Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Drunk East Wind

Zhao Buyou woke up earlier than before, the genius was slightly bright, Wen Yue was still sleeping peacefully, he got out of bed carefully, took his shirt and went outside, Hu'er also slept soundly on the small bed pouting.He put on his shirt, opened the door lightly, and came to the courtyard. A chill hit his face, it rained a little last night, and apricot and pear blossoms fell all over the ground. He stretched his body and performed a set of Dragon and Tiger Sanquan as usual.Although Zhao Buyou devoted himself to studying these years, he did not abandon his martial arts practice.He believes that no matter a person, a family, or a country, not only should the heart be strengthened, but also the body should be strengthened.This is the meaning of being healthy.Since the founding of the country, the dynasty has been strong and weak, emphasizing culture over military affairs. In the past 160 years, literature and art have flourished, but the national spirit has become weaker and weaker.Facing Beiliao and Xixia, the only way to get a draw is in exchange for old coins.But now, there is a rebellion in the southeast, and there is even a Jurchen rising in the northeast.Da Song is like a delicate beauty, surrounded by robbers, but still brushing his eyebrows and combing his temples, looking at his shadow and pitying himself.

Everywhere, Zhao Buyou can feel the weakness and danger of the country, just like the pear and apricot trees in this courtyard, which were still full of flowers yesterday, a little wind and rain, the flowers will fall and the ground will be messy.In this world, with the strength of a mere one person, it is difficult to turn around the situation, but we cannot help but sigh with concern for the world from time to time.He was so depressed that he casually wrote the song "Drunken East Wind": The east wind swept across and withered overnight.Thousands of miles of rivers and mountains are gloomy in spring, and it is a pity that there is no one to look after them.

Chasing after each other year after year, who is idle day and night?Fireworks pass by in the dream, who will take care of the leftovers when I wake up? After singing, he turned to admonish himself: Why do you need to make such a sad sound?Why does Taiping need brave men?I saw the heart of pines and cypresses only in the cold of the year.Worrying is useless, it is better to do your best to do the things at hand.To be worthy of one's heart is to live up to the destiny.So he thought about it again, changed the last sentence, and said in a deep voice: "Take a lamp from my heart to illuminate him in the cold night."

"Good change!" There was a praise from the door. Zhao Buyou looked back and saw that it was his wife Wen Yue. She walked out lightly and said with a smile: "People say that although my Song poetry is not as good as Tang, my Ci is outstanding. Come to think of it, in the past hundred years, most of the words, except for Su Dongpo, have been too weak and feeble. The masculine man, but imitated the modality of the little daughter, many of the words, even us women think they are too fat and powdery. On the contrary, Li Qingzhao, A woman, she recently filled out "The Pride of the Fisherman", with a line of "Ninety Thousand Miles of Fengpeng Upholding", it is better than most men. The husband just wrote this song, with a big heart and great compassion. But if you are sad to the end, you will lose your strength , then lost the gentlemanly character. Therefore, the last sentence was changed especially well. Sad but not hurt, it belongs to benevolence and righteousness."

Zhao Buyou was very relieved when he heard this. It was a great fortune in his life to marry such a confidant and virtuous wife like Wen Yue. At this time, the cooks Mrs. Xia, Mo'er and Petal also got up, and Wen Yue and Petal went to help Mrs. Xia make breakfast together.Mo'er also danced a set of sword skills in the courtyard, which was also his daily morning lesson.When he finished training, the food was served on the table, it was just porridge, pancakes and a few side dishes, simple and clean. The four of them ate and chatted about the disappearance of the plum boat yesterday.

Last night, after Lang Fan's body was discovered, Gu Zhen sent Wanfu to pick up Lang Fan's wife Jiang Shi to identify the body. Jiang Shi fainted immediately when she saw her husband's body. Zhao Buyou said: "Today, I'll visit Lang Fan's wife first." Wen Yue sighed softly: "I'll go to see Sister Jiang too. Now that Lang Fan is gone, that family will be in trouble. Pity his pair of children, one is four years old and the other is only two years old..." Zhao Buyou turned to Mo'er and said, "I have a lot of things to do today, you will watch the book case for me all day."

Mo'er nodded, but seemed a little timid. Zhao Buyou encouraged with a smile: "What are you afraid of? With your talents and experience, you can win even if you open a bookstore by yourself." Mo'er hurriedly said, "It's still far away." Petal shouted from the side: "You are always like this, you can do what you want, what is there to be afraid of?" Wen Yue said with a smile: "You two, one of you can say you can do it if you can't do it, and stand out in everything; the other can say you can't do it, but you are too humble. It's good to be even with each other."

Zhao Buyou also laughed, and said to Mo'er: "If someone comes to write a lawsuit, do it if you can, and if you are not sure, just keep it and look at it when I come back." "En." Mo'er replied in a low voice. Everyone on the shore saw the plum boat yesterday. How did it disappear out of thin air?Where did it go? Zhao Buyou didn't believe in the theory of gods and gods, and always believed that everything had a reason. The so-called "miracles" were just ignorance of the reason. Back then, Emperor Zhenzong secretly made up the descending of the heavenly book in order to establish the power of the gods.If there is something good in the top, the bottom must follow. In those years, from the imperial court to the people, everyone was vying to present auspicious auspiciousness to invite favor and reward.Today's people worship Taoism and are obsessed with the theory of immortals.All kinds of "visions" and "miracles" have reappeared in the world, most of which are far-fetched, and the small part are pretending to be fake.

Therefore, in the whole strange incident yesterday, the Taoist priest in white was the best to explain, as long as he hid in the boat, jumped on the raft at the right time, and dressed up a little weirdly, he could do it.The question is, what is his intention in doing this? Looking at the eight seal characters on the silver silk, "the heaven and the earth are clear, the Taoist monarch is sacred", it should be to create auspicious miracles and hope for rewards.But if it's just for the sake of auspiciousness, you definitely don't dare to kill people at will, and if you kill twenty-five people, it's extremely ominous.

Two more ink characters were added to the silver silk, turning the auspicious text into a big reverse satire: "The heaven and the earth are not clear, and the Taoist king deceives the holiness".It seems that someone deliberately set things against and destroyed the "miracle".This rioter is extremely daring, could it be that he killed all the people on board? Except for the Taoist priest in white and the two boys who drifted away, there was only one survivor on the boat—Gu Erqi. The killer is one of them? The Taoist priest in white is a person who fakes auspiciousness and should not kill people.Two children, it is even more difficult to kill twenty-five people.

So, the murderer is Gu Shiqi?Did he pretend to be knocked out and hide in the dark cabin?But the back of his head did have blood from a blunt blow. Before the plum boat collided with the new passenger ship, the boatmen on board must have been rowing. According to bystanders, it didn’t take long from the collision to the disappearance of the boat. With his own strength, how could he kill twenty-four people in such a short period of time?What's more, two of them are people on the new passenger ship?Also, why did the people on the plum ship die on the new passenger ship?Could it be that Gu Shiqi was lying?Those people are not from the plum ship, but from the new passenger ship? --probably not. At that time, the plum boat was in distress under the Hongqiao, and the boatmen were rowing hard. Many people were watching on the bridge. It was very close to the plum boat, and the appearance of the people on board could be seen clearly, especially the plum boat owner and the woman. They were both standing on the roof at that time, and Wanfu remembered very clearly that when he saw the bodies of the two on the new passenger ship, he recognized them immediately.On this point, Gu Erqi should not dare to lie. So, did the 22 people on the plum boat run to the new passenger ship and were poisoned to death, or were they moved to the new passenger ship after their death?The former is obviously easier to do. In addition, people around Gu Zhen said that before the new passenger ship was hit, there were many men and women singing and laughing in the ship, but the windows were kept closed, so it is not known how many people there were.There seemed to be at least seven or eight.After the collision, no one was seen disembarking. However, according to Na Gu Erqi's identification, among the twenty-four people who died on the new passenger ship, twenty-two were from the plum boat, and only two of them had never been seen by him.Those two people should be from the new passenger ship. Then, where did the other singing and laughing men and women on the new passenger ship go? During the whole incident, not only did a ship disappear, but a group of people also disappeared. More importantly, why was Lang Fan on that boat?Did he die on the new passenger ship, or was he also on the Mei ship like the others?Others died of poisoning, why was he stabbed to death? Zhao Buyu rented a horse and a sedan chair. Wen Yue took the sedan chair and he rode a horse. They both wore plain clothes and went into the city together.On the way, I first went to the paper horse shop and bought a set of Ming coins and Ming utensils. Because Lang Fan loves martial arts, I specially chose two paper swords, bought a jar of wine, and prepared a set of funeral ceremony before rushing to the south of the city. Lang Fan's house on Xuantai Street. It was a rented small house, the door was opened by a servant woman with a sad face, she recognized Zhao Buyou, greeted them in a low voice, and invited them into the courtyard.The yard is small and deserted, the door of the main room is open, and the tables and chairs are still arranged as before. The Jiang family only learned of the death last night, and there is no time to set up the mourning hall.There was a cry of a child in the inner room, and the servant woman walked in. Zhao Buyou and Wen Yue looked at each other with sympathy, Lang Fan came to Beijing alone to study and apply for the exam, and he didn't have any relatives in Beijing. His body still needs to be reexamined, and it is still on the passenger ship.Relying on the Jiang family alone, it may be difficult to even handle funerals. After a while, Jiang Shi came out, wearing a plain dress, not yet wearing mourning, and had just washed his head and face hastily.She was already weak, her thin face was getting paler, her thin lips could not see any color, and her eyes were slightly swollen from crying.She said a blessing to Zhao Buyou and his wife, and when she raised her head, tears flowed down her cheeks. Wen Yue hurriedly stepped forward to hold her, and wanted to comfort her, but she couldn't help but shed tears. Zhao Buyou hurriedly comforted him in a gentle voice: "My brothers and sisters are sad, a pair of children will depend on you from now on, you must take care of yourself." "That's right," Jiang wiped away his tears, forced a smile, "I told myself that too, when he was around, I could rely on him for everything. From now on, I can only rely on myself, and I have to learn to be strong as soon as possible. Brother Zhao, Sister Wen, please sit down. Mrs. Zhang is coaxing the children, and I will make tea for you. " Wen Yue hurriedly wiped away her tears: "Sister Jiang, there's no need..." "How is this possible? Last night I cried all night to my heart's content, as a farewell to him. We have to live on. From today onwards, we must do whatever we want, and we must be polite." Jiang Shi laughed again After a moment, he turned and went to the kitchen. Zhao Buyou and his wife had no choice but to sit down on the guest chairs. Seeing that Jiang was so sad, but still able to hold himself, they secretly respected him. After a while, Jiang came out with a tea tray, poured tea for Zhao Buyou and Wen Yue, and then sat across from them.A child came out from the inner room. It was Lang Fan's eldest son, Qi'er. He was only four years old. He looked and behaved like his father. He had a narrow face and didn't like to talk. He walked carefully to Jiang's side and snuggled up legs. "Qi'er." Wen Yue called him softly.Qi'er was a little shy and kept silent. "Why don't you greet uncle and aunt after seeing you?" Jiang blamed, and Qi'er called uncle and aunt in a low voice.Jiang embraced his son and asked, "Brother Zhao, you were on that boat yesterday, and you are here today, maybe not just to express your condolences?" "I was entrusted by Gu Zhen to ask the reason and track down the murderer." "Qi'er, quickly kneel down and kowtow to Uncle Zhao, thank you Uncle Zhao." Jiang Shi pushed Qi'er, Qi'er walked up to Zhao Buyou and kowtowed seriously, Zhao Buyou hurriedly got up and picked him up. Qi'er: "Siblings and sisters, don't be so polite, this is my duty." Qi'er broke free and ran back to Jiang's side, Jiang's caressed his son, bowed his head to think for a moment, and said softly: "I've been thinking about it all night, in fact, something was wrong before he left." "Oh?" "Brother Zhao also knows his temperament. He looks cautious and he doesn't want to say anything, but he has always hidden his ambition in his heart. He wants to do something big. After reading so many sage articles, military books and war strategies, so far he has only The Secretary of the Food and Beverage Department of the Ministry of Rites has an idle job and looks after Cang Bing. He said that he is not as good as a clerk. He has a stubborn temper and does not want to get close to his colleagues, let alone his boss. Others can be promoted in the years without doing anything. But he was locked in the ice cellar, and he could only feel depressed. When he returned home, he was either studying or practicing swords, and even the children were rarely close..." Zhao Buyou looked at Qi'er, who was completely different from Hu'er. The child had been snuggling up to his mother's lap, with a timid look on his face. Jiang shi sighed, and continued: "But... About half a month ago, he seemed to have encountered something good. He had a rare smile on his face, and he talked a lot. He also bought some toys and candies to amuse him. To tease the child. He never wanted me to talk too much, so I didn't dare to ask. However, I thought it must be a good thing, so I was happy. However, after only a few days, his expression was a little different again, as if he met A problem. In the past, when encountering a problem, his right hand would involuntarily clenched into a fist. He probably didn’t even know it. If he was hesitating, his thumb would keep rubbing; if he decided to give up, his fingers would open; He clenched his fists tightly and paused heavily. He must have made up his mind and decided to do it. He is not a talkative person. One thing can be decided overnight at most, and usually can be decided the next day. But this time, he clenched his fists more than a dozen times. My God, even in my dream I seem to be troubled, I fell asleep, and I kept rubbing my thumbs... I realized at the time that it must be a big deal. I have been married to him for five years, and he has never been like this. But I am afraid that he will be annoying, Still didn’t dare to ask. If I had known earlier, even if I was scolded, I should have asked clearly…” As Jiang said, her slender hands imitated her husband's gestures. Later, she couldn't tell whether it was Lang Fan's entanglement of more than ten days or her own sadness.Speaking of regrets, she paused for a while, took a deep breath, held back the tears in her eyes, and then spoke again: "Until the day before yesterday, Mr. Jian Zhuang made an appointment for a cold food meeting, and he went to the meeting early in the morning. I came back in the afternoon. As soon as I entered the door, he said that he would go on a long trip. It would take about three days. I hurriedly asked where to go and what to bring? He only said that he didn’t need to bring anything with him to Yingtian Mansion. He only changed into a set of clean casual clothes. , wrapped two books, took a few more copper coins, two ingots of two taels of silver cake, yes, and brought the dagger at home..." Zhao Buyou thought to himself, the most convenient way to go to Yingtianfu is the waterway, and the boat cost two taels of silver. Lang Fan only prepared round-trip travel expenses and a small amount of pocket money, so it seems that the things to be done are not troublesome.Books are a pleasure on board, but what about a short sword?Self-defense, or another reason?Was it the dagger that stabbed him to death? Jiang turned her head to look at the gate, and said softly: "That day, I hugged Ying'er, led Qi'er, and sent him outside the gate. He touched Ying'er's face, patted Qi'er's shoulder, I smiled, turned around and left without saying anything. I glanced at his right hand, still clenched his fist very tightly. , I’m afraid they will all be crushed to pieces..."