At about the same time, on an official road to the east, a four-wheeled carriage moved slowly, surrounded by a large group of knightly guards.

"I heard that Mr. resigned from the title of Queen Mother? The king's gift cannot be violated, and it is a pity for the gentleman to steal. Lin Yiqing looked at the old man sitting opposite and said.

"The revenge has been avenged, but the wish has been granted, as for Jue Lu or something, I don't care, besides, I am a lot old, I have some money and silver, just enough to spend, it is an eventful season, why waste the country's money and silver?" Xu Rui smiled absently and replied.

"Don't worry, grandpa, I'll give grandpa a pension to the end." Zhu Xueyan, who was beside Xu Rui, said.

"Yes! Grandpa is blessed if he has geese......" Xu Rui looked at Zhu Xueyan and then at Lin Yiqing, the corners of his eyes were a little moist, "And Hanpeng......"

"Hanpeng...... There's one thing I've always wanted to ask you......" Xu Rui looked at Lin Yiqing, as if he remembered something, and asked.

"Sir, excuse me." Lin Yiqing nodded.

"Han Peng, how do you know that the current Queen Mother is the student she taught back then?" Xu Rui asked.

"Yes, I'm also curious, how did you know that the Queen Mother was a student of her grandfather before she entered the palace?" Zhu Xueyan was also very curious when she heard Xu Rui ask, and asked.

"Hehe, in fact, I didn't know that there would be such a relationship between the Queen Mother and Mr. Lin Yiqing said with a smile, "That time I entered the garden and reunited with my wife, the queen mother gave me a banquet and rewarded me in the garden for the New Year, and then I met several times, the queen mother liked Bai'er very much, and the treasures in the garden." Not only are there rewards from time to time. It is the queen mother's royal thing. Bai'er took it to play, and the Queen Mother did not prohibit it, only once, the Queen Mother saw Bai'er move a small gold box, and took out a small lion agate paperweight inside, although the Queen Mother favored Bai'er, but this time the Queen Mother immediately put away the paperweight again and put it in the gold box. Don't allow Bai'er to move again, I see that the paperweight is not a rare object, why is the Queen Mother so precious? I had doubts in my heart, and then I asked the chief manager Liu in the palace, and the chief manager Liu told me that the box was hidden in the queen mother's thoughts that the queen mother had been looking for the unobtained benefactor. My father died early and could not be buried. Thanks to the help of Mr. Xu, the master, he was able to be buried, and then the benefactor drifted elsewhere, and there is no news so far. I remembered this at the time, after returning to Fuzhou, Meng brother and sister-in-law talked about Mr., when I investigated the case for Mr., by the way asked Mr. about the origin, only to find out that Mr. had been hired by the father of the Queen Mother, I remembered what I saw in the palace and what Mr. Liu said, my heart said that it would not be so coincidental, right? Because the matter is serious, I investigated in detail again, and many clues were matched and compared, and it was finally determined that Mr. was the benefactor of the Queen Mother back then. ”

"I see...... Visible...... There is a providence in the dark...... "Xu Rui sighed.

"Why didn't Grandpa think that the student back then was the current Queen Mother?" Zhu Xueyan asked again on the side.

"Hehe, where did grandpa know these in advance," Xu Rui laughed, "For so many years, grandpa didn't think about it at all, besides, although there is a newspaper now, there is no photo of the queen mother on it, mentioning the name of the queen mother, and most of them only write the surname, not the name, of course grandpa will not know that the drooping girl of the year will be elected to the palace, and after many years, she has become the queen mother......"

"Hu Yulin, that thief, if he had known about the relationship between the queen mother and his grandfather, I was afraid that he would have been scared to death before Ling Chi waited." Zhu Xueyan said with a smile.

"The thief is bold and will not be scared to death easily." Lin Yiqing said with a smile, "I heard that the idea of bone china was developed by Luo Cuihuan, and the specific person who handled it was also her, these two people can be said to be good all the way, so it takes a lot of effort to catch this Luo Cuihuan." ”

Hearing the word "bone china", Xu Rui's complexion changed slightly, and his eyes couldn't help but look at a box beside him.

The box contained porcelain figures and two sets of bone china tea sets that the Empress Dowager Renxi ordered to be found and handed over to Xu Rui from Hu Yulin's house and Zuo Jigao's residence......

"Yes, if you don't catch her, grandpa's revenge will not be complete." Zhu Xueyan noticed the change in the old man's expression, nodded and said firmly, "However, we must first find out where she is hiding." ”

"I guess she should be in the Jiangnan area now, not in the capital." Lin Yiqing's eyes looked out of the car window, "She must have some of the thief's money in her hands, and now in order to save her life, she either can't go into seclusion, or she is looking for a backer......"

※※※

"Gangnam...... That's what it looks like, huh? Standing under the eaves, looking at the continuous drizzle outside, the gray-clothed man with a sleepy face muttered with some emotion. Before he finished speaking, a gust of wind and drizzle rushed from outside the eaves, although it was only as fine as a cow's hair, and it hit his face, but it made the big man sniff and suddenly burst out a sneeze.

"Damn, this drizzle is sticky—it's not as crisp as the white breeze outside the gate." The man in gray looked like a dusty man, staring at the non-stop rain, and scolded fiercely in his throat.

He suddenly seemed to remember something, and quickly looked left and right, stomped his feet a little uneasily, and his eyes were fixed on the end of the bluestone street again-yes, when he came in the morning, he asked the people in the town, this is Zhao An's hometown.

"Ahh As soon as the wind tightened and blew down the eaves, the man in gray couldn't help but sneeze again, and his more impatient feet stomped on the ground alternately, with his hands on his sleeves, looking at the end of the stone alley, and the eager look in his eyes became more and more vigorous.

Jin Niang ...... Lu Jinniang. Dahan read this name in his heart, and his sleepy face gradually revealed a trace of strangeness, and his eagle-like sharp eyes also revealed a little heat, staring eagerly at the end of the stone street.

What kind of woman should she be? Is it really as Zhao An's guy said, there is no match in the sky and no match in the ground?

"Oops...... Lao Wu, you ...... You don't know...... My woman is a beauty......" In the snowstorm, Zhao An's head was covered with snowflakes, and at first glance it looked like a big snowball, but from his frozen purple lips, the sentence he breathed out intermittently was extremely tempting, "Ahem...... I bet. The first few concubines in the palace added up...... Ahem. There is no Jin Niang beauty...... She, her water spirit...... Pinch it...... Hey. ”

At that time, I don't know how many people were jealous of Zhao An...... Whenever I heard him chatter about the fairy-like women in the family. The eyes of the others shone with admiration.

"Her eyes are peachy, and her eyebrows are the same as willow leaves...... Delicate ...... Hehe, that small waist, one hand can wrap around. The voice is glutinous and good, and everyone who listens to it will melt away. ”

From Zhao An's description, the eyes lit up, imagining the misty and rainy Jiangnan. In the place where the peach blossoms smiled and the willow leaves brushed the water, what a beautiful and watery woman walked slowly, and the eyes around the fire were shining with longing and burning, and it was difficult to sleep in the straw pile repeatedly tossing and turning.

Zhao An's kid is good-looking, but he has no ability, and he always has a squinting look in his little eyes - how can he marry such a wife? Along the way, the man in gray has been thinking about this question all the time, and he has always thought of Zitong Town.

Finally came to Gangnam. Standing under the eaves, the gray-clothed man still had a dream-like sense of uncertainty.

He sniffled. Looking around, seeing that no one was coming, he tried to push the door again. The wooden door was very broken, and it made a creaking sound when it was pushed, and the couplet on the door frame was stained with rain, and it collapsed softly, shedding a faint red water stain, staining the hands of the person who pushed the door.

The man in gray shook for some reason, and his hand subconsciously shrank into his arms and checked the thing he was carrying.

It was an old folding fan, it seemed to be some years old, and it had been played with for a long time, and the fan bones of the purple bamboo had revealed a warm and jade-like luster.

"It's time to come back......" Seeing that the sky had slowly darkened, the gray-clothed man muttered.

The rain is still drifting endlessly, flying like a gossamer, sticky and uncomfortable. The big man kept stamping his feet, as if in this way he could shake the rain off his body, and his eyes became more and more irritable—because of the irritability, there was also a hint of fierceness, which made the man's eyes look like a falcon.

On the empty bluestone alley, there was a clear sound of footsteps. The gray-clothed man suddenly turned his head and looked at a person walking at the end of the street—a woman in green, carrying a lacquer box, walking from the other end of the street with an umbrella.

The man in gray stared at the woman who walked over with his eyes flickering. Gradually, I got closer, and I could see that the woman was petite, with a magnolia flower on her hair bun, a melon seed face, willow eyebrows, and a unique Lingxiu of a woman in Zitong Town between her eyebrows. The gray-clad man's heart thumped, and suddenly his throat was dry—it was like this...... It's supposed to be such a woman, right?

The woman in green was carrying the suitcase, but her eyes were lively and sloppy, and her demeanor was a little frivolous. Seeing the gray-clothed man staring at her under the eaves, the green-clothed woman's face turned red, turned her head, but couldn't help but glance at him, pursed her lips and smiled, and raised her hand to sweep her hair.

It's not Jinniang...... This shouldn't be Lu Jinniang.

The gray-clothed man exhaled a breath suddenly, stood under the eaves, looked at the woman's series of soft little movements, and shook his head to himself.

Jin Niang shouldn't be like this.

"Hey, it's not me bragging, my lady is dignified and elegant, knowledgeable and polite - rare, right? Their Luo family was originally a scholarly family in Zitong Town...... Although it was later broken, I, Lord Taishan, well, is said to be still a showman. At that time, Zhao An boasted like this, his chubby face shining by the fire, "In the dowry of my lady back then, there was no gold and silver treasure, hey, I came over with a fan to marry - do you say it's strange?" The people and flowers painted on it are good, but what can a broken fan do...... But I don't think the marriage is light, hehe, who told me to meet a fairy-like wife? The emperor is not as blessed as me......"

Zhao An, that kid, is an ordinary person and has an ordinary family background, how can he marry such a wife?

Thinking of this, the gray-clothed man stomped his feet faster, shrugged his shoulders impatiently, shook off some of the rain, and looked at the woman in green with the suitcase—as he expected, she flew a glance at the man staring at him as she passed the door, but her footsteps did not stop passing at all.

The man in gray had stopped looking at her, and still turned his head to look at the other side of the street.

The smoke and rain in the south of the Yangtze River are hazy, as if an ink painting scroll is slowly unfolding, and inside, all of them are black tiles and white walls, peach and willow green. A rare lady walked by with an umbrella. The silk umbrella is embroidered with a variety of delicate and delicate patterns. Although the north is constantly infested by the Russian navy. The atmosphere is always tense. But this place south of the Yangtze River is still a peaceful scene.

The man in gray looked at it, and there was a sudden heat in his eyes - yes, yes, that's it. He exhaled from his chest a breath of turbid breath that he had been holding for months—and that was it. This is the Jiangnan water town that Zhao An described to him and appeared countless times in his dreams.

He finally came here, and he finally wanted to see the woman that Zhao An had described thousands of times. His hands were in his arms, but there was uncontrollable eagerness and excitement in his eyes.

"Who are you looking for?" When the man in gray looked at the continuous rain curtain, a woman's gentle question suddenly came to his ears.

It's just a word. But it made Huo Ran, a man like an iron tower, tremble all over his body. The gray-clothed man turned his head a little tremblingly, with a sense of surprise in his eyes, and took out the purple bamboo fan as a token from his arms with trembling hands, and muttered: "I, I'm here to find Zhao An's lady Jinniang......"

"I am......," the woman answered, but when she saw the folding fan in his hand, the woman stepped up the stone steps and snatched it over, "You, how can you have my husband's things!" You—" Before the words fell, she took it in her hand and unfolded it, but when she looked at it, her face changed greatly, and she looked up and asked the visitor. The voice trembled slightly: "How can you have my husband's things?" ”

When Lu Jinniang looked up, the man in gray finally saw her face—before this. Although he had only heard Zhao An describe it, Lu Jinniang's face had appeared in his heart thousands of times, although it was different every time, it was all beautiful and beautiful.

- But the real Jin Niang standing in front of him now ......

"Mr. Wu came from afar, the humble house is simple and there is no hospitality, just use a cup of tea." Welcoming the guests into the room, the woman's voice had regained its calm, and then a tray was handed a tray, which was of mahogany, but it was very old, dark and blackened, and the blue porcelain cups lined with it were extraordinarily crystalline.

"Thank you... Thank you siblings. My name is Wu Qing, and I am Zhao An's brother. The man in gray carefully picked up the teacup, and took the opportunity to raise his eyes to look at the Jin Niang who came up from the back hall with tea.

Zhao An's kid... This is true, his lady is really a woman who seems to be well-read. This kind of talking figure, where is the comparison with the mothers-in-law who are common in the market? Wu Qing lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the hands holding the tray - although they had worked hard, they were still white and soft at the tips of their fingertips, and they were less than a hand.

It's a pity that Zhao An's lady in front of him, although her appearance is beautiful, always gives him a feeling of unease.

She is indeed very beautiful, compared to the woman in green she just saw, she is actually more beautiful, but her smile, every move is not as amiable as the woman in green, and there is a faint cold air between her eyebrows, which makes him feel inexplicably afraid.

Wu Qing's heart couldn't help but feel a little annoyed - he had traveled thousands of miles and wanted to see her in his dreams, but after seeing her, he suddenly felt a sense of cringe. He didn't know what was wrong with him, and suddenly, like a deflated ball, sat down in his chair. He finally felt that he was tired from running all the way, so he unceremoniously drank the tea that had been served.

As soon as he put down the teacup, he raised his sleeve to wipe his mouth, but he saw that Jin Niang stepped aside after serving the tea, and he didn't speak, just lowered his head, and turned the purple bamboo fan in his hand over and over - Wu Qing, the gray-clothed man, was slightly suffocated in his heart, and he couldn't speak.

Mr. Wu ...... Dare to ask Mr. Wu, I don't know, I don't know where my husband is, okay? The pair of soft white hands spread out the folding fan, took it in his hand and looked at it carefully for a long time, Jin Niang's hand trembled slightly, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked the gray-clothed guest who came from afar, her thin eyebrows frowned, as if she was afraid of hearing bad news.

"Zhao An......" Wu Qing hesitated a little, looked at the purple bamboo fan in Jin Niang's hand, and finally made up his mind, "Zhao An is dead!" ――When he was walking on the mountain road, he encountered a landslide, and as a result, a large rock fell on him......"

"Smack."

With a soft sound, the fan fell straight from Jin Niang's hand to the ground, the woman stared at the fan on the ground in a daze, and her tears suddenly fell down in big drops, but she didn't cry out a sound.

Wu Qing raised his broken sleeves again with some embarrassment, wiped the sweat from his forehead, he didn't know what to say, and his eyes as bright as a falcon dimmed - he couldn't see a woman crying the most, and he was a little helpless for a while: "Brother and sister, brother and sister, you mourn ...... day"

Lu Jinniang's shoulders trembled violently, and tears fell in a row, hitting the fan, fluttering.

"Before Zhao An went, he took out this fan from his bag, said that it was your dowry, and told me that if I could come back alive, I would go to Jiangnan and send it to you-" Wu Qing said what he had been preparing to say in one breath.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he squinted at the woman and sighed, "He has always kept this fan like a baby, and he puts it under the pillow when he sleeps......"

Lu Jinniang didn't cry and scream as he expected, she just bent down, picked up the purple bamboo fan, and looked at it fixedly.

Wu Qing had seen the fan countless times along the way - he was a rough man, and he couldn't see anything, but he remembered that the fan was painted with green landscapes, and there was a small Wufeng boat on the water, and an old fisherman squatted on the bow. It seems to be a painting of the year, white silk and yellow, but the verdant trees and old fishermen full of fans are still alive. (To be continued......)

PS: Ask for collection! Ask for recommendations! Ask for a subscription! Click! Ask for a commuter pass!