Husband and Father Youwei

Chapter 104 Searching for Memories

 The size of the capital is not small, and Tu Lin and the others didn't want to wander around like headless chickens, so they asked the colleague in Beijing at home to lend them a servant who was familiar with the capital, and the servant led them from street to street. wandered around the capital.

The capital city is divided into the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is also called the imperial city. The imperial city is the forbidden palace where the emperor and the empress live, as well as the residences of the royal family and high-ranking princes and ministers. The outer city is where the people live. Low-ranking officials and ordinary people.

Tu Lin and the others went from low to high, starting from the outer city. No matter if it was a bustling commercial street, a quiet residential area with few people, or even some remote alleys full of dirty things, they didn't miss it. Of course, they didn't let the two children Tu An and Tu Jiaojiao follow in the last place.

Because they hoped to see familiar scenes and things to evoke Ruan Tang's memory, Tu Lin and the others didn't move fast, and they stopped from time to time to buy some gadgets and eat something. It took nearly two days of effort like this , They just took a tour of the outer city. But it's a pity that although Ruan Tang had a vague feeling that he had eaten some snacks and snacks before, he didn't think of anything else.

Tu Lin was fine, but Ruan Tang was inevitably a little disappointed. Fortunately, he still hadn't been to the inner city, so it wasn't time to give up completely. It's just that the inner city is not as lively as the outer city, so Tu Lin and Ruan Tang didn't take Tu An and Tu Jiaojiao with them this time. Fortunately, in the previous two days, they bought a lot of food and gadgets in Beijing, enough for the two children to pass the time, and Tu Lin left two of his own soldiers, so there is no need to worry about safety.

The inner city is really different from the outer city. First of all, it is much quieter. Because there are few people coming and going, the streets are much wider. On both sides of the street are deep houses with tall and thick walls and dignified portals. Unlike a street in the outer city, where there are more than a dozen families, there are no more than five or six families in a street in the inner city, and there are even fewer than one or two. There are uniformly dressed servants and guards standing in front of the entrance hall. Very imposing.

The servants sent by Tu Lin's comrades were very conscientious. Not only did they guide Tu Lin and Ruan Tang, they also introduced to them the people they met along the way, such as Shuntian Mansion Yin's Mansion, Criminal Ministry's Minister's Mansion, Pingzhao County Lord's Mansion, Zhenbei Great General's Mansion, University Scholars' Mansion, Prince Zhuang's Mansion, etc., and from time to time, he talked about some interesting rumors related to these families to entertain the two of them.

In fact, even without the servant's introduction, they can know what kind of family it is just by looking at the plaques hanging on the gates of each house. It's just that they are newcomers after all, and they don't know some things about these families, so they listen with gusto . Among them, when he heard the somewhat familiar title of Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Tu Lin couldn't help becoming a little interested, but soon, when he heard that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice was no longer the person who had a feud with them a few years ago So I didn't ask any more questions.

After walking for a whole morning, the three of them were unavoidably tired, and there happened to be a restaurant not far ahead, so the three of them planned to go into the restaurant to have a rest and have something to eat. Although most of the people in the inner city are dignitaries, there are also some who open shops to do business.

After entering the restaurant, although Tu Lin and Ruan Tang looked strange, they were dressed in extraordinary clothes. Suddenly, a little girl greeted them enthusiastically, and ushered the three of them to a table by the window and sat down. Although the servant's status was humble, Tu Lin didn't have so many taboos, so he asked someone to sit down with them.

Xiao Er brought a pot of good hot tea, and gave Tu Lin and the others the names of the dishes, but Tu Lin waved his hand to stop him before he finished speaking, and asked him to serve the shop's signature dishes. Just bring some up, and after finishing speaking, I threw a piece of silver to Xiao Er. Xiao Er has served some important people all the year round, and he often received great awards on weekdays, but when he received the silver reward from Tu Lin, he felt the heavy weight in his hand, and he couldn't help but smile immediately, and immediately agreed, promising to arrange for Tu Lin All right, let Tu Lin feel at ease, then quickly retreated, and went to the back kitchen to ask for food for Tu Lin.

While waiting for the food to be served, the three of them drank tea and talked, but mostly it was Tu Lin who was talking to the servant, while Ruan Tang stared out from the side window with a touch of sadness in his brows. It took another half a day, but they still got nothing.

Naturally, Tu Lin would not ignore Ruan Tang, but at this moment in front of outsiders, he didn't want to say much, he just grabbed Ruan Tang's slightly cold hand from under the table, and gave some comfort. At this moment, he suddenly felt Ruan Tang's body shake violently, and he couldn't help looking at Ruan Tang, but saw that Ruan Tang's eyes widened slightly, and even his mouth opened a little in surprise, looking out of the window in a daze. in one direction.

Tu Lin followed Ruan Tang's line of sight, and found that what Ruan Tang was looking at was a withered osmanthus tree. He didn't see anything special about that osmanthus tree, so he withdrew his gaze and said to Ruan Tang, "Ah Tang , What did you think of?"

Ruan Tang was still in a daze, he didn't answer Tu Lin's words, but stood up and said to Tu Lin, "Can I go there and have a look?" "

Of course." Tu Lin naturally Not saying no, he immediately got up and walked out of the restaurant with Ruan Tang, and the servant hurried to follow.

The restaurant that Tu Lin and the others chose was at the corner of a crossroad. The main entrance of the restaurant was on the South Street that Tu Lin and the others walked through when they came, while the sweet-scented osmanthus tree that Ruan Tang saw was on the adjacent East Street. So when they got out of the restaurant, they turned another corner and walked about 100 meters before they came to the osmanthus tree.

When they got closer, they realized that the main entrance of a family was next to the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, which was blocked by the crown of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree before, so they didn't notice it for a while. Ruan Tang let go of Tu Lin's hand, walked into the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, stroked the rough trunk of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, his eyes showed obvious nostalgia, and Tu Lin thought of something when he saw him like this. He looked up, and saw the four gold-lacquered characters of "Yingguo Gongfu" written on the plaque hanging from the gate.

Naturally, there were guards outside the Duke's Mansion, and the sweet-scented osmanthus tree that attracted Tu Lin and the others was not far away, so the three of Tu Lin were immediately spotted by those guards.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" A soldier in armor walked towards them with a serious face.

Tu Lin glanced at Ruan Tang, seeing that Ruan Tang was still looking at the osmanthus tree, he clasped his fists in a military salute, smiled and said to the soldier: "My wife and I saw that the osmanthus tree in your mansion is growing well, and I like it very much. Then I stopped to watch for a while, nothing else."

The soldier saw that Tu Lin behaved like a soldier in the army, he couldn't help being a little surprised, and saw that Tu Lin's eyes were clear and his manner was upright and polite, and Ruan Tang also seemed to be like a man in the army. As he said, he touched the sweet-scented osmanthus tree and couldn't stop looking at it, so he believed Tu Lin's words for the time being, but he still said: "The Duke's mansion is so unusual, you'd better leave quickly, don't pass by." Stay longer."

Seeing that Xiaobing's tone softened a little and he didn't let them leave immediately, Tu Lin thanked them, Xiaobing slightly nodded, then turned around and returned to his post.

Tu Lin walked to Ruan Tang's side, and said, "What do you remember?"

Ruan Tang nodded, and said, "I remember playing under this tree when I was young, and I also collected a lot of sweet-scented osmanthus, as if to... To do..." Ruan Tang didn't continue, because he couldn't remember what he was going to do to collect sweet-scented osmanthus.

Tu Lin pointed to the plaque on the gate and said to Ruan Tang, "Duke Jingguo's Mansion, do you have any impression?"

Ruan Tang looked at the golden characters on the plaque and shook his head in confusion. When he saw the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, many pictures and clips popped up in his mind, but he only felt that the word Yasukuni Mansion was extremely strange.

Tu Lin thought of the servant of the Ministry of Punishment who had changed in just a few years, so he asked the servant who looked very nervous because they came to the mansion of Lord Yasukuni: "This house has always been the mansion of Lord Yasukuni. Is it?"

The servant shook his head, but said in a low voice: "Duke Jingguo was conferred the title of emperor eight years ago. Before that, this was the residence of Tang Weiyong, the former scholar. No one knows who lives there."

"Ah Tang, how are you? Do you have any impressions?" Based on Ruan Tang's age, the time when Ruan Tang was picked up by the Ruan family should be when this place was still a university scholar's residence.

"Tang... University scholar..." Ruan Tang didn't answer Tu Lin, but just repeated what the servant said, but he didn't deny it, that was another kind of affirmation.

After searching for so long, some useful clues finally appeared. Tu Lin couldn't help being very happy. He still wanted to ask Ruan Tang, but because they pointed and asked again just now, they had once again attracted the attention of Duke Jing. The guards were vigilant, so Tu Lin had no choice but to swallow back the words he wanted to ask, and said, "A Tang, let's go back to the restaurant and talk." If we continue to stand like this, there may not be any gains

. It would be bad if the suspicious person was caught, so Ruan Tang didn't reject Tu Lin's proposal, and the three of them returned to the restaurant again. And when he saw them coming back, Xiao Er, who had just entertained them, almost cried with joy. He had already ordered the menu for the back chef, and some dishes were already cooked, but when he came back, no one was there. I paid for the food out of my pocket, but luckily Tu Lin and the others came back again.

Tu Lin saw Xiao Er's expression of fear and rejoicing, and knew that he was a little anxious just now, so he explained, and thought that what they were going to say later related to Ruan Tang's life experience, and it was not easy for outsiders to listen to it for the time being. When they arrived, they asked Xiaoer to change a private room for them. As long as Xiaoer can show up, he will be satisfied after paying for the food, and he will never fail to comply with Tu Lin's request.

The three of them were quickly led to an elegant room on the second floor, and then a series of exquisite and delicious dishes were also served on the table, but the three of Tu Lin were either not in the mood, or had no chance to eat anything.

After all the dishes were served and Xiao Er also stepped back, Ruan Tang couldn't wait to ask the servant about the matter of Tang Dashi. Ruan Tang's life experience has not been clarified yet, so Tu Lin didn't say anything. The servants only thought that they were going to visit the capital, and they should know everything at this time. But as they told, Tu Lin and Ruan Tang couldn't help showing surprises And the look of surprise was only because the Tang University scholar had some relationship with the queen of the dynasty.

According to what the servant said, the Grand Scholars of the Tang Dynasty have a pair of sons, a son and a daughter. The eldest son is Shuanger, who is now the Empress of Tang Dynasty. The sons and heirs are also favored tirelessly. The second son is male, who is the present Duke of Yasukuni, who guards the northwest with an army of 500,000 troops, and is the minister of the imperial court.

The youngest child of the Tang scholar is the only daughter, and now she is married to the younger brother of the current emperor, Prince Su is the princess, and Prince Su also holds a heavy army in the north to defend against the Diren and Tartars who have been eyeing the Great Zhou. , Emperor Wucheng relied heavily on it.

When he heard this, Tu Lin couldn't help thinking of the information about Empress Tang that he had inquired before. Although Empress Tang had no children, she still stood tall for many years. Of course, because of Emperor Wu Cheng's favor and his own popularity, he wanted to come and talk to him. These two extremely capable younger brothers and brother-in-law should also have a certain relationship.

The servant told Tu Lin and Ruan Tang a lot about Empress Tang, Duke Jing, and Princess Su, but they never heard about the matter that Tu Lin and Ruan Tang were most concerned about. Finally, Ruan Tang couldn't help it. , He directly asked the servant: "More than twenty years ago, around the second year of Wucheng, did the Tang family lose a child who was about three or four years old?

" It's not very tall, but Ruan Tang was a little anxious, so his tone was two points higher. Fortunately, they were in a private room alone, and there were no other people around, so they didn't have to worry about being overheard.

After Ruan Tang asked, he stared at the servant and waited for his reply, but the servant seemed to have heard something terrible, his face changed instantly, and he stammered: "You, you ask, ask this, What are you doing?" He was so frightened that he even forgot the honorifics.

Ruan Tang and Tu Lin couldn't help but look at each other. The servant's reaction made them both happy and worried. They were happy because the servant didn't deny it, so it should have happened. And the servant's appearance of being so terrified might have happened before. what a bad thing.

But right now, it was hard to find the key point, and the two naturally didn't want to give up, so they questioned the servant again.

"This, this, this..." It's just that this time the servant didn't know everything as before, as if he was very scrupulous about something and didn't dare to speak easily.

Seeing this, Tu Lin couldn't help but said: "But is there anything inconvenient to say?"

The servant saw that Tu Lin and Ruan Tang seemed to swear not to give up until they asked about the result, and finally said: "There is nothing that cannot be said. The family did lose a child, but because of this child, the capital city, and even the entire Dazhou, did not know how many people died. I can still think of the piles of piles of piles outside the Meridian Gate that are like hills every day. Human heads, and the smell of blood that hasn't dissipated in the capital for several months..." The servant said, as if he had seen the horrible scene back then, showing a look of fear.

Afterwards, the servant slowly told the story of the past, but Tu Lin and Ruan Tang gradually became serious as they listened. Having experienced such an unfortunate and bloody past, it was even more unexpected that Ruan Tang's life experience was very likely to be related to the two most noble people in the world.