The new celebrant is named Xu Delu.

Different from Wang Xianfu, who is powerful and blessed, Xu Delu is obedient to the emperor, gentle and tolerant to his subordinates, and compared with his predecessors who are roosters and dogs, foxes and fake tigers, Xu Delu is like a living Bodhisattva.

The new palm print eunuch took office, and the military reform was menacing, and in such a game, Chu Zhixia's great achievements in beating people to the point of not getting out of bed were obviously not enough.

But there are still Yan Guan who does not miss the slightest opportunity for impeachment, and the emperor, who is already anxious, doesn't even have the strength to call Chu Zhixia into the palace and scold, so he removed her insignificant position as the head of the Yulin Wei Sanwei according to the words, and ordered the eunuch to "be reprimanded by order", and finally blocked the mouth of the Yan official.

The eunuch who was ordered to reprimand was Xu Delu's godson, with a white and pure little face, and after relaying the emperor's roar with a straight face, he smiled again.

"Don't be surprised by Miss Chu, Your Majesty is really worried about state affairs, and you still remember Miss Chu in your heart." The little eunuch said respectfully, "This move is also to appease the anger of the official, and I also hope that Miss Chu will not have a dislike with Your Majesty." ”

Since Wang Xianfu's death, the eunuchs in the palace seem to have their tails between their legs. In the past, the people who came to the palace were all high-spirited, and they couldn't wait to ask the officials to kneel down for them. Xu Delu did not show his edge, and acted in a low-key manner, and he couldn't see the domineering of the Son of Heaven's close ministers.

Chu Zhixia slowly got up from the ground, glanced at the little eunuch who could speak in surprise, and said, "I was at fault in this matter first, Your Majesty just reprimanded, and he is already very tolerant of me." Mo Xue can't make contributions to the country, and she is really ashamed to cause trouble to Your Majesty. ”

The little eunuch responded in a row, and exchanged a few words with Chu Shixia before leaving.

Pei Zhang behind the screen came out and looked at Chu Shixia a few more intriguingly.

"I'm idle at home, I have nothing to do, it's not good to go to Fireworks Willow Lane to have fun again, and I will be tongue-in-cheek." Chu Zhixia dusted off the creases on his clothes, and looked at Pei Zhang with a smile, "Pei Gongzi still lacks scholars, why don't you take me to Taixue class?" Although I don't know the pen and ink of a sage, I know a little about the art of war and military politics. ”

"Don't you dare Miss Lao Chu."

Pei Zhang reacted, shaking his fan and laughing, "You took advantage of the chaos in the DPRK and China to fish in troubled waters, didn't you just want to withdraw from Yulinwei?" If you are contaminated with Taixue again, you will have to make a move to pick yourself out if you don't do it well. The sons and daughters in Taixue have fine skin and tender meat, but they can't stand your practice. ”

Chu Zhixia was noncommittal, pretended to regret it, and walked out of the main hall in a hurry.

In front of the hall was a wide patio, in which a large water tank floated with a thin lotus flower. It has entered autumn, but the lifespan of this lotus flower is surprisingly long, and it has not withered.

The sky shone into the water tank, and a red koi fish flashed under the shadow of the lotus flower.

"I also want to thank Pei Gongzi for taking down the anger of the people with all his might. Otherwise, let those people know that the New Deal is related to me, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get out so easily. Chu Zhixia leaned against the door frame, and the old man wrapped his hands in his sleeves.

"With the weight of the Chu family's military power, you really shouldn't get involved in court affairs anymore." Pei Zhang said without being salty.

Chu Zhixia smiled and didn't speak.

The emperor wants to use her, not only to borrow the power of the Chu family, but also to use her as a shield. Once the emperor loses, the Chu family will bury him with the century-old inheritance along with the lives of everyone in the family. Chu Zhixia wanted to go to the dark, and at this time it was the least noticeable.

"Pei Gongzi is still worried about himself." Chu Shixia said lazily, "The Pei family is on the cusp, and the new deal will become a benevolent if it is not successful." Family, sisters, nephews, you have gambled a lot more than I do. ”

"You're trying to help me?" Pei Zhang turned to look at her.

Chu Zhixia smiled.

"If you lose, it's not good for me." Chu Zhixia said softly, "At least this time, I hope you win." ”

They tacitly didn't mention the name again.

More than a month has passed, so the person should have arrived in Jiangnan.

——

Gangnam.

Near the water's edge, there are always one or two black canopy boats with red cloths. The red cloth was embroidered with scribbled mandarin ducks, soaked in the vicissitudes of color in the wind and rain. On the bow of the boat sat a thin, bright-eyed man, smoking a cigarette and exchanging glances with his companions.

This is a secret prostitute on the water.

The sailors who frequented it were either destitute or spent the year on the water, with few opportunities to get ashore.

Ah Da is one of the people who guards the boat and is responsible for collecting money and preventing the prostitutes from escaping.

Some of these women were the wives and daughters of the shipkeepers, and they exchanged the money for the lives of the family; Others are of unknown origin, locked in the boat day and night, and do not see the light of day.

It's raining tonight.

The nights in Gangnam are always rainy and not heavy, but they are also very annoying.

Ah Da wrapped his coat tightly, leaned his back against the stake, and got a little closer to the boat behind him. The boat behind him was lit up, and Ah Da fantasized about the appearance of the person combing her long hair under the lamp, as if she felt the sweet smell of her body through the cold rain.

Ah Da had been hired to guard the ship, and it was a young and beautiful woman with rough but white hands, like silk. The first time Ah Da saw her, he was attracted by the slender and white wrist, which was so white that it made his mouth dry.

But Ah Da couldn't sleep with her, and his month's salary couldn't pay her for a night.

A pair of black boots stepped on the ground in front of Ah Da, and Ah Da looked up at the shoes, wearing a featureless black robe and a black hat. The hat blocked Da's gaze, so that he could not see the faces of the visitors.

"Thirty dollars a night."

Ah Da said mechanically that he didn't expect there to be guests on a rainy night, and he thought it would be just him and the woman behind him tonight. This price is very expensive among secret prostitutes, but the woman on the ship is worth the price, and more than once people have come to buy her.

The person who came didn't make a sound, didn't even nod his head, took out a string of money from his arms and threw it in Ah Da's arms. Ah Da was taken aback and looked at the visitor in shock, but he had already lifted the curtain and stepped onto the boat.

The boat draught, fluttered in the water, and steadied again.

The lights on the ship were turned out.

Ah Da was immersed in the joy of flying a windfall, wondering if this expensive tip could be made privately, and the employer didn't know that he had such good luck anyway. If you have the money, maybe you can ......

Ah Da swallowed, thinking about the woman's soft waist and arms, and his whole body was hot.

Suddenly, there was a muffled sound on the ship, followed by the sound of something being pierced.

Ah Da was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized if the ship was too quiet.

This piece is all engaged in the business of secret prostitution, and at night there are high and low moans lingering and undulating, and wild cats scratch people's hearts and livers like spring. But when the generous guest got on board, there was not even a sound of undressing on board—it was as if there were no living people.

Ah Da's heart was pounding, he blew on the wind lantern, and cautiously approached the boat, "Guest, why is the light out, do you want to light another one?" ”

There was no sound on the boat, no soft moans of women, no rough gasps of men like beasts. If an ordinary guest is disturbed with a good thing, it is light to scold him with his head and face, but there is no movement on the ship.

A smell of blood rushed into Ah Da's nostrils.

Ah Ming's mind was blank, he didn't have to open the curtain, the wind lamp was already illuminating the blood that was slowly flowing out of the cabin.

How can a person shed so much blood in such a short period of time? Presumably, like an animal, someone cut the throat or stabbed the heart, and then squeezed the blood vessels all over the body, thus squeezing all the blood out.

Ah Da froze in place, not knowing what to do, and the curtain of the ship was lifted from the inside.

A bloody sword opened the curtain of the ship, and the naked woman lay on the ground, her snow-white chest red with blood, her eyes staring straight at the top of the cabin. Standing on top of her was a teenager, and the hat was knocked over to the ground, revealing his face.

Ah Da has never seen such a beautiful man, his skin is as white as fresh snow in the distant mountains, and his eyebrows and eyes are full of color. Ah Da was shocked by his beauty for a while, and even forgot his fear.

"And another?" The boy muttered to himself as if he was a little confused.

Ah Da screamed, turned and ran.

The moment he turned around, his cry was cut off. Ah Da only felt that his hands and feet did not belong to him, and he fell weakly in the rain.

The wind lanterns then extinguished in the rain.

The boy stepped out of the cabin and pulled out a steel needle from the back of his head, with red blood and white brains. The steel needle was slender and long, not much shorter than his fingers, and the whole one sank into the back of Ah Da's head, only half an inch was exposed.

The boy picked up his hat and put it on, and left the shore.

The shadows lurking nearby swarmed up and dragged the bodies of Ah Da and the woman into the boat, dumped the oil on the boat, and lit a fire.

A man and woman overlap in the fire, they have never been so close, but after death they are naked opposite each other. Tomorrow morning, there will be only a legend in the market that a boat keeper forced the prostitute to fail, and in anger he killed the prostitute, and in the battle he overturned the candlestick so that the ship was burned and sunk into the water.

The boy lowered his hat to protect himself from the rain and trudged through the rain without panic.

——

When the sinking boat returned to the ordinary courtyard where he had temporarily settled, he brought a bucket of cold water from the well. He took off his shirt, revealing his plain white body, and poured a bucket of cold water on it, scrubbing the blood from his neck, chest, and hands.

The weather turned cold, and it was the middle of the night, and the cold water was poured down, and the iron-beaten man couldn't help but fight with his teeth.

But the sunken boat didn't come out of the atmosphere, and it was as cold and hard as a piece of jade.

"You're the quickest to come back." The white-robed old man sat under the eaves and said with appreciation, "That Mountain Ghost Clan assassin who collects information is not easy to deal with. ”

Shen Zhou didn't answer him.

"Do you need a new sword?" The old man asked again.

"To kill, an inch of blade is enough." Shen Zhou said lightly.

"Are you unwilling to use Li Qingbai's swordsmanship to kill for the Nine Shadows?" The old man saw through him, but he didn't care, "It's okay, the Sword Master has nothing to do with us assassins in the first place. ”

Shen Zhou fell silent again, washed the blood off his body, and returned to his room.

He pulled out a piece of masonry from the tightly knit wall, and inside it was a treasure chest. Like a child collecting beautiful stones, Shen Zhou picked through a box full of candies, and finally stingily picked up a pine nut candy and held it between his lips and tongue.

The sweetness of the frosting melts on the tip of the tongue and quickly turns to a faint sourness.

Across the wall, a horse snorted in the rain.

Shen Zhou stood at the open door, watching the rain fall on the atrium. He couldn't sleep, so he just sat here and watched the rain.

Although Shen Zhou was also raised in poetry and books, he did not have the preferences of literati and writers, so naturally he did not listen to the rain through the forest and the leaves. The wind, frost, rain and snow, and the four seasons are similar to him, and only by that person's side is he endowed with a different and shallow emotion.

The last time it rained so heavily, he snatched the roasted sweet potato that the man gave to the fourth prince, and then the two of them stepped on the rain side by side and went home.

She said that the four princes were outsiders.

The old man misunderstood Shen Zhou's meaning and explained: "Next door is a caravan from the imperial capital. ”

Shen Zhou was in a trance.