At the moment when the heavy gate of Wuchang City was closed, the wind that swept the ground blew up pieces of catkins and swirled around the horse's hooves. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info a group of four people and four horses passed through the bazaar under the city walls under the cover of night. The shops were closed one by one, and those who went home and those who invested in the shops looked for their own way, and the four merchants, dressed and wearing hats, walked forward unhurriedly, apparently with a clear destination, and soon disappeared into the corner of the street market.

Qiu Yinming turned around quickly when he turned the corner, and whispered to the petite figure behind him: "It's almost there, don't be afraid." Heng Zining reached out and held the brim of his hat, raised his eyes and nodded at him. Qiu Yinming and Gao Ye, who were walking behind her, Fang Tongbao exchanged glances, and no one noticed anything unusual.

After walking for half an hour, I finally stopped in front of a house. Qiu Yinming stepped forward and knocked on the door, and the other three looked around, there were a total of more than a dozen courtyards on this small street, and across the street was the back wall of the yamen of the political envoy of Hu Guangbu, the streets and alleys were narrow and dark, and there were no lights in several courtyards, which really didn't look like the mansions of officials. Gao Ye was curious, and quietly said to Fang Tongbao: "Why is it so lonely? Fang Tongbao replied with a smile: "This is a public residence given by the imperial court, and if the officials have money, who will live here." ”

As he was talking, the door opened, and a steward with a lantern came out, who seemed to recognize Qiu Yinming, and after a few words of greeting, he opened the door and welcomed the four of them inside.

Passing through the patio, before he walked to the hall, he heard the voice of people in the back hall, a man in a green robe took three steps and did two steps to carry the placket and walked out quickly, his eyebrows were raised, his joy was irrepressible, he stepped forward and held Qiu Yinming's hand, and sighed: "Chengxian!" I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing? After a closer look, he said, "Sure enough, I'm a lot haggard." Please come in, please come in! We've been waiting for you for days, oops......"

Qiu Yinming didn't have time to speak, so he was pulled into the hall by Dongfang Yan. Wu Wei and Dongfang Lin are also there. Wuwei looked concerned, and said as he walked forward: "Fortunately, I know the place of your Daye County, and I left a message, even the people of the Xihai Alliance can't find you, what happened?" In a blink of an eye, Gao Ye and the others walked into the hall one after another, and then looked at everyone's faces a little strangely, and they didn't know how to speak for a while, and cast an inquiring look at Qiu Yinming.

Dongfang Lin went around to the door and sent the steward who led the way: "The guests are late, there is nothing to entertain, go make a pot of tea first, and then heat some snacks." ”

Everyone took off their suits, and Qiu Yinming said to Dongfang Yan apologetically: "Come to the door in a hurry, don't want to go." It's been more than a year since I said goodbye to the capital, and I finally wanted to take the time to come for a while, but I unexpectedly got into trouble again. Respectfully, please bear with me. "Let's talk about the other three people to Dongfang Yan briefly, and then put aside everything for the time being, pick up the most important news, and first describe the current situation between Xihai Alliance and Chunlin Villa.

Dongfang Yan didn't know anything about the things on the rivers and lakes, and he didn't understand anything about it, but he was also shocked when he felt a chill down his spine, when he saw Qiu Yinming calmly and calmly talk about these bloody conflicts that were either life or death, his eyes frequently revealed doubts, and he used to write papers together, talk about the way to govern the world, sympathize with the people, and act elegantly. Seeing Wuwei and Dongfang Lin listening attentively, his heart was secretly fluctuating.

It turned out that Qiu Yinming suddenly brought these people to visit together, and there was indeed a reason for the incident.

Upon learning of the death of Hengjingzhao, the breath of surprise and grief enveloped Qingliuzhuang, and when the countermeasures had not yet been agreed, Lu Changqing's eldest disciple He Dacheng suddenly sneaked to report that he had met Chunlin Villa and his party near Wuchang Mansion, and met with his junior brother Wu Tonghai, and learned that the owner of Zhu Zhuang went back to Yiling with the seriously injured Zhang Tianyi first, and the old sect master was greatly annoyed by Qiu Yinming's hurtful departure, and sent Long Shao and others to look for him everywhere.

Hearing the news that Zhang Tianyi was not dead, Qiu Yinming was annoyed, but he was helpless, so he didn't think about him for the time being. Now the most reliable Xihai League is a group of people from the old leader of Xi'an Mansion, speculating on Huo Zhonghui's thoughts, and he must not have taken those elderly people too seriously, so he intended to fight Chunlin Villa first. No matter what he thinks, the most important thing at the moment is how to let Qi Mutian take Heng Zining back safely and stabilize the rear.

Time does not wait for people, and on the night he got the news, Qiu Yinming entrusted Ma Lian and Zhao Ying to take Guan Chihu and his wife to take Guan Chihu by waterway and set off for Shaanxi overnight, and be sure to send him back to the old man Guan and inform him of the situation. Originally, I wanted Gao Ye to take Heng Zining on the road together, but I was afraid that there would be too many people, so it was better to wait for Qi Mutian to go with him just in case. Worried that Qiu Yun and the others might be able to guess where this Qingliu Village was, Qiu Yinming decided to leave quickly, so he took the three of them into the city quietly the next day to find Dongfang Yan, in order to let Heng Zining take refuge temporarily. And Lu Changqing volunteered to go to the old sect master to deal with them, and he was so enthusiastic that Qiu Yinming felt a little unbearable, thinking that no matter whether he had other plans or not, he really had to remember his affection in the future.

At this time, he finished telling Dongfang Yan and the others all the things before and after, and said apologetically: "Forgive me for bringing the second lady here." Now that my father is bent on looking for me, I must find Mr. Qi first. As he spoke, he glanced at Dongfang Lin and asked, "I wonder if I can entrust the second lady for two days for the time being?" ”

Dongfang Lin had already noticed Heng Zining's pale and pitiful appearance, and immediately understood, and said, "It's okay, I'll take care of her." Brother Qiu rest assured. ”

Wuwei said: "I'll accompany you to find Mr. Qi." Seeing that Qiu Yinming did not refuse, he knew that the situation was critical, so he said: "I have already said before, you can find me if you have something." Where is Mr. Qi now, do you have eyebrows? ”

Gao Ye said: "When Mr. left, he said that he had sent a letter to the leader of the alliance and made an appointment to meet in Xiakou Town. Why don't we go there early tomorrow morning. If you count the days, it should have come a long time ago. But if there is no message, something has happened. He shook his head to himself, "No, no...... Huo Zhonghui's intentions are unknown to others. ”

Qiu Yinming thought for a while, raised his eyebrows and said: "Xiao Gao, you still stay here to protect the second miss, please go with us, and when you receive Mr. Qi, please ask Brother Fang to bring the letter back, and then escort the second miss on the road together." ”

Dongfang Yan had heard about his entanglement with Xihai Alliance and Chunlin Villa from Wuwei and Dongfang Lin before, and now he also understood his situation, and couldn't help but worry about him, and sighed lightly: "The relationship between father and son is originally the head of harmony, how do you know that you will fall into such a situation." Extraordinary things, we must find extraordinary ways, as long as the mind is clear and the body is right, there will eventually be a way to solve problems. Chengxian, it's really hard for you. ”

That night, Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan shared a bed and talked for a long time. Talking about returning to Nanjing, Dongfang Yan was dissatisfied with Qiu Yinming's approach for a long time, until he received a long letter written by Qiu Yinming to him before he went out to patrol Huguang, and he slowly realized his friend's painstaking efforts. At that time, his wife had just given birth, and the family was busy, so she didn't have time to reply to the letter, and when she was about to start writing, she heard that Qiu Yinming had committed a crime and was imprisoned, and several trials were fruitless, and his life and death were unknown. Finally, Dongfang Lin quietly went home, and only then did he learn some inside information.

During this conversation, Dongfang Yan also learned from Qiu Yinming about the political style and behavior of many Huguang officials, as well as the problems and difficulties of some local state capitals. This time, Dongfang Yan received the post of senator, in charge of Tuntian, which was completely different from the culture and education he had engaged in in Nanjing before, and now he had just taken office, and he had no clue, and he had studied various documents and records left by his predecessors day and night in the past few days. Although Qiu Yinming knew a lot of details, he couldn't say it clearly for a while, but fortunately, he had a lot of official contacts with Liao Jiefu, who participated in politics, and knew that he was cautious and diligent, so he suggested that Dongfang Yan should ask him more if he had any doubts.

In the early morning of the next day, Qiu Yinming, Wuwei, and Fang Tongbao went out of the north gate of Wuchang Mansion when the sky was just dawning, and took advantage of the beauty of the sky to cross the river and go to Xiakou Town.

Xiakou Town is a thoroughfare of land and water, the swiftness of business flow, the prosperity of trade, far better than many large towns along the river, all kinds of people are mixed with each other, and it is an excellent place for people in the rivers and lakes to secretly connect.

It's 10 in the middle of the day. After crossing the river earlier, the three of them left the secret number of the Xihai Alliance outside the door of a large inn by the river, and discussed going their separate ways. Qiu Yinming was waiting for the people of the Xihai League in the open, and Wuwei and Fang Tongbao were watching in the dark. Fang Tongbao proposed that Chunlin Villa is familiar with many people on the ground in Hubei, if it is difficult to deal with trouble, it is better to go to Xi'an Mansion to the north through Henan and take the main road, first, there are many checkpoints on the official road, there are garrisons, and the people of the rivers and lakes are in the way, and second, Sima Xin escorted Shifang Jing to go to Runan with the Bai family first, and he will go by the way, and when the time comes, he will be a powerful helper.

Let's say that Qiu Yinming sat alone in the downstairs doorway, silently bowed his head and drank tea, thinking repeatedly in his heart, how to deal with it if he saw the people of the Xihai League, and thought several times, how is Hengyu now, the people around him come and go, noisy and noisy, and make people upset.

I don't know how long I waited, suddenly, there was a burst of light and shadow at the gate, Qiu Yinming looked up fiercely, and saw Shi Jinzhong, who was wearing white silk, with a few of his subordinates stepping into the door, and walked straight towards him, with an unkind face. Qiu Yinming immediately got up and arched his hand at him and said, "Brother Shi, it's been a long time." Shi Jinzhong was overbearing, didn't say much, and only said to him with an iron face: "Since you're here, come with me." ”

Qiu Yinming saw him like this, and most of them had guessed the reason, but it was inconvenient to say more at the moment, so he didn't say anything all the way, followed Shi Jinzhong and his party through the market, the houses, and almost to the wilderness, only to see a Taoist temple on the top of the slope in front of him.

Push open the closed mountain gate, and see the wall under the eaves or sitting or standing, all of them are the followers of the Xihai League, and occasionally the Taoist who originally lived in the temple walked by with his head bowed and did not squint. When everyone in the Xihai League saw Qiu Yinming coming, they all turned their heads and ears, casting puzzled and wary eyes. Qiu Yinming pretended to ignore it, but he was already entangled in his heart about the situation when he faced the constant rain.

The main room behind the Sanqing Palace was opened, and Shi Jinzhong patted the door and stepped in, saying, "People brought it." ”

The people in the room stopped talking. Qiu Yinming looked around, and there were only Huo Zhonghui, Qi Mutian, Tsering Dongzhu and Yang Zheng in the room, all of whom had changed their crowns. Qi Mutian turned his head, his face was haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, he was surprised for a moment, and he just wanted to speak, but he heard Huo Zhonghui say first: "Young Master Qiu, a rare guest." Could it be that you're here to deliver a letter for your dad again? Saying that, he glared angrily, stepped forward and continued to ask: "Your father won a chess move this time, are you standing in the right place, are you happy?" ”

The words "happy" resounded throughout the house, and both Tsering Dongzhu and Yang Zheng, who were originally sitting, stood up.

Qi Mutian stretched out his hand to stop him: "Slow, slow." Ask clearly. Looking at Qiu Yinming, he asked abruptly, "Is it really Qiu Yun who called you?" ”

Qiu Yinming looked solemn, and after saluting everyone in the hall one by one, he said in a deep voice: "No. He looked around calmly, his eyes were calm, and he invisibly suppressed the anger in everyone's hearts a little, and then said slowly: "The alliance leader and I have a lot of favors, and I also have a contract with the alliance leader, although I have a father, I will never obey his orders to take revenge." Just because he was grounded by his father, he was powerless. Not long ago, I just got out, and I've been looking for your whereabouts. ”

After a pause, he glanced sideways at Huo Zhonghui and said, "The matter has come to this point, there are many details, and it is useless to repeat them." ”