Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 202 Clear Frost Sword

On the third night of the third month of September, the dew is like a pearl and the moon is like a bow.

I woke up very early, and the stars were still hanging in the sky.

Uncle Gen, the housekeeper, ordered the Wang family's boatman to wait under the Zhouqiao Bridge overnight, while two servants had already loaded their luggage onto the boat.

Wang Heng and Xiaocai ate some porridge and rice in the dark before boarding the ship. Mrs. Zhu woke up early because of her age and sent them to the foot of the Zhouqiao Bridge. Guixiang took out a few letters and handed them to Wang Heng. Brother Chenyu sent someone to deliver them last night. It was addressed to Wang Heng. The recipients of the letter were all figures in Nanjing's scholarly circles, and they were probably asked to take care of Wang Heng.

With a soft oar, the boat squealed and sailed through the misty and deep Zhihe Pond, heading west.

It was a long journey from Taicang to Nanjing. Xiaoxing stayed overnight and spent six days before the Wang family's ship arrived at Longjiangguan Pier in Nanjing.

It was dusk, and the sun was setting over the mountains. In the past few days, they had been eating dry food to satisfy their hunger. They were sleeping on the boat. Wang Heng and his party were all a little gray and disgraced. They moored the boat and went ashore, walking in vain.

Two servants were carrying luggage and asked Wang Heng to show them where they were going.

A middle-aged servant came over, bowed, and asked, "May I ask if this is the boat from the residence of Prince Wang Qi in front of Wang Yamen in Taicang Prefecture?"

Wang Cai responded: "Exactly, who is this uncle?"

The middle-aged servant said happily: "This little man is Alu from the Zhuge family. He has been waiting at the dock for several days on the orders of the Sixth Master. Fortunately, he did not miss the Seventh Young Master's boat."

It turned out that Zhuge Xian had estimated that Wang Heng and Xiao Cai would arrive at the beginning of the month, so he asked A Lu to wait at the Longjiang Pass dock on the first day of September. Unexpectedly, the Wang family's ship arrived late, and he waited for eight days before the general saw him. There was a ship with the flag "King of Taiyuan" flying, and it was expected that the seventh prince Wang had arrived.

Alu went to the old pagoda tree to fetch a mule cart. Wang Heng asked his servants to put the luggage on the mule cart. Seeing that there was no room left, Alu went to the cart and horse shop to hire a sedan. Wang Heng hurriedly called to him. , asked: "Alu, how far is your house from here?"

A Lu said: "There must be three or four miles."

Wang Heng said with a smile: "Then we don't need to hire a sedan, we can just walk a few steps."

Zhuge Xian's house is in Suojin Village. Everyone has been floating on the boat for several days. Now they are down to earth and feel more energetic as they go. It doesn't take more than a stick of incense to arrive. It is a quiet three-in house in the middle of the bustle. It is surrounded by flowers and trees, and the door is elegant.

Alu knocked on the door a few times, and the doorman leaned out. Alu shouted: "Go and report to the Sixth Master quickly. The Seventh Young Master Wang from Taicang has arrived."

The boys helped carry the luggage, and A Lu invited Wang Heng and Xiao Cai into the second flower hall.

Not long after, an old man wearing cocoon silk robes and white hair and beard came out of the inner hall. Wang Heng and Xiaocai bowed and saluted: "Zhuge Zhang."

The old man hurriedly helped them up and said straightly: "I can't do it, I can't do it, Xiaoke Zhuge Li, Mr. Wang Qi and Uncle Xiaocai just call me A Li."

Xiaocai suddenly remembered that Al Li must be the old nephew with a gray beard, and couldn't help but wink at Wang Heng.

Wang Heng could only say something vague, and the three of them took their seats respectively.

The old nephew Ah Li asked the maid to come in and pour some washing water, and then ordered the kitchen staff to prepare a table, waiting for Zhuge Xian to come home from home.

The tea soup had not faded yet, and Zhuge Xian's laughing words came from outside the door: "I looked like my head and neck bones were broken, you are finally here."

"Excuse me, Mr. Six?" Xiaocai stood up and punched him. Seeing his lean body, his fist fell lightly, as if dusting him off. It has been more than half a year since the three of them said goodbye at the South Gate Pier in Suzhou at the beginning of the year. This time, the young friends reunited in Nanjing, and everyone was extremely happy.

Zhuge Xian smiled and said: "Brother Wang Qi, brother Xiaocai, I reckon you will be here on the first day of September, how come you are several days late?"

Wang Heng said: "I'm just busy with nothing. When I'm young, I'll write down my notes for you to read."

Zhuge Xian invited them to a banquet in the dining room. Nanjing Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup and Nanjing Salted Duck were all famous dishes, but Xiaocai thought they were nothing more than that, but the Jinhua shortbread made by the chef was to his liking.

Wang Heng asked Zhuge Xian about asking Zhuge Xian to rent a residence for them. Zhuge Xian said: "There is a small second-in house in the alley next door, which is rented out to candidates for the provincial examination. It happened to be vacant a few months ago, so I went to take a look. Look, I think it's not bad. I promised Yaren fifty taels of silver a year and rented it for you. Although I have cleaned it a few times, I still need to buy some furniture to live in. You can stay here with me for a few days with peace of mind. Xiao Wang Ma goes to wash and dry it, and then move in on an auspicious day. "

Wang Heng and Xiaocai thanked Zhuge Xian again.

Xiaocai looked out the window and saw that the night was falling and the lanterns were starting to come on. He said, "It's not too late yet. There's nothing going on here. Let's go check on the house overnight."

Zhuge Xian asked A Lu to carry two lanterns, and the four of them walked out of the house, walked a few steps eastward, crossed Liuqiu Bridge, and stopped at the second gray-walled tiled house by the water.

"This is it." Zhuge Xian took out the copper key and opened the door.

The house seems to be well maintained. People often open the door to ventilate the house, and the air in the house is quite fresh.

The house is not big. There is a vegetable patch in front of the house, a well in the courtyard, and a big osmanthus tree in front of the hall. Just looking at these two things is already satisfactory.

There are two bedrooms and two side rooms in the second courtyard. If you hire servants in the future, you can live in the small room on the side of the kitchen room in the first entrance. It is really a small but well-equipped house.

Wang Heng nodded slightly, Zhuge Xian was indeed a trustworthy person, and he was indeed entrusted to the right person to find a house.

The younger brothers, who have never owned a house of their own, couldn't help but happily discussed planting a patch of psoriasis in the vegetable plot, spring leeks and autumn cattails, and a few pots of camellia orchids in the patio.

There is still an empty room in the inner courtyard, so it is imperative to open a study room in the wing.

Zhuge Xian volunteered to take them to Chaotian Palace Ghost Market to buy some old books, which not only saved money, but also was interesting.

Everyone was talking happily, but they didn't realize that it was late at night, so they had to rush back to Zhuge's house immediately.

A Lu held a lantern in front, and the group closed the door and locked it, and returned the same way.

Walking to Liuqiu Bridge, two masked men in black suddenly jumped out and were entangled. The short man in black seemed to be no match for the tall masked man. The short man in black saw four passers-by coming towards him. Adapting to the situation, he pulled Zhuge Xian, the thinnest among the four, and used it as a physical shield to block the opponent's double swords, and then violently threw him in front of the tall masked man.

In the midst of lightning and flint, something unexpected happened. Wang Cai was wearing a Qingshuang sword. Although he was not good at swordsmanship, Yueting had given him a few pointers and he immediately drew his sword.

Seeing the passerby being held hostage, the tall masked man hesitated for a moment and separated Zhuge Xian. He only heard him let out a grunt and was stabbed by the short man in black and fell to the ground.

The short man in black turned around in the light of the lantern, saw the sword in Wang Cai's hand, and exclaimed: "Qingshuang Sword."

He flew forward and was about to snatch the sword. Wang Cai took a few steps back, and Wang Heng and A Lu surrounded him in panic.

The man in black missed the target, so he jumped down the stream to seek a bridge. I don't know when a small boat parked under the bridge. When the man in black landed steadily, he swung away from the center of the wave and disappeared in the blink of an eye.