At noon on the fourth day, Wei Cen and his party would soon leave Xuanzhou, leaving only a hundred miles to enter Chizhou. After having a meal at the post house, Wei Cen ignored the fatigue from running for days and steeled himself to continue on his way. So the guards of the Wei Mansion continued on their way on horseback in a daze under the rather scorching sun. .
A personal guard suddenly rode up from the rear, and a low voice reported in Wei Cen's ear: "Mr. Minister, I have something strange that I need to report."
Wei Cen, who was on horseback, came back from his daze and asked, "What's so strange?"
"After passing through Xuanzhou City Pass one day, I felt that there was someone following me. I thought it was a common people on the way, but we seemed to have been following us for hundreds of miles along the way. When the ambassador was resting at the post just now, I deliberately delayed Later, I saw the person behind again..."
Wei Cen was suddenly startled and asked in a low voice: "Can you tell who he is? How much is the total?"
"Not many, just one, riding a horse. Even from such a distance, you can't see where he's coming from. You can only tell he's wearing a bamboo hat."
Wei Cen asked doubtfully: "Are you sure you followed me from the foot of Xuanzhou City to here?"
"I'm sure, I'm sure. Several brothers also know about this matter. They also judge that they are following us. Minister Wei can order them to ask."
Wei Cen frowned, thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said angrily: "No need to ask, if he is really being followed, just take him. Find a favorable terrain in front of you and ambush him, and wait for him to come over and catch him for questioning. Find out what it is for. I want to see who is brave enough to follow me secretly?"
The personal guard nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes!"
The autumn sun is shining brightly, and the official road here winds through the valley between two mountains, with lush vegetation growing wildly on both sides of the road. The cool breeze blew slowly, and from the top of the mountain it was like being caressed by a pair of invisible hands, drawing a long wave of grass rolling down. Looking at it, it felt like the vastness of the grass and the sky.
On the official road, a white horse walked slowly. Jiangnan merchants were prosperous. The official road was full of deep ruts and broken stones, and dust accumulated up to half an inch thick. Every time the white horse's hoof steps down, small stones will fly up from the horse's paw, and a small piece of yellow dust will burst out.
The man on horseback was wrapped tightly, his face could not be seen clearly under the low-pressed bamboo hat, and he was wrapped in a dark cloak. The jolting of the horse didn't seem to have much impact on him. His body sat firmly on the horse's back, following the ups and downs of the horse's back like a nail on the horse's back.
The only thing that bothered him was the flying dust stirred up by the team in front of him. With the autumn wind, the dust hit his face, causing the people on horseback to wave their arms from time to time, as if to push away the dust in front of them that blocked their view.
The white horse marched between two mountains, and the dust seemed not so fierce. The man on the horse straightened up and tried his best to look ahead from the gap under the bamboo hat, but because the official road turned around, he could not see any of the team in front. trace. The man turned sideways again, seeming to be listening to the noise of people and horses coming down the wind, but in his ears he could only hear the sound of grass and trees swaying on the hills after the long wind blew.
The man on the horse suddenly reined in the horse, frowned slightly, turned his bamboo hat to look at the surrounding terrain, and the corners of his mouth under the bamboo hat were slightly raised, as if he was smiling.
"Kill!" A loud shout rang out in the empty valley, and more than a dozen heads suddenly emerged from the long grass on both sides. Each of them held a shining weapon in their hands and rushed up the official road with a shout.
The leading Wei Mansion guard was tall and muscular, wearing standard Forbidden Army armor. The muscles on his arms were knotted with green veins. His feet were jumping like flying. He made a shouting sound from his mouth and quickly occupied the center of the official road, along with the other four guards. Block the white horse's way together. At the same time, the retreat was blocked by several strong guards on the road behind the official road. Their long swords pointed at the ground obliquely, and the blades glittered golden in the sun.
The white horse jumped up in fear and neighed uneasily. The man on the horse reined in the horse. After the horse landed, he stretched out a hand from the dark cloak and gently stroked the mane on the horse's neck. The horse was restrained. The master's comfort gradually calmed down.
"Why, did the officers and soldiers also commit robberies?" The man in a hat on horseback asked calmly, his voice clear and sweet.
"Don't pretend to be stupid with us. We are the personal guards of the Privy Council Ambassador Wei. What do you want to do by following us all the way from Xuanzhou City? Why don't you get off your horse and go see our Ambassador Wei? We'll talk about it later." , maybe I can spare your life." The leading man is the leader of more than ten guards of the Wei Mansion, named Wei San, who was born in the Imperial Guards.
"Ambassador Wei?" The man in the bamboo hat seemed to be a little disdainful, tilted his head and said: "In the Privy Council of the Tang Dynasty, we have only heard of one ambassador, Chen Jue and Chen. Why haven't we heard of the one named Wei?"
"Stop talking nonsense and get off your horse quickly, otherwise we will be rude to you." Wei San shouted angrily with his veins popping out.
"This is strange, the official line is facing the sky, everyone goes to one side, your Wei envoy can go, why can't I? If you really want to make the people give way, why don't you bring someone with gongs and drums to clear the way? Instead, you hide in the grass. Do you look like a thief inside?" The man in the hat said with ridicule in his tone.
Wei San was at a loss for words. He was a clumsy talker and couldn't think of any reason to refute.
"Besides, you said that I followed you all the way from Xuanzhou City, which is wrong. In fact... I have followed you since Jinling. It seems that your nose is not sharp enough." The man in the bamboo hat joked The voice sounded again.
When Wei San looked away, this was a clear provocation. The other party showed no fear at all, and even teased his brothers for their slow reaction and seemed to be emboldened. Wei San's big hand holding the long knife trembled slightly, as if he couldn't bear it anymore.
"It seems that you did this deliberately. You must have some evil intentions to follow the important officials of the imperial court. I will give you one last chance to dismount and come with us to see the Wei ambassador, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?" The man in the bamboo hat said in a cold voice.
"Otherwise, don't blame us for being rude. The sword has no eyes. If you miss, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck."
"Really? I never thought my life was bad. You can try. Maybe your life is bad." The man in the hat said slowly.
Wei San no longer wanted to say another word, so he winked at his companions, bared his teeth and roared, then tiptoed like an eagle and flew out of the ground, heading straight for the horse's head. At the same time, more than ten people around him also took action at the same time, raising their weapons to close the encirclement.
The leader, Wei San, was naturally the fastest. He rushed to the white horse's head first, stretched out his left hand and grabbed the man on the horse's calf. He didn't want to chop the man with a knife, he just wanted to grab his leg and pull it down. Throw it to the ground and let this person suffer a little before talking. After all, Ambassador Wei has something to ask later.
The man in a hat on horseback scolded: "How presumptuous!"
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