Commandant Song Xian was not an incompetent person.
Ever since the assassination on Yuan Xi, Ning Yi had paid a little attention to this person. Although this was somewhat like waiting for a rabbit by a stump, and it was difficult to get many results, and with his current status, he could not get too much detailed information, but some basic information, as long as he was willing, he could always get it.
Just as Lu Agui had said to him before, this person was flamboyant, vengeful, and ruthless, but he was by no means an incompetent mediocre person. Compared to Chen Yong, the commander of the Martyrs of Martial Army, Song Xian, who had been in Jianghu before, was perhaps more like a standard soldier. If not so, the other party would not have handed over the personal guard camp of the Martyrs of Martial Army to him.
At present, the imperial court valued civil affairs and belittled military affairs. The Martyrs of Martial Army was a prefectural army that guarded the Jiangning area. It lived in a rich and populous land, and its overall combat power was not strong. If one had to say, it was only a few formations with the personal guard camp as the core. Song Xian's position in the Martyrs of Martial Army could be said to be under only one person. Since the assassination on Yuan Xi, he had also raised his vigilance, and every time he went out, there would be many personal guards following him. Now in this venue, Ning Yi could only follow from afar, paying attention to the situation around. Fortunately, there were many people, and it was impossible for anyone to notice that he was following.
Since he could follow like this, others could also do so. If someone also had the idea of targeting Song Xian, he might also be mixed in the crowd at this time. He secretly paid attention to such a situation, but there were indeed many people. Yuan Xi did not even see the appearance of the assassin clearly, and at this time he could not get any useful information. Song Xian took about ten people with him, walking around, and seemed not very enthusiastic about the performance. When he went to the front of the stage by the river, he then separated the crowd, went to the front of the stage for the high-ranking officials and dignitaries to sit, and sat down, talking with one of them, and the personal guards following him were on guard around.
Ning Yi stood outside the crowd and looked around, and then began to recall those things about Yuan Xi, some details, trying to figure out that woman's way of doing things, and then tried to put himself in her shoes, and began to think about what he would do if he wanted to kill Song Xian. Halfway through his thoughts, someone patted him on the shoulder with a folding fan.
"Hey, brother, so what if you're tall? Now that you're standing here and blocking my line of sight, what do you think I should do?"
At this time, Ning Yi was of medium build and was actually not tall. The voice behind him was also strange. After he heard it, he reacted and looked back with a smile. He saw that the person holding the folding fan was wearing a black robe and was only a forehead shorter than him, but his body was much thinner. The person who was looking up was Nie Yunzhu's elegant and pretentious face. Looking at her from a close distance, she didn't have much of a man's demeanor, instead, she looked charmingly naive.
"Brother's reason is so sufficient, so it's obvious that I'm in the wrong. Seeing how fierce and domineering you are, do you need me to pay you some protection fees? "
Nie Yunzhu tried her best to keep a straight face and reached out her hand. "No problem! Hand over all the flowers you have, and I'll spare you this time. Otherwise, be careful that I beat your head into a pig's head! "
The other party had been setting up stalls in the market for a long time and had learned to speak like this. At this moment, he was showing off his domineering attitude. Ning Yi sighed and took out the flower and the receipt and placed it in the other party's hand. Only then did Nie Yunzhu burst out laughing. "That Lady Ni Shang on the stage sang very well, didn't she? Why was she listening so attentively just now? "
"Ni Shang?" Ning Yi turned his head to look and realized that she was referring to the singing lady on the stage. "Ah, I was thinking about something. When did you come?"
"I was strolling around and saw you by accident. I've been standing behind you for a long time."
The two of them walked to the place where the flowers were delivered. Nie Yunzhu also took out a flower from her bosom and put it into the big box beside her along with Ning Yi's flower. Then, she handed the receipt to the person who was recording, "Two flowers, Lady Yuan Jin 'er from Golden Wind Pavilion."
"Lady Yuan Jin 'er hasn't gone on stage yet."
"Here too."
The person took note of her words. Ning Yi smiled and said, "Are you here to cheer for Lady Jin 'er?"
"Sister Jin 'er and I used to have a good relationship." Nie Yunzhu lowered her head and thought for a while before saying, "Actually, I participated in her singing and dancing this time."
The two of them met every morning and talked about everything, but Ning Yi had never heard her mention this before. At this moment, Ning Yi was slightly puzzled. "Didn't you say that you don't want to go near that place anymore?"
"Mother wants Jin 'er to continue to get the position of the head of the four big businesses. She told me that if I helped her a little, she would help us with publicity in the future. I thought about it and agreed. Now that we're talking about business, it's different from before. So I don't have to be so evasive. Mother is quite a good person in this aspect. " Nie Yunzhu paused. As she walked to the side with Ning Yi, she said, "Actually, I shouldn't have agreed. Jin 'er has some fame now. If she continues to become more famous, it's hard to say whether her fame will be good or bad. Jin 'er's personality is also … Ahem, let's not talk about this … "
She shook her head and smiled. "Oh right, will Liheng be going to watch Jin 'er's performance later?"
"One of the four big businesses. You've helped again. Of course I can't miss it."
"Heh, Jin 'er actually told me that she wants to get to know you. After all, you're the most mysterious number one talent in Jiangning. When the time comes, I'll point you out to her from below the stage … Oh right, didn't you say that a little servant girl will be coming with you? I've been wondering who it should be just now. "
"Eat and wait at the Ink of Literature Loft. I came down halfway." Ning Yi thought for a moment. "It's about time to go over."
Nie Yunzhu smiled. "Let's go together. I'm going to Jin 'er's place. It's the same way."
They chatted along the way. The two passed through the crowd and turned back to the Ink of Literature Loft. Ning Yi turned back to look in Song Xian's direction. He thought that the fleeting glimpse earlier might have been an illusion.
At the same time, under the eaves of a small building not far away, Gu Yanzhen was quietly standing there, watching them leave.
*****
From the moment he saw Nie Yunzhu in the crowd and followed her all the way, it had taken him a long time. Although throughout the entire process, Gu Yanzhen had been puzzled as to who the usually indifferent Nie Yunzhu was looking for, but he had not expected to see what happened after that.
Throughout the entire time, he had seen Nie Yunzhu walking aimlessly through the crowd. She had not made an appointment with anyone, but she was obviously looking forward to finding the person. In such a large venue, she was not watching the performance, but was leisurely looking for someone she had not made an appointment with, which was rather strange. In the past few years, Gu Yanzhen had not seen this side of her.
At that time, Yunzhu had been different from most of the courtesans in the brothels. She was quiet by nature, and was highly accomplished in music, dance, poetry, and singing, but she was not ostentatious. Compared to the average courtesan, she had a scholarly air about her, and it was not an act, but a real scholarly air. This was a girl with a truly leisurely temperament, and when they were with her, they all felt a little like Ning Xin. Gu Yanzhen did not know when he had felt this unique feeling, but in short, he felt that he could understand the girl's unique way of thinking, because the two of them were the same kind of people.
After returning from Tokyo, he met Nie Yunzhu again that morning. Later, he learned that she had redeemed herself for him, but she no longer had any contact with the previous people. Although he was a little disappointed at first, when he thought about it carefully, he felt that she should have such an outstanding temperament. Under the gentle appearance, there was a hidden part of confidence and arrogance. This was the kind of personality he liked. He had felt that they had feelings for each other in the past, and had pursued her for a while, until he had been slapped, and his feelings had changed after that.
In the past two months, he had been searching for the man behind Nie Yunzhu, and although he had tried to play it down on the surface, but because of that, he had fallen out with Li Pin. Because Li Pin was not to be underestimated, she was able to read his mind, and would not reveal anything, no matter what he said. Because of that, he had lost his sense of propriety, and had said a few harsh words. In fact, for the past two months, he had occasionally asked around, but even he himself was not sure what to do after finding out who the man was.
In the end, he had come to the conclusion that the man might be a reputable old man, and if that was the case, then there was nothing he could do. Until recently, he had seen some of Nie Yunzhu's performance.
Along the way, she had disguised herself as a man, and Nie Yunzhu's temperament was still very convincing, the image of a dashing young master. After that, she had spotted the person she was looking for in the crowd. She first stuck her head out to look at him a few times, and then walked to the back of the person, as if she wanted to greet him, but hesitated, waiting for the person to turn around and see her. During this period, from the side, Gu Yanzhen saw Nie Yunzhu's expression, sometimes struggling, sometimes unhappy, sometimes smiling, and sometimes raising her hand to hit him, but then stopping, frowning, slightly annoyed at the person in front of her who was in a daze. As her expression changed, her manly temperament had already disappeared, and she would occasionally sigh, and occasionally spread out her hands helplessly like a little girl … He had never seen these expressions on her before. In the past, when they were playing and singing at Golden Wind Brothel, he had seen her frown, which was out of place in the surrounding environment, and he had seen her reserved and scholarly smile, but now these expressions …
The man did not look back, and did not see the complex and cute look of the woman behind him, until Nie Yunzhu finally raised her folding fan and hit him on the shoulder, and put on a fake serious smile. Then, the two of them talked and laughed all the way to the registration table to present flowers, which turned out to be only two flowers, until they left … Gu Yanzhen could not tell what he felt in his heart. He just watched all this expressionlessly, and after a long time, he punched the pillar of the building next to him.
Then, with a "ha", he laughed.
*****
Ning Yi and Nie Yunzhu walked to the bottom of the Ink Tower and separated. At the window above, Xiaochan was leaning on the windowsill and looking, then she waved at him vigorously.
"Son-in-law, who is the black-clothed young master walking with you?"
When he went upstairs, Su Wending and the others had already left, but Li Pin and Xiaochan were still waiting for him. Xiaochan asked curiously. Ning Yi smiled and said, "A woman disguised as a man. He saw that she was beautiful, so he took liberties with her."
"Young master, you're so bad!" Xiaochan put a snack into her mouth and smiled brightly, obviously not believing what he said. Not long after, the three of them walked down the Ink Tower and went to the crowd to continue watching the next performance.
From time to time, they could see the figures of Song Xian and Chen Yong, and the personal guards of the Martyr Wu Army following them. Ning Yi paid attention, waiting for the possible changes that might happen …
*****
The author of "The Rebirth of the Yamen" did not believe that there was a free lunch in the sky, so he started a new book, "The Great Devil God". Those who liked it could go read it.
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