Southern Qi Fenghua Record

Xia Houshu and Yunxi arrived at the agreed lake first, but Xia Houyi hadn't arrived yet, only a small pleasure boat was docked on the shore waiting for someone.

The cruise ship was booked by Xia Houyi early in the morning. The boatman is an old man in his 50s, surnamed Luo, with a half-white beard and half-white hair. His skin is tanned and his arms are strong due to working on the boat all the year round. He is half lying down at the moment. Dozed off in the bow.

Yunxi was mischievous, and scratched the old man's nose with a piece of dog's tail weed picked on the road, causing the old man to wake up and sneezed a lot, but she was laughing beside him.

The old man took a closer look at the girls and scolded them with a smile, "Young girls are so rude." When he learned that they were the people on the boat, he led them aboard.

Yunxi was naughty, so she distributed some of the cakes she brought to the old man, as an apology to him.

The old man accepted it with a smile, and enthusiastically helped them light a charcoal fire to cook tea.

The weather was not good, the lake was very windy, and the willows by the lake were blown to and fro, like dancing in the water, graceful and graceful, making the whole lake come alive.

The old man helped light the fire, and then went into the cabin to ask if we should sail first, saying that it might rain later due to the weather.

When it rains, the lake is foggy and there is nothing to see.The old man eats and sleeps in the open all year round, watching the sky for his meals, so he is naturally more sensitive to changes in the weather than a rich and idle person like Xia Houshu.

Xia Houshu didn't doubt that there was him, but also thought that Xia Houyi would arrive at some point, and it would be pointless to stay where he was, so he might as well go shopping by himself, so he agreed to the old man's proposal.

The boat traveled along the lake for a while, and as the old man expected, it began to rain outside.Water mist soon formed on the surface of the lake, and as far as the eye could see, it was misty and rainy.The green branches of several willows nearby hang down, swaying gracefully under the support of the breeze, contrasting with the ripples on the lake.

In the dense water vapor, Xia Houshu couldn't help thinking of some past events.

According to historical records, at the beginning of the founding of Nanqi, Emperor Taizong Dugujing, in order to commend several capable heroes, made an exception and added ten vassal kings with different surnames to show that the monarch and ministers were a family and shared peace.The ten vassal kings with different surnames are Xiang Wang Changsun Duo, Jing Wang Kong Chengqin, Su Wang Luo Kedun, Hui Wang Zhang Mingying, Jing Wang Zheng Jia, Xin Wang Zhang Huaisu, Ling Wang Situ Hui, Gong Wang Zhong Shuozhi, Shun Wang Situ Xian, Yi Wang Wang Xue Congji.

Among them, Prince Gong Zhong Shuozhi was the son-in-law of Emperor Taizong and the ancestor of Xia Houshu's mother Zhong Yuqing.

Although Prince Gong ranks relatively low among the ten vassal kings with different surnames, he has won the trust and reliance of the successive emperors of Nanqi, and he has also become one of the three kings with different surnames who have been hereditary. Emperor Taizong's son-in-law is also because Prince Gong is in charge of the mysterious organization Changqingmen.

The ancestor of the Zhong family, Shangyuan, was an important minister of the Sima family in the former Dayi Dynasty. He specialized in secret duties, supervised officials for the emperor, and searched for intelligence at the same time.

Sima Gu, the last emperor of the Dayi Dynasty, was arrogant and extravagant, and was not good at governing the country.On the one hand, he sent envoys to collect beauties from all over the world to fill the six palaces, so that there were strange phenomena in various places that "thousands of families have daughters who dare not speak up, pretend to be men and raise them against their will, and once they get married and promise to bathe and dress up, they will become beautiful girls"; Xinggong, Daxing corvee.Its great success, the act of laboring the people and wasting money, forced the people to rise up and revolt.

Seeing that the Dayi Dynasty was declining day by day, the Zhong family resigned from office and returned to the farmland resolutely because Sima Gu regarded the people as worthless and unpopular.However, Sima Gu was afraid of the intelligence network in the hands of the Zhong family, and kept sending people to assassinate him, trying to drive them all to death.

In order to protect themselves, the Zhong family joined the rebel army led by Dugu Jing in a rage.

Dugujing was born in a family, he was bold and righteous, he employed eclectic people, respected corporals, not only treated his followers favorably, but also further strengthened the relationship with allies through marriage, and betrothed his daughter to Zhong Shuozhi, who was the head of the Zhong family at that time. for wife.

Zhong Shuozhi did not disappoint Dugujing either. He quickly summoned the old department to rebuild the intelligence network, collected information for Dugujing, and assisted Dugujing in his crusade all the way, establishing the Nanqi Kingdom.

After Dugujing proclaimed himself emperor, the first thing he did was to add meritorious officials, known in history as "Taizong's bestowal".

For a hundred years, the Changqingmen and the Zhong clan of Prince Gong's Mansion have relied on each other and shared weal and woe.

The Zhong clan was highly valued by the emperors because of their control over the Changqing Gate, and it has endured for a long time; the Changqing Gate has also continued to grow and develop due to the successive generations of the Zhong clan. weapons.

The core of the Evergreen Gate is divided into two parts: dead men and spies.Most of the dead soldiers were homeless or poor vagrants and orphans. They were taken in by Changqingmen, taught martial arts, and after rigorous training and selection, they became the most loyal sharp blades of the monarch.However, the origins of the secret agents are inconsistent. There are sons from aristocratic families, and there are also civilians with quick skills and quick minds, regardless of high or low.The inconsistency of identities also makes it easier to hide and snoop on information.In addition, secret agents also have strict levels and authority divisions. According to tokens, they are divided into four levels: Purple Ring, Blue Ring, Green Ring, and Silver Ring.Secret agents at all levels are directly under the command of Prince Gong's Mansion, and they all perform their duties independently of each other, and they don't even necessarily know each other when they meet each other.

When Zhong Shuozhi was alive, the Zhong family had achievements in the founding of the country, and Princess Nanqi was his wife, making the Evergreen Clan a glorious peak.At that time, the dead soldiers and spies of Changqingmen were all under the command of Prince Gong's Mansion, and they were loyal to the monarch, and no king dared to underestimate Prince Gong's Mansion.

To this day, although Prince Gong's Mansion is in charge of the Changqing Clan in name, in fact the commanding power of the Changqing Clan has already been split into two parts. From selection to appointment, Prince Gong's Mansion has no right to intervene.

The glory of Prince Gong's Mansion is like a flash in the pan. The main reason is that the Nanqi monarch is afraid of the hidden forces controlled by Prince Gong's Mansion. He is afraid that Prince Gong's Mansion and Changqing Gate will not be controlled and will pose a threat to the imperial power; Prince Gong's Mansion had no choice but to behave in a more low-key manner.

Of course, there is another reason that has to be mentioned, that is, the Zhong family is not prosperous, and several generations have been passed down in a single line, and the successors have different qualifications and have not been able to choose, so that the power is left behind.Especially in Zhong Zan's generation, the descendants withered and the family declined.

Xia Houshu's grandfather, Zhong Jing, had only one son and one daughter. The eldest son, Zhong Zan, had the ambition to revitalize the family since he was a child.However, although he married several wives and concubines and gave birth to children after he became an adult, he has not had a healthy son so far.Concubine Gong and several other concubines gave birth to Lin'er earlier, but in the end she either died of illness or died of various other strange reasons. The horse accidentally fell off the horse and died. On the contrary, one of the five daughters is more beautiful than the other.

There are rumors outside that this is because the dead men and spies raised by Prince Kung's mansion have committed too many sins, so no one can inherit the incense.

The affairs of the Changqing Sect have always been secretive and dangerous, and the position of the head of the sect has always been handed down from male to female.When Zhong Zan found that his road to revitalization was very difficult, he wanted to entrust this important task to the next generation to continue to complete and realize his grand ambitions.However, he has never had a son, which undoubtedly became his heart disease.He was anxious and angry almost all the time.

Later, Zhong Zan thought that his younger sister Zhong Yuqing had two sons, so he decided on his nephew Xia Houyi who was good at disguising.After all, Xia Houyi also has half of the blood of Prince Gong's Mansion flowing through his body.Instead of adopting the offspring of the Zhong family who don't know how many generations have passed to inherit the family business, it is better to hand over the Changqing Gate to his own nephew, which is not considered as having no successors.

At that time, Xiahouxuan was still alive, and Zhong Yuqing thought that in the future, the eldest son Xiahouxuan would inherit the title of Duke of Yue, and the second son Xiahouyi would inherit the Changqingmen under the command of Prince Gong's mansion, so he did not object to Zhong Zan's proposal. Unintentionally and secretly cultivate Xia Houyi.

When Xia Houshu first returned to the Duke of Yue’s mansion, he only knew that she was the only daughter of the Duke of Yue. Everyone is the focus of attention everywhere, and they don't know what kind of power is in the hands of Prince Kung's Mansion, let alone that Xia Houyi has long been selected as the successor of Prince Gong's Mansion.Every time she sees Xia Houyi who talks and laughs happily with her friends all day long and doesn't think about making progress, she just thinks that he is a prodigal son who has no ambitions and only wants to wait for his father to become a prince in a hundred years.

It wasn't until later that I found out that it was tricky.

When Zhong Zan was obsessed with instructing Xia Houyi on the way to know and employ people, he wanted to make him the best successor, so Xia Houyi would go to Prince Gong's Mansion every now and then, and sometimes even live in Prince Gong's Mansion directly, for ten days and a half months. go home.

Xia Houshu was curious, and took the excuse of being close to the cousins ​​to live in Prince Gong's Mansion, but found that Xia Houyi would disappear every time he entered his uncle's big study.

It was obviously unusual to disappear for most of the day for no reason.However, Xiahou Shu was born in a wealthy family, so she knew something about hidden places like secret rooms, but she went to the big study several times later in the name of asking her uncle to borrow books, but she didn't find any clues.This can't help but arouse Xia Houshu's desire to win, and she is determined to find out the truth.

Later, one time, Xia Houshu followed Xia Houyi's footsteps and sneaked into the big study room again when the guard who guarded the door was not paying attention, vowing to find out the secret behind the disappearance of their uncle and nephew in the study room.

That time, Xia Houshu didn't rummage around impatiently as usual, but sat directly on the teacher's chair behind his uncle's desk, holding a book and reading it leisurely, while waiting for the rabbit.

At dusk, only a sound came from behind.Xia Houshu turned his head suddenly, and saw that the bookshelf behind the chair was separated from the middle, and then a thick wall inside was also cracked.Behind the wall is a row of stone steps leading to the ground, which is bottomless.The stone walls on both sides of the passage were inlaid with fluorite lighting, and Zhong Zan and Xia Houyi, holding hands behind each other, walked up the steps one after the other.

The six eyes met, and everyone couldn't hide their surprise, especially Xia Houshu.

She had doubts about these bookshelves that looked neat and tidy before, and she knocked along the wall once while searching, but the wall behind the bookshelves was deliberately thickened, even if she knocked her fingers, she couldn't hear what was behind the bookshelves. is empty.

Zhong Zan deserved to be in charge of Changqingmen for many years, so he quickly realized it.

He first pinched his beard and asked why Xia Houshu appeared in the study, then he reprimanded her for not coming to his study casually, and finally warned her never to go near the study, otherwise she would not be allowed to step into Prince Gong's mansion again. .

Xia Houshu was suddenly reprimanded by his uncle, feeling very uncomfortable.With tears in his eyes, he left the study room and realized something was wrong after walking a long way.But she didn't dare to go to Zhong Zan's theory, after all, she came here uninvited and broke other people's secrets.Moreover, Zhong Zan's tone was very tight, even if she exhausted her tongue, she would not ask anything.

So Xia Houshu shifted his target to Xia Houyi.

Under her repeated nonsense and coercion, Xia Houyi finally surrendered and confessed truthfully.

Xia Houshu was surprised at first, but after thinking about it all night, he used this as an excuse to threaten Xia Houyi to help him find a job at Changqingmen.

Xia Houyi was dumbfounded. She didn't expect that the younger sister, who was a little ghost, would make an inch of it. He also thought about the danger of Changqing Gate. Naturally, 1 people disagreed.

But in the end, Xia Houyi couldn't stand Xia Houshu's soft and hard arguments.

Of course, Xia Houshu thought that his skills were inferior to others, and with Xia Houyi's great help and concealment, he could only get a silver ring spy.It's just that the fact that she became a secret agent of the Evergreen Gate was kept from her family. Even her uncle Zhong Zan, who was in charge of the Evergreen Gate, didn't know the truth, because the identity she used to enter the Evergreen Gate was Mo Zhen.