"Brother Wu, I'm ready for all the masks you want." When she was about to set off, Hui'er's little girl held a pack of masks sewn according to Wu Yuanming's instructions, and ran into the backyard room of Lichun Courtyard where Wu Yuanming and others were, followed by Zheng Xin and Dai Yan, Dai Yan still looked like she peeked at Wu Yuanming from time to time, Zheng Xin was still the same fierce tigress, and her relationship with Hui'er did not improve at all, and as soon as she entered the door, she yelled at Hui'er: "Little vixen, we sewed sixty masks together, are you embarrassed to put the credit on yourself?" ”

"I sewed twelve, and you only sewed eleven, and it's very ugly." Hui'er retorted proudly. Wu Yuanming heard the smell next to him, and said with a wry smile: "So, the two of you only sewed twenty-three together, and the rest were all sewn by the girl alone?" Hui'er replied without blushing: "That's because I specially sewed a good mask for you, so I delayed the time." With that, Hui'er took out a mask embroidered with a tiger from her arms, put it on Wu Yuanming's face in person, and said with a smile: "Brother Wu, I hope you are as brave as a tiger." ”

"What is so brave about a tiger? Or the lion is more courageous. Brother Wu, this is what I personally sewed for you. Zheng Xin also took out a mask embroidered with a lion, which was also worn on Wu Yuanming's face. Wu Yuanming smiled bitterly again, pulled off his two masks and shook his head: "You two, can't you like some girls' things?" For example, white rabbits, kittens or something...... Lion Tiger ...... It's like your character. Although Wu Yuanming's speech was relatively vague, Zheng Xin and Hui'er still heard the meaning of his words, and roared in unison: "What do you mean? Is my temper rough? ”

"No, you guys are all docile and cute. Okay, you guys have worked hard, go pack your luggage and set off for a while, after rescuing people, we will leave Yangzhou immediately, and I will distribute masks and arrange movements. Wu Yuanming was afraid that these two little girls would pull their ears and pinch their arms and bite their throats, so they hurriedly made an excuse to slip away. Fortunately, although the two little girls were the same rude, they never dragged their feet when Wu Yuanming was doing business, and they all obediently packed their luggage and prepared to leave according to Wu Yuanming's instructions, but what neither of them noticed was that when Wu Yuanming passed by Dai Yan's side, Dai Yan, who was ashamed, quickly stuffed a very beautifully sewn mask into Wu Yuanming's hand - a pair of mandarin ducks were embroidered on it......

Because the spread of the plague is beyond imagination, the Lichun Courtyard, which is usually prosperous, is full of people tonight, and no guests come to the door to have fun, but the old bustard girls in the Lichun Courtyard don't care about it, and they are all packing up and preparing to leave Yangzhou the next day, and live temporarily in the branch of Lichun Courtyard in Jiangning City. It is precisely because of this that Wu Yuanming, Yao Qisheng and others set up the team assembly place in the flower hall of Lichun Courtyard in a big way, when Wu Yuanming arrived at the flower hall, Li Xiongfei, Sun Tingling, the three brothers of the Wu family and other veterans of the entourage had already changed into the clothes of the Qing soldiers and were waiting there, and they were piled up with swords and hoes, hacksaws and torches and other weapons and tools in front of them. Yao Qisheng was still in the original casual clothes, sitting on the side slowly sipping autumn tea, and Zhu Fangdan stood next to Yao Qisheng tremblingly.

"This is the mask I asked someone to sew, and each person took one and put it on." While handing out masks, Wu Yuanming demonstrated the method of wearing masks and introduced: "Don't underestimate this little thing, it has the effect of masking and deodorizing, tonight we will go through the gutter into the cell, this thing can play a big role." And in the plague-ridden city of Yangzhou, it also has the effect of preventing plague. ”

After everyone received the masks, Wu Yuanming handed over all the remaining masks to Yao Qisheng and asked him to distribute them to Hui'er and other three little girls and Dai Yan's family, and then began a sketch to explain the plan: "Our plan of action tonight is like this, after going to the exit of the drainage ditch in Yangzhou Prison, Wu Lu first took five people down to open the road and clear the road, sawed off the iron rod at the entrance of the drainage ditch in the prison, and paid attention to the situation. After the steel bar was sawed off, Li Xiongfei and I, and Brother Tingling led people into the operation, Wu Shou and Wu Fu, you took ten people to guard the exit to respond, be careful not to cut off our back road. Do you understand? ”

"Understood." Li Xiongfei nodded in agreement with Sun Tingling and the others, and Wu Yuanming turned to Yao Qisheng and said, "Father-in-law, I will trouble you to take Zhu Fangdan and the others to us first to rent a boat in advance and wait for us by the canal." Yao Qisheng put down the teacup and nodded, and instructed: "Be careful, if you can't save people, don't be reluctant, it's important to escape first." Wu Yuanming also agreed, and then ordered: "Since everyone has no doubts, it is now the first shift, and we will start acting immediately." ”

……

At the same time, in the Yangzhou prison, the innermost cell where Gu Yanwu and others were held welcomed a special guest - Wu Ciyou! Wu Ciyou, Zhu Guozhi and others received an urgent report from Gaoyou, the body of Ren Weichu, who had been missing for many days, was finally found, and the location was near the ancestral grave of Wu Sangui's family, and at the same time, Ren Weichu had a contact with the envoy of Pingxi Wangfu before his death was also poked out, in the face of this news, Wu Ciyou immediately keenly guessed that the red-clothed cannon explosion that day was not accidental, and then thought of the sudden outbreak of the plague in Yangzhou City and the inexplicable serious illness of the donkey, Wu Ciyou became more and more uneasy about Gu Yanwu and others who were imprisoned in the prison, He personally brought ten warriors with strong martial arts to come over to check.

Wu Ciyou first carefully inspected the gunpowder buried at the entrance of the prison, and then repeatedly checked the reliability and concealment of the lead before leading the ten samurai into the prison cell hidden deep underground. After arriving at the innermost cell where Gu Yanwu and others were held, by the faint light of the oil lamp in the passage, Wu Ciyou first saw Li Yuliang, who was disguised as a middle-aged scholar and imprisoned in prison, Li Yuliang, who had a fake beard on his chin, could no longer see the charm of the past.

"Damn, the stinky ** lived with Gu Yanwu and these thieves for two days, and after listening to their bullshit anti-Qing and Ming restoration concepts, I became more and more cold to Lao Tzu. If you stay together for a few more days, you won't mention the knife and cut Lao Tzu? Wu Ciyou had a clear understanding of Li Yuliang's personality and temper, and immediately guessed what Li Yuliang was thinking, and under his secret anger, Wu Ciyou strengthened his determination to solve Li Yuliang together. Then he wrote a paragraph with his pen and tongue and handed it to the warriors beside him, and a warrior stood up and shouted to Gu Yanwu and the others: "The surname Gu, the surname Huang and the surname Lu, our husband asks you three thieves, do you know the majesty of my Qing Emperor now?" Are you willing to abandon the darkness and join the Ming to serve the imperial court? ”

"Phew, dog traitor! Turning into a barbarian, is also worthy of my Chinese boy to serve him? Lu Liuliang was the weakest of the three, and his hatred for the Manchus was also the deepest, and he coughed and spit out a mouthful of phlegm contemptuously to Wu Ciyou. Huang Zongxi looked at Wu Ciyou's Confucian shirt contemptuously and asked, "Since you consider yourself a loyal minister of Manchu Yi and a common man of the Qing Dynasty, why don't you wear animal skins and animal clothes?" Still wearing my Han Confucian shirt? ”

"Shut up! You barbarians and dogs are anti-thieves, and you dare to be hard-mouthed and look for death when you are dying! A full-fledged warrior from the camp was furious, raised his horsewhip and drew it, the warrior's whip was very sophisticated, and he accurately passed through the wooden bar of the cell and whipped Huang Zongxi in the face. Although Huang Zongxi's face was immediately covered with a blood mark, Huang Zongxi still scolded without fear: "You traitors who have forgotten their ancestors, and lackeys who have razed the Manchu Dynasty, you can kill us, but you can't kill thousands of my hot-blooded men who have China in their hearts." One day, my Han family boy will hold high the banner of righteousness, drive the Manchu Tartars out of the Central Plains, kill all you traitors and lackeys, and restore my Han family! ”

"Damn, look for death." Although Wu Ciyou was used to being scolded by the Han people as a traitor, he was still a little blushing when he was insulted in person, and he was really jealous of Huang Zongxi and others' reputation in Shilin, so he let the warriors of the camp be tortured, and sneered at the tragic situation of Huang Zongxi and others being beaten. At this time, Li Yuliang, who was also locked in the cell, couldn't bear it any longer, saw the opportunity to grab the horse whip, dragged the warrior of the Shan Fighting Battalion to the wooden fence with a forceful drag, and punched the warrior of the Shan Fighting Battalion with a full face. The other warriors of the Shanpu Battalion next to him were furious, and they all shouted and drew their weapons, wanting to cut Li Yuliang's body on the spot.

"Whew." Wu Ciyou screamed and waved his hand to stop everyone, Wu Ciyou's purpose this time was to personally verify whether there was anyone from the outside world who had contacted Gu Yanwu and others, and he didn't want to turn his face with Li Yuliang immediately. Then he wrote another note and handed it to the warrior of the Shanpu Battalion, and one of the warriors read again: "My son doesn't want to waste words with you thieves, because tomorrow I will escort you to Jiangning Mansion to pass the court, and my son advises you not to think about the idea of escaping if you are smart, because you may not die when you go to Jiangning Hall, if you want to run, then you will be killed." ”

When the warrior of the good camp read the note, Wu Ciyou's eyes kept staring at Li Yuliang's face, and the thumb and index finger of his right hand pinched out a circle, and sent a code to ask Li Yuliang to tell him if he had found out about the contact between Gu Yanwu and the others and the outside world. But Li Yuliang lowered his head and didn't look at him until the warrior of the Shanpu Battalion was about to finish reading the note, Li Yuliang moved his fingers lightly, and pressed the index finger of his right hand on his thumb - this was a secret sign that no abnormalities had been found. Wu Ciyou rolled his eyes, then waved his hand and walked out of the cell with ten warriors of the Shanpu Battalion. Li Yuliang silently picked up Huang Zongxi, who was bruised all over his body, and used the drinking water given to her by the jailer to clean Huang Zongxi's wounds.

Directly to the footsteps of Wu Ciyou and others disappeared into the corridor of the cell, Huang Zongxi thanked Li Yuliang and said: "Thank you, Brother Li, I didn't expect that Brother Li looks polite, but in fact he has a unique skill, if it wasn't for Brother Li to come to the rescue, Zongxi would be miserable today." At this time, Li Yuliang had already washed the bleeding wounds on Huang Zongxi's body, and there was no medical treatment in the prison, Li Yuliang could only tear off a few clean strips of cloth from the robe and bandage Huang Zongxi, and replied softly: "Mr. Huang doesn't have to be polite, this is what should be done." ”

"Brother Li, you don't have to be afraid, although we fall into the hands of the Tartars, we ......." Huang Zongxi was very grateful to Li Yuliang for his rescue, turned to Gu Yanwu and asked, "Mr. Tinglin (Gu Yanwu's character), Brother Li has been wronged by the literary prison, can we tell him about it?" Lu Liuliang also echoed: "Yes, we are now in the same boat with Brother Li, and we can't hide things from him anymore." Gu Yanwu, who had not spoken, was silent for a long time, noncommittal to Huang Zongxi and Lu Liuliang's proposal, and after being silent for a long time, Gu Yanwu looked at Li Yuliang's eyes and said, "Miss Li, the Tartars sent you in to go undercover, right?" ”

"Girl?" Huang Zongxi and Lu Liuliang were dumbfounded, and they all turned to Li Yuliang to look up and down. Li Yuliang was also very surprised, and asked rhetorically: "Mr. Gu, when did you see my true identity?" ”

"You knew it from the time you first came in, and although you were unkempt and seemed to have been dragged in by the guards after all the torture, you walked freely soon after you entered the cell, and you did not look like you had a wound on your body, and you did not walk like a man, and you did not have an Adam's apple." Gu Yanwu said lightly: "If it were changed to before, I would definitely not be able to see your identity, even if I found out that you were a woman, I would not think that you were an undercover agent of the Tartars, because no matter who it was, they would not understand why the Tartars would send a weak woman to come in and go undercover." But this time a friend I met at Llama Lake told me that the Tartar Emperor had a henchman surnamed Wu and a woman beside him, who was not only strong in martial arts, but also infatuated with the strategist surnamed Wu and was willing to do anything for him. The poisoning of the Confucian Temple in the Confucian Temple of the Confucian Holy Land of the Heaven and Earth Society, the strategist surnamed Wu instructed the woman to do it. ”

"Girl? You're the woman, aren't you? A girl with a pseudonym Li Yuliang and a real name Li Yunniang? Gu Yanwu asked Li Yuliang calmly. The expression on Li Yuliang's face changed rapidly, and after a long time, he slowly pulled off the fake beard that stuck to his face, took off his melon skin hat to reveal his head full of green silk, and said slowly: "Yes, I am Li Yuliang, my real name is Li Yunniang." Lu Liuliang and Huang Zongxi next to him were taken aback, and they all subconsciously jumped up and took a few steps back, Gu Yanwu smiled and said: "Brother Lizhou, Brother Wancun, don't be afraid, if Miss Yunniang wants to hurt us, the three of us together are not her opponents." ”

"Mr. Gu, since you have already discovered my identity, why didn't you reveal it on the spot? And keep me in my cell...... The guard who delivered the meal today shoved a small note in your hand, and I saw it. Li Yuliang asked hesitantly. Gu Yanwu replied with a smile: "Because my friend also told me that although he and you have a lot of misunderstandings and hatred, you are just trapped by love, blinded by feelings, and went astray, he thinks that you actually have a good conscience, and sooner or later you will see through Wu Ciyou's true face, and sooner or later you will lose your use value and be cooked by Wu Ciyou and the Tartar rabbit dead dog." He also asked me to say that if one day you fall into the hands of the Heaven and Earth Society, please let me say a few fair words for you, even if I can't spare your life, I will let you suffer less torture and give you a good time. Judging from the contact with you in the past two days and your actions just now, my friend's evaluation of you is not wrong at all. ”

Li Yuliang was silent for a long time, and only after a while did he mutter: "Mr. Gu's friend, is his surname Wu?" Gu Yanwu smiled and nodded, "Yes, his surname is Wu." As he spoke, Gu Yanwu stretched out a hand to Li Yuliang and said with a smile: "Miss Yunniang, turn back, the caretaker who brought us food today is actually a person from the Heaven and Earth Society, and the helmsman Chen is coming to save us tonight, is it okay to go with us?" Master Chen is broad-minded, not to mention the matter of poisoning him with you, you have a martial arts and a conscience that has not yet been extinguished, and you can work with us to oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore sight and expel the Tartars. ”

"I ......." Li Yuliang stared at Gu Yanwu's outstretched hand, his whole body trembled, and he wanted to reach out and hold Gu Yanwu several times, but every time his arm moved slightly, he remembered Wu Ciyou's handsome and elegant face......

What Li Yuliang didn't know was that at this moment, Wu Ciyou's handsome and elegant face was full of hideousness, and he was hiding in the corner of the cell with a cruel smile and eavesdropping on her conversation with Gu Yanwu and others......

……

The moon and stars are scarce, and the cloudless night sky indicates that the next day will be another hot and unbearable weather, which also adds a lot of trouble to the rescue operation of Wu Yuanming and others. Fortunately, Wu Yuanming and others were dressed in Qing soldier uniforms, and Yangzhou was chaotic because of the rampant plague and hooligans taking advantage of the fire to loot, Wu Yuanming and others' team across the streets did not arouse the suspicion of the citizens, but some people whose wives and daughters were robbed asked Wu Yuanming and others for help - but like the Qing army who asked for real goods, Wu Yuanming and others also ignored their requests for help.

When I arrived at Yangzhou Prison, the time was already after the second watch, and the people on the street gradually loosened up, Wu Lu, who led the way, saw the opportunity to turn into an alley, and took Wu Yuanming and others to copy the remote path to approach the drainage ditch of the prison, because Yangzhou had not rained for nearly ten days, and the amount of water in the drainage ditch was very small, which also facilitated the actions of Wu Yuanming and others. With Wu Yuanming's order, Wu Lu, who was becoming more and more capable, immediately drilled into the drainage ditch with five elite veterans with hoes, small baskets, hacksaws and other tools, and slowly pushed forward while cleaning up debris and sediment in the ditch where he could only bend over and walk. Wu Yuanming on the ground asked Wu Shou and Wu Fu to hide the two carriages they brought in the dark, and the others scattered to be on guard.

Time passed quickly, and there was a quiet silence all around, only the occasional shouts and cries for help in the distance crossed the night sky, adding a lot of pressure to the already nervous Wu Yuanming and others, and the lantern on the sentry wall in the distance was still emitting a faint light, and I don't know if the sentry above had fallen asleep after being dazzled by the drug, and the air was almost frozen. But at this tense moment, a petite figure suddenly ran over from a distance, and by the light of the day and moon, Wu Yuanming immediately discovered that the figure was actually Dai Yan who was supposed to be waiting on the boat with Yao Qisheng and others! Wu Yuanming was startled and hurriedly greeted him and asked, "Acting girl, why did you run here?" ”

"I was worried about your safety, so I secretly sent it to help you." Dai Yan is a typical scholarly lady, and after she loses her life, she is desperate to marry Wu Yuanming, and her concern for Wu Yuanming is far more than that of Hui'er and Zheng Xin. Dai Yan gasped and said, "Don't worry, I won't hold you back, I also left a letter to Uncle Yao, telling them that I came here, so that they don't have to worry." ”

"Nonsense!" Wu Yuanming was furious and roared in a low voice, "What can you help me with?" It's just going to help you more and more, and if you don't obey again, that's the end of things for both of us. ”

"People are worried about you, you don't know martial arts, what if you are found out by the guards? So I put it ....... Dai Yan's big eyes were full of tears, and she said pitifully to Wu Yuanming. At this time, an old soldier came out of the drainage ditch and called in a low voice: "Shizi, it is done, the iron rods at the entrance have been sawed off by us, and the Tartars have not yet found it." ”

"Okay, let's do it now." Wu Yuanming immediately ordered the concentration of people who were about to go to the prison, and pushed Dai Yan to Wu Shou and Wu Xi, and ordered angrily: "Obediently wait for me to come out with Wu Shou and Wu Xi, don't run around, if you don't obey again, you will go back to my hometown after tonight, and I won't want you anymore." Dai Yan was scolded by Wu Yuanming like this, and tears finally flowed from her tearful eyes, and she sobbed in a low voice. And Wu Yuanming didn't have time to entangle with her anymore, so he ran to the side of the gutter quickly, but when Wu Yuanming was about to go down to the gutter, Dai Yan chased after him very disobediently.

"Brother Wu, you brought this, I just took the risk to send this to you, so I took the risk." Dai Yan untied two pipa-like cloth bags from her back, took one and handed it to Wu Yuanming. Wu Yuanming not only did not answer, but reprimanded: "Are you going in to talk about pipa singing and dancing?" Take it yourself and wait for me to come back. With that, Wu Yuanming put the mask on his face, turned around and went down the drain, and took the lead into the drain covered by bluestone slabs.

"It's not a ......." Before Dai Yan's defense had a chance to speak, Li Xiongfei, Sun Tingling and others had already jumped off the drainage ditch one after another, and followed Wu Yuanming into the waterway......