Jiaohua

Chapter 221

The evening wind was blowing quickly, and there was a strong smell of smoke in the air, coming from the south and blowing towards the vast capital.

The setting sun left an afterimage in the west, the clouds that seemed to be burning were gradually fading, and the sky was gradually being lost by the starry night.

The lanterns on the street were lit one by one, one by one, the candlelight was soft.Cars and horses passed by the entrance of Dongping Academy in a hurry. The shops selling the Four Treasures of the Study were closed early, and there were not many hotels and tea shops left.

Another sound of hoofbeats came quickly.

Zhang Meng rode back and was taken aback when he was approaching the door, looking at the crowd in front of the gate of Guo Mansion.

Three or four sedan chairs, two or three carriages, and some came alone, holding the ropes and looking towards the gate.

The butler was socializing at the door, accompanied by stones.

Zhang Meng jumped off the horse and led the horse over curiously: "Butler Wen, Shitou."

"I'm back." Stone said.

"En." Zhang Meng nodded.

The butler glanced at him, but didn't pay attention immediately, and continued to say to the middle-aged man in front of him: "...This is really inconvenient, our young master came all the way in a hurry, and got seriously ill on the way, it's not that we won't see you, but it's not good See, this illness is too late, and the people sent to tell my old man have only left for less than two days."

The middle-aged man smiled and said: "Look, Mr. Shen is not familiar with the place in the capital, and now he is sick, so it's only right for my master to come and visit."

"This disease is mainly contagious. Isn't it because you are afraid that others will suffer as well?" Will pay a visit."

Zhang Meng withdrew his gaze and looked at Shi Shi: "You are busy, I will go in first."

Shi Shi couldn't express his suffering, so he replied, "Okay."

He also wanted to go in, but there was no way, he had to bite the bullet and deal with these visitors here with the housekeeper.

Compared with the outside, the inside of the mansion was much quieter. Zhang Meng went all the way to Wendaoju, and could clearly hear the sound of swords and guns gesticulating in the distance.

Dai Yu held a big knife in his hand, and struggled to parry the spear in Shen Lie's hand.

Shen Lie's moves were merciless, the spear opened and closed in his hands, sweeping, stabbing, long chopping, slanting and side thrusting, every move flowed smoothly and was coherent to the extreme.

Dai Yu's hand holding the saber was shaken several times until it hurt, and the handle of the saber almost fell out. He was also trying to fight back, but the sword and the long spear were at a disadvantage in innate close combat, and suffered a lot, especially the opponent. He has mastered the spear so well that he can't get any benefits at all.

Feng Ze stood by the weapon rack and watched. Zhang Meng walked over and asked, "How long have you been fighting?"

"Twenty or so back and forth." Feng Ze replied, without leaving Shen Lie and Dai Yu.

The two said it was a competition, but in fact they fought fiercely. Shen Lie was pressing hard every step of the way, and Dai Yu didn't relax.

After dozens of strokes, the two finally stopped.

"I can't fight anymore, I can't fight anymore," Dai Yu said out of breath, retracting his broadsword, "Young master's sandbags are not in vain, and the foot is getting more and more stable. I can't keep up with the young master's pace."

Shen Lie's breathing didn't get any better, he grinned, raised his hand and put the spear on the weapon rack.

The servant on the side handed a towel, and Shen Lie took it to wipe his sweat, and looked at Zhang Meng: "Have you checked it out?"

"Well," Zhang Meng nodded, "it happened during the sacrifice to the sky. The emperor just came to pay his respects, and the accident happened before the incense sticks had time to go up."

Zhang Meng told Shen Lie about everything he knew.

Dai Yu and Feng Ze on the side both raised their eyebrows in surprise, surprised that there was such a thing.

Shen Lie was a little calm, sitting beside the stone table in the yard, carelessly wiping the sweat from his forehead, looking up at the night outside the yard, his dark and narrow eyes were thoughtful.

In the bleak autumn, lanterns hang high all the way outside the courtyard, and the moonlight also pokes its head out, with a round of white hanging on the branches.

"A lot of people died at the scene. The scene was chaotic and crowded. Once they fell down, they couldn't get up. They were trampled to death," Zhang Meng said.

"Those who don't know think this bird can eat people," Dai Yu said with a snort, "It's nothing to scare myself over there, and when there are more people, more people with bad brains will follow."

"Say a few words, this is not a trivial matter." Feng Ze said from the side.

"Cut." Dai Yu hummed in a low voice.

Zhang Meng looked at Shen Lie: "Master, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Shen Lie said lightly.

"By the way, there seem to be many people visiting outside, why is the young master missing?" Zhang Meng asked again.

Shen Lie smiled, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and said: "I was also curious before, why so many people came, now I understand."

"Is it related to the Chongtiantai matter?"

"Inevitably, it's really hard to be an official in the capital. In the next few days or even months, everyone in the entire capital will be in danger. They are looking for me at this time, but they want to find my grandfather." Shen Lie Said.

However, during the months mentioned in the words, Shen Lie himself felt that he was hanging, because he was not sure if he could last until then.

In Shen Yan's letter to him, the situation is very serious. Emperor Xuanyan has not many troops left, and the territory has been taken away piece by piece. This is a foreign invasion.

Internally, there are endless factions and factions. The court ministers and princes and nobles, as well as those who have no titles but are deeply rooted in various places, are fighting openly and secretly among the aristocratic families who have stood for hundreds of years.

Among them, there are quite a few ministers who are political enemies to each other, princes and nobles also have different opinions, and those aristocratic families may be the ones that Emperor Xuanyan needs to worry about most, because these aristocratic families are powerful and complex. , many court ministers came from these families, and at the same time, in order to strengthen the family, they also married those princes and grandchildren.

In addition to what Shen Yan said in the letter, Shen Lie also found another discovery, that is, on the way they came to the capital, they encountered too many scenes of scholars gathered together to satirize the government and criticize the government. Although the closer the city was to the capital, his voice became less and less, but Emperor Xuanyan's hands were only so long, he couldn't stop the mouth of the whole world.

When Zhang Meng heard Shen Lie say this, he nodded and said, "I understand, so the young master shut all these people out."

"I didn't like these social gatherings at all," Shen Lie said.

He stood up on the table, tall and tall, and when the evening wind blew, he was wearing a short jacket with a vigorous attitude, and said: "These blackbirds don't come here for no reason. I am the one behind the scenes. Think of someone."

"Who?" Dai Yu asked.

"We met in Peifeng before," Shen Lie smiled coldly, and said, "The person who wanted to make something happen to Zhao Yuan, almost made Peifeng fall, and ended up running away."

"Li Xiao?!"

"Well," Shen Lie replied, "It's just my guess, it may not be him, but he has the courage and determination to do so."

(End of this chapter)