Brocade tears

The morning mist has not yet dissipated, and the moist river breeze blows on the face, bringing a pleasant sense of comfort.Guo Dayou stood at the bow of the boat, chatting with the young scholar who was crossing the river with them.Meng Kuang stood a little further away from them, with Sui'er by her side.At the stern, Lu Jingshi stood beside the carriage and Guo Dayou's horse, leading the two horses to comfort them and keep them from moving.In the carriage, Bai Yuyin, who was stricken by the wind and cold, became more ill today, developed a low-grade fever, and was unable to get out of the carriage. Meng Yan and Han Jiaer were taking care of her in the carriage.

Meng Kuang stood quietly, standing in this position, with excellent hearing, she could clearly hear the conversation between Guo Dayou and the scholar.But Sui'er could only hear a few words clearly, so Meng Kuang relayed it to Sui'er in a very low voice.

The scholar's name is Yang Lian, his courtesy name is Wenru, and he was born in Yingshan, Huguang.Born in July of the sixth year of Longqing, she was younger than Sui'er, and had just reached the crown not long ago. In 16 years, he became a disciple of Buyi as a Zengguang student, and he was a scholar.He was not in a hurry to continue preparing for the provincial examination, but instead started traveling to gain knowledge.He admired some great Confucianists who were well-known in Beijing and China, especially some famous ministers who resigned from office and lived at home in the countryside.Therefore, in recent years, I often travel abroad to visit these people for advice on how to govern the country.Among them, Gu Xiancheng, who showed absolute courage in the Jingcha incident in the 15th year of Wanli and dared to remonstrate, became his admiration.After Gu Xiancheng was demoted, Yang Lian had been looking for an opportunity to visit him, but the family affairs delayed it.Until last year, when Gu Xiancheng's mother passed away and he returned to his hometown Ding You, Yang Lian finally found the opportunity to travel all the way from his hometown in Huguang to Wuxi to pay his respects to Gu Xiancheng.

In the conversation with Guo Dayou, this young Huguang Zengsheng showed extraordinary thoughts and courage, his words were clear, his behavior was upright, and he was full of righteousness.Guo Dayou is not good at dealing with this kind of people. In his opinion, these scholars who are upright, go straight, and never turn back without bumping into the south wall are either hypocrisy or pedantry. It's really hard to be with them.So after talking a few words, Yang Lian could only hear Yang Lian talking generously, criticizing the current situation, while Guo Dayou stood aside and listened with a smile on his face, and he stopped talking.

Sui'er chuckled, and quietly said to Meng Kuang beside him, "I never thought there would be someone who can make Lao Guo feel embarrassed."

Meng Kuang also smiled, his eyebrows and eyes curved, and the corners of his lips covered under the white cloth turned up.Guo Dayou just doesn't like to deal with such people, but it doesn't mean that he really can't make such people shut up.There are huge distinctions between people due to different regions, backgrounds, studies, and careers. Civil servants and military generals have been difficult to associate with since the Song Dynasty. The lieutenant generals under Wenchen lead troops to charge and kill, and there are very few who are born in the army and can directly reach the position of commander-in-chief above the general army.And there was also a communication gap between civil servants and generals due to the huge differences in their knowledge and cognition of things, so people were divided into groups by like clusters.However, Guo Dayou, as a special agent of Jinyiwei, the most special existence among generals, has made friends with gossip officials in the court, China and Qing Dynasty, and even joined Gu Zhao's party, which is really strange.Judging from his communication with Yang Lian, it seems that he actually still doesn't like to be with this kind of people, but I don't know why he can join forces with Gu Zhao?The most likely explanation is the alignment of interests.

So what kind of interests enable them to merge?What exactly are Luo Xun and Guo Dayou planning?Meng Kuang has been thinking about this question for some time, and the only guess she can come up with is that Luo and Guo Zhimou have something to do with their backgrounds, and they may indeed have something to do with the army.One is that it may be related to the Southwest Rebellion caused by Yang Yinglong, chieftain of Bozhou, and the other may be related to the shortage of military equipment in Liaodong under the jurisdiction of Shandong Capital.Both of these are major military events related to the fate of the country, and perhaps they can indeed bring together civil and military affairs.

Before I knew it, the ferry had crossed the river and docked.When Xijin Ferry docked, due to the improper control of the boatman, the hull of the boat hit the sandbags hanging on the embankment at a relatively fast speed to avoid collisions, and immediately bounced off the shore, and the hull suddenly shook violently.Sui'er, who was standing on the edge of the boat, lost his footing and threw himself forward, about to fall from the gap between the hull and the embankment. Amidst the exclamation, Meng Kuang beside him was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He grabbed her waist and locked her in his arms.And she herself separated her feet from front to back, sank back and sat down, and stood firmly on the boat without moving.

Sui'er was still in shock, tightly wrapped her arms around Meng Kuang's neck, and trembled in her arms.Meng Kuang comforted her back gently, and couldn't help but get annoyed with the boatman.The boatman had already come forward to apologize in a panic, Meng Kuang thought that he was away on a mission, so it would be better not to cause trouble, so he suppressed his anger and did not attack.

All this scene fell into the eyes of Guo Dayou and Yang Lian in front, and Yang Lian couldn't help sighing:

"It turns out that girl with a peculiar appearance is a couple with that military master. I see that she hasn't got her hair up yet, and I think she hasn't married yet."

Guo Dayou couldn't help laughing, and said: "It's my brother who promised someone. They just got married recently. The girl has no father and no mother, so she has been following her husband's family. She plans to settle down after a while, so she will do it." marriage."

Yang Lian shook his head helplessly, but he did not hide his heart, and said: "What a beautiful girl, your brother is really lucky, I envy others."

Guo Dayou thought to himself: That kid's sex is not as simple as you think, it's not something to envy, it's almost enviable.

After landing, Yang Lian bid farewell to Guo Dayou and his party.They wanted to go south directly from Jingkou to Wuxi, while Guo Dayou and others wanted to go west to Nanjing.When they parted, Yang Lian still didn't know the identities of Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang Jinyiwei, and only regarded them as military attaches on the road.When parting, Meng Kuang paid special attention to Guo Dayou's actions. He didn't entrust Yang Lian to hand over the letter to Gu Xiancheng. I don't know if it was because he didn't believe it or because of other considerations, but it can be seen that Guo Dayou should be very concerned about that letter. Be cautious, he hopes to hand over the letter to Gu Xiancheng himself.

After traveling by water for more than ten days, the group finally embarked on land.It was still early when we arrived at Jingkou, Guo Dayou hoped that he could arrive in Nanjing city at dusk today and not stay overnight in the middle.Meng Kuang opened the cowhide map from his pocket and calculated. There is about 160 miles between Xijin Ferry at Jingkou and Chaoyang Gate, the east gate of Nanjing inner city. The carriage travels at full speed for [-] miles per hour. Hurrying, you have to walk for four hours without resting at all.Right now, it is Maozheng time, if you really want to rush to Nanjing City, I am afraid it is already the time of late Shenchu, and you will be able to enter the city before the city is closed.

Meng Kuang didn't hesitate anymore, all the staff got into the carriage, and immediately let go of the horsepower with Guo Dayou and drove at full speed.Guo Dayou rode his horse to lead the way and galloped along the official road to Beijing.They did not rest for a moment during the journey, and they ate lunch while driving in the carriage. They ate some dry food and drank some water to fill their stomachs. They only changed horses at the post station halfway.

At twilight, Meng Kuang and others could already see the outer city walls of Nanjing City. They were going to enter the outer city walls through the Qilin Gate. After entering the Qilin Gate, they walked southwest for about half an hour, bypassing the southern foot of Zijin Mountain. , You can walk to Chaoyang Gate.

The defenses outside Nanjing City are not as strict as those in Beijing City. The Qilin Gate is wide open, and the gate guards do not check. People come and go. Except for business travelers, most of them are farmers living in and outside the outer city. He went to the city to work as a helper, and he would go in and out every day.

After Meng Kuang and others entered the outer city walls, the sight they saw was still not far from the pastoral countryside outside the city, but the fields in the city walls became more fragmented, and there were more farm houses and farmhouses. There are fewer fields and more vegetable fields.There are mostly vegetable farmers in this outer city, and the vegetables they grow are all concentrated for consumption in Nanjing.

Meng Kuang took the avenue from the outer city leading directly to Chaoyangmen. It has been raining continuously recently. This road is wet and muddy, with many potholes and water, and the carriage cannot go up fast.There are also many pedestrians on the road. There are passers-by in front of and behind them, either on foot, or riding donkeys and mules, and driving cattle.Meng Kuang noticed that there was a group of people who looked like merchants following behind them. When they entered the Qilin Gate, they came in together. There were eight of them in total, all of them were strong and strong men, and they seemed to have kung fu.Most of them rode horses. Six horses surrounded a two-person cart with several boxes on it, which seemed to weigh nothing.Meng Kuang felt weird and couldn't help but secretly be vigilant.Guo Dayou also noticed it in front of him. He didn't say anything, but exchanged eyes with Meng Kuang.

After walking for more than half an hour, a group of people finally saw Chaoyang Gate in the twilight from a distance.Far different from the rammed earth walls of the outer city walls, the tall and majestic walls of the inner city are rare. The city bricks are extremely thick and firmly assembled.Even the Nine Gates of the inner city of Beijing pale in comparison.

As everyone walks along the way, you can see the Zhongshan mountain standing tall in the mist and rain on the right hand side, which is the place of "Dragon Pan" in "Tiger Judging Dragon Pan".Xie Tiao, a great writer in the Southern Qi Dynasty, wrote in a poem:

"The beautiful land in the south of the Yangtze River, Jinling Emperor State.

Winding with green water, passing Zhulou far away.

The flying scorpion clips the road, and the Yang Yang shades the imperial ditch.

Condensed wings and high cover, stacked drums to send Huaqi.

Dedicated Yuntai table, fame can be received. "

Jinling has been a treasure land of Fengshui since ancient times.Unfortunately, however, the dragon veins in Jinling were rumored to have been cut off by suppression as early as King Wei of Chu. Since then, the dynasties that have established their capitals in Jinling are all small courts, and the Central Plains dynasties who encountered northern soldiers also regarded Jinling as a reserve for refuge in the south.Since the establishment of the capital of Eastern Wu, such as the Eastern Jin Dynasty after the Southern Expedition, the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen who came to power and competed with the Northern Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, and the Li family of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the last descendants of the Li and Tang Dynasties, are among them. Ju Lin'an had to be forced by public opinion to regard Jinling as his capital.

Emperor Tai/Zu started from Jinling and built the city almost like an iron wall. The city wall is so tall and thick that it has never been seen in history.After Chengzu moved the capital to the north, the reasons for this were very complicated, among which there was the saying that the king's spirit moved northward and continued the emperor's business.However, Nanjing's status is still extremely important. The entire court team of the Ming Dynasty has almost completely left a set in Nanjing. Although it does not have much power, it is still the center of government orders in the south.

Just when the group was still a mile or two away from Chaoyang Gate, a figure suddenly appeared on the road ahead.This person was riding a tall horse, wearing black clothes and armor, with a hooded head and a mask.Holding a long spear upside down in his hand, he stood horizontally in the middle of the road, facing the direction in which Meng Kuang and others came.Under the gray sky, leaning against Cangcheng, riding alone, it is as distorted as a ghost.

Guo Dayou, who was leading the way, reined in his horse and stopped a few feet away from this person.Meng Kuang also stopped the carriage at the back, holding the pistol at his waist with one hand, grabbing Lu Jingshi beside him with the other, and shoving him into the carriage.He said softly to the carriage:

"Someone is blocking the car, don't come out."

Everyone in the car suddenly became nervous, and Sui Er couldn't help telling Meng Kuang: "Be careful."

Bai Yuyin, who was sick, was originally groggy, but she seemed to be stimulated at this moment. She propped up her sick body, opened the wooden window on the rear panel of the carriage and looked back. Sure enough, she saw the caravan of eight behind also stop. Not only did they not overtake the carriage of Meng Kuang and others, but spread out instead, forming a half-enclosed encirclement.

"Cough cough cough...they...maybe come to catch me...cough cough cough..."

"Sister Bai? Why do you say that?" Meng Yan asked in surprise.

But Bai Yuyin coughed so badly that he couldn't speak for a while.

Sui'er's eyes narrowed slightly, and he explained: "There is a reason for the ambush here. We are traveling in secret, and few people know about it. Assuming the news has not leaked out, then the ambush here in advance must be waiting for something related to Nanjing." People come. The transfer of Shitou and Jia'er to Nanjing's internal official supervision is an arrangement that the Queen Mother ordered Zhang Cheng to make, and no one will chase them down. In this way, the only one of us who has a very close relationship with Nanjing is Elder Sister Bai is dead, so it is very likely that she belongs to King Lu."

Before Sui'er finished speaking, Guo Dayou outside was already shouting.There was a mocking smile in his words, but he was not nervous at all:

"Brother, it's not necessary. You just retreat, and we can relax with each other."

The black-armored knight didn't answer, but still quietly crossed his horse. Guo Dayou squinted his eyes, and could feel his aura gradually rising.He judged that this person should be an unborn master. Nowadays, it is rare to see warriors who use horse lances. Only military nobles before the Song Dynasty can generally see horse lance masters. background, otherwise you don't need to cover up if you don't know each other.Guo Dayou looked foolish on the outside, but he was extremely vigilant in his heart.He let go of the rein with his right hand, and slowly moved towards the double mace on his waist.

"If you think it's difficult to deal with business, why don't we get off the horse and talk, and I'll give you some advice? I don't have any strengths, I just have a lot of ideas." Guo Dayou tried to negotiate with the other party again, but what was greeted by the other party's unexpected actions .I saw the opponent with a long spear and a horizontal, galloping horse coming.Guo Dayou immediately shouted loudly:

"Thirteen! The carriage!" Immediately, he swiped his right hand from his waist, and the two maces flew out of the belt and flew into his hands. He only used his legs to control the horse, and attacked the black-armored knight's long lance that was shining with cold light.

At the back, Meng Kuang clung to the edge of the roof of the carriage, exerted strength from his waist, kicked and jumped with his legs, and suddenly climbed onto the roof of the carriage.She half-kneeled on the roof of the car, and an exquisite crossbow appeared in her hands at some unknown time.The eight "merchants" who followed them in the rear had already torn off their camouflage and showed their weapons.Most of their weapons were long knives, but some also used swords and axes. Following the cries of the black-armored knight as a signal to attack, the six riders galloped forward together.The two people driving the carriage at the back took out the loaded crossbow directly from the cargo box on the back, and started shooting at Meng Kuang to cover the charging partners in front.

Taking advantage of their first arrow, Meng Kuang fired the crossbow/arrow first. With her superb technique, with a flick of the crossbow, three crossbow/arrows flew out, one missed, and the other two hit two horses. One of the galloping knights directly hit the face of the man, who immediately fell off the horse with a scream, and the other hit the shoulder of another man, failing to affect his charge.

Before she could get a new arrow in time, Meng Kuang jumped off the carriage with a backflip. When she rolled over from the carriage, two arrows from the enemy flew by her side, almost getting hit.

After Meng Kuang jumped off the carriage, he directly threw the crossbow in his hand and hit a knight approaching on a horse with great precision. The knight was hit in the face and fell off his horse. , If the dragon bites, it pokes and picks at the knight's throat, killing a person in an instant.Immediately after the sword returned to its sheath again, Meng Kuang's hands were as swift as lotus blossoms, and the hidden weapons in the weapon package scattered out, and she threw them out with extremely precise techniques, without hitting anyone, and directly aimed at a bigger horse.The two horses were hit by her hidden weapon, neighing and raising their hooves, knocking the riders to the ground.And Meng Kuang was forced to roll over to the side to avoid the arrows shot from behind the enemy.The arrow hit the carriage, and the sound of metal hitting the wood made everyone in the carriage crouch with their heads in their hands. The atmosphere was extremely tense, and their minds went blank.

Just when Meng Kuang gave way to the arrows and was about to continue to deal with these uninvited guests, Guo Dayou's miserable cry suddenly came from ahead. A knight long lance hits and knocks off his horse.The black-armored knight ignored Guo Dayou, who had fallen from his horse, and rode straight towards the carriage.

No, I have to escape!Meng Kuang immediately jumped onto the shaft of the chariot, pulled the reins hard, and drove the chariot diagonally to avoid the charge of the black-armored knight, and broke through.