Before noon the next day, Shen Ruoyu came to Lady City alone as promised. It was still early, so he walked around the city for a while, and sat down high on the female wall, facing out of the city. The summer noon sun shines unreservedly on the river at your feet; On the white light of the river, there are a few barges riveted. This is the Han River, which flows close to the walls of Xiangyang City. On the other side of the river is Fancheng. Behind it, Da Hyeon Mountain condescendingly overlooks the Han River and the entire Xiangyang City, and the mountains are dense and verdant.

In the past, the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian wanted to go south to eliminate the Eastern Jin Dynasty and dominate the world, so he led more than 100,000 Qin troops to attack Xiangyang in four ways. Zhu Xu, the assassin of Liangzhou, who was ordered to guard Xiangyang, heard that the army was pressing, and he was not chaotic in the face of danger, strengthened the city defense, and actively prepared to fight with all his might.

Zhu Xu's father was a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His mother, Mrs. Han, is a heroine among women, who has been fighting with her husband all the year round and is familiar with military affairs; When inspecting the city defense, it was found that the northwest corner of the city wall was in disrepair and collapsed at the first touch, which was the weakness of the entire city defense. At that time, the defenders of Xiangyang were limited and the troops were tense; Mrs. Han then gathered all the daughters of the family and the women of the city to work day and night in this section of the city wall that was about to collapse, and built a new city wall that was unusually strong.

Subsequently, the Qin army crossed the Han River and launched a fierce attack on the city of Xiangyang. The soldiers and civilians defending the city resisted to the death, and the battle was extremely difficult and fierce. In the process, the Qin army discovered the hidden danger in the northwest corner of the city wall, so they concentrated their forces to attack here, and sure enough, they quickly collapsed the old city. Thanks to Mrs. Han's foresight; The Jin army defending the city held on to the new city built by the army of Lady Han's mother, and finally repelled the attack of the Qin army.

Hence the name of Lady City.

Shen Ruoyu recalled the history he had read about in the book, fell into deep thought, and unconsciously shook his head and smiled.

Lady City. Lady City ...... But in the end, the Qin army still occupied Xiangyang. The Eastern Jin reinforcements were afraid to come and did not dare to come; Zhu Xu fought alone, and finally because his rebel general Li Bohu surrendered to the Qin army, he responded from inside and outside, opened the city gate, and Xiangyang City was finally captured by the Qin army. Zhu Xu was captured alive and tied to Chang'an, the former capital of Qin. Fu Jian respected him deeply, did not kill him, but made him an official, but killed the subordinate general Li Bohu. As for Mrs. Han, no one knows what her whereabouts are.

Shen Ruoxiao stood up and looked around. In front of him, the Han River came down from both sides of Zhouzhu in the west, turned a corner at the foot of the Lady City, and the rushing river turned sharply and drained to the northeast. The river is like a ribbon, reflecting the dazzling bright light, extending to the east; You can also see a few sun-exposed boat shadows on the river, and fine wrinkles all over the water surface. On the surface of the river at the foot of Lady City, the sharp currents of the water rush up whirlpools and waves, and the river flows endlessly.

Behind him, Da Xian sat quietly at the back of Xiangyang City; Solid support.

At the foot, this impregnable and eternal lady city.

Backed by mountains and rivers, easy to defend and difficult to attack; The iron-clad Xiangyang, the iron-clad Lady City. However, after all, it still fell into the hands of the former Qin and the Mongolian cavalry. It turned out that they were all their own people, and they opened the door to dedicate the city, and it was clear that the city wall was still as strong as ever, and it still is.

Shen Ruoyu took a deep breath and exhaled it long, feeling the openness and loneliness of the past and present in his chest. He sighed softly:

"Funny."

Behind him, a voice suddenly rang out:

"What's funny?"

Shen Ruoyu turned around; It was outside the shrine of the Marquis of Nawu that he would stand in front of the fortune teller who asserted that he would have a bloody disaster.

He jumped off the female wall and looked at the other person.

"It's funny, because it's exactly the same thing, and it's been happening over and over again in all dynasties. Future generations will never learn to learn from history and repeat the mistakes of the past one after another. ”

The man smiled and said, "That's a good point; The Seven Kingdoms of Hanjing, the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty, are a lesson from the past, but I don't know if His Royal Highness King Yan has learned. ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at him vigilantly: "Who is Your Excellency?" ”

The man replied, "I am just a street warlock in Chengdu, begging for food in the market; Everyone in Jinguan City called me Huang Tanuki. ”

Shen Ruoyu asked coldly: "Your Excellency chased you all the way to Xiangyang, and asked me to meet alone in this uninhabited ancient city, what is the noble matter?" ”

Huang Lizi replied: "I was ordered by Jinyiwei to bring Shaoxia here, persuade Your Excellency to tell the true purpose of King Yan sending you to Chengdu, and hand over the secret letter of King Shu. ”

"What?! - Shen Ruoyu was taken aback, and he couldn't turn around for a while.

Huang Lizi said with a smile: "Shen Shaoxia traveled thousands of miles from Beiping to Chengdu, secretly met with the King of Shu, gave the King of Shu a mysterious thing, and then got his secret letter and returned to the north. King Yan and King Shu conspired in private, so sneaky, it must be a conspiracy that is not conducive to the imperial court. ”

Shen Ruoyu couldn't help but say: "You were originally a secret agent of Jinyi Wei, pretending to be a street warrior and keeping an eye on the King of Shu in Chengdu?" ”

Huang Lizi said: "It doesn't matter if I'm a brocade guard or not." At present, there are only you and I in this lady city; If the young man is willing to cooperate, everything is easy; Otherwise, at this moment, the city has been surrounded by the Jinyi Guard and the Xiangyang defenders, and your Excellency is afraid that it will be difficult to fly even if you have the same martial arts as your father. ”

Shen Ruoyu was taken aback again: "I...... Father?! ”

The yellow raccoon stared at him quietly: "It's still early; Shaoxia may wish to think carefully. Confess to King Yan and hand over the secret letter, I guarantee that Jinyiwei has no offense against Shaoxiaqiu, and he can also protect Shaoxia to the court to expose the feudal king's rebellion. ”

Shen Ruoyu was stunned for a moment, and his mind was a mess. He couldn't figure out what was going on, he couldn't remember when and where he showed his flaws, leaked secrets, and didn't know what and how much the court had in his hands, and what all this had to do with his father. He had never been in such a situation before, and he had no idea what to do. His heart was beating at an accelerated pace, and a thin layer of sweat began to roll down his forehead.

He said softly: "I went to Chengdu just because the Yanwang Mansion used up the savings of Sichuan and Shu specialty medicinal materials, and Lord Yao prepared a special list and sent me to Chengdu to procure it." The medicinal materials are all purchased and prepared by the Shu Wangfu and handed over to me to take away. Nothing else. ”

The yellow raccoon asked, "What's the list?" ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "In the hands of the eldest brother who was purchased by my peers; If the brocade guards are not too troublesome, I can recite them to listen; However, your Excellency claims that you are not Jinyi, and you can't produce evidence that Jinyiwei hired you, so I can't give you any more details. You better call the Jinyi guard to come up and arrest people; They have the right to judge me, you are just a fortune teller on the streets of Chengdu, and you have no right to come to Xiangyang to ask me about King Yan's private affairs. ”

The yellow raccoon pondered for a moment and smiled:

"That being the case—" He suddenly stretched out his hand and showed a silver medal, engraved with the words "Jinyiwei" on one side and a "edict" on the other.

"Now, is the young man satisfied?" He smiled and said, "You are right, I have been making secret visits to the streets of Chengdu and paying close attention to the movements of the Shu Palace." Your companion is currently being detained in the Yazhong of Xiangyang County. My brother of Jinyiwei interrogated the confession he obtained, and he didn't know that he came to Chengdu to procure for the Yan Wangfu, let alone go through the Shu Wangfu. He only knew that after you arrived in Chengdu, you didn't say goodbye, disappeared for three days and didn't hear from you until the third night, only to know that you had done all the medicinal materials by yourself, but he refused to tell him how to do it. He remembered that you carried a long linen package all the way to Chengdu, but he didn't see you on the way back. Outside the palace of the king of Shu, I saw with my own eyes that you carried a long package of coarse linen into the palace, but when you came out, your back was empty. Later, the king of Shu pretended to leave the house alone, met you privately at the inn, and handed you a secret letter.

"Shen Shaoxia, it is not strange that the Yan Wangfu wants to procure medicinal materials, but it is so mysterious and secretive, sending two people to Chengdu together, but not letting the person who has more experience in procurement know? The court can only speculate unless the only person in the know has hidden secrets that cannot be known. I'm sure the secret is in the parcel and the secret letter. So what's in the package? ”

Shen Ruoyu replied: "King Yan asked me to bring some Beiping specialties to the King of Shu, chestnuts, persimmons and the like, nothing new. ”

Huang Tanzi said: "In this case, why don't Shaoxia hand over the secret letter of the King of Shu?" King Yan and King Shu have a deep brotherhood and give each other local products, which is not a thing, and they are not afraid that the court will know, so why hide it? ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Since there is nothing in the letter, why do you have to read it." If he is entrusted by a person to deliver a letter, and the letter is received from the sender, it must be delivered to the recipient; Show it to irrelevant outsiders, and I will not be dishonest. ”

Huang Lizi smiled: "You have shown me the letter, if there is nothing abnormal in the letter, I will return it to you, and you can continue to go back to Beiping to send it to King Yan; Jin Yiwei has experience and can restore the seal as before, ensuring that King Yan can't see the clues, and you won't have any problems. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "That's taking advantage of the trust of King Shu and King Yan in me to deceive the two of them, let alone it." ”

Huang Lizi sank his face and said coldly: "Shen Ruoxiao, don't be ignorant. Jin Yiwei directly obeyed the orders of the Son of Heaven and had the right to spy on all the prince's family affairs; If you refuse to give the letter, you are disobeying the decree and complicit in the crime, do you know how powerful it is? ”

Shen Ruoyu paused for a moment; His mind began to cool and sober up. He asked:

"How do you know my name? How do I know I'm from Peking? Why don't you arrest me in Chengdu and chase me to Xiangyang? Why bother to get me to this lady city, and it is not easier to arrest me directly from the inn and put me in the hall of the government for trial? And you just talked about my father -- do you know who my father is? ”

But the yellow raccoon did not answer immediately, but looked at him meaningfully for a long time, and then found a cornerstone at the head of the city and sat down leisurely, shook off his clothes, and said unhurriedly:

"Shaoxia, do you know that these questions of yours are enough to confirm Jinyiwei's suspicion of you? I'll answer you now. Since I saw you entering the palace alone, I began to pay attention to following you outside the palace of Shu. In the Zhuge Temple, Shaoxia and Fang Zhengxue played together, Shaoxia spoke with a Beiping accent, and Fang Zhengxue mentioned King Yan many times, anyone can guess that you are related to King Yan. Jinyiwei did not move in Chengdu, and only started when he arrived in Xiangyang, in order to hide people's eyes and ears, and did not want to startle the snake; chose to be in Lady City in order to give a chance to make meritorious contributions and save oneself. As for who you are—"

Huang Lizi stopped, stared at Shen Ruoliao tightly, and smiled proudly.

"Shen Shaoxia, when everyone in the world sees the sword in your hand, they all know who you are, and they know who your father is. The King of Shu knows. King Yan knew it from the beginning, and he knew more than anyone else. The only person who has been kept in the dark is yourself. ”

Shen Ruoxiao's face was full of doubt and confusion: "What do you mean?" ”

Huang Lizi said: "Do you know the young man, your father's past?" ”

"What do you mean ......?"

"In the tenth year of Hongwu, Shen Rufeng led back to Yanshan, and since then he has lived in seclusion in Yanshan; You must know that his martial arts are invincible in the world, but why did he flee back to Yanshan and never go out of the mountain for the rest of his life? Since Shen Rufeng got the Autumn Wind Sword at the age of sixteen, and then until he fled back to Yanshan, do you know what happened in the past twelve years? ”

His father's mysterious past - he never knew. He had always longed to know about his father's past experiences, but no one around him was willing to tell him; All the people were secretive, at most like uncles, and they only hurriedly passed by with a few words. Two years ago, the uncle was killed, and he was framed; That night, the third uncle was in the dark room, and once roughly told a little about his father's past; For two years, he has always believed that the third uncle is slandering his father, although deep down, he has long recognized Qing'er as his own sister. He longed to know more about his father's past experiences, to hear more details, and to know a real father he didn't know. But is he ready to accept the truth? He never asked himself that question. At this moment, the question he was concerned about was whether he should know all this from Jin Yiwei's mouth; He longed to know, but maybe he shouldn't ask.

Seeing that he was silent, the yellow civet smiled faintly.

"Of course you can't know." He said, "Shen Rufeng was originally a disciple of Zhang Shicheng, and with his strong martial arts, he was accepted by Zhang Shicheng as a personal bodyguard at the age of fourteen; At the age of sixteen, he got the Autumn Wind Sword from the head of Wudang Mountain, Gao Dao Huandanzhen, and his martial arts soared, and soon no one dared to compete with him in the four seas; Zhang Shicheng treated his favor more seriously, like father and son, and together with another adopted son, the fifth prince, Zhang Shicheng was regarded as the right and left hand, and was called Wuzhong Shuangsha.

Xu Da and Chang Yuchun led the army to attack Wu, Lianke Gaoyou, Huai'an, Mei Sizu surrendered, and then Zhang Shicheng lost Haozhou, Xuzhou, and Suzhou, so he lost the entire Huaidong. Shen Rufeng ran to Xu Da's camp to surrender, Xu Da had already heard of his name, and praised him for abandoning the darkness and turning to the light, and kept him by his side; I don't want my father to secretly communicate with Zhang Shicheng and send information frequently; When Xu Da broke through the reinforcements of the five princes, the five princes surrendered, and Huzhou, Jiaxing, and Hangzhou surrendered one after another; Nai's father was scheming, and he ran back to Zhang Shicheng at the right time. Zhang Shicheng lost the fifth prince, and because Shen Rufeng had reported to Xu Dajun before, he thought that Shen Rufeng was not only good at strategy, but also truly loyal to himself, so he redoubled his weight and worshiped him as the chief soldier, except for Shen Rufeng, he refused to listen to others.

"Xu Da and Chang Yuchun built a long base to besiege Pingjiang City, but because of their father's stubborn refusal, they couldn't go down in October. Later, Xu Da sent a book to his father, saying that the first emperor was the trend of the times, Zhang Shicheng was narrow-minded, short-sighted, difficult to become a big weapon, and would be defeated sooner or later. Shen Rufeng fled in the middle of the night and fled to Xu Da's camp. The next day, Pingjiang City was broken, Zhang Shicheng was defeated in the street battle, and he couldn't hang himself, and he was held by Xu Da. ”

Shen Ruoyu seemed to be listening to the book of heaven, listening to the narration of the yellow civet with his mouth open, his face full of incredulity. Seeing the look on his face, the yellow fox smiled proudly, pointed in front of him, motioned for him to sit down, and continued:

Because of this matter, the first emperor had to admit his merits in leveling Wu and rewarded him with a governor, who had the same official position as Lan Yu at that time. When the edict was delivered to Pingjiang, no one could be found; A month later, when Tang He attacked Qingyuan, he found that Shen Rufeng was at Fang Guozhen's; learned from the captured Fang Guozhen's cronies that it turned out that Shen Rufeng had already used his position beside Zhang Shicheng to secretly communicate with Fang Guozhen during the battle between Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen in Kunshan, so that Fang Guozhen had seven battles and seven victories, so as to persuade Zhang Shicheng to surrender to the Yuan Court. Under the pursuit of Tang He, Liao Yongzhong, and Zhu Liangzu's army, Fang Guozhen fled into the sea, desperate, and surrendered; The first emperor accepted the surrender of the table, and there was only one condition, asking him to hand over Shen Rufeng. When the envoy arrived at Fang Guozhen's place, Shen Rufeng had already fled first, and he didn't know where to go.

Three months later, the general Xu Da played from the front line of the Northern Expedition, and Shen Rufeng came to surrender, and the gift of surrender was actually Bianliang - that is, Kaifeng - and Bianliang guard general Zuo Junbi. Xu Da kept him in the army, treated him as polite as ever, and at the same time carefully observed, Shen Rufeng then helped him break the Yuan army in Luoshui and pacify Henan. Although the first emperor approved Xu Da's decision, he was still not at ease, so he came to Bianliang in the name of the army and had a secret conversation with Xu Da and Shen Rufeng. The content of the secret conversation is known to the whole world, and no fourth person knows about it so far. In short, later Xu Da took Linqing, went down to Tongzhou, conquered Dadu, all the way like a bamboo, the Yuan army collapsed for thousands of miles, fled to Shangdu - that is, Kaiping, and then abandoned Shangdu and fled into the desert because of the approach of the spring army; Xu Da then connected Taiyuan, Gongchang, Pingliang, Yan'an, Qingyang, Pingding, Shanxi, Shaanxi; Shen Rufeng has been working under Xu Da and has never rebelled.

"In the third year of Hongwu, Xu Da once again triumphed in the north; The division returned to the capital, the first emperor was rewarded, Xu Dajin was awarded the Duke of Wei, and the generals and schools at all levels around him were rewarded, but they were not as good as Shen Rufeng. Legend has it that in the secret conversation between the first emperor and his Bianliang, it was agreed that Xu Da would conquer the capital, the Yuan Dynasty would fall, and the north would be pacified, and the first emperor would be able to write off all his previous swings repeatedly, and allow him to provide for life for life, only one condition is that he must not be close to the imperial court again, get involved in the government and military, and must not show up in Beijing again.

"Whether the legend is true or not, no one knows. The only known fact is that Nai's father did leave the capital without an official or a title, and since then he has stayed away from the government and politics, never intervened in the military again, and walked the world alone, and never saw him worry about his livelihood. He has changed his master many times, and his reputation is bad, but because of his martial arts, everyone in the court is feared; Coupled with arrogance, coldness, capriciousness, and treachery, no one in the courtier's army from top to bottom said that it was evil. Knowing that he had successfully retired, everyone in the Sixth Department of the Chinese Book and the Fifth Army was happy and breathed a sigh of relief. ”

Shen Ruoyu still stood in place, motionless; The initial horror passed quickly, and as the yellow fox gushed endlessly, he calmed down at this moment, and said coldly:

"You are unbelievable, but you can also speak the truth, and you are self-contained, which really makes me admire. But if you say nothing, you will speak wildly, and teach people how to believe you? Just make up a thrilling romance, but you just want to trick me into handing over the family letter of the king of Shu, so that the plan is out of nothing, framing the king of Shu and the king of Yan, and I am a fool, obediently play with you? ”

As if expecting him to react like this, the yellow civet raised his hand, thoughtfully twisted the short mustache on his lips, squinted his eyes, and said with a faint smile:

"Shen Shaoxia, what I just said below, for people living in the Ming Dynasty today, it is just like the names of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, just common sense. If you don't believe it, you can just grab a passer-by on the street and ask him who Shen Rufeng is, and see how the other party will answer. The content of the secret agreement between the first emperor and Shen Rufeng Bianliang, if the legend is true, presumably the first emperor will regret it later. Shen Rufeng left the imperial court, stayed away from the capital, walked the rivers and lakes alone, took advantage of his martial arts, was cruel-hearted, did evil everywhere, and often committed the crime of killing and abusing innocents and slaughtering women and children because of trivial matters; His sins are much more than that. He is cold-blooded, lustful, with his unparalleled martial arts and beauty, he is always and everywhere, causing countless kind and pure women to lose their virginity and commit suicide, but he can be indifferent and continue to play with his next prey between the palms.

"All in all, it was my father who killed people and abused people back then, and did everything he could, causing people to be heard all over the world, and people were panicked, and even the girl covered her face with a veil day and night, and did not dare to show it less; Pedestrians are on the road and do not dare to look aside; The child didn't dare to cry when he heard the name of Shen Rufeng. But his martial arts are strong and unrivaled, so he runs rampant in the world and no one can stop. The first emperor turned a blind eye at first, but later Shen Rufeng really made a fuss to the point of mutual anger among the people and gods, and the government and the opposition were in an uproar, all demanding that this person be completely eliminated and eliminate harm for the common people in the world. The first emperor lured him back to Beijing several times, but his father did not take the bait; Countless brocade masters were sent before and after, trying all kinds of ways to assassinate, but none of them succeeded, but they were all easily killed by Shen Rufeng, so a few years have passed, Shen Rufeng is just more arrogant, and the first emperor has a deep headache for this. ”

He paused and looked at Shen Ruoliao; For a long time, the other party just squinted at himself and sneered, his eyes were full of mockery and disdain, and when he saw him stop, he opened his mouth and sneered:

"With such a genius who makes up stories at his feet, it's a waste to be a brocade-clad agent. You wantonly slander and slander my father, but you dare to create rumors about the emperor; My father turned out to be invincible in the world in martial arts, and at this point, he was able to make the imperial court commit the crime of sending Ouchi masters to assassinate repeatedly, and all of them failed. As you said before, my father is a man who seeks merit and profit, and he is vacillating, why did the first emperor frequently lure him into Beijing, but he did not go? He was so shrewd, how did he get so easily fooled and be poisoned by my third uncle? He has such a great ability, why did he have to go back to the mountains in the first place? The more you tell your story, the more outrageous it becomes, I'm afraid you won't be able to make it up yourself, right? ”

But the yellow fox shook his head and smiled bitterly, and sighed:

"You think that's outrageous; Who knows that it's your father himself who is really outrageous? What happened later, if it weren't for his infamy and everyone's desire to get rid of it as soon as possible, I am afraid that it would have become a myth this morning. The first emperor couldn't get rid of your father by all means, and Shen Rufeng also became a serious illness in the first emperor's heart. Until the tenth year of Hongwu, it coincided with the rebellion in Tibet and plundered the tribute envoys; The armies of Deng Yu and Mu Yingfa crusaded against Tibet and won a complete victory. The first emperor saw the opportunity, wrote a book and returned Dan Zhenren to the head of Wudang, and lured Shen Rufeng to Chongyang to Wudang Mountain to climb high by returning Dan Zhenren's hand, and at the same time secretly ordered Deng Yu and Mu Ying to take the opportunity of the army to return to the dynasty to suddenly surround Wudang Mountain, making it clear that Deng and Mu Ergong were not allowed to surrender, but asked for a battle to cause Shen Rufeng to die.

"An army of 100,000; Your father has only one man and one sword, and you have your mother with him. The details of that battle are still the top secret in the army; The 100,000 soldiers who participated in the war were all sent by the first emperor to the northwest to settle for reclamation; In addition to the first emperor, only a few meritorious generals like King Zhongshan knew about it. These people are no longer alive, and the first emperor has just died; In other words, it is likely that no one in the world now knows the specific course of the war. The world now only knows that Deng Yu, the general of the expedition to the west, was in the prime of life, had always been strong and healthy, and won a great victory in the crusade against Tubo, but on the way back to the division, he fell ill in Wudang Mountain; Two months later, the army marched to Shouchun, and Deng Yu died of illness. However, Shen Rufeng successfully broke through in the 100,000-strong army in Wudang Mountain, retreated, and returned to Yanshan in the north, never taking a step out of the mountain again. ”

Shen Ruoyu didn't say anything again this time, turned his face away, looked at Han Shui outside the city, and just listened quietly.

Huang Lizi sighed: "Because of the death of Duke Deng, the first emperor hated Shen Rufeng from then on, and wanted to break his body into pieces, but at the same time, he was even more afraid that he would come out of the mountain again and harm the world." In the twelfth year of Hongwu, Yao Biao, the four gentlemen of the poison gate, entered Beijing, met King Yan by chance, and since then he has been under the door of King Yan. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, King Yan was in Beiping, and Lord Yao naturally accompanied him. The first emperor clearly indicated that King Yan would guard one of the important tasks of Beiping before King Yan set off, and strictly prevent Shen Rufeng from going out of the mountain again; For this reason, it is exempted from taxation and servitude within the boundaries of the night mountain, and all the troops who go out of the fortress and the officials and merchants and tributes make detours, doing everything possible to avoid disturbing Shen Rufeng's location and giving him the motivation to come back; And asked King Yan to make full use of Lord Yao's past with Shen Rufeng and Zhenshui Village, closely monitor any disturbances in Yeyao Mountain, and report to the imperial court at any time.

"Shaoxia must have thought that until today, King Yan didn't know your background, and Lord Yao would keep it a secret for you. It doesn't need Lord Yao to say a word more, His Royal Highness King Yan has known your life experience well from the beginning, and he knows it better than yourself. He knew who your father was and all your father's past long before you were born; He knew that your mother was the only daughter of Master Yao's junior brother, and he knew that Du Yunjun eloped with Shen Rufeng and fled with Shen Rufeng back then; Knowing that she died in childbirth, you lost your mother when you were a child, but your biological father was a cruel and selfish devil, and punished you for fifteen years for your mother's death-"

"Enough!!" Shen Ruoyu shouted violently, and suddenly turned around, and the cold and sharp long blade of the autumn wind was already pressing across the opponent's throat. The yellow raccoon instinctively stopped; He had never seen this look—the look he had only heard of in the history of legends—the look in Shen Rufeng's murderous eyes.

"Say one more word, and I'll pick out your tongue." Shen Ruoyu said softly, but his voice was like an autumn wind and a cold blade, piercing the other party's cavity, and in an instant, the liver and gallbladder were ruptured.

Huang Tanuki was shocked for a moment, calmed down, took out the silver medal from his waist again, and held it up in front of Shen Ruoxiao.

"Shen Shaoxia, King Yan's subordinates threatened the Jinyi Guard with swords, and the blade hit his neck, what would this be seen in the eyes of the imperial court? I'm afraid that His Royal Highness King Yan won't allow you to be so reckless. ”

Shen Ruoyu saw the silver medal and didn't say anything for a long time; It was a long time before he removed the sword and put it back in its sheath.

At this point, the yellow civet changed his tone and began to speak seriously:

"Shen Shaoxia is grateful to King Yan, thinking that King Yan trusts you, and you will swear to death to repay King Yan's kindness; As everyone knows, since you have such a biological father, how can His Royal Highness King Yan really trust you? It's impossible to really deliver any heavy lifting to you. The same is true of the King of Shu; If he wants the young man to bring the letter, it is inevitable that he will not be able to write any important secrets in the letter; A truly confidential letter, he was determined to send another confidant to Beiping secretly. What else do you have to worry about? If Shaoxia really doesn't know what is in the package that King Yan gave to the King of Shu, it is not easy to force you to make it up; As long as Shaoxia hands over the letter from the King of Shu, I have read it on the spot, and I promise to restore the seal as before, and return the letter to you, so that King Yan will not have the slightest suspicion. ”

Shen Ruoyu was silent for a moment and asked in a low voice, "What if I don't give it?" ”

Huang Lizi smiled and said: "Jinyiwei has the authorization of the Son of Heaven, and it is King Yan himself, so he can't help but give it." If the young man refuses to hand over the letter, it will not only be your own disobedience, but also the king of Yan will be charged with resisting the order; In a worse situation, the young man forced me to search my Jinyi guard, and you lost the opportunity to make meritorious contributions to the imperial court; If he tried to pull out troops and use force to resist, King Yan's crime could be directly characterized as rebellion. The young man will not be ignorant of the severity. All kinds of consequences are in front of us, the wise look at the general trend and understand the current affairs, and the benevolent choose the right and fulfill their righteousness. Allegiance to the imperial court is a righteous act, and Yu Ren and Yu Zhi are the only choice for young heroes at this moment. ”

Shen Ruoyu turned around and looked at the endless Han River flowing below again. Under the city wall, it is directly adjacent to the river embankment; He could see that there was already a circle of people standing below, all of them in civilian clothes, but from the size and temperament, at first glance, it was a well-trained samurai, presumably the people of the brocade guard, who had surrounded the lady city at this moment; Huang Lizi is right, he can't choose to use force to resist at all, and then add charges to King Yan, not to mention that even if he resists, he can't fly with wings - he is not a father after all.

His chest was dull, as if he was suffocating; King Yan knows everything, and he has long known everything; At this moment, he no longer even doubted whether the story told by the yellow fox was true or false; Skepticism is no longer the point. Who is the father? Who are you? Who is King Yan?

He shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts out; Even if you can't get rid of it, at least you have to temporarily isolate it in one place and don't touch it; The first priority is what he should do now; The letter of the king of Shu is on himself, to give, or not to give?

He looked at the surging river; A thought suddenly crossed his mind at this moment, rushing through his chest. As if it were a lifesaver, he immediately clung to the idea, ignoring whether it was stupid or clever - after all, at this moment, he was desperate and could not think of a better way.

He was silent for a long time, then turned around, glanced at the yellow civet, lowered his head, and asked softly:

"Do you really promise that you will be able to restore the seal to its original state without leaving the slightest flaw?"

Huang Lizi smiled: "Jinyiwei has been doing this for a long time, he is experienced and skilled, you don't have to worry at all." ”

Shen Ruoyu hesitated for a while, sighed, and said softly:

"I can lend you the letter, but it is not mine now. I'll have to get it. ”

Huang Lizi looked at him suspiciously: "Shen Shaoxia, you treat me as a three-year-old child?" The letter that the King of Shu gave you, you regard it as your life, how can you not carry it with you at all times? ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "It is precisely because it is regarded as life, so I didn't bring it with me." I knew that I would have to stay in Xiangyang for a few days, so when I first arrived in Xiangyang, I hid the letter in a hidden and safe place; Otherwise, if you carry it on your body, it will be difficult to ensure that there will be no wind and grass for a few days; It's not the same as walking on the road. ”

"Where did you leave the letter?"

Shen Ruoyu said: "Anyway, it's not in the inn; I went to Fancheng early the day before yesterday, hid the letter in the Mi Fu Temple, and made a mark, but only I recognize, and only I can find it; Then I said to you, and it was in vain, and you could not see the mark I made. I have to take you personally. If you don't want to, then it's up to you. Now call your brother of the brocade guard and bind me to prison, for you will never find the letter without me leading the way. Without that letter, I would like to see what you use as a credential to say that King Yan is not. ”

Huang Lizi was a little incredulous: "Shen Shaoxia, don't be self-conscious; I give you a chance below, not because I'm afraid of you. Once Jin Yiwei really arrests you in prison, if you want to get the letter, there is a way; Even if you can't imagine it, haven't you heard of it? You should still remember the words of the face in front of the Zhuge Temple, right? ”

Shen Ruoyu took a deep breath quietly; Luo Yang's boot knife was properly clamped in the boot, and he could feel it solidly. He clenched the autumn wind and said calmly:

"If you have the ability, you will arrest me. A true wise man must first think clearly about his chances of winning. You treat me politely and fulfill your promises; I will return the favor and take you to the letter. Otherwise, I will meet you in this city today, and there will only be two endings: Or, your Jinyi Guard will be killed by me, after all, I am my father's son, and the autumn wind is now in my hands; Otherwise, I can't kill you, but you will never be able to stop me from committing suicide, anyway, I don't have that letter on me at the moment, let alone a word or a trace that can make you prove that you are connected to the King of Yan and the King of Shu; There is no proof that you are dead, at best, you just killed Shen Rufeng's son, I hope the court can also give you credit because of this. ”

The yellow fox looked at him in amazement for a long time, frowned and thought for a moment, and sneered:

"That's fine; I will let you lead the way. But please weigh it clearly, don't expect yourself to play any tricks with this. ”

They came down the wall. Huang Lizi took a team of Jinyi guards around the city, and according to Shen Ruoxiao's statement, he came to the riverside and hired three ferries, two of which were Jinyi guards, sandwiched the boat where Shen Ruoliao was located, and shook it towards Fancheng on the opposite bank.

Shen Ruoyu sat in the center of the boat, standing around a circle of brocade guards, pressing his sword towards him, eyeing him fiercely; He could only see a line of river through the gap between them. He lowered his head and focused his eyes on the plank beneath his feet, just in a daze.

After a while, the sound of the river was somewhat quiet; Shen Ruoyu's heart seemed to be on fire; Still with his head down, he asked absentmindedly:

"Not there yet?"

Huang Tanzi smiled: "What's the hurry; The boat arrived in the middle of the river. ”

Shen Ruoyu paused. He was waiting for this moment.

He slammed to his feet and slammed into the Jinyi guards who were surrounding him. Several brocade guards were caught off guard, knocked down by him, and turned over and fell into the water; He got the gap and was about to jump ship, but the hull that had just leaned to one side instantly bounced back and swung to the other side; He is not familiar with water, and he is not used to riding a boat, so he sits down on the boat as soon as he sits on the butt. The remaining brocade guards immediately pounced on him with murderous anger and pressed him underneath. He threw himself out from under the crowd with all his strength, but he could not stand up on the rickety plank anyway, and in the blink of an eye he was pinned down by countless hands, desperately pressing him down. He punched and kicked all the way, struggled to climb to the side of the ship, and with a sharp struggle with his whole body, his coat was torn, and finally slipped out of the hands of the brocade guard and plunged into the water.

In an instant, he choked on a mouthful of water; Growing up in the mountains, he never learned to swim. The reason why he chose to throw himself into the river was just his wishful thinking of using the water of the Han River to destroy the secret letter of the King of Shu; As for not being able to swim in the water, he simply left a dead certificate for Jinyiwei, which was clean and easy. However, the moment he choked on water, the pain of the chest tear and the great fear born of instinct made him immediately forget the secret letter of the King of Shu. It was as if two years ago, on that stormy night, he fled from Yexiao Mountain; He thought he was ready to face death, but the shadow of death had just come, and the strong ** of survival instinctively rushed up and overwhelmed everything else. He threw himself desperately in the water, struggling upwards with all his might, but he quickly sank deeper and deeper in the water. More water is poured down the nose and mouth into the chest; At this moment, he didn't know if the pain was more intense, or the fear was more intense. Time seems to have passed longer than a lifetime; He gradually became a little unconscious, and the pain seemed to recede. A hand suddenly grabbed him; Then put a few hands on your body at the same time. He was pulled out of the water and thrown back into the boat.

After a while, he squirted out a large mouthful of water, and when he awoke, he found himself lying flat on the plank, his shirt untied, and his chest still aching, with the heart-rending pain of broken ribs; He couldn't help but scream. A dark shadow quickly left his chest, and the huge pressure on his ribcage disappeared in an instant; A hand groped for his ribs on one side of his chest that was in sharp pain. The yellow raccoon's voice sounded above his head:

"How?"

A muffled voice replied, "I'm pushing too hard...... A broken rib ......"

Shen Ruoyu fainted; He awoke violently again, and a hand withdrew from his chest; The face of the yellow raccoon was in front of him, and when he saw him open his eyes, he raised his hand in front of him; In his hand was a lump of letter paper soaked in river water, which had been crumpled into a puddle of mud.

"Shen Ruoxiao, congratulations; Prepare to go to prison and be tortured. ”

He didn't say anything, and he passed out again.