Chapter 86 The King of Liaoning has rebelled!

In the dead of night, the sound of wheels rolling on the deserted streets was very clear.

After Lu Linyuan sent Jiang Yanxi to the inn, he thought that once Feng Shuo started to investigate him, he would not be able to keep his business secret. He asked someone to take Jiang Yanxi to the room, and told the inn manager: "Once the city gate opens tomorrow, let the staff from Dingjia Village in the inn take her to Dingjia Village for shelter."

Lu Linyuan once saved all the people in Dingjia Village, and the villagers all remembered Lu Linyuan's kindness. After Lu Linyuan bought the inn as a base, in order to prevent others from planting spies, he recruited many people from Dingjia Village who were grateful to him.

The steward nodded: "I'll make a note of it."

Lu Linyuan didn't even have time to take a sip of the tea before walking out: "Tell the people below to keep their mouths shut. I didn't come to the inn tonight."

The steward agreed to everything.

When he was about to leave the inn, Jiang Yanxi, who had changed into a clean dress, chased down from upstairs: "Brother Lu, is what happened tonight...very difficult?"

Lu Linyuan caught a cold and had a splitting headache. He just said, "I can handle it."

He raised his foot to leave, but asked again, "Are you sure that the person who saved you didn't tell you anything else or give you anything, but just let you leave?"

Jiang Yanxi looked at Lu Linyuan, hesitated for a moment, and still shook his head: "She said she killed the person, it has nothing to do with me, and let me go." Lu

Linyuan looked at Jiang Yanxi with a look that was less than before. He forced a smile, nodded, and said, "Go to the countryside to hide for a while tomorrow morning, This inn will be discovered sooner

or later." When Jiang Yanxi heard that the inn would also be investigated, she finally realized that Lu Linyuan might not be able to deal with this matter. She pinched the corner of her clothes, hesitating whether to hand over the wolf tooth given to her by the "woman" to Lu Linyuan.

But before she could make a decision, Lu Linyuan had already put on his cloak and walked out of the inn, leaving only one sentence: "Yanxi, since you have changed your identity, just live a good life in anonymity. Just think that everything in the past was just a big dream. Now that you have woken up, forget it all."

Jiang Yanxi was stunned where she was. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether Lu Linyuan meant that she should put aside everything in the past and live a good life, or that he wanted her to forget everything that had happened between them.

Lu Linyuan walked to the front of the carriage and said to the steward who had chased him out, "Tell the maidservants who serve her to be careful. If they find anything from outside the country on her, just take it away quietly." After

hearing this, the steward understood Lu Linyuan's attitude towards Jiang Yanxi and nodded.

A breath of cold wind choked his throat and eyes. Lu Linyuan coughed twice and got on the carriage.

He didn't say the next place name, and Qingsong didn't dare to make a decision on his own. He asked, "Sir, where are we going?"

Lu Linyuan wrapped his cloak around himself but still felt cold. He closed his eyes and said, "To the government office."

Qingsong flicked the whip, and the carriage drove into the endless night again.

Lu Linyuan leaned against the wall of the car, feeling the coldness in the car penetrate into his bones. Today, he was investigating a case and looking for Jiang Yanxi at the same time, and his cotton boots were soaked by the snow. Now the coldness rushed up his body from the soles of his feet, chilling him to the bone.

His heart seemed to be blocked by something, and he couldn't breathe in or out, which made him feel suffocated.

He knew that Jiang Yanxi lied.

She said that she liked him and that she came to Xizhou from thousands of miles away for him, but just like in her previous life, she would rather keep a secret for a stranger than believe him.

All the worries of looking for her all day and night became ridiculous at this moment. For the first time, Lu Linyuan began to ask himself whether it was worth it to use everything he had worked so hard for for so long to protect her, only to get her lies and defensiveness in return.

Faced with this relationship that has lasted for two lifetimes, he has done his best to maintain it, but unfortunately, there is still an invisible crack between them.

Maybe he wants to do too much in this life, and at this moment Lu Linyuan really feels tired.

He fumbled to pick up the hot water bottle in the car. After a whole day out, the hot water bottle was cold and had no temperature.

Maybe the human heart is like this, no matter how hot it is at the beginning, there will always be a moment when it cools down.

The carriage suddenly stopped, and the driver pulled the reins, with a hint of trembling in his tone: "Sir, there is an armored army ahead."

Lu Linyuan's eyelids twitched, he didn't expect it to come so quickly.

At dawn, the inn's manager arranged a carriage to take Jiang Yanxi out of the city.

The one who followed her to Dingjia Village was a young girl who helped in the kitchen of the inn. She was originally the daughter of a farmer in Dingjia Village, and she insisted on staying in the inn to work. Everyone working in the inn could see that she had some feelings for Lu Linyuan.

Because the inn had no maids, she was the one who served Jiang Yanxi last night.

When Jiang Yanxi went downstairs, the farm girl winked at the manager, meaning that she didn't find anything in the clothes Jiang Yanxi changed last night.

How could she know that what she wanted to do was written on her face, and Jiang Yanxi had been on guard against her, and kept all valuables close to her body.

Jiang Yanxi sat in the corner of the guest inn to have breakfast. There were many people coming and going in the guest inn, and there was a lot of news.

Jiang Yanxi sipped rice porridge with meat buns, and heard a table of diners talking about the capital, and couldn't help but prick up her ears.

"It is said that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. The Jiang family at least had a concubine. How can she be imprisoned just

like that?" "What's a concubine? The daughter of the Fan family was even a royal concubine. They just beheaded her!" "

The Fan family is a rebel, which is a serious crime that will punish all nine generations of the family. How can the Jiang family be the same as the Fan family?"

"You may not know this yet, but the Jiang family and the Chu family are related by marriage. After Fan Wei and Prince Xinyang formed an alliance, they immediately decided to take Yongzhou as well. It is said that the defender of Yongzhou, Chu Changping, deserted his post without permission. The war was imminent and the commander was not there, so what was the point of fighting? The Chu family deserved to be beheaded for losing Yongzhou! Who would have thought that the Chu family fled the capital with their entire family, and Minister Jiang was still at the city gate helping to stop the imperial guards? The Jiang family deserved to be imprisoned! But they were really nice to be the in-laws, and it was the Chu family who had no conscience!"

Jiang Yanxi felt heartbroken when she heard that all the members of the Jiang family were imprisoned. She accidentally... He didn't care about the overturned bowl of porridge, and stood up to question the person who was talking: "Where did you hear the news?"

The diner who was talking was inexplicably yelled at by Jiang Yanxi, and he was feeling uncomfortable. Seeing that it was a young lady with good looks, he suppressed some of his anger and said: "There is no notice posted in Xizhou City. The court has posted notices at the city gates of the prefectures and counties to the south. The Chu family deserves it. I heard that several grandsons in the family have been arrested and are about to be escorted back to Beijing to be punished!"

Jiang Yanxi didn't care about the Chu family. She interrupted the diner and asked: "Is Minister Jiang also in prison?"

The diners thought she was a bit crazy, and their previous good impression of her was gone. They said impatiently, "Of course."

Jiang Yanxi fell back on the stool, tears pouring out like a broken dam.

She never thought that Minister Jiang would go to jail.

And it was all because of the Chu family!

When the inn's steward came to urge her to get on the carriage to leave the city, Jiang Yanxi said firmly, "I'm not going to Dingjia Village. I want to go back to the capital."

The steward was startled. He didn't dare to disobey Lu Linyuan's order, and said, "Miss, don't make things difficult for me."

The peasant girl who served Jiang Yanxi came in from outside. She had been holding back her hostility towards Jiang Yanxi before, but now she was showing it. It was written on her face: "In order to protect you, the young master was taken away by the army last night. Why are you still making such a fuss? Do you think you haven't hurt him enough?"

The peasant girl just heard from the servants of the inn that last night, Qingsong, Lu Linyuan's servant, came to report that Lu Linyuan was taken away by the army. Lu Linyuan asked them to send Jiang Yanxi away as soon as the city gate opened.

Jiang Yanxi was already distracted by the imprisonment of Minister Jiang. When she heard that Lu Linyuan was taken away by the army, she was so scared that her hands and feet were cold.

She pushed the peasant girl away and ran out: "I will turn myself in to the government and get Brother Lu out!"

The manager didn't expect things to turn out like this, and he pointed at the peasant girl angrily and said: "You've messed up, you'll have to bear the consequences!"

The peasant girl looked aggrieved, but more resentful.

Although she didn't know what happened, she could clearly feel that Lu Linyuan's capture was related to Jiang Yanxi.

Because she was used to it in the store, Jiang Yanyi got up a little late today. If the maid beside her hadn't reminded her when she was washing up, she would have forgotten that she had to pay her respects to Madam Chu in the morning.

She quickly packed up and rushed to the old lady's yard, and she didn't miss the time.

Chu Shubao and her two sisters were already there. The grandparents and grandchildren were talking in whispers, all with smiles on their faces, and laughter could be heard from time to time.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi, Chu Huibao was so happy that she smiled sweeter than anyone else.

When Jiang Yanyi saluted Old Madam Chu, she was still a little confused, wondering why this little girl smiled like a flower when she saw her.

As soon as she sat down, Chu Huibao said with a proud look on her face: "Finally, I am not the last one to come every time."

Old Madam Chu and her two sisters couldn't help laughing.

Old Madam Chu tapped her forehead: "Girl Yi still has time to get up early, but you get up at that time every day."

Chu Huibao stuck out her tongue embarrassedly.

Madam Chu took Jiang Yanyi's hand again and said, "You must have been busy in the antique soup. It won't be a problem if you sleep a little longer."

Jiang Yanyi felt guilty for a moment, and was embarrassed to say that he was used to sleeping in the store.

After paying respects, the grandparents and grandchildren had breakfast at the old lady's place. The cook in the kitchen cooked a silver fungus, lily and lotus seed soup. The heat and time were well controlled. The silver fungus was cooked until it was thick and sweet in the mouth.

The lotus seeds were cored and had no bitterness at all. The lilies and wolfberries floated on the silver fungus soup, which was very beautiful.

After breakfast, Chu Yan returned to his own yard to read, while Jiang Yanyi was pulled by Chu Shubao to the yard to pick winter plums together. Chu Shubao wanted to use plum petals to make rouge.

The two were picking flowers and suddenly heard the maids discussing the Chu family's move to Xizhou through a hanging flower gate.

"No wonder the old servants from the capital were so wary of us. I heard that the third master of the mansion left his post without permission and handed Yongzhou over to the rebels! When the rest of the Chu family fled from the capital, the Jiang family, who were married to them, helped to stop the imperial guards. In the end, only the Chu family escaped from the capital, and the Jiang family was imprisoned!"

"This is too unkind! They still have the nerve to change the surnames of the two children of the Jiang family? If you ask me, the two children of the Jiang family are also ungrateful!"

Chu Shubao was so angry that she broke off a large piece of plum blossom branch and walked around the hanging flower gate quickly: "Which servant dares to gossip here?"

The two maids who were sweeping the snow were startled. They looked at Chu Shubao and Jiang Yanyi who appeared at the hanging flower gate and dodged their eyes: "I have seen the two young ladies."

Chu Shubao shouted: "What were you talking about just now?"

"This... This old servant also heard it from outside, young lady, don't be angry." The fat maid said embarrassedly.

These two maids were servants bought by the Chu family after they arrived in Xizhou. They were only responsible for doing rough work on weekdays.

Chu Shubao laughed angrily: "Did you hear it from outside? You are saying things without any basis, aren't you afraid of getting your mouth rubbed?"

A sturdy and fat maid sneered: "Miss, this is not something made up by others, notices have been posted at the gates of counties and cities everywhere. You can shut up my mouth, can you shut up the mouths of everyone in the world?"

Chu Shubao was very angry at her weird words. She rolled up her sleeves and started fighting with the old woman, but was stopped by Jiang Yanyi.

Chu Shubao cursed: "What a joke! If it weren't for that old bastard Jiang Jing'an's deliberate delay, would my aunt have died? This ability to confuse right and wrong really opened my eyes!"

The fat maid who was scolded said: "This is all written in the imperial edict, young lady, don't take it out on me."

When she mentioned the imperial edict, Jiang Yanyi's first reaction was that the emperor deliberately released the news, just to let Jiang Yanxi, who had fled to Xizhou, know that Minister Jiang was in prison.

But Minister Jiang was loyal to the court, and the only mistake he made was probably helping Jiang Yanxi fake her death and leave the palace. It was a bit ridiculous to publicize the crime of helping concubines escape from the palace, so the emperor threw dirty water on the Chu family. Anyway,

the Chu family could no longer be loyal to him, and describing the Chu family as disloyal and unrighteous villains was exactly what the emperor wanted.

Jiang Yanyi was filled with disgust.

She didn't curse like Chu Shubao, she just looked at the two maids and said, "It's not the turn of a few lowly servants to talk about my Chu family's affairs. Since you dare to offend the master, I can't keep you!" The

skinny maid obviously didn't take Jiang Yanyi's words seriously: "Cousin, we are all bought by the old lady." The

fat maid also crossed her arms and said, "With the current reputation of the Chu family, who would be willing to work in this mansion?"

The two of them sang the same tune, obviously thinking that Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao were still young girls and easy to control.

Chu Shubao had never seen such a disgusting face before, she wished she could slap them dozens of times to make her feel relieved, she was almost crying with anger.

Jiang Yanyi squeezed Chu Shubao's hand, looked at the two maids calmly and said: "Grandmother is old and kind to the servants in the mansion. Are you trying to take advantage of her and bully the master? I want to see if my Chu family can't buy other servants without you two!"

Jiang Yanyi quickly called the housekeeper over, asked the guards to drag the two maids to the outer courtyard, and called the other newly bought maids in the mansion.

The two maids had never seen such a situation before, and they panicked. They were carried by the guards and cried for mercy: "My two ladies, I will never talk nonsense again, please have mercy!"

Jiang Yanyi ignored them.

He called them to the outer courtyard to deal with them because he was worried that they would start to make a fuss and alarm the old lady.

Although these new servants were punished when they entered the mansion, rumors about the Chu family were spreading outside. If they didn't kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, there would be gossip in the future.

Chu Changping asked her to live back in the Chu family for a few days because he wanted her to calm down the people.

But Chu Shubao was with her. As the eldest daughter of the Chu family, Chu Shubao had a better position to say these things. Jiang Yanyi didn't want to have a reputation of interfering in other people's business and cause gossip, so as not to ruin the relationship between the sisters.

Seeing that the servants in the mansion were about to gather, she whispered to Chu Shubao and told her what to do next.

Although Chu Shubao learned to be a housekeeper from Liu, she had never really put it into practice. She was still a little nervous when she suddenly had to establish her authority in front of so many people.

Jiang Yanyi whispered to her: "You can be a little angry, so that you can calm them down, otherwise there will be maids who gossip in the future."

Thinking of the nonsense said by the two maids, Chu Shubao's anger rose up, she clenched her fists: "I will curse them to death!"

The servants of the Chu family saw the two maids being pressed down and kneeling in the snow, and they couldn't help but talk about it.

Jiang Yanyi gave the housekeeper a look, and the housekeeper asked the servants to calm down.

Chu Shubao shouted, "You are all servants bought by my Chu family. You know how my Chu family has treated you these days! These two scoundrels dare to criticize their master. My Chu family will never tolerate them!"

"Two hundred slaps each, and sell them until their mouths are rotten! If they do it again, we will never tolerate them!"

Soon, the guards held down the two maids, raised their hands and started slapping them, using full strength every time.

The two maids could bear it at first, but later they couldn't help screaming.

"Everyone on the street is talking about it. Do you want to slap them one by one?" The fat maid's face was swollen like a pig's head. She wanted to struggle but couldn't get away, and she screamed in pain.

Chu Shubao looked at her coldly: "I don't care what others say, but as a servant of the Chu family, you take the monthly salary of the Chu family, but you are not clean at the same time. You came to my family to be the ancestors, so I have to worship you two?"

This killing of the chicken to scare the monkey was very successful. The servants of the Chu family were all scolded. Even if they heard any news from outside, they dared not spread it.

Chu Shubao punished the two maids, but she was still not completely satisfied. She asked the servant to go outside to find out about the news of the Chu family, wanting to hear how outrageous the outside world could spread the news

. The servant went out and brought back the news that Chu Chengmao and Chu Chengbai were arrested by the court. After all, Chu Shubao was just a girl who had not been the head of the family. She was so scared that she didn't know what to do for a while, and cried in Jiang Yanyi's arms

. Jiang Yanyi strictly ordered the servant not to pass the news to the old lady's room, and comforted Chu Shubao: "Uncle has taken people to rob the prisoner van, and my cousin and the others will return safely."

Chu Shubao sobbed and asked: "You knew it all along?"

Jiang Yanyi hesitated for a moment, but still nodded, "Uncle was afraid that you would worry too much, so he kept it a secret from you."

Chu Shubao sobbed: "No wonder my father and second uncle After drinking all night, he must be worried about this matter. "

Jiang Yanyi patted Chu Shubao on the back and said, "Grandmother must not know that cousin Chengmao and his men were arrested."

There is an old saying in the folk that the older people are, the more difficult it is to go through winter every year. Mrs. Jiang's death has already made Mrs. Chu sick. If she finds out that her grandson is in trouble, she will probably get sick again. The old lady's body can't stand such torture.

Chu Shubao nodded, as if she regarded Jiang Yanyi as the backbone, and asked, "What about the rumors outside?"

Jiang Yanyi sighed and said, "There are so many mouths in the world, and they can't be controlled. Rumors stop at wise people."

Over time, these discussions naturally faded. If you want to cover up those rumors immediately, unless something bigger happens to attract the attention of the people.

Jiang Yanyi really has no way.

After weighing it all, Chu Shubao decided to tell Liu about her brother's arrest. Although Liu was petty and shallow-minded, she was still clear about right and wrong.

After crying for a while, Liu also knew that the Chu family could not be in chaos now. She had been the housekeeper for decades. Although she didn't say how well she managed the family, she had never made a big mistake. She was much more experienced than Chu Shubao, a novice. She taught Chu Shubao how to discipline the servants.

The Chu family had been rectified from top to bottom, and now it was as solid as an iron barrel. Jiang Yanyi finally felt relieved.

The notice posted by the emperor was obviously not good for the Chu family, and Chu Changping left Yongzhou because of her. Jiang Yanyi decided to discuss it with Feng Shuo.

She didn't know that Feng Shuo was also gathering his generals and staff to discuss matters together.

The staff members had different opinions on how to deal with Lu Linyuan and the argument became heated.

"Mr. Lu is a great scholar of the time. How many Confucian scholars would criticize him if the new emperor demoted him? If his only son died in Xizhou, given Mr. Lu's prestige among Confucian scholars, I'm afraid the whole world would be full of articles criticizing Mr. Wang. Lu Linyuan must not be killed! He must not be killed!"

"Most righteous people are butchers, and most treacherous people are scholars! A few articles by Confucian scholars are considered to be the top? Lu Linyuan sheltered Turkic spies, which is a crime of treason and he has refused to plead guilty so far. Why can't he be killed? If I were Mr. Lu's son and gave birth to such an unfilial son, I would have to chop him up with a knife myself!"

"What a reckless man says! There is no point in defending him!"

"You..."

When the staff and generals were about to continue arguing, Chi Qing walked in quickly from outside and said with a bow: "Your Highness, Song Lushi has escorted a woman here. She claims to be the one rescued by Lu Linyuan last night."

"Is it a lie?"

"It's better to interrogate her."

The staff started arguing again.

Feng Shuo, who was sitting at the top, said in a deep voice: "Let Yuan Yi identify the person and see if it is the woman who escaped last night. Chi Qing, go and interrogate Lu Linyuan again and tell him that the woman turned herself in. After the interrogation, compare the two statements and see if they are consistent."

Chi Qing took the order and left.

Feng Shuo looked at the staff in the hall, not wanting to listen to their quarrels about how to deal with Lu Linyuan, and asked: "What do you think about the Chu family's affairs?"

The imperial notices were posted outside Xizhou City. Feng Shuo did not allow those notices to be posted inside Xizhou City, but the rumors were like a flood and could not be suppressed now.

Chu Changping had less time to deal with the staff, but the generals basically recognized each other's ability, and after having a drink and chatting together, they would treat you as a brother who had shared life with you.

Soon, a general spoke up for Chu Changping: "The imperial edict clearly confuses right and wrong! When General Chu and his family left the capital, Jiang Jing'an clearly tried to stop them, so how could he be said to be helping them to hold back the imperial guards? I think the young emperor saw that you, the prince, had gained a powerful general, so he deliberately smeared the reputation of the Chu family!"

An aide hesitated and said, "It is true that Chu Changping was not in Yongzhou when Yongzhou fell. This crime can never be washed away. If the prince wants to start a rebellion in the future, his generals will have a reputation for abandoning the city and fleeing. I'm afraid it won't be conducive to pulling together forces."

As soon as these words came out, a general immediately retorted: "Fan Wei and Prince Xinyang rebelled without fear of the spit of the world, and the Chu generals just don't want to serve the court! Can they still be scolded by poking their spines?"

They didn't know where the hatred between the Chu family and the emperor came from, and they just thought that Chu Changping wanted to surrender to Feng Shuo early, so he moved all the way from Yongzhou to Xizhou and brought all the family members in the capital to prevent the emperor from using his family as hostages.

Feng Shuo listened to the comments of the staff and generals, but didn't say anything.

He was also thinking about the intention of the new emperor to make this move.

The new emperor was afraid of this stain before and did not dare to act rashly, but now he seemed to be crazy, as if he was not afraid at all that he would reveal what he had done, or... he could not care about it at all in order to achieve a more important purpose.

Feng Shuo thought about it for a long time, but could not come to a conclusion.

But since it was related to Jiang Yanyi's reputation, he could not reveal the fact that Jiang Yanyi had been punished by the new emperor to be a prostitute in the Xizhou camp.

The staff below were still arguing.

A charcoal basin was burning in the study, and the windows were opened for ventilation. From time to time, cold wind came in from the window. A thick layer of snow fell on the lush pine and cypress in front of the window. Perhaps there was too much snow, and the branches of the pine and cypress could not bear it. When they fell down, they shook off a lot of broken snow.

Feng Shuo seemed to have made up his mind, his eyes were as dark as the night sky: "Chu Changping can be a general."

No one in the room objected when he said this.

It is easy to find a general, but it is hard to find a general who can plan and strategize.

He said in a deep voice: "The battle of Yongzhou was not because Chu Changping left his post, but because he led his old subordinates to join me!"

As soon as these words came out, the room was silent.

The staff and generals were stunned for a long time, and then asked in ecstasy: "Your Highness, are you going to do it yourself?"

Feng Shuo raised his eyes lightly: "Why not?"

Sooner or later, he will rebel against the court. The new emperor wants to discredit the Chu family. If he continues to use Chu Changping in the future, he will inevitably be criticized. He might as well do it here and cover up the dirty water that the new emperor has thrown at the Chu family.

The staff and generals were all ecstatic, kneeling on the ground and shouting: "See our emperor!"