The lady in charge felt something was wrong and sent the boy to the Taoist temple on the mountain, saying, "Go and see if Madam has arrived? If she does, ask if there is anything missing. Remember it clearly and come back to me."
The two boys rode horses to the Taoist temple on the mountain. When they came back, it was already noon. They banged on the door and replied breathlessly: "Mother Lin, when we went to the Taoist temple to ask, we found out that Mrs. Lin didn't go up the mountain at all. She didn't go there. Taoist temple."
When the housekeeper heard this, her legs were so frightened that her legs were weak, her face was like gold paper, and she was breathing in and out: "Oh no, no, no..." After a few words, she seemed to be about to faint.
Everyone was busy pouring cold water on people and pinching people. It took a long time for the old lady to wake up slowly and related the strange things in the house. She said: "Oh no, Madam left on her own. All she took with her were Jiang. People from Jiangzhou, and the guards are also from Jiangzhou. Why was I so confused and didn’t send the guards from the mansion to follow?"
However, she did not expect that Lin Rong would go to Xuzhou at this time. She just thought that the neglected Junhou's wife could not bear it anymore and went to chase Junhou.
The old woman slapped her thigh, stood up, and scolded: "Why are you all crowding around me? Go and report to Mr. Yang and General Zhao, saying that Mrs. Junhou ran away without authorization and went to who knows where."
Added another sentence: "I'm probably going to Qingzhou to look for the king."
Chapter 43
When the servants of Jiedushi's mansion went to report to the governor Yang Bofu, he was leading people in the fields to sort out the land and mountains. After hearing the news, he pondered: "Going after the prince? I'm afraid it may not be possible!"
After summoning the guards at the city gates for questioning, they found out that the lady of the monarch had gone from the south of the city gate to the south of Jiangzhou. She secretly made a sound and immediately ordered the guard Zhao Menghuai to chase her.
There is a distance of seventy or eighty miles from the city gate to the ferry. Lin Rong set out early in the morning and saw the ferry boat from a distance at noon. Suddenly he heard the sound of galloping horse hooves, and behind him, a guard quickly rode up to the car and dismounted to report: "Report! County Lord, two miles behind the convoy, a large number of soldiers are chasing after them. Listening to the sound of horse hooves, I am afraid there are as many as three or four thousand, all wearing Yongzhou uniforms."
Lin Rong opened the car curtain and looked back. He saw a large group of people chasing after him. He immediately darkened his face and said, "Stop the car and order the leader to come forward and speak."
But within a moment, a young man in black and bright armor, about 20 years old, rushed to the carriage with eight treasures and pearls on it. Without dismounting, he asked, "May I ask, Madam, where are you driving to?"
Lin Rong didn't answer, and slowly opened the car curtain. His face was as cold as frost, and his beautiful eyes were full of anger. He glanced at it for a few times, and then said: "Who are you? Why are you blocking my way?"
The young general was startled when he saw the woman in the car lift the curtain and reveal her stunning look. He was struck by her appearance. After a while, he got off his horse and said, "I'm humble, Zhao Menghuai. I'd like to pay my respects to my wife."
Lin Rong snorted coldly: "Greetings? You brought a large number of soldiers and came quickly, stirring up loess all over the sky. I'm afraid when the world saw it, they thought it was to apprehend the criminals, rather than to meet the mistress. Besides, you are Foreign Minister, I am a member of the household, so why should you come to see me alone?"
The woman's tone was not harsh, but soft but powerful. Zhao Menghuai didn't know how to answer every word she spoke. No matter what happens to this noble girl from Jiangzhou, she will always be the wife of the king and the mistress of Yongzhou. She, a junior lieutenant from the Han tribe, must never humiliate her.
Besides, when I was drinking with Guo Yin a few days ago, the black guy committed some crime, so he got twenty military sticks and lay down for a day before he recovered. When asked what crime he had committed, he did not say anything, and finally advised in a mysterious manner: "Brother, listen to my advice. When you see this noble girl from Jiangzhou in the future, you must be more respectful. Don't be disrespectful and offend. In the past, there was no such thing as a real man marrying a wife. You must not mention words like this again. The Lord is now very interested in the person from Jiangzhou."
Zhao Menghuai raised his glass and said suspiciously: "You are interested? If you were interested, how could you not ask her to go with you to Qingzhou? Even if you don't go to Qingzhou, you should go back to Yongzhou?"
The black guy Guo Yin realized that he had made a mistake, so he immediately leaned over the food and wine, pretending to be drunk: "Drunk, drunk... what I just said was all drunken talk..."
Thinking of this, Zhao Menghuai hurriedly handed over his hands: "Please forgive me, madam. I don't mean to offend you because of my humble position. It's just that my wife set off from Xuanzhou in a hurry, without escorting the army, and she didn't leave even a few words. Since I am humble enough to guard Xuanzhou, my wife's safety is not in danger." It’s a humble duty.”
Lin Rong's face brightened slightly and he smiled: "I see, I made the mistake of blaming the general. But you don't have to worry. There are one or two hundred escorts on board the boat to send gifts from Jiangzhou. They will escort me to Xuzhou. They are all Yongzhou troops all the way." The territory under our jurisdiction is more than enough."
Not going back to Jiangzhou? Zhao Menghuai was a little relieved: "Although this road is under my jurisdiction in Yongzhou, there may be some rogue bandits. I wonder what important matters Madam has, and she wants to go there in person? It is better to leave it to my subordinates to save Madam the hard work. "
Lin Rong took out a letter and smiled: "Serving my uncle is not something that a general can do for me. The old lady wrote a letter and ordered me to serve in Xuzhou. How could I not go? Your lord is here. , and there is no reason to disobey your elders. But I forgot something and didn’t ask anyone to inform you and Mr. Yang, which made you worry. "
Zhao Menghuai raised his head slightly and saw an envelope with a plum blossom pattern in the woman's hand. She had no intention of handing it to him for inspection. This is the Lord's family matter, and the letter is not something he can read due to his status.
Seeing that Zhao Menghuai was still hesitant, Lin Rong smiled and took off a white jade token from his waist: "Junhou, he has already agreed to it. Give me this token and transfer the Chinese army to guard it. I am the only one." How can you, a woman, mobilize soldiers at will because of my affairs?"
If a maid brought the white jade token to Zhao Menghuai, Zhao Menghuai took it and looked at it carefully. He had been Lu Shen's personal guard, so he naturally recognized this private token and returned it respectfully: "My lady, I'm sorry. Madam Guan’s safety is in danger, so I have to be careful in my humble position.”
Lin Rong was still smiling, but his tone was quite impatient: "It's getting late, can I set off, General Zhao?"
At this point, Zhao Menghuai had no reason to stop him, but he was not stupid after all: "Madam, how can you only take one or two hundred people with you when traveling? Madam is the wife of a prince, and she should be polite and clear the way, no matter how much she saves. , it is always necessary to have a thousand people accompanying you.”
Lin Rong pondered for a while and finally said: "Okay, you are thoughtful. But I am in a hurry to set off, so you just order the thousand people to follow my boat." After that, he lowered the car curtain.
Zhao Menghuai personally sent Lin Rong to the ship again. Most of the guards on the ship were replaced by soldiers from Yongzhou. He also ordered a highly trustworthy person to go with the ship. He explained in detail: "I will immediately send a fast horse to the old lady Xuzhougu." , as soon as I get the news, I will immediately fly a pigeon to pass the message to you. You must be cautious along the way. If there is anything that you cannot make the decision, you will immediately report it to me on a flying horse."
The lieutenant general was a smart man and immediately handed over his hand: "Yes, general, I will escort my wife to Xuzhou for my humble position." The word "Xuzhou" was emphasized, it was just Xuzhou, not somewhere else.
Then he went back to report to the county governor Yang Bofu. He looked around the government office but found no one. After asking the scribe, he found out that he had gone to measure the land and had not returned yet.
Zhao Menghuai rode away and ran twenty or thirty miles outside the city before he found Yang Bofu with muddy feet in a rice field: "Master Yang, how can you still stay here? Madam's courtesy Have you already gone to Xuzhou?”
Yang Bofu was wearing coarse cloth clothes and a bamboo hat on his head. He looked like an old farmer. He walked to the ditch and washed off the muddy water on it. He said, "Didn't I order you to stop me?"
When Zhao Menghuai saw him sitting leisurely by the ditch, scooping water and cleaning his hands, he was so anxious that he threw down his riding whip: "How could I stop her? She is the mistress. Wherever she goes, I can only escort her. What's more, I beat the old lady again." flag."
Yang Bofu put on his boots slowly and held a handful of new rice in his hand: "This year's harvest is good!"
On the other hand, he said slowly: "My wife is going to Xuzhou, and she will go as she goes. You and I are only responsible for guarding her, and we are not confining her here."
He was a person who hated evil, and because of the Jiangzhou guards' torture and murder of the singer, he thought Lin Rong was shielding and protecting her, and he had a deep prejudice against this Jiangzhou noblewoman. This person is no longer in front of him, so he is naturally happy to see it happen.
After Yang Bofu finished speaking, he put the handful of new rice in his cloth bag and said, "This is the first crop of new rice this year. Go back and give it to Yun Niang to make porridge." Yun Niang was the sister-in-law with whom he had an affair. These two people were incompatible with each other in the world. Lu Shen, alone, took pity on Yang Bofu's talent and only treated him according to his talents.
Zhao Menghuai frowned: "Then how should I explain it to my lord?"
Yang Bofu thought for a while: "I will write a letter immediately, rush to Qingzhou, and report to the prince. If the prince wants to blame, it is not your turn. I am in front. You and I have an army and a government, and the prince orders you. I am not in Xuanzhou just to look after the family and the hospital. I have already made a military order and will raise 400,000 dan of food and grass in Xuanzhou next year. You should also think about how to train 100,000 elite soldiers."
…
The brothers in Qingzhou were fighting against each other, and when Lu Shen was in Xuanzhou, the two men were inseparable from each other. Although the urgent letters came one after another, they were not in a hurry to march. It was a pity that the youngest son was incompetent, and he was only three years old. On the fifth day, they were beaten and retreated. They abandoned their helmets and armor and fled the city.
Before Yongzhou's tens of thousands of troops arrived in Qingzhou, they saw the unbeatable legitimate son. He called hundreds of personal guards to come and ask for help. He knelt in front of Lu Shen's horse and handed over a letter of surrender with a look of embarrassment on his face: "Qingzhou Luo Yun, I am willing to surrender to the throne!"
Lu Shen received the letter in the military tent, circulated it around, and immediately ordered three thousand Qingqi to clear the way. He had great righteousness and reputation, and had the right time, place, and people. Within ten days, he broke out of the city and took over all the land in Qingzhou. In the bag.
On this day, Lu Shen hosted a banquet in the government office for local wealthy families in Qingzhou, either to win over or to suppress them. He raised his glass and said: "Luo Jimou rebelled against his superiors, and also killed his hands and feet with axes and axes. The superiors did not respect the court, and the subordinates did not love the people. They regarded the civil and military officials of Qingzhou as domestic servants. The people of Qingzhou are nothing but fish. If such sinners are not punished with lingchi, the people will not be angry. Qingzhou has been the land of Yan and Zhao since ancient times. There are many generous people and far-sighted people. I have admired them for a long time. Please drink this cup to the full."
In ancient wars, if too many soldiers were lost, it was common to massacre the city. Moreover, this Yongzhou shepherd had already had a precedent of killing and surrendering. Seeing him speaking so kindly, everyone was trembling and did not dare to say a word.
After a long time, the banquet was over and the singing and playing had stopped. Lu Shen walked slowly to the study and said to De Gong: "There are very few civil servants in Qingzhou who have character. There are only two military generals who are worthy of their attention."
Virtue Gong then said: "My lord, there are no people who can catch my eye. I'm afraid these two people are new ministers and cannot be reused."
Lu Shen waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, the suspect also needs to be used. I'm going to use these two people, but it's just a letter."
…
When Yang Bofu's four-hundred-mile parcel was urgently delivered, it was in the middle of the night with heavy rain. Shen Yanben had already fallen asleep. He asked the soldier who was delivering the message outside to wake him up. He turned over and sat up and asked, "What's the matter?"
The man said outside the door: "It's four hundred miles from Xuanzhou, hurry up!"
Shen Yan paused and asked through the door: "Is this a letter from Madam?"
Someone replied from outside: "It's a letter from Lord Yang, the governor of the county!" Shen Yan frowned and stood up to put on his clothes. He didn't dare to delay such a thing, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier. He put on his oil coat, carried a lantern, and walked slowly to Lu Shen's study.
Now that Shen Yan is older and has been released on errands, he has chosen a new boy who can easily walk in the inner courtyard to serve him in daily life. When he arrived at the study, most of his body was already soaked. He stood on the corridor and twisted his clothes while fluttering his sleeves, and said: There is no inner courtyard nowadays. The child's efforts to adjust the rules for a long time were all in vain.
The boy, eleven or twelve years old, was taking a nap against the door. When he saw Shen Yan coming, he quickly wiped his face and cheered up. Shen Yan pointed inside and asked, "How is my lord?"
The child shook his head: "I didn't sleep!" He added: "After sleeping for an hour, I couldn't sleep much anymore."
Shen Yan quietly walked in. There was only one lamp in the room. Next to the lamp, Lu Shen was leaning on the kang, leaning on the brocade pier, holding a book in his hand.
Seeing him come in, Lu Shen put down his book and asked, "What's the matter?"
Shen Yan sent a letter: "Your Majesty, this is an urgent letter from Xuanzhou!"
Lu Shen stopped flipping the book, lowered his eyes, and after a long moment, he snorted and said, "If you don't want to read it, take it out and burn it. Don't give it away again in the future."
Shen Yan secretly said something bad, he was so sleepy that he couldn't explain clearly, so that Junhou would get the wrong idea, but he didn't dare to actually burn the letter, so he stood there and reminded him: "Junhou, it's the governor of the county, Yang Bofu, and Mr. Yang's four-hundred-mile rush."
Shen Yan lowered his head, only to feel two cold rays of light coming from above his head, and as if an ice knife had crossed his neck. He shivered. After an unknown period of time, he listened to Lu Shen's command: "Bring it up."
Lu Shenjie sent a letter, reporting some government affairs in the first few pages, which was quite normal.
By the end of reading, Lu Shen's face was so gloomy that water dripped from his face, and he gritted his teeth and spit out two words: "Presumptuous!"
Chapter 44
The boy opened the door and came in to serve tea. He was holding a white tureen in his hand. He was young, sleepy and tired. He was confused when he heard the word "unbridled" in Lu Shen's angry sentence. Who was he talking about? He was so frightened that his hand slipped, and with a crash, a cup of tea suddenly fell to the ground. He knelt on the ground to collect the broken porcelain pieces, and tremblingly apologized: "The villain deserves to die, the villain deserves to die, please forgive me."
Unexpectedly, even after kneeling for a long time and still not seeing the Lord speak, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Really unable to bear it, I raised my head slightly and saw Junhou holding the letter in his hand and looking at the small oil lamp on the Kang table with a gloomy expression. I don't know what he was thinking. He raised his head to look at Shen Yan again and saw that he was bowing his head. He waved his hand slightly without looking away and whispered: "Get out!"
The boy, as if he had received amnesty, took a few steps back on his knees and immediately exited the door.
Serve your great aunt? How dare that woman tell such a lie!
As my aunt grew older, she became more and more quiet, impatient to socialize with others, and didn't like to have her younger generation around her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have meditated in a Taoist temple for several years, so how could she be sent to serve in Xuzhou?
How dare this woman leave Xuanzhou without authorization and use her own private orders? Heading towards Xuzhou, and then down the river, you will find Yuzhou and Jiangzhou... The rebellion in Yuzhou is not over yet, and civil unrest is spreading in Jiangzhou. If anything happens, Lu Shen will make everyone in the world laugh at him, including his own family members. Can't restrain it? That Zhao Menghuai was also extremely stupid. He asked her a few words and then coaxed her over with clever words!
Thinking like this, I snorted coldly in my heart. That woman, relying on her good looks, was always a clever talker, and... she was also very good at deceiving people!
Suddenly, Lu Shen stood up and walked to the window. He saw that it was pitch dark outside and the wind and rain were blowing heavily. He counted the days and found that it had been a month since he arrived in Qingzhou. The woman had been gone for more than half a month and she didn't know where she was. He ordered: "Immediately send an order to Cui family to return to Xuanzhou immediately without delay." After a pause, he added: "Ask Zhao Menghuai to personally lead the troops to pick him up."
Shen Yan accepted the order, made a promise, and went out to write a document with a seal. Unexpectedly, he had just sealed it with fire paint and was about to go out when he saw another ordering soldier coming from the Chuihua Gate: "Urgent report from Xuanzhou!"
Shen Yan took it and saw that the date on the envelope was only three days from the last one. He was surprised and suspicious for a moment. He hurriedly opened the door and went in. He saw Lu Shen still standing in front of the window with his hands folded, his left shoulder already wet from the rain and mist that came in. Most of them said: "Your Majesty, there is another letter from Xuanzhou."
Lu Shen didn't look back and said, "Read it!"
Shen Yan had no choice but to take it apart and read slowly: "Junhou Junjian, I escorted my wife to go south to Xuzhou, and was delayed for half a month at Bomen Ferry. I tried to persuade her many times, but my wife did not go south to Xuzhou because of her illness. Return to Xuanzhou..."
How sick? Lu Shen remembered that when she first arrived in Xuanzhou, the woman always looked sick. She frowned and was about to ask what illness she had when she heard Shen Yan continue to read: "September On the 29th, my wife disembarked from the boat to worship Duke Pei. On the 30th, my wife climbed the Xuanyinbi Sky Ladder. On October 2nd, I took a boat over Xuanyinbi and visited Yuntai Waterfall. On October 3rd, I went to Yanhu Lake to recover from my fatigue. For this reason, I rested on the painting boat. On October 5th..."
The more Shen Yan thought about it, the softer his voice became. He looked up and saw that Lu Shen's face was very ugly. He didn't know whether he was angry or angry, but he was faintly turning green.
The scenery of Bomendu is unparalleled in the world, and the mountains on which the Xuanyin Wall rests are all strange, dangerous, smart and clever. Because of Pei Linggong's fame, talented people from all over the world flocked to him, leaving behind some historical sites, steles, inscriptions and stone carvings.
The more Lu Shen listened, the more solemn his face became, and he thought to himself: "This woman has made such a big mistake. Instead of being cautious and meditating on her past, she is in the mood to visit around, such as the Tianlai, Xuanyin Wall, and Yuntai Waterfall. She is so excited!"
When he heard the words "resting on the painting boat", Lu Shen sneered and interrupted: "No need to read, go out and send an order, ask Zhao Menghuai to personally lead three thousand soldiers and escort Cui back to Xuanzhou... "
Before he finished speaking, he changed his mind: "Take her to...take her to Qingzhou. I will personally send this woman to her. She will arrive within ten days. She will receive one hundred military sticks one day late and two hundred military sticks two days late." You don’t have to come back to see me in three days.”
Speaking of this, Lin Rong sailed 200 miles down the river, and the south wind happened to blow, filling the sails. In just two days, he arrived at Bomendu. After a little inquiry, he found out where Pei Linggong's mausoleum was.
The lieutenant general obeyed the instructions and headed for Xuzhou. He didn't agree with the rash stop on the way. After a long discussion, he asked Lin Rong to dismiss it slowly: "Pei Linggong and the Lu family have an old relationship, and the old lady is already in her seventies. , and even traveled hundreds of miles to pay homage. As a junior, I passed by without paying homage. How could I have such etiquette?"
A group of people disembarked from the boat, changed carriages and horses, set up their ceremonial guards, and meandered all the way up the mountain to Pei Linggong's mausoleum. As soon as they reached the halfway point of the mountain, they saw an official in green robe chasing after him on horseback, kneeling in front of the carriage to salute. "I, the magistrate of Bomen County, Xu Youya, paid homage to Madam Junhou. I didn't know that Madam was coming from afar, so I couldn't kneel down to greet her. Please forgive me, Madam."
Lin Rong was impatient to deal with these people, so he heard that he was the county magistrate of this place, and asked through the curtain: "Master Xu, please get up! I only heard that Pei Linggong's tomb is here, so I stopped the boat and docked, thinking of paying homage. Ichiban.”
The county magistrate stood up and bowed in front of the carriage: "Madam is interested, but there is a lot of incense in Pei Linggong's mausoleum, and there are many people worshiping. I will go first, splash water to clear the path, screen out the outsiders, and wait for Madam."
Lin Rong stopped him: "Master Xu, I didn't send someone to summon you because I just wanted to avoid disturbing the place. Splashing water to clear the way and keep out outsiders has lost my original intention, so there's no need for it."
The county magistrate, who was in his thirties, said so, and did not flatter anyone. He just rode behind Lin Rong's carriage as if to escort him.
After turning a mountain road, not long after, a very majestic stone wall appeared in front of us. It was broad and boundless, as if the entire mountain was being split open, and it was smooth and flat, shining brightly in the sunlight. Not only Lin Rong, but also the girls Jingqin and Fengxiao also exclaimed: "I'm afraid that most of the mountain must have been chiseled before this stone wall was chiseled out."
Lin Rong got off the carriage and saw that there was a very wide marble platform in front of the tomb. There were no stone statues of Weng Zhong, stone horses, lions, and unicorns on both sides of the corridor in front of the tomb. The county magistrate stood by and explained: "Madam, this side The stone wall is called Xuanyin Wall. It was built under the guidance of Master Xuanmiao, who hollowed out half of the mountain and recruited 300,000 civilians. It took twenty years to build. Pei Linggong took charge of Heluo when he was thirty years old. Two years later, Then we started building the Xuanyin Wall, and when it was completed, it was already fifty-five years old."
