No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 718: Long time no see, Xiao Huaimin [ask for monthly ticket! ]

In the dim living room, Yan Liulang was drinking tea and waiting with Magistrate Meng. Wang Caozhi came back quickly and shouted out in front of him, panting:

"Yan, Brother Yan!"

Yan Liulang put down the teacup, turned around and found that Wang Caozhi's expression was not only happy but also a little strange.

"Brother Wang sent people to Guanyin Temple to investigate." he asked.

Wang Caozhi nodded like pounding garlic: "Yes, I went there. I went there in person."

"Oh? How's the situation? Have you found anything?"

In the empty hall, the short young man's tone was still a little unbelievable:

"I found the person. He is really in Guanyin Temple!"

……

"Qian Chen was found?"

"Found it. This person is in Guanyin Zen Temple."

"Talk about it."

"Brother Wang went there in person. Qian Chen lives in the guest house of Guanyin Zen Temple. No wonder we couldn't find him in the city at first. He never passed through Hukou County, nor did he go to the military camp. Instead, he went to Guanyin Zen Temple in Fenghuangling as soon as he got off the boat. The temple has a large flow of visitors, and I hadn't noticed this before.

"And according to Wang Caozhi's investigation, this fellow named Qian Chen should have made a donation in advance in the name of Princess Anhui in order to pave the way for Princess Anhui to come to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha on the fifteenth day. He also discussed with the abbot of Guanyin Zen Temple about receiving Princess Anhui.

"He is now the abbot's guest of honor, living in the guest house arranged by the abbot. The reason why Brother Wang's people didn't find him before is because..."

In the morning, the sun is shining brightly.

In the courtyard of Yinbingzhai, in the Huaiye Lane mansion, Yan Liulang, who had rushed back in a hurry, stopped in the courtyard, bowed his head towards the study, and explained the situation in Hukou County one by one.

Later on, he said a few words on behalf of Wang Caozhi and others from Hukou County.

Ouyang Rong, who was flipping through a book in the study, waved his hand and interrupted:
"It's fine as long as we find him. We know he's not slacking off. I still believe in his abilities. This time, Qian Chen's whereabouts really exceeded our expectations...

"What's the situation now? The Guanyin Temple has found someone. How is Cao Zhi handling it?"

Yan Liulang said respectfully:

"As soon as my brother found the person, he came back to inform me and told me the general situation of the investigation, which is what was reported to the governor. I left first and hurried back to report.

"Before leaving, Brother Wang asked me to tell you that now that they have found the person, they will continue to keep an eye on Qian Chen and will not let their guard down, nor will they lose him again. After the operations in the past few days, they have now laid a huge new network in Hukou County. Qian Chen will not be able to escape if he dares to make any other unusual moves.

"If there is any new information later, Brother Wang will have someone bring it back immediately. Duan Quanwu and the military camp will all have people keeping an eye on it."

Ouyang Rong heard this and stared at the book in his hand. After a moment of silence, he nodded slightly:

"Got it. You've worked hard, Liu Lang. Please leave now."

"Yes, Mingfu."

"and many more."

Yan Liulang was about to turn around and leave when he heard Ouyang Rong calling out and turned back curiously:

"What's the matter, Mr. Ming? Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Ouyang Rong pulled out a red paper invitation from the neatly piled letters on the desk and handed it to the table:

"Here, my auntie specifically told me to give it to you, saying that you've worked hard this year. Don't forget to attend her birthday party tomorrow night. Also, don't bring any gifts. My auntie said you can't bring any, or she'll get angry..."

Yan Liulang was stunned for a moment, then walked forward and picked up the invitation.

He lowered his head, looked again and again, his face slightly moved: "Ming Fu, I ..."

Ouyang Rong waved his hand calmly:
"Okay, take it. Listen to my aunt. You don't need to bring any gifts. Just be here. If there's nothing going on in the city where you're supervising, you don't have to be so tense. Come over tomorrow night and have dinner together. No matter how busy you are on the 15th for the celebration, you can still have a meal. Dalang and the others can come too, and we can have a couple of drinks.

"By the way, the embroiderer has also prepared some rice wine. I will bring it over when the time comes. It will be a good opportunity for you to try it."

"Got it, Mr. Ming! I will be there tomorrow night."

Ouyang Rong smiled and said, "Okay, go ahead."

Yan Liulang put away the red paper invitation, clasped his fists heavily, and left the yard.

At the desk in the study, Ouyang Rong restrained his smile, threw down the book in his hand, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

The man named Qian Chen who quietly left Wei Anhui's residence and went to Hukou County was finally found.

The results were somewhat reasonable, yet also unexpected.

He actually went to prepare for Wei Anhui's departure from Xunyang City the day after tomorrow to go to the Zen Guanyin Temple to worship Buddha.

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips, stood up, walked around the study twice, and let out a breath again.

He picked up his outer robe and put it on, then turned and went out, preparing to go to Prince Xunyang's Palace to inform everyone.

In addition, Pei Shisan Niang and Yinbingshi Company can also slightly reduce the amount of ice transported.

If you think about it carefully, transporting ice in on such a large scale might arouse suspicion.

……

Xunyang Grottoes.

bamboo forest.

The forest was filled with white fog, and the afternoon sunlight could hardly penetrate it, making it even more hazy.

A cold figure of a girl in palace clothes walked out from the woods, came to the bamboo courtyard, and pushed open the wooden door.

She paused in front of the door for a moment.

I looked up for a while and saw the hazy white fog that even the sunlight could not penetrate.

After a while, Rong Zhen rolled up her sleeves and returned to the house.

She pulled her little hand out from her sleeve and casually placed a piece of leftover wood on the table.

Rong Zhen, who had just finished his meal in the old musician's yard, walked to the well, drew a bucket of water, and lowered his head to wash his hands carefully.

After washing her hands, she returned to the table, sat down with her back straight, and continued to work meticulously.

I saw a girl in palace dress sitting in front of the table, with a pair of flawless white hands, picking up a sharp little carving knife, then picking up the lump of wood next to her, and concentrating on carving it seriously.

She got this piece of wood from Senior Yu.

It was the leftover wood from the old musician's harp. It was not a rare item.

But it really needs to be used.

At this moment, this lump of wood gradually turned into a roughly round bead under her skillful hands.

Rong Zhen paused and played with it for a moment, then continued to polish it carefully...

About half an hour later, Rong Zhen put down the sharp carving knife and opened his palm, on which lay quietly a very round wooden bead.

She fetched a small jar of precious wax and applied it, waxing and polishing it.

The job was done. Rong Zhen threw the round, shiny, exquisite little wooden bead into a small porcelain bowl prepared on the side.

There was a "click" sound.

The brand new little wooden beads rolled into the porcelain plate and bumped into other beads, making a sound like metal colliding with stone.

I saw that there were other similar beads in this small porcelain bowl. They were made of different materials, including black mountain stone, ice flower seeds, red agate, and ebony...

They are colorful, but like the newest wooden beads, they are all round, shiny, and roughly the same size.

Rong Zhen carefully picked out a few flawed ones from the small porcelain bowls and continued to polish them with the knife until they were round and perfect before he stopped.

She carefully selected and counted out seventeen beads, then strung them together one by one with a red string.

During this time, there is still time to match the colors of the beads...

After stringing the seventeenth bead to her satisfaction, the girl in palace dress took off the string of white jade Buddhist beads bestowed by His Majesty from her wrist without hesitation.

She used a knife to pick open the string, removed one of the white jade beads, and put it on the new bracelet.

Rong Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, the thing was made one day before Ouyang Lianghan's aunt's birthday ceremony.

She was busy with her daily affairs and could only find time to make one bead every day.

In addition, in the main cave, Rong Zhen also carefully prepared a gift, which he planned to give to Ouyang Lianghan on the day of the celebration ceremony.

In front of the table, the girl in palace dress clenched the new Buddhist beads in her fair and clever hands, which were still stained with sawdust.

This item is called Eighteen Seeds. It is a special bracelet in northern Buddhism, used to pray for blessings and ward off disasters. Each string of Eighteen Seeds is made of eighteen different materials of gold, stone, and wood. There is no strict rule on which one to match with which. The main consideration is the size of each seed. It only matters if it looks good. In addition, each bead also represents a different meaning. The black mountain stone means a lot of money, and the ice flower Mani seed symbolizes happiness and well-being...

Rong Zhen was going to give this string of eighteen seeds as a gift to that guy's aunt.

Keep her safe.

Tomorrow is his aunt's birthday party, Rong Zhen can't go there empty-handed.

And anything she gave away was naturally a valuable gift.

If she had not left a good impression on Ouyang Lianghan's aunt before, then this time, she might have left a deep impression...

Rong Zhen lowered his eyes, his face lost in thought, when suddenly a middle-aged female official knocked on the door and reported in the courtyard outside:

"Madam, Princess Anhui is here. She is at the main grotto and wants to see you."

"The princess brought the groom and attendants with her again?"

"Yes."

Rong Zhen's tone was lonely:

"Go and tell them that I am feeling unwell and cannot accompany you."

The middle-aged female official took the order and went out immediately.

A quarter of an hour later, the middle-aged female official returned to the bamboo courtyard again, looking somewhat embarrassed:

"Madam, Princess Anhui is concerned about you and has followed you. She is waiting not far outside the courtyard and wants to visit you."

Rong Zhen continued:
"Go and tell them that I am feeling better now, but I am busy. Please go back, Princess."

The middle-aged female official seemed stunned for a moment and went out again.

Not long after, the middle-aged female official came back to report.

Finally, Princess Anhui was sent away.

The middle-aged female official glanced at Rong Zhen's indifferent expression and had no idea how the princess had offended the lady historian.

She asked cautiously:

"Madam, the princess will leave Xun for Hukou County the day after tomorrow. I'm afraid today is the last time we will see each other."

"Oh."

Rong Zhen's response was somewhat cold.

The middle-aged female official asked no more questions and turned around to leave.

But he heard Rong Zhen's voice behind him;

"Wait a minute, who went to receive the princess when she came to the grotto this time?"

The middle-aged female official reported a list of names, including Nanny Song and some female officials of the Supervisory Council, as well as some major generals of the White Tiger Guard. Wei Mi of the Black Tortoise Guard was not there.

Rong Zhen suddenly asked, "Where is Commander Yi?"

"I went to Xunyang City to look for Yuan Changshi, and he hasn't come back yet."

"Okay, step back."

"Yes, Ms. Shi."

……

Xingzifang.

Chengtian Temple, a vegetarian temple.

Yuan Huaimin returned to his yard in a somewhat depressed mood.

Although being on duty every day does not make people feel happy, it is now the end of the shift and there is no overtime. It should be the happiest time of the day, but Yuan Huaimin can't muster any interest.

It felt like there was a piece of iron pressing on my heart. I became bored with everything that was happening. I just wanted time to pass quickly and get through the day.

Yuan Huaimin sighed and pushed open the gate.

Li Yu was not in the courtyard. He should be in the next door courtyard because Yi Qianqiu came last night. Li Yu quietly moved to the next door courtyard that the two had prepared in advance. He also moved his luggage and collection of straight wooden sticks there just in case.

Yuan Huaimin walked around the yard for a few times, looking a little dazed. After a while, he went to the bedroom and took out a few straight wooden sticks from the bottom of the cupboard that he had received from Brother Li. He lowered his head and played with them for a while, but his mood was a little absent-minded.

In the past, he would carry the straight wooden stick out of the door, walk around a few times, and show off to his friends in the temple.

Today, Yuan Huaimin was like a wilted eggplant, lowering his head and touching the stick, looking listless.

"Dong dong dong."

There was a knock on the door in the empty courtyard.

Yuan Huaimin's body trembled suddenly, but he immediately realized that it was not Qiu Niang who came.

Because she didn't need to knock on the door, she just kicked it.

Now there's a knock on the door, not a kick.

Moreover, he had already promised her that he would paint at the celebration ceremony the day after tomorrow.

It also includes the incident involving Liang Han.

After receiving the reply, Qiu Niang let him go and stopped forcing him.

Yuan Huaimin took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his mood.

He stuffed the straight wooden stick back under the table, rubbed his face, and walked towards the gate.

"Who is it? Brother Li?"

There was no response from outside.

Yuan Huaimin walked over with a strange look on his face and opened the gate.

I saw a hunched figure at the gate of the courtyard.

He seemed to be a short and sturdy old man, with his hands behind his back, his back facing Yuan Huaimin and the courtyard gate.

He was wearing ancient clothes that were more antique than those worn by men in the Zhou Dynasty, a pair of straw sandals, and a linen short-sleeved shirt. His back showed a relaxed and carefree demeanor. There seemed to be a scroll hanging around his waist, wrapped in gray linen. The exposed part of the scroll seemed to be made of bronze, which looked vaguely familiar to Yuan Huaimin.

At this moment, perhaps he heard the sound of the door opening behind him, the old man turned around, looked at Yuan Huaimin, who opened the door with a puzzled look on his face, and looked him up and down.

Inside and outside the door, the two looked at each other.

The thin old man had a face full of wrinkles and a pair of small eyes that would squint when he smiled.

The moment he saw the visitor, Yuan Huaimin stood still as if he had been cast under a spell.

The old man who brought the scroll stood on tiptoe, patted his shoulder with a smile, and said with some emotion:

"Long time no see, little Huaimin, you have made great progress. I heard that you are now painting for saints. It is true that the new generation replaces the old generation."

……

----

(PS: Good brothers, please give me a monthly ticket~)

(End of this chapter)