Lanting prelude
Chapter 41
Chapter 41
East Palace, Study Room of Lizheng Hall.
Li Chengqian and Li Yuanchang sat silently, both of them had gloomy faces, and the atmosphere was extremely depressing.
A few days ago, the emperor suddenly announced the closing report of Li Feng's case to the government and the public, saying that Xuanjiawei finally found out that the mastermind of the case was Chen Shaojie, the son of Chen Xiong, the former governor of Yizhou, after a painstaking investigation.Later, the emperor decreed that this person and Li Feng be beheaded for public display, thus ending the case of framing the prince that shocked the government and the public.
Of course, in order to comfort the crown prince, the emperor specially ordered Zhao Dequan, the chief servant, to come to the East Palace to express his condolences, and rewarded him with a lot of gold and silk.Li Chengqian didn't dare to say anything on the surface, but he didn't buy the emperor's account at all in his heart.
Pulling Chen Shaojie to take the place of the dead ghost, maybe you can hide it from the world, but you can't hide it from Li Chengqian anyway.
However, even though he knew that his father was protecting Li Tai, Li Chengqian had no choice.Just now, he made a lot of complaints, and scolded his father by the way.Li Yuanchang didn't dare to add fuel to the fire, so he had to smooth things over and said a few words for the emperor.Li Chengqian then vented his anger on him, pointed at his nose and told him to get lost.So the scene froze like this, and the two of them sat and sulked.
After a long time, Li Yuanchang coughed and said: "Chengqian, although we are about the same age, in terms of seniority, I am your seventh uncle after all, so I have to say some things you don't like to hear. This time, brother Wei Wang concealed it, although he was partial, but you have to think about it from his standpoint. You and Wei Wang are the same mother and compatriots, and the palms and backs are all flesh. How can you let him have the heart to attack someone? If this happened You did it, I believe Brother Huang will cover it up for you, don’t you think so?”
Li Chengqian was silent for a moment, then sighed, and said, "I understand the truth, but I just can't swallow it."
"If you want me to say, don't just think about the bad side, you have to think about the good side!"
Li Chengqian snorted coldly: "I was almost played to death by Li Tai, what good side can I think of?"
"Of course there is! You have to look at it this way. Although the emperor didn't do anything to King Wei this time, but King Wei did such a despicable thing, do you think the emperor will be disappointed? Will he be completely disappointed in him? Isn't that true?" Is it the good side? Even if the emperor still had the intention of abolishing you and establishing the king of Wei in the past, but now that the king of Wei has done something like this, it hurts the heart of the emperor. You think the emperor will still establish him Prince? Absolutely impossible!"
When Li Chengqian heard it, he immediately felt that it made sense, and his face softened a little: "According to what you say, I will suffer from being dumb and do nothing?"
"That's not true. What I mean is that it's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge. When you come to the throne in the future, isn't it all up to you if you want to unload King Wei into eight yuan or 80 yuan?"
"Accession?" Li Chengqian sneered again, "Father is in good health, free from illness and disaster, how long do you think I will endure this? Is it 20 years or 30 years?"
When it came to such a sensitive topic, Li Yuanchang didn't dare to pick up on it anymore, scratched his head and said: "In short, you have to endure what you have to endure."
Li Chengqian stared at him, and suddenly raised his eyebrows: "Hey Uncle Qi, why do I feel that you have suddenly changed your sex? A while ago, Wei Zheng asked me to bear it, didn't you call him old and useless, and you also called me bloodless? Now you Instead, persuade me to endure it, I really doubt if you are the secret agent sent by King Wei!"
Li Yuanchang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Isn't this one moment and another moment? At that time, the emperor's brother was doting on King Wei, and that boy took over the throne so fiercely, of course we have to fight back. But now that King Wei has stumbled, the threat to you is much smaller. Can we fight him again? You can just treat him like a dead fish, and if you don’t care about it, it will rot on its own.”
"Forget it, King Wei is a dead fish, I can ignore him for the time being, but the problem is..." Li Chengqian's eyes flashed coldly, "Father now has a new favorite, and his threat is worse than that of King Wei. and."
"You mean... King Wu?"
"I mentioned it to you before. Look at him now, jumping around in front of his father all day long, and making meritorious deeds one after another. Now his father has handed over the power of guarding the palace and the capital to him. Tell me, this Is the boy a bigger threat than King Wei?"
"That's true." Li Yuanchang frowned slightly, "Recently King Wu has indeed jumped up a bit fast."
"I even suspect that it was no coincidence that King Wu appeared in the Anxiang Tower that day!"
Li Yuanchang was surprised: "No way? You think he colluded with King Wei in advance?"
"Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? As soon as Li Feng made a move in Anxianglou, he led people to patrol Chongrenfang?"
"If so, then you really have to guard against him."
"So, our current situation is that tigers are rejected at the front door and wolves are attacked at the back door. You still tell me to endure?!" Li Chengqian rolled his eyes at him, "If you continue to endure, you won't know how you will die."
"I tell you to bear it, which means don't pay attention to King Wei, and I don't mean that you don't have to fight with King Wu."
"Then tell me, how should I fight him?"
Li Yuanchang was stunned: "This... this requires careful planning."
"In my opinion, we can't make any plans with you." Li Chengqian drew his voice, "I still have to discuss this kind of matter with Hou Junji."
Li Yuanchang frowned: "I said Chengqian, now is not the time to meet Tuqiongdao, so don't be impulsive."
Li Chengqian sneered and remained silent.
At this moment, an eunuch came in to announce that Hou Junji was asking for an audience, and Li Chengqian smiled: "Haha, Cao Cao Cao Cao is coming, invite him in quickly."
After a while, Hou Junji walked in with a sad face, met Li absent-mindedly, and sighed as soon as he sat down.Li Chengqian and Li Yuanchang exchanged glances.Li Yuanchang hurriedly asked: "What's wrong with Hou Shangshu?"
"It's over, it's over..." Hou Junji murmured, "My old Hou's hard-earned family fortune is completely over this time!"
Li Chengqian looked at him and suddenly understood something: "Hou Shangshu, is there something wrong with the copper mine that you and Mr. Xie partnered with?"
Hou Junji nodded sadly.
Over the past ten years, Hou Junji and Xie Shaozong have jointly bought dozens of copper mines in Daozhou and counties across the country. Xie Shaozong is in charge of operating the front desk, and Hou Junji is responsible for dredging up the government at all levels behind the scenes. Both of them have made a lot of money. Unexpectedly, since the imperial court began to suppress the Jiangzuo gentry, all these copper mines registered under Xie Shaozong's name have been targeted.Under the order of Shang Shuxing, all these copper mines will be brought back to the government.Although Hou Junji got the news one step ahead and ran up and down immediately, none of the officials at all levels dared to help him. If Junji wanted to find him, he went directly to Changsun Wuji, and Hou Junji was completely dumbfounded.
"How serious is it?" Li Chengqian asked with concern.
Hou Junji smiled wryly: "There are a total of 27 copper mines, three of which were forcibly taken back by the imperial court on the grounds that they were suspected of occupying the altar of the suburban temple, without paying any money; The law only bought [-]% of the market price as a symbolic purchase; the remaining [-] buildings could not find any names, so they abruptly rated the rich ore as poor ore, and purchased it at only [-]% of the market price. Your Highness Tell me, isn't this a pretentious robbery?"
In the Tang Dynasty, the mining industry adopted a policy of both public and private operations. "In every state, there are copper and iron mines. Those who are not mined by officials will listen to the people's private mining." That is to say, private mining is allowed, but there are corresponding management measures for private mining. For example, it is stipulated that "all suburban shrines, altars, and famous mountains of the Five Sacred Mountains are prohibited from collecting firewood and grazing." In addition, generally rich ores with high reserves and good quality are monopolized by the government, and those that can be mined in private hands are mostly Is a sporadic ore ore.
However, the mines bought by Xie Shaozong and Hou Junji are another matter.As a senior official of the imperial court, Hou Junji's power will naturally come in handy.At that time, he managed all levels of government through his relationship, and assessed those rich ores as lean ores one by one, and then obtained the mining rights justifiably, and the cost he paid was naturally far lower than the market price.Over the years, Xie and Hou have made a fortune in this way.Today, Changsun Wuji just treats his own body in his own way, and still takes these copper mines back to the imperial court at the price of poor mines. For Xie and Hou, this is undoubtedly success or failure. Xiao He.
"Hou Shangshu, this is the end of the matter, you just want to open up a little bit, let it go." Li Yuanchang knew the tricks, so he smiled and said, "Anyway, you have made a lot of money over the years. Your purchase price is not much lower than your purchase price at that time, right?"
"Damn!" Hou Junji said angrily, "I bought these mines, how much money was spent on managing them, how many times I sold my old faces, and how many favors I owed. Don't you need to count all these?"
After being yelled at by him, Li Yuanchang also became angry: "If you are not reconciled, then go to the eldest grandson, and no one will stop you."
"You!" Hou Junji was furious, and he was about to lose his temper.
"Hou Shangshu, calm down, calm down." Li Chengqian quickly comforted him, and at the same time gave Li Yuanchang a white look, "Seventh Uncle, don't say a few sarcastic words. It's obvious now that the person who really wants to bloodlet the gentry is the emperor, you Even going to Changsun Wuji is useless."
"Your Highness, if it's just a problem with my private business, I wouldn't be so angry. The problem now is that I can't even keep my black hat!"
"What's going on?" Li Chengqian was very surprised.
"Isn't it because I gave someone away to you in the past two years and was exposed by that Li Feng? In addition, I have been involved in several incidents in the recent strict investigation of the entrustment of the children of the gentry, so the Holy Majesty distrusts me even more. Yes. In the past two days, he summoned the two servants of my ministry to the palace to talk several times, and it was obvious that he was dismissing me. From my point of view, he may remove me from my post at any time."
After Hou Junji finished speaking, he observed Li Chengqian's expression.
The main purpose of his visit today is not actually to complain, but to make the prince feel the crisis in front of him through complaining, so that he can make up his mind to take a crucial step.To be precise, it is a big step from the East Palace to the Taiji Palace, from the prince to the emperor!
Li Chengqian frowned and remained silent, obviously aware of the seriousness of the problem.
Hou Junji, as the founding father of the country and an important minister in the court, is very helpful to maintain his position as the crown prince. In the future, no matter whether he is the emperor by means of coercion or normal methods, Hou Junji can play the role of stabilizing the court and winning over ministers. If he fell now, he would undoubtedly lose one of the most important arms.
Seeing Li Chengqian's solemn expression, Hou Junji decided to continue to pressurize: "Your Highness, Li Feng's case was settled in that way. Everyone can see that the Holy Majesty is protecting King Wei. Are you able to swallow this?"
"Hou Shangshu, you don't have to worry about this matter." Li Yuanchang interjected, "Your Highness is like a mirror in his heart. King Wei is a dead fish now, so there is nothing to worry about!"
"Even so, what about King Wu?" Hou Junji sneered, "Now King Wu's limelight is no different than that of King Wei back then! Isn't the prince worried that he covets the East Palace?"
"King Wu is a concubine, what great things can he accomplish?"
"Bastard?" Hou Junji snorted again, "Since ancient times, there have been a lot of bastards who have become emperors! Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty Yu Wenyong, which one is not a bastard? Which emperor of these bastards came from? Weak again?"
Li Yuanchang was at a loss for words.
Li Chengqian smiled faintly: "Hou Shangshu, don't drag the topic away, in your opinion, how should we deal with King Wu?"
"Your Highness, if you want me to tell you, you don't have to bother to deal with the King of Wu anymore. When will it be the end if you deal with them one by one like this? What you have to consider now, I'm afraid it should be a solution once and for all."
Li Chengqian was shocked.
Of course he knew that Hou Junji's intention was to persuade him to attack the emperor directly.
Li Yuanchang was taken aback: "I said Hou Shangshu, the situation is not so bad, right? Although King Wu is favored now, Brother Huang has no intention of abolishing the establishment. Are you thinking of him by encouraging the prince so much? , or are you making your own calculations?"
This was quite straightforward, hardly saving any face for the other party, but when Hou Junji heard the words, instead of being angry, he laughed: "Your Highness, to put it bluntly, we are all in the same rope now." If the big thing comes to fruition, everyone will share the wealth with the prince, otherwise, no one will be able to reap the benefits in the end. Tell me, what small plans can I have for Hou Junji? Do you mean to say that? Divorce the relationship between the old man and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
Hou Junji's words implied a threat: Let's not talk about anything else, just the three of them sitting together to discuss this kind of topic are already suspected of treason, so at this time, whether it is Whether the crown prince is still the King of Han, it is impossible to separate his relationship with Hou Junji.To put it bluntly, he was warning Li Yuanchang - since everyone has been in this muddy water, no one should try to clean themselves.
Li Yuanchang couldn't stand this kind of threat, and was about to retort, but was stopped by Li Chengqian raising his hand.
"Hou Shangshu, this is a big matter, please allow me to think about it carefully."
"Of course. I'm just reminding you, Your Highness. It's up to you to decide how to make a decision."
Li Chengqian frowned and fell into deep thought.
When night fell, Xiao Junmo found a hidden cave on the top of the mountain, placed the unconscious Chu Lisang in the cave, and immediately went out to find herbs to stop the bleeding.The night was dark and the mountains were silent. Xiao Junmo lit a torch and walked in the mountain stream with one foot deep and one foot shallow, feeling as if he was the only one left in the world.
When he was working in Xuanjiawei, he had studied pharmacology, and Tianmu Mountain was rich in vegetation and a lot of vegetation, so it didn't take long for Xiao Junmo to gather a bunch of herbs such as Zizhucao, Eclipta, Xuejianshou.After returning to the cave, he put the herb in his mouth and chewed it up bit by bit, but when he was going to apply the medicine to Chu Lisang, he encountered a difficulty—to treat the wound and stop the bleeding, he had to tear off her clothes. Is good?
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Junmo bit the bullet and started.
Saving people is the most important thing, he can only tell himself not to think too much.
After applying the medicine to her and treating the wound on his body, Xiao Junmo finally felt tired and exhausted.He lay down on the spot, but couldn't sleep at all.
In just one day, only the two of them were left in a group of five.Thinking of the dead Mi Mancang and the missing Biancai and Hua Linger, intense sadness filled Xiao Junmo's chest, making him unable to sleep at all.
Xiao Junmo, who was extremely tired, fell asleep unknowingly until the faint dawn light appeared at the entrance of the cave...
When I opened my eyes again, the sky was already bright, and a beam of sunlight slanted in from the hole.Chu Lisang had already changed into clean clothes, and was sitting with his back facing him, combing her long hair gently with a wooden comb, the sunlight outlined her beautiful face lines, Xiao Junmo could see it for a moment shocked.
"Are you awake?" Chu Lisang noticed the movement, and suddenly turned his face.
Xiao Junmo came back to his senses and hesitated, feeling embarrassed because of his "peeping".
"Where are my father and the others?" Chu Lisang looked at him eagerly, not caring about his expression at all.
Xiao Junmo's expression darkened, and he told her the truth.Chu Lisang's eyes turned red immediately, and he quickly turned his face away.
"I'm going to find them now." Xiao Junmo stood up, "There is still Mi Mancang, let him... let him go to the ground for peace."
"I'll go too." Chu Lisang followed suit and stood up.
Xiao Junmo wanted to persuade her to stay in the cave to recuperate, but she swallowed the words, because there was an unquestionable firmness in her eyes.In the face of this look, any persuasion is feeble.
The two simply ate some dry food, then left the cave and followed their memory back to the Ten Mile Bamboo Sea.But seeing the tranquility in the depths of the bamboo forest, if it weren't for the corpses of dozens of men in black still lying on the ground, it would be hard to believe that there was a bloody fight here yesterday.Xiao Junmo didn't know if Wang Hongyi had left Tianmu Mountain, but Xiao Junmo despised him very much for letting his men's corpses die in the wilderness.
"These people worked their lives for Wang Hongyi, did they ever think that one day they would die without a place to bury them?" Xiao Junmo smiled wryly, "If the Heavenly Punishment League really falls into Wang Hongyi's hands, I don't know how many people will die."
When Chu Lisang heard this, his expression suddenly became complicated.
Xiao Junmo keenly captured her expression.He suddenly remembered that when he came from the cedar forest yesterday, Wang Hongyi and his men seemed to have "truce" with Chu Lisang.What happened?Why would someone as cruel as Wang Hongyi be soft on Biancai and Chu Lisang?Thinking of this, Xiao Junmo immediately recalled the scene at Gantang Station. At that time, the relationship between Wang Hongyi and Chu Yingniang seemed to be delicate, and Wang Hongyi voluntarily evacuated while he was still in the upper hand. All these made Xiao Junmo very confused.
"Li Sang, I want to ask you something, if it's inconvenient, you don't have to answer."
Chu Lisang seemed to have sensed his thoughts, and smiled unnaturally: "It's nothing inconvenient, just ask."
"This Wang Hongyi, does... have any special relationship with you and your mother?"
"It's not a special relationship. He, my mother, and my...my biological father can be regarded as old friends. We worked together in Jiangling at that time, that's all."
Xiao Junmo felt that she was not telling the truth, but he also knew that she must have something to hide, so he didn't ask again.
Afterwards, the two carried Mi Mancang's body to Zhiyong's tomb together, picked up some stones from a mountain stream not far away, and quickly built a grave on the body.The two mourned silently in front of the grave, looking sad.With tears in his eyes, Xiao Junmo suddenly smiled: "I still owe him twenty gold. When I come to the Nine Springs in the future, this guy will definitely let me pay back the principal with interest."
Chu Lisang looked at him: "Jun Mo, life and death are fateful, so don't be too sad."
"Let's go." Xiao Junmo forced a smile again, "It's time to find your father and Hua Ling'er."
On this day, from dawn to dusk, the two of them searched several nearby mountain peaks, but there was no trace of Biancai and Hua Linger.The weather in Tianmu Mountain changed a lot. It was still sunny in the morning, but it rained heavily in the afternoon. By the time the two dragged their tired bodies back to the cave, they were completely soaked from inside to outside.
Xiao Junmo lit a fire in the cave, and the two sat by the fire and roasted, both sad and dazed in their hearts.
"What shall we do next?" Chu Lisang asked.
"Look for another two days. If you really can't find it, then follow the original plan and go north to find Yuan Gongwang and Yu Shiqi."
"Aren't you still willing to be the leader?"
Xiao Junmo was startled: "Do you think I should be?"
"Should. In fact, I have always thought so, just like Hua Ling'er, but what she said is what I think in my heart." Chu Lisang now knows that she is a descendant of Wang Xizhi, so she secretly She felt that there was an extra responsibility on her shoulders, especially now that her adoptive father, Biancai, was missing and most of them were killed. She felt that she and Xiao Junmo had to shoulder the great banner of the Tianxing League and take over the mission of guarding the world at the same time.
"Thank you for trusting me so much, but I...can't trust myself." Xiao Junmo smiled wryly.
"why?"
"Because there are many things in this world that you can't do if you want to."
"Everything is human-made. If you don't do it, how do you know you can't do it?"
Xiao Junmo smiled wryly again, avoiding Chu Lisang's burning gaze, sighed, and said, "Let me tell you a story."
In an instant, his thoughts returned to the winter of the second year of Zhenguan, when the dripping water turned into ice.
Following Xiao Junmo's narration, Chu Lisang seemed to have walked into the snowy Bailuyuan.
She saw that the victims in ragged clothes were helping the old and the young, trudging on the vast snow field, and the Chang'an City standing in front of the road was so close and so far away from them.Countless people starved to death and froze to death on this road, turning into stiff corpses.Some people finally arrived, but they were greeted by closed city gates one after another.
She saw Xiao Junmo, who was a child, was kneeling on the snow, digging the snow with his little red hands, trying to bury those corpses, but after a while, the child was so tired that he was out of breath, and lay on his back on the snow .His pair of clear and flawless eyes stared straight at the leaden sky, with tears flickering faintly in his eyes...
"The world is not benevolent, and all things are treated as dogs." Xiao Junmo said slowly, "In the face of that disaster, whether it is my father, the court, or even the emperor, who would not want to extend a helping hand to those victims? Who would not want to save a few more people? But they just couldn't do it. Although from that day on, I made a vow in my heart that I would save many, many people when I grow up, but when I really grew up, especially when I entered the officialdom, I found that more people than Natural disasters are even more terrifying, but they are actually man-made disasters. Many high-ranking, powerful people, in order to satisfy their own greed, can treat human life like nothing. I once handled a case, a governor and several county magistrates under his command They teamed up to embezzle money from the imperial court to repair the embankment, and as a result, there was a flood that year, and the fertile fields and villages in more than a dozen counties became flooded overnight, and countless people were swallowed by the flood. So later, the more I watched The more people in the world are clean, the more I can't believe that I have the ability to save people..."
"Because so many people are still suffering in the world, you should stand up all the more."
"Can I change anything by standing up?" Xiao Junmo laughed at himself, "If nothing else, just talk about Mi Mancang, he gave his life to me, but I still failed to protect him, not only lost him The money, and lost his life. And your father and Miss Hua, their life and death are uncertain now..."
"Jun Mo, you can't blame yourself like that." Chu Lisang said anxiously, "If it wasn't for you, my father and I would have died a long time ago. You have tried your best to protect us, but life and death have their own destiny , how can you take all the responsibility on yourself?"
"No," Xiao Junmo shook his head, "I didn't try my best enough. I should have been more ruthless back then, and don't promise your father to come to Tianmu Mountain."
"But things have already happened, is it useful for you to blame yourself? If you feel sorry for Man Cang, my father and Miss Hua, you should stand up and save more people instead of complaining about yourself here." Chu Lisang looked directly at him, "Didn't you just say that if the Heavenly Punishment League falls into Mingzang's hands, how many people will die? Now only you can fight against Mingzang, and only you can protect the thousands of brothers in the Tianxingmeng! What's more, Ming Zang's ambition is not just to control the organization, he also wants to subvert the country and bring chaos to the world! Tell me, if you don't stand up to stop him, how many people will die once the world is in chaos?!"
Xiao Junmo was silent.
He knew that what Chu Lisang said was reasonable, but he knew better that once he took over the heavy burden of the Heavenly Punishment League, many people would hand over their wealth and lives to him, and he really had the ability to protect them ?Now the emperor and the court are bent on destroying the Tianxing League, and Mingzang and his followers are bent on controlling the Tianxing League. If he becomes the leader of the alliance, he will be caught in the pinch of the two superpowers, the court and the rivers and lakes. Survive the cracks and lead the organization to fight its way out?Today's Sky Punishment Alliance has already been torn apart, how easy is it to reunite it?In case of failure, his own life is of course not hesitating, but how many people will follow him to suffer the catastrophe?In such a complicated situation, can he really turn the tide and help the building to collapse?
For a moment, Xiao Junmo's heart fell into a painful struggle.
After a long time, he said softly: "These few days, let's recuperate first, and then go to your father and the others tomorrow, and we'll talk about this after the incident."
Seeing that he refused to agree, Chu Lisang felt helpless, and immediately thought of something: "By the way, I have always had a question in my mind. The Tianxing League has existed for hundreds of years, and there are so many sub-rules. Knowing how many generations have been passed down, where are the sub-rules now? Who are their helmsmen? No matter who becomes the leader, they must master these secrets, otherwise nothing can be discussed, but where are these secrets hidden?"
Xiao Junmo frowned slightly: "I think these secrets should be hidden in the "Lanting Preface"."
"But haven't we read the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion? Except for the twenty "Zhi" characters written in different ways, it's just a very ordinary copybook, and there's nothing there!"
Xiao Junmo thought for a while, took out the black sack from the baggage, and carefully took out the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" post, then slowly unfolded it, and looked at it carefully again.Chu Lisang also leaned over to him, and looked closely together.
There are 320 words and 28 lines in "Lanting Preface", which can be seen clearly in front of them.
However, after looking for a long time, I still found nothing.
Xiao Junmo subconsciously moved the copybook closer to the fire, Chu Lisang hurriedly said: "Don't get too close, be careful of burning."
Suddenly, Xiao Junmo remembered a detail of the day he took out "Lanting Preface".He remembered that as soon as Biancai took out the black paper bag from the copper letter, he asked everyone to put away the fire. At that time, Xiao Junmo didn't think much about it, thinking that he was afraid of burning the post, but now Xiao Junmo couldn't help doubting: Is Biancai right? Have other intentions?
In other words, could the last secret hidden in "Lanting Preface" be related to fire?
Thinking of this, Xiao Junmo deliberately approached the fire again. There was a wind blowing in the cave, and a tongue of fire jumped out, almost burning the silk at the bottom of the post.Chu Lisang screamed, and hurriedly pulled his hand back: "Are you crazy? Why are you so close?"
Xiao Junmo frowned and said nothing, took away some of the posts, and moved closer after a while.
"Hey, what are you up to?" Chu Lisang was puzzled.
Xiao Junmo turned a deaf ear to it, staring at the slightly yellowed cocoon paper in front of him.Suddenly, he laughed silently, because he found that between the lines of this scroll, there were some hair-thin brown lines looming—as long as the calligraphy was brought close to the fire, the lines became clear; Then it disappeared again.
To be precise, these lines are not meaningless things, but strokes, the strokes that make up each character!
"Have you ever heard of reading books?" Xiao Junmo looked at Chu Lisang with a smile.
Chu Lisang shook his head with a confused expression.
"It's an invisible character written in alum water. It's usually invisible, but it will appear when exposed to high temperature." Xiao Junmo said while bringing the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" scripture as close as possible to the fire.
After a while, Chu Lisang was surprised to find that in the blank space between the lines of this scroll, words written in petty lowercase letters slowly emerged.
So far, the ultimate secret hidden in the original "Lanting Preface" has finally been completely exposed in front of the two.
"These invisible characters written in alum water are the core secrets of "Lanting Preface"." Xiao Junmo said.
"What's written on it?" Chu Lisang narrowed his eyes.Those teeny lowercase letters are too small, and it is impossible to see what the characters are for a while.
"What else can it be? Naturally, it is the genealogy list of the Tianxing League."
"Pedigree table?"
"Yes, it is the inheritance of each sub-rudder you mentioned just now-which sub-rudder was passed on to whom at what time, and where it mainly operated in a certain era, which is clearly written. In other words, Tian Xing All the secrets of the Nineteen Helms of the League One League are correspondingly recorded next to the [-] characters of "Zhi" in the "Lanting Preface." Xiao Junmo said, pointing to a certain place in the post, "Look, this 'Late Spring Zhi' The 'zhi' of the first 'Zhi' is the first character 'Zhi', and next to it, the names of the previous alliance leaders are recorded, which are actually the names of Wang Xizhi and his descendants."
Chu Lisang took a closer look, and as expected, there were "Wang Xizhi", "Wang Huizhi", "Wang Zhenzhi", "Wang Yizhi", "Wang Faxing" and so on written on it, and the last name was "Wang Faji".
"Wang Faji is the layman's name of the leader of Zhiyong." Xiao Junmo explained, "Look again, next to the word "Lanting of Shanyin", there are successive rudder masters of Mingzang. It can be seen that they Some are the leader and some are not."
Chu Lisang saw that the first name on it was Wang Xizhi, and the last name was Wang Hongyi.
"There is also this place, the 'zhi' in 'although there is no silk and bamboo orchestra' is the third word 'zhi', and next to it is the name of Xitang Duo's previous helmsman." Xiao Junmo read the name directly, " Xie An, Xie Xuan, Xie Xuan, Xie Lingyun, Xie Feng, Xie Chaosun, Xie Suqing, Xie Shi, Xie Hua, Xie Shaozong. This Xie Shaozong is the ninth grandson of Xie An, and he should be the current Xitang helmsman."
"With this genealogy table, the structure, inheritance and core members of the entire Tianxing League are well known!" Chu Lisang couldn't help being a little excited.
"That's right, that's why the current emperor and Wang Hongyi are doing everything possible to get it." Xiao Junmo said, his eyes turned, and he saw that next to the word "Zhi" that "sentiments belong to you", there is an impressive record of the previous positions of the Linchuan sub-helm. The first name of the rudder owner is Wei Pang, and the last one is of course Wei Zheng.
Seeing this, two words suddenly flashed in Xiao Junmo's mind: Xuanquan.
Who is this person who has been lurking in the court for a long time and has not been exposed so far? The answer is in front of us.
Xiao Junmo couldn't wait to search for it, and soon saw the names of previous Xuanquan helmsmen next to the word "Zhi" in the last sentence at the end of "Lanting Preface", that is, "Houzhilanzhe".
He quickly found the last name, and when he saw it, his heart trembled.
How could it be him? !
But the words in black and white are right in front of your eyes, which is beyond doubt.
This person's high official position in the court completely exceeded Xiao Junmo's expectations.According to his previous understanding of the Tianxingmeng, Xuanquan's dark rudder was directly under the command of Mingzang's main rudder, that is to say, this high-ranking figure in the court was actually the secret work of Wang Hongyi who had been placed next to the emperor.From this point of view, the current emperor and the imperial court are obviously in great danger. Once Wang Hongyi decides to launch an attack, the emperor will be in danger of life, and the society will also be in danger of being overthrown!
So far, Xiao Junmo has more clearly felt Wang Hongyi's ambition and the terrible disaster he is about to bring to the Tang Dynasty and thousands of people - in the current situation where the battle for the throne is intensifying, if the emperor dies suddenly In addition, there will be a life-and-death struggle between the various princes and various factions of the court. Coupled with the powerful manipulation and fighting between the sub-helms of Mingzang and the Tianxing League, Chang'an will surely become a Shura field where demons dance wildly and swords run rampant. Then fell apart.At that time, the Tang Dynasty is very likely to repeat the tragedy of the death of the former Sui II, and the people who will pay the greatest price in this disaster will undoubtedly be tens of thousands of ordinary people!
In an instant, Xiao Junmo seemed to see the frozen corpses on the White Deer Plain again, as well as the endless fleeing crowd.If it is said that so many people will die in a snowstorm, how many people will die in a catastrophe of the destruction of the country, a great turmoil of a change of dynasty? !
If there had to be someone who stood up to stop all of this, who should he be?
At this moment, Xiao Junmo felt his heart beating vigorously against his chest, like a drum beating on the battlefield.At the same time, the blood around him seemed to boil in an instant, rushing violently in his body.
Even if there are a thousand reasons to escape, Xiao Junmo at this time has to admit that no one is more suitable than himself to stand up to stop Wang Hongyi, and no one is more responsible than himself to save this coming catastrophe...
"Li Sang, do you know how old I was when I started reading Buddhist scriptures?"
Xiao Junmo turned his head and looked at Chu Lisang with a smile on his face.
Of course Chu Lisang didn't know what was going on in his heart at this time, so he shook his head in surprise.
"Eight years old. At that time, I saw a sentence in the Buddhist scriptures that the Buddha said. That sentence deeply shocked me, and it still affects me to this day."
"What are you talking about?" Chu Lisang was very curious.
Xiao Junmo looked at her and smiled faintly:
"I don't go to hell, who goes to hell?"
Without too many words, Chu Lisang immediately understood what he meant.She knew that this brave man finally walked out of the freezing winter of the second year of Zhenguan, walked out of the snowy Bailuyuan, and took on his mission.
Junmo, I thank you on behalf of the people in the world.
Chu Lisang said in his heart.
In the following days, Xiao Junmo and Chu Lisang lived an isolated life in Tianmu Mountain like hermits.While recovering from their injuries, they went out every day to look for Biancai and Hua Linger.However, the two people who made them worry about it were like two grains of salt dropped into the water, and there was no trace of them.After searching for many days like this, Xiao Junmo had no choice but to comfort Chu Lisang, and at the same time comforted himself: Maybe they escaped, that's why we couldn't find them.
Chu Lisang smiled and said that I also believe that they must have escaped.
In fact, both of them knew in their hearts that such hope was extremely slim.
In these days of being together day and night without being disturbed by anyone, they were a little shy and unnatural at first when they were alone, but it didn't take long for the true emotions that had been hidden in each other's hearts to flow naturally. It made them feel that it is so natural for two people to stay together, as if the time before meeting was unreal, as if they had been together a long time ago.
After they gradually gave up looking for Biancai and Hua Linger, they had a lot of leisure time, so they hunted in the forest together, caught fish in the stream together, walked in the mountains together, wandered in the bamboo sea together, and practiced together under the rising sun. Wu, sitting on the edge of the cliff together watching the sunset in the sky...
Because he was unable to promise Chu Lisang a lifetime of happiness, Xiao Junmo especially cherished every inch of the moment.Ten days passed by in a flash, but Xiao Junmo felt that every moment in it had been deeply engraved in his heart and turned into eternity.Although he may not be able to accompany Chu Lisang to the old age in this life, he believes that as long as he cherishes these memories, he will meet her again one day in the next life.If there is such a day, he will definitely recognize this beautiful and chivalrous woman in the bustling crowd at a glance, and then tell her: I am the one who owed you in the previous life, let me pay it back in this life, okay? ?
These days, Chu Lisang thought of the first encounter with Xiao Junmo at the Yique Temple Fair more than once.At that time, she was attracted by a shadow puppet show. The woman in the play said to the scholar: "There are no hills in the mountains, the rivers are exhausted, the thunder is shaking in winter, the rain is snowing in summer, the heaven and the earth are united, so I dare to break with you!" Chu Lisang once imagined Saying this sentence to Xiao Junmo himself, I also imagined that Xiao Junmo would be close to her ear, whispering the old love words of "death and life are broad, talk to Zi Cheng, hold your hand, and grow old together with you", but now she has Knowing that the feelings between myself and Xiao Junmo no longer need to be expressed through any vows.Because when one person's heart can directly communicate with another person's heart, any language will be pale, even superfluous.Besides, this man has already carried too many things on his shoulders, and she will not be selfish enough to bind him with promises and oaths.
She believes that if two people's souls truly love each other, then no power in the world can separate them.
Life will end, and the body will also perish, but in the world of the soul, she and Xiao Junmo can never leave each other, life and death depend on each other.
From this life to the next life.
From now to forever.
(End of this chapter)
East Palace, Study Room of Lizheng Hall.
Li Chengqian and Li Yuanchang sat silently, both of them had gloomy faces, and the atmosphere was extremely depressing.
A few days ago, the emperor suddenly announced the closing report of Li Feng's case to the government and the public, saying that Xuanjiawei finally found out that the mastermind of the case was Chen Shaojie, the son of Chen Xiong, the former governor of Yizhou, after a painstaking investigation.Later, the emperor decreed that this person and Li Feng be beheaded for public display, thus ending the case of framing the prince that shocked the government and the public.
Of course, in order to comfort the crown prince, the emperor specially ordered Zhao Dequan, the chief servant, to come to the East Palace to express his condolences, and rewarded him with a lot of gold and silk.Li Chengqian didn't dare to say anything on the surface, but he didn't buy the emperor's account at all in his heart.
Pulling Chen Shaojie to take the place of the dead ghost, maybe you can hide it from the world, but you can't hide it from Li Chengqian anyway.
However, even though he knew that his father was protecting Li Tai, Li Chengqian had no choice.Just now, he made a lot of complaints, and scolded his father by the way.Li Yuanchang didn't dare to add fuel to the fire, so he had to smooth things over and said a few words for the emperor.Li Chengqian then vented his anger on him, pointed at his nose and told him to get lost.So the scene froze like this, and the two of them sat and sulked.
After a long time, Li Yuanchang coughed and said: "Chengqian, although we are about the same age, in terms of seniority, I am your seventh uncle after all, so I have to say some things you don't like to hear. This time, brother Wei Wang concealed it, although he was partial, but you have to think about it from his standpoint. You and Wei Wang are the same mother and compatriots, and the palms and backs are all flesh. How can you let him have the heart to attack someone? If this happened You did it, I believe Brother Huang will cover it up for you, don’t you think so?”
Li Chengqian was silent for a moment, then sighed, and said, "I understand the truth, but I just can't swallow it."
"If you want me to say, don't just think about the bad side, you have to think about the good side!"
Li Chengqian snorted coldly: "I was almost played to death by Li Tai, what good side can I think of?"
"Of course there is! You have to look at it this way. Although the emperor didn't do anything to King Wei this time, but King Wei did such a despicable thing, do you think the emperor will be disappointed? Will he be completely disappointed in him? Isn't that true?" Is it the good side? Even if the emperor still had the intention of abolishing you and establishing the king of Wei in the past, but now that the king of Wei has done something like this, it hurts the heart of the emperor. You think the emperor will still establish him Prince? Absolutely impossible!"
When Li Chengqian heard it, he immediately felt that it made sense, and his face softened a little: "According to what you say, I will suffer from being dumb and do nothing?"
"That's not true. What I mean is that it's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge. When you come to the throne in the future, isn't it all up to you if you want to unload King Wei into eight yuan or 80 yuan?"
"Accession?" Li Chengqian sneered again, "Father is in good health, free from illness and disaster, how long do you think I will endure this? Is it 20 years or 30 years?"
When it came to such a sensitive topic, Li Yuanchang didn't dare to pick up on it anymore, scratched his head and said: "In short, you have to endure what you have to endure."
Li Chengqian stared at him, and suddenly raised his eyebrows: "Hey Uncle Qi, why do I feel that you have suddenly changed your sex? A while ago, Wei Zheng asked me to bear it, didn't you call him old and useless, and you also called me bloodless? Now you Instead, persuade me to endure it, I really doubt if you are the secret agent sent by King Wei!"
Li Yuanchang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Isn't this one moment and another moment? At that time, the emperor's brother was doting on King Wei, and that boy took over the throne so fiercely, of course we have to fight back. But now that King Wei has stumbled, the threat to you is much smaller. Can we fight him again? You can just treat him like a dead fish, and if you don’t care about it, it will rot on its own.”
"Forget it, King Wei is a dead fish, I can ignore him for the time being, but the problem is..." Li Chengqian's eyes flashed coldly, "Father now has a new favorite, and his threat is worse than that of King Wei. and."
"You mean... King Wu?"
"I mentioned it to you before. Look at him now, jumping around in front of his father all day long, and making meritorious deeds one after another. Now his father has handed over the power of guarding the palace and the capital to him. Tell me, this Is the boy a bigger threat than King Wei?"
"That's true." Li Yuanchang frowned slightly, "Recently King Wu has indeed jumped up a bit fast."
"I even suspect that it was no coincidence that King Wu appeared in the Anxiang Tower that day!"
Li Yuanchang was surprised: "No way? You think he colluded with King Wei in advance?"
"Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? As soon as Li Feng made a move in Anxianglou, he led people to patrol Chongrenfang?"
"If so, then you really have to guard against him."
"So, our current situation is that tigers are rejected at the front door and wolves are attacked at the back door. You still tell me to endure?!" Li Chengqian rolled his eyes at him, "If you continue to endure, you won't know how you will die."
"I tell you to bear it, which means don't pay attention to King Wei, and I don't mean that you don't have to fight with King Wu."
"Then tell me, how should I fight him?"
Li Yuanchang was stunned: "This... this requires careful planning."
"In my opinion, we can't make any plans with you." Li Chengqian drew his voice, "I still have to discuss this kind of matter with Hou Junji."
Li Yuanchang frowned: "I said Chengqian, now is not the time to meet Tuqiongdao, so don't be impulsive."
Li Chengqian sneered and remained silent.
At this moment, an eunuch came in to announce that Hou Junji was asking for an audience, and Li Chengqian smiled: "Haha, Cao Cao Cao Cao is coming, invite him in quickly."
After a while, Hou Junji walked in with a sad face, met Li absent-mindedly, and sighed as soon as he sat down.Li Chengqian and Li Yuanchang exchanged glances.Li Yuanchang hurriedly asked: "What's wrong with Hou Shangshu?"
"It's over, it's over..." Hou Junji murmured, "My old Hou's hard-earned family fortune is completely over this time!"
Li Chengqian looked at him and suddenly understood something: "Hou Shangshu, is there something wrong with the copper mine that you and Mr. Xie partnered with?"
Hou Junji nodded sadly.
Over the past ten years, Hou Junji and Xie Shaozong have jointly bought dozens of copper mines in Daozhou and counties across the country. Xie Shaozong is in charge of operating the front desk, and Hou Junji is responsible for dredging up the government at all levels behind the scenes. Both of them have made a lot of money. Unexpectedly, since the imperial court began to suppress the Jiangzuo gentry, all these copper mines registered under Xie Shaozong's name have been targeted.Under the order of Shang Shuxing, all these copper mines will be brought back to the government.Although Hou Junji got the news one step ahead and ran up and down immediately, none of the officials at all levels dared to help him. If Junji wanted to find him, he went directly to Changsun Wuji, and Hou Junji was completely dumbfounded.
"How serious is it?" Li Chengqian asked with concern.
Hou Junji smiled wryly: "There are a total of 27 copper mines, three of which were forcibly taken back by the imperial court on the grounds that they were suspected of occupying the altar of the suburban temple, without paying any money; The law only bought [-]% of the market price as a symbolic purchase; the remaining [-] buildings could not find any names, so they abruptly rated the rich ore as poor ore, and purchased it at only [-]% of the market price. Your Highness Tell me, isn't this a pretentious robbery?"
In the Tang Dynasty, the mining industry adopted a policy of both public and private operations. "In every state, there are copper and iron mines. Those who are not mined by officials will listen to the people's private mining." That is to say, private mining is allowed, but there are corresponding management measures for private mining. For example, it is stipulated that "all suburban shrines, altars, and famous mountains of the Five Sacred Mountains are prohibited from collecting firewood and grazing." In addition, generally rich ores with high reserves and good quality are monopolized by the government, and those that can be mined in private hands are mostly Is a sporadic ore ore.
However, the mines bought by Xie Shaozong and Hou Junji are another matter.As a senior official of the imperial court, Hou Junji's power will naturally come in handy.At that time, he managed all levels of government through his relationship, and assessed those rich ores as lean ores one by one, and then obtained the mining rights justifiably, and the cost he paid was naturally far lower than the market price.Over the years, Xie and Hou have made a fortune in this way.Today, Changsun Wuji just treats his own body in his own way, and still takes these copper mines back to the imperial court at the price of poor mines. For Xie and Hou, this is undoubtedly success or failure. Xiao He.
"Hou Shangshu, this is the end of the matter, you just want to open up a little bit, let it go." Li Yuanchang knew the tricks, so he smiled and said, "Anyway, you have made a lot of money over the years. Your purchase price is not much lower than your purchase price at that time, right?"
"Damn!" Hou Junji said angrily, "I bought these mines, how much money was spent on managing them, how many times I sold my old faces, and how many favors I owed. Don't you need to count all these?"
After being yelled at by him, Li Yuanchang also became angry: "If you are not reconciled, then go to the eldest grandson, and no one will stop you."
"You!" Hou Junji was furious, and he was about to lose his temper.
"Hou Shangshu, calm down, calm down." Li Chengqian quickly comforted him, and at the same time gave Li Yuanchang a white look, "Seventh Uncle, don't say a few sarcastic words. It's obvious now that the person who really wants to bloodlet the gentry is the emperor, you Even going to Changsun Wuji is useless."
"Your Highness, if it's just a problem with my private business, I wouldn't be so angry. The problem now is that I can't even keep my black hat!"
"What's going on?" Li Chengqian was very surprised.
"Isn't it because I gave someone away to you in the past two years and was exposed by that Li Feng? In addition, I have been involved in several incidents in the recent strict investigation of the entrustment of the children of the gentry, so the Holy Majesty distrusts me even more. Yes. In the past two days, he summoned the two servants of my ministry to the palace to talk several times, and it was obvious that he was dismissing me. From my point of view, he may remove me from my post at any time."
After Hou Junji finished speaking, he observed Li Chengqian's expression.
The main purpose of his visit today is not actually to complain, but to make the prince feel the crisis in front of him through complaining, so that he can make up his mind to take a crucial step.To be precise, it is a big step from the East Palace to the Taiji Palace, from the prince to the emperor!
Li Chengqian frowned and remained silent, obviously aware of the seriousness of the problem.
Hou Junji, as the founding father of the country and an important minister in the court, is very helpful to maintain his position as the crown prince. In the future, no matter whether he is the emperor by means of coercion or normal methods, Hou Junji can play the role of stabilizing the court and winning over ministers. If he fell now, he would undoubtedly lose one of the most important arms.
Seeing Li Chengqian's solemn expression, Hou Junji decided to continue to pressurize: "Your Highness, Li Feng's case was settled in that way. Everyone can see that the Holy Majesty is protecting King Wei. Are you able to swallow this?"
"Hou Shangshu, you don't have to worry about this matter." Li Yuanchang interjected, "Your Highness is like a mirror in his heart. King Wei is a dead fish now, so there is nothing to worry about!"
"Even so, what about King Wu?" Hou Junji sneered, "Now King Wu's limelight is no different than that of King Wei back then! Isn't the prince worried that he covets the East Palace?"
"King Wu is a concubine, what great things can he accomplish?"
"Bastard?" Hou Junji snorted again, "Since ancient times, there have been a lot of bastards who have become emperors! Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty Yu Wenyong, which one is not a bastard? Which emperor of these bastards came from? Weak again?"
Li Yuanchang was at a loss for words.
Li Chengqian smiled faintly: "Hou Shangshu, don't drag the topic away, in your opinion, how should we deal with King Wu?"
"Your Highness, if you want me to tell you, you don't have to bother to deal with the King of Wu anymore. When will it be the end if you deal with them one by one like this? What you have to consider now, I'm afraid it should be a solution once and for all."
Li Chengqian was shocked.
Of course he knew that Hou Junji's intention was to persuade him to attack the emperor directly.
Li Yuanchang was taken aback: "I said Hou Shangshu, the situation is not so bad, right? Although King Wu is favored now, Brother Huang has no intention of abolishing the establishment. Are you thinking of him by encouraging the prince so much? , or are you making your own calculations?"
This was quite straightforward, hardly saving any face for the other party, but when Hou Junji heard the words, instead of being angry, he laughed: "Your Highness, to put it bluntly, we are all in the same rope now." If the big thing comes to fruition, everyone will share the wealth with the prince, otherwise, no one will be able to reap the benefits in the end. Tell me, what small plans can I have for Hou Junji? Do you mean to say that? Divorce the relationship between the old man and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
Hou Junji's words implied a threat: Let's not talk about anything else, just the three of them sitting together to discuss this kind of topic are already suspected of treason, so at this time, whether it is Whether the crown prince is still the King of Han, it is impossible to separate his relationship with Hou Junji.To put it bluntly, he was warning Li Yuanchang - since everyone has been in this muddy water, no one should try to clean themselves.
Li Yuanchang couldn't stand this kind of threat, and was about to retort, but was stopped by Li Chengqian raising his hand.
"Hou Shangshu, this is a big matter, please allow me to think about it carefully."
"Of course. I'm just reminding you, Your Highness. It's up to you to decide how to make a decision."
Li Chengqian frowned and fell into deep thought.
When night fell, Xiao Junmo found a hidden cave on the top of the mountain, placed the unconscious Chu Lisang in the cave, and immediately went out to find herbs to stop the bleeding.The night was dark and the mountains were silent. Xiao Junmo lit a torch and walked in the mountain stream with one foot deep and one foot shallow, feeling as if he was the only one left in the world.
When he was working in Xuanjiawei, he had studied pharmacology, and Tianmu Mountain was rich in vegetation and a lot of vegetation, so it didn't take long for Xiao Junmo to gather a bunch of herbs such as Zizhucao, Eclipta, Xuejianshou.After returning to the cave, he put the herb in his mouth and chewed it up bit by bit, but when he was going to apply the medicine to Chu Lisang, he encountered a difficulty—to treat the wound and stop the bleeding, he had to tear off her clothes. Is good?
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Junmo bit the bullet and started.
Saving people is the most important thing, he can only tell himself not to think too much.
After applying the medicine to her and treating the wound on his body, Xiao Junmo finally felt tired and exhausted.He lay down on the spot, but couldn't sleep at all.
In just one day, only the two of them were left in a group of five.Thinking of the dead Mi Mancang and the missing Biancai and Hua Linger, intense sadness filled Xiao Junmo's chest, making him unable to sleep at all.
Xiao Junmo, who was extremely tired, fell asleep unknowingly until the faint dawn light appeared at the entrance of the cave...
When I opened my eyes again, the sky was already bright, and a beam of sunlight slanted in from the hole.Chu Lisang had already changed into clean clothes, and was sitting with his back facing him, combing her long hair gently with a wooden comb, the sunlight outlined her beautiful face lines, Xiao Junmo could see it for a moment shocked.
"Are you awake?" Chu Lisang noticed the movement, and suddenly turned his face.
Xiao Junmo came back to his senses and hesitated, feeling embarrassed because of his "peeping".
"Where are my father and the others?" Chu Lisang looked at him eagerly, not caring about his expression at all.
Xiao Junmo's expression darkened, and he told her the truth.Chu Lisang's eyes turned red immediately, and he quickly turned his face away.
"I'm going to find them now." Xiao Junmo stood up, "There is still Mi Mancang, let him... let him go to the ground for peace."
"I'll go too." Chu Lisang followed suit and stood up.
Xiao Junmo wanted to persuade her to stay in the cave to recuperate, but she swallowed the words, because there was an unquestionable firmness in her eyes.In the face of this look, any persuasion is feeble.
The two simply ate some dry food, then left the cave and followed their memory back to the Ten Mile Bamboo Sea.But seeing the tranquility in the depths of the bamboo forest, if it weren't for the corpses of dozens of men in black still lying on the ground, it would be hard to believe that there was a bloody fight here yesterday.Xiao Junmo didn't know if Wang Hongyi had left Tianmu Mountain, but Xiao Junmo despised him very much for letting his men's corpses die in the wilderness.
"These people worked their lives for Wang Hongyi, did they ever think that one day they would die without a place to bury them?" Xiao Junmo smiled wryly, "If the Heavenly Punishment League really falls into Wang Hongyi's hands, I don't know how many people will die."
When Chu Lisang heard this, his expression suddenly became complicated.
Xiao Junmo keenly captured her expression.He suddenly remembered that when he came from the cedar forest yesterday, Wang Hongyi and his men seemed to have "truce" with Chu Lisang.What happened?Why would someone as cruel as Wang Hongyi be soft on Biancai and Chu Lisang?Thinking of this, Xiao Junmo immediately recalled the scene at Gantang Station. At that time, the relationship between Wang Hongyi and Chu Yingniang seemed to be delicate, and Wang Hongyi voluntarily evacuated while he was still in the upper hand. All these made Xiao Junmo very confused.
"Li Sang, I want to ask you something, if it's inconvenient, you don't have to answer."
Chu Lisang seemed to have sensed his thoughts, and smiled unnaturally: "It's nothing inconvenient, just ask."
"This Wang Hongyi, does... have any special relationship with you and your mother?"
"It's not a special relationship. He, my mother, and my...my biological father can be regarded as old friends. We worked together in Jiangling at that time, that's all."
Xiao Junmo felt that she was not telling the truth, but he also knew that she must have something to hide, so he didn't ask again.
Afterwards, the two carried Mi Mancang's body to Zhiyong's tomb together, picked up some stones from a mountain stream not far away, and quickly built a grave on the body.The two mourned silently in front of the grave, looking sad.With tears in his eyes, Xiao Junmo suddenly smiled: "I still owe him twenty gold. When I come to the Nine Springs in the future, this guy will definitely let me pay back the principal with interest."
Chu Lisang looked at him: "Jun Mo, life and death are fateful, so don't be too sad."
"Let's go." Xiao Junmo forced a smile again, "It's time to find your father and Hua Ling'er."
On this day, from dawn to dusk, the two of them searched several nearby mountain peaks, but there was no trace of Biancai and Hua Linger.The weather in Tianmu Mountain changed a lot. It was still sunny in the morning, but it rained heavily in the afternoon. By the time the two dragged their tired bodies back to the cave, they were completely soaked from inside to outside.
Xiao Junmo lit a fire in the cave, and the two sat by the fire and roasted, both sad and dazed in their hearts.
"What shall we do next?" Chu Lisang asked.
"Look for another two days. If you really can't find it, then follow the original plan and go north to find Yuan Gongwang and Yu Shiqi."
"Aren't you still willing to be the leader?"
Xiao Junmo was startled: "Do you think I should be?"
"Should. In fact, I have always thought so, just like Hua Ling'er, but what she said is what I think in my heart." Chu Lisang now knows that she is a descendant of Wang Xizhi, so she secretly She felt that there was an extra responsibility on her shoulders, especially now that her adoptive father, Biancai, was missing and most of them were killed. She felt that she and Xiao Junmo had to shoulder the great banner of the Tianxing League and take over the mission of guarding the world at the same time.
"Thank you for trusting me so much, but I...can't trust myself." Xiao Junmo smiled wryly.
"why?"
"Because there are many things in this world that you can't do if you want to."
"Everything is human-made. If you don't do it, how do you know you can't do it?"
Xiao Junmo smiled wryly again, avoiding Chu Lisang's burning gaze, sighed, and said, "Let me tell you a story."
In an instant, his thoughts returned to the winter of the second year of Zhenguan, when the dripping water turned into ice.
Following Xiao Junmo's narration, Chu Lisang seemed to have walked into the snowy Bailuyuan.
She saw that the victims in ragged clothes were helping the old and the young, trudging on the vast snow field, and the Chang'an City standing in front of the road was so close and so far away from them.Countless people starved to death and froze to death on this road, turning into stiff corpses.Some people finally arrived, but they were greeted by closed city gates one after another.
She saw Xiao Junmo, who was a child, was kneeling on the snow, digging the snow with his little red hands, trying to bury those corpses, but after a while, the child was so tired that he was out of breath, and lay on his back on the snow .His pair of clear and flawless eyes stared straight at the leaden sky, with tears flickering faintly in his eyes...
"The world is not benevolent, and all things are treated as dogs." Xiao Junmo said slowly, "In the face of that disaster, whether it is my father, the court, or even the emperor, who would not want to extend a helping hand to those victims? Who would not want to save a few more people? But they just couldn't do it. Although from that day on, I made a vow in my heart that I would save many, many people when I grow up, but when I really grew up, especially when I entered the officialdom, I found that more people than Natural disasters are even more terrifying, but they are actually man-made disasters. Many high-ranking, powerful people, in order to satisfy their own greed, can treat human life like nothing. I once handled a case, a governor and several county magistrates under his command They teamed up to embezzle money from the imperial court to repair the embankment, and as a result, there was a flood that year, and the fertile fields and villages in more than a dozen counties became flooded overnight, and countless people were swallowed by the flood. So later, the more I watched The more people in the world are clean, the more I can't believe that I have the ability to save people..."
"Because so many people are still suffering in the world, you should stand up all the more."
"Can I change anything by standing up?" Xiao Junmo laughed at himself, "If nothing else, just talk about Mi Mancang, he gave his life to me, but I still failed to protect him, not only lost him The money, and lost his life. And your father and Miss Hua, their life and death are uncertain now..."
"Jun Mo, you can't blame yourself like that." Chu Lisang said anxiously, "If it wasn't for you, my father and I would have died a long time ago. You have tried your best to protect us, but life and death have their own destiny , how can you take all the responsibility on yourself?"
"No," Xiao Junmo shook his head, "I didn't try my best enough. I should have been more ruthless back then, and don't promise your father to come to Tianmu Mountain."
"But things have already happened, is it useful for you to blame yourself? If you feel sorry for Man Cang, my father and Miss Hua, you should stand up and save more people instead of complaining about yourself here." Chu Lisang looked directly at him, "Didn't you just say that if the Heavenly Punishment League falls into Mingzang's hands, how many people will die? Now only you can fight against Mingzang, and only you can protect the thousands of brothers in the Tianxingmeng! What's more, Ming Zang's ambition is not just to control the organization, he also wants to subvert the country and bring chaos to the world! Tell me, if you don't stand up to stop him, how many people will die once the world is in chaos?!"
Xiao Junmo was silent.
He knew that what Chu Lisang said was reasonable, but he knew better that once he took over the heavy burden of the Heavenly Punishment League, many people would hand over their wealth and lives to him, and he really had the ability to protect them ?Now the emperor and the court are bent on destroying the Tianxing League, and Mingzang and his followers are bent on controlling the Tianxing League. If he becomes the leader of the alliance, he will be caught in the pinch of the two superpowers, the court and the rivers and lakes. Survive the cracks and lead the organization to fight its way out?Today's Sky Punishment Alliance has already been torn apart, how easy is it to reunite it?In case of failure, his own life is of course not hesitating, but how many people will follow him to suffer the catastrophe?In such a complicated situation, can he really turn the tide and help the building to collapse?
For a moment, Xiao Junmo's heart fell into a painful struggle.
After a long time, he said softly: "These few days, let's recuperate first, and then go to your father and the others tomorrow, and we'll talk about this after the incident."
Seeing that he refused to agree, Chu Lisang felt helpless, and immediately thought of something: "By the way, I have always had a question in my mind. The Tianxing League has existed for hundreds of years, and there are so many sub-rules. Knowing how many generations have been passed down, where are the sub-rules now? Who are their helmsmen? No matter who becomes the leader, they must master these secrets, otherwise nothing can be discussed, but where are these secrets hidden?"
Xiao Junmo frowned slightly: "I think these secrets should be hidden in the "Lanting Preface"."
"But haven't we read the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion? Except for the twenty "Zhi" characters written in different ways, it's just a very ordinary copybook, and there's nothing there!"
Xiao Junmo thought for a while, took out the black sack from the baggage, and carefully took out the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" post, then slowly unfolded it, and looked at it carefully again.Chu Lisang also leaned over to him, and looked closely together.
There are 320 words and 28 lines in "Lanting Preface", which can be seen clearly in front of them.
However, after looking for a long time, I still found nothing.
Xiao Junmo subconsciously moved the copybook closer to the fire, Chu Lisang hurriedly said: "Don't get too close, be careful of burning."
Suddenly, Xiao Junmo remembered a detail of the day he took out "Lanting Preface".He remembered that as soon as Biancai took out the black paper bag from the copper letter, he asked everyone to put away the fire. At that time, Xiao Junmo didn't think much about it, thinking that he was afraid of burning the post, but now Xiao Junmo couldn't help doubting: Is Biancai right? Have other intentions?
In other words, could the last secret hidden in "Lanting Preface" be related to fire?
Thinking of this, Xiao Junmo deliberately approached the fire again. There was a wind blowing in the cave, and a tongue of fire jumped out, almost burning the silk at the bottom of the post.Chu Lisang screamed, and hurriedly pulled his hand back: "Are you crazy? Why are you so close?"
Xiao Junmo frowned and said nothing, took away some of the posts, and moved closer after a while.
"Hey, what are you up to?" Chu Lisang was puzzled.
Xiao Junmo turned a deaf ear to it, staring at the slightly yellowed cocoon paper in front of him.Suddenly, he laughed silently, because he found that between the lines of this scroll, there were some hair-thin brown lines looming—as long as the calligraphy was brought close to the fire, the lines became clear; Then it disappeared again.
To be precise, these lines are not meaningless things, but strokes, the strokes that make up each character!
"Have you ever heard of reading books?" Xiao Junmo looked at Chu Lisang with a smile.
Chu Lisang shook his head with a confused expression.
"It's an invisible character written in alum water. It's usually invisible, but it will appear when exposed to high temperature." Xiao Junmo said while bringing the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" scripture as close as possible to the fire.
After a while, Chu Lisang was surprised to find that in the blank space between the lines of this scroll, words written in petty lowercase letters slowly emerged.
So far, the ultimate secret hidden in the original "Lanting Preface" has finally been completely exposed in front of the two.
"These invisible characters written in alum water are the core secrets of "Lanting Preface"." Xiao Junmo said.
"What's written on it?" Chu Lisang narrowed his eyes.Those teeny lowercase letters are too small, and it is impossible to see what the characters are for a while.
"What else can it be? Naturally, it is the genealogy list of the Tianxing League."
"Pedigree table?"
"Yes, it is the inheritance of each sub-rudder you mentioned just now-which sub-rudder was passed on to whom at what time, and where it mainly operated in a certain era, which is clearly written. In other words, Tian Xing All the secrets of the Nineteen Helms of the League One League are correspondingly recorded next to the [-] characters of "Zhi" in the "Lanting Preface." Xiao Junmo said, pointing to a certain place in the post, "Look, this 'Late Spring Zhi' The 'zhi' of the first 'Zhi' is the first character 'Zhi', and next to it, the names of the previous alliance leaders are recorded, which are actually the names of Wang Xizhi and his descendants."
Chu Lisang took a closer look, and as expected, there were "Wang Xizhi", "Wang Huizhi", "Wang Zhenzhi", "Wang Yizhi", "Wang Faxing" and so on written on it, and the last name was "Wang Faji".
"Wang Faji is the layman's name of the leader of Zhiyong." Xiao Junmo explained, "Look again, next to the word "Lanting of Shanyin", there are successive rudder masters of Mingzang. It can be seen that they Some are the leader and some are not."
Chu Lisang saw that the first name on it was Wang Xizhi, and the last name was Wang Hongyi.
"There is also this place, the 'zhi' in 'although there is no silk and bamboo orchestra' is the third word 'zhi', and next to it is the name of Xitang Duo's previous helmsman." Xiao Junmo read the name directly, " Xie An, Xie Xuan, Xie Xuan, Xie Lingyun, Xie Feng, Xie Chaosun, Xie Suqing, Xie Shi, Xie Hua, Xie Shaozong. This Xie Shaozong is the ninth grandson of Xie An, and he should be the current Xitang helmsman."
"With this genealogy table, the structure, inheritance and core members of the entire Tianxing League are well known!" Chu Lisang couldn't help being a little excited.
"That's right, that's why the current emperor and Wang Hongyi are doing everything possible to get it." Xiao Junmo said, his eyes turned, and he saw that next to the word "Zhi" that "sentiments belong to you", there is an impressive record of the previous positions of the Linchuan sub-helm. The first name of the rudder owner is Wei Pang, and the last one is of course Wei Zheng.
Seeing this, two words suddenly flashed in Xiao Junmo's mind: Xuanquan.
Who is this person who has been lurking in the court for a long time and has not been exposed so far? The answer is in front of us.
Xiao Junmo couldn't wait to search for it, and soon saw the names of previous Xuanquan helmsmen next to the word "Zhi" in the last sentence at the end of "Lanting Preface", that is, "Houzhilanzhe".
He quickly found the last name, and when he saw it, his heart trembled.
How could it be him? !
But the words in black and white are right in front of your eyes, which is beyond doubt.
This person's high official position in the court completely exceeded Xiao Junmo's expectations.According to his previous understanding of the Tianxingmeng, Xuanquan's dark rudder was directly under the command of Mingzang's main rudder, that is to say, this high-ranking figure in the court was actually the secret work of Wang Hongyi who had been placed next to the emperor.From this point of view, the current emperor and the imperial court are obviously in great danger. Once Wang Hongyi decides to launch an attack, the emperor will be in danger of life, and the society will also be in danger of being overthrown!
So far, Xiao Junmo has more clearly felt Wang Hongyi's ambition and the terrible disaster he is about to bring to the Tang Dynasty and thousands of people - in the current situation where the battle for the throne is intensifying, if the emperor dies suddenly In addition, there will be a life-and-death struggle between the various princes and various factions of the court. Coupled with the powerful manipulation and fighting between the sub-helms of Mingzang and the Tianxing League, Chang'an will surely become a Shura field where demons dance wildly and swords run rampant. Then fell apart.At that time, the Tang Dynasty is very likely to repeat the tragedy of the death of the former Sui II, and the people who will pay the greatest price in this disaster will undoubtedly be tens of thousands of ordinary people!
In an instant, Xiao Junmo seemed to see the frozen corpses on the White Deer Plain again, as well as the endless fleeing crowd.If it is said that so many people will die in a snowstorm, how many people will die in a catastrophe of the destruction of the country, a great turmoil of a change of dynasty? !
If there had to be someone who stood up to stop all of this, who should he be?
At this moment, Xiao Junmo felt his heart beating vigorously against his chest, like a drum beating on the battlefield.At the same time, the blood around him seemed to boil in an instant, rushing violently in his body.
Even if there are a thousand reasons to escape, Xiao Junmo at this time has to admit that no one is more suitable than himself to stand up to stop Wang Hongyi, and no one is more responsible than himself to save this coming catastrophe...
"Li Sang, do you know how old I was when I started reading Buddhist scriptures?"
Xiao Junmo turned his head and looked at Chu Lisang with a smile on his face.
Of course Chu Lisang didn't know what was going on in his heart at this time, so he shook his head in surprise.
"Eight years old. At that time, I saw a sentence in the Buddhist scriptures that the Buddha said. That sentence deeply shocked me, and it still affects me to this day."
"What are you talking about?" Chu Lisang was very curious.
Xiao Junmo looked at her and smiled faintly:
"I don't go to hell, who goes to hell?"
Without too many words, Chu Lisang immediately understood what he meant.She knew that this brave man finally walked out of the freezing winter of the second year of Zhenguan, walked out of the snowy Bailuyuan, and took on his mission.
Junmo, I thank you on behalf of the people in the world.
Chu Lisang said in his heart.
In the following days, Xiao Junmo and Chu Lisang lived an isolated life in Tianmu Mountain like hermits.While recovering from their injuries, they went out every day to look for Biancai and Hua Linger.However, the two people who made them worry about it were like two grains of salt dropped into the water, and there was no trace of them.After searching for many days like this, Xiao Junmo had no choice but to comfort Chu Lisang, and at the same time comforted himself: Maybe they escaped, that's why we couldn't find them.
Chu Lisang smiled and said that I also believe that they must have escaped.
In fact, both of them knew in their hearts that such hope was extremely slim.
In these days of being together day and night without being disturbed by anyone, they were a little shy and unnatural at first when they were alone, but it didn't take long for the true emotions that had been hidden in each other's hearts to flow naturally. It made them feel that it is so natural for two people to stay together, as if the time before meeting was unreal, as if they had been together a long time ago.
After they gradually gave up looking for Biancai and Hua Linger, they had a lot of leisure time, so they hunted in the forest together, caught fish in the stream together, walked in the mountains together, wandered in the bamboo sea together, and practiced together under the rising sun. Wu, sitting on the edge of the cliff together watching the sunset in the sky...
Because he was unable to promise Chu Lisang a lifetime of happiness, Xiao Junmo especially cherished every inch of the moment.Ten days passed by in a flash, but Xiao Junmo felt that every moment in it had been deeply engraved in his heart and turned into eternity.Although he may not be able to accompany Chu Lisang to the old age in this life, he believes that as long as he cherishes these memories, he will meet her again one day in the next life.If there is such a day, he will definitely recognize this beautiful and chivalrous woman in the bustling crowd at a glance, and then tell her: I am the one who owed you in the previous life, let me pay it back in this life, okay? ?
These days, Chu Lisang thought of the first encounter with Xiao Junmo at the Yique Temple Fair more than once.At that time, she was attracted by a shadow puppet show. The woman in the play said to the scholar: "There are no hills in the mountains, the rivers are exhausted, the thunder is shaking in winter, the rain is snowing in summer, the heaven and the earth are united, so I dare to break with you!" Chu Lisang once imagined Saying this sentence to Xiao Junmo himself, I also imagined that Xiao Junmo would be close to her ear, whispering the old love words of "death and life are broad, talk to Zi Cheng, hold your hand, and grow old together with you", but now she has Knowing that the feelings between myself and Xiao Junmo no longer need to be expressed through any vows.Because when one person's heart can directly communicate with another person's heart, any language will be pale, even superfluous.Besides, this man has already carried too many things on his shoulders, and she will not be selfish enough to bind him with promises and oaths.
She believes that if two people's souls truly love each other, then no power in the world can separate them.
Life will end, and the body will also perish, but in the world of the soul, she and Xiao Junmo can never leave each other, life and death depend on each other.
From this life to the next life.
From now to forever.
(End of this chapter)
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