turmoil

The leader of Dongpu flew into a rage, and was about to spit out obscenities, when a hand suddenly stretched out from the slant, and grabbed his throat involuntarily.

Zhang Jingche turned around in surprise, only to see Yang Fan's smile was completely suppressed, and he stared at the leader of Dongpu with cold eyes: "Didn't you hear what he said? Say one more word, I will chop off one of your fingers, and chop off your toes after chopping off your fingers, and chop off your toes." It’s over, picking your ears and nose! When you become a human stick, I will plant you in the soil, water and fertilize you if you have nothing to do, maybe you can grow back!”

He winked, and the soldiers behind him stepped forward, pulled out a dagger from his waist, and nailed it in front of the leader of Dongpu.

The leader of Dongpu's face was slightly pale, and cold sweat began to break out on his back.

Yang Fan let go of his hand in a leisurely manner, and blinked at Zhang Jingche: "Okay, if you have any questions, you can ask them boldly."

Zhang Jingche had nothing to worry about at first, he used the scabbard of the dagger to support the chin of Dongying's leader, and asked slowly: "Dongying rogues have always only been active in the southeast coast, why did they come to Luzhou City?"

The leader of Dongying, Zhongyuan, spoke well. If his subordinates were not slowing down, he would not be able to see the flaws easily: "Dongying? What kind of Dongying people? I am a good citizen... Ladies and gentlemen, are you making a mistake?"

Zhang Jingche made a gesture, You Yunwei swarmed up and searched the whole body of the gangsters, but found nothing else, only a roll of blueprints was found on the leader of Dongpu.

Zhang Jingche unfolded the blueprint, and found that there was actually a sea chart drawn on it, with unknown small islands dotted all over, most of which were not marked on the official map of Great Yin.

Zhang Jingche raised his head suddenly, his eyes were serious: "What does this sea chart mean?"

The leader of Dongpu was still pretending to be stupid: "What? Oh, you mean this blueprint? I picked it up on the road. I think it was drawn by a merchant running a boat. It's not worth anything..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Jingche suddenly lifted the hem of his clothes, and squatted down in front of him, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were fierce: "I picked it up on the road? Is it because you have a bad brain, or do you think I have a bad brain?" make?"

The leader of Dongpu was stunned, and saw Zhang Jingche unhurriedly pulling out his dagger, and patted his face with the short blade radiating cold light: "The Central Plains speaks so fluently, I must have lived in Central Plains for a long time... you know What is 'harvesting and breaking branches'?"

The leader of Dongpu was bewildered.

"That's a trick used by the capital city to beat Hanako. Children from good families are abducted and let them beg and perform on the street. However, if they are blatantly commanding children, it will be bad if their parents recognize them. What should I do? Of course, it is to change the child's appearance." Zhang Jingche said leisurely, "I heard that there is a way to pour boiling water on a child, wait for the skin and flesh to rot, and then stick dog skin and monkey skin on the body. The festering skin and flesh grow together, and become talking and moving monkey cubs, dog cubs, even if their biological parents stand in front of them, they may not recognize them."

The leader of Dongpu understood what he meant, and his eyes showed uncontrollable horror.

A bonfire was lit in the ruined temple, and a large pot with boiling water was set on top of the fire.Without Zhang Jingche's order, You Yunwei naturally scooped up boiling water and made a gesture to pour it on his head.

The leader of Dongpu was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Stop...don't, don't!"

Zhang Jingche said lightly: "It's okay to stop, but let me ask you, who sent you here? Why did you bother with the restaurant owner? What does this chart mean?"

The leader of Dongying showed slight hesitation, and Yang Fan had already interjected: "There are no monkeys, but there are many watchdogs that bite people. If you make up your mind not to speak, we can only ask you to change your skin."

The leader of Dongpu is not afraid of death, but if he is to beg in the street in the skin of an animal, it is really more terrible than death.He stared at the steaming ladle of boiling water, with bead-sized beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, and finally gave in.

When they came out of the ruined temple, Zhang Jingche and Yang Fan's expressions were not very good. Yang Fan stared at the roll of sea chart, as if he wanted to poke a hole with his eyes: "The Dongying people said that they didn't know that they were summoned behind the scenes. What is the origin of the people together, do you think this is credible?"

Zhang Jingche said, "Creditable."

Yang Fan raised his long eyebrows and looked at Zhang Jingche relentlessly. Zhang Tongzhi was stared at helplessly, so he had to explain: "The people behind this are very powerful, and the reason why they hired a group of Dongying people as thugs is because they don't want to get involved in this pool." Muddy Waters... will naturally try to hide their identity."

Yang Fan nodded thoughtfully, and said again: "He said just now that the island marked on the chart is where they gather. Judging from this scale, there may be 2000 people..."

His words paused, Zhang Jingche noticed something, and looked up: "Master Hou thinks that the people behind this are not small?"

Li Wenbin's deliberate concealment of the disaster situation in the south of the Yangtze River is nothing. There are deceptions and whitewashing of the peace everywhere. But on the one hand, he conceals the disaster situation and keeps the court from knowing it. It's really hard not to think about it.

"Jiangnan is Li Wenbin's territory. It's not easy to get past him and the people from Dongying. If you say he doesn't know anything, no fool will believe it!" Zhang Jingche mused, "He let this person... No, the bigger possibility is him You have colluded with this person for a long time, collude and stir up trouble, what is the reason for?"

The governor of Jiangnan is an out-and-out feudal official, relying on the height of the sky and the emperor's distance, he seems to have become the local emperor who dominates Jiangnan.If it is said that people in the world work hard and seek nothing more than "fame" and "profit", how much benefit does it take to make the high-ranking Jiangnan governor also be moved by it and follow this muddy water?

Yang Fan looked solemn, and suddenly said: "Ming Huang, I have to go and see for myself."

This is the proper meaning of the question. Zhang Jingche nodded first, but halfway through the nod, he suddenly froze: "You...what did you call me?"

Yang Fan was serious for only half a moment, then changed into a clunky smile, put his elbow on Zhang Jingche's shoulder, and said with a smile: "We are so familiar, we crossed the northern border together, and went down to the south of the Yangtze River together, I call It’s not surprising that you said your name, right?”

It is not surprising to call the table directly, but it is mostly a friend of the same generation, or an elder's name for a younger generation.Zhang Jingche thought that his identities were different, even though he had gotten acquainted with Marquis Dingbian a lot during the journey, it seemed... not so good?

"Although these Dongying people are not very popular, they are always a little worried when there are so many people gathered at once," Yang Fan said leisurely, "Although this Marquis has handed in the seal of command, he will always inherit the title of 'Marquis of Dingbian'... I plan to stay overnight Rush to Hangzhou, and go to sea from Zhejiang, can you do it alone?"

In Zhang Jingche's plan, there was no fixed border. Now that Yang Fan is leaving, it doesn't hurt him, but he is a little hesitant: "Then Hangzhou Mansion..."

Yang Fan said calmly: "Hangzhou Commander-in-Chief's father is my father's old department. He stayed in the Northwest for a while when he was a child, so he has some friendship with me."

Zhang Jingche nodded, opened his mouth to tell something, but felt that his mother-in-law was trivial, so he swallowed it hastily, and said concisely: "In that case, Master Hou, take care all the way."

Marquis Dingbian acted straightforwardly, saying that he wanted to leave, but he tidied up a little bit, and left with his soldiers before dawn.Zhang Jingche went back to the inn and sat alone under the lamp, thinking of something, he suddenly took out a jade pendant from his bosom.

The jade pendant was given to him by Yang Fan before he left. The material is the best suet jade, warm and delicate, without any blemishes.But this is not the key point, the important thing is that there is a chi tiger carved on the jade pendant, with a twisted body, shaped like a character "Ding" in seal script, which was left to Yang Fan by the old Marquis Ding before he left.

"This jade pendant is not a valuable item, but it was passed down by my grandfather, and it has been with my father for most of his life. It is like a token of the same line," Yang Fan said. However, most of the old men who followed my father recognized it, and if you encounter any trouble, you can take it to the local General Military Mansion, as long as you don’t make trouble, they will definitely give you a little sympathy.”

This kind of favor is not small, Zhang Jingche held the jade pendant, feeling that it was hot, and was a little at a loss for a moment - he didn't know why he was so favored by Marquis Dingbian because he was a rootless Jinyiwei, and he didn't know what to do. Knowing such a heavy favor, what should I use to repay it.

I can only stuff one more worry into my already full and overwhelmed heart.

After tossing and turning all night, in the early morning of the second day, Zhang Jingche rarely fell asleep, and when he woke up, the sun was already high.Zhang Tongzhi washed up briefly, took two personal guards to the street, strolled all the way, and turned into the small restaurant last night seemingly intentionally or unintentionally.

The restaurateur was a lame man, invisible when he was standing still, but he limped a little when he walked.According to him, he was injured in his early years, and he didn't pay attention to medical treatment, so the root cause of the disease fell.He didn't seem to know that he had just passed Suo Ming Luo Cha the night before, and with a beaming smile, he brought tea to Zhang Jingche and his party.

"What do you guys want to eat?" He greeted with a smile, "The shrimp noodles in this shop are excellent, do you guys want to try it?"

Zhang Jingche nodded with a smile. While filling his stomach with hot noodle soup, he chatted leisurely with the owner of the restaurant.But after a meal, the two got the right temper. Zhang Jingche ordered a pot of hot tea and poured a cup for the boss: "...Looking at your way of speaking, you don't look like ordinary civilians. I'm afraid you were born in the army?"

A gleam flashed in the boss's eyes, and he said with a smile, "What's wrong with being a soldier? It's just a meal!"

Zhang Jingche lowered his head and scanned his eyes, only to see a thick layer of calluses growing on the tiger's mouth of this man's right hand - similar calluses also existed on Dingbianhou's hand, which was left by dancing with swords all year round.

He smiled, and heard that the boss was being vague, so he didn't hold on to it, but changed the subject: "I heard that at the end of last year, there was a snowstorm in the south of the Yangtze River, and the spring was approaching, and several big rivers were flooded with peach blossoms, and the rivers were washed away. In the farmland, many people have become homeless refugees... When I went south this time, I wanted to find some refugees to work, but why didn't I even see a refugee when I traveled all the way?"

There was something in his words, the boss couldn't help but use his eyesight, looked at it carefully, and smiled sullenly: "What is a refugee? It's just the dirt and dust on the soles of noble people. It's unlucky to look at it twice... It's so shameful Where can I get the things on the table? Of course it is as deep as it is hidden!"

Zhang Jingche put down the tea bowl with a calm expression: "This is wrong! Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. If there is no such dirt and dust, how can the nobleman's golden body lotus stand be held steadily and sit at ease?"

He raised his head and met the owner of the restaurant with his eyes. The two exchanged hands quietly. The shopkeeper suddenly straightened up, and the crutch under his arm was heavily stamped on the ground.

This area is very remote, and it is neither early nor late, the restaurant is empty, only two men who look like mistresses sweep the floor and wipe the tables.The sound was neither light nor heavy, but Xiao Er was like a frightened bird, rushed to the door by surprise, and covered the door from the inside.Before You Yunwei could react, there was the sound of chaotic footsteps in the inner hall, and five or six tough men rushed out, holding shining weapons in their hands.

The two Youyun Guards remained calm, and pulled out their sabers with a "clang". One of them took out a wooden brown cylinder, and was about to unscrew the lid and throw it out of the window, but Zhang Jingche raised his hand to stop it.

"Seeing that these brothers are all from the Lian family, I'm afraid they are not the private soldiers raised by the shopkeeper?" Zhang Jingche said half jokingly and half seriously, "There are only a few gangs in Jiangnan, and the shopkeeper is from the Haichao Gang. friend?"

There are many fishermen in the south of the Yangtze River. These fishermen are often bullied by cruel government officials and green skins in the market. Here, the so-called "gangs" are nothing but a mob of violent criminals. The mob is not worth mentioning.

"Your Imperial Envoy really has good eyesight. The small shop is already hidden enough, but I didn't expect to be able to escape his eyes and ears!" The owner of the restaurant sneered, "I heard two days ago that the imperial envoy's boat encountered a storm on the canal, and unfortunately the ship sank. I was still thinking that no matter how courageous that dog official surnamed Li is, he wouldn’t be able to make his mind up on the imperial court’s imperial envoy, and now it seems that this was a trick of the imperial envoy to get rid of his shell!”

Zhang Jingche smiled good-temperedly: "I'm just kidding...Governor Li has hands and eyes all over the sky. I don't want to be watched by him. I can only make trouble and distract him."

There is a saying that "a strong dragon does not overwhelm a local snake", even if Zhang Jingche is an imperial envoy under the orders of the emperor, he may not be able to use his hands and feet when he reaches the border of the south of the Yangtze River.Rather than being led by the nose, it would be better to draw from the bottom of the pot. First, to avoid the sharp edge of the governor of Jiangnan. Second, an imperial envoy's ship had an accident at the border of Jiangnan. Even if he wanted to give an explanation to the court, Li Wenbin must find out the reason.He was busy looking for survivors, so naturally he couldn't take his hands off, so Zhang Jingche could buy more time to turn around and plan.

The restaurant owner figured out the key point, and looked at Zhang Jingche with an unusual look: "Master Imperial Envoy is not leaking, he really is very calculating!"

"It can't be compared to the head of the sect clan. He lives in the city and runs a noodle shop while doing the business of recruiting refugees." Zhang Jingche called out the identity of the owner of the broken noodle shop, and drank half a bowl of tea with his head down. But I don’t know that your actions in the dark have long been noticed by those with a heart.”

The head of the sect's eyes flickered, and he said vaguely: "What does the imperial envoy mean? I don't understand it."

Zhang Jingche smiled softly: "It's fine if you don't understand... It's just that last night, a few guests from Dongying came to visit and were stopped by my subordinates. The sect master wants to meet and listen to what they have to say by the way?"

The sect leader changed his face in horror: "What did you say?"

Zhang Jingche stood up, and took out a bamboo fracture fan from his overly wide sleeves: "I'm leaving now. If the sect leader wants to know the ins and outs, you might as well come along."

He said "Farewell", and he walked out non-stop for a moment, the waiter at the door wanted to stop him, but You Yunwei pushed him lightly, and he couldn't help but let him go aside.

The sect leader hesitated again and again, but still followed.