The sky is dark and the earth is dark, like night.
Rain in summer is like this. One moment it was sunny and bright, then suddenly there were dark clouds rolling in, thunder and lightning and strong winds, and then there was heavy rain.
In the southeast corner of Guangde Square, in the small courtyard newly given by Huaiyi, Huaiyu was taking Runniang, Wu Junya, Chen Xing, and Uncle Qian to help Huaiyi clean up the yard and give him gifts.
Bring some new pots and bowls as gifts for moving into your new home.
The sudden heavy rain made everyone quickly close the doors and windows.
Runniang lit candles in the hall and made tea for everyone.
Although Huaiyi's courtyard is only four acres, one acre smaller than Huaiyu's, it has two front and back entrances. There is no middle courtyard. There is a side yard stable in the front courtyard and backyard. The front and back yards are actually larger than Huaiyu's. The front courtyard
There is even a small pond and pavilion.
Fatty Wu was very envious of Huaiyi. He had been an official for ten years, but he still only joined the army from the eighth rank of Right Guard Kai Cao. Huaiyi succeeded his father in the Forbidden Army. In the second month, he was awarded the ninth rank for meritorious service, and then took ten days off.
, and was promoted from the eighth level to the San level.
Ten years of work is no better than two months of work.
The rain comes as soon as it comes.
"Forget it, go back. The fire has been controlled and will not spread to others." With the efforts of the neighbors, the fire was controlled and no longer spread, but Xue Wanche's house, which covers an area of dozens of acres, would probably not spread.
What's left.
Everyone was trying their best to get water to put out the fire, and many villagers had already begun to pull down the houses next to them to prevent the fire from spreading and involving more houses.
"It may not be the Xue family." Huaiyi didn't think much about it, "Let's put out the fire first and then talk about it."
Immediately afterwards, a group of people jumped down from the wall. They all had their faces covered and were dressed in black. The leader was holding a cutting sword.
Huaiyu stretched out his hand to hold down his brother's hand that was about to touch the knife, unable to act impulsively.
"I didn't expect that Xue Wanche would live here in Guangdefang. It's unlucky."
"Is Shengguang Temple next door to you?"
"The one on the north side of the street was burned first, the Xue house next to the neighbor."
At this moment, something unexpected happened.
At this time, a series of arrows were fired again, and several of Xue's followers were shot down.
"Go put out the fire!" Huaiyi stood up.
"This Xue family is really amazing. Now Xue Wanshu and Xue Wanche are both county dukes, while Wanshu and Wanjun are all county dukes. There are four dukes in one family, and all the families are equipped with halberds. Now everyone in Chang'an says that their family is called Xue Siji
Home!"
Huaiyi stared at Xue Wanche with an unkind look.
Huaiyu persuaded Huaiyi: "Today is a good day, let alone those unlucky people. So what about the four halberds of the Xue family brothers? Our Wu family is also the three-halberd Wu family, not to mention that we have a duke in our family, they are just
They are just two county princes and two county princes. Besides, when the Xue brothers and their father fought against Dou Jiande, they led an army of tens of thousands, but Dou Jiande led a surprise attack with hundreds of dead soldiers and the entire army was defeated. Xue Shixiong was killed.
The Xue brothers escaped without even protecting their own father."
"It's far away from us, so you don't have to worry too much about the fire coming here. It's just that the fire started a little strange. Brother, do you think if we go there now, will people suspect that we set the fire? After all, what if
It's Xue Wanche's house that's on fire. We have a problem with him and might be considered suspicious. Let's go slowly so that we don't have to explain it clearly." Huaiyu reminded.
The entire Guangde Square covers an area of 1,000 acres, with 16 sections, each of which is about 60 acres. The north and south of the square are just over a mile long, and the distance from Huaiyi's house to Xue Wanche's residence is less than a hundred feet, with two roads passing through it.
You can reach it by crossing the street, or you can follow the canal to reach it.
But for example, among the seven brothers of the Xue family, four of them were granted the title of Duke. Indeed, the eldest brother Xue Wanshu was only forty years old, and Xue Wanche was only in his twenties. The other three brothers who were not granted the title of Duke were also
Because he is still young, he is already working as a guard in Sanwei.
Seeing that the newly given house was already burned to ashes, and listening to the pointing fingers of the people around him, Xue Wanche turned around and left with a snort. Buqu brought the horse, and Xue Wanche got on the horse and left with some servants.
Huaiyu asked Runniang and Aunt Qian to stay at home. He, Huaiyi, and Fatty Wu went over, and specifically asked Chen Xing to stay at home to take care of them. Although they were separated by at least two streets, they didn't see each other.
The principle of death without saving.
Fatty also knew about the feud between Huaiyi and Xue Wanche.
"Later they defected to Luo Yi and returned to the Tang Dynasty. During the Battle of Hebei, the Xue brothers were known to be brave, but they were captured by the Hebei army and had their heads shaved. What was there to be proud of?"
The masked man quickly rushed forward to stop Xue Wanche with a knife in both hands, and struck a thousand pieces with his sword. Xue Wanche was still dodging arrows after being injured by the surprise attack, and the big knife came close.
The fat man was talking about the efficacious Guanyin in Shengguang Temple, and suddenly Huaiyi pointed to the north and said, "Look, the fireworks."
It was astonishing to see the fire rising to the sky from a distance. Huaiyu felt that it was not like an accidental fire, otherwise it would not have spread so fast and so fiercely.
Huaiyi was angry when he heard this reputation, "Brother, are you serious about what you said?"
"Be bold!"
Huaiyi's courtyard is in the southwest corner of Guangde Square, which is the lower left corner. The north of the west gate is the second north of the four blocks against the west wall of the square. It is separated from Huaiyi by the west gate.
to the south.
"Where's the fire?"
When they rushed to Dongxi Street, there were already many people on the scene who came to help, and the fire was extremely intense.
"Have you heard that His Highness the Crown Prince gave Xue Wanche a mansion, which is also located in Guangde Square?" said Fatty Wu.
"I am joining the army as Kai Cao in the right guard. Xue Wanche's eldest brother Wan Shu has just been transferred from the left guard to serve as a general in our right guard."
"The heavy rain has just stopped, how can there still be a fire?"
"I heard it is, but I've never been there. Why don't you go and have a look soon and offer incense to the Bodhisattva? After all, we will be neighbors from now on." Huaiyi said.
The sword has a long handle and a long blade, it can be more than five feet long, and it can reach chin height when leaning on the ground.
"The prince just gave this house to Wu'an County Duke Xue Wanche, but it caught on fire today. It started suddenly and spread quickly."
His house was built as Shengguang Temple by Yang Jian to King Yang Xiu of Shu. More than 60 monks were moved to live in the temple. The temple also enshrined the ink jade Guanyin.
"Xue Wanshu transferred you to the right guard and specially talked to me. He said that Wanche and you were each his own master at that time and were not enemies. Now they are all loyal to the new prince. He also said that he would send someone to the house to deliver gifts to accompany the crime."
When Xue Wanche was riding his horse and was passing by the corner of the street to go to the west gate, suddenly several sharp arrows were shot from behind the square wall.
Reacting in time, he quickly ducked down and dodged the next few arrows.
There is a cross street in Guangde Square leading to the four square gates, which divides the square into four large blocks, and each block is divided into four small cross streets. The entire square is actually planned into sixteen districts.
A cold light flashed.
"Where is Xue Wanche's house in the square?"
Shengguang Temple in Guangdefang is still very popular.
The head of Xue Wanjun's Kangju Dawan horse, which was worth hundreds of dollars, fell directly to the ground, and blood splattered on it.
"North of the West Gate."
There are many people in Chang'an who have one sect, two dukes and three dukes. For example, the brothers An Xinggui are both dukes of the country, and the three brothers of the Wu family are both dukes of the country and dukes of the county.
"The Xue brothers both have mansions in Chang'an. Xue Wanche may not come to live in the Guangdefang mansion."
But stop when you say stop.
There are many Buddhist and Taoist temples in Chang'an City. It is said that there are hundreds of large and small temples. The big ones occupy one square, and the small ones are everywhere. Basically, there are temples in every square.
"Huh!" Huaiyi was very angry. If he really wanted to apologize, he would come to the door himself instead of sending someone to do it.
However, before it could be implemented, the Xuanwu Gate Incident occurred, and the matter was suspended.
After the rain, the air was fresh and very cool. Everyone blew off the lights and went to the porch to enjoy the breeze.
Xue Wanche actually had seven brothers, five of whom were legitimate sons. Wanshu was the eldest son of a concubine. In the late Sui Dynasty, he served as the Shaoqing of the guard of Yang Tong, the king of Yue. After Li Shimin captured Luoyang, he came to the Tang Dynasty and served in Jiancheng. He was awarded the title of Prince Zhai Commander and moved to Youhou Wuhou.
After being promoted to General Shi, he was promoted to General Zuoweilang. Now he was granted the title of General Youweilang and was granted the title of County Duke.
Although it is quite close, there are strict restrictions on the construction of houses in Chang'an, and they are not allowed to be built very high, so Xue's house cannot be seen in the courtyard.
The four brothers of the Xue family are difficult to fight. No matter what the reason is, the new prince is trying to win over the four brothers. The Xue family of Siji is indeed famous, but Huaiyu will definitely help the brothers.
"Maybe there was a fire in Xue Gounu's house. Let's take a look."
From a distance, Huaiyi saw Xue Wanche. He was looking a little embarrassed, his face was ashen, and he was shouting at his servants to wait for the fire to be put out. This was the first time he came to the newly-given house today, and it caught fire.
The clouds collect and the rain stops, and the light shines again.
Everyone felt strange. It would be normal for a fire to happen accidentally when the weather was dry, but it had just rained so heavily. How could there be a fire and why the fireworks were so big?
The difference is not that far apart, especially since the Yong'an Canal flows through the house from the south to the west. The previous owner of Huaiyi's house once diverted the water from the canal into the house through the courtyard wall, into the small lotus pond, and then again
When it leaves the house through the wall and flows into the canal, the water from the canal passes behind Xue Wanche's house.
Just in the direction where they were talking about Xue Wanche's conferment, a large plume of thick smoke rose, and there were flames shooting into the sky.
Not only did he feel unlucky, but he also had a vague feeling that this incident was not an accident.
There was the sound of gongs and drums. It was the villagers who discovered the fire and beat the gongs to call for help.
For example, in Guangde Square, the southeast corner is Yongzhou Yamen, the southwest corner is Shengguang Temple, and to the north of Cross Street, there is Mercy Temple. This year, although Taishi ordered Fu Yi to write a letter criticizing Buddhism and Taoism, Li Yuan was also dissatisfied with Buddhism and Taoism for evading taxes and taxes.
After the war, an edict was issued to eliminate monks and Taoists. The capital only left three temples and two temples, and each state left one.
Fatty Wu is familiar with Chang'an. He said that Shengguang Temple was originally the residence of Yan Rong, the general manager of Youzhou in the Sui Dynasty. This Yan Rong was a cruel official. Although he was a general, he was also quite brave, but he was also very cruel and greedy. He was in Qingzhou, Youzhou and other places.
When he was in office, he specialized in using harsh laws to manage, and even whipped his opponents at every turn. In the end, he himself was captured by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty and brought to Chang'an to die.
Xue Wanche quickly took off his stirrup and jumped off the horse.
Because the house was on fire and he left in a hurry, he didn't even have a sword by his side. Standing there with blood still dripping from his arm, Xue Wanche roared like an angry lion.
But the masked man was already slashing at me like a violent storm with his sword.
Behind him, a group of men shot down several of Xue Wanche's men with arrows, and then rushed up with swords in their hands. For a moment, there was a blazing fire in the square, and the lights of swords and swords on the street.
