By the time Chen Wenqi and the others returned to the Wuchang Mansion, the night was approaching the beginning of the shift, and the yamen had already been closed.

Yang Shanling rang the drum of grievances outside the yamen, and after a while, the yamen "squeaked" and opened a gap, and a person who looked like an errand man walked out of it, shouted and asked:

"Who is beating the drums here so late?"

Yang Shanling replied: "It was we who escorted the strongman here and asked to see the prefect." ”

"Strongman, what strongman, where?" said the officer.

"A strongman who stands in the way. Well, that's them. ”

The messenger looked at Ge Yiren, didn't dare to be specialized, and said to Yang Shanling: "Wait outside the door first, I'll go in and report." ”

After speaking, he turned back and entered the mansion, and closed the heavy door with his hands.

After a while, the errand servant Fu opened the door of the mansion again and beckoned to Yang Shanling and them:

"Come with me. ”

The messenger let the people into the palace, turned around and closed the door, and then led them up to the hall.

Yang Daiming, the prefect of Wuchang, is nearly thirty years old, and has been a scholar for thirteen years in Chenghua, who is diligent and honest in his official duties, and is especially good at inducing doubtful cases, and has won the appreciation of his superiors, so he has been promoted quickly. In Wuchang Mansion, there were almost two years. Shicai was reading in the study, heard the report of the errand officer, and hurriedly came to the lobby to prepare to ask the case.

Yang Shanling and his party came to him, Yang Daiming suddenly frowned slightly, got up and said:

"Shen ......".

Without waiting for Yang Daiming to continue, Yang Shanling hurriedly took over the conversation:

"'Trial'? Your Excellency, is this going to be a trial?"

Yang Daiming shook his head, spread his eyebrows, returned to the desk and sat down, picked up the startling wood and patted it, and said in an official tone:

"Who is in the hall, and why did you come to the drumming center in the middle of the night?"

Yang Shanling smiled secretly and replied: "Back to my lord, Yang Shanling, a small citizen, and this Chen Gongzi encountered this group of strongmen blocking the road on the way to stay, and they were captured by us and sent to the government for disposal, and asked the adults to be the masters of the small people." ”

Yang Daiming was shocked when he heard that Yang Shanling and others were blocked by strongmen. Fu shook his head lightly, as if he didn't believe it: "There is no joke in front of the hall." Just a few weak scholars can catch the three strong men of them? Could it be that you are at ease, and you can't come to the mansion for recreation under the pretext of doing so?"

Yang Shanling's face was innocent, and he pleaded: "Wronged, my lord, the grass people and others don't dare to entertain you even if they eat the bear's heart and leopard gall." These men did stop us and others outside the city with daggers, and you see, my eldest brother's hand was cut by their daggers. ”

Yang Daiming frowned again, and asked in a deep voice: "Your eldest brother?" You said that this son is your eldest brother?"

Yang Daiming's majestic tone seemed to make Yang Shanling a little scared, and he changed his relaxed expression just now, and stammered, "No." Be...... It is the knot of the small people...... Righteous brother. ”

"Brother Yi, when did you marry Brother Yi?" asked Yang Daiming with a tiger face.

"Yes...... It's ......"

"My lord, whether we will be righteous or not, when will we be righteous, should not be subject to the control of the government, right? Chen Wenqi saw that his righteous brother looked panicked under the prefect's questioning, so he spoke out to relieve him.

"Oh, oh, it's the house that's negligent. So, these people really got in the way and committed murder? ”

"Isn't it? At dusk today, Xiaomin and the scholar Zhu Rui had dinner at the Cyclamen Restaurant, and the money bag was stolen by this thief in Ge clothes, and the money bag ...... was stolen by this thief", Yang Shanling regained his relaxed demeanor, and described in detail how he was stolen from the restaurant, intercepted in the suburbs, and how Chen Gongzi captured the thief.

When Yang Daiming heard this, he was secretly frightened, and ordered the six people to be put in prison, and the case will be tried tomorrow and punished according to the law.

After Chen Wenqi stepped forward to reconnect their dislocated joints, he said goodbye to Lord Yang.

Yang Daiming looked at Yang Shanling, and stopped talking. Yang Shanling pretended not to know, said "Xiaomin retires", and walked out of the prefect's yamen with Chen Wenqi and others.

The group left the mansion and walked through a street, Zhu Rui led the group into a narrow alley. Walking about two or three hundred steps, I saw a small door not far away, Yang Shanling quietly pulled Zhu Rui's sleeve, Zhu Rui understood, quickly ran over and knocked on the door, and whispered a few words to a person who looked like a courtyard, and the courtyard nodded while welcoming the door, and greeted Yang Shanling:

"Little ...... The young master is back?"

Yang Shanling said "um", took Chen Wenqi and them into the door, turned around and instructed the courtyard:

"These two sons are my guests, you want to stay in my house for a few days, don't tell my mother, so as not to disturb her old man's house, remember?"

"Yes, little ...... Master. ”

When several people came to a small courtyard, Yang Shanling stopped and said to Chen Wenqi:

"Big brother, this is the backyard, and there are no idle people coming and going. You and Brother Jingxing will rest here, and I will bring water to you later, and wait for you to bathe. ”

Chen Wenqi said embarrassedly: "Listen to the arrangement of the virtuous brother." But it's late today, and it's inconvenient to visit my uncle and aunt. ”

"It's okay, it's okay. Yang Shanling shook his hand and said, "My father...... He is away all year round and rarely goes home. My mother recites scriptures and praises the Buddha, and she can't be idle. ”

After speaking, he left with Zhu Rui.

After a while, a servant of the same age as Jing Xing came over with warm water and waited for the two to bathe.

"Little brother, I'm tired of you. May I ask what the little brother is called?" Chen Wenqi wanted to get to know this little brother more through the conversation with this little man.

The little servant said "ah, ah" to him twice, pointed his finger to his mouth, shook his head, and then pointed to his ear and nodded. It turned out to be a mute man who could hear but could not speak.

When Chen Wenqi and Jingxing saw this, they couldn't cry or laugh. I washed hastily and went to bed to rest.

......

Not long after Chen Wenqi and the others left the Wuchang Mansion, a black shadow appeared behind Chen Wenqi and his party, following them not far away. Seeing Yang Shanling take Chen Wenqi into the courtyard through the small gate of the alley, the black shadow went around to the front door of a courtyard house, reached out and knocked the door knocker lightly three times. Not long after, the door creaked softly, and the head of the courtyard poked out.

"Is Madame asleep?" asked the Shadow.

"Ah, it's my uncle. The lady has not yet gone to bed, and the uncle invites her in. The family courtyard led the person to the front hall and said, "Uncle wait, I'll go and ask for the lady." ”

A short time later, a woman came out of the back room, although she was nearly forty years old, but her skin was white and her lips were red, and she was unusually beautiful. When he saw someone coming, he had a smile on his face.

"Sister. ”

"Ming'er is here, sit down. Chunhong, serve tea to your uncle. The woman said with a pleasant face.

These two sisters and brothers are Han Mei and Han Ming, who lived for the rest of their lives eighteen years ago. And Han Ming is Yang Daiming, who appeared in the prefect's yamen just now-the prefect of Wuchang Mansion.

"Ming'er, come home so late, is there any news from Senior Brother?" Han Mei asked with expectant eyes.

Han Ming shook his head slightly.

"Alas, eighteen years, perhaps, he ...... He is long gone. Tears welled up in the corners of Han Mei's eyes.

"No, sister. According to Engong, after his old man settled us, he turned around and walked back and forth along the Ba River several times, but he found no trace of his senior brother, and there was no trace of blood, and his senior brother should still be alive. ”

"If he is still alive, he will either go to Ningxiawei to find Uncle Xia Yao, or hide in the area of Huangzhou Mansion. However, after so many years of searching in Ningxiawei and Huangzhou Mansion, why don't you have any information about Senior Brother? Besides, if Senior Brother is in the world, why doesn't he come to us?"

"This ......" In fact, Han Ming also doubted whether his senior brother Shen Qing was still alive, so in order not to make his sister sad, he hurriedly comforted: "Sister, maybe senior brother has been looking for us all along, but we are all incognito, where can he go to find it?"

"Uh, what did you say?" Han Mei's eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly grabbed Han Ming's hand and asked.

Han Ming didn't know why his sister was suddenly excited, and replied blankly, "I...... I said, maybe my brother has been looking for us all along, but we have all been incognito, so we can't find us. ”

"That's right, Ming'er, are we also mistaken? Since we are incognito, why can't senior brother be incognito?" Han Mei said excitedly.

"That's right. It seems that these ten years have been in vain. Han Ming suddenly realized, patted the back of his head again and again, and said regretfully.

Thinking of this, the two of them had gradually dimmed their mood and rekindled hope, and the sister and brother laughed happily.

After being happy for a while, Han Mei calmed down and said to her younger brother: "As the saying goes, it's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years. But eighteen years have passed, and our blood feud has not yet been avenged. The enemy is powerful, and our only hope for revenge is to practice the Luanfeng sword technique. Back then, my father handed over the Luan spectrum to my senior brother and handed over the phoenix spectrum to me, hoping that the two of us would practice family martial arts, combine our swords, and slash our enemies. Now, you and Shan'er are both practicing the Fengpu swordsmanship, which is too far from the kung fu of the 'Lingnan Seven Fierces', and only by finding the senior brother and practicing the swordsmanship on the Luan spectrum can you combine the two swords and seek revenge. But if everyone is incognito, I'm afraid that we will meet indefinitely in this life. But if he shows up with his real name and surname, he is afraid that the enemy will already know before the senior brother is found. That's how it is. ”

Han Ming said: "Sister, go incognito or show up, let's think about it in the long run. My brother has something to tell my sister. ”

"What's the matter?" Han Mei asked puzzled, seeing that her younger brother was cautious.

"Shan'er just now and a Xiucai who rushed to take the exam twisted a few strongmen and sent them to the mansion. ”

"Shan'er...... With a Xiucai who is rushing to take the exam, tell me, what's going on?" Han Mei asked in surprise.

The "Shan'er" in their mouths is Han Mei's daughter Shen Lingshan. When a woman disguises herself as a man and goes out, her pseudonym is "Yang Shanling", and "Zhu Rui" is her maid Ruizhu (saying that it is a maid, it is actually a playmate that Han Mei's sister and brother are afraid that Shen Lingshan will be lonely and find for her).

Han Ming repeated to Han Mei the process of Shen Lingshan and the others escorting the three strongmen to the mansion, and then said:

"I followed them quietly as they left the palace to see where they were going. The result is ......".

"Where did they go?" asked Han Mei.

"Came home. ”

"Ah, why is Shan'er so reckless?" Han Mei frowned, "Chunhong, please come." ”

Yang Shanling—now about to change his name to Shen Lingshan—had just returned to the boudoir, and was about to take a bath and change clothes, when he heard Chunhong knock on the door gently:

"Mademoiselle, madam, please. ”

"Where is my mother?"

"I'm waiting for you in the lobby. ”

Shen Lingshan heard that her mother was calling her in the lobby, but she didn't know what was going on, so she didn't care about changing her clothes, so she called Ruizhu to follow Chunhong to the lobby. Seeing that his mother was sitting and talking to his uncle, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute:

"Uncle. ”

"Mother, you call me?" Shen Lingshan turned around again and got into her mother's arms.

"The boss is not small, and he is still so coquettish, not afraid that my uncle will be ashamed of you. Han Mei said lovingly.

"Yes, 'Yang Gongzi', how can a big man lie in his mother's arms? But sister, you should enjoy it, I'm afraid that it won't be long before she wants to be coquettish with you. Han Ming said jokingly.

"Uncle, you're here again, ignore you. Shen Lingshan pouted and said coquettishly.

"Shan'er, you've run out again in the past half a day? "Daughter Shen Lingshan, who loves to dress up as a man and go around the street with Yahuan Ruizhu, may meet her father Shen Qing one day. Han Ming and Han Mei knew that it was unlikely, but they were also lucky, and Shen Lingshan was also very clever and well-behaved, and she stayed at home most of the time, either practicing martial arts or needlework, and going out in disguise was only occasional, so Han Mei did not stop her, but only told her not to divulge her hiding, not to cause trouble, and not to make friends with living people.

"Mother, my daughter is bored and wants to go out for a walk. Maybe when I meet my father, my daughter will become my mother's great benefactor. Shen Lingshan said naughtily.

"Mother asked you, did you bring two people to the house today?"

"Yes, mother, it was your uncle who told you? Uncle, you always talk about me in front of your mother, ignore you. ”

"How can you talk to your uncle? It's not big or small, isn't it good for you?" Han Mei said angrily: "Mother told you not to leak your hiding, not to cause trouble, not to make friends with the living, today is good, you have all of them." You say, 'Who are they?'

Since she was a child, Han Mei has loved Shen Lingshan very much, and speaking like this at this time is very strict in Shen Lingshan's opinion. Hurriedly put away the naughty, and carefully said to Han Mei and Han Ming:

"He is a talent from Huangzhou Mansion who came to catch up with the 'Autumn Witch', and his surname is Chen Wenqi. We met at the riverside 'cyclamen'. He briefly recounted what had happened in the "cyclamen" and said: "They came late and there was no hotel to stay in, so I offered to take him to stay at home for a day." Before, he refused to do so, saying that it was inconvenient to disturb each other. Later, I insisted on escorting the thief to the government office alone, and he was afraid that I would be victimized by those thieves, so he reluctantly agreed. He wanted to come over to see his mother, but his daughter was afraid of disturbing her mother's purity, so she didn't agree to him. Mother, uncle, don't you often say that people should be anxious for justice and righteousness, and help the needy, and your daughter has done nothing wrong, right?" Shen Lingshan finished speaking in one breath and asked at the end.

"Listen to my uncle, you call him big brother?" Han Mei ignored her and continued to ask.

"Well, my daughter has married him to Jin Lan. He is nineteen years old, so naturally he will call him a brother-in-law. He smiled shyly.

"Nineteen years old?" Han Mei seemed to touch the pain in her heart, and was in a trance for a moment, and said with a straight face: "Pingshui met, and they became brothers before they met for a day? I ask you, do you know him?"

"I believe he is a gentleman. Shen Lingshan replied without hesitation.

"And what about him? Does he know you? He wants to know that you have deceived him, and he doesn't hate you. ”

"The daughter didn't lie to him. ”

"And you said that you didn't lie to him?

"Madam, Chen Gongzi is very good to Miss, and Chen Gongzi was injured in order to block the dagger for Miss. The young lady also saw him repeatedly rescue, so she felt that he was a good person, so she bowed to him. Rui Zhu hurriedly testified and told Chen Wenqi and Shen Lingshan about the situation of protecting each other with their lives when they were fighting.

Hearing what Rui Zhu said, Han Mei hurriedly pulled Shen Lingshan over, looked up and down, back and forth, and asked softly:

"Shan'er, you didn't hurt anything, did you?"

Shen Lingshan saw that Han Mei didn't ask about the swearing, and suddenly felt relaxed, she turned around in front of Han Mei, and said with a smile: "No, mother." You don't think I'm good. ”

"What about Gongzi Chen, is he seriously injured?" asked Han Mei with concern.

"It's fine, it's just a lot of blood. ”

"It's hot and hot, and the wound is easy to suppurate, so you have to give someone some good medicine. Go back and ask Mother Wu to boil a bowl of red date longan soup to replenish Chen Gongzi's blood. ”

"Yes, mother. My mother is the most charitable person in the world. Shen Lingshan was in a good mood when she saw her mother telling her like this.

Han Ming was holding on to other things over there, and when he saw that the two of them were chattering endlessly, he coughed. Han Mei had an epiphany and said to Shen Lingshan:

"Shan'er, my mother saw that you were either studying or working all day long, so she was very lonely, so she allowed you to occasionally disguise yourself as a man and go outside. Have you forgotten your mother's commands? How can you make friends with strangers casually, or even bring them to your home?"

"Mother, your daughter has taken your words to heart. Although she has known Chen Gongzi for a short time, her daughter is sure that he is a sincere gentleman and not a bad person. ”

"Shan'er, you are also familiar with poetry and books. If it weren't for her daughter, her mother might have to let you try to win fame. Don't you know the truth that 'the jade test must be burned for three days, and it must wait for ten years to know people'? In order to avoid disaster, our mother and son and your uncle have been incognito for many years, living in seclusion and never seeing anyone. Now that you've had a good conversation with a passer-by you've known for a long time, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

"Mother, Chen Gongzi is really not a villain, I don't believe that my daughter will bring him to see you tomorrow, let you see for yourself. ”

"Sister," was silent for a long time, and then Han Ming spoke, "Shan'er has always been arrogant, and many high-ranking officials and nobles have never been in the eyes of the young master, today I look at this Chen Gongzi differently, she has her own reasons, and you don't have to blame too much." I also saw this Chen Gongzi just now, not only a talent, but also quite knowledgeable and chivalrous. Today in the government court, he is calm and generous, and his demeanor is decent, and his younger brother has a good impression of him. Fortunately, Huangzhou Mansion is not far from here, and I will send someone to Huangzhou Mansion tomorrow to learn about this Chen Xiucai's situation. I'm here today just to remind Shan'er to be more careful these days, and never let others know about this place, if this place becomes a place of public attention, it will be impossible to want to live in seclusion again. ”

Shen Lingshan nodded again and again: "Uncle, don't worry, Shan'er has written it down." ”

............

Han Ming never imagined that under his nose, someone was already eyeing Shen Lingshan:

In a small mansion in the northwest of Wuchang Mansion, Hao Huai, the warden of Wuchang Mansion, finished dinner, and lay on the leisurely chair in the backyard with a hand-cranked pu fan to cool off, and suddenly heard someone calling outside the gate: "Is Lord Hao at home?" Hao Huai knew that this was the voice of Gou An, the clerk of the barracks, and did not get up, but only lazily agreed: "In the backyard, come here." ”

Gou An was brought to Wuchang Mansion by Hao Huai from Jinyiwei. In that year, Liang De led the four murderers of cloud, thunder, rain and snow in the "Eight Murders of Lingnan" to hunt down and kill Han Shen's family of eight, in addition to killing Han Shen and his wife, the whereabouts of Shen Qing, Han Mei and others are unknown. Through the activities of Concubine Wangui, Liang Fang transferred Liang De's subordinates, Hao Huai, the general banner of Jinyi Guard, and Gou An, the captain of the school, to the military room of Wuchang Mansion to secretly inquire about the information of Shen Qing, Han Mei and others. After so many years, Shen Qing, Han Mei and others are like evaporating from the world, and there is no trace of them, so they are not allowed to be transferred back to the capital.

Gou An came to the backyard and said to Hao Huai with a mysterious face: "Lord Hao, I found a very strange thing. ”

"What's the matter, mysterious?" Hao Huai asked casually, shaking his fan and narrowing his eyes.

"I found a person whose martial arts moves resembled swords but not swords, swords and swords. ”

"What?" Hao Huai suddenly bounced up from the recliner, grabbed Gou An's shirt with a split chest, and said, "What did you say? Say it again." ”

"I found a person whose martial arts moves resembled swords but not swords, swords and swords. Gou An repeated.

"Who is it? Where is he? Hao Huai let go of the hand that grabbed Gou An's shirt and asked in a loud voice.

"That's right, I have an eyeliner named Chu San, who missed 'working' in cyclamen today and was beaten in public. He was angry and wanted to come back with revenge, and invited me to help ......"

Hao Huai interrupted him suddenly:

"You're going? I told you earlier, we are here to do things for Liang Zhenfu, don't get too close to these third-rate people, do you want to mix in the yamen if you cause trouble?"

"Aren't we going to rely on them to do things for us? Otherwise, who wants to mess with them?" Gou An pleaded aggrievedly.

"Alright, alright. Let's move on. ”

"I was also afraid that I would be too publicistic with them, so I asked them to come forward and provoke them openly, and I helped in secret. As a result, I saw that the other party had a person who was wearing a jade-colored cloud satin round-necked student shirt and looked like a talent, fighting Chu San and the three of them alone. The folding fan in the man's hand sometimes resembles a knife slash, sometimes like a sword strike, and the moves are extremely strange. Relying on strange moves, Chu San and them were powerless. I was about to go to help, when a hidden weapon flew over my head at a rapid speed, and the sound of breaking through the air and the air flow carried by it were clearly discerning, and it could be concluded that the person who sent the secret weapon had deep internal strength. Because I didn't know whether this person was friend or foe, I didn't show up rashly. ”

"Then, Chu San, what about them, they were restrained by the folding fan?"

"Nope. Although the man's martial arts skills were very high, he could see that he had no experience. After a long time, Chu San and them had the upper hand. ”

"Did you catch that person?" Hao Huai asked excitedly.

"Nope. I saw that Chu San and the others had the upper hand, and I was worried that the person who sent the secret weapon would come forward to help, so I deliberately alarmed the person and lured him away. As soon as this person leaves, Chu San and they should be able to catch the person who made the folding fan. Gou An didn't dare to tell the truth, and he had already made up his words.

"Okay, you go to Chu San again and bring that person back to me. If this person is the person Lord Liang is looking for, we will make a great contribution. Lord Liang said, go back to Jinyiwei and give us a third-level promotion, haha. Hao Huai shook the pu fan in his hand, looked up to the sky and laughed.