blue ribbon bouquet

Fan An made up his mind to go this time, and made up his mind not to look back.But he didn't expect that as soon as he left Fan's residence, someone came to visit him.

Shang Zhongxi's imperial decree to bestow the marriage was announced in the afternoon, but within a few hours, all officials, big and small, heard about the happy event.Now that I heard about it, I naturally wanted to congratulate. Fortunately, it was getting late that day, and the wedding was given so suddenly that most people didn't prepare any gifts, otherwise the Fan Mansion might already be full of people at this moment.

But it's late and late, and I can't stop a few enthusiastic ones.The first person to rush here was Qin Hairu, the censor Zhongcheng of Lantai. The former censor Zhongcheng was arrested half a month ago and went to Jinyiwei. This person is a new official, and his family has prepared some nourishing gifts to honor Fan An. He is struggling to find them. It's an opportunity to get close, now that I heard about it, I hurriedly asked my servants to load the gifts into the carriage, and rushed to Fan's residence without saying a word.

I didn't want him to come so early, so I missed it.The door of Fan's mansion was open, Yuan Zhu stood at the door, and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, Mr. Qin, our lord has gone out, and I don't know when he will be back."

Fan An is a well-known "difficult to curry favor" in the court. He always excuses his absence when he is in the house. Qin Hairu has heard about this for a long time, so he is not surprised. "It's okay!" He looked at Yuan Zhu with a smile and said, "Miss Yuan, I heard that the Holy Majesty just gave Master Fan a happy event, and I came here to congratulate him. Since Master Fan is not here, I don't want to disturb you, but this A load of small gifts should always be accepted, you can let my people move in. When the gift arrives, I will leave right away."

Yuanzhu hesitated, wondering: "My lord is not at home, I can't be the master..."

"There's nothing I can't decide!" Qin Hai didn't allow her to say anything, and turned his head to call for someone to move the congratulatory gift out.Several house slaves of the Qin residence held boxes wrapped in brocade flowers in their hands, and headed into the residence with nods and bows.She stretched out her hand not to hit the smiling face, although Yuanzhu was in a dilemma, she didn't stop her.

These few people were also very knowledgeable, quietly put the gifts in the side hall and came out.Anyway, these things are piled up there, are you afraid that Mr. Fan will not know who sent them?Qin Hai put his heart at ease, cupped his hands with a smile, and said that this time I owe the girl a big favor, so I'll leave now and don't bother you much.Master Ruofan is back, the girl greets me.

Yuanzhu blessed Fushenzi, saying that slaves dare not.He stood at the door, watching Qin Hai take the people away, and was about to turn around and go back to the mansion when another carriage with dark purple tassels rumbled towards Fan's mansion at the corner of the road. Yes, close the door.Unexpectedly, the carriage was parked a few feet in front of the door, so Chen Yiqin lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.

Chen Yiqin was Zheng Kang's adopted son, and he was traveling in the chariot of the Captain's Mansion, with a black horse leading the way, and four armored guards with swords beside him.It's not a big show, but the momentum is awe-inspiring.While Yuan Zhu was hesitating, Chen Yiqin had already slowly walked to the front of the steps.He put his hands together, with wide sleeves and flowing brocade, under the thin night, he smiled lightly. "Miss Yuan, my servant, Chen Yiqin, wants to pay a visit to Mr. Fan, please let me know."

After all, he is a lecturer from Prince Huan's mansion, so he behaves very politely.Yuanzhu raised his eyebrows, came out and bowed his head, saying that I'm sorry Mrs. Chen, our lord is not at the house, so we can discuss things tomorrow.Chen Yiqin looked up at her and said: "I have something important to discuss with Mr. Fan, please let me know."

"The servant did not lie to you." Yuan Zhu said, "My lord is really not at the house."

Chen Yiqin looked at her quietly. "Oh? That's right. Didn't the Holy Majesty just give the marriage decree, where is he going at this time?" Seeing that Yuanzhu didn't speak, he smiled again, "The two young masters are at home, the imperial concubine sent some snacks to Prince Huan's mansion, I came out and brought some for the two young masters to taste."

Yuan Zhu said: "The two young masters are not at the house either, they are studying in a library outside the city for the past few days."

"There are a lot of libraries in the capital, why go outside the city to study?" Chen Yiqin said, "When will I come back, I will find him a bachelor in the Imperial Academy, and he will teach the two young masters to read." Yuanzhu said : "The two young masters were originally taught by an old man from Hanlin. The day before yesterday, the adults sent them out of the city to study."

"Oh..." Chen Yiqin remained silent for a while, his expression unchanged, and said: "But I do have something important to discuss. Did your lord say when he would come back before leaving? I might as well wait for him here."

Yuan Zhu said with a distressed face: "Master Chen, go back and wait, it will rain soon. My lord didn't say when he will come back."

Chen Yiqin smiled, cupped his hands and said I got it, I will come back another day.

He turned around and got into the carriage, just as he sat down, there was a sudden wind blowing through the tassels in front of the curtain, Chen Yiqin's heart tightened, and Mo Ming felt a little uneasy.The carriage traveled half a mile to the Southwest Captain's Mansion, when he suddenly called a stop, got off the carriage and got on the horse, saying: "You guys go back first, I'll go outside the city for a while!"

"My lord, it's going to rain, so let's go tomorrow if you have anything to do." The guard persuaded him, but Chen Yiqin acted as if he hadn't heard of it, so he rode his horse and headed towards the western suburbs outside the city.

The guard was right, it was going to rain soon.Chen Yiqin had just left the city gate, and his whole body was soaked through.When it was nearly Xu time, the night was deep, and there was only a very faint and cold moonlight amidst the wind and rain.

Chen Yiqin passed through Fangshi, and there were no people on the road to the western suburbs. He rode his horse, and saw a figure coming towards him from a distance.He thought it was a pedestrian walking on a rainy day, but he didn't pay attention to it at first, until he passed by him, and with a glimpse of the moonlight, he vaguely recognized that the person was Li Jianbi.He hastily reined in the horse rope, came down and shouted: "Xiu Yuan!"

Li Jianbi in the rain turned his head, Chen Yiqin saw that he was wearing a thin shirt, his face was pale, it was obvious that he had walked in the rain for a long time. "Why did you come out, where are you going this rainy day?"

"Chen Yiqin?" Li Jianbi only recognized him, with surprise on his face, he came over to grab him a few steps and said, "Fan Pingqiu has escaped! Hurry up and help me chase him back!" His breath was disordered as he spoke, and he was out of breath. It's like not coming up.Chen Yiqin grabbed his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, where did Fan Pingqiu go? He came to look for you?"

"The Empress Dowager Yi wants him to marry Zheng Kang's daughter. This person doesn't want to, so he packs his bags and prepares to escape from office!" Li Jianbi's heart ached when he said this, and he grabbed Chen Yiqin's arm as if he was about to cry, "He is determined to go , I can't stop him, I... I think I should chase him back, but he is walking too fast, I can't find anyone..."

Chen Yiqin had never seen him so helpless and weak, so he quickly took off his outer robe and put it on him, comforting him: "Don't worry, he still has two sons who are studying outside the city, so he must not have traveled far. If you want to go far away, you must pass the water gate outside the city. I will go to the Captain’s Mansion to transfer people, and I will definitely block him.” He helped Li Jianbi, and leaned on the horse’s belly with a half hug, “I’ll send you to Xi’an first. Suburb, you are not in good health, how can you get caught in the rain like this."

"Yes, yes, he will definitely pass the water... I'm really confused." Li Jianbi patted his forehead, straightened up and said, "Then you go, don't delay any more." He pulled up the coat that Chen Yiqin gave him The robe half covered his head, urging: "Go and transfer someone! I'll wait for you at Shuikou."

Chen Yiqin looked at him silently for a moment, without speaking.Li Jianbi and him studied at the same school since they were young, and after leaving the Imperial Academy, they each served as officials in the court. They have been close and estranged for two to thirty years. This person has always been calm and calm, even if he is beheaded and dismissed from office. With what ability, Li Jianbi was so flustered.

Chen Yiqin grabbed his hand, with a cold smirk on his face again: "It's just a Fan Pingqiu, if he really escapes, he will escape. There will always be someone to take the position of Doctor Yushi, and it may not be worse than him."

Li Jianbi raised his head and glanced at him when he heard the words, raised his hand and shook him off, and reprimanded: "You are so simple! He is gone, and the next royal doctor must be elected by the cabinet. You still expect the new one to help the Zheng family." A hand? What a dream!"

Chen Yiqin was stunned by his rebuke, and came back to his senses and said: "Okay, I understand." He let go of his hand, took two steps back and got on his horse, "I will definitely chase him back, don't worry." He turned his horse around as he said With a flick of his horsewhip, he quickly headed to the Captain's Mansion.

After Xu time, Chen Yiqin arrived at Zheng's residence.Seeing his drenched appearance, Zheng Kang said, didn't you go to Fan's mansion to check the date?Why did you come back at this time.Chen Yiqin took a sip of water and said, "What date do you choose? This Fan has escaped!"

"What did you say?" Zheng Kang didn't react, Chen Yiqin looked at him and said, "He didn't want to marry Wei'er, so he ran away from office. I want fifteen cavalrymen to stop him from coming back at the water mouth."

"Do you understand, he is a second-rank senior official, and he will run away because of a marriage? He must have committed something and absconded in fear of crime." Zheng Kang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Maybe it was Jin Yiwei who found out that he was committing treason If suspected, he will be arrested and imprisoned."

Chen Yiqin said, "Even if he absconded in fear of crime, it would be justifiable for the Captain's Mansion to arrest him."

Zheng Kang nodded with a smile, pulled out a piece of ebony from his waist and handed it to Chen Yiqin. "You take this adjustable [-] light cavalry. You stop him at night, and the big thing becomes small, and the small thing becomes small. Don't make too much noise, otherwise I won't be able to explain to the Holy One."

Chen Yiqin said yes, took the token and led the soldiers to quickly go to Shuikou.Fan An is a scholar, it is enough to stop one person, but it is useless if he cannot stop thousands of troops. Fifteen people were transferred.

On the way to Shuikou, Chen Yiqin saw Li Jianbi, who was going to Shuikou in the rain, Chen Yiqin stopped him and pulled him onto the horse.Li Jianbi saw more than a dozen armored cavalry behind him, subconsciously wanted to cover his face, Chen Yiqin said: "These people have been in the military field all year round, they don't recognize you, it's okay."

There are three bluestone bridges in Shuikou, leading to the west, north, and east crossings. They are all century-old bridges, and they are two or three miles apart. On such a rainy night, they can't see each other.Chen Yiqin assigned five people to each bridgehead, and before leaving, he ordered: Whenever you see a man leading two three or four-year-old babies, you must stop them.

Seeing that everyone was about to leave, Li Jianbi quickly interjected: "That's Master Yushi Fan, you must not hurt anyone." Chen Yiqin turned his head to look at him, and said with a smile: "Xiu Yuan is absolutely right."

Li Jianbi and Chen Yiqin waited at the North Bridge for a quarter of an hour, but nothing happened.He felt extremely uneasy, walked back and forth twice, and asked Chen Yiqin: "Could he have already crossed the bridge? Maybe we should cross the bridge and chase after him."

"It shouldn't be so fast. If you really cross the bridge, where are you going to chase him?" Chen Yiqin held him back, put his hand on his forehead, and said, I think you have a fever, and you should find a place to rest in this situation go.Li Jianbi pushed his hand away and murmured: "I don't rest, I don't see anyone else, how can I rest..."

It was true that Fan An hadn't crossed the bridge yet. He picked up his two sons and rushed to Shuikou when it was close to Haishi. It was raining. He couldn't bear to let his two sons get wet with him, so he went to the night market and hired a carriage temporarily.

The carriage galloped to Shuikou South Bridge, and was stopped by five or six cavalry without accident.The groom thought he had been robbed at night, but just as he was about to shout out, someone pointed a long sword between his eyebrows. "I am a soldier of the imperial court, and I was ordered to inspect the people who have crossed the bridge tonight." The leader stepped forward and said, "Who is sitting in your carriage, come out and let me take a look."

Fan An listened to their self-introduction in the carriage, and his heart skipped a beat. He just wanted to remind the groom to stop talking, but he stretched out his hand and listened to the groom's confession: "There is no one, just a man and two little babies."

Fan Fu clenched his fists, really wanting to kick this careless person out of the car.He calmed down, slowly lifted the curtain of the car to take a look, and asked: "Who are you? Who did you order? I am Fan Pingqiu, the imperial historian. I have something important to go out of the city tonight, so please make way for me!"

Those five people didn't answer his question, one of them turned his head and said: "Go to Beiqiao and inform Mr. Chen that he has been found."

The rain was pattering, but Fan An still heard these words.He immediately realized that the "Lord Chen" might be Chen Yiqin, and he said excitedly: "The soldiers of the captain's mansion intercepted the carriage of the imperial court official privately, do you have a soldier card?! You are committing crimes! Make way for me! "

The five black horses snorted, but their hooves refused to move away.Fan An squeezed his fist and said, "Bump over!"

"Ah?!" The groom turned his head, wondering why, "No way, my lord, this carriage is very valuable. Who will pay for it if it is damaged? Besides, it is a soldier of the imperial court..." Before he finished speaking, Fan An had handed over the carriage. A piece of silver came out: "This is [-] taels, you take it well, I bought this carriage, you go away." The groom took the silver, muttering and wanting to say something else, in case An suddenly stretched out kicked him down.

This time, he had hardened his heart by taking weight, and he wanted to leave here no matter what.Immediately, he shook the horse rope, waved his hand and whipped the two horses' buttocks hard!These two white horses were also considered good horses, they were cared for on weekdays, and it was rare that they were whipped so hard, and they were in great pain at the moment, so they immediately let go of their horseshoes and galloped forward.

The five people blocking the bridge didn't expect him to force their way in. The mahogany cart that was ten feet wide rammed straight over, and instantly knocked off the two light soldiers blocked in the middle.Fortunately, the other three reacted very quickly, turned their horses and chased after them quickly.

There was still a distance of more than a hundred feet from the bridge head to the bridge deck, and Fan An kept his horsewhip in his hand, his speed reaching the limit.But the light cavalry behind him still caught up with him, and the two clamped him from left to right, and shouted loudly: "Lord Fan, stop!"

Fan An pretended not to hear, raised his hand and waved his whip again, the light soldier on the left shouted when he saw this, Fan An turned his head to look, and saw him straighten up half of his body, making a gesture to fly towards him, He was startled, and subconsciously pulled the horse rope on the right. Unexpectedly, the carriage was too heavy, and the pull deviated from the direction, and the left wheel bumped into the guardrail on the bridge.In the blink of an eye, the carriage slid and turned around on the bridge, and the wheel of the carriage slammed into the bridge railing on the right.

The whole body of this carriage is made of mahogany, it is indestructible, but it is also extremely heavy. After this collision, there was only a loud noise, and a large piece of the bridge rail on the left was knocked away, and the wheel on the left side of the carriage clanged. slipped down!

The four people present were frightened for a moment, as soon as the revolver slid down, the entire carriage was about to fall into the nearby Shuikou River. "Hold the carriage!" Someone yelled, and the five of them grabbed the carriage's right ear and cogs regardless of the pain.But the carriage weighed a thousand catties, how could it easily stop the fall, the five people worked together, the carriage still slid down slowly.

A child's cries came from inside the carriage, and someone shouted, "I saw Lord Fan fall back into the carriage! Save Lord Fan first!" The four of them yelled at Lord Fan while holding the carriage. It was quiet, but there was no response, only the cries of the two children became more intense.But now most of the carriage is hanging outside the bridge, and no one is free to save the two children.

The four of them persisted a few times and finally reached the limit. When they were about to let go, Chen Yiqin and his group arrived, and Li Jianbi turned pale with fright.He took the lead and rushed up to hold the horse's shackles. At this moment, there was a rattling sound, and a loud splash sound, and the right side of the car body also slid down!This fall was unstoppable, immediately throwing away the two cavalrymen next to him.Five people behind Li Jianbi came up and quickly grabbed the carriage, someone pulled out a dagger and stabbed the horse's butt, the two horses neighed miserably, and pulled forward to stop the carriage from falling.

At this time, people from Dongqiao also rushed over, and a dozen people pulled the rope together. Seeing the carriage hanging precariously outside the bridge, Li Jianbi asked loudly: "Where is Fan Pingqiu?" Someone said: "Inside the carriage, there is no answer." ! Probably injured!"

Li Jianbi's eyes and ears were confused, he looked down for a long time, and heard the cry of the child in his ears, and then he realized: "Is Master Fan's son inside?" He said, "Someone has to hurry down and pull them up."

"No, the carriage is too heavy, the rope is about to break! If one person goes down, I'm afraid it won't be able to support it."

Li Jianbi said: "I'm lighter, I'll go down!" He bent down as he spoke, trying to get into the carriage along the rope. At this moment, Chen Yiqin came over and grabbed him, and scolded: "Are you crazy! This carriage is going to Fell into the river! You will die with him!"