border cook

In the silent night, on the deserted street, the sound of the wheels rolling was very clear.

After Lu Linyuan sent Jiang Yanxi to the inn, he thought that if Feng Shuo started to check on him, he would not be able to hide the property under his name, so he asked someone to take Jiang Yanxi to the room, and then ordered the innkeeper: "As soon as the city gate opens tomorrow, let the city gate open." The guy from Dingjia Village in the inn took her to Dingjia Village to take refuge."

Lu Linyuan once rescued the whole village of Dingjia Village, and the villagers all remembered Lu Linyuan's kindness. After Lu Linyuan set up this inn as a stronghold, in order to prevent others from placing eyeliner on him, he recruited a lot of staff with a lot of love for him. Grateful people of Dingjia Village.

The steward nodded: "The villain has written it down."

Lu Linyuan didn't even have time to take a sip of the tea, so he walked out again: "Let the people below keep their mouths tight, I haven't been to the inn tonight."

The stewards responded one by one.

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

Lu Linyuan caught wind and cold, and his headache was about to split, 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 go?"

Jiang Yanxi looked at Lu Linyuan, hesitated for a moment, and shook her head: "She said that she killed the man, and it has nothing to do with me. Let me go."

Lu Linyuan looked at Jiang Yanxi with something less in his eyes than before. He forced a smile from the corner of his mouth, nodded, and said, "You go to the countryside to hide for a while tomorrow morning, and this inn will be found sooner or later."

Jiang Yanxi heard that the inn would also be investigated, and finally realized that Lu Linyuan might not be able to deal with this matter. Holding the hem of her clothes, she hesitated whether to give Lu Linyuan the spike that the "woman" gave her.

But before she could make a decision, Lu Linyuan put on his cloak and walked out of the inn, leaving only one sentence: "Yan Xi, since you have changed your identity, let's live incognito, as long as everything in the past is the same. It was a big dream, now that you wake up, forget about it.”

Jiang Yanxi was stunned in place, she couldn't tell for a while, whether Lu Linyuan's words meant for her to put aside everything in the past and live a good life, or for her to forget everything about the two of them.

Lu Linyuan walked up to the carriage, and then said to the steward who chased him out: "Let the servant girl who serves her be careful, if you find anything outside the customs on her, just take it away calmly."

Listening to this, the manager understood Lu Linyuan's attitude towards Jiang Yanxi, and nodded.

With a cold wind in his throat and eyes, Lu Linyuan coughed twice and got into the carriage.

He didn't mention the name of the next place, and Qingsong didn't dare to make a claim, so he asked, "My lord, where are we going?"

Lu Linyuan still felt cold even though he covered his body with the cloak, he closed his eyes and said, "Go to the government office."

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

Leaning against the wall of the car, Lu Linyuan felt that the cold air in the car was penetrating into his bones. Today, while investigating the case, he looked for Jiang Yanxi. His pair of cotton boots were already soaked by snow, and now the coldness is creeping up the soles of his feet. , icy cold.

His heart seemed to be blocked by something, and he couldn't get up or down in one breath, which made him panic.

He knew that Jiang Yanxi had lied.

She said that she liked him because he came all the way to Xizhou, but just like her previous life, she would rather keep a secret for a stranger than trust him.

The worry of looking for her non-stop all day and night became ridiculous at this moment. For the first time, Lu Linyuan began to ask himself, is it worth it to protect her with everything he has worked so hard for so long, but only get her lies and defenses? not worth it.

Facing this relationship that has lasted for two lifetimes, he has tried his best to maintain it, but it is a pity that there is still an invisible crack between the two of them.

Perhaps it was because he wanted to do too much in this life, and at this moment Lu Linyuan was really tired.

He groped to pick up Mrs. Tang in the car, and when he came out for a whole day, Mrs. Tang was also cold and had lost her temperature long ago.

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

The carriage stopped suddenly, and the young man who was driving reined in the reins, with a trembling tone in his voice: "My... my lord, there is an armored army ahead."

Lu Linyuan's eyelids trembled, he didn't expect to come so soon.

***

At dawn, the steward of the inn 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 back kitchen of the inn. She was originally the daughter of a farmer in Dingjia Village. mean.

Because there is no maid in the inn, she was serving Jiang Yanxi last night.

When Jiang Yanxi went downstairs, the peasant woman gave the manager a wink, meaning that she didn't find anything from Jiang Yanxi's changed clothes last night.

How did she know that what she wanted to do was written all over her face, and Jiang Yanxi had been on guard against her for a long time, hiding all valuable things close to her body.

Jiang Yanxi was sitting in the corner of the inn eating morning food. There were many people coming and going at the inn, and there was also a lot of news.

Jiang Yanxi was sipping rice porridge with meat buns, and when he heard a table of diners talking about the capital, he couldn't help pricking up his ears.

"It's said that being with you is like being with a tiger, so the Jiang family had a concubine anyway, so why do you say that you'll be in prison if you go to prison?"

"What is a concubine? The daughter of the Fan family has become an imperial concubine, so she will be beheaded if she says she will be beheaded!"

"The Fan family is rebelling, which is a serious crime that implicates the nine families. Which of the Jiang family is the same as the Fan family?"

"Don't you know that the Jiang family is married to the Chu family? After Fan Wei formed an alliance with the King of Xinyang, he immediately decided to take down Yongzhou. It is said that the guard of Yongzhou, Chu Changping, left his post without permission, and the war is imminent. , the main general is not here, what is the fight here? Losing Yongzhou, the Chu family’s family is not an exaggeration! Unexpectedly, the Chu family’s family escaped from the capital, and Jiang Shangshu was still helping to stop the imperial army at the city gate. It’s not unfair to go to prison! But it’s really interesting to treat this in-laws, but the Chu family has no conscience!”

When Jiang Yanxi heard that everyone in the Jiang family was imprisoned, her heart sank. She accidentally knocked over the porridge bowl, but she couldn't care less. She stood up and asked the person who spoke, "Where did you hear the news?"

The diner who spoke was yelled at by Jiang Yanxi inexplicably, feeling uncomfortable. Seeing that she was a good-looking young lady, he restrained his anger and said: "There is no notice posted in the city of Xizhou. The counties to the south, the imperial court Notices were posted at the gates of the city, so the Chu family deserved what they deserved, I heard that several grandchildren of the family have been arrested and are about to be escorted back to Beijing for punishment!"

Jiang Yanxi didn't care what happened to the Chu family. She interrupted the diners and asked, "Jiang Shangshu is also in prison?"

The diner felt that she was a bit crazy, and the previous good impression of her was gone, so he said impatiently, "Naturally."

Jiang Yanxi slumped back to the stool, tears streaming down like a bank.

She never thought that Jiang Shangshu would go to jail.

And it all started because of the Chu family!

When the manager of the inn came to urge her to get on the carriage and leave the city, Jiang Yanxi said firmly, "I'm not going to Dingjia Village anymore, I'm going back to the capital."

The manager was taken aback, he didn't dare to disobey Lu Linyuan's order, and said, "Girl, don't make things difficult for the villain."

The peasant girl who was serving Jiang Yanxi came in from the outside. Her hostility towards Jiang Yanxi was put away before, but now it was written directly on her face: "In order to protect you, the young master was taken away by the barracks last night. Are you still here?" What are you doing? Is it not enough to hurt him?"

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

Jiang Yanxi was already in a state of "disorder" because of Jiang Shangshu's imprisonment, but when she heard that Lu Linyuan was taken away by the people from the military camp, she was so frightened that her hands and feet became cold.

She pushed aside the peasant girl and ran outside: "I'll surrender to the government, and Brother Lu will come out!"

The person in charge didn't expect things to turn out like this, so he pointed his finger at the farmer woman angrily and said, "It's messed up, and you'll have something to eat!"

The peasant woman looked aggrieved, but more resentful.

Although she didn't know what happened, she could clearly feel that Jiang Yanxi had something to do with Lu Linyuan's arrest.

*****

Because she was used to being in the store, Jiang Yanyi got up a little late today. If the maid beside her washed her up to remind her, she might have forgotten that she had to go to Mrs. Chu in the morning to say hello.

After tidying up hastily, she rushed to the old lady's yard, but it was not too late.

The three sisters Chu Shubao were already there, and the grandparents and grandchildren were talking in detail, with smiles on their faces, and laughter came out from time to time.

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

When Jiang Yanyi saluted Mrs. Chu, she was still a little confused, thinking about how the little girl smiled like a flower when she saw her.

As soon as she sat down, Chu Huibao said proudly, "Finally I'm not the last one to come every time."

Mrs. Chu and her two sisters couldn't help laughing.

Mrs. Chu nodded her forehead: "I still have time to get up early, girl, but you only get up at that hour every day."

Chu Huibao stuck out his tongue in embarrassment.

Mrs. Chu took Jiang Yanyi's hand again and said, "You've been too busy in the antique soup. It's okay to sleep for a while and wake up again."

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

After the invitation, the grandparents and grandchildren had breakfast at the old lady's place. The cook in the kitchen boiled white fungus, lily and lotus seed soup.

The lotus seeds have been cored, and there is no bitter taste in the mouth. The lily and wolfberry are floating on the white fungus soup, which is really beautiful.

After finishing the court food, Chu Yan returned to his own yard to read, while Jiang Yanyi was dragged by Chu Shubao to the yard to fold cold plums together. Chu Shubao wanted to use plum petals to make rouge.

The two of them were folding flower branches, and through a door with hanging flowers, they suddenly heard a servant woman talking about the move of the Chu family to Xizhou.

"No wonder the old servant who came from the capital of this mansion is so wary of us. I heard that it is the third master of this mansion who left his post without authorization and handed over Yongzhou to the rebels! The rest of the Chu family and their entire family When they fled from the capital, the Jiang family who were married to them helped stop the imperial army, but only the Chu family escaped from the capital, and the Jiang family were all imprisoned!"

"This is too unkind! They still have the face to change the surnames of the two children of the Jiang family? Let me tell you, those two children of the Jiang family are also white-eyed wolves!"

Chu Shubao was so angry that he broke off a large plum blossom branch, and quickly walked around the vertical flower gate: "Which slave dares to gossip here?"

The two snow-sweeping maids were taken aback. Looking at Chu Shubao and Jiang Yanyi who appeared at the Chuhuamen, their eyes dodged: "I have seen the two girls."

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

"This... the old slave also heard it from outside, don't be angry, big girl." The fat servant woman said embarrassingly.

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

Chu Shubao laughed angrily: "I heard it from outside? Are you not afraid of talking bad if you say something without evidence?"

A burly and fat servant woman said with a smile: "Miss, this is not fabricated by others, there are notices posted on the gates of all counties and counties, you can shut up the mouth of the old slave, and you can still Block the mouths of the whole world?"

Chu Shubao was so annoyed by her eccentric words, she rolled up her sleeves and started to fight the old woman, but was stopped by Jiang Yanyi.

Chu Shubao cursed: "What! If that old man Jiang Jing'an didn't deliberately delay, my aunt would have died? This ability to reverse black and white really opened my eyes!"

The fat servant woman who was scolded like a squirt said: "This is all written on the emperor's list. Miss, don't take your anger out on this old slave."

As soon as she mentioned the imperial list, Jiang Yanyi's first reaction was that the emperor had released the news on purpose, just to let Jiang Yanxi, who fled to Xizhou, know that Jiang Shangshu was in prison.

But Jiang Shangshu was loyal to the imperial court, and his only fault was probably to help Jiang Yanxi fake his death and leave the palace.It would be ridiculous to publicize the crime of helping concubines escape from the palace, so the emperor poured sewage on the Chu family.

Anyway, it is impossible for the Chu family to be fond of him anymore, and to describe the Chu family as disloyal and unrighteous villains is just in line with the emperor's wishes.

Jiang Yanyi felt sick.

She didn't get scolded like Chu Shubao, she just looked at the two servants and said, "It's not up to a few humble servants to gossip about my Chu family's affairs, since you dare to make irresponsible remarks Master, I can't keep you either!"

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

The fat servant also folded her arms and said: "With the current reputation of the Chu family, who else is willing to come to this house to work?"

The two sang together, obviously because they felt that both Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao were young girls who hadn't left the cabinet, so it was easy to handle.

Chu Shubao had never seen such a disgusting face, wishing she could slap them dozens of times to be happy, she almost cried.

Jiang Yanyi squeezed Chu Shubao's hand, looked at the two servants calmly and said: "Grandma is old, and she is generous to the servants in the house. Now you are going to push your nose and face, and climb on the master's head to make trouble. Is it a blessing? I want to see, without the two of you, will my Chu family really not be able to buy other servants!"

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

The two servants had never seen such a posture before. They panicked and were held up by the guard crying their father and mother all the way begging for mercy: "You two girls, the old slave will never break his mouth again, please forgive me!"

Jiang Yanyi ignored them.

He called people to the outer courtyard to deal with them because he was worried that they would start yelling and disturb the old lady.

Although these new servants were beaten when they entered the mansion, rumors about the Chu family were spreading outside.

Chu Changping asked her to stay at Chu's house for a few days because he wanted her to calm down the people below.

But Chu Shubao was with her, and as the eldest daughter of the Chu family, Chu Shubao had a better position to say these things, and Jiang Yanyi didn't want to have the reputation of being a superintendent, so as not to ruin the relationship between the sisters.

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

Although Chu Shubao had learned housekeeping from Mrs. Liu, she hadn't really practiced it. She still felt a little stage fright to suddenly stand up in front of so many people.

Jiang Yanyi whispered to her: "Although you can be more tempered, you can calm them down, otherwise there will be servants who gobble their tongues in the future."

Thinking of the stupid words said by those two servants, Chu Shubao's heart became angry, and she clenched her fists tightly: "I'll scold them to death!"

When the servants of the Chu family saw the two servants being pressed and kneeling in the snow, they couldn't help talking.

Jiang Yanyi gave the butler a look, and the butler said something to calm down the servants.

Chu Shubao shouted: "You are all servants bought by my Chu family. These days, how my Chu family treats you, you know for yourself! These two people who eat inside and out, dare to criticize the master, my Chu family will never tolerate it." !"

"Two hundred ear scrapers per person, smashed mouths to sell! If there is another offender, we will not tolerate it!"

Soon there was a nurse holding down the two women, and began to slap their mouths with a big slap, using a lot of strength for each slap.

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

"Everyone on the street is saying, do you want to slap everyone one by one?" The fat servant woman's face was swollen like a pig's head, she tried to struggle but couldn't, she yelled loudly in pain.

Chu Shubao looked at her coldly: "I don't care what other people say, but as a servant of the Chu family, you are holding the monthly money of the Chu family while your mouth is not clean, and you are coming to my house to be the ancestor. , I still have to make offerings to you two?"

This killing of chickens and respecting monkeys was a success, and all the servants of the Chu family were beaten up, even if they heard any news from outside, they dared not spread it indiscriminately.

Chu Shubao let go of the two servants, but the anger in his heart was still not smooth, and he asked the servant to go outside to inquire about the news about the Chu family, and wanted to hear how outrageous things could be spread outside.

The boy went out for a while, but what he brought back was the news that Chu Chengmao and Chu Chengbai had been arrested by the court.After all, Chu Shubao was just a girl who hadn't become a family yet. She was so frightened that she didn't know what to do, and she fell into Jiang Yanyi's arms crying

Jiang Yanyi strictly ordered the servant not to spread the news to the old lady's room, and comforted Chu Shubao: "Uncle has already brought people to rob the prison van, cousin and the others will all return safely."

Chu Shubao sobbed and asked, "You knew this early on?"

Jiang Yanyi hesitated for a moment, but still nodded, "Uncle is afraid that you will be too worried, so he hides it from you."

Chu Shubao sobbed for a while: "No wonder my father and my second uncle drank all night the night before yesterday. He must be worried about this too."

Jiang Yanyi patted Chu Shubao's back lightly and said, "Cousin Chengmao and the others were arrested and grandma must not know."

There is an old folk saying that the older the person, the more difficult it is to pass the winter every year. The death of Mrs. Jiang has already made Mrs. Chu ill. When sick, the old man's body can't stand such a toss.

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

Jiang Yanyi sighed: "There are so many mouths in the world, it's impossible to control them. Rumors stop at wise men."

After a long time, these discussions will naturally fade away. If you want to cover up those rumors immediately, unless something bigger happens to attract the attention of the people.

Jiang Yanyi really can't do anything.

After some consideration, Chu Shubao decided to tell Mrs. Liu about her brother's arrest. Although Mrs. Liu is petty and short-sighted, she can still tell right from wrong.

After crying for a while, Mrs. Liu also knew that the Chu family should not be in "chaos" now. She has been housekeeper for decades, not to mention how well she manages, but she has never made a big mistake. Compared with Chu Shubao, a novice, she is still more experienced Much more, and taught Chu Shubao how to discipline his servants.

The Chu family has been rectified from top to bottom, and now that it is as solid as an iron bucket, Jiang Yanyi finally feels relieved.

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

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

The aides disagreed on how to deal with Lu Linyuan, and they blushed and their necks were thick.

"Scholar Lu is a great Confucian in the world. The new emperor demoted him from his official position, and how many Confucian scholars in the world will criticize him? If his only son died in Xizhou, with the prestige of Grand Scholar Lu among Confucian scholars, I am afraid that the whole world will be full of articles scolding the prince. Lu Linyuan can't be killed! Can't be killed!"

"Most righteous people are dog-slayers, and most of them are scholars who are guilty! A few Confucian articles are as good as the sky? Lu Linyuan is covering up Turkic espionage, and the crime is collaborating with the enemy and treason. He has refused to plead guilty so far. How can he not be killed? If I were Mr. Lu, I would be born like this. What a shameless son, I have to cut him down with a knife myself!"

"The words of a reckless man! It's not enough to argue!"

"you……"

When the staff and generals continued to quarrel, Chi Qing walked quickly from outside, cupped his hands and said, "My lord, Song Lushi escorted a woman over. She claimed to be the one who was rescued by Lu Linyuan last night."

"Could it be a scam?"

"It's better to interrogate."

The staff were arguing again.

Feng Shuo, who was sitting above, said in a deep voice: "Let Yuan Yi identify the person and see if it is the woman who escaped last night. Chi Qing, you go to interrogate Lu Linyuan again and tell him that the woman surrendered herself. See if it matches."

Chi Qing led the order to retreat.

Feng Shuo looked at the staff in the hall, and didn't want to hear their quarrel about how to deal with Lu Linyuan's affairs, so he asked, "What do you think about the Chu family's affairs?"

The imperial notices were all posted outside the city of Xizhou, Feng Shuo didn't allow those notices to be posted inside the city of Xizhou, but the rumors were like a flood, and they couldn't be suppressed now.

Chu Changping seldom dealt with his staff, but the military generals basically recognized each other's abilities, and after having a drink and chatting with each other, they could treat you as a brother who died.

Soon General Chu Changping spoke: "The emperor's list is clearly wrong! When General Chu's family left the capital, Jiang Jing'an was clearly obstructing them, so why did he help them hold back the imperial army? The general thought it was the little emperor." Seeing that your lord has won a strong general, you deliberately discredited the Chu family's reputation!"

Some staff hesitated and said: "Yongzhou fell, and it is true that Chu Changping is not in Yongzhou. This crime cannot be cleared. If the prince wants to make trouble in the future, the generals under his command will have the reputation of abandoning the city and fleeing. I am afraid it will not be conducive to attracting forces."

As soon as these words came out, some generals immediately retorted: "Fan Wei and King Xinyang are not afraid of the spittle of the world when they rebel. General Chu just doesn't want to serve the court! How can he still be scolded by poking his spine?"

They didn't know where the enmity between the Chu family and the emperor came from. They thought it was because Chu Changping wanted to join Fengshuo early in the morning, so he moved all the way from Yongzhou to Xizhou, and took over the whole family in the capital to prevent The emperor took his family as hostages.

Feng Shuo listened to the remarks of his staff and generals, but did not make a sound.

He was also thinking about the intention of Xindi to take this move.

Sending a family girl to serve as a military prostitute, the new emperor was afraid of his taint before and did not dare to act rashly, but now he seems to have gone crazy, as if he is not afraid of what he has done, or... It is to achieve a more important purpose, and it can't be taken into account at all.

Feng Shuo thought about it for a while, but couldn't come to a result.

But it was about Jiang Yanyi's reputation, and it was impossible for him to reveal that Jiang Yanyi had been punished by the new emperor to serve as a "prostitute" in Xizhou camp.

The staff below are still arguing.

A charcoal pot was burning in the study, and the windows were opened for ventilation. From time to time, a cold wind would come in through the window, and a thick layer of snow fell on the green pines and cypresses in front of the window. When it collapsed, a lot of broken snow was shaken off.

Feng Shuo seemed to have decided on something, his eyes were stained with the same dark ink color as the night: "Chu Changping can be handsome."

When this was said, no one in the room refuted it.

General talents are easy to come by, but handsome talents who plan strategies are hard to find.

He said in a deep voice: "The battle of Yongzhou was not caused by Chu Changping leaving his post without permission, but because he led his old troops to defect to the king!"

As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the room.

The staff and generals were all stunned for a while, and then they asked ecstatically, "My lord is going to make trouble on his own!"

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

Sooner or later, he will have to rebel against the court. The new emperor wants to discredit the Chu family, so that if he continues to use Chu Changping in the future, he will inevitably be criticized.He might as well act like this and cover up the sewage that the new emperor poured on the Chu family.

The staff and generals were all ecstatic, kneeling down and shouting in unison: "See my emperor!"