The sunshine at noon in late autumn shines warmly on the earth.

An old man in gray-white coat walked up the not-wide streets of Huaishan County.

The old man wandered on the bluestone street, looking left and right, and seemed to be very curious about the place.

Huaishan County is not big.

It only has two vertical and one horizontal and three streets.

The streets and alleys are not long, so some people say that you can urinate from the street to the end of the street.

Of course, this statement is much exaggerated, but it is indeed possible to see through the alleys at a glance from the street.

Huaishan County is not lively either.

Because it is five days away from Kyoto, and behind it is the towering Qishan Mountains that stretch for hundreds of miles. There is no road to other places, so it is not a big deal and there is almost no business trip, so there are not many residents in Huaishan County.

The old man in gray and white clothes walked to an alley called Xiaobei Street.

Half of the shops on both sides of the alley were opened and closed.

He seemed to be walking wildly, and came to a food shop. He looked up and saw a flagpole inserted beside the door of the food shop.

A string of faded lanterns hung on the flagpole.

A few big words are written on the lantern:

Xiangmanfang!

He walked in.

The shop is not wide, with only four tables inside. It was noon, but there was not even a diner in the shop.

He sat at the table in the innermost corner, and a slightly fat middle-aged man who was both a shopkeeper, a waiter or a chef came over.

He pulled off a black cloth towel from his shoulder, wiped it casually on the table, and asked without any enthusiasm:

"What to eat?"

The old man looked up and glanced at him.

"Half a pound of beef, half a pound of pork tails with sauce, two taels of soju, two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge, and a salted duck egg."

When the fat man heard this, he curled his lips: "There is no beef, but there is pig tail, but it is not sauce, but braised. Why don't you want it?"

"don't want!"

"good."

The slightly fat man turned around, and after a moment he brought a plate and placed it in front of the old man with a "clang".

But the old man was not angry.

He ate slowly, after about half an hour, then threw down a piece of silver, got up and walked to the door.

"Too many, only thirty-two copper plates, I can't find them!"

"No need to look for it. Last time I owed Mr. Ding sixty-six copper coins."

The slightly fat man was stunned, "...You are the one who owed money twenty years ago?"

"Yes, where is Mr. Ding?"

“Water, fishing!”

"good."

...

...

Huaishan County Pier.

This place is mostly abandoned.

Because the bandits in Shuangjiao Lake blocked the Yuguang Canal, and this place was originally a small tributary of the Yuguang Canal, few ships have been moored here so far.

Just on this pier, just under the autumn sun, there is a small boat in the river.

At the bow of the stoop boat, there was a fisherman wearing a gray-white coat. There was also a small stove on the bow, and there was a small pot on the small stove, and there was a hot smoke emitting from the small pot.

The old man on the shore looked at it for a moment and suddenly started to laugh.

He jumped and landed lightly on the sauna boat.

The fisherman turned his head, "Changsun Jinghong!"

"You're still here!"

He is Changsun Jinghong, the eldest son of the Imperial City Sitiju!

He left the Imperial City Department, which had been guarding for twenty years, and came to this remote place.

"Well, you have caught fish here for twenty years, and you may have caught all the fish here!"

Mr. Ding looked away and looked at the motionless float on the river, "Have you paid back the money?"

"Returned."

Changsun Jinghong sat on the side of the boat and looked at the float on the river. After a while, he asked: "How are you doing these years?"

"Fortunately... I feel much more comfortable after leaving the ghost place of the Imperial City Se."

Once upon a time, there was a world-famous judge of life and death in the Imperial City Department, whose name was Mr. Ding!

When Empress Lu planted the big-leaf banyan in the Imperial City Department, Mr. Ding disappeared without a trace and has been forgotten now.

Some people say that he had done too many evil things and was secretly executed by Changsun Jinghong.

Some people also say that he was slaughtered when he was investigating the Lu Zhanxiao case.

No one knew he was still alive.

He lives in Huaishan County and runs a food shop. The business is not good, so he often fishes in this river.

"I heard that there is another deputy lord from the Imperial City Department."

Mr. Ding turned his head and looked at Changsun Jinghong again, "So, are you finally willing to leave that ghost place?"

"Um,"

Changsun Jinghong nodded, "I will be relieved if I hand it over to him."

"He can't be the son of Queen Lu!"

"I know."

"Then... why did you hand over the Imperial City Department to him?"

"Because I don't have time to find Queen Lu's son."

Mr. Ding Da was not surprised. He looked at Changsun Jinghong for three breaths, turned his head, took a wine bag from his side and took a sip, and handed it to Changsun Jinghong.

"I can't help you."

Changsun Jinghong took the wine bag and took a sip:

"I didn't want you to get in again and come to you, just ask you to leave here soon."

Mr. Ding Da lifted up the fishing rod, took out a small box beside him, took out an earthworm, squinted his eyes and hung the earthworm on the fish hook and threw it out.

"I'm older than you."

“I’m used to living here.”

"Although the shop's business is not good, the money I have saved in the past is enough for me to support my old age..."

"I have been spending my whole life in wandering. I finally managed to stabilize these twenty years, but you want me to leave again..."

"Don't do it!"

Changsun Jinghong grinned:

"I just hope that the rest of your life will be safe."

Mr. Ding turned his head, looked at Changsun Jinghong, and said seriously:

"There are tens of thousands of mice in the mountains... You are seeking death!"

Changsun Jinghong reached out and unbuttoned the lid of the pot with white smoke. A strong smell of fish soup came. He picked up a spoon and put a bowl on it, and blew it: "I must seek death!"

"Successful Lord Li?"

“Not all.”

"To save the emperor?"

“Not all.”

"That's all the money, what's the remaining reason?"

"I'm sorry to my brother, I didn't protect him after all."

Mr. Ding was shocked, ignored the moving float and looked at Changsun Jinghong, "Has Changsun Iron Line passed away?"
To be continued...