Chapter 68 Discovered

After making a plan, the two men rushed to the old scholar's house.

The team of soldiers who had just investigated them also arrived at the courtyard where the old scholar lived, and slammed the door loudly: "The government is investigating a case, open the door quickly!"

Lights were lit up in the houses in the courtyard one after another, and men, women, old and young hurriedly put on their clothes and came out. The child didn't know what happened and cried loudly. The young couple was afraid of causing trouble, so they hurriedly comforted the child, and the child stopped crying.

"Official, I don't know what happened?" A man asked.

The officer had a stern face and a cold broadsword on his waist. He shouted, "Does the government need to explain the whole story to you? All men, take off your shirts! Women who are locals, show us your household registration , and those who are not locals, show us your travel permits!"

The people in the yard were silent and did as he was told. The officer found that there was a light on in a house, but no one came out, so he went up and knocked on the door, "Open the door, open the door!"

No one answered.

The officer pointed a knife at the people in the yard and asked, "Who lives in there?"

The man who asked the question earlier replied, "It's an old scholar who told stories in Lai Fu Tavern in his early years and now tells stories in Jiang's Gudong Soup."

The officer continued to knock on the door, but there was still no response. When he was about to break in, he heard the old scholar's hoarse voice from inside, "Who's knocking on the door... cough cough... I'm coming."

The door was opened from the inside, and the old scholar was very hunched over. Perhaps because he was afraid of the cold, he not only wore a felt hat on his head, but also a tattered scarf around his neck. His entire face was almost covered by the scarf. He kept coughing, as if he had caught a cold.

Seeing how ill he was, the neighbors around him couldn't help but ask with concern: "Old scholar, what's wrong with you?"

"I caught a cold... cough cough..." The old scholar hunched over and coughed for a while, his voice was so hoarse that it was impossible to distinguish his original voice.

The officials were not sympathetic and said coldly: "What is your name, old man? Take out your household registration."

When others heard that they needed a household registration, they had to go back to their houses to look for it, but the old scholar took it out directly from his arms and handed it over tremblingly. The frostbite on his hand had turned into pus, and he used a cloth tape to wrap it around and around, leaving only a few dirty fingertips exposed.

He kept coughing as if he had tuberculosis. The higher-ups mainly wanted to check the women in Xizhou City. As for an old man who might be sick, the officials were unwilling to have much contact with him. After verifying that everything was correct, they returned the household registration documents to the old scholar.

To avoid any accidents, several people still went into the house to take a look. The house was pitifully simple, everything was tattered, and the furniture was no different. The only cabinet that could hide people was filled with a lot of quilts. After the officials took the quilts out of several beds, they found that there were still some patched torn sheets underneath.

The officials didn't want to continue searching, and only said, "You old man's family is so poor, but you still have money to buy so many quilts."

The old scholar coughed violently and couldn't speak.

It was the neighbors who were afraid that the officials would embarrass the old scholar, so they helped him out and said, "The old scholar is now telling stories at Jiang's Antique Soup. The owner of Jiang's shop is a kind-hearted man. The old scholar's decent clothes and the quilt for the winter were all bought by him."

The official then stopped. After checking the people in this yard, he and his men were about to go somewhere else when Yang Xiu suddenly broke in.

The official shouted, "You again?"

Yang Xiu glanced at the hunched old scholar, and smiled as he explained to the official, "My boss asked me to bring these foods to the old gentleman, but I have such a bad memory that I forgot it the moment I turned around!"

Yang Xiu said as he walked a few steps closer, and was about to hand over two large paper packages of meat jerky to the old scholar, "This is for you from my boss."

The old scholar stretched out his hand to take it, "Thank you... ahem..."

Yang Xiu's eyes changed. It was obvious that Jiang Yanyi had asked them to bring the meat jerky to Chu Changping, and the old scholar couldn't have been unaware of it. On the way back, the old scholar was still chatting and laughing with them, so how could his voice become so hoarse the moment he turned around? He must

be sick of the cat!

When the "old scholar" was about to get the paper package, he grabbed the "old scholar's" hand and lifted it up, and at the same time kicked out a sweeping kick.

The "old scholar" was caught off guard and was ambushed. He was knocked to the ground by Yang Xiu's kick.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden change.

The "old scholar" left the door, climbed up and rushed to the back window. His waist was no longer bent, his back was no longer hunched, and his body was extremely strong.

Yang Xiu shouted: "He is not the old scholar!"

The officers and soldiers present came to their senses and chased after him.

The "old scholar" smashed the window with his body, and just as he flipped out, a sharp sword was placed on his neck.

Bing Shao, who had been waiting at the back window, shouted into the house, "We caught him!"

The "old scholar" couldn't figure out how he had exposed himself. With a look of hatred in his eyes, he leaned back to avoid the blade, kicked Bing Shao in the chest and tried to run.

Bing Shao was kicked so hard that he almost lost his breath. He slapped the "old scholar" with the back of his knife. The "old scholar" might have been injured, and he vomited blood and fell to the ground.

At this time, Yang Xiu and several officials also rushed over.

The officials grabbed the "old scholar" and pulled off the scarf that covered half of his face, revealing a face that was difficult to distinguish between male and female.

His hair was a little curly because he had been wearing a braid for many years, and there was an arrow wound on his body that was split open by a fight.

These characteristics all match those of the man they were asked to arrest! The officers were overjoyed and quickly tied up the man. They bowed to Yang Xiu and Bing Shao and said, "Thank you for your help!"

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao returned the greeting.

When Yang Xiu came, he had already searched all the places in the old scholar's house where he could hide, but he still couldn't find the old scholar. He was worried that the old scholar had an accident, so he explained the situation to the officers in a few words, and then grabbed the man pretending to be the old scholar and threatened him, "Where did you hide the old man in the house?"

"Kill him." The Turkic prince Ogusdan sneered with blood on his mouth.

Bing Shao punched him in the face: "Tell the truth!"

Ugusdan smiled: "This is the truth."

"Do you believe I will kill you?" Bing Shao wanted to kill him with a knife.

Ugusdan spat blood foam at him and sneered: "You guys take your time to find it, you will find it eventually."

"Son of a bitch!" Yang Xiu cursed, and dug his hand directly into the arrow hole near his left chest: "Speak or not!"

Ugusdan was so painful that his whole body trembled, and he had to speak: "In the cabinet."

"Are you kidding me? I've already checked the cabinet!" When Yang Xiu went into the room to look for someone, he turned out all the tattered bedding in the cabinet. There were only some old clothes placed in a mess at the bottom. It was so shallow that there was no way anyone could hide there.

"I didn't lie to you. I knocked him out and put him in the cabinet to lie flat. Then I piled up the clothes and quilts." Ugusdan couldn't bear the pain and sweated profusely.

There was no partition in the old scholar's cabinet. It was broken through. He was thin, and it was really hard for people to notice that he was put in the cabinet and covered with clothes.

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao looked at each other, and Bing Shao quickly climbed into the house through the back window, and dug open the layer of clothes under the cabinet in a few seconds. He really found the old scholar who had been stripped of his outer clothes and was left with only a single layer of clothes.

Bing Shao quickly checked the old scholar's breath, and was relieved to find that he was still breathing, and shouted to Yang Xiu outside the house: "The person has been found! He is still alive!"

Thanks to Ugusdan who had just hidden the old scholar in the cabinet, the official came in right after, opened the cabinet and took down most of the quilts piled on top. When Yang Xiu was looking for someone, he turned out the rest of the things in the cabinet, leaving only some old clothes on top, so the old scholar was not suffocated to death.

Bing Shao pinched the old scholar's philtrum. The old scholar was just knocked unconscious, but not injured. His eyelids trembled and he finally woke up.

Seeing the two men, he was still in shock and said, "A thief has entered the house!"

"Don't worry, old sir, the thief has been caught by the government." Bing Shao said.

The old scholar breathed a sigh of relief.

When he came back with Yang Xiu and Bing Shao, he was checked several times by the soldiers on the way. No matter how stupid he was, he knew that the government must be looking for someone.

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao always sent him to the gate of the courtyard and then went back. After the old scholar entered the house, he was held at knifepoint. The other party asked for his household registration. The old scholar knew something was wrong and said he would light a light to look for it. He hadn't turned on the light in his house for many years. He just hoped that someone could find clues. After

the other party took the household registration, he felt a pain in his neck and lost consciousness. He didn't know what happened later.

Yang Xiu entered the house and listened to the old scholar's explanation of the whole story. He sighed and said, "It's a blessing. The thief wanted to hide and didn't dare to kill people rashly. Otherwise, there would be a bloody smell in the house, which would attract the attention of the officers and soldiers, so he only knocked you unconscious."

The old scholar was also scared when he heard Yang Xiu say this.

It was already the next morning when the news that the old scholar had narrowly escaped being killed reached Jiang Yanyi. In

the morning, the news of what happened in the south of the city last night had spread widely.

As soon as Jiang Yanyi opened the door of the shop, the neighbors gathered around to ask her how the old scholar was. Jiang Yanyi was confused. What happened to the old scholar?

Seeing that Jiang Yanyi seemed to know nothing, these people started to talk about what happened in the south of the city last night.

When Yang Xiu and Bing Shao came over, in addition to the ingredients that Jiang Yanyi asked them to buy yesterday, they also had meat buns, big meat buns, and candied haws given by the vendors in the stalls... and several strings of garlic were hung around their necks.

When the people on the street saw them, they all praised them as "heroes", "fighting for the weak", "brave", etc. Yang Xiu and Bing Shao had never seen such a scene before, and they were more uncomfortable than each other. When they arrived at Jiang Yanyi's store, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Yanyi came out with a tray, and on the tray were two bowls of steaming mutton soup buns. The soup that had been hanging overnight was extremely fresh and rich. The mutton was cooked soft with brine. Fine drops of oil floated on the clear soup. The flavor was mellow and fragrant, and a few pieces of green coriander were dotted on it.

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao swallowed their saliva at the same time.

Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "Eat quickly, this is the breakfast prepared for you."

The two looked at each other and saw a sense of confusion in each other's eyes that "happiness came too suddenly". They didn't even have time to take off the garlic string hanging around their necks, and they picked up the bowls and started to wolf down like hungry ghosts.

Jiang Yanyi's hot pot restaurant was open at noon, so he didn't care about their breakfast. Usually, they would order two steamed buns in the inn where they stayed and eat them. In order to empty their stomachs, they even ate more delicious food in the afternoon and evening. They didn't want to eat breakfast.

Obviously, they had the same ingredients, and they didn't know how Jiang Yanyi made it. This bowl of mutton soup steamed bun tasted very different from the mutton hot pot sold in the store.

Maybe it was because the mutton in the hot pot was fresh, and the taste was better. Pao Mo is made with halved lamb cooked slowly over low heat, which tastes more mellow.

Jiang Yanyi said, "I heard that you saved the old scholar last night. How is he now?"

"No big deal. I think he will come to the store soon." Yang Xiu said while eating.

They only have one thought in their minds now: to be brave and fight against violence and maintain good in the future!

After the two of them finished eating, Jiang Yanyi asked Bing Shao to bring some supplements to the old scholar, so that the old scholar could have a good rest and didn't need to come to the store today. Unexpectedly, the old scholar still came.

The diners who came into the restaurant all begged the old scholar to tell them what happened last night. Jiang Yanyi was afraid that last night had left a shadow in the old scholar's heart, and the person captured by the government was most likely a Turkic prince. If too many details were spread and the Turkic prince's people heard the news, they would be caught off guard if he came back to retaliate. So she refused outright.

Despite this, her store's business today was better than ever before. Many diners said that her store was a little small and she could consider moving to a bigger store.

With the Turkic prince captured, Xizhou should not be in chaos anymore.

Jiang Yanyi has also been considering whether to open a branch or expand the existing store. However, no matter which one, it is not a small project and it may have to be postponed until after the New Year.

As soon as Chu Changping left, she took the time to decorate the newly purchased house.

She didn't know the Chu family's preferences, so she decorated their yard in the style of the wealthy families in Xizhou.

Jiang Yanyi still remembered the preferences of her original mother and brother, but some of the vases and utensils they liked were too expensive. Jiang Yanyi didn't dare to spend money lavishly, so she only decorated them under the most economical conditions.

Feng Shuo went to the military camp and didn't send any news back for several days. Jiang Yanyi sometimes stared at the wall in a daze.

She didn't know what was going on. Obviously, there was only one person missing in the yard over there, but it seemed that everything was different from before.

Capital city.

Frost and snow fell on the top of the vermilion palace wall, and a red plum tree looked lonely in the vast white.

The once luxurious Cangjiao Palace was now completely deserted, with all the palace maids gone. The inner courtyard was deserted,

with no one around. The door to the inner palace was wide open, and the wind blew in the fine snow, making the palace even colder.

The new emperor sat on the steps covered with a brocade satin with a Ruyi round flower pattern, with his hair disheveled. His dragon robe was wrinkled, and he reeked of alcohol. The green stubble on his chin made him look even more decadent.

There was a coffin in the center of the hall. The woman in the coffin had obviously been dead for many days. However, due to the severe cold weather, the body was not badly damaged. There was no corpse spot on the upper half of her face, and her expression was peaceful. She was wearing a phoenix robe, which symbolized the position of the empress.

"You finally stopped arguing with me."

The new emperor looked at the coffin not far away, his eyes were full of bloodshot, pain and despair intertwined in his eyes, the wine pot slipped from his hand and rolled down the steps, the wine spilled all over the floor, soaking his robe, but he didn't care.

"Didn't you say that you like snowy days the most? If it snows, I'll take you out to see the snow, okay?"

No one responded to him in the empty hall, which was as silent as death.

The new emperor sat for a while, and suddenly kicked the wine bottle at his feet in a rage, his eyes bloodshot like a trapped beast. He staggered to his feet and walked to the coffin. As if he was afraid of scaring her, he restrained all his anger and stared at the person lying inside without blinking, as if he wanted to remember every inch of her face and features in his heart.

"Yan Xi, can you say one more word to me?"

The new emperor, who had never shown weakness in front of anyone, spoke to a dead person in a pleading tone at this moment.

So much pride and arrogance were shattered at this moment, and his heart seemed to have a hole in it, and all the coldness of the coldest days of winter gathered in his heart.

The new emperor covered his eyes with his hands, and there was moisture under his palms.

When the eldest princess led her people into the hall, she saw the new emperor in a shabby suit. She frowned and shouted in a stern voice: "Look at what you look like now!"

The new emperor said nothing.

Seeing the person in the coffin wearing a phoenix robe, the eldest princess became even angrier: "Ridiculous! The empress is still alive, and you buried her in a phoenix-crowned tomb. How will people in the world view the empress?"

The new emperor finally spoke, with a tough attitude: "What I failed to give her when she was alive, I will give to her after her death."

The eldest princess laughed angrily, "Fan Wei rebelled, and Prince Xinyang proclaimed himself emperor. Instead of quelling the rebellion, you are still here fussing over a dead person. What kind of spell has put you under?"

She ordered the palace servants behind her: "Take off the phoenix robe on her! Is there any etiquette?"

The palace servants shrank back and dared not take action. Seeing this, the eldest princess sneered and was about to step forward.

The old nanny beside her hurriedly stopped her, "Princess, it's very unlucky, don't touch it!"

The new emperor was full of gloom: "If aunt still recognizes my nephew, let her go."

The eldest princess looked at the new emperor in disbelief: "Now you don't even recognize aunt for a dead woman? Tell aunt, what's so good about this woman?"

The new emperor closed his eyes: "She is too pure and kind, so she ended up like this."

He grew up in intrigue and had never seen such a pair of clean eyes. When looking at people, there is never any impurity, like a deer in the forest.

Every woman in the harem is desperately climbing up for the benefit of herself or her family, but she never fights or competes, and only wants to escape.

The eldest princess was so angry that she wanted to slap him. She suppressed her anger and asked, "Pure? Let me ask you, do you still want this throne? Now the princes from all sides are ready to make a move, and you still want to bury a concubine in a phoenix robe. Who do you think you are humiliating? The empress and the queen mother! Your uncle's family! How many people do you have now? Without the troops in your uncle's hands, what can you use to fight the rebels?"

The new emperor was silent, his face gloomy. These things have been a mountain that his mother has used to suppress him since he was a child, and he is still suppressed by these things.

Seeing that he seemed to have figured out the importance of the matter, the eldest princess ordered the palace servants, "Change Concubine Xi into a new set of mourning clothes."

The palace servants then stepped forward tremblingly.

The limbs of a person who had died for many days were already stiff. The palace servants had to work hard to pry open the hands of the person in the coffin, which were originally folded in front of the body.

The eldest princess glanced at it inadvertently and found that the corpse spots on "Xipin"'s hands were obvious, but there was no spot on her face.

The eldest princess seemed to realize something, her eyes changed slightly, and she said to the new emperor: "Your Majesty has not attended court for many days. Please invite Duke Anguo, Marquis Zhongwu, Prime Minister Song and others to the study to discuss matters."

The new emperor seemed to accept his fate: "Everything is arranged by my aunt."

The eldest princess said: "Come here, send your majesty back to the bedroom to wash and change clothes."

The chief eunuch hurriedly led the new emperor out.

When they reached the door, a little palace maid who was changing clothes for "Xipin" seemed to see something terrible and suddenly screamed in fear.

The eldest princess looked as if she wanted to eat the maidservant: "What are you yelling for? You are disrespectful in front of the palace. Drag her down and chop her off!"

The maidservant kowtowed and begged for mercy, but the cry also made the new emperor realize something. He quickly turned back to the coffin and found that the skin on the neck of the woman in the coffin was bulging due to the loss of water from the body.

The skin below the neck was covered with corpse spots, but the skin above the neck was as white as jade.

This part of the skin obviously did not belong to this body.

The new emperor reached out and tore off the skin on the neck. The palace people standing around the coffin were horrified, and those who were less courageous also screamed.

The skin under the neck of "Xipin" was connected to the whole face. It was a very delicately crafted human skin mask!

Looking at the face of the head maid of the Cangjiao Palace in the coffin, the new emperor's eyes were extremely cold at that moment: "Good! Very good!"

The sternness on him faded away in an instant, leaving only boundless hostility.

"Where is Jiang Jing'an!" His bloodshot eyes were full of ferocity and madness.

Madam Jiang, her son and the Chu family had just got on the carriage out of the city. The capital has been in chaos these days, and there are many merchants leaving the city. As long as they use some money at the city gate, it won't be too difficult.

There are always imperial guards guarding the Chu family, and when the servants go out to buy vegetables, they will be followed by imperial guards in regular clothes.

The letters they sent out would be intercepted, and the letters sent from other places would also be intercepted. Basically, they lost contact with the outside world.

In order to take the Chu family out, Feng Shuo's people bought the house next door to the Chu family and broke through the wall between the two houses. Only then were they able to use a horse-drawn carriage to take the Chu family and Mrs. Jiang and her son away from next door.

However, because there were people watching every shop of the Chu family, any movement in the bank account would be reported. The Chu family fled with only some banknotes and valuable jewelry.

In order to avoid attracting attention, the carriage they took was also very inconspicuous, with a small space inside. Because of the tight time, the interior layout was also very simple.

Jiang Yangui had a wound on his leg, so he could only lie down with a thin blanket on his body. The carriage bumped from time to time, pulling the wound and causing a sharp pain. His forehead was covered with cold sweat.

Seeing him like this, Mrs. Jiang felt a pang of pain in her heart: "Yangui, is the wound hurting again? Mother will give you some painkillers."

Mrs. Jiang wiped away her tears and took out a small porcelain bottle from the package. She pulled out the stopper and poured it into her palm, but nothing came out.

Madam Jiang panicked and fell twice, but the porcelain bottle was empty. She was anxious and asked, "Why is the medicine gone?"

Jiang Yangui endured the pain and said, "I'm fine, mother."

Madam Jiang covered her face and cried, "You often wake up in pain at night. How can you bear this bumpy journey without this painkiller?" Madam Jiang

has not had a good time in the Chu family these days. The Chu family has suffered such a disaster. The second sister-in-law was afraid of getting into trouble, so she asked for a divorce letter a few days ago and asked to leave. Now the second brother sees her as if he sees an enemy. The eldest brother's eldest daughter had originally picked a family, but now the marriage has fallen through. The eldest brother ridiculed her and the eldest sister-in-law spoke in a weird way.

Although the two elders of the Chu family loved her, it was difficult for her brothers and sisters-in-law. They were all flesh and blood. The two elders said that even if the eldest and second masters of the Chu family did it once or twice, could they protect her every time

? Madam Jiang felt bitter. She knew that she had brought such a big trouble to her natal family, but she had no choice. If she left the Chu family, how could she take her disabled son to the outside of the pass to find her daughter? She used to rely on her parents' love and quarreled with her eldest sister-in-law, but now she had to keep a low profile.

The medicine used by Jiang Yangui was extremely expensive. It was only sold in Xinglin Medical Clinic in the capital. When she got the news that they were leaving Beijing the day before yesterday, Madam Jiang told her eldest sister-in-law who was in charge of the family to buy a few more bottles of medicine for backup.

But the servants of the Chu Mansion who went shopping did not buy the medicine at all. Madam Jiang knew that her sister-in-law did not like them. For her son's sake, she wanted to go to Madam Chu to make trouble, but Jiang Yangui stopped her.

Seeing her son in such pain, Madam Jiang could not care about anything else. It happened that the road ahead was blocked by many carriages. She wiped her eyes and said, "I will go to your uncle and ask him to send someone to the clinic to buy medicine for you."

Jiang Yangui's face turned pale with pain: "Mother, I am not in pain, don't cause trouble for my uncle."

Madam Jiang felt distressed and blamed herself: "What trouble are you talking about? He is your real uncle, my real brother. If your aunt doesn't give you money to buy medicine, your uncle can still ignore you."

Madam Jiang turned around and got off the carriage.

In the teahouse across the street, Minister Jiang and an old man in Confucian robes sat by the window. The teacup was steaming in the cold weather, blurring their faces.

"I don't know anything about what you are asking." Minister Jiang lowered his eyelids and scraped the tea leaves in the cup with the tea lid.

The old man had gray hair. If there were any old officials in the court here, they would definitely recognize him as the retired former Taifu Lin.

The old man said, "If the princess were still alive, I would not ask for anything else, but only for someone to offer sacrifices and add a handful of new soil to the graves of His Majesty and the Empress during festivals."

A trace of pain flashed across Jiang Shangshu's eyes, but the answer he gave remained unchanged: "Grandmaster, you think too highly of me. You have been investigating the princess for so many years but have not found her. How can I know?"

He stood up and bowed: "I have some trivial matters at home, so I will not bother you."

The old man said calmly: "Jing'an is also a busy man now, go."

After Jiang Shangshu walked out of the room, his expression became a little solemn. So much had happened, how did Grandmaster Lin find out about him?

He walked out with a heavy heart. The carriages on the street were blocked, and the carriages of the Jiang Mansion could not get out. He stood under the eaves of the wine house for a while, his eyes swept across the noisy street, but suddenly found a familiar figure.