On the ninth day of the sixth lunar month, at midnight, the clouds closed and the moon suddenly rose. A strong wind suddenly rose. On the river in the east of the city, the water surged. A small black-topped boat floated slowly on it. Soon after, it slowly leaned against the stone steps on the shore.<

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A person walked out of the cabin, wearing a gray wide-sleeved robe, with a long flowing beard and slightly frosted temples. He looked to be in his forties or fifties.

Standing at the bow of the ship for a moment, the man jumped up the stone steps on the shore. At this time, a fair-faced young eunuch was paying the boatman money on the ship. He saw the man reaching out to reach the shore vigorously, and hurriedly shouted: "Oh, there's no way."

Sir, please slow down, be careful of falling!"

Lu Zhenfei, who was on the shore, smiled and stretched out his hand to meet the young eunuch and said: "I am not a vase, how can I be so delicate?"

The little eunuch climbed ashore. It was cold and windy by the water. He tightened his clothes and shrank his neck and said: "If you have any shortcomings, the eunuch will never spare me."

"Prince Lu has a reputation as a virtuous man, so he must be a benevolent lord." Lu Zhenfei and the little eunuch walked one after another in the deserted street. The little eunuch was sent by Prince Lu to pick him up. Since he was dismissed from office,

, he was homeless and had no choice but to go to his old friends in Suzhou and live in Suzhou Mansion. He was worried and depressed every day.

After Emperor Hongguang was captured, he had thought about defecting to Prince Lu, but he had been hesitant because he had supported Prince Fu to ascend the throne, so he was afraid that Prince Lu would be prejudiced against him, so he was unable to do so.
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When the edict was read out by the chamberlain sent by King Lu, he was both surprised and delighted. Without any delay, he rushed straight to Hangzhou on the double road.

Prince Lu's Mansion.

Zhu Changzi had just sent Zhang Huangyan away. He explained many things to Zhang Huangyan about the establishment of the Black Ice Platform, and allocated 300,000 taels of silver from the palace to fund its establishment.

After receiving the huge sum of money, Zhang Huangyan was so confident that he didn't even sleep and went directly to Ma Mansion to report. The Sixth Ministry's Office also borrowed Ma Mansion's garden.

"Report! Lord Lu Zhenfei has arrived!" A guard reported outside the study.

"Please come to the study!" Zhu Changzi was overjoyed. He didn't expect Lu Zhenfei to come so quickly. Although he didn't know Lu Zhenfei very well, Li Bao told him that when Lu Zhenfei was inspecting the water transportation of the Governor of Huaiyang, the official voice

Yes, I think he should be a capable minister. To say the least, the people who were squeezed out of the court by Ma Shiying should be very different.

Not long after, Li Bao personally led Lu Zhenfei to the study, and Zhu Changzi personally greeted him at the door. Lu Zhenfei couldn't help but be moved. Then the monarch and his ministers started chatting in the study.

Li Bao stood guard outside the door, looking up at the looming moon, wondering what he was thinking.

The strong wind swept across the mountains and rivers for thousands of miles. Leaning on the door and being independent, a few people shared this moment together.

In Lintong County, Xi'an Prefecture, in front of a ruined temple, a person was looking at the bright moon in the sky.

It has been two days since Wang Jian came to the county seat. He has lived in extreme hardship during these two days, but he has basically understood what kind of era he is in at this time.

On the second day after entering the city, Wang Jian was severely beaten by the evil soldiers in the city just for looking at them one more time on the street. Wang Jian, who was dizzy after being beaten, was saved by a passing scholar, who saved him.

They were placed in the City God's Temple on the outskirts of the city.

In the temple behind him, the scholar was sitting in front of the fire, roasting a mouse caught from the temple, carrying a square wooden box on his back.

"Hey, where are you from?" the scholar asked while fidgeting with firewood.

"Um, I'm from Xianyang." Wang Jian came to his senses and replied quietly.

After a moment of silence, the scholar raised the mouse in front of him, smelled it, looked at Wang Jian and said, "Come here and eat some. If it's not enough, I'll catch it again. These days, it's hard to find this harmful thing."

Wang Jian walked to the fire and sat down. The scholar gave him half of the roasted golden mouse.

The two sat opposite each other and started chewing silently, with calm faces on their faces.

A gust of evil wind came from the temple, causing the broken windows to creak.

Wang Jian suddenly asked: "Is that a thing on your back?"

The scholar was stunned, looked at Wang Jian warily, held the wrapping cloth on his shoulder with one hand and stared at Wang Jian: "Ashes."

"I'm sorry, I'm rude." Wang Jian bowed his hands and apologized. He knew that the current world was in chaos and death was a common occurrence. It seemed that the scholar's family was unfortunately killed.

"It doesn't matter, I'll be on my way at dawn. You're such a reckless man, so take care of yourself. Recently, the Western Army is marching north to attack Hanzhong. Meng Qiaofang, the governor of Shaanxi Province of the Qing Dynasty, is in a state of distress. He's hunting people everywhere. Be careful of being caught.

"The scholar warned him earnestly. For some reason, the man in front of him always made him feel an inexplicable sense of security, so he couldn't help but say a few more words.

After hearing this, Wang Jian nodded, raised his eyes and asked, "Where are you going, a Confucian scholar?"

"Yan'an Prefecture, Tianbao County." The scholar said vaguely, holding two short skeletons in his mouth.

"Tianbao County?" Wang Jian didn't know where it was and was a little confused.

The scholar lifted up the skirt of his robe, wiped his hands, wiped his mouth, and asked: "You, a Xianyang man, don't know Tianbao County? It is Mizhi County in the Ming Dynasty. Our Emperor Yongchang changed it to Tianbao County."

Wang Jian could only smile and nod, pretending to understand, and then asked: "Where are you from? Your clothes are ragged, and it seems that you have traveled a long way."

Hearing this, the scholar's face darkened, his expression instantly became gloomy, and there was a little sadness in his eyes.

After a long silence, the scholar said: "I went all the way north from Jiugong Mountain in Tongcheng County, Hubei Province to send the soul of the deceased back to his hometown."

"Go north. I want to go south, but I also want to go the same way." Wang Jian said with some disappointment.

"Going south? Why are you going south? Are you going to join the Ming army?" the scholar asked curiously.

Wang Jian thought for a while and replied: "Well, I went to look for my old friend. He is in Hangzhou City."

Hangzhou? It’s a long way to go, and I heard that Duduo has united his army to occupy the city of Nanjing. The city of Hangzhou is probably in danger. The scholar thought for a moment and suggested: “The road is difficult and dangerous, and the Qing army is marching south. At that time, Hangzhou was probably already captured. If you want to go, you’d better go to Huguang first to be safe.”

"Thanks for the advice. I'll set off as soon as it gets light. I'll rest for a while." Wang Jian stood up, found a ball of hay and spread it on the ground, ready to take a nap.

The scholar also put out the fire and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed to rest.

Outside the temple, one can vaguely hear the sound of horse hooves and the sound of shouting intermittently.

The clear light shines through the broken window onto the cobweb-covered statues in the temple.

Wang Jian, who was lying quietly, was silently thinking about his plan to go south. He was penniless and unfamiliar with the environment, so it was difficult to move forward. After thinking about it, he decided that he still had to ask the scholar for advice.

The drowsy scholar suddenly woke up when he heard a noise, and subconsciously pulled out a short blade from his boot.

"Yes, I'm leaving." Wang Jian said goodbye to the scholar calmly.

"I'm scared to death. It's not too late to leave at dawn. It's so late at night and the road is dangerous. Why are you so anxious?" The scholar retracted his short blade and stroked his chest gently.

"We want to go south, how can we do it safely?" Wang Jian stood at the gate of the temple. He knew that this scholar must have his own unique skills to be able to go all the way north safely.

The scholar rolled his eyes and couldn't help but secretly thought: This guy is not that stupid after all.

"Looking at your strong body, I suggest you go over Zhongnan Mountain to Shanyang, and then cross Shangluo Mountain into Huguang. Don't get close to Hanzhong. Oh, by the way, there are many thieves in the mountains, so be careful."

The scholar went north along this route and suffered a lot, but fortunately he was resourceful and survived.

"Thank you for the advice. I'll say goodbye. See you later!" Wang Jian wrote down the route and was about to leave.

The scholar suddenly felt that this man did not look like an ordinary farmer, so he asked casually: "Hey, man, can you leave your name?"

Wang Jian, who was about to turn around and go out, stamped his feet, looked up into the dark night, and said firmly in a deep voice: "Wang Jian."

The scholar was stunned after hearing this, Wang Jian? Isn't that a general of the Qin Dynasty? It's amazing that this man has the same name as him.
Chapter completed!