Brocade tears

Luo Daochang's appearance completely confirmed Meng Kuang's previous conjecture. He had indeed been following them all the time, and had tried to send them a message by using the anti-cut code.However, because of this unexpected incident, Guo Dayou separated from them, so there is no need to use the anti-cut code to send messages secretly, and he can take this opportunity to meet them directly.

Not much gossip, Daoist Luo did not give any explanation, and directly instructed them how to leave this place:

"Come up, let's go around to the other side of the gate. I just went to check. There is a sampan there. Let's get on the boat and enter the city along the river."

Following his instructions, the crowd immediately climbed out of the tunnel at the gate, and when they came up, they were on the embankment along the lake. Not far from them, there were immediately pursuers galloping past.They immediately crouched on the slope at the edge of the embankment, avoiding the sight of the searchers.When this wave of raids passed, everyone immediately got up under the leadership of Daoist Luo, ran up the embankment, and ran to the other side of the gate.

Surprisingly, they went down the maintenance ladder to the other side of the culvert, and saw a sampan docked here, probably because the people in charge of rivers and lakes came here every day to salvage water, weeds and sundries. The boat used.Everyone boarded the boat together, and the boat was punted by Luo Daochang, who was familiar with water, and sailed along the river all the way.

The Wumiao Gate connects the Qinhuai River and Xuanwu Lake. The river they are entering now is a man-made channel diverted from the Qinhuai River, called the Pearl River.Along this river all the way south, you can reach the northern section of the Qinhuai River in the city.This river channel is very convenient, but the only drawback is that they have to pass through a sluice. The Wumiao sluice can still be entered by bypassing the embankment above, and what they will face next is a sluice under the city wall. The channel sluice is closed, the gate is a heavy iron gate, and the underwater culvert is sealed with stones. It is designed to prevent the enemy's water ghosts, so it is impossible to pass through.

But Daoist Luo seemed to be very familiar with the city walls of Nanjing City. He stopped the boat at the sealed gate, told everyone to go ashore immediately, and then headed north along a corridor under the city walls.Everyone was very surprised that there is actually a corridor under the city wall, but this corridor is very narrow, both in height and width, it is only enough for one person to pass, and it keeps going up, the deeper the slope, the steeper it is, and it is dark and damp inside, and the bottom of the foot It slipped and it was very difficult to walk.Luo Daochang explained simply:

"This is the troop transport path in the city wall. After climbing up, it will lead to the hiding cave inside the city wall. It is convenient for soldiers to slide down directly from the troop cave. Only the gate has this kind of troop transport path to prevent enemy troops from entering. When attacking the sluice, troops can be sent in time to increase the number of troops. There are only subordinates but not superiors, and it will be more difficult to climb up after a while."

Daoist Luo was right, they soon ran into difficulties.The last section of the slope is too steep, and it is impossible to climb up without external force. Although Luo Daochang is old, his hands and feet are extremely agile. He pulled a rope down and let everyone climb up along the rope.Meng Kuang's right arm was strained and he couldn't use his strength, so he could only join forces with Lu Jingshi to build a ladder, and send a few women who had no strength to go up first.After sending all the women up, Lu Jingshi climbed up first, and finally Meng Kuang grasped the rope with his left hand, pedaled with both feet to borrow strength, and Daoist Luo, Lu Jingshi and others worked together to drag her up.

After coming up, it turned out to be a long, narrow and dark cave for Tibetan soldiers. There was no one in it. There was an iron door at the entrance of the cave for Tibetan soldiers. He was sealed in this cave and couldn't get out.

"Don't worry, someone will come to open the door in a while." Daoist Luo said while blowing on the torch and lighting the high brazier in the cave for illumination.

The dark cave of Tibetan soldiers was lit up, and the figure of the long-lost Daoist Luo also appeared in front of everyone.Just like the simple and vicissitudes of the farmer's face nine years ago, Luo Daochang has hardly changed in recent years, except for a few white strands in his sideburns and beard.He was of medium build and not tall, but he had a peculiar reassuring aura about him. When everyone saw him, the uneasiness and fear in their hearts dissipated somehow.

This is a rare moment of rest. Everyone sat on the ground, cuddling each other to keep warm.As soon as I relaxed, the pain and exhaustion all over my body hit like a tide, everyone was a little downcast, and no one spoke.In the end, it was Meng Kuang who asked, "Master Daoist, what's going on? Do you have support in the city?"

"It's your second brother who knows someone who can meet us, so we can come in." Luo Daochang said.

"Second brother, is he really with you? Where is he now?" Meng Kuang asked excitedly, not only her, but after learning that the second brother was walking with Daoist Luo, Meng Yan and Bai Yuyin were also in a constant state of confusion. Amidst the excitement and joy, they cast attention.

"He is currently in the inn outside the Shence Gate. Tomorrow when the city gate opens, he will pretend to be a merchant and enter the city normally. I came to pick you up alone. He is weak and cannot move with him. I did not Let him follow. Don't worry, I have already made an appointment with him, and tomorrow we will meet in the courtyard on the east side of Chengxian Street."

"It turned out to be there." Bai Yuyin couldn't help saying, feeling everyone's doubts, she immediately explained, "He arranged for me to live in that quiet courtyard on the east side of Chengxian Street back then. I didn't expect so many years to pass Yes, the small courtyard is still there."

Daoist Luo glanced at Bai Yuyin. Although he had never met Bai Yuyin, he had already heard about this oiran when he was in Beijing. On the way with Meng Kuang and others, Second Brother Meng also asked He had pointed out Bai Yuyin's identity and her relationship with Second Brother Meng, so he knew her.Daoist Luo replied:

"Of course it's still there. It's always been a property under Evergreen's name. It's just that the yard has been abandoned for many years since you left."

Bai Yuyin couldn't help bowing her head and was speechless, tears appearing on her face.Daoist Luo said reassuringly: "It's okay, it's a great fate that you can finally meet again now. Evergreen never blamed you at all, he has always blamed himself for not being able to take good care of you."

"Evergreen" is the word of the second brother. Now he has changed his name to Meng Zixiu, and the character has not changed, because it was reserved for him by his teacher Mr. Liang in the early years.Before Mr. Liang left, he specially sealed the written note in the kit, and asked his second brother and Guanhou to open it. After the second brother left Beijing, he took the kit with him.He was crowned when he was a guest in Fenghua, Zhejiang, the hometown of the Meng family. Later, he wrote a letter back to Beijing, telling his two younger sisters his own words, and specifically mentioned that he held the crowning ceremony alone in the ancestral hall left at home. .It's just that when the second elder brother rescued Bai Yuyin back then, he hadn't reached the crown yet, and Bai Yuyin didn't know his words, and it took him a moment to realize that "Evergreen" refers to Mencius Xiu.

"Master, you went back to Beijing with your second brother, and then you followed us to the south." Meng Yan said.

Daoist Luo nodded and said, "That's right, Evergreen and I arrived outside Beijing on the third day of April, when the middle of Beijing was already blocked. It just so happened that the officials and businessmen we met when we went north along the canal had connections to Beijing and were capable Bring the news out of the city. We entrusted him to go to Beijing to inquire about the news. Later, we learned that there were spies in the city and Li Rusong's expedition on April [-]th. I was able to wait for you. I didn’t expect it to be true to his words. We saw you boarding the boat at the pier that day. I still don’t know how he figured out that you would come out of the city. On the first night at the pier of Tonghui River, we After sending you a signal with a light, he told me not to send any more signals, but to follow all the way silently. When I came to the outside of Nanjing, he said that you might be blocked, and asked me to respond secretly near the Taiping Gate, and then I Watching your carriage fall into the lake outside the Taiping Gate, this kid is really clever."

Daoist Luo may have been surprised by Mencius Xiu's magic calculation all the way, but now he tells it with full admiration.

"Then where did you find the second brother before?" Meng Yan asked again.

"It's in Nanjing. Your second brother wrote to you last year to tell you that he will leave Nanjing to go north in the near future. But he failed to make the trip. In October last year, the Nanjing Ministry of Officials came to a new head of the Seal Inspection Department, named An Xifan. Your second brother seemed to be very interested in him, so he stayed. After that, he visited An Xifan, communicated with him, and became a close friend. Until March this spring, your second brother never left. I arrived in Nanjing in February and found him soon," Daochang Luo said.

"Then why didn't you send us a letter to tell us that we were worried for nothing?" Meng Kuang showed dissatisfaction.

Daoist Luo said helplessly: "Oh, your second brother has other plans and won't let me report the letter. Since he met An Xifan at the end of last year, he has always thought that there may be a risk of being intercepted when he goes to Beijing. As for why he He didn’t tell me, so we never wrote. He was also afraid that you would be worried if he didn’t write for a long time, so we set off northward in March and planned to go to Beijing to find you. Who knew that the situation changed suddenly when we arrived in Beijing in early April, and it was in vain. After going around in a circle, I went back to Nanjing."

Meng Kuang thought that his second brother was far-sighted, thoughtful, and extremely cautious. He did not tell the two sisters about many things in these years. When he mentioned his experience in the letter, he always mentioned it in a few words, vague and vague, and it was just a report. safe.And whether he found out who the culprit who killed his father and brother was, the sisters didn't know at all.I haven't seen him for many years, and I don't know what is going on with him now, maybe he has become an appearance that I can't recognize.Thinking of meeting again soon, Meng Kuang was excited, but at the same time felt a little unspeakable anxiety.

As for what the second brother knows and what he is planning, we can only ask after seeing him.

"This girl is... I look familiar." Just as Meng Kuang was thinking, Daoist Luo suddenly said something, looking at Sui'er with a confused expression.

Only then did Meng Kuang realize that he had forgotten to introduce Sui'er to Daoist Luo. When Daoist Luo left Beijing, Sui'er hadn't left the palace yet. The two of them hadn't met each other since nine years ago. Daoist Luo Chang's memory of Sui'er is also very vague.It's just that Sui'er's appearance is very special, which left a little impression on him.

"Daoist, you forgot. I took her to your clinic nine years ago, in Lingji Palace. She is the girl my father rescued from prison back then, Li Sui'er. Sui'er, you Remember Daoist."

Sui'er smiled and said: "Of course, I never dare to forget the Taoist priest's life-saving grace. You also treated me for my illness back then, it's really kind to see you again now."

"It turned out to be that little girl!" Luo Daochang slapped his thigh and laughed out loud, "Oh, what a girl! I almost didn't recognize her, she's so beautiful."

Sui'er was a little embarrassed, right now she was drenched all over, her lower body was almost covered with mud, she was in a mess, fortunately Daoist Luo praised her for being beautiful.

Meng Kuang then introduced Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer to Daoist Luo, and described their relationship with Sui'er.Because of the long waiting time, she took this opportunity to talk about Sui'er's experience in the palace these years, the process of her reunion with Sui'er, the process of getting acquainted with Bai Yuyin, and what they have experienced in Beijing these days Come.When Luo Daochang heard it, he couldn't help but sigh.

This conversation lasted for a long time, but no one came to open the iron gate of the cave. Han Jiaer became a little anxious and asked, "Why hasn't anyone come yet?"

Daoist Luo said: "Don't worry, wait a little longer. The man will wait until early in the morning, taking advantage of the interval between defense changes. The man is a general of Nanjing Jingying's rotating city defense, surnamed Feng. Evergreen returned to Nanjing in the past two years. , has been working as a teacher, and the children of Mr. Feng's family study with Changrong, and they have a close relationship. He is guarding the Shence Gate, not far from here, and he knows the structure of the city wall here at Wumiao Gate. I am also with Changrong. After Rong found him first at the Shence Gate, he pointed us to a secret passage into the city, in case you were blocked outside the city and couldn’t get in. It was he who told us that there are a lot of people stationed at Yangmen and Taipingmen today. Change. Evergreen predicts that you will not be able to enter the city today. I want me to prevent you from entering the city through the two gates of Chaoyang and Taiping. After I received you, I took you and hid in this soldier cave and waited, and when we changed defenses in the early morning, he would take advantage of the emptiness and come over and open this iron gate to welcome us into the city."

I don't know the time or how long it has been in this cave, when everyone finally heard the movement outside, someone was unlocking the iron door.Meng Kuang became nervous and asked everyone to hide behind her. She held the handle of the dagger on guard, ready to strike fatally at any time.

Fortunately, the person who opened the door was indeed General Feng whom Daoist Luo knew. Meng Kuang put away his hostility, but was still secretly vigilant, not daring to trust others completely.Na Feng is not tall, with a big belly, looks very ordinary, only the big beard on his face is very eye-catching.He didn't say much, and waved directly, asking everyone to follow him.

They followed the horse racing path of the city wall all the way down to the urn city inside the city wall, and then walked out of the urn city along the urn city gate very smoothly.They didn't meet a single soldier defending the city along the way, and they didn't know whether to be lucky or disappointed that the defense was lax.

Once out of the Wengcheng, it officially entered the inner city of Nanjing.The place they were going to was Chengxian Street, which was not too far from the Wumiao gate, and it took about two quarters of an hour to walk there.It's just that it's still curfew time, and there are soldiers patrolling the night in the city. They still need to be careful, and they have to bypass the main road, which will take more time.

Mr. Feng was very generous and escorted them all the way to Chengxian Street. Fortunately, he didn't encounter any night watchmen on the way.After being sent to the abandoned small courtyard, Feng bowed his hand to bid farewell to everyone. He had to go back to the Shence Gate, and wait for the gate to open before welcoming Mencius Xiu from outside the city into the city.

After watching Mr. Feng leave, Daoist Luo took out the key of the small courtyard door lock from his pocket, opened the door, and led everyone into the courtyard.Meng Kuang glanced at the pale sky, only to feel that the night was extremely long, but the bright light of the day brought joy in her heart that she had never felt in days.

The Meng family, who have been separated for a long time, are finally reuniting.