Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 90 Losing control
To the east of the vast plain is the majestic Yidi Mountains.

The mountain road is rugged and a group of people are walking eastward.

Pei Nian sat astride the saddle, his face solemn, his eyes filled with deep thought.

She rushed to the Deadwood Cliff to investigate afterwards. When she arrived, all the traces that needed to be cleaned up had been cleaned up. She only knew that Chu Danqing and Gu Jizu were dead.

Later, she learned that Gu Jingnian had also died. She didn't believe it at first, thinking how could a person with such a strong self-healing ability die. But Mei Chengzong told her that he saw Gu Jingnian burned to charcoal with his own eyes.

"Don't investigate." At that time, Mei Chengzong said with a sad tone, "Once Chu Danqing dies, the matter will be over... Also, tell old Xu Yun not to recruit me. I don't want to stay in your Nan Ya anymore."

The last sentence made Pei Nian realize that what he said might be true, and the case of raising snakes and refining medicine was settled.

The sense of security did not last long, and then news came that Gu Beiming had rebelled.

Then, Pei Nian could sense that the personnel sent to the west by the Cage People, Northern Yamen, and the Royal Palace were all retreating.

She guessed that they were probably looking for something, but when the border fell into the territory of Yong State, they had to give up temporarily.

As such, she could not find out anything more, so she set off to return to Beijing.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard from behind.

Looking back, I saw a man in a fur coat riding a horse towards me.

When they met on a narrow road, Pei Nian and his group did not give way, but stopped their horses, allowing the other party to gallop up to them, and they had to pull the reins.

"Please give way."

The man lowered his head slightly as he spoke, his voice hoarse and difficult to hear.

Pei Nian asked: "Who are you? Where are you going?"

This is what makes her quite annoying as a hook. In the eyes of others, she always seems to be arrogant and nosy.

Of course, she usually wouldn't ask everyone she met, but now that she was on this remote mountain road, she could feel that although the person's appearance was different, his temperament was extraordinary. Out of habit, she couldn't help but ask a few more questions.

The man seemed displeased, and spoke sparingly, "Who are you?"

"Kaiping Division investigates matters."

Pei Nian revealed his identity, and the man's face suddenly changed. He dismounted and saluted, saying, "I am a postman at Jingyuan Post Station, delivering a letter to the capital."

"What letter?"

The man then took out a number of lacquered letters from his arms.

Pei Nian opened the letter directly, only to find that there was no signature on it, only a series of crooked handwriting.

"Gu Beiming's rebellion was caused by the death of his eldest son. This was done by Yong people's spies in the court. Please investigate thoroughly. I am trapped in the enemy camp, my heart is towards my homeland, I shed tears and make suggestions, and I bow my head in homage."

Pei Nian read it carefully several times. The handwriting was sloppy and seemed to be written in a hurry. He couldn't help but ask, "Who wrote this?"

"I don't know."

The postman with a burned face spoke very little.

A hook was furious, grabbed his collar and shouted, "Answer properly."

"Let him go." Pei Nian said, "His throat is damaged. Let him speak slowly."

She signaled the postman to mount his horse and talked as they walked.

"What is your name?"

"Zhao Ming."

"Where did this letter come from?"

"The last postman sent it. The man died, and the horse also died."

Pei Nian asked again: "No one else has read the contents of the letter."

Zhao Ming shook his head and clasped his fists, saying, "I have to deliver the letter as soon as possible. I will leave first."

"I have already opened the letter. How will you explain it then?"

"be honest."

"No hurry." Pei Nian said, "You can come with me, it won't be much slower."

She did this because she clearly sensed that there was something wrong with the postman Zhao Ming. She always felt that she had seen him somewhere, but she couldn't remember where.

Zhao Mingyin was a little anxious and reluctant, which was human nature. Few people were willing to go with Gou Zi, but he didn't say anything and agreed obediently.

That night, the team camped in a forest.

"Drink some water." A big man threw the water bag to Zhao Ming, "We have the same surname, Zhao Heng, the captain of Kaiping Division."

"Captain Zhao."

"You were burned? What happened?"

Although Zhao Heng seemed to be chatting casually, he was actually interrogating the postman quietly.

"There was a fire in the house before."

"How did it happen?"

Zhao Ming didn't want to talk more, but he kept asking questions, so he had to say, "That night I drank a lot and went to bed early. The kid roasted a fire and set the house on fire."

"What a pity." Zhao Heng asked, "Who are you from?"

"Lanshui Village, Jingyuan County. Most of the villagers have the surname Zhang. My family is an outsider."

"Well, Zhang is a common surname in Jingyuan County. Lanshui Village should be west of Lao Lin, right?"

"In the southeast, between Lao Lin and Tao Creek, there is a village called Lan Shui, but there is no river called Lan Shui."

"Yes, yes." Zhao Heng smiled and said, "The Lanshui River dried up decades ago."

"Captain Zhao is really well-informed."

Zhao Heng nodded, stopped chatting with the postman, and turned to talk to Pei Nian.
"Ji Shi, when we return to Beijing this time, will we not look for them again?"

"Ah."

"Then... is Huang Hu dead too?" Zhao Heng asked, "I have worked with him for so many years, he is my best friend."

Pei Nian shook his head and said, "He may have tracked him down to the border and is now trapped by the Yong army." "I didn't expect Gu Beiming to really rebel."

When this topic was mentioned, Pei Nian's face looked unhappy.

After the Western Suburbs Incident, she believed in Gu Beiming and tried hard to prove his innocence, thinking that this would maintain the stability of the border. But this time, Gu Beiming's betrayal was like a heavy slap in the face, which hit her hard.

But she couldn't show any frustration in front of others. She could only sigh silently after entering the tent.

Strangely enough, that night, Pei Nian actually dreamed of Gu Jingnian.

This was the first time she dreamed of Gu Jingnian after learning of his death. In the room of Kaiping Division, he was naked and let her see the rapidly healing wound on his abdomen.

Pei Nian didn’t remember what he dreamed about later.

The next day, after the team set off, Pei Nian looked at the postman Zhao Ming several times, but the other party lowered his head slightly and did not look at her.

They walked very fast. It took others ten days to walk the distance, but they only took less than three days.

That evening, the city of Jing was faintly visible.

In front, someone rode a horse to meet Pei Nian, and saluted from a distance: "Investigation, Xu Tisi asked you to see him as soon as you return to the capital..."

"Okay." Pei Nian was concerned about the Gu family's affairs and asked directly, "Who is handling the Gu family's case?"

"It's not the Kaiping Division that's handling it, but the Dali Temple that's presiding over it. Also, there's another matter that Pei Jishi might be interested in."

"what?"

"Lu Yanning was arrested for treason. He rebelled earlier than Gu Beiming and attempted to start a coup in the imperial court. This is a huge case. Xu Tisi is here to see you for this matter."

Pei Nian was also surprised and said, "I'll go see him right away."

She didn't care about anything else and drove her horse into the city. She walked on the long street for a long time. Suddenly she remembered something and turned around, but Zhao Ming was gone from the team.

"What about the postman?"

"Someone from the department came to report the situation just now. I saw that he was listening and was afraid that the information would be leaked, so I let him go to the post station by himself."

"Go find him again and ask him to come see me tomorrow."

"Yes."

Pei Nian thought of something else, so he called Zhao Heng over and said, "Go and find out how Fourth Lady Gu is doing. Also, don't let anyone know."

--------

Sloping alley.

The ginkgo trees at the entrance of the alley have lost all their leaves, and there is some snow on the bare branches.

Walking into the alley, the side door of the Gu family was tightly closed with two seals on it.

A man wearing a bamboo hat came from a distance, took a look at the desolate scene nearby, pulled over an old woman passing by, and asked in a hoarse voice: "That family..."

"Gu family."

The old woman lived nearby. She hunched over and did not even look at the man's face. She sighed and said, "He committed treason. His whole family was arrested and all his belongings were confiscated. What a sin."

"Oh."

Hearing this, the man remained very calm. He pointed to another house in the alley and spoke again. His hoarse voice revealed a hint of uneasiness. He asked, "Which house?"

For some reason, he didn't dare to go over and take a look at it right away, but instead asked others first.

"The Lu family."

The old woman spoke slowly and anxiously, and finally said, "It was also confiscated."

"Where are the family members?" the man's voice became even hoarser.

Faintly, some anger overflowed.

Of course the old woman didn't notice that emotion, and she said slowly, "Of course they were all caught."

"Where did you catch him?"

"How can an old woman like me know?"

Having said that, the old woman lives nearby and has heard a lot of things recently, speaking with the unique pride of a capital city resident.

"I only know that the Lu family was raided a few days earlier than the Gu family. I heard that the man from that family was on duty in the palace and was involved in a serious crime!"

The man in the bamboo hat did not ask the old woman any more questions. He walked through the alley alone. When he passed the sealed door of the Lu family, he did not stop and did not turn his head.

But the hands hidden in his sleeves began to tremble slightly unconsciously.

This trembling was uncontrollable, just like his anger was uncontrollable, and just like him as a person, which was gradually becoming uncontrollable.

Many years ago, his dog was trampled to death. He was very angry and shouted angrily: "I will kill them all! Kill them all!"

At that time, his elder sister hugged him, patted his back, and comforted him patiently.

"No, you have to be patient and not lose the big picture for the small."

"I don't want to endure it. I am a monster! Monsters kill people!"

"You're not a monster, you're my brother. Just think of it as doing this for me, and don't mention killing anyone!"

From then on, he was always led and controlled by his elder sister.

He was very willing in his heart, because she made him feel that he was a human being, not a monster.

Today, the rope holding him seemed to be broken...

He walked out of the alley, crossed the long street, and came to an empty corner. He took off his bamboo hat, revealing an ugly face that had been burned beyond recognition.

With murderous eyes, he really does look like a monster.

When he came back this time, he abandoned the name "Gu Jingnian" and also abandoned his expectation of being a good person in Zhongzhou.

On the way, he met Pei Nian and thought about revealing his identity to her, but he didn't, because he no longer wanted to cooperate with her to find out the truth.

There are some things that people are helpless about, and only by acting as monsters can they solve them.

(End of this chapter)