Pei Guo Gong has contracted the largest private room of the Teaching Workshop Division, which is located in the corner of the second floor, very quiet, and the private room is connected to a spacious rooftop, which can watch the stars and admire the moon, which is very meaningful.

As soon as Shen Shi, the housekeeper of Peiguo Mansion, arrived, he came to the side hall to choose the people who performed, accompanied and served, and when he entered the side hall, he saw that his eyes were full of pearls and emeralds, and he was dazzled, and he thought that it was no wonder that the grandfather of the country lingered in the fireworks.

The housekeeper chose from the first place in a row, admired each one, walked to Shen Jiyue, a burst of fragrant orchid fragrance rushed into his nose, looked at it, and suddenly half of the wood was gone, and he was amazed that such a stunning beauty could still be submerged in the Jiaofang Division, shouldn't he have been arranged by Wang Sun Gongzi to leave his room and raise her!

When the housekeeper was stunned, the woman was slightly blessed, "Chu Qing greets the master." ”

"Oh, oh, girl doesn't have to be polite, Miss Chuqing, hahaha." Only then did the housekeeper come back to his senses, "Mom, this, uh, Miss Chuqing, why haven't I seen you bring it out to give us grandpa a piece of knowledge." ”

"Sir...... This, it's not that I don't want to, Chu Qing was transferred to Chang'an from other places by Master Sima of the Ministry of War, and he is also his personal attendant, who are all high-ranking officials and nobles, where can I afford to offend, you say yes. ”

"Oh, I'll just say how can such a stunning beauty be nameless, I see. It's okay to be an ordinary companion, how about arranging it for the distinguished guest on the left hand side of Grandpa Guo? ”

"Gotcha~"

"Chu Qing thanked the master."

As soon as the time arrived, the guests of the private room arrived, led by Pei Guogong, who was nearly fifty years old, round waist and shy belly, with a rich face, and he should be the main guest half a step behind, similar in age to Pei Guogong, but far from each other, this person is long and lean, with a long beard and beautiful hair, and an extraordinary bearing. At one moment, the host and guest were seated, and the head of the teaching tried his best to flatter and entertain a few words, and then clapped his hands and called the girls in. Han Cui is the private prostitute of the grandfather of the country, and he is the leader, followed by Shen Jiyue, sitting on both sides of the host and guest. There are also some hairpin ring beauties, sitting next to the guests.

As soon as Pei Guogong saw Shen Jiyue, his eyes couldn't be opened, and he kept spinning on her, Han Cui saw it in his eyes, but he dared to be angry and didn't dare to speak. The guest was also stunned when he saw Shen Jiyue, as if he was amazed by his beauty, but soon his face remained as usual.

"It seems that he is a person who has seen the world, no wonder he can be the guest of Grandpa Guo." Shen Jiyue thought silently.

The entertainment dinner is left and right, but you flattered me to praise, what you said is not very important, Shen Jiyue began to feel that she was really wrong this time, and it was not worth it for herself, but after thinking about it, they didn't mention the assessment of official governance, it may be that there is nothing to say, that is, everything is as usual, then Sima Xunian should not be very dangerous.

Her careful thoughts were working, and she suddenly heard the long-bearded guest next to her mention the envoy, and she instantly held her breath.

"I don't know if Grandpa Guo can know Lord Sima, the envoy who went to Yangzhou to take the exam?"

"How can I not know that I am a generation of famous generals, and the current secretary of the Ministry of War, Sima Xunian. Oh, this beauty next to you is Lord Sima's favorite, hahaha. ”

Hearing this, the long-bearded guest hurriedly turned his head to look at Shen Jiyue and said, "Oh, that's also a heroic beauty, it's a good match." ”

Shen Jiyue hurriedly got up and saluted, and said, "My lord is smiling, the slave family doesn't dare to match Lord Sima." ”

"Hahaha, please take a seat, I'm not an adult, just a little seller." Then he picked up his wine glass and said regretfully, "It's just that I heard that Master Sima suffered a little trouble when he first entered Yangzhou, and I feel very ashamed as a villager in Yangzhou." ”

Shen Jiyue's heart tugged, and a look of concern surfaced on her face, but she immediately disappeared again.

Pei Guogong answered, "You seller, don't scare other girls." ”

"Oh, oh, it's mine, it's not me, Miss Chuqing, I'll punish myself," he took a glass and drank it all, "It's not a big problem, it's said that it's a group of displaced people from Xuzhou who came over due to famine, don't know the majesty of heaven, stop the car and cry poor, and just want to beg for food." Lord Sima was sympathetic to the people's feelings, and set up a tent on the spot to give porridge, not wanting to slack off in this defense. There were a few homeless people who were not afraid of death, thinking that this was an ordinary rich family, and wanted to rob a fortune, so they grabbed a knife and looted it. ”

"Oh?" Pei Guogong seemed to be interested, "Sima Xunian is a generation of famous generals, and he will also suffer?" I don't know where you got this news, and neither the DPRK nor China has heard of it. ”

"It is also possible that there are many people who do this good thing now, and all the news that does not know the height of the sky can be made. I also felt very surprised by this, so I took it and said, I didn't want to ruin everyone's interest, so I punished myself. ”

The wine table was bustling again, Shen Jiyue was in a trance, she could only listen to the cups and cups, and the staggered plans, and she couldn't listen to anything she said.

Finally stayed up until the end of the banquet, Pei Guogong was already drunk, and was helped into the room by Hancui, others wanted to find someone to accompany them, the housekeeper had already arranged, and those who were afraid of making a mistake were also sent home by the division.

After Shen Jiyue finished sending off the guests, she was about to go back to the room, but the long-bearded guest stopped her, "Miss Chuqing, you are presumptuous, I don't know Lingtang's surname?" ”

No one had ever paid attention to her mother, so she thought it was very strange, but she still told the truth, after all, Shen Yong had been an official in Yangzhou, and it was unknown that this person might be his father, "Mother Yang." ”

"Oh...... But the people of Yangzhou? ”

"No, my mother's ancestral home is Yizhou and she grew up in Chang'an."

"Oh, oh, that's really presumptuous, but the first girl is very similar to the next old friend, and I thought it was ...... Alas, but this old friend has long since passed away, even if he has children, he will never be a girl of this age, I am old and confused...... Don't be surprised to disturb the girl. ”

Shen Jiyue didn't want to entangle with him too much, so she only casually exchanged a few words, then said goodbye, and then hurriedly returned to the room.

"Mingxin!" As soon as she entered the door, she shouted, "Sima Xunian is afraid that something has happened." ”

Mingxin greeted him and exclaimed, "What? ”

Shen Jiyue explained the incident at the banquet in detail to Mingxin.

"Miss, my lord explained before he set off, if something happens to him, he will send Yiming to fly the pigeon to pass the book to me, I received the news and immediately prepared to take you out of the city and meet Yiming. However, now I have never seen a carrier pigeon visit, and it is not like an incident. ”

"Could it be that Yiming also suffered an accident, so he couldn't pass on the book?"

"The Lord has always been cautious, he will not let himself and Yiming be in danger at the same time, and he will definitely leave one person behind in order to find a way back."

Shen Jiyue settled down, and suddenly seemed to understand something, and said to Mingxin, "Mingxin, let's not talk about this topic first, and wait for me to remove my makeup and wash up as usual." ”

Mingxin was stunned for a moment, and then quickly nodded yes.

That night, the master and servant went to bed separately inside and outside, and there was no other word. But both of them were distracted and didn't sleep all night.

Early the next morning, Mingxin went out to fetch water as usual, and suddenly found that Hancui's maid Yun'er looked panicked, and ran away with a smoke, although she had doubts, she still continued to walk calmly.

When he returned to the room, Mingxin lowered his voice and told Shen Jiyue about the matter.

"Looks like they did keep an eye on us all night."

"Miss, are we safe now?"

"It should be safe. If we really had action, we wouldn't have waited until now, and now we don't, they are probably disappointed. ”

"Then you think it's a trap for adults to have an accident?"

"No, the three products of the examination are personally awarded the seal by the Son of Heaven according to the inspection envoy, giving a sword and carrying a holy decree, which is like a royal car in person, and the identity is respected, how dare a mere businessman spread rumors in public in the sect where dignitaries gather, so Sima Xunian's trip will definitely not go well. But since he said he would tell us something, we should believe him. Shen Jiyue pretended to be calm and calmly analyzed.

Hearing this, although there was still a worried look on her face, she believed in Sima Xunian and Shen Jiyue, so she also felt a little relieved. For some reason, she seemed to be familiar with Shen Jiyue at first sight, although Shen Jiyue always had a cold and awe-inspiring look, but after coming into contact with her, she found that she was smart and kind, thinking about people everywhere, and Mingxin was convinced and respectful of her.

Wu County, Yangzhou

"Young master, I should send someone to report it quickly, this is a letter."

They agreed with Ying Cheng that the transmission of information should not be conveyed by flying pigeons, so as not to be intercepted, and although the transmission of the letter was a little slow, the sender could destroy the letter immediately in case of distress to ensure safety.

Sima Xunian took it and hurriedly opened it.

After reading it, he looked serious, "It's not good, I should have suffered the injury, my life is worry-free, but I can't move, as soon as the news is reported, someone from the court will definitely come, and his play will not be able to sing." ”

"But we are investigating Shen Yong's news in the auditory, and now we have finally found out some suspicious strangers, and we are about to have eyebrows, if we leave halfway now, these clues may be broken next time we come back."

"The old rule, we will go our separate ways, I will go back and hand over to Yingcheng, and you will stay in Huiji. We used to think that Shen Yong would hide in the gang, but now that we have checked some of the gang members, none of them are not, so the direction is wrong. Among the suspicious people who have been investigated now, the gangs can pass by, focusing on the merchant shipwrights at sea, especially those who go to sea with the ship. ”

"Yes, young master."

"Remember, don't fly pigeons and pass on books to Mingxin. Mingxin's appearance will definitely attract their attention, maybe they have been monitored, I was careless for a while, I didn't expect this, and now I should bear the injury, only to find out that they have suspected our actual whereabouts, and may even have set a trap for Ji Yue and Mingxin to try to find out. So we changed our plan, no matter what happens, we must not fly pigeons to pass the book, you will keep your precious little life, in case something happens to me, you must rush back and take away their master and servant. ”

"Young master, you stay here, and I'll go and respond to it."

"You are the same as Ying Cheng, you are not me, as long as a person who has seen my true face appears, you will be recognized. Now we can't find either the stolen silver or Shen Yong, this trip to Yangzhou is meaningless, so I'll go back and do a good job of this envoy and do a good job for Your Majesty. ”

"I don't think you're in Huiji, even if you find Shen Yong, he won't admit his identity."

Sima Xunian pondered for a while and said, "If you don't enter the tiger's den to get a tiger, you should always take a risk." If you are almost sure that someone is him, tell him that if he wants to see Shen Jiyue, he will follow you to Jiujiang County before the end of the month, and inform me and him that he wants to meet at that time. ”

"Yes, young master".

Sima Xunian set off overnight and rushed to Lujiang County, Yangzhou, where Ying Cheng was stationed.

Early the next morning, Wu Yiming went to the seaside wharf of Yangzhou Port. Disguised as a homeless man, he tried to infiltrate the shipwrights at the seaside docks on the pretext of looking for an errand.

Yangzhou and Jiaozhou sit on the three major foreign trade ports of Dacheng, Yangzhou has two under its jurisdiction, one is located in Yangzhou Port in Wu County, one is located in Jian'an County, Huiji County Thornton Port, Jiaozhou is in Nanhai County to set up a "Tonghaiyi Road", later called Nanhai Port. The main course of Yangzhou Port is Baekje, Silla, and Wa Kingdom, and the port of Thornton and Nanhai Port complement each other, and the course is Siam, Ceylon, Tianzhu and Persia.

Dacheng is rich in products, the foreign trade industry is thriving, Yangzhou and Jiaozhou pay the imperial court tariffs are very rich, in the annexation war period once became its important war funding resources, now the Central Plains is unified, the country is safe and secure, the port trade is more prosperous than in the past, its tariffs and commercial taxes have become an important source of the treasury, especially Yangzhou, the status is important.

There are tens of thousands of low-level shipwrights and porters in Yangzhou Port, who only make a living by shipping, but even if the number of personnel is so huge, it is still very short-term, and a young and strong young man like Wu Yiming is officially the object of competition among major maritime merchants, no matter what his origin, as long as he is not a wanted criminal, he can easily find an errand.

The "owner" selected by Wu Yiming is Xue Yang, a big businessman known as the first maritime merchant in Yangzhou. The so-called big hidden in the city, in the city to hide well, but also to take the big in the city. But this is only one of the reasons, and the other reason is that he has already locked on the person he is looking for, who is in Xue Yang's fleet.