Daiyu reads novels every day

This place has arrived at the Plum Blossom Ferry, which is the main waterway to Yangzhou. Although the dense forest trail where Yongchen and others are hiding is rarely visited by people; but not far away, the ferry connecting to the river is full of people, even more The inn is along the street, quite crowded.

On this area of ​​the river, it was common for the Green Gang to come and go, and the people didn't take it seriously; however, few rebels dared to show up in broad daylight, not only playing the black gold flag as a bright rebel sign, but also firing with force, intending to kill people.

"Yellow Loach" was the smartest, and immediately turned over and rolled into the bottom of the car.

Yong Chen didn't panic, he sat in the carriage and said to the prince's elder brother: "Don't panic, it's mine."

All of a sudden the boats stopped at the shore, grabbed a few strong men with black scarves and masks, rushed to the carriage, and threw in several sets of identical black scarves and black clothes.

Yongchen changed it for the elder brother of the prince, and changed it for himself, and only covered Liu Wuhua who passed out; then he helped the elder brother of the prince to get out of the car.

Some of the burly men in black put the unconscious Liu Wuhua under his arm again, and the "Huang Niluo" who had been hiding under the carriage also changed his clothes tremblingly.

"Young master, this, this..." He carefully sized up the men in black, leaned into Yong Chen's ear, and whispered: "This is definitely not a member of the Qing Gang."

"I know." Yong Chen took the torch from the strong man in black and watched the other person pour the tung oil he had prepared on the carriage, so he put the lit torch on the blue cloth of the carriage and covered it leave.

The fire burst into the sky.

Prince Yongzhan watched silently, and took the saber of a strong man in black - Yongchen knew what he meant, snatched it, and chopped off the shaft of the chariot with the horizontal knife.

The old horse, which felt the heat of the fire, neighed, burst out with the will to survive, changed its slow speed just now, and plunged into the depths of the dense forest.

When Guan Ding, who received a message from the people at the ferry crossing, rushed to the dense forest path, he saw the chariot with only its iron skeleton left, and the dark and sparse spots of blood on the ground, pointing all the way to the river—but above the river, the moon was bright and the wind was clear. , Floating light jumps gold, where there are traces of ships with black and gold flags.

Yongchen and Prince Yongzhan mixed among the strong men in black, got on the boat, and waited for the boat to sail into the river, this heart that had been raised for more than half a month fell into his belly.

There were already people waiting in the cabin for a long time.

"Your Highness Seventeen, you are still so mischievous after more than ten years." The strong man in black slowly rolled up the straw curtain, and a thin man in his thirties walked out to greet him.

Yong Chen looked at him intently, helped the prince's elder brother into the cabin, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for more than ten years, but you are much older. When we met last time, you were still a handsome young man—Hecao."

It turns out that the leader of the rebels is none other than He Cao who pretended to be a disciple of Buddhism and helped Yong Chen to deceive the Empress Dowager.

When Yong Chen was young, the Empress Dowager came back from Mount Wutai, but she favored Concubine De and punished Yong Chen's birth mother for no reason.When Yong Chen saw the mottled bruises on Concubine Shu's knees, she couldn't contain her anger.Knowing that the Empress Dowager believed in Buddhism, she conspired with the "community people" she met on the overpass when she was out of the palace and named her "Crane Grass". The story of the Buddha's light reflected in the mirror, after borrowing the crane grass, earned the empress dowager to return to Kyoto and sensed the "Buddha's call", and drove to Wutai Mountain again within a few days.

This matter caused Emperor Jinglong to lose his temper at the beginning, one was that Yongchen was bold and disrespectful to his parents; the other was that the crane plant he found for Yongchen was a full-fledged traitor.But Yongchen and Hecao were so clever back then, long before Emperor Jinglong investigated and dealt with them, Hecao slipped out of the capital and disappeared.

The empress dowager was tortured by Yongchen for more than ten years, and she still serves the Buddha devoutly in Mount Wutai.

It can't be said that the Buddha was really touched by his sincerity. He is already over seventy years old, and he is in good health. According to the report sent back from Wutai Mountain, he is actually healthier than Emperor Jinglong.

Today's Crane Grass is quite different from the face when he was young.When he was young, he had a handsome face, which made people feel good about him, otherwise the empress dowager would not have believed him so easily.Today's Crane Grass, the most eye-catching thing is a scar on the left face from the forehead to the right side of the chin.This scar is shocking, one can imagine that if the person who wielded the knife had increased his strength back then, the crane grass at this moment would be a dead person with half of his head cut off.

After hearing Yong Chen's words, He Cao naturally knew what he was referring to and smiled slightly.When he smiled when he was young, he was handsome and pleasant, but now his scar was distorted, which was extremely frightening.The only thing that can vaguely recognize the old style is the voice that has gradually mellowed with age, "Thanks to your good sixteenth brother. I want to find a chance to thank him in person."

Prince Yongzhan who was listening on the side suddenly asked, "What is your relationship with Shandong Zhang Jiulong?"

This picture of Nine Dragons is the rebels who caused chaos in Ping County, Shandong Province a few years ago and killed Mr. Cai's only son and daughter-in-law. Later, he was killed by the sixteenth prince Yongyi.

"Zhang Jiulong?" The scar on Hecao's face twisted again, he smiled and said, "It's just my substitute."

Yongchen glanced at the prince's elder brother's left arm, the place where the dagger was inserted had turned black, because of a smile, he said: "Let's go outside to talk about the old days. I would like to trouble you to call someone who is good at medicine to draw the knife for my brother .”

Hecao nodded, clapped his hands to call the strong man in black to come closer, gave a few orders, and signaled Yongan to go out and talk.

For a moment the doctor came in with a medicine box.

Although Yong Chen was worried about the prince's elder brother's injury, he couldn't bear to see him endure the pain of drawing the knife, so he turned and left the cabin.

"Follow me, I have a big gift for you." He Cao walked towards the stern with Yong Chen.

At the stern of the boat, there was a young man who was cooking wine. He was only about twelve or thirteen years old, but he raised his face when he heard footsteps.

Yong Chen glanced at him, wondering how there was an inexplicable familiarity; Yin stared at him again to identify him carefully.

Hecao looked at it and sneered, "Did you recognize it?"

"Xun Xun looks familiar." Yong Chen felt strange and ordered the young man to stand up.

Hecao watched coldly from the side, and suddenly said, "Is it like your master Cai?"

Yongchen was startled, approached, pinched the young man's shoulder, and looked carefully at him.

Sure enough, the boy's face was exactly the same as Cai Shiyuan's, and his eyebrows and eyes were even more like Cai Shiyuan's.

Being pinched by Yong Chen's shoulders, the young man raised his head and said calmly: "Caomin Cai Zeyan, I have seen Lord Seventeen."

"If you were Cai Zeyan..." Yong Chen stared at him, the calm demeanor of the young man in front of him was exactly the same as that of Cai Hui, "Then who is the one in Kyoto?"

"At the time when my parents were killed, my nanny took me to hide in the farmer's house. Later, Zhang Jiulong and others chased me down. The farmer and my nanny were afraid of death, so they sent me out. It was a coincidence, but it was..." The young man glanced at the crane Grass, "The people around the young master rescued me. Later, the imperial court sent troops to capture Zhang Jiulong and others, and chased them to the farmhouse where I was hiding. That son who is about the same size as me is lying. After thinking about going back and forth to the capital, the nanny dared not tell the truth. So I will make mistakes like this. I have been taught by the young master all these years." He suddenly knelt down and knocked heavily on the crane grass Nodding his head, "Zeyan will never forget the young master's kindness in his life."

Yong Chen still couldn't believe it completely, because he asked again: "If the peasant family and the nanny are lying, how can Brother Sixteen not detect it?" Ordinary people would be afraid to tell the truth when they see the prince, let alone when it is so related to their lives. event.

"The nanny and the peasant family are dedicated to making a living, so they dare to tell any kind of lie. It's not uncommon for Shi Qiye's elder brother to be deceived." Cai Zeyan replied.

Yong Chen shook his head with a smile, "My sixteenth brother looks inconspicuous, but he is very shrewd. It is rare for me to deceive him, let alone..."

"Have you ever thought about it," Hecao said leisurely, "Yongyi is not being deceived, but pretending not to know, and selling you off."

Yong Chen suddenly stopped.

That's right, it seems that at that time, it was the time when the Sixteenth Prince Yong Yi somehow became intimate with him.If Yongyi knew the truth, Cai Shiyuan’s grandson would have already been in the hands of the rebels. Although he couldn’t find him, he probably died more than he lived; Yongchen had fought hard to lead the army that time, but he was suppressed by the prince’s brother. down.Yongyi wanted to make friends with him at that moment, what could be a greater favor than saving his master's grandson?

It cannot be said that for the sixteenth prince Yongyi at that time, the lie of the nanny and the farmer was that someone handed him a pillow when he was dozing off;As for the only seedling of the Cai family, what is the dove occupying the magpie's nest?Perhaps in the eyes of the sixteenth prince, the only seedling of the Cai family is already dead; whoever came back does it matter?

It's just that it's unexpected that by mistake, the real Cai Zeyan was rescued and raised by Hecao.

Yongchen stood on the same day, and suddenly remembered the scene when he sent Cai Zeyan back to Cai's house.

In the small courtyard with gray tiles and green walls, under the old tree in the courtyard, Cai Shiyuan lay on a chair beside him, and told his little grandson who had been found, "Your surname is Cai, your name is Zeyan, and you are the only seedling of our Cai family... "

How did the child who was found come back?

The child just cried, just flinched, and kept saying, "My surname is not Cai, my surname is Wang, and my family is in the village..."

At that time, everyone only thought that the newly found child was frightened, and they only dared to say what the nanny taught them when they were hiding. How could they have thought that it was a fake!

Yong Chen was silent, responding to the breeze on the river, and suddenly realized: There are many things in this world that cannot be distinguished from true to false, right from wrong.

For example, looking for the grandson of the Cai family, did the Sixteenth Prince Yong Yi really not know that the child was fake?Others have no way of judging, everything is only in Yongyi's own heart.But was he right or wrong in doing so?If it is wrong, but if there is no fake grandson found, Mr. Cai may not be able to support his only son under the stimulation of the early death, let alone bring up Cai Hui and Cai Zeyan.If it is true, but without Hecao's unexpected move, the real grandson of the Cai family would have been wandering and suffering outside, and even really died at the hands of the rebels and thieves.

From this, I thought of Liu Wuhua's matter again.The elder brother of the prince let Liu Wuhua get close, was it for calculation, to have a moral advantage over the fifth prince, or for the sake of affection, he didn't believe that Liu Wuhua would really assassinate him.Others have no way of judging, and everything is only in the heart of the prince's elder brother.

So many thoughts are but a moment.

Yong Chen came back to his senses, and saw the doctor running over with a bone-scraping knife, picked up the young man's brewed wine, sprayed it on the blade, and then burned it on the fire, and immediately went to the cabin with it .Cai Zeyan hurriedly followed, presumably the doctor's assistant.

Yong Chen knew that there must be carrion from the wound, and he needed to pick the meat and bandage it, so he couldn't bear to think about it, and asked Hecao, "You were kind enough to save the Cai family's child."

Hecao said leisurely: "No one can choose what identity you are born with. For example, you were born as a prince, and your brother was born as a prince—but I was born as the son of a traitor." He said, " When using the word "rebellion, thief", there was no resentment, but a faint, "in the previous dynasty, he was a prince, but now he is a rebel, thief. It's nothing. I, you know, never really wanted to rebel against the imperial court and restore power." The idea of ​​being the emperor, I am a person who knows the current affairs, and what I think is just to bring the people left by my father and the brothers who follow around me to eat a meal. Like the robbers on the mountain, the green gang on the river, With the reputation of being fierce, but rarely being fierce—it’s not easy for everyone, but it’s just for making a living.”

When he said this, he recalled: "You know me. If you don't understand my thoughts like this, no matter how daring you are, you would not dare to call me into the palace and lie to your imperial grandmother." His eyes dimmed. , sadly said: "You doubt why I want to save the child of the Cai family. At the beginning, your sixteenth brother led troops to suppress the bandits, and specifically picked and killed my child—about the same age as Cai Zeyan, but only four or five years old. Clever and clever."

With tears in Hecao's eyes, he said lightly, "In this peaceful and prosperous world, I originally wanted to be a good person."

"You are a good person." Yong Chen said.

Hecao laughed tremblingly, and the tears in his eyes burst out of laughter, "Zhang Jiulong is an idiot. He was my substitute, but he was greedy for profit. No matter what, being the overlord of the county is not enough. He has tasted the taste of power, and then I also want to be an emperor. He is stupid, and the people under him are even more stupid. It is not a pity for such a stupid person to die. It just hurts my child."

Yong Chen looked at him silently.

Crane Grass met his gaze and said sadly: "Promise me, when you become a great treasure in the future, the No. 1 person you will kill will be Yongyi." He took a step forward and said again: "If you care about yourself Leave the reputation of being an emperor to me - I will kill him secretly!"

The sixteenth prince, Yong Yi, is a prince who has become acquainted with the army. When he travels, the guards around him are full of battles, and the crane grass can't get close to him no matter what.

Yongchen stretched out his hand and high-fived Hecao as an oath.

Hecao breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the position of the cabin, and asked, "Since you've made up your mind, why do you keep the one inside?"

"Prince." Yong Chen looked gloomy and preoccupied, his lips moved slightly, and said indifferently, "Now he is a living target." Just as he finished speaking, he heard a strange sound coming from the cabin.

Yong Chen took one step with a blushing face, and walked towards the cabin, but after taking two steps, he felt inappropriate, and when he looked back, he saw Hecao standing in place and looking at him.

Seeing him turning back, Hecao smiled, the scar on his face was distorted, "Master Seventeen, Caomin really can't read your mind."

Yong Chen said: "Do you know what kind of lie is the most true?" He laughed at himself, "It's a lie that even the person who tells it will believe it." After finishing speaking, he turned around and strode towards the cabin, raised the straw curtain and went inside Looking around, he saw that the table next to the prince's elder brother had been knocked down - the dagger on his left arm had already been taken off, Cai Zeyan was bandaging him beside him, and the doctor was packing the medicine box.

Presumably when the knife was drawn, the pain was unbearable, but the prince's elder brother refused to groan, and overturned the case in patience.

Yongchen approached and saw the prince's elder brother looking up, but he was sweating profusely and unable to speak, so he said: "Brother, rest now." He wanted to go out with the doctor and Cai Zeyan, so he might as well turn around and go, but was stopped by the prince Yongzhan up.

"Wait a minute." Prince Yongzhan's voice was still hoarse after experiencing severe pain, his brown eyes stared at Yong Chen who turned his head down, his face was rarely serious, "You and that crane grass... ...what deal was made?"

For no reason, how could a genuine "rebel" take great risks and come to rescue two princes who were in trouble -- not to mention one of them was the heir apparent of the country.

Yongchen was silent, and the atmosphere became tense for a moment.