Chapter 160 He sneaked out (two chapters in one)

It was already the end of summer, and there was a cool breeze in the courtyard. The evening breeze was mixed with the fragrance of unknown flowers, making people drowsy.

Ah Huang stood up and stretched, and the tip of his tail accidentally touched the yawning little demon. The little demon jumped onto the top of the wall cursing, looking down at the stupid dog and... who were those two sneaky two-legged beasts?

The little demon jumped off the wall and pawed Ah Huang in the face, "You stupid dog, you didn't even know a stranger was here!"

Before Ah Huang could fight back, the little demon had already crawled out from the ditch at the base of the wall.

Under the moonlight, Xiao Yao's figure blended into the night and came silently behind the two people.

"It seems no one will come back."

"Let's go and report back."

The two turned to leave when a small shadow flashed by their feet. It was a cat.

They paid no attention and disappeared into the night in a flash.

And diagonally above their heads, an eagle was following them slowly...

Looking at the wings flying away, the little demon snorted, "Stupid bird, you're smart this time. You're much better than that talkative stupid dog."

She returned to the ditch by the same route, and entered the house through the cat hole specially opened for her. She jumped onto Zhao Shiqing's bed, licked her hairy hands first, and then slapped Zhao Shiqing in the face.

Zhao Shiqing turned over and continued to sleep. Xiao Yao stepped over her and slapped her in the face again.

Zhao Shiqing turned over again, but the little demon continued to step on her and beat her. Zhao Shiqing finally woke up: "It's not even daybreak yet, please, let me sleep a little longer."

The little demon rolled her eyes and said, "Listen, she actually knew the cat was coming, but she just ignored it. The cat is good but the person is bad!"

However, after listening to Xiao Yao's mumbling, Zhao Shiqing lost all sleepiness and even opened the window, waiting for Xiaoguai to fly back.

The little demon was sleepy. He closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly.

An hour later, Xiaoguai came back and said, "The bird has remembered the way. The bird will take you there."

Zhao Shiqing understood. Although Xiaoguai followed the two people, he did not overhear any useful information. He just remembered the last place the two people went.

She patted Xiaoguai's head and said, "Go to sleep first, and then go after you wake up."

......

The next day, during breakfast, Zhao Shiqing told Zhen Wuduo what happened that night: "Grandpa, we've been targeted, and it's most likely Zhao Xingzhou."

She thought for a moment and then said, "Grandpa, what do you think would happen if he knew Aunt Wan's life story now?"

Zhen Wuduo shook his head: "You grew up in the royal family, so you should understand why he did that back then, right?"

Zhao Shiqing understood that what Zhen Wuduo meant by "doing that" was that the emperor should give up the throne and live in Changshou Palace for a long time.

Zhao Shiqing smiled. "Why else? When he discovered he had raised a wolf, he also discovered the wolf already had a mouth full of fangs. If he didn't give up his position, he would probably be gnawed until not even a bone was left."

When these things happened, Zhao Shiqing was still a child. During her growing up period, she might not understand. However, she had experienced too many things in the past two years, and things that she had not thought deeply about before, she had already figured out by now.

Therefore, the person whom Empress Xiaokang entrusted her orphan to was Princess Jiayi, not her biological grandfather, the retired emperor.

If Empress Xiaokang had handed Xiao Yue over to the retired emperor, Xiao Yue would have had only two outcomes: one would have died young, like the retired emperor's fourth brother, who died of a cold at the age of seven or eight;

Either Xiao Yue would be raised as a useless person, a fat man who was as dumb as a pig and panted as he walked, or he might become a plaything for the palace maids and eunuchs at the age of twelve or thirteen, with his body and fertility ruined, and yet he would be accused of being lustful and lustful...

In short, he didn't even have the chance to become a playboy or a villain like Zhu Yu, because playboys and villains both had to appear in front of others, and had to have their own connections and resources at their disposal.

And these are impossible to give him.

Although Princess Jiayi could only give him the status of a concubine's son, she allowed him to receive a normal education, have the Princess Mansion and the Xiao family to protect him from wind and rain, and have a brother he could rely on to plan for him.

Empress Xiaokang was a man of insight, courage and strategy.

Because of this, even though Zhao Shiqing guessed that Zhao Xingzhou was most likely the emperor, he actually felt a little more disdain for him.

Zhao Shiqing just couldn't believe that Zhao Xingzhou, as a father, had no idea of ​​what Emperor Yongjia had done to the late crown prince?

No, even if he doesn't know the whole picture, he can still find clues.

Why wasn't it stopped?

As the emperor, he was obsessed with Taoism and neglected state affairs, while the young prince gradually gained prestige among the ministers. Instead of being pleased, his father was very unhappy. He happened to notice that his other son was making some moves, so he decided to use the same trick and use the second son to make the eldest son suffer and learn a lesson. Unfortunately, he never expected that the second son was not a human being at all, but a wolf, who directly skinned and tore apart the eldest son's bones.

Although Zhao Shiqing is smart, she is not very worldly-wise. Even though her lips are tightly pursed at this moment, the emotions in her eyes cannot escape Zhen Wuduo's eyes.

Zhen Wuduo said earnestly, "My dear granddaughter, you know your grandfather has many sons. With so many sons, there are many things to deal with. It is inevitable that there will be open and covert attacks. But grandpa is still here to play with you. Isn't grandpa afraid that they will unite to deal with me?"

Zhao Shiqing had indeed never thought about this question. She was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly, as if by lightning, she realized, "You are like the Emperor, letting them restrain each other?"

Zhen Wuduo nodded. "That's right, that's the truth. But unlike the Emperor, firstly, they are not my own flesh and blood. Secondly, before handing this family business over to you, Grandpa has to cleanse the black into white. Someone else has to do the dirty and smelly things, instead of dirtying your hands. The Zhen family will end with my generation. My granddaughter is not a member of the Zhen family. She must be upright, clean, and beautiful."

Zhao Shiqing was stunned again. Only today did she know that her grandfather had such an idea. He actually wanted to give the Zhen family a new look and hand it over to her.

What my grandfather meant by being upright, clean and beautiful was that the Zhen family had completely severed ties with pirates and turned to legitimate business.

She shook her head: "I don't know how to run a business. If you hand over your family business to me, I'm afraid I'll squander it all in a few years. You should give it to Xiao Zhen."

Zhen Wuduo frowned and said unhappily, "Give it to him? Let him use all my wealth to rebel? He's not my biological son. Am I crazy? Stupid? No, no, absolutely not!

It doesn't matter if you don't know how to do business. Grandpa will dispose of all those businesses and exchange them for land and gold. You don't have to worry about anything, just spend the money.

As the saying goes, in troubled times there is gold, in prosperous times there is land. No matter how the world goes, even if you lose your land, you still have gold. These are all yours. Grandpa has hidden them for you. No one can steal them.

Zhao Shiqing was deeply moved and peeled a tea egg for Zhen Wuduo with her own hands: "Grandpa, try it. This is peeled by your precious granddaughter for you personally."

Zhen Wuduo likes to eat tea eggs and eats at least two every day. Zhao Shiqing decided that for the sake of her golden field in troubled times, she must also learn how to cook tea eggs.

Zhen Wuduo took the tea egg peeled by his granddaughter and took a bite. Hmm, it was so delicious.

In the small courtyard in the early morning, there was a sense of family happiness, and the matter of Zhao Xingzhou was forgotten.

But this is only temporary. After eating and drinking, it’s time to get down to business.

Zhen Wuduo said, "No matter what Zhao Xingzhou does, Madam Wan should not show up in public recently."

Zhao Shiqing asked hurriedly, "He won't let anyone force our way in, will he? After all, he already knows we live here."

Zhen Wuduo shook his head: "First, if he only suspected that Wan Niangzi was related to the Qi family, then as you said, he was deeply influenced by Empress Dowager Qi and had no feelings for the Qi family. The reason he sent people to investigate was just to control everything;

Secondly, if he thought of Empress Dowager Qi or even his own daughters because of Wan Niangzi's appearance, he would not force her, but take it step by step;

Third, he's not free right now. He's most likely sneaked out. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to find out. The Emperor is definitely still cultivating in Changshou Palace. If that's the case, he wouldn't act so recklessly and brazenly.

Zhao Shiqing nodded frequently. The older you get, the wiser you become. Compared to her grandfather, she was far behind.

She thought of the Dong family again and said, "Even if he didn't reveal his identity, he must have something to rely on. Otherwise, Captain Li from the county government wouldn't have let him go, let alone arrested the Dong family on the spot."

Zhen Wuduo laughed heartily. "Silly boy, did you reveal your identity when you dealt with Cui Rong in Liangdi? Did those people know that you were the second daughter of the Liang Palace?"

Zhao Shiqing shook her head. No, that was Liangdi’s territory, so it wasn’t difficult for her to do something about it.

She suddenly realized, "Zhao Xingzhou doesn't need to use his status as the retired emperor to intimidate people. He only needs to show the badge of the Ministry of Justice or the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Captain Li will obey his orders. And for Zhao Xingzhou, he can easily get the badge of any government office in the capital."

Seeing that she had figured it out, Zhen Wuduo stopped talking and said, "Okay, I'm going to walk the dog, you go do your thing."

Every day Zhen Wuduo would pick up the birdcage and take Ah Huang for a walk outside. He also met a few old friends, and they often played chess and listened to books together. The old man liked this kind of down-to-earth life very much.

Zhao Shiqing was very relieved. No matter where the old man went, the four masters would follow him secretly. The old man valued his life very much.

Wan Ruyi couldn't go out, so the northbound team temporarily changed back to a four-person group. Zhao Shiqing changed the appearance of herself and the other three. She originally wanted to dress herself and Ling Bo as men, and dress Niu Qiu and Shen Wangxing as women, but the two refused to do so. In desperation, all four of them had to pretend to be men.

Xiao Yao wanted to get some beauty sleep, so the four of them took Xiao Guai out with them.

The morning sun was not hot, but very bright. Xiaoguai led the way in front, and the four little boys followed behind, talking and laughing. As teenagers, with no adults to supervise them, it was the time for them to be unrestrained and unrestrained. The wind blowing through their hair seemed to come alive, and they became light and free.

They followed Xiaoguai and walked until they arrived at a quiet place.

"Dabei Temple?" Zhao Shiqing stared at the worn plaque in a daze.

Who would have thought that Zhao Xingzhou, who wore a Taoist robe and had a Taoist bun and was determined to become an immortal, would live in such a dilapidated temple.

Because there was an idle emperor, Dayong had emphasized Taoism over Buddhism since he came to power. As a result, temples had a hard time and there were very few worshippers. The Dabei Temple was an example. In broad daylight, there was not a single pilgrim.

The four of them looked at each other and saw embarrassment in each other's eyes.

If this was a Taoist temple, or a place like Dongxian Temple, they could all pretend to be pilgrims and walk in openly. But that's not the case here. There isn't even a single pilgrim here. Even if they say they are here to burn incense, no one will believe them.

This reminded Zhao Shiqing of the time when he first met Zhao Tinghan in the capital, and there was also a temple without incense.

But it was her elder brother who was in the temple at that time, so she just had to go in and her elder brother would not harm her.

But the person living here is Zhao Xingzhou. It would have been fine if I didn’t know his identity before, but now that I know, if I say I’m not afraid, I’d be bragging.

Zhao Shiqing: "Hey, this place is definitely not fun."

Ling Bo: "That's right, let's go somewhere else."

Now that we know that the fake bull nose lives here, that’s enough, let’s go.

The four of them returned to the busy street and unexpectedly saw many people running forward. They grabbed one of them and asked, "Where are you going?"

The man said, "Mr. Dong's body has been dug out!"

Mr. Dong?

Not Dong Xian anymore?

Anyone who doesn't watch the fun is a fool, so the four of them ran along.

Dong Xiucai's body was dug out from the Dongxian Temple and buried under a yellow poplar tree. Countless devout men and women had stepped on the land there.

Loach squeezed into the crowd to inquire and came back soon. It turned out that the Dong family was brought back to the yamen yesterday. They were not tortured, but just scared, and the Dong family confessed.

Dong Xiucai did not become an immortal, he was dead.

Mr. Dong wanted to cultivate himself to become an immortal, but he failed and became addicted to the Five Stones Powder.

One day, after taking Wu Shi San, he went crazy and hugged his brother's wife and tried to commit a crime. His two younger brothers Dong Lao Er and Dong Lao San happened to see it, and during the fight, Dong Xiucai was beaten to death by his two younger brothers.

Mr. Dong died in an ignominious way, and his family did not want to get involved in a lawsuit. Even Mr. Dong's wife and children wanted to keep the matter secret.

The family got together and came up with the idea of ​​ascending to the fairyland.

Since he had ascended to heaven, there was of course no body, and there was no need for a coroner to perform an autopsy. So his family worked together to bury Dong Xiucai under a yellow poplar tree.

However, unexpectedly, when the news of Dong Xiucai's ascension spread, it attracted countless believers. The Dong family discussed and decided that since Dong Xiucai had not made any contribution to the family when he was alive, they should compensate him after his death. Thus, the Dong Xian Temple was built.

Scholar Dong had been dead for a year, and no one had ever suspected it until a crazy old Taoist priest came and the scam of Dong Xian Temple was exposed.

Loach was about to cry: "I don't know if I can get my money back."

It's not just him. Yesterday, Zhen Wuduo gave twenty taels to each of them, and they all gave it to the Dong family's merit box.

Even if the Dong family returned all the silver donated by the believers, it would not be returned to them, and in the end the county government would still benefit from it.

The four people were dejected. They were obviously very smart, so how could they be deceived?

"Little friends, you have also been cheated out of money, right?"

The four people were startled by the familiar voice. This old liar was still haunting them. How could he recognize them even though they had changed their appearance?

The four of them looked up and saw Zhao Xingzhou standing behind the three women, speaking to them.

Two of the three people, in terms of height, age, and dress, were somewhat similar to Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo from yesterday.

Did this old liar recognize the wrong person?

The four were about to watch the excitement when they heard a shout from the crowd: "Weapons! Weapons have been dug out from the Dongxian Temple!"