Opposite the entrance hall

After a while of rain, there was a sudden gust of wind, and the branches and flags were whistling. In the dark night, it looked like a monster with teeth and claws, which was terrifying.

A group of people came from the front of the city tower, hurried but very quiet, no one in the team spoke, except for the clatter of horseshoes, there was the sound of heavy rain beating the ground, the horses strode, and after a while, they arrived at the city gate tower, and one after another Rein in the horse.

One of them drove his horse and took two steps forward. He raised his bamboo hat and it turned out to be the goatee Wang Zhigui. He took out his waist card and raised his head and shouted at the tower: "Quickly open the city gate."

The soldiers upstairs looked at each other in blank dismay, leaning out half of their bodies with their hands on the wall, and after taking a closer look, they exclaimed, "Pansi Wang."

Wang Zhigui glanced sideways at the three people behind him who could not be easily offended, wiped the rainwater off his face, and hurriedly ordered: "Outside are the three adults sent by Beijing Central to inspect, you open the city gate quickly, don't delay the important matter .”

Hearing this, several soldiers turned pale, and hurried downstairs to open the door in a panic.

The three of Ji Si exchanged a few pleasantries from the very beginning, and then they didn't say a word, with their bamboo hats pressed down very low, they sat upright on the horse and let Wang Zhigui arrange them.

With a creak, the city gate in front of you slowly opened a gap to both sides, and the gap became wider and wider, and then two people rushed out from inside, and fell to their knees before taking two steps. grown ups."

"Okay, okay, get out of the way quickly," Wang Zhigui didn't even bother to say anything extra to them, he just waved his hand, moved his horse aside and said with a flattering smile: "The governor is waiting in the mansion, three adults, please."

"It's time for the judge." Ji Si nodded and smiled, and took the lead to drive the horse, followed by everyone entering the city one after another.

It wasn't until the group of people walked away that the soldiers guarding the city gate closed the city gate again tremblingly rubbing their stiff fingers, shrank their heads inward, and stooped up to the tower.

"Why are there so many people from central Beijing these past few days?" the slightly shorter soldier asked with a sigh of relief.

"I don't know, maybe the emperor finally remembered to control the flood." Another soldier sighed, looked around casually, got closer, and said mysteriously: "I heard from my brother who is on an official in the eastern suburbs." Said, the eastern suburbs are dead."

"Dead?"

"Keep your voice down." The soldier who spoke hastily covered his mouth, looked around for a while, made sure that no one else noticed, then let go of his hand and lowered his voice, "It's about the day before yesterday."

Infected by his tone, the shorter soldier also lowered his voice, "Isn't the eastern suburbs allocated for the surrounding villagers to take refuge temporarily? Why are people dead?"

"I don't know, but the one who died was a beggar, and the bamboo mat was thrown on the mountain."

"Hey, what's the big deal for me? I'm just a beggar. There are so many beggars in Xiangzhou City. They'll die if they die. It's cold today. Let's go in."

The rest of the words melted into the wind, leaving only the whistling wind.

Ji Si raised his hand, pressed down the bamboo hat that was blown by the wind, and then turned his head to look at both sides of the main road.

Xiangzhou is located on a higher terrain, and the disaster situation is the least. Except that there are many fewer pedestrians on the streets, there are almost no problems. Every household has dug ditches, and the rainwater dripping from the eaves flows into the city along the ditches. In the moat, the sound of clattering was like a rushing brook.

It was Haishi when they entered the city, and the streets were even quieter. The watchman’s voice occasionally sounded in the distance, and the lanterns hanging on the corners of the eaves were glowing under the rain and fog, making people dizzy.

The governor's mansion was not far from the city gate, and they arrived in a short while. As soon as they got off their horses on their front feet, a servant came up to them holding an oil umbrella and led them in.

The Dou Mansion is not a big one, but it reveals the elegance of scholars everywhere. The eaves and pavilions are Han, the bamboo forests are criss-crossed, the moraine and gravel are trickling, and there are peaches in the east and plums in the west, all of which are beautiful.

A locust tree was planted next to the main hall, its luxuriant branches and leaves were big enough for three people to surround them, at this point, Ji Si stopped, Wang Zhigui frowned behind him and was about to come up to him, but he saw the man raised his leg and continued walking Walking forward, as if just stopping to take a breath.

When they entered the hall, a maid took off their wet coir raincoats and bamboo hats for them, and then served hot tea.

Wang Zhigui bowed his body, smiled at them and said, "The three lords wait for a while and have a sip of hot tea first, and the next official will go and inform the governor."

"It's hard work for the judge." Ji Si said politely.

"What is the duty of the lower official, what is the duty." Wang Zhigui wiped the rainwater from his forehead, softly ordered the servants to wait in the hall, then turned and trotted out.

After taking a sip of hot tea, the biting body frozen in the cold wind and rain gradually returned some warmth. Ji Si was not the kind of Qi Ran and Du Heng who could sit obediently. After putting down the teacup, he looked around.

The furnishings in this room are extremely simple, and the most eye-catching thing is actually a landscape painting hanging on the top of the main seat, which takes up most of the wall. If you look closely, it is neither a masterpiece nor a supernatural workmanship. All in all, it is mediocre .

"Someone is here." Qi Ran said softly with his eyes downcast.

Hearing this, Ji Si stopped looking around and sat down slowly. As soon as his body touched the chair, hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor outside the door. After a few sounds, two figures appeared at the door, and the person walking behind It was Wang Zhigui, and Dou Yuanliang was in front of him.

His temples are a little messy, his beard is mixed with white silk, and he is panting, as if he came running wildly all the way. After clearing out the three people in the house, he hastily straightened his hair crowns and flattened his skirts and stepped in. He walked up to the three of them and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, Dou Yuanliang, a sinner from Xiangzhou, has seen Mr. Minister Shaoqing."

Before the sound fell, both knees fell to the ground with a thud, and Wang Sansi behind him also knelt down with a thud.

This sudden development was somewhat surprising. Qi Ran raised his eyes and glanced. Du Heng still looked like he had nothing to do with his affairs, but Ji Si frowned, got up and gave Dou Yuanliang a little help, and said softly: "This is the case for Dou Cishi." What are you doing, please get up quickly, if you have anything to say, let's get up and talk."

Dou Yuanliang shook his head, took off Ji Si's hands on both sides of his body, bent down and nodded his forehead, and said in a sad tone, "In the case of the flood in Xiangzhou, the next official has three crimes. The first crime is that there is too much rain in early spring, and Xiangzhou is low-lying The mountains, forests, lakes and lakes are turbulent, and the officials know it but have no protection, which has caused such a situation; the second crime is that the floods did not find a solution in time, resulting in the displacement of Xiangzhou people, their wives and children, fertile fields flooded, and houses flooded. The third crime is that as a parent official in Xiangzhou, he should focus on the suffering of the people. The people suffer from this suffering, but the subordinate officials cannot empathize with them and suffer for them. Consciously accepting the teachings of the sages, being an official of the people, and being a minister of the Jin Dynasty, Mr. Minister, it is a crime to be an official, a crime!"

After the words were finished, he already had a crying voice, crying blood every word, which was moving.

Ji Si sighed, bent down again and helped him up, "Master Dou thinks of Xiangzhou in everything, always worrying about the people, never leaving his duty, what is the crime and what is the fault, this natural disaster is not caused by me It can be turned around, this situation is not what you and I want to see, the matter has come to this point, Master Dou, don't blame yourself."

"Lord servant," Dou Yuanliang raised his head with red eyes, and grabbed Ji Si's hands tightly with his backhand, as if grabbing a life-saving driftwood. Save Xiangzhou, save the people of Xiangzhou!"

"This..." Ji Si frowned, a little embarrassed.

Wang Zhigui behind him also had red eyes, and when he saw this, he hurried forward to support Dou Yuanliang, "Lord Governor, the adults are already tired from the long journey, why don't you let the adults rest first, and we can wait until tomorrow to talk about the flood." ah."

"It's my negligence," Dou Yuanliang straightened up, calmed down and said apologetically, "Your lords must have been very tired after traveling all the way. Your servants have already ordered your servants to prepare hot water to dry clothes, snacks and snacks. My lord, rest well first, as for the rest, we will talk about it tomorrow."

"There is Lao Dou's assassin." Qi Ran nodded slightly.

"Master Qi is serious, but it is because of the matter in Xiangzhou that Mr. Qi is on this trip, Wang Sansi led several adults back to the room to rest."

"Yes."

Coming out of the main hall of the Dou Mansion, Wang Zhigui took the three of them to the guest room. The guest room is on the west side of the Dou Mansion. A row of plum trees were planted along the road. Ji Si glanced at it and joked with a smile, "It seems that the governor's mansion is open." A fruit grove, which belongs to peach trees and plum trees."

Wang Zhigui looked in the direction he was pointing and smiled, "Lord Inspector likes to play with flowers and trees on weekdays, saying that it can cultivate one's character and cultivate patience."

"So that's what happened," Ji Si continued, squinting his eyes, "I don't know how long we have to go?"

"It's just ahead," Wang Zhigui said, and it was true that he was just around the corner.

He stood aside and said in a respectful tone, "It's getting late, and I won't bother the adults to rest. The maids are outside, and the adults can tell them everything they need. The adults are good to rest, and the officials will leave first."

It took more than half an hour for Qi Ran to take a bath and wash up. In order to get to Xiangzhou earlier these days, he had to travel day and night, even if he couldn't take it anymore. When a person is soaked in hot water, he finds that the muscles all over his body are sore, and his limbs cannot lift a little strength. A little effort will cause the muscles and bones to pull and hurt the skin.

His black hair spread out on his shoulders, and the ends of his hair were soaked and curly. After thinking about it, he sat at the table and held a cup of hot tea in his hand.

The tea was boiling hot, and the temperature of the white porcelain cup scorched his fingers, dispelling the coolness all over his body, so he simply picked up his saber and wiped it carefully.

The rain outside the house gradually subsided, leaving only the sound of drizzling. At this time, some rustling noises sounded outside the window. The noise was not loud, but the advantage was that Qi Ran had a lot of internal strength, so he could hear it naturally.

Qi Ran frowned and was a little puzzled, but he still got up and walked to the window unhurriedly, pulled the window sill abruptly, and as expected saw Ji Buyan squatting on his window sill.

Mr. Ji slowly got up and stood in front of Qi Ran. He also looked like he was about to go to bed. He wore a white jacket and a cotton autumn jacket of the same color over his head. His usually neatly tied hair was casually scattered behind him. Waist up, the night wind blows and blows in all directions, carrying a faint fragrance.

White clothes and black hair, meeting in the rainy night, Ji Si's appearance is a bit evil, said this scene is more charming and less serious, just like the middle of the night private meeting of scholars in the storybook to go to Wushan Yunyu together The charm of the mountains.

Jingmei tilted her head and grinned, "Ziheng hasn't rested yet."

It's a pity that this scholar is ignorant, he glanced up and down at him, and just asked coldly: "What's the matter?"

"Yeah." Ji Si nodded.

Qi Ran didn't answer, but turned around and went back to the room to continue wiping the sword.

Ji Si smiled, turned over and jumped into the room with his hands on the window sill, and finally closed the window, straightened his coat, sat down and poured a cup of hot tea, and drank it in one gulp. The warmth spread from his throat He wrapped his coat tightly, looked sideways at the person beside him and said softly, "Walk around if you can't sleep, it's a coincidence that you met Ziheng and didn't go to bed."

Seeing that Qi Ran didn't pay attention to him, Ji Si didn't mind pouring a cup of hot tea and continued: "This is the first time I've come to Xiangzhou, I never thought it would be so cold here, the early spring is as biting as the early winter."

Qi Ran remained silent, Ji Si thoughtfully changed the subject, "It's a pity that there is no wine and no moon, otherwise we can have a drink or two with Ziheng. I heard that Longxi Pizhou Qianrichun tastes very good, but I don't know that Xiangzhou has It’s not for sale, this Thousand Days of Spring is incredible, it’s brewed with ten kinds of flowers with dew in early spring, when the wine is sealed and opened, it’s fragrant and mellow..."

Hearing his rambling voice, Qi Ran stopped his movements, and suddenly remembered that there was a person who was also talking about Qian Richun in Pizhou in his ear, and before he finished speaking, he himself started to talk. I swallowed my saliva and was so hungry.

"Master Ji," Qi Ran interrupted him as he shoved the sword back into the scabbard with downcast eyes, "It's getting late now, if you have nothing important to discuss with the lower officials, you might as well go back to your room to rest earlier."

"Ah?" Ji Si was taken aback, and was invited out before he could react.

He stood outside the corridor and listened to the movement in the room gradually disappearing. The flickering candle danced a few times and finally returned to darkness. Ji Si glanced sideways and smiled with the corners of his lips curled up before rubbing his stiff body. back to the house.

Ji Si walked very slowly, his steps were a little bumpy, but the expression on his face was rarely happy. He felt that he was really not a good person, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe him as shameless and deliberate. Taifu Fang said it well: The little prince Xu is Because of being raised in Shuzhou, he is rebellious under his gentle appearance, and he will desperately want anything he wants.

That's what he is, if he wants Qi Ziheng, he will try his best to get it.

Whether obsession or greed.

To him, Qi Ziheng is like winter leaving in time, spring coming early, the world is uncertain, and it is difficult for others to understand.

The author has something to say:

small theater:

Cute reader: [Shocked face] Is there something wrong with my eyesight?How did I see Thirteen was updated!

Handsome author: [Crossing the hips] It drives me crazy!

Reader cutie: [Shocked face] Did the missing persons figure it out!

Handsome author: Uh huh! 【Proud】

Reader cutie: [shakes shoulders wildly] Jiageng, [-]D, candy!I want to watch Qi Jinuan drive online!

[System prompt: You dialed an empty number, please dial again next year]

Reader cutie: ...

ps: I always update the code now, and I didn't have time to check the typo. Anyway, you are all used to it...

I didn't save the manuscript, and I tried to update it every day when the code reached [-], and the next day when the code was less than [-]. The third son is too difficult to write, it's not that I am too slow, I will review it!