Chapter 212 Courtyard Dinner, Golden Cicada Shelling

As Zeng Yanliang expected, the atmosphere of the dinner was very strange.

The banquet was prepared in the house in the back mountain. Leng Xuanrong has never been here before, but Zeng Yanliang has been here several times when looking for a place to build a house. The house in the back mountain is very different from the hut where Mr. Zhang lived in front of him. This house is very spacious, and there are many people staying at home in several floors of the courtyard. Zeng Yanliang searched carefully out of curiosity and found that in addition to the more calm-looking scholars, there are also many people who know martial arts. Although Zeng Yanliang felt a little strange here, he had never found a chance to ask Leng Chengqi what was going on.

The small houses in front of him serve Mr. Zhang as scholars, but there are many servants in this house. Although you can see many wide rooms with open doors on the way after entering the door of the house, tonight's dinner was held in a remote and slightly narrow room. There are small square tables on the wooden floor according to the number of people. Naturally, the owner's seat opposite the door is Mr. Zhang, while the rest are arranged on both sides.

The people who came at night are all familiar faces. Dou Yandong and Leng Chengqi sat with their heads down, and Gu Zhiyi's drooping hands were Gu Zhiyi, while Xiao 19 and Bai Chongling brought by Leng Xuanrong, Zeng Yanliang and Gu Zhiyi all accompanied the last seat.

Leng Xuanrong looked up at the room and saw that although the furnishings around him were simple, the things placed here looked valuable. She felt a trace of strangeness in her heart again. She peeked at Mr. Zhang on the main seat. The status of the old hermit of the previous dynasty in Leng Xuanrong's heart seemed to be slipping little by little. However, there seems to be no reason for this slippage. Even if it is "returning to seclusion", no one stipulates that he should live a poor and hard life. On the contrary, if a famous person like Mr. Zhang really only has the small room in front of him, it is even more incomprehensible.

Leng Xuanrong suppressed the awkward feeling in her heart and lowered her head.

On the small square table in front of her is the dishes just prepared by the servant. The side dishes of the pheasant and hare are wild vegetables and mushrooms produced in the mountain forest, and the small sand bowl are very fine. It seems to be fish caught from streams in the distance. These ingredients can be found everywhere in the mountains, but they can be made into the present. I'm afraid it's not from an ordinary cook.

Leng Xuanrong has seen a lot of good things in the county governor's mansion and the first assistant prime minister's mansion in her previous life. She can almost conclude that these dishes in front of her, even in the first assistant prime minister's mansion, can only be specially made for the prime minister.

Mr. Zhang is a generation of strange people. Even if he lives in seclusion, he will not be vulgar...

Just as Leng Xuanrong explained her doubts like this, her attention was suddenly attracted by Gu Zhiyi's words.

Leng Xuanrong didn't listen carefully to the greetings of the previous few people, but only knew that Gu Zhiyi and Mr. Dou Yan Dong Dou seemed to be friends, while his father Leng Chengqi had been thanking Gu Zhiyi. When everyone talked about the matter of Kunyan County, Gu Zhiyi suddenly said, "After my Qilin Camp left Quyan County, I turned into the deep mountains of Fengquanling and found the private army to support me."

Leng Xuanrong didn't expect that Gu Zhiyi didn't mean to avoid this topic at all.

At this time, Dou Yandong shook his head with a smile, put down his glass in his hand, turned his head and looked at Mr. Zhang and said, "Sir, you had already expected such a day when you asked my nephew Haowei to go to Nayan County, right?"

Mr. Zhang also put down his glass, sighed and said, "An Longyi was too ambitious. Today, the emperor ascended the throne eight years ago, and he realized that his position was unstable at that time, so he began to prepare for those private armies. Unfortunately, it's a mistake for him to take this step.

"What do you say, sir?" Gu Zhiyi asked.

Mr. Zhang looked at Gu Zhiyi as if he had heard a harsh teacher ask a stupid question from his students. But such a look was fleeting. Mr. Zhang smiled slightly and explained to Gu Zhiyi, "eight years ago, although An Longyi had a lot of power in his hands, it was not enough to rebel. At that time, he asked for his life rather than to rebel. Raising a private army could only be used as a dog to protect the family, but not as a wolf to take food. Today, An Longyi has formed a party and private wings in the court, and he has no longer expected this private army. The private army that could save his life has now become a burden, but there are still people and things in this private army that can force him. The robbery of the official silver is the evidence. An Longyi must now have a headache for this private army, so he let his son take risks. What is the intention... If I guess correctly, I should want to find a way to take this private army out of Fengquanling first.

When Zeng Yanliang heard Zhang present mention the robbery of Guanyin, his heart was moved. When Mr. Zhang finished speaking, Zeng Yanliang hurriedly asked, "Sir, the robbery of the official silver..."

Before Zeng Yanliang finished his words, Mr. Zhang waved his hand to him, "Yan Liang, you should also let you know the reason for this matter. Why don't General Gu tell you?"

Zeng Yanliang was shocked to hear that he had been with Qilin Camp for a long time, but he had never heard anyone mention that they had secretly investigated the robbery of Guanyin. He turned his head and looked at Xiaojiu, but found that Xiaojiu also seemed to be at a loss.

Gu Zhiyi also had to obey Mr. Zhang's words. He sorted out his thoughts a little with a cold face, and then said to Zeng Yanliang, "The number of private army raised by An Longyi is huge. They have been training in the mountains all year round. In the past few years, the personnel only went in and out, and the rules were very strict. In the past two or three years, as Mr. Zhang said, An Longyi has neglected to control this private army, and the supply of food and salaries has gradually decreased. The leaders in the army have probably noticed the change in their minds of their ministers, so they have indulged their subordinates to do things to rob officials and silver. To put it bluntly, it was the leader of the private army who used this to threaten An Longyi.

"Suggestion...threat..." Zeng Yanliang's eyebrows were locked, and his heart was in pain. He didn't expect that the lives of his brothers were threatened by An Longyi's own private leader to threaten their master. What do they want? Who came up with this idea? Damn it! Damn it! Zeng Yanliang clenched his teeth and pounded the table in front of him. The death of the brothers was still in front of him, and Zeng Yanliang couldn't swallow it. Those people died in order to protect the official silver of the court, but the court could not even find out the truth of the matter in the end. The grievances of the brothers were eventually carried by a group of mountain thieves.

Anger rose, and Zeng Yanliang looked at Gu Zhiyi and asked in a low voice, "General Gu, do you know where this private army is hiding now and who their leader is?"

Gu Zhiyi seemed to expect Zeng Yanliang to ask this question. In fact, Gu Zhiyi also knew that the reason why Mr. Zhang asked Zeng Yanliang to tell him about this must be because he would ask this question. Gu Zhiyi vaguely felt that Mr. Zhang's arrangement for him to appear at this dinner must have ulterior motives. Even the people he invited were to achieve a certain purpose. However, Gu Zhiyi is not sure whether Mr. Zhang's purpose is the same as his own.

After a little hesitation, Gu Zhiyi said to Zeng Yanliang, "At the beginning, King Xiaohan went to Nayan County to find clues for the private leader."

As soon as Gu Zhiyi said this, Leng Xuanrong, who was sitting next to Zeng Yanliang, immediately widened his eyes.

She will not forget why Du Yilin went to Nayan County at the beginning. Isn't the person Du Yilin is looking for Chang Hongkai, Zeng Yanliang's master?

Just when Leng Xuanrong thought of the name, the name also came out of Gu Zhiyi's mouth.

"After arriving in Nayan County, this person changed his name to Changhongkai. His real name is Lu Qishan. He used to be a deputy general under the command of the general. He was significantly appreciated by the general for his achievements in training new soldiers. Later, due to the theft of pay money, he was handed over to the Military Affairs Department for review and found that he not only stole the pay money, but also stole many military privately by his position. Secret. This man should have been beheaded, but he committed suicide by taking poison before leaving, and then the dust of the case was settled... After many investigations, I finally determined that Changhongkai was Lu Qishan in those years.

Zeng Yanliang was stunned.

He never thought that there was such a secret behind Uncle Chang, who took him in, taught himself martial arts, and put himself on the right path.

"But... Since Uncle Chang committed a serious crime, why did he go to Nayan County to be a governmentman?" This problem suddenly emerged, and Zeng Yanliang still couldn't believe Gu Zhiyi's words.

Gu Zhiyi saw Zeng Yanliang's appearance, narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a low voice, "I speculate that Lu Qishan's theft of money at the beginning was true, but the charges later found should be false. He was bought by An Longyi in prison, and An Longyi added many more charges to prevent him from repenting. Finally, he used a golden cicada to shell and let Lu Qishan leave the imperial city. Later, Lu Qishan escaped from An Longyi's palm, hidden Ye Yulin, and made a government job in Nayan County. He may feel that he is full of martial arts. If he does anything else, he will inevitably show his feet, and it is easy to get all kinds of information in the government, which is a good place to hide. But in fact, An Longyi has not found him for so many years, but does not need to use him for the time being. When An Longyi recruited troops to buy horses to support the private army and needed a person to train new soldiers, then An Longyi sent someone to find Chang Hongkai. Chang Hongkai knew that it was difficult to escape again, so he had to use the golden cicada shelling method to disappear in front of everyone again, and then joined the private army..."

Although these words are all speculations of Gu Zhiyi, they are reasonable and can't find any flaws.

Zeng Yanliang sat there and was at a loss.

So, Uncle Chang, who is regarded as his father, has not died for so many years? So, the man who has always been regarded as his father is the real murderer who almost killed his brothers?