Dingguo Mansion, inner study.

Xiao Yi, the son of the Duke of Dingguo, is telling his father about today's affairs in the court, he said: "All the yamen in the northwest have all been on the show, to ask for credit for the Fan family father and daughter and the lord of Yining County, and Fan Guiying, the royal historian, took the opportunity to collect money for the King of Qin, and forced the rich people in Yulin to pay silver and grain, but at the same time, some people said that all the silver was used to appease the people in the border pass and repair the city wall of Yulin. ”

Xiao Changdun's face was not easy, and he asked, "Can anyone mention Xiao Qi?" ”

Xiao Yi hurriedly said: "Father, don't worry, no one mentions it." ”

"What did the Empress Dowager say?" Xiao Changdun asked again.

"The Empress Dowager directly gave way to retreat." Xiao Yi spoke sarcastically.

Xiao Changdun's face sank like water, he paced a few steps in the study with his hands in his hands, suddenly stopped, and said to Xiao Yi: "Send a message to the people in the palace, pay attention to the movement, and see who will go to see the Empress Dowager in the next few days." ”

Xiao Yi promised to let people do it immediately.

At this moment, Ama came in from outside and said with a smile: "Grandpa Guo, Mr. Shang is back." ”

Xiao Changdun smiled: "He's fast enough, I thought he would arrive in the capital tomorrow." ”

As soon as the words fell, Shang Xuan strode in, and when he saw Xiao Changdun, he bowed: "The student has seen Grandpa Guo." ”

Shang Xuan had already written a letter before, but the stakes were very high, and most of the places he passed through were where the Yang family's cronies were everywhere, and Shang Xuan was afraid that the letter would be intercepted halfway, so he only talked about the wind (prevention) moon in the letter, hinting that things were going well, and he rushed back to the capital day and night, just to report to Xiao Changdun in person.

"You can see Xu Shiji?" Xiao Changdun asked.

Shang Xuan is Xiao Changdun's staff, but he is away all the year round, his whereabouts are uncertain, and his time in the capital is short, so almost no one in the capital knows him, and even in the huge Guogong Mansion, many people think that he is a decent shopkeeper of the Xiao family who does business in other places.

"See." Shang Xuan's expression was a little excited, he was just a scholar, he was able to come out of the bandits' den alive, he didn't feel anything at the time, but now that he thinks about it, he is in a cold sweat.

Xu Shiji, the former commander of Hanshanwei, rebelled after his nephew was killed, and killed Lin Shufei's father. After that, the imperial court sent troops to quell the chaos, and Xu Shiji led the remaining 5,000 soldiers to fall into the grass.

In the past two years, the bandits have never stopped, but Xu Shiji and his 5,000 men and horses have disappeared like drops of water in the sun.

Half a year ago, Long Huwei finally found out Xu Shiji's whereabouts, and it turned out that he and his people were hiding in Qingshi Mountain.

The bluestone mountain is steep and deep, inaccessible, and it is said that there are monsters who practice here and seal this mountain. A hundred years ago, there was a village under the mountain, and then there were often monsters like beasts and people coming down from the mountain, disturbing the village, and then the people in the village moved away one after another, and the bluestone mountain was in the place of three no care, there was no yamen jurisdiction, and the village could not be seen within a radius of 100 miles, and gradually, it was forgotten.

In the past two years, Xu Shiji has raised troops here, and he has not sat on the mountain, his men and horses are often divided into small units to go to neighboring provinces to loot, and they will leave after robbing, and they will never stay.

After Zou Xuehuai got the news, he did not report it to the imperial court, but secretly reported the matter to Xiao Changdun.

Xiao Changdun sent his scribe Shang Xuan to meet Xu Shiji.

"The bluestone mountain is extremely steep, and the students walked in the mountain for two days without seeing a single figure, but fell all over their bodies."

Shang Xuan laughed self-deprecatingly when he said this. In order not to arouse Xu Shiji's vigilance, he left all his entourage and guards ten miles away from Qingshi Mountain, and he entered Qingshi Mountain alone as a scholar.

On the third day, he tripped over a tree root and rolled down the mountain road, which was on one side of the cliff, but fortunately he grabbed an old vine and did not fall.

But he couldn't get up.

Just when he thought his life was over, he was rescued by an old nun.

It was the first person he met in the mountains.

He didn't expect that there were nuns in Qingshi Mountain.

He asked the old nun about the bandits, and as soon as he spoke, he was worried that the old nun would be afraid, so he said, "If they are dressed as officers and soldiers." ”

The old nun smiled: "It's all killing, is there a difference between a soldier and a bandit?" ”

Shang Xuan was stunned, and he didn't know how to answer.

The old nun pointed in one direction: "Keep walking, and you will find it." ”

Shang Xuan was skeptical and asked, "Doesn't the master ask me who I am?" ”

The old nun clasped her hands together: "With the strength of the donor alone, it is possible to return the same way and walk out of this mountain?" ”

Shang Xuan turned to look at the way he came, the strange rocks were craggy, the grass and trees were verdant, he looked around again, not only could he not find the way he came, he couldn't even tell the difference between north and south, east and west.

He's been here for two days, and he's no longer there.

The old nun knows where Xu Shiji is hiding, and she can walk freely in this mountain, even if she is not Xu Shiji's person, she is also a person Xu Shiji trusts.

And he is the one who can't even walk out of this mountain.

For people like him, why is the old nun afraid, and why is Xu Shiji afraid?

Shang Xuan laughed, bowed to the old nun, thanked the old nun, and asked, "Why did the master tell me the law number?" ”

The old nun smiled: "Poor Nifa extinguishes the lights." ”

According to the guidance of the master of extinguishing the lights, Shang Xuan finally found Xu Shiji's cottage.

According to Xiao Changdun's instructions, Shang Xuan did not mention anything about cooperation, but just put down a seal of Jinbao Qian Zhuang to Xu Shiji, with which he could withdraw 30,000 taels of silver from Jinbao Qian Village.

In Xu Shiji's view, this seal may be 30,000 taels of silver, or it may be a trap.

What Shang Xuan wanted to tell Xu Shiji was that the Xiao family was not a soldier, and the second was not a meritorious, and the 30,000 taels of silver were placed there, if you could trust it, go and get it; You can't believe it, the money is in the bank, it's still yours.

After Shang Xuan finished speaking, he took his leave, and Xu Shiji sent someone to send him out of Qingshi Mountain.

"The students have never seen what Xu Shiji was like before, but now he really looks like a bandit leader, there is a huge cave on the peak of the mountain where they are hiding, and out of the cave is the other side of the mountain, this hole is so big that it can accommodate thousands of people. The cave is full of stalactites, you need to take a boat to move forward, there are a few checkpoints on the way, Xu Shiji's waiting room is set in the cave, he sits on the Taishi chair covered with tiger skin, majestic. ”

Xiao Changdun was slightly surprised: "I once heard my father say that there is such a cave in the land of Yunyi, but I didn't expect that there are also in the bluestone mountain, no wonder the imperial court sent to suppress the bandits, but he has not found any trace of Xu Shiji in the past two years, and it is rare that he can find such a fairy cave mansion." ”

Speaking of the four words of the Immortal Cave Mansion, Xiao Changdun smiled, this is obviously a bandit nest.