"The child is unfilial and cannot carry the coffin north. I hope the father will not blame you! The child swears to heaven here that even if he is doomed, he will definitely kill his enemies one by one and use their blood to comfort the father's spirit in heaven!" Xia Chengcan clenched his hands. Fist, he leaned on Xia Muyang's coffin, gritted his teeth and swore in a low voice.
As a son of man, you should be able to be supported during your life and be able to be buried when you die. This is the end of filial piety and what a person should do.
Xia Chengcan wanted to personally help his late father's coffin return to the capital, and personally sprinkled the first layer of soil on his late father's tomb as a filial piety.
However, he can't.
Returning to the capital in the north, the journey is four thousand miles. Are there any ambushes along the way? How many ambushes were there? He had no way of knowing.
The unknown is danger. How could he risk his life with a blood feud?
The White Clothes Army was organized by the Jue Kingdom in the Southern Expedition, and the Jue Army was used as a false enemy in daily drills. Although the two countries have not yet fought each other at this time, the generals of the white-clothed army and Yu Jue's weapons and equipment are already familiar with them. After Mu Danqing and his entourage ambushed Xia Muyang, they left in a hurry before finishing things. Everyone knew at a glance that the arrows left on the narrow path were Jue's feathered arrows.
"Bozhou is the hinterland of Dahua. How could Jue's army hide so deep?"
Xia Chengcan knew without asking that Jue's army could avoid so many sentry posts in Dahua territory, but it would have been impossible without the help of insiders. And this ghost is most likely Xia Muyan's person. It was not only the army that ambushed my father, but also this enemy hiding in the dark!
"If I hold the coffin and go north, the journey is long, the hearse cannot move fast, and it is difficult to guard against the enemy in darkness. If the thieves set up an ambush along the way, it will be extremely difficult to return to the capital smoothly. In this way, not only my life will not be safe, but also my life will be safe. I'm afraid that my father's coffin will also be destroyed on the way. Isn't it just what the enemy wants?" After thinking about it again and again, he had to give up this idea and sent Qiu Tingtai to do it on his behalf.
The person who planned it was Xia Muyan, but the one who did it was a member of the Jue Kingdom. The two were equally guilty.
After Xia Muyang quelled the mutiny at Binan Post, the original generals at the post were either killed, removed, or were deployed elsewhere. At this time, all the generals at the outpost were replaced by the cronies of Prince Zhi's palace.
The imperial court has already issued an edict that all generals in Binan County are temporarily under the control of the white army. Although Xia Chengcan was not the commander-in-chief of the White Army appointed by the emperor, he did hold the seal of command of the White Army, and the generals at Binan Post were all from the King Zhi faction, so they naturally followed his lead. With 23,000 troops stationed at outposts, plus the 10,000 elite white-clad troops brought by Xia Muyang, Dahua's Chen army at the Binan border has exceeded 30,000.
Xia Chengcan had a strong personality and had such a heavy army, so it was impossible for Xia Muyang to die in vain. He decided to stay in Pinan. In addition to the unpredictable luck on the way north, the other reason was to lead these 30,000 people to the Jue Kingdom to avenge his dead father.
"Your Majesty, please come back! My subordinates will do their best to handle this matter. If the prince's coffin is there, Qiu Tingtai will be born; if the prince's coffin is missing, Qiu Tingtai will die!" Qiu Tingtai held the reins of the horse and reported to Xia Chengcan.
"Okay!" Xia Chengcan only responded with this word.
... ...
Ever since he had a nightmare the night before, Emperor Yonghua had been in a state of confusion. Within two days, he was already very haggard. If you have worries, reviewing the memorial will not be so smooth. Although it started at the beginning of Mao hour, there was still a huge pile of memorials that had not yet been approved.
"Ju Zheng, where is Zhan Wei? He promised to watch the stars last night and interpret my dream for me." Emperor Yonghua suddenly remembered this and hurriedly turned to ask Ni Juzheng who was standing aside.
"Reporting to the Emperor, Taoist Priest Zhan Wei's disciple came to report at 2:00 a.m.: Zhan Wei had observed the stars last night, but there was still something unclear, so he returned to Zhenwu Temple early in the morning." Ni Juzheng bowed and replied. Although Zhanwei is excellent in Taoism, he is still far behind Qingxuan. He came here to ask his master to clarify his doubts.
"Back to Zhenwu Temple? Qingxuan went to do something important. I'm afraid he's not in the capital at the moment. Why did Zhanwei go to Zhenwu Temple?" After hearing what Ni Juzheng said, Emperor Yonghua paused for a moment and asked curiously. Then I remembered that Qingxuan's assassination of Duanmulan in Yinyang City of Jue Country was an extremely top-secret matter, and even Zhan Wei wouldn't know about it, and I felt relieved.
"Zhan Wei is quite knowledgeable in Taoism and has learned the truth from Qingxuan. What did he see last night? Why is he still confused about it?" Emperor Yonghua muttered softly.
Ni Juzheng only smiled and did not answer.
In the past six or seven years, Zhan Wei has been in the palace, preaching and refining medicine for Emperor Yonghua, and rarely returns to Zhenwu Temple once a year. Now when I step on the stone steps of the mountain path, I feel a slight sense of unfamiliarity.
It was a weekday and it was still early, so Zhanwei saw no pilgrims along the way. Although he had important things to do here, he was not in a hurry. He often stopped and looked at the beautiful scenery when he came. "Master, he must practice longevity skills when he gets up early. I went there early and couldn't see him." When he was in the temple before, he often stayed by Qingxuan's side, so he naturally knew that his master had the habit of getting up early to practice skills.
Accompanied by beautiful scenery along the way, Zhan Wei arrived at Wuwei Hall at 2:00 a.m. even though he intended to go slowly.
"Uncle Zhan?" Zhicong went to each hall to light incense. As soon as he walked outside the hall, he saw Zhan Wei coming towards him. He entered the monastery when he was young, and later became a disciple of Zhan Ming, so he naturally recognized this uncommon uncle.
However, he recognized Zhan Wei, but Zhan Wei couldn't recognize him. He said with a bitter face: "I remember you. You are a disciple of Senior Brother Zhan Ming, but the name is really hard to pronounce. What are you doing? Coming?"
The last time the two met was eight years ago, when Zhicong was still a fourteen-year-old Taoist boy, so his appearance was naturally very different from what he looks like now. Zhicong smiled and said, "Uncle Master, I am Zhicong. You taught me Zhenwu swordsmanship before!"
Zhan Wei laughed and said happily: "You are that chubby, silly little Taoist priest who can't learn swordsmanship even if I teach you?"
"Yes, uncle. It's me." Zhicong replied with a smile.
"I didn't expect you to have grown so big." Zhan Wei murmured with emotion, "Oh, I remember spanking you at that time, do you still remember my evil?"
Zhicong bent down heavily and replied seriously: "Uncle, what are you talking about! You are willing to teach my disciples, which is a blessing to me. How can I have any resentment!" After Zhicong saluted, he looked up and saw a young master walking quickly. Come on, he hurriedly called out: "Little Master Uncle, why are you here too?"
The young and gentle young man coming behind Zhan Wei is Mei Yuanchen. Recently, everything in Prince Jaw's Mansion had taken a break and he had some free time. Thinking that he had not seen his master for a long time, he got up early and came to Zhenwu Temple. Unexpectedly, he met this second senior brother who he had never met before.
Qingxuan accepted another closed disciple, and Zhanwei knew about it very early. The martial arts academy in Hua Zijian was arranged by Zhan for Qingxuan. Following Zhicong's voice, he looked back and met Mei Yuanchen's eyes, "Junior brother?"
After practicing the longevity skill, Mei Yuanchen's ears were much sharper than ordinary people's. Although he was dozens of feet away from the two of them, he still listened to every word of their previous exchanges. He knew that the thin old man in front of him was him. Zhan Wei’s second senior brother. Hearing him call her, she hurriedly replied: "Hello, Second Senior Brother!"
"Are you Junior Brother Yuanchen? Okay! Okay! Master is right, you are indeed amazing!" He was profound in internal energy. At this time, he realized that Mei Yuanchen's internal energy was no less powerful than his own, and he couldn't help but feel happy.
Mei Yuanchen bowed his hands and said, "Senior brother, you are so complimentary!" After the ceremony, he added, "Senior brother, have you met Master when you are here?"
"Haha, I just arrived and I haven't met Master yet, so why don't you and I go together?" Zhan Wei said with a smile.
Zhicong, who was on the side, heard this and interjected: "The two uncles may not know that the master has been away from the temple for several days."
Zhan Wei and Mei Yuanchen looked at each other, as if asking each other, "Master is not here? What a coincidence!"
... ...
Yin Yang City has not yet ushered in the morning light, and there are few people on the streets. Qing Xuan holds a sword in his hand and walks slowly towards the palace.
