Chapter 585: An Unexpected Encounter

Because Kaifeng is adjacent to the Yellow River, although there is often the danger of flooding of the Yellow River in summer, when the wind and waves are calm on weekdays, the waterway has become the best choice to communicate between the north and the south. Zhang Yue and others chose to take a boat along the Yellow River to the north this time, and then from the Huitong River to Tongzhou. Zhang Fu, who was in charge of important tasks, couldn't afford to delay, and hurried back to Beijing after the burial and Sanyu sacrifice.

Now it is the season of spring flowers, Zhang Yue and others naturally go smoothly all the way, but from the Yellow River to the canal is to take the line of Anshan Lake, only to see that the canal is lined with endless grain ships and merchant ships, and the itinerary inevitably slows down.

Zhang Yue used to get off the ship here to change the land route when he went to Shandong to take up his post before, and now he returned to his hometown and found that the small village was twice as lively as before, and it seemed that some small towns were in rudiment, and he was very emotional. This place is already the boundary of Shandong, and while he was anchored at the shore for the night, he simply took Niu Dang and other four guards and a few small servants who bought food and drink to get off the boat together.

All the way through the docks, he looked inconspicuous in a green cloth robe. He had the heart to take a look at this freshly baked town, so he sent those little guys to go to the procurement by himself, and he took Niu Dare Zhang Bu and the four of them to walk around. Just as he casually walked into a small inn, he found a woman sitting at a table against the wall that he would never forget in his life.

Not only him, but Tang Sai'er, who was sitting there, didn't expect to meet Zhang Yue here. At this moment, she is only one person, Tang Qingshuang, who has never been left and right, is not there, the green cloth is wrapped in blue cloth and the collared shirt is black cloth shoes, and she looks at her as just an ordinary young woman from a private family without powder. Just sent a few boring merchants who came up to talk, at this moment she was holding a small porcelain bowl with wine in one hand, staring at Zhang Yue intently for a moment, and then she showed a shallow smile.

"Zhang Gongzi, long time no see."

"It's been a long time."

Although Zhang Yue had only seen Tang Sai'er once in the Meng family, and then he had almost never heard any rumors about the White Lotus Sect Leader except for Feng Yuanming mentioning it once, but the imperial court's wanted list was still there, Zhang Yue looked at the face that had barely changed in the slightest, and had an urge to sigh. But since the people didn't see him and wanted to shout and kill, let alone leave immediately, he simply stepped forward: "I didn't expect you to be still in Shandong." ”

"I just took advantage of the Qingming Festival to sweep the grave of my late husband, and I didn't plan to stay in Shandong longer." Tang Sai'er smiled, and when she saw that Zhang Yue was just standing there, she said casually, "Since we met, it was fate, why don't Zhang Gongzi sit down and have a drink?" Count your sister-in-law as my little sister, and she is not an outsider. ”

Zhang Yue never thought that he would see Tang Sai'er again, so he didn't expect the other party to say such a sentence at all. It is true that there is a difference between officials and bandits, although he can find a way to keep her, but if she really uses any method to break the net, it will also be a big trouble for him. After all, Feng Yuanming was indeed the master of the White Lotus Sect Master—even though he was only a master in medical skills.

Turning his head and glancing at the four guards behind him who did not squint, he felt that he was even more dazzling when he stood at this time, so he sat down as he said. Seeing Tang Sai'er waving his hand to the guy on the side to ask for another set of dishes and chopsticks, and filling his wine bowl indifferently, he couldn't help but feel more and more confused.

You must know that he was the first to be beheaded in Qingzhou, and under the butcher's knife, he killed hundreds of people in one go, most of them were White Lotus Sectists, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he had a deep blood feud with the opposite person.

"People are old, and their hearts are soft, and I haven't killed a few people in the past few years." Raising the crude white porcelain wine bowl and taking a sip, Tang Sai'er raised her head lightly, and when she saw Zhang Yue's face stiffen suddenly, she put down the cup, "I'm not better than you, although you are a civil official, but the people you have killed over the years, I'm afraid you can't count them on your fingers, right?" It's just that being old also has the advantage of being old, at least I'm smarter than before, and I won't be calculated and unaware. Yue Changtian is dead, and the prince of Han is also dead, and most of my revenge has been avenged, you don't have to worry that I will still hold on to you. ”

It naturally felt good that there was no longer such a sharp blade hanging above his head, but hearing the two names mentioned by Tang Sai'er, Zhang Yue couldn't help but take a deep breath. On the night of the chaos in Beijing, he heard that an inexplicable corpse appeared in the alley near his house, and when the dust settled, he asked Hu Qi to investigate, and when he learned that it was Yue Changtian, he simply didn't mention it to others. As for the death of the prince of Han, he never thought about it in a certain direction, but now that he hears it, is it also this woman's means?

"Miss Tang, you just want to say this to me?"

"I just want to say to you, don't underestimate women!" Tang Sai'er poured a full cup, then raised his glass and drank it all, and then put the cup on the table, "Once a woman is paranoid and crazy, she can do anything." In the future, if the government can be more fair and kind, and the court can fight less, maybe I will use these hands to make soup and live a dull life, but if not, I can also let it go! I advise you to be careful, you have a crazy woman staring at you! ”

After that, she stood up, pointed at Zhang Yue, and nodded lightly to the guy who was busy in the store: "Today's account is on this son's head!" ”

Hearing this tone of course, and then watching the back figure in blue walk out of the door, Zhang Yue almost ordered someone to chase him out, but he still held back when the words came to his lips. He is no longer the parent official of Shandong, nor is he the official in charge of sea fishing matters in the Criminal Department, even if he arrests this White Lotus Sect leader, what is the use? It's just a hotter potato, not to mention that people have already made it clear that they plan to stop, so he doesn't need to meddle with things. What's more, the two people who died were the ones he also wanted to get rid of.

After checking out the inn, he glanced at both sides of the street, and saw that he could no longer find Tang Sai'er's shadow, so he turned around and ordered the four people who came out with him not to mention today's chance encounter with anyone, and then continued to follow the itinerary set at the beginning. It wasn't until it got dark that he returned to the ship. At this time, the little guy in charge of the purchase had already returned, but Zhang Chao deliberately waited at the bow of the boat, and when he saw him on the boat, he complained twice, and then mentioned a major news.

"Lu Zhen, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, has been released from prison and reinstated."

Thinking of Zhu Di's thunderous resoluteness when he sent one minister after another to prison, and the kind of procrastination when a person was released later, Zhang Yue couldn't help but feel that the emperor was indeed moody now, so he asked: "How long has this been?" ”

"It was about five or six days ago. It was the news from the official ship that went south to Nanjing in Beijing, because the longevity festival was coming, this time the emperor wanted to congratulate the emperor at the gate of heaven by hundreds of officials, and at the same time received the envoys of the Siyi Dynasty, because the Ministry of Rites lacked Lu Shangshu, which has been inefficient in the past few months, so in the end the person was released, and the official was reinstated. ”

What is the reason for this? If it is really because of this, now another scholar in the Ministry of Rites, Jin Chun, has to smoke when he hears it!

I want to think so, but Zhang Yue still admires Lu Zhen's ability to manage the three departments in an orderly manner. It must be known that the Ministry of Rites has always been an idle yamen, although it is in charge of the triennial examination, but the chief examiner is taken from the top judge, and it is not a department with real power, but Lu Zhen can hold power everywhere to exclude dissidents, and he sits very firmly. The last time he heard the emperor furious, but now he was gently and skillfully pardoned, which was evident from the fact that this person had a sacred heart.

The little episodes in the itinerary were just small waves on the calm waters, which quickly disappeared. On 23 March, the ship finally stopped at the Tongzhou wharf, and Gao Quan, who had stayed in Beijing, waited in Tongzhou City early, and waited at the wharf early that day, and only picked up the people in the afternoon. Since the female dependents had a lot of luggage, and six carriages were used to accompany him, he instructed his subordinates to take care of the porter who was unloading things from the boat, and walked quickly in front of the three brothers Zhang Yue.

Since the children of the three brothers are still young, the eldest is not yet four years old, and the youngest is still in infancy, I am afraid that the bumpy road will not be bearable, and they are all great-grandchildren, so they all stayed in Beijing before, and Fang Shuixin mother and son and Hongluan mother and son also remained. The former was locked in the house and ignored by anyone, and the latter was because Zhang Fei was not in good health before, so she went to ask Zhang Zhuo after thinking about it, so she stayed. At this time, Gao Quan reported that the little master was fine, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the ladies had already boarded the car, Zhang Yue was about to get on the horse, when he heard a noisy sound from the other side of the dock. Following the prestige, I saw that there was also a passenger ship docked there, and it was a man in his thirties under the boat who was making a lot of noise, and in front of him was a porter who was picking up luggage and a chariot and horse dealer who were on the dock to solicit business. When he heard the words coming in the wind clearly, Zhang Yue couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

It turned out to be a bargain, not a big deal!

"Don't think that we are from other places and don't understand the market, my father is a Beijing official! It's only a few dozen miles from Tongzhou to Beijing, so why don't you grab it? Also, there are 90 wen for all this luggage to be transported from the ship, phew, you have a big dream! Mother, don't stop me, we came all the way from Taihe, and we came to Beijing to live a good life and enjoy happiness, why should we suffer from the idleness of these coolies! ”

Zhang Yue, who was about to turn around and set off, suddenly heard the words Taihe, immediately put down the reins, and turned his head to look at it carefully. At this time, I saw someone helping an old woman to slowly get off the boat from the pedal. The old woman looked very plainly dressed, as if she was just from an ordinary family. However, thinking of the suggestion he had made to Yang Shiqi before, he couldn't help but pay attention, and hurriedly took Lian Sheng over there. When he got closer, he heard the man muttering again.

"Dad is a dignified Zuo Chunfang university scholar, and now that we have arrived in Tongzhou, there is no one to pick up, what is Yang Zhong's dog doing!"