Wuxing County is located in the southeast, the east and west water such as jade belt around the city, confluence into Taihu Lake, is described as the sky and water shadow, it is picturesque.

Taihu Lake is thousands of miles of blue waves, sometimes seeing thousands of ravines competing for the current, and sometimes there are microwaves lingering. On the shore of the lake, the small village is sparsely dotted in the tender green rice fields, a piece of singing and pestle fluttering with the wind, and the fishermen are in twos and threes with home-style buns, barefoot and bare legs, playing and pounding clothes on the lakeside, and have their own charming demeanor. The sound of the pestle starts like the stars and the moon, and the sound of the stone tinkles and dings; Where the song is sung, the warbler is singing, and the still sky is swirling.

Shen Pearl stood in the wind, listening to the sound of the song shaking in the wind, and couldn't help but be leisurely.

In a blink of an eye, it has been nearly two years since she was escorted back to Wuxing from Yecheng, and it is now March of the second year of Shangyuan. Wu Xing was not affected by the rebellion, and was still peaceful and peaceful, and the fisherman's daughter "laughed and painted the boat with a fishing rod" every day. She did not go back to the Shen Mansion to live, but was settled by her brother Shen Jiefu, and lived in seclusion in this lakeside countryside in the name of Gao Yueming, living in a thatched hut, doing everything herself, watching or reading, raising a few chickens and ducklings, planting side vegetables, or listening to the fisherman's daughter singing songs, her spirit was healthy, and her mood gradually became peaceful.

"Sister, it's a biting wind in March, let's go into the house!" I don't know when, Gongsun Erniang said behind her.

Shen Pearl turned around and saw Gongsun Erniang holding a food box in her hand, and let Gongsun Erniang into the house with a smile, and said angrily: "Sister-in-law has brought good things to eat Pearl's mouth again." ”

Gongsun Erniang put the food box on the table and said, "It's not your brother yet-I feel sorry for you to fetch water, light a fire, and cook every day, and he himself is afraid that you will tremble, so he supports me to come every once in a while." As he spoke, he took out a few dishes and a bowl of rice that had not yet dissipated the heat, and the room was suddenly fragrant.

Shen Pearl knew that this was her brother and sister-in-law's heart, so she didn't say much, took out a small bowl, shared a bowl of rice with Gongsun Erniang, and invited her to eat together. While eating, she praised "delicious", Gongsun Erniang was the most proud of only two things in her life, one was swordsmanship, and the other was cooking, both of which were praised by others and never tired, usually Shen Pearl was so intentional to please her, she must be full of joy and smile, but today Gongsun Erniang is obviously a little absent-minded. Shen Pearl knew something.

Sure enough, when it was almost time to eat, Gongsun Erniang spoke: "Pearl, today another group of people from the court came down to look for you." ”

Shen Pearl put down the bamboo chopsticks and said with a smile: "It's not once or twice, what is my sister-in-law worried about?" "In the past two years, every three or five months, the emperor will send people to the Shen Mansion to inquire about Shen Pearl's whereabouts. Shen Zhu's return to Wuxing was very well concealed - it was midnight when she returned to Shen Mansion that day, her father Shen Yizhi had died of illness a few months ago, except for Shen Jiefu and his wife, only one or two old family members knew, Shen Zhu's current identity and residence were extremely secret, and the emperor was not urgent to ask Shen Zhu's whereabouts, so that Duocun's thoughts of coping with the errand were always easily sent away.

Gongsun Erniang said: "This time is different. I heard them say secretly, I have to find you this time, or I won't be able to recover my life. It turned out that this incident was related to the sudden death of the Hui Gele Khan! ”

"What?!" Shen Pearl trembled and stood up suddenly, unable to believe what she was hearing, and a cold sweat swished down her vest.

Gongsun Erniang was surprised, and repeated the last sentence again.

"Death?" How ridiculous, sobbing silently.

He swept away thousands of troops with a wave of his sleeve.

He said to her in the court of the king, "You must remember that the door of my court will be open for you at any time." ”

He is always resolute in his speech, resolute and persistent.

Such a person, who is named the word "death" today, ended his life so easily?

This is not what should be his.

What's going on?

Gongsun Erniang said curiously: "Pearl, why are you so out of shape!" ”

Shen Pearl struggled to calm down and sat down slowly, the sky outside the house was as blue as the sea, and the clouds were like clouds, as if she could never get enough of it.

Gongsun Erniang handed her a handkerchief and looked at her: "You are in tears." ”

"Really?" Shen Pearl was a little flustered, dipped her fingers into the corners of her eyes, and sure enough, she was choking back tears. She hurriedly wiped it with a hand towel, but when she wanted the hand towel to touch her face, tears suddenly rolled down.

Gongsun Erniang had also heard some rumors, and at this time, she was a little clear, and waited quietly for Shen Pearl to wipe away her tears, and said, "You look like this, no wonder Li Jiao misunderstands you." But...... I said a long time ago: Li Jiao's kid is unkind, and it is the best thing for you to leave him. But pearl you are too lonely, Jiefu talked to me about you yesterday, what did you say...... I don't know what it means to ask for ......'. ”

Shen Pearl reciprocated with a bitter smile - her mind can only be hidden in her heart forever, never declared in her mouth, and forever silent. said: "That's 'hum it, ask for its friend', it is the words in "Three Hundred Poems". It means that one should not live in isolation, but must have friends. You don't have to worry about me, brother and sister-in-law, aren't my best friends? ”

Then he asked solemnly: "Sister-in-law, what is going on?" ”

"Our Wuxing news is blocked, I don't know what is going on." Gongsun Erniang glanced at Shen Pearl deeply, and felt that she still had to tell her what she knew, just in case, "I overheard the conversation of two of the envoys today, and it turned out that when Hui Khan died, he did not leave an edict indicating who would succeed him. Now, the court of the Hui Dynasty has been divided into two factions, one faction supports the eldest prince Ye Hu, and the other faction supports the second prince to move the land to build. Princess Ningguo wanted to report this matter to the emperor, but Ye Hu was not allowed, so she actually imprisoned the princess, and the princess's life was in danger! ”

Shen Pearl thought quickly in her heart: This matter is often theorized by others, Ye Hu is long and has made many military exploits, and he is still young when he moves to build the land, so he should take Ye Hu as his sweat; But those who are familiar with the inside story know that Ye Hu is not Mo Yan's son, so he is also famous for opposing Ye Hu as the King of Khan. Ye Hu's trick of imprisoning Li Wan is indeed extremely poisonous: if the Yidi Jian faction is not coerced to seize the throne, it will definitely hurt the princess, and even hurt the face of the Tang Dynasty and Suzong. Ye Hu can protect the name of the princess, as long as he sits firmly in the sweat seat, no matter whether Li Wu is alive or dead, he can push the blame to move to the ground.

Li Wan is indeed extremely dangerous. But I believe that if it is not until the last moment, Ye Hu will not take this last move.

What is the purpose of Su Zong's search for her now? Do you want to use the little "mother and son" relationship between her and Ye Hu back then, so that Ye Hu let Li Wu go?

She shook her head to herself. Since Su Zong was able to ruthlessly let his daughter marry back to Su back then, how could he not have this daughter who had died, where would he save her with such fanfare today. What's more, since Ye Hu will take the throne with Yidi Jian, how can he care about the friendship of the past?

However, after all, Li Wan will marry back because of her, and now that she is in trouble, is she just holding back her hands? To go or not to go? To go or not to go?

Her hesitation fell all in the eyes of Gongsun Erniang, and she sighed with a smile: "Sister, look at you like this, you can't hold back, do you want to go out for a walk?" ”

Gongsun Erniang's words were like a scoop of cold water straight to the lungs, Shen Pearl was shocked, and said in her heart: What am I thinking? What is there in this world that is indispensable to me, I have no power to restrain the chicken, even if I go back to Hui, what can I really do? I have resolved to leave everything behind, how can I go back to that whirlpool, tired and tired.

This night, Shen Pearl had nightmares repeatedly. For a while, I dreamed that Mo Yan was covered in blood and fell into a cliff, and for a while, I dreamed that Li Wan was walking in the ice and snow of Huifu, stretched out her hand, and called "Sister-in-law, help!" ”

Woke up from a nightmare and sweated profusely.

Gongsun Erniang has not come to Shen Zhuzhu's residence for four or five days since that day. This is an agreement between Shen Pearl and Gongsun Erniang, and they can't come and go too often in recent times, so as not to be found by the visiting envoys.

Another three days passed, but Shen Jiefu and his wife still did not come. At noon on the fourth day, Shen Pearl was like often coming to the lake to watch the fisherman's maiden pounding clothes and playing, but he saw a little girl shaking his head and heading towards the lakeside, and he jumped towards the place where there were many fishermen.

By the evening of the same day, the people on the left and right where Shen Pearl lived exchanged heads and ears, and they talked about it, spreading a shocking bloody case like a net: the Shen Mansion in Wuxing City was invaded by robbers last night, not to mention the robbery, the eldest son of the Shen family, Jiefu, his wife, and more than 60 people from the top and bottom of the Shen family were all wiped out, and the corpses were all scattered all over the place, and it was unbearable to see.

Shen Pearl simply ate dinner and still cleaned up the thatched hut where he lived. Pick up the bronze mirror on the dresser, this is naturally not as bright as the bronze mirror in the palace, and the person in the mirror may not be as young as he was back then.

She gently closed the door of the hut, the last trace of sunset remained in the sky, the soft waves and soft breeze of Taihu Lake, and three or two small boats swaying leisurely......

After walking for nearly an hour, he entered the city of Wuxing.

The Shen family is a famous family in Wuxing, and in the past 100 years, there have been more people with lofty ambitions or good at managing their families and buying money, and the family is very prosperous. The mansion of the Shen family is located in the southwest of the city, covering an area of dozens of acres.

In Shen's Mansion tonight, the door was closed, there was no housekeeper waiting in front of the door, and the two red lanterns under the eaves hung there lifelessly, not lit.

It's quiet, there's no hustle and bustle from passers-by, there's not a trace of life.

Shen Pearl stood in front of the door for a long time, and finally walked up the steps and gently pushed the door open.

The door was not tethered, and with a slight push, it was opened.

The bluestone paved courtyard of the house, under the reflection of the cold moonlight, gives birth to a kind of coldness that penetrates deep into the bone marrow. The neatly planned houses on the left and right sides were dark and cramped, like two cold knives, pressing towards her step by step.

Shen Pearl took a deep breath and stepped on the bluestone path, making a slight footstep sound, which was particularly harsh in this silent night.

"Wow!"

Not far away, the fire flickered and burned, and then only heard the sound of "whirring" and "whooshing" ignition, and for a moment the fire moved, and countless men in armor burst out from the left and right houses, or holding torches, or pressing swords to stand, and in an instant, the courtyard of the Shen Mansion was like daylight.

With the sound of "turn" boots, two men in simple clothes and green robes in front of Shen Pearl were surrounded by several attendants.

The current person is sonorous, his actions are forceful, and his posture is heroic, and it is the inner flying dragon that is making Cheng Yuanzhen. The Inner Flying Dragon Envoy is directly responsible for the emperor's safety, and today the envoy actually went to Wuxing in person, Shen Pearl was surprised, the figure of the man behind flashed, rushed to Shen Pearl, and he had already knelt down, bowed his head and arched his hand: "The criminal minister Chen Zhou sees the crown princess." ”

Chen Zhou's appearance has not changed much compared to two years ago, although Shen Pearl has expected this matter in her heart, but she did not expect that Chen Zhou would be among the envoys sent by the Su Sect to find her, and when she heard that she called herself a "criminal minister", she thought that she had been activated by the imperial court again. Turning to the side, he did not accept his big salute, and said, "My lord is mistaken, the folk girl is not the crown princess." ”

Chen Zhou smiled, stood up on his own, and explained: "The crown princess probably doesn't know yet: the emperor was very angry when he heard that His Royal Highness the crown prince and his mother had reconciled and separated, and he strictly reprimanded the emperor and the prince, and the matter of reconciliation and separation was stopped. Although you are not officially canonized, you are still the crown princess. Although the prince has accepted many concubines, he now favors Zhang Liangdi the most, but he can only make her Liangdi. Shen Pearl was stunned, no wonder two years ago in Yecheng, Chen Zhou and Feng Shengyi still called her "Niangniang" in unison, the situation was urgent, she didn't have time to correct it, it turned out that there were such twists and turns in it, and she avoided Wu Xing, but her identity was still detained in the palace, which was somewhat ridiculous.

She remembered what Chen Zhou had just said, and silently said, "Zhang Liangdi? His heart moved, and he asked, "But Zhang Hanruo?" ”

Chen Zhou arched his hand and replied with a smile: "Exactly." After saying this, Cheng Yuanzhen, who had never spoken beside him, suddenly took out a bright thing from his sleeve and said in a deep voice: "Shen Pearl takes the order!" ”

Shen Pearl was stunned, and hurriedly knelt down and waited for Cheng Yuanzhen to read it. Cheng Yuanzhen handed the holy decree in his hand directly into her hand and said, "This is the holy secret decree, let's take a closer look at it yourself." ”

The three of them came to the side room, lit the candles, and retreated. Shen Pearl opened the holy decree, and when she saw it, she couldn't help but be shocked and anxious. The holy decree reads: "The crown prince Yu went to Huifu last month, and suddenly lost the news, I am very worried, and I specially ordered the crown princess Shen to enter Huifu as soon as possible to find out." "The bottom is upright and stamped with the emperor's seal.

Shen Pearl hurriedly closed the holy decree and asked, "How can this be?" ”

Chen Zhou's face was full of worry.

Cheng Yuanzhen explained: "The month before last, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince learned that the civil strife in Huifu was precipitous, and Princess Ningguo's life was in danger, so he led people to help. No one knows where His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is, whether he is alive or dead, and the saint is so anxious that the dragon's beard is white. ”

Shen Zhuzhu's face also turned pale, and he bit his lip and said, "How many guards did Your Highness bring?" How could he be so risky? At present, the internal troubles are not settled, and he should put the world first. ”

Chen Zhoudao: "Niangniang may not know, but now the rebels are weak. Two months ago, after Shi Chaoyi killed Shi Siming and established himself as emperor, he was defeated by Shang Heng, the envoy of Qingmi Jiedu, and Yuan Hao, the envoy of Yanyun Jiedu, and the rebels had no power to fight back, and the rebels were really going to be pacified in a year or two. Your Highness may be relieved to go back because of this. There are not a few attendants with him, all of them are the head of the East Palace Guard, led by Yan Ming. ”

Shen Pearl was right when she thought about it, after Li Yu's death, Li Yu was already very self-blaming. Now he only has Li Wan, the only sibling girl left, and he will think of saving her no matter what.

Chen Zhou continued: "Although the Holy Lord has sent several groups of people to search for His Highness, it is still difficult to return. In desperation, he ordered the criminal minister and Lord Cheng Yuanzhen to visit Niangniang, hoping that Niangniang would remember the old relationship with His Royal Highness, and the affection with the deceased Hui, so that the prince of the Tang Dynasty would not lose. The criminal wanted Niangniang to be in Wuxing, and in order to find Niangniang, he had to resort to today's plan to lure Niangniang out and ask Niangniang to surrender. Speaking of this, Cheng Yuanzhen's face was slightly red, and he interjected: "Weichen is ashamed. ”

Although Shen Pearl was mentally prepared and knew that Chen Zhou was helpless, she was still a little disgusted that he acted unscrupulously, and asked, "Where is my family now?" ”

Chen Zhoudao: "It's okay, although the mother can rest assured, the criminal minister just forged a letter to lure the eldest prince and his wife to visit friends in the neighboring county, and invited other people in your mansion to sit in the Wuxing County Mansion for a while." Niangniang is very smart, and she has long seen through the strategy of the criminal minister, and the minister really admires it. "He was originally a military general and a civil official, and he acted in a hurry, knowing that there were few people in the world of Gongsun Erniang's martial arts that could be stopped, so he used the plan to deceive him and his wife out of Wuxing, and then joined forces with Cheng Yuanzhen's subordinate Inner Flying Dragon to arrest all the other people in the mansion, creating the illusion that the Shen Mansion was destroyed.

Shen Pearl said coldly: "I'm just worried that if I still don't come after you spread that false news everywhere, maybe this tragedy will really happen!" ”

Chen Zhou was a little embarrassed: "The sinner will never dare!" Shen Pearl smiled secretly, for the sake of fame and profit, how many other things do you dare not do? I don't blame you for what happened to Yecheng back then, but if I really don't come today, you're afraid that you will really kill the killer!

Shen Pearl looked at him: "My lord, how many grades are you doing now, what kind of position do you receive?" ”

"The criminal minister is from the seventh grade, and the leader is the captain of the army." Chen Zhou was originally the county guard of Jincheng, from the fourth grade, although he has been rehired, he has been demoted several levels, so he has a lot of resentment on his face.

Shen Pearl raised his eyebrows: "This trip is just to reuse you!" ”

Chen Zhoulian said "I don't dare" and said: "Just because the criminal minister used to be the guard of Jincheng County and knew the topography of the north, the saint entrusted me with this position." The criminal minister only hopes to help his mother from the side, and His Royal Highness can return to Beijing safely, and he will die. ”

Cheng Yuanzhen lowered his hand and said: "This matter is all because I am in charge, Lord Chen is just an assistant, if he wants to be convicted, Weichen will bear it." ”

Shen Pearl listened to Chen Zhou's flattery, and Chen Zhou, who was still ambitious after killing a strong enemy and seriously injured back then, couldn't help but sigh secretly. On the contrary, Cheng Yuanzhen doesn't talk much, he knows how to advance and retreat, no wonder he can become Suzong's inner flying dragon envoy. sighed: "I'm a people's woman, how dare I ask the two adults to blame." Your Majesty has placed high hopes on me, and only hopes that I will live up to the trust. Thinking about Li Yu's life and death, his heart was full of gloom, and he said: "In this case, it is better to be sooner rather than later, after meeting my brother and sister-in-law, we will set off as soon as possible!" ”