Beauty is sick

Huaizhou City has a long history, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and is well known as a land of rich fish and rice.

Following the original orientation of the city, the Huai River runs through the entire city, crosses the long street with a horse, and reaches the bank of the Shili River. A small bridge is built on the river at a certain distance, and the Huai River is surging, and the two banks spread out like daytime lanterns.

During the period, there were two or three boats, and the sound of silk and bamboo blew the wind and snow, melting away the coldness accumulated in the whole city.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, avoid breaking the ground for burial.

Years ago, the magistrate suddenly ordered to repair the Huaishui bridge embankment. This was a work that should have started a long time ago.

At the end of the year, no workers could be found, so all the yamen servants had to go to battle by themselves. The year was not good, and the repairs were not finished until yesterday. There was still a little finishing work on the bridge piers. Wait until the festival is over before continuing.

The soil and engineering along the coast were turned, and the horse passed the bank of the Huai River all the way, and some muddy traces could still be seen on the horse's hoof.

Walking to an inn on the south bank of the Huai River, Pei Zhe greeted Yun Wuyang and Zhong Limei to get off their horses. This place is also used as a place to look at things. He handed over the horses to the guy next to him, and lifted his cloak with his hands, feeling a little strange. The light shines from the waist.

After accepting the three copper coins that Pei Zhe paid, the clerk squinted his eyes and probed to see what was hanging on his waist. Suddenly, his forehead was blocked, and when he looked up, it turned out to be an extremely ordinary folding fan.

Pei folded his cloak, turned his wrist dexterously, and knocked the folding fan gently on the shoulder of the guy: "What are you looking at?"

The guy's face changed suddenly, and he covered his shoulders and said "Ouch": "Young master offended you, you have a lot of them, don't blame me."

Yun Wuyang pushed and shoved the buddy, and said viciously: "If you dare to look around, your eyes will be gouged out!"

The guy was shaking like chaff, shrunk his neck and stepped back, looking at the three people in front of him with increasingly frightened eyes.

Pei Zhe stared at him for a while, lost interest: "Come on, I don't think these eyeballs are very good, let's go and find a good one."

Zhongli Wenyan's face immediately changed, he followed Pei Zhe subconsciously, and only realized after walking a certain distance, with a complicated expression, he moved away from the master and servant.

He thought that his unnoticed movements had not escaped Yun Wuyang's eyes, the young man chuckled: "Are you scared?"

Pei Zhe pretended to be surprised, and jokingly said, "Mr. Zhongli is so timid, how dare he stay in the same room with the hanged magistrate?"

Zhong Limei: "..."

Now I'm calling Mr. Zhongli again, why didn't I say that when I took off the prefect's shoes?

The rumors were really unbelievable, Zhong Limo secretly slandered, how could this young teacher in front of him have the integrity and etiquette in the legend?He was indeed a little shocked at the gouging of the eyes just now, but after a while, he realized that the two master and servant were trying to scare people.

He rolled his eyes in his heart, with a calm face: "Your Excellency is joking, the grass people are just intimidated by Your Excellency...unconventional style."

Pei Zhe heard that there was something in his words, but deliberately misinterpreted: "Mr. is absurd."

Zhong Limei: "..." This is really not a compliment.

The tip of Pei Zhe's nose twitched, his eyes deepened as he looked at Zhongli Mo, and he said quietly: "Mr. Zhongli's fragrance is not bad."

Zhong Limei didn't react: "What kind of fragrance?"

Pei Zhe didn't say any more, he glanced at him meaningfully, turned and left.

Zhong Limei: "???"

Walking forward for a certain distance, you can see the long street with a ten-mile night banquet. The long street is adjacent to the Huai River, and there are crowds of onlookers on both sides. There are painted boats on the Huai River, and some people are playing songs. applause.

The melody was melodious, and Pei Zhe was not in the mood to listen. He chose the seat with the largest crowd, and squeezed in as if he had sharpened his head, without the slightest aura of a scholar.

Behind him, Yun Wuyang explained to Zhong Limo about the guy in a low voice: "Master Cai was just trying to test that guy, and he leaned on him for no reason, I don't know what he was thinking."

Zhong Limu didn't understand these twists and turns, seeing that he spoke cautiously, he also raised his breath, held his breath, and asked: "Then what did you find out?"

Yun Wuyang shrugged nonchalantly: "It's someone who doesn't know martial arts, so that reaction doesn't seem fake, so there shouldn't be any problem."

Surrounded by the crowd, it turned out to be an extraordinarily large gold-painted painting boat, with lanterns placed all around it. The dim red light was like a circle of gorgeous and charming fire. It burned a big hole in the dark night of the Huai River, and the sound of pipa slowly flowed out. , the player who played it was highly skilled, and it seemed that big and small beads were falling into the calm water one after another, only waiting for a high-profile return.

The tune was an old song that was sung badly, Pei Zhe hummed a few words along with the sound of the pipa, and shouted to Yun Wuyang and the two through the crowd: "Here, you two hurry up."

His young master's patience was limited, Yun Wuyang didn't dare to delay, he grabbed Zhong Limo who was pacing slowly and squeezed in.

The neighing of the horse was covered by cheers, and the leafless branches in the corner cast a mottled shadow. The man bowed, staring at a piece of gold thread on the brocade in front of him, and said, "He is bringing two people with him. The smell of blood, I didn’t see clearly what was hanging on my waist, but I did take a folding fan, it hurts to beat someone, and they said they were going to gouge someone’s eyes.”

That section of golden thread moved as he walked, like a golden dragon, cruising in the dark night, leaving only a cold smile of drinking ice and snow: "More rewards."

Weaving brocade withdrew from sight, and the man in black threw a bag of silver into the clerk's arms, and said: "Leave tomorrow, the farther you go, the better."

The guy was dumbfounded, and his heart felt cold. When he looked up, the person in front of him had long disappeared. He hugged the money bag in his arms tightly in the empty night, and slowly calmed down.

Pei Zhefei pushed his way to the shore with all his strength, and as soon as he glanced at it, the lanterns on the boat went out one after another. dark.

In an instant, before the exclamation came out, a burst of fireworks suddenly rose from the boat, illuminating the surroundings brightly, and the sound of the pipa suddenly rose, as if a mountain rain was about to come.

A man dressed in black came out of the boat, stood beside the fireworks, and said loudly: "Shangyuan Banquet, get up."

Yinggeyanyanwu, gongs and drums resonate in the sky, and it is lively and jubilant.

Pei Zhe's forehead twitched, his ears rang from the sudden sound of gongs and drums, and the people around him were still jostling around, which gave him a headache, and he kept cursing in his heart while holding his folding fan.

It wasn't a whim that he came here to participate in the Shangyuan Banquet, and what he said to Zhong Limei before was not a lie, he was indeed invited to play a game of chess.

It's just that the man was crazy, he acted recklessly and boldly, kidnapped His Royal Highness, and left behind a blood-stained chess piece and a letter, which only invited him to the Shangyuan Banquet, and didn't mention anything else.

Naturally, Pei Zhe was not willing to follow the other party's wishes, so he went with Lin Jingkong to the magistrate's residence, but as soon as he saw the wide open door and the panic-stricken Zhong Limei, he had a vague guess in his heart, The other party may have figured out his temper long ago, and even cut off his retreat completely.

The magistrate is not a good thing. Normally, Pei Zhe would clap his hands and laugh and say "retribution", but the magistrate died tonight and the prince disappeared. Since he is in Huaizhou City, he must find out the truth of the case and everything They all rushed together, and he was detained in Huaizhou City, and he was bound to go to the Shangyuan Night Banquet.

The person who killed the magistrate is inseparable from the person who kidnapped the prince and left the letter. The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. Now it is still unclear what the other party is going to do. Pei Zhe lowered his eyes, but he was not too worried. Seeing He had been skeptical about that chess piece, until Zhong Limo's appearance made him even more sure that the people behind the scenes wanted to use his hand to stir up the situation.

That being the case, His Highness the Crown Prince's life will not be in danger for the time being. Pei Zhe, in addition to the boredom of being led by the nose, has a subtle eagerness to try. He is looking forward to some difficult chess games that the other party will set up for him.

But now he has too little information, and almost all of them are deliberately done by the other party. From chess pieces to Zhong Limei, they seem to be irrelevant, but they are also vaguely connected, which is obviously strange.

On the surface, Zhong Limei was a scapegoat calculated by the other party, but his existence was really superfluous. Pei Zhe knew in his heart that there must be something special about this person.However, Zhong Limo was too suspicious, even concealing the identity of the scholar from him. The previous temptations had been overwhelmed, and the scapegoat would definitely not easily reveal what he concealed.

Pei Zhe was thinking about how to pry Zhong Limo's mouth open when he suddenly heard an exclamation followed by screams.

The fireworks on the painting boat illuminated the river, and the crimson blood rippled in circles. Something floated up from the bottom of the water, with a nose and eyes, which looked like a soaked human face.

"There is blood, there is blood!"

"There are corpses in the water, dead people!"

……

There were two shouts out of nowhere, and the stunned people came back to their senses instantly. The singing of the kabuki on the boat changed its tune. The last second it was still a melodious song, but in the next second it turned into a mournful cry. One side landed on the shore, and a group of people ran to the shore in fright.

The night wind swayed the beaded curtains on the painting boat. Pei Zhe was squinting at the things floating in the water, but he was caught off guard by the person behind the beaded curtains and his heart trembled.

It was a face that looked dull even if it was described with so many praise words, the outline was deep and the expression was indifferent, and the glowing fire was flickering. The more hazy it was, the more unforgettable it was.

After that, Pei Zhe thought about it several times, and felt that the palpitations at that moment were too vague, as if he... imagined it.

After a glance, he and the man met their gazes, and the other party smiled, and the cold feeling mixed with the wind and dew of mountains and rivers immediately melted away, as if the water in spring was full, and the leaves in autumn turned green.

What I said to Lin Jingkong earlier about "a date with a beautiful woman" was just a joke, because the letter left by the person behind the scenes had a lingering cold plum fragrance, which made him blurt out in a trance.

But I never thought it would become a prophecy, I really met a "beautiful woman" tonight.

The things floating up from the water could not be seen clearly on the shore, so Pei Zhe made an excuse for himself, with his toes pointing, he stepped on the rocks on the shore and jumped towards the painting boat, such a beautiful woman, it will not be a pity for a while.

Yun Wuyang and Zhong Limo took a step slower, and as soon as they squeezed against the crowd to the shore, they saw a corner of a cloak flying in the air, with long hair stretched out, and the robes wrapped in the cloak dancing wildly in the wind.

When Pei Zhe was about to fall on the painting boat, the ignited fireworks exploded suddenly. The fireworks were made of charcoal and a small amount of fire/powder. The temperature was high. Although it was not fatal, it was also lethal enough to burn the skin.

Yun Wuyang's eyes were shattered, and he wanted to jump down after Pei Zhe, but was dragged back by Zhong Limei, who was reacting next to him, holding his waist and dragging him back. His outstretched hand caught nothing, and he could only watch Pei Zhe Hit a large splash of coals.

"Son—"

The author has something to say:

In this chapter, show your face first, you will be a "beautiful woman", and the road will be long and difficult.