Brocade tears

Qingxu was very tired from running all night last night.After returning the carriage to Wanji Teahouse in the morning, he had a simple morning meal and went to the east ear room to catch up on sleep.Brothers Qing Heng and Qing Miao are still helping Meng Yan at the pharmacy.There are no more people who come to Lingji Hall to see a doctor and get medicine today than yesterday, and they are not as busy as yesterday.So Meng Yan took a chance and went to the backyard to see Sui'er.

At that time, Sui'er had used Chaoshi, washed up and changed into ordinary clothes.She wanted to put up the ashes of her old aunt temporarily, so Meng Ai vacated the top of the chest of drawers in the west wing room, wiped it clean, and asked her to store the urn here.They set up incense burners in front of the ashes and offered incense to the dead.

After the worship, Meng Yan and Sui'er sat down and chatted for a while, knowing what happened last night.She was really worried. The man in black who appeared in the Jingle Hall last night really gave her a very bad feeling. Tonight, there is another appointment that seems to be Fang Ming's appointment, which is also uncertain.Meng Kuang left in a hurry in the morning, and only said that she would go to the meeting alone for today's appointment, and they don't have to follow.He also said that she might not be able to come back tonight. Meng Yan has been restless until now, always feeling that something is going to happen.

At this time, the front hall Qingmiao came to call for someone, and Meng Yan had to return to the front hall to receive the visitors who were seeking medical treatment and getting medicine.Sui'er felt sleepy, so she lay down on the Luohan bed, planning to take a nap.She covered the quilt, sleepiness surged up like a tide, and soon fell into a dream.It's just that it's okay if you don't sleep, but when you sleep, it's a mess of dreams.She dreamed of her mother, who was still the same in her long-term memory when she was a child, lovingly stroking the top of her hair; dreamed of the waterways in Jiashan County, dotted with residential houses in Linshui, the fragrance of lotus roots and the singing of boatmen on the waterway; I dreamed of Zhang Taiyue writing at his desk late at night in a study room with lights like beans, and next to my ears was the voice of Zhang Sixiu teaching her how to read and write and explaining articles; She; dreamed of countless scenes of torture and imprisonment; she also dreamed of a deep palace with a golden roof and red walls, where the old aunt took good care of her, and the scene of the Queen Mother sleeping silently, followed by her sleeping in the mountains on a snowy night. Running away, Meng Kuang in the barren mountain and wild temple stood in front of her and fought with a knife, blood spattered three feet.

"Run away! Run away!" she shouted, but Sui Er couldn't move at all.In the end, she could only watch as the tip of the knife pierced Meng Kuang's heart, her back turned to her and her knees smashed to the ground like a mountain.

"No!" Sui'er finally woke up from the dream, looking at the quiet study in front of her, realized that she had almost dreamed about her 20 years of life experience, and the back of her clothes was slowly soaked in cold sweat.

She sat on the bed limply all over, trembling and sighing out a breath of suffocating stale air, feeling cold all over her body.She couldn't bear the last scene of the dream, couldn't accept the appearance of Meng Kuang being fatally injured, even in a dream, she couldn't bear it.

Meng Kuang, Meng Yan and their companions couldn't imagine what kind of secret Sui Er was hiding in her heart, and how afraid she was.The secrets she knew were secrets that could subvert the entire Ming Dynasty, and she must not tell them, otherwise they would be put on the list of massacres.But now, she has stayed in the Meng family for too long, if this continues, I am afraid that when those people find her, the Meng family will usher in another disaster because of her.

She fished out the bamboo tube from the pillow, and took out the note in it: On the fourth day of March, Shen Zheng, entered by the back door of Bingmasi Hutong Huji.Just wait for a moment, if you don't arrive, you will contact me again.

Sister Qing, if I can accomplish this great event, then I will be able to fundamentally get rid of the nightmare that has haunted me for more than ten years.I have to go, but I will come back to you alive.Forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye, you wait for me, okay?

She slowly squeezed the note tightly.

……

Cao Guang raised his neck and drank the big bowl of blood wine in one gulp.He put the bowl heavily on the table, the right hand holding the bowl was trembling slightly, and there was a deep knife wound on the palm, dripping with blood.

Opposite him, sat a man in a brocade costume, with a smiling face, as joyous as a Maitreya.

He said cheerfully, "Commander Cao has a good drinker capacity. I didn't expect you to be quite bloody. Zou looks at you with admiration."

This person's voice was a little shrill, tall and fat, with a white and beardless face, like a castrated eunuch.In fact, he used to be a servant in the palace, his name was Zou Ba, he was born with strength, strong character, and extremely vicious.Even if he is dead, he is stronger than ordinary men, so he was sent to the army as a supervisor, and he also rode a horse and fought in battle.When the power was at its heaviest, it controlled the trading openings for the Beijing Army's food and supplies, and was guarded by the Ministry of War and the court.He committed a crime five years ago, so he has eccentricities and likes to torture women. Not only did he cuckold his superior commander, but he also accidentally killed the commander's concubine, and almost got skin cramps.The people behind him covered him and settled the matter.But he was still expelled from the army, and since then he has been left alone and no longer used.He was stationed in the east of the entrance of the school field, still taking part of the food and supply business of the Beijing army, and naturally became a deadly enemy with the King of Nine Fingers in the west of the entrance of the school field.The two have been fighting on this ground for five years, and neither one will accept the other, and neither can win the other, and they have always been evenly matched.

"Master Zou, I have also made the oath of blood alliance, and I have given the money, so please give me a word." Cao Guang stared at him and said.

"You really like that woman." Zou Ba said.

"Women are only second. How can I stop when the Nine Finger King insulted me?" Cao Guangyin said with a sullen face.

"Hehehehe, our family likes that." Zou Ba looked at the box full of silver ingots on the side, smiling so hard that he couldn't see his eyes, "You have such a big hand, you have all your money, and you have blood as an alliance." , I would like to live and die with Zouba, share the glory and wealth, how can I let you down if I look up to Zouba so much? Don't worry, I Zouba insists on being fast, accurate and ruthless in everything I do. You are here today, and I am here tonight. I will take care of things for you. Tomorrow that Nine Finger Wang Baozhu will disappear, and the beauty you want will be presented to you."

"Okay, what I'm waiting for is your words. But let me ask a little more, the King of Nine Fingers is very afraid of the head of the Lingji Hall. I don't know what you think about it, Master Zou."

"Oh, is that the legendary 'Teng Dao Shura' Meng Shisan? This person does have some skills, but after all, Jin Yiwei is just a hawk. Don't worry, I have a relationship with Luo Sigong, the current commander of Jin Yiwei, and he can do it too. Look how thin I am. It’s just a woman, how can Meng Shisan challenge me because of her? I don’t hurt Meng Shisan and his family at all, I just snatch a woman away. Meng Shisan hasn’t married yet. People, not his people, there will be no problem. If he insists on this matter, I will naturally find a way to settle him. "

"If that's the case, Master Zou has a way. Then Cao will rely on Master Zou."

"It's easy to say, easy to say, hahaha..."

……

Meng Kuang silently followed Guo Dayou through the streets of the capital. Guo Dayou left Beizhen Fusi and headed northwest. Soon they passed the location of Sanhai and entered Xicheng.Meng Kuang still doesn't know what Guo Dayou is going to do today, Guo Dayou has been telling her about Zhou Jintong.Zhou Jintong was knocked out of the head yesterday, today Guo Dayou didn't let him come out to do something, and gave him a day off to rest.

"Zhou Jin also ran into this kid by mistake, which made me smell something unusual. He was lured to the homeless area in the south of the city yesterday, was beaten unconscious and thrown in the pigsty. I ran away on purpose yesterday evening I went to the south of the city, found my eyeliner, and inquired carefully. Some people really saw Zhou Jintong and the people he was following. That fish seller, my eyeliner said that his people saw him go in and out of that place more than once in the south of the city. A family that raises pigs. There is only one person in this family who lives alone. He is a retired veteran who does some hard work in the city. Guess what? This person is actually a coolie who delivers tung oil to the palace. He can't enter the imperial city. This is connected to the line in the palace. There is no such coincidence in this world. The fish seller who is staring at your house must be the group of people who sent that maid Li Huier out of the palace. This method of ambush in the city is really like the style of Jin Yiwei, and I always feel that there seems to be an old Tiqi behind it."

At this moment, Meng Kuang already understood in his heart that Fang Ming might be exposed soon.She sighed in her heart, only felt that the current situation was becoming more and more unfavorable, so she heard Guo Dayou say:

"After I thought about it carefully, after Li Huier leaves the palace, the people behind her must meet her outside. She leaves the palace from Bei'anmen, so the best choice is to meet her nearby. The more suitable meeting place nearby should be There are many rich families in Luoguo Lane, there are a lot of carriages, and the terrain is relatively complicated, so it is not conspicuous to mix in it. Then I went through the city overnight to Luoguo Lane. I only planned to check to see if I could find some clues. But I didn’t expect it to be my luck, I bumped into a suspicious-looking guy wandering around Hunchback Lane, and I caught him right away. I was interrogated, and guess what I found out?”

Meng Kuang shook his head, Guo Dayou had a smug smile on his face, and said:

"This guy is actually Jin Yiwei, but he is only the lowest-ranking captain. He is from Nanzhen Fusi, and his superior sent him here to guard, saying that in case the woman they were chasing that day would Come back here."

Meng Kuang was extremely surprised: Nanzhen Fusi?People from Nanzhen Fusi are hunting Sui'er?But isn't Fang Ming from Nanzhen Fusi?Could it be that someone in Nanzhen Fusi noticed that Fang Ming was secretly helping Sui'er, so they sent out their hands to catch Sui'er?

She hurriedly gestured and asked: How did you deal with this person?

"Naturally, he continued to ask, asking why his leader would lead them to hunt down a woman. This guy was going to bite, but he was still a little tender, and finally spit it out after I induced him. He said that chasing women He didn't know the purpose, but he knew the woman's escape route, because after Li Huier left the palace that day, she walked around the city for a long time before leaving the city. I asked him where Li Huier stayed, and he said that Li Huier was in the army. They lingered near Masi Hutong for a while. They were almost lost in pursuit, but they saw her again when they went around Bingmasi Hutong. His leader also felt that the vicinity of Bingmasi Hutong was suspicious, maybe the lair of the forces behind the woman. It’s there, so I’ve been guarding it myself. This is a major breakthrough. I didn’t embarrass this little lieutenant. I brought him back to Beizhen Fusi and invited him to be a guest in our department. Let’s go to the meeting today. Meet this Nanzhen Fusi striker and see what he knows."

Meng Kuang gestured and continued to ask: This is very strange, why didn't Nanzhen Fusi chase her out of the city, and it was the people from Wuxiangwei Xiying who finally caught up with her outside the city?

"Most likely they were thrown off on the way. They didn't realize that Li Huier had gone out of the city. On the contrary, the people from the Wuxiangwei West Camp guarding the gate of Xibian discovered Li Huier and followed him. But this is just a guess, and the only way to know is to ask." Know."

Meng Kuang thought to himself that this was really wrong. She was going to attend the meeting in Bingmasi Hutong today, but she didn't expect to arrive here ahead of schedule with Guo Dayou.If it wasn't for Guo Dayou's investigation of the new information, she wouldn't know that the current situation near Bingmasi Hutong is so complicated. Fortunately, she didn't act rashly, so she should wait and see first.

She changed her mind and thought again, if that was the case, wouldn't the letter in the bamboo tube be very suspicious?Why did Fang Ming deliberately ask Sui'er to meet at a place where so many eyes are staring at him?

Could it be that the letter was fraudulent?Meng Kuang was heartbroken. When she went out this morning, she told her family not to go to Bingmasi Hutong today, but to go to the meeting alone.But...she still can't be completely relieved, Sui'er has been very anxious to contact Fang Ming, but Fang Ming sent her a letter, how can she be reconciled if she doesn't go to the meeting?Meng Kuang couldn't confirm that Sui'er would fully obey her arrangement, as the girl kept a secret in her heart and refused to reveal it, so there was no guarantee that she wouldn't sneak out of the house alone.

Meng Kuang's eyes showed unconcealable anxiety, Guo Dayou glanced at her, but said nothing.Not long after, they had arrived at the east entrance of Bingmasi Hutong. Meng Kuang glanced at the sun. It was about three quarters before noon. As soon as they reached the entrance, they bumped into a carriage and drove out of the alley. After driving out, the curtain of the carriage was raised, and the people in the carriage saw Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang at a glance, and hurriedly shouted:

"parking!"

After yelling, the people in the car jumped out of the car, came forward to hold Guo Dayou's hand with a haha ​​haha, and said:

"Brother Guo! Why are you! I will meet you here."

This is a tall and strong middle-aged man, wearing a dark green brocade round-neck gown, a big hat, and a short black mustache around his lips.Meng Kuang didn't know him, but Guo Dayou seemed to be very familiar with him, holding his hand and saying happily:

"Brother Zimao! Long time no see, don't come here!"

Zimao... Li Zimao!Meng Kuang was taken aback. She didn't expect that she would bump into one of the most famous generals of the dynasty today—Li Rusong, the son of Li Chengliang, Liaodong General Soldier, and Li Rusong, the secretary of the Chinese Army's governor's office.