sea

Chapter 47
The two went out, the sky was still dark, they walked along the corridor for a while, and then they came to the riverside. At this time, the waning moon was setting in the west, and the morning stars had not yet set, but the singing, dancing and laughter of the Qinhuai River had stopped, and there were only a few lights on the river. drift.Gu Zhen sighed: "The light is still on now, the women under this light are not having a good time."

Lu Jian asked why, Gu Zhen said: "If the lights are still on, it means that there will be no guests tonight, no guests, and no money will be made, and I will definitely be scolded by the madam and beaten by the slave." Two black-clothed men walked out of the darkness, bowed and stood there, their faces invisible.

Gu Zhen said: "Yu Chuan, Hong Shu, you two take the silver and go to the boat with lights. If there is a girl who has no guests, give her 50 taels." The two agreed, bowed and retreated.

Gu Zhen pointed to a small three-story building in the distance with a smile: "The high place is quiet, just to talk." Lu Jian nodded silently, it was only about fifty steps to the small building, but for some reason, he hoped that this short journey would last forever. Don't finish.

The two climbed up the building happily, leaning on the railing to look into the distance, the city of Nanjing is like thousands of birds, and the long river downstairs is like black jade, and the waning moon casts a layer of frost on the river.

Gu Zhen pointed to the river: "This Qinhuai River is not only a river of gold, but also a river of tears." Lu Jian asked strangely, "What is gold? What is tears?"

Gu Zhendao: "Here is a night of feasting and feasting. Rich merchants, talented scholars, officials and gentry all throw a lot of money. It can be called a river of gold. river."

Lu Jian said angrily, "Who opened so many brothels here?" Gu Zhen said with a smile, "After all, the instigator is Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the dynasty. He opened official prostitutes by the Qinhuai River. He wanted all wealthy merchants from all over the world to come here to have a good time, and he made a lot of money to fill the treasury. Unexpectedly, the generation of merchants, money is hard-won, and there are many scruples about spending it. On the contrary, the civil and military ministers under him tend to If you are greedy, you come here every night. As for the money spent, of course it is the public silver in the treasury. In this way, it is tantamount to the absurdity of Emperor Zhu asking his courtiers out of his own pocket. The biggest bully out there."

"When it came to his son Zhu Di, because he took over his nephew's country, after he came to power, he wanted to eliminate dissidents. First there was the 'Zhu Shi Clan', and then there was the 'Gua Man Chao', killing more than [-] men alone. As for the wives, daughters and sisters of these men, they were all exiled to the banks of the Qinhuai River, deprived of their status and turned into prostitutes, and allowed to be insulted by men all over the world. Speaking of which, this Emperor Chengzu can be said to have inherited his father's career and carried forward the Qinhuai romance."

Gu Zhen smiled at the beginning, but the smile gradually turned cold.Lu Jian was shocked when he heard it, and blurted out: "These two emperors, really...really not..." Gu Zhen looked at his expression, guessed what he was going to say, and said with a smile: "Is it really something? Not necessarily, the personal morals of these two emperors are certainly poor, but in terms of their ability to govern the country, they are both British lords for a while, but their descendants are more worthless than the other, and more absurd than the other."

Lu Jian shook his head and said: "The emperor is still like this, let alone the courtiers below." Gu Zhen sighed: "It's nothing more than a foolish monarch and courtiers, but what I can't figure out the most is that the world is submissive and allows the foolish monarchs and courtiers People at the mercy of the people. Tang Taizong said, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it." There will be a kind of boat with what kind of water, and what kind of emperor will be born with what kind of people. For so many years, only I see the water that carries the boat, but I don't see the waves that overwhelm the boat."

After hearing this, Lu Jian felt weird, how weird he couldn't say it out, and suddenly heard Gu Zhen say: "Lu Jian, I know what you want to ask me, I don't want to say those things in this life, but I will say it tonight." , Believe it or not, just remember, I will only tell you one of these things in the whole world."

Lu Jian took a breath, nodded sharply, and said loudly, "Okay, tell me." Gu Zhen smiled and sighed, "When I was five years old, my own mother ran away with someone, and now my mother is a stepmother. My sister is also adopted, one year younger than me..." Lu Jian blurted out, "Even so, you shouldn't..."

Gu Zhen waved his hand and said, "Listen to me." He was silent for a while, and said slowly, "When my mother left, I was still young, and I only knew that when I woke up the next day, she was gone. The man ran away, and then got drunk every day. After a year of this, he married another woman. The woman was very beautiful and had a deeper plan. Although I am young, I understand her thoughts very well, so I have been at odds with her since I was a child. That woman is very good at disguising and has many schemes. Every time I fight her, my father will punish me. When I was eight years old, Once I had a big fight with that woman, and I was beaten by my father afterwards. I was so angry that I secretly boarded a ship in Zhongtu and went to the south of the Yangtze River. I wanted to find my mother. But there was a huge crowd, and I was a child. Where can I find her? I ran out of money, and gradually became a little beggar, who has been stared at by the world."

Speaking of this, he showed a wry smile: "However, when I was the most unlucky, I met a person. The person saw that I was fighting with other beggars. He thought I was very smart, and he would fight with other beggars. I took away the group of beggars and let me learn to do business. The man looks mediocre, but he has extraordinary abilities. It is no exaggeration to say that he is as rich as an enemy. That tithe benefit. But although he is capable, his health is not good. After five years, he retired behind the scenes to recuperate, and left all the business to me. From a little beggar, I became the biggest in the world For a moment, he forgot the heights of heaven and earth, and returned to the East Island, showing off in front of his stepmother and sister. My father saw that I was promising, but he didn't feel differently, and decided to let me take over as the king of East Island, but because of this, give me It has brought a huge amount of trouble..." At this point, Gu Zhen showed a wry smile, and his voice sank:

"That day was my father's birthday. I gave him a lot of treasures, drank a lot of wine, and became unconscious. Unexpectedly, when I woke up, I found myself in my sister's boudoir, naked, and my sister was also naked. , lay beside me and wept. I was so shocked, my heart went blank, and I just wanted to run away immediately. I put on my clothes and jumped out of bed, just as I was about to rush out the door, my stepmother ran in suddenly. Seeing this, she screamed With a sound, he drew a dagger from his sleeve."

"I just thought she was going to kill me, and I was stunned. Unexpectedly, she stabbed her leg with a backhand sword, and shouted for help. The birthday feast was not over yet, and this cry attracted many people. The woman kept saying that I raped the girl, but she broke through her and killed her with a sword. My father was furious when he heard this, but he felt that the girl had no blood relationship with me. If he wanted to hide his shame, he had to marry her to me. As for the killing of the mother, after all, it only hurt her and did not kill anyone. Therefore, in a rage, I revoked the title of my young master and planned to punish him severely."

"Unexpectedly, at this time, he suddenly saw a letter scattered on the ground, which said 'Brother Zhen Yin Jian, Brother Wang Zhi worships', opened it, and it was written to me by Wang Zhi, the leader of the four bandits A personal letter, asking me to rob Songjiang Mansion. According to Dongdao Island’s regulations, colluding with Japanese pirates is a capital crime. Everyone was shocked and searched my room, and found several letters, which were written to me by Xu Hai, Chen Dong, and Ma Ye. Yes, some letters ask me about my health, and some letters ask me to plunder or smuggle goods.”

"At that time, I had the wealth of an enemy country, but where the wealth came from has always been a mystery, because the person who passed on my wealth was indifferent, and I was not allowed to reveal his affairs, so I never mentioned it. Therefore, everyone read the letter, All of them suddenly realized that all the wealth was obtained by colluding with Japanese pirates and plundering. What's even more ridiculous is that they didn't know where to find the handwriting of the four bandits, checked them one by one, and proved that these letters were indeed written by the four men. And the looting in the letter, after verification, happened one by one. I can neither name the benefactor nor explain the source of the letter. In this way, I have committed rape, mother murder, and collusion with Japanese pirates. The three major crimes should be executed logically, but everyone thinks that it is too cheap to execute me, and they should imprison me in Jiuyou Absolute Prison and endure the torment without seeing the sun."

These words were so unimaginable that Lu Jian was in a daze when he heard them. After a while, he came to his senses and murmured: "I don't know whether your words are true or not. If they are true, your stepmother and sister must be conspiring to plot against you. Your father explained?"

Gu Zhen sighed: "They were prepared, and the conspiracy was intertwined, so how could they leave a clue? I have always been willful and reckless, and I have been fighting with my stepmother all the year round. It is not impossible to use this vicious method to retaliate against them. Yes. With this foreshadowing, then colluding with Japanese pirates and raging in China, everything will be a matter of course, so looking at those letters, no one present has any doubts, no matter how you argue, no one believes me."

Speaking of this, Gu Zhen's eyes flickered coldly, Lu Jian was startled, and said hesitantly: "What enmity do the four bandits have with you? Why did they conspire to plot against you?"

Gu Zhen said indifferently: "Not only do I have enmity with them, but we are also very different. There is something hidden about this matter, so let's not mention it for now. Lu Jian, I have said everything that should be said, and what should not be said, I will not do it anyway. Said. My life was given by you, if you don’t believe me, you can take it back with a single punch.”

Lu Jian stared at him, clenched his fists tightly, his body trembling slightly, and slowly let go after a while, and said in a shy voice, "What can you do to prove your innocence?"

Gu Zhen smiled and said, "There are three ways, one is to let my stepmother and sister tell the truth in public, but firstly, I cannot force them because of ethics; secondly, the whole set of conspiracy comes from their hands, so how can they tell the truth in public?" Say it? This method is hard to beat."

Lu Jian said, "What about the second method?" Gu Zhen said, "The second method is to capture the four bandits alive. You only need to catch one of them and prove the letter to be false in public. The other conspiracies will of course be destroyed by themselves."

Lu Jiandao: "These four people refuse to confess?" Gu Zhen sneered and said, "I have my own way to get them to confess. The most important thing now is not to extract confessions, but whether they can be caught, even if they are caught, I'm afraid It may not be alive." Lu Jian frowned and said, "Why?"

"Didn't I say that?" Gu Zhen sighed softly, "Chen Dong and Ma Ye were killed by Hu Zongxian, and only two of the four opportunities left to clear their grievances. Not to mention the four bandits Wang Zhi, Xu Hai is the strongest, and it is not easy to capture him alive, and now the people who are trying to trick them, besides me, are Governor Hu and my stepmother."

Lu Jianqi said, "Your stepmother?" Suddenly he said, "That's right, if she wants to protect herself, she has to kill and kill the four bandits." After thinking for a while, he asked, "What's the third way? "

Gu Zhen shook his head: "Speaking of it, this is the easiest way, but I just can't do it." Lu Jianqi said, "Why can't I do it?" Gu Zhen sighed: "This is against the faith, and it must not be done."

Lu Jian became more and more curious, and wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Gu Zhen's expression, he had no choice but to keep silent.

The two were silent for a long time, before Lu Jian suddenly sighed: "Gu Zhen, I don't know whether I should trust you or not, but the top priority is to capture Wang Zhi and Xu Hai alive. Your life."

Gu Zhen nodded and said, "If I want to die, I'd rather die by your hands." He paused, then said softly, "Just in case, I want to ask you something." Then he leaned closer to Lu Jian's ear, " If I am dead, go to the Dong'an Gate of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, start from the stone lion on the left side of the gate, and walk 120 steps to the southeast. There is an old locust tree with six old roots exposed. Counting the old roots to the west, there is an iron box buried under the third old root. You open the box, and the things behind will naturally be understood.”

"Don't keep mentioning this dead word!" Lu Jian was a little annoyed, "I'll accompany you to catch Wang Zhi and Xu Hai, you and I can even escape from Prison Island, what else can't we do?"

Gu Zhen looked at him, the light in his eyes flashed, he suddenly turned his face away, and said with a loud smile: "That's right, you and I can even escape from Prison Island, what else can't we do?"

Before the laughter fell, a gust of wind suddenly blew, and a vast expanse of white flew out from the houses on the other side of the river, heading straight for Cuiyun Tower.

(End of this chapter)