In the fifth year of Qiande (967), in the distance of Jinyang City at the beginning of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, the direction was not clear in the dark night, and in the second half of the night, the starlight was dim, the moonlight was deep, and the cold air was filled with a faint pine fragrance.

On the streets west of the city, there are no people coming and going, and the houses here are basically made of pine, but they are not prominent, and only this one house is particularly strange in the whole street, which is built according to the Jiangnan style.

A plaque hangs on this building, written in elegant cursive, and the name says: Tao Ranju.

The three words "Tao Ranju" are named after Bai Juyi's "more to be brewed at the Juhuang family, and you are drunk and Tao Ran".

And at the door is indeed a few pots of white and yellow chrysanthemums, it rained during the day, and the weather is sunny at night, and the host moved out of the house at the right time, and it is blooming lively, exuding a sweet fragrance.

Inside, a middle-aged man in a thin robe sat in a room, and an incense burner was lit around him, and the smell of sandalwood was emanating at the moment.

On the table next to the couch are several books printed with movable type from Kaifeng of the Song Kingdom, including "Dream of Red Mansions", "The Legend of the White Snake", "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" and several other books.

He changed into a cross-collared robe with pine crane and bamboo patterns today, his nose was a little red, typical rosacea, and the other appearances were extremely ordinary, and he couldn't find them as soon as he entered the crowd, but judging from his dress, he was the same as a businessman.

This person is the eighth child, named Hu Kangxi, who sells liquor as a business, and the name of liquor is confused wine, so people call him "old paste".

Hu Kangxi was recuperating in Tao Ranju at the moment with his eyes closed, and suddenly heard a sound outside the house, Hu Kangxi opened his eyes suddenly, and a pair of eagle-like eyes looked around strangely.

There was movement outside the house, and I saw him quickly get down from the couch, and then walked to the window, and when he opened the window, he saw a white figure popping out of the branches beside the room.

The pigeon had a gray belly and a little fat body, which was different from the other pigeons, and Hu Kangxi was sure that it was from Kaifeng. A few days ago, he was released to Kaifeng, and he returned in a hurry tonight, presumably Kaifeng had something important to order.

There must be news in Kaifeng.

I saw the pigeon jumping down, walking and stopping on the ground for a while, and then flying into the half-hidden window, making a small sound, Hu Kangxi bent down, and then picked up the pigeon walking around on the ground, and took off the letter on the pigeon's leg.

He read it carefully, but what surprised him was that this time, the new lord of Changchun Hall was going to take Han Guo seriously.

Since the Great Song Dynasty destroyed (later) Shu, pacified the (southern) Tang, and let the (southern) Han return to obedience, the crisis in the south of the Great Song Dynasty has been lifted, and now it is time to use force against the north, and Liu Jun of the (northern) Han State is the first to bear the brunt, and the Great Song Dynasty is bound to go north in one fell swoop and pull out this nail.

I am afraid that today and next year, there will be movement in Kaifeng.

As the helmsman of the Jinyang rudder of Changchun Hall, Hu Kangxi was also nervous in his heart, on the one hand, he was excited and waited; On the other hand, I also feel a great responsibility, and I dare not lose a little bit in my every move.

Their first task was to monitor Jinyang's every move and report it to Kaifeng, and at the same time try to get rid of some villains around Guo Wuwei, and this mission will protect Guo Wuwei.

……

The palace in Jinyang is not large, and the interior furnishings are also very old, and the palace looks very dilapidated in the deep moonlight, which is enough to show the weakness of the country.

In the hall, Liu Jun was lying on the dragon couch, he opened his dry and chapped lips, and under the service of Wei Degui, the head of the inner chamberlain, he drank the bitter medicine one by one, and after a few sips, Liu Jun spit it all out.

Liu Jun coughed violently, he grabbed the spoon made of porcelain and smashed it to the ground. The spoon was broken into a few pieces, which was not enough for Liu Jun to let out a bad breath, he took a sip and said: "Abominable Zhao Kuangyin, I am inseparable from you!" ”

"Your Majesty, don't be impatient." Wei Degui picked up a handkerchief, wiped the messy potion that Liu Jun had vomited, and gently patted Liu Jun's back.

"Go down and let me be alone."

"Yes." Wei Degui immediately walked out of the hall door, closed the door gently, and then walked out of the hall, and then he looked into the hall again, sneered, and then turned around, strode with his cuffs swinged, and walked towards the place where he lived.

In the hall, Liu Jun squinted his eyes, he had been thinking about things. Since the war in the south, he has always paid attention to the war in the south, Liu Jun thought that Zhao Kuangyin would be afraid of the Khitans in the north, and did not dare to go south to attack the Tang Dynasty at that time, but since the war of the Great Song Dynasty went south to attack the Tang Dynasty, Liu Jun has been in pain every day, and he can't wait to break Zhao Kuangyin's bones and drink Zhao Kuangyin's blood.

Suddenly, he remembered the events of the day.

During the day, there were showers in the sky, and the heat wave around him suddenly became calm, and Liu Jun felt that his depressed mood was slightly relieved, but not long after, Guo Wuwei, who was a servant of the door, Pingzhangshi and a privy envoy, urgently entered the palace and presented all the thick notes of the Privy Council to Liu Jun's imperial review.

"Your Majesty, this is the report of the Privy Council, please read it Your Majesty." Guo Wuwei had already presented the southern recitals one by one to the imperial platform of the Han lord Liu Jun, and Guo Wuwei immediately said, "Your Majesty, the minister has retired first." ”。

"Guo Qing walks slowly." Liu Jun saw that there were many folds on the table, so he narrowed his bloodshot eyes, and then flipped through them one by one.

Before he finished reading the letter, Liu Jun's heart was like pressing a big stone, making him breathless.

His face became gloomy, but he didn't stop flipping through the notes.

One after another has been read through the notes, Liu Jun suddenly felt that he had missed a good opportunity, but he was helpless, the strength of the Han Kingdom was very weak, which could be glimpsed from the non-luxurious decoration room in the palace.

One of the roofs of the side hall has collapsed because of the rain washing, and the Han Kingdom is short of money, and the Han Kingdom has used all the finances for defense and warfare, so the palace is not decorated and magnificent.

Liu Jun boasted that he was a wise ruler and treated the people with kindness, but he was helpless, and the defeat of the Zhou and Song dynasties made the Han Kingdom more and more harmed by the Central Plains Dynasty.

Suddenly, his throat was sweet, and his body fell directly from the dragon seat to the ground, and by the way, he landed all the pieces on the ground.

The sound of falling to the ground made Wei Degui, the head of the inner chamberlain outside the hall, hear it all at once, and he pushed open the door of the hall inside.

I saw the Han lord Liu Jun lying on the ground, with some music scattered and pressed on his body.

"Your Majesty." Wei Degui, the head of the inner chamberlain, pushed Song Shu aside, only to see that Liu Jun's round-necked regular clothes had mottled blood stains, and the corners of Liu Jun's mouth were also bloody, so he immediately helped Liu Jun to the dragon chair and pinched the person.

Liu Jun had slowly woken up, and Wei Degui was overjoyed and went to call the imperial doctor again.

Liu Jun thought about things, he kept leaning on the head of the bed and closed his eyes to rest, he sighed, and then remembered the sad thing, a wave of anger arose again, he picked up a silk handkerchief and blocked his mouth.

When I took it away, a mouthful of red blood was all over the silk handkerchief.

"After a hundred years, who should the country be handed over?" The adopted son Liu Jien and Liu Jiyuan have mediocre qualifications, and they are villains, and the righteous son Liu Jiye is feasible, but he is a military general, as for the other adopted sons, Liu Jun doesn't look at it at all.

Outside the house, the sound of insects was whispering.

……

In the middle of the night, on Guo's mansion in the east of the city, Guo Wuwei was dressed in a crimson mid-single robe, he sat on the soft couch with his left hand, and was holding a letter from Kaifeng in his right hand.

Guo Wuwei opened the letter in person, and dense small letters began to appear on the snowflake white paper.

There is a deep meaning between the words and the words, like a dripping stone through the paper.

His fingers flicked the note gently, and at the bottom was a very neat row of small characters, which seemed to be this row of small characters.

This last word is not written, but printed, this may be a kind of movable type printing technology newly invented by the Great Song Dynasty General Supervisor, in fact, Guo Wuwei knew about it from Zhao Kuangyin's letters.

The person sitting next to Guo Wuwei, he was wearing a businessman's clothes, this person was an official from the Privy Council, but at this moment he was dressed as a businessman, with Erlang's legs crossed, and his head kept turning to look in the direction of Guo Wuwei, as if waiting for the other party's reply.

Guo Wuwei folded the letter, put it in the envelope, and then nodded at the man and said, "Bao Pu is known, please rest assured, Your Majesty." ”

"Guo Xianggong still burned this letter."

Guo Wuwei immediately brought the letter to the candle, and the letter and the envelope were set together.

After the burn was out, the man smiled slightly, and then got up from the soft couch, "Guo Xianggong, I have something to come to the Justice Workshop and say goodbye." ”

The man left Guo's mansion and went in the direction of the Justice Square.

After the man was gone, some other night walkers sneaked out of the corner of the wall, and then climbed into the low corner of the Guo Mansion and entered the mansion of the prime minister of the Han Kingdom.

Guo Wuwei was just about to go back to his room to rest, when he saw several nightcrawlers gathered around him, all of them wearing black nightwalkers and thick black scarves covering their faces, so that people could not see their faces clearly.

As soon as Guo Wuwei saw them, he was also a martial artist, and he would not be afraid of so many black-clothed people beside him, he asked calmly: "Who are you, why did you trespass into my mansion?" ”

The man in black at the head, as soon as he saw Guo Wuwei, waved his hand to let a few people around him withdraw aside, and then he arched his hand and said: "I'm sorry, we have no ill will towards Guo Xianggong, it's just that something big will happen in Jinyang after a while, and someone above wants me to protect Xianggong's safety in secret." ”

Guo Wuwei said with a smile: "How can I be safe if you trespass into my house tonight?" ”

The man stood up again, "Guo Xianggong said with a smile, but today I waited to come, just to say hello to Guo Xianggong, this Han Kingdom is about to be peaceful, if Xianggong is in need, but even if I go to Tao Ranju, I will definitely help one or two." ”

Guo Wuwei asked rhetorically: "Tao Ranju, isn't that a place to sell wine?" ”

The man didn't answer, but casually handed Guo Wuwei a sign and said, "This is a token, next time if there is something, go directly to Taoranju." ”

"Farewell." The man turned around, and several of the black-clothed people around him also withdrew.

After the people disappeared into Guo's mansion, Guo Wuwei has been standing in the same place where they disappeared, holding a bronze medal in his hand, there is a lion on the yin side, and the yang side is engraved with three special fonts of "Changchun Hall", Guo Wuwei does not know what kind of font this is, only to see that his character movement pen is fluttering and fast, the handwriting is thin, and he is thin without losing his flesh.

Is the other party friend or foe?

……