The wind came very quickly in the evening, and there was a strong smell of smoke in the air, coming from the south and blowing across Kyoto.
The setting sun has left an afterimage in the west, the clouds that look like fire are gradually fading, and the sky is gradually disappearing into the starry night.
The lanterns on the street were lit up one by one, one by one, and the candlelight was soft. Cars and horses were passing by in front of Dongping University, and people were in a hurry. The shops selling the Four Treasures of the Study had closed early, and there were only a few hotels and tea shops left.
Another sound of horse hooves came quickly.
Zhang Meng rode back on horseback. When he was approaching the door, he was startled and looked at the crowd in front of the gate of Guo Mansion.
There were three or four sedan chairs, two or three carriages, and some people came alone, holding horse ropes and looking towards the gate.
The butler was socializing at the door, along with stones.
Zhang Meng jumped off the horse and led the horse over curiously: "Steward Wen, Shitou."
"I'm back," Shitou said.
"Yeah." Zhang Meng nodded.
The housekeeper glanced at him, but did not pay attention immediately. He continued to say to the middle-aged man in front of him: "...This is really inconvenient. Our young cousin came all the way in a hurry. He contracted a serious illness on the way. It's not that he was not allowed to see him, but that he was not allowed to see him.
You see, this disease is too late, the people sent to tell my old lady have only been away for less than two days."
The middle-aged man smiled and said: "Look, Mr. Shen is not familiar with the place in this capital. Now that he is sick, it is appropriate for my master to come to express his condolences."
"This disease is mainly contagious, so I'm afraid that others will suffer too," the housekeeper sighed and said, "But don't worry, I'll tell Mr. Cousin when I get back. Mr. Cousin is a kind-hearted person. He will definitely be cured in the future.
I will come to visit you."
Zhang Meng withdrew his gaze and looked at Shitou: "You guys are busy, I'll go in first."
Shitou was speechless and couldn't express his pain, so he responded: "Okay."
He also wanted to go in, but he had no choice. He had to bite the bullet and deal with these visitors here with the housekeeper.
Compared with the outside, the inside of the mansion was much quieter. Zhang Meng walked all the way to Wen Dao Residence and could clearly hear the sound of swords and guns gesticulating in the distance.
Dai Yu held a broadsword in his hand and struggled to parry the spear in Shen Lie's hand.
Shen Lie was merciless in his attacks. The spear opened and closed in his hand, sweeping, thrusting, slashing, diagonally and sideways. Every move was smooth and coherent to the extreme.
Dai Yu's hand holding the knife was shocked so many times that it hurt, and the handle of the knife almost came off. He also tried to fight back, but the sword and the spear were inherently inferior in close combat, and he suffered a lot, especially the opponent.
He has mastered the use of spears so well that he can't get any benefits at all.
Feng Ze stood by the weapons rack and watched. Zhang Meng walked over and asked, "How long have you been fighting?"
"More than twenty people came and went." Feng Ze replied without looking away from Shen Lie and Dai Yu.
The two people said it was a competition, but in fact they fought very fiercely. Shen Lie pressed forward step by step and had the potential to force people. Dai Yu did not relax, gritted his teeth and accepted the attacks, and kept looking for opportunities to counterattack.
After dozens more blows, the two finally stopped.
"I can't beat you, I can't beat you," Dai Yu retracted his sword and panted. "The young master's sandbags are not in vain. The bottom plate is becoming more and more stable. I can't keep up with the young master's pace."
Shen Lie's breathing was not much better. He grinned, raised his hand to make a spear gesture, and inserted the spear into the weapon rack.
The servant on the side handed over a handkerchief. Shen Lie took it to wipe his sweat and looked at Zhang Meng: "Have you checked clearly?"
"Yes," Zhang Meng nodded, "it happened during the sacrifice to heaven. The emperor had just arrived to pay his respects, and something happened before the incense could even be offered."
Zhang Meng told Shen Lie roughly what he knew.
Dai Yu and Feng Ze on the side both raised their eyebrows in surprise, surprised that such a thing could happen.
Shen Lie was slightly calm, sitting next to the stone table in the yard, wiping the sweat from his forehead casually, looking up at the night outside the yard, his bright and narrow eyes thoughtful.
The autumn colors are dim, lanterns are hanging all the way outside the courtyard, the moon is peeking out, and a round of white is hanging on the branches.
"Many people died at the scene. The scene was chaotic and crowded. Once they fell, they could hardly get up. They were trampled to death," Zhang Meng said.
"Those who don't know better think that this bird can eat people," Dai Yu snorted, "It's okay to just scare yourself. And when there are more people, there will also be more people who are not smart."
"Say less, this is no small matter." Feng Ze said from the side.
"Tch." Dai Yu hummed in a low voice.
Zhang Meng looked at Shen Lie: "Master, what are you thinking about."
"Nothing." Shen Lie said calmly.
"By the way, there seem to be many people coming to visit outside. Why is the young master missing?" Zhang Meng asked again.
He smiled solemnly, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and said: "I was also curious before about why so many people came, but now I understand."
"Is it related to the incident on Chongtiantai?"
"It's inevitable. It's really hard to be an official in the capital. In the next few days or even months, everyone in the capital will be in danger. They are looking for me now because they want to find my grandfather." Shen Lie said.
However, Shen Lie himself felt uncertain about the months mentioned in the words, because he was not sure whether this big job could last until then.
Shen Xu's letter to him stated that the situation was very serious. Emperor Xuan Yan did not have many troops left, and his territory was being taken over in various parts of the country. This was a foreign invasion.
Internally, the factions are fighting endlessly, various factions are rising one after another, and the overt and covert struggles between ministers, princes, nobles, and aristocratic families who have no titles but are deeply rooted in various places and have been standing for hundreds of years are becoming more and more fierce.
Among them, there are many ministers who are political enemies of each other, and the princes and nobles also look down on each other in various ways. Those aristocratic families may be the ones that Emperor Xuanyan needs to worry about the most, because these aristocratic families are so powerful. , many ministers came from these aristocratic families. At the same time, in order to consolidate the family, they also married the sons, princes and grandsons.
In addition to what Shen Shu said in the letter, Shen Lie also made another discovery, that is, on the way to the capital, they encountered too many scholars gathering together to ridicule the government and make a big show of criticism. Although his voice became less frequent as he got closer to the capital, Emperor Xuan Yan's hands were only so long, and he couldn't stop the mouths of the whole world.
When Zhang Meng heard what Shen Lie said, he nodded and said, "I understand, so the young master keeps these people away."
"I don't like these social events at all," Shen Lie said.
He stood up with his hands on the table, his long body standing tall, and when the evening breeze blew, he was wearing short-sleeved clothes with high spirits, and said: "These black birds don't fly here for no reason. I am the instigator behind this." Thinking of someone."
"Who?" Dai Yu asked.
"We met in Peifeng before," Shen Lie said with a cold smile, "the man who wanted to cause trouble to Zhao Gong and almost caused Peifeng to fall, but ended up running away."
"Li Xiao?!"
"Well," Shen Lie responded, "It's just a guess of mine. It may not be him, but he has the courage and determination to do this."
