Chen Pu's letter to himself? Shang Cheng was a little baffled. He took the thick dark blue envelope, smiled at the two girls, and then leaned over and tore off the ribbon tied to the envelope, and took out the letterhead from the two clips. Most of the snow-white and fine Gu's Luyu paper is Chen Pu's Juanxiu small block letters

"Brother Zida, I invited you to have a drink in the house last time, and I intended to chat with you about the old days, but who knew that the access control in my house was careless, which caused the mad monk to be rampant and disturb Yaxing, and my brother also left angrily. I'm sorry I didn't do that. Brother Zongzi didn't care about the high amount, but Yu was worried and restless all night. Today, I will prepare light wine and thin food to fulfill the friendship of the landlord, and hope that my brother will not avoid the suspicion of condescension for a while, which will also make Pu a little more reassured. ”

After reading this half-written so-called letter in three lines and two sentences, Shang Cheng was speechless for a long time. He originally thought that Chen Pu wrote a private letter to ask him to take care of Liao Pheasant, but who knew that it was an invitation. He didn't know what to give Princess Changsha a comment, is this woman sensible or not? If she is sensible, then she should mention the family affairs of Liao Pheasant and Tian Xiaowu, and at least say a happy word; But she didn't say a word. If she is said to be ignorant, it can be seen between the lines of the letter that she really wants to apologize to herself......

He smiled bitterly and put the letter away, turned around and said to Liao Pheasant: "You go back and tell Chen Zhuguo that I have resigned this morning." According to the rules, I must leave the capital before dark today, so I can only appreciate her kindness, and I will definitely visit her next time I have the opportunity to come to Beijing. Had this letter, which was more like an invitation, come a day or two earlier, he would probably have been a guest at the princess's mansion again. But now it's obviously impossible to go.

Before Liao Pheasant could speak, Jiao'er rushed to say, "Then how can it be done?" The general came back from the palace in the morning, and without even taking a sip of tea, he first assigned people to Zhang Luo to arrange the evening banquet, if you don't go, then she is not busy in vain? Seeing that Shang Cheng only smiled and didn't speak, she immediately said again, "Your Majesty doesn't have to leave right away after resigning......

I don't understand this. When he first arrived in the capital, the officials of the Ministry of Rites who went to Xiaoluoyi to greet him repeatedly told him that under the imperial court system, officials who came to Beijing from other places to report on their work should generally not stay in Beijing for more than 15 days, and after His Majesty's resignation, he must leave Beijing immediately, otherwise he will definitely be punished. Why did things get to Kyauk'er and there was no need to leave immediately?

Liao Pheasant had better eyes than Jiao'er, and when he saw Shang Cheng's puzzled expression, he knew that he only knew the system of the imperial court and did not know the flexibility in it, so he smiled and said: "As long as you go out of the inner city of Shangjing, you will already leave Beijing." As long as you don't spend the night in the inner city, it's not against the imperial system. He also said, "Officials from other places who come to Beijing can't finish their work for half of the decade, so they are all dealt with in this way." I don't know of anyone who has been reprimanded or punished for this. ”

She was only halfway through her speech, and Shang Chengcheng had already understood. He said that the officials' debriefing on their work is not just a simple report on the gains and losses of their work, and that they may be able to complete their work in three to five days if their affairs are simple, but they may not be able to make a difference in the two months of January when the official affairs are complicated, and officials from places like Qiongzhou in Guangnan will have to delay their round-trip journey to Beijing for three or five months, so that they can only stay in Beijing for 15 years. He didn't understand why the imperial court would make such a system that was obviously not in line with the actual situation, and he couldn't imagine that there was such a reason in addition to the rules. It seems that the system is dead, and the people are alive, and if there is a policy above, there must be a countermeasure below; The same is true in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

He said to Liao Pheasant and Jiao'er, "I must go back." ”

He didn't explain to them why he had to go back. He didn't want to and couldn't delay in Jingshi. Compared with the banquet in the Changsha Princess's Mansion, he is now more concerned about the movements of the Tuqi people on the grassland. The king of Donglu Valley is shrewd and spicy, Zhang Shao and Sun Huan are not opponents at all, if he plays some tricks, Zhang Shao and most of them will not be able to see through the enemy's attempts, and they will definitely try to deal with it. He was afraid that Zhang Shao and the others would see the move, and if they made a bad scene, they would startle the snake, exposing the strategic intentions of next year, not to mention, maybe there would be flaws. In particular, the left army of Yanshan has been gradually moving in the direction of Yanzhong since mid-September, and the defense in the direction of Fangzhou in Yanxi is relatively empty at present, if the king of Donglu Valley sees the loopholes in the defense of Yanshan, he is desperate to attack Yanxi now, and there is no way to stop it with the thirteen battalions in the hands of Ximensheng. And Ximen Sheng is too careful, he will definitely not shrink the front in order to preserve the living force, if the Tuqi people really want to break through from Yanxi, he will inevitably defend city by city, and when the troops are exhausted little by little, then Fangzhou will be dangerous; Once Fangzhou falls, Yanshan will become the same situation as last winter......

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario and the least likely.

But the possibility exists after all. Considering that his opponent is a scheming and decisive guy, he can't ignore it! It is even more necessary for him to return to Yanshan as soon as possible, and he must minimize this possible risk!

Jiao'er wanted to persuade her a few more words, but Liao Pheasant quietly stopped her. Liao Pheasant is two years older than Jiao'er, and her mind is more intelligent and agile, and she can hear that Shang Cheng is not prevaricating but making decisions. As for why Shang Cheng made such a decision, she had no right to inquire. So she took Jiao'er to say goodbye to Shang Cheng,

"Wait a minute." Shang Cheng stopped them, "Bring a letter to Chen Zhuguo for me." "Chen Pu invited him to the banquet by letter; He couldn't go because of things, of course, he had to reply to her with a letter, explaining the reason why he couldn't go to the banquet and thanking Chen Pu for his kind invitation; This is the etiquette of friendship between friends.

Back at the inn, he quickly wrote the letter on the same paper, and also sealed it in the same dark blue envelope, and handed it to Liao Pheasant.

After Liao Pheasant and the others left, he ate something casually and began to make preparations before leaving. His luggage was very simple, confidential files and documents were kept by special personnel, clothes, official robes and other miscellaneous items were also packed by personal guards, and he mainly collected the abstracts he wrote down when thinking about problems and the paper he wrote when practicing calligraphy and then destroyed them. Both of these things are very confidential things, the former is related to military affairs, and the latter is related to his identity and origin, so he is not worried about letting others do it. After doing this, he saw that there was still some time, so he took a copy of "Historical Records" from the bookcase and sat in a chair to read it.

At this time, I went to send Liao Pheasant and their baokan back.

He scrolled through the book and asked, "Why have you been there for so long?" ”

Bao Kan smiled and said, "That little girl is so funny, I have to give her a gift, so I went to the jewelry store in front and picked out a pair of bright silver bracelets for her to send away." He dragged a chair and sat down under Shang Cheng, and said, "I left five taels of gold for Liao Pheasant's girl, and asked her to buy some for herself if she saw what was suitable, and she couldn't go to Yanshan empty-handed......"

"No one saw it, did they?"

"Nope. I gave it to her quietly, and no one saw it. ”

Shang Chengba smacked his lips and didn't say anything. On the day he went to Liao's house to propose, he saw that although the clothes Liao Pheasant was wearing were clean and tidy, they were not glamorous, and there was obviously not much use for them. But it's normal to think about it. She is just a six-rank fictitious lieutenant, and the monthly messy salary subsidy is only four or five yuan, although it doesn't cost a few for food and clothing, but it always has a bit of expenses. Besides, she is not married after all, and the girl who is a concubine at home has no status, and probably her monthly salary will be taken away by the family, and she will definitely not be able to save much herself. He originally said that before leaving, he would give Liao Pheasant some money and put it by his side for emergency, but as soon as he was in a mess just now, he actually forgot about it. Fortunately, Baokan is also very thoughtful, and finally did not embarrass the family.

He nodded approvingly, and went back to reading.

Bao Kan pursed his lips, his eyes were fixed on the pile of ashes in the brazier, and he was silent for a while and then said, "I think that girl is very good." ”

Shang Cheng didn't look up and said, "Then you just keep watching." Remember, you have three of them in your house. ”

Bao Kanleng paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "I'm not...... Where do you want to go. He said, "Behold, Kyauk'er and the stone...... Can the two of them make it? ”

It turned out to be this. Shang Cheng thought for a while, shook his head and said, "This can't be done." ”

"Why? Tian Xiaowu can marry Liao Pheasant, why can't Shi marry Jiao'er? ”

"You don't understand the reasoning." Shang Cheng put down the book, looked at his friend and said, "Their situation is completely different. Liao Pheasant was picked up by Xiao Wu from the pile of dead, and Xiao Wu carried her back to Yanshan from Luhe, just this friendship of suffering and life and death, others can't compare. What's more, Liao Pheasant brought this matter up first. If she doesn't mention it, let's go one by one" He stared at Bao Kan, "You and me, who would have thought that she would be willing to marry Xiao Wu?" Regardless of whether Liao Pheasant's six-rank lieutenant is a real position or a fictitious title, if she doesn't bring it up first, will you and I go to a guerrilla general's house to propose marriage for a Yanshanwei's eight-rank military attaché? ”

“…… No. Nor can he fail to admit this fact. Not to mention that he wouldn't go to Liao's house to propose marriage, when he first heard about this from Shang Cheng, the first thought that flashed through his mind was that Shang Cheng was drinking too much and talking drunk. He said honestly, "It's because of this that I really respect Captain Liao." She's a good girl. ”

Shang Cheng also thought so. Liao Pheasant is definitely a good girl, there is no doubt about that, and given the views and traditions of this era on marriage, her actions are especially worthy of respect and praise.

However, Bao Kan said: "Since Captain Liao is a good girl, and Jiao'er is also a good girl, Captain Liao can marry Tian Xiaowu, so why can't Jiao'er marry Shishi?" ”

Bao Kan's bastard logic immediately made Shang Cheng happy. And he couldn't refute it, so he waved his hand to show that he didn't want to spit on an explanation, and that was the end of it. He asked Bao Kan: "What I asked you to check, did you go to check?" ”

"What's the matter?"

"It's the good friend of the stone, and the thing about her man."

"That's what you say." Bao Kan said, "I've inquired with someone, the woman's hometown is in Huangji, Yi County, and she is a proper mother-in-law...... he rolled his eyelids and said with a smile, "Don't stare, that's what I heard about it, except for hooking up with the stone, there is nothing else out of the ordinary to honor her in-laws at home, and treat people kindly, and the people who know her on those streets praise her for her goodness, and they all say that she is a hard-working person and follows a short-lived man......"

"Her man is dead?" Shang Cheng's frowning brows suddenly relaxed, and he asked anxiously, "Really?" ”

"That's what it says." Bao Kan said, "A few years ago, her man seemed to have gone down to Quanzhou with people to run the seafood business, but there was no news as soon as he went. ”

"Have you sent a document to Quanzhou to confirm it?"

"It's been sent a long time ago. Two sermons were posted. The first was a plain text sent by the Tuoyan Prefecture Mansion, and the second was a consultation sent in the name of the Admiral's Mansion to several yamen in Quanzhou, and the Quanzhou Mansion, Quanzhou Haibo Division, and Hue County in Quanzhou all replied that the man had died of a violent illness in Quanzhou two years earlier. ”

"Is the message really reliable?"

"Reliable. The Hue County submission contains a copy of the post-mortem examination conducted by the Yamen Criminal Department at that time, and the seal of the county order is also affixed. ”

Shang Cheng nodded and asked, "Did you inform his family?" ”

Bao Kan was embarrassed and said, "...... I don't dare to say it. ”

"What do you mean?" Shang Cheng looked at him suspiciously. This is a fact, and there are documents and autopsy reports from the local yamen to corroborate it, what dare you not say?

"The ...... in his family," Bao Kan lowered his head, "his father and mother are all semi-paralyzed people who have had a stroke, and they are afraid that something big will happen." He swallowed with difficulty, and said, "That man also has an elder brother, who was conscripted by the army last year and died on the grassland, and his brother ...... It was also the one that General Ximen recruited when he fought Yanshui last winter, and when he crossed the river, he fell into the ice hole and didn't pick it up......"

Shang Cheng's throat suddenly seemed to be choked by something, and he couldn't speak anymore......