Yu An took me to gallop all the way, and when I returned to the courtyard, the swift night wind had already blown away all the emotions in my heart about the chaos of the world. I only care about one thing now, and that is - is Zhang Mengtan still alive?

"Now you can tell me, what's wrong with Mr. Zhang? He didn't come back with you, did he? I jumped off the horse, and Yu An led the horse and tied it to a big tree on the side of the road.

"No, he and I parted halfway."

"Why?"

"The Gao family didn't come to pick up Qi Hou and Mrs. Qi, and we encountered Chen's pursuit on the way. Mr. Zhang drove the carriage to lure the enemy away, but unfortunately fell into the lake. Yu An lowered his head and walked towards the alley as he spoke.

"The carriage fell into the lake? What about you, where were you then? Qi Hou, where are they? "I trotted two steps to catch up with him.

"I continued to flee north with Qi Hou and Mrs. Qi, but when I fled to Shuzhou, I was caught up by Chen Heng's people."

"Qi Hou, they were arrested? Did you escape? ”

"No, I didn't run away. We were hiding in a farmhouse outside the city of Shuzhou. I went to the city that day to buy grain, and when I returned, the owner of the farmhouse and the three brothers I had left behind to protect the Marquis of Qi had been killed. Qi Hou and his wife also did not know what to do. Yu An walked to the gate of the courtyard and knocked on the bronze ring on the door twice: "Si'er, we are back!" ”

"Did you see Mr. Zhang's carriage fall into the lake? The carriage fell into the lake, didn't Mr. Zhang escape? ”

"It was a small cliff more than two feet high, and Mr. Zhang was a lake where horses and carts fell together. I didn't have time to save him. But later, when I came back from Shuzhou, I went to the small village by the lake to look for him. Villagers said......"

"Say what?" I stepped in front of Yu An and asked anxiously.

Yu An frowned and lowered his head, but the door next to me opened with a bang. Si'er jumped out with a smile and hugged me: "Ah Shi, you're back!" ”

"Well, I'm back." I smiled and hugged Si'er, but I turned my inquiring eyes to Yu An. Si'er is so happy, haven't Wuxian and Yu An told her what Zhang Meng talked about?

Yu An glanced at Si'er and shook his head at me.

"Alright, alright." I smiled and patted Si'er on the back, "Are you trying to block both of us at the door?" Quick, I haven't eaten dinner today, go get me something to eat! ”

"Okay, Mr. Zhao hasn't eaten yet, I'll go to the hot dish porridge with the fish woman, and I'll send it to the room for you later." Si'er let go of the hand holding me, turned his head and looked at Yu An shyly: "What about you, are you hungry too?" I just made millet dumplings, would you like to try them? ”

"Okay, I'm sorry for you." Yu An smiled and nodded at Si'er.

The four girls blushed, turned their heads to look at me, and ran into the house.

"Just give me vegetable porridge, and pour it to make dumplings for you. Looks like this girl won't be able to follow me for a few days. I looked at Si'er's back and said.

"I won't let Si'er tell Si'er about Qi Guo's affairs, I'm afraid that she will think too much and think wildly." Yu An held on to the door panel and let me into the courtyard.

"Well, it's no good for her to know, it's just to make her sad and blame herself. What do the villagers by the lake say? But has anyone seen Mr. Zhang? ”

"The villagers said that the horses driving the carts were swimming ashore, but the drivers did not see them."

"That Mr. Zhang must have secretly escaped. However, I am afraid it will take him two months to walk from Shuzhou to Qufu. "As soon as I heard that the horses in the car had swam ashore with their carts, I was relieved. Although Zhang Mengtan is a scribe, he is better than being quick-witted, and he must have taken the opportunity of falling into the lake to swim and escape.

I straightened my face and said to An: "You said that you are a person, what kind of business are you selling with me on the road, you have worried me for so long." Let's take a walk, let's prepare a pot of wine tonight, and let's have a drink for Mr. Zhang, who is late. The boulder that had been pressing on my heart finally fell to the ground, I took a deep breath and jumped up the steps of the main house with joy: "Hongyun'er, where are you?" I am back! ”

"Ah Shi", Yu An followed a few steps up the steps and grabbed my arm, "Let's not disturb Wuxian first!" ”

"Why?" I turned my head and wondered.

"When Mr. Zhang landed in the lake, his feet were entangled in aquatic weeds and he drowned." Yu An looked at me and frowned.

"What did you say!"

"A few days after the incident, someone among the villagers picked up a body from the lake and heard that the corpse's feet were wrapped with aquatic weeds."

"Maybe the corpse belongs to someone else? It's hot in summer, and there are so many people who swim in the water......"

The person who found the body left Mr. Zhang's hair crown and clothes. By the time I went, the body had been buried, and my clothes had been taken for food. But the crown remains, and I have redeemed it. I have also seen it without shirts, and it is Mr. Zhang's. ”

Zhang Meng is dead?! He's dead! That's impossible! I left Yu An and rushed towards the unshirted bed.

The shirtless room was silent, and the nine tree-shaped lamps in the corner lit only the top one. A lamp is like a bean, flickering in the dark.

"When did you come back?" Shirtless knelt in the shadows, and when he saw me enter the house, he slowly came out of the darkness.

"When you just enter the door, why don't you turn on the lights in the house?" I couldn't see his face clearly in the dim light, but his hoarse voice made my heart flutter.

"Si'er said that you didn't eat dinner today, do you want to eat with me later?" I walked quickly to the lampholder, stood on tiptoe and lit the fire on the overhead lamp with a wooden skewer.

"Okay." Wuxian walked up to me, took the wooden skewers in my hand and lit the remaining eight lamps on the lampstand one by one, "Is Confucius okay there?" I heard he was very sick. ”

"Well, the leg injury is easy to treat, but the depression in my heart may not be able to disappear for a while. What about you? You okay? The lamps were lit one by one, and the haggard and sad faces of the shirtless gradually became clear.

"Do you know everything Meng talked about?" He blew out the flame on the wooden skewer and turned and paced to the window.

"Well, Yu An just told me. But don't worry too much, Mr. Zhang has always been shrewd and wise, and the corpse in the lake may have been deliberately left behind by him to confuse the Chen family. ”

"Really? If the body in the lake belonged to someone else, then why didn't he come to Qufu after he escaped? And why don't you send me a message? Wuxian glanced at me lightly, and reached out to push open the veiled window on the wall, "Ah Shi, you don't have to comfort me, and you don't have to give me hope. Meng Tan and I have known each other for many years, but he has never been in the water in front of me. He said he was afraid of water, and the only thing he didn't want to learn in his life was swimming. Wuxian's voice choked up, and his hand on the window flute was prominent.

"Hongyun'er ......" Zhang Mengtan may be as good as Si'er is to me for Wuxi. I can relate to the grief in his heart at this moment. I was tempted to say something to comfort him at this time, but I knew that if a man who did not know the nature of water fell into the lake from a two-foot cliff in a carriage, he would have little chance of survival. However, how could a person like Zhang Mengtan die so easily?

Outside the window, the moon is cold, like water pouring on the ground. In that smoky moonlight, Yu An stood with his back to us under an acacia tree. His figure reminds me of Zhang Mengtan, the night I first arrived in Linzi City, he stood outside my window with his hands behind his back like this. To this day, I still vividly remember the cold light cast by him when he looked back in the dark night. I'm not a god who knows ghosts, and I've never blindly trusted my instincts, but this time, I wanted to trust the voice in my heart.

Zhang Mengtan is not dead, he is by no means a man who dies so easily.

"Hongyun'er, Ah Su is here in Qufu, have you seen her?"

I put my hand on my shirtless hand, and he grabbed my hand with his backhand: "I didn't see her, I sent someone to sneak into Jisun's Mansion to deliver news to her, but she seems to be deliberately avoiding us." ”

"Could it be that she has news about Mr. Zhang, but it is inconvenient to tell us? I heard Ah Yu say that the person who came to Lu to negotiate with the Ji Sun clan on the order of Chen Heng this time was not only Ah Su, but also another person. ”

"Yes, I heard that he is also a Jin person. But the people I sent have not yet found out who he is. ”

"This person knows a lot of things about us, and Chen Heng values him very much, this time the Chen family may have made a plan behind his back. Asush is staring at us, so he doesn't dare to make contact with us, you might as well think of a way to find a chance to ask her again. ”

"This Suqi City Mansion is also extremely deep, and now even if she is willing to tell me the news of Meng Tan, I can't trust her."

"Why?"

"The people I stayed in Qi to monitor Fan Jishu and Fan Hu just passed the news, and not long ago, the father and son have disappeared inexplicably in Qi country."

"Ah Su hid them?!"

"Maybe, judging from the current situation, it was just a means to paralyze us when she turned her back on Chen Heng and privately gathered rangers to rescue us in the valley. Whether it is false that she has affection for Meng Tan, it is her real purpose to rescue Chen Pan and Fan's father and son. ”

"Are you saying that Ah Su has long known that the Gao clan will not send troops to help, and it is also calculated that Qi Hou and Lu Ji will eventually fall into the hands of Chen Heng? She saved us just to use us to kill Chen Liao? As soon as I said this, I was taken aback by this idea. Ah Su rescued us at the last moment, not because she had a relationship with Zhang Meng, nor because she wanted to repay me for saving my father, she just wanted to rescue Chen Pan from Chen Liao, or rather, she simply wanted to take this opportunity to help Chen Pan kill Chen Liao, and then put the charge of murder on Wuxian. She didn't betray Chen Heng at all, because she knew that even if Qi Hou and Lu Ji could escape for a while, they would still be two dead people in the end! If that's the case, then Ah Su is terrible......

sanjiangge