As soon as the sky became slightly brighter, Mei Yuanchen jumped on his horse and headed west.
Thinking that the gangster had hit the road a long time before him, he became very anxious. How could he dare to delay on the road?
At Chen time, one man and one horse had traveled nearly three hundred miles and arrived at the town of Diezihe in the westernmost part of Huanzhou.
He had already run back and forth on the way to Anxian, so he knew clearly that after crossing the Diezi River, he would reach Qingzhou in Anxian County, and beyond Qingzhou would be Jinzhou. If we travel faster, we might be able to arrive at midnight tonight.
After turning a corner, the view broadened and I saw a plume of black smoke floating in the notch of the mountain in the distance. Mei Yuanchen remembered that there was an old inn in that place. Although he had never rested there, he still remembered it clearly. Sitting on the horse, he couldn't help but muttered: "What is this burning? Isn't it because the inn is flooded?"
After walking for another four or five miles, I vaguely smelled a strange smell in the air. It turned out that there was an east wind blowing in the mountains, blowing the black smoke from the notch two or three miles away. Mei Yuanchen rode in the opposite direction and met the black smoke.
"What does this smell like? It's like burning clothes or barbecue." Although Mei Yuanchen didn't want to meddle in other people's business, he still couldn't stop thinking in his mind.
About half a quarter of an hour later, I finally saw the inn. Now that we were closer, we could see more clearly. It seemed that something was burning in the courtyard of the inn, and the thick smoke was rising from there.
"It's better to just walk through the water." Mei Yuanchen secretly rejoiced and was about to drive his horse away. The moment the horse passed the door of the inn, he couldn't help but look away. What he saw in front of him made him horrified: the burning and smoking things turned out to be mountains of human corpses.
This surprise was no small matter. He hurriedly reined in his horse and drove it into the courtyard gate.
There were two piles of corpses, one big and one smaller. However, even the smaller pile covered several feet at least. Burnt with the body were many lancets. After seeing those lancets, Mei Yuanchen suddenly realized, "The group of men in black on Xiangyang Black Cavalry that I met at the capital city gate the day before yesterday morning also held such lancets in their hands."
"Are these people who were killed the Honghai soldiers sent by King Yun to kill my father?" Thinking of this, he finally relaxed a little, "I still need to find someone to ask."
"Store! Store!" Mei Yuanchen rushed into the store and shouted loudly, "Is there anyone there?"
The fat-faced shopkeeper was packing his belongings and preparing to leave. "Oh my god, it's so scary! So many people have died here, it's impossible to make a living. Fortunately, those people in black cloaks were kind enough to kill people and keep the money. Ha... Haha, I got such a huge windfall this time, what kind of business do I do! I took the money to buy a house in Huanzhou City, a few rooms with a young woman, and several hundred acres of good land, tsk tsk... . ..Ah, beautiful!”
Thinking that the money belonged to the dead people outside, I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in my heart, and whispered softly: "Amitabha, Amitabha, there is a debtor and there is a wrongdoer, and I am not the one who killed you. If you want to find them, just go find those who took your lives." People. This money... this money, you have also ordered good wine and good food, I will treat it as your food money. It is useless for you to keep it anyway. Big deal, on the fourth day of July every year, I will burn a stick of incense for you."
As he was putting money into his bag, he heard someone shouting outside, and a head popped out from the hall. Seeing that the person who came was a handsome young man, he relaxed his guard and replied impatiently: "Brother, there is no business in the store today. If you feel hungry or thirsty, there are some in the kitchen." You can help yourself to food and drink.”
"Shopkeeper, what happened here? Are you alone?" Mei Yuanchen walked closer and asked.
"Two gangs came last night and started fighting in the courtyard without any explanation. Tsk tsk...it was so miserable! There was a river of blood." The fat-faced shopkeeper is a lively boss, and he gets a little chatty as soon as he starts talking. I couldn't hold them anymore, "Three or four hundred people died! As soon as day broke, I asked a few waiters to report to the county government. I couldn't afford to deal with such a big thing. The cooks and helpers in the kitchen met How dare you stay here for this matter? He has almost run away early in the morning. That damn Zhao Laogui was so scared that he didn’t even want a sheep. Now, including me, there are only four people left. The three of them are cleaning up in the kitchen, and there are There are a lot of good meats and vegetables. My family is poor and they don't want to waste them. They are sorting them out. I want to leave too, but the government hasn't come, so I don't dare to leave now."
Mei Yuanchen listened patiently and finally got a general idea. It seems that this group of Honghai dead soldiers were intercepted and killed on their way to Jinzhou.
Who will kill those Hong Hai dead soldiers?
Why did they kill those people? Where did they go?
"Shopkeeper, when did they leave and for how long?" Mei Yuanchen asked anxiously.
The fat-faced shopkeeper looked at Mei Yuanchen with a somewhat unhappy look on his face, and finally replied: "This morning, they left at dawn and set off this fire before leaving."
"Going east?" Mei Yuanchen's heart tightened, "Since they intercepted this group of Honghai dead soldiers, they should not be disadvantageous to my parents. But they actually went east, so it is very likely that they are going Jinzhou. If so, if they go to save my parents, it means my parents are in danger. If they go to harm my parents, then my parents are even more in danger."
Without even saying thank you, Mei Yuanchen turned around and walked quickly to the courtyard using the "Twenty-three Dou Zhuan Slant Steps", got on his horse, got on the post road, and galloped away towards the west.
When the fat-faced shopkeeper saw the scene in front of him, he thought he had been deceived and hurriedly stretched out his hand to rub it, "Did I encounter a ghost today?"
... ...
Ye Ben was quiet, and there was no sound everywhere.
"Deng Deng... Deng Deng..." The sudden sound of horse hooves sounded, and a group of cavalry jumped towards the palace gate with glazed lanterns. After the leading young general exchanged a few words with the guard, the other party actually opened the palace door and let them out.
This group of more than thirty cavalrymen walked eastward after coming out of the palace gate. Their destination was Prince Yun's Mansion.
"They are out, hurry up and report to Prince Jia's Mansion!" In the corner of the alley east of the palace, the spy hidden in the dark whispered to his companions behind him.
The man behind said "Yes" and walked quickly towards the corner in the alley. Two horses were tied up at the corner, their feet were wrapped in thick velvet, and their mouths were muzzled.
The man took off his horse's reins, mounted his horse, and disappeared into the darkness.
... ...
"The hour has passed, the dark clouds have not dispersed, and the Emperor's Star has disappeared. Alas...it's destiny!" Zhan Wei looked at Ziwei Yuan and sighed sadly.
Although Emperor Yonghua was more than ten years older than Zhanwei, he always treated him as a distinguished guest. Today, his destined lifespan has expired, and Zhan Wei can't help but feel sad, thinking: "Oh, let's go see him off on his last journey. Even if he can't enter his bedroom, it's still a thoughtful thing to wait outside."
