The tall woman said: "Yes, I got it this afternoon, saying that if Xie Zhongju acted according to King Liang's thoughts, he would not take care of the Jiangnan area, so he would use this as an exchange condition." ”

The double-bearded woman exclaimed: "The palace maids of all dynasties, only in the old and dead palace, there has never been a precedent for releasing the palace maids. ”

The tall woman sighed and said, "King Liang enters and exits the palace like his own family, what can't he do?" ”

The double-bearded woman said eagerly: "Sister, this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then you can let Xie Zhongju agree to him!"

The tall woman was silent for a while, and Fang said: "Nine years in the deep palace, no one wants to stay inside, it's just ...... Alas, let me think again. ”

The bearded woman said, "What else does my sister want? For the sake of Xie Xun's lifelong event, you should also agree." ”

The tall woman smiled "poof", stretched out her hand to scratch the waist of the pair of mustache women, and said, "Little girl, do you want to marry?"

The woman with the beard laughed again and again at the touch of her arm, and hurriedly grabbed her hands and stepped forward and said coquettishly: "Good sister, then you let me marry Xie Xun, right?"

The tall woman suddenly said "ah": "Sister, stop quiet, don't wake up people, it's not bad to come out and relax, it's just time to go back." "Let's go away with the bearded woman.

Until they disappeared in the dark night, and the accompanying soft voices could no longer be heard, Lin Jianlan and Yuan Xingjian walked out from behind the rockery, and they didn't dare to come out of the atmosphere just now, and at this moment, they immediately took a long breath and glanced at each other, but they didn't know what to say, Lin Jianlan secretly said in his heart: "That tall woman seems to be Xie Xun's wife, right?" It seems that the pair of bearded beauties also liked him, but his main room didn't mind, but the relationship was quite harmonious. ”

Seeing that Yuan Xingjian seemed to be frowning and pondering, there was silence all around, and without the woman's laughter, he was even more depressed, so he said, "I didn't expect Xie Xunjian to have a family." ”

Yuan Xingjian let out an "ah", and Fang came back to his senses and said: "Xie Xun is a young man, he has a great future, and his appearance is also very handsome, so he will naturally be favored by women, and it is not a problem to say that people are not romantically young people." ”

Lin Jianlan said: "I didn't say that this is a problem, it's too late to envy, but he actually had an affair with the palace maid, and his wife didn't care about it but calculated for him, which is really unexpected." ”

Yuan Xingjian said: "Since the dictatorship of the Empress Wu in the Tang Palace, the palace has been in turmoil, the so-called upper beam is not correct and the lower beam is crooked, the royal family is still like this, not to mention that Lord Xie is also a good minister, no one is perfect." ”

Lin Jianlan said with a smile: "Brother Yuan has been talking for Lord Xie!"

Yuan Xingjian said: "Listening to the girl's words, it seems that he doesn't want to be happy for a while, but really wants to get the palace maid out of the palace, maybe it's a good fate." But Lin Jianlan sighed inexplicably, and hurriedly asked, "Why is Lin Shaoxia sighing?"

Lin Jianlan said: "Alas, I thought that Xie Xun would be like hearing about the story when he was a child, a hero saved the beauty, and formed a good relationship with that little Hui girl, it turned out that he had another love, and he couldn't help but feel a little lost." ”

Yuan Xingjian laughed and said: "These storytellers make up stories just to make the listeners happy, don't you believe it because the beginning is sad and sad, and the end is full moon?"

The two walked slowly while talking, seeing that the light in the study was getting closer and closer, Lin Jianlan secretly said in his heart: "It's so late, this Lord Xie still stays up all night to deal with official business, which is really admirable." Hearing Yuan Xingjian gently slam the door, he said, "Has Master Xie ever rested?"

There was a sudden "bang" inside, as if something had hit the ground, and Xie Zhongju hurriedly said, "Brother Yuan, please stay for a while." ”

After a while, the door was opened, and Xie Zhongju invited the two of them into the house, saying, "I really can't imagine that the two of you haven't rested at such a time. ”

Lin Jianlan said: "How can the jar of wine you prepared enough for Brother Yuan to drink? The two of us went out to drink again, and when we came in through the back door, we saw that the lights were still on in your room, so we came to disturb you. Seeing that there was a stall of official paper on the table, scattered and scattered, he glanced at the neat and beautiful handwriting on it, and there were several columns of silver taels, knowing that this was Xie Zhongju was still sorting out the book for the day's affairs.

The cool breeze blew into the window, blowing these papers with a soft noise, Xie Zhongju hurriedly bent down, picked up a paperweight and pressed it on the table, but when he got up again, his expression was a little flustered, and said, "Did you two come from the garden? Have you ever seen anyone?"

Lin Jianlan and Yuan Xingjian looked at each other, and finally felt that there was no need to lie, so he said: "Master Xie has a family and doesn't have to hide from us, just now I saw my wife and a woman walking in the garden, but I just felt that it was very inconvenient to see each other, so I avoided it with Brother Yuan." ”

Xie Zhong's face turned red and said, "I originally wanted to inspect Jiangnan, and I also had to bring my family, which was too embarrassing, so I didn't tell the two of you." Ignorance...... Did Brother Yuan and Lin Gongzi ever have a small family?"

Lin Jianlan said: "Listening to Mrs. Talk, she is quite virtuous and understanding, I don't have such a blessing as Lord Xie, I haven't married yet, I don't know if Brother Yuan has a wife?"

Yuan Xingjian said: "After all these years of running around, which celebrity is willing to suffer with me? Then he laughed and said: "This is just my self-consolation words, in fact, Yuan is quite envious of Lord Xie to have such a virtuous lady by his side." ”

Xie Zhongju said: "Brother Yuan is dignified, both civil and military, but he cares about the people of Taihu Lake, and he has never worked hard about this matter, why does the eldest husband have no wife?" The three of them all smiled, Xie Zhongju knew that the two of them came here late at night, and did not want to talk about the marriage of men and women, so he hurriedly turned around and poured two cups of herbal tea and said: "No one is waiting, you can only treat guests with herbal tea, the two of you come late at night, there must be something important, right?"

Yuan Xingjian said with a straight face: "There are indeed some things, but I want to confirm before I say that Master Xie still has the heart to serve the country?"

Xie Zhongju was stunned and said, "This is natural, why does Brother Yuan ask this?"

Yuan Xingjian said: "What about the heart of serving the country compared to seeking the return of beauty?"

Xie Zhongju was stunned again, not knowing what Yuan Xingjian meant, Lin Jianlan said on the side: "Although we didn't meet Mrs. Zun, we listened to her conversation with the woman, and revealed that Master Xie intended to take a palace maid out of the palace. Speaking of this, he was a little uncomfortable, and said: "Brother Yuan and I couldn't avoid it at that time, not eavesdropping but also eavesdropping, and I hope that Lord Xie will not blame." ”

Xie Zhongju was stunned for a moment, then he understood, and said with a smile: "Brother Yuan, isn't he worried that I will be bought by the King of Liang?"

Yuan Xingjian said: "Since ancient times, there have been emperors who don't love the country and love beauties, Lord Xie is a young man, and the palace is lonely, if you promise King Liang to achieve a beautiful thing, it is also human nature, I can understand it, but ......"

Xie Zhongju said, "Just what ......?"

Yuan Xingjian said: "If this is the case, if Yuan wants to confide in his heart, he will be thrown out of the clouds." ”

Xie Zhongju said with a straight face: "Even if I take that palace maid out of the palace, I want to put the people of Sanwu under the ravages of corrupt officials and bullies again, not only am I sorry for my father, who has high expectations for me since I was a child, but even if she knows, she will look down on me." Speaking of this, he suddenly smiled, looked at Yuan Xingjian and said: "What's more important is that if I collude with King Liang like this, I will miss a chivalrous man like Brother Yuan, but the price is inevitably greater." ”

Yuan Xingjian originally listened to a conversation in Mrs. Xie's garden, and his mind was a little heavy, but he was relieved by a few words of understatement, but in his words, he attached great importance to himself, a "thief", and looked up in amazement, and saw Xie Zhongju standing at the table, and looked carefully at this moment, and saw that he had changed out of his official uniform, wearing plain clothes, the night was cold, and he was wearing a white robe on his shoulders.

Lin Jianlan said: "Since Lord Xie has made a stand, Brother Yuan can tell him from the bottom of his heart, but Lord Xie needs to persuade him for me." ”

Xie Zhongju didn't know what Lin Jianlan meant, but Yuan Xingjian stood up and walked to the window, looked directly into his eyes and said: "Then forgive Yuan for asking one more question, Lord Xie said in front of the hall during the day that all the people in the Taihu Volunteer Army who are willing to return to their hometowns to cultivate will return the annexed land and donate them to return to their hometowns, and they can erase the name of being a bandit, is this true?"

Xie Zhongju nodded and said: "I don't have such power to dare to promise without permission, since I say this, Brother Yuan should know that this is the order of the Holy Lord today, I will inspect all towns and towns along the road in the Jiangnan area, evaluate political performance, calm down the people's anger, and try to spread this meaning throughout the countryside." ”

Yuan Xingjian said: "There are countless large and small towns in Jiangnan Road, and if you want to run all over it, it may take a year and a half. ”

Xie Zhongju frowned and said: "This is where I am embarrassed, this is not something that can be achieved overnight, if the results can be seen in half a year, it is already considered fast, but King Liang colluded with Lai Junchen, and the court talked nonsense to confuse the lord, the saint did not want to believe them, but he couldn't listen to me completely, and only gave the next three months, so I could only stay in the small villages and towns, so that the effect of reassuring the people would be greatly reduced." ”

Yuan Xingjian lowered his head and pondered for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "The people rose up, is it not because they are persecuted too much by all kinds of harsh governments and bullies, if they can return to their hometown, and return a great Jiangnan landscape, it is really a blessing for the people, I am willing to help Brother Xie Xian to achieve this great achievement." ”

Xie Zhongju shook his head and said: "You and I both know Brother Yuan's identity, don't stop it, the junior brother is already very grateful, how can I still let you help me?"

Yuan Xingjian said with a smile: "You don't have to worry about this, just continue to patrol safely and wait for good news." ”

Lin Jianlan hurriedly said: "Brother Yuan, no!"

Xie Zhongju saw that Lin Jianlan's face had changed drastically, and he knew that something was wrong, so he hurriedly raised his eyes and asked, "Brother Yuan, what can you do to help me?"

Yuan Xingjian turned his face to the side, looked out the window, and said slowly: "Although most of the righteous army are people with little knowledge, they are affectionate and righteous, if I and Leader Li are in one day, they may not be willing to abandon us, if Leader Li and I personally speak to dismiss them, we can quickly achieve this." In a few days, it will be a grand event in Taihu Lake in the name of the Taihu Righteous Army to invite all friends in the rivers and lakes, and I will announce this matter at that time. As for the future, it will depend on Brother Xie Xian, I hope you can sweep away the black smoke miasma in the south of the Yangtze River. ”

But he heard Lin Jianlan say: "Isn't there any other way? Why didn't Brother Yuan tell the whole story? Although the people were exempted, and the rebels who took the lead in rebellion had no other way out since ancient times, you could have relied on your martial arts to hide in the rivers and lakes, but if you want to announce this matter, in the eyes of the green forest, it is tantamount to selling the righteous army and them to the imperial court, even if the imperial court does not kill you, I am afraid that there will be no room for you in the rivers and lakes!"

Yuan Xingjian turned around and forcibly refuted himself: "Except for the rivers and lakes and the court, is there nowhere for Yuan to go?" After speaking, he was stunned on the spot, not knowing what to say, and said bitterly for a while: "Brother Xie Xian, you don't have to be so sad, my life is just worth it." ”

Xie Zhongju's eyes were full of tears at this moment, he lowered his head slightly, and the tears suddenly flowed, Lin Jianlan saw his shoulders shrugged slightly, thinking that he was very sad, this true feeling was not contrived, although he didn't understand why a court inspector valued the life of a bandit leader very seriously, but he felt that he was dedicated to the people, and he did not despise the people in the green forest.

Xie Zhongju lifted the sleeve of his robe and wiped his eyes slightly, exhaled slowly, calmed down a little, and said, "Who does Brother Yuan think of me? Am I the one who stained my red official robe with the blood of others? On the side of the imperial court, I will try my best to show the inside story of the Ming Sheng, if I can't save Brother Yuan's life, I ......" Speaking of this, Xie Zhongju said in a deep voice: "Little brother has always had an idea in his heart, but it is too abrupt, and I am afraid that Brother Yuan will not look down on me as an official, if I don't dislike it, I am willing to make friends with you Babai, become a brother of Jinlan, and vow to die on the same day." ”

Yuan Xingjian shook his head and said: "Brother Xie Xian's heart for the people is as clear as the sun and the moon, I have regarded you as a brother, but I can't make friends with you, otherwise wouldn't it drag you to the same death?"

Lin Jianlan said with a smile: "Brother Yuan, how do you believe in Lord Xie? Recruiting the bandits of Taihu Lake is a great achievement, Lord Xie's love may not be impossible to talk about, even if the court does not allow you to live, I have a way to let the green forest tolerate you." ”

Xie Zhongju and Yuan Xingjian both looked happy, and said, "What can you do?"

Lin Jianlan said: "According to what I think, every time Lord Xie goes to a place, it is only a few tricks to appease the people, and the court promises to invite the village chiefs of various villages and towns to preach and post notices everywhere, but is it?"

Xie Zhongju said: "There is indeed no other way. ”

Lin Jianlan said: "Brother Yuan said a little too much, the people took refuge in Taihu Lake in order to get a glimmer of life, and now there are many people gathered, because Taihu Lake can provide them with a mouthful of food, and love is still secondary." This requires Brother Yuan to make a lot of efforts, first, to find reliable people to spread rumors, only to say that the gangs in the green forest will no longer donate, and at the same time slowly reduce the military food quota; second, to block the news from the outside world, and not let the green forest know that the Taihu Lake is short of two banks. If the silver can't be helped, and there is a gradual shortage of food, they are all good citizens, and they don't have the courage to steal and rob, and in half a month, people's hearts will slowly fall back. At this time......"