Huashan is only two days away from Chang'an, along the way Shen Aotian chatted, from the imperial court to the rivers and lakes, from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River, everything is known, everything is known, except for Du Shuming, Li Shi and others have listened with relish.

Chang'an City, a place that everyone knows but not everyone has ever visited, is unparalleled in its prosperity. The street market is full of traffic, shouting one after another, the vendors of cloth clothes, Beijing officials and magnates, young ladies and noblewomen, famous flowers and green leaves, you come and go on the street; countless restaurants and shops, along the street, small buildings and deep courtyards of large families, row upon row. Li Shijiu heard that Chang'an was prosperous, and he was dazzled when he entered the city, and he didn't have time to turn around, he had followed everyone into a house, although the place was not too big, but the layout was exquisite, the carvings were exquisite, and the begonias in the courtyard were blooming, fresh and pleasant. Yuan Guotian told Li Shi that this place was originally the mansion of the old man when he was an official in Beijing.

Du Shuming took a shower, changed his clothes and left with Shen Aotian. Although the house has been uninhabited for a long time, it is spotless, and I think someone just cleaned it before Du Shuming came. Yuan Guotian, Shi Taiping, and Li Shi stayed in the house for a while, and they all wanted to go out for a walk, so they sneaked out together while Steward Liu went to order luggage.

Although the journey is hard, compared to the bustle of the capital, I prefer to go shopping first. There was everything on the street, fun, delicious, and good-looking, and several people were walking, and two teams of officers and soldiers came to them, led by two old men, one was extremely tall and thin, and the other was full of red face, with white hair and gray hair, and looked like a scholar. Followed by an official sedan chair, I don't know who was inside, it was obviously a big official, officers and soldiers on both sides, there were hundreds of people, mighty, neat pace, very magnificent. This group of people came over, and the people along the street avoided one after another, and several people shouted: "Yang Guozhong is here, Yang Guozhong is here!" While reminding others, he stepped back. When Li Shi heard this, he was slightly taken aback, thinking that the people were so afraid of Yang Guozhong, it seemed that this person was used to being domineering, and the people called him by his name, and there was also some taste of daring to be angry and not daring to speak. When they got closer, a lewd guy next to the sedan chair attracted the attention of Li Shi and the others, and it was Dugu Xiao who stopped the car with Liu Zizhen on the road and fought with Li Shi.

After the officers and soldiers passed, Yuan Guotian said: "Yang Guozhong took Dugu Xiao with him, not afraid of being seen, which means that he has become an enemy of our master, or that he is already incompatible with the prince, and has no scruples!" Li Shi nodded: "It makes sense, the master is unpredictable when he enters Jingji this time!" The three of them said as they walked, they were a little hungry for a while, and they entered a restaurant and asked for three Hu Biscuits and two side dishes. The restaurant is not big, there are a few guests in Lala, and a pot of tea comes from the second end, and as soon as Li Shi pours it, he listens to the two young guests on the table next to him discussing: "Yang Guozhong is in this position today, I don't know who he is going to harm again! There are fewer and fewer good officials in Chang'an City." ”

"You don't know yet, today is not to harm the Qing officials, but to clean up the cult, it seems that I was arrested once in the past two years, and more than 100 people were arrested!"

"You're talking about the Five Elements Sect, I heard that last time in a pharmacy in the alley of the west of the city, even the old nest was served, and today I saw Yang Guozhong go to the south of the city. ”

Although the voices of the two were small, the words came into Li Shi's ears, and when they heard the words "Five Elements Sect", they were suddenly shocked, and they were even more attentive unexpectedly.

"You don't know this, I have a brother who is on an errand in the forbidden army, saying that there are tens of thousands of sects in the country of the Five Elements Sect, and the last time I caught it was just one of the small branches, and since then the Five Elements Sect has changed places in Chang'an. Recently, it has been rumored that a big man of the Five Elements Sect came to the capital, and somehow it reached the ears of the imperial court, and this morning an old house outside the south of the city was surrounded by water, and it turned out that it was the new hall of the Five Elements Sect. No, Yang Guozhong is now going to the south of the city to catch the big man of the Five Elements Sect. ”

Li Shi listened to the conversation between the two, secretly wondering who this big man would be, Ji Meifeng should not, Zhuo Buqun is still in the cell, not to mention that he can't go down the peak, Han Jingxing is the protector of the Dharma, and he has lived in the main altar of Baiyun Peak for a long time, it shouldn't be, according to the direction, Chang'an is the west, corresponding to gold, is it the owner of the White Tiger Constellation is here? Li Shi was thinking nonsense, and the two young guests didn't listen to what they said, who the White Tiger Lord was, Li Shi didn't know, but he was curious, and decided to go to the south of the city to have a look, and stood up and said at the moment: " Brother Yuan, Taiping, I have something to go out for, you can go home after eating, you don't have to wait for me. Yuan and Shi were stunned when they heard this: "What's the matter? You are not familiar with Chang'an City, so don't lose you." Li Shi didn't know how to answer, so he said a few words, smiled and left.

Just after noon, the north wind blew, Li Shi went straight to the south of the city, out of the city, sure enough, he saw a lot of people and horses in the distance, and when he came closer, a large circle of officers and soldiers surrounded him, and through the human wall, he vaguely saw that there was a house inside. Li Shi glanced around, quietly walked to him, jumped lightly, and climbed on a big locust tree next to him. Since the twelve veins of true qi converged in the dantian, Li Shi seemed to feel that his body was much lighter, but he didn't know that it was the river flowing into the sea and the reason for the twelve meridians of the heavenly veins.

When he got in shape and looked down, it was indeed a very large mansion, the gate of the courtyard was open to the south, and behind the gate was a pile of huge wooden stakes, and there was a pile of arrows in the courtyard, and there were seven or eight corpses lying in it, among which there were four officers and soldiers. There were a few people standing in front of the courtyard gate, and the two old men and Dugu Xiao were among them. There was a person sitting in the middle, slightly fat, ruddy complexion, wearing a purple official uniform, and the jade goldfish bag hanging from his waist was particularly conspicuous, Li Shi secretly thought that this person should be the powerful minister Yang Guozhong. Some officers and soldiers in the back were lighting torches one after another, and the sky was blue, obviously preparing for a fire attack. Not long after, Dugu smiled and shouted: "Listen, the people inside, Prime Minister Yang Cheng is here today, as long as you escort the eldest lady of the Five Elements Sect out, not only is you not guilty, but you can also be awarded an official title and glorify the lintel." If not, not only will you be burned alive, but the nine tribes will also be exterminated. ”

Li Shi was shocked when he heard this, the eldest lady of the Five Elements Sect! Could it be that Su Caixiao was in this mansion, and he had only been away from Baiyun Peak for more than ten days, how could Su Caixiao suddenly come here. Just thinking about it, a voice came from the house: "My Five Elements Sect regards death as home, and I will not sell my lord for glory for an official and a half-job, let alone be like you, willing to be a traitor and an eagle dog, and corrupt Zude!" The words are clear and eloquent, although the words are not good, but people have no bad feelings, and a person walks out of the west side of the house, with colorful clothes and flowers, and is hired, not who Su Caixiao is. Li Shi was surprised, and secretly puzzled, what did Su Caixiao do when he came to Chang'an City? The Five Elements Sect had been suppressed here once, such a dangerous place, what was the matter, but no matter what, he had to find a way to rescue him. Looking around, there are 2,000 officers and soldiers, it is really difficult to escape, looking from a distance from the tree, Su Caixiao is not afraid, but his cheeks are dull and he has lost a little weight.

Outside the walls of the house, Dugu smiled and said: "Miss Su, the emperor has issued an order, he will attack Baiyun Peak in the near future, the Five Elements Sect has exhausted, you should be an example, return to the court, and he will advise your father again in the future, lest the Five Elements Sect be killed completely." Su Caixiao said angrily: "Baiyun Peak is easy to defend and difficult to attack, a hundred years ago Wang Shichong 100,000 elite soldiers did not fight, you just want to use me as a threat to attack Baiyun Peak, today I have the heart of death, determined to live and die with the Chang'an Branch! It's a pity ......that Su Caixiao said and suddenly lowered his head, his face was ruddy, his eyes were shy, Dugu Xiao outside the courtyard naturally didn't see the gentleness at this moment, his hands rubbed slightly, obviously a little uncontrollable, and said:" Su Caixiao, don't think that if you are a woman, you won't kill you, and if you don't come out and surrender, all the people inside will be burned to death, and the chickens and dogs will not be left. The two spoke across the wall, and everyone inside and outside the courtyard could hear it clearly, Su Caixiao said coldly: "If you kill me, my father will definitely stick to Baiyun Peak, even if the imperial court sends heavy troops, it may not be able to defeat it, if you want to capture me alive, you can't attack it." This small mansion can't be killed, if this continues, will the emperor still let you a group of rice buckets attack Baiyun Peak? As the prime minister, you don't know how to choose, you have no plan, you are indecisive, it's really ridiculous!"

Su Caixiao saw through the other party's intentions, and every sentence was thorny, and sure enough, Yang Guozhong slapped the chair and shouted, obviously very angry, and said a few words to Dugu Xiao. At this moment, several people in the courtyard walked up to Su Caixiao, and a middle-aged man in the lead said: "Miss, now that we have been surrounded, there is no need to provoke the enemy, lest we really be driven out." Su Caixiao said coldly: "White Hall Master, in today's situation, even if the government does not attack it, if we surround it here for a month, we will starve to death, and we will die horizontally, so why should we scruple when we speak!" The White Hall Master's face turned pale for a while: "Miss, Lord Yang and Lord Yang are not indiscriminate killing innocent people, so they may let us go." ”

While speaking, some sect members gathered around, some standing behind the White Hall Master, and some standing behind Su Caixiao. Dugu Xiao outside seemed to hear the cat, and shouted loudly: "Bai Hezhan, as long as you take Miss Su out, you and your subordinates can save their lives, and Lord Yang will also be used for you." Su Caixiao listened and said: "The master of the white hall is a Lord Yang, is it really as Dugu Xiao said, do you want to take refuge in the imperial court?" Bai Hezhan bowed his head and was silent, and a sect member next to him said: "The eldest lady regards death as home, do you want us all to be buried together?" Su Caixiao was a little at a loss, and was just about to raise his hand to signal everyone to stop arguing, Bai Hezhan suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Su Caixiao's Shendao acupoint, everyone was shocked, the man behind Su Caixiao waved his fist, Bai Hezhan dodged back, took Su Caixiao back two steps back, and shouted: "Everyone stop." The man roared: "The surname is white, you dare to hold the eldest lady hostage, you are really tired of being crooked, are you not afraid of the punishment of 'Wanlong Drilling Body'?"