In the past two days, Gou An's life has been very difficult. originally thought that the person who found out that he had "non-sword and non-sword" martial arts had made a great achievement. I never thought that now not only did the Xiucai who made the folding fan not fall, but even Chu San and others were like mud cows entering the sea, and there was no news. Hao Huai was so angry that he pointed at Gou An's nose and scolded fiercely: "Okay, you Gou An, you can't do this little thing." Since you have found out that kid is indeed a martial artist who is "neither sword nor sword", you should take action to capture him. You just leave the 'protagonist' alone, and go to lure away some kind of person who has a hidden weapon. Now it's good, the front and back miscalculations, and the two ends are empty. How do you ask me to explain to Liang Zhen's envoy?"

"My lord, it was really a last resort at that time, if you don't lure away the person who sent the secret weapon, I'm afraid that you will ...... Even I can't come back. Gou An argued.

"Even you can't come back? Wow, what are you doing when you come back? Do you think you've lured away the person who sent the secret weapon? Maybe someone scared you away, and then went back to clean up Chu San and them. Hao Huai said it casually, but as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately felt that things were like this, and he was so angry that he walked up to Gou An, and gave him two heavy slaps, and eight bright red fingerprints were immediately printed on Gou An's cheeks.

After beating Gou An, Hao Huai said to him angrily: "Tell me yourself, should you beat or not?" for more than ten years, there is no trace of those people, at most we can't go back to Jinyiwei, we are still here to eat and drink spicy." But you said that you found the traces of those people, and the flying pigeon book has arrived in the capital, and now you suddenly say that it is gone, Liang Zhenfu can spare us? The slap on you is still light, if you can't find the one who makes the folding fan, this head is afraid that the time on the neck is not long. After speaking, he glared, "Find, continue to look with me, even if you turn Wuchang City over, you have to find them." ”

Gou An wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, and said to Hao Huai: "My lord, my subordinates have an idea, I don't know if to say it?"

"Your dog's head is full of paste, what do you have a good idea?...... Well, let's hear it. Hao Huai was in a mess, and he didn't know how to clean up this mess, since Gou An had an "idea", why not listen to it?

"Now is the time of the big exam, and there are many more people in Wuchang City than usual. We have limited manpower, and we can't make blatant inquiries, so it's probably useless to search aimlessly. Last night I saw one of them with a book, presumably a Xiucai who came to catch the exam, and even if not he knew the Xiucai who was rushing to take the exam. According to the opinion of his subordinates, it is better to arrange people around the Gongyuan, and keep an eye on the Xiucai who are taking the exam and the people who have contact with them, and maybe they will have some success. ”

Hao Huai thought about it and felt that Gou An's words made some sense, but now, he could only catch the mouse blindly and try his luck. He nodded, softened his tone and said, "Okay, just do as you say." Remember, bring all of our people with you, ask them to keep watch day and night, and report the situation quickly if they find it, and don't startle the snake, just let people follow closely. ”

"Yes, my lord, my subordinates will do it. Seeing that Hao Huai agreed with his "idea", Gou An sighed secretly and hurriedly led people to "wait for the rabbit".

It is said that after Shen Lingshan saw Chen Wenqi enter the Tribute Courtyard, she thought of what he had said to herself on the road, and did not dare to stay outside for too long, so she called Shangjingxing back to her home, and told the mute maid to take care of Jingxing, and then Kai Ruizhu returned to her boudoir, found the silk thread embroidery needle, and went to be her female celebrity.

For two days in a row, Shen Lingshan didn't show up, only Ruizhu came to the backyard to see Jingxing a few times. When he was at home, Jingxing either helped his father take care of business at the pawnshop in Huangzhou City, or did chores in Chenjiazhuang, and he had never been so idle. In the past two days, there was nothing to do in the backyard, and the only little servant who came into contact with him was mute, which made Jingxing so stuffy that he panicked, so he had to sit on the stone bench in the backyard to cool off, and when he was sleepy, he took a nap on the stone bench for a while.

Finally, on the third day, Jingxing got up early and finished washing, so he asked the dumb maid to invite "Zhu Rui" over and had something to say to him. The mute nodded, gestured to him for a moment, and went forward. After waiting for about a cup of tea, Rui Zhu came to the backyard wearing the soap-colored straight jacket they wore when they first met, and said to Jingxing: "Jingxing, you called me early in the morning, what's the matter?"

"Oh, that's right. Today is the last day of the exam, I want to wait for my young master in front of the Gongyuan, please talk to Yang Gongzi. ”

"It's still early. Besides, my little ...... The young master is going too, right? Well, you wait, I'll go and talk to the young master, or let's go together. Before Jingxing could answer, the person had disappeared at the door like a gust of wind.

It didn't take long for Shen Lingshan to appear in front of Jing Xing dressed as a son, and said to Jing Xing: "Although today is the last day of the exam, according to the rules, you can't hand in the papers before noon, and the Gongyuan will have to wait until after the time to open the door and release people." If the exam does not go well, the latest time to submit the paper is still at the end of the unitary hour. What are you going to do there at the end of the day? Why don't you wait patiently for a long time, and then we'll go together after lunch. ”

"Young Master Yang, do you want to ...... Why don't I go around first, and wait for you in front of the Gongyuan after noon? I've been here for a few days, and I don't know what Wuchang City is like. ”

It's timely. Jingxing proposed to go shopping, Shen Lingshan had nothing to say, thinking that he was a teenager who had just arrived in Wuchang City, and there should be no other trouble except getting lost. Shen Lingshan hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed to him, just told him to pay attention to safety, not to get lost, and wait at the Gongyuan after noon, etc., and let Jingxing go out alone.

Jingxing cares about Chen Wenqi, how can he have the heart to wander around? As soon as he went out, he went straight to the Gongyuan. As Shen Lingshan said, it was still early before the end of the exam, and the square in front of the Gongyuan was full of people, and even there were only a handful of businessmen. Jingxing's impression was that the front of the Gongyuan should be as lively as the day of the entrance examination, but he didn't expect it to be so deserted. If I had known this, it would have been better to take a dip in the shade of the trees in the backyard. Jingxing found a willow tree with a large crown, moved a relatively flat stone from nearby, drew a chessboard on the ground, and sat on the stone to play "Cheng San" chess with himself.

Jingxing sat alone under the willow tree, neither a small merchant or a hawker, nor a shade to enjoy the shade, a clear-eyed person saw it, and knew that it was someone else, and nine times out of ten it was a person in the tribute courtyard.

Before Jingxing finished playing a game of chess, a man in short clothes and shorts and holding a fan came over and accosted Jingxing: "This little brother, you are so idle, dare to wait for someone?"

Jing Xing glanced up at the man, ignored him, and continued to play his "Cheng San" chess.

"Alas, I don't know if the cannon opened at noon or before the cannon opened in this tribute courtyard, it seems that it was early. The man sat on the ground two feet away from Jingxing, and seemed to say to himself.

Jingxing is not deeply involved in the world, how can he know that others are talking to him. Hearing that he was also waiting for the Gongyuan to open, Jing Xing seemed to have met a bosom friend, and asked, "Zunjia is also waiting for the people inside?"

"But no, my nephew is a scholar of this year's scientific examination, and he went in the day before yesterday, I don't know how the examination went? ”

"So that's the case, your home is in Wuchang City?"

"Not in the city, in Jinshazhou, south of the city. After a while, he pretended to be very casual and asked, "Who is the little brother picking up?"

"I'll pick up my young master. ”

"Your young master is not from Wuchang Mansion, right?"

"No, we are from Huangzhou Mansion. ”

"Seeing that the little brother is not old, you will pick up your young master alone?"

"The young master has a friend, and he will come later. Hey, why are you asking this?" Jing Xing was a little alert.

"Nothing, nothing. It's not boring, just ask. The man hurriedly said.

"Since you're bored, let's play 'into three'?"

"Playing chess?" the man was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Wow, let's play, nothing to do left and right." But a little bit of a lottery. ”

"Lottery, what?"

"Whoever loses invites the winner to tea. ”

"No!" Jingxing said dryly.

"Hmph, I guess my chess skills are too bad, and I'm afraid of losing. The man deliberately provoked.

Jing Xing was a young man, where could he withstand a stir? He quickly picked up the stones in the chessboard, pointed to the chessboard, and said to the man: "It's better than that, and I don't know who will lose." Who's going to go first?"

The man smiled slyly: "You are young, you go first." ”

"Good. Jing Xing landed a piece in the middle of the second line of the chessboard.

The man didn't seem to know how to do this, and after a few rendezvous, Jing Xing became a "three-son Lianxing" and mentioned the man one by one. At this time, it is the turn of that person to get down, Jingxing's side, there is a landing point that is very important, if that person's son is not here, Jingxing's next fall will have two "two stars", and the next step will be to mention the other party. Sure enough, the man did not find this point, but leaned on one of his chess pieces and played a "two-star line", and as a result, Jingxing turned it into a "three-son star". The man lost again and again, and soon fell into passivity, and it didn't take long for him to throw in the towel.

The man looked frustrated and stood up. Jingxing said: "What, if you lose, you will leave?"

"Where," said the man, with a wry smile, "I am willing to lose the bet, and I will invite you to tea." ”

"That's pretty much it. Jing Xing stood up, brushed the chessboard with his foot, and followed the man to a nearby teahouse. Before he could enter the door, the man shouted, "Little Er, come two bowls of herbal tea." Then he said to Jingxing: "Little brother drink slowly, I'll go to the thatched house." ”

The man walked into the back room, and Gou An was sipping tea on stilts.

"Well, what did the kid say?" asked Gou An.

"Sure enough, as my lord expected, there was only one person in the Gongyuan, and the other was his friend, who would come in a while. ”

"Okay, that day I saw that this kid was more intimate with the Xiucai standing next to him, and he must be the scholar of that Xiucai. The kid who is going to come will definitely be the kid with the folding fan. In that case, if you find out what the two of them have surnames, you can catch him in a better way. ”

"Yes, sir. ”

The man turned around, sat down opposite Jingxing, took a sip of tea, and said, "How old is Zhang Gongzi this year?"

"Who are you asking?" Jingxing was puzzled.

"Your young master, didn't you just say that your young master's surname is Zhang?"

"Nonsense, my young master's surname is Chen, when did I say that my surname is Zhang?" Jing Xing glanced at the man.

"Hehe, I misremember. You mean that your young master's friend's surname is Zhang, I'm sorry, I remembered it wrong, I remembered it wrong. The man quickly apologized.

Jing Xing couldn't cry and laughed, and said: "You have poor chess skills and even worse memory, did I say that Yang Gongzi's surname is Zhang? ”

"Oh?" the man was stunned and patted his head, "I have a wrong memory, you see, when you are old, your memory is poor, unlike you young people." Punishment, punishment, I'll go get tea. "I ran to the back room with a smoke.

"How's it going?" asked Gou.

"The surname of the examiner in the Gongyuan is Chen, and the surname of the person who picked him up outside is Yang. ”

"Well, your kid is quick to do things, and after the thing is done, there are benefits for your kid. You go outside and drag him, and I'll do the rest. Gou An stood up, took another sip of tea from the teacup on the table, and walked towards the big willow tree where Jingxing had sat just now.

At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Gou An saw two people dressed as sons walking towards the willow tree. Carefully identified, it was vaguely the person who was holding a folding fan and playing against Chu San at dusk that day. I couldn't help but feel ecstatic in my heart, and secretly said God bless me, and finally saved this guy who eats.

Gou An pretended to be flustered and walked up to Shen Lingshan and Rui Zhu, saluted them, and asked, "This must be Yang Gongzi, right?"

Shen Lingshan was stunned for a moment, how did this person know me, shouldn't he recognize the wrong person? No, what was his name just now? Yang Gongzi, how could it be such a coincidence, the person he was looking for was also surnamed Yang. But I pretended to be surnamed Yang, and few people knew? Shen Lingshan was full of suspicion and asked rhetorically: "Who is Zunjia? You and I don't know each other, do you recognize the wrong person?"

"Oh, I'm a handyman in the Tribute Courtyard. Is that the case, does Yang Gongzi have a friend surnamed Chen who is taking the exam inside?" Gou An pointed to the gate of the Gongyuan Academy.

When Shen Lingshan heard Chen Wenqi mentioned, she knew that this person did not recognize the wrong person, and she didn't have time to think about it carefully, so she blurted out: "Exactly, he ...... My friend...... Let you find me?"

"Chen Xiucai was not feeling well in the past two days, and barely passed the first two exams, but he didn't hold on today, and he fainted before the exam papers were answered......"

He ...... How is he doing now?" Shen Lingshan was shocked when she heard this, interrupted Gou An's words, and asked eagerly.

Gou An shook his head and said, "He has woken up now, but his body is weak and he can't walk yet, he said that you will definitely come here to pick him up, and let me come here to bring you over." ”

"Where are the others now?" Hearing what he said, Shen Lingshan was convinced from then on, and hurriedly inquired about the whereabouts of his brother-in-law.

"In ......" Gou An Buyu Shen Lingshan asked, paused, and replied vaguely: "In a house behind the Gongyuan." ”

"Hmm, what about Jingxing, why don't you see Jingxing?" Shen Lingshan looked around, but didn't see Jingxing's figure, so she said to Ruizhu: "I'll go with this one first, you hurry up to find Jingxing, and then come to find us." ”

Shen Lingshan was originally a thoughtful and ingenious person, where could she be easily deceived? As the saying goes, if you don't care about yourself, if you care about it, you will be chaotic. At this time, he was anxious, and he didn't care if there was anything suspicious in it, so he left Ruizhu to look for Jingxing, and he followed Gou An and hurriedly ran to the back of the Gongyuan.

After running for a while, Shen Lingshan slowly calmed down, carefully read what had just happened, and found that it was very strange, Jingxing came to the Tribute Courtyard early, why didn't he see anyone at the appointed time? If the eldest brother was sick, why didn't he go to the Tribute Courtyard or send him to the hospital? Also, before entering the Tribute Academy, each candidate had to leave the name and room number of the address or inn where he stayed so that he could contact him. If the eldest brother is sick, the Gongyuan should send someone to report the news. No, there is fraud.

Shen Lingshan stopped, turned back to Gou An and asked, "Who are you, what do you want to do?"

"It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is who you are?" a grim voice came from behind him.

Shen Lingshan turned around, and a black-faced man with a short face and a height of six feet away, holding two unsheathed long swords in his hands, walked to a place far away from her and stood still. Needless to say, this person is Hao Huai.

"Since you don't know who I am, why did you bring me here?" Shen Lingshan couldn't help but be a little nervous when she saw that everyone was tall and big, and secretly condensed her guard against me.

"It is the unknown who you are that has drawn you to see who you are. And then—" With that, he raised his hand and threw a long sword at him.

Shen Lingshan took the long sword, puzzled, this person's behavior was too weird. He said he was a friend, but he didn't know who I was, and if he said he was an enemy, why did he throw me a sword?

"Make a move, why don't you make a move?" Hao Huai's sword tip was slightly raised, and he pinched a sword trick in his left hand, posing like a duel.

"We don't know each other, we have no grievances, why should I fight you?" Shen Lingshan threw the long sword to the ground with a "bang".

The muscles on Hao Huai's face trembled a few times, and he said in a vicious voice: "I'm afraid I can't help you." Look at the sword—" After saying that, the long sword in his hand was distracted and stabbed.

Shen Lingshan didn't expect the person in front of him to hit as soon as he said it, and hurriedly retreated, and suddenly felt that a strong wind swept in, and the person who knew that he had deceived him slapped behind his back, so he took a few steps to the right side, dodging the attack of the two people in front and behind. This is the second time that Shen Lingshan has faced the enemy since she practiced martial arts. The first time I fought with Chu San and others, although I had no experience, I was able to fight with ease with the wonder of my moves. Although this time there was one enemy and two enemies, there was one less than the first time, but the martial arts of these two people were much higher than those three, and they had no blades in their hands, so they had to fight with the two of them with their fists and feet that they were not good at, and in less than ten moves, they were held by Hao Huai against the throat with the tip of his sword. Fortunately, the two of them did not intend to take her life, otherwise, as long as the tip of the sword was sent forward by an inch, blood would be splattered on the spot.

Hao Huai clicked on Shen Lingshan's acupoints, picked up the long sword on the ground, and said to Gou An, "Take him back." ”

The two took Shen Lingshan to Hao Huai's residence, unlocked the acupuncture points, and found ropes to tie him to the pillars of the pergola in the backyard.

Hao Huai ordered Gou An to move a reclining chair, make a pot of tea, and then said to Gou An: "There are still a few brothers over there in the Gongyuan who have not withdrawn, you go and tell everyone to go back and have a good rest." After I find out the true face of this surname Yang, if it is really the person that Liang Zhenfu is looking for, I will fly the pigeon and report to Liang Zhenfu. ”

"Yes, sir. Gou An agreed, and turned back to the Gongyuan.

After Gou An left, Hao Huai found a rag, stuffed it into Shen Lingshan's mouth, and went to the prefect's yamen by himself. He didn't show up in the yamen for half a day, and Gou An was not there, he was afraid that the prefect would not find anyone to cause trouble. It wasn't until sunset that he turned back to his home.

Hao Huai did not try Shen Lingshan's martial arts path, and he was always suspicious of what Gou An saw. As soon as he heard the news that Liang Zhenfu was looking for someone the day before yesterday, he flew a pigeon and sent a book to Liang De in ecstasy. Later, the clues were broken again, which scared Hao Huai so much that he couldn't sleep. Liang De's temper is too clear to him, and he will severely punish his subordinates if he is slightly dissatisfied, relying on the favor of his brother Liang Fang, killing people is like twisting an ant to death. Now although he has caught this person surnamed Yang, I don't know if it is the person Liang De is looking for. This time, we must not make the same mistake as we did last time, and we must make a clear plan before we make a plan.

Hao Huai didn't know who he was looking for, ten years ago when Liang De placed him in the Wuchang Mansion barracks, he only told him to pay attention to the people who used the "sword not sword, like knife not knife" move, if you find this kind of martial arts move, whether male or female, it is better to be caught, and if you can't catch it, find out where to hide, and fly the pigeon to pass the book to him as soon as possible.

Since the life and death of this surnamed Yang does not show the kung fu of the sword, Hao Huai is too lazy to try again, because this kind of "like a sword is not a sword, like a knife is not a knife" move, after all, I have only heard of it, even if someone really uses it, he may not know it. Wouldn't it be better if you found out the origin of this person and let Liang De distinguish it by himself, and right and wrong have nothing to do with him?

Hao Huai sat on the recliner with a teapot, took a sip on the spout, and said to Shen Lingshan slowly: "On a hot day, it's still uncomfortable for me to lie here, and it must be even more uncomfortable." Is this good, you tell me what I want to know, and if I am satisfied, I will let you go, how about it?"

"Phew. What kind of thing are you? You don't even know the name of your son, so you dare to arrest people indiscriminately? If you commit murder and kidnapping in broad daylight, you are not afraid that the king's law will be intolerable?"

"Hmph, in this room, I am the emperor, and what I say is the king's law. Don't use the royal law to bluff people, even if you take your life today, except for you and me, I'm afraid only God knows. Say it, say it happily, maybe Lao Tzu will let you go as soon as he is happy. ”

Shen Lingshan really couldn't figure out why this person was interested in his identity, but judging from this person's tone, he was more and less lucky today, and whether he said it or not, this person would never let him live.

Shen Lingshan felt a little melancholy in her heart, she didn't expect death to find her so quickly. He thought of his mother, his father, who he had never met, and Chen Wenqi, a sworn brother who had known him for less than three days. Shen Lingshan herself didn't understand how she could think of him before she died, and she faintly cherished a trace of affection and a pity!

However, at the moment of the inexplicable enemy, the unrelenting spirit in the face of difficulties quickly diluted the feelings of children. He sneered at each other: "It's easy to ask my son to speak, you just need to kneel down and kowtow three times, maybe when my son is happy, he will tell you about the ugly things of your ancestors for eight generations." ”

When Hao Huai heard Shen Lingshan ridiculing him, he couldn't help but be furious, shook the teapot in his hand, jumped up, grabbed the long sword and stabbed: "If you want to die, I will fulfill you." The sword suddenly stopped halfway, and returned to its original cat and mouse demeanor, and said: "Do you want to provoke Lao Tzu to give you a good time? Hmph, Lao Tzu wants you to taste the taste of life is better than death." After that, he found a long bench, erected it beside Shen Lingshan, untied Shen Lingshan's right hand, and tied it to the bench.

"Thief, what are you going to do?" Shen Lingshan was a little scared - the so-called generosity is easy to die, and it is difficult to be righteous calmly!

Hao Huai saw that Shen Lingshan was scared, and felt more and more interesting, he turned the long sword sideways, scraped back and forth on the blade twice with the thumb of his left hand, exaggeratedly tried whether the blade was sharp, looked at Shen Lingshan and smiled evilly: "Liang Zhenfu asked us to find people who make the 'sword-like non-sword, knife-like-knife-like' move, in fact, who wouldn't use this move?" I will use this sword as a machete now to see if I can cut off your hand." ”

After speaking, he raised his long sword and roared: "Go!"