has become a demon

Chapter 34 Distant Communication

Jinwu's house is huge.

After Zhao Yuan and Tao Shaochuan entered the gate with the carriage, they were ushered into the hall.The two of them stood at the door for a while, and there were many servants and messengers, but no one spoke to them.

Tao Shaochuan waited for a while, then grabbed a man dressed as an eunuch and asked, "Where is Liao Yixin?"

The servant asked, "Who are you?"

"This is the King of Le'an County. Jin Wu asked Liao Yixin to invite him personally, and now Liao Yixin is gone. When will you see Jin Wu?"

"What is Le'an County King? I haven't heard of it, I haven't heard of it." The servant waved Tao Shaochuan's hand away, shook his head and left.

Tao Shaochuan wanted to ask someone again, but was stopped by Zhao Yuan.

"never mind."

"Can--"

"I'm a common man now." Zhao Yuan said, "The Jinjian Army has a high position and authority, and is busy with official duties. It won't be my turn in a while."

"Isn't this bullying? Take us all the way from home! Just let us wait at the concierge?! Put it in Ganzhou, I went in and chopped him up to feed the dog." Tao Shaochuan finally understood, and went to touch him angrily With a knife on his waist, he felt empty for a while, only to realize that he had been stripped of his official hat by Baihu long ago.

Zhao Yuan was calm. He pushed the wheelchair to the eaves. There were two bowls of tea for them on the small table next to him. The tea was cold and pale yellow.Zhao Yuan picked it up, took a sip, and sighed, "It's better than Gao Mo."

"I can't bear his birdishness."

"Not angry. What's the use of being angry?"

"Why is Your Highness still so calm? How about we take His Highness away?" Tao Shaochuan asked him.

"I can't leave. Jin Wu has at least five thousand private soldiers, and the guards are all tough men with long spears and sabers. If we come in, Jin Wu will never say a word, and will never let us leave." Zhao Yuan said.

Tao Shaochuan stood in the foyer and swept towards the gate. Under the walls on both sides, there were all soldiers with solemn expressions.

The impatient expression on his young face also dissipated, and he whispered: "My mansion is so heavily guarded. Jin Wu is only an eunuch, yet he dares to go beyond this point. What is he going to do?"

Zhao Yuan remembered Jin Wu's deal with the Tatars.

"Maybe there is a ghost in my heart."

After he finished speaking, he took another sip of tea and smiled: "Look, Shaochuan, the toon tree outside the wall has sprouted, and there are magpies pecking at it."

Tao Shaochuan walked back disconsolately and sat down on a stool in the hall, watching the toon tree with Zhao Yuan.

"What's so interesting about this." Tao Shaochuan muttered.

"For a big toon, 1 years is the spring, and [-] years is the autumn." Zhao Yuan said with emotion, "It can live longer than the sum of the years of countless emperors."

"Oh..." Tao Shaochuan seemed to understand, and said again, "In two days, you can pick the toon buds, wash them, chop them up, and fry them with eggs in a pot. It's delicious."

Zhao Yuan was taken aback and laughed.

"Otherwise, it's delicious to chop up and make dumplings. But this season, most farmers have no noodles at home. Just wash the toon sprouts, pickle them in a jar with coarse salt, and serve them as a dish later."

"What else do you eat besides Chunya?" Zhao Yuan asked him.

"It's a season of green and yellow, but there are some delicious ones. Chinese toon, elm, and wild vegetables emerging from the ground later. Although no matter how full they are, they can last until the time of planting. At that time, there will be roe deer on the mountain. There are also pheasants." Tao Shaochuan sucked in his saliva.

"Sounds very good." Zhao Yuan agreed.

"Swallows' nests must be taken out, and voles must not be let go." Tao Shaochuan said again, and then smiled a little embarrassedly, "When I was a child, my family was poor, so I ate these, it's a joke."

"Life got better after that?"

"Yes. My father was a military household and died in battle. I was picked up by the old prince when I was ten years old, and entered the guard camp. The military salary has never been less, and there are various pensions. Life is getting better."

"Fu Wang... what kind of person is he?"

"Aren't Your Highness related to the old prince? Have you never met?"

"King Fu is a vassal king in Ganzhou, and he has a very high prestige. The emperor is afraid and will not let him leave Ganzhou casually. I was in the capital since I was a child, and I was not allowed to leave Shuntian Mansion." Zhao Yuan shook his head, "Royal family members rarely meet each other. Although King Fu is the elder of our clan, I only listen to his honorary name and have never seen him. I have stayed in Ningxia for a long time, and I heard that Ganzhou is different from Ningxia. Many people have gone to live in Ganzhou. Tell me Now, what kind of person is Fu Wang?"

"Oh..." Tao Shaochuan thought for a while, "The old prince lives in poverty, and all his money is used to help the people and subsidize the military equipment. The guards are very strict, and the army is strictly governed, and the law is clear. Now he is old. There are two in sixty, and when there is a war, you always take the lead. None of the princes and princes in Fuwang's mansion is cowardly. Attacked, the old prince went out and killed eight hundred savages with his soldiers."

"He lost his son, so he took in us orphans. There are hundreds of people like me who have lost their fathers."

"Where is Major General Kan?"

"Brother Feng?" Tao Shaochuan shook his head, "Brother Feng is different. Brother Feng's parents are gone. The old prince raised him as his own child."

"So..."

"And my last time... I, didn't I abandon the county king last time and go to Yongzhou to kill the enemy alone? The old prince kicked me away when he saw me. I vomited a big mouthful of blood. Then Punish me with a baton.

"After the beating came back, the old prince asked: 'I know why I punished you'. I refused to accept it and said: 'It must be that you love the king of Le'an County and don't want your relatives to suffer, so you insist on me being a bodyguard for others.' You Guess what the prince said?"

"What did he say?" Zhao Yuan asked.

"The old prince said: 'You are wrong. I punished you because you were ordered to protect Zhao Yuan in Ningxia, but you became a deserter. The military order is like a mountain. If you violate the military order, I will punish you.'"

Zhao Yuan was shocked: "His Royal Highness King Fu has clear rewards and punishments, and he manages the army well. No wonder he is invincible."

Hearing this, Tao Shaochuan felt a little proud: "So this time, I must protect His Highness well, follow His Highness, and never let His Highness get hurt. This is a military order."

The bowl of tea in his hand was empty before he drank it, and before he finished speaking, the tea was already empty.

No one added water.

The two waited at the gatehouse for a long time, the sky turned from bright to dark, the magpies returned to their nests, and no one entered or left the mansion, then someone came over and said: "My master has an order, please follow me to Yuxing Hall .”

The two got up and wanted to go, but Tao Shaochuan was stopped by the servant.

"The master only passed on the common people." The servant said.

Tao Shaochuan frowned and was about to explode.

"I'll go by myself," Zhao Yuan said.

"Can……"

"It's okay, you wait for me here."

"Yes." Tao Shaochuan finally accepted his order reluctantly.

Zhao Yuan touched the handrail of the newly returned nest, and the warm wood supported him in his palm, making him more stable. He said to the servant: "Please lead the way."

Jin Wu's mansion is luxurious.

The more you walk in, you will see exquisitely carved towers, courtyards with unique rocks, various colors of pine and bamboo, and window grilles pasted with gold... People forget that this is on the frontier, and they still return to Shuntian Mansion.

In a daze, I thought I had entered the mansion of that prince and nobleman.

Zhao Yuan was pushed across Yijing Lake by the servants. The waterside pavilion opposite was Yuxing Hall. After the servants informed him, he took him inside and waited on him outside.

"The Peony Pavilion" is being sung in the tent hall——

"I'm surprised that my lovesickness doesn't show up, it turns out it's only because of deep feelings.

The love doesn't know where it started, and it goes deeper...

Hate disappears, disappears with a smile...

Who knows, love and hate, love and hatred, will never be forgotten, engraved in my heart..."

The female voice is mellow and sad, and the words go straight to people's hearts.Zhao Yuan sat in a wheelchair, and after listening for a long while, he said: "Common Zhao Yuan has arrived, and I'm paying my respects to Lord Superintendent."

The singing in the curtain stopped.

After a while, someone said: "Go down and invite common people to come in."

Someone in the tent responded, and several troupe members left with the actress.

Zhao Yuan entered, saluted again and got up.

Jin Wu was half lying on the Arhat couch, lighting a hookah and taking a sip.He has an ordinary appearance, with a sallow complexion, extremely high cheekbones, and no flesh under his cheeks, making him look particularly tricky.However, those eyes were sharp, like the eyes of an eagle, so he knew that this person should not be trifled with.

One of the maids was manicuring his nails, while the other maid was half kneeling on the ground, holding the golden cigarette case for him, leading him to finish smoking, before quietly bowing back.

He spit out the smoke in his mouth, squinted his eyes and looked at Zhao Yuan from the smoke.

——This person is really lucky.Originally, according to Shu Liang's intention, he thought of some ways to get rid of it, but he didn't expect to starve to death or kill him.He has survived until today.

"The common people are relatives of the royal family, why bother to salute to a slave like ours, it's so frustrating." He said insincerely.

Zhao Yuan bowed again and said: "Your Excellency is an imperial envoy of the Supervising Army. I am only a commoner. Naturally, I should treat him with respect."

"Not long before the Chinese New Year, His Royal Highness sent a letter asking our family to take good care of the common people." He whispered in Zhao Wu's ear, "Ningxia's military affairs are busy, and our family has never seen the common people for a long time. Common people please forgive me... I wonder if Zhang Yiqian entertained common people well for our family?"

There was something in his words, while carefully sizing Zhao Yuan up, his eyes were presumptuous and he didn't shy away from it.Stared at by his eyes, Zhao Yuan felt as if he was being licked by a snake's core, it was cold and disgusting.

"I'm all right in Zhang Liangbao. Please take care of me." Zhao Yuan said, "My lord also arranged a job for me. I can get a handful of porridge in five days, so I can make ends meet... I don't know what the lord supervisor wants me to do." ?”

"It's not a big deal." Jin Wu waved his hand, and a maid came over and handed over a kit.

Zhao Yuan took it and opened it to see, there was a bell inside, jingling.A lanyard made of gold thread is tied to the bell, and there is a symbol of peace on the lanyard.

"This is...?" Zhao Yuan was puzzled.

"It was brought back from the capital by Liao Yiyuan before the Chinese New Year." Jin Wu said, "Shen Zhu, the commander of Beizhen Fusi, entrusted him to deliver it to the common people."

"Beizhen Fusi... the commander?"

"Oh, the common people don't know yet." Jin Wu said, "Master Shen Zhushen paid a visit to the Lingjing. He has been exceptionally promoted to the post of commander of Beizhen Fusi."

Zhao Yuan was silent for a moment: "He... why did Mr. Shen give me this?"

"He said that this was an exchange of tokens when we were married. Now that you have cut your robe and cut off your righteousness, I will give it back to you. Since then, you have not been a brother. I hope you will reflect on yourself in Ningxia and behave respectfully." Jin Wu pretended to be indifferent, "Do you know? One day when the country was founded, your righteous brother Tang Haolan was executed with a rod because he disobeyed the prince. It was also executed by the governor of Beizhen. I heard that his family members went to look for them later, and the crows and wild dogs had already eaten half of their bodies."

In a few words, the past was revealed.

Yijie Jinlan.

Jinlan had already been crushed in front of the imperial steps.There is still half a point of brotherhood.

Zhao Yuan thought he could withstand everything, and when he heard about Tang Haolan's fate, he felt sad.

The bell jingled a few times in his hand.

He held down the gold pendant and silenced the sound.

"Thank you, thank you Lord Superintendent for telling me..." he whispered.

Jin Wu laughed lightly, he got up and walked over, stretched out his bony fingers, hooked Zhao Yuan's chin and lifted it up: "The common man is so pretty."

Zhao Yuan avoided slightly, lowered his head and asked, "What are you doing?"

"A handful of porridge and rice every five days, is it enough to eat?" Jin Wu asked him.

Zhao Yuan was startled, then shook his head.

Seeing that he was downhearted, Jin Wu smiled triumphantly: "Our family wants to worry more about common people, but Ningxia is barren, with limited rice and grain, and idlers can't eat. It's just... our family is under the supervision of the Prince and Shu Bingbi. How can the common people only eat porridge and rice in the future?"

"...Please show me the way, my lord." Zhao Yuan implored.

"Governor Lord Lou is good at chess. When I was in the capital a year ago, I wrote a letter to the common man's house, asking for a hand in hand. The common man refused, and Lord Lou has always been worried about it. Do you still remember?"

A year ago, the crown prince and King Ning were in the same situation.

Zhao Yuan had a special status, and he had never dared to make friends with high-ranking officials in the capital, especially Lou Zhen, a high-ranking official in the frontier, and he couldn't avoid it.How dare you talk to him by hand, just to make people suspicious.

"I don't really remember." Zhao Yuan had no choice but to say.

"Lou Zhen is good at chess, and he is even more masculine. Tomorrow is Lou Zhen's birthday, and I will be very happy to see the ordinary people at the banquet. If we play chess with candles again, it will be able to solve the depression in his heart. If we can please him for another night... let He obeyed the crown prince and was loyal." Jin Wu smiled, "Do you want anything from the common people?"

It turned out that the ordinary people who deprived them of their titles could only be reduced to trading power and sex, and transferring banquets?

Probably the words "Le'an County King" used to be a bit of a novelty value.

Zhao Yuan couldn't help laughing at himself.

"Yuan Zi came to Ningxia, all four limbs were disabled, and he was worried about his livelihood. There is no leisure to play chess, I'm afraid it will spoil the governor's interest."

"It's simple, our family will play chess with common people."

Jin Wu placed the chess on the table, and put the chess on the seat: "Please."

His attitude could not be rejected, Zhao Yuan stepped forward to hold the chess, bowed and said, "I have offended you."

Then he raised his hand and dropped two black chess pieces.

As soon as the chess game started, Zhao Yuan was already concentrating on it, and he didn't need to argue with Jin Wuxu, it was easy.

Jin Wu's chess skills are not bad, and the two played inextricably in the first half.

Halfway through the game, a servant outside said: "Master, Bu Xiangming is here."

Zhao Yuan was startled and made a bad move.

Jin Wu smiled, took advantage of the situation and chased after him, and said to the servant: "Let him in."

After a while, Bu Xiangming entered with an attendant, who was still holding a wooden box in his hand.Bu Xiangming was a little surprised when he saw Zhao Yuan, but he didn't dare to greet him too much, he just clasped his fists and said, "Lord Jin."

"What's the matter with the infantry general?"

"The Tatars must have known about the funeral of the Emperor Daxing a few days ago. Today, the military situation on the side wall has gathered, and the Tatars have gathered. Among them, there are a lot of passes in the direction of Helan Mountain, Zhenbei Pass, and outside the Great Wall Pass. , There are tens of thousands of people, and cavalry from various tribes are coming one after another. The military situation is critical, and I ask the supervisor to order the deployment of food and grass for the garrison to prepare for the plan."

He summoned servants and opened the wooden box.

Zhao Yuan glanced at it, and there were 200 taels of silver inside.

He sighed secretly.

It's a pity that the 200 taels must be all owned by Bu Xiangming, so how could it get Jin Wu's eyes.These eunuchs have long been fed up with huge amounts of gold and silver.

"Order?" Jin Wu really sneered, "Who knows the truth of what General Bu said?"

Bu Xiangming said: "Subordinates will never dare to spread rumors about the military affairs!"

"If what General Bu said is correct, why didn't the eunuchs under our family's command in the various passes submit an emergency report on military information?" Jin Wu said, "General Bu, falsely spreading military information is a serious crime of beheading."

Bu Xiangming asked: "Why did my subordinates lie about the military affairs? Everyone knows that Mr. Jin sold weapons to the Tatars, and those guard eunuchs had close contacts with the Tatars. Such plots will never be reported.”

"What does the general step mean?" Jin Wu became cold. "The general step accuses our family of colluding with the Tatars? Why did we hear people say that it was the step general that you sold weapons and Tatars in private, but you didn't give them enough, which made you angry." The Tatars were dissatisfied, which led to the looting at the end of last year. Could it be that they were worried that the Tatars would leak the news, so they were anxious to take over the military power to dispatch troops, and killed our supervisor?"

Bu Xiangming was angry: "Jin Wu, you spit on people. Don't you know who sold weapons to the Tatars. What does it mean to bite me back now? There is no proof, and you still want to chop off my head?"

Jin Wu threw down the chess pieces in his hand, and said with a sneer, "Bu Xiangming, you cut the horses first and then play them in winter. You took the horses from Yuanma Temple and used all the thousand good arrows that were needed for the military. Our family has not followed the account of disobeying the military order." You count, but you come to our house to shout? You are right, our family dares to cut off the head of you, the general soldier of Ningxia, without an imperial decree, but our family can cut off the heads of others!"

"Come here!" He pointed at Bu Xiangming's servant, "This bastard came in with muddy boots and stained the carpet of our house. Drag him down, stick him and behead him."

The private soldiers below responded in unison, and came up one after another to arrest the servant.

Bu Xiangming was furious and wanted to stop them, but seven or eight elite soldiers pinned them down on the ground and couldn't move.

His servants were beaten ten times in the yard outside, screaming incessantly, and then stabbed up, blood spattering on the spot.The other end rolled over and stopped outside the door.

Jin Wu smiled: "Master Bu, please remember. The official rank is one level, crushing people to death. What do you say today, our family will not issue this order. Our family knows better than you whether Tatar will come or not. There are too many. If you really let your blind cat lead a dead mouse, you have made a great contribution. Then what do you want our family to do?"

Bu Xiangming's hands were cut back, and he glared at Jin Wu angrily.

"Please 'invite' Bu-sama out." Jin Wu waved his hand, "When will Bu-sama's knees become weak, when will our family see Bu-sama again."

Bu Xiangming was dragged out.

Jin Wu wiped his hands with an exquisite satin handkerchief from the side, and smiled at Zhao Yuan: "Come on, let's continue."

Zhao Yuan responded softly, and wrote another word.

In the end, he lost more than a dozen of Jin Wu's sons, and Jin Wu stared at him suspiciously: "Isn't it rumored that the common people in the capital are very good at chess?"

Zhao Yuan said: "I was frightened today and panicked."

He looked cautious and cautious, and there was no trace of aristocratic temperament. Jin Wu looked at his drooping head and snorted contemptuously.

"That's all. After all, the appearance hasn't changed much." He said to the people below, "Come here, take the common people to a remote place to rest."

He looked at Zhao Yuan's Taoist robe again.

"Find some more expensive clothes and dress up the common people tomorrow."

Pushed by the servants, Zhao Yuan met Tao Shaochuan and was sent to a remote courtyard.

Tao Shaochuan sized him up and asked, "Is Your Highness alright?"

Zhao Yuan shook his head.

He took out the bell and held the peace knot.

Bells jingle in the wind.

After a while, tears filled his eyes suddenly, and he understood what Shen Zhu wanted to convey.

bell...peace...

Lin Fengan is still alive.