Wu Yuanming, Dai Zi and others left Taihu Lake and turned into the canal on the sixth day of the ninth lunar month, during which they were delayed on Dongshan Island for a day and two nights, which is not that Wu Yuanming accepted the kindness of Qian Tieyi, the leader of the Dongshan Fishing Gang, to marry his daughter - Wu Yuanming, who is quite self-respecting in terms of women, declined Qian Tieyi's kindness very tactfully on the grounds that he had many wives and concubines - Qian Rui was so angry that he never said a word to Wu Yuanming after that. The main reason for the delay was that the boat chartered by Wu Yuanming and others had been burned during the battle, and the big boat of the Dongshan Fishing Gang was basically damaged, and it took the people of the Dongshan Fishing Gang a day and a night to rush to repair a big boat, and the Qian brothers and sisters personally sent Wu Yuanming and his party to the Suzhou wharf.

When the boat arrived at the wharf, Wu Yuanming and his entourage landed on the same boat with Yin Shijie, Pu Songling and others one after another, and said goodbye to the Qian brothers and sisters. Wu Yuanming bowed his hand to Qian Baotong and said: "Young helper, send you a thousand miles, there will be a farewell, we will charter another passenger boat in front of you and go north, your three major fishing gangs are merged, and there are many things that you need to take care of personally, let's not go over here, take care of yourself, there will be a period later." In just two days of contact, Qian Baotong and Wu Yuanming also chatted very speculatively, and it was very unpleasant to be separated at the moment, and Wu Yuanming said a lot of affectionate words before returning to the fishing boat and saying goodbye to Wu Yuanming.

"Uncle, Miss Qian is peeking at you, why don't you go up and say a few intimate words to her?" Wang Ying'er smiled evilly, pointed to the window of the fishing boat's cabin and reminded Wu Yuanming. Wu Yuanming turned his eyes and saw that Qian Rui was peeking at himself at the window, and after finding that Wu Yuanming was also watching her, Qian Rui quickly closed the window and hid back in the cabin. Wu Yuanming knew that he had broken this girl's heart, and he was secretly proud of the huge lethality of his handsome face to the girl, and he was also a little melancholy, and said with a long sigh: "Forget it, there is no fate, it's better not to break her heart again." ”

After that, Wu Yuanming picked up two repeating pistols and took the lead and left, and Wang Ying'er caught up with him, pulled Wu Yuanming's arm and said with a smile: "That's right, your uncle don't teach that wood badly, let him learn from you to be merciful everywhere and marry a bunch of concubines to go home." Zhu Fangdan next to him said dejectedly: "The little white face is popular, I hate my father and mother so much, why did you make me look like this?" Otherwise, I don't think I have too many wives and concubines. Dai Zi, who only has firearms research in his head, rarely interjects, "Actually, Miss Qian is very good, not to mention her good-looking life, she is lively and filial, and she is so infatuated with her uncle, where can such a good woman go to find it?" Wang Ying'er was furious when she heard this, and grabbed Dai Zi's ear and shouted: "Such a good woman? What do you mean? You want to marry her too? ”

In the midst of the noise, Wu Yuanming and others have already walked out of the wharf where the fishing boat docked and transferred to the special wharf for passenger ships and cargo ships, Wu Yuanming, who is quite financially rich, still wants to charter a passenger boat alone to go north, and Wang Ying'er, who loves prosperity, picked up the largest and most luxuriously decorated passenger ship on the wharf, no matter how much silver it costs to charter the boat, pestering Wu Yuanming not to take the boat. Wu Yuanming loved his niece and obeyed, so he stepped forward and asked the owner of the boat: "Boss, there are eight of us in total, how much silver does it cost to take your boat to Jiangning?" ”

"Guest officer, I'm really sorry, my boat has been chartered." The owner of the boat replied apologetically: "Although the guest officer who chartered this boat also went to Jiangning, they had repeatedly stated in advance that we were not allowed to take any more guests, which is really sorry." The owner of the boat added, "There are few guests on the left and right, if you don't dislike it, Uncle Zai also runs a relatively small passenger boat, although the boat is small but very clean, and the ride is very stable, I can ask him to come and negotiate the price with you." ”

"Nope! I'm going to take this boat! Wang Ying'er, who has been pampered since childhood, has a rude temper, and said with a crossed waist and a huff: "Say, how much silver did those people pack your ship?" I double! The ship's owner was a little tempted when he heard this, and hesitated: "Girl, it is good to be doubly good, but I have already agreed...... The deposit was also collected. Wang Ying'er pouted, "My uncle has silver, and we will return the fixed silver you received for you!" The owner of the ship was relieved, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, anyway, that group of guests is a Shandong guest, and they are not repeat customers." ”

"It's a deal, then help us move our luggage." Wang Ying'er turned her anger into joy at this time, and urged the boatman to carry the luggage for Wu Yuanming and his party with a smile. Although Wu Yuanming felt that his niece was a little domineering, considering what the second sister's family did in Hangzhou, he didn't stop it anymore, but secretly determined to correct his niece's bad temper. However, when all the luggage was about to be loaded onto the ship, the guests who had chartered the boat came to settle the account with the owner......

"Ship owner, you are so untrustworthy that you don't believe in your words." It turned out that the people who chartered the boat were a family of five, an old lady and three sons, and a veiled daughter, as well as about twenty servants and maids. The eldest son of the old lady rushed to the owner of the boat, blushed and said, "Why did you let these people on board when you said that you were not allowed to bring other guests?" Is it a gentleman's act to break his word and get fat? ”

"The canal and this boat were not bought by your family, so why don't your family allow this boat to carry other guests?" Without waiting for the shipowner to answer, Wang Ying'er rushed to the scholar first, and asked like a machine gun with her waist: "You take out the shipowner's paperwork that bought this boat!" You take out the paperwork to buy the canal! If you don't, then what right do you have to deny us aboard? You want to return the deposit, right? How much deposit did you pay? I'll quit you! Who do you think you are, saying that we can't get on the boat if we don't get on the boat? ”

"Only women and villains are difficult to educate." The scholar was yelled at by Wang Ying'er and retreated, and it took a long time to hold back the wise words. Wang Ying'er was furious when she heard this, Bai Shengsheng's little hand stretched out an index finger, poked the scholar's chest and asked, "What is a woman?" Your mom isn't a woman? Can there be you without your mother? What is Villain? You chartered the boat and didn't allow other guests to board, aren't you a villain? Do you look in a bronze mirror to see if you look like a thief? Elephant not like villain? People like you walk on the street, roosters dare not crow, hens do not lay eggs, old people see you fall, children see you cry in fright, men see you can't have sex, women see you infertile, horse-drawn carriages meet you and break their wheels, fritter stalls, pawnshops burn warehouses, burden-carrying people lose their wallets, walls collapse, wells run out of water, gutters are blocked, monks see you vulgar, nuns see you gouge out their eyes, just want to worship God to get bad luck - the three animals will also be stolen by thieves! ”

Wang Ying'er scolded and took a step forward, forcing the scholar to take a step back, and when Wang Ying'er scolded and rested breathlessly, the scholar had already withdrawn thirty or forty zhang away, and his face turned into a pig's liver color, pointing at Wang Ying'er and wanting to speak but couldn't say anything, just gasping for breath, and there was a possibility of being scolded to death by Wang Ying'er at any time. And the person next to him was already stunned, and said that there is such a pungent woman in the world? Even Wu Yuanming wiped his cold sweat in fear, and said in his heart that fortunately she was only my niece, if it were my wife, I would have to be tortured to death by her. But after Wang Ying'er took a breath, she raised her spirits again, and was about to continue to scold the eighteenth generation of the scholar's ancestors, Wu Yuanming hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and arched his hand to the scholar who was already rolling his eyes and showing signs of fainting: "Sir, I'm really sorry, my niece has been pampered since she was a child, and she has such a rude temper, how offended, I have made amends to you on her behalf, please forgive me." ”

The scholar's family was very reasonable, seeing that Wu Yuanming spoke politely and apologized sincerely, he didn't scold Wu Yuanming like ordinary people, the scholar who was the eldest son only sighed, "It turns out that this girl is the niece of Mr., the fruit of a tree, why is there sour and sweet?" Wang Ying'er also knew some writing and ink, and when she heard that the words were wrong, she immediately raised her eyebrows and wanted to scold, Wu Yuanming hurriedly pushed her away, and then bowed his hand to the scholar and said: "Sir, I heard the boatman just now that you chartered a boat to rush to Jiangning, and it happened to be on the same road with us." The boat is big, if we don't abandon it, how about we go together? Of course, I am the sole responsibility for the ship's silver, which is regarded as reparation. ”

"This ...... Not quite right? The scholar hesitated. Wu Yuanming knew that he was at a loss, so he was busy and persuaded with a smile: "Sir, don't postpone it any longer, this boat is the largest on the dock, the big boat runs smoothly on the river, and the old lady is old and suffers less from wind and waves." The scholar attached great importance to filial piety, and when Wu Yuanming said this, he immediately nodded in agreement, and persuaded his mother, younger brother and sister to get on the big boat that Wu Yuanming paid for money.

"Shizi, is that young lady beautiful?" Zhu Fangdan came to Wu Yuanming's side, pointed to the veiled young lady in the family, and asked Wu Yuanming mysteriously. Wu Yuanming was stunned and asked rhetorically: "What does it matter to me whether she is beautiful or not?" Besides, she wears a veil all the time, how can I know what she looks like? ”

"You didn't see her either. I thought it was because you saw that she was born beautifully, so you invited the family to share the boat with us so warmly. Zhu Fangdan was disappointed. Wu Yuanming's nose was almost crooked, and he kicked Zhu Fangdan's buttocks, "You pervert doctor, don't you think about something else in your head?" Get me on the boat, behave on the boat, this family is well-read, and at first glance it is a scholarly family, don't scare them. ”

"That's right. Since the family is well-informed, then I will cure the old lady of her illness—the old lady must be dizzy, and the young lady must take off her veil and thank her face, so that I can see her face. Zhu Fangdan slapped his head, and hurriedly ran onto the boat to show off his medical skills in front of the old lady. Wu Yuanming shook his head and smiled bitterly, and was the last one to get on the passenger ship and ordered the boatman to set sail immediately. But what Wu Yuanming didn't notice was that in the crowd not far away, a pair of wonderful eyes were looking at his back affectionately......

……

Entering the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the itinerary immediately became smoother and smoother, along the canal all the way to the north, first through Wuxi, then through Changzhou, and then up into the territory of Zhenjiang Prefecture, hundreds of miles of road unhurried, only took two days. Wu Yuanming, who has not stopped since arriving in Hangzhou, also took these two days to make up for some sleep, and chatted with the family on the same boat in his spare time, and learned that the family's original surname was Kong, the eldest son was named Kong Xingqi, and the two minor younger brothers were named Kong Xingming and Kong Xingqian, who went to Taizhou from Shandong two months ago to go to relatives, only because the boat leaked and had to change ships in Suzhou, and then met Wu Yuanming and others at the dock. However, when Wu Yuanming asked Kong Xingming's family why they went to Jiangning, Kong Xingyu actually confessed that he was going to burn incense and worship in front of the Ming Tomb on Zhu Yuanzhang's birthday, which really made Wu Yuanming startled - openly visiting the mausoleum of Taizu of the former Ming Dynasty, it was easy to be targeted by the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

At noon on the ninth day of the ninth month of September, the boat entered the Zhenjiangfu River section, and the inspection of the river pass suddenly became stricter, and the first checkpoint at the Changcheng Pass was not only guarded by ordinary river defense soldiers, but also jointly guarded by the Qing army's green battalion and the Eight Banners soldiers, and the inventory of the southbound ships was extremely strict. Seeing this scene, Wu Yuanming, whose nose was smarter than a dog, immediately concluded that something had happened in Zhenjiang! In order to verify his judgment, the cautious Wu Yuanming first let the passenger ship dock to rest, and then sent his henchmen Wu Lu and Jin Dao to land first, and asked them to go to the pass to inquire about the news, and at the same time asked Dai Zi and Wang Ying'er to hide the musket in case they were searched by the Qing soldiers.

Soon after Wu Lu and the golden knife landed, Kong Xingyu came out of the cabin and politely asked Wu Yuanming: "Wu Gongzi, dare to ask, why did you let the ship stop and dock?" Wu Yuanming replied: "Mr. Kong, don't blame, just because I found that the river defense checkpoint ahead is closely searched, and there are many women on our ship, I am afraid that these troops will disturb the old lady and Ling Mei, so let the boat dock first, and let the servants go to inquire about the reason first." ”

"So that's the case, thank you for being careful, I'll go back to my mother in the next place." Kong Xingyu bowed to Wu Yuanming, and returned to the cabin to report to his mother with unhurried steps. Zhu Fangdan got out of the cabin on the other side again, and whispered to Wu Yuanming mysteriously and excitedly: "Shizi, I saw it, I cured the migraine for the old lady, and her daughter really took off the veil and thanked me in person. Although the facial features are not particularly beautiful, the temperament is very good, I have grown so big, I have never seen such a temperamental beauty! ”

"Did you tell her she had a hidden illness? Do you want to diagnose her pulse? Wu Yuanming was helpless against Zhu Fangdan's bad temper, so he could only ask angrily. Zhu Fangdan's answer was beyond Wu Yuanming's expectations, "No." Wu Yuanming was stunned and asked suspiciously: "Really not?" I don't believe dogs can get rid of eating. ”

"Not really! If I lie to you, let me suffer from impotence that I can't cure myself! Sorry! Lift but not firm! Zhu Fangdan first swore a poisonous oath aggrievedly, and then said intoxicatedly: "That girl is so dignified, she can only be described as holy!" The demeanor is incomprehensible! Originally, I wanted to say those words, but after seeing her bearing, I was so nervous that I couldn't even say it, and my heart almost stopped beating, so I had to honestly say some polite words and escape. ”

"Is there a girl in the world who makes you embarrassed to say dirty things?" Wu Yuanming was also interested in Zhu Fangdan's words, but Wu Yuanming, who knew that he would definitely have a lot of political marriages in the future, quickly suppressed his impulse and shrugged his shoulders to see Wu Lu and Jin Dao inquire about the news. Zhu Fangdan covered his chest next to him and sighed to the sky - naturally he prayed that God could give him such a dignified and beautiful wife. And Wu Lu and Jin Dao returned to the boat not long after, Wu Lu still had a notice in his hand, and said nervously to Wu Yuanming: "Shizi, something really happened, the government is actually looking for Li Yuliang." ”

"What?" Wu Yuanming's ears almost couldn't believe it, and he hurriedly snatched the notice that Wu Lu secretly revealed, and saw that the notice was indeed painted with a vivid portrait of Li Yuliang, and when he looked at the content of the notice, he saw that Li Yuliang was actually wanted because he assassinated Wei Dongting in Jiangning four days ago, not only wrote Li Yuliang's real name and pseudonym, but also offered a reward of 1,000 taels of silver for Li Yuliang's head. In addition, the notice also specifically stated that Li Yuliang escaped from Jiangning with a group of unidentified thieves, and if he caught that group of thieves, there would be a heavy reward! Wu Lu also introduced: "Shizi, there is news that Li Yuliang and those anti-thieves took the boat once appeared on the river near Zhenjiang and went down the canal to the south, so the canal around Zhenjiang Mansion is the most strictly guarded, Wei Dongting also specially sent some imperial guards who knew Li Yuliang from Jiangning overnight to assist the Zhenjiang Government to pursue Li Yuliang. ”

"Li Yuliang finally turned back." Combined with various circumstances, Wu Yuanming immediately concluded that Li Yuliang had recognized the traitorous faces of Wu Ciyou, Wei Dongting and others, and threw himself into the ranks of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. But the new question is, Li Yuliang has always been alone, who would risk so much to help her? Are these people friends or foes to themselves?

"The boat from here? Where to go? Why stop here? Wu Yuanming was thinking about it, and the Qing army at the river defense checkpoint in Changcheng Town already had a small boat close to Wu Yuanming's boat, and a team of Qing soldiers got on the big boat and shouted to Wu Yuanming to ask the reason. Wu Yuanming replied truthfully with a smile, and said that he stopped the boat to check the situation because he saw that the inspection was too strict, and the captain of the Qing soldiers was also quite good at talking, and said with a grin: "What are you afraid of?" You are ships going north, and we only inspect the ships going south, and the ships going north are just looking at them, but we still have to go into the cabin to have a look. ”

"Master Jun, there are a lot of female dependents on our ship, it is not convenient for you to enter the cabin, let's make it convenient." Wu Yuanming didn't know if Dai Zi and Wang Ying'er had already hidden the muskets, so they hurriedly resorted to bribery and handed two ingots and five taels of silver to the captain of the Qing army. The captain of the Qing soldiers smiled unceremoniously, waved to the soldiers, and said, "Since there are female dependents, forget it, anyway, they are boats heading north, so let's make it convenient for them." Speaking of this, the captain of the Qing soldiers turned his head to Wu Yuanming and shouted: "I have passed this pass, but the next pass of Danyang County will not be so easy, you better be smart, don't take people casually on the way to the north!" Don't lose your head, you don't know how it fell! ”

"Thank you for the reminder." Wu Yuanming nodded in a villainous manner, and in order not to cause unnecessary trouble, he ordered the boatman to immediately sail north, and successfully passed the Changhe checkpoint where only southbound boats were strictly inspected. However, Wu Yuanming did not follow the instructions of the captain of the Qing army and not bring the guests, but ordered Wu Lu and Jin Dao to go to both sides of the boat to closely monitor the riverbank - and prepared to respond when they found the traces of Li Yuliang and his party. And after Kong Xingyu learned that Wu Yuanming used silver to buy the checkpoint guards so that he did not alarm the female dependents, he hurriedly thanked Wu Yuanming again and again, saying that his family did not want to deal with officers and soldiers.

Chatting with Kong Xingqi while chatting northward, it was getting dark, but Wu Yuanming and the others never met the fugitive Li Yuliang and his party, but got closer and closer to the Danyang County Pass, the second checkpoint of the Zhenjiang Fu Canal. And the inspection of the checkpoint in Danyang County is stricter than that of Changhe Town, not only the inspection of the ships going south, but also the ships going north, because Wei Dongting sent the imperial guards to Zhenjiang Mansion to help chase and kill Li Yuliang, Wu Yuanming was afraid that there were imperial guards who knew him and Wu Lu at the pass of Danyang County, so he hurriedly took some silver and gave the golden knife, so that he could use the silver to buy a way to avoid inspection, and pulled Wu Lu back to hide in the cabin to prevent being recognized by acquaintances. Kong Xingyu was greedy for the sunset, and stayed on the deck to deal with the Qing soldiers at the pass with the golden knife.

After about two pillars of incense after hiding in the cabin, a small boat of Qing soldiers really landed on the big boat that Wu Yuanming and others were riding, and asked Wu Yuanming the reason for the boat to go north according to the rules, and then proposed to enter the cabin for inspection. Jin Dao hurriedly took out a twenty-tael ingot of silver according to Wu Yuanming's instructions, nodded to the Qing soldier captain who was inspecting, and said: "Master Jun, we have a lot of female dependents in this cabin, it is not convenient for you to enter the cabin to search, this bit of silver is taken to drink tea, is it convenient to do it?" ”

"This ......." Wu Yuanming peeked in the crack of the hatch and saw that the captain of the Qing soldiers hesitated and refused to agree, Wu Yuanming couldn't help but the eighteenth generation of the ancestors of the golden knife in his heart, and said in his heart, you kid is black enough, I asked you to buy a road with fifty taels of silver, you dare to eat a kickback of thirty taels, I will see how I clean you up? ! Fortunately, the captain of the Qing soldiers finally accepted the ingot of silver and waved his hand to let him go, but before those Qing soldiers had time to get off the boat, a big ship of the Qing soldiers came up, and a familiar voice scolded: "A bunch of dog mongrels, Lao Tzu told you to check closely, you dare to be perfunctory?" ”

"Oops! Li Xu! Wu Yuanming suddenly heard the identity of the person - Cao Xueqin's aunt and grandfather, Cao Yin's brother-in-law! This Li Xu not only knows Wu Yuanming, but even Wu Lu knows him, as long as he enters the cabin and checks casually, Wu Yuanming's identity must be exposed......

"Master Li, they are ships heading north." The captain of the Qing soldiers boldly argued. Li Xu jumped onto Wu Yuanming's boat with a group of imperial guards, first snatched the silver from the Qing soldier captain's hand and put it in his purse, slapped the Qing soldier captain in the face, and shouted angrily: "Fart! What if the assassin and the thief who assassinated Lord Chincha were killed? Let them easily fool around? ”

"Master Jun, we are all good citizens from Suzhou to Jiangning, and there are some female dependents in the cabin, and there are no assassins." Seeing that the situation was not good, Jin Dao hurriedly took out the thirty taels of silver that he was going to swallow privately, presented it to Li Xu, and said in a low voice: "Master Jun, it's convenient, please don't disturb them." ”

"Pretty rich." Li Xu stared at the silver in the hand of the golden knife and sneered, first picked it up and threw it to the imperial guards behind him, and then waved his hand and shouted: "Go into the cabin and search, it doesn't matter if she is a female dependent or not, the assassin who assassinated Lord Qincha is a woman!" Speaking of this, Li Xu laughed lewdly again, "I heard that the female assassin is the best at disguise, so she has to be more careful with women, and each woman has to touch a few handfuls of her face to see if it is a female assassin wearing makeup." ”

"Hahahaha...... Stab! The guards laughed wildly and rushed to the hatch. At that moment, Wu Yuanming's heart was about to jump out of his chest, and he subconsciously picked up the repeating musket on his back and aimed the muzzle at the hatch, but a soft little hand immediately put it on Wu Yuanming's hand. Wu Yuanming looked back in surprise, but saw that the person holding him down turned out to be Kong Xingqiu's sister who had been wearing a veil, and Kong Xingqiu's two younger brothers didn't know when they stood behind him, both of them holding a package in their hands. Kong Xingyu's sister shook her head lightly and said softly: "Wu Gongzi, don't worry, my brother can let them retreat." ”

"Just by that Kong Xingyu, who is full of mouths?" Wu Yuanming was a little unconvinced. But outside the cabin, Kong Xingyu had indeed stopped at the hatch, and said to the imperial guards who pounced on him: "Ladies and gentlemen, we really didn't bring assassins, the old mother and the housemate are resting in the cabin, please don't alarm them, Xiaosheng is here to thank you." ”

"No, even if your sister is taking a bath, you have to search it!" Li Xu shouted brutally: "Get out!" If you don't roll again! I'll arrest you as an assassin! Another full imperial guard also smiled lewdly: "Don't worry, even if your sister is looked down on by us, some of us will marry her as a concubine, don't be afraid that she won't be able to marry!" Wha......ha ”

"Bold fanatic! How dare you speak foul language! Kong Xingyu was furious and shouted: "Brother Ming, brother pious, please give the ancestral tablet and the gold medal of the long live royal gift!" ”

"Please Ancestral Tablet and Long Live the Imperial Gold Medal!" Kong Xingming and Kong Xingqian shouted in unison, each holding the package in their hands and pushing the door out of the cabin, standing left and right to Kong Xingqi, unwrapping the package in a chic manner, revealing an ancestral tablet and a gold medal made of gold, and the ancestral tablet is written - the spirit of Confucius! On the gold medal are the four words of Kangxi's handwritten handwriting - Wanshi Watch!

"The sixty-fifth grandsons of the Yan Shenggong Confucius, Kong Xingming, and Kong Xingqian are here, who dares to offend the spirit of my ancestors?" Accompanied by the long cheers of Kong Xingyu**, Li Xu and the other imperial guards all knelt down, kowtowing more than - no kowtow, no, since the Han Dynasty, all dynasties have respected Confucianism, and after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Confucianism was also pushed to the supremacy for the ruling Han people, and collided with Confucius's spiritual card, and the world's scholars rebelled in groups, and Kangxi had to peel off their skin......