The heavy snowfall in Hangzhou last winter has already melted. It was early spring in February, and the plowed ground was filled with mud. Wang Jieru needed to jump up and strengthen herself at all times in order not to make loud noises while stalking the boy. When Hai Rui asked the boy his name, Wang Jieru heard that his surname was Ma and his first name was Junxian.
At this time, there was a cold moon like a hook in the sky, and the stars in the sky were rustling in the cold wind. The rolling hills in the distance looked like crouching beasts under the starlight. The sound of the cold wind blowing the dead trees and bamboo branches only added to the tranquility of the dark night.
The Tang River flows quietly in the dark night. Wang Jieru occasionally sees dark boats, but they are moored silently without hearing the sound of oars. Wang Jieru followed Ma Junxian as soon as he left the Yamen. She didn't see anything suspicious about him for the whole day.
After Ma Junxian left the circuit court, he took the petition and went to work in a shop selling preserved fruits. He did not immediately go to Hangzhou Prefecture or Qiantang County to file a complaint. Wang Jieru judged that he must ask the person behind the scenes before he could decide the next step.
Waiting until the sun went down, Wang Jieru saw him saying a few words to the shopkeeper, packing his things, and seemed to be preparing to leave. The shopkeeper took out a small bag, filled some candied fruits and gave them to him. He also gave him a bunch of copper coins and touched his head. Wang Jieru judged that the shop owner was probably a relative or elder of the young man.
After Ma Junxian left the fruit shop, he walked quickly towards Liangzhu Town in the northwest of Hangzhou. I passed by a steamed bun shop on the road and bought several large buns, carrying them in my hands. When Wang Jieru followed him out of the city gate, there were still some pedestrians on the road. When the sky darkened, there were no people or animals left.
Wang Jieru judged that the person behind the scenes was probably in Liangzhu. Sure enough, when he walked to the Tang River, Ma Junxian looked back from time to time, as if to guard against being followed. But the abilities of Ouchi's guards were beyond the boy's imagination. He looked back several times and found nothing unusual.
Wang Jieru judged that the boy's home was nearby, because it was already dark, but the boy was walking very fast. In the dark night, the yellow land reflects the starlight, which looks like a white ribbon to human eyes, but no potholes can be seen clearly. Wang Jieru used Qinggong to avoid disturbing Ma Junxian.
"This child must be able to eat meat regularly at home." Wang Jieru knew that many people who cannot eat meat are prone to night blindness, but this boy was sure that he did not have this problem.
Following him around a river branch, Wang Jieru stopped. Because as far as the eye can see, there is a light like a bean on the Tang River in the distance, and there is a Wu boat parked. That light was coming from the ship. Because in the dark night, the light is very obvious.
When Wang Jieru was following Ma Junxian, she carried a bag containing weapons, night clothes, hooks, long ropes and other tools. When he left Hangzhou City, he had already changed into black clothes. Just then, Ma Junxian turned his head back. The night clothes also served as a cover.
But at this moment, what he saw was a figure wearing a long gown standing under the awning on the deck of Wu's ship. Wang Jieru was afraid of being seen by him, so she hurriedly ducked and hid behind a tree on the roadside. He was afraid that he would not be able to hear their conversation from too far away, so he used the cover of trees to get closer to the ship.
Ma Junxian also saw the light at this time and called out in a low voice: "Is it Mr. Hong?"
The figures on the boat moved, and Wang Jieru heard a cough first. The figure asked: "Is it Chaosheng?" The voice was low, and you couldn't tell how old he was. Ma Junxian said yes, and Wang Jieru estimated that "Chaosheng" should be Ma Junxian's nickname.
Wang Jieru poked her head behind the tree and saw that Ma Junxian had rushed down a path along the river embankment. When he reached the water's edge, he jumped hard and jumped onto the bow of the boat. "Mr. Hong" stretched out his hand to support him.
Before Ma Junxian could speak, Mr. Hong said: "Ahem, you are still so frizzy. It's a slippery slope."
The young man said: "How cold is it on this boat? Sir, he's probably freezing. Why do you have to watch here?"
Mr. Hong said: "It doesn't matter, there is a brazier in the cabin. Ahem, come in and talk about it. Is there anyone following you?"
Ma Junxian said: "No one is following me. I'll leave it to you, Mr. Hai..." Mr. Hong hissed and said, "We'll talk after we go in."
The two of them bent down and entered the low cabin from under the awning. Then there was a "Ziya" sound, and the cabin door was closed.
Wang Jieru stepped out from behind the bushes and said worriedly: "I didn't expect this guy to live on the boat. If I had known, I would have brought water with me."
Although I was worried, I was still a little happy. I didn't expect that the mastermind behind the scenes would be touched by him all of a sudden. Wang Jieru hesitated for a moment, then took off her boots and trousers, packed them in her bag and carried them on her back, then slowly walked down the river embankment with her bare legs.
Against the biting chill, he slowly approached the side of the boat and threw the stone he had just picked up from the roof of the cabin into the middle of the river.
The pebbles were like water, and with a "ripple" sound, the two people in the cabin were alarmed. They opened the window on the side of the river, and then the boat tilted slightly towards the middle of the river - it must have been that both people in the boat had reached the middle of the river. While investigating.
When Wang Jieruguang saw the boat moving, he stopped on the side of the boat, slowly used his arms to pull his body out of the river, and then lay down under the window on the river bank. Although the boat followed him and swung hard to the river bank, the two people in the cabin thought it was caused by their own movement and were unaware of it.
Because his legs were covered with cold river water, he didn't dare to neglect. Slowly unpacking the bag, drying the water with his pants, and quickly put on his clothes and shoes again. Then he took out something similar to a stethoscope from a bag and put it on his ear. The front end of the thing was a trumpet head, which he gently pressed against the bulkhead.
Through this device, the sound in the cabin is reproduced in every detail. Wang Jieru was listening to Mr. Hong: "Go on."
Ma Junxian said: "There was a person beside Mr. Hai who whispered something to him. Mr. Hai said, 'You have met with me, you can go to Hangzhou Prefecture or Qiantang County, it's up to you.' Then I left."
Mr. Hong was silent and coughed occasionally. After a while, Fang said: "Based on my knowledge of Mr. Hai, after hearing what you said, he will definitely not let this case go. The matter is already five or six points away."
Ma Junxian said: "Then I will go to Hangzhou tomorrow?"
Mr. Hong kept silent again, probably thinking non-stop. Wang Jieru waited for a while and listened to Mr. Hong say: "If it's all right, you can go see Zhang Wenxi tomorrow, the imperial censor. I heard that he is patrolling in Hangzhou these days. Just tell the disciples that there are left and right people." If you tell me the secret of the camp, he will definitely meet you."
Wang Jieru was secretly shocked after hearing what Mr. Hong said. Outside the city of Hangzhou, there is a troop stationed on the east and west sides of Hangzhou, called the "East and West Camps". The locals also call them the left and right camps.
If the case reported by Ma Junxian involves the garrison, the level of danger is extraordinary - Governor Wu Shanyan must know about it.
He only hoped that the two people in the cabin would talk more, but he didn't expect that Ma Junxian would obey Mr. Hong's words. He just said "Oh" and agreed: "Well, then I will go tomorrow."
Mr. Hong said: "Do you know where the patrol office is?"
Ma Junxian said: "I'll just go to the city and inquire."
Mr. Hong smiled and said: "Ahem, no need. There is no fixed office for the patrol officer, so he must live in the Yi Zheng Hotel. You can definitely find it if you go there directly."
Wait for Ma Junxian to agree. Mr. Hong asked again: "Have you eaten yet?"
Ma Junxian just remembered and replied: "I bought some steamed buns on the way, and I'm going to eat them now. Have you eaten, sir?" Mr. Hong said: "It's so late, how can I wait for you to come back to eat? I've eaten already. . There is one fish and a bowl of rice left, you go and heat it up..."
Ma Junxian said: "I eat steamed buns." He said to Mr. Hong, "This is the candied fruit that my uncle gave me. Please try it, sir."
Mr. Na Hong sighed and said: "If you take advantage of human affairs, you will suffer the consequences of heaven; if you covet the benefits of the world, you will suffer the loss of your nature. Be careful not to be greedy for the oriole and fall into a deep well, or to throw away the Sui pearl and play it." Birds. If your father wasn't a greedy person, why would you, a good boy at such a young age, have to suffer like this?" After saying that, he coughed several more times.
When Ma Junxian heard what he said about his father's death, he didn't argue and just sighed.
Mr. Hong muttered something, and both of them were speechless.
Wang Jieru was anxiously waiting outside the cabin, thinking that I had been lying there for so long in vain, you two should say more! He was well-educated both internally and externally. He didn't feel cold after putting on his trousers, but he didn't dare to move, but felt uncomfortable all over.
After waiting for two more sticks of incense, it was almost midnight. Those two were like gourds with a saw blade, and they didn't make a sound. After a while, the oil lamp in the cabin also went out, and there was a humming sound in the cabin. It must be that the two of them unpacked their luggage and went to sleep.
Wang Jieru gritted her teeth secretly and had to slowly take off her pants and shoes and prepare to get off the boat. When I was about to take off my clothes, I suddenly heard the sound of paddles in the upper reaches of the Tang River. It must be that a boat was coming down from above.
Wang Jieru was surprised. What was the route of the boat in the middle of the night? He quickly pulled up his pants and put on his shoes. Before he could finish packing, the sound of bowstrings sounded, the light of fire flashed across the river, there were two snaps, and there were rockets nailed to the cabin!
Wang Jieru was frightened. She knew someone was coming to silence them, but she didn't care about disturbing the two of them. She hurriedly kicked on and put on her boots. At this time, the people in the cabin were already alerted by the fire, and Mr. Hong shouted: "Who?" Get up and check.
Seeing that the matter was urgent, Wang Jieru grabbed the window sash on the river bank and broke the wooden pin with one force. She shouted into the cabin: "Don't open the window, they have bows and arrows! Come out from here quickly!"
Mr. Hong, who was standing in front of the window in his underwear and preparing to open it, was shocked when he heard this. When he turned around and saw Wang Jieru, he screamed again in fright. Ma Junxian, who had fallen asleep with his pillow glued to his pillow, also started up.
Wang Jieru shouted: "I am Lord Hai's bodyguard. This child has seen me today. You..."
While he was talking, there was a loud "bang", and the ship from upstream had rammed diagonally into the Wu ship, causing the ship to shake wildly. The two people in the cabin couldn't stand and fell to the ground all of a sudden.
Wang Jieru suddenly poked her head from the side of the cabin, then immediately retracted it. By the firelight on the rocket, she saw three men on the enemy ship who had already hooked the Wu ship's gang with long hooks and were about to jump over. There were two men on the boat holding bows and arrows, standing on the deck.
