Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Assassination

I knocked on the courtyard door: "Where is Master Jiu?" Xiaofeng was setting the Go pieces, without raising his head, he said: "Arranging the books in the study." I walked towards the study room, Xiaofeng said: "No one is allowed to enter the study room, even the cleaning is done by Master Jiu himself, you sit and bask in the sun, wait a while! There is water here, greet yourself, I am busy Come on, I won't greet you anymore." I stretched out my hand and patted Xiaofeng's head heavily: "You haven't grown up much, but you've put on a lot of air."

Xiaofeng rubbed his head and glared at me angrily.I hummed, ignored him, and walked towards the study by myself. Although I have lived in the Bamboo House for a while, this is the first time I have come to the study room.An abnormally large room, without any partitions, was as spacious as a horse-drawn carriage. Most of the room was filled with rows of bookshelves, and Master Jiu was flipping through books in front of the shelves. I intentionally placed my footsteps heavy, and when he heard the sound of my footsteps, he tilted his head to me with a smile and nodded, beckoning me to go in: "Sit down for a while, I'll be fine soon."

I was a little happy in my heart, turned around and made a proud face at Shi Feng. I looked at the rows of bookshelves curiously: "Have you read all these books?" Master Jiu's voice came from several rows of bookshelves, not very clear: "Most of them have been turned over." , "Shangshu", "Yili", "Book of Changes", "Spring and Autumn", "Zuo Zhuan", "Book of Filial Piety"... This shelf is full of Confucian books. The place. "The Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor", "Lao Caizi"... This row is the study of Huang Lao.Laozi's, Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou" and "Zhibeiyou" have obviously been read many times, and the ropes on the bamboo slips are a little loose.

Legalists, military strategists... I have memorized most of these since I was a child, glanced at them with no interest, and moved to the next row.This row is rather strange. There is only a single volume of books in the first half of the row, but the second half is full of cloth scrolls. I picked up the bamboo slips suspiciously. It was "Mozi". I heard that part of it was very difficult, and even my father had a headache that day.I flipped through it, and found some places that I could understand, but some of them were sloppy. It seemed that there was a talk about the making of tools, making axle ladders, and a phenomenon of the sun, what passed through a small hole to form an inverted image, What kind of flat mirror, concave-convex mirror forms what kind of image, I don't know what it means.I shook my head and put it down, and went to the back half of the row to pick up a volume of silk scrolls, which were written by Master Jiu.I looked at Master Jiu, he was still fiddling with the books with his head down, I hesitated and asked, "Can I look through the books in this row?"

Master Jiu looked back at me, thought for a moment, and nodded: "It's nothing to look at, it's just a hobby in my spare time." I picked up a volume, because it was very long, and I didn't have time to read it carefully, so I just skipped and read: In the following volumes, various siege equipment and defensive equipment are drawn in detail, and the complementary methods of siege and defense are described. I glanced at them hastily, put them away, and took another volume: "... Fei Gong... Love the world... Hate war..." This is probably an analysis of Mozi's discourse on disliking war and opposing big countries bullying small countries. It advocates that a big country should not rely on its power to attack a small country. On the one hand, it advocates that a small country should actively prepare for war, strengthen its national strength, and be ready to confront a big country at any time, so that a big country will not dare to easily use troops.

I meditated silently for a while, then slowly put down the book in my hand, took a few more volumes and flipped through them, all of which were drawings: the production process of various utensils, step by step in extremely detailed, complex crossbows used in war, and There are also simple interlayer pottery pots for medical bones, just to keep the water warm in winter, and there are even women's jewelry patterns. I scratched my head and put it back. I wanted to go through it all, but I was more curious about what books were on the shelf at the back, so I had to see if I had a chance to read it again.

This shelf is full of medical books, I flipped through a volume of "Bian Que Nei Jing", although Master Jiu has detailed annotation experience on the bamboo slips, but I really can't understand it, and I don't have much interest, so I just walked to the end and picked it up I took a roll and opened it to read. "Tianxiazhidaotan", there is also Jiuye's annotations on the side, my face suddenly became hot, and I threw the bamboo slips back on the shelf with a "bang".Master Jiu turned his head to look at me when he heard the sound. I was so frightened that I jumped to another row of bookshelves, picked up the bamboo slips, and looked at them pretendingly, my heart still beating wildly.

Master Jiu also reads these books?However, although these books are about the art of courting women, they also talk about medical principles, and many of them focus on the relationship between intercourse and conception. "You can understand these books?" Jiu Ye pushed the wheelchair to my side and asked slightly surprised. I panicked, and hurriedly replied: "I only glanced at it a few times, and it was already burned by me." Master Jiu looked at me in confusion, and I realized that he was referring to the bamboo slips I was holding in my hand, not... I was so annoyed that I wanted to faint, there are actually people with such a guilty conscience in the world.I hurriedly glanced at the book a few times, my eyes widened in disbelief, it was full of tadpole-like characters, twisting and twisting, I didn’t understand a single word, I took another look unwillingly, and I still didn’t understand a single word.

God!I stared at such a book for a long time, and now I am not so annoyed that I want to faint, but I want to hit the wall... I lowered my head and said dully: "Uh...uh... Actually, I don't understand Yes, but I...I'm curious, so...so I'm still watching carefully, this...this I just study...why I can't understand it. " Master Jiu blinked, and asked curiously, "Then what have you researched?" "What did you research? Hmm... The result of my research is... Hmm... So I can't understand these words." The corner of Master Jiu's mouth seemed to twitch slightly invisible, and I cried out in my heart, my God!What am I talking about?I lowered my head, stared at my toes, said too many mistakes, I'd better shut up!

The room was so embarrassingly quiet, I thought dejectedly, why would I make such a fool of myself?I can't wait to kill myself! Master Jiu suddenly leaned on the wheelchair and laughed loudly. His cheerful voice echoed faintly in the big room. For a moment, the whole room seemed to be full of happiness.I buried my head lower and lower, and there was a hint of sweetness in my embarrassment. I have never heard him laughing loudly. As long as he can often laugh like this, I would rather make a fool of myself every day. He took out a silk handkerchief and handed it to me: "It's just a random question, but you are so nervous that your face is flushed and you are sweating, how can you look like the owner of a famous song and dance workshop in Chang'an City?"

I shyly put the bamboo book back on the shelf, and took the silk handkerchief to wipe off the little beads of sweat from my forehead and the tip of my nose. My gaze swept over the books on the shelf: "Aren't these books in Chinese characters?" Master Jiu nodded slightly, I turned my gaze away and said with a smile: "I just saw the jewelry pattern you drew, it's very beautiful!" Master Jiu withdrew his eyes from the books, stared at me and asked, "Why don't you ask what these books are?" After I was silent for a moment, I sighed softly: "You never asked me why I lived with wolves. Why did I say that I was born in the Western Regions, but I could speak Chinese fluently, but I couldn't speak a word of the languages ​​of the Western Regions. Everyone There are some things in my heart that I never want to mention when I don’t have the right mood or the right person. If one day you are willing to tell me, I will sit beside you and listen quietly. If you don’t want to talk, I don’t want to inquire. There is a person He once said a word to me, he only knows me in his eyes, and I think I am the same, I only know you in my heart." Jiu Ye sat quietly for a while, pushed the wheelchair out from between the bookshelves, turned his back to me and said, "I've been hesitating about how to do many things, so I can't talk about it." My voice is very soft, but my tone is firm: "No matter what you do, I will definitely stand by your side." He paused the hand that was pushing the wheelchair, and continued to turn the wheelchair: "What do you want me to do?" I said: "Nothing special, I just happen to be free, so I came to see Grandpa, Xiaofeng and...you." Before leaving the study, I suddenly saw a delicate crutch leaning on the corner of the wall.Is it used by Master Jiu?But I've never seen him use a cane. As soon as we left the study door, we didn't know where the mechanism was touched, and the door automatically closed immediately.I stretched out my hand and pushed it lightly, but it didn't move at all. I used to think that all the organs in the Bamboo Pavilion were specially arranged by him for the convenience of daily life, but today I realized that they were all written by him. He said, "I'm going out for a while." I hurriedly said, "Then I won't disturb you, I'm going back." He stopped me, thought for a moment, and said lightly: "I'm going to meet some guests at the farm outside the city. If you have time, you can also go to the farm to play and taste the freshly picked melons and fruits." I suppressed the joy in my heart and nodded. Uncle Shi was holding a shiny black riding whip in his hand, and was dozing off on the rafters of the car, but Qin Li, whom Jiuye used to use in the past, was not there. Before Master Jiu could speak, Uncle Shi had already replied: "Qin Li has some things that he can't come to." Master Jiu nodded slightly: "Just find another coachman to drive the car, you don't need to drive the car yourself." Uncle Shi smiled and raised the curtain of the car: "I haven't moved for a long time, I should exercise my muscles and bones." Uncle Shi asked, "Should I send Yu'er back to Luoyufang first?" Master Jiu said: "Come with me to the mountain villa." Uncle Shi hesitated for a while, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just flicked his horsewhip silently and drove on the road. After the carriage left the city gate, it ran faster and faster. I lay on the window and looked at the green trees and wild flowers quickly receding by the side of the road. My mood was brighter than this summer day.Master Jiu also smiled slightly, looking out of the window softly.Although the two didn't say a word, I think we are enjoying the wind, the beautiful scenery and each other's good mood. Uncle Shi said in a low voice: "Turning sharply, Lord Jiu be careful." As he spoke, the carriage turned sharply into the forest, then immediately slowed down and stopped slowly.Shi Bo's driving skills were absolutely top-notch, and the horse didn't make any sound during the whole process.I looked at Master Jiu in confusion, but without hesitation, I immediately grabbed the golden bead silk belt tied around my waist. Jiuye sat quietly, smiled and shook his head, signaling me not to act rashly.After waiting quietly in the woods for a while, two more horsemen suddenly turned into the woods from the side of the road. The riders on the horses saw us and passed by our carriage as if they didn't pay attention. "It's still pretending!" Shi Bo swung his whip, as fast as lightning, with two crackles, the horse's leg bones were broken, and the two horses fell to the ground screaming.The people on the horse hurriedly jumped up and brandished their sabers to block the shadows of the whips all over the sky, but in the end their skills were not as good as theirs. The two sabers fell to the ground at the same time. tree. I was startled, and immediately realized that Uncle Shi's riding whip must have a different meaning, and it was by no means an ordinary riding whip.Another man in blue stared blankly at the whip in Shi Bo's hand for a while, then looked at Shi Bo with a surprised expression, and suddenly knelt down in front of Shi Bo and started talking.The bearded man who was nailed to the tree originally had a look of hatred on his face, but when he heard his companion's words, the look of hatred disappeared immediately, and he was somewhat surprised. Uncle Shi took back his long whip, and shouted at the man in green who was kneeling on the ground. They asked and answered, but I couldn't understand a word.Master Jiu listened for a while, the original smile disappeared suddenly, he looked at me in surprise, and ordered: "Say what you just said again in Chinese." The man in Tsing Yi hurriedly replied: "We didn't follow Shifu's carriage, nor did we want to harm Shifu, but we were hired to find out the daily whereabouts of the owner of Luoyufang in Chang'an City, and assassinated her when he spoke." He kowtowed repeatedly to Shi Bo: "We really don't know that the old man belongs to Shi Fang, nor do we know that this girl has a good relationship with Shi Fang. If we knew, even if we were given the whole Mingsha Mountain's gold, we would not dare to accept it." This deal." It was like a thunderbolt in a sunny day. It was so unexpected that it made me dizzy. After a while, I asked, "Who hired you?" The man in Tsing Yi just kowtowed: "You don't have to do business, but we don't dare to break the rules. If the girl still blames her, we can only apologize with her head." Shi Bo waved his whip to drive away mosquitos and flies for the horses, and said casually: "In their profession, no matter what the circumstances are, they can't tell the origin of their employers. , it is naturally a secret operation." I smiled wryly: "That's right, then let them go!" Uncle Shi looked at the two of them without speaking, and they immediately said, "We will not reveal a single word of what we saw today." Uncle Shi obviously still wanted to kill them, and just as he was about to move his hand holding the whip, Master Jiu said, "Uncle Shi, let them go." Slow down. Uncle Shi looked at Master Jiu, sighed softly, and waved his hands with a cold face.The two were grateful and kowtowed repeatedly: "We will handle this matter properly when we go back. Father, I swear by Lop Nur Lake that I will never dare to reveal your whereabouts." I was a little surprised, for the nomads walking through the Gobi desert, this is much heavier than the oath of death if struck by lightning. The two picked up the knife and left in a hurry.The man whose palm was pierced by Uncle Shi and who had never spoken a word turned his head to look at the carriage as he walked, suddenly seemed to understand something, ran back with big strides, and knelt down in front of the carriage with a plop. At this time, the man was full of remorse, with tears in his eyes, and said with a choked voice: "I don't know that this girl is a benefactor, and I want to kill her. She is really worse than a pig." He chopped at his arm, a sleeve arrow flew out of the car, and missed the knife. His companion rushed to hold his hand, and looked at us in confusion and surprise. Master Jiu put the crossbow back into his sleeve and said with a slight smile, "I'm afraid you may have misunderstood the wrong person. I have not done you any favors. Hurry up and go back to the Western Regions!" I didn't pay attention to the scene just now where the sword swung and the arrow flew. I just silently said "this girl belongs to my benefactor", and looked at the two people under the car. The bearded man cried and said: "The person who can drive the old man and save people from the old man's whip, who else in the world is there except benefactor? My whole family is lucky to survive because of benefactor's help. My mother kowtows to the snow mountain day and night , I pray that you are safe and healthy, but I did this unconscionable thing in a daze." Hearing the words, the man beside him seemed to understand Jiu Ye's identity, his expression changed suddenly, and he immediately knelt aside, without saying a word, just kowtowed heavily, and blood flowed out after a few strokes.Although Master Jiu still had a smile on his lips, his expression was very helpless, and Uncle Shi's eyes became more and more cold and severe.I shouted: "Hey! You two are so unreasonable. You feel ashamed and want to make up for it. How can you die here? Do you feel at ease when we see two corpses? We still have things to do , don't get in the way." The two hesitated for a while, then stood up shyly, and got out of the way.I smiled and said, "That's not too bad, but I'm really sorry, you have misidentified the person, my ninth master is a businessman in Chang'an City, and has nothing to do with the Western Regions, so those few hairs just now can only be suffered in vain, and... "Although I smiled, my tone turned cold: "All go back to the Western Regions immediately." The two stayed for a moment, then respectfully said: "Our confirmation is wrong, we are going back to the Western Regions now." Uncle Shi looked at me, then at Master Jiu, and left without saying a word. The carriage was still briskly running on the road, but my heart was heavy like a huge rock.I have never dealt with people from the countries of the Western Regions, so where is the grievance?Is it from the Huns?Did Mudado accidentally reveal the fact that I'm still alive?Is my current peaceful life about to change? Master Jiu asked gently: "Can you guess who hired the person?" I nodded, then shook my head again: "I don't know, I have been living among wolves, and I should only have a grudge against one person. They come from the northwest, and most of them are still in his sphere of influence. But why did that person specially hire someone to kill me? He can directly send his masters to kill me. Is it because he has scruples in Chang'an, so he can only let people from the Western Regions come forward?" Jiu Ye said: "Since you can't think clearly at the moment, don't worry about it." I put my head on my knees, thinking silently, and he asked, "Yu'er, are you afraid?" I shook my head: "These two people are very good at martial arts. I may not be able to beat them in a fight, but they certainly can't kill me, but I can kill them." Uncle Shi applauded outside the car: "Kungfu for killing is two different things from fighting. Master Jiu, since the employer is assassinating, he must be afraid that Yu'er will know who he is, or he has no chance to find Yu'er directly. As long as everyone in the Western Regions refuses to accept his business, he can only give up. Leave this matter to me, and you should look at the flowers and trees, and don't worry about it." Master Jiu smiled and said: "I know that with your ancestors around, those monkeys and grandchildren from the Western Regions can't make trouble." Then he said to me: "Although they say they have rules, there is nothing perfect in the world. Let me help you find out." ?" Now I am not the me who could only run away when I was a child. I cheered up and said with a smile: "No, if it is someone else, I don't care about these tricks. If it is really that person, there is nothing to investigate. I can't find anything. If he pushes me, I will never be afraid of him." Master Jiu nodded and smiled, and Uncle Shi chuckled: "That's right, how can the girls in the wolf pack not have such courage?" Jiuye’s villa is really just like what he said, it’s a farm. There are large orchards and vegetable fields. The houses are also simple green brick and black tile houses. They are squarely distributed in the orchard and vegetable fields. It’s not beautiful, but it’s really like the black earth under your feet. . When I first got into the carriage, Uncle Shi's expression made me understand that these guests might not be convenient for me to see, so he took the initiative to tell Master Jiu that he wanted to play in the fields with the peasant women in the village.Master Jiu looked indifferent, and only told the peasant woman a few words, but Uncle Shi smiled and nodded to me. Although what happened suddenly on the road made me feel a little worried, but the bright sunshine, the green vegetable field, and the hard-working farmers in the fields made my heart feel at ease .I control my life by myself, no matter who it is, they can never take away my life. I caught sight of Uncle Shi, and I hurriedly said to the peasant woman beside me, "Auntie, the sun is really hot! Help me find a straw hat!" The aunt immediately smiled and said, "I forgot, wait a minute, I'll look for it right away." As soon as she left, I quickly ran after Uncle Shi: "Uncle Shi, aren't you waiting for Master Jiu?" Uncle Shi turned his head and stared at me without saying a word, I said: "Let them go, you can't hide it from Lord Jiu." Shi Bo said in a cold voice: "I did it for his own good. The old man is here, so he must support me in doing this." I said: "If what you do makes him unhappy, it's not for his own good, it's just what you think is good. Besides, your current master is Master Jiu, not the old master." Shi Bo was a little angry: "Did you grow up among wolves? Are you so soft-hearted?" I laughed: "Shall we fight for our lives and see who can kill whom? Uncle Shi, Lord Jiu doesn't like to kill for no reason. If you really love him, don't let him be stained with blood because of you. You can be calm , but if he finds out, he will feel uncomfortable. Everyone has different ways of handling things, since Master Jiu is willing to do this, he must have considered all the consequences." The aunt had already returned with her straw hat, and I said, "I'm going to play in the field, so Uncle Shi should wait for us to go together!" I saluted him and ran back to the field. "what is this?" "soy." "What about that?" "green beans." "This is courgette, I know it." Finally, there was something I recognized, and I pointed to a vine frame in the field, and said excitedly. The aunt at the side suppressed a smile and said: "This is a new thing, and it is the first time we have planted it. I heard that it was introduced from the Western Regions. It is the most tender time." I jumped into the ground, picked one casually, rubbed it against the edge of my sleeve, and took a big bite. Armed with a basket, I crawled around under the pergola, picking larger courgettes, and when I looked up, I was surprised to see Master Jiu looking at me with a smile on the edge of the ground.Across the green courgette vine leaves, I waved with a smile and ran to him, picking up two more courgettes: "Why are you here? Has your guest left?" He nodded, looked at me from head to toe with a smile, and pointed to the straw hat on my head and the basket on my arm: "Change your clothes again, you're a real peasant girl." I showed him the basket: "Here are the beans I picked, here are the courgettes, and the leeks." He smiled and said, "We'll have dinner here before we go back, and we'll just eat the vegetables you picked." I was overjoyed and jumped and clapped my hands. Jiuye and I walked slowly along the edge of the field, the sun had already set in the west, and a hazy dusk floated in the fields.The smoke curled up from the kitchen, and sometimes there were dogs barking and cocks crowing.The farmers returning from their hoes passed by us. Although they looked tired, their expressions were peaceful and satisfied, and they rushed home briskly. The words "men farming and women weaving" suddenly slipped through my mind. It doesn't necessarily mean that men must farm and women must weave.Peeking at Master Jiu, I didn't expect that he was also looking at me. Their eyes suddenly met, and they were startled. His face turned slightly red, and his eyes drifted away in a hurry. The first time I saw him blushing, I couldn't help wondering what he was thinking just now, staring at him, looking and looking.Jiu Ye's wheelchair was pushed faster and faster, he suddenly turned his head and asked with a straight face, "What are you looking at?" Still thinking about it in my heart, I smiled and said casually: "Look at you!" "You..." He didn't seem to expect me to be so "brazen", he uttered a single word, and I choked on it. Seeing his expression, I realized that I had made a mistake in my words, and I was very annoyed, what happened to me today?Why do you make bad mouths so frequently?I wanted to apologize but didn't know where to apologize, so I could only walk in silence.Master Jiu suddenly smiled and shook his head: "You did grow up among wolves." I felt relieved, and said with a smile: "It's very good now, I really didn't have any scruples when I spoke before." Since I came back from the farm outside the city, I have been pondering in my mind, but I always feel that my thoughts are messy and it is difficult to be neat. I found the silk handkerchief I prepared in advance and wrote while thinking: Turn over frequently.That being the case, one should not agree with the gradual high concentration of imperial power, nor agree with the nonsense that the emperor is ordered by the sky, and the people should be loyal in addition to loyalty.Second, you obviously like Laozi and Zhuangzi very much.I only heard some of Huang Lao’s studies intermittently from my father, but I didn’t really read it, but I also knew something about it. If you like Lao Zhuang, wouldn’t everything now be a pain to you?3. What you admire most is Mozi. Mozi spent his whole life working for the common people, trying to persuade the monarchs of various countries to give up war, and helping small countries build cities and weapons to fight against big countries.Is the big country in your heart the Han Dynasty?Is the small country a country in the Western Regions?Are you willing to choose to be Mozi?But wouldn't that run counter to Laozi and Zhuangzi? I sighed lightly, and stroked the pen lightly on the edge of the inkstone. Is it because I understand the contradiction, or is your heart full of contradictions?I don't care about your background and what your identity is now, I just want to know what your heart is. Putting away the silk handkerchief, I hurried to find Hong Gu: "Help me find a gentleman who is proficient in the studies of Huang Lao and Mohism, and understands various schools of thought." Honggu wondered: "Do you want the girls in the garden to learn these things? Knowing characters and memorizing a few poems are enough." I smiled and said, "It's not that they learn it, it's that I want to hear it." Hong Gu smiled and said: "Okay! Send someone to inquire and invite you. If you continue to study, you can open a school to teach apprentices." Because no matter how much money I pay, my husband is absolutely unwilling to attend classes in the garden, so I had no choice but to go to my husband instead of me, and attend classes at his place.After listening to Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou" today, I felt a lot of emotions in my heart, and I still walked and pondered after getting off the carriage. As soon as he entered the yard, Hong Gu rushed out of the house suddenly, and said excitedly, "Guess what's good." I looked at Hong Gu deliberately in surprise: "Could it be that Hong Gu has someone she likes and wants to marry?" Honggu stretched out her hand to grab me: "You have a naughty mouth!" I dodged it: "Who told you not to speak freely?" Seeing that she couldn't catch me, Honggu gave me a helpless look: "The princess sent someone here and gave me a lot of rewards. If you are not here, I will take it for you. But you'd better go to thank the princess tomorrow. I heard that , Li...Li has already been conferred the title of wife, and today's gold, silver and jade are rewarded by the princess, I'm afraid Madam Li will send someone from the palace to reward again in a few days." I smiled without saying a word, Hong Gu smiled and said: "No wonder everyone wants to be a relative of the emperor. Look at the things the princess rewarded you every time. You can't buy them with money." She looked outside the courtyard. Eyes, she said in a low voice: "Li Yan is really up to the task, she entered the palace last autumn, and now she is the wife just in the summer, second only to Empress Wei." There seemed to be something in my mind, so I couldn't help thinking sideways, and when I saw the tender white flower bones on the mandarin duck pergola, I suddenly slapped my forehead: "I'm just busy with Laozi Zhuangzi and Dapeng Butterfly these days, has Your Majesty ever sent The army is leaving?" Hong Gu asked in a daze, "What?" I felt relieved: "It seems that there are no more, follow the old rules, you carefully record the things that the princess rewards one by one, and keep the ones that are usable and really like it, and those that are not suitable for our use, find a way to sell them Now, those things are not worth the money, and if you sell them slowly, you can sell them at a good price. If you sell them in a hurry in the future, you can only sell them at a low price. Mrs. Li knows what I like, and she won't make trouble for me. It must be gold .” Hong Gu nodded frequently, and said cheerfully: "We are all ordinary people in the world of mortals. Those things look magnificent, but they are still not as real as gold at the bottom of the box."