these mysterious and mysterious things. I want to ask.

"Going north? When you were in Hancheng, you thought Pingdu was north, so now you are in Pingdu, where is north?" Qingxuan smiled and glanced at Mei Shao, with an inexplicable emotion in his eyes, staring at her. Mei Shao was taken aback.

"Xiaoci's words are indeed good, but his vision is narrower. But the narrowness of his vision depends on your vision at that time. The reason why hexagrams are credible, but not fully trustworthy, is because the hexagrams are foretold. It is the present moment, your future. People change and things change, where is north in your eyes now? In the future, where will be north in your eyes?"

Mei Shao didn't expect him to be serious suddenly, and he couldn't digest such a long paragraph of words for a moment, he was stunned for a moment, and thought: "North now, is it about going to Yanzhou?"

Just as Mei Shao was about to ask in detail, the door of the Xiangtang opened.

Zhao Jinghe came out from the inside, saw Mei Shao was taken aback, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Such a question interrupted what Mei Shao wanted to ask. He glanced at Wuwu, calmed down, and went to Zhao Jinghe's place first.

Leaving Wu Wu staring blankly at Mei Shao's back, he said to himself, "Did I talk too much today?"

Qingxuan didn't hear clearly, and asked, "Master, what did you say?"

"It's nothing, I just think you're too inconsiderate, not as good as your senior brother."

Hearing this, Qingxuan raised his head and looked at him in surprise, since he came to Luofengzhai, there have been only two masters and apprentices, and he has never heard of any senior brother.

"Master, when did I have a senior brother?"

"Oh. As a teacher, I have expelled the one who deceived the teacher and killed the ancestors from the teacher."

"......"

Talking nonsense again, Qingxuan regretted talking to him, and rolled his eyes silently.

----

Zhao Jinghe led Mei Shao into the incense hall again.

Silently going forward to light a stick of incense, Mei Shao looked at the sadness in Zhao Jinghe's eyes, and for a moment didn't know where to speak.

Zhao Jue was a treasonous minister, Zhao Zhen was willing to leave his whole body as a gift, he could not enter the imperial tomb, so Zhao Jinghe buried him on Cangshan Mountain, and from the backyard of Luofengzhai, one can see The green top of Cangshan Mountain.

Zhao Jinghe would come to Luofengzhai every year on the anniversary of his death to burn incense and pray, and eat vegetarian food to meditate for a day, but she had never been to Cangshan Mountain once, and she had never worshiped in front of her elder brother's tomb.

His elder brother, Zhao Jue, was the son of the first emperor and empress. He is the crown prince.

Until the 36th year of Qinyuan, Zhao Zhen participated in the seizure of the heir, and the late emperor who had always favored Zhao Jue seemed to have changed.

Under the sudden change of Emperor Xiandi's attitude, Zhao Jue's temperament also began to become impetuous, and he was defeated in many confrontations with Zhao Zhen.But also because he was trampled under by a prince whom he had never paid attention to before, Zhao Jue became more and more eager to obtain the supreme position. He began to contact the courtiers, and used vicious means to eradicate dissidents until the late emperor died. Zhao Zhen was the emperor's will, Zhao Jue rebelled against the imperial city, and was only 31 years old when he died.

Kneeling under Daoist Sanqing's portrait, Zhao Jinghe slowly reviewed his brother's short life like every year.His life has been full of ups and downs, and the smooth scenery before the age of 27 seems to have laid the groundwork for the gap in the next four years.

Her elder brother is such a proud and noble person, but she has become the princess of Zhao Zhen's dynasty. She has lived so far, what face does she have, going to see her elder brother's tomb.

In the past four years, he had only dared to pay homage at Luofengzhai in the distance to convey his grief.

Zhao Jinghe opened her eyes, but there wasn't a single tear in her eyes - no amount of tears had been shed in four years, and she was no longer the child who needed her brother's protection.

After she got up, she looked at Mei Shao with calm eyes, and said, "If you have anything to say, just talk about it."

"Did you deal with people from the Anxiang Pavilion when you and King Jing stood on your own?"

Zhao Jinghe glanced at him unexpectedly, and said, "Are you asking me for Bai Bingchen?"

"No. I'm doing it for myself." Mei Shao replied, "He is the murderer who killed my master."

Unaware that there was still such a connection between them, Zhao Jinghe was silent for a moment, but still told what he knew.

"I have indeed dealt with them. In fact, my brother's rebellion against Pingdu is also due to their instigation."

Sure enough, it was the same as the news they got, the Anxiang Pavilion had indeed intervened in the military and political changes of the Li country, Mei Shao silently flashed this thought in his mind.

"Brother couldn't be persuaded at that time, so I followed him to unite with the old Ministry of the North Korea and the Central Government, and left Pingdu. How to deploy troops, how to use Bai Zijin's jewelry to attack people's hearts, and how to deal with Bai Bingchen were also things we discussed together. It's just that The man in black who came over from Anxiang Pavilion is very concealed, even if he talks to me, he never reveals his true face, I only know that his voice sounds quite old, he should be about 50 years old."

"Over 50 years old?" Mei Shao was a little surprised. He thought that the young master would be the one who would come forward, but he didn't expect that in the case of King Jing's rebellion, someone else would come forward?

He confirmed again worriedly, "Isn't it a young man with a high-pitched voice and a posture similar to Bai Bingchen?"

"You mean the young master?" Zhao Jinghe obviously knew this person, "You know, I don't want to see Bai Bingchen, so naturally I don't like to talk to him, so the Anxiang Pavilion sent someone else, but the young master was in the black clothes. He is very respectful in front of people, but looking at his status, that middle-aged man should be taller."

He has a higher status than the young masters of Palm Ghost City and Anxiang, vaguely, Mei Shao feels that he has glimpsed a piece of clothing of the mastermind behind him.

Not surprisingly, the middle-aged man who came to talk to Zhao Jinghe was the biggest mastermind behind the scenes.

"Besides voice, age, what other characteristics does he have?"

Zhao Jinghe slowly thought about it, and the pictures of the past flashed in her mind one by one, and suddenly, she caught a detail.

"On the day my father passed away, Prince Cheng blocked the news in the palace, and my elder brother failed to enter the inner palace. It stands to reason that he shouldn't have known the news that my father passed on the throne to someone else so soon. It was the man in black who came to the elder brother's mansion. He came and left in a hurry that day, and vaguely, I saw that there was a piece of clothing under his black robe, and there seemed to be red lotus patterns inside the cuffs. The news from China is so fast, he should be an important minister in the court."

The official uniforms of Li Guo officials are clearly graded, with gold thread on the outer robe and patterns embroidered on the inside.The inner robes of the left and the right are embroidered with magnolia, and the six ministers are red lotus.For the rest of the officials, civil servants use ginkgo and military officers use white plums. According to their official positions, the number of ginkgo and white plums decreases in turn.

In the period of the first emperor, Zhang Jiudai was the minister of the Ministry of Rites, with red lotus patterns embroidered inside.

All the clues are connected at this moment, and every assumption has been confirmed one by one. Mei Shao can already confirm that the person behind the Anxiang Pavilion is Zhang Jiudai.

The author says:

Getting bald... There is about one more chapter of transition, and I can go to Yanzhou.

Looking at the outline of the two volumes in the back of my hand, there were many big scenes, I stroked my hair, and sighed silently.