Brocade tears

On the night of June [-]th, in a certain room of a small inn in the city of Hangzhou, Mencius Xiu and Daoist Luo were talking by candlelight at night.With the window ajar, the warm summer wind blows into the house, shaking the candles, and the shadows cast by the two on the wall behind them flicker and float.Mencius raised his hand to cover the candlelight, and put the lampshade on it.

"I was going to help Ah Qing and go to the city to inquire about the Japanese pirates first. I didn't expect Guo Dayou to come so quickly. By mistake, I almost exposed my identity. This time is very dangerous." Meng Zixiu said.

"This Guo Dayou now has the help of the princess, and the princess is a businessman. He has a lot of news in Hangzhou, no worse than your friend Du Yuhuan."

When Meng Zixiu and Luo Daochang entered the city of Hangzhou, the first thing they did was to find out about the Japanese pirates from Du Yuhuan, a good friend they met at the Yucen Poetry Club when they went south to Hangzhou in the past.Du Yuhuan is well-known and well-known, he is a juren, and his family is a porcelain firm. Du's Porcelain Firm happened to be one of the seven firms that the Japanese comprador bought this time. Du's kiln factory sold a lot of saltpeter to the Japanese comprador. Later, because of this matter, Du's father was always worried, so Du Yuhuan was deeply impressed by this matter.He still inquired about the whereabouts of the comprador in the city, but he only knew that he had stayed at the Baiyun Inn.Unexpectedly, Mencius came all the way to inquire about the Japanese pirates. He heard that the imperial court was encouraging the people to find and report the pirates in the coast, and that the past would not be pursued. Du Yuhuan, who was relieved, told Meng Zixiu everything.

"Guo Dayou may have found us." Daoist Luo said worriedly.

"Don't be afraid, he won't know who we are. But our appearance will prompt him to speed up his actions. He should hurry to Jiaxing Pinghu to check the Japanese pirates. This will actually help us find out the whereabouts of Li Laosan." This is a chance." Mencius thought.

"I still can't figure out what Li Laosan is going to do, Changrong, do you have an idea?"

"I have a guess. This guess Yuyin, Sui'er and Ah Qing should have a good idea in their hearts. Li Laosan should be using Meng Kuang and Guo Dayou to fish. Before that, he spent a lot of effort to catch Sui'er with little success. There will also be fierce backlash from Sui Er and Meng Kuang, and the situation is difficult to control. He must have changed his strategy and took the long line to catch big fish. He did not know from what channel he learned the purpose of Meng Kuang and others going south, knowing that they were going to Come to Yuhang. To a certain extent, he can predict who Meng Kuang and others may come into contact with after arriving in Yuhang. Maybe... he can use this to achieve his goal. My preliminary judgment is that he still wants Sui'er to master The secret of the 'Ten Thousand Beasts and Hundred Flowers Map', but he should know in his heart that the 'Ten Thousand Beasts and Hundred Flowers Map' is not a treasure map, but more likely to involve the distribution of power in the government, more like a life and death book in the hands of a judge. If you get it, it means you have seized the lifeblood of various important forces in the entire Ming Dynasty."

"Could it be... Li Laosan thinks that Meng Kuang and others will meet Zhang Yunxiu when they go south to Yuhang?" Daoist Luo frowned.

Mencius didn't answer for a moment, frowning as if he was thinking about something.After a while, he suddenly said: "Do you think... Why did King Lu and Tang Fu'an not flee back to the fief after being attacked, but instead took the risk to go south to Hangzhou?"

"Looking for Zhang Jing?" Luo Daochang asked half questioningly and half guessing.

"Daoist, if you think about it further, Zhang Jing wanted to catch Sui'er at the beginning, and he also wanted to get the 'inheritance' left by Zhang Juzheng. Now Lu Wang and Tang Fu'an are in Nanjing to stop Bai Yuyin from being arrested, but they suddenly went south. Hangzhou came to find Zhang Jing. What does this mean?"

Luo Daochang's mind crashed, and he couldn't help standing up: "They really found that Sui'er is beside Meng Kuang and Guo Dayou. Now they not only want to catch Bai Yuyin, but also want to catch Sui'er!"

Mencius nodded, and added: "Not only that, there must be a matchmaker between King Lu, Tang Fu'an, and Zhang Jing. Originally, they were two factions that were incompatible with each other, and they had conflicts with each other. Now it is this The matchmaker brought these two factions together in Hangzhou, and they are about to reach a cooperation. The fact that Sui Er is in the hands of Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang may not have been discovered by Lu Wang and Tang Fuan themselves, but the matchmaking Someone informed me. This matchmaker... I speculate that it is very likely that it is Wang Daoming, the governor of the Nanzhen Fusi who has been indistinctly but has something to do with many things."

"Wang Daoming, it turned out to be this person...Speaking of which, when Guo Dayou, Ah Qing, and Sui Er were in Beijing, Ah Qing seemed to have rescued Sui Er in front of a Jinyi guard in Nanzhen Fusi. This exposed the unusual relationship between Ah Qing and Sui Er, and after that Nanzhen Fusi only needs to strictly monitor and investigate, and it is not difficult to find that Sui Er has actually been hidden by Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang all along."

Mencius shook his head and said, "Yeah, alas, one step is too late, the current situation is a little passive, our top priority is to find the whereabouts of Li Laosan, and the second is to find the traces of King Lu and others. The former is very difficult, but The latter is probably much simpler. A pampered prince like King Lu cannot save money on food and clothing, and will definitely leave obvious traces. We might as well start with the latter and find the whereabouts of King Lu and others as soon as possible. trace, and then inform Ah Qing and the others. I think Ah Qing will find a way to infiltrate and investigate the plans of Lu Wang and others in the future. At that time, we can all get the initiative, and things will be much easier .”

"That's right." Daoist Luo nodded in agreement.

……

At the same time, at the Binhu mansion of Princess Xinyang, Li, who was on the handlebars, carefully opened the gate of the mansion, and was a little surprised to see Guo Dayou and Qiu Bai who had hurried back.

"What happened?" he asked.

Guo Dayou didn't answer, and said directly: "I'll talk about it later, first go to see the princess, and Meng Shisan, also called."

While talking, he and Qiu Bai walked quickly to the house.A while later, the princess and Meng Kuang, who had heard the news, sat down and talked with Guo Dayou and Qiu Bai in the study of the house.Gu Zhongwen also sat beside him. He brought Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer into the city in the afternoon to arrange work in a business firm, and helped them arrange their residences. Lu Han and his wife stayed in the city and did not come back with him. At the princess's place, he played chess and talked with the princess, and his personal maid Zhao Suzhi served beside him.In addition, Sui'er and Bai Yuyin were also present. Sui'er came with Meng Kuang, and Bai Yuyin met on the way.At this moment, Meng Yan is doing acupuncture treatment for Ban Ruhua.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but everyone in the house quickly arrived and gathered in the study.

"I found out that the Japanese comprador went to Jiaxing Pinghu. We also met someone who inquired about it in the city. I don't know where it came from. I feel that the person who came here is not good. We'd better act fast and find the Japanese comprador first. , control him, and don't let him fall into other people's hands." Guo Dayou didn't talk nonsense, directly cut to the topic, and explained the afternoon's affairs in a few sentences.

The Princess then asked, "When are you going to leave?"

"I have to leave at dawn at the latest. Make preparations tonight. Prepare your horse and try to get to Jiaxing directly tomorrow." Guo Dayou replied.

Gu Zhongwen said with a smile: "Guo Qianhu, you are from the north, and you don't know the situation here in the south of the Yangtze River. In the border of Zhejiang, riding a fast horse is worse than taking a fast boat. I will arrange it later. I will set off early tomorrow morning and take the waterway. You can arrive in Jiaxing in half a day."

Guo Dayou nodded, and then said to Meng Kuang: "Thirteen, you have to come together this time. This is a serious mission. I don't know if we will encounter Japanese pirates directly. We must be fully prepared."

Meng Kuang nodded immediately, but Sui'er beside him suddenly said:

"Can I go too?"

Everyone immediately looked at her in unison, Sui'er explained: "I grew up in Jiashan since I was a child, and my family lives in the south of Jiashan, very close to Pinghu, and often travels between Pinghu and Jiashan. I am familiar with that area, maybe I can Help."

Meng Kuang grabbed her hand and shook his head, she didn't want Sui'er to follow her to take risks.But Sui'er insisted, and comforted the back of Meng Kuang's hand, she said: "You need a guide, Mr. Gu, may I ask if you have contacts in Pinghu who can be a guide?"

When Gu Zhongwen was asked suddenly, he was stunned for a moment, then shook his head for a while and said: "If you say that I have contacts in Jiaxing Prefecture, but in Pinghu County, I really don't have any."

"Since this is the case, if you want to find a guide locally, you might as well let me be the guide directly. Pinghu County is not big, and if outsiders come to inquire about the news, it will definitely spread quickly. It is easy for you to find a guide locally to scare the snake."

Meng Kuang frowned tightly, Guo Dayou thought for a moment, and said, "Yes, Miss Sui'er, you can come too. Thirteen, protecting Miss Sui'er is your task."

Meng Kuang was speechless for a moment, but she couldn't refute when her boss spoke.

At this time, Bai Yuyin suddenly asked, "Do any of you understand Japanese?"

Everyone immediately looked at each other, and Guo Dayou said: "I understand a few words, but... more will not work."

"Mr. Gu, do you have a clue?" the Princess asked.

"This... Princess, you also know that we don't do business with Japanese people, so naturally I don't know anyone who can speak Japanese."

Bai Yuyin said: "Then I'll follow along. I understand Japanese, at least I can have normal conversations."

"Miss Bai, you actually know Japanese language?!" The princess was very surprised, and the rest of the people also responded in a normal way.

"I didn't mention it. When I was in Tianxiang Pavilion, the maid who took care of me was the daughter of a Japanese. This Japanese was caught on the southeast coast during the Jiajing period and served his sentence in Beijing. He was not a Japanese pirate, but a seaman who fled. Later, Settling down in Beijing, marrying a wife and having a daughter, this woman is a descendant of a criminal, her status is low, she can only work as a lowly maid in a brothel. I learned Japanese from her, just to pass the time." Bai Yuyin explained.

Meng Kuang couldn't help looking at Guo Dayou. The meaning was obvious. If Sui'er and Bai Yuyin were to be brought along for this trip, their ability to act would be limited. Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang had to pull out their hands to protect Sui'er and Bai Yuyin. Bai Yuyin, they are all targets in danger, and they should have been hiding in the princess's house and not going out.

But Guo Dayou ignored Meng Kuang's gaze, thought for a moment but still gave an affirmative answer: "Okay, since that's the case, Miss Bai will follow us."

Meng Kuang murmured in his heart, whether Sui'er and Bai Yuyin followed actually didn't make much difference. They didn't have to be guides and translators for this mission.Meng Kuang knew in his heart that Sui'er didn't want to leave her, she was worried that she might get hurt or even lose her life, and she might also want to go back to her hometown to have a look.Bai Yuyin was probably looking for an opportunity to leave the princess' mansion in order to find a chance to meet his second brother.But Guo Dayou still took them with him. Could it be that he didn't want Sui'er and Bai Yuyin to leave his surveillance range?

That's fine, that's fine too, she thought to herself.Meng Kuang was a little restless this afternoon. He always felt that something was about to happen. If he could bring Sui'er and Bai Yuyin by his side, he would feel more at ease.

Qiu Bai suggested: "Then I'll go with you too. There are two girls accompanying me. It won't hurt to have me alone."

Guo Dayou cupped his hands gratefully and said, "Thank you Brother Qiu for your help."

Without further ado, after agreeing on the details, everyone dispersed and made preparations.Meng Kuang, Sui'er and Bai Yuyin's rooms are all close together, so they went back to the room together.At the gate of Bai Yuyin first, Meng Kuang saw no one around, so he said softly:

"Sister Bai, I will find a way for you to meet with my second brother."

Bai Yuyin said with a smile: "I didn't propose this just to meet your second brother. You don't have to be embarrassed. Everything must be based on the overall situation. I just simply think that it may not be safe to stay in the princess's mansion, so it's better to go with you .”

Meng Kuang said: "I didn't expect you, Sister Bai, to be so worried. I also feel uneasy right now."

Sui'er on the side also said: "I also have this feeling, so I deliberately proposed to go out with you on the mission. This time we leave the princess's mansion, it's best to let the people in the house take the opportunity to escape into the city, although the chasing soldiers It's me and Sister Bai who are chasing after, but it's hard to guarantee that they won't control the people in the house to threaten them."

"Who would know our whereabouts so quickly? Could it be Li Laosan? But Li Laosan should not do things like this. His purpose is to catch big fish with a long line. Who is it?" Meng Kuang felt behind his back Cold sweat broke out.

None of the three said anything, and remained silent for a while.Meng Kuang said: "Be careful sailing for thousands of years, I understand, I will go to the princess to discuss it in a while."

As soon as she finished speaking, there was another knock on the front door of the mansion, and the three of them were startled and nervous.I only heard someone shouting outside the door:

"Open the door, it's me, Lu Jingshi! Officers and soldiers are coming, leave quickly!"