The carriage went out of Dongqimen, crossed the Yudai Bridge, and walked north along the Yudai River. Soon it came to a quiet place.
As the coachman shouted, the carriage slowly stopped.
Feng Ke looked at Su Shi and said with a smile: "The master is waiting for the young master in the hut in front."
Su Shi said, "Aren't you going?"
Feng Ke sighed: "I also want to listen to my tutor's teachings all the time, but my tutor has other plans."
Seeing this, Su Shi stopped insisting and said, "In this case, we have no choice but to meet again by chance."
After saying that, he jumped off the carriage and saw three huts surrounded by a fence on the right front. The three huts were in the shape of a zigzag. A path snaked forward from Su Shi's feet and ended in front of the bamboo door of the hut.
The path was paved with gravel, but it was extremely smooth. When Su Shi walked on it, he didn't feel the massage effect on his feet.
Su Shishiran walked to the bamboo door and saw it was wide open, so he walked in without hesitation.
Su Shi already knew who the inviter was, but what Su Shi couldn't figure out was why he chose this moment.
But now Su Shi hoped that the host would be a very hospitable person, because he could already feel his stomach growling.
But at this moment, the smell of rice came from the hut on the left.
Su Shi didn't hesitate and walked to the hut, ready to open the door and go in.
However, just as he was about to push the door open, the door had opened from the inside, and an old man with gray hair, gray robes, and thousand-layer cloth shoes appeared in front of Su Shi.
When Su Shi saw the old man, he couldn't help but feel dazed for a while.
Because he had seen this old man before. On the day of the Jinghu Poetry Festival, he had appeared in front of Chen Xiaolan's stall.
The old man said calmly: "Young Master Su has come a long way. He must not have had breakfast yet. He only has simple food in his humble house. I hope you don't mind."
There are three plates of side dishes, two bowls of porridge, and two pairs of chopsticks placed on the wooden table.
Su Shi was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "Thank you, old sir."
The two sat across from each other. Su Shi picked up his chopsticks and was about to have a feast. Suddenly he stopped, looked at the old man, and asked, "May I ask what your name is, sir?"
"Old old Pei Xuan."
Su Shi wanted to ask a question, but Pei Xun said, "You don't speak when you eat, and you don't speak when you sleep."
The two finished their meal in silence. Pei Xun stood up and was about to clear the table when Su Shi said hurriedly: "I'll do the rough work."
Pei Xuan didn't argue and just said, "After you've finished cleaning up, come find me in the room opposite."
Su Shi smiled and said, "I pack things quickly and won't keep the old gentleman waiting."
Pei Xun nodded, carried both parties on his back, and slowly walked towards the opposite side.
Su Shi scooped a few ladles of water from the water tank, washed the dishes and chopsticks cleanly, and put them gently into the cabinet.
After doing all this, he did not rush to the opposite side, but stood in front of the window and quietly looked at the spring scenery outside the window.
I don't know how long it took before Su Cai looked away and walked towards the hut opposite.
As soon as he entered the room, Su Shi was stunned again, and then looked at the room with a strange expression.
The room was large, even if there were twenty or thirty people sitting in it, it wouldn't seem crowded, but it was also very empty, with nothing else except a table and two chairs.
Pei Xuan was sitting on the chair. When he saw Su Shi coming in, he pointed to the empty seat opposite and said, "Please sit down."
Su Shi walked to sit opposite him and said, "Thank you."
A teapot and two teacups on the wooden table.
Pei Xun picked up the tea cup and asked, "Is it painful for Du Ziqi to die?"
Su Shi shook his head and said silently: "For a person who has the will to die, death is a kind of relief, not pain."
Pei Xuan was silent for a while, then slowly put down the teacup and said, "Actually, they don't have to be like this."
Su Shi pondered: "Some people are willing to die in order to protect others. Although there are not many such people, they are not few."
"Du Ziqi is my student. He learned calligraphy from me when he was six years old, but I only taught him for half a year."
Su Shi said: "Then you must be a very good gentleman."
Pei Xun said: "When we met again, he happened to be working as a secret guard."
Su Shi suddenly asked: "Did he happen to be serving as a secret guard when you met again? Or did he become a secret guard and you just happened to meet again?"
Pei Xuan didn't hide it and said, "It's the latter."
Su Shi couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that you must have put a lot of effort into him during those six months."
Pei Xun shook his head and said: "I don't have anything special about him. I treat all my students equally." At this point, he paused slightly and continued: "The only thing that is different from other students is that I am special. Follow him."
Su Shi asked curiously: "Why?"
"Because Du Ziqi is different from others."
"what is the difference."
"He is a very upright man." Speaking of this, Pei Xuan couldn't help but sigh: "Although twelve years have passed, he still hasn't changed when I see him again."
Su Shi frowned and said, "Isn't integrity a very beautiful virtue?"
"Integrity is indeed a very beautiful virtue, but it can also cause a lot of trouble to this person, especially to Du Ziqi."
"When I saw Du Ziqi again and found that there was still room for a grain of sand in his eyes, I persuaded him to leave the Secret Guard."
Having said this, Pei Xun asked lightly: "Do you know what the secret guard does?"
Su Shi thought for a while and said slowly: "As the name suggests, you can probably guess it."
Pei Xun continued: "But Du Ziqi didn't listen to me, because he felt that what he did could help His Majesty get rid of the traitors to revitalize the court, and at the bottom, eliminate the bad apples to calm the people."
Su Shi smiled bitterly and said: "He was only eighteen years old at that time. It was the time when he felt that there was nothing he could do in the world."
Pei Xuan took a deep look at him and continued: "When I saw him again two years later, he had completely changed. Not only was he no longer as high-spirited as before, but he also got drunk every night."
Su Shi pondered: "The Royal Secret Guards should only be responsible to His Majesty, and should have the power to kill first and report later. Could it be that they will also be restricted in their work?"
"Your Majesty?" Pei Xuan suddenly showed a hint of disdain, but it only passed by briefly. Su Shi fell into deep thought again and did not notice anything strange about him.
However, his tone still gave Su Shi a clue, and she couldn't help but look at him in confusion: "How is your majesty?"
At this time, Pei Xuan's expression had returned to normal and he said calmly: "Although the struggle in the court will inevitably end in a bloody life and death, before that point is reached, all forces will carefully maintain the already fragile balance, even His Majesty himself. No exception."
Su Shi sighed: "So it's okay for the secret guards to arrest some soldiers and generals, but once the fundamental interests of each force are touched, even His Majesty has to consider whether he can accept the consequences of the turmoil in the court."
Pei Xun nodded slightly and said slowly: "So a person who is too upright cannot be a secret guard at all, otherwise he will suffer as much as Du Ziqi."
