Pihanjin

Zhu Liuhu acts as a businessman. Every day, he walks the streets and alleys with a burden, or mingles with the crowd, hiding in the streets and alleys not far from the Mu family's palace to observe the movement.

He goes by the pseudonym Zhu Liu, with an ordinary face and a low-key behavior. He leaves early and returns late with a heavy burden. When he meets neighbors, he greets him with a smile. He also grabs a handful of jelly beans for the children without money. He doesn't want money either. Neighbors all know that he is a loyal and honest man from the country who wants to save a wife. Who would have thought that he used to be a murderous thief in the green forest?

He landed his feet in the alley near the palace like this, and half a year later, he didn't notice anything unusual, only one thing caught his attention.

He had long heard the news that the royal family of the Mu clan was building a royal tomb in your land. Since there is no abnormality in the city, out of prudence and in order to give Jiedushi an explanation that will satisfy him, he plans to leave Yuecheng soon and go to Rudi to find out.

Having made the decision, he came back with the burden early that day, distributed all the remaining oil and beans from the sale to the children who were running towards him, carried the empty burden into the house, closed the door, drank a few sips of cold water, and then Lying on the bed that had been temporarily erected with a broken door, when I closed my eyes, I heard a few knocks at the door.

The knock on the door was soft and familiar.

The man's heart skipped a beat, immediately opened his eyes, and went down to the ground to open the door.

Standing outside the door was a young woman in a rough blue dress. She was twenty-five or six years old, with fair skin and gentle eyebrows. She held a steaming thick porcelain bowl in her hand. Seeing Zhu Liuhu open the door and appear, he smiled. Yingying said: "Brother Zhu, I rolled noodles to eat at night. I made too much, and I also served you a bowl by the way."

This young woman is a widow who lives diagonally opposite the door. Her name is Hua Niang. She said that she came here from the famine. All her family members have died. She lives by washing clothes and making embroidery for others. Zhu Liuhu settled down, went in and out every day, and often saw her face to face. The woman also bought needles and thread from him. After going back and forth, they got to know him. After knowing that he was single, he often gave him some food he made by himself, or sewed for him. clothes.

"Eat it while it's hot. It won't taste good if it's pasted." The woman urged him to see that he didn't move.

Zhu Liuhu finally came back to his senses, responded with a sound, brought his hands over, put them on the small table supported by the wall, sat down, lowered his head and snorted and ate.

Hua Niang didn't leave immediately, she stood at the door, looked at the empty luggage parked in the corner of the room and a suitcase on the table, and said, "Brother Zhu, do you have any clothes to wash, bring them to me? I'll do the laundry for someone tonight, and I'll also do the laundry for you by the way."

Zhu Liuhu shook his head.

The woman nodded: "Then you eat slowly. When you're done, just put the tableware and chopsticks. I'll wait for it." After that, she turned around.

Only then did Zhu Liuhu raise his head and watch her walk into the door diagonally opposite. The door closed and her figure disappeared.

He stopped the chopsticks in his hand.

After being with Jiedushi for many years, when I think of it, I either licked the blood with the head of the knife, or ran around everywhere. To this day, it seems that the life in this small alley for half a year is the most stable.

I don't know from which day, when I came back with a load in the evening, and when this young woman who lived diagonally across the door knocked on the door and brought him the hot meals and dishes she cooked too much at night, it became a part of his heart every day. A vague expectation.

After he left, no woman would specially make hot noodle soup for him, and no woman would sew and do the laundry for him.

Thinking that this was the last time he ate at night, the man couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

But no way. He is not this businessman named Zhu Liu. He has his own business to do.

He lowered his head, finished the noodles, drank the last sip of soup, scooped the water and washed the dishes, waited for her to pick it up. The few threads of silk that were left on purpose during the day and the dangling money that I had saved in these days as a trader, I took it along with the tableware and walked towards the diagonally opposite door.

When Zhu Liuhu walked to the door of Hua's mother's house, he heard a thin moan coming from the house, which sounded very painful.

Zhu Liuhu was startled and immediately pushed the door.

The door was closed, and he pushed it open.

An oil lamp on the table, dim light, illuminated a small and simple room. There were some unstarched clothes on the ground outside, and the moaning came from the inner room.

Zhu Liuhu called out to her, put down the things in his hand, and walked in quickly. He saw Hua Niang lying wet on the ground, and there was a foot basin next to it. The water in the basin was spilled, and the ground was in a mess.

"Brother Zhu... I just accidentally fell, and I'm afraid I broke my leg..."

Hua Niang looked painful, raised her face, and said to him with tears.

…

The next day, when Mu Fulan received a letter from Hua Niang, she was in the room teaching Xi'er how to write.

The sun shines in from the flower window, the air carries the faint fragrance of spring flowers, and there are a few crisp birdsong in the ears. Mu Fulan asked the maid to accompany Xi'er first, then came out by herself, and opened the letter she just received.

Hua Niang is indeed a widow, her husband died at an early age, but her true identity is the teaching aunt in the palace, alert and capable. After taking over the matter, he left the palace and settled down to monitor Zhu Liuhu.

Hua Niang said in the letter that last night she saw Zhu Liuhu emptying the cargo load and packing his bags, and she suspected that Zhu Liuhu was going out of the city, because she didn't know whether he was going to leave Changsha or go to another place to continue spying, so she ordered Ji to leave people behind.

What to do next, wait for Weng Zhu to show you.

Zhu Liuhu is the eyes and ears left by Xie Changgeng.

But this man can't move. Moving Zhu Liuhu was tantamount to frightening a snake. It was telling Xie Changgeng that he was guarding him. With Xie Changgeng's suspiciousness, if he was serious about it and really stared at it, I'm afraid there would be nothing to hide from him.

The mines and armored buildings in the mountains of Rudi, such a big stall, cannot be kept secret forever. Sooner or later it will be known.

The point is to not let him or Empress Liu find out before Changsha completes its military expansion.

This secret is the top priority.

Compared to this matter, everything else is secondary now.

Zhu Liuhu is a big living person, and since Xie Changgen has left him, he must not be a generalist. Rather than risk letting him leave Yuecheng to spy on Rudi, it is better to stumble him under the nose and prevent any possibility of being discovered.

Mu Fulan replied, asking her to try her best to keep people in Yuecheng. In addition, I reminded her to be careful, as long as she restrains the person, she doesn't have to keep an eye on him on weekdays, lest he be discovered by him.

After the letter was sent out, Mu Fulan thought of Yuan Handing again.

It has been some time since she came back. According to Yuan Handing's back and forth journey, if all goes well, he should be able to return soon.

In Xie Changgeng's capacity, even if he still hates the brother Wang and is dissatisfied with himself, he should not deliberately embarrass Yuan Handing, who used to be an envoy.

He should still have it.

But recently, I don't know why, maybe it's empty. Whenever I think of Yuan Handing's trip to Hexi, she is no longer as sure as she was at the beginning, and she always feels a little uneasy in her heart.

It's a very strange feeling, as if something bad is going to happen, but it's impossible to say.

She now only hopes that Yuan Handing can come back as soon as possible and be safe, so that she can rest assured.

"Master Weng, Your Highness invites you to Xuan Chong Hall, saying that General Yuan is back!"

A maid came to report.

Mu Fulan was startled, then heaved a sigh of relief, and hurriedly went to Xuan Chong Hall, Mu Xuanqing's study.

Before anyone could walk in, he heard laughter coming from inside.

Mu Fulan stepped in quickly and saw Yuan Handing inside, talking to Brother Wang. Both had smiles on their faces.

She immediately let go of most of her heart.

"Brother Wang, Brother Yuan!"

She called out to the two of them.

Yuan Handing had just entered the city, but he came here immediately to return to his life. He was dusty, but in good spirits.

Mu Fulan asked him what happened on this trip. He said, "When I arrived in Guzang, Fang knew that you had returned, Lord Weng, so I sent a letter from His Highness to Envoy Xie Jiedu to express my gratitude. Envoy Xie Jiedu was not in any trouble, everything went smoothly."

Mu Fulan finally let go of her heart completely, laughed at her carelessness, and said, "Thank you, Brother Yuan, for running back and forth without stopping for a while. When you come back this time, you can rest for a while."

Yuan Handing said respectfully: "Master Weng, your safe return is the greatest good thing, I don't have to work hard."

Mu Xuanqing screened people back, closed the door, opened the curtain behind him, and said with a smile, "Amei, Han Ding, look!"

Behind the curtain is a weapon rack. On it stood knives, swords, spears, shields, iron bows, and a suit of armor.

He strode over, took the knife, pulled it out of its sheath, tried the edge with his fingers, and then slashed towards the corner of the table.

The case surface was several inches thick and was made of hard ebony wood. As soon as he slashed the knife, the corner of the case fell. Sharp is evident.

"Amei, Han Ding, this is the first batch of weapons made by Rudi. Five hundred swords each, one thousand iron bows, and the rest of the spears, shields, and armors have all been transported by water. I only use wooden knives and wooden guns to practice every day, and I have long been eager to see. The first batch will be distributed to Zheshan Island first, and the next ones will be delivered soon.”

"It won't be long before all the soldiers will be fully equipped!"

Mu Xuanqing's eyes shone brightly as he put the knife back into its sheath and looked at Yuan Handing.

"Han Ding, you are familiar with the art of warfare, and you will have to pay more attention to the future training!"

Yuan Handing said: "Don't worry, Your Highness! I will spare no effort!"

Mu Xuanqing nodded and turned to Mu Fulan.

"Sister, I am able to have today's Changsha country, and it is even more important! The father and the king are in the spirit of the sky, I must be very pleased."

Mu Fulan looked at the weapons built in front of her, and her excitement was no less than that of Mu Xuanqing.

The country of Changsha is not poor, and the treasury granary is abundant. Now that we have weapons and an army, we can only think about other things.

When she came out of her brother's study, she calmed down and was about to go back to the room to accompany Xi'er. Sister-in-law Lu hurriedly came over and told her a newly received news.

Zhao Xitai, the son of the King of Qi, heard the name of Yaoweng's genius doctor and came here to seek medical advice. The group has already left the city and is about to arrive.