In the third year of Xianping, May 20, night, Jiangning City. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

On normal days, after dark, there would be no pedestrians on the streets and alleys of Jiangning City, at most a few wild cats and wild dogs, or a few rats sneaking between the mouse hole and the street.

Today is extraordinary.

I don't know how long it has been since there has been a fight between the Jianghu people and the officials in Jiangning City, if you look through the files, the conflict between the Jianghu people and the government will probably have to be traced back to the time when the Chu family first arrived in Jiangning.

During the period when the Chu family claimed to inherit the position of the head of the Sima Yuan family as a "foreign family", the Chu family, which originally belonged to the foreign family and regarded the Sima family as the clan, successfully completed a robbery in the process of family inheritance.

The person who united the Sikong family and the Situ family against the government and was finally able to inherit the unresolved position of "head of the family" left by Sima Yuan finally changed his surname. Although in the eyes of the Sikong family and the Situ family, this is just a reduction of someone's surname on the invitation card and name tattoo in the future. But for the Jiangning government, this time the change in the inheritance of the martial arts family is of extraordinary significance.

At that time, Jiangning was under the control of the Li family, and it was the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, which could be said to be the place at the feet of the Son of Heaven, but these martial arts families controlled a large number of fertile fields outside the city, and they also had intertwined relationships with many people in the court.

The grievances and entanglements between Sima Yuan and the Nine Emperors of the Yuanzong Dynasty are well-known to the people of Jiangning, but the content of the story is very different. Some people say that these two friends who are friends of the general horn finally turned against each other because the Nine Emperor Princes were angry at the crown and turned red. Some people also believe that the imperial court wants to rectify Jiangzuo Wulin, so the largest Sima family in Jiangning will bear the brunt, and the Nine Emperors have no choice but to follow the edict......

In short, at the gate of Jiangning City, the Nine Emperor Princes, who mingled in the market all day long, made good friends with the heroes of the rivers and lakes, cut off their robes and broke their righteousness with Sima Yuan, the new head of the Sima family, and the matter of life and death was real, and was seen by hundreds of people.

In the end, Sima Yuan won, and the Nine Emperors were seriously injured and died, which was the beginning of the political rivers and lakes of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

However, after Sima Yuan was imprisoned, he died in prison for no apparent reason, and it is rumored that a jailer was entrusted to bring a secret letter out of death row, with only one sentence on it: "The faint king kills me." ”

After these four words spread in the market, the relationship between the entire Jiangzuo Wulin and the Southern Tang Dynasty government became tense from the previous Ruo Ruo Ruo Li, although the Jianghu forces have their own forces in the court, but because the prince is involved in it this time, these forces can't even say half a sentence.

After the government put everyone in the Sima family on death row, Chu Shiqian, who was Sima Yuan's cousin and father-in-law, came to Jiangning with a swagger, and the Chu family, who was the largest medicinal herb merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, had always been one of the right-hand men of the Southern Tang Dynasty before this incident.

"The Son of Heaven ordered the world to do the things of Heaven, and the people will return, and now he is in prison for his virtuous son-in-law, and there are many discussions in the rivers and lakes, and there are more rumors in the market, I don't know if the son can know today?"

In front of the guards of the inner court, Chu Shiqian only left this sentence, and then turned to leave.

Although the imperial court was afraid of the forces of the rivers and lakes, it did not dare to completely exterminate the martial arts family, but it also dealt a heavy blow to the Jiangning martial arts family, in addition to the Chu family abandoning most of the medicinal material business in exchange for the support of the Sima family's martial arts forces, the Sikong family and the Situ family industry were also confiscated, and a lot of gold, silver and land products flowed into the pocket of the Son of Heaven.

But it is precisely because of this that more than 30 years later, when the Great Song Dynasty marched south, Jiangzuo Wulin turned his back on the monarch and provided intelligence and silver for the Song army.

The Great Song Dynasty government was also extremely lenient to Jiangning Wulin because of this, coupled with the fact that the Great Song Zhao family valued literature over martial arts, and the attitude of scholars towards people in the rivers and lakes has always been respectful. It is for the Jiangning martial arts family that it can maintain a delicate balance with the government.

As long as it does not involve ordinary people, court officials, or royal nobles, then even if the people in the rivers and lakes are bloody, the court will not care.

The only exception over the years was in Yangzhou, and that time, Sikong Gu was at most a strategist for the Cao Gang.

And in Jiangning, with the help of the government, first the big thief was involved in the case, then the Shenmen, and finally the Jiangning Situ family was involved, which has not been seen for decades.

If it is according to the rules, Zhan Yunqin, as the head catcher, eats the official meal, and he can't care about the grievances of the rivers and lakes.

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The sound of horses' hooves was getting closer and closer, and when Zhan Yunqin, Sikong Gu and the others turned around, the person holding the torch had already pulled the reins in front of everyone, and the horse neighed, and I don't know if it was pain or a habit.

The man dismounted, and the thunder behind him gradually stopped, and I don't know how many long neighs pierced the night sky of Jiangning. In this small street, people and horses were gasping, but no one would say a word.

"Zhan Zhu's head and feet are fast, if he doesn't hurry up, he really can't catch up. ”

Situ Lou walked up to the person and sighed to Zhan Yunqin, who was squinting at him.

"Don't you know what's going on? Zhan is handling a case at the moment, but he is sorry to accompany him. ”

After Zhan Yunqin saw the number of people behind Situ Lou, he was relieved in his heart, after all, in Jiangning City, if there was a conflict with the Situ family, he was afraid that he would not be able to eat and walk around. After all, the official clothes can't speak, and if people can't open their mouths anymore, then for those adults in the high hall, it's not what others say?

But now there are only a few stout men behind Situ Lou who are holding torches and looking like family members, and they don't seem to have any intention of robbing the road, so Zhan Yunqin is at ease at the moment.

"Haha, if Zhan Zhutou is really handling the case, why doesn't he branch Situ's family? Do you know who you arrested?"

There was another burst of laughter behind him, Zhan Yunqin hurriedly turned his head, only to see another familiar face, and behind him, there were many Jianghu people standing with swords on their waists or weapons in their hands. Most of these Jianghu people have torches in their hands, and a few of them are still holding fire hyacinths, but they don't know that they can use the fire of their companions to light the torches in their hands.

"Situ Lei?"

"Zhan Zhutou, it's not convenient to talk here, why don't we find a secluded place and sit down and talk slowly, how about it?"

The coldness in Situ Lou's tone almost made the hairs of everyone present stand up slightly, especially those people in the Cao Gang and the Jianghu Caokou who defected to Sikong Gu, although they still haven't figured out who killed their companions yesterday, they also have a little fear at this moment.