Chapter 835: Fish in the Pond and Bird in the Cage (I)

At noon, Liu Xunyi, with a heavy heart, reluctantly left Zhao Yuan's grave.

At this time, the wind and rain have just stopped, the clouds and fog have dispersed, the warm sunshine is pouring down, and a gorgeous rainbow appears in the sky. The air is mixed with the fragrance of rain, flowers, plants and soil, which makes people feel invigorated and refreshed.

As soon as they saw Liu Xunyi coming out, the dozen or so Golden Sword Captains waiting outside the cemetery rushed forward and said in unison: "Master Liu, the carriage is ready..."

"No need!" Liu Xunyi interrupted absentmindedly while tidying up his robe, "You guys go back first, I want to walk alone."

"This……"

Upon hearing this, the golden sword captains couldn't help but look around, looking around, as if they didn't know how to respond.

Seeing this, the leading lieutenant laughed dryly and said respectfully: "Master Liu, the Marquis ordered us to escort you back to Tianji Pavilion..."

"I know, but I don't want to go back now." Liu Xunyi waved his hand nonchalantly and was about to turn around and leave.

"that……"

Seeing that Liu Xunyi was determined to do what he wanted, the leading captain rushed forward and subconsciously blocked his way, saying, "Lord Liu, the world has been in turmoil recently, and the Marquis is also worried about your safety..."

"I came all the way back to Lin'an from Mobei without any incident. I'm just strolling around today. What danger can there be?" Seeing that the captains repeatedly tried to stop him, and each of them looked nervous, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but secretly doubt and jokingly said, "What's more, it's a bit... unnecessary to protect me with your martial arts skills."

After saying this, Liu Xunyi gave the captains a confident smile and walked away.

"Master Liu!"

A dozen of the golden sword lieutenants caught up again and surrounded Liu Xunyi. Before Liu Xunyi could question them, the leading lieutenant spoke first: "If you want to buy something, just tell us to go..."

"I want to take a walk by the West Lake."

Liu Xunyi felt more and more strange, as if these golden sword captains in front of him were not protecting him, but monitoring him, or even... restricting his freedom.

Even though the feeling was very strong, Liu Xunyi was still unwilling to admit this thought.

After all, Qin Wei had promised solemnly that he would share the good and bad times with him. As brothers who were loyal to each other and supported each other through thick and thin, how could they say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs?
However, although Liu Xunyi was a gentleman, these golden sword officers had no intention of letting him go. Although their words were still respectful, their attitude became more distinct.

"Lord Liu, this is the Marquis's instruction. I hope you won't make things difficult for us..."

"If I remember correctly, Brother Qin only asked you to protect me, not to put me under house arrest." Liu Xunyi frowned slightly, looking around at the captains who were looking at each other in bewilderment with an unfriendly look, with no intention of compromising at all.

"But……"

"My Lord, please do not misunderstand me!"

Before the captains could argue, the leader hurriedly bowed and stepped forward to apologize, "Please calm down, sir! We are all newcomers who have just joined the cabinet and are not familiar with the rules of the Tianji Pavilion. In order to avoid mistakes, we have to do things in a very strict manner. Therefore, sometimes we may go too far. I hope you will forgive me."

"I remember your name is... Chu Mao?" Liu Xunyi looked up and down at the middle-aged man with sharp eyebrows and fierce eyes, and said with interest, "Looking at your eyes and the calluses on your hands, it seems that you have been in battle for a long time, not a newcomer."

"Lord Liu has a keen eye, I admire you!" Chu Mao said with a flattering smile, "I used to be the 'Cloud Cavalry Captain' in the Palace Front Department. Half a year ago, I was dismissed by the military commander for being drunk on duty. Later, I was invited by the Marquis to serve in the Tianji Pavilion."

"Palace Front Department?" Liu Xunyi's eyes changed, "Are you from the West Palace?"

"I used to be." Chu Mao remained calm and smiled faintly, "I think Lord Liu will not be prejudiced against me because of my background."

"I'm just... a little surprised." Liu Xunyi took a deep look at Chu Mao, and then said seriously, "You are a wise man. There are some things I don't want to say a second time."

"I understand! However, there are many bandits out there who are eyeing you covetously. If anything happens to you, we will have a hard time reporting to the Marquis..."

At this point, Chu Mao suddenly felt that Liu Xunyi's eyes were getting darker and darker. His face changed immediately and he hastily changed his words: "If you really don't want to go back to Tianji Pavilion, at least... let me bring someone to accompany you for protection in case of any accidents."

"I'm not used to being followed by a group of people." Liu Xunyi raised his eyebrows and his aura became more tough.

"This……"

Under Liu Xunyi's aggressive gaze, Chu Mao swallowed hard, and looked at the other Golden Sword Captains, then made up his mind and compromised: "Okay! I will only bring three people with me for protection, and let the others go back to Tianji Pavilion first."

"It seems that if I don't agree to your conditions, you are not going to let me go?"

"The villain dare not..."

"If you don't mind, just follow me."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi ignored Chu Mao who was pretending to be frightened and walked away.

……

Go through the streets and alleys and head straight to West Lake Langyuan.

When Liu Xunyi was wandering around the shore of West Lake which he had not visited for a long time, a familiar figure suddenly came into his sight.

"Feng Tianba?"

In a tavern on the shore, Feng Tianba, looking depressed and exhausted, sat alone in a corner. He drank like water, one bowl after another, as if he was depressed and was drinking to relieve his sorrow.

"Brother Feng!"

Liu Xunyi asked Chu Mao and the other three to sit at another table. He walked over to Feng Tianba, snatched the wine bowl from his hand and drank it all in one gulp.

"Who the hell...Lord Liu?"

Feng Tianba was about to get angry when he suddenly recognized who was coming. He quickly swallowed back the dirty words that were about to come out of his mouth, and a look of embarrassment appeared in his eyes.

"Brother Feng, how are you?" Looking at Feng Tianba, who had a haggard face and untidy beard, Liu Xunyi knew without asking that he must have had a miserable time like himself these past few days.

"Lord Liu, I heard about Marquis Tianji's incident." Feng Tianba shook his dizzy head, poured wine for Liu Xunyi, and comforted him with kind words, "Please accept my condolences."

“I have a heart!”

"Come! Let's drink the first bowl of wine to pay tribute to the spirit of Tianji Hou in heaven."

Feng Tianba ignored the strange looks from the drinkers around him, suddenly stood up, and together with Liu Xunyi, poured the wine on the ground.

"The second bowl of wine is for the imprisoned prime minister!"

"Dry!"

"The third bowl of wine is for those unjustly fallen masters of the East Palace!"

"Do it again!"

There were no meaningless greetings, no superfluous consolations, no dull melancholy; the two of them understood each other tacitly as soon as they met.

It all depended on the wine; in a short while, they had finished several jars.

Today, Liu Xunyi and Feng Tianba have a feeling of mutual understanding as they are both wanderers in the world.

Especially Feng Tianba, who was drunk or deeply in love, suddenly grabbed Liu Xunyi's arm and started to talk nonstop, spitting everywhere. He spoke up for the prime minister, spoke up for the East Palace, cursed the heavens and the earth, complained about the injustice, and criticized the West Palace...

But he kept cursing and cursing, but he never said a bad word about the Emperor of Song.

"Brother Feng, the Prime Minister is in trouble. What arrangements have they made for you?"

"Lord Jia asked me to continue to work in the Prime Minister's residence and protect the Prime Minister's family." Feng Tianba said bitterly, "Lord Jia meant that as long as the Prime Minister is not convicted and the Prime Minister's residence is not raided, everything will proceed as planned, and we will be re-arranged after the imperial edict is issued."

"It seems that Lord Jia is a man of integrity. However, since the Prime Minister has suffered such a great disaster, I'm afraid there is no hope for him to be reinstated." Liu Xunyi said worriedly, "Brother Feng, what are your plans?"

"Me?" Feng Tianba smiled nonchalantly, "I've got a worthless life, the worst that can happen is... I can go back to Pingjiang Prefecture to be a constable. As long as I can serve the country, it doesn't matter where I serve. What about you? I heard... the throne of the head of Tianji Pavilion should have been yours, and Qin Wei took advantage of your absence to steal the high position..."

"Brother Feng, stop talking nonsense!"

Seeing that Chu Mao and the other three's faces were becoming increasingly gloomy, Liu Xunyi hurriedly stuffed the wine bowl into Feng Tianba's hands and reminded him meaningfully: "All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects."

"That's right." Feng Tianba burped and complained, "This time we went to escort the bride, but it was all in vain. After returning for a few days, except for the first day when we reported to Lord Jia, no one paid any attention to us. I thought we fought so hard in Mobei, and we would at least get a few words of praise when we came back, but unexpectedly..."

Feng Tianba seemed to be self-deprecating, but in fact, he was full of bitterness. Even someone as loyal to the court as him would feel a little discouraged if he didn't get recognition for his efforts, let alone Liu Xunyi?

"In troubled times, it is extremely difficult to keep a small life, how dare I covet any reward? Think about the Prime Minister and Tianji Hou. In comparison, you and I are lucky to be able to sit here and drink today."

"Master Liu is still very insightful..."

"Hey! Where did this little beggar come from? How dare you come here to beg for food?"

"Master, please give me something to eat!"

"Get out of here! You dirty bastard! If you scare away my guests, I will beat you to death!"

"Master, I kowtow to you..."

"Go away! This is a tavern, not a charity..."

When Liu Xunyi and Feng Tianba were chatting, there was a sudden noise at the door of the tavern, causing all the patrons to look.

Among the crowd of people, there was a skinny young man with disheveled hair, ragged clothes, holding a broken bowl. He completely ignored the beatings and scoldings from the waiters in the tavern, and kowtowed to them repeatedly like pounding garlic, looking very pitiful.

"Little beggar, if you don't get out of here, don't blame me for being rude..."

"stop!"

Perhaps the scene reminded Liu Xunyi of his childhood experiences, and he couldn't help but feel pity. He quickly stopped them and stood up and stepped forward.

"Boss, prepare some food for him and put it on my bill!"

While speaking, Liu Xunyi helped the trembling boy up, and then stuffed a silver ingot into his dirty broken bowl.

"Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much, sir..."

When the young man, filled with joy and surprise, looked up at his savior, his eyes suddenly changed and his voice stopped. Then, the muscles on his face trembled violently due to his inner excitement, and he shouted in disbelief: "Liu...Master Liu!"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi, who was about to return to his seat, was stunned. When he looked carefully, he suddenly felt that the young man in front of him with mud on his face looked somewhat familiar.

"Master Liu, it's me!"

The young man wiped his face with his hands and hastily straightened his messy hair, and his original appearance gradually revealed a clue.

Seeing this scene, Liu Xunyi, who was full of confusion, felt like he was hit by a hammer. He immediately stepped back, held his breath, and covered his face in dismay.

"You are... Xiao Dingzi?"

……

(End of this chapter)