Chapter 2: The Robber Uncle

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  In the teahouse, they rested their feet and a group of people set out again. By the time they entered the city gate, it was already past noon. Cai Jing's mansion and the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion were not on the same road, so they parted ways immediately. The others led a string of small carts, swaggering through the streets, to deliver gifts to Cai Jing's mansion. Gao Qiang and his group returned to the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion, which they had been away from for two months.

  The official returned home after a long journey and was warmly welcomed by various sycophants. Meanwhile, someone rushed to report the news, and soon Party Shiying and his brother Party Shixiong came out together to greet him. Party Shiying's face was beaming with joy, speaking sweet words nonstop, while Party Shixiong was tongue-tied and saw that all the good things had been said by his older brother. In a moment of desperation, he hugged Gao Qiang's arm and cried out "Official, you're finally back!", shouting hoarsely with genuine emotions, but without shedding a single tear.

  Gao was delighted and amused, chatting incessantly. When asked about Commander Gao, it turned out that he had a guest visiting and was currently entertaining in the study.

  It's not reasonable for Laozi to come out and greet his son, so he casually told a few family members to take Yanqing, Shixiu, Xuguanzhong and others to find a place to settle down in the small courtyard next to their own, it's a trivial matter to vacate a few rooms in the spacious General's Mansion.

  He went to the gatehouse and tidied up his clothes, while the Party brothers came to the study with great fanfare. However, they saw Gao Yun sending someone away. When he saw Gao Qiang, he couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Qiang'er has arrived just in time, come quickly to meet your uncle Liang Shi."

  Gao Qiang muttered to himself, "Just now, I bid farewell to a famous general at the Liang mansion. How could another one appear?" He thought to himself, but on his face, he didn't dare to be slow, and hastily stepped forward to pay respects: "General is above, junior Gao Qiang has come to pay respects."

  That person quickly helped him up with both hands, let out a dry laugh, his voice soft yet firm, neither male nor female, and scared Gao Qiang so much that he trembled: "Young Master is handsome and young, with an extraordinary appearance, Brother Gao is truly blessed!" As he spoke, he looked Gao Qiang up and down, his eyes gleaming with a cold light, as if he had seen some rare creature.

  Just these two gazes swept around, and Gao Qiang felt as if a poisonous snake had crawled all over his body. Two rows of goosebumps spread from top to bottom, and soon infected his entire body, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. Furthermore, those icy cold yet soft and boneless hands made Gao Qiang feel a chill that pierced straight into his heart, almost making him forget how to make polite conversation.

  Gao Yun saw his awkward yet amusing situation, came forward and humbly said a few words, then escorted the man out. Gao Qiang wiped his palms, although the cold sweat was gone, but that sticky feeling couldn't be shaken off, he kept rubbing his hands until Gao Yun entered the study room before stopping.

  The father and son exchanged greetings, saying things like "Son, you've grown taller and thinner" and "Father, you're still as wise and powerful as ever". Then Gao Qiang asked: "Father, what kind of person is that uncle I saw just now?"

  Gao Zhan said: "This person can truly be considered a lifelong friend of my family, he is the current official Liang Shicheng."

  Liáng Shī Chéng... Gāo Qiáng shook his head secretly, thinking that being reborn in this place was truly unlucky. Any acquaintance who came out would be a treacherous minister. It turned out that Liáng Shī Chéng was also one of the infamous "Six Traitors" in history, dominating politics during the Polity and Xuanhe periods, known among the people as the "Hidden Prime Minister". Later, he was impeached by Chen Dong, a junior fellow student of Zhao Mingcheng, and eventually met his demise due to Emperor Huizong's suspicion of his close relationship with Prime Minister Wang Hui, ending up being strangled to death. However, it seemed that this Liáng Shī Chéng had no known connection with Gāo Qiáng?

  Gao Zhan saw the puzzlement on his son's face: "Do you know who is the biological father of this Liang Shishu?" This guessing game was not something that a rough person like Gao Yi would play, and Gao Zhan didn't expect him to answer correctly either: "It's Dongpo scholar from where your father came from in his younger years."

  "What? How is that possible?" Gao Gang was shocked by the secret news, his mouth agape and tongue-tied. He couldn't connect the guy who was more feminine than a fairy with the incredibly talented Dongpo scholar Su Shi, and how could Su Shi's son become a eunuch in the palace?

  "Alas..." Gao Zhan shook his head, stood up with his hands behind his back: "Su Xue is a literary master, a refined and elegant person. Although his wife has passed away, he wrote 'Ten Years of Life and Death' which was widely known on the streets, and those who heard it shed tears. However, Master Su's side never lacked beautiful concubines, at most there were more than 40 people."

  "Gossip, super gossip news! Gao's mind was filled with this thought, if this news were to be released now, a small newspaper could make a fortune: The Su scholar who wrote such touching phrases as 'Even if we meet again, we won't recognize each other, dust on our faces, hair like frost', has a private life that is so colorful and exciting!"

  "But later, the scholar was demoted and when he left, he gave away all these concubines. He only kept one, Wang Furen, also known as 'Yuyan Flower'. Your mother, Madame Liang, was already pregnant at that time, but she was also sent away. After ten months of pregnancy, how could a lone widow with a child survive? She had to enter the palace and work in Eunuch Jiaxiang's script bureau. It is unknown whether it was due to natural talent or not, but your father, Liang Shishu, learned excellent calligraphy skills, which happened to be what the current emperor liked. Moreover, he could guess the emperor's intentions, so when Jiaxiang died two years ago, he took over the position of transmitting the emperor's orders in the Ruisi Hall."

  Having heard this, Gao Gang understood that eunuchs of the Song Dynasty were not prohibited from interacting with external officials.

  There are also many examples of eunuchs entering officialdom, but they all have to go through the Ministry of Personnel's selection process. Since Liang Shicheng has made a name for himself in the palace, he needs to find an ally outside the palace to further his career. Unfortunately, Cai Jing's factional case almost wiped out the Su school, and all the disciples were demoted and exiled to remote military states. A few who escaped the net either changed their allegiance and joined Cai Jing's camp or were too insignificant to be considered. As a result, Gao Fang, also from Su Shi's school, became the best choice. Isn't this a true example of a lifelong friendship?

  The father and son talked about their experiences, Gao Qiang briefly told the story of the Daming Palace, including the matter of using the title of Commander-in-Chief to make money. Gao E heard this with great joy, repeatedly praising him for his cleverness, saying that he had thought of such a way to make money, and it seemed that in the future they wouldn't have to eat too much plain food and could live a life of luxury.

  When he heard Liang Zhongshu ask Gao Qiu to bring back the wealth that was respectfully given to his father-in-law Cai Jing, Gao Qiu's eyebrows furrowed: "This matter must have an ulterior motive. According to reason, this kind of trivial matter of transporting money, even if the governor's office cannot openly mobilize soldiers, there should be someone who can do it. Moreover, you are Liang Zhongshu's honored guest in Daming Prefecture, and it is unreasonable for a host to ask about his guest's departure date when the guest has not mentioned leaving."

  Gao Qiu thought for a moment, indeed Gao Qiu was cunning and saw through the trickery at once. In fact, he also had suspicions, but when he heard it was about the birthday celebration, his mind was preoccupied with preventing theft, thinking only of how to get to Huangni Gang, how Wu Yong's medicine would work, and thus put aside the main matter.

  Today, being suddenly enlightened by Gao Cu, his mind cleared up instantly, and he connected the clues before and after. He immediately understood: "Li Zongshu's behavior must be to make me return to Tokyo at this time. But what is the intention, why can't it be said face to face?"

  "It's probably so. It seems that soon there will be news from Cai Xianggong's side, just wait quietly." Gao Yun sat as stable as Mount Tai, his smile was also unfathomable.

  The father and son chatted for a while, seeing that the sky was already late, Gao Qiang accompanied his old father to eat dinner, drank some wine, and returned to his own courtyard with a red face.

  Not yet at the wall of the temple, a clear and melodious sound echoed in the air, elegant and lingering, making one forget worldly cares. After a day of hard work, my mood was lifted by this, and I thought to myself, "Could it be that Little Master has learned a new tune?" Without realizing it, I quickened my pace.

  As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he was greeted by Xiaohuan's smiling face: "The official has returned, it must have been a tiring journey." As she spoke, all the servants and maids in the courtyard came out to greet the returning official. With a loud and cheerful voice, he waved his hand for everyone to get up, and as his right hand swung forward, his left hand instinctively went back to his waist, feeling quite smooth.

  She dismissed the maids and attendants, and saw Xiaoshi holding a jade flute behind her. She beckoned to her: "Xiaoshi, have you just learned to play the flute?"

  "His Honor is safe and sound," said Xiao Shifu with a bow. "Shifu started learning from the music academy last month, but unfortunately, his talent is mediocre. So far, he has only learned three pieces, and the one he just played is the new 'Yu Xiang Qu'."

  As soon as the strong and beautiful music started, he closed his eyes to listen, and in his heart, the small courtyard where he lived appeared, with dense trees surrounding it, bamboo shadows swaying gently. Every evening, sitting by the stone table in the courtyard, the gentle breeze came, and the sound of the bamboo was faintly audible, this world was all present in his heart.

  As soon as the music stopped, Gao Fang was like a dream come true, and he applauded enthusiastically. Xiaoshi's face turned red with embarrassment, but she didn't say anything, her hands just fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. Suddenly, someone outside the courtyard gate also cheered: "This flute playing is great!"

  Gao Jian heard the sound and looked out, but saw Shi Xiu and Yan Qing standing outside the door, waving their hands to call Xiao Huan and Shi Shi back into the house. Thinking that these two must have come for something important before nightfall, he called them in to talk. When the two came in, they brought two more people with them. Gao Jian looked closely and saw that it was Zhang San and Li Si from daytime. Suddenly, he remembered the beautiful girl and hastily asked: "What did you find out?"

  Zhang San and Li Si, such characters are common in Bianliang City, now they have the opportunity to converse with the Commander's Mansion, they are so excited that they don't know what to do. Zhang San is timid and dare not speak, while Li Si is pretending to be calm but speaking nonsense, before long, Gao Qiu gets impatient and asks Shi Xiu and Yan Qing to ask questions instead.

  Shi Xiu had been familiar with the streets since childhood, and with just a few words, he would gather these two rascals around him. Then, chatting with Yan Qing in a lively conversation, they would soon figure out what those rascals had seen during the day.

  Those four men were indeed vigilant and had discovered the group of rascals following them from behind early on. After entering the city, they made several turns, and with their quick movements, the rascals were led astray, losing track of them several times. However, this group of rascals may not have any other skills, but they knew the streets and alleys of Bianliang City like the back of their hand, so Zhang San dispatched several groups to guard at each intersection and had a few quick-footed servants report back and forth, soon catching up with the group again.

  Under Shi Xiu's questioning, it was learned that these people had gone to a hostel by the side of Jinming Pond to rest. Those rascals asked the shopkeeper and found out that the route guide they registered at check-in was issued by Longyou County, Xinghua, Zhejiang.

  "The signature 'Zhong Ze, County Magistrate of Longyou' was clearly affixed."

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