Wei Yanshan said: "Why did Mrs. Xiao lie? Although the rebel Zhou Youzhou is your husband, I am not a person who likes to sit together. It would be too heartless for you to completely ignore this relationship between husband and wife."
Ying Niang frowned more and more: "I have no memory of what you said, so I don't know whether it is true or not."
Wei Yanshan straightened up, his expression still suspicious, and finally asked someone to send Princess Youzhou back.
Ying Niang sat on the chariot and slowly loosened her clenched hands. The hem of her skirt was wet. It was accidentally stained with blood from the steps of the hall when she left. The faint smell of blood lingered around her. .
She touched it.
My fingertips feel cold and sticky to the touch.
A touch of bright red seemed to burn on the palm of her hand, causing her to grit her teeth.
Chapter 297 (Transition Chapter)
Luoyang South City, this is the largest market in Luoyang.
Tang Wu and his book boy were strolling leisurely in Luoyang Nan City. Next to him was his cousin Qingwu who came out with him. From time to time, the two of them visited the study, various jewelry pavilions, and horse shops. The place where I met Xue Si before.
Xue Si was a wanderer who stayed in a carpenter's house and did odd jobs for his family. Occasionally he would go to the temple with the family to carve Buddha statues. This was also the origin of the various colors of paint on his wooden armor. Previously, Tang Wu I visited several temples that Xue Si often went to, but found no one.
When I returned to the carpenter's place, I was also prepared to try my luck with the blind cat and the dead mouse.
Of course, his luck was not very good.
The old carpenter said that Xue Si had never come back since he left. Tang Wu depressedly used a fan to block the sun for his cousin Qingwu, and took her to the candy shop to rest for a while.
"Where did Xue Si go?" Tang Wu asked. He had been secretly searching for several days. Although there was a mixture of dragons and snakes in Nanshi, those local snakes were willing to give him a favor. He had also found a few bad guys. The wanderer asked them to help find someone, but found nothing.
"Is it possible that he really left Luoyang?" Tang Wu wondered, his second uncle and Qi Nanhua had been living in his house and rarely went out, so now it fell on his shoulders to find someone.
Xie Qingwu was wearing a curtain hat, and there were two maidservants beside her. Li Ji's sweet shop was quite large. She was sitting in the corner of the lobby, looking at the wooden board above the shop, which had various sweet drinks and pastry preserves. .
Osmanthus wine stuffed dumplings, mung bean drink, Yunhua drink, snow pear and white fungus soup, lotus seed and lily soup, sugar steamed cheese, almond tofu, red bean cake, mung bean cake, dragon and phoenix crystal cake, dragon beard cake, yam cake, candied longan, candied green plum, etc. wait.
Tang Wu ordered a serving of mung bean cake and sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings for Qing Wu. He had no appetite and didn't want to eat it. Even if he tried hard, he couldn't figure out where Xue Si could hide it?
Xie Qingwu took a bite of the dumplings, which were filled with red bean paste. They were soft, glutinous and sweet. She felt good. Suddenly she heard Dr. Lu's voice outside the window.
She and Tang Wu looked outside together.
Dr. Lu, dressed in coarse linen, was leading a group of students to post notices. The flow of people in Nanshi was always very large, and many people gathered around. Xie Qingwu listened attentively for a while, and then continued to eat sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings indifferently.
Tang Wu looked at his cousin. Dr. Lu was dissatisfied with the sudden withdrawal of troops by the imperial court and the loss of Xuzhou. He was anxious and was gathering patriots to retake several counties in Jiangdong.
It has to be said that Dr. Lu's charisma is very strong, but in Xie Qingwu's opinion, what is the use of the people he summoned? Without Wei Guogong's permission, they could not even leave Luoyang.
"Is Dr. Lu getting confused as he gets older?" Tang Wu whispered to Qing Wu.
After a while, Luoyang guards came to expel Dr. Lu and others.
"It's probably because we have different ways of thinking and we don't want to work together." Xie Qingwu said.
"What do you mean?" Tang Wu didn't understand.
"Dr. Lu's eldest brother is General Jinwu Zuo Zhonglang of Chang'an. His second brother was once the economic envoy of Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and also suppressed bandits and rebels in Huaihe. Both brothers are the backbone of the Duan Party in the imperial court, that is, Wei Guogong People." Xie Qingwu has been in Chang'an for a long time and has long been familiar with these people in the Duan Party. She explained softly: "The Luoshan students led people to cause trouble in Dutingyi a few days ago. The government also regarded them as Luoshan students. It was so easy to let them go, otherwise they would have been put in jail."
Qi Nanhuaneng thought in a short period of time to use Dr. Lu's radical and patriotic Luoshan students as a cover to make Xie Qingwu feel that this person was unusual.
"What about Dr. Lu?" No matter how Tang Wu looked at Dr. Lu, he didn't seem to be a member of the Duan Party. On the contrary, he was...
"Dr. Lu is a royalist. Unfortunately, he is not reused by the Holy Spirit and only teaches in Luoshan." Xie Qingnu said. Among the three Lu brothers, Dr. Lu is the only one who has such an alternative.
Tang Wu looked at the crowd that dispersed in the distance. This time Dr. Lu probably angered the Luoyang Guards and sent all his students back. Dr. Lu alone was in a very depressed state.
Tang Wu couldn't bear it, so he called out: "Dr. Lu, here, here."
Xie Qingwu felt that a warm-hearted and good person like Tang Wu was hopeless, and their family was also different from Dr. Lu.
Dr. Lu saw the juniors of the Tang family and the Xie family walking into the candy shop.
"Mr. Lu, aren't you going fishing today?" Tang Wu changed the subject, and Dr. Lu smiled bitterly and said, "Half of the Dachu Mountain and River was stolen by the Youzhou rebels, how can I still think about fishing?"
"Xuzhou, Shouzhou, Luzhou, Jinling, Guangling, Xuanzhou, Runzhou, Yuzhou, Chuzhou, so much Jianghuai land has been lost. Sooner or later, the Jianghuai defense line will collapse." Dr. Lu said about the lost land. As he spoke, his eyes turned red: "A thousand-mile embankment collapsed in an ant nest. Now it is no longer an ant nest, but a huge hole in the sky. The princes in the court actually want to recruit traitors. Everyone Daydreaming.”
"Under such circumstances, how long do we have to wait for the royal master of the imperial court to regain the lost territory?" Dr. Lu was disappointed and angry, crying: "They can watch Da Chu fall into pieces, but I can't bear to bear it. This is Da Chu."
Tang Wu felt very guilty. He remembered that his family was closely related to the traitor.
"Come on, Mr. Lu, drink, drink." Tang Wu asked people to drink. Dr. Lu looked at the streets with people coming and going, feeling sad in his heart: "The national crisis is approaching, and I have nothing to use except a book bag. "
Tang Wu didn't know what to say now. Dr. Lu seemed to be drinking to drown his sorrows, so he left drunk. Tang Wu quickly chased after him to see him off. What if something happened to him when he was so drunk? Xie Qingwu followed her cousin and sighed.
"Hey, hey, Mr. Lu, please don't bump into anyone." Tang Wu saw Dr. Lu staggering towards the Hu people and the wealthy foreign businessmen from Persia, and hurriedly stopped him. The clothes and makeup of those people were obviously not the best. The Hu people from the Central Plains apologized: "Drunk, he was drunk."
After Tang Wu asked the book boy to take Lu Gong home, he found that Qingnuo's cousin had been staying with a wealthy merchant in a foreign land, and ran back to her.
Xie Qingwu smiled and asked a Hu merchant from the sea: "What drink is the gentleman holding in his hand? I smell a special spice."
The wealthy Persian businessman laughed loudly and said in bad language: "Little lady, this is caramel milk tea. It came from Youzhou. Several of my brothers went there to do business. Milk tea has Persian spices added to it, and it smells like flower dew. It has become very popular among you Luoyang ladies recently."
"Young lady likes it. Come to my restaurant to try it. Many noble people send their servants to buy it. My dear lady doesn't need any money to drink it."
It was rare for several powerful Hu merchants to see an aristocratic girl from Chu talking to them. One of the spice merchants said enthusiastically: "There is also a Luoji Trading Company in Youzhou. Do you know their house? I often sell my spices to him."
"Do you know when the ban will be lifted in Luoyang?" One of the Hu Shang from Persia asked anxiously: "I landed from Bosi, Guangyizhou City, south of your Dachu Mountains, and then went north to Yangzhou to Luoyang. Now Our goods were sold out and we wanted to go home, but Luoyang refused to let us go."
"I don't know about this either." Xie Qingwu apologized.
Several businessmen left with sighs. Da Chu was at war and it was not peaceful. They all wanted to avoid the limelight.
"Cousin, let's go look for Xue Si in Hurenfang City and see if we can find it." Xie Qingwu said, she had heard Xue Si mention the caramel milk tea before, and it was very popular in Youzhou.
"Okay." Tang Wu's eyes lit up. There were many barbarian traders in Youzhou. Maybe Xue Si was hiding among the barbarians.
The two entered Hurenfang City and smelled the strong smell of spices. There were also various jewelry pavilions and Hushang's lending shop beside the street. Tang Wu bought two cups of Jiao from Youzhou from Hushang's restaurant. For sugary milk tea, you can take away a milk tea cup for an extra eight cents. The milk tea cup is larger and deeper than an ordinary tea cup, and has a reed inside for drinking.
The fusion of tea and milk is very wonderful, and the aroma of caramel makes Xie Qingwu feel very novel. There are many people drinking like them on the street.
The two searched one by one, and finally Tang Wu found Xue Si dressed as a Persian in the Hu Shang Acrobatic Troupe, and pounced on him without saying a word.
Xue Si was startled and saw that it was Tang Wulang. He pulled down Tang Wu and ran away.
"If you run again, I'll tell you your secret." Tang Wu became anxious, hugging his shoulders and dragging him into the alley: "I won't harm you! Don't run!"
Xue Si was almost out of breath. He turned around and glared: "If you hadn't reported to the Tang family, I would have escaped long ago." Now he couldn't escape even if he wanted to. Wei Guogong returned to Luoyang City, and Luoyang City Blocked.
"You didn't say you were from Zhou Youzhou, did you?" Tang Wu complained in a low voice as he walked further and further away.
A cold light flashed in Xue Si's eyes.
"Hey, hey, don't do it." Tang Wu said quickly: "We are on the same team, don't get excited, I will let go first, you are not allowed to escape."
Xue Si stared at him.
Tang Wu stretched out his hand: "Give me the princess's jewelry."
Xue Si was shocked and confused.
"I really know your secret." Tang Wu lowered his voice and said, "Isn't she the princess? I also know her whereabouts."
Xie Qingwu asked her maid to wait outside the alley. When she came in, Xue Si was already standing with her cousin.
"Okay, this is what happened." Tang Wu said with a solemn expression: "That rainy night we saw the carriage come out of Lantian Villa and drive to Luoyang Palace not long after."
"The princess is probably in the Luoyang Palace, but don't think about showing off your bravery to save people. The Duke of Wei is in the Luoyang Palace. If you show up, the person will be shot into a hedgehog by a crossbow. So for now, you still Come back with us first.”
"It's too dangerous for you to be out there alone."
Xie Qingwu walked slowly to the two of them, looked at Xue Si, took a sip of milk tea, and said with a smile: "Want to drink milk tea? I'll treat you."
Xue Si looked at the daughter of the Xie family, and thought of how she often asked him about Youzhou without leaving any trace, and asked: "Tang Wu has been talking for so long, but I still don't understand why the lady Xie helped to find the princess?"
Xie Qingwu stopped drinking milk tea and asked the same question: "I don't know what your status is in Youzhou, Xue Si. Why don't we exchange it."
Xue Si said lazily: "I am a good friend of Youzhou Guimou, and I can barely be considered a friend of the princess's daughter. I almost became an official under Zhou Youzhou, but I don't like to be restrained, so I declined, and then I went on a wild trip."
Xie Qingwu nodded, her hand holding the cup tightly tightened, and said: "I am the future prince of Young Master Youzhou."
The girl spoke lightly, but her ears turned red.
Chapter 298
Tang Wulang was sitting in the carriage, chewing on the reed pole, and peeking at Qingwu's cousin from time to time. After finding Xue Si, Xie Qingwu asked the maid to go to a nearby Tang family shop to ask for a carriage to use. The three of them got there smoothly. Got on the carriage.
Now the carriage is heading towards the prince's palace.
Xue Si sat on the carpet, holding a cup of milk tea in his hand, and took a sip. He had been hiding in Tibet these days, and he had never lived in peace. He did all the dirty work in the acrobatic troupe, which was equivalent to a handyman.
When they entered the Tang family in Wanghou, they entered through the small door at the back. Tang Wu also covered Xue Si with his robe and let him live in the small courtyard next to the second uncle of the Xie family. He turned around and ran towards On the other side of Uncle Xie, Xie Qingwu followed him, moving lightly.
Tang Wu saw the Xie family's second uncle and his mother drinking tea in the lobby. He ran behind his mother and squeezed her shoulders.
"Qing Wu and I found Xue Si and brought him back. He placed him next to the second uncle's yard." Tang Wu first claimed the credit and then revealed Xue Si's identity.
"Not bad." Xie Wanjun praised. Mother Tang smiled and wiped the sweat from her son's head with a handkerchief, and asked him to sit aside. Xie Qingwu sat next to her second uncle.
The door is wide open and the courtyard is empty, making it perfect for conversation.
"Ahem..." Tang Wu pretended to cough: "I heard from cousin Qingnu that...she is married to Youzhou?"
Xie Wanjun glanced at his niece and took a sip of tea: "There is such a thing, and it is not appropriate to make it public for the time being."
"Oh, oh." Tang Wu shut his mouth tightly and couldn't help but look at A Niang: "Dad and eldest brother, do they know?"
Mother Tang continued to fan her son: "This is nothing for you to worry about."
Tang Wu was anxious: "Do you know or don't you know?" It was really worrying that Aniang was hiding such a big thing that would kill her head from him.
"As long as they know it clearly," Tang's mother said.
Tang Wu opened his mouth wide and couldn't believe it: "Our family is also in the same party as the rebellious ministers? Can dad and the others agree?"
Mother Tang was unhappy and threw the fan on her son: "Speak carefully, what does it mean to be a rebellious minister? Last year, when the Thirteen States Alliance conquered You, you could call Zhou Youzhou a rebellious minister, but after Youzhou's victory, he was no longer a rebellious minister. You’ve rebelled against me!”
"Look at Jiangdong, how many people want to join the ranks of Conglong? The Lian family in Fengzhou has long moved to Guangling, and has been rising steadily. When Fu Nan surrendered directly in Zhejiang and Zhejiang, when the situation was overwhelming, Everyone is fighting for a way to survive, and no one wants to preserve the family."
"The marriage between Qingnu and Mr. Zhou was personally decided by your uncle in Chang'an and Zhou Youzhou in the early years. Now, you should be grateful to your uncle for that decision."
