Jiapingguan Chronicle

Liang Jieque picked up the tea cup in front of her and drank the already cold tea in one gulp. The bitter taste of the tea spread in her mouth. This cold withering was just like her mood at the moment and how she felt back then. He knows how he feels when his lover betrays him and his family.

"What I said before is not entirely to fool you. It is at least half true and credible." Liang Jieque looked at everyone, sighed softly, and said, "The one who met us in Ubi City They are not the descendants of Hu Shang who helped Tian Mo and De Xiao escape from the capital."

"No?" Shen Zhonghe frowned slightly, "Then how did you determine their identities?"

"There is a token." Liang Jieque looked at Shen Zhonghe, "When we separated, we both left each other a token. This token cannot be copied because the material is not easy to come by."

"The material is not easy to come by? What is it?"

"It's ivory." Seeing everyone's surprised looks, Liang Jieque raised his eyebrows slightly, "Maybe it's difficult for others to get ivory, but it was actually very easy for Tian Mo and De Xiao back then. After all, The last emperor of the previous dynasty built an elephant garden in the capital, didn't he? There were many skilled craftsmen in the capital at that time, and it was very easy to carve a pair of ivory accessories. They originally carved a ring-shaped, quite complicated accessory. I took half of it just so I could connect it to the head later.”

"Is that accessory still in your possession?" Shen Zhonghe looked at Liang Jieque expectantly, "Can I take a look?"

"No more. After the naval battle that year, these two ivory accessories were all thrown into the sea. The adoptive father said that they were forced to break away from each other. Without this thing, if they come to us again, we can send them to the Yamen as liars. went."

"This method is very clever!" Shen Zhonghe clapped his hands, "Why didn't grandpa think of it before?"

"Didn't we think that we could solve it peacefully before? Especially when people are kind to us and save lives, right? How can we be so heartless? If we do that, we will appear to be particularly inhuman and unkind. .If we encounter trouble in the future, who will come to help us, right?"

"That's true." Shen Zhonghe thought for a moment and nodded slightly, "Be polite before fighting. If you talk to them carefully and they don't agree, then it's not impossible to take action." He looked at Liang Jieque and asked, "But, If they are not the descendants of those people, how do they have this thing to connect with? Where are the descendants of those Hu Shang?"

"They told us that the descendants of those Hu merchants have long become the master's right-hand men. Generation after generation, they have become the master's confidants. This time, they originally wanted to come to Ubi City to meet their old friends in person. , but because some accidents happened, they were stumbling, so they sent their capable men to complete this meeting. They also said that if there is a chance in the future, they will still meet. After all, the cooperation between the two parties has always been They are all very good and have a good relationship. It’s just that the situation has not been very good these years, so they have never been able to meet each other, and they are very sorry for this."

"But for us, there is no regret at all."

"Yeah, no regrets at all." Liang Jieque sneered and said, "We wish they would never show up. We even hope that they and the people behind them are dead, so that no one knows about these past events."

"It's a pity that things didn't work as expected." Shen Zhonghe sighed, "That's why they don't know about the gold."

"Yes, that's why they don't know the origin of the gold, and that's why they don't dare to collect the gold."

"That makes sense. In addition to doing business, their trip to Ubi City is to complete the tasks assigned to them. As for other things, they cannot have the final say. They will not overstep their authority, let alone make their own decisions, otherwise, they will be severely punished."

"Severe punishment?" Liang Jieque frowned slightly, "Master Hou, what do you mean..."

"Aunt Liang, you don't know something. The organization is very strict, and the division of labor is very detailed. Whoever does what is done is all arranged. Fortunately, there are many of them, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to differentiate so finely. They There is a line of their own, and everyone must abide by this rule. Once someone crosses the line and steps up, they will be severely punished. Although Master Falian is an accomplished monk, he is extremely strict. In his understanding Inside, crossing the line is as serious as betrayal.”

"No, the betrayal is more serious. He has been betrayed since he was a child. Therefore, if someone does something that is contrary to his thoughts and intentions, it is regarded as betrayal." Xue Ruitian looked at Liang Jieque and smiled, " If the people behind Hu Shang and the Green Lotus Sect are really Master Fa Lian, and you refuse his request and refuse to find him a special pass, you will be regarded as a traitor by him. They are the ones he wants to get rid of no matter what. He will never show mercy to the so-called traitors. No matter how far you run to the ends of the earth, you may not be able to escape. What you can do, like us, is to be positive. Meet the enemy, do you understand?"

"Isn't this a coincidence?" Liang Jieque chuckled, "The Marquis's statement is surprisingly consistent with those of those Hu businessmen, because we clearly rejected their request and told them that we had no choice. We are incapable of doing this, and when we told them that we would no longer be controlled by them because of so-called favors, they told us the same thing.”

"Exactly the same?"

"No, the meaning is probably the same, but it's put in a more tactful and gentle way."

"How about being more tactful and gentle?"

"Those Hu merchants said that their master is not easy to get along with, has a bad temper, and is a bit unstable. They hope that we will think more about it, mainly for our own lives and the lives of our families. After all, the thief is It is easy to get on the boat, but it is difficult to get off the pirate ship. If you really want to escape completely, it is not impossible, but the whole process requires you to peel off several layers of skin. As for whether you can still live after these layers of skin are peeled off, then It’s all a question. They also have good intentions and want to persuade us not to have our own way, but we still decided to get in touch with them no matter what. After all, we are still the people of Daxia and we cannot be rebellious officials and traitors. "

"These words have guts!" Shen Zhonghe clapped softly, "But they still won't give in, right?"

"Yes, they are still unwilling to give up. Although their words are very gentle, their attitude is very tough."

"What did grandpa say?" Shen Zhonghe looked at Liang Jieque, puzzled, "What grandpa usually hates most are people who force him, especially people who threaten his life, right? Can he still tolerate them? "Of course it can't be tolerated." Liang Jieque sighed, "You know best who your grandfather is. What storms and waves has this old man never seen? How can he be frightened by a few young people?"

"That's true." Shen Zhonghe nodded lightly, "The old man has a stubborn temper. The more you fight against him, the less advantage you will get."

"Master Shen is very understanding at first glance." Xue Ruitian raised his eyebrows, "It's a pity that those Hu businessmen don't know and threaten him."

"So, the foster father said, since they want to force us and make us unable to leave this city of Ubi, then it is even more important for us not to fulfill their wishes. This is such a good opportunity, if we can't get rid of them , then our descendants will have to live in fear day and night just like us and our ancestors. This is absolutely unacceptable and he cannot imagine it."

"What the old man said does make sense." Xue Ruitian nodded, "We can't tell each generation to the next generation that if they receive a letter with this mark, it means debt collectors are coming, right? Just thinking about it I feel very suffocated, this kind of life is simply not what people should live, and I really need to make a decision."

"Yes, we have to make a decision." Liang Jieque nodded towards Xue Ruitian, smiled, and said, "However, we also know that what those Hu Shang said is indeed true. If you want to leave, If so, we must shed one or more layers of skin, so that future generations will not suffer like us, then we will suffer this ourselves, so that our children and grandchildren can have a good future and live a relaxed life."

"So, you quietly left Ubi City hiding in the caravans of other Western Region merchants?"

"Yes, this is the last choice, but it was not like this at the beginning." Liang Jieque sighed softly, "You don't know that after rejecting those people's requests, we returned to the yard where we rented , only to find that there are sneaky people around the yard, which means that their people are watching us. Therefore, it is impossible to leave openly, so we can only choose to leave secretly. "

"No wonder!" Shen Zhonghe nodded, "I was very puzzled just now. With my grandfather's character, it would be impossible for him to leave secretly. If he really mingled with the merchants in the Western Regions, it means that the situation is already very critical. "

"Yes!" Liang Jieque nodded, "We saw that it was impossible to leave openly, and then we thought about whether to join the Western Region caravan. The original plan was to discuss it with the caravan we knew before, but Before we even came to the door, they came to the door and asked us if we wanted to go to the dock together. They had bought a lot of specialties from Ubi City and were coming to Daxia to hand over to their fixed store, so they planned to come with us. Get on board.”

"Isn't there a pillow if you're feeling sleepy?"

"Yes, we agreed, but we have a request. We want to pretend to be their entourage and join their caravan out of the city. They said that they can see that we are in trouble. After all, when we came to our yard, We also noticed that there were sneaky figures around. We were probably being targeted by someone with evil intentions. They said that we are all friends and brothers. Along the way, we also knew that we were kind-hearted and doing business down-to-earth. Those who are good will definitely not offend others easily, and those people can tell at a glance that they are not good people, so we should have suffered an unreasonable disaster."

"The word "unexpected disaster" is used well, but it is not an unreasonable disaster!" Shen Zhonghe nodded, "They agreed?"

"I agreed and made an appointment with us. At the agreed time, they sent uniform clothes of their caravan and pretended to be visiting. We were asked to change into their clothes, pretend to be their entourage and follow them. And before the appointed time, we can do whatever we usually do, and we can’t let anyone who is staring at us see any clues.”

"So that's it."

"Yes, that day came as promised. The caravans from the Western Region came to see us and brought us their clothes. After we changed into them, we put all the luggage in the boxes they brought and pretended to be their followers. We followed them and left the rented yard. Their caravan did not return to their station, but ran directly to the city gate. After leaving, they rushed directly to the dock."

"Didn't their people notice?"

"We thought they didn't find out, but in fact, people have known all our plans for a long time." Liang Jieque sighed, "Because we have to perform and pack our bags to leave, everyone is very busy. So no one noticed the second brother, thinking that he was just like everyone else. Even if he went out for a while every day, they just thought he was cooperating with everyone."

"But that's not it, is it?"

"Yes, he had already informed Hu Shang the day after we discussed the countermeasures with the Western Regions Caravan, and told them our plan completely. Therefore, he wanted to take a long-term view to catch the big fish. , They are basically cooperating with us." Liang Jieque smiled bitterly, "We are still complacent about our successful departure, but as a result, others have been watching us with cold eyes, watching us coaxing ourselves to play."

"Tell the news?" Shen Zhonghe was stunned, "How...how did you know? Did he say it himself?"

"Yes, I said it myself." Liang Jieque nodded, "We are wondering why those people can catch us at sea, because they have already got the second brother's letter and made arrangements in advance at the place where we must pass. Get ready, just waiting to ambush us!"

"No wonder, nothing is a coincidence."

"Where are there so many coincidences? Coincidences are all man-made." Liang Jieque sighed softly, "At that time, we realized that it was the people around us who betrayed us, and they were also the people closest to us. Only then did I know..." She put her hand on her chest and said, "What is heart-wrenching pain."

"Not just you, I'm afraid my grandfather and father don't know how to deal with such a change. After all, the second uncle..." Shen Zhonghe sighed softly, "I have never done anything outrageous, let alone such a deviant thing. Something happened."