Although it was a dream, the real feeling that the dream brought to him made him shudder!

How did his most cherished Da Keding end up in the court?

What happened to let Da Keding enter the palace?

Don't...... Is it because of Zuo Jigao?

Thinking that he was saved by Zuo Jigao, who was rescued by Chengwei, who was hated the most by Empress Dowager Renxi, and then Zuo Jigao gave him Da Keding, Pan Fengsheng couldn't help but be drenched in cold sweat.

Zuo Jigao's "money bag" Hu Yulin was imprisoned for embezzling the salary of the Western Expedition, Pan Fengsheng heard about it very early, and also knew some of the circumstances of the case, of course he knew that the relationship between Zuo Jigao and Hu Yulin was extraordinary, Hu Yulin had an accident, Zuo Jigao naturally couldn't get out of it, but because of his relationship with Zuo Jigao for many years, he has always wishfully believed that it was the straightforward and stubborn "Zuo Mule" who was deceived by the profiteer Hu Yulin (in fact, there are not a few people in the DPRK who hold this view, For example, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangguang, once said: "The Western Expedition to subscribe to and borrow foreign money was all handled by Hu Dao alone, but every million of silver to 240,000 yuan was consumed. What happened later seemed to confirm his speculation - Hu Yulin was imprisoned in the Criminal Department for more than a year and a half, but to this day, Zuo Jigao has nothing to do.

But the dream just now gave him a very bad premonition.

Pan Fengsheng got up and covered Da Keding with a red cloth, left Pangulou, and came to his bedroom to rest.

Although lying down under the service of the maid, Pan Fengsheng's mood could not be calm for a long time.

Since Hu Yulin's accident, Zuo Jigao has not rescued him with a fold. It seems that Hu Yulin's life and death have nothing to do with him at all.

“…… Its sincerity and sincerity are so good. Inspect the rich gentry to donate alone. There are so many of them, they are really models in my business circles......" Thinking of Zuo Jigao's praise of Hu Yulin's exploits to the imperial court, Pan Fengsheng couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Pan Fengsheng suddenly recalled that the people who were kind or close to Zuo Jigao, such as Zeng Bohan, Guo Yunxian, Shen Youdan, etc., finally broke off with him, and his heart suddenly sank.

Will he follow in the footsteps of Zeng, Guo, and Shen?

Pan Fengsheng remembered that dream again, and the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, and he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned for a moment, then simply got up and prepared a draft of the telegram.

Now he is originally from Suzhou, but because of the telegraph, he has always maintained close contact with his protégés in the capital.

He is now eager to know what happened to Hu Yulin's case and the situation of Zuo Jigao, who went to Beijing to report on his work.

After the telegram was sent, he waited anxiously.

As if he had a hunch, three days later, a call back from Kyonaka arrived.

“…… Cha Hu and the bloody case. The Criminal Department is interrogating itself, and Zuo Shuai is in Beijing for a long time. I haven't been able to see him, trapped in Xianliang Temple, and I am not allowed to go out of Beijing, which is even stranger, and I am very tired of the Hu family this time......"

After reading the callback, Pan Fengsheng immediately understood.

"I'm afraid that the imperial court wants to investigate Hu Zuo's family again......"

"If you keep interrupting, you will suffer from it!"

"In that case, I have to ...... was said to fall into the well, but I was afraid that I couldn't take care of it......"

At this moment, Pan Fengsheng finally made up his mind to cut with Zuo Jigao, so as not to involve himself.

But at this time, Pan Fengsheng would not have thought that what finally made Zuo Jigao unrecoverable was another bloody case.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

In summer, the sky is pale blue, like a huge round curtain, which stretches out in all directions, and presses low on the blue and white ravines.

This is perhaps the oldest piece of land in the Western Regions, shattered by the erosion of time, and there are hills, valleys, and ravines everywhere, and the yellow sand covers it, except for some of the low peaks that have broken free from the shackles of the yellow sand and joined together into a string of glittering pearls.

When the pale blue and lilac clouds rose from the vast ground, it was like countless ethereal souls singing and dancing in the sky. At some point of the year, there is always a little bit of bird shadow flashing in the clouds, dancing, and then returning to loneliness. It's a land of thirst for freedom and flight, but not everyone gets what they want here.

In the vast Gobi, there are only white rocks and ravines washed out by the rain, and there are no trees and no water.

There, a young man was bowing his head, and he saw clear blood spurting from his chest with a long, ornate whistle.

The short sword that had just been drawn from his chest was like a speck of light, carrying his blood, and was jumping away from him.

The young man struggled to look back, and behind him there were two hundred corpses of men and horses. Between the blurred flesh were broken knives, spears, muskets, and pieces of shattered metal armor. The stiff legs of the horses struggled to reach for the sky.

He has done a lot, but he is getting farther and farther away from success.

I can't die, he struggled and thought, I still have to take revenge, revenge.

Dense, endless, maddening sand and gravel swooped in on you.

The sun shone from behind, and the shadow he cast was lonely. Ahead, in the shadows cast by the hills, thousands of cavalry were lined up, standing side by side like a metal wall blocking the way. Thousands of pairs of hostile eyes were staring at him fiercely.

The power was rapidly drifting away from the wound in his chest. He touched the wound on his chest and thought, maybe I can't beat them. I can't rush anymore. For the first time, the idea struck him.

He couldn't twist his neck anymore, but he knew that the camp behind him was still glistening in the sun.

If he loses, then the camp he knows will be destroyed. He was a stranger, but he had only been in the camp for a few days, but he had to shoulder the responsibility of saving it. The people there, the friends he had just made, the enemies he had just made, all the people, all of them, had to die.

His chest was burning. The speed at which the blood was spurting was slowing, like a hot river beginning to flow down his chest. The world turned pale and swirled.

I can't die. He said to himself. So he insisted on grabbing the knife. Want to stand up. He knew he had all the last bit of hope in the camp behind him.

I can't die.

The cavalry commander on the opposite side was leaning over to look at him. There was a cold light in his eyes. It was the most ferocious bandit the young man had ever met.

The man's shadow "brushed", shook the long knife, and a sharp scream came like a huge grinding disc.

The scream was the straw, enough for him to roll over and fall to the sand.

The blood that flowed from his chest was quickly sucked up by the dry sand.

I can't, he thought, as if the whole mountain hung over his eyelids. The sun rapidly shrinks into a tiny, sharp, white dot.

Before the final death comes. He struggled to grope his chest with his bloody hands. A broken black cord can be seen around his neck, and the pendant that once hung from it is gone. Death would not be complete to him without that thing.

Suddenly he understood something, and he spread his hands, and lay down gracefully, revealing an unrestrained and uncaring look for death, the corners of his mouth turned upwards, a smile of hope for the future.

Death befell him.

……

"Damn it!" Shi Lizi remembered the man's dying eyes again.

He couldn't figure out why that person was smiling now. What fills that person with anticipation?

He felt a wave of anxiety inexplicably.

These days are the hottest times of the year in Hami, and the trade routes from Shaanxi to Western Xinjiang are only accessible during the hottest season. This famous only passage passes through the city of Hami. Stretching westward, it winds and turns between the broken ravines of the western frontier.

It is said to be a caravan from Hami. Forty out of ten people will get lost or frozen, **, bandits and leave their bodies on this spider silk, and of the sixty adults who come back alive, three out of ten will either lose their goods because of cattle falling off a cliff, or will be stripped of their old money by being inspected and exploited too much - this is always the case, and the people who make money are always in the minority - even so, for many people, it is better to fight for their lives than to die in a dirty, crowded, foul-smelling, dilapidated, poor, filthy, oppressive, hopeless city.

The inhabitants of Tucheng believe in the wonderful inductive relationship between trees and people, so during this month, a long willow tree is erected in front of many people's homes in the lower city. They will carve the face of the person who goes out on the willow wood, and if the willow wood sprouts, it means that everything is normal for the person who is out of the house; If the willow tree dies, it means that the people outside have also suffered.

On the road more than ten miles outside the west gate of Hami City, next to the towering stone wall against the yellow sand beach, there is such a small inn. There is no signboard in the inn, but there are three huge animal bones crossed on the lintel, and there is no willow wood in front of the door, but there are more than ten blackened javelins, which have obviously been soaked in rain for a long time, although the wooden poles are corroded and not broken, but the original sharp and frightening spearhead is crawling with reddish-brown rust spots.

Although the inn is small, the thick fence of the wooden planks encloses a large open yard, and three or five crooked-necked locust trees sprinkle down the shade of the ground. On one side of the courtyard there were stacks of large pieces of beef jerky, each three feet square, and on the other side there were seven or eight tables, and when you sat down on a bench, you could see the desert scenery.

It was the busiest time of the month, and there were six or seven resting individual guests sitting around the table, all in tatters, haggard, and looking like they had escaped death.

It took exactly thirty days to set out from Hami with silk, linen, gold and silver utensils, and jewelry, and to the west through the desert, and then return by the same route with animal skins, vodka, gold and silver, iron, and firearms. Those who could return from this thrilling thirty-day journey were the strongest, fiercest, most alert, most cunning, bravest, and luckiest traders in Hami.

But at this time, someone shouted outside the courtyard: "Shi Lizi, don't leave the beef outside!" ”

Shi Lizi answered, and pushed the door out of the smoky kitchen, he was naked, wearing a tattered apron, his face blackened by soot, and on his armpits and shoulders, he carried seven or eight pieces of beef with one hand, like a hill and moved straight to the kitchen.

The person who shouted came to the front of the courtyard in a blink of an eye, kicked the door open with a "bang" and rushed in: "Shi Lizi, quickly clean up the tables and chairs, there is business here!" "The caller was a fat man with a bare head. There was always a hot steam steaming on it. There is a lot of flesh on the face. The eyes were squeezed to a slit, but under the nose was a very thick and delicately combed black beard. This man was none other than the innkeeper, Feng Nuo.

Feng Nuo put on a towel, looked around with a smile, wiped his hands on the apron around his waist, looked up at the sun, and flashed out the door again. His feet are short, he is partial and he loves to run, and from a distance he rolls like a ball of mercury. Smoke billowed from the road to the west. It was the arrival of a guest.

The smoke and dust dispersed nearby, revealing a large group of men and wagons. It was two hundred servants, carrying cages, driving countless ox carts, sweating profusely, and after dozens of creaking ox carts, a detachment of brightly armored cavalry came over, guarding twelve luxurious carriages, each of which was drawn by four horses of the same tall river, all of which were made of bronze. Shining with dazzling golden light, the copper-clad wheels pressed the earth non-stop**.

Feng Nuo saw a general-looking figure in the cavalry. The man was tall and strong, with a red face, and his beard was as stiff as a needle, and he wore a black bronze helmet, and a tassel on the top of the helmet was raised high like a flagpole, and he looked majestic. He wore a dark green cloak with a scabbard peeking out from under the cloak, and two large pearls were encrusted with it. I don't know what the knife is, but these two beads alone are worth a lot of money.

The general jumped off his horse and glared at the crowd. Everyone was overwhelmed by his momentum, and they all bowed their heads respectfully. The general strode majestically to a car, suddenly leaned down, showed a flattering look, and said, "Does the son want to get out of the car?" ”

He waved his hand, and two servants in purple brocade stepped forward briskly and leaned down in front of the car. A deerskin boot embroidered with a hundred beasts wearing flowers stretched out from the cart and stepped on their backs, but down was a young man with a face like a crown of jade. Although the boy looked a little thin, he was delicate, his lips were red and white, he was dressed in a silk robe with peacock green silk as the base, white silk piping, embroidered with two large delicate camellias, and the tassel wound with gold wire on the belt. Everyone who saw it couldn't help but praise: what a handsome and elegant nobleman.

The stout general raised his whip and lit the inn, and shouted, "Hurry up, go and clean up that place." At that moment, more than a dozen soldiers entered, lifted their whips and blasted out all the merchants sitting in the courtyard. A few shopkeepers hid slowly, and they also ate a few whips, and the inn was cleaned up in an instant.

The boy walked into the courtyard, pinched his nose with a white handkerchief of incense, waved his hand, and sat down at a table that looked fairly clean—first a servant laid a gold velvet cushion on the stool—"Dong Junmen, you're busy, the car is bumpy along the way, I don't want to eat anything, just have some refreshments." ”

"Yes, yes." The general Dong said with a waist, and when he turned around, he was a little taller, and he beckoned four or five people dressed as butlers, and ordered: "Childe said, make it simpler." ”

Under this order, the cage bags on the hundreds of ox carts were suddenly opened, and the servants flowed back and forth like wheels, and a Qingluo umbrella was set up in the courtyard in a blink of an eye, and a purple curtain embroidered with golden flowers surrounded the courtyard, and the candied fruit plate was sent up, and a table was filled in an instant, and the traveling guests were dumbfounded. Twelve musicians in robes and wide sleeves stumbled forward, knelt in the dust and took a stand, and the sound of silk and bamboo was loud. Then there were twenty servants in Tsing Yi who walked forward quickly, and even brought spatulas and bricks and wood, and set up eight marching pots and stoves on the spot, and they could not find firewood, so they dismantled the wooden fence seven or eight zhang long and split it into small strips, and sixteen boys used the fence wood to light a fire under the pot, and the eight cooks put oil into the material, poured the clear spring water they brought, and boiled the vegetables, and in a short time the courtyard was full of fragrance.

The eight chefs are all famous chefs, and at this time, they each worked hard, grilling, frying, stir-frying, boiling, and burning, and tried their best to clean up the good dishes, and they were all famous dishes.

General Dong kicked a butler in the head: "What are you doing to eat?" What's the best wine without ice? Don't go get it yet! ”

The butler got up from the ground and said with a bitter face: "If we go back to the military gate, we used to have curling and cold wine in our car, but just now the road was overturned, and the town's good wine was spilled. ”

"Then go knock some more ice to town. Do you want me to teach you? General Dong raised his foot and was about to kick, but the butler rolled away, and hurriedly beckoned his servants to lead an ox cart in the distance.

It turned out that the ox cart was loaded with thick cotton wool and sawdust, and it was wrapped in huge crystal clear ice cubes. At that moment, more than a dozen servants in Tsing Yi used copper axes to chop down six or seven barrels of crushed ice, sent them to the courtyard, spread them around, and even put two small barrels of wine in the crushed ice. It's the height of summer, and this little inn is full of ice and snow in the blink of an eye, and the coolness is deep.

General Dong frowned and looked left and right at everything he had just made, and the eight dishes were examined and interrogated with extremely harsh and harsh eyes, only four of them were selected, and then he grinned hard and smiled at Gongzi: "This kind of small place, you can only order it-Gongzi, you use it slowly." ”

Feng Nuo has been standing by since he was knocked out of the hospital, he doesn't mind when people dig pits and bury stoves in his yard, and he doesn't get angry when people tear down his wooden fence, he still looks like he is smiling and making money. When the courtyard was full of fragrant incense, the eight cooks lowered their hands and retreated, and four other maids in silk clothes brought the dishes to the table, and set up ivory chopsticks, silver cups, and glazed dishes. (To be continued......)

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