Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 152

There is a man named Shen Muzhi.

Shen Muzhi is the eldest, everyone calls him Dalang. He is a son of the old family in Gusu. His father Shen Nanpo failed to study and devoted himself to painting, which ruined the family's fortune and simply became a painter.

They left their hometown to seek life. Their mother fell ill and died, and the father and son depended on each other.

More than 20 years ago, the King of Yuzhang hired Shen Nanpo to go to the palace to draw pictures and create albums for the charming beauties in the palace.

When they arrived at Prince Yuzhang's Mansion, the Shen family and his son lived a very leisurely life. Shen Nanpo's job was to draw nine beauties to form a nine-beautiful picture. King Yuzhang dedicated the nine-beautiful picture and the nine beauties to the current emperor.

Beauty is hard to come by, and it's impossible to find nine heavenly and beautiful people in one fell swoop.

The Shen family's father and son lived leisurely in the Prince's Guest House. Shen Nanpo went to draw a few pictures of her real face when a beauty came to her. Shen Muzhi only hung out in the Guest House every day. Occasionally, he got interested and followed Shen Nanpo to copy a few pictures. Pen.

Shen Nanpo was focused on his art. He had never thought about why the vassal king was sending beauties to the emperor. Shen Muzhi was still young and carefree, so they were unaware of the coming danger.

In late spring, a group of Taoist priests lived in the Xiyuan of the Royal Palace Guest House. They were the Seven-Star Immortals of the Tiandu Sect. The leader, Qingyang Taoist, had been named a national master by King Yuzhang.

Shen Muzhi saw Taoist priests from Tiandu Sect playing every day, but Taoist Huanghe was the only one who meditated on the rockery rocks in Xiyuan. He told his father that only one Taoist priest from Tiandu Sect, Huanghe Taoist, was a true cultivator.

One day, the guest house was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Shen Muzhi heard from the maids that King Yuzhang had conquered Anqing, established a reign, and appointed the left and right prime ministers. After hearing this, he went to tell Shen Nanpo that his father was painting a peacock. After saying yes, there was nothing more to say.

Shen Muzhi was still young, so these few words ran through his mind and were thrown out of his mind in an instant.

In late spring, the days were long and the nights were short. Shen Muzhi was tired from playing during the day and slept peacefully at night. He vaguely heard the rustling sound beside him and thought it must be his father, middle-aged and elderly, who was up at night. Can't sleep well.

His father lowered his voice: "Mu'er, don't make any noise, don't move."

Daddy dragged him out of the quilt, opened the closet and stuffed him inside.

Immediately afterwards, bursts of hurried footsteps came closer and closer, the sound of sword fights was loud, and shrill cries erupted next to their guest house. Shen Muzhi's sleepiness disappeared. He heard one of the female voices, which was from Beiyuan. Maid Jiangxian.

Footsteps gradually approached their guest house, and there was a violent kicking of the door outside. He heard his father answer the door. There were cluttered voices and shouts. It seemed that someone had entered the house, but did not stay.

Shen Muzhi hid in the closet for a long time. After about an hour, the guest house became quiet again.

He bravely climbed out. The sky was already a little dark, and his father was nowhere to be seen. He must have been kidnapped by the group of people who broke in.

He got dressed, carried the baggage on his back that contained the household documents, documents and directions needed for his father and son to go out, and also put a few taels of scattered silver on his back.

He walked towards Beiyuan. Along the way, there were corpses lying everywhere. He couldn't figure out what happened and walked forward aimlessly.When he walked to the guest house of the Taoist priests of Tiandu Sect, the blood on the ground had condensed, emitting a pungent smell of blood. Shen Muzhi found four Taoist priests among the Seven Star Immortals lying in a pool of blood. He stumbled towards the garden, but He found a person leaning against a Taihu stone who seemed to be still moving. It was Taoist Huanghe. His eyes were straight as if he was trapped in a nightmare, and he looked foolish. He used all his strength to drag Huanghe into the fake cave and pinched him hard. Huang He's body was hit by a hole, and Huang He woke up slowly.

Huang He told Shen Muzhi that King Yuzhang's rebellion had failed and he had been captured by the court. They must escape from the Guest House immediately. He knew that there was a lake leading to the outside of the Guest House.

Both of them were so frightened that their feet were weak. They supported each other, quietly rocked the Beiyuan gardener's boat, and escaped from the guest house on the lake before daylight.

They did not dare to go ashore, and the boat parked on the shore of the lake for several days. Shen Muzhi still hoped that Shen Nanpo would find this place.

One afternoon, they heard a group of local people in the city saying that the officers and soldiers had killed everyone in the guest house. While Yuzhang City could still be entered and exited, the people went out with their families to avoid trouble.

Shen Muzhi felt that his father was in danger, so he decided to follow this group of people. The scene of entering and exiting the city gate was very chaotic. The two of them were disheveled and walked out of the city gate without being questioned.

Huang He was going back to Tiandu Mountain, and Shen Muzhi was going back to his hometown in Suzhou. The two of them were traveling together, so they went together.

Huang He talked about how he practiced Taoism in the mountains and practiced swordsmanship with his brothers. When he returned to Tiandu Mountain, he never left again. Shen Muzhi said that he actually had no property in his hometown in Suzhou, even the people in his old house. Several old houses were also sold by his father to make ends meet. When he returned this time, he planned to join his father-in-law's family, Wanhuzhuang Huang's family in Xishan, Dongting.

Along the way, there was chaos and chaos, and he often slept in the open and without three meals a day, but he survived in the end. Huang He taught Shen Muzhi some techniques of breathing in and nourishing Qi.

They once worked as porters for a family on the road. After getting along for a few days, they found out that they were members of the Baiyuan Sect. Because King Yuzhang had been defeated, the leader of the Baiyuan Sect hurriedly launched a rebellion. The head of the family felt that destruction was imminent and was determined to After breaking away from religion and fleeing, the children of this family even taught Shen Muzhi to break a white kite.

After parting ways with the members of the Baiyuan Sect, they drove another day and arrived at the foot of Tiandu Mountain. It was obvious from the foot of the mountain that it was severely damaged.

When Shen Muzhi returned to Suzhou, he only had to walk southward from the official road. Seeing that Huang He was in a state of disdain and even more timid about being close to his hometown, he decided to accompany him up the mountain. If Huang He stayed in the mountain and settled in a house, he could also help him build a house. handle.

Unexpectedly, he met the demon Qingyang on the mountain, and also met the officers and soldiers who captured Qingyang. The officers and soldiers were indiscriminate, and when they saw them talking to Qingyang, they decided that they were accomplices.

Shen Muzhi realized that even if they were not rebels, they could not stop the officers and soldiers from killing good people and taking credit for their crimes.

Shen Muzhi and Huang He fled for a long time, but were still closely followed by officers and soldiers. Huang He was more familiar with the mountains. He saw a bamboo raft floating in the mountain stream and said, "I can only jump down the mountain stream and escape through the waterway." ."

Huang He had some Qinggong skills and asked Shen Muzhi to hand him his luggage so that he could swim more easily by jumping down the mountain stream later.

Huang He jumped down first. He jumped twice in the water and grabbed the bamboo raft. Shen Muzhi jumped into the mountain stream. A little slower, the bamboo raft had drifted forward a little, and was three to five steps away from him.

Shen Muzhi waved his hands wildly and called Huang He. The last time he saw Huang He, his eyes were straight again and he looked foolish. Knowing that something was wrong, a surge of water swept him away and he fell into a coma. among.

(End of this chapter)