Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 89 Return
"A Chou?"

"A Chou?"

Zhang Xiaofang waved her hand in front of Gu Jingnian's eyes several times before he reacted.

But those originally calm eyes were obviously out of focus.

"What's wrong with you?" Zhang Xiaofang asked again.

Gu Jingnian did not answer, but walked to the old man and listened silently.

"Swiss has not suffered such a great defeat in more than 20 years. This time, we are collecting taxes for the sake of preparing for war. I believe we will have to collect donations again soon. Life will become increasingly difficult..."

The old man mostly talked about the current situation on the border, but Gu Jingnian wanted to know whether the news that Gu Beiming had defected to the Yong Kingdom was true.

So he opened his mouth to ask, but his voice was still hoarse and difficult to hear.

Zhang Xiaofang understood a little bit, so she stepped forward and asked, "He asked, is it true?"

"I can't lie about such a big thing."

The half-blind man sitting nearby could hear Ah Chou's interest in these national affairs. He then thought about the fact that this man was not only literate, but also had a way to cheat things out of Zhang Fugui. What's more, when he acted, he had a casual feeling, as if teasing fools was no big deal. This was enough to show that his background was extraordinary.

"A Chou, Uncle Zhao, come, let's talk inside."

The half-blind man raised his hand and invited Gu Jingnian, Zhang Xiaofang and the old man into the main room.

Although the people sitting in the yard couldn't understand their conversation, the atmosphere was different.

"Ah Chou," the half-blind man asked, "are you concerned about border issues?"

Gu Jingnian quickly calmed down and said something in a hoarse voice.

The half-blind man was still in a daze, but Zhang Xiaofang understood immediately and said, "He said he was a little curious."

"Then please let Uncle Zhao speak."

Zhao Bo used to be a soldier in the border army. He was captured by the Yong army decades ago. After escaping, he has been living in Zhenyun Pass, helping others to farm, and later married and had children. He didn't know much about the high-level military affairs. He only knew that Gu Beiming had rebelled more than half a month ago. Although he didn't know the specific reason, this was certain.

When the news reached Zhenyun Pass, Zhao Bo immediately fled with his daughter. On the way, he saw the imperial reinforcements. When he heard that Marquis Wuding was personally stationed at Zhenyun Pass, he stopped fleeing eastward, but he could not escape anymore and ended up in Lanshui Village.

After listening to this, Gu Jingnian asked another long question, some of the syllables of which even Zhang Xiaofang could not understand.

"He said, there's a town 20 miles south of the city. What's going on?"

Zhao Bo probably understood and sighed, "You are asking about Jusai City, right? That is already the territory of Yong State. Let alone the 20 miles to the south, Yong State conquered a thousand miles of territory overnight. No matter which town it was, it must have fallen."

In this way, if Huang Hu, Ma Shi, Feng Niang and others were waiting to meet him in the Old Market Town, they would be considered to be in the territory of Yong State.

The two countries are at war now, and considering Gu Jingnian's current condition, it would be difficult for him to find them.

But what he was more worried about was Gu Caiwei.

When Gu Beiming rebelled, he didn't consider his family who stayed in Beijing at all.

If Gu Caiwei was implicated, Gu Jingnian would never sit idly by and would have to take her with him to flee Rui and head to Woye.

I hope the situation hasn't gotten that bad yet. After all, she is a married daughter, and Lu Yanning has a high status, so maybe he can keep her safe.

No matter what, Gu Jingnian has to go back to Beijing again.

He then told Zhang Xiaofang that he was going to leave the next day.

The half-blind man listened, lowered his head and thought, and finally said: "A Chou, how about I go with you?"

Zhang Xiaofang was still confused by the separation, and was very surprised when she heard this. She said, "Blind Master, your family doesn't want you anymore?"

"If we don't want that shabby house anymore, then we don't want it anymore." The half-blind man imagined in his mind a story of helping a noble person in his time of need, and he felt inexplicably excited.

Although the future of a nobleman in trouble may not be good, if a country pariah like the half-blind man can rely on him, it is very likely to change his fate. It is worth a gamble.

However, Gu Jingnian shook his head firmly and had no intention of taking him with him, which made him very disappointed.

--------

That night, Zhang Dashi finally got a wife.

Zhao Bo's daughter was named Zhao E. She was pretty and, more importantly, seemed very virtuous. In short, Zhang Dashi liked her very much.

When the veil was lifted, Zhang Dashi was stunned as if he was under a spell. He no longer had the courage as before when he shouted "I won't get married", and he just smiled foolishly.

The next day, before dawn, Gu Jingnian woke up early.

Zhang Xiaodao is young, sleepy, and sleeps like a dead pig.

Gu Jingnian didn't wake him up and left the room alone, but saw that Zhang Xiaofang had already gotten up.

She usually takes charge of the household, but today she was not busy with housework. She sat with her legs crossed, looking bored, looking like a young girl.

"Are you leaving?" Zhang Xiaofang asked.

Gu Jingnian nodded.

"Then I'll take you there. Wait a minute."

Zhang Xiaofang then went to the kitchen to clean up. After a while, she came out with a bag on her back and said to Gu Jingnian, "Let's go."

The two men left the yard as they usually did when they went out to fetch water and walked towards the village entrance.

Occasionally, there would be an auntie in the village who got up early and went out to empty the chamber pot. When she opened the door and saw them, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. None of the men in the village could be favored by the girl from the Zhang family, and yet she could walk next to such an ugly man.

The two figures walking side by side reached the entrance of the village. After a long silence, Zhang Xiaofang finally spoke, saying, "I'll take you a little further."

"No need." Gu Jingnian was able to speak some simple words. "It's okay." Zhang Xiaofang said, "You won't come back here again, right?"

Gu Jingnian nodded, then shook his head.

Zhang Xiaofang walked with him for a while until the sun was high in the sky. Gu Jingnian was determined not to let her go any further. Then she stuffed the bag into his arms, waved goodbye, and turned back to the village.

As she walked, she looked back and could no longer see Ah Chou on the rugged mountain road. She felt a sense of loss. She was also surprised that Ah Chou was so ugly, but he made her feel reliable and willing to get close to him.

Gu Jingnian walked along the mountain road for half a day. At noon, he opened the bag given to him by Zhang Xiaofang on the side of the road. He was stunned for a moment and saw that there was not only water and food in it, but also a small bag of copper coins.

To others, these might be worthless things, but when he came, he had nothing, but when he left, he felt that his bag was full.

After eating some dry food and drinking water, he did not stop in the small town. Instead, he asked for directions and went directly to the nearest county town.

He slept in the mountains at night and arrived in Jingyuan County the next afternoon.

After walking here, Gu Jingnian realized that he could not walk back to Jing on foot alone. If Gu Caiwei was in trouble, he would not be able to rescue her in time.

We must resort to some other force.

So, before entering the county town, he went to the small river outside the city and carefully looked at his appearance in the river water.

All the scabs had fallen off, and his face was covered with uneven burn scars. Because of his peculiar physical condition, these scars did not look like new wounds, but more like old wounds.

His hair grows very fast, and it has grown several inches in recent times. He hasn't shaved the beard around his mouth, so he looks much older.

If he didn't tell others, it's possible that he would look like he's in his thirties.

Gu Jingnian gradually formed a new identity in his mind, then stood up and strode towards the city gate.

In the cold winter, there were many refugees queuing at the west gate. Most of them were not allowed into the city, but were arranged to live in shacks built in a tower outside the city.

"Road pass."

When Gu Jingnian lined up in front of the gate, the soldier guarding the city said something coldly.

He spoke in a hoarse voice, trying to raise his aura as much as possible, and said, "Kaiping Division, handling the case."

The voice was hoarse, and the guard was stunned for a moment, but he barely understood it. He looked at him deeply, and said in a respectful tone: "Please show me your token."

"It's lost. It's urgent. Take me to the post house."

"what?"

Gu Jingnian then repeated it in a hoarse voice.

According to the rules of Kaiping Division, if the token is lost during the investigation, one can go to the nearest post station to report the important information first, and then wait for relevant personnel to verify it.

The soldier guarding the city had no idea of Gu Jingnian's background, and seeing that he had a strong aura, he did not dare to offend him, so he hired a groom to take him to the post station.

After arriving at the post house and explaining the situation, he waited for a while. Then an old man came out from the inner room, looked at Gu Jingnian deeply, and invited him in to talk.

"Who is your Excellency?"

"Inspector of the Southern Court of Kaiping, Wang Ming."

Gu Jingnian used the name of one of the people in the team assigned to him by Wang Qinghe. He was probably trapped in the Dead Wood Cliff that night and was not easy to be traced.

The old man at the post station came closer and listened carefully before he understood what was said. He asked, "Patrolman Wang lost his badge?"

Gu Jingnian nodded.

The old man took out a pen and paper and pushed it to the table, saying, "Then please ask Inspector Wang to write down the important information. I will do my best to pass it on. Before the verification, Inspector Wang can stay at the post house temporarily."

After saying that, he took out the envelope and candle, ready to seal it in front of him.

This is the attitude of doing things according to the rules, and there is not the slightest mistake in it.

Gu Jingnian was unhappy, and pushed the paper and pen away from the table, saying, "It's confidential, you can't write it."

The old man barely understood and rubbed his hands, saying, "Inspector Wang, this is the rule. Please don't embarrass me."

"Prepare the horses. I will deliver the letter back to the capital myself."

"Inspector Wang has lost his talisman, and I'm afraid he won't be able to return..."

Gu Jingnian grabbed his collar, leaned close to his ear, and said slowly, word by word, "Then prepare the clearance documents. Otherwise, if the secrets are leaked and important things are delayed, can you bear it?"

“This is against the rules.”

"We have to make decisions in an emergency." Gu Jingnian released his hand and wrote down Wang Ming's resume on the paper, including which police station under Wang Qinghe he came from. At the end, he said, "If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."

Although the old man kept shaking his head, he never doubted his identity in his heart, because he really acted like a Kaiping hook.

"How about this, Inspector, wait a moment, I will go ask the postman."

Gu Jingnian was very anxious, but the more anxious the situation became, the more he had to keep calm. He just nodded impatiently and asked about the border matters in a casual manner.

Sometimes it is better to appear relaxed than to press too hard, which will gain people's trust.

"By the way, does Gu Beiming's rebellion have any impact on Jingyuan County?"

"I heard that the imperial court's reinforcements have already arrived at Zhenyun Pass, so they won't affect Jingyuan County."

Gu Jingnian nodded and said, "In the eighteenth year, Marquis Wuding regained control of the military power."

He quietly displayed his thorough knowledge of the capital's customs.

Half an hour later, Gu Jingnian successfully led a horse out of the posthouse, climbed on the horse, and headed straight for Shuyang.

(End of this chapter)