Ling Kong, Xu Zhi and Hui Feng stayed in Jiangzhou for nearly ten days, prepared their daily necessities, and saw that the boatman had brought many guests along the way in Jiangzhou, and the big boat continued to travel west. From the west of Jiangzhou, the river gradually narrows, the channel becomes more crowded, the ships are weaving, the distant mountains are close to Guo, but the land of Jingchu is another picture.

As soon as the boat arrived at the ground of Wuxue, the weather was dark, thunder sounded, and after a while, a violent west wind blew, the wind was very evil, it was a rare tornado on land, the wind rolled up a column of water more than ten zhang high, like a giant dragon jumping on the surface of the river, and then there were raindrops as big as beans, with hail, and smashed down fiercely. The ship's owner hurriedly ordered the sails to be revetted and let the passengers come to the cabin to take shelter from the rain. But the heavy rain and wind had already lifted the boat up and down, and one side of the boat was tilted very badly due to too many people, and Hui Feng's face was already pale and speechless for a long time, but Ling Kong and Xu Zhi were able to deal with it calmly, and their voices remained unchanged.

The wind and rain outside were like a tide, but the cabin was pitch black, and it was crowded with passengers. There was a noise in the crowded cabin, some chanting "the Bodhisattva blesses", some scolding "this ghost weather", and complaining that "the boatman is unlucky to sail, it is really unlucky to take this boat!"

Xu Zhi suddenly heard a voice say: "Lord Yun, it's really unlucky, we just boarded the ship from Jiangzhou, and we encountered such ghost weather!", another voice echoed: "Yes, we have been delayed by this ghost weather, and we don't know when we will be able to return to the capital?"

A familiar voice replied: "It's annoying to encounter this ghost weather!" But this trip to Runzhou, we still have some gains, it is better than the last time Gonggong Li returned in vain, and the emperor and Princess Xiuyun will not blame us." Xu Zhi was sure that the voice was the voice of the Imperial Court's Great Inner Eagle Strike General Yun Feiyang.

"What exactly did they find in Runzhou?", Xu Zhi wanted to lean over from the crowd and hear more clearly. But Hui Feng grabbed him tightly with his hand from behind, signaling him not to impulsively take revenge.

Xu Zhi returned to the cabin and told Ling and Hui what he had just heard. Ling and Hui also felt that Yun Feiyang's motive for returning to Beijing this time was suspicious, and decided to follow them secretly, but they still repeatedly told Xu Zhi not to take revenge, so as not to spoil the big thing.

Xu Zhi nodded and agreed.

The sound of wind and rain outside the window at night seems to be quieter, and the men who drive the boat are used to "tumbling and climbing" in the wind and rain, and they are all good courage, not afraid of the wind and rain, and continue to sail against the wind.

Approaching the third watch, the volley woke up the sleeping Xu Zhi and Huifeng, and whispered: "Listen to the two virtuous brothers, there is a sound, knock, knock, it seems to be the sound of a boat, this is the territory of the Jinghu Changjiao Gang, everyone should be extra careful." ”

The three of them listened quietly as they dressed themselves, extinguished the candles, and watched their surroundings. After a while, someone on the boat exclaimed, "Oh no! Is there a leak in the stern?", followed by more exclamations. Xu Zhi and the three of them crowded to the bow of the boat with the panicked passengers.

Just when everyone was panicking, they saw more than a dozen red-haired men wearing gray and white tights, jumping up from the water around the boat, throwing flying tiger grabbing, climbing up along the rope, and instantly boarded the big boat several feet high.

The man at the head, eight feet tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, looks like a yaksha patrolling the sea, he stood still at the bow of the boat, and shouted: "Friends who go to the rivers and lakes, under is the Yue Governor Jiao Gang, as the saying goes, rely on the mountain to eat the mountain, rely on the water to draft, today you are fortunate to pass through the land, but also please appreciate your face, leave the money to buy life thirty taels of silver, if not, we will invite him to meet the underwater dragon king!"

The passengers let out a burst of terrifying screams: "Could it be that they are the water demons in the rivers and lakes?" and "These disciples of the Changjiao Gang can't afford to be provoked, they all eat people without spitting out bones, and they don't blink an eye when they kill people!" In order to save their lives, some merchants who knew that they were powerful respectfully offered their money, and were driven to the other side of the boat by the men of the Changjiao Gang.

An elderly guest in ragged clothes, kneeling on the ground, pleaded bitterly to the man at the head: "Masters are above, the villain has no children and no daughters, and he really can't come up with so much ransom money! Please have pity on the uncles!", the man at the head sneered: "No money? Then you don't want to live!", after speaking, he raised his foot and kicked the old man down the river.

Xu Zhi saw that Ling Kong was glaring angrily, regardless of his internal injuries, he was about to stop him, and hurriedly hugged him from behind, and persuaded in a low voice: "Brother Ling!

Ling Kong let out a long sigh and had no choice but to give up.

Under the obscenity of the Changjiao Gang, the passengers no longer dared to slack off, and they paid money to buy their lives, but there were still very few passengers who were waiting and watching, and they were unwilling to pay. Xu Zhi saw that most of these people who were unwilling to pay money were three types of people who were gorgeously dressed, full of servants, and had status: one was for the imperial court, the other was a merchant who was taken care of by the government, and the other was a merchant who regarded money as his life.

Sure enough, there was a merchant in a green official uniform, his face was full of anger, he couldn't hold back, and shouted at the man headed by him: "We are under the order of Lord Yang Xingmi, the deputy envoy of Huainan Jiedu, to send this batch of goods to the capital to be presented to the emperor, do we have to pay money to buy roads, there is really no royal law!"

The man at the head sneered: "Lord Yang, which Lord Yang, whether I am Lord Yang or Lord Niu, if you want to cross the river from here, you must pay the money to buy the road, come, detain all their belongings, and throw people into the river to feed the finless porpoise." ”

Four men from the Changjiao Gang came out in response, threw out a flying tiger grab, and locked the limbs of the official businessman, and after the official businessman was hit, his hands and feet kept shaking, and he foamed at the mouth, as if he had been poisoned.

The man at the head waved his hand, and the four men struggled to grab the flying tiger, cutting off the limbs of the official and businessman from his body, and with a wail, the official and businessman was thrown into the dark river by the man headed.

When the passengers on the ship saw such a tragic scene, they were all so frightened that they didn't even dare to make a sound.

The man at the head asked again: "Who else is unwilling to pay for their lives, please stand up!"

Yun Feiyang saw that his subordinates were about to move, so he hurriedly stopped with his eyes, and he stepped forward and arched his hand towards the man led by him, and said, "This good man, please take a step to speak." Then he handed out the gold medal arrow hidden in his sleeve.

The man took it in his hand, weighed it, hesitated for a moment, and replied, "It's easy to say!"

Yun Feiyang said: "I want to see your Jiang Gang Master, and ......"

The man saw that Yun Feiyang knew their helper, and knew that he had some identities, so he didn't dare to be reckless, and asked, "Who is Your Excellency, and why do you want to see our helper?"

"I have a letter here to give to your helper, and he will meet me naturally. After Yun Feiyang finished speaking, he took out a letter from his body.

The man was skeptical, but he still accepted the letter and apologized: "I didn't know that your guests were coming, there was a disturbance!"

Yun Feiyang replied: "It's good to say, I'm glad to be lucky!"

The man didn't dare to disturb Yun Feiyang again, so he had to arch his hand at him, and said with a smile on his face: "Please wait patiently for the message of our sect master, and take your leave first!", After speaking, he led his subordinates like water ghosts, and disappeared into the vast river like ghosts with the looted belongings.

When everyone saw the demonic bandits, they suddenly came to their senses and fled back to the cabin to avoid the rain.

In the next few days, the river was calm and the boat was moving very smoothly, especially when the ship was about to reach the end of Ezhou, the passengers began to forget their previous fears, became excited, and looked forward to their respective futures.

Xu Zhi saw that Yun Feiyang was about to leave, and was particularly concerned about his whereabouts.

One night, the moon was as bright as a mirror, and the breeze was rippling on the river, and Xu Zhi suddenly heard a strange bird whistle on the river. A man in black jumped up from under the water, climbed to the stern of the boat, and scurried into the room where the clouds were flying, and Xu Zhi followed closely behind, hiding by the window and eavesdropping.

I only heard the man in black say softly: "The villain is Wang * Yang of the Changjiao Gang Ezhou Branch, our Jiang Gang mainly worships General Shangyun, the last time, the little ones were too reckless, which frightened the adults!"

Yun Feiyang sighed and said: "Your Jiang gang leader is really a good method, this general can be regarded as a leader, this trip to Ezhou is full of dangers!"

The man in black said again: "General Yun has a large number of people, spare the little ones!" Jiang Gang Leader asked his subordinates to come this time, mainly to invite General Yun to come to the Yellow Crane Tower in Ezhou to get together, to talk about the friendship of the landlord, and also to suppress the surprise of the adults, and these must be invited to Lord Yun to laugh!"

Yun Feiyang responded, "Thank you for the kindness of Gang Master Jiang, it's better to be respectful than to obey your fate, I wonder if Lord Jingnan Gao will also attend?"

The man in black hummed softly and left.

The ship traveled for another two days and finally docked at the pier in Ezhou. This Ezhou city has been an important town of Jingchu since ancient times, traversing the east and west, guarding the key points of the north and south, and the geographical location is very important. There are two strange mountains in the north and south of the river, one is the Turtle Mountain, and the other is the Snake Mountain, which guards the city of Ezhou like a lock. During the Warring States Period, Ezhou was the capital of Chu State, when Xiao Liang of the Southern Dynasty, Ezhou was Jiangling, Emperor Xiao Yi of Liang Yuan ignored the fierce opposition of the ministers, built the capital here, and finally Jiangling City was besieged, Xiao Yi still pretended to listen to books, delayed the fighter plane, and had to burn 100,000 books before being captured, and sighed: What is the use of reading 10,000 books? This matter has become a laughing stock in the world. However, the allusion of "rather drinking Jianye water than eating Wuchang fish" is well-known and well-known. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court moved the seat of Eyue to observe the history of Ezhou, and since then, this Ezhou city has been a place where people and scholars from all over the world gather, business and tourists.

After Xu Zhi, Huifeng, and Ling Kong dressed up a little, they followed Yun Feiyang and his party into Ezhou City, only to see Yun Feiyang ordering his subordinates to buy a bright dress, soak in the bathhouse for an afternoon, and in the evening, he took a few entourages to the Yellow Crane Tower to make an appointment.

Yun Feiyang walked into a predetermined small attic, this attic was separated by a restaurant screen, forming a number of small private rooms, the screens were embroidered with portraits of ancient beauties, there were Xizi Huansha map, Zhaojun falling goose map, Diao Chan Moon map, the characters were lifelike, after a while, there were bursts of silk bamboo sound in the private room, and then there were crisp and loud singing voices of several Chu women. Xu Zhi and the three of them asked for a private room next door, this one is also the same layout, but the screen is full of poems by literati and ink writers, among which there is a poem by Cui Hao's "Yellow Crane Tower" that is the most eye-catching:

In the past, people have taken the yellow crane to go, and the yellow crane tower is vacant here.

The yellow crane is gone, and the white clouds are empty for thousands of years.

Qingchuan calendar Hanyang tree, fragrant grass and parrot island.

Where is the Sunset Township? The Yanbo River makes people worried.

After Xu Zhi admired the poems of the poets of the Yellow Crane Tower after the screen, he heard the sound of silk and bamboo in the next room abruptly stopped, and several singers also retreated. I only heard a voice introducing: "A few distinguished guests, let me introduce, this is the local observation Shi Gao Jixing, Lord Gao; these two are distinguished guests who have come to our Ezhou for the first time, one is Yun Feiyang, the general of the imperial court, Lord Yun, and the other is Yang Xingmi, Lord Yang, who guards Jiangzhou. ”

When Xu Zhi and the three of them heard this, they were all taken aback. This banquet is not small.

Yun Feiyang, Gao Jixing, and Yang Xingmi were obviously the first to meet, and they said with sympathy: "It's better to meet than to be famous, look up for a long time, and be fortunate to meet!"

Yun Feiyang spoke quickly, and went straight to the point: "Now those of us who are officials and do things for the imperial court, walking on the river, it is not as free and happy as the Jiang gang leader." Lord Yang, did you say that?"

Yang Xingmi also echoed: "Yes, a few days ago, several of Lao Tzu's subordinates were traveling on the river, and the goods were robbed by a group of water ghosts in the river.

Gang Master Jiang hurriedly apologized: "Last time, the people who were below didn't have long eyes, and they actually grabbed the heads of Lord Yun and Lord Yang, and it was the villain who disciplined his subordinates, so he set up a banquet in this Yellow Crane Tower, and specially accompanied the two adults, and invited Lord Gao to accompany him, Lord Yang's property was returned in full, and the loss was compensated.

Although Yun Feiyang and Yang Xingmi accepted the gift, they still seemed to be angry.

Gao Jixing, as a local dignitary, saw that the atmosphere was embarrassing, and hurriedly said: "Two adults, you adults don't care about villains, and when you see the thin face of the lower official, let's spare the Jiang gang leader for the time being! ”

Xu Zhi listened to the conversation of the four of them, and sighed: The officials and bandits actually ate and shared the spoils at the same table, what a nest of snakes and rats!

Seeing that Yun Feiyang and Yang Xingmi were no longer talking, the Jiang Gang Leader changed the topic and said, "By the way, Lord Yun, I have handed over your secret letter to Gao and Yang, I don't know if this matter is feasible?"

Yun Feiyang said: "I was busy helping Princess Xiuyun find a broken book recently, but I forgot about this secret letter?

"Lord Yun is so interested, he actually went to Runzhou to find a broken book, not to please Princess Xiuyun, right?", Jiang Gang Leader quipped.

Yun Feiyang saw that Gang Leader Jiang mentioned the matter of the book, so he quickly changed the topic: "Let's talk about the matter on the letter first, right? After all, this is the right thing." ”

After a long while, Yang Xingmi opened his mouth: "Don't hide it from everyone here! I want to do this, but I am afraid of Gao Yu's old guy, Gao Lao is the elder of the imperial court, and he once put down the rebellion in Lingnan and Annan for the imperial court in one fell swoop, although he is old, but Huwei is still there, I am afraid that he will cause a big deal!"

Gao Jixing couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart, and shouted: "Brother Yang, you are too worried, Gao Lao'er is an empty shell, Huainan's military power is in your hands, what are you afraid of? Besides, you still have hundreds of thousands of ambush soldiers in Jiang Wangmiao behind you, and our Eyue brothers are waiting for you to take a big step first!"

"No, it's better that Lord Gao and Gang Leader Jiang will do something in Jingchu first, and General Yun will respond from it, and then the lower officials will respond to you in Jiangnan?"

Gao Jixing, the old fox, saw that Yang Xingmi was humble again and again, and pushed the matter of taking the lead in raising troops to himself, and stopped talking at the last moment.

In the end, it was Yun Feiyang who broke the deadlock: "You don't want you to push me, you still have to be responsible at the critical time, this matter is very important, everyone still has to think in the long run, since Lord Gao and Lord Yang are unwilling to take the lead, then in my humble opinion, it is better to get rid of Gao Biao first, and then let the imperial court in the name of checking books and beauty pageants, let the contemptible people take care of all the affairs of Jiangnan and Huainan, and then you raise troops to respond, and divide the world into three parts." ”

Gao Jixing, Yang Xingmi, and Jiang Chengfeng heard it and applauded.

Ling Kong, Xu Zhi, and Hui Feng were also taken aback when they heard this, thinking that they wanted to rebel.