This was destined to be a sleepless night.
The Lu family's party was taken down like a whirlwind and all of them were sent to prison to await trial.
Although Fang Qin and the others were meritorious in rescuing the Emperor, they were not implicated for the time being. However, the result was very different from what they had planned, and they were disgraced.
As for the center of the whirlpool, Yan Wang, he was still nowhere to be found. It was unknown whether he was dead or alive.
The next day, it was the day of the imperial court meeting, so it had to be canceled at the last minute. The Imperial Academy of Medicine rushed in and out of the palace like ants on a hot pan. Gu Yun and Shen Yi stayed in the palace for the night and left in the early morning of the next day.
The tip of Gu Yun's nose still seemed to be lingering with the smell of the medicinal soup in the depths of the palace. His nose was exceptionally sharp, and he enjoyed appreciating all kinds of scents. The sweet but not greasy fragrance of cosmetics on a beauty's body, the rich and fragrant smell of grass and trees in the midsummer wind, the fresh and tranquil smell of herbal incense on a handsome young man's body … The only thing he didn't like was the smell of medicinal soup.
Especially when the doors and windows were closed, the smell of medicinal soup was stagnant in the room. It was oppressive and lingering, like a quagmire that could drag a living person into it.
After this battle, the two walked side by side. They were both mentally and physically exhausted, and neither of them said a word. Along the way out of the palace, Shen Yi asked worriedly, "How are your eyes?"
Gu Yun shook his head.
Shen Yi didn't know if Gu Yun shook his head to say "I'm fine" or "not so good". After thinking about it, he felt that there was no one in Gu Yun's house to take care of him, so he ordered the coachman to rush in the direction of his house.
The martial law in the capital had not been lifted yet, so there was no one on either side of the bluestone road. When he lifted the curtain, he could only hear the sound of the carriage rumbling. Shen Yi breathed a sigh of relief tiredly and held the slightly swaying gas lamp above his head. The light cast a large shadow on Gu Yun's face. His eyes were faintly green, and his cheeks were slightly sunken. After getting into the car, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes to rest. He did not ask where Shen Yi was going to take him.
It was not until the car reached home that Shen Yi woke him up. In just a short while, Gu Yun actually fell asleep. The moment he opened his eyes, he was a little confused. He only woke up after getting out of the car and being blown by the morning breeze. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the door of the Shen residence. He said, "It was noisy just now. I think I heard someone say that Old Master Shen is sick?"
Shen Yi coughed dryly. It was not good to tell the truth in front of the gate, so he winked at him and smiled.
Gu Yun understood. "I'm here to visit the patient empty-handed today …"
Shen Yi forced a smile and said, "That's not a problem. You brought his son back with all his arms and legs intact. That's already a big gift … You shut up!"
The last sentence was directed at the mysterious door bird in front of the Shen residence's door.
Today, the door bird seemed to be in a good mood. It did not intend to show off its power. It stretched its neck and stared curiously at Gu Yun. Who knew that it would be reprimanded after just flapping its wings a little. It immediately became angry and shouted to welcome the guest, "Bastard! Little bastard! You look so unlucky. If you die today, you'll be buried tomorrow! "
Shen Yi, "…"
Their family's ancestor only recognized Old Master Shen. When it saw Old Master Shen, it said, "Old Master, may you prosper." To other two-legged living creatures, it had the attitude of "Bastard, come and fight."
Gu Yun's expression did not change. It seemed that it was not the first time he had been scolded. He clasped his fingers together and flicked them skillfully. A strong wind hit the bird's beak. The bird was hit by his "slap" and flipped twice in the cage. Its feathers fell to the ground. It immediately shriveled up and was speechless for a long time. Then, it said in a soft and aggrieved voice, "Langjun, you're so lucky. You're on the top of the imperial examination!"
General Shen was so ashamed that he was unable to show his face.
Gu Yun smiled and turned to walk into the courtyard. Unexpectedly, when he turned around, the bird's face immediately changed like flipping a book. It said fiercely, "Pei! Pei! "
Logically speaking, an adult who weighed more than a hundred catties shouldn't lower himself to the level of a two-tael feathered beast. Unfortunately, the Marquis of Stability was unreasonable. He immediately took two steps back and reached out to take down the birdcage on the door beam. He opened the iron cage and took out the Door God. He said to Shen Yi, "Tell your Old Master that I'm taking this thing with me. I'll give him a new one another day."
Shen Yi had had enough. He hurriedly said with tears of gratitude, "Okay, no problem. I can't thank you enough for your kindness!"
The Door God was shocked. Its feathers stood up and it screamed, "Murdering your husband — — Ga!"
… … It was strangled by Gu Yun.
This scream woke up the dozing old servant. The old servant rubbed his eyes. When he saw Gu Yun, he hurriedly led the way to welcome the guest. It was chaos again.
After entering the inner courtyard, Shen Yi looked around. When he saw that there was no one around, he lowered his voice and asked, "Where is His Royal Highness Yan Wang?"
Gu Yun slowly shook his head.
Shen Yi was shocked, "You don't know?"
"We lost contact in Yangzhou," Gu Yun held the bird with one hand and pinched his forehead with the other. Soon, his forehead turned red. He first briefly told Shen Yi the itinerary, then said, "He found Xiao Cao to pretend to be himself and pretended to be polite to Yang Ronggui. He secretly went to another place. According to the personal guard I left by his side, he seemed to have gone to a Jianghu gang to find a refugee witness. On the way, he only sent a short letter saying 'Safe and sound, don't worry'. He also told us not to worry about him when we returned to the capital. After that, he didn't contact him again. Yang Ronggui rebelled in his name. I really had to come back to deal with him. I left a few people there and asked General Zhong to secretly send people to investigate, but so far … "
After a long time, the other side was still worried.
Shen Yi didn't know what to say for a moment. He reached out and pressed Gu Yun's shoulder, "Don't you know about Yan Wang's ability? You saw that he didn't show his face. He knew in his heart that he must be fine. Besides, he followed Elder Zhong and the others around the world since he was young. What hasn't he seen? He's fine. "
Gu Yun's knitted eyebrows didn't have any intention of relaxing.
Shen Yi could only change the topic, "How is the Emperor?"
Gu Yun sighed, "He's not injured. The imperial physician only said that his heart was attacked by anger and he needs to rest. But to be honest, I've heard the word 'rest' so many times that my ears have grown calluses. The physicians seem to use this word on everyone. If he could really rest, who wouldn't?"
Shen Yi asked cautiously, "When he asked you to go in, he didn't say anything, right?"
Gu Yun was silent for a moment, "He said. He asked me, 'If there is a torrential rain and the river rises, can the flood dragon grow horns?'"
Shen Yi immediately held his breath. The flood dragon's horns were the sign of a dragon. It was self-evident who this implied, "You …"
Gu Yun said, "Flood dragons and dragons are close relatives in folklore. They can summon clouds and summon rain, and moisten the earth. They are all the same. But even if it's a divine flood dragon, if it makes the river rise because of its horns and abandons the banks, wouldn't that be stirring up trouble? It must be an evil flood dragon that has a lot of criminal records and brings disaster to the countryside. "
Shen Yi, "… Is that what you said to the Emperor?"
Gu Yun, "Oh."
In fact, Li Feng also said something else to him.
When the man, who was in the prime of his life, leaned against the headboard of the bed, he suddenly felt like the sun was setting in the west. Li Feng asked without warning, "What did the late Emperor say to you before he passed away?"
The late Emperor said a lot. Even now, Gu Yun still remembered everything vividly. When he heard Li Feng's question, he thought for a while and chose the safest sentence, "The late Emperor instructed this subject, 'Everything goes too far is as bad as falling short. One must cherish one's blessings and know when to advance and when to retreat'."
Li Feng was stunned when he heard this. He turned his head to look at Chenxi, who had just woken up. He repeated the words' going too far is as bad as falling short 'a few times, and then said something irrelevant, "… Ah Min told me that he was abused by the barbarian girls when he was young. Does Imperial Uncle know?"
Even though Gu Yun was very alert, he was still a little confused for a moment. He didn't understand what Li Feng meant.
At that time, a bird outside the window accidentally stepped on a branch and broke it. It was so scared that it fluttered into the sky. Li Feng was awakened by the movement. The blank and tired expression on his face suddenly disappeared. He looked back at Gu Yun. His eyes seemed to contain a lot of things, but in the end, he didn't say anything. He just waved his hand and let him leave.
Shen Yi sighed in his ear and said, "It's hard to fathom a ruler's heart, but it's also hard to fathom a person's heart."
Gu Yun came back to his senses and said, "I'm tired."
"Isn't that so?" Shen Yi agreed, "Lawless, desperate, and fishing in troubled waters … I think it's better to fight at the border. In fact, being a long-armed master in the Lingshu Temple was the most worry-free. Zi Xi, sometimes I feel that the capital is really like a cave. It's dangerous everywhere. Why don't we just give up and find a place to open a small shop and do a small business together? We won't starve to death, and we won't have to look at anyone's face. What do you think we should sell … En, let's sell long-armed master's tools and oil. "
"Are you crazy?" Gu Yun rolled her eyes at him. "I don't want to make myself oily all day long and serve a bunch of oily and smelly guests. I won't do it. If I want to sell, I'll sell rouge and face powder. It's also good to see beauties come and go every day. "
When Shen Yi heard this, his hypocritical heart immediately overflowed. He put on a fake smile and said sarcastically, "You have such big ambitions. Does His Royal Highness Yan Wang know about it?"
Gu Yun also laughed, but it was only for a moment. Soon, he couldn't laugh anymore. In front of Shen Yi, he didn't bother to hide his worry.
Where was Changgeng now?
Even if he could really return safely, what would Li Feng say? After this battle, would the two brothers still not have any grudges against each other?
Shen Yi looked on coldly from the side. Seeing that the topic was back to Yan Wang, Gu Yun couldn't even pretend anymore. He had never seen Gu Yun put so much effort into anyone. For a moment, he was a little scared and didn't dare to continue speaking.
In recent years, the world was actually very chaotic. Some people were very bold and unrestrained. There were signs of imitating the westerners and throwing away the barriers between men and women. At the same time, some great scholarly families became even more strict in adhering to the old traditions. They complained about the collapse of etiquette and music and tightened restrictions on their children.
But for some reason, Shen Yi always felt that this world was a little ruthless. The former lasted for three days and broke up after two days. Putting aside the orders of parents and matchmakers, when it came to marriage, everyone had their own plans. Even if others didn't care, they would still make their own plans. In the end, they still pinched their noses and made do with matching families.
As for the latter, there was no need to talk about it. Marriage of suitable age was just going through a process according to ancient etiquette. Two completely unrelated people were forced to be together. It was no different from the mating of pigs, horses, cows, and sheep.
The flowers were round and the moon was round, and they were as perfect as jade. It was like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse. There was only so much affection in the world. Lunatics took some, fools took some, and there was very little left. How could it be enough to share?
People like Yan Wang and Gu Yun were really rare.
Although the two didn't show too much in front of outsiders, based on Shen Yi's understanding of Gu Yun, if it wasn't for the fact that Gu Yun couldn't part with her, she would never step on the line of being a father and son.
Shen Yi couldn't help but tremble in fear when he thought about it. His old hen disease was acting up again. Hence, he asked softly, "Zi Xi, it's not that I'm a jinx, but have you thought about it? If there's a problem between the two of you in the future, how do you plan to deal with it?"
Gu Yun didn't say anything for a long time, but this time, he didn't try to change the topic. When they were about to reach the backyard, Gu Yun suddenly said almost inaudibly, "I've thought about it, but I don't know."
Shen Yi was speechless for a moment.
Even if it was an earth-shattering vow of eternal love, in his ears, it probably wasn't as earth-shattering as these five words.
When they entered the backyard, they saw Old Master Shen, who was rumored to be bedridden, practicing martial arts in the backyard. He didn't seem to have any intention of dying. Gu Yun's visit made the old man quite happy. He pulled Gu Yun to talk about his health and even cordially invited General Gu to come and have a handshake with him.
Shen Yi was afraid that his father would be pushed to the top of the wall by General Gu. He hurriedly stopped this invitation with a head full of cold sweat and brought Gu Yun to rest.
Gu Yun slept until the afternoon. Before she could wake up, she was pulled up by Shen Yi who barged in: "The Emperor urgently summons you to enter the palace."
Gu Yun hurriedly rushed to the palace. The first thing she saw was a personal guard she sent to Changgeng's side. That personal guard looked like he had just traveled a long distance. He was in a sorry state with injuries and bloodstains on his body. Gu Yun's heartbeat suddenly sped up. She moistened her lips with difficulty and forced herself to restrain her emotions. She quickly bowed to Li Feng.
"Imperial Uncle, please dispense with the formalities." The haggard Li Feng supported his sick body and got up. He turned to the personal guard, "What do you think is the situation on Yan Wang's side?"
The personal guard lowered his head and said to Gu Yun: "This subordinate was ordered by General Gu to accompany and protect His Royal Highness Yan Wang and Lord Xu to secretly investigate the epidemic situation in Jiangbei. That traitor Yang Ronggui had evil intentions. We went to Jiangbei Daying to report and lost contact with Yan Wang for a while. Later, Yang Ronggui escaped and went north. General Gu wasn't sure if Yan Wang was held hostage or if he had other ways to escape. On one hand, he brought people back to the capital. On the other hand, he left us in Yangzhou to try and search for Yan Wang's traces … "
These words were given by Gu Yun in advance. In fact, the personal guards were left in Yangzhou when Changgeng joined the Sandsea Gang.
Later, Gu Yun went north to the capital. He was really worried about Changgeng, so he left them in Yangzhou and let them continue to search for Changgeng's whereabouts.
Gu Yun frowned. He suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.
"The person in Yang Ronggui's hands is fake," Li Feng interrupted, "So you have Ah Min's whereabouts?"
The personal guard took out a letter from his chest, "Your Majesty, please take a look."
On the letter was Changgeng's handwriting. Compared to his usual neat handwriting, it was a little messy and stained with blood.
Gu Yun's fingertips were slightly numb. He suddenly understood how Changgeng felt when he 'fainted' when he came to bandage his wound when he was defending the capital.
Li Feng took the letter. The more he read, the tighter his frown became. After a while, he actually sighed and didn't say anything. He turned his hand and handed the letter to Gu Yun.
Gu Yun probably used all his strength to make himself not look so panicked and impatient.
The beginning of the letter was still normal. It was basically nonsense. He made up a story about how he cleverly escaped from Yang Ronggui's hands. Later, he fell into the hands of the Sandsea Gang by accident. He also found out that some of the refugees in Jiangbei were secretly imprisoned and persecuted by Yang Ronggui, and some of them joined the bandit gang. In order to find witnesses, Yan Wang decided to sneak into the bandit gang with Lord Xu to investigate this matter. It seemed that the bookworm Xu Ling had been coaxed by Changgeng.
However, the content after that was wrong.
With just a few words, Changgeng described everything he saw and heard in the Sandsea Gang. Yang Ronggui's lawlessness was a little exaggerated. However, just as he persuaded a group of Sandsea Gang bandits to follow him to the capital to meet the emperor, there was an internal problem in the Sandsea Gang.
Although they took in a lot of refugees, the bandit gang was still a bandit gang. They were born with malice toward the government. Some of the bandits suspected that Yan Wang entered the Sandsea Gang with bad intentions and came to recruit them. The arguments became more and more intense, and there were even conflicts between various forces in the gang.
There were also many shit-stirrers in the bandit gang who loved to sow discord. The local people's grievances were already deep. Soon, they picked up the matter and caused a mob rebellion.
In the letter, Changgeng warned that although the mob seemed to be powerful, there was a limit to their firepower and steel armor. They might not be able to withstand the Jiangbei Daying's regular army. However, in this way, the situation would inevitably escalate and the people's grievances would become deeper. Using force to suppress the situation was the last resort. Therefore, he tried his best to prevent the Jiangbei Daying from intervening. He said that he would deal with the situation and try his best to calm the people's grievances.
When Gu Yun saw this, he really had the intention to kill someone. Wasn't this motherf * cker messing around?
How could this be called "safe and sound"?!
The personal guard said, "Grand Marshal, this subordinate dares not disobey His Highness's orders, but the situation is getting worse. After Yang Ronggui left, the city defense officers and soldiers under him were like a group of dragons without a leader. They were tormented by the rioters, and some of the rioters had relatives and friends who had died in Yang Ronggui's hands. They hated the local government, and their methods were cruel. They often tortured the captives to death. Seeing that things were getting out of hand, General Zhong ordered us to quickly report to the imperial court and ask for the Emperor's orders."
Li Feng asked, "Then what about Ah Min?"
The personal guard knelt down, "… Replying to Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Yan Wang … After His Royal Highness Yan Wang sent this letter, there was no more news. At that time, the person who secretly sent the letter was a monk. The monk's temple was burned down the next day."
Gu Yun almost couldn't catch his breath.
Li Feng was also stunned by this series of unexpected events.
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