In the quiet room, Pan Xueliang's face, accustomed to being solemn, slowly revealed a smile.

"Liang was born in Dayin and grew up in Yangzhou. I am a native of Yangzhou Prefecture in Dayin. The so-called fame is half-finished, but the wind and snow are thousands of mountains. I am willing to follow the old minister and bring to justice the people who caused the troubles in Dayin and Yangzhou! "

Lao Shangshu once said that he has a temperament that will never look back until he hits the wall.

However, this scholar, whose hand was cut off during the official riot and who still refused to plead guilty in a dark cell, actively and willingly confessed his crime at this moment.

For the sake of the righteousness of his family and country that stirred in his chest.

Liu Yuan told Gu Changjin the truth today and told Pan Xueliang through his mouth. Wasn't it because he wanted Pan Xueliang to be willing to be an abandoned son when necessary?

Gu Changjin didn't look back, he just stared at the red painted door in front of him.

He was wrong, he thought.

He had read Pan Xueliang's papers for the county examination, hospital examination, rural examination and general examination. At that time, he thought that Huiyuan, who was in the 21st year of Jiayou's life, was a rigid person who did not know how to adapt.

No, he knows how to adapt.

But the "flexibility" he had at this moment was not what Gu Changjin wanted.

"What crime did Liao Rao commit? Then punish him for that crime. I will find out the evidence that Liao Rao collaborated with the enemy." Gu Changjin said softly: "Pan Gongshi, do you still remember what I said to you? If you If you think you are innocent, then don't plead guilty."

After saying that, Gu Changjin opened the door and strode away.

When the carriage reached the Wu's Brick Bridge, he asked Zhuiyun to stop the carriage and walked slowly along the bridge alone.

The crescent moon hangs high in the sky, and the boat under the bridge has been changed, but the lingering and pathos tune has not changed. In this bustling world, there are always people who are drunk and dreaming, and there are always people who are carrying forward with heavy burdens.

The old man selling pine nut candies at the bottom of the bridge is still there.

Thinking of walking on the bluestone road with the girl holding a paper bag of pine nut candies, Gu Changjin seemed to smell the sweet fermentation in the hot summer night again.

The heavy steps gradually became faster and faster.

The old man was about to close the stall when he caught a glimpse of him and said with a smile: "Did your guest accompany a girl to buy the old man's pine nut candies today?"

Gu Changjin said "hmm".

The old man still remembered Rong Shu, so he took out the pine nuts he had just put away and asked, "Sir, do you want another one?"

Gu Changjin said "hmm" again and said, "Excuse me, please put in more pine nuts. "

Okay." The old man responded with a smile, "Is that girl today the guest's sweetheart? She has loved eating the old man's fried pine nut candies since she was a child.

" Pine nut candy, I don’t know how many crazy men and women I have seen. Today, the husband is standing under the willow tree and looking at the little girl. It is obvious at a glance that he likes her very much.

That scene was also interesting. The little girl only had pine nut candies in her eyes, but the husband only had eyes for her.

Gu Changjin raised the corners of his lips.

The night wind passed by slowly, scattering his almost muttered "hmm" into the melting moonlight.

At this time, at No. 18 Pingnan Street, Chang Ji was standing in the yard waiting for Gu Changjin. When he heard the footsteps, he hurried forward to open the door and said attentively: "The master is back."

He shrugged his nose as he said that, his eyes silent. He glanced at the pine nut candy in Gu Changjin's hand.

Gu Changjin said a faint "hmm", and when he caught a glimpse of Chang Ji's face, a light flashed across his mind.

The dream he had on the Shen family passenger ship, what Chang Ji said in the dream was -

[The subordinates have delivered Pan Xueliang's burial place to the Dali Temple Prison, and Lady Feng said she wanted to take a look before the execution. ]

Gu Changjin had already checked on Pan Xueliang when he went to Beijing.

Pan Xueliang's father's name is Pan Wan, and his aunt's name is... Pan Hongfeng.

Red maple.

maple.

Gu Changjin's eyes narrowed.

wrong.

In the dream, Changji was not called "Feng Niangzi", but "Feng Niangzi".

What Chang Ji hated most in his life was betrayers. If Jiao Feng really betrayed Dayin, Chang Ji would never honor her as "Ms. Maple."

Chang Ji's face hurt when Gu Changjin saw him, and he was confused for a moment.

"Master, why do you look at me like this?" He touched his face.

"You helped me figure out some things." Gu Changjin put the pine nut candy in his hand and said, "I'll give you the candy. I'm going to see General Liang tomorrow. You go with me." "

But when it comes to the meeting between Rong Shu and Gu Changjin, no one in Shen Yuan knows anything about it except Luo Yan.

Shen Zhi naturally didn't want to say anything. As for Zhang's mother, it wasn't that Rong Shu wanted to hide it intentionally. She really didn't want Zhang's mother to think too much about her relationship with Gu Changjin.

Rong Shu would look for Gu Changjin and reveal her suspicions about Shen Zhi out of her trust in Gu Changjin.

This kind of trust has nothing to do with the relationship between men and women, it is simply the determination of a person's character. It is roughly the same as Xu Li'er and Pan Xueliang's trust in Gu Changjin.

Before Rong Shu left for Yangzhou Mansion, Nanny Zhou held her hand and kept saying that she and Gu Changjin were too reckless and hoped that she and Gu Changjin could renew their relationship.

If Aunt Zhou had known that she had met Gu Changjin in Yangzhou and that they had eaten pine nut candies and crossed the Wu Family Brick Bridge together, she might have said something.

So Rong Shu and Zhang's mother kept their mouths shut tightly.

Three days after returning to Shen Garden, Rong Shu never saw Shen Zhi. Finally, he heard that he had come back from outside, so he hurriedly picked up his skirt and went to Sanshengtang.

Unexpectedly, when she came to Sanshengtang, she couldn't even see Shen Zhi.

Butler Jiang explained: "There is a business that I need to confirm. I didn't even have time to have a cup of tea and went back in a hurry."

"Why is uncle so busy?" Rong Shu asked confused: "In the past I have never seen him so busy."

Butler Jiang said with a smile: "This is the flood season, and many places in Dayin are suffering from floods. The master is sending food to those cities. The Shen family is a good family. The Shen family's motto of "serving the people and giving to the people" will never be forgotten. "

Seriously speaking, Shen Zhi did an excellent job in this regard.

At that time, my grandfather donated most of the Shen family property to the state treasury, and divided the remaining property into half for his mother-in-law's dowry, leaving Shen Zhi with only a few million taels of assets.

Today, the Shen family's assets have increased at least dozens of times compared to twenty years ago.

This was all managed by Shen Zhi. When his grandfather chose him as his wife, he probably took a fancy to his talent.

"Even if it's a good deed, I won't bother uncle. I'll have some fun by myself later. Butler Jiang will go and do his business. I'll go back to Yilanzhu after finishing this cup of tea."

As a member of the Shen family, The big housekeeper, Housekeeper Jiang, was obviously busy with a lot of things. Hearing this, he left with a smile.

Rong Shu was sitting in the flower hall of Sanshengtang, drinking tea slowly, his eyes rolling around the room.

Sanshengtang was originally the courtyard where my grandfather lived. After my grandfather died, my uncle lived in this courtyard.

Rong Shu often came here when he was a child, and often went to the study to read his grandfather's notes.

study.

Rong Shu swallowed the tea soup in his mouth and silently looked at the partition door on the opposite wall.

Behind the door is the study room, which is filled with books and some of my grandfather's notes.

She remembered one thing. When she was about eight years old, she came into the study to look for a travel diary written by her grandfather. Because she was short, she moved a short stool and stepped on it to look for it.

She found the book, but when she came down, she accidentally knocked over a burner of incense on the table behind her.

The incense ash was scattered on a painting like splashed ink.

Rong Shu remembered that it was a painting by Mr. Chunshan.

My uncle loved the paintings of this great calligrapher and painter, and his paintings were almost covered on the walls.

The painting was stained with incense ashes and immediately became unsightly.

Her uncle, who was usually gentle, rarely lost his temper with her. Rong Shu had a stubborn temper. Although he admitted his mistake, he was also angry with Shen Zhi.

Later, it was Zhang's mother who coaxed her and told her not to get angry with her uncle.

Are all those paintings still there?

Rong Shu put down the tea cup and slowly walked towards the partition door.

The door opened with a creak. There was no light on inside, the light was dim, and shadows fell from the rows of yellow pear wood bookshelves and spread onto the wall behind the bookshelves.

Rong Shu walked lightly towards the wall hidden in the shadows.

In my memory, the wall covered with calligraphy and paintings seemed to be much "cleaner". Now there were only three paintings left, and the painting that Rong Shu poured ashes on was still there.

Only the incense ash marks on it have long since disappeared, and it was probably repaired carefully by someone.

Rong Shu didn't like Mr. Chunshan's paintings at all. Knowing that Shen Zhibao had these paintings, he even avoided this place as soon as he entered the study to avoid trouble again.

She looked at the painting quietly, and the more she looked at it, the more familiar the peach blossom forest above it became.

Suddenly I remembered that there was such a peach blossom forest behind a temple in Daci'en Temple, which was covered with prayer flags. The prayer flags in this painting are the same as those in Daci'en Temple. It must be the peach blossom forest.

Therefore, Mr. Chunshan painted this painting at Daci'en Temple.

Rong Shu took a step forward and was about to take a closer look at the painting when suddenly a slender shadow behind her pressed against her back and projected onto the wall bit by bit.

"What are you looking at, girl?"

Rong Shu was startled by the sudden voice, and subconsciously touched the silver bracelet on his left hand.

When I looked back, I saw it was Mother Zhang. Her shoulders immediately relaxed and she said, "Why didn't Mom make any sound when she came in? It scared me."

Mother Zhang had her back to the light and half of her face was hidden in the shadow. Looking at Rong Shu, he smiled softly and said: "The girl was so absorbed in looking at it that she didn't realize that the old slave came in. How

can you be so fascinated by it?" Rong Shu smiled and pointed at the painting behind him, and said with a smile: "Mom, you are so fascinated." Do you remember this painting?"

Zhang's mother followed her thin white finger and looked at the painting on the wall, and said, "I can't tell what kind of painting it is. I just remember that it is a painting that my uncle has collected."

"Then . You have a really bad memory. When I was a child, I was looking for my grandfather's letters and accidentally knocked over an incense burner, which stained a corner of the painting. My uncle scolded me for a long time. "

"It turned out to be that painting. "The girl stared at the painting for so long, but what's wrong?" "I don't think there is anything wrong." Rong

Shu smiled and said, "I was just curious about why the incense ash was not there anymore."

Then he laughed out loud and said: "You, you are just too curious. Since my uncle likes Mr. Chunshan's paintings, he will naturally find someone to repair them. Don't destroy my uncle's paintings this time. , so as not to incur another punishment."

Then he urged: "It's very dark here, girl, please get out quickly."

Rong Shu agreed, picked up a few letters from his grandfather, and went with Zhang's mother. We left the study together.

Shen Zhi was not here, so she simply went to Chunyue Tower to look for Guo Jiuniang today.

"Mom, I've been suffocating in Shen Yuan these days. If I don't go out for a walk, I'm going to die. Do you want to go with me?" Rong Shu said and went to change clothes.

Mother Zhang stared at the back of her head for a while, and then said gently: "I won't accompany the girl anymore. I have to run some errands for Grandma Zhou when I come back this time. Are you going to Ciying Lane?"

Is Grandma Zhou a My mother's nanny and her family are all in Yangzhou. After she accompanied my mother to marry in Beijing, she rarely had the opportunity to come back to Yangzhou. When they came back this time, Grandma Zhou had indeed asked Mother Zhang for a lot of things.

Rong Shu then smiled and said: "Okay, then I'll just take Luo Yan with me. Uncle Shi Yi has to go back to the Yamen to do some business, so I won't go to Ciying Lane today."

Mrs. Shen has always been unconventional when it comes to disciplining her daughter . She was dressed in a comfortable manner, and she developed a temperament that was very different from the ordinary ladies.

She looks demure at first glance, but in reality she has the temperament of a rabbit who just loves to run around.

Mother Zhang saw her anxious expression, as if she couldn't wait to go out, so she just thought she was really depressed. Compared to her staying in Shen Yuan, Zhang's mother would rather she go out and enjoy the mountains and rivers.

He didn't ask any more questions, and after Rong Shuren left, he went back to Sanshengtang. He looked at the paintings on the wall in the study for a long time, and then came out after confirming that there were no flaws. When I came out, I happened to meet Butler Jiang

. He was very surprised to see Mama Zhang coming out and said, "Why is Mama Zhang coming to Sanseigang Hall again?"

"The girl left something in the yard. I came to look for it for her."

"Oh" said: "Did you find it?"

Mother Zhang smiled and nodded: "Found it."

Butler Jiang stopped asking any more questions. This mother Zhang's status in the Shen family was not lower than that of his housekeeper. The uncle's respect for her His attitude was always one of respect, so Butler Jiang never made things difficult for Mama Zhang, and he even went as far as to please her.

Rong Shu didn't know about the episode in Sanshengtang. When he arrived at Chunyue Tower, he was led up to the second floor by Guo Jiuniang.

It was noon, and the girls in Chunyue Tower had just gotten up. They wanted water to wash themselves, and balm to touch their faces. The girls and women were so busy that they hit the back of their heads with their feet.

It was Luoyan's first time back to the brothel. Even though he was of a steady temper, he couldn't help but look at it a few more times.

When they arrived at the wing where Guo Jiuniang lived, she was about to follow her in, but Guo Jiuniang held her shoulders and said with a smile: "Zhaozhao said that Miss Luoyan is very good at martial arts. Can you trouble me to teach the children in this building some self-defense skills?" Technique?"

Luoyan knew that the brothel madam wanted to talk to Miss Rong alone, so she agreed and let her mother-in-law lead her to a nearby room.

Guo Jiuniang closed the door after entering the room, poured herself a glass of wine, and pushed a freshly brewed pot of fragrant drink to Rong Shu, saying:

"I knew you would come back to find me, you girl. I have been unable to hide things since I was young. If Master Gu hadn't been there that day, you probably would have had many more questions to ask. I heard that Lu Shiyi has been running around since you came back, so he must be running errands for you. The only person in the world who can be called him is you. After all, why did you come back to Yangzhou this time? "

Why don't you say that Mother Guo from Wujiazhuanqiao has a pair of golden eyes?

Rong Shu said with a smile: "No wonder Auntie Guo often said that Aunt Guo is a hero among women."

Guo Jiuniang sneered: "You are such a bastard, please tell me what's going on."

Rong Shu then told Shen Zhi exactly what she thought of her. Suspicious, "Does Aunt Guo know which businessmen Liao Rao is close to?"

Hearing this, Guo Jiuniang put down the wine cup in her hand, pondered for a while and then said: "I have never heard Liao Rao or his subordinates mention your uncle. Liao Rao is a man with a secretive mouth and a secretive mind, so he really and It's hard to find any clues about collusion between others. Lu Yi will come back in two days. I'll ask Lu Yi to do some research for me."

Rong Shu hesitated and said, "Will it bring trouble to Miss Lu Yi?

" No, this Governor Liao really likes Lu Yi." Guo Jiuniang glanced at her and said, "It's strange that he never touches Lu Yi. It's not that he is a very self-sufficient person. He touches every girl in the brothel. After one encounter, he would never touch Lulu Yi again. If he didn't touch her, he would come to look for her every now and then. He was very cheerful as she

said . Shaking his head, he sighed: "There are many charming women in this world, but there are all kinds of strange men."

Rong Shu was still wondering at first, but when he heard Guo Jiuniang's words, he couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, she realized that Aunt Guo had probably teased her because she saw that she was worried.

Guo Jiuniang laughed with her, and after she finished laughing, she said seriously:

"Zhaozhao, if you really suspect that your uncle has done something to harm the Shen family and Dayin, then you shouldn't hide it from your mother. In your mother's heart, the Shen family And you are more important than your uncle. If one day your uncle dares to harm the Shen family and you, your mother will definitely not let him go."

Rong Shu said this to Guo Jiuniang.

She was reluctant to let her grandma suffer, and was always worried that her grandma would hurt her body. She was unwilling to tell her grandma about many things, and always wanted her to take care of herself without any worries.

But what Aunt Guo said was wrong?

With A Niang's temperament, if her uncle really harmed the Shen family, she would rather send her uncle to the government herself than do it to others.

Rong Shu looked at Guo Jiuniang and said, "Is there something fishy about my grandfather's death?"