Shen Zhou sat among the ridges of the field, his lowered hat covering most of his face. He propped his hands back on the ground, looking up slightly at the golden light sprinkled by the clouds, and his posture was stretched and comfortable. The white cat squatted next to him and bit a small fish, and in the distant fields, the people of Chunxian County, who had restored their land ownership, were working in the fields.

A group of children hid not far away and secretly looked at Shen Zhou, who also turned a blind eye. After a long time, a little girl stepped forward and asked him softly, "Big brother, don't you have anything to eat?" ”

Shen Zhou looked at her calmly.

This little girl looked like she was five or six years old, with a pair of very innocent round eyes, like a fawn, and a yellow butterfly cloth bag on her shoulder.

The little girl plucked up her courage and said, "Lord Qincha has brought Yu Linwei to administer justice, and the bad guys have been arrested. Big brother, if you don't have land to plant and no food to eat, you must go and talk to Yu Linwei. ”

Shen Zhou held back for a long time, and held back a sentence: "I'm not from Chunxian." ”

The little girl's eyes widened, and she felt more pity for him, "Then you wandered here because you had no food?" It's pathetic. ”

Shen Zhou smiled helplessly and said, "I have eaten a lot, thank you." ”

The little girl looked at him carefully for a moment, as if to distinguish the truth of his words. After a while, she took out a handful of cleanly peeled peanuts from her pocket and handed them to Shen Zhou, turned around and ran away.

——

Chu Zhixia led Xue Cheng to walk on the open official road, and on both sides of the official road were Chunxian residents who came to visit. She stayed here for a long time, and made three statements in a row, until the new magistrate rushed to take office.

Xinzhi County is a young Confucian student, who is fair and strict. In his early years, he was cold-eyed because he couldn't get through the imperial capital, and Chunxian was not a chore for him, but a peach blossom source. Chu Zhixia wanted to leave, and he sent him a few miles, but he still didn't want to leave.

"That's it." Chu Zhixia turned around and said euphemistically, "No matter how far away, it will be difficult for Lord Zhixian to go back." ”

The magistrate bowed to her, hesitated for a moment, and then opened his mouth: "The lower official has a sentence, I don't know whether to say it or not." ”

Chu Zhixia had heard all the ugly words he had asked, so he raised his hand indifferently and motioned for him to say.

"When Xia Guan left the imperial capital, the situation in the imperial capital was not good." Zhixian observed Chu Zhixia's expression, and said slowly, "Many Shou have not yet been escorted back to the imperial capital, and there are already many discussions in the court. Some people say that the Chu family and Xu Delu had a holiday, but this move is just a personal vendetta. The Imperial Historical Observatory staged impeachment one after another, demanding that His Majesty remove the eldest lady from the post of minister and return to the imperial capital to be punished. ”

Chu Zhixia held the reins of the horse and did not speak.

She is only in her early seventeens, and the magistrate looks at her like a junior, and it is inevitable that she can't bear it.

Zhixian hurriedly said, "But we all support you and His Royal Highness King Qi!" ”

Chu Zhixia was a little surprised and asked, "You guys? ”

"Those of us who are preparing for exams in the imperial capital, the scholars of the Hanlin Academy, and the thousands of young scholars in the imperial dynasty. How can a eunuch who grabs power match, how dare he accuse the hairpin family, the Yunzhong Chu family who serves the country and the people, and His Royal Highness the King of Qi who spared his own life and went to Jiangnan to quell the rebellion and provide disaster relief? The magistrate said excitedly.

Chu Zhixia smiled with relief, waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, if the imperial history wants to scold, just let them scold." ”

"But—"

"No, but." Chu Zhixia motioned for him to silence and said, "Don't say anything like this again." If it is heard by someone with a heart, it is not the scholars who are indignant, but the Chu clan in the clouds and His Royal Highness the King of Qi have formed a party for personal gain. ”

The magistrate sighed heavily, and bowed for a long time: "The lower official sends Lord Qincha, I wish you a smooth journey." ”

Chu Zhixia turned over and stepped on the road to Binzhou City surrounded by Yu Linwei. The people were in the middle of the road to farewell, and the cries and blessings were endless.

A little girl holding a peanut hurriedly squeezed in front of the person, but she couldn't reach Chu Zhixia, who was surrounded by Yu Linwei, so she was so anxious that she stomped her feet, and the yellow butterflies on the cloth bag flew over.

Chu Zhixia glanced at her sloppily to make sure that she was not squeezed by the crowd before beating her horse and leaving.

——

Imperial capital.

Weiyang Palace.

Pei Zhang was dressed in green clothes, and his feather fan was gently fanning, looking at the chessboard intently. On the chessboard, the sunspots are taking every step of the way, forcing the whites to the left and right. The emperor looked at the chessboard with a sad face, then at Pei Zhang, sighed, and admitted defeat.

"Your Majesty, I have conceded." Pei Zhang arched his hand.

"Pei Qing, you are already winning, but you are more serious than me, a desperate person." The emperor smiled and said, "You and Mo Xue are very serious about playing chess. ”

"Your Majesty has a heart to play, and the ministers naturally don't dare to be false and wrong, and waste Your Majesty Yaxing." Pei Zhang's drip does not leak.

"Mo Xue has been going to Jiangnan for a few days, I asked her to go to quell the rebellion, but she went to Binzhou for disaster relief first. If you are infected with the plague, there are three long and two short, how can I explain to the king of Zhenbei? The emperor sighed half-truthfully, looked at Pei Zhang's face and said, "Does Pei Qing know that Mo Xue arrested Xu Delu's younger brother?" ”

"The Imperial Historical Observatory is full of wind and rain in the city, even if the ministers do not leave the house, they have heard of it slightly." Pei Zhang said quietly, "I heard that these many people rely on Xu Delu's relationship, and they are tyrannical in the local area, bullying men and women, and colluding with officials, just like a 'Tu Tai Sui'." ”

The Emperor's face changed.

Pei Zhang's eight winds did not move down and said: "The minister can't help but think of when Wang Xianfu is still there. The minister's deceased sister, that is, Concubine Pei, the biological mother of the six princes, once complained that Wang Xianfu was in the palace and gave grace and power, and the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were all his disciples and grandchildren. ”

The emperor's face became more and more ugly.

Pei Zhang gave the emperor enough eye medicine, and then asked as if he was in another world, "What does Your Majesty want to ask?" ”

"Some people say that Mo Xue is a personal vendetta of the communiqué, what do you think?" The emperor took a sip of tea with a calm face, and asked without being salty or light.

"Miss Chu is indeed a person who will repay her eyes."

Pei Zhang also smiled helplessly: "But she is by no means a person who does not distinguish between black and white." She may have a holiday with Xu Delu, so she thoroughly investigates the Binzhou land invasion case. But she would never fabricate trumped-up charges and kill dozens of lives in her family because she had a holiday with Xu Delu. ”

The Emperor's constricted eyebrows loosened slightly.

"But then again, since ancient times, the ministers of the Imperial Mission have the right to cut first and then play." Pei Zhang pretended to be puzzled and sighed, "Miss Chu got His Majesty's approval, but she just arrested the family of a eunuch with a palm print—there is ironclad evidence that so many people are crying out for him." The popularity of this palm seal eunuch is really not ordinary! ”

The emperor grinded his back molars and responded sympathetically, "Yes, it's really a lot of friends." ”

Pei Zhang lowered his head to drink tea, revealing an imperceptible smile.

——

Binzhou.

Another night of storms.

"This place is called Prison Mountain, and there is a river next to it that leads to a deep pool of waterfalls." Cheng Yuan finally lit a fire, made himself disgraced, and had to chat with Chu Zhixia. He was just about to ask Chu Zhixia to dry the clothes on his body, when he saw Chu Zhixia looking up at the statue of the mountain god on the shrine.

After they left Chun County, they handed over many Shou and his party to Yu Linwei, who came to meet them, all the way from Anyang County to Yangzhou, and then went north to the imperial capital through the canal. However, the torrential rain in Binzhou was pouring, and Chu Zhixia's team of people also stopped and stopped for many days, and they had not yet seen the gate of Binzhou City.

"Miss, come over and warm up." Cheng Yuan said, "Don't get caught in the cold." ”

Chu Zhixia looked at the stone statue with a fire fold in his hand, and said with some confusion: "This mountain temple is very well repaired. ”

Not only did the roof not leak, but even there wasn't much dust on the ground, just a messy pile of water-soaked hay. The idol was surprisingly left out in the cold, and its back was covered with thick moss.

"yes, or we'll be out in the rain." Cheng Yuan sighed, "It's really lucky. ”

Chu Zhixia's face changed slightly, "But in the past two years, the people of Binzhou have not had a good life, the famine is famine, the plague is plague, who still has the time to build the mountain temple?" If the faith is pious, why is it that the idol of the god is left out and not cleaned? ”

Cheng Yuan was stunned by her question.

"Why did you choose this place to hide from the rain?" Chu Zhixia asked.

"Because this is a radius of more than ten miles, it is the most spacious here, and the roof is intact......"

This mountain temple is very magnificent, and it has built four courtyards, which is enough to accommodate their considerable people. The other Yulinwei and the horses were resting in the courtyard outside.

Chu Zhixia blew out the fire fold with a "whew", picked up the drinking stream snow and said, "This is a trap, go quickly." ”

Just then, the sound of a fierce horse neighing was heard outside the door.

Chu Zhixia kicked the door open, and pale lightning pierced the ground from the sky, illuminating the blood flowing from the crack in the door of the wing.

A dozen shadows stood in the rain, some on the ridge of the roof, some leaning against the gate, some standing in the middle of the court. The boy standing in the middle let out a grim laugh, picked up the golden skull and bit it between his teeth, and tilted his head as if to show off.

"First meeting, Miss Chu." The young man said, "Someone paid 10,000 taels of gold to buy your life from the Nine Shadows. If Gongzizhou hadn't followed you all the way, it would have been difficult for us to start, and we wouldn't have gone to great lengths to lure you here. ”

"What Gongzi boat," Chu Zhixia stared at him coldly, "Which boat?" ”

"I don't know which boat it is, but that's what we all call him." The boy grimaced and grinned, "He's just like you, a difficult and short-lived fellow. Today you are both going to die together. ”

In the flash of light, Cheng Yuan suddenly extinguished the fire in the main hall of the mountain temple. The only light source went out, and the Assassins facing the flames were somewhat unresponsive. Only three arrows were heard in the darkness, and the assassins were startled and subconsciously dodged.

A loud whistle sounded at the same time, and the sound of horses' hooves galloped. The boy rolled on the spot in embarrassment, and at the same time lit up a fire breaker. The faint light of the fire was fleeting, and the snow-white steed almost trampled the old floor. Chu Zhixia put his arms around the horse's neck and turned over on the horse, pulled Cheng Yuan on the horse with one hand, and went straight to the gate.

"Stop her!"

Chu Zhixia leaned against Xue Cheng's back, and two consecutive arrows forced the assassin back, and Xue Cheng rushed through the gate and galloped away.

"Today's younger brother's entrance banquet. It's a bit busy. One chapter."