Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 147: Past Events (I)

A bird flew into Feng Niang's hands and let out a few mournful cries.

Feng Niang sighed when she heard the sound, and sadness appeared in her eyes. Too many birds died in the battle with Yin Yucheng. To her, it was like losing a loved one.

"Don't worry, I will avenge them."

Feng Niang muttered softly, and the bird in her hand chirped crisply, as if reminding her to do what she said, and then flapped its wings and flew away.

When I turned around again, I saw Gu Jingnian standing under the eaves watching.

The two looked at each other across the fence for a while, Feng Niang stood up, and Gu Jingnian came forward, but he did not immediately ask her what she had found out.

He was arrogant and rude, but sometimes he could understand her feelings.

"Yin Yucheng should have left Prince Xin's mansion and headed north of the city. We didn't find any specific birds in the Beiqiao area."

"Okay, I contacted the Eastern Palace, and they promised to protect you. Let's go."

Feng Niang asked, "The Crown Prince and Yin Yucheng are brothers, so they won't hand over me, the 'Princess Xin' who escaped from marriage?"

"I told them the secret of Yin Yucheng's resurrection."

"Then how do you explain why you killed Yin Yucheng?"

"Revenge for Pei Nian."

"He is the prince of Yong." Feng Niang said, "Even if it is revenge, killing him is like treason."

Gu Jingnian said, "I said that Yin Yucheng and I were jealous of each other for your favor. He started it first, and I had no choice but to fight back. I didn't expect to kill him by mistake, and I didn't expect that he could be resurrected."

Feng Niang didn't blame Gu Jingnian for ruining her reputation. Instead, she said, "Then I have to be your lover like Pei Nian?"

"As long as the East Palace can believe it..."

Feng Niang was a little worried and asked, "Is the East Palace trustworthy?"

"Whether we can trust them depends on the stage." Gu Jingnian said, "At this stage, the East Palace obviously wants to know what is going on with Yin Yucheng, just like us."

Feng Niang nodded, knowing that she had no place to stay in Yong State. Instead of hiding, it would be better to take the initiative as soon as possible, so she went to the East Palace with Gu Jingnian.

Yin Wanqing had already made arrangements to let Feng Niang live in the same courtyard with Pei Nian and others, and she did not ask Feng Niang much.

Gu Jingnian knows everything that can be asked to Feng Niang.

After handling the matter, Yin Wanqing looked at Gu Jingnian with interest and asked, "In Rui Country, you eloped with Pei Nian, and in Yong Country, you eloped with Feng Niang. How many lovers do you have?"

"Things can only be done three times."

Although Gu Jingnian didn't have a lover, he didn't want to give Yin Wanqing a definite answer.

After all, he was a spy, so he left himself some room for eloping next time.

This answer made Yin Wanqing sneer.

"The libertine."

Gu Jingnian waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Let's talk business. Do you know the whereabouts of Yin Yucheng?"

He did not tell Yin Wanqing the information Feng Niang had just found out, as he wanted to see how capable she was first.

"The Eastern Palace has no spies in Prince Xin's mansion."

Gu Jingnian said: "But when I said he came back from the dead, you and the prince actually believed it directly."

"Aren't you telling the truth?" Yin Wanqing asked back.

"Yeah, I mean, you don't seem surprised?"

"Surprised, really surprised." Yin Wanqing said: "But, that is indeed something Yin Yucheng can do."

"Oh?"

"He has always boasted that he has the best talent among all the princes. He is dissatisfied with the arrangement of the crown prince, and he likes to delve into unorthodox ways. In recent years, he has often acted fearlessly. My father, brother and I have long suspected that he has a conspiracy."

"The unorthodox ways the princess is talking about are alchemy?"

"Yes."

"For Yin Yucheng to create this resurrection technique, there must be a master and medicinal materials. Where did they come from?"

Yin Wanqing pondered and said, "I was also wondering, since alchemy is not popular in Yong country, who did he find to accomplish this?"

Gu Jingnian then asked, "Where in the Beiqiao area is related to Yin Yucheng?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I suddenly remembered it." Gu Jingnian said, "I met Yin Yucheng before, and happened to hear him say that he was going to Beiqiao."

Yin Wanqing glanced at him suspiciously and realized something was wrong. What Yin Yucheng said couldn't be so important that it was worth him mentioning it specifically.

But she still thought about it.

"Beiqiao? There are no dignitaries living in that area. Most of them are business travelers."

As she paced, Yin Wanqing suddenly stopped and rolled her eyes twice.

Gu Jingnian asked, "Have you thought of it?"

"That may not be true...but Yong Kingdom does not have any particularly powerful alchemists. If there are any, most of them are from Rui Kingdom or Yue Kingdom."

"Yueguo?"

"Yue State was once a powerful country with alchemy, but it was destroyed because of alchemy." Yin Wanqing said: "After the country was destroyed, some people fled to Yong State, and a Yue princess lived in the Beiqiao area."

Gu Jingnian then thought of what Pei Nian had said to him before.

The Kaiping Division also had intelligence on the Yue princess. They knew her name was Wei Li. When her country was destroyed, she led a part of the Yue army to break through and escape to the Yong State. It was said that she was going to marry the prince of the Yong State, but for some unknown reason she gave up.

Pei Nian even suspected that she was Gu Jingnian's biological mother at that time.

After getting this information, Gu Jingnian had no more words to say.

"go?"

Yin Wanqing became more suspicious, but nodded and said, "Send someone." Unlike Pei Nian, who always did everything herself, she did not take the risk herself, but arranged for someone to go to the Princess of Yue State in Beiqiao. What was rare was that in a very short time, she mobilized a team that looked very strong.

The leader was Kong Que, who was the general of the Eastern Palace Guards at the time and the leader of the four young masters of Yongjing, "Que, Ma, Yu, and Long". He was not a strange person like a bird, but his name was a homophone of peacock. He also mastered the powerful Thousand Buddha Hands, which was like a peacock spreading its tail when he performed it. He was one of the few mortals who could compete with strange people with martial arts alone, and thus became famous.

"Are you Gu Jingnian?"

On the road, Kong Que rode his horse at a fairly fast pace, and suddenly turned back to look at Gu Jingnian.

"Yes."

"I heard that you are very strong." Kong Que said, "Let's compete with each other some other day."

He actually thought that his mortal body could block Gu Jingnian's fireball.

"I dare not." Gu Jingnian changed the subject and said, "The princess asked the general to visit the Princess of Yue late at night. I don't know why."

"It's just catching a thief. Why would you need a reason in the territory of Great Yong?" Kong Que said, "Besides, when she came to Yong State, my father arranged for someone to escort her all the way."

"The general knows her very well." Gu Jingnian asked, "I heard that the princess of Yue was going to marry the prince of Yong?"

"good."

"Why didn't it work?"

"It seems so. At that time, the Princess of Xin had just died of complications during childbirth. Your Majesty had intended for Prince Xin to marry the Princess of Yue, but Prince Xin refused because she had given birth to a child."

"Have you ever had a child?"

Kong Que said: "Yes, she was already pregnant when she fled from Yue to Yong."

"Oh? What about the child?"

"do not know."

"do not know?"

Kong Que asked, "You know that to get from Yue to Yong, you have to pass through Rui, right?"

"Yes."

"Back then, my father arranged for a spy in Switzerland to hide her tracks, but the Swiss Kaiping Division was searching for her. It is said that the child was born on the way but was lost. 'Maybe she was killed by the Swiss army or taken away by a wild wolf.' These are the original words of the spy."

"Never looked for it?"

"I looked for it, but I couldn't find it."

"Boys and girls?"

"You won't believe me if I tell you this, but it was said that the situation was urgent. The baby was born in the dark in the woods. The midwife had just cut the umbilical cord and was shot by an arrow before she could even see the gender of the baby."

Gu Jingnian asked, "I've never heard of a princess from Yue having a consort. Whose child is it?"

"I wonder if Mr. Gu is very interested in these things?"

"Well, after all, I suspect she has refined an alien."

Gu Jingnian had previously thought that Pei Nian's speculation was absurd, but now after hearing this, he realized that Pei Nian's words might be well-founded.

The team crossed a bridge and turned west, and in front of them was a secluded and mysterious house.

As they approached it, the horses became uneasy and stopped moving forward.

"Dismount. You can only walk the remaining few steps."

Kong Que dismounted first, walked forward and knocked on the door. The loud knock woke up the quiet courtyard in the night.

An old servant's voice asked, "Who?!"

"The government is catching a thief. Someone saw the thief hiding in here. Open the door!"

After a while, the door was opened. When the old servant inside saw Kong Que, he immediately bowed and said respectfully, "General Kong."

"There are thieves in the capital today...Search!"

"I wonder what thief you are looking for?"

"A rapist." Kong Que looked back at Gu Jingnian and said, "A rapist who kidnapped Prince Xin's fiancée."

Gu Jingnian followed behind, looking around the courtyard... and felt the aura of alchemy.

It's not that he has a preconceived impression, but some of the layout here, or more subtle things, such as the owner's habits of placing things and favorite colors.

To be more specific, there is a small rack wrapped with hemp rope under the eaves. It is for cats to climb on. It complements the courtyard and this thing is also placed in Chu Danqing's residence.

A rattan chair was placed next to a stone table, on which was a bamboo book, indicating that the owner would sometimes read here. But there were also a paper cutter, pen, ink, and paste on the table. Gu Jingnian could tell at a glance that they were used to take notes and stick them on the original scroll while reading. He had seen Long Minzhi have this habit when he was studying at Chongjing Academy.

This is a custom passed down from the master's school to the Gentlemen's Society. I heard that there is a book called "Fengwuzhi" which is full of the master's notes.

Kong Que didn't care about these small details and walked straight to the mourning hall.

He knew very well where the Princess of Yue was.

"Princess, I'm offended!"

As he spoke, Kong Que pushed open the door. He was ordered to find Yin Yucheng, intending to see if he could catch him red-handed.

A gust of cold wind blew out from the door, white banners fluttered in the wind, and countless spirit tablets caught everyone's eyes.

The middle-aged woman who was kneeling and beating the wooden fish turned around.

Gu Jingnian saw the brand on her neck at a glance. At the same time, she looked at Gu Jingnian and waved to him.

Kong Que raised his hand to stop Gu Jingnian, and glanced at the mourning hall filled with tablets.

"General Kong, there are no thieves here." The woman said, "Please ask him to come forward and talk to me."

Gu Jingnian asked, "Do you recognize me?"

"I didn't expect it to be so easy to recognize you. You look a lot like your father and brother, especially your eyebrows and eyes..."

(End of this chapter)