After the white figure walked away, Geng Huyuan gently closed the window and said to Meng Ran: "Young master, rest early, I have to hurry tomorrow morning." ”

Meng Ran obviously had a lot to say, but he didn't know how to say it, and after being interrupted by Geng Huyuan, he diluted the thoughts in his heart, and just responded: "Okay." ”

"You go to sleep first, I'll go to the shopkeeper and ask for another bed. ”

Meng Ran nodded slightly, watching Geng Huyuan's back disappear into the room, he didn't think much about it anymore, after tidying up the quilt, he got into it, and when he was about to close his eyes and rest, he smelled a faint fragrance on the quilt.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly thought that it was the smell on Lu Shen's body, and Meng Ran muttered in a low voice, "A big man has a sachet on his body, it's really a strange hobby." ”

Then, he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep shortly after Geng returned to the house.

In the second half of the night, he was dazed and heard a loud noise in the street outside, but he was so sleepy that he didn't pay much attention to it, and slept until dawn.

By the time Meng Ran woke up, Geng Huyuan had already packed up the bedding on the ground and stacked it neatly on the table. He deepened his waist and greeted Geng Huyuan: "Morning, Uncle Geng." ”

"The young master is also early. ”

"Uncle Geng, did you hear anything last night?"

"It seems to be. ”

"Well, I also vaguely heard it, but I was too sleepy at the time, so I didn't care. ”

"Don't worry about that, let's get something to eat and go. ”

"Good. ”

After Meng Ran put on his shoes, he took his package and went out of the room with Geng Huyuan. When the two of them met the account, Meng Ran instructed Geng Huyuan to give the inn some more money as compensation, which made the innkeeper happy.

When the two of them left the inn and stood on the street, the sky was exceptionally clear, the sun had risen in the east, and there was a golden light shining on the earth, which made people very comfortable.

But the situation on the street is a bit bad, with sparse pedestrians and a panicked face. The former prosperity is gone, only empty streets and many unaffordable shop fronts.

Geng Huyuan and Meng Ran frowned and fell into deep thought.

Just as they were frowning, the shopkeeper had already taken out the two of their mounts and handed the reins to their respective hands.

Geng Huyuan turned to look at the shopkeeper sideways, and asked in a low voice, "Xiaoer, what's going on in the town, why is it so quiet?"

The shopkeeper looked up and looked around, but just shook his head and refused to speak.

Geng Huyuan took out a string of copper plates from his arms, quietly stuffed them into Xiao Er's sleeve, and continued to ask: "I'm tired of the little second brother telling us about it." ”

The shopkeeper glanced around again and said softly, "It is said that the teahouse was razed by someone." ”

"Which teahouse?" Geng Huyuan had a general answer in his heart, but he continued to ask.

"Naturally, it's listening to the rain pavilion. ”

"Oh, even if the building collapses, it's not a big deal. ”

The shopkeeper said cautiously: "I heard that a big official of the Imperial City Division has died, and the entire town has been banned, and you can only enter and not leave." When I got up in the morning, someone said something disrespectful on the street and was beheaded on the spot, so it's better not for you two to go out. ”

"Oh. Thank you for the reminder, we have something important and we have to go. ”

Geng Huyuan hugged his fist at the shopkeeper, and then led his horse and walked out, followed by Meng Ran.

The shopkeeper looked at the two figures that were gradually moving away, and sighed, "Alas, I really don't know whether to live or die......"

......

It is said that Geng Huyuan and Meng Ran walked for a while, only to see the closed doors and windows, and there were no people who opened the doors to do business, so the two sighed for a while, and had to continue to walk outside the town.

When the two arrived at the east gate of the new town, they saw several black-clad Imperial City wolves guarding there.

Seeing the two of them leading their horses, looking like they were going out of the city, the people from the Imperial City Division immediately stepped forward and asked, "Where are you two from? What are you doing here?"

Geng Huyuan hugged his fists and said politely: "This official is good, the two of us are from Lin'an County, Hangzhou Prefecture, and now we are going out of the city to the east and want to go to Heshan Town." ”

The man waved his hand and scolded: "Go back, now that the four gates have been sealed, you are not allowed to leave the city, if there is any disobedience, there will be no forgiveness." ”

Just when Geng Huyuan and Meng Ran were entangled, the shorter man he had seen at the inn last night walked a few steps forward and came to the two of them, and said in a somewhat gloomy voice: "Two of you, we meet again." If there is no urgency, let's go back to the inn to rest first. Now that the new town has been banned, only allowed to enter, not to go out, I hope the two of you can understand. ”

Seeing that his attitude was quite gentle, Geng Huyuan thought that there might be room for negotiation, so he said: "This official is invited, my young master wants to go north now, and he urgently needs to go out of the city, can he be accommodating?"

The man looked at Meng Ran with an embarrassed expression, and then said, "That's it, I'll ask the second brother." If the second brother nods, I will let you go, and if the second brother does not agree, you can go back. ”

"Okay, then I'll bother you. ”

The man nodded slightly, and walked under the city gate.

When Geng Huyuan and Meng Ran came before, they didn't see a figure squatting there, but now they saw the shorter person walking over, and then they noticed that there was a lonely back there.

The shorter man walked over, squatted next to the man called Second Brother, and said softly, "Second Brother, what do you mean by those two wanting to get out of the city?"

The second brother glanced up at Meng Ran and them, and said in a low voice: "Yesterday afternoon, the adult also praised the young master, and now the adult has passed away...... Forget it, let them go, it's the adults who named it, so let's do something for the adults. ”

The shorter man snorted, stood up, and shouted to the others, "Open the gates." ”

The city gate creaked open, Meng Ran and Geng Huyuan led the horse out of the doorway, turned to the shorter man and the second brother who was squatting there, and then got on the horse and galloped away.

After the two of them left, the gate slowly closed again.

The shorter man walked up to the second brother and sat down, looking like he wanted to speak and stopped.

The second brother raised his head slightly, "Do you think I shouldn't let them go?"

"Yes. The shorter man nodded, "Even if you want to let it go, you have to wait until those people above come......"

"Little Wu, how long have you been with me?"

The man named Xiao Wu blurted out, "It's been three years." ”

The second brother sighed and said: "It's been three years, you will have to follow others on errands in the future, you must do your own thing, I'd rather be a stuffy gourd than talk too much, you know?"

Xiao Wu's lips squirmed and he wrote it down, and finally asked softly, "Second brother, why do you say that?"

"My lord, none of us who have positions can escape, but you don't have anything to do, you just need to change the door. ”

"That's why you let those two go?"

"It's just two inconsequential passers-by, if they really have that kind of cultivation, why do they need to sit in the city of sorrow?"

Xiao Wu thought for a while, nodded and said, "What the second brother said makes sense. It's just that after this day ......"

The second brother smiled lightly, showed a bitter smile, and comforted: "It's okay, the affairs of these big people don't involve you, just be serious about your errands." ”

Xiao Wu looked ashamed, embarrassed, and wanted to explain but didn't know what to say.

The second brother reached out and patted him on the shoulder, "Don't think about it, honor your parents and treat your wife and children well in the future." ”

Xiao Wu hummed heavily.

......

Although Meng Ran and Geng Huyuan, who went out of the city, were hungry, they were very happy, and they always yearned for freedom and did not want to stay in the circle drawn by others.

Riding a horse and galloping on the flat post road, feeling the breeze, Meng Ran's expression was very excited, and he looked forward to his future career in the rivers and lakes.

After running for a while, the two slowed down to allow their mounts to rest for a while.

At this time, Meng Ran suddenly remembered something, turned to look at Geng Huyuan, who was parallel to him, and asked, "Uncle Geng, why are we in a hurry to leave the new town?"

"One of the thousands of households of the Imperial City Sixuan Wolf Guard died, naturally there will be more powerful characters, if we don't leave, it is very likely that we will be inspected by others, and if we show our feet at that time, I am afraid that there will be no corpse. ”

"Is it that terrible?Then why do you still want to help that person?" Meng Ran was puzzled.

"It's not so much about helping as it is about helping yourself. ”

"Self-help?"

Geng Huyuan nodded slightly, "You see that the people of the Imperial City Division are extremely polite when they talk to you, and you think they are kind people, but you don't know how cruel and bloody they are behind their backs. If they find the descendants of the former dynasty in our room, we will not be accused of fornicating with thieves. ”

"No, everything must be evidenced, if there is no evidence, how dare they do this?" Meng Ran looked disbelieving.

"If they really did that, would you and I still stand here in a dignified manner? Instead of passively accepting fate, it is better to take the initiative to attack and strangle hidden dangers and risks in the cradle. Do you understand?"

"Oh..."

Seeing Meng Ran's unconvinced face, Geng Huyuan shook his head slightly, and said: "The Chen State has been destroyed for more than a hundred years, why does the Imperial City Division only think of strangling the descendants of the previous dynasty now? The high-sounding words of the Imperial City Division are nothing more than splashing dirty water on those people to make their actions look more legitimate.

Over the years, Jiangnan has been under a high degree of surveillance by the imperial court, so how could there be a rebellion? You see, there is no excuse for the sin you want to add. ”

After Meng Ran heard these words, his face was full of entanglement, on the one hand, the court of loyalty and filial piety advocated by Confucianism, and on the other hand, innocent lives, how to distinguish between the two, and how to distinguish between right and wrong?

After thinking about it for a long time, Meng Ran finally raised his head and said to Geng Huyuan: "Uncle Geng, what you said may be reasonable, but I don't understand it very well now, I hope I can figure it out in the future." ”

Geng Huyuan whispered in his heart, "I hope you never understand." ”

The autumn breeze is slightly cool, but it is not as cool as people's hearts.