Qian Hong said:
"I hope you will keep this matter strictly a secret and not reveal anything even to Xu Shenqi and Commander Fan."
Wang Qi'an suddenly felt very sympathetic to the person in front of him who was sitting on the dragon throne.
Although he is the emperor, he still acts secretly.
It can be seen from this that the two princes may be in dire straits in the court.
The situation in East Vietnam does not appear to be stable.
Qian Hong handed the dagger to Wang Qi'an:
"His name is Qian Sui. As long as you show this dagger, he will understand that you are the person I sent.
I’ll leave my trip to Yangzhou to you.
You can make any requests you have, and I will try my best to do it except sending someone to help you. "
Wang Qi'an was relieved when he saw that Qian Hong didn't mention the Buddha's bones at all, nor did he ask him to stay in Qiantang as an official. He still cared about other requests.
He puzzled and said:
"Why does the Holy One trust me so much?"
Qian Hong suddenly looked at him, his eyes became deep and distant, and his face was filled with divine light:
"Because you are a person deeply connected with Buddha!"
Wang Qi'an was shocked, and then said doubtfully:
"Buddha's destiny? Why did the Holy One say this?"
Qian Hong returned to normal and said:
"Recently, there are rumors in the world that the bones of the Buddha donated by Nan Tianzhu to the Southern Han Dynasty have fallen into the hands of you and Fan Zhan. Is this possible?"
Still unable to avoid it, Wang Qi'an smiled awkwardly and told the truth.
Qian Hong smiled with satisfaction and said:
"I'm glad you didn't lie to me. I've heard the truth."
Wang Qi'an was surprised and said:
"Did the Holy One know the truth earlier?"
His heart moved and he couldn't help but think of Sima Shouren.
Qian Hong nodded and said:
"Such a miracle has never been seen in my life. In my opinion, the Buddha's bones did not disappear, but were deeply embedded in your bloodline. That's why I firmly believe that you are a person with the Buddha's destiny."
The next day, Wang Qi'an and four others set out on the road.
Ji Wurui suddenly thought:
"You said that the King of Dongyue has not established a crown prince for so many years. Could it be that he had a premonition of Qian Sui's existence and wanted to leave the position of the East Palace to him?"
While at Shuiyue Temple, Wang Qi'an had already seen that Qian Hong was a passionate person.
Could it be that he really wanted to go to such great lengths to hide it from his two sons?
But based on the current situation in Qiantang, Qian Hong's love may backfire and bring Qian Sui's death.
Wang Qi'an couldn't help but feel that the Double Dragon Spear behind his back was a little heavier.
After the four people left the city, they drove intermittently for three or four hours.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, but there was no town inn.
Ji Wen complained:
"Ji Wu, you must have taken the wrong route. An hour ago, we said we were approaching Huzhou, and now we are still outside this wilderness of ditches and canals."
Ji Wu scratched his arm and smiled sheepishly:
"I obviously followed the farmer's instructions. But in this area, there are streams, rivers, and wetlands and swamps. Hey, it's not uncommon to get lost!"
Ji Wurui looked at the sky and said:
"Looking at the situation, I'm afraid it's going to rain. If we can't find a place to stay, we will all become drowned rats!"
Wang Qi'an looked around and saw smoke rising from the northwest, and couldn't help shouting:
"There's someone in front of me, come with me!"
Everyone galloped three or four miles away, and a huge lake with rippling water appeared in front of them.
The plume of smoke rises not far from the lake shore.
"There should be a village ahead. Let's see if we can stay overnight." Wang Qi'an said.
The four of them rushed closer and discovered that this was a rather large fishing village.
There are as many as seventy or eighty houses, arranged in an orderly and well-proportioned manner.
Rows of dried fish are hung in front of most houses, and fishing nets, fishing rods, iron forks and other fishing equipment are piled in front of the door.
There are many small boats docked at the lake not far from the village.
"The atmosphere here is a bit strange!"
Wang Qian said.
"Why don't you see anyone moving around?"
Ji Wurui also noticed something unusual.
"Wait until we go up and ask."
The civil and military brothers said that they were already walking towards the village.
After a while, the two came back playing happily.
Ji Wu said proudly:
"There was an old man who said that I looked like a good person and didn't look like a bad guy, so he was willing to let us stay overnight."
Ji Wen said disdainfully:
"It's not just because he took a tael of silver from me that he said that.
Strangely, he warned us not to go out after dark. "
Wang Qi'an frowned, thinking that something was indeed strange.
The four of them tied their horses to a forest next to the village and came to the house agreed upon by the civil and military brothers.
A stooped old man with a white beard hurriedly welcomed them into the house.
He also murmured:
"It's going to be dark soon! It's going to be dark soon!"
Knowing that they had not eaten yet, the old man left them in the hall and got busy in the kitchen at the back.
Wang Qian and others thought that this person was quite enthusiastic.
The house is simply furnished, with only a long wooden table equipped with several stools, and other daily utensils placed in the corners.
There should be bedrooms on both sides of the hall, both of which are blocked by curtains.
After more than half an hour, I saw the old man serving fried dried fish, steamed fish and shrimp and fresh fish soup one after another.
“The dried whitebait, white striped fish and Taihu shrimp are all local specialties that you can’t taste anywhere else.”
This old man is so good at his craftsmanship that everyone's appetite is whetted by the sight.
After asking, I found out that he had been a chef in a restaurant in the city when he was young.
After the four of them had finished their meal, Ji Wurui still had something to say:
"I'm sorry for bothering you today, thank you for the hospitality, my father-in-law!"
The old man wrinkled his face and said with a smile:
"You're welcome, sir. If my son hadn't happened to be traveling far away, there would be no place to entertain you.
I don't dare to ask for more than the meal I just had. Just pay me another tael of silver. "
"What?" Everyone was stunned.
It seems that everyone has misunderstood, and this old man has regarded them as fat sheep that have been sent to his door.
"I have no intention of blackmailing you. There has been a lot of trouble in the village recently. If I hadn't seen a few people who were kind to me, I wouldn't have dared to take in outsiders so easily."
The old man said with a flattering smile.
Ji Wen angrily took out the money and handed it to him.
Wang Qi'an said strangely:
"What happened in the village? Why did the old man tell us not to go out after dark?"
The old man suddenly looked frightened and shook his head repeatedly.
Ji Wurui took out a piece of silver and put it on the table:
"I might as well think about it again!"
The old man looked at the four people, then at the silver coins on the table, and hesitated.
Suddenly he stamped his feet, grabbed the silver, looked around the room, looked cautious, and said in a low voice:
"Recently at night, water monsters appear near Dongting Island, trying to rip people's hearts out. Many people have been killed on the island and surrounding villages!"
No wonder there was no one outside just now. It turned out to be fear of water monsters.
Wang Qian said:
"Where is Dongting Island?"
The old man said uneasily:
"It's just a dozen miles west of the lake in our village. It's very close, so I advise you not to go out.
I heard that many people from the Dongting Gang wanted to capture the water monster, and even the gang leader took action himself.
However, the water monster was so powerful that not only could they not subdue it, but all the people were killed. They died miserably and their hearts were ripped out. "
Ji Wu said horrified: "Is there really a water monster?"
Ji Wurui said doubtfully:
"Why do you think it was a water monster that killed someone? Did anyone see it with their own eyes?"
