He rested his head on his arms, looked at the sky, and took another big gulp of wine from the wine gourd.
At this time, night falls.
To the east, south and north, the sky has darkened, and the mountains, rivers, trees, and Yancheng are also hidden in the darkness. Only to the west, although the sunset has set, it unwillingly sheds a ray of light, allowing
The sky shows different colors such as reddish, whitish, and gray.
A cloud fell in the west, all alone.
"When I was in the capital, I was quite talented in martial arts, and I was quite famous among the Jinyi Guards." Yao Qianhu looked at the cloud. When a person is talented, he will inevitably be arrogant, and if he stands out from the crowd, he will inevitably be isolated.
At first, Yao Qianhu was marginalized everywhere when he was in the capital.
His superiors also made fun of him and often assigned him dangerous tasks, plausibly saying: "You are good at martial arts, so of course you have to deal with powerful ones."
Yao Yuan was very depressed when he was working in Jinyiwei and almost left. At this time, Lu Bai's father became Yao Yuan's immediate boss.
Perhaps it was because of Yao Yuan's filter. According to him, although Lu Bai's father was not very talented in martial arts, he was a kind and righteous man, with a big heart and an upright mind.
"Even though he may seem careless, he is actually very attentive. He can tell at a glance that any of his subordinates have troubles in their families or are worried about them, and then they will give generously, spend money when they have the money, and contribute when they have the strength."
Under the leadership of Lu Bai's father, their team became a big family, brothers and relatives. With the encouragement and help of Lu Bai's father, Yao Yuan was no longer isolated, but integrated into the team.
Thinking about it now, Yao Yuan feels that those days were the most comfortable time for him.
"During the battle, we can leave our backs to our brothers with peace of mind, and even die with peace of mind, because we know that your father will arrange everything properly after we die," Yao Yuan said.
Having said that, Yao Yuan felt that if he wanted to talk about death, Lu Bai's father would definitely die first.
"Because your father is a lunatic when he takes action, the kind that doesn't care about life at all." Yao Yuan chuckled, and he told Lu Bai that this was also the reason why his father could be promoted.
It became completely dark.
A burst of mist appeared on the lake, permeating the sky and the earth, lingering around the pavilion, making everything seem like a dream, an illusion, and a mist.
Yao Yuan also mentioned Lu Bai's mother.
Lu Bai's mother was a hunter from the countryside. It was Lu Bai's grandfather who arranged for his father to be a child when he was still alive.
His mother is very tall and has big hands and feet. If she were to learn martial arts, she would definitely be a good fighter.
She speaks in a rough voice, is illiterate, informal, very forthright, and has courage and responsibility.
It seems that no difficulty can trouble her.
"We all respectfully call her sister-in-law."
The reason why Lu Bai's father dared to rush forward and was not afraid of death was because he knew that if he died, his sister-in-law would definitely take care of his affairs.
"Later, your father was appointed to Shuobei City Qianhu because of his qualifications and abilities."
Yao Yuan took a sip of wine.
His eyes were deep and unfocused as he looked into the distance, recalling various times in the past.
"A group of us brothers were practicing for your father at the Sadhuan Tower outside the capital. We left some heroic words, saying that when your father returns in glory, he will be the governor of the town and the commander of the people, and lead us to slay the demons together. Who knows -
—”
Yao Yuan shook his head with a wry smile, "Who knew your father didn't come back in the end."
At that time, the group of men led by Lu Bai's father had spread all over the country.
Even so, because of their previous friendship, they often exchanged letters and their friendship was still there, and Lu Bai's father was the link and center of their connection.
When these brothers learned that Lu Bai's father died in Shuobei City, almost all of them cried. Even those who didn't cry, such as the stubborn Yao Yuan, also burst into tears in their hearts.
After crying, they all wanted to do something for Zi Lubai's father, and nothing could be more worthy of their eldest brother than to raise his descendants. So, these brothers joined forces to rely on their connections and ask for help.
Asking for help, people traced the whereabouts of Lu Bai's mother and her two children.
Lu Bai nodded.
He knew that he had a girl, she was on the memorial tablet at home.
Every year when burning incense, Gu Qinghuan would ask Wang'er to kowtow and kneel before the wooden sign.
"But the news about you is like falling into the sea, and there is no news. The only good news I got is that you mother and son escaped from the Shuobei City Incident - when several people were fleeing, they saw your father personally taking your mother, you brothers and sisters
The city the two of them gave away." Yao Yuan said.
Even so, they tried all their contacts, but still found nothing.
This puzzled them.
Because Lu Bai's father held back the barbarian soldiers for three days and three nights, it was enough for Lu Bai's mother to take the three Lu Bai brothers and sisters to flee south to a safe place.
Did he die in the wilderness, killed by monsters and wild beasts?
Yao Yuan didn't think that because Lu Bai's mother was an Orion, there was no way she would die at the hands of monsters and beasts in the wilderness with so many refugees.
But even if they can't find it, they can only give up.
Just when Yao Yuan and the others were about to give up, a brother's fellow countryman was serving as a guard in Yongle City. He told the brother that the city guards of Yongle City were now killing the refugees who could not escape in Shuobei City, especially the officials of Shuobei City.
The family members would be hacked to death on sight, leaving them beyond recognition.
This made Yao Yuan and others puzzled and even surprised.
There is no doubt that Lu Bai, mother and son are Shuobei City officials.
Based on this, Yao Yuan deduced that if Lu Bai's mother escaped with her two brothers, she might have narrowly escaped death if she met the people in Yongle City, and now she might have become a ghost!
This made Yao Yuan very angry.
His eldest brother fought bravely against the enemy in Shuobei City and gave the people and his family a chance to escape. Now his family may have died at the hands of his own people in Yongle City.
"If this matter is not investigated and brought to light, I will feel uneasy. I feel sorry for my dead brother and sister-in-law!" Yao Yuan said now, his tone still firm.
Yao Yuan had already become deputy 100 households at that time.
That was still the case when there were a lot of talents and masters in the capital, and there were quite a few people who were good at maneuvering.
However, just as Yao Yuan was about to investigate, he received a warning from his superior.
When Yao Yuan insisted on going his own way, his superiors directly sent him to Yancheng and asked him to become a hundred households here.
As for becoming Qianhu now, that is the result of his hard work step by step.
Yao Yuan took another sip of wine and threw it to Lu Bai. Lu Bai raised his head to drink, but saw that the wine gourd had reached the bottom.
Lu Bai couldn't help but sigh that Yao Qianhu could really drink.
His wine gourd can hold a large jar of wine.
"Then, why did the people in Yongle City massacre the refugees? Uncle Yao, have you found out?" Lu Bai asked curiously.
Yao Yuan smiled.
He asked Lu Bai to go back and ask Gu Qinghuan.
"Your aunt actually knows everything." Yao Yuan said.
He seemed to be afraid that Lu Bai would blame Gu Qinghuan, so he explained: "The reason your aunt didn't tell you is because if you didn't have the talent to enter the realm of cultivation within a year, she planned to keep it a secret and not let the world know."
Yao Yuan glanced at Lu Bai again, "I actually knew about your existence a long time ago."
In order not to arouse suspicion, he could only let people protect him secretly.
Lu Bai asked again, "What about my mother?"
Yao Yuan let out a long sigh.
In fact, Yao Yuan didn't need to answer, Lu Bai also knew because it was on the memorial tablet at home.
Since Gu Qinghuan knew everything, she couldn't make a mistake.
But Yao Yuan finally looked at the starry sky and whispered softly: "Your mother is just like your father, she is a hero, a great hero, but it is a pity that your sister is -"
The two stopped talking.
They lay on the thatched roof, looking at the boundless starry sky, watching the twinkling stars, and they felt that the sky was so close, as if the stars were within reach.
When I stood up, I saw the sky above the water.
"What should I do, Admiral?"
Lu Bai finally brought his thoughts back and talked about business.
After all, the admiral was from Dongchang, so it was impossible for him to die so mysteriously.
The higher-ups will definitely send someone to investigate.
If you don't handle even one thing correctly, you will have endless troubles.
This is why Lu Bai never had the idea of killing the admiral.
Yao Yuan sat up and said, "I have already thought about it. The evidence of my crime will be sent to your house tomorrow. At the same time, I will clean up all the admiral's lackeys tonight."
Lu Bai didn't understand, "Yao-Uncle Yao, what do you mean?"
Yao Yuan stood up.
He stood under the starry sky, standing on the starry sky, a gust of wind blew by, stirring his clothes.
"You are a person promoted by the admiral, and you should be his. The admiral is here to investigate smuggled salt. You have found evidence of my crime of selling smuggled salt. You came together today to take me down, but you didn't expect that I had already refined my energy.
Perfection, about to break through and enter the Moving Mountain Realm. I was caught off guard, the admiral was killed by me, and you were seriously injured by me. I thought I had killed you, but I didn't expect you to just fake your death, and you survived by luck."
Yao Yuan seemed to have planned this plan long ago and thought about it many times.
"Now I'm going to kill the admiral's people and destroy the evidence. You go to the city lord's palace to report the crime. Finally, when I tried to kill your aunt, you led people to kill me. I, Yao Yuan, had no choice but to escape, and I haven't been heard from since." Yao Yuan said.
"No, this absolutely won't work!"
Lu Bai shook his head. If this happened, wouldn't he have sold Yao Yuan?
"Besides, I killed Deputy Baihu, and he was also a member of the Admiral. The Admiral probably reported it to the court in the morning——"
Yao Yuan shook his head.
He took out an official letter from his arms and threw it into the lake. "I intercepted this letter a long time ago and asked someone to forge an official letter and send it over. In it, it was mentioned that you are his reliable helper and you have made breakthroughs in spiritual practice."
News about the situation—"
He smiled contemptuously, "This admiral is just a piece of shit. He is being manipulated and doesn't even know it."
"What a pity——"
He shook his head, "It's just such a idiot who spends all his time amassing money for the Holy Spirit, causing widespread resentment among the people."
Yao Yuan turned around, "That's it -"
"no no!"
Lu Bai still refused, not for anything else but for Yao Yuan.
If the admiral's death was reported like this, Yao Yuan would have no place in the Southern Kingdom and would have to live in hiding every day.
Yao Yuan shook his head, "Then you underestimate me. After all, I am also someone who is about to enter the realm of moving mountains."
Lu Bai still shook his head, even this is not good, what if Yao Yuan's family——
"I have no family." Yao Yuan said.
He glanced at Lu Bai and looked at the starry sky in the distance, "You don't have to refuse anymore. In fact, if it weren't for brotherhood, for eldest brother and sister-in-law, and for you, I would have signed up and left long ago."
A gust of wind blew.
The stars are scattered on the lake and the waves are rippling.
Yao Yuan's figure reflected on the lake opened his arms, and his gown was fluttering in the wind.
"I'm not suitable to be an official. After leaving your father, I'm still aloof and unsociable. It's hard and too lazy to mingle with the people below. The reason why I can be a member of the Qianhu household is all because I was lucky and was in the same state when I came to Yancheng.
It was the first rank, and no one in Yancheng had reached the first rank at that time, so I did my best to become a Qianhu."
But after becoming a Qianhu, Yao Yuan fell behind in his practice because he had to deal with too many secular affairs. "It took me almost more than ten years to reach the completion of the Qi refining period."
Lu Bai felt that he was not slow anymore.
Yao Yuan felt very slow.
"I was originally a genius, although I'm still far behind a freak like you, but it took me more than ten years to reach a certain level -" Yao Yuan shook his head with a wry smile.
To him, this is not allowed.
"Taking this opportunity, I can find a pure place to practice in seclusion and stop worrying about worldly matters," Yao Yuan said.
In his opinion, this was a win-win situation, because Lu Bai could take this opportunity to sit in the Qianhu household.
"When my incident happened, Deputy Liu, Qianhu, and others will all be implicated. When the time comes, you will be the only one with the highest level. You said, if you are no longer Qianhu, who will be?" Yao Yuan asked.
"Well."
Lu Bai couldn't close his mouth.
Yao Qianhu is trying to bring down Deputy Liu Qianhu and the others.
Yao Yuan seemed to know what he was thinking, "The private evidence I sent to you is conclusive and there are no loopholes - because those things really exist."
Yao Yuan sighed again.
"Shuobei City, the same yard where Yancheng was responsible for the salt tax, was lost. At that time, the city lord accused Yongle City of sending out city guards to grieve and massacre the people who could not escape in the name of seizing the details. They had ulterior motives, please ask the Holy Spirit to investigate clearly."
Unexpectedly, the then Lord of Yongle City reported to the late emperor that Yongle City sent out city guards to protect the people fleeing south, and that the city guards had fought with the Northern Barbarians who were chasing the people, and suffered heavy losses. But Yancheng, no
Troops were sent to resist, resulting in heavy casualties among the people and huge losses for the Yongle City Guards.
The late emperor at that time was not bad at all. He listened to the Lord of Yongle City and collected a salt tax in Yancheng to compensate for the losses of Yongle City in this battle. At the same time, the Lord of Yongle City used it to resettle the refugees who could not escape.
Lu Bai frowned.
Where did the refugees in Yongle City come from?
Yao Yuan smiled, "Actually, everyone knows that this sum of money was used for the Lu family to build Yiqiu Villa, but who dares to say it? No one dares to say it, not even the late emperor dares to reveal it today."
Lu Bai was stunned.
"Exorbitant taxation is fiercer than tigers, but what can we do, so we came up with the method of private salt to help the people overcome this difficulty." Yao Yuan told Lu Bai that this was the reason for the proliferation of private salt in Yancheng.
Lu Bai nodded and suddenly said: "Is the city lord among them?"
Without the tacit consent of the city lord, the Jin Yiwei alone would not be able to be so arrogant.
Yao Yuan gave an ambiguous answer: "Who knows."
Anyway, the evidence he gave Lu Bai only implicated Jin Yiwei.
"That's it. It's settled. The vengeance of your parents, your sister, the Lord of Shuobei City, and the people of Shuobei City are still waiting for you to avenge. You need the position of Qianhu even more." Yao Yuan patted Lu Bai on the shoulder.
He chuckled, "If your father knew you were such a genius, he would definitely laugh happily in his grave."