Before he could finish, Su Donglou said decisively, "No, didn't you hear what Tingxuan said? You want to help Ping Guogong rebel while concealing the rebellion of Prince Xiangyang. Once you take out this account book, why does the prince want to raise so much money? Is he short of money? What does he want to do with so much money? Isn't it obvious now? No, no."
Lu Fengyu sneered, "I call you stupid, but you still refuse to admit it. Is it only money that is needed for rebellion? Soldiers, food, and the will of the people, which one of these can be successful? The prince is extravagant by nature, and everyone in the world knows it. Moreover, he is far away in Jiangnan, and the emperor is out of reach. Living a carefree life as a prince, it is inevitable that he will do some illegal things. In order to live a comfortable life, he spends a lot of money on local officials or ministers in the capital, asking them to say something good for him. This is all natural. Although it also damages the prince's reputation, it is better than exposing his intention to rebel, right?"
This is not bad. Duan Tingxuan also knows that the court officials privately call the Prince of Xiangyang the God of Wealth. Using this reason is indeed the best of both worlds. However, Su Donglou asked in confusion: "However, how can we explain to the prince in this way? After Ping Guogong rebels, even if the truth is not made public, the emperor will definitely send an envoy to reprimand him."
Lu Fengyu said calmly, "What does this count for? The prince and his wife of Anping Marquis personally went to Jiangnan to take risks. If you say that they have no purpose, they just want to experience the feeling of being a slave. Do you believe it? Rather than saying that they came to spy on the prince to see if he had the intention of rebellion and make him restless, wouldn't it be a better reason to fight for Ping Guogong? Anyway, now everyone in the world knows that the prince's wife is amazing and has eaten the young marquis to death, so it is reasonable to take a risk for the sake of the father-in-law and mother-in-law. As for how we explain to the prince? Haha! If we are caught by Duan Tingxuan, can we get out of danger without spitting out something? What's more, the young marquis's people have already spied on Shenxianling. It was the two of us who used this account book to divert Duan Tingxuan's attention, so that he and his wife returned to Beijing happily with the account book, and did not find out anything about the prince's plan. This plan of abandoning the pawn to save the chariot has only merits and no sins in front of the prince. What does it count for a few words of reprimand from the emperor?"
“I admire you.”
Su Donglou gave a thumbs up. This was said with sincerity. If he was not extremely smart and had a deep understanding of the King of Xiangyang, he would never be able to solve this matter to such a perfect level. In this way, everyone can be happy. The Duke of Pingguo can be rehabilitated. The King of Xiangyang can still dream of conquering the world, and Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuannuan can also leave the dangerous place of Jiangnan calmly.
"I'm really a little worried. Can you really control such a cunning man, Dong Lou? It seems that you are more than one level dumber than him."
Su Nuannuan also sighed beside him. Sure enough, Su Donglou's face turned black, but he soon smiled again with high spirits: "Sister-in-law, do you know that there is a saying in martial arts, called one force breaks ten tricks. No matter how vicious he is like a snake or cunning like a fox, he has my poison to force him and your irregular delicious recipes to lure him. I don't believe he can escape from my palm."
"Don't be too confident. Be careful not to capsize in the ditch."
Duan Tingxuan lazily reminded him, but he knew in his heart that Su Donglou must have known all these. Although Lu Fengyu was smart, he could only be abused in front of absolute strength. Moreover, he believed that this foodie could see the future clearly. Following the rebellion of King Xiangyang, there was no future at all. The so-called fourth prince gave up the throne and the rule of filial piety was based on the death of the prince. However, the prince was tough and could not indulge in alcohol and sex. The beautiful fantasy of King Xiangyang and Lu Fengyu was just a pie in the sky, which was impossible to realize.
The group then parted ways. Lu Fengyu and Su Donglou returned to Hangzhou by the same route. As for how to explain to the King of Xiangyang, that was their business. Duan Tingxuan, Su Nuannuan and Siping finally took off the disguises that had been stuck on their faces for several months, and suddenly felt refreshed. Then the three of them left Shenxian Ridge, bought incense burners, paper money and other items in the surrounding villages, and came to the place where Long Pingzhang was killed that day.
Siping placed the offerings he had prepared earlier on the ground. Due to the tight time schedule, they were nothing more than some roasted pheasant, wild rabbit, steamed meat and the like. He then placed two bottles of good wine and an incense burner on top, and that was all.
Duan Tingxuan took out the incense and lit it, while Su Nuannuan burned paper money herself. Her husband lifted his robe and knelt on the ground, saying in a deep voice, "Pingzhang, we already know the plot of the King of Xiangyang, and I will also try my best to find out the big secret he relies on. Although this matter is a bit difficult, you believe me, I will definitely do it... Pingzhang, you have saved a future catastrophe with your own strength. I admire you, but it's a pity that I can no longer talk and laugh with you. How cruel the heavens are to make me lose my confidant... Pingzhang, now in order to stabilize the overall situation, the King of Xiangyang can only let him go free, but he can't be free forever. When he loses power in the future, I will make him pay with blood."
After saying this, he bowed three times, took out the written sacrificial text, read it aloud, and then set it on fire. Only then did he wipe away the tears from his eyes and murmured in a deep voice: "Pingzhang, if you still have a spirit in the afterlife, you can finally rest in peace."
Su Nuannuan felt very uncomfortable listening to her husband's heart-broken words. She secretly sighed that good people don't live long. Poor Long Pingzhang, such a good young man, who might have become a minister in the court in the future. But such a rising star in the political arena fell in such a sparsely populated place. How could this not make people sigh.
After paying respects to Long Pingzhang, the three of them left Suzhou and headed for Niutou Mountain. They no longer had to hide their tracks. With their identities known, even if they swaggered around Jiangnan, the King of Xiangyang would not dare to do anything. After all, he had no troops to rely on. Killing Su Nuannuan and Duan Tingxuan would be useless except for making the emperor suspicious of his intentions. Such a thing that would do more harm than good could be figured out by the King of Xiangyang himself without Lu Fengyu pointing it out.
Three days later, the group of three left Suzhou and entered Songjiang Prefecture.
In fact, they didn't need to go to Niutou Mountain. As long as they returned to Beijing and presented the account books, even if the emperor couldn't put down his face to fight for Ping Guogong, he could at least pardon their exile and call them back to live in Beijing. By then, they would have everything to meet. Why rush at this moment? The reason why they had to rush over was because Duan Tingxuan knew Su Nuannuan's life experience and wanted to take her out for a walk to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Great Yin Dynasty.
According to geographical comparison, Songjiang Prefecture should be our 21st century Shanghai. However, in this era, although this place is already a prosperous city, it is still far from the status of Shanghai in modern China. At least if the cities of the Great Yin Dynasty are ranked, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Yangzhou are far ahead of Songjiang Prefecture.
After walking around the street for a long time, Su Nuannuan felt a little tired, so the three of them found an inn that looked large and grand. Just as they were about to enter, they heard a woman's voice behind them saying, "Brother Niu, I've thought about it, we shouldn't go to Fangji Cloth Shop. The cotton cloth there is very expensive. You can buy a foot of red cloth for two or three cents at the market. Why do we have to go to the cloth shop to buy it? We should save the little money we have."
Having lived in Jiangnan for the past few months, Su Nuannuan was used to the soft Wu dialect. When she heard this Beijing-like accent, she felt familiar and couldn't help but look back. She saw a man and a woman standing at the stall in front of the inn, waiting to buy steamed buns. The one who spoke just now should be this beautiful woman.
Although the woman was beautiful, what really caught Su Nuannuan's attention was the young man who looked to be about twenty-three or twenty-four years old.
Although he was wearing ill-fitting coarse cloth and had a thin stick stuck in his hair, the man stood beside the stall with a majestic demeanor. Not to mention a young farmer, even a well-read official might not have such a temperament, not to mention the man's sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, which at first glance should be the outstanding appearance of the male protagonist of a novel.
Perhaps because she saw Su Nuannuan looking at her, the girl quietly stuck out her tongue, smiled at Su Nuannuan a little embarrassedly, and turned her head away. At this time, Duan Tingxuan and Siping had already stepped into the inn. Although Su Nuannuan had a good impression of the couple, she was too embarrassed to approach them as they had just met by chance, so she smiled at the girl and followed them into the inn.
Then the young man said, "After all, it's only once in a lifetime, why would you buy those inferior goods in the market? You can save money later, but you should spend it now."
As soon as these words came out, Su Nuannuan didn't realize anything, but she saw Duan Tingxuan, who was one step in front of her, suddenly stopped, then turned around abruptly, looking at the young couple outside the door, with an expression of disbelief on his face.
"What's wrong?" Su Nuannuan was puzzled, but she saw her husband's lips trembling. When he saw the couple buying two steamed buns and about to leave, he suddenly shouted, "Pingzhang... is that you? Is it really you?"
As he spoke, he rushed out quickly and grabbed the young man who had already walked several steps. When the young man turned around, he looked him up and down carefully for several times before he said excitedly: "Yes, it's you, Long Pingzhang, I didn't make a mistake, God bless you, you are not dead? But you...but why didn't you pay attention to me when I called you? You..."
At this point, the young marquis finally calmed down, looked at the young man suspiciously, and asked tentatively: "Pingzhang, you... you don't recognize me?"
The young man had been looking at Duan Tingxuan, with a look of doubt in his eyes. After a long while, he murmured, "Tingxuan...you are...Tingxuan?"
"Yes, it's me, that's me." Duan Tingxuan was overjoyed when he saw that his best friend recognized him. He held Long Pingzhang's hand tightly and asked in rapid succession, "You... weren't you dead? How did you come back to life? Why are you stranded in Songjiang County? Why haven't you heard from him in the past few months? The King of Xiangyang is not so powerful in Jiangnan, right? Besides, if it really doesn't work out, you can also go to Yangzhou to find Shi Dan. He is the prefect in Yangzhou. You can explain the situation to him. Are you afraid that he can't send someone to escort you back to Beijing? Why are you secretly in Songjiang? This is not the way to find an opportunity to turn the tables."
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