Tang riddles

The white silk is plain and filial, and the tall lintels of the Qinghe Cui family are hung all over.In the scorching summer, it is like being in a field of frost and snow, and the eyes are desolate and cold.The smiles on people's faces disappeared, and the people lowered their heads and lowered their eyebrows, walking slowly in the mansion, preparing for the funeral.The hosts either wore plain clothes or filial linen, and gathered solemnly and sadly in the place where the mourning was stopped in the main hall.Only Cui Zhen's wife and concubine and three children under ten years old are left in the long room. The owners of the second room are all in Luoyang, and if they can't come back for a while, the owner of the third room, Cui Lu, will be the head of the family and take charge of the mansion. everything.

After the first seven days, on June [-]th, mourning will be held.The long funeral procession passed through Qinghe County, bypassed Cui's mansion, and headed for Cui's ancestral cemetery outside the city.Shen Sui was dressed in plain clothes and stood at the end of the funeral procession, she did not follow the procession, she was an outsider, and she was not allowed to enter or leave Cui's cemetery at will.But today, she still has more important things to do.

Today is also the first seven days for Yi and Hong. The monks emphasize cremation.She entrusted the local temple in Qinghe County to perform the ritual ceremony for the two masters. After the cremation, one master got three relics, and Liao Hong did not get the relics.These relics and ashes were carefully collected by Zhang Ruohan herself. She said that she wanted to go to Suiye City, Master's hometown, where she would open a temple for Master and sister, and build a pagoda to house the bones.Shen Sui nodded in agreement, and when the matter was settled, she planned to take Zhang Ruohan to the Western Regions.

For seven days, Zhang Ruohan didn't shed a single tear. She just got up, washed, ate, read, and fell asleep every day as usual. Except for insomnia every night, there seemed to be no abnormality.

Shen Sui was very worried.

Anna Yi escaped, Cui Zhen was stabbed to death, Shen Sui and others had no reason to stay here any longer.The members of Qianyumen merged with Li Jinyue's Gongyue Army, and they were about to set off for Youzhou together.In any case, Li Jinyue had to go to Youzhou to take up her post. She shouldered the imperial order and couldn't help herself.As for Shen Sui, he still decided to go to Youzhou to continue the investigation.Although Anayi completed the revenge against the noble families in Hebei Province, according to the information collected by Qianyumen in the Heshuo area recently, the activities of the Goguryeo remnant party are still going on. Shen Sui does not think that Annayi and others will withdraw from Hebei in a short time Shuo, they should still have something to do.And this matter may have a lot to do with Qianhe.And the Hebei Daoist families who surrounded and suppressed these cultists back then were not limited to the Fanyang Li family and the Qinghe Cui family. For the rest of the big families, Shen Sui had already entrusted Li Jinyue to issue a warning to the local governments to strengthen their defenses and to prevent the tragedy from happening again. .

However, whether it can be completely avoided or not, no one knows. They have personally experienced the methods of these cultists many times. This level of assassination cannot be stopped even if they want to. Shen Sui can only do his best to obey the destiny. Defense is just a passive and helpless choice. If you really want to completely put an end to this terrible assassination, you must eradicate the cult from the root.

It's just that the team got off to a bad start. In recent days, the members of the team have been very depressed.In fact, the dead were more than one teacher and apprentice and Cui Zhen. Many people were injured or even killed because of the explosives dropped by those "flying men" that night.Among them, Qianyumen injured three brothers and killed one.There were more Gongyue troops, with a total of 11 casualties.

The dead brothers and sisters had no way to take them back to their hometown for burial, so they had to set up graves on the spot. Their belongings were properly kept, and they would be given to their families when they returned.

There was no point in hiding his whereabouts, so Shen Sui simply went to Youzhou with Li Jinyue in a high-profile way again as the director of Dali Temple and the imperial envoy for investigation.Since using movement to restrain static is ineffective, Shen Sui can only return to the policy of using static to restrain, so as to respond to all changes with the same.It has to be said that Annayi is very clever in terms of strategy, and her information always seems to be one step ahead of Shen Sui, which made Shen Sui suspicious. It stands to reason that the information transmission of Qianyumen should be very reliable, why is there such a situation? ?How did this cult organization pass the news? It seems that no intelligence organization with the same scale as Qianyumen has appeared.

Shen Sui, Shen Jin and Li Jinyue, as well as Huyan Zhuoma, Xuan Weizi, Cheng Yi and others who are familiar with intelligence affairs, discussed this issue for nearly an hour, and finally came to a reasonable guess: If there is no such thing among the people If such an organized and regulated large-scale intelligence organization appears, then the other party is likely to be a borrowed third-party intelligence network.This third party includes a variety of different organizations from all over the world.First of all, the other party may have infiltrated the official intelligence network; secondly, among the Jianghu sects, the Tang Sect and some Jianghu sects, caravans, bodyguards, dock coolies, etc. attached to the Tang Sect, may consciously or unconsciously serve the party. Thirdly, the organization may also purchase information from other intelligence agencies besides Qianyumen.Although Qianyumen is known as the world's number one intelligence network, it is not without competitors. The current biggest competitor of Qianyumen is the Beggar Gang, and the Beggar Gang's intelligence network must not be underestimated.As for the loose and huge organization of the Beggars' Gang, among them are the type of people who are most likely to be infiltrated by this cult organization.Shen Sui believes that the Beggar Gang may have become the largest source of news for the cult organization.

Finally, there is another point that Shen Sui is least willing to consider, that is, the inside of Qianyumen has been infiltrated, and someone will spread the information inside Qianyumen, which will cause Shen Sui to be restrained every step of the way.It's just that this possibility is not very high at the moment, because it can be seen from Anna Yi's actions that she found a master and used a master to lure Shen Sui out, which means that she didn't know where Shen Sui was in advance.This can at least prove that the cronies around Shen Sui have not been infiltrated.Because Shen Sui's whereabouts were all decided by her on the spur of the moment, and only those around her knew better.But there is one thing that is very contradictory, that is, she can accurately calculate that the time limit for Shen Sui to arrive in Qinghe County is seven days, and then issue such a murder notice.Anna Yi's contradictory behavior made Shen Sui unpredictable.

From Tang Shisan's death message to Annayi's assassination of Cui Zhen and his master and apprentice, this series of events can be regarded as Annayi's blow to Shen Sui, which has a strong warning meaning.If Annayi really did not want to be an enemy of Shen Sui and the others as she said, then it is expected that Annayi will not make any new moves in the next period of time.The headache for Shen Sui was that she didn't know what Annayi would do next, and she had too little information in her hands.

She could only divide her troops into two groups, one to investigate the beggar gang, and the other to investigate the gathering place of Dongying people who came ashore the closest to Hebei Road——Jiaozhou Bay (now Qingdao), hoping to get some information from Qianhe. More intelligence.

It was late at night, and for several days, they had been exhausted on the road and suffered several death blows. Everyone was in a state of physical and mental exhaustion.The first seven days of June [-]th was the last day for everyone to rest in Qinghe County, and they would set off again tomorrow.

Zhang Ruohan was lying on the bed, tossing and turning. This was already her seventh night of insomnia. Ever since she reunited with Shen Sui, her sleeping condition has become better and better. situation appears.However, Master Yi's death was a major blow to her.She didn't want Shen Sui to worry, so she didn't show much sadness, but in fact, only she in this world could understand the pain in her heart.

In the 17 years Akashi left, what would she have been like without Shizun?Perhaps it has long since disappeared, and it no longer exists in the world.It was Master who led her out of the haze slowly, and was able to wait for it firmly; it was Master who gave her enough confidence and patience, and always encouraged her not to give up hope.Master, is the only beam of light that illuminates her soul during the darkest period of her life. Otherwise, the jade pendant that Chishi lost in the back alley of the ruins of Princess Taiping’s Mansion is really not enough to support Zhang Ruohan through the long 17 years journey.

Zhang Ruohan is not a person who is easy to grieve, she is naturally tough, and she has seen through life and death for many years.Master told her very early on that a person's life is one step towards death step by step, sooner or later, but no one can escape.Death is fate, the way back, and the origin of reincarnation.When one day you no longer value the difference between life and death so much, that is when you attain the Tao.

Zhang Ruohan asked her: Master, are you afraid of death?

Master's answer surprised her at the time. She said: If I can face death, I will be very happy.

Zhang Ruohan knew that Master was a very special person.She will not age, or rather, she ages much slower than others.Senior sister Liao Hong is only a few months older than Zhang Ruohan. When the master brought her to the Zhang residence, the master was in his thirties, and Liao Hong was only a little nun of eleven or twelve years old. Seventeen years later, the eleven or twelve-year-old little nun became a 17-year-old adult woman, and the first master, still in her thirties, was completely the same as before.They stood together, as if there was no difference in age.

Therefore, Zhang Ruohan vaguely understood a long time ago why the master was so looking forward to the arrival of death.It's just that she didn't care about it, or deliberately ignored it.

Now that Master is really gone, is she happy?free?Is it really as she said, it will be very fun.If this is the case, Zhang Ruohan doesn't need to be sad, she should feel happy for her master.

She carefully turned over again, for fear of waking up Shen Sui who was sleeping with closed eyes beside her.Shen Suiben held her in his arms, which was the posture they were used to when they fell asleep.But after Shen Sui fell asleep, Zhang Ruohan deliberately moved to the inside of the bed and got out of her arms, just because he was afraid that turning over in her arms would wake her up.

She and Shen Sui were head to head, breathing intertwined with each other.With the faint moonlight coming in from the house, one can see the appearance of Shen Sui's daughter's house with loose long hair. The handsome and heroic features in the past have softened, showing a rare naivety, quiet and lovely like a child.Every time he saw her, Zhang Ruohan felt warm in his heart. Fortunately, she was there, fortunately, she was there.If he leaves her again, he will probably cry out for nothing, and she can no longer bear the pain of losing her.

Inadvertently noticing Shen Sui's frown in his sleep, she couldn't help raising her hand to smooth out that wrinkle.She was really tired, the burden on her body was too heavy, and she couldn't sleep peacefully.Master's death was also a great blow to her. Zhang Ruohan could feel that she was very confused recently, which was a rare phenomenon for Xuedao Mingjue, who always had a clear goal and clear thinking.

Can you help her yourself?

Thinking of this, Zhang Ruohan sat up slowly, carefully stepped over Shen Sui's body, and got down on the couch.Turning around, she covered Shen Sui with a thin quilt, this place is no better than Luoyang, even though it is summer, there is still a bit of coldness at night.

She walked on, put on her clothes, walked lightly, and walked to the desk in the house.Gently lighting up the scythe and lighting the oil lamp, she held the oil lamp and went back to the clothes hanger, raising her hand to take Shen Sui's skin bag hanging on the edge of the clothes hanger.This leather bag is Shen Sui's waist bag. When she goes out for long distances, she will tie it to her belt and never leave it. It contains some tools and weapons that can be used at hand, and they are sorted and placed in different sections, neatly.There are also some very important letters and property, which she will also store in this bag.

Before Zhang Ruohan opened the skin, he subconsciously glanced at Shen Sui who was on the couch beside him.Seeing that she was sideways facing the inner side of the bed, and there was no sign of being woken up, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.Immediately, she felt that she was relieved, and the state of mind was a little strange. She didn't want to do anything to be sorry for Shen Sui, she just wanted to take a look at the notebook that Master left for Shen Sui. For the past seven days, Shen Sui had been carrying it close to him. On her body, although she told Zhang Ruohan that there was such a book of notes, she did not show Zhang Ruohan to read it.Zhang Ruohan didn't ask her to come and see because she was in a bad mood these days.Zhang Ruohan, the only surviving disciple in the world, should have inherited Yi Yi's relics, so what's wrong?

Shaking his head, leaving aside the inexplicable thoughts in his head, Zhang Ruohan still took out the notebook.A touch of sandalwood was exuded from the rush-woven bookcase, and when Zhang Ruohan touched it, the tip of his nose suddenly became sour, and tears welled up.

She pursed her lips, held the oil lamp, slowly sat beside the desk, and then opened the booklet.But for a while, a letter fell from it, she picked it up and looked at it, and it was mentioned on the envelope: Xinlian, my apprentice.It was in the words of the master she was very familiar with, and the envelope had not been opened, which meant that Shen Sui had not opened the letter that the master gave her to read without authorization.Zhang Ruohan's heart warmed, and she bit her lower lip.

She carefully opened the letter. The letter paper was thin and there were not many words on it.

Heart Lotus My Disciple:

See the word as the face.

It has been a long time since the past, and the fist is very strong.I keep this letter for my teacher, in case one day I go away abruptly, and I can't have a few last words with you.If you see this letter, I shall have passed away.

This life is difficult, and I have been practicing for decades but still have no results. I am afraid that due to my sins in the previous life, I will be reborn in this life to pay for my karma.Death to me is like liberation, which is what I seek. Don't be too sad, lest you hurt your life.

I am a monk and have nothing but a few volumes of Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, which are temporarily stored in the abbot of Qinglong Temple in Chang'an. You can go to get them in the future, and you can read and study them later to help you improve your practice.

My student Xinlian, I am worried that you will not be happy when you are depressed, which will hurt your original health. I hope that you can marry the person you want in the future and get your wish fulfilled.As a teacher, I wish Yanxi far away in advance, and Qin and Jin have a happy relationship.

I can't say enough to think about it, and I pray for treasure.

wish

Koan

division one

The eighth day of March in Jisi Year

The letter was written after Zhang Ruohan left for Jiangling.At that time, a master didn't know that Zhang Ruohan would really find Chishi and get married in the near future, and his wish was fulfilled.Between the lines in the letter is full of care and concern for Zhang Ruohan.If the master really has regrets left in the world, I am afraid that Zhang Ruohan, a lay disciple, will be the only one.

Tears, dripping down, wet the letter.Zhang Ruohan wept silently, the grief and depression that had been accumulated for several days finally came to an end.

Suddenly a warm arm embraced her, it turned out that Chishi had woken up at some point and quietly came to her side.

"Chishi..." Zhang Ruohan choked up.

"I know." Shen Sui said softly, she paused, and asked:

"Want to see what's written in that booklet?"

Zhang Ruohan wiped away tears and nodded.

Shen Sui said: "Let's watch together."

As she spoke, she slowly flipped through the first page of the booklet.I saw the first sentence on the head:

【My layman's name is An Luo, my father is a businessman who has been in Suiye business for generations, and my mother is from Sogdia.I was born in the early spring and February of the third year of Yifeng, when the city was sealed off by ice and snow. On the day I was born, my mother died of exhaustion of blood. 】

Both Shen Sui and Zhang Ruohan were stunned. Although they had a premonition, they still felt their brains buzzing.

Yifeng was born in the third year, and has been fifty-one years old since the 17th year of Kaiyuan.

The author has something to say: Today is Halloween. Although I don’t celebrate Halloween, I still want to wish you all candy without pranks.