The Golden Building under Rong Shu's name is on Changtai Street, which can be reached from Straw Hat Hutong at the back door of Silk Satin Street and through Zhuangyuan Hutong.

She had walked through this alley many times before. Although there were usually people coming and going, it had never been as lively as it was today.

Halfway through the journey, Rong Shu gradually felt something was wrong.

It was too lively.

The noisy and chaotic sounds in the alley ahead were like heat waves, one on top of the other, and there was a faint smell of blood in the sound waves.

Rong Shu stopped and suddenly thought of something in his mind.

Yingque on the side said: "Why don't you leave, girl?"

Rong Shu frowned and said immediately: "Something's wrong, let's go back to the silk and satin shop."

He grabbed Yingque's hand and hurried back.

After running only a few steps, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps behind him, as if someone had broken through the defense line and rushed towards Straw Hat Alley.

The sounds of footsteps and roars were like soldiers entering the city, or crows returning to the forest at night. The rumble made people's hearts tremble.

Rong Shu finally remembered the riot among officials in his previous life after the examination results were released.

Although the riot was huge at first, it was suppressed by the official uniform with thunderous force within half a day.

The troublemaking official was released after being imprisoned for a few days.

The imperial court intended to minimize major events. Many people

did not even know that there was a riot in Zhuangyuan Hutong. Rong Shu heard Chang Ji tell it about it in his previous life, so he only had a vague impression of it, but he did not expect that it happened today.

Thinking of the people who died in this riot, Rong Shu couldn't help but breathe tight and urged: "Yingque, run faster!"

The two of them were wearing skirts and embroidered shoes. No matter how hard they ran, they couldn't resist the gradual slowdown. Approaching footsteps.

In a hurry, Rong Shu pulled out a golden hairpin from his bun and held it in his hand.

Her palms were sweating before she could hold it firmly. A hand with sharp bones suddenly came over from behind her and clasped her wrist firmly.

Rong Shu subconsciously stabbed that hand hard.

Before she even took out the hairpin in her hand, a familiar voice suddenly hit her ears: "Hengping."

Recognizing it was Gu Changjin, Rong Shu was stunned. Just as she was about to turn around, she heard a "bang" , Hengping passed her and kicked open a wooden door.

Gu Changjin hurriedly stuffed her and Yingque into the door, leaving only the words: "Protect them." Then he hurriedly closed the door and headed to Zhuangyuan Alley.

All this happened so fast, Rong Shu only had time to see a crimson hem of clothes.

The room was a little dark, with some old wood scattered on the ground, and it looked like a utility room.

Probably seeing her doubts, Hengping said: "This is a shop selling wood carvings in Straw Mao'er Hutong. Young Madam -"

As soon as the word "young madam" came out, Hengping paused and quickly changed his words: " Don't worry, Miss Rong, this place is actually a dark spot of the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Rong Shu thanked him: "Is the riot among the officials today because of Pan Xueliang's case?"

Heng Ping nodded: "My master just went to save Pan Xueliang. "

As soon as he finished speaking, Yingque suddenly said "Ah": "Girl, your hairpin is bloody, but where is it injured?"

Rong Shu lowered his eyes and looked at the gold hairpin in his hand, and then he thought. Just now the hairpin pierced Gu Changjin's arm.

He was injured, but his hand holding her wrist didn't loosen even a little bit, like an iron clamp, and he didn't even make a sound, as if the person who was stabbed was not him at all.

She had exerted a lot of force just now, and it must have been painful.

Yingque was still looking at her worriedly, Rong Shu shook his head and said: "It's not my blood, it's Mr. Gu's. Just now he... was stabbed by me."

After that, she looked at Hengping again, "This shop Since it's a dark spot in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I think it's safe. If Mr. Gu needs you, just go there."

In his previous life, Gu Changjin was also injured while trying to save Pan Xueliang.

Although the injury was not serious, there was some blood.

Hengping should have been by his side to protect him at that time, but now that Hengping is not here, he doesn't know if there will be any serious accidents.

Hengping glanced at her and said, "Master asked me to be here, so I can't leave."

He was always like this. He would never leave the person his master asked him to protect unless he died.

Yingque was still frightened by the scene just now. She felt much more at ease that Hengping could stay. She hurriedly said: "Girl, aunt, Mr. Gu is very skilled. We are both unarmed, so we should let Hengping stay."

Rong Shu So he said no more words.

It's really inconvenient to have no one who knows martial arts to protect you.

When Mu Nijing came back this time, she originally planned to ask her for a female guard with strong martial arts skills to accompany her back to Yangzhou. After what happened today, she felt that one was not enough.

At least I have to ask for one for my mother. I can't go out to check the accounts today without running into such a riot. In the next two years, as Emperor Jiayou's health deteriorates, Shangjing, the city of the emperor, may not be at peace.

The three of them waited in this room for a full hour before they heard a knock on the door from outside.

There were three long and one short knocks on the door. When Hengping heard it, he immediately opened the door and said, "Master."

Gu Changjin entered, supporting someone on his hand.

The man's hair was in a messy bun, his clothes were covered with splotches of blood, and his right hand was hanging limply.

Gu Changjin first glanced at Rong Shu and saw that she was fine. Then he turned to Hengping and said, "Help Pan Gongshi sit down."

After handing him over to Hengping, Gu Changjin split the ground with one hand. He took out two wooden strips from a wooden box, clamped Pan Xueliang's right hand, opened his official uniform, tore off a piece of cloth and tied it up.

"When we get to the Metropolitan Procuratorate later, I will find a doctor to set your bones."

Pan Xueliang smiled bitterly: "It doesn't matter whether the bones in your hand are reattached or not. After all, the infamy of being a commoner can no longer be wiped out, so just break it. Gu

Changjin said: "Since you firmly believe that you are innocent, you grit your teeth and wait for the day when the truth comes out."

Pan Xueliang raised his eyes sadly: "The old minister has already confessed, how can ordinary people wait until the day when the truth comes out?"

Seeing his despairing look, Gu Changjin suddenly remembered the almost stubborn sincerity in the young man's eyes that day in the custody room of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and his heart slowly sank.

In this case, Lao Shangshu admitted that he had brought the case to Pan Xueliang, but Pan Xueliang refused to plead guilty.

When he came out of the detention room that day, he couldn't wait to go back to Zhuangyuan Alley. He went to one guild hall after another to clarify and rectify the name of the old minister. His mouth was dry and his voice was hoarse, but no one believed him.

If Heng Ping had not protected him during those days, his hand would have been disabled long ago.

Later, when Lao Shangshu woke up from a coma, he confessed his crime directly without waiting for anyone to ask further questions, saying that he was entrusted by an old friend to commit fraud.

The confession certainly caused an uproar.

If Gu Changjin hadn't arrived in time today, Pan Xueliang might not have been able to save his life.

Gu Changjin said nothing, and after fixing his right hand, he stood up, looked at Pan Xueliang and said: "If you don't plead guilty, I will give you a chance to be tried by the three divisions. If you want to give up today, I can also send you to Dali Temple to plead guilty. The emperor is merciful, but it will only deprive you of your honor. You will no longer be a scholar for the rest of your life."

Can you no longer be a scholar?

Pan Xueliang raised his head and stared at Gu Changjin, looking dazed for a moment.

He couldn't help but think of how his father taught him to write his name and his name one by one in the past, how he stayed up to study hard in the sound of pines in the academy, and how he felt so excited and high-spirited when he was named on the gold medal list.

A scholar, he has always been a scholar. He has shouldered his father's expectations since he was born. He started learning calligraphy and read thousands of books, hoping that one day he could benefit the people.

Apart from studying and becoming an official, he didn't know what else he could do with the rest of his life.

Pan Xueliang's distracted eyes gradually condensed, and he finally said word by word: "Master Gu, you common man, don't want to plead guilty."

Gu Changjin looked into his eyes for a long time, nodded and said, "If you don't want to plead guilty, then I won't admit it. I won't admit it." The official will fight for you to have a chance to be heard by the three divisions. "

A gentleman's promise is as heavy as a thousand cauldrons."

Pan Xueliang stared at Gu Changjin blankly.

He is not a fool.

The officials outside were furious and wished they could cut him into pieces. The ministers in the court were also thinking about how to pin the crime on him, so as to clear the old minister's name and settle the case with minimal loss.

Lord Gu seeks a chance for a fair trial for him, which will offend the scholars who once regarded him as a role model, and also offend the ministers in the court.

Pan Xueliang had heard about his heroic deeds of suing hundreds of officials on Chuanlu Day for the sake of the people of Jinan Prefecture, risking his reputation as the number one scholar, and also heard about how he almost died on Chang'an Street because of Xu Li'er's move to the Golden Palace.

My heart has surged and I have admired him, but I never thought that one day, this adult would run for such an insignificant person like me.

Master Gu has a bright future. Is it really worth it for a useless person like him?

And for him, Pan Xueliang, is it really worth it for an illusory so-called justice?

In a daze, Gu Changjin had already helped him up and said, "I hope Pan Gongshi will not forget what a scholar's hands are for."

Pan Xueliang was shocked.

Reader's hand.

It is used to write a pen. It is indispensable to criticize the current ills, write down good policies for governing the country, and redress grievances and benefit the people.

Master Gu has such a pen in his hand.

In a daze, Pan Xueliang remembered what the old minister once said with a smile in Lingshan Academy -

"You young men, always remember that the black gauze hat on your heads in the future is not just a black gauze hat, it is Your promise to the emperor, to the people, and to the country is as important as a thousand cauldrons!"

Pan Xueliang managed to stand still, holding his right hand with his left hand, and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Gu, even if your right hand is ruined, you can't. I still have my left hand."

Seeing that he had regained his fighting spirit, Gu Changjin nodded and was about to speak when someone knocked on the door -

"Is Mr. Gu here?"

It's from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Come on, the riot outside has probably subsided.

Gu Changjin stepped forward and opened the door.

There was a green-covered carriage parked outside the door, and Hu He was sitting inside, with a rare look of urgency on his fat, white face. When he heard from the people at the Metropolitan Procuratorate that this man went to Zhuangyuan Alley to save people, his heart almost rose to his throat.

Mr. Zongxian handed this kid into his hands. If something happened to this kid in his hands, how would he explain to Mr. Zongxian?

Fortunately, this boy still had a full beard, so he took a serious look at Gu Changjin.

"Get in the car quickly. All the officials in Zhuangyuan Hutong have dispersed. I will take you back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate." Hu He made a sign to get on the car.

He was in the car, so he didn't see the two girls in the house.

Gu Changjin glanced at a corner of the dark room from the corner of his eyes, and said to Hu He: "Master Hu, I still have some things to deal with. I hope you will give me half an hour. After half an hour, I will meet you on my own." Go to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to plead guilty."

He looked at Hengping and said, "Help Pan Gongshi get on the carriage and follow Mr. Hu back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Hu He fixed his gaze on Gu Changjin for a moment . , smiled half-seriously: "Okay, you have to come back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate unscathed. Otherwise, Lord General Xian will cause trouble for me."

Gu Changjin agreed and made a long gesture with his hands. Yi.

After the group of people left, Fang looked at Rong Shu and said, "I'll take you back."

In fact, the trouble among the officials has subsided, and there is a high probability that there will be no more trouble on the way back to the silk shop.

Rong Shu glanced at Gu Changjin's right hand and saw a few dark drops of blood on the crimson hem. They were the blood brought out by the gold hairpin pricking into his arm.

After thinking for a moment, she nodded and said, "Thank you, sir."

The three of them left the house and went to the silk and satin shop.

Yingque didn't dare to speak all the way, deliberately taking a step behind, her eyes flickering back and forth between Gu Changjin and Rong Shu.

After Gu Changjin sent people back to the silk and satin shop, he stopped and looked at Rong Shu: "It's not peaceful going to Beijing these days. If Miss Rong wants to return to Beijing, it's best to wait another half month."

Rong Shu smiled and nodded, saying : "Thank you for reminding me, sir."

Gu Changjin's eyes paused at the smile on her lips, and then he moved his eyes away. He was about to leave when he suddenly heard the girl opposite say: "Can you please take the time to come in and have a cup of tea? I have something to tell you, sir."

His heart was beating fast.

As soon as she said this, her heartbeat pounded in her ears, like fireworks exploding.

The man raised his eyes again, curled his fingers slightly, and without hesitation, strode into the silk and satin shop following Rong Shu.

Shopkeeper Chen's heart finally fell back into his stomach when he saw Rong Shu leave and come back.

"My boss is finally back! I just sent someone to look for you in Zhuangyuan Alley——" He stopped mid-sentence and looked at the person following Rong Shu with a surprised look, "Gu, Mr. Gu? "

He had just exchanged a few words with his employer about this gentleman, but unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, this gentleman came to the door. He really couldn't talk to people during the day, and he couldn't talk about ghosts at night!

"Uncle Chen, I'm fine. Could you please go pick up a medicine box and make two cups of tea."

Shopkeeper Chen quickly agreed.

After the medicine box and tea were brought in, Rong Shu dug out a bottle of trauma medicine and said, "I was in a hurry just now and hurt you by mistake. I hope you can forgive me."

Gu Changjin knew that he was applying medicine in front of her face. She felt at ease, so she didn't refuse, opened her sleeves, pulled out the cork of the medicine bottle, and sprinkled the medicine powder on the wound.

Only then did Rong Shu discover that in addition to the wounds poked by the hairpin, there were two shallow stab wounds on his wrists.

This is just one area on the wrist, there are probably a lot of injuries in other places as well.

This was the case in his previous life. Every time he tried to save people, he would get hurt.

Rong Shu really admired him for this. This man seemed to have never flinched, and he never took a step back even though he was bruised and bloody.

After Gu Changjin applied the medicine, he opened his eyes and saw her staring at his wrist. He thought she felt guilty and said, "They are all minor injuries. They will probably heal in two days."

Rong Shu nodded and smiled. Returning to the topic, he said, "Thank you so much, Master Gu today. In the darkroom, after listening to the words of Master and Pan Gongshi, I suddenly remembered something."

Gu Changjin's eyes narrowed slightly, remembering the time when she mentioned Liu Yuan and Xu Li when she was a child. A little habit of looking at her fingers subconsciously.

Sure enough, the girl began to pick up the cloth wrapped around the medicine box.

"What's the matter? Miss Rong, it's okay to say it."

Rong Shu collected his thoughts and said thoughtfully: "Brother Rong Ze is a student of the Imperial College. When my sister-in-law got married, my brother mentioned to me that most of the students in the Imperial College will pass the exam this year. None of the supervisors were dismissed. My brother originally wanted to give it a try, but he gave up his mind after letting him accumulate for two more years."

Gu Changjin narrowed his eyes.

He went all the way from the county examination to the palace examination, and he knew that for the officials who had already passed the examination, of course, the sooner they were dismissed, the better. Even if they could not be named on the april list, they could still gain valuable experience in the scientific examination.

As Rong Shu said, it is indeed strange that most of the prison students choose not to end.

Gu Changjin raised his eyes and looked at Rong Shu, and she probably noticed something fishy.

"What does Miss Rong think about the inmates failing the trial?" he asked.

This question is difficult for Rong Shu to answer.

In his previous life, Pan Xueliang committed suicide not long after he was imprisoned in Dali Temple Prison.

He didn't even wait for the opportunity for the joint trial of the three agencies that Gu Changjin tried his best to fight for.

Rong Shu remembered that a long time later, one day, Gu Changjin sat in the study for a long time.

There was no light in the study at that time. He lowered his eyes and held his black gauze hat in his hand, not knowing what he was thinking.

When she entered the study with the lamp, he raised his eyes and looked over, his dark eyes illuminated extremely brightly by the lamp in her hand.

"Did you know? In this world, some people die not from what they did, but from who they were."

He muttered like this, probably realizing what he said, and quickly shut up again. .

Rong Shu had never understood what he meant before, but just now after listening to his conversation with Pan Xueliang in the darkroom, he recalled what his brother had said.

It seems that something is slowly connecting the past life and the present events bit by bit.

Gu Changjin said that Pan Xueliang died not from what he did, but from who he was. In other words, Pan Xueliang was destined to have this disaster.

No matter if he committed fraud or not, no matter if he was wronged or not.

And these should be due to Pan Xueliang's identity.

In his previous life, Gu Changjin probably knew Pan Xueliang's identity before he said that.

Rong Shu was a little annoyed for a moment as to why he didn't ask more questions. Maybe he would know who Pan Xueliang was.

"I just think that Mr. Guozijian told the students not to end up, maybe to save them. Maybe those adults already knew that something would happen during this examination."

Gu Changjin looked at her with burning eyes.

She and him thought of the same place.

"It's just my lord, if this cheating scandal was really intentional," Rong Shu held the medicine box, met his gaze, and said seriously, "then is it really a coincidence that Pan Xueliang was involved in it?"

Gu Changjin's pupils trembled slightly, and a sense of relief suddenly emerged, like seeing the sun through the clouds.

In this case, as long as Lao Shangshu categorically denied the fraud in Shanti, the current turmoil would have been avoided.

But the old minister actually admitted it.

Not to mention ruining his reputation for a lifetime, Pan Xueliang was completely thrown into a situation where he would never recover.

Gu Changjin remembered what Hu He said. The old minister's body was at the end of his strength, and this examination would probably be his last time as an examiner.

The last time...

Gu Changjin stood up suddenly and said to Rong Shu: "It's time for Gu to go back to the Procuratorate. I

would like to thank Miss Rong for this." Looking at Gu Changjin's appearance, Rong Shu knew what his words meant. It worked.

Then she bent her eyebrows and smiled and said: "Master Gu, there is no need to say thank you. I am just making nonsense. In Pan Gongshi's case, I have to rely on you to clear his name personally."

When she smiled, the corners of her eyes would rise slightly, with a kind of Between innocence and charm.

It turns out that the moment when a person smiles is comparable to the moment when a flower blooms.

Gu Changjin moved his eyes, his Adam's apple rolled slightly, he said a faint "hmm", picked up the black gauze hat, nodded briefly and left through the back door.

After he had left for half a quarter of an hour, shopkeeper Chen Fang came in with his hands folded and said: "My boss, the eldest lady is here to pick you up."

Rong Shu said hurriedly: "Uncle Chen didn't tell my mother-in-law that I went to Zhuangyuan Alley . "

Of course not. How dare you forget what you told me, boss?"

Rong Shu felt relieved, picked up his skirt and hurried out.

As soon as she got on the carriage, Mrs. Shen said angrily: "We are going back to Mingluyuan now. The officials are causing trouble today and several alleys have been sealed. We don't know when they will be unblocked."

After that, he looked carefully. She glanced at him and said, "Were you in the Silk and Satin Mansion just now?"

Rong Shu said "Hmm": "I wanted to go to Jinlou, but when I walked halfway, I noticed someone was making trouble in the Zhuangyuan Alley in front of me, so I hurried back to the Silk Satin Mansion. "

Ms. Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

"The past two months will be uneven. Let's pay the bills later." She frowned slightly, "It's my sister-in-law's house. I originally wanted you to pick a time to visit Uncle Chen, but it's hard to call you Uncle Chen now." Leave and go to Beijing."

Rong Shu said "Hey": "Why does Auntie's Zhuangzi have to be managed by Auntie?"

Rongshu knew that Zhuangzi was given the title by the Emperor when he was granted the title by the Marquis of Cheng'an. Only Zhuangzi's location was far away, and they all went to Wanping County under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture.

"There was something wrong with her farm before, so she came to ask me to find someone to look at for her. It was your Uncle Chen who took care of this matter. After he went to look at it, he came back and said to me, the head of the village is If you don't know, it's obvious that you are cheating on her. I mentioned this to your eldest aunt, but I don't know if she has changed the boss."

Mrs. Shen always sympathized with the eldest son, and only thought of Mrs. Zhu. As a person, after thinking about it for a while, he waved his hand and said: "That's all, your aunt doesn't like to bother others with everything. Let's talk about it when we see her in the future. Maybe she has changed her head."

As he spoke, the carriage crossed Chang'an Street and headed towards Go to the city gate.

A little doctor carrying a medicine box in Straw Hat Alley saw the carriage just as he came out of the alley.

The young doctor recognized at a glance that it was Mrs. Hou Shen's carriage. When she went to Cheng'an Marquis Mansion to perform acupuncture on Mrs. Hou, it was this canopy carriage that took her there.

Sun Daoping wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "Ah, the person sitting inside was Mrs. Gu just now, ah, no, Mrs. Gu divorced Mr. Gu, and now she is Miss Rong again. Oh, such a good girl, How could Mr. Gu be willing to reconcile? Love matters are really as difficult as what my grandfather said. By the way, I did find the source of the herbal prescription that Miss Rong asked about last time. I don’t know if Miss Rong still has it. Do you need it? It’s strange to say that the herbal prescription is an ancient medicine from the Western Regions, and few people in the whole hospital know about it. How could Miss Rong know about it?”

The young doctor was talking casually, and his figure gradually faded. Disappeared on Chang'an Street.