Chapter 46
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The reason why he recognized Song Lian was because Song Lian was almost known by everyone in the capital three years ago. Everyone has a heart for beauty. Initially, he would startle celestial beings at a glance. He had a beauty in the world that can amaze men, women and children.
In the autumn of that year, many scholars in the capital gathered together, including some young talents who were rich in learning. Song Lian was one of the best among them, coupled with his outstanding peerless appearance, his grace, talent, and manners, how can he not make everyone in the capital compete for his favor. Every time there was a poetry gathering, whenever Song Lian came out with a new poem, the streets and alleys were vying to recite his new works.
Even the palace heard about it. It was rumoured that the princess specially sent palace people to inquire about him. Originally, everyone thought that there was no doubt that he would be in the top three in the autumn this time, but he did not expect to be implicated in the imperial examination fraud case that year.
He still remembered that at that time, everyone in the capital regretted it. Even he, a person who had nothing to do with him, could not help but sigh when he heard it, such a person should have succeeded in the imperial examination. When he entered the dynasty as an official in the future, he would be able to walk the path smoothly. It’s just that there has been no trace of him since this fraud case.
Now that they met again in a different place, Li Man recognized him at a glance. However, he was not worried that this person would know him, he was just a passerby to him. He just wondered, why did this person appear here, could it be that the Mr. Song they investigated before was this person?
If this was true, it was Song Lian who was planning for this gang of bandits behind the scenes. It will be a little tricky, Wang Ye must be notified of this news as soon as possible.
He and Wang Si were selected by General Mo from the guard camp, just to get in and get information anytime and anywhere. It was even possible for them to make some chaos under certain circumstances, everything depended on them to make their own decisions according to the actual situation, and then implement the action.
Mo Jiang received instructions from Ming Yu, and after returning home, he carefully selected these two people, mainly because they were bold and careful, had many sly ideas, and were good at judging the time and sizing up the situation. They also performed well usually so they were considered the best in the guard camp.
As an old man in the guard camp, Li Man had now adapted from the dissatisfaction and complaining when he first came to the border land. He was smart enough, and now in the guard camp for all subjects, he was in the top ten. Whether he was trying to earn performance so that he can get the recommendation of Duan Wang after returning to the capital in the future so as to go to a higher level on his career path, or what other plans he has, at least judging by his current performance, he was still a capable person, enough to allow him stand alone.
Wang Si was a villager who volunteered to participate in training, and later, because of all his excellent grades, after the training period expired, he was unwilling to go back and applied to stay voluntarily, so he became a member of the guard battalion. For these newcomers, Ming Yu was thinking of focusing on cultivating them, so that after a few years, when the old batch of people return back, this batch of new ones will be able to take the lead. With fresh blood injected into supplements, the people he can use will steadily flow in.
The two mixed into a small force. After gaining trust, they informed the news to the guard camp, then the guard camp sent people to specifically chase them, so that these people were cornered, and under the deliberate guidance of the two, they thought of defecting to Song Qingfu.
Li Man touched the bruises at the corners of his mouth, the pain caused him to grit his teeth. It could be said that the injuries on their bodies were beaten by their own family. These b*stards, saying it was in order to make them more trustworthy, they greeted him in the face, motherf*cker! They must have used the public office to avenge private wrongs to leave such heavy hands. Wait for him to go back and see how he cleans these people up.
Song Qingfu allowed them to eat and drink enough, it was impossible to let them go hungry if they wanted their petitions.
In fact, the petition was just a formality, in order to show their sincerity and show that they have one heart, they must bear the official chase order, or rob a house and hand over the materials to them in order to be trusted.
Although they were cleared by the government, only these twenty or so people remained. But it was not a problem to raid people’s houses. On the same day, they went down the mountain and robbed a family that still had surplus food.
“Godd*mned bandits! This old lady will fight with you! You have snatched all the grain, so how can our family survive the winter? You must die horribly!” Seeing that her grain was robbed, a strong woman hugged Li Man’s leg who was walking at the back, and pulled him to prevent them from robbing the grain.
Li Man was hugged by her, he couldn’t get out of this for a while. The few people who had already walked to the front laughed when they saw it, and said jokingly: “Brother Li, don’t tell us that you can’t even deal with women.”
As soon as Li Man heard this, he laughed awkwardly twice, turned his head and immediately kicked her away viciously, “Stinky woman, do you want to die? You even dare to entangle me, believe it or not, I can kill you with a single blade of mine.” After finishing the cruel words, he no longer paid attention to her. Carrying half a bag of snatched grain, he followed the people who were already walking in front.
The woman’s rough cry came from behind him. Li Man pursed the corners of his mouth, veins popped on his forehead. His face was distorted. D*mnit! Really d*mned cruel!
After Li Man and them walked away, the man lying motionless in the corner of the wall climbed up. Patting the dust on the coarse cloth clothes, he walked over, kicked the woman who was still crying, and frowned: “Okay, don’t howl, they have all gone away.”
The woman immediately stopped and got up with a grunt; don’t look at her howling for a long time, there was not even half a tear on her face.
“Did they really go far?” The woman looked east and west, and then babbled a few times, pulled off the silk flowers on her head, and wiped a few handfuls of her face, smearing the rouge powder on her face black and white, he still did not realize it, “Count me unlucky, pretending to be a woman is really not a human thing.”
How was this a woman? Obviously he was a rough man pretending to be a woman.
The man smiled, “Eldest brother, I am willing to gamble and lose, but to be honest, your dominatrix appearance made those bandits dare not look at you more, hahaha.”
Zhao Changzi gave him a blank look, humph! If he hadn’t lost the bet with his brothers, why would he have been willing to play a woman. These rouge powders and this outfit were put on by these puppies, he knew that these people had no good intention.
He stood up straight, a pain in his waist, he held his waist and cursed and shouted: “Li Man, this son of a b*tch! He exerted all his strength in that kick, aiyo! My old waist! ”
The man patted him on the shoulder and laughed, “Come on! This is called one revenge comes another one goes, at that time didn’t you also greet his face fiercely? ”
Zhao Changzi choked and touched his neck to defend, “Can that be the same? I did it for the sake of Brother Li. So I made a heavy move in case someone sees through it, it’s a life-threatening matter.” After he finished speaking, he glanced at the man, “Old Liu, don’t patronize me, you talk as if you didn’t make a move.”
“Eh!” The man was also obviously guilty, and did not dare to laugh, and changed the topic in a mocking manner, “That’s right! What code did Brother Li give you just now? Let’s go back quickly.”
This was arranged and planned by them a long time ago. Knowing that they went up the mountain to join Song Qingfu, therefore a petition must be indispensable. So they set up this bureau, let the brothers of the guard camp dress up as villagers, and let the bandits rob things.
And the person who pretended to be the village woman just now, Zhao Zhangzi, deliberately entangled with Li Man. The two have quietly exchanged code words with each other.
In fact, there was no need to deliberately remind them, they also knew the priority of the matter, and the two hurried back to report.
“In this way, Li Man and the two did not have the slightest suspicion, they mixed in very smoothly.” Ming Yu nodded and praised: “Well done.”
“Exactly, now that they have returned the petition, Song Qingfu and his gang will not suspect them.” Mo Jiang said.
“Yes, have them be careful, the longer they lurk, the better, to gain their trust as much as possible. In the future, it will depend on them.” Ming Yu said. Although he had already ordered them, he couldn’t help but remind them more.
“Your Highness rest assured, these two people dispatched are clever. Their ability to adapt to changes is not inferior, they will definitely successfully complete the task entrusted to them.” Mo Jiang swore that he knew the people he brought out of his hands best, and naturally believed them.
Since he had already given full authority to Mo Jiang to handle it, Ming Yu also trusted him, so he stopped talking about this. Thinking of the news that Li Man brought back, he asked instead: “Who is this Song Lian? Since Li Man knew him, I think that General Mo should have heard of him as well, so it is better to go talk about this Song Lian. We have to deal with things regardless of their importances, so don’t hesitate to speak.”
He really had no impression of this person named Song Lian. He used to live in the palace in seclusion, being muddleheaded all day long, stupidly staying in that small world, indifferent to external things. Only after falling into the water did he wake up completely. Sometimes he recalled the memories of the original owner, but most of them were vague, and his memories were not very clear.
As a military general, Mo Jiang had never interacted with scholars, but for Song Lian, who was famous in the capital back then, Mo Jiang naturally heard of him.
Mo Jiang sorted out his thoughts and said everything he heard and learned one by one.
“Song Lian was originally famous in the capital. His appearance and talent were all talked about by everyone. I heard that as soon as he appeared, there would be countless ladies in the capital who were watching and pursuing him. His poetry and literary works were also appreciated by the Lord Prime Minister. It can be said that if it were not for the involvement of the administration fraud case, Song Lian would have been able to shine in the palace examination, his future prospect limitless. ”
“I have not really seen Song Lian before. The fraud case at that time shocked the entire capital, His Majesty, the Emperor’s, dragon mood was furious. He dealt with the offending officials and scholars with thunderous means, as for how Song Lian was implicated, I did not handle this case, so I’m unaware of it. I only know that after Song Lian’s accident, no one in the capital did not sigh. Some people even gathered to ask for His Majesty to give him favour outside of the law, and give a lenient treatment. In the end, this matter was settled by leaving it unsettled.”
When Ming Yu heard this, he also deeply regretted it. Since he was a truly talented person, how could he cheat in the imperial examination? To no avail, time was important and so was luck and fate! It’s a pity that this person was implicated!
“It’s just that my subordinates also heard a gossip about him, I don’t know if I should say it or not.” Mo Jiang was a little hesitant, this matter sounded quite strange. He only smiled when he heard it at that time, but now it seems that there are all kinds of doubts in this, so regardless of the truth or falsity of the matter, he wanted to tell His Highness about it, so as not to regret it when the time comes.
Ming Yu was baffled, he had already told him to speak of what he knew, how can there be hesitation?
“This news was related to the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Third Prince, so…” Mo Jiang said the reason for his hesitation.
“Speak.” Ming Yu spoke. It’s just an insignificant candidate going to the capital to take part in the imperial examination, what if he was an outstanding talent? How could he implicate the princes? Ming Yu’s curiosity has been hooked, he can’t wait to hear what this gossip is.
Mo Jiang then said: “I heard that although the case back then was said to be an administration fraud case, in fact the situation was related to the two princes. It was said that the crown prince and the third highness took a fancy to the talented Song Lian at the same time, and even fought for him. His Majesty was furious. In order to cover up people’s eyes and ears, so as not to make such a scandal public, he randomly made a fraud case out, only to implicate Song Lian in it, saying to the outside world that he severely punished those who cheated and the officials were exiled thousands of miles away, and the scholar who was implicated in this could never be elected as an official. Although Song Lian was talented, he ended up like this.”
If it was anyone else, Mo Jiang would never say these words. But Ming Yu was different, he believed that His Highness would never be able to punish him because of this.
Ming Yu laughed when he heard this, if he hadn’t understood His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, maybe he would have really believed it. However, the crown prince has always abided by the rules and was cautious in doing things, how can he be jealous for a man. This was not in line with the principle of the crown prince as a person.
Ming Yu was somewhat close to the crown prince, but he had never heard the crown prince mention a Song Lian. If you really like someone, and was jealous because of him, how can you never mention him?
Ming Yu waved his hand, “How is this possible? It may be assumed that this rumour is groundless, don’t mention it in the future.” He reminded. This rumour was treated as a joke when he heard it but it’s not the same to the outside.
“Yes, I understand.” Seeing that Ming Yu was not angry after hearing this and it was confirmed that this was just a rumour, Mo Jiang was also relieved. He naturally knew.
Speaking about it today, he didn’t understand why Song Lian came to the border. Song Lian was a southerner. Even after the fraud case and he could no longer continue to take the test, he could still return to his southern home, he can still live an ordinary life. But he did not return home, and came to the border, which was somewhat intriguing. He had heard that His Third Royal Highness Ming Tao had sent people to find Song Lian for a while, but in the end he found nothing. Thinking about it, no one knew that he came to the border land, naturally the person couldn’t be found.
Since the Third Highness had brazenly looked for Song Lian, it showed that Song Lian was not unrelated to the prince. He came here to hide from the people, could it be that he was hiding from the Third Highness.
But these were just speculations, he really did not dare to say more, only silently swallowing these words into his stomach.
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