After the two exchanged the information they had obtained, they both sighed. Unexpectedly, there were such daring and reckless people in Daliang City, who openly hijacked the envoys of Han in broad daylight outside the royal city, causing the Wei Dynasty to lose face.
Mang Mao said: "The matter is urgent. Please know that someone will be sent to arrest the thief!"
Wei Qi said: "Why did the general say this? This is not just a few thieves, but hundreds of people who wounded the guard and robbed the envoy. How can anyone do it? Even if they can do it, how can they get out of the city? I really hope that the general will send troops to go around. If the detectives are too late, they may only find his body!"
Mang Mao said: "The Qin troops are approaching the city. Nearly half of the soldiers in the city are on the city. There are less than 30,000 soldiers in the city. It is not enough to defend the city. How can he be used? The military envoys are sent out to scout out. If they find anything, they should report back. . However, the military envoy must not be ordered to look for the envoy. If the Qin people are missed, the harm will be even more serious."
Wei Qi said: "In the general's opinion, who is a thief?"
Mang Mao said: "There is no solution. I have collected all the injured Ximen guards. When they recover a little, I will go to the department for interrogation and we will get the details."
Wei Qi planned to leak a little bit, but hid the source of the information: "The guard at Daliang Gate said that one of the thieves looks like one of the young master's disciples..."
Mang Mao trembled all over and said in surprise: "Is this true? Are you a disciple of Lord Xinling?"
Wei Qi said: "Exactly. What he said is conclusive, but I can't tell the truth from it, but I can tell the general what he said."
Mang Mao said: "If this is true, I hope Mr. Wei will save me!"
Wei Qi said: "Why did the general say this?"
Mang Mao said: "Young Master Xinling, below one person and above ten thousand people, I am the master. Although I am a general, I am also a minister. The master's family only has orders, but he sends a son holding a half-foot-long slip to show me that I How dare you not obey? If you treat me as a thief, you are not treating me as a minister. I should resign to avoid disaster."
Wei Qi said: "General, what can I say? What can I say? The king of Wei trusts the general, and the whole country entrusts him to the general. If the general loses his trust due to a small reason, won't he make the world laugh? It's really a general who refuses to take it."
Mang Mao said: "I have a beginning and an end, but I am jealous of the nobles. How can I live?... My mind is in chaos. I hope Prime Minister Wei will teach me!"
Wei Qi said: "In my opinion, the general should send more military envoys to patrol around to get his feelings. If the envoy is robbed by Lord Xinling's family, Dr. Jia will not do any harm. But with fast cavalry, patrol for thirty miles. , we must get the details.”
Mang Mao thought for a while and said: "Prime Minister Wei is really wise. Those who rob the doctor are Xinling Lord; those who want to see the doctor are also Xinling Lord. If you go straight along the road to Xinling Lord's camp, you will be able to get the details. .”
Wei Qi clapped his knees and shouted: "Great kindness!"
Mang Mao immediately took a festival talisman from the table in front of the screen and shouted: "Xuan Mangshen comes to the hall!"
When the family members waiting outside the hall heard the word "Xuan", they were afraid they heard the word "Xuan" wrongly, so they replied at the foot of the steps: "I am in love with you."
Mang Mao said: "Xuan!"
Only then did the family members confirm that what they just heard was indeed the word "Xuan", and they quickly shouted: "Master Xuan Mangshen is coming to the court!" This voice alarmed the whole family. All the family members who heard it were stunned for a moment, and then they also He shouted loudly: "Master Xuan Mangshen comes to the court!" The message reached the back house, and Mang Shen was startled. He heard it so clearly that he quickly shouted back: "Fengxuan!" The family members who heard it shouted loudly: Pass to the front.
Among the five adult sons of the Mang family, the eldest son Mang Yin was originally in charge of the army outside the city, but there has been no news since Chen Liu brought back several carts of grain. The second son Manghai and the third son Mangchen have both left the city with Mr. Liang Wei. The only ones left at home are the fourth son Mangwei and Mangshen who just returned home. Mangshen is still nominally the military envoy of Lord Xinling. When their father was patrolling the city, they naturally followed behind him. They all saw the situation inside the west gate, but they couldn't see anything. They couldn't find any witnesses who were present at the time, so they could only be nervous but helpless. When my father was discussing with the disciples, they were waiting in the lower positions. Although they did not speak, all the gentlemen's words were heard, especially the suspicion that the disciples of Lord Xinling were responsible. This made Mang Shen, who had a certain understanding of Lord Xinling, I deeply agree.
When Wei Qi, the Prime Minister of Wei, arrived at the house, the brothers returned to the back house and huddled in Mang Chen's room, muttering some of their own opinions. Undoubtedly, the attack on Xu Jia's mission made the brothers very uneasy. But they didn’t have any special insights, so they could only worry and chat with each other to relieve their worries. Mang Shen was startled when he suddenly heard a loud announcement in the palace that he was going to court. Mang Chen was a little older and had some knowledge, so he quickly pushed Mang Shen and said, "Feng Xuan." Mang Shen replied almost subconsciously: "Fengxuan!"
After the brothers returned home, they immediately participated in the meeting with the guests. When they returned to the back house, Mang Shen did not return to his room, so he only took off his leather armor and did not change back to his regular clothes. When he heard the announcement, he put on his armor with the help of Mang Wei, walked around to the front steps of the hall and shouted back: "Mang Shen accepts the order!"
Mang Mao said: "Go to the court to receive the order!"
Mang Shen climbed up the stairs and saw Mang Mao standing in front of the hall holding a festival talisman, with Wei Qi, the prime minister of Wei, standing behind him. Mang Mao looked serious and said: "The middle doctor Xu Jia was attacked. The thieves have left the west gate and headed west. Now I order you to lead the army with five people and ride a sentinel to explore fifty miles to the west. If you see the enemy, you will report back!"
Mang Shen took the festival talisman, saluted and said: "Here!" He turned around and went down to the hall. Returning to the back house, Mang Wei explained the situation. Mang Wei quickly went to the west courtyard and ordered six horses to be prepared. Mang Shen went to the front wing and asked five gentlemen for help. Mr. Che You wanted to go, but Mang Shen firmly refused, saying that his father would have to ask for advice sooner or later, and Mr. Che did not need to drive himself for such a small matter. Mr. Cheyou then ordered five people to discuss the route and key points of the patrol. Their equipment was neatly arranged, each carrying a bow and arrow. They all followed Mang Shen to the west courtyard, led the prepared horses, went out of the inner gate, mounted the horses and held the joints in their hands. , shouting "The military envoys are leaving the west gate!" Six people, with one voice, went straight to the west gate.
The Ximen city army heard the call early, raised the thousand-jin gate, opened the city gate, and six people galloped past. When the city gate closed, the six people could only see smoke and no one.
Everyone in the city judged that it was most likely that Xu Jia was robbed by Lord Xinling's retainers. Although the purpose was unknown, there should be no malicious intent. So we all agreed that if we encountered him, we would give him some kind words and comfort him, and we should not really capture him like a thief. What's more, they knocked out ten guards and five military envoys in an instant, and they were all retainers. Even if they wanted to arrest them, they didn't have the ability to do so.
After leaving the city, the six cavalry were divided into three groups, one each for the front and two wings, and they inspected the key points separately. Since he was looking for clues, he naturally didn't run away, but just walked forward. At this speed, it will be about dusk when we reach a place where we can see the center of the circle and turn back.
The clues to follow are not complicated. It was wartime, and there were almost no people walking on the road. The ruts left by the carts and the footprints of pedestrians were very clear. They only had to follow the tracks.
Because the stirrup had not been invented at that time, due to the limitations of riding technology, and raising horses was time-consuming and expensive, there were even fewer people who could ride horses than those who could drive. The main reason why these five people were selected is that they can ride horses. Although they are treated like retainers in Mang Mansion, their status is not very high. Being able to go on a business trip with the Major General this time, I felt it was an opportunity, consciously or unconsciously, I wanted to show off, looking far into the distance, hoping to be the first to discover new clues.
The end of the road is Liangxi Station where Zheng Anping served, and all the traces continue uninterrupted until here. Going further is the road out of the wilderness. It is far less convenient to distinguish the marks of this group of people than on the right road.
A guest suggested: "Would you like to take a break at the Yongwang Posthouse?"
Another responded: "Yes, yes. The young master is a military envoy, and it is natural for him to enter the post house."
Liangxiyi is thirty miles away from Daliang, which is exactly a distance away. According to common sense, we should stop for a while. Although these six people were riding horses, their riding skills at the time were not much easier than walking. In addition, they were walking slowly. It was already noon. The warm sun was shining above my head, making me feel itchy all over. Mang Shen thought, since those thieves have been traveling all the way, they should take a rest now. So he said: "That's very good. Gentlemen, please invite me." If all the guests are willing, Mang Shen must be allowed to go in front.
The group dismounted, left the road, and headed straight for the post house. On the small field in front of the door, the ruts were scattered, but judging from the depth, they were left a few days ago. It should be that no one has been near this place since Lord Xinling and his party left. This is easy to understand: all the able-bodied men were drafted, and the women, children, old and weak at home probably did not dare to stray too far from home. Naturally, the Niguan next door could not open during the war and closed its doors to refuse customers. Naturally, no one can come to the inn that hangs alone in the wilderness. The door of the inn was closed, but not locked. Naturally, Mang Shen knew that there was no one inside under normal circumstances, but he still knocked on the door out of habit, but received no response. After listening carefully, he found that there was no sound inside, so he pushed the door open.
There was no one in the courtyard, which strengthened Mang Shen's judgment: the group of thieves, or Lord Xinling's retainers, did not enter the post house, but left directly. Mang Shen tied his horse to the horse post in front of the door, turned around and said, "The thieves have not entered the palace. We took a moment to rest and then walked along the road to the confinement."
The five people nodded in understanding, found a place to tie their horses, followed Mang Shen into the post house, and closed the door smoothly. The six of them went to the hall together, and after confirming that no one was in the building, they went to the backyard and got ten liters of millet and firewood for cooking. Mang Shen saw that all the guests were accustomed to it, and he knew that this was the case many times when he went out with Mang Mao. He didn't mind it, so he had to follow their wishes and have a meal before going on. ——If it's late, just speed up your pace and you can get back in time. One of the doormen took the earthen jar and went out to fetch water, when he suddenly screamed. Mang Shen and others were startled and rushed out quickly. Seeing that the doorman looked horrified and said: "Horse...horse..." Everyone rushed out and found that all the horses tied here had disappeared. Mang Shen was like a thunderbolt. Logically speaking, what happened at the door should be able to be heard from inside. The person who took six horses away so quietly must be a horse breeder, no, a master of horse stealing. Of course, Mang Shen would not believe that he was unlucky enough to meet these master horse thieves. They must have been ambushing them, and he knew nothing about them.
Too careless! Mang Shen thought sadly. Let’s not talk about the financial losses. How will we pay the bills when we return?
