As soon as Lian Ji entered Luoyi, she took Li Jiangyao to Zhishanfang, not far from the Imperial City of Dongdu, according to the address in her hand. The two walked into the square gate, passed through three alleys, and found a courtyard door.
"This is it!" Lian Ji seemed a little excited. She pointed at the door and said with a smile, "Look, there is a pair of small wooden fish hanging on it. That is my sister's mark."
Before Li Jiangyao could say anything, she jumped up and ran forward, raising her hand to knock on the door. But after waiting for a long time, no one in the yard answered. Lian Ji couldn't help but be a little surprised, and then softly called her sister a few times, but there was still no reply.
"Maybe your sister is not at home." Li Jiangyao comforted.
Lian Ji felt disappointed: "It shouldn't be. It's broad daylight, how come there's no one at home?"
At this moment, the courtyard door of a nearby house slowly opened with a creaking sound, and an old man in his sixties walked out. Judging from his clothes, the old man is probably the owner of this household. Lian Ji was overjoyed when she saw this. She hurriedly stepped forward and saluted respectfully: "Sir, my family is very polite."
"Oh, you're welcome, girl." The old man returned the gift tremblingly, and at the same time, he bowed his hands to Li Jiangyao who was standing far away: "I wonder if you two have any advice?"
Lian Ji smiled sweetly and asked softly: "Sir, I want to ask you something. Is there a young couple living in the house next to me?"
The old man looked in the direction of her finger, nodded and said, "Oh, yes, yes, they are a couple. This is the official residence of Lord Zhanshi Murong of the East Palace. Who are you?"
"The Nu family is Mrs. Murong's sister."
"Oh, it turns out you are Miss Rui's sister. Tell me, why do you look so similar?" The old man said with a smile on his face, wrinkles all over his face: "Mr. Murong and his wife have no airs, and they usually get along with us neighbors. It's very harmonious. People who don't know about it would never imagine that he is such a big official. Real people don't show their appearance, real people don't show their appearance, hahaha."
Li Jiangyao walked closer, raised his hands and asked, "Old man, why is there no one in Master Zhan's house?"
The old man squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, then explained: "Oh, this official doesn't know something. Recently, Master Murong has been busy with official affairs. Ever since His Highness the Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Capital from Bianzhou, he has been following the Holy Spirit. Jia, I temporarily moved into the imperial city and never came back. A few days ago, the East Palace even sent a team of carriages and horses to pick up Mrs. Rui."
Hearing this, Li Jiangyao nodded and said to Lian Ji: "In that case, let's go back first. According to this old man, if you want to see your sister, you can only go to the imperial city another day to ask someone to tell you. okay."
Lian Ji also felt a little helpless and could only nod in agreement depressedly. She saluted and thanked the old man, and was about to leave when Li Jiangyao suddenly remembered something and asked casually: "Old man, can I tell you the name of Murong Zhan?"
"Ah, you don't know? Isn't he this girl's brother-in-law?" The old man stroked his beard, slightly confused.
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "We haven't seen Sister Rui for a long time. I heard from a fellow villager that she married in Dongdu, so I came all the way from other places to Luoyi to visit, but I haven't had the chance to meet my brother-in-law yet."
The old man did not doubt that he was there, and nodded with a smile: "Oh, that's it. That Lord Murong, his name is just the word snow, the snow of spring and white snow."
Murong Xue? !
Li Jiangyao's heart tightened. It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it? Could it be that they have the same name and surname?
The current situation made him completely unsure whether Murong Xue, the East Palace official, was his good brother Murong Xue.
Returning to the Central Plains this time, the person Li Jiangyao wanted to see the most was Murong Xue. It was only because he had become a traitor that everyone hated that his plans changed, so he decided to wait until the affairs in Luoyi were settled before heading back to the imperial capital to meet his brothers.
Now hearing that familiar name coming from the old man's mouth, Li Jiangyao couldn't help but feel shocked. Xu Youchang once told him that before the Xuanjia Army's forward battalion fled to Western Xinjiang, Murong Xue had been appointed as the commander of the Forbidden Army's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. He was definitely a serious senior officer, and he belonged to the emperor's elite guard force, so his future was limitless.
Therefore, Li Jiangyao was also very puzzled. How could a dignified general of the Forbidden Army be changed to a civilian official in the East Palace? How could he leave the imperial capital and join the prince's family who intended to rebel during such a sensitive period?
This is too magical, and completely unlike Murong Xue and the consistent style of the Murong family behind him.
I guess they happen to have the same name and surname?
Li Jiangyao comforted himself like this in his heart, and accompanied Lian Ji to leave Zhishanfang a little distractedly.
The neighbor's old man had been watching the two of them disappear at the alley. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he hurriedly turned back to his courtyard. As soon as he entered the door, he loudly ordered: "Jiankun, follow me quickly and keep an eye on the man just now." A woman, let’s see what kind of skills they have. You must be careful, that man’s martial arts is extremely high, but don’t let him notice anything. Xiaowu, I will draw their portraits now, you hurry up before dark I sent it outside the city before and handed it over to you personally."
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For two days in a row, Li Jiangyao and Lian Ji were rejected outside the imperial city. The palace gate changed several times, and the guards took several shifts, but as soon as they heard that they were looking for trouble with Murong Zhan, the other party immediately blew their beards, glared, and drove the two of them away.
On the third day, Lian Ji felt that something was wrong, so she secretly left a letter to Li Jiangyao, saying that she was looking for someone to help inquire about her sister, and then left the inn alone.
After reading the letter left by Lian Ji, Li Jiangyao became more and more convinced of his previous judgment: her "benefactor" must be closely related to the prince's people. But this woman was also wary of him, so she went out alone.
In this case, Li Jiangyao didn't worry too much. He was thinking: Xie Guang was born in the military and was one of the most famous generals in the Holy Tang Dynasty. Facing the upcoming civil war, he would most likely go to the front line of Mianchi to take command. Therefore, I will try to go outside to inquire about the news. If I am sure that Xie Guang is not in the city, I will immediately leave for Mianchi and look for an opportunity to assassinate him.
Li Jiangyao packed his bags and put the Xingluo Knife on his back before walking to the door of the inn. Suddenly he saw a young man who looked like a servant, squatting next to the door of the store and calling softly: "Puppy, puppy."
Hearing this voice, Li Jiangyao was slightly startled. "Little Dog" is the nickname Xu Youchang and Murong Xue gave him when they were studying in the imperial capital's martial arts hall. It is inevitable that he will be a little sensitive when he hears it at first.
Li Jiangyao turned his head to look subconsciously and couldn't help but laugh.
It turned out that the boy was teasing a little yellow dog, mumbling to himself. Li Jiangyao shook his head helplessly, cursing Xu Youchang and Murong Xue in his heart for being so boring. They couldn't give themselves any nicknames, but they chose a name that was used so frequently.
He smiled bitterly, raised his hand and tightened the strap of the scabbard, and was about to continue walking forward, when he heard the boy saying to himself again: "You little guy, you are not good at eating anything, but you like to eat bugs." , how about I find you a bookworm to eat?"
Bookworm was Murong Xue's nickname when she was in the martial arts hall.
This time, it is no longer a simple misunderstanding!
Li Jiangyao's heart trembled, and he guessed that the person was definitely unusual. He quickly stopped and turned around to look at the boy, but the boy didn't seem to see him. He continued to talk to himself and picked up the little yellow dog. Go towards Nanshi.
Li Jiangyao looked around and saw that there was nothing unusual around him, then he followed the young man at a short distance and walked south. At the same time, he kept paying attention to the movements around him to see if there were any other suspicious people. Unexpectedly, even as they were about to walk out of the south city gate of Luoyi, nothing happened.
Li Jiangyao thought to himself: It seems that the other party wants to lure me out of the city. No matter what the other party's intentions are, if they leave the densely populated market and ambushes start to attack, wouldn't they be at a disadvantage?
In this world, I am the only one who takes advantage of others, and there is no reason for others to make me suffer. Want to trick me? dream!
As soon as he thought of this, Li Jiangyao suddenly picked up his speed and rushed behind the boy like lightning. He went up and grabbed the key point of the air point on the other's arm.
The young man holding the little yellow dog was startled when the incident happened suddenly. Then he felt that half of his body was sore and numb, and he was completely weak. The arm grabbed by Li Jiangyao was even more painful.
Before he could open his mouth to shout, Li Jiangyao exerted force on his hands again, and said in a deep voice: "Don't bark, or you will lose one of your arms!" After that, he looked at the path, pulled the man and the dog away from the street, and dodged. Entered an alley next to it.
At this time, the boy's face was covered in cold sweat from the pain, and he trembled: "Brother, don't use force, don't force, it hurts so much! You, what are you doing?"
Li Jiangyao had a stern look on his face. He looked around and saw that no one else was around, so he took the time to ask: "Tell me the truth and I can spare your life; but if you dare to tell a lie, I will kill you on the spot!" First question, do you know me?"
"do not know."
"Do you know what puppy and bookworm mean?"
"have no idea."
"Who taught you to say it?"
"Can't talk."
"Who sent you?"
"can not say."
"You can't say it even to death?"
"I'd rather die."
Li Jiangyao stared at the young man fiercely. The man was grinning in pain and his face was distorted, but there was a fierce and determined light in his eyes. Li Jiangyao knew clearly that this was the look of a dead soldier, and he absolutely could not read such a person. He asked if there was any valuable information, so he stopped torturing the other party, nodded and said: "Okay, no matter who sent you here, you go back and tell him that if he wants to see me, he will come at three o'clock tonight , to the Yinma Station ten miles south of the city."
After saying that, he released the boy's pulse, turned around, leaped, and walked away on the wall of the courtyard next to him.
