Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 390 Really walked away

Jinling Pier,

Silent night, heavy snowfall,

Wait until Zhang Jinyu leaves by boat with the army.

After a stick of incense,
Jia Lian and his servants braved the wind and snow and hurried to the guard camp. Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived, they saw the camp gate wide open. It was empty and dark inside. It seemed that no one was left. The tent inside was long gone.

Lai Wang was driving the car behind him. He stretched his head and looked inside. It was completely dark, with only some light from the water village. It felt very strange. When the wind blew, he shivered and shouted softly,

"Second Master, Second Master, where are the people in the camp? Aren't they all still there during the day?"

"Yes, when we came out in the afternoon, the tents on the school grounds were full of people. The cavalry just came back. After a while, the people disappeared."

Zhao'er was a little incoherent. Ever since he came to Jiangnan, everything had not gone as planned, which was just a pain for the second master.

Jia Lian was a little confused after seeing it, and he couldn't understand. He hurriedly hurriedly and slowly failed to catch up.

Seeing that there was still light on the other side of the water village, I ran over to the water village. When I arrived at the water village, I saw a boat parked there. As for the others, they had long since disappeared.

Jia Lian raised his head and looked up the canal. In the distance, there were some boats leaving in the hazy distance. They must be the navy of Marquis Luo Yun.

He just left without saying hello, but when Jia Lian came back to his senses, he felt relieved when he saw that there was still a building boat left in the water stronghold, and there were guardsmen guarding the water stronghold. Zhang Jinyu still wanted to He was thinking about Rong Guofu and himself. When he saw that he didn't come, he even left a big ship for himself.

Jia Lian said hello behind him, then got off his horse, walked under the building boat and shouted,
"The people in charge came out and the Marquis left. Did you leave anything behind?"

On the building ship, there were all the soldiers guarding the ship. The person in charge was a captain from the Hou Mansion. When he saw someone shouting below, he walked to the side of the ship and looked down. He took the lantern in his hand and shined it under the ship. A faint light shone underneath. Seeing that it was Jia Lian of Rongguo Mansion who had come with him, he asked in surprise;
"Isn't this Mr. Lian? Why didn't you board the ship?"

Jia Lian's face turned dark. How could he dare to say that he had gone to a brothel? He wasted time and had to reply;

"I went to the city to do some errands and came back late. I didn't expect the Marquis to leave in such a hurry. Fortunately, the Marquis remembered me and left a boat behind. When should we leave?"

The captain also looked at Mr. Lian, who was talking to himself, with some dumbfounded eyes. Mr. Hou mainly explained that he was waiting for the Xue family, so he couldn't help but interjected,
"Second Master, why don't you find a barracks to rest for the night first, and wait until tomorrow? In addition to you, there are people from the Xue family who are waiting here. We can't leave until everyone is here. Then it won't be possible for Second Master to follow you." question."

Jia Lian's voice stopped suddenly. He almost wanted to speak, but couldn't say a word, so he had to agree.
"Okay, let's talk tomorrow. Thanks for letting me know."

After saying that, he turned around and left. The captain on the ship saw that Mr. Lian was gone and wanted to speak, but he couldn't.

When Laiwang and others saw the second master coming back, they gathered around and asked;
"Second Master, how are you? When should we leave?"

Jia Lian pointed to the barracks over there and said;
"We'll wait until tomorrow. There's still no one here. Let's find a place to rest for the night. Let's go. Second Master, I'm tired."

Ignoring the two of them and their guards, they led the horse and walked over. Lai Wang and Zhao'er looked at each other and sensed that the second master was in a bad mood, so they had no choice but to ride over and follow.

Jinling Wharf Market Town,
Bai Shuiyue, who had been sending people to keep an eye on the movements of the camp, sat on the second floor and watched the naval fleet leave on the canal from a distance. He felt emotional, what a smart Marquis Luo Yun, who acted decisively and without any hesitation. As expected, With a majestic appearance, the leader of the White Lotus Sect's dark hall ordered to his men behind him,

"Tell the brothers that the area in Jiangnan can be closed. We will make preparations in the next few days. Once the matter is completed, we will immediately return to the capital to meet with the Taiping Sect people."

"Yes, Master."

The hall master behind him took the order and left. The right protector, who was sitting opposite, slowly spread out a map. It turned out to be a simple sketch of the capital. Seeing that the markings on it were very detailed, Ying first pointed to the flat mountains to the west of the capital. said,
"Master, there is a letter from the capital. Prince Mu of Dongping County has deceived many people. They have always thought that he has no interest in government affairs and will not even go to the palace in the capital. He is devoted to cultivating himself in Zhuangzi at the foot of Pingshan Mountain. Who knows what he will do? It aroused responses from all over the south of the Yangtze River. If Marquis Luo Yun had not come with troops, but if someone else had come to the south of the Yangtze River, the imperial court would have been waiting to collect the corpse.

Also, there may be many secrets hidden in Pingshan, but my brothers can't find them. It's loose on the outside and tight on the inside, so it's really heavily guarded. "

"Lao Ying, King Dong has suffered heavy losses this time. He has lost so many people and has not replenished them. This has not given us an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Marquis Luo Yun has killed more people and ransacked houses this time, so that our people can be put in power." , slowly nibbling away.”

Bai Shuiyue looked happy. This time, in many positions, even at the yamen side, people from the White Lotus Sect accounted for almost most of the lower-level yamen servants and petty officials. In addition to the Imperial Army, there were people from the White Lotus Sect around Jiangnan Guard General Yi. .

Ying Xiancai sighed and said with emotion;

"Okay, okay, it's just that the Marquis showed mercy. It would be better if I could stay for a few days and kill more."

"Still staying, huh, those officials must be thinking about how to get away with it, and under pressure from civilian officials, the garrison general Yi Wenhai has already led his troops back,"

Bai Shuiyue told the story about Jinling City in an understatement. The right protector was shocked and asked;

"Why so fast? General Yi is very cautious. How could it be so?"

"No matter how cautious he is, he dares not come back. Besides, Enke is coming this year, and the scholars from Jiangnan will soon gather in Jinling City. If something goes wrong by then, those people will die several times."

"That's true, Lord Marquis sees far."

Ying Xiancai sighed and looked at the canal not far away. The navy ships had long since disappeared, and he felt melancholy for a moment.
"Master, when do we leave?"

"Act tonight and leave tomorrow, be quick!"

"Yes, leader, I will go in person."

The right protector put away the map, picked up the short blade beside him and went downstairs.

over the canal,

The huge fleet of boats was driving slowly on the river, with mist rising all around. Each large boat was hung with lanterns, and giant wooden lanterns were hung on the flagpoles. From the shore, they looked like flower boats. .Zhang Jinyu was still a little worried and did not return to the cabin. She was worried that the visibility was not enough in the snowy weather. The guard soldiers on each ship were carefully controlling the building ships.

"Ningbian, tell us to go down and have the brothers spread out on the deck and keep an eye on the situation around them. If there is any emergency, please report it as soon as possible. Let them wear an extra big coat."

"Yes, my lord,"

Seeing Ningbian starting to arrange for the soldiers to disperse, Zhang Jinyu felt relieved. He did not expect that sailing at night on a snowy day in ancient times would be so difficult, and it was almost impossible to see the river clearly.

Looking at both sides of the canal, it was pitch black and there was no one around for a hundred miles. Half an hour later, the sound of a gong came from the building boat in front.

"when!"

With just a sound, Zhang Jinyu looked over and asked for some reason;

"Ningbyon, what's going on with the boat in front?"

The voice has not fallen,

The beating of gongs also sounded from the top of the building boat behind me.

"when!"

Ning Bian ran up from below, took a look at the flag soldiers on the boat, and replied;

"Master Marquis, this is a signal from the guards to report that there is peace. One knock means there is nothing going on, two knocks means slowing down, and three knocks means there is something wrong."

"That's right."

Zhang Jinyu was greatly surprised that he could still play like this. The Dawu Water Transport Guard system was still very sound, but it was ruined by a group of losers. He listened carefully, and the ships behind him also passed it on one after another.

suddenly,

After ringing several times behind him, the gong rang twice in succession, and then three times. Zhang Jinyu heard something was wrong and asked urgently;
"That's not right. The sound is wrong. What's wrong?"

Ningbian also heard something was wrong on the ship behind him, so he moved to the top floor, and Zhang Jinyu followed. Standing on the top of the ship and looking back, he saw only the sixth tower ship, with a raging fire burning on the top of the sail. It lights up the river. Where is that?

Zhang Jinyu looked up at the huge wooden lantern hanging on the top of the sail of her ship, and shouted;
"Quick, take off that thing,"

The guards had already seen the fire on the building boat behind them, so they started to send people to lower the ropes and take down the big lanterns.
"Master Marquis, a signal came from the building boat behind, saying that the strong wind blew the lantern sideways, and then the candle flame inside lit the lantern."

"How are you now? Can you put out the fire?"

"Don't worry, Lord Marquis, the fire on the deck is out, and the spot above is gone."

"Tell each ship to remove the lanterns on the top of the ship and slow down the ship."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

After listening to the guard's flag soldier's answer, Zhang Jinyu felt relieved. He looked at the ship behind him and saw that the fire quickly came down and was extinguished in a short time. Although there was not much danger, he still felt a little uncomfortable. These things happened before we had gone very far, which was a bit unlucky. How could we put it, it was not considered a bad start.

When Ning Bian saw the ugly expression on Mr. Hou's face, he comforted him;
"Master Marquis, Commander Lu's men are experienced sailors. Don't worry about small things. It's cold, so Master Marquis should go back and rest early. I'll leave this place to the general."

"Well, don't stay alone, take turns with Duan Hong, just keep an eye on it, and speed up as soon as it gets light."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Jinling Xue Mansion,

Everyone in the mansion had gone to bed long ago, but the old housekeeper, the concierge at the gate of the mansion, still stayed up all night and did not fall asleep. Just when the old housekeeper wanted to put on his clothes and go to bed, he heard a knock on the door. Just as he was about to The body lying down sat up while holding on to the edge of the bed and asked;

"It's so late, who is it?"

Outside the door, the soldier who had left the order dismounted and knocked on the door again.

"The guards from the Marquis Mansion came to Xue Mansion to deliver a message."

"Coming soon."

When the old housekeeper heard that it was someone from the Hou Mansion, he quickly got dressed and walked out of the concierge. He picked up a lantern and opened the side door. The cold wind blew in suddenly, making the two people inside and outside the door shiver.
"Master Jun, come in and have a rest, the wind and snow are too strong."

"No, you have to go back later. Tell the master that tomorrow you can go to the water village of the Weijun camp. The Marquis has left a boat to take the Xue family to Beijing. This matter needs to be prepared by the Xue family in advance. "

"But what happened?"

The old housekeeper knew that his young lady had entered the Hou Mansion, but he didn't expect to be in such a hurry. He would set off tomorrow.
"The Marquis led his army back to Beijing overnight. Please make preparations early. The building and ship will be waiting for you. Please say goodbye."

After saying that, he got on his horse and rode away.

(End of this chapter)