Inside the palace of King Wu.

The spacious hall was lit with luxurious incense and candles, the light silk tent hung on the beams, the surrounding wall pillars were carved with golden dragon patterns, the floor was covered with a valuable red carpet, a long chaise longue was placed in the center of the hall, and King Wu sat in a plain robe, his face looked tired, but his expression revealed a gloomy atmosphere.

In front of him, kneeling was Wu Guo, the prime minister of the dynasty, Li Qinghou.

Li Qinghou was dressed in formal clothes and fell to the ground, except for him, there was no one else in the hall.

"Qinghou, how is it, have you found anything?" said King Wu in a heavy and old voice.

Li Qinghou didn't dare to raise his head, and said in a low voice: "Back to Your Majesty, the officials in charge of the Ministry of Industry have been rushed to the dungeon, and the minister has already sent the Praetorian Guards to arrest Lu Wenjie, and when he arrives, the minister will inevitably interrogate him strictly." ”

After hearing this, King Wu sighed heavily, and said, "The people from the Criminal Department have been investigating for so long, but they can't find anything, and they already know about it." Now, because of the armament, the capital of my Great Wu has been disturbed by thieves, killing people and setting fire in broad daylight to cover up crimes, and I really can't stand it. ”

"The minister understands that he will definitely give His Majesty an explanation. Li Qinghou said.

"What else do you need to explain? It's almost time for the East Window incident to happen, and by the time the people in the Criminal Department have evidence, this foreign thief will be gone for a long time. King Wu's voice was a little higher, and he said angrily, "I want you to take urgent action overnight, that is, to give me a thorough investigation of this incident, and none of the people involved in the case can be spared, regardless of whether there is evidence or not." ”

Li Qinghou's heart trembled, and he hurriedly kowtowed: "The minister respectfully obeys His Majesty's holy decree." ”

Seeing his appearance, King Wu turned his head helplessly, and said again: "Isn't there any news from Lu Wenjie now?

"Your Majesty, don't be impatient, before leaving, the old minister specially instructed that there should be no mistakes. Li Qinghou said.

As soon as the words fell, the loud voice of the guards came from the door of the hall.

"Captain of the Praetorian Guard, Song Zhiping has come to see you-"

When King Wu heard this, he hurriedly raised his head and looked out of the door.

Song Zhiping strode into the hall, wearing armor and carrying an official knife at his waist, came to Li Qinghou's side and knelt down to King Wu, and arched his hand: "The last general, Song Zhiping, see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live, long live." ”

"Let's be flat, how about it, did Lu Wenjie bring it back?" King Wu waved his hand and asked him.

Song Zhiping ignored the prime minister beside him, stood up and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Lu Wenjie has been taken into the dungeon by me, and two million taels of gold and three million taels of silver tickets have been looted in his mansion, and other cultural relics, ancient artifacts, calligraphy and paintings are still being counted, and we have put all the mansions of Lord Lu under martial law." ”

After hearing this, King Wu raised his eyelids and glanced at Song Zhiping, took a breath, and said in a deep voice: "Listen, two million taels of gold are enough to buy a small county town, can this Lu Wenjie not be tired under his hands?"

Li Qinghou didn't speak, he leaned deeper and didn't dare to raise his head.

"It's just...... Your Majesty, there is no evidence of smuggling armaments, I'm just afraid of ......" Song Zhiping continued, wanting to stop talking.

King Wu sank his face and waved his hand at him.

"I know, this criminal department hasn't found out for so long, I'm afraid that the other party is hiding deeply. King Wu pondered and said, "Now that we have cut it first, we can't let those people continue to do anything wrong." ”

"Yes. Song Zhiping arched his hand.

King Wu raised his head and said to him: "Spread my will, according to the law of Great Wu, this matter will be made public tomorrow when the court goes to court, and all the people involved in the case will be arrested and brought to justice, and the sentence will be determined according to the sentencing, and no one will be allowed to be let go." As for Lu Wenjie...... The people around me committed such a big crime, and they should be beheaded all over the house and kill the nine clans...... When we go to court tomorrow, we must reorganize the court!"

The latter sentence was for Li Qinghou, who was frightened by King Wu's stern tone, and hurriedly said, "The minister obeys the order." ”

"Also, let the people of the Criminal Department quickly find out the perpetrators of the murder in Hangzhou, and if there is negligence, they will be severely punished. Wu Wang said, "This matter can not be delayed any longer, the Son of Heaven kills people and sets fires, can the people still sleep......?

Speaking of this, Wu Wang choked up, and he remembered that Zhang Renjie, who had been specially sent to Pingxiang County to search a few days ago, had disappeared in a fire.

Li Qinghou also noticed that King Wu's tone was wrong, he dared to raise his eyes and glance at King Wu, and quickly lowered his head.

King Wu thought about it, sighed deeply, and said: "It's a pity that Zhang Renjie, young and promising, is very useful to me, I didn't expect that someone would come to the door to assassinate him, how can it be reasonable." ”

He weakly smashed the armrest on the bench, thought for a while, and said to Li Qinghou: "As a last resort, go and ask the swordsmith, I thought, he shouldn't give me my face." ”

As he spoke, the wrinkles on King Wu's old face seemed to be deeper.

Pingxiang County.

Inside the inn.

Late at night.

A curfew had already been imposed on the streets outside the inn, martial law was everywhere, and the footsteps of the Praetorian Guards patrolling around the window were constantly ringing outside the window, and the whole street was lit up by torches, but there was not a single figure else.

The rooms in the inn were already full, and there was a faint commotion in the lobby downstairs. He Bai lay on the bed next to his wife's corpse, looking at the full moon outside the window, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Next door to him is the residence where Yan Wuchang stays.

At this time, Yan Wuchang's room was also lit with a bright oil lamp, illuminating the originally not very spacious room.

Yan Wuchang sat on the chair by the window, quietly observing the movement on the street through the window, occasionally looking in the direction of the county office, thinking silently.

Behind him, Liu Xiaoxiao was lying alone on the bed, also not asleep, with his back to him, and two lines of tears slowly flowed from his godless eyes.

The candle flame on the lampholder flickered slightly, quietly eating the lamp grass as time passed.

"Little lady. ”

Suddenly, Yan Wuchang spoke casually, breaking the long silence in the room.

Liu Xiaoxiao did not answer, and pretended to sleep motionless.

Yan Wuchang continued without looking back: "I heard that you were a top-notch piano girl in Qingyulou, and you were proficient in playing, playing and singing.

Liu Xiaoxiao pretended not to hear it and said nothing.

After a while, Yan Wuchang didn't react, sighed, got up from the bench, and groped inside Liu Xiaoxiao's luggage for a while.

Syllable. A heavy object was thrown onto Liu Xiaoxiao's bed, she trembled with fright, and looked up to see that it was her own pipa.

Yan Wuchang stood lazily at the end of the bed and said to her: "Come, this is your thing, and it is easy to use, just play a song that you are best at." ”

Liu Xiaoxiao glanced at him, her face still had clearly visible tear stains, her eyes were red and swollen, and her pale face looked haggard.

Yan Wuchang raised his chin at the pipa and stopped talking.

Liu Xiaoxiao was a little helpless, she sat up from the bed and picked up the pipa. The familiar touch instantly made her heart feel an inexplicable sourness, and everything seemed to be yesterday.

She slowly hugged the pipa, her face expressionless, and expertly pressed her slender jade fingers against the cold strings.

She opened her mouth slightly, with a hoarse voice, bitterness and sadness crossed her heart at once, and in her godless eyes, the past scenes began to turn over.

"The plum blossoms fall in the snow suspiciously, and the willow leaves are in good wind. ”

Liu Xiaoxiao began to pluck the strings, and the hoarse singing voice gently echoed in the small inn room.

"The drama rises and falls, everyone who comes is a guest, and the song is scattered. ”

"The flowers bloom and fall, and those who go hand dye incense, and the fragrance of spring is more abundant. ”

When Liu Xiaoxiao was ten years old, he was sent to the opera garden by his traditional family and began a years-long practice career.

"I don't know the king's will, but I am sad and sad. ”

"The hater doesn't know what he wants, and he comes and goes in the end, and he doesn't hear sorrow. ”

Thirteen-year-old Liu Xiaoxiao, talented, plays the piano well, and is also very good at music, with excellent posture, poetry and music, good pen and ink, which has aroused a wave of popularity among Jiangnan talents, and is known as a talented woman, emerging in the theater.

"The spring mountain is warm and windy, the curtains of the pavilion are dry, and the willow swing is in the courtyard. ”

"The warbler is dancing and the swallows are dancing, and the small bridge is red. ”

At the age of fifteen, she had already grown into a slim and handsome appearance, and with the theater playing and singing all over the south of the Yangtze River, the large number of guests made her have a lot of popularity. Many rich sons came here to see her first.

"If you don't fall asick in your life, you will be lovesick, and you will be lovesick.

The body is like a floating cloud, the heart is like a flying flocculent, and the air is like a gossamer.

A wisp of fragrance is here, looking forward to the daughter of the wanderer.

When the signs come, exactly when is the light half dim, and the moon is half bright. ”

After a while, she became a young socialite and became famous, but she secretly fell in love with an ordinary poor scholar. Although the scholar came from a poor family, he had poetry and books in his belly, his talent was amazing, and his delicate writing captured her heart at once. Regardless of the difference in identity, her girl's heart was already budding, and she secretly had a private meeting with the scholar, and she also made a private agreement for life.

It was probably her happiest time yet. The good times did not last long, and the poems written by the scholars were found by the government to be involved in the violent Chu, and at this time, the whole world was caught in the war against Chu, and Wu was not spared. The scholar was taken into the dungeon as a spy. Liu Xiaoxiao couldn't bear it, so he hurriedly came to the official mansion and saved the scholar's life with all his net worth at that time. But the matter between them was also exposed, and her father took her home, beat her badly, and put her under house arrest.

At home, she worries about the scholar every day and washes her face with tears. She never saw him again.

Later, Liu Xiaoxiao's father sent her to the Qingyu Building and became a piano girl, and it was there that she became the signature celebrity in the Qingyu Building, and many people fell in love with her beauty and piano endowment.

"The sycamore trees fall in front of the court, and the hibiscus blooms at the water's edge. The solution is the same as that of the poet. Resignation Ke Shuangye, flying to me red. ”

Later, when she was at the height of her popularity, Niu Tao proposed to her family. Faced with several heavy boxes of silver, her father agreed without thinking, and in their eyes, Liu Xiaoxiao was just a commodity that could be sold at the highest price.