There was a soft rustling sound on the snow outside, and a figure flashed at the door of the hall, and Yao Yao walked in gently and skillfully.
Her narrow clothes were not dirty, her hair was still in a bun, only her leather boots were stained with a little snow.
"I have met you, sir." She bowed and saluted with thorough etiquette and a respectful attitude. Her brows were calm and emotionless. When facing Han Changmu, she maintained the distance between her subordinates and her superiors, and did not show any sign of overstepping with a smile.
With such an attitude, Han Changmu and Meng Sui were both stunned.
Han Changmu was a little embarrassed, but he still endured it and said calmly: "What's wrong?"
Yao Yao said respectfully: "I didn't hear a few whispers, but Yuan Zhengrong and Wang Cong are indeed considered brothers, and Yuan Zhengrong has offered Wang Cong the position of chief of the Department of War, and he will go to Beijing to take up the post after the new year."
"The Ministry of War was suddenly transferred." Han Changmu tapped his fingers on the desk with a gloomy look in his eyes: "Let these two brothers go for a while. You don't need to keep an eye on them for now. After you go to the capital, I will invite you to the urn."
Yao Yao leaned forward slightly and whispered: "Yes." After saying that, she turned to leave, but was stopped by Han Changmu: "Yao joins the army, let's take a look at the map together."
Yao Yao paused, bowed his head and said yes.
Han Changmu seemed to sigh, stood up and walked out first.
The cold wind is biting, and the people who blow it feel clear and clear.
Han Changmu closed his eyes. There were so many things going on, and the court situation was also surging with undercurrents. How could he have time to think about these personal affairs? It was just a waste of time to complain about nothing.
The Governor's Mansion was built by the imperial court. It was built in a simple and solemn way. The buildings and pavilions were all in compliance with the imperial regulations. There was nothing excessive. It was even a bit rough and crude, and there was nothing to see.
But the other courtyard of the Governor's Mansion was different. Yuan Zhengrong bought the land and built this courtyard by himself. From the outside, he didn't feel anything different, but when he walked in, he realized that it was a different world.
Yuan Zhengrong was born in Shazhou, the governor of Shazhou. After taking the imperial examination and becoming an official, he returned to Shazhou to serve. He always longed for the scenery of Jiangnan but never got the opportunity to see it. When he built this courtyard after he was promoted to governor, he specially hired craftsmen from Jiangnan. , this courtyard was built according to the organizational system of Jiangnan gardens.
The craftsmen built a waterscape in the courtyard. The rocks are stacked in the water to form a mountain, and the water and rocks complement each other. The pavilions, corridors, sills, houses and halls are all white walls and gray tiles without colorful decorations. They are decorated gracefully and are extraordinarily elegant and simple.
The only shortcoming is that the Hexi area is windy and sandy, dry and has little water, which is not suitable for the growth of flowers and trees from the south of the Yangtze River. The other courtyard abandoned the delicate and delicate flowers and trees from the south of the Yangtze River in the construction area and chose drought-resistant and easy-to-grow flowers and trees for the landscaping. , although it is not like Jiangnan with flowers and trees all year round, but there are flowers in spring and a moon in autumn, cool breeze in summer and snow in winter, but it has a different flavor.
Yuan Zhengrong knew Xie Mengxia's nature, he had always been lustful and extravagant, so he settled him in another courtyard. Firstly, the other courtyard was more luxurious than the governor's mansion, and secondly, it was secretive. Xie Mengxia just wanted to do something invisible. People's activities are also more convenient.
This kind of considerate approach naturally has ulterior motives in Han Changmu's eyes.
He was an extremely cautious person. After entering the courtyard, he climbed up to take a look around, and walked back and forth in the courtyard a few times before deciding on the rooms for himself and Xie Mengxia. The two rooms were adjacent and were in the courtyard. The most secluded place, and the rooms of Meng Suige and others were chosen on the periphery of these two rooms for warning and guarding, making it difficult for ordinary people to approach.
The bedding, scented tea and other things that Yuan Zhengrong had prepared in advance in the room were all discarded and replaced with those that Meng Sui had purchased in the city to prevent anyone from malicious intentions.
But after such an arrangement, there is no doubt about safety, but it is not so convenient for Xie Mengxia to do anything else.
He was not very happy.
However, Han Changmu didn't care whether Xie Mengxia was in pain or not, he just escorted Xie Mengxia back to Beijing safely.
He had no intention of admiring the snowy scenery in the other courtyard, so he hurriedly entered the room. Hearing the sound of drinking and laughing coming from the next room, he smiled helplessly and shook his head. He turned around and opened the incense burner and added another spoonful of incense powder.
Yao Yao followed Han Changmu, sniffed it lightly, and frowned.
Han Changmu turned around and saw Yao Yao's expression, and raised his eyebrows: "What's that expression of yours?"
Yao Yao lowered his head, as if he had not heard the words, and remained silent.
Han Changmu seemed to sigh and smiled: "This fragrance is tasteless, but it sticks to your clothes. It is a unique tracking method of the Department of Internal Security."
Yao Yao pursed her lips and said nothing, suddenly remembering the police dog she used in her previous life. It also relied on smell to catch people. It was similar to this one, but this police dog was replaced by a young envoy.
She burst into laughter, and as soon as she raised her head and met Han Changmu's unclear eyes, she quickly put away her smile and became serious.
Han Changmu was stunned for a moment, then took out the long and narrow iron box. The rust on the box was already very obvious, but the lock was still extremely sensitive. He put the key in and turned it gently, and the lock opened.
A musty smell rushed out. This smell seemed to have been suppressed for many years, and once it was released, it swept away.
Han Changmu's expression changed and he threw himself on the iron box. If it was broken, it couldn't be because the map was broken.
Yao Yao's expression also changed. Don't worry, all your hard work was in vain. She quickly walked closer and looked over carefully.
The tightly rolled up map is not made of paper, but of silk. It seems to be intact, but if you look closely, you can see that the silk is covered with yellow spots and mildew spots, and there are also very small cracks, like spider webs. spread densely.
Han Changmu held the map carefully as if he was holding some rare treasure, and placed it gently on the kang, lest it be shaken apart by an accident.
Yao Yao quickly moved the kang table to the ground, and together with Han Changmu, unfolded the map very carefully.
When the map was rolled up, the size couldn't be seen, but when it was rolled out, it was discovered that the map actually occupied most of the heated kang, and the map was so densely packed that one had to lie low on it to see the writing clearly.
Han Changmu squinted his eyes and patrolled the map, his expression becoming more and more gloomy.
Yao Yao fell two steps behind him and did not move over to take a look.
She knew very well that she shouldn't look at such hidden things.
Han Changmu didn't notice Yao Yao's movement, and looked back in surprise: "Why are you standing so far away? Come and take a look."
Yao Yao twitched the corner of his mouth and leaned over to take a look.
I saw that the picture was so densely packed with various organs and handwriting that it was impossible to see the words clearly.
She opened her mouth, but the map was really hard to recognize.
She thought for a moment, then took out a small mirror from her waist and handed it over.
Han Changmu was stunned for a moment, then took it over and took a look. This small mirror, which looked ordinary, could actually enlarge handwriting.
This is a good thing. He lay on the map and looked at it carefully.
There was a soft sound outside the door, and a figure flashed past. Meng Suige and the owner of the shop came in quietly, avoiding the eyes and ears of Yuan Zhengrong in the other courtyard.
The shop owner saw the map spread on the kang at a glance, and his expression changed several times.
After he got the map, he looked at it carefully and thought about tracing it down, but he didn't have the ability to draw it, and he couldn't memorize such a dense map, so he had to put this treasure away. Plan to present it to the young master.
Seeing the owner of the shop come in, Han Changmu waved and said in a deep voice: "Come here and take a look at this map."
The shop owner walked over tremblingly, looked at the map and said, "Sir, this is the right map. It's just that I'm stupid and didn't memorize it."
Han Changmu clicked on the map with his hand: "Where is the entrance."
The shop owner hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the bottom point: "It's right there."
Han Changmu asked calmly: "Does it require two keys to be combined into one, and a drop of the young master's blood to open it?"
The shop owner nodded and said, "Yes."
Han Changmu tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly: "That's strange. This treasure house was the private collection of the former Emperor Ming. It is reasonable to need a key to open it. The young master is the orphan of Prince Huaizhang. His blood is the same as that of the Ming Dynasty. This treasure house has nothing to do with the former Emperor Ming." He raised his eyes to look at the shop owner, his eyes cold and his words threatening: "Tell me, why is this?"
The shop owner trembled and looked up blankly.
He doesn't know, he doesn't know anything, Prince Huaizhang said so, he is innocent.
Han Changmu squinted his eyes again and grinned: "Okay, Meng Suige, take him down."
The shop owner was even more confused. He thought he was going to die here. Who knew, but who knew that he could be let go so easily? He felt so ecstatic that he would risk his life and survive.
He bowed deeply and did not dare to stay for a moment, fearing that the moody Han Changmu would change his mind again and run away in a hurry.
Han Changmu looked at the back of the shop owner who left in a panic, pursed his lips and smiled.
Yao Yao didn't understand what Han Changmu was doing at first. After thinking for a moment, she raised her almond-shaped eyes slightly and said sarcastically: "Your Excellency is really kind. You knew he hadn't figured out what to say yet, so you gave him time to make up lies."
Han Changmu glanced at Yao Yao and nodded seriously: "Since you can't tell the truth, let's wait and listen to the perfect lie he made up. Maybe we can find some flaws."
Yao Yao snorted softly in his heart, they are all foxes of thousands of years, what kind of fairy tales are they playing?
Han Changmu pursed his lips and continued to look down on the map. The map looked like an underground space, built against the mountain. From the entrance down, he entered into the hollowed-out mountain. There were many forked roads in the mountain. , there are many mechanisms and dangers. Even if you have this map in hand, you will still lose your life if you are not careful.
He thought for a moment and whispered thoughtfully: "A Yao, if you can draw diagrams for making chariots and crossbows, you can also draw maps."
Yao Yao was stunned for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and said, "Do you want me to get a copy of this public image?"
Han Changmu nodded: "This silk has been aged for a long time. I'm afraid it will decay soon. Please trace it."
