When Gu Yuncheng's matter came to an end, Yan Sidao, who had always been elusive, said goodbye without saying goodbye, disappeared by himself, and could no longer be found. Xie Yixiang and Xian Jingyue knew that he was going to go to the Mid-Autumn Festival as the "Liujin Venerable" of the Shenhuo Sect to talk about martial arts, and then they also set off for Taihu Lake. A son is bent on opposing words and thoughts, and he walks with them, and only recuperates in the carriage along the way. In this way, it only took two or three days to finally arrive in Suzhou City on the east bank of Taihu Lake three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and only need to take a boat at Zhangjiatan Wharf in the west of the city to go directly to Xishan Island on Taihu Lake.

It is necessary to know that Taihu Lake spans Jiangsu and Zhejiang, called "Zhenze" in ancient times, also known as "five lakes", its lake surface is vast, more than 200 miles from east to west, more than 120 miles from north to south, more than 36,000 hectares wide, a total of more than 50 rivers in and out. It is bordered by Wuxi in the north, Huzhou in the south, Yixing in the west, and Suzhou in the east.

On the Taihu Lake, there are hundreds of large and small islands, and the two most famous are "West Mountain" and "East Mountain". The island of Xishan is more than 20 miles wide from north to south, more than 30 miles long from east to west, and the county town village is placed on it, which is the largest island in Taihu Lake. And because there are countless green peaks on the island, it is known as the "72 peaks of Taihu Lake", and all respect the "ethereal peak" as the first, which is also the place where the "Taihu Lake talks about martial arts" is located.

As for the "Taihu Lake Martial Arts" personally organized by the imperial court, it is naturally the so-called martial arts conference in the rivers and lakes, which is to gather all the various sects and factions of the two capitals and thirteen envoys in the Central Plains to discuss major affairs in the rivers and lakes.

It is said that the last time a martial arts conference of this scale on the rivers and lakes was more than 30 years ago, when the Nine Dragons King who "had one eye on the stone man and provoked the Yellow River to rebel against the world". It is said that at that time, it was in the name of the Shenhuo Sect to call on the martial arts to fight against the alien races of the previous dynasty, and it was also on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the heroes fed on vegetarian round cakes, shaped like the bright moon in the sky, which gave rise to the current "moon cake".

Now the former dynasty has been wiped out, the Central Plains returned to the hands of the Han people, this "Taihu Lake martial arts" is not only held by the imperial court personally, but also the first martial arts conference since the beginning of the dynasty, and at the time of internal and external troubles, the world is in turmoil, it can be described as a sensation in the world, the various factions of the rivers and lakes have been invited, each faction or a few people, or more than a dozen people, or dozens of people, not to mention tens of thousands of people, its scale is wide, the scene is grand, can be imagined.

Although Xie Yixiang is from Haozhou, she grew up in Suzhou since she was a child, and she can't help but feel the feeling of revisiting the old place when she looks at the familiar alley waterway in the city. However, the current situation is very different from the lively Suzhou in her memory, to say that the world is more beautiful than Suzhou and Hangzhou, this Suzhou city has no shortage of tourists since ancient times, and now there are martial arts people from all over the world gathered here to go to the event, which should be extremely lively. But as far as the eye can see, the streets and alleys are deserted, not only can you not see a few pedestrians, even the traders who do business have most of the shops closed, replaced by sergeants patrolling around, as if facing a great enemy, I don't know if it is because of the "Taihu Lake Martial Arts" that led to the strict ban on the whole city, or if there is something chaotic here.

Xian Jingyue didn't pay much attention to this, and now he is in the position of the deputy commander of the pro-army Governor's Mansion, and he has inexplicably become the deputy head of the "Xuanwu Feihuamen", and this time he was ordered to come, undoubtedly to report to his immediate boss, Ye Dinggong, the commander-in-chief of the Qing Army's Governor's Mansion, and he is also the person in charge of this grand event; even if there is any question, ask him directly.

The next group of people went straight to the Zhangjiatan wharf, intending to find a boat to go to Xishan Island on the lake, but were stopped by the sergeant stationed at the wharf, claiming that all the ships here had been uniformly called by the imperial court, and if they came to participate in the "Taihu Lake Martial Arts", they had to show the "hero post" who came to the appointment before they could use the boat.

Although Xie Yixiang and Xian Jingyue are now from the Xuanwu Feihuamen, the former came to listen to Sister Yue's verbal order, and the latter ignored Ye Dinggong's dissuasion to leave Jinling privately, so how could there be any "heroic posts" on them? In desperation, Xian Jingyue had to show his identity as a pro-army governor, and the sergeants did not dare to slack off, so they hurriedly sent someone to pass the ceremony. In just a moment, a huge painting boat broke through the waves on the lake, and a middle-aged scribe with a white face and beard gave up his hand from afar, and said with a smile to the first Jingyue: "Humble and humble to Changfeng, meet the deputy commander." Brother Jingyue, don't come unharmed!" Xian Jingyue immediately returned the salute and said, "Commander Feng is fine." ”

Xie Yixiang had heard of the past establishment of the Pro-Army Governor's Mansion, in short, it was the six commanders referred to by the "Six-petal Plum" and the twelve commanders referred to by the "Twelve Guards", and the white-faced scribe in front of him was Feng Changfeng, the commander of the "Yiluan Division" who was responsible for internal affairs among the six commanders. She had heard Xian Jingyue mention that among the six commanders of the Pro-Army Governor's Mansion, only Gao Xiao, the commander of the Left Guard, was a figure, followed by Hong Wuji and Ling Jianxin, and the remaining Feng Changfeng and Ning Tao were in important positions by virtue of their relationship with the emperor. Especially the Feng Changfeng in front of him, it is said that he was a slave in the family before the emperor ascended the throne, and he has always won the emperor's sacred heart, so although he has no ability, the officials of the court and the central government dare not slack off.

Seeing Feng Changfeng appear here, Xian Jingyue was also slightly surprised. According to Ye Dinggong's words, the pro-army Governor's Mansion is now only divided into two parts, the outside is Ye Dinggong and his newly established Xuanwu Feihuamen, and the inside is everything as usual, each performing its own duties, this Changfeng is subordinate to the inside, how could he come here to mix in the matter of "Taihu Lake stressing martial arts"? But after thinking about it, he immediately understood that the emperor's trust in Ye Dinggong was still reserved, so at the same time, he sent his own cronies to supervise him.

Then everyone said a few polite words, and then boarded the painting boat at the invitation of Feng Changfeng and drove straight to the direction of Xishan Island. After this period of recuperation, his pale face has gradually become a little bloody, but his eyebrows are still listless, and he entered the inner cabin to rest as soon as he got on the boat, and he didn't know whether he was unwell or had no interest in this grand event of "Taihu Lake Martial Arts". Xian Jingyue didn't want to deal with Feng Changfeng, so she went to the stern of the boat alone to rest, and in the end, only Xie Yixiang and Feng Changfeng remained in the bow of the boat.

It is said that it is just past noon at this time, the sunny day is at the beginning, the blue sky is slightly cloudy, and the whole Taihu Lake is tens of thousands of blue. The autumn wind blows on the lake, and a line of wild geese flying south is reflected in the sparkling waves, which is dotted with a bleak color in the lake. Xie Yixiang was thinking about what was on her mind, but she heard Feng Changfeng not far away chanting loudly: "On the shore of Taihu Lake, the sky and the water are connected. On the rainbow pavilion, it is still less than five years. Wash me to collect three buckets of dust, fast business soaring thousands of miles, gulls and herons are also fluttering. In the crystal que, he really controls the wind fairy.

Looking at the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are no five days, and the moon is still full. Leaning on the railing, Qingxiao is lonely, startling the dragon sleeping. If you want to go to Xizi, you didn't do the work of the year, and you hit the boat on the five lakes. Don't know the rest of the matter, the perch is fresh. ”

Xie Yixiang frowned slightly when she heard this, she had heard that this Changfeng had an empty belly, but she was afraid that others would laugh at her, so she tried her best to memorize some cold poems and sell them around, but she didn't want it to be so. After the long wind finished reciting, he smiled and said: "Shiwei Mid-Autumn Festival, when I am in Taihu Lake, this 'Rainbow Pavilion' of Zhang Yuhu Lake is very appropriate. However, after reading the words of the lake, I love the sentence of "the world is now accustomed, and this heart is leisurely everywhere". But I don't know what Miss Xie San thinks of Yu Hu's words?"

Xie Yixiang didn't want to pay attention to him, but said lightly: "Master Feng is a talented person, except for the emperor, how can I be reckless and have a thesis with an adult?" Who knew that Feng Changfeng didn't care, and when he saw her answer, he immediately leaned closer, lowered his voice and asked: "Miss Xie San said a few words! Don't blame the humble position for a few words, Brother Jingyue is now the deputy commander, and he is valued by the emperor, as long as he can make great contributions in this 'Taihu Lake Martial Arts', the future is even more limitless." With the current situation of the Xie family, how can Miss Xie San be willing to break off the marriage contract with you, the senior brother of your childhood sweetheart?"

Xie Yixiang was slightly stunned, and before he could answer, he asked with a smile: "A few days ago, the emperor intended to recruit Brother Jingyue as a concubine, and did not hesitate to marry the seventeenth princess, and Prime Minister Ning also intended to win over him, wanting to marry a daughter in the outer room to him. In the end, both sides taught Ye Dinggong to talk about matchmaking, but who knew that he was rejected by Brother Jingyue and touched his nose. Hehe, according to the humble position, Brother Jingyue is only afraid that he can't let go of the old relationship, saying that the two of you brothers and sisters dissolved the marriage contract, should it be a collusion to deliberately cover up people's eyes and ears, in order to promote Brother Jingyue later?"

It was the first time Xie Yixiang heard about the emperor's marriage and Ning Cheng's marriage, and she couldn't help but be a little stunned. To say that the previous marriage contract between himself and his senior brother was originally set by his father Xie Fengxuan for him when he was young, he was still young at the time, and he didn't understand the love between men and women, but he simply felt that Xian Jingyue was very good to him, and he also admired this senior brother very much.

However, as I got older and saw more and more, I felt more and more confused about this marriage. Although Xian Jingyue treats himself very well, it is more like the love between relatives, or the love of brothers and sisters. And he gradually understood what the world was, although he was a little ignorant, but at least he could be sure that it was not the feeling between himself and his brother. Therefore, on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, my father knew that he had lost his momentum and did not want to involve the future of the first race for the moon, so he had a momentary impulse and tore up the marriage contract in public.

As for why Xian Jingyue refused the marriage between the emperor and Prime Minister Ning, Xie Yixiang didn't know what his intentions were. Looking back at this time, she suddenly realized that in fact, she had not understood this senior brother's mind for many years, especially since he came back from the Jade Gate, not only was his martial arts perfect, but the whole person seemed to be even more unpredictable, and in the depths of his heart, there was even an inexplicable sadness.

That letter Changfeng thought that when he said this, he would be able to teach Xie Yixiang to be at a loss on the spot, but who knew that the other party was completely unresponsive, and he didn't even look at himself. He was inevitably a little embarrassed, so he had to cough a few times, changed the conversation, and asked, "Miss Xie San, did you know that the imperial court held a martial arts conference this time, why did she choose Taihu Lake?"

Seeing that Xie Yixiang still didn't answer, he asked a little mysteriously: "I don't know if Miss Xie San has ever heard of the 'group of ghosts crying at night' on Taihu Lake eight years ago?"